Collie's Bestiary

I've been working on manifesting change in my life, using my Granddad Bob's "Law of Higher Potential." You may be more familiar with him as Robert Collier, who was quoted in the surprise blockbuster movie The Secret — and with his "law" as the "Law of Abundance," from that movie. One of the things the [...]

The speaker noted that of the 33 revolutions since (and including) the American Revolution, only six of them were led by Freemasons, which would seem to indicate Freemasons are not the dreaded revolutionaries they're portrayed as. I was amused by his comment that the more revolutionary the Freemasons were believed to be, the more revolutionary [...]

The conference was closed by the sacred dance which I wrote about yesterday, and everyone was invited to participate in the Epagomenal Festival as well. I very much enjoyed the attitude at the festival — while it was kid-friendly, it wasn't something just for the kids, and I received only cheerful invitations when I asked [...]

I'm rambling, but I think I'll continue to do so, as it makes writing anecdotally easier. Fair warning: I'm recapitulating my hastily scribbled notes here, so I can try to remember as much as possible. ;) The last day of the Hidden in Plain Sight: The Influence of Western Esoteric Movements on Modern Thought conference [...]

I'm back from Hidden in Plain Sight, the Rosicrucian Museum's lovely four-day conference on esotericism. Not only did I have a wonderfully mentally stimulating time, but I was thanked repeatedly for all my volunteer work during the con, which I'll freely confess was really nice to hear. Further, after the conference was over we were [...]

Some random notes I found of interest about Yingpan Man: the "boots" were almost just little sacks for the feet, and clearly not designed for walking. My guess were that they were ceremonial, intended just for the burial. Also those little curving items visible on the tops of the boots and up on the chest [...]

The Bowers Museum clearly has someone working for them who is both extremely persuasive, and very well-connected in China, in order to negotiate such an amazing collection for their exhibition. I consider their exhibition title, Secrets of the Silk Road, quite accurate. Keep in mind the Chinese allowed only a tiny handful of Western scientists [...]

I was going to write in a rather scholarly mode about my visit to the Tarim mummies, but I think all my "scholarly" has been temporarily burned out of me by my intensive month or so of thesis writing. I'll have to write about that too at some point — what a trip that was! [...]

Planning a trip down to the LA area this weekend for a potentially once-in-a-lifetime experience. Some of the astonishingly well-preserved Tarim mummies from China will be in a little Santa Ana museum, and considering I mentioned them in my thesis, I am definitely going to see them! To explain my comment about once-in-a-lifetime, I quote [...]

The other really nice display on a 3-dimensional model was of a 19th-20th century shaman in full regalia. I was inordinately delighted by this (much to the continued amusement of my companions), excitedly pointing out the large, flat, bodhran-like drum (unfortunately unpainted with helpful symbols, which made me wonder if it had actually been used [...]