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VAMPIRES: OCCULT HISTORY UNEARTHED!Strigoi Mort (cadaveribus sanguisugis)The vampire is believed to be one who has devoted himself during his life to the practice of Black Magic, and it is hardly to be supposed that such persons would rest undisturbed, while it is easy to believe that their malevolence had set in action forces which might prove powerful for terror and destruction even when they were in their graves. (The Vampire, His kith and Kin 78)First of all, it would be much more accurate to say that I believe in the possibility of vampires existing. I've never actually seen one so I can't claim to actually know for certain.Since vampires (believe it or not) are a part of the larger categories of the Occult and Christian theology, so for those of you who are sceptics regarding religion or the supernatural in general, here is something that will hopefully challenge that:Strange PhenomenaDamien Cowl's answer to Are there any logical arguments for Christianity or Islam?What are vampires?The word “vampire” did not appear in English until 1734, when it was used in an Anglo-Saxon poem titled “The Vampyre of the Fens”. However the general concept is much, much, much older than you might expect. The best way to describe the vampire of history would be as a cross between a demonic wraith, a zombie or ghoul, and a leech.Many believe that vampires are a local folktale that originated from Romania, but they are wrong. Not only does the vampire legend have absolutely nothing to do with Vlad III (who was beheaded and displayed on a pike), but it is not limited to a single land or culture. Rather belief in hideous bloodsucking corpses that would issue nightly from their graves was (and still is) a worldwide phenomenon.Incorruptible CorpsesZombie, Vampire or Saint?Some monks of Mount Athos believe that there is a cave there with "Latinizers" - monks who had encouraged union with the Pope - whose corpses did not corrupt but are basically turning into demons.John Cuthburt Lawson noted instances when a body believed to have been accursed would not decomposed properly, but would instead remain in a horrifyingly incorrupt state.The Church once recorded cases where the incorruptible body of a person who was excommunicated or died in a state of sin would not completely fall into decomposition, instead demons were said to entrap the soul of the deceased permanently and torment them. An exorcism rite would be performed over the body and immediately it would crumble to dust.I think that there is an unusually huge pile of hidden evidence which could very well suggest the existence of the undead.Just take all the hundreds of different words for vampire throughout nearly every culture for example. Here are but a tiny few:Names: vampire · uampire · vampyr · wampyr · vampír · vepir · upir · upyr · oupire · nosferatu · revenant · shroud eater · strigoi mort · strigun · striya · shtriga · lugat · draugr · nachzehrer · blutsaugar · bluatsauger · blut aussauger · doppelsauger · bruxa · catacano · churel · cihuateteo · nahulai · ekimmu · vourdulâc · wurdalak · hsi-hsue-keui · kozlak · langsuir · motetz dam · necrarch · nelapsi · socouyant · gayal · gierrach · givach · aptrgangr · lich · aswang · manaangal · baital · ghoul… (countless others)In the Introduction of his book The Vampire In Europe (1929), renowned Old Catholic occultist and vampirologist, Montague Summers wrote:In a previous study, The Vampire: His Kith and Kin, it was my endeavor to trace back the dark tradition of the vampire to it's earliest beginnings, until indeed it becomes lost amid the ages of a dateless antiquity, for this remarkable and world-wide belief was very present with primitive man, and is notably significant in the daily customs and practice, both tribal and domestic—more especially in funerary rites and sepulchral houses—of furtherest aboriginal and most savage indigene. Nor owing (as I believe) to the fundamental truth, which however exaggerated in expression of communication.I don't know if you know, but Summers was the man who first translated the Malleus Malificarum into modern English as a part of his study on the witch trials.-THE ORIGIN OF THE VAMPIREDid Vampires Exist in Antiquity?Vampires in the Orient?Ancient LegendsI shall break down the Gates of Hell, I shall smash the column pillars, and cast down the entrances to let the dead rise from the soil and feed upon the living! And the dead shall swarm the living!—The epic of GilgameshThis archaological discovery was uncovered a decade or so after Summers' death, but the vampire motif can be traced back to Mesopotamia, the Cradle of Civilization itself: meet the Edimmu (and other ancient vampirish myths):Vampires In MesopotamiaVampires In Mesopotamia8 of the Undead from Around the WorldWhat you might not know is that the zombie archetype found in modern pop culture borrows much more from vampire myths than African Voodoo. Here are zombie-like creatures in ancient Near Eastern cultures:https://archive.archaeology.org/online/interviews/zombies/There was a time when everybody believed in vampires as a part of Christian theology. But what were vampires? They weren't the kind you typically see today on TV.The 18th century philosopher, Jean Jacques Rosseau, wrote: “If Ever there was in the world a warranted and proven history, it is that of vampires: nothing is lacking, official reports, testimonials of persons of standing, of surgeons, of clergymen, of judges; the judicial evidence is all-embracing.”DISSERTATION's ON VAMPIROLOGYHowever, unfortunately that was a different era. In today's world such reports have to be persistently dug for. The vampire phenomenon has gone from a proven and well-known history to an occult study that few people are aware of.Again Montague Summers writes: “Whether we are justified in supposing that cases of vampirism are less frequent today than in past centuries, I am far from certain. But one thing is plain — not that they do not occur, but that they are carefully hushed up and stifled.”However the information is still there, it's just drowned out by the incessant buzz kill of pop fiction; hammer horror films and sappy teen dramas. I have placed a handful of videos and links at the end of my answer (the videos have to be clicked on twice and may take a few seconds to load after the first click).“Vampires actually exist and are walking the earth today,” says a noted exorcist for The Church of England. “Believe me, vampires are real-I’ve encountered three of them,” declared Reverend Donald Omand of Devon, England, “I am convinced a tiny number of people today are vampires who must drink blood. The three I encountered were in mental hospitals, but I think their problem went much deeper; I believe they were possessed by the Evil One.”Omand was hospitalized after receiving scratches and toothlike gashes in his neck when attempting an exorcism on the patients. He was initially called in for the rite because the staff were so terrified that they didn't know what else to do.Seán Manchester states that in addition to the Undead, vampiric spirits can also possess a living person, causing them to temporarily exhibit mild vampire-like traits, unnatural strength, psychic abilities, and a thirst for blood. This condition is only lapsing.--To answer your question, no. What a vampire is today is the same thing it was in ancient times: a hideously ghoulish and demonic creature that is bound to the place in which it was buried after death.Something horrifying, incomprehensible, and without any shred of human decency. In thrives in the earth beneath the tombstones, surrounded by rotting bodies while it in itself remains intact. Nightly it awakens from the cold grip of death to enter people's homes, cackling dementedly as it strangles them before biting deep into their throats.Men, women, children, and even livestock. None living in the countryside are likely to be spared from the vampire's nocturnal ravages. Only the holy cross or the sound of cockcrow will hinder the monster in it's restless path of sadistic murder.It's clothes are tattered and ancient, it's hair a mess, and it's sharp nails filthy and caked with congealed blood. It's grin is parasitic, a face of pure diabolical evil, it's countenance ghastly and livid, it's eyes cold and lifeless, appearing like rotten grapes with pinpoints gleaming in the dark, it's skin is like old parchment and it's veins darkly swollen, and the creature’s teeth are horrible! Pointed like needles and glistening.John Heinrich Zopfius in his Dissertation on Serbian Vampires, 1733, says: "Vampires issue forth from their graves in the night, attack people sleeping quietly in their beds, suck out all the blood from their bodies and destroy them. They beset men, women and children alike, sparing neither age nor sex. Those who are under the fatal malignity of their influence complain of suffocation and a total deficiency of spirits, after which they soon expire. Some who, when at the point of death, have been asked if they can tell what is causing their decease, reply that such and such persons, lately dead, have risen from the tomb to torment and torture them."Scoffern in his Stray Leaves of Science and Folk Lore writes: "The best definition I can give of a vampire is a living, mischievous and murderous dead body. A living dead body! The words are idle, contradictory, incomprehensible, but so are vampires."George Conrad Horst, a German philosopher and occultist, defines a vampire in his writings as such: "A Vampyr is a dead body which continues to live in the grave, which it leaves, however, by night for the purpose of sucking the blood of the living, whereby it is nourished and preserved in good condition, instead of becoming decomposed like other dead bodies."Montague Summers gives the common description of how vampire's were always said to look:A Vampire is generally described as being exceedingly gaunt and lean with a hideous countenance and eyes wherein are glinting the red fire of perdition. When, however, he has satiated his lust for warm human blood his body becomes horribly puffed and bloated, as though he were some great leech gorged and replete to bursting.(The Vampire, His Kith and Kin 179)... and the nails are always curved and crooked, often well nigh the length of a bird's claw, the quicks dirty and foul.Here is an example of what “horribly puffed” would look like: Incredibly Accurate Simulation of DecompositionAdditionally the hands were always curled into claws, with long bony fingers, webbed, thick corded veins and blackened talons.And the jaws are said to be able to stretch inhumanly wide:- -When the stake has pierced the Vampire he will utter the most terrible shrieks and blood will jet forth in every direction from his convulsed and writhing limbs as he impotently thrashes the air with his quivering hands. There is a tradition that when he has been dead for many years and his mysterious life in death is thus ended the corpse has been known immediately to crumble into dust.(The Vampire, His Kith and Kin 205)[Footage of the vanquished Highgate Vampire as it rapidly decomposed]They are not the people they once were in life, in fact they aren't people at all. Real vampires have more in common with zombies, wraiths, and demons as opposed to the modern concept of a vampire. There is no vampire virus either, the phenomenon that causes the corpses of the damned and departed to rise nightly from their graves in order to mercilessly taunt, torment, and prey upon the living can't be anything other than purely demonic.There is no science to it whatsoever, you can't put vampire DNA in a test tube and find anything other than perhaps tissue that is exanimate yet in a bafflingly incorrupt and well preserved state.Today's movies and teen dramas cannot be relied upon…if you want to know about real vampires you need to research the folklore and historical cases of real life vampire attacks. There are thousands of them you just have to know where to look. I also highly suggest reading books written by Montague Summers, such as The Vampire: His Kith and Kin and The Vampire In Europe.To truly understand the living dead, we must take a close look at demonic entities, their connection to blood siphoning, necromancy, and corpse raising.What are demons? The word demon comes from the Ancient Greek δαίμων (daímōn) which referred to a sort of household familiar spirit.The word is used in the Greek Septugiant (for which King James used a Middle English equivalent which was devil) to translate the Hebrew word Shedim (Hebrew: שֵׁדִים‎) which are evil spirits, often identified as the disembodied souls of the Nephilim who died during the flood—having no place in the afterlife due to their incompatible hybrid biology.Demonic encounters:Demonic hauntings are a very real phenomenon. In fact, such occurrences are not all too uncommon, though possession is a bit rare. At times demonic entities will manifest right in front of you.They usually appear like blurry, dark, and transparent humanoid shapes, barely visible. In which case you'll probably hear it speaking to you. The way their voices travel are really creepy. Like smooth static traveling on the wind, or whispering snakes. Their laughs are horribly cruel and sadistic. Yet when they speak it's unmistakable (though sometimes it's difficult to catch everything they are saying because of the different frequency) and when you hear it your body reacts in the way it does when a bee or wasp buzzes in your ear, or when a large truck drives right past you, inches from your face.Angelic and demonic beings are really just extradimensional beings. There's nothing nonsensical or made-up about it. Scientists are even studying the possibility.Are Creatures Living Among Us in Parallel Dimensions?Interdimensional beings, Aliens From "Dimensions" That Coexist Alongside Our Own? | Ancient CodeExtraterrestrial and Extradimensional Beings — How They Travel Space and TimeThe Fourth Dimension and The BibleDamien Cowl's answer to Are there any logical arguments for Christianity or Islam?Gateway of the GodsFamiliar spirits:Familiars are often believed to be demons in disguise. According to medieval lore witches were often aided by familiars, which would often take the form of an animal, commonly a cat, toad, goat, dog and most notably (in the case of vampires) the screetch owl, also known as the barn owl.Bats never became associated with vampires until Bram Stoker wrote Dracula. Their iconic animal was always the screech owl, associated with Lilith and often demons in general.[More about familiars: Familiar | demon]Although just like familiars, vampires have often been said to be able to shapeshift into any animal, and even into fog or mist.Another connection is that a witches' familiar spirit was said to be sustained by blood:The witches' teat was a raised bump somewhere on a witch's body. It is often depicted as having a wart-like appearance…The witches' teat is associated with the feeding of witches' imps or familiars; the witch's familiar supposedly aided the witch in her magic in exchange for nourishment (blood) from sacrificial animals or from the witch's teat.The Bible talks an awful lot about sorcerers and idolaters sacrificing the blood of their sons and daughters to demons. I think there is much to suggest that feeding off blood isn't a vampire thing so much as a demon thing.Demons and Blood are a combination that produce a very powerful demonThey Poured Out Innocent BloodSelf-harm, Cutting and DemonsIn the Bible God urgently warns against leaving blood out in the open, advising that the Israelites cover it with earth:Leviticus 17:13—And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust.There are also a number of other passages in the Bible which speak about the practice of covering blood with earth.This is also found in several different cultures. The Banti people believed that a warlock or an evil spirit could use blood that has been left out to fuel dark magic or make a person sick. Any bandage or article of cloth that had even a speck of blood on it would be frantically burned after use.Proclaimed exorcist and Vampirologist Seán Manchester once wrote that “the smallest drop of blood can be employed by a demonic entity, enabling the wraith to form in a tangible manner.”The belief that demons or evil spirits could possess or raise the dead in order to harm the living was also commonplace, believe it or not:Devilish Machinations & the UndeadIt is evident that demonic spirits gain power from blood, and enjoy seeing it shed. Those under their influence often have a compulsion to cut themselves, despite having no signs or history of depression.Under certain circumstances, not yet fully understood, a demon or even a gaggle of demons may gain enough power to hijack a dead body that has been recently deceased. This may only be possible if the deceased person died in a spiritually fallen state and typically has to be buried in unhallowed ground.Sometimes this could be a churchyard that is believed to be hallowed ground but something caused it to become tarnished which the clergy is unaware of. However more often than not vampires are found either in cemeteries that are in a state of disrepair or on ground that is not sanctified.Charnel houses, plague pits, crossroads, abandoned castles, abandoned asylums, abandoned morgues, necropolises, gothic ruins, old battlefields, unmarked graves in the middle of the woods, popular suicide destinations, the bottoms of lakes, rivers, or wells are all common places to find a vampire lurking dormant during the wee hours of daylight.If the deceased is surrounded by Satanic or dark ocultic activity—either having practiced it in life or if such activity had been performed near the premises of the burial by a cult—then this sort of incredibly rare manifestation will become more likely.This results in the creation of a strigoi (cadaveribus sanguisugis), from which the vampire myth and every other undead legend stems from. Such a being is the carnal embodiment of corruption and filth, a hideous, abhorrent, and predatory demon infested corpse, animated through a form of pupetry. It also retains the ability to change form and gains zombie and wraith-like qualities not seen in an ordinary possession.The word strigoi itself comes from the Latin strix, which is a type of giant demon owl in Roman mythology. It also comes from the Romanian word shtriga which is a word for witch. Just like demons, the vampire's spirit animal is the owl—and not any kind of bat.Because of it's dark interdimensional qualities it manifests outside of the boundaries of earthly time, thus ceasing to reflect light at normal speed, thereby not showing in any mirror-like surface nor appearing on digital film.It's appearance is like that of a three to four day old corpse. It also gives off a moldy charnel-like smell which, coulped with it's eerily gleaming hypnotic eyes and psychic oppression, renders most of it's prey all but helpless.They are extremely vulnerable to Christian symbols and artifacts and are rendered completely dormant (exanimate) during most of the day, and for the entire 24-hour duration of each Saturday. They can't cross running water—save at the ebb of tide—and the whole invitation thing works differently than it does in the movies. Anything that welcomes negativity has the potential to allow them to craw right through the bedroom window.The same invitation rule seems to apply to demonic entities in general. Things that allow negative energy increases the chances of them being able to manifest.In addition to gaining sustanence from vital essence (abundant in blood), they also feed off from fear and other emotions and will get inside their victim's head the same way ordinary demons do.Signs of Vampiric Infestation:Those who fall victim to a strigoi always bear the exact symptoms of demonic oppression: insomnia, seeing ghostly or shadowy figures, hearing scratching sounds and cackling, poltergeist activity, paranoia, sleep paralysis, etc…However added to these are the following: anaemia/bloodloss, faint toothlike lacerations on the collarbone, chest, wrist, or thigh, sightings of a stranger or deceased loved one—often with a ghoulish or corpselike appearance, fierce ghastly eyes, and terrifying facial expressions—, tapping or banging on doors and windows, suppressed signs of an extraordinarily stealthy intruder, lack of any DNA evidence, firmly locked windows mysteriously open without any sign of being forced open, disturbing sounds such as low hissing, zombie-like moans, rapid joint crackling, clothes and hair rustling (despite little or no wind), a horribly gutteral wet gurgling sound made deep in the throat of some animal, splotches of fresh blood on the sheets and pillows of the afflicted, and multiple finger width holes in the suspected gravesite that can be traced very far down into the earth.A flat out terrifying creepypasta about vampires…-VAMPIRE FOLKLORE:----REAL WORLD CASES OF VAMPIRE OUTBREAKS:5 Darkest Cases of Real Vampires:-BBC Interview With Seán Manchester:-The Highgate Vampire:-Interview With A Real Vampire Hunter:-What Is A Vampirologist?:-5 Darkest Encounters With Real Vampires:-Montague Summers:-Vampires In Modern Romania:-Refuting Objections To The Possible Existence of VampiresIn his nonfiction novel The Highgate Vampire pg. 38 Seán Manchester writes (“*” marks footnotes added by me, images added for emphasis):Though many attempts have been made and will continue to be made, to explain away the undead, by far the favourite piece of rationalisation on the part of non-believers is the “premature burial” theory. It suggests that in the case of exhumation where vampirism has been suspected, the discovery of a fresh and blood-stained body only indicates that it was buried alive. A person suffering from catalepsy or in an advanced stage of coma which exhibits signs of death would, it is supposed, recover inside the coffin and frantically tear at the lid's interior, cutting their hands in the process – hence the blood. This would also explain the fearful expression on the face of the exhumed corpse.A good and logical theory which slams the door on the possibility of a supernatural answer, until, that is, we examine it more closely. Then the door slowly creaks open again.Someone in a cataleptic trance or deep coma still needs some air and the amount trapped in a coffin when interred is very limited *¹. That there might be enough air to allow such a person to regain conciousness and put up such a fierce struggle that they bleed badly*² is highly doubtful. In the case of premature burials, of which there has been a considerable number in past centuries*³, the eventual death of the unfortunate person would only be delayed by a matter of hours.Safety coffin - WikipediaYet the vampire is when exhumed after months, years, or even centuries*⁴, will show little trace of decomposition but will appear as if in profound sleep.It has also been suggested that an artificially preserved body if disinterred could easily be mistaken for a vampire. But when a true vampire is exhumed it will be found to be remarkably undecomposed and of clear complexion, betraying a trickle of blood at the corners of it's mouth*⁵.Moreover, when the stake pierces the heart, fresh blood will jet and spurt forth in all directions*⁶ as the quivering, writhing, body shudders to a halt*⁷. An embalmed corpse cannot possibly betray bloodstains.Another point that such scientific explanations as these overlook is that when a vampire is exorcised it will emit a blood-curdling shriek and, where many years have elapsed, it will immediately turn to dust due to it's true age*⁸To begin to understand the vampire at all, one must first relate in terms of the impossible becomes possible: a world where there is life in death. If the condition known as undead can be fully grasped, then we may then begin to unlock some of the mysteries of the vampire. One thing is certain, if we think of this paranormal phenomenon as haunting only past centuries we deceive ourselves.Vampires have the ability to remain undead indefinitely if not dealt with in precise manner. We, on the other hand, age by the moment, the previous moment forever gone. And, like all living things, we die. This is not the case however, with the undead. They exist outside the confines of earthly time*⁹; therefore when discovered after centuries, a vampire might appear to have been dead for three score years at most—possibly much younger. It is a question of what earthly age he or she passed into the undead state. Time will do nothing thereafter to efface it's condition at that moment.We are familiar with three dimensions and the sequence of before, now, and after. This restricts us enormously when trying to comprehend the world of the undead. Our earthly bodies move in time. The vampire's does not, but is trapped in a twilight hell between life and death. From this there is but one release and it will be the blessed hand that strikes the blow to set free te tormented soul.The belief in vampires presupposes a belief in the existence of God, and of course, the devil: the vampire being manifest through demonic power. Some might subscribe to this predatory wraith as as a concentration of negative energy, but for those of the Judeo-Christian tradition it is an agent of Satan.It should be remembered that the link between our world and that of the undead is found in Satanism and the black arts. Those devotees sufficiently wicked to merit the devil's partiality are thought to continue their evil ambitions and selfish passions beyond the grave as satanic emissaries. It is hardly surprising that such person's do not rest undisturbed in their graves after setting into motion such a malevolent force.FootnotesVampires possess facultatively anaerobic resuscitation, ie. they don't need to breathe.Plus cases of vampirism epidemics report that the coffins were squelching with very large amounts of fresh vermillion blood while the corpse itself was completely unharmed.In the 18th and 19th centuries cases of vampire outbreaks went wild. By that time most cemeteries had saftey coffins installed. If a person was buried prematurely all they had to do is ring th bell and and the entire town would come to dig them out. 3.a It is also important to note that many corpses were interred above ground in mausoleums. Why not just lift the damn lid?Even more interesting is the fact that the provocation for the corpse being dug up in the first place were sightings of said individual—ghastly in appearance—wandering around at night, in some cases even conversing with and ferally attacking innocent bystanders on the very streets, in some cases among crowds. A string of mysterious and unexplained deaths always followed.Or rather smeared (as though an attempt was made to wipe it or perhaps the mouth being pressed against the victim's wound) and also trickling at the same time.The only way this could happen would be if the blood was still pumping, if not heart circulation, then contractions of the skeletal muscles could be a possibility.Another explaination is that gas buildup in the body will cause it to shift and make gasping sounds when plunged with stake, making it appear to be alive. However I very highly doubt that “shift” means throes of death, and I also doubt that “gasping” refers to animalistic shrieks and hellish moans.When the demonic force is dispelled the corporeal shell will revert back to it's naturally decomposed state, the stage of which is dependent on the immediate environmental conditions of the moment, and how much time has elapsed while undead. 8.a Once has returned to earthly time, only then will will it cast a shadow, throw reflections, or indeed appear on film.…that nether region, the primordial plane of existence known as the demonic dimension. A place where time as we know it does not exist, rather what can be described as anti-time. The corporeal form is part reanimated ghoul and part demonic wraith.Further Reading:Vampires in ancient Jewish texts: What were they doing there?https://boredomtherapy.com/real-life-vampires/Dealing with the Undead: 5 Supposed Vampire Graves from Around the WorldExploring the Highgate Vampire CaseVampires: Fact, Fiction and FolkloreVampires: The Creatures of the Night - A Slideshow Presentation by Martin V. Riccardo - Dark ChicagoDamien Cowl's answer to What is the biology of a vampire?Vampires, Werewolves & the Metaphysics of LycanthropyEating Your Burial ShroudBeginningsCREATION OF THE VAMPIREHOW TO RECOGNIZE AND DESTROY THE VAMPIREAn illustration of a vampire epidemic.PLEASE ALSO FEEL FREE TO CHECK OUT THE COMMENTS SECTION:

I try not to share too much personal information on Quora, but I will answer this question with how I understand the term “spiritually awake”.I have spent a good portion of my life seeking enlightenment through various means: yoga spirituality, meditation, breath work, traditional religion and negation of a God belief. The times I thought I was spiritually awake, I feel I was blinded by the comfort I found in my eclectic views of life. I am now at a crossroads where I truly don’t know what I believe. I don’t know if there is a God. If such a being exists, I don’t know if that entity means humankind well or even gives us a second thought. I think people are lost and struggling. I am not speaking as a depressed person, but one who has given up all of my previous belief systems and now feel like I am how Ygritte describes John Snow: I know nothing.Apparently, that is the secret to enlightenment—one arrives empty and without any preconceptions. But here is the clinker: I don’t care. I don’t know, and I am not sure I want to know anymore. It is as though I spent my life chasing a paper tiger, and I have to come to terms with whether I was just deceiving myself that life has any more meaning other than what I attach to it.Enter the partner. I do have a life partner who I met in college and we have been together ever since we met. The relationship was not an easy one as he is an extremely complex man, way smarter than I am, who chose to take roads to wisdom that were not seen as traditional in my upbringing. He left home at 17 to go to the University of Chicago, then after one year, he dropped out to join the infantry in the Army because he loved America, he found out that his financial aide was disappearing, and he refused to go into debt. The army was the best thing that happened to him along with his subsequent return to college as an older student. My husband lost his father when he was young, also a soldier, and he felt that the army became his new father to teach him about manhood while the University of Chicago taught him how to think like a well rounded human being. So we were two complicated people with a lot of emotional baggage from our very different childhoods who found common ground with our inner sense of truth about the human condition. To this day, we have illuminating talks about the deepest recesses of life’s mysteries. Unlike me, he has a more established belief system. He sees himself as a non traditional Christian, unaffiliated with any church or political ideology.Enter the kids. I have a son. I would have liked more children, but it didn’t work out that way. We love our son, and feel that our best contribution to making the world a better place was devoting our time to raising him to be a fine young man. Having children, even one, means giving up on personal ambition. I might have gone farther in my career, but I made decisions to avoid certain pursuits as it interfered with my family life. My husband may have realized certain dreams that he chose not to pursue because of our familial responsibility. With children, there is sacrifice and it isn’t for everyone. Some people still find the great career success they want with a family. In my case, I have a good career with many possibilities still in front of me. But my time with my son mattered more to me, along with making sure he had two stable relationships in his life. That meant that my partner and me had to be ruthlessly honest with each other, and make sure the relationship worked. When it didn’t, we had to see what we had to do to change that if indeed we could make things better.I will say that in terms of spirituality, I can talk with my partner about my schismatic belief system, and he hears me. I like what he says about Jesus as I like the words in the gospels, but I will not call myself a Christian. I have no religious or spiritual identity. I have a sense that there is something bigger out there, and it is possible that it brought my partner to me along with my son and my lifetime career in education. I have great passion for what I do for a living, and a lot of people cannot say that so I’m grateful for that.I used to think things happened for a reason. I’m not sure anymore. I don’t know if some benevolent being smiled on me and decided to give me some tools to help me through this quagmire called life. I do know that when I look to the behavior of people, I am always disappointed. But I don’t have the confidence in myself to say: I have the answers right inside of me.I think partnership exists because some people feel stronger as two than as one. However, one can be lonely and feel spiritually bankrupt in a relationship. If one has children and doesn’t quite know what to do with them, that can add to a lot of misery. It is perfectly normal to have fears around having children, worrying whether you will be a decent parent. The fact that you ask this question means to me that you have enough concern about others to know the responsibilities.So I don’t know if my answer addresses your question well enough. I will say that I didn’t force religion on my son. We did the church thing for a while, but I walked out of a sermon that I found to be misguided and wrong, and I held my son’s hand as we left. He never went back. But it wasn’t out of some dislike for that religion; it was my way of saying that my child will not hear things I deem personally offensive and intellectually incorrect. Was that a spiritual decision? He has grown into a deep thinker who can debate almost any issue, prefers logic to emotion and wants people to be authentic. That may be spiritual or that may be a good way to live life.

What is “Worldview” and Why is it Important?Our belief system determines what we think is possible, and what we think is possible influences the results we create or allow in life.So what is this notion called “Worldview,” anyway?Worldview is just a term meaning how you interpret reality, or what you believe to be true.As far as I can tell, we each have one – and though it has been vastly influenced by the thoughts of those we read, watch or associate with, we each actually have a unique perspective on what is going on.Worldviews can and do change. In general, worldview has been most influenced by religion and science . If science teaches us that the planet is part of a closed system and the Earth is winding down, with limited resources and in time will simply use itself up, then a worldview of scarcity is likely to result. If science were to teach that the Universe is alive, and this planet is part of a living infinitely abundant universe –and that the energy winding down is matched by energy winding up, in a dynamic of expansion and contraction, that can be tapped in to cleanly and harmoniously to provide for all people everywhere, we are likely to believe that evolution is ongoing and there is plenty to go around.The key is that our belief system determines what we think is possible, and what we think is possible influences the results we create or allow in life. The interactions of all our individual worldviews shapes the condition of humanity and therefore, given our technologies, of planet Earth."Molecules awoke one morning to find that atoms were inside them, enfolded in their very being. And cells awoke one morning to find that molecules were actually inside them, as part of their very being. And you might awake one morning and find that nature is a part of you, literally internal to your being. You are not just a part of nature, nature is a part of you. And for just that reason, you treat nature as you would treat your lungs or your kidneys. A spontaneous environmental ethics surges forth from your heart, and you will never again look at a river, a leaf, a deer, a robin, in the same way."- Ken WilberIf you think that you are connected with all of life, you will be more apt to steward your environment with care and treat others with compassion."What our Seventh Generation will have is a consequence of our actions today"- Winona LaDuke, AnnishnabeIf you think that only your race or social class should rule, your behavior will most likely be very brutal."We shall have World Government whether or not we like it. The only question is whether World Government will be achieved by conquest or consent."– Paul Warburg, author of the Federal Reserve Act, speaking before the US SenateIf you believe the world is about to end in a giant apocalypse and only the followers of your religion will be saved, then a sound ecology and caring for others wouldn’t be likely to show up on your to-do list."How you imagine the world determines how you live in it."- David SuzukiIn our whole-systems thinking tool, the Sector Navigator, we have “Worldview” at the center because we each experience every aspect of our lives through the lens of our set of beliefs – our Worldview.So what creates a Worldview?Burning a finger on a hot stove informs our future behavior.Being told what to eat by our parents shapes our early diets.Being abused triggers avoidance and kindness engenders trust.Each moment’s experience gives us feedback for adjusting the our lens on life. On a larger scale, however, our beliefs are predominantly determined by those who control our access to information (media) and our social structures, (including schools), because these institutions dictate what beliefs and behaviors are rewarded and which are punished. My research has convinced me that the prevailing worldview of the 21st century, in which war is considered a viable or necessary means of problem solving, that starvation is inevitable for some people on this planet, and that it is right for some people to tax and control others against their will, is the result of well-organized elite who own the systems through which information and values are disseminated.Way back people got their beliefs from tribal leaders, then “royal” rulers, feudal lords, the Church, then the “State” (government) and then the corporations that control them and now the major banks who control the corporations who are in this position.At the top of that pyramid are a very few individuals, usually members of secret societies like the Council on Foreign Relations, the Round Table, The Royal Institute of International Affairs, The Bilderberg Group, the Trilateral Commission and others. They use the media, education, pharmaceutical and military pyramids they control to shape our thinking, and therefore our behavior – ideally through subtle mind manipulation, but, if necessary, through coercion and violence.It is vital to consider the motivation and funding sources of those who are shaping our worldview: news sources, role models, scientific and religious organizations, employers, schools etc.We are careening into a world of a few haves and billions of suffering have-nots. The Global Domination Agenda section of THRIVE and this site make the case that this is not an accident but an intentional plan. It’s hard to imagine the worldview of individuals who would actually spend their days planning the suffering or elimination of others, but it is critical to consider this if we want to protect one another, as well as our planetary home, and to turn the direction of humanity toward thriving.If you were intimidated as a child and taught that you were either going to be in control or be controlled, it would make some sense that you would choose control, and devote your life to getting and staying in charge over others. Unfortunately our political and economic systems reward this.How do I discover what my own Worldview is?I suggest you create a personal profile of your belief system with a list of questions something like this:Who am I?Do I have a body or does my consciousness arise from the combination of cells that is my body?Do “I” survive the death of my physical body?Should I believe what seems popular or strategic to believe, or can I truly think for myself and trust my direct experience?Am I part of a larger power or intelligence than me?If so, how do I relate to or communicate with it?Is it separate from me?What gives meaning to my existence?What is my purpose and the purpose of life?What is the nature of my connection with others?What does it mean to love and be loved?What do I need to be fulfilled?What are basic human rights?What is freedom?Should others be able to tell me what I can exchange, ingest, or do...or should I be able to decide these things for myself.Which is more primary in finding our way, the rights of the individual or the opinion of the majority about what’s “good for the group?”Is our reality bounded or open?Is the universe basically trustworthy or not?Is there such a thing as good and evil?What is integrity, and does it matter to the quality of life?What moves any one of us from one worldview to the next?My observation leads me to believe that human beings have an innate cost / benefit assessment tool operating all the time. Only when there is a sufficient combination of compelling evidence, emotional completion, and an adequate sense of future security do we let ourselves actually change our minds. And these have to outweigh the perceived cost of changing “who we thought we were.”I can’t overstate how thoroughly I see people identify themselves AS their belief systems. If someone thinks that what they have is who they are, and it goes away during a great depression, they might jump out a window. If they think they are their reputation and they have a setback or get slandered, they might decide life is not worth living. If they think they are their position in the power structure, and it is threatened, they might sell out their core values to keep their status. If they are scientists who have believed something all their lives and a more compelling argument or evidence challenges their theoretical foundation, they might become hostile or think they are going to die. This latter example I have witnessed first hand.Our era is intensifying the almost daily choice for each of us – faced with a moment of unknowing, a new challenge, do I:1) Try to look good, be “right” and keep my old self in tact, or do I...2) Allow true curiosity, open my mind and heart and go for what’s true, and for being more alive and thriving?"When an honest man discovers he is mistaken,He will either cease being mistaken,Or cease being honest."- AnonymousIn my research through the decades, I found a striking correlation among a sampling of humanity’s premier cosmologists and cultural historians regarding how ways of viewing the world developed over the millennia it took to get where we are today. They virtually all describe an octave of stages in the process of becoming a mature species living in harmony with our environment, and seem to independently agree that we are about in the middle of a whole process, facing a lethal challenge with a profound urge to survive and yet without any guarantee of success.Here’s a clip with a succinct summary of my findings in correlating the work of such consciousness researchers as Arthur Young, Duane Elgin, Ken Wilber, Ashok Gangadean, Clare Graves and Richard Barrett.Researcher Paul Ray has done international polling on so-called “Cultural Creatives” – people who actually shape their lives around values based on peace, justice and ecology. His polls now show the percentage of these people in the US to be around 35% of the population. That was then around 80 million adults. Similar percentages were seen in Europe and Japan.[1]Paul Hawken has reported over one million not-for-profit organizations worldwide that are self-created and working for peace, justice and a sustainable environment. He describes this as the largest leaderless spiritual movement in history.The universe is not an aggregate of objects, but a communion of subjects.- Thomas BerryLinguist George Lakoff describes the emerging shift from what he calls the “strict father” morality to a “nurturing” parent model."The strict father model begins with a set of assumptions:The world is a dangerous place and it always will be, because there is evil out there in the world.The world is also difficult because it is competitive.There will always be winners and losers.There is an absolute right and an absolute wrong.Children are born bad, in the sense that they just want to do what feels good, not what is right. Therefore, they have to be made good.What is needed in this kind of a world is a strong, strict father who can:Protect the family in the dangerous world,Support the family in the difficult world, andTeach his children right from wrong.What is required of the child is obedience, because the strict father is a moral authority who knows right from wrong. It is further assumed that the only way to teach kids obedience – that is, right from wrong – is through punishment, painful punishment, when they do wrong. This included hitting them,…and some recommend sticks, belts, and wooden paddles on the bare bottom… Without such punishment, the world will go to hell. There will be no morality.…Think for a minute about what this says about foreign policy. Suppose you are a real moral authority. As a moral authority, how do you deal with your children? Do you ask them what they should do or what you should do? No. You tell them. What the father says, the child does. No back talk. Communication is one-way. It is the same with the White house. That is, the president does not ask: the president tells. IF you are a moral authority you know what is right, you have power, and you use it. You would be immoral yourself if you abandoned your moral authority. Map this onto foreign policy and it says that you cannot give up sovereignty. The United States, being the best and the most powerful country in the world- a moral authority – knows the right thing to do. We should not be asking anybody else.…The “rational actor” metaphor.. is the basis of most international relations theory, and in turn it assumes another metaphor: that every nation is a person…there are adult nations and child nations, where adulthood is industrialization. The child nations are called “developing” nations or “underdeveloped” states. Those are the backward ones. And what should we do? If you are a strict father, you tell the children how to develop, tell them what rules they should follow, and punish them when they do wrong. That is, you operate using, say, the policies of the International Monetary Fund.The strict father worldview is so named because according to its own beliefs, the father is the head of the family.The nurturant parent worldview is gender neutral.Both parents are equally responsible for raising the children. The assumption is that children are born good and can be made better. The world can be a better place and our job is to work on that.Nurturance…means two things: empathy and responsibility. If you have a child, you have to know what every cry means. You have to know when the child is hungry, when he needs a diaper change, when he is having nightmares. And you have a responsibility – you have to take care of this child. Since you cannot take care of someone else if you are not taking care of yourself, you have to take care of yourself enough to be able to take care of the child.If you empathize with your child, you will provide protection,…you want your child to be fulfilled in life, to be a happy person. It is your moral responsibility to teach your child to be a happy, fulfilled person who wants others to be happy and fulfilled.There are still other nurturant values:…freedom, opportunity and prosperity, fairness, open two-way communication, community building, service to the community, and cooperation in a community, trust, honesty."- George Lakoff, Don’t Think of an Elephant)The Spiral Dynamics group predicts three possible futures for humanity at this time.A massive regression back to our stone-age beginnings if we fail to stabilize our world’s weapons and endangered resourcesA version of George Orwell’s 1984, embodied in forms of BLUE-ORANGE-GREEN tyrannical, manipulative governmentThe emergence of a Second Tier approach to business and society which would be fundamentally different from the one we know today, a holistic order of being focused on the good living of all entities as integrated systems.“When someone with crude moral development gets access to high level technology, that’s when you have the gravest danger.”- Ken Wilber, Kosmic Consciousness“Whether it is to be Utopia or Oblivion will be a touch-and-go relay race right up to the final moment… Humanity is in ‘final exam’ as to whether or not it qualifies for continuance in Universe.”- R. Buckminster Fuller, Critical PathFork in the RoadWe are at a critical crossroads where our information and our courage enables us to choose to create a thriving world based on protecting the rights of every individual or our recent trajectory of misinformation and confusion continues to lead us into a global police state - seeking daily permission to act from the dictators of a one-world tyranny.We outnumber the perpetrators of the agenda by over a million to one. They cannot control us unless they can control our minds. As we wake up, do our own thinking, connect with others and take action, humanity has what it takes to thrive.Now, as this website is launching across the world, the desperation and resentment of those calling themselves “the 99%” is merging with the groups identified by Hawken and Ray above the first truly global revolution is emerging.It does not have a leader. Each person’s inner guidance is leading, and we are finding ways – with the Internet, with hand signs, with daily council circles and a myriad of others to honor that.It does not yet have a clearly defined set of strategic goals. It is the result of the moral outrage against corruption, deceit, and brutality. It is fitting that people are finding how to mobilize based on everyone’s rights before getting too focused down, rather than just doing the next centralization of power into the hands of a few. The movement is naturally first seeking a core morality to guide the great turning of humanity away from the destructive practices in every field that have put the life of the planet and its species at mortal risk.“It is not enough just to become more conscious. It matters deeply what you become more conscious of.”- Neal RoginNew worldviews are struggling to be born that feel right with no reservation, and for which people can stand whole-heartedly.Please explore the Liberty section of this site for a deeper exploration of core ethical principles that can be our compass at this critical fork in the road in human history.It starts with the honoring of the intrinsic rights of each individual to the security of their own person, property and privacy, and to have just contracts honored. These are all rights that can merely be defended rather than having to be aggressively coerced.“We know we are not wise with our power when the effects of our actions are the opposite of our intent...We are not just threatening to end western civilization, - but the whole Cenozoic period 65 million years of evolution.Our sentience, our feelings of wonder and awe emerge out of the universe… These profound feelings are not just ours; they are the universe reflecting upon itself… To live is to enter this beauty, surrounded by enchantment, summoned by magnificence."We need to remember the universe, to study the cosmic story, the Earth story, the human story, until we know it in its essential forms... to know the story of life includes eating natural foods; to know the story of human civilizations means feeling the profound intuitions they achieved; and to know the story of the universe means to allow the great numinous past to come alive in your present being.What we eventually discover in our passionate remembering of the galactic, terrestrial, biological and human stories is that a study of the universe is a study of self.”- Brian Swimme (http://www.journeyoftheuniverse.org/)“Our crisis is a birth. We are one living system and we have come to the limit of one phase of natural growth on a finite planet. … We must learn ethical evolution quickly… As we seek to facilitate a gentle birth, a graceful and nonviolent transition to the next stage of our evolution, we will discover a natural pattern, a design of our birth transition, and develop a plan to cooperate with this design.”- Barbara Marx Hubbard“This is not a single-step process—that is at least a seven-step process! There are at least seven fulcrums, seven massive paradigm shifts, involved in getting you to a realization of this World Soul!But the essential point is that at these higher or transpersonal stages, the Spirit that was present throughout the entire evolutionary process becomes increasingly conscious of its own condition. It has gone from subconscious to self-conscious to superconscious, unfolding more of itself and enfolding more of itself at every stage. Spirit slumbers in nature, begins to awaken in mind, and finally recognizes itself as Spirit in the transpersonal domains—but it is the same Spirit present throughout the entire sequence: the ground, path and fruition of the whole display.With Spirit’s shocking Self-recognition, forms continue to arise and evolve, but the secret is out: they are all forms of emptiness in the universe of One Taste, endlessly transparent and utterly Divine.”- Ken Wilber, A Brief History of Everything“We all know the powerful addiction of money, power, career, and ego needs of every type. This momentum has kept suffering alive despite the enormous changes in human existence from age to age. Against this momentum the soul provides a means of solving every cause of pain:1. Ignorance of reality is solved by delving deeper into the mind. Awareness dives deeper than the material level to find its roots.2. Identification with ego is solved by learning to identify with these deeper levels.3. and 4. Attraction to outside objects—and repulsion from them—is solved by valuing the inner life above all.5. Fear of death is solved when the soul is experienced directly, since the soul is never born and never dies.As with the five causes of suffering, the five solutions all grow from the first one. If you explore the true nature of reality, all pain will eventually come to an end.”- Chopra, Deepak. How to Know God.The last thing we intend with Thrive is to have you take on, unquestioningly, a new set of beliefs. Our film and this ever-growing web portal are offerings to save you time gathering information, to encourage new types of questions, to nurture your own critical thinking and freedom from authority.“Everything we need is already here and we can access it by recognizing and acting from our oneness.”- Kimberly Gamble