A Journey through Tarot: Understanding the Major Arcana

Tarot cards have long been a source of fascination and mystery, used for divination, self-exploration, and guidance. At the heart of the Tarot deck lies the Major Arcana, a set of 22 cards that hold deep symbolic meanings and form the core of Tarot readings. In this blog post, we'll take a closer look at the Major Arcana, uncovering its history, symbolism, and application in modern Tarot practice.

The History of Tarot and the Major Arcana

The origins of Tarot are somewhat enigmatic, tracing back to the 15th century in various parts of Europe. Originally used for playing games, the cards evolved to become tools of divination and self-reflection. The Major Arcana, sometimes referred to as the "trumps" or "keys," forms the spiritual backbone of the Tarot, representing universal themes and life's major lessons.

Understanding the Structure of the Major Arcana

The Major Arcana consists of 22 cards, each with unique symbolism and meaning. They are often divided into two segments:

1. Cards 0-10: These cards depict the Fool's Journey, representing a spiritual quest, starting with the Fool (0) and progressing through life lessons and experiences.

2. Cards 11-21: These cards represent universal principles and spiritual enlightenment, culminating in the World (21), signifying completion and fulfillment.

The Fool's Journey

The Fool's Journey is a metaphor for the journey through life, and the Major Arcana's structure follows this path.

• The Fool (0): The beginning, innocence, and spontaneity

• The Magician (1) to The World (21): The progression through wisdom, challenges, triumphs, and enlightenment

Universal Principles and Symbols

The second segment of the Major Arcana conveys deeper spiritual insights, often associated with astrological signs, elements, and other mystical symbols.

• Strength (8): Inner strength and courage

• The Hermit (9): Introspection and seeking inner wisdom

• The Sun (19): Joy, success, and celebration

Interpretation and Application in Modern Tarot Readings

Interpreting the Major Arcana in Tarot readings requires an understanding of both the individual cards and their relationship within the spread. Here's a breakdown of some key cards:

• The Fool: Embarking on a new journey, taking risks

• The Lovers: Choices, relationships, and moral dilemmas

• The Hanged Man: Pausing to reflect, surrender, a new perspective

• Death: Transformation, endings, and new beginnings

The positioning and combination of the cards reveal intricate insights into the querent's life and potential path.

Major Arcana in Different Tarot Decks

Different Tarot decks may present variations in the imagery and symbolism of the Major Arcana. The Rider-Waite-Smith deck is perhaps the most recognized, but others like the Thoth Tarot or the Wild Unknown bring unique interpretations and artistic styles.

Tips for Working with the Major Arcana

Whether you're a seasoned Tarot reader or a curious beginner, here are some tips to deepen your connection with the Major Arcana:

• Study Each Card: Understand the symbolism, imagery, and meaning.

• Connect Intuitively: Spend time meditating on each card, sensing its energy.

• Use Guidebooks: Many decks come with guidebooks that provide detailed explanations and interpretations.

Conclusion

The Major Arcana's captivating imagery and profound symbolism make it a central aspect of Tarot's mystique. By understanding its history, structure, and application, readers can gain deeper insights into themselves and the world around them.

Diving into the Major Arcana is not merely a study of cards but an exploration of life's complexities, mysteries, and universal truths. Whether used for personal growth, guidance, or merely reflection, the Major Arcana stands as a powerful testament to the human experience and the spiritual journey.

Embark on this path of discovery with an open heart and a curious mind, and let the Major Arcana guide you through the maze of life's lessons and triumphs. Share this guide with fellow seekers, and let the journey through Tarot bring wisdom, clarity, and enlightenment to all.

The Power of Crystals: Unlocking their Healing Potential

Crystals have long captured the human imagination with their mesmerizing beauty and mystical aura. Ancient civilizations revered them not only for their aesthetic appeal but also for their supposed healing properties. Crystals continue to find a prominent place in various therapeutic practices and spiritual pursuits. But what is the science behind their charm, and how can you use them to enhance your life? Let's delve into this captivating subject.

The Historical Significance

From the ancient Egyptians, who wore crystal jewelry to ward off negative energy, to the Greeks, who used amethyst to prevent intoxication, the historical significance of crystals is rich and varied. During the Renaissance, they were often associated with alchemy, believed to contain mystical properties. Various Native American cultures used crystals for healing and spiritual communication.

Types of Healing Crystals

There are myriad types of healing crystals, each with unique characteristics. Here's a brief look at some popular ones:

• Quartz: Known as the 'Master Healer,' it's used to amplify energy and thought.

• Amethyst: This calming stone aids meditation and stress relief.

• Citrine: Famed for promoting joy, creativity, and abundance.

• Rose Quartz: A symbol of love and compassion used to enhance relationships.

• Turquoise: Known for promoting strength, protection, and communication.

Healing Properties of Crystals

The notion that crystals possess healing properties comes from various theories and beliefs. Some think crystals' unique molecular structures resonate with the human body's energy fields, aligning or 'tuning' the energies within. Others believe in the power of color therapy, where the color of a crystal influences its healing abilities. Additionally, the placebo effect, where belief in the healing power of crystals triggers a mental response, is also a possible explanation.

Choosing and Using Crystals

Choosing the right crystals for your needs requires understanding their unique properties, trusting your intuition, and seeking professional guidance. Once you've chosen your crystals, incorporating them into daily life is the next step. Here are some popular ways:

• Wearing Crystal Jewelry: Keeps their healing energy close to you.

• Meditation: Holding crystals during meditation can enhance practice.

• Home Decor: Placing them around your home can change the space's energy.

• Creating Crystal Elixirs: Drinking water charged with crystals may boost well-being.

Crystals in Modern Medicine

The relationship between crystals and modern medicine is a complex one. While some alternative therapy practitioners advocate using crystals with traditional medicine, the scientific community remains skeptical. Research into the effectiveness of crystal healing is ongoing, and no concrete scientific evidence supports their medical efficacy.

Practical Tips for Using Crystals

Understanding their attributes and potential benefits is essential for those new to crystals. Regular cleansing is vital to maintain the purity of their energy. Handling them with care and respect is crucial, acknowledging their spiritual essence. Local workshops or online tutorials can provide helpful guidance for beginners.

Conclusion

The world of crystals is enthralling, filled with beauty, charisma, and potential for personal growth and healing. Whether or not one believes in their metaphysical properties, the power of crystals to inspire, intrigue, and foster a sense of well-being is undeniable.

Crystals can be more than just beautiful objects; they can become companions in your journey toward a balanced and fulfilling life. You can unlock their healing potential and explore new wellness and spiritual connection dimensions through understanding, trust, and thoughtful application.

Disclaimer: This information is intended for educational and informative purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare provider regarding any medical concerns or treatments.

Feel free to explore the mesmerizing world of crystals, engage with their energy, and let them guide you on a path of healing and enlightenment. Share this guide with friends and family interested in crystals, and who knows, you may introduce them to an exciting and empowering new world.

How do we fight back | Simple tactics for changing the world

Hey, what is up, everybody? It is ross; this is episode seven; this is how to back the last episode, we had talked about meeting the baddies, and we had discussed all sorts of the nefarious cabal and institutions out to get us. But I want to start this episode off with a little bit of hope.

Today let's start by paraphrasing a concept of Terence Mckenna's. Effectively he said what's scarier than thinking that all of those people and all these nefarious organizations and alphabet agencies and all of this are in control is understanding that no one's in control. There is no actual control out there.

Everything is organized chaos at best.

My little ad-lib is thinking of how unpleasant it must be trying to sleep at night for some people with the way things are shaking out right now. If people are trying to do some nefarious shit, not a good time anyhow, let's get into the episode, see how we can fight back, and get onto an upbeat track of things. Not that I'm very positive vibes only, but I think looking at situations constructively is important.

So episode seven, we're going to talk about self-empowerment, the benefit of being kind, art; I changed local movements around a little bit because it wasn't authentic to my experience and then create culture, which is the end piece of all of this. This episode is the last introductory episode of the podcast.

I think that we've covered enough ground where we can talk about some skills and different approaches to stuff and then maybe move into guests within the next couple of months.

So anyhow, let's get on with this episode; self-empowerment. Finding your passion is one of the biggest things that can help with self-empowerment, and in my experience and from other people that I've talked to, their passion often lies buried behind a lot of their fears. It was in some of the darkest experiences that I've had.

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Everything that has propelled me forward was a direct result of my spirit and sees awakenings and things of that nature because getting like knocked off your square for me, like me getting knocked off my square, let me keep it on me, made me have to look at life differently. It goes into the next thing, find your passion, and then once you burn the boats, and that's the tony robbins expression that I heard. It comes from an earlier expression, but don't count on me for like having notations and everything perfectly sorted. This ain't that type of show.

Burn the boats is effectively saying, don't give yourself a way to back out, and I was talking to my therapist about that today; I was like, dude, in terms of backing out of where I'm at, I physically cannot but self-empowerment.

The reason that's empowering is when you find your passion and you burn the boats; you are now in a position where, how do I want to say this? You have a lot of power behind you because there is no other way forward beyond going for what you want. And then when you take ownership more than anything.

So when you find your passion, you burn the boats, and you take ownership of what's going on in your life, like radical self-acceptance and radical acceptance of reality, which is not an easy pill. One of the things that one of my mentors taught me is that acceptance is a lifelong process, and I talked to somebody last night, and they're like, yeah, but it's is.

And that's the thing. Like you'll have acceptance one minute, one moment in time, and then the next moment you won't, and once you that, it can be hard to get it back sometimes. When you take ownership of everything, though, you're saying my life is 100% my responsibility and what's happening and going on, I have to educate myself. I have to take action; I have to do all of these things that lift you up and allow you to move into the next point, creating your vibe.

This stuff is what I have to look at because I've been slacking off on self-empowerment. I've been self-shitting on myself but creating your vibe is so important and not in a sense again of positive vibes only, but enchanting for optimism. I talked about that on Facebook and Instagram. But enchanting for optimism is super important because the world will kick you in the dick and punch you in the gut, not paying attention, and you need to have a little bit of hope in there.

So that's why you've got to create your vibe. I'm just realizing now that I got to bring the lesser banishing ritual hand sigils that one of my friends told me about because the thought process of protecting myself is incredibly important. Not that I believe in protection so much of negative entities, I think that there's a benefit to how it impacts my day.

How do we fight back? Small actions, big ripples, and by this, I'm talking about like holding the door open for somebody, I'm talking about letting somebody cut in front of you in the grocery line.

One of my mentors taught me a lesson in patience. He told me to let two people cut him in the grocery line, and I was like, why the hell would I do that? And he's like, just do it. I found when I consistently do these tiny little actions and keep them to myself, I feel good. There's medicine in being kind.

Like if you get to stop sign at the same time waving the other person on or giving a delivery driver a fat tip. These things make big differences.

The benefit of the doubt can be tricky because many of us have been burned so many times, it's hard to have it, but the doubt can be incredibly important.

Allow people to show up and let their actions dictate who they are without bringing previous baggage onto the situation next one, let others be wrong.

This wisdom is some of the stuff that I learned from 12 step things, and I'm incredibly humbled by looking at it right now.

Letting others be wrong is one of the ones that I struggle with at times because I always want to be right. I can be a know it all at times, and learning to curb that makes a big difference. But sometimes, the medicine of shutting up and just holding your tongue and not needing to prove a point, especially in trivial matters, is super important.

Sometimes it's not even letting others be wrong; it's about us not needing to be right; we do not need to like flex that, which is hard for me at times.

We also need to learn to focus on similarities; this is incredibly important right now.

I am not going to bring any political stuff into this. Still, I will say it from the outside that our political system is structured to keep people oppressed and opposed by fighting these two things that are largely controlled by the same corporate interests. That's how I'm going to say it.

When we focus on the similarities that we have with people, which is, most of us generally want our families to be taken care of and these things, it hits different. And it's not that simple, obviously and it's a lot of nuances and sticky bits there. I have some of them going on in my own life; I get it; there's still a matter of how you want to show up and what's best for you and focusing on similarities in certain situations where it's not putting yourself out there too far, it can make a big difference.

And I'm going to add this last caption on being kind because it's something my therapist told me today, and being a very visual person, hearing, really helped me. She said that you have to view your relationships in terms of like puddles, lakes, puddles, ponds, lakes, and then oceans. You can try to bring a puddle relationship into a pond relationship. But you really can't go from puddle the ocean and have it work because those relationships function vastly differently.

What's the next way we fight back? Art.

Art is a powerful social catalyst first off, and if you look, if you're listening to this as the podcast and you're not watching it on youtube, it's a supposed Banksy, and it says we're all in the same boat, and it shows somebody bailing out the water because it looks like the boat sinking.

Art is an excellent way to communicate intricate concepts. A picture is worth 1000 words. And with art, you're able to layer lots of different images, so you can craft complex messages in astounding ways. Especially when you look at how colors and things impact you.

Knowledge of these tools is effectively learning to utilize some of the same things that corporations like elite bloodlines, things of that nature have used against people. It's learning to use that for the benefit of other people, okay? And then we get into the layered meaning thing, it impacts the subconscious.

So if there were people creating art that was intended to make well, good, and inspire growth and compassion, that would make a difference because of how it would impact things. And then there's this inherently psychedelic aspect of art, because art, for me is about, I'm sorry psychedelics, for me about transcending boundaries, and it is about this of, you know, transcending boundaries, I think is the best way to put it.

And art is very transcending boundaries, right? Art is like the psychedelic expression of the human experience, and I don't know what else to say on that point. Like, art is a psychedelic.

If there is already a community of things you are interested in and think would be supportive, integrate the community and participate. Or create a community that supports what you want if it's not there locally because it's likely that other people there would benefit from it. Then expand that concept out, like, get more people involved with it once you have the core concept down like that's how you built and why this is important. It also goes into building community with people that might have different values than you and different beliefs than you because that's actually how you change things.

You're not going to change things from having a shouting match with somebody on Twitter or Facebook; you're not going to change things by lots of other ways that people approach this stuff. Commonality is there, and most of the time, when people aren't behind a screen and if they're getting together face to face, they'll find that commonality, especially if the pressure points are being hit and increasingly, that's what we need to work towards.

So I'm going to get off my little soapbox there and what this is all leaning towards is creating culture rather than consuming it or being consumed by it. And what I mean by that is each of us has a unique story and instead of experiences, right? And those experiences can literally help other people if we share them all of us have unique gifts and talents that we're able to utilize, and if we don't have any, it's because we haven't given ourselves the time to explore them.

Now look, I'm not going to be one of those fucking people makes it seem like everybody is able to do that because realistically there is a lot of financial shit going on in the world with the pandemic going on, people are hurting for money, people are trying to just survive, so not everybody has the ability to be massively creative and do things like that, but by creating, I just mean participate in things more than actively like than passively sitting back, even if it's just going to a community that is interested in the same things as you, you're still creating culture, you don't have to be an artist or a musician, you just have to get involved in the things that matter to you and show up and share your enthusiasm and excitement for life because that is what we need more of and the more that people show up happy and enjoyed and enthralled with what they're doing, the more people the happier people are going to be and that stuff will vibe out and I know that this is like really, really not how i, I usually am on things, but I do have hope for this to work. I don't think it's going to change the world overnight.

I don't think that the world will ever be perfect. I believe that some of the ideas I shared can make things a lot better; that's the gist of it and with all of that said, I don't have an end slide because this is the end of the introduction episodes like I had said.

Um we were laying out a basic framework of everything and now I can get into more of praxis and we'll explore that in two weeks. Thanks for tuning in.

Meet the Baddies | Illuminati | Secret Societies | New World Order

Hey, what's up? It's Ross. So where it's kind of fun to do, but it's also easy to end up in the weeds. So I will try to keep it short and sweet and stick to the talking points that I have for a reason. And yeah, we'll see you on the other side of this. Let's get it going.

So this is episode six, and it's "meet the baddies." It's the who, what, why, and where, I would say everywhere, they're everywhere, to be completely honest. But let's get into everything.

Who are the baddies?

People will say the Illuminati, and they think that it's just one group of people. The truth is there are multiple secret societies, and there's evidence of that, like in plain sight if people look for it.

Some corporations have a significant stake in this; incredibly rich individuals have a stake in how the world plays out. Some governments have a stake in all of this, some families have a stake in this, and then some people are just famous that aren't necessarily incredibly rich yet but have a big sway in power that are a part of this.

There are probably other people too that I'm not even thinking of, but those are the big ones that I can think of, and all of those people can be in multiple factions. So it's a lot more complex than people would like to believe, and I would also say that there are probably some people in it for good reasons, and there's probably some people in it for not-so-good reasons.

 For the most part, though, when you think of secret societies, you don't think of people doing things in your best interest; it's often people doing things behind your back or taking advantage of you.

And from what I've found, that generally is the case with a lot of these more malicious ones, some secret societies are just about presenting information that I've seen, and maybe those are more benign. But anyhow, let's move on from the who because I think you get a general idea.

There are many different ways; there's evidence that secret societies can impact stuff. Corporations have the money to influence people; they can influence the government. They have the money to affect small towns. So obviously, there are players in controlling things, wealthy people.

Governments want people to fall in line; certain bloodlines wish people to be servants; famous people need regular people to adore them and influence their fans. Some people want a servant class of people specifically. So they work towards that end.

All of this stuff makes sense when you think about it. But some people don't want to see the world beyond their tiny lens. So now that get the idea of who we're talking about

Why do they do it?

War profiteering, making money off of war. It's like one of the oldest tricks in the books, that and they sell drugs. The Iran Contra scandal that was publicly released in the eighties that the C. I. A. was involved in dealing drugs.

If you look at the war in Afghanistan, the Taliban was keeping the opium crops out. Then you see the Taliban get taken out. Opium production comes up; there's a spike in heroin addiction in the united states. Then there are all of these medications to help people come off heroin legally prescribed. So then there are these people making legal money off of heroin addiction.

You have to tell me that something is up there. I've heard there are even documentaries that had come out of this theory.  

Also, there are all sorts of evidence of the government's selling arms to people that they shouldn't sell, and I'm sure that that goes on in lots of other different ways to human trafficking. We know that's going on and that there have been people in the government involved in it.

Genocide is kind of hard to put here in that regard. But if you look at how some of these corporations have done certain things, they have done genocidal things. Even some people in power have taken that turn now that one is probably a little less likely than others like that one; maybe I shouldn't have put it on the list. Still, it has occurred to the best of their ability, and they have attempted to put those plans in place at certain times. 

Destabilizing governments that's a big one that us is big on and look if people don't believe me in any of this stuff because this is me making a lot of accusations without giving any evidence to anything that I'm saying.

Just because I don't want to spend a lot of time on this. I think it's essential to know it and understand that how you combat this power structure is a lot different from how most people are going at it.

Why do people do this? 

Fear should be at the top of the list because fear is the driving force behind these other reasons. It doesn't matter if it's greed or hunger for power; fear is the motivating thing.

They're afraid that if they don't have these resources or power or attention or whatever they need, they won't be successful. So they go out of their way and put all these other people through all of this pain to provide themselves with a little bit of comfort to ease their anxiety. But the thing is, it never actually works, and it's a self-perpetuating system at some point. How they go about it ends up leaving them in a perpetual need of having to reinstate themselves.

If there was an acceptance of their situation, they could move past fear, but because they constantly deny what they're afraid of, they're continually reinstating that fear. How do these people go about instilling things? Digital echo chambers are one way, so a digital echo chamber is like when you go on Facebook.

Often, it's a lot of the same type of content that you repeatedly enjoy because Facebook has an algorithm created to show you the stuff that will get you to react in certain ways. So if you're seeing stuff that pisses you off all the time, Facebook is showing you that because you respond in a positive way to the algorithm.

But the digital echo chambers generally keep you in small groups that tell you the same opinions, so you never really grow beyond it. So you keep this very baseline understanding of your topic. They use symbolism to keep you stuck. This one's a little bit more tricky, but symbolism, you often make associations, and these associations can impact your consciousness on some level.

But for example, the symbolism could be as simple as something like teams. The symbolism of a team can prevent you from building a connection or relationship with a friend who might have helpful information just because their team logo is different. That sounds stupid, but it happens all the time.

Propaganda. There's another way that they keep people stuck. So misinformation, misinformation is giving you wrong information. Disinformation is, there's a way that these two are slightly different, and I can't recall it right now, so I'm not going to make a quote and tell you incorrectly.

Research both of those and look at the difference between them because there's a subtle difference. The other would-be media like these people get you through the media by showing you different things, telling you sound bytes of information without getting you to look at it critically, digesting all of these intense ideas, and giving you feedback.

And then cultural programming is by getting other people to fall into this same system and create their character. They're encouraging you to do the same. A lot of who we are when we operate in society isn't necessarily who we are. It's our avatar to navigate the culture. That's a fucking heavy concept; wow. I don't have the recapitulation for this because it's pretty straightforward.

The baddies are corporations and uh families bloodlines, elitist all of this stuff there. It doesn't matter what political party doesn't matter what race, gender, age creed, you are day one, everybody there all sorts of different reasons for that.

How we fight back is different from how most people approach this. There are all sorts of other people vying for control. The important thing, though, is how we fight back, and I'll share that in the next episode, and don't worry, I'm not going to tell you to like run out and do anything stupid.

And I promise you it's a lot more peaceful and more grounded because if things are as out of control as I would say they are, we have to remember there's some saving grace in all of that, and we'll explain that next episode anyhow. Thank you so much. I appreciate you listening, and we'll chat again soon.

Fellow Travelers | Walking Each other Home | Spiritual Community | Fellowship | Carlos Castaneda

Hey, what is up? It is ross, and we are back trying this episode again; I've tried to record it, this is the third time now, and if I don't get it done, I'm just going to go with one of them; I've hated everyone. I'm going to try to do one that I like this time, and with that said, let's get into it.

So episode five, this is being a fellow traveler on the path. Here are a couple of the key points that we'll get into. 

• There is no singular way

• it's a team sport

• The path isn't linear

• A quote by Ram Dass

• A quote by Castaneda

And with all of that said, um, let's run into kind of what each one is. 

No singular way builds out on the concept that there's more than one road to get to this experience, right? It's a team sport implying that we have to work with each other along this path. The path isn't linear, meaning that you end up in different places at different times, and things can be circular at times. Uh, and like, the quotes are self-explanatory; we'll get there when we get there, let's get into it.  

No singular way.  

Sometimes people get into spirituality, and right off the rip, they'll be like "religion is horrible; you can't find the same stuff as spirituality; spirituality is better." It's not the case.  

You can tap into the essence of what we're after or what you found, or what I've found in lots of different ways, and atheists are fine too, they can experience it because it's not so much about practice and don't get me wrong, there's a certain way of carrying yourself in the world that will allow you to experience it more easily. And, I would say, a prerequisite. But that's not practice.  

It's about heart and how you show up to life, where intention lies, and things of that nature. In my, in my understanding as well. Maybe I'm mistaken. But that's what I've tapped into and what I've found, a lot of people who seem to have an easier way of life have expressed as well is the best way I can put it.

It's a team sport.  

Think of how you treat the waiter in this scenario and wanting to be kind to other people and like being generous and being decent to people just because that's the way that you want to show up.

Because the world is a stage is the next point, meaning that we're all playing different roles, right? And we need to treat everybody with respect and dignity, and that even goes to people that are assholes now. With that said, there's a line when you need to stand up and hold your ground. Do no harm but take no shit.

It's helpful to remember, too, that for anybody that we meet, there's a bigger story than we see behind what's going on, right? And by that, I mean we might meet some assholes in our life, but these assholes might be there to help develop, and these assholes as well might be there to learn some lessons about that experience.

It doesn't mean that they're an asshole in every existence and that they're doomed to some lousy experience afterward. I think that negative actions have their punishment built-in, and we continue to experience hardships until we are willing to look at our current problems.  

The path isn't linear.

We can come back to things that we've seen before. We can re-experience the same thing again, and we're going to unpack spiritual growth isn't linear more in its own subheading. The main thing that we need to understand is worry about ourselves in these instances. Be mindful about how you're showing up to life. Like I was told in when I was involved with 12 step recovery, keep your side of the street clean, that means, but you're not being an asshole.

Do the next right thing, and generally, things will work out for you in the long run if you maintain that and hold the line on that; growth isn't linear. Unhealed wounds will resurface at times, and even healed wounds can resurface at times, right? Um, but unhealed wounds will come back up.  

For me, the fall of '21 has been about inner child stuff that I thought I dealt with a long time ago, but I've been processing a lot of that.

Um, and now it's moving into winter, and it's about processing being at this stage of my life and single; it's interesting how life works, and there are all these different layers to everything. 

Like some people with broken bones feel the change of the weather before it hits cycles in our life can make things that we've already faced and made peace with come up. This path is not for the faint of heart, which is why it's important to have fellow people on the path. Um which is what this episode is largely about, right.

You'll revisit unlearned lessons. Sometimes you'll come up and see things that you need to learn again. Other times you'll even come back to lessons that you've learned and get to make the right choice and get the experience of choosing differently and navigating circumstances with more awareness. It's a good feeling.

The other thing is that retrocausality has played a large part in my life, and it's something I need to work with. Maybe I need to tap into it now and receive some blessings. I'm going to cast back to myself. But retrocausality works by it's the belief that you can impact the past by current actions that you're doing now.

So you can send a lifeline out to yourself, and I've done this after the fact by sending myself Reiki for when I was going through other challenging experiences. But if you play with it once you get outside of the common thinking and get outside of the box, you realize reality is a lot stranger than you might think it is, and retrocausality isn't off the table.  

And then the other thing about growth isn't being linear is there's a premonition, which is knowing what's going to happen in the future in the current moment. And if you have that ability, you're able to understand situations differently. So you can kind of skip ahead in the spiral and maybe hurdle jump over some hurdles more quickly if you're able to navigate it.

If you're able to work with retrocausality and premonition collectively, you'd really be able to accelerate your growth exponentially. I don't know how that would work, though. That was just something that came up off the cuff, but an interesting thought, maybe listening to this later, somebody will pick something up.

So now we come to the quote section of this. Ram Dass had a wonderful quote, "we're all just walking each other home," and I think this is an excellent point that he has here, but I also think it's a little bit too rose-colored glasses and the quote that I resonated with the most is by Carlos Castaneda.  

"And the sorcerer starts on his way back home, knowing he will never reach it, knowing that no power on earth will ever deliver him to the place, the things the people he loved..." That hit home for me because I was waiting outside of my therapist's office, and I read it and felt this deep sense of isolation and disconnection from everything at the time.

When you begin intensely working on yourself and healing things by working through old patterns and looking at stuff that most people don't look at, it's isolating, and it makes you look at life differently. Carlos Castaneda was aggressively pessimistic because Ram Dass das is right on something; having the right people in your life makes a difference.

Castaneda's life ended darkly and with a lot of mystery and speculation about it, and I think that's because he kind of fell prey to some of his victims on the path or his enemies on the path to power. He was misguided somehow, but if you go through that journey, you will encounter what Castaneda called "phantoms on the path," which is an area that I think that Ram Dass misses.

Phantoms on the path are people stuck in destructive patterns, and these will be people who come into your life and waste your time, distract you, and overall drain you. The phantoms can manifest as people in your life, such as toxic parents, lovers, friends, and others who ultimately drain you. Phantoms on the path can also include places and anything that distracts you from your ultimate purpose and moving forward, and they can look very, very attractive.

They're almost like sirens in um greek mythology where they have this very enchanting song, what they're leading you into despair. These are more subtle, though, because they're like the island of the opium eaters where they keep you stuck in one particular spot, and you're not moving forward. So you have to be mindful of those while you're walking people home on the path.

Um, but ultimately we're supposed to be here for other people. And I hope that that makes sense. I think that the sharp people will get it and the people who aren't won't, and the point will be missed because you can't help everybody. And a lot of this journey is you have to help yourself.

You can find people who are willing to pull their weight, and you can walk alongside them, but you can't stay anywhere too long on the path of spiritual development is the easiest way to put it. A mentor told me at one point the road behind you is burning, and you find that you have to move ever forward. One must imagine Sisyphus happy. That's why you need to squad up with real ones; it's a lonely road.

It's challenging at times. It can be daunting, and kindred spirits are a welcome addition. While you don't need others, it's exponentially easier to have people you can relate to as you're going through these experiences, which is part of the reason why I'm creating a meet-up specifically for talking about this type of stuff. It would be helpful for people because there's some pretty unsavory shit out in the world, and a community can help.

As somebody that processes the bullshit of the collective psyche, we have it as a responsibility to keep each other healthy. And I think that people have different roles and that's why working together is essential.

And just to kind of run over what we discussed in this episode, 

The intention is essential, you can be religious and find this truth, and you can be an atheist and kind of tap into this energy. It doesn't matter so much what you believe to an extent.

Unmistakably, it matters where your heart is. We all have our roles. So don't judge how people understand. That's just who they are and how they're showing up now, and it doesn't mean you don't call people on bullshit or don't hold people accountable and don't get justice because I think that that is still important.

Make sure that you're stocking up with friends and people allied towards the same things as you, and don't stock up with hungry ghosts or phantoms on the path or N. P. C. S. Find the others. Find people who want similar things working towards similar goals. Make space for people in your life that might not be at the same level of awareness as you, but do so in a respectful way to your time and energy.

In the next episode, we're going to talk about the baddies and cultural programming corruption. Digital echo chambers and disinformation. We're just going to do an overview of this stuff briefly. I don't want to get too deep into it. There are plenty of ways that you can find out about this shit. I don't have a plan where I'm going to try to steer you to one side of a political party or get you to believe anything that I say. I want to express my opinion on these topics briefly and then move on. 

Later on, when I have authors on the podcast, if I find interesting people that are discussing some of this stuff, and it's relevant to some things that we're talking about, maybe I'll get into it more. Still, it's just not going to be at the forefront of anything that I'm doing here, because that's not what this show is about.