Three Kings who were not Kings
THERE IS A LOT OF TALK ABOUT “THREE KINGS” TODAY, in some countries more than others. In any case, I’m sure you know the Christmas carol, “We Three Kings of Orient Are”. The claim is that three kings brought presents to Jesus the Christ after he was born. Well, firstly, there is no mention of “Kings” visiting the Christ in the bible. There IS, however, mention of “Magi from the East” visiting him. Those were not kings at all but were spiritual leaders from Babylonia. Magi was the name given by the Babylonians, Medes and Persians to the priests and astrologers who were the religious leaders of those peoples. Also, there is no mention that there were only three of them. Certainly, three gifts were mentioned, but there could have been more than three in the entourage. The account in the bible does not mention that there were specifically three magi. The idea of three goes back to a 12th century tradition. It just shows how myths develop over the years. But what does the bible show about them?
The “Other” Strauss: Music for a New Year’s Day
ON WHAT HAS COME TO BE CALLED “NEW YEAR’S DAY”, it is traditional in Europe to listen to concerts of Viennese polkas and waltzes, mainly by Johann Strauss II (1825 – 1899). What many do not know is that at that time there was another Strauss in Vienna called Richard (pronounced Rickard, 1864 – 1949). Richard Strauss did admire Johann Strauss’s waltzes, but Richard’s music was in another dimension altogether — a heavenly one. Frankly, I would much rather listen to Richard’s music than Johann’s. I don’t mind the occasional waltz; but a whole concert of them, with encores? Nein danke! Waltzes don’t really go anywhere. They are for emotional dilettantes. One can never get to the real marrow of life (or death) in ¾ time. 😊
When Troubadours were Bolder [poem]
Seeking ways to free myself from limitations,
I’ve considered all the options still available,
now that this zeal within me has awoken.
& it’s clear that if it cannot be accomplished
through some means which, in a basic sense,
could be described as “physical” (for it’s only
in the fleshly sense that limitations can apply)
then I must think beyond the flesh to find the
things I need — such as a home which doesn’t
crumble or decay (Oh, and some wings to fly!)
Breaking News! Christ was not born on 25th December
BREAKING NEWS: CHRIST WAS NOT BORN ON DECEMBER 25th or on any other day in December! That date was simply a disingenuous attempt a few centuries later to forge a union between the religion of Christianity and the pagan festivities which occurred around that date. Church history has been full of wimpish compromise and the complete betrayal of Christ for 2000 years. He didn’t come to create a religion or a global authoritarian church structure but to light the way for genuine spiritual pilgrims and to warn about the decisive catastrophe coming at the end of the aeon — which is around now! Certain events in the bible show that his birth could not have been in December. For example, it is written that shepherds were watching their flocks in the fields at night (words which have been immortalised in the well-known carol). However, December would have been too cold for that to happen out in the open countryside. Also, the bible says that a census was being taken at the time and Christ’s parents had come to Bethlehem to register. Again, a census would not have been called in December as it would be too difficult for many to travel. The most likely time for Christ to have been born would be sometime in the latter part of September, which can be concluded by checking the timeline shown in the first chapter of Luke’s gospel regarding the conception of John the Baptist and the fact that Christ was six months younger than him. I can understand the importance today of having annual cosy family get-togethers in the dead of Winter when the sun is at its lowest and the temperature is at its coldest. But December 25th is now just an excuse for gift-porn and consumerist-gluttony. Nothing to do with Christ’s birth anyway. A much more pertinent question than “When was Christ born?” would be “WHY was Christ born?” That, my friends, will be the subject of a forthcoming article 😉
© Alan Morrison, 2017
Ethical Quandaries: Is it Always Wrong to Judge?
This is the first in a mini-series in which I examine closely a few modern ethical quandaries, which have only become quandaries because people make them so. When one cuts through the bullshit, understanding them is actually very simple and even liberating.
In this article, I begin the series by asking the question: “Is it always wrong to judge?” Today, it has become extremely fashionable to say that “We must never judge” or “We have no right to judge another”. In fact, it has become a kind of litmus test about your credibility as a decent human being. If you judge others, so they say, you cannot be spiritual or a good person. How has this idea that it is always wrong to judge come about? I think it is partly because people confuse the words “judge” and “judgemental”. To be a judgemental person means that one habitually comes to thoughtless, mean or unfounded and condemnatory conclusions about other people, which is obviously not a helpful frame of mind, for oneself or for building a community based on love and grace.
A new diagrammatic poem
A new diagrammatic poem for you to “chew” on 😉It started as a dream which woke me in the night then, bleary-eyed, it turned into some words which, in my later waking state, seemed to be strangely right…
© Alan Morrison, 2017
Exposing the Negative is Positive
TO BE A TRULY SPIRITUAL PERSON does not mean being able to practise hundreds of yoga positions, or meditate using a certain technique, or sleeping with the right essential oil under your pillow, or owning a bagful of crystals, or knowing how to travel on the astral plane, or being a Reiki master, or posting lots of quotes from Rumi, Wayne Dyer, Eckhart Tolle or Deepak Chopra on Facebook. None of those things are definitive signs of being spiritually awake — although such fashionable “virtue-signalling” on social media is often mistaken for being so. However, the reality is that waking up spiritually has a huge “knock-on effect” on one’s perceptions in everyday life, which then has far-reaching consequences and can be the cause of some discomfort and surprise. For waking up spiritually will naturally involve becoming acutely aware of all the deception and skulduggery in the world. It doesn’t matter how “spiritually-correct” one appears to be in one’s projected image on social media; the fact is that a spiritually-awake soul is one who refuses to be “taken for a ride” in ANY sense — whether by politicians, mainstream media pundits, doorstep confidence tricksters, phoney gurus, new age teachers or evil spirits claiming to be of the Light (and there are plenty of those around these days!).
“Shadows of Daddyo, Part 1” (LIVING-ROOM VIDEO #29)
Here’s another Living-Room Video of a song I’ve just written. It’s about the effect that “daddy-issues” have on relationships and lives. The lyrics are below the video.
Read the lyrics
Brussels and Hollywood
Impostors & Bedfellows
RIGHT NOW, I’M IN BRUSSELS, the supposed European capital — or, rather, the capital of the European Union, which has cunningly usurped the real Europe as if it was the same thing, especially in the malleable minds of the young. Which is isn’t. Not at all. The real Europe doesn’t have a capital city. For that Europe has always been a loose group of neighbouring countries which have a common heritage, do business with each other and help each other when necessary. On the other hand, the European Union is a budding superstate conceived by elites (and initiated originally by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, as I showed in an article last year) which seeks to lord it over its member sub-states, as preparation for the absorption of a small number of superstates into a single world government (born out of darkness posing as light). Then the Big Lie and deception will be complete (followed swiftly by its collapse in a blaze of Light).
Shadows of Daddyo, Part 1 [song lyric]
You think when you’re controlling
the random things unfolding
along the frozen path you tread (so dead)
that somehow you’ll defend your
imagined roundyourself wall
which you’ve built up with years of pain (insane)
[Refrain]
I’ve felt the sting of your bite.
I wonder who it was stole your delight?
You long for no adventure!
That invite that he sent ya
just made you stop dead in your tracks (that’s a fact!)
You’re frightened of commitment
you don’t have the equipment
to handle what it takes to blend (surrender)
The Naked Troubadour 