Astral Messages Reviewed by Gordon Strong
Many thanks to Gordon for taking the time to read it and then provide this very beautifully written review…. Astral Messages The Poems and Thoughts of a Troubled Mind Dr. G. Michael Vasey Here’s an interesting idea, to juxtapose prose reflections with poems. Of the latter, ‘A Dream’ and ‘Life’s Tapestry’ are gems of composition. The poems get my vote straight away because most of them rhyme, thus they have an inherent melody and rhythm. That is not to say blank verse cannot have these qualities, T.S. Eliot – for one – did pretty well on this score. It is a rare talent, however, and the experiment often misfires. What is very endearing is the honesty of the writer. In a gesture of great affection he dedicates the book to
Read More »The Trained Mind
I just wasted an hour of my life on Youtube. I put in the term “UFO” and then clicked one video after another usually quitting the video just a few minutes – or less – into it. The internet is an amazing thing. It truly does allow anyone to propose theories, viewpoints and even their own particular mania. It is also endlessly confusing. The problem with the internet is simply this… usually there is little or no way to determine the expertise (and mental sanity) of the poster and so you have no idea whatsoever about the reliability of the post unless you happen to be reading material upon which you are an expert. Let me give a few examples. It wasn’t long in my video hopping before I stumbled
Read More »The Shadow and the Occultist’s Trained Mind
One characteristic of occult training is a ‘trained mind’. Dion Fortune talks about that quite a lot in her works and it is certainly true that the work we do rewires the brain and results in a mind that is able to perform visualization and concentration on demand. I read last night with great interest in ‘Moon Magic’ how Dion’s character, La Fay Morgan, talks about building an astral temple using visualization and the trained mind. I can do this too these days and actually very easily when I put my mind and my training to it. But, that Shadow, he robs me of my ability to concentrate, to visualize – he utterly disrupts my ‘trained’ mind. How? It’s almost like the old idea of the devil on one shoulder
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