AF> JE>     And I tend to agree. There are rituals that ancient peoples used
AF> JE>     to use to train the mind and body to use its full powers. These
AF> JE>     rituals sometimes used herbs and ingested aids to reach that
AF> JE>     state - but it was closely monitored for a specific purpose,
AF> JE>     usually to heal the body or work out a certain problem.
AF> JK> Something died along with the use of these rituals.  A good portion 
f
AF> JK> our inheritance should be the combined wisdom of thousands of years 
f
AF> JK> known history.  We deprive our young of that in every possible 
anner,
AF> JK> beginning with the lack of discipline and structure for the very
AF> JK> young.
AF>I just had to jump in here, and let you know that such
AF>rituals, and mind training, are not dead in todays world.
AF>There are plenty of us out here who do these things.  We are
AF>labeled New Agers, Neo-Pagan, Wiccans, and just plan "NUTS."
Al, this has been going on for more years than we can know about. There
has been a constant struggle between those who will delve into the dark
recesses of human thought and those who must label anything they cannot
bend to their own devices as evil.
My family dates back to the 800's in England, left for Holland when
Cromwell came into power, came over here later on, and left New England
when the Puritans started hunting down wealthy women.
The men in the family, until recently, tended to join the Masonic Order.
Granted this is a pale version of what it is in Europe but at least it
provided an alternative.
I can assure you I've read books, talked to shamen, lived among some
folks who had a much older and simpler way of life than I knew as a
child, and discovered much for myself.
Including going beyond fear.
* SLMR 2.1a * It's only a hobby ... only a hobby ... only a 
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