A dream within a dream

How sure can we be about reality? Is what we' re living true or is it just a dream within another dream? At times I wonder and I try to define reality but then I'm lost because I simply cannot. After all everything is so subjective and never we will be in other people's shoes...

Maybe we are parts of a larger dream, probably puppets. Some one else is pulling our strings and we perform. All is an act, the world is a stage and we were chosen to participate in it though I cannot understand the reason why.

If we have a purpose probably it will be to find a way to survive and get out. But out where?

Tarot - Temperance

Basic Card Symbols

An angel (often female or genderless), a pool or river of water. Two cups or beakers, a fluid flowing between them.

Basic Tarot Story

Continuing on his spiritual path, the Fool begins to wonder how to reconcile the opposites that he's been facing: material and spiritual (which he hung between as the Hanged man), death and birth (the one leading into the other in the Death card). It is at this point that he comes upon a winged figure standing with one foot in a brook, the other on a rock. The radiant creature pours something from one flask into another. Drawing closer, the Fool sees that what is being poured from one flask is fire, while water flows from the other. The two are being blended together!

"How can you mix fire and water?" the Fool finally whispers. Never pausing the Angel answers, "You must have the right vessels and the right proportions." The Fool watches with wonder. "Can this be done with all opposites?" he asks. "Indeed," the Angel replies, "Any oppositions, fire and water, man and woman, thesis and anti-thesis, can be made to harmonize. It is only a lack of will, a disbelief in the possibility of unity, that keeps opposites, opposite." And that is when the Fool begins to understand that he is the one who is keeping his universe in twain, holding life/death, material world and spiritual world separate. In him, the two could merge, as in the vessels that the Angel uses to pour the elements, one to the other. All it takes, the Fool realizes, is the right proportions....and the right vessel.

Basic Tarot Meaning

It is hard, at first, to see where Sagittarius, the ruling sign of this card, fits in. Sagittarius is an expansive sign and Temperance is, on a surface level, about "tempering." Butler points out that the original pouring from cup to cup might have been about cutting wine with water. So this is a card about moderation. There is, however, another angle to the card, that of merging seemingly impossible opposites. Sagittarius, the centaur, merges beast and man into a unique creature. And then there is the bow and arrow, one moving, one stationary, working together to point the way. Temperance may be, at first glance, a warning to the Querent to "temper" their behavior, to cut their wine with water. But it may also be a reminder to the Querent that seemingly irreconcilable opposites may not be irreconcilable at all. Belief that fiery red and watery blue cannot be merged may be the only thing standing in the way of blending the two. Change the belief, measure out each with care, and you can create otherworldly violet.

Thirteen's Observations

This is one of the hardest cards to interpret. I think, perhaps, Crowley is most helpful in understanding it, as he calls the card: "alchemy." It sometimes works best for me to imagine the Angel wearing a lab coat and very carefully pouring measured amounts of colored liquids into beakers rather than cups.

This card really does seem to be less about moderation then about the Sagittarian desire to find a unified field theory, a way of blending opposites, achieving synthesis. In a reading, this card can mean that the Querent sees two opposite camps (choices, belief systems, families, friends) and no way to unite them. But sometimes the only reason the two won't blend is that we're not taking the time, not measuring out the right amounts (the Querent might, for example, be trying to merge two full families when blending has to occur bit by bit with individuals). It is also a reminder that a bow and arrow are useless apart, but together a formidable weapon. This card tells the Querent that they CAN and should put thesis and anti-thesis together to get the even more useful synthesis. But it will take time, care, patience and experimentation. And also, yes, moderation.

source: http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/

If only you let me love you

Sometimes love and happiness are so close to us but we intentionally have our eyes closed and we keep them away. Oh, how great everything would be if you just opened your eyes, if you stopped being blind, if you let me show you the way... You say that you want to be loved, why don't you just open your soul? Stop searching for endless chimeras, love is in the air you breathe when you are close to me...

What are we but lonely souls keep searching for a port? What are we but lonely planets trying to find an orbit?

Things that will remain unsaid

"There are things you should know
The distance between us seems to grow
But you're holding on strong
Oh how hard it is to let go, oh so hard to let go"

There are things that we wish we could have said, but we cannot; things that are destined to remain unsaid; things that we will take into our grave or at least we try to. But how strong do we need to be as not to express them? How easy is this? How painful it can be?

And I wonder how honest is this? For how long can we pretend being something that we are not. Sometimes it seems that we have no other choice 'cause if we show our true self everything will collapse. And this is a great dilemma. Losing what you love the most or hurting every day being someone else?

They Live Among Us

Marc Berry: Susan walked down the quiet avenue, wisps of fog swirling around her feet. No stranger to the lonely street, she was accustomed to its twists and turns as she shook off the stresses of her hectic work day. What she could not shake off so easily was the unaccustomed sense that she was not alone. Perhaps it was something in the way the mist seemed to cling to her feet, or the damp chill that so easily penetrated the light coat she wore. Or perhaps she really wasn't alone after all. The stranger stood, unmoving, in the middle of the street just ahead of Susan, the fog coiling around him like a lover's seduction. Where he had come from, why she hadn't seen him before, were questions that Susan couldn't think to ask, as she stared at the nightmare vision before her. His clothes, so black that they seemed to be more of an absence of light than a colour, made it appear as though his his head rode a wave of moonless night. His skin was as pale and cold as the mists that swirled around him, his face a mask of chilled beauty that was hypnotic in its inhumanity.

Vampire: the word conjures up visions of pale monsters who walk in the guise of man, endlessly searching for their next victim. In the modern incarnation, the vampire is one who drains away a person's vitality and life force, leaving his victim listless, tired, and drained of energy. We refer to them as psychic vampires, but they are no less frightening as the blood suckers of legend. But are all psychic vampires as evil as we want to believe?

There are a great variety of psychic vampires, but they all share one thing in common: a need for life force. For some reason they are unable to produce or maintain sufficient levels of this energy to sustain themselves. Some are aware of their condition, others are not, but they all need to replenish their energy from exterior sources. Energy sources range from the environment, to living creatures, to specific emotions such as fear or love.

There are deliberate vampires, who, in order to increase their lifespan, and maintain a healthy quality of life, have deliberately cultivated the ability to steal life force from others. These predators most closely resemble the monsters that we think them to be, and are to be avoided wherever possible. There are unintentional vampires, who are not consciously aware of their need. They manifest as parasitic individuals, drama queens, and the like, who's draining effects are generally mild unless one is exposed to them for an extended period of time.

There also exists in our society a third category of vampire: the self acknowledged vampire. These people know that they have a deficiency in their energy body that needs to be regularly replenished. While some of them adopt a "goth" lifestyle, complete with hair, makeup, and clothing, many of them are normal people with normal lives. They are construction workers and secretaries, brothers and sisters, friends and co-workers. They are you and me.

Most of them follow a code of ethics that precludes predatory feeding, preferring to find a donor instead of a victim. If they do not reveal themselves to you, you might never know who or what they are. Many belong to a vampire organization, called a house, though some prefer not to affiliate themselves with any particular group. If it were not for the vampire aspect of their lives, they would be indistinguishable from everybody else.

What makes them need life force? Why do they have a deficiency in their energy systems? It could be similar to models of weight loss and gain. There are some individuals who are thin, and are healthy that way. Then there are other individuals who are skinny and not healthy that way; they require supplements to balance their system and so raise their weight up to healthy levels. So it might also be with energy feeders: some may be perfectly healthy operating on less energy, while the same lessened energy levels in an other would be insufficient to maintain their lives. That situation could be an indicator that the individuals are missing a frequency set that they either cannot retain or manufacture. These individuals could be made healthy by replacing the frequency or harmonic set from external sources, which is where the energetic individuals would come in. Those who are healthy have, or can create, the energies they need for life, whether those needs be great or small.

I wonder if the psychic vampire are not a precursor to man's next evolutionary phase? Consider this: in our society we have psychic vampires, and we have people diagnosed as hyperactive, one of the key symptoms of which is an uncontrolled overabundance of energy. What if the latter could function as an energy source for the former? What if, through subsequent development, the "vampire" could, in addition to feeding, take a group's excess energy, and direct it toward a useful end, rather like the components of a flashlight? The group would provide the power, and the vampire would direct the energy to produce light?

It is widely held belief that mankind is moving toward a more enlightened age, one of spiritual awareness, and psychic ability. Many vampires believe that they have inherent psychic abilities, and indeed is a requirement for energetic feeding. Perhaps these abilities are an extension of an overall ability to harness life energy, and direct it to the betterment of mankind.

It is clear that we, as a species, are moving on in our overall development. We are developing a world consciousness, an awareness that we are all connected. An increasing number of people are manifesting abilities once relegated to the realm of the mystic. In the larger group, everybody has a role to play. Perhaps some are energy sources, and others are directors of that energy, while still others are healers and builders, with each individual helping to maintain the overall organism that is man.

Whatever you choose to believe, believe this: there are vampires in your life. Right now, and possibly closer than you think. While some are predatory or parasitic in nature, there are many more who are just trying to live. When I have a deficiency in my systems, I seek to correct it, just as they do. The majority of them are not out to harm you. They just want to live a good life, the same as you and I.

MBerry is co-founder of NewBranes.com, a blog covering all aspects of the paranormal.
His ultimate long term goal is to discover the General Unified Theory of Everything Weird.

Article Copyright© Marc Berry

source: unexplained-mysteries.com

Anne Rice - the Creator of the Vampire Chronicles

Anne Rice was born and raised in New Orleans, and uses the city in many of her novels. Her mother died when she was young, and her first child died at the age of five from leukemia in 1972. She has another child with her husband Stan, of 34 years. Her husband Stan was poet and painter and died in 2002. Some of his work can be found in Queen of the Damned. Anne has a Master of Arts in creative writing from San Francisco State University. Interview with the Vampire was her first novel, published in 1976.

In an interview with Larry King after the release of Memnoch the Devil, Rice explained her fascination with vampires. She said that the vampires were a vehicle for her to explore her own views on life, good, evil, and religion. The vampires are a natural metaphor for people because of their affluence, powers, and greed. Lestat, the main vampire in the chronicles, is described as Rice's bad-self, questioning the boundaries of good and evil, and helping her to overcome her anxiety. When she first began the series she compared herself to Louis, a weak and overly sensitive vampire, but as time passed and the series grew she saw some changes in her own feelings and came to relate with the character of Lestat.

Lestat . . . it's hard to describe Lestat. Lestat, in a way, is my whole life, because even when I'm not writing about Lestat, I'm looking at the world through Lestat's eyes, and it's Lestat who has made me a world traveler. Lestat who's transported me out of myself, and my preoccupation with my limitations, both physical and spiritual. Lestat is more than just a created character to me. He is a symbol of some kind of freedom and dominance, and yet I never kid myself about his evil. He represents the ruthless side in us, but he's part of my thoughts night and day. And, part of my conversation night and day, I suppose. Almost everything I see, I ask myself "What would Lestat think of this . . . how would Lestat react to this," so I would say that he is the other half of me, but he is the male ruthless half of me that, thank God, does not exist, except in fiction.

Anne Rice's vampires have created a cult following. The wide variety of web sites and information available about these characters is a good indication of their popularity. People are looking for something to follow, someone to admire, and many have associated these feelings with the vampire Lestat. He offers a way for people to explore deep questions and to live on the edge of life, without actually taking the risk themselves. Lestat experiences many things that mortals have experienced and he continues to live on. It gives us all hope that we will one day reach a place of contented bliss, even though Lestat never reaches it himself. Many people are fascinated with the idea of immortality. Often people say they would like to live forever, but it is also comforting to know that it will never happen. I think this is also a way of exploring our own beliefs about death and the afterlife.

Rice's style is appealing because it is easy to read and very descriptive. The images appear in your mind as you read. The simplicity combined with the sometimes complex emotions creates a book for the masses that is easily adapted into a cult following. Rice offers answers to reader's questions at one of her web sites. These give some insight into her own views on why the books have gained so much popularity.

"Why do you think that your fans are so attracted to the concept of tormented immortality?"
-- Frank Joseph D. from California

Rice answered:

"Well, I think we all want to be immortal. We all want to be immortal, yet we're all relieved that there is the possibility of death...that suffering would not be eternal. We can conceive of the eternal, but we really don't have to put up with it, and it's an idea...an idea planted in our minds with consciousness, and we don't know what to make of it all. We don't know what to make of the fact that we can conceive of being immortal, and yet we're not immortal."

"The thing that I find more often than not, is that there is a part of almost all those characters in us, either at previous stages of our lives, or right now, and that would be to me the explanation as to why so many people, from so many different backgrounds, have taken THE VAMPIRE CHRONICLES, and given these vampires a special place in their hearts."
-- Luke C. from Australia

Rice answered:

"Well, I really treasure your comment. I think that if any literature or any story telling is going to have value, what you say has to be true the characters have to have hearts of human beings in them, they have to have deeply human traits. The author has to be telling everything that he or she knows about human beings, and so there must be levels and levels of truth, and I hope my books live up to that."

"Why does everyone connect so much with Lestat? Why do I catch myself still thinking about him, over a year after I read the books?"
-- Beary L. from Ontario

Rice answered:

"I wish I knew. I know I, myself, identify completely with Lestat. I can say Lestat is my other self, he's my male self. He and I travel together. He does the things I wish I could do, but can't. I love the fact that people identify with him. I worked very hard, and at the same time, it was a great joy to get a very intimate voice in the Lestat books. Lestat really sounds like he's sitting at the table, talking to you, because that's the way I feel about him when I'm writing--that he's right there, telling me the story, leaning over my shoulder, telling me to get it right, pointing out things I should change, breathing down my neck, doing everything but biting me! Which he wouldn't dare!"

source: http://www.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/rice.bio.html