Believe: How Do We Explain the Birth of the Universe?

Did God create the universe in seven days? How do we explain such a feat? Well, as this is a physical world, there had to be some scientific and technical tools at hand to birth such a magnificent wonder!

Believe: The Female Goddess Aspects

As I'm working on my book The Goddess Workbook: Owning Your Space in the World, I am reminded of how far I've come in the past six years. Those who have been reading the blog have seen the evolution, but it is more than just what I am doing, it is what I am owning about myself.

Believe: Getting a Grasp On What the Afterlife is Like

We strive to understand the universality of the afterlife, but we are as flat as a 2D photograph in our understanding. 

Believe: Building Up a Tolerance For the Unexplained

Humans are thinkers. It's a good thing that we are, it has built us nations and social constructs that allow us to help each other and benefit from the process of thought-to-invention. The down side of our thinking is that we often times have issues with new input. Early man might have seen an eclipse and panicked as they assumed the world was ending, Pilgrims might have seen a person having a seizure and freak out thinking they were a witch. We have a tendency to take issue with novel events and especially when we have only one exposure the unknown - religion.

Believe: Understanding Energies

Energy

Here's how it works. Energy can be loose, dense, vibrating, undulating, variable, rhythmic... it comes in many forms.

Believe: Planning Halloween Costumes

Halloween is THE season for most of us into the paranormal realms of study. In fact, in Julie Ferguson's and my book, "Paranormal Geeks," there is a whole chapter on how geeks celebrate the season and we spoke to lots of geeks about how they do up All Hallow's Eve. 

Believe: Macabre Horror Genius - Homer Tate!

Today, I want to honor one of hundreds of amazing geniuses in the macabre who filled a niche that was innovative, creative, terrifying, and brilliant! 

Believe: Movie Theme Marathons

Running a marathon of movies with a similar theme on a day off, that is my ideal. Here's just some marathons I put together - depending on my mood.

Believe: A Twilight Ghost of My Childhood

Today's Believe installment is going to be about one of the many hauntings upon the property I grew up on. The estate was built in the 1700s but in the time of the Civil War, taken over by the North for a field hospital and later by the South for the same purpose. As I am doing outdoors para month, this seemed an appropriate subject - (for more stories about the hauntings from the perspective of me and my family - read my award-winning book Growing Up With Ghosts)

Believe: Your Weight and Living An Ingenuine Life

It dawned on me while I was running today (5 miles a day) that weight isn't so much about lack of discipline or cravings. It's about living an ingenuine life.

2007

When I was very unhappy in my life, stuck in a role I didn't want, limited by my self expression, and basically told to stay in line and not stand out or do anything "strange," I ended up wearing beige to blend in and be invisible and ate my anger. I had a life I imagined for myself and I was 180 degrees the wrong direction. I had let someone else's expectations, values, priorities and vision of me direct my decisions and even my relationship with myself (as I lost respect for me for not standing up and claiming "this is not me!")

When I started my own life, doing what I want, my way, expressing my intelligence, my loving nature, my curiosity, adventure, talents... when I started painting, writing, communicating, speaking, expressing... food was not an issue any longer.



As I workout to regain my genuine body (the one not corrupted by every day wearing a life that didn't fit), I am reminded of how holding back the human spirit, whether it's a bad job, bad marriage, or situation in which you have little control over decisions, is an inner death.

If your body is a wrong fit, your light might be too.

Liberate yourself and I promise you, the weight melt rights off when you're doing more to honor the life you always knew in the back of your head that you were supposed to have. You are fully engaged like a child and your entire metabolism comes back to life for to live up to the potential you are taping.

2015

If you need to hike to be with nature and photograph, do so. If you need adventures, go on ghost tours, explore caves, go to a new town you've never seen. If you need to write, write. If you need to paint, paint. If you need to sing, sing. Even if you have to go outside and hide away to do it.

Reclaim your genuine life and your genuine body.

And, remember, it's not you you're mad at, it's your situation. 

Believe: How To Have Paranormal Experiences

Upon occasion, someone who has never encountered the paranormal, suddenly does. 

It might be a walk through the woods, turning and seeing something walk by in the distance that does not look like a person in clothing, but a hairy tall person moving in a purposeful stride. 

Perhaps it's spending a night at an historic bed and breakfast only to awaken during the night to something tugging on your sheets and find them pulling away from your body as you lie there, helpless and horrified. 

It might be a time when you drive down a country late at twilight only to see some light in the sky that shouldn't be there, isn't a plane, is the wrong color, size, and movement....

First, let me explain that you have all encountered the paranormal many many times throughout your lives, but did not recognize it. It might have been a loved one who passed on, right beside you in the room and you suddenly cry, but don't know why. It might have been knowing who is on the other end of the phone when it rings. Perhaps you are camping in the woods and during the night someone passes through your clearing. Maybe you hear voices in another room when you're home alone and it happens a few times but you just tell yourself it's sounds going through your ventilation system.

It's important to note that we live among the paranormal everywhere, all the time, and pass by it, get near it, coexist with it and remain unattuned. That fact, alone, should tell us that it dances around the perceived world caught by our five rather lame senses.

Some people experience a wide range of paranormal phenomena and wonder why they are a weirdness magnet. They are not a weirdness magnet so much as they are a great receiver. They might be attuned to feelings of being watched, anticipate an event about to happen or look at the right spot at the right time.

In those moments you can suspend your mind long enough to have no thoughts, just be focused away from the task-oriented self, you have the chance to glimpse such things. 

Part of why ghost hunting in the dark is so effective is the lack of daytime noise, traffic, lights and other distractions. It is also why as we fall asleep, we manage to have more encounters with the unexplained.

If you want to be cognizant of paranormal experiences, you will have to do a few things to up your chances - 

PSI skills:  Learn how to go into alpha brain wave state. It is the drifting state of mind you have as you fall asleep at night. You feel blissful, not quite asleep, but floating and carefree. You are not only better able to perceive, but to receive encounters with the dead. There are some good alpha wave sounds patterns on YouTube you can listen to as you work on the practice.

Some recommend you go into theta brain waves for psychic awakening. Learning which works for you is a good option. It also helps to regularly test your PSI skills online. I use this site to compare myself with others and work the skills regularly.

Bigfoot: Walk the same path in the woods repeatedly over a long period of time, months of doing this a few times a week, trying to do it the same time of day so there is some predictability for the Tall Ones of the forest. Whistle, sing, or think about your day and such, but do not think about them. Most encounters occur when you are preoccupied or if you are a regular visitor and they have gotten comfortable enough to get close. 

You are almost surely not going to see them when you are there, but stop and take photos all around you. You will be pouring over these later to see what you caught. I recommend you pan the camera, turning away and shooting, and then come back around and shoot that starting spot again. This gives them time to peek out and look at you as you turn away or move their location. You can compare shots from the early sweep of the area with the later one and see what has changed. This is the way you will see Bigfoot. It is very rare to see one walking around. 

Ghosts:  A reportedly active building is a great way to encounter ghosts, but not the only way. Some have had success with ouija and seances, but only if you are open to these tools and not afraid of unexpected outcomes. Your head has to be in the right place to utilize these. We have been fed so many legends about a friend of a friend who used a ouija.... Others will be well off staying in a haunted B&B's most haunted room or a tour of an abandoned prison. The location helps, but encountering ghosts can be much like looking for Bigfoot... you realize you encountered one after the fact.

There are two ways you might actually see an apparition, both involve usually darkness or semi-darkness. The most common way is to enter a room. It is kind of like Bigfoot, you have an element of surprise. You can have a moment of entering a room and your eyes focus to see the room that you catch something in your vision you would not see if you had been sitting there an hour. It is a natural level of alertness that occurs when you don't know what you are approaching. 

Go to 26-minute mark 

We are more observent when the mind is cycling in discovery - as entering a room and scanning surroundings. We have minds that tend to think they know their surroundings when they are in them too long. If you sit in your living room all day, you might think you know your room, but if you stop and observe your shelves, you might realize that you didn't think about the knick knacks all day because you "knew they were there" (and thus ignored their presence).

To hear a ghost, one must have a recording device. I prefer digital ones, and set them down, don't hold them, as your hand can create sounds. As well, do not walk around holding the device - more sounds and air movement. Carry on a conversation. Sometimes, if you're lucky, you get audible voices which are called "disembodied voices." One of the best places I've seen since my childhood home was Birdcage Theater. Disembodied voices are interesting things, it sounds as if the voice begins with an exhalation, mid word with a burst of energy. It's very distinctive and once you've experienced it, you never forget. EVPs, voices captured on recording devices but not heard at the time, are the most likely way you will hear a spirit voice. I suggest if you sleep in a haunted bed and breakfast, that you leave the audio recording set for being activated by sound (VCVA - the common setting for that). 

I have found, in general, voices seem to be responsive to small talk than questioning. It's when you talk among yourselves about your day, your family, your lives, that you get a random reply.

Don't forget the common sense around ghosts - the prickly feeling, heavy feelings as if the air is thick, head hurting, feelings of being watched, and scalp tingles. Scalp tingles are very exciting because that means physical contact has occurred. 

UFOs:  Of course, it isn't like UFOs let us know where they are going to be and when, but there are hot spots: Sedona, Arizona, Pacific Coast Highway in California, RT 375 in Nevada, Phoenix, Arizona (although I would suggest Maricopa, AZ). 


Spooklights: You have a very high chance of seeing spooklights, as some famous ones show up pretty much nightly; Brown Mountain, North Carolina; Marfa, Texas; and Hornet Lights in Missouri, are just some of the infamous spooklights.


Will you encounter the paranormal in your lifetime? I think it's certain you already have and didn't realize what you were experiencing or perhaps even talked yourself out of it. Even the most "insensitive" person can perceive these things, but only when you can suspend the analytical long enough to get your brain waves into a more receptive pattern of openness; these are the things we experience in alpha state, in spiritual moments, connection with nature, feelings, and being present in the moment without evaluating it. 

When you can free your mind of direct focus ahead, it can provide you much more information about the universe. This is a good thing. If man couldn't do that, we wouldn't have invented the amazing technology we have, or the cures, inspiring art or written words. 

Believe: Laughing At Funny Police Artist Sketches

Laughter is the very best medicine and I am going to share with y'all how I yuck it up on a Saturday night on Facebook. Here's my best of bad police artist sketches -

Police are advising caution, as this one is a gopher killer!

Thanks to the talents of their police sketch artist, the police believe they have their owl.

Name is Rusty. Last seen on the Eiffel tower tossing his beret over the side. Police advise you approach with caution, as his father is known to cause accidents.

We are sorry to report that Dora the Explorer was arrested today, based on this police artist sketch.

I'm pretty sure Hall is devastated by the news.

If you have seen this suspect or the graboid eating him, please tell county police.

Suspect's name is Klaatu, last seen driving a newer silver vehicle of unknown model.

Police are looking for this father who is late on his child support payments for Starchild, by about 900 years.

Following release of this police sketch artist work, half of West Virginia was arrested.

We are all holding our breath that Steve Buscemi is wanted for Armageddon 2! 

This suspect has been apprehended in the toy chest, well, at least his head was. 

This suspect was apprehended soon after he was seen on Fox Channel.

I hope y'all enjoyed my bit of goofiness. Humor is our saving grace. It lets us know the ride of life is fun.

Believe Series: Family Disease and Lifestyle

I am claiming Saturdays on GHT for any subject I wish to discuss that has to do with the power of belief. This might be about new scientific finds and evidence, or it could be about your own personal journey and how to obtain goals. It might involve growing your own food and eating organically, or it could be about how to handle investigating. It might or might not have to do with para subjects, but life coaching, healthy living, lifestyle change, the importance of humor, how to comport yourself in your field of study, living the dream, going on adventures....

You won't know what each Saturday will bring, but be assured they will all be written from my heart and soul, as they will be subjects I am passionate about.

Today's first installment - 

Family disease and lifestyle

We were not meant to sit for most of our waking hours, though between breakfast, commute, work, and watching TV, hanging around on the computer, playing video games, up to 90% of our day can be sitting or lying (sleep). That's just one way that lifestyle can bring out the worst in your genes. 

If you write down your family history, you can probably see how lifestyle killed off some folks sooner than they should have left this world. You know what diseases you are vulnerable to because of your genes, but that does not mean those diseases are your future, only if you continue that family member's lifestyle.

Here's my family - 

Dad - Died at 59 of heart disease, super high cholesterol, stressful job, no exercise, ate mostly meat and root veggies.

Mom - Died at 74 of emphysema, also had rheumatoid arthritis (smoker).

Oldest sister - Died at 50 of complications of stomach stapling (obesity, high cholesterol, gout, high blood pressure).

Second brother - Died at 43 of alcoholic cirrhosis, also had gout, obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol.

Other sister - Rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, gout, high blood pressure, high cholesterol (smoker).

So, I can look at my family and learn a few things. One is that, no matter how much cholesterol I eat, my highest cholesterol has ever been was 150. I get that low cholesterol from mom. That's an example of having a happy gene. The sad genes include rheumatoid arthritis which is a definite if I smoked, truncal obesity/diabetes is a definite outcome if I were obese, and gout if I drank a lot/ate a lot of meat.

Every one of these family members that passed on, passed on due to lifestyle-induced disease. 

As the baby of the family, I can learn a lot about why I should never smoke or gain too much weight, drink in excess, or be sedentary. But what good things can I learn about my genes?

My aunt lived to 93, drove almost to the very end of her life. She was Jewish and led a healthy lifestyle, stayed trim, and avoided the vices. When you have relative with exceptionally long lives, that's not a guarantee for you, but a goal, as it's still in your hands. I am from a huge family and yet cancer has not been an issue for those under 80.

I know a lot of people who say "my dad died at 55, so it's my fate." That's ridiculous!

My brother died at 43, my sister at 50, and I surpassed their ages, at 53. 

It's not a fate unless you follow their example and do the things they did. Even then, siblings share different genes from each parent - just as I was A+ blood and my siblings O+.  

And, you are not all one parent either. You are partly the other parent. Heart disease is not something I really fear because of my eating style and exercise and my very low cholesterol with great ratios and almost indiscernible inflammatory markers in my body (CRP of 0.5).  But my dad died of heart disease. Yet, my mom had low cholesterol and that is what I have gotten from her as a baseline. 

So, no, you are not fated to one parent's death/age. In fact, my father died at 59 of heart disease, his mother did at 55 of a blood clot follow surgery (didn't take her blood thinners) and his father died at 72 of pneumonia. However, father was a recovered alcoholic and nearly all his family members were alcoholics and my oldest brother died of alcohol-related disease. I can drink alcohol and I have no desire to have more than 2 drinks and that's usually every month or two max. I just never took to alcohol the way dad and my brother did - which means they may have had a genetic component between them that I did not get.

We spend a lot of time looking at the bad things that happen in our family, given our genes, but it wasn't the genes that caused the disease process, it was the lifestyle that activated that genetic weakness, such as eating tons of beef and having high cholesterol. 

Sometimes, we have familial cholesterol issues where your genes simply say you are going to have high cholesterol, no matter how much you modify your diet. In such cases, a preemptive dose of cholesterol-lowering medicine is the way to negate that and consider that part of your "lifestyle" control of your genes. 

You are not the destiny of any family member. It's apples and oranges really. You could have a propensity to develop emphysema if you smoke (such as runs in my family) but even then some members will, some won't have that weakness. You don't know until you lead the bad lifestyle. 

One of the benefits I have as the baby of the family is to see what the elders did to know what NOT to do and if I had some healthy examples, what TO do. I know the parameters of my lineage when it comes to bad genes and lifestyle combos, but what I am seeking now is what good genes do we have for longevity, resilience, warding off aging markers and deterioration, being muscular and lean in latter years... 

Let's quit cursing the bad genes (looking at the negative) and let's celebrate the good genes. What is your potential - what kind of health might you have if you live right? 

I am beating the family genes, and celebrating the good ones - like my family's youthful appearance. I only feed my skin coconut oil, not lotion, and I use Amara lotion for my face (jojoba oil, vitamin c and coconut oil) - no procedures, no injections, no dermal work, simply exercise, high-nutrient diet, and only apply to my skin things without chemicals. That is good gene potential and lifestyle optimization. And, it's cheaper!

A huge tub of organic coconut oil is super cheap and you use it for hair conditioner, in your coffee, to fry foods with, on your skin, mixed with baking soda and peppermint oil for toothpaste. Exercise and eating your greens - cheap. And, bad lifestyle, activation of bad genes - health care/medicines/debility/procedures/expensive wrinkle creams...

Brian from www.quickdoctor.co.uk said "It's never too late to address your health, no matter how old you are or how many bad habits you currently have. Simple adaptions to your lifestyle, such as cutting out certain foods and engaging in small amounts of physical exercise, can have tremendous effects on your health."'

I believe in the power of one person to make a difference. It is up to me to be that difference.