This is a post I intend to update from time to time, as a list of links to articles etc that catch my eye. Feel free to comment or discuss in this thread; this top post is where links will accumulate over time. Motezuma’s Corollary | https://kakistocracyblog.wordpress.com/2017/04/02/motezumas-corollary/ California crime rate is lowest ever in its history... because Mexicans bring Mexico with them, and Mexican police rarely arrest, and Mexican prosecutors even more rarely convict. Only 1 in 50 murders result in a conviction.
The dark legacy of Carlos Castaneda (2007) | Hacker News | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14457080 Good discussion thread. "The dark legacy of Carlos Castaneda". Carlos Castaneda was a popular spiritualist/shaman writer back in the 1970s. I think his stuff ties in with Koanic's Traveller theory. A quote from the discussion thread, probably from one of Castaneda's books: This makes me think of Scripture. In the Bible, what makes YHWH unique among spirits and gods is that His "gifts are without repentance". In more modern English, that means the whole "magic always comes at a price" doesn't apply here. When God gives you a gift, there is no hidden sting. The only price is that you accept the gift, and it will turn out for increased life, and blessing. Quite a deal; thousands of years later, even today, all magical people speak of the price of magic. And they are right. Magic always comes at a price. But the gifts of the Creator are not that way. End of sermon for today.
The only price of magic that I know of is the effort of learning it. And that price is necessary; if you do not put in the effort of gaining the power, then it is not your power - it is borrowed power. I think you've rather misinterpreted that verse, though. Another translation words it as "gifts are irrevocable". That is, it's nothing to do with you repenting - that verse is saying he won't repent of giving the gifts.
For the Good of the Species: Older Men Mating with Younger Babes | https://alfinnextlevel.wordpress.com/2017/06/13/for-the-good-of-the-species-older-men-mating-with-younger-babes/ Older fathers (but not older mothers) confer a benefit to their children viz living longer lifespans. Something to do with older fathers produce sperm with longer telomeres, which confers more longevity on the child. No such telomere lengthening effect in the eggs of women; younger women are still your best bet for healthy offspring. This nicely supplements my earlier research into polygamy which found that in a polygamous society, there is no shortage of women, but men become fathers at a later age.
What does magic mean to you? To me, it means make deals with supernatural beings. What are you describing sounds more like science, or like any skill that is learned and developed. Technology. Not magic. Yes, I agree with your reading of the verse. I didn't realize there was another interpretation on the table here. The gifts are irrevocable. King David didn't lose his Kingship, but his family was cursed. The gifts are given by God for his own reasons and good pleasure, not merely for our own entertainment. To ignore or reject the gifts opens you up to curses, most often.
To me, it means that when you truly understand the illusory nature of the world, you can change the world by changing your mind.
Magic is supernatural power that all living beings have, to varying degrees. It's distinct from technology only in that it acts on the spiritual plane (via the spirit) rather than the physical plane (via the body). It is of course possible to make deals for more magical power - but the same is true of technology (take buying a computer for example).
I'd describe magic as metaphysical technology from what I've heard of it (as compared to technology based on physical laws).
Friendship is magic, therefore extroverts are sorcerers, therefore Biblically should be stoned to death. Race War Now Gas the Melons QED.
This 'Third Thumb' Prosthetic Is Just Insane | https://digg.com/video/third-thumb Video of a prosthetic second thumb controlled by your foot. Looks pretty spiffy. Instantly I thought of the Nephilim, and their trait of 6 fingers. If I was a Watcher/angel and making hybrid off-spring with bio-engineering, I don't think I'd "accidentally" give my kids an extra pinky. Hell no, if I was improving them, an extra thumb might be pretty darn handy. Wonder if the Nephilim had 4 fingers, 2 thumbs? Presumably the sixth toe was a little toe, not a big one. But who knows? Wish we had some Nephilim skeletons and DNA for proper scientific study. Damn you Smithsonian, quit hiding our history!
I think of it as to some extent spiritual technology, up to and including bio-spiritual livestock management. Channeling spirits and getting power through bargains with spirits seems like magic by conventional definition, but funny the Bible never really spells it out. It does condemn "divination" and "necromancy" and working with "any other god", but what is a "wizard that goes peep", and what is a witch? I find compelling arguments that a manipulative gossipy woman who causes chaos in a community, counts as a witch, no "magic" needed. The "poisoner/druggist/propagandist" interpretation of sorcerer also seems compelling. Wish there was something more definitive on the topic.
EUR-Lex - r15001 - EN - EUR-Lex | http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=LEGISSUM:r15001 Barcelona Declaration and Euro-Mediterranean partnership of 1995 7 minute video explains how the 1995 Barcelona Declaration is the reason that the Muslims flooded into Germany last year. And its worse than we suspected; the Eurocrats plan to turn Europe Muslim for the sake of re-uniting the old Roman Empire, the entire Mediterranean Sea. https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1369432503170581
How the Brain Maps Symbols to Numbers | https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-the-brain-maps-symbol/# This article was sent to me through the channels by which I heard of Neanderthal theory years before Tex started posting about it. It shows recent experiments in monkeys, reveals that the parietal lobe pretty much does what Koanic said it does, excels in symbolic manipulation. Cross-species. I like the article, because it is very simple, and it spoon-fed me some understanding of what the parietal does, nuances I missed when drinking from the firehouse of knowledge that is Koanic Soul.