Infinite Oneness And Limitless Freedom

While I was away, last week, I picked up a free advertising magazine, The Oracle, in Glastonbury. It was mostly adverts for therapies, retreats, herbs, massage, shiatsu, acupuncture and so on. There was, however, an article, that may appeal to some readers.

Well how about entertaining this notion? When we sleep, we drop the density and leave our physical bodies, refocussing in the higher dimensions of our Divinity!

Just like the pre-birth state, we are aware of ourselves in infinite oneness and limitless freedom. When we return to our physical vehicles in the morning, we arrive back in our lives, nourished and cleansed, without the inconvenience of infant-hood and teens to go through! It is a daily rebirth and if it wasn't so ordinary and reliable for most of us, we might recognise what a powerful opportunity it is to enjoy the reset.

That time just after awakening is such a potent time to choose what story line you choose to live. If you reach for enjoyable thoughts, revel in your quiet time, breathe light, colour, grace or peace into your cells before attempting to find your place in your story, then you will set yourself off to a good start. 

When times have been tough, reaching for simple and general appreciations will serve you best, like enjoying your breath, the warmth of the bed, the dawn light creeping in ... if you feel good enough sit up and write in a journal your aims of your day ... I welcome ... I call in more ... I am ready for ...

Simply put, if it feels good, then your attitude, thoughts and choices will lead you into more good ... only by bringing loving attention to ourselves can we course correct towards our pleasure and well being.

Source: The Oracle March 2016.

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Healing Ways With Our Hands

Quite a few years ago I came across stories about a Hungarian medium called Estebany. He interested me because he was said to have healing powers, and these has been tested in various experiments. By 'chance' I stumbled upon him again, where he was described as a Hungarian refugee named Oskar Estebany.

One of the experiments with Estebany was with mice, which were given small skin wounds. He held the injured mice in his cupped hands for twenty minutes at a time, twice a day.

As a comparison, students handled another group of mice for the same length of time, and a third group of mice were not handled at all.

The group of mice held by Estebany healed significantly faster than the other groups.

He also undertook experiments with plants. Barley seeds were soaked in salty water to weaken them, then baked gently for long enough to injure them further. When the seeds were planted, it was found that those which had been soaked in salt water from a bottle which had been handled by Estebany grew much more vigorously than the other plants.

If a healer could stimulate growth, it was wondered if some people might have the reverse effect.

The experiment was repeated with a psychologically normal person and two patients suffering from depression handling the bottles. Seeds soaked in water from the bottles held by the depressed patients grew poorly, compared to the other seeds.

It was also found that if Estebany place his hands on hospitalised patients it would increase their red blood cell count.

Many similar experiments are often said to have succeeded because of suggestion or the placebo effect, but this doesn't appear to have been the case with Estebany.

After I had read about Estebany again I thought I would do a simple experiment on myself. For some reason a wart had started to grow on the knuckle of my right hand. It had been there for several months, I decided to rub it with a finger from my left hand every night before going to bed. As I was doing so I told the wart to go away.

Within four days the wart had completely disappeared and hasn't returned, there is no scar or mark left on my knuckle.

Makes you wonder the powers we may have within ourselves.

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The Psychic Surgeon Who Channels St.Paul

I think the first time I heard about psychic surgeons was with the case of Arigo or, to give him his real name, Jose Pedro de Freitas from Brazil. I published a post about him 2010.

Arigo 'operated' using only a pair of nail scissors and rusty penknife. While doing so he remained in a trance like state. He never used antiseptics or anaesthetics. It is said that, when he was once shown a film of himself operating, he fainted.

Okay, Arigo is a figure from the past - he was at his height in the late 1950s - but there are still psychic surgeons today. I was reading about a current healer, Ray Brown, in a Daily Mail article.

Arigo claimed that he channelled a German physicist called Dr Fritz, who guided his surgery. Ray Brown, however, seems to have more influence as he says his spirit guide is none other than St.Paul.

But lets not write this off as fake because their surgery does seem to work for some people. Take the case of Cynthia Knapp for example.

Cynthia, from Worthing, England reckons 'a miracle' happened following treatment by Ray Brown / St.Paul. She had been virtually immobilised by rheumatoid arthritis. Her pain was so great that sometimes she had difficulty in hobbling the short distance from her bedroom to the bathroom. Today her pain has gone and she is now able to go to the park with her grandchildren.

Cynthia told the Daily Mail, "I'd never been interested in anything New Age previously - I'm a born sceptic. But by that stage, I was willing to try anything. I'd had years of anti-rheumatic drugs on the NHS [National Health Service]. The pain in my back was excruciating. I had nothing to lose."

When she saw Brown he was already in a trance, so she explained her disease and discomfort. He then laid his hands on her neck and back, through her clothes. Cynthia then described what happened next:

"He told me a lot of my pain was caused by trapped nerves. He massaged and manipulated the particularly painful areas to release them which, I must admit, hurt a lot. After the first session, I felt sore for a couple of days, but then the pain in my neck and back disappeared. It was absolutely wonderful. Now, I go every month for a top-up session to keep me mobile and energetic."

I'd better add here that Ray Brown charges for his services.

Many will say what is happening in cases like this is purely the placebo effect. Dr Mike Eslea of the University of Central Lancashire comments:

"It's relative easy to manipulate people's perceptions of the levels of pain they're experiencing. When they believe a treatment will lessen their pain, it often does - it's the placebo effect, which can be positive if it encourages people to relax and give their bodies a chance to heal.

But when there's an objectively measurably problem, such as a tumour. they won't shrink it. They can only work with our mood."

But another person, Pat Phoenix, would probably disagree with this. She went to see another psychic surgeon, Vincent Fuller. She claims her symptoms of fibromyalgia, where she had chronic pain all over her body, disappeared. This is her story:

"I was absolutely desperate. The pain in my joints was indescribable. My doctor couldn't do anything beyond giving me strong painkillers. When a friend told me about psychic surgery, I found Vincent online and asked him if he'd come to Wales [where she lives in Wrexham].

I couldn't see Vincent because I was lying on my front, but his voice changed and took on a Spanish accent. He put his hands on my head, spine and legs.

He only touched me gently, but it felt as if something shifted inside - like when you are pregnant and can feel the baby moving in your womb. It felt peculiar, but not painful.

At first, I felt awful. My limbs ached and my joints hurt. But, three days later, I felt amazing. My pain disappeared and hasn't returned since. I've done more walking in the past month than in the past three years."

Going back to the first example Cynthia says about the sceptics: "I don't care what people think - as far as I'm concerned, it's magic. I may not know how it works, but I'm living proof that it can."

I'm not recommending psychic surgery, as I have no personal experience, but we mustn't just write something off because it sounds different. It may simply be a placebo effect, but does this really matter if it makes the pain ease?

There are more testimonials on Paul Brown's website here.

It's up to the individual to form his or her own opinion regarding psychic surgeons and other alternative treatments.

Other Posts:
The Psychic Surgeon Arigo
The Ten Secrets To Living A Long Healthy Life
The Size Of Your Telomeres Really Does Matter If You Want A Longer LIfe

Top Ten Posts For February On 67 Not Out

So, that's two months gone of 2014, time flies. Here are the Top 10 most viewed posts for February on 67 Not Out. Some old favourites are still getting lots of visits, but there are a few new intruders - including, surprisingly, at number one.

1. A Sighting Of The Bank Of England Black Nun Ghost
I was on a short visit to London and was walking alone in the late evening along Threadneedle Street, near to where the Bank of England is positioned. Suddenly, without warning, this lady was walking towards me, I don't know where she had appeared ... Read full story.

2. Photo Taken Of Father Showed His Missing Daughter
Michael Dick hadn't seen his daughter, Lisa, for over 10 years. This was since he had separated from his first wife. Determined to make contact with her again Michael travelled to ... Read full story.

3. The Ghost Who Chased A Thief
A few years back, before I lived with my partner, I was living at home with my parents for the summer after University. They were going away on holiday and left me with the responsibility of looking after the house. I didn't mind being alone but I asked a girlfriend to stay over ... Red full story

4. The White Dove As A Messenger Of The Dead
This white dove would not move to let me by. I made noises, waved my hand, stared at the dove - nothing happened. Finally I went in the back door of my house. I looked out the window and this one lone white dove was still on the front steps at 4pm and 5pm and 6pm. At 7pm that night I received an urgent phone call ... Read full story.

5. The Mysterious Skull With The Golden Wreath Of Protection
I photographed this skull with a gold wreath while in Crete. It was discovered while excavations were taking place and is believed to have been that of an athlete. In the second large photo below a coin is also shown which was found inside the skull's mouth. This is a silver tetradrachm ... Read full story.

6. The Meaning Of White Feathers As Messages From The Dead
By white feathers I mean how they can often be found following a loved ones death. This has certainly been my own experience. I lost three people close to me in a short period of time ... Read full story

7. Top 10 Coincidence And Synchronicity Stories
The following are the Top 10 Coincidence and Synchronicity Stories over the last year - based on the number of readers (hits) each has received ... Read full story.

8. The Unusual Contact With Her Dead Mother
My mother broke her hip quite badly following a fall and we thought it best that she move in with my husband and I. As she couldn't walk she passed the time watching television, but most of all she loved to knit. In fact she never seemed to stop even for her favourite TV soap. She knitted gloves ... Read full story.

9. The Ten Secrets To Living A Long Healthy Life
It's a story about a Greek war veteran, Stamatis Moraitis, who was living in Florida, USA when, in 1976, he was diagnosed with lung cancer. He recalls that several doctors confirmed the diagnosis and gave him only nine months ... Read full story.

10. The Mysterious Shell Creatures On Cornish Beach
I snapped the above photo on Sunday and I'm wondering what it is - erm, not what it might look like as Karin has already made one suggestion, which I'll ignore! We went to Pentewan Beach, Cornwall to see if there had been any storm damage ... Read full story.

The Ten Secrets To Living A Long Healthy Life

I was reading a seven page article from the New York Times archives titled The Island Where People Forget to Die.

It's a story about a Greek war veteran, Stamatis Moraitis, who was living in Florida, USA when, in 1976, he was diagnosed with lung cancer. He recalls that several doctors confirmed the diagnosis and gave him only nine months to live.

As he was in his 60s he rejected any aggressive cancer treatment and decided he would prefer to die on the Greek island of Ikaria so that he could be buried. along with his ancestors. overlooking the Aegean Sea.

To cut a long article short he is still alive today and is in his late 90s - or rather I should say he was in 2012, for that is when the NY Times article was written.

As for the cancer Stamatis says that it 'just went away'.

He told the reporter, "I actually went back to America about 25 years after moving here [to Ikaria] to see if the doctors could explain it to me."

The reporter asked him, "What happened?"

He replied, "My doctors were all dead."

What interested me in this story is the fact that the island of Ikaria is famed for it's residents living a long time.

The University of Athens did a study on this and came to the conclusion that people on Ikaria were reaching the age of 90 at two and a half times the rate Americans do. (Ikarian men in particular are nearly four times as likely as their American counterparts to reach 90, often in better health.) But more than that, they were also living about 8 to 10 years longer.

So what makes Ikaria so different?

It's appears to be down to their way of life and not any one thing in particular.

As an example of this Dr. Ilias Leriadis, an Ikarian physicians, tells of how :

"People stay up late here. We wake up late and always take naps. I don’t even open my office until 11 a.m. because no one comes before then. Have you noticed that no one wears a watch here? No clock is working correctly. When you invite someone to lunch, they might come at 10 a.m. or 6 p.m. We simply don’t care about the clock here."

Okay, that's quite simplistic but so is the life on Ikaria. Going through what I have read on the subject there are 10 important aspects of their lives that helps them live longer - and maybe even overcome diseases.

1. Faith

With the case of Stamatis Moraitis he reconnected with his faith. As soon as he was able, on Sunday mornings, he would hobble up the hill to the tiny Greek Orthodox chapel where his grandfather once served as a priest.

This may seem a small change but all of the elements of the Ikarian way of life have to be combined. I found a story in the Telegraph where research into liver transplant patients found those who were actively seeking God had a better survival rate than those who did not hold religious beliefs - regardless of which faith they held.

2. Friends and Community
 When his childhood friends discovered Stamatis had moved back to the island, they started showing up every afternoon. They’d talk for hours, an activity that invariably involved a bottle or two of locally produced wine.

As he gradually felt better in the evenings he would often walk to the local tavern, where he played dominoes and talked with his friends until past midnight.

I'm told that there is no Greek word for privacy. They say that 'When everyone knows everyone else's business, you get a feeling of connection and security.'

Compare this way of life to all of the lonely people - especially as they get older - in much of the western world. Some people don't even know their neighbours.

There's a BBC article about how friends help people to live longer. They write, "Good friends promise to be there for you, and their presence can actually help you live longer."

3. Time

As Dr. Ilias Leriadis has said - see above - "No clock is working correctly. When you invite someone to lunch, they might come at 10 a.m. or 6 p.m. We simply don’t care about the clock here."

Now this is something many working people in the UK, USA and so on will say they couldn't possibly follow, other than on holidays or vacations. But, when you think about it, watching the clock and being time bounded causes stress, whether we realise this or not.

Personally I don't get up with the clock. I get up when I wake up. I accept though that I'm lucky to be able to do this.

4. Nature
It seems we have to get back to being one with nature - growing our own food, walking in the woods, along beaches and up in the mountains.

When Stamatis began to feel better he started planting some vegetables in the garden, even though he didn’t expect to live to harvest them. But he did continue to live and reaped his crops. Feeling emboldened he went on to clean up and care for the family vineyard as well.

The Science Daily website suggests that adults tend to live longer if their homes are near a park or other green space - and this is regardless of their social or economic status.

Once he had regained his health Stamatis woke up when he felt like it, worked in the vineyards until mid afternoon, made himself lunch and then took a long nap.

5. Napping
This is what many Mediterranean countries do when the sun is at it's hottest. The Spanish call this a siesta. It has been shown that occasional napping was associated with a 12 percent reduction in the risk of coronary heart disease, but that regular napping - at least three days weekly - was associated with a 37 percent reduction.

There's an article on the Daily Mail about how taking a catnap helps you live longer.

Nature & Walking in the Austrian Alps

6. Walking
This is something I very much believe in and try to do every day without fail. Karin and I also love walking holidays in, say, the Austrian Alps.

As far as the the Ikarian people are concerned, if they go to church, if they go to their friends' house it always occasions a walk - which, it is said, burns more calories than going to a gym for 20 minutes a day.

The Guradian write about 'taking your brain for a walk.' It's supposedly the secret to delaying dementia Regular brisk walking, three times a week, increases the size of brain regions linked to planning and memory.

Also see Want to Live Longer? Start Walking

7. Diet
The typical Ikarian diet for Stamatis was a breakfast of goat's milk, wine, sage tea or coffee, honey and bread. Lunch was almost always beans (lentils, garbanzos), potatoes, greens (fennel, dandelion or a spinachlike green called horta) and whatever seasonal vegetables their garden produced; dinner was bread and goat’s milk.

Dr. Antonia Trichopoulou of the University of Athens, an expert on the Mediterranean diet, describes the Ikarians' diet as being, like that of others around the Mediterranean, rich in olive oil and vegetables, low in dairy (except goat's milk) and meat products, and also included moderate amounts of alcohol. It emphasized homegrown potatoes, beans (garbanzo, black-eyed peas and lentils), wild greens and locally produced goat milk and honey.

A study by Dr. Christina Chrysohoou, a cardiologist at the University of Athens School of Medicine found that her subjects consumed about six times as many beans a day as Americans, ate fish twice a week and meat five times a month, drank on average two to three cups of coffee a day and took in about a quarter as much refined sugar - the elderly did not like soda. She also discovered they were consuming high levels of olive oil along with two to four glasses of wine a day.

Much has been written about the Mediterranean Diet. See: How to Follow the Mediterranean Diet and on Wikipedia Mediterranean Diet.

8. Wine
The reporter of the New York Times tells of how: "Just after sunset, after we returned to their home to have some tea, another old couple walked in, carrying a glass amphora of home made wine. The four nonagenarians cheek-kissed one another heartily and settled in around the table. They gossiped, drank wine and occasionally erupted into laughter."

The Daily Mail has an article 'Miracle ingredient' in red wine could help people live longer and more energetic lives.

9. Herb Teas
 Herb Teas made from dried herbs endemic to the island, are enjoyed as an end-of-the-day cocktail.

These may be made from wild marjoram, sage (flaskomilia), a type of mint tea (fliskouni), rosemary and also a drink made from boiling dandelion leaves and adding a little lemon.

Many herbs also contain mild diuretics and doctors often use diuretics to treat hypertension. There is a possibility that perhaps, by drinking tea nightly, Ikarians have gently lowered their blood pressure throughout their lives.

10. Sunshine

Something we don't have enough of here in the UK. But sunshine makes you feel good. I remember a booklet I once read about the Secrets Of Immortality. The first requirement, or secret, was to choose to live in a warm climate. It stated that this was how the ancients achieved longevity i.e the likes of Methuselah living close to a thousand years. But a more reliable article is in the Telegraph Sunshine 'can help you live longer by cutting risk of heart disease and diabetes'

I know I said there were 10 but here's one more:

11. Sex
In a study by  the University of Athens on Ikarian men between 65 and 100 they found that 80 percent of them claimed to have sex regularly, and a quarter of that self-reported group said they were doing so with 'good duration' and 'achievement.' Enough said.

You could also say there are two more requirements. In the 17th century, Joseph Georgirenes, the bishop of Ikaria, described its residents as proud people who slept on the ground. "The most commendable thing on this island," he wrote, "is their air (12) and water (13), both so healthful that people are very long-lived, it being an ordinary thing to see persons in it of 100 years of age."

From what I have read these are the ten, twelve or thirteen  essentials to the Ikarian way of life and may well be the reasons why residents tend to live longer than those of the USA and the UK. It's only an opinion, of course.

P.S. I'd better also add that I am not suggesting that anyone should forgo medical treatment for cancer or any other illness.

Other Healthy Posts:
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The Formula For A Healthier Sexier Life

The Size Of Your Telomeres Really Does Matter If You Want A Longer LIfe

It seems that living longer may at least partly be down to increasing the length of our telomeres.

There has been a study on the effect of healthy living on lengths of DNA called telomeres - tiny caps on the ends of chromosomes that protect against the ageing process.

These are likened to the tips of shoelaces which prevent fraying. Telomeres keep chromosomes stable and prevent deterioration when cells containing them divide.

Telomeres shorten as we age and this is associated with a risk of an early death and being vulnerable to things such as cancer, diabetes and dementia.

Longer telomeres are a sign of being biologically younger.

So, the theory is, if we can lengthen our telomeres we can improve our lifespan - and perhaps considerably.

All well and good but how can we do this?

It seems one of the answers is a healthy lifestyle.

There has been a study published in the Lancet Oncology. Two groups of men, with similar health issues were studied. One group of 25 continued with their same lifestyle while the other 25 had to make considerable lifestyle changes. Their diet was switched to one high in plant proteins, fruits, vegetables and refined grains while low in fat and processed carbohydrates.

They were also taught stress reduction techniques such as yoga and meditation and also took the right levels of exercise: such as walking for 30 minutes, six days a week.

After five years blood tests showed that the telomeres in this group had lengthened by an average of 10%.

Unfortunately in the group, where the men carried on with their same lifestyle, their telomeres were found to have shortened by and average of 3%.

The leader leader of the study, Professor Dean Ornish is quoted as saying, "If validated by large-scale randomised controlled trials, these comprehensive lifestyle changes may significantly reduce the risk of a wide variety of diseases and pre-mature mortality.  Our genes, and our telomeres, are a predisposition, but they are not necessarily our fate."

I suppose that underneath we all know that a healthy, stress free lifestyle will help us combat diseases and may well lengthen our lives - but now we know that with our telomeres size really does matter.

I also read on Wikipedia:

"Advocates of human life extension promote the idea of lengthening the telomeres in certain cells through temporary activation of telomerase (by drugs), or possibly permanently by gene therapy. They reason that this would extend human life because it would extend the Hayflick limit. So far these ideas have not been proven in humans, but it has been demonstrated that telomere extension has successfully reversed some signs of ageing in laboratory mice and the nematode worm species Caenorhabditis elegans."

Other Health Posts:
Is Karma The Cause Of Ill Health
The Formula For A Healthier Sexier Life
How To Find Success With Self Hypnosis

A Travel Blackout To Cure And Improve Our Tomorrows

I have been away in Mallorca for the last sixteen days on holiday. During this period I had a complete news blackout - no computers, television, newspapers, phones and so on. At the time of writing this post (Monday) I have no idea if the USA has sent missiles hurtling in the direction of Syria; how many goals England beat Moldova by, in their World Cup qualifying match (I presume they won); if any so called celebrity has done something outrageous, purely to get themselves in the public eye. I don't know if ... well, so may things I would normally have heard about in the media but - guess what?

The strange thing is that the world has carried on without me knowing any of this. I don't actually need to fill my head with a lot of this garbage.

Here's another strange thing. I don't want to harp on about a health problem I had last year, but I will a little. Following surgery, nearly a year ago, I have had continued aches and pains on and off, though doctors and consultants say I'm okay. Within two days of being in Mallorca these aches and pains disappeared.

You can probably see where I'm going with this. I'm not saying that the aches were the fault of the news media but there is something to be said for that old adage ignorance is bliss. What we don't know about doesn't affect us.

Another strange thing. I took some books to read while away and one of these was The Zahir* by Paulo Coelho, and I'm not sure why I did. I have never thought much of Coelho's books or what all the fuss was about The Alchemist. I thought it very overrated.

Despite this I felt compelled to read The Zahir first and found that the main character in the book said very much what I had been thinking:

"I didn't turn on the TV to watch the late-night news, because the news was exactly the same news I used to listen to as a child: one country threatening another country, someone had betrayed someone else, the economy was going badly, some grand passion had come to an end, Israel and Palestine had failed to reach an agreement, another bomb had exploded, a hurricane had left thousands of people homeless."

And isn't that the truth. As I have written before, nothing is new. We are constantly manipulated to seeing all that is wrong with the world - the negative side. No wonder so many people get illnesses and depressions. What we take in becomes part of us. Or as Coelho writes:

"They (us?) accumulate experiences, memories, things, other people's ideas, and it is more than they can possibly cope with. And that is why they forget their dreams."

So what do we do? According to the tradition of the Steppes, known as the Tengri, to live fully it is necessary to be in constant movement - a nomad if you like - where everything, therefore, isn't the same.

It's doubtful if many of us can become nomads and constantly view new places but this is what Coelho's character in his book suggests as an alternative:

"Not physically, no, but they can on a spiritual plane. Going further and further, distancing yourself from your personal history, from what you were forced to become."

All in all my break from the news media emphasised to me, what I have often said (but sometimes forget), about how what we think, say, do  and hear creates our tomorrows - our circumstances, health and life in general.

*Zahir:
The idea of the Zahir comes from the Islamic tradition and is thought to have arisen at some point in the eighteenth century.

Zahir, in Arabic, means visible, present, incapable of going unnoticed. It is someone or something which, once we have come into contact with them or it, gradually occupies our every thought, until we can think of nothing else. This can be considered either a state of holiness or of madness.

Faubourg Saint-Peres
Encyclopaedia of the Fantastic.

Other Mallorca Posts:
We Stumble On A 3000 Year Old Settlement At S'Illot Mallorca
he 1696 Mallorcan Castle Also Used In The Spanish Civil War
The Power Of Synchronicity In Mallorca

Books Mentioned In Post:
Paulo Coelho Books On Amazon USA
Paulo Coelho Books On Amazon UK

A Miracle Witnessed By A Doctor

It's not easy to decide if something is really a miracle but here's a possibility with this story from a doctor.

Dr Martin Scurr, a top GP here in the UK, was raised by Jesuits so may have some 'inside' information on such matters. This is his story:

"This week I have witnessed a miracle myself for the first time - well, if not a miracle, something very like it (if you define 'miracle' as an event that cannot be due to human power or the laws of Nature and is therefore caused by a divine intervention.

"One of my patients, known to me closely for more than thirty years, died last week after a long illness. The mother of three was an admirable woman, forthright, highly intelligent and an inspiration to all.

"Spending some time after the funeral with one of her daughters, also on our practice list since childhood, I learnt that the day after the bereavement the daughter suddenly regained her hearing in an ear that had been deaf since it was ravaged by infection in her early years, despite several operations and all attempts to conserve some function and prevent a lifelong disability.

"At the funeral the priest had said that he had never met anyone who had gone straight to Heaven  - but implied that maybe this lady had done so - and the immediate return of her daughter's hearing makes me feel that perhaps he was right.

"I am going to write to Rome - we now have a Jesuit Pope and with my upbringing I hope I will catch his ear. Maybe we have a saint in the making?"

Other Healing Stories:
Woman Walks After 23 Years Through Spiritual Healing
The Flesh Eating Bug Overcome By Prayer
Healing And Visualisation Without Will Power

Blake On The Green Bridge Coincidence

I had a problem with my health last year and was told I would need a check up (scan and x-rays) six months following this - which is sometime soon.

Yesterday Karin and I walked to town. We can do this in about ten minutes but took a longer route instead - about three miles - despite it being very cold.

We got talking about when my hospital appointments might be (as we want to arrange a holiday), and about the consultant I presumed I would have to see, a Mr.Blake. It gets confusing in the UK as they become a Mr. and not a Dr. once reaching the giddy heights of consultant and/or surgeon - not sure why.

As we approached town we had to cross a scruffy, green metal bridge over the railway line, by the station. As we got to the top of the steps we couldn't help but notice that someone had sprayed some graffiti - the word 'Blake'. I felt I should take a photo of this, as above. You can see the church in the distance.

After we reached town, and then finally home, there were two letters waiting in the post box for me: both via Mr.Blake with appointments for my scan and x-ray.

Okay, maybe not much of a coincidence or synchronicity, but it seemed one to me especially as I had felt it necessary to photograph the word Blake on the bridge.

Sometimes answers are out there as symbols, signs, animals and so on. It's up to us as to whether we want to see these, or even accept them, as being meaningful.

Other Coincidence Stories:
Top 10 Coincidence And Synchronicity Stories
Finding A £10 Note Coincidence
Photo Taken Of Father Showed His Missing Daughter

The Lamas Way To Health, Rejuvenation And Virility

Most readers will no doubt be familiar with the main seven yogic chakras, or energy centres, within the body - as per the image above.

Today though I'd like to refer to seven vortexes within the body that are positioned differently to the chakras. Details of these have supposedly originated from Lamas in the Himalayas.

Their opinion is that these vortexes should revolve at great speed and when they are all revolving properly, at the same speed, this leads to perfect health, rejuvenation and virility.

First though, these are where the vortexes are said to reside within the body:

(1) The first is located deep within the forehead.

(2) This is in the 'posterior' part of the brain.

(3) Located in the throat at the base of the neck.

(4) Located in the right side of the body at waist level.

(5) Is in the reproductive anatomy and organs.

(6) and (7) are located in each knee.

So how do we get all these vortexes spinning properly?

The answer is by spinning ourselves. Here's a description of how to do this from a 1939 publication:

'Stand erect with arms outstretched, horizontal with the shoulders. Now spin around until you become slightly dizzy. There is one caution: you must turn from left to right. In other words if you were to place a clock on the floor you would turn in the same direction the hands are moving.'

Okay, pretty straight forward but the text goes on to explain more detail:

'At first the average adult will only be able to spin around about half a dozen times until he becomes dizzy... To begin with practice only to the point of slight dizziness. As time passes and your vortexes become more rapid in movement you will be able to practice to a greater extent.'

The idea is to be able to build up gradually to a preferred 21 revolutions - though no more than 50.

One of the examples giving to the benefits of this are the Maulawiyah (there are alternative spellings) people often referred to as the Whirling Dervishes.

Whirling Dervishes - Photo Josep Renalias

These Whirling Dervishes are seemingly noted for 'the virility of the old men, they are strong, hearty and robust. Far more than Englishmen are at their age."

All well and good (after maligning us Englishmen!) but according to the Lamas the Dervishes over-do the spinning. Keeping it simple, what this does is over stimulate the vortexes in the knees.

This is why the spinning should be preferably only 21 revolutions (and no more than 50).

So there we go, a way get those vortexes spinning for health, rejuvenation and virility.

I suppose I'd better add that the above is given as information only. Before starting any exercise program consult with your doctor or medical practitioner.

Other Healthy 67 Not Out Posts:
Tummo: The Yogi Power Of Warming The Body
The Up Hill Way To Live To 100
Kundalini The Serpent Of Adam And Eve

The Up Hill Way To Live To 100

I was reading an article in the Daily Mail which gave 50 Ways To Live To 100. One of these was to live on a hill:

"Seven out of ten of the longest-living communities in the U.S. are mountain-based, and in the tiny Sardinian mountain town of Ovodda, as many men as women live to be 100. Whether it’s the fresh air, or the fact you’re doing a lot of walking uphill (using major muscle groups and giving your heart a good workout), moving up in the world could extend your life."

I might be able to do the other 49 - just - but living on a hill would be a bit of a problem as my house is in a valley. The photo shows a view from half way up the valley side. The trees are mostly bare as winter is with us.

There's no high altitude air for me but we do still, most days, walk a narrow road up the valley slopes. There's no need for us to do this as we can walk to the local town all on one level but we take the long, harder route. So we do that bit in the article about 'doing a lot of walking uphill.'

I've been walking up the hill for 19 years. When I started doing so I had to stop a couple of times on the way to the top. I got quite out of breath but gradually, over the weeks, I eventually made it without a rest. Now I can do the hill without thinking about it.

I agree, therefore, with what the article says: "doing a lot of walking uphill ... could extend your life." It certainly does give the "heart a good workout."

As for the other 50 ways to extend life they are a mixed bunch, a few examples: Have a banana; read a magazine upside down; drink one tea a day; build your biceps; forget something every day; smile broadly; take up yoga; have sex at least twice a week - and with that thought in mind, I'll leave you to read the rest on the Daily Mail website.

Stay young.

Other Random Healthy Posts:
The Formula For A Healthier Sexier Life
Atishoo Atishoo We All Fall Down - Or Perhaps Not
How To Find Success With Self Hypnosis

Is Karma The Cause Of Ill Health

When I published magazines back in the late 1990s a theme I often went on about was how 'our thoughts, words, deeds, actions and beliefs of yesterday have created the life we are living today.' The clipping above was from Wealthy Times in March 1997.

I still believe something along those lines involving Karma. So when things are going well for me, it's because of how I've dealt with life in the past and conversely when things aren't doing so good it's my own fault. I don't blame God or the world at large.

This is all well and good but what about health? I wondered about this following my recent operation. Had I done anything wrong to make my health suffer? After all disease means a lack of ease: dis-ease.

The Science of Mind by Ernest Holmes makes suggestions as to the cause of various ailments. Here are a few examples. I'm not, by the way, saying that I necessarily agree with these.

Headaches: Confused, worried, anxious, tense thoughts.

Constipation: Often due to a belief in limitation or burden.

Growths, Tumours, Cancer: Destructive emotions, desires or ideas, unless neutralised, will grow into some bodily condition.

Hay Fever: Nervous persons, and those whose work is largely mental, are most often attacked by hay fever.

Kidney and Bladder Disturbances: All kinds of kidney troubles from worry, anxiety, fear and criticism.

And so on and so on.

Gill Edwards in her book Stepping Into The Magic has similar ideas. A few examples taken at random:

Ulcers: Fear, being driven, being a perfectionist, feeling unworthy.

Inflammation: Suppressed anger.

Stiffness: Being inflexible, stuck in your ideas.

You get the picture, both authors claim there are reasons for any ill health we may suffer.

This got me thinking and wondering if health is purely down to Karma and maybe the displeasure of the Cosmic, or perhaps carried over from a previous incarnation. I was undecided about the answer and by 'chance' (yes, I know there's no such thing) picked out a publication from the 1970s from a pile of Rosicrucian writings I have on file. This, of course, just happened to be relevant to what I was pondering.

Discussing the same question the writer came up with the following:

"... Thus we must admit that by science or logic alone we can neither understand nor predict the course of any single human life, because we always reason from insufficient data.

However, as mystics we can experience within ourselves the condition and the motives of our Brother by loving sympathy that 'assumes' and achieves identity with him from the inside, through our common tap-root.

Without this 'knowledge through compassion' it is presumptuous to pass judgement on anyone and, even more so, to measure spiritual advancement by physical condition or material success.

Socrates, the wisest man of his time, was poor and reportedly ugly. In modern times the great scientist and humanist Charles Proteus Steinmetz was a hunchbacked cripple. Under such circumstances, it is reassuring to remember that, according to a wise old professor, most of the world's work is done by people who are not feeling well!

By human reason we cannot discern whether misfortune and sickness are due to accident, heredity, present guilt, or past Karma, or whether a karmic condition is meant as retribution, as a lesson, or as a spur to greater effort.

To sum up: Mastership is not proved by worldly success nor disproved by misfortune. It is shown by the ability to overcome difficulties and to use all of life's vicissitudes - pleasing and painful, good and bad - as stepping stones to further progress."

Though there is a lot in what the likes of the Science of Mind suggest, it's probably more than what they write. Any emotion, especially a negative emotion must have an effect on our physical bodies but I think it's simplistic to think it is the only reason for any ill health. It can be a combination of several things as the Rosicrucian quote suggests.

In saying this we can, no doubt, help ourselves by right thoughts, words, deeds, actions and beliefs - which puts me right back to the position I was spouting at the beginning of this post!

Life is full of circles and cycles.

The Kidney Coincidence Story

A friend was talking to his daughter - a nurse - about kidney operations.

"Fancy you asking about that," she said, or something similar, for his daughter had a short coincidence or synchronicity story to tell.

She told him how she was at a party the previous weekend, an anniversary I believe, and got chatting to a young man, about 18 years old. She is now in her late 30s or early 40s.

It must have been a deep conversation as he told her how he had to have a kidney removed when he was only three years old. Not sure how they would have got on to such a subject, but there you go.

He obviously told her his name and the hospital where he had his kidney removed ... and then she remembered him and his parents.

She was the nurse who looked after him, following his operation, and she hadn't seen or heard of him since he was discharged - until the party, that is.

I'm pleased to say, he's in excellent health.

Sometimes we appear to meet certain people at exactly the right time.

The Formula For A Healthier Sexier Life

This is about something I read about in a newspaper, so it must be true!

Don't believe me? That's okay, but I wouldn't fib because lying affects our health.

It appears that the American Psychological Association has recently presented a new study all about lying.

A group of 110 volunteers, aged 18 to 71, were gathered together. 55 were told that they had to stop lying for ten weeks.

The other 55 were the control group who weren't given any instructions or info and carried on life as normal. They carried on lying - and, let's be honest most of us tell a few porkies now and again. There are always circumstances where we think it's okay to distort the truth, perhaps to save someone's feelings and so on.

After the ten weeks was up the statistics were collated. It was found that the non lying 55 volunteers had fewer physical complaints such as headaches and had better mental scores than the control group.

The researchers credit the positive findings to fewer stress hormones being released every time we lie.

So to improve our health, it has to be no more lies. Oh, and according to blogger Eirini Haritou not telling lies will make you sexier! In truthful mode, I can't promise that this is true but this is her reasoning:

"The stronger your immune system,the more attractive you appear.
- The more lies you tell,the weaker your immune system.
So:
More lies = less sex appeal
More truth = more sex appeal"
Looks like we now have a formula for a healthier sexier life. Can't wait!

Other Random 67 Not Out Posts:
Woman Donates A Kidney To A Stranger
How Rituals Combined With Action Can Cure Illness
How Leaf Cutting Ants Look After Their Old

Woman Donates A Kidney To A Stranger

Here we are in 2012.  But it doesn't really feel any different does it? It's simply another day, no matter what importance we may attribute to it.

Being 2012 won't alter anything. Only we, ourselves, can change our lives and the world in which we live. I thought therefore I'd start this year with a quite remarkable story.  One that illustrates the goodness that is inside some people.

Veronica Buttigieg, from Leigh on Sea in England, is a Christian but she isn't like those silly priests recently fighting each other in Bethlehem. She actually follows her beliefs - some might say to extremes.

Veronica was at a party for a wedding anniversary and got chatting to a lady called Manoly Viravong. The two had never met before and they eventually started discussing health matters.

Manoly had been waiting for a kidney transplant for two years.  Her kidneys were deteriorating and she had to endure eight hours of dialysis every night.

She told Veronica how her brother had been considering donating her a kidney but had changed his mind.

Veronica's amazing response was to say, "Why not have one of my kidneys."

She explained, "I barely knew Manoly but after talking to her and hearing of how desperate she was, I felt it was the right thing to do,"

She went on to say, "I am a Christian and I felt God said it was right.  I had a real peace about it because I knew it was what God wanted me to do.  I felt completely calm."

Two days after their meeting Veronica went to the hospital to see if her kidney would be compatible and miraculously it was. In July of this year the operations took place at the Royal London Hospital and the two have now become the closest of friends

Manoly, who was originally from Laos, said of the whole experience: "My life expectancy was very short - it (her kidneys failing) would have killed me eventually.

I had been feeling very low because my brother had changed his mind about giving me his kidney, yet here was a virtual stranger offering to do an amazing, wonderful, selfless thing for me.

I can't really thank her enough.  We are very close now, like sisters. I'm really grateful to her and I count my blessings every day."

As for Veronica, she is back at work, going to the gym and is coping well with one kidney. She said, "I have no regrets and I would do it again tomorrow."

Many of us probably haven't the strength of character to offer a complete stranger a kidney but we can all help others - friends and strangers - in smaller ways.  By doing so we also help ourselves and, who knows, 2012 could then turn out to be a very special year for us all.

Further Reading:
Circles Of Goodness Can Change The World
Kindness Plus Gratitude Equals A Trouble Free Life
60 Things To Put The Sparkle In Our Lives

The Negative Energy Cold Treatment

I've had a bit of a cold or 'MAN-flu' as we would probably describe it in England.  Well us men do get it so much worse, don't we!

It's the first cold I've had for years. I'm usually very lucky and avoid the sniffles when everyone else is sneezing away.

At five o'clock yesterday evening I had a thumping headache and my son, daughter-in-law and grandson called in to see us. I immediately started playing with 16 month old Samuel, crawling about the floor, playing hide and seek and generally having a happy time.

After about 90 minutes they went home.  It was then I realised that my headache was completely gone.

This got me thinking about energy in general. I hoped I hadn't leached any of little Samuel's supply. I certainly didn't intend to do so, and it didn't look as if I had as he left full of energy and smiles.

We always seem to be interacting with others for a supply of energy.  We only have to think of some acquaintances who seem to drain us of energy by their manner or negativity.  They really do suck the energy out of us.

But we don't need to steal energy.  We simply need a balance of positive and negative energy to achieve, what the Rosicrucian's call, harmonium.

Problems come when we become either too negative or too positive. Let's look, for example at the common cold.

Colds need a negative treatment and what follows is a simple something we can do to help ourselves.

The Negative Treatment

Sit comfortably, feet squarely on the floor and touching each other.  Hold your hands at chest level with the fingers touching each other i.e. thumb to thumb, forefinger to forefinger and so on.

Close the eyes and take a deep breath. Exhale fully and once the the lungs are as empty as possible, hold this for the count of five. Then breath easily in and out slowly for six breaths until relaxed.

Next repeat holding the breath out - as before - for the count of five.

Repeat the whole procedure for six times and then breath normally - and then put out of your mind the exercise.  Don't start wondering if it will help and so on. Do it and forget it. The result will follow.

Okay, so that is the Negative Treatment now we'll move on to the Positive Treatment - which will counteract a negative condition.

The Positive Treatment

Sit comfortably, feet squarely on the floor but with the feet separated this time. Let your hands lie on your knees or on your lap - but not touching each other.

Touch together the index finger, middle finger and the thumb of each hand - in a triangle like hold.

Once feeling fully relaxed take a deep breath and hold this for a count of seven.  On seven release it easily.

Rest, breathing normally, and then take a deep breath and holding it as before for the count of seven.

Repeat the whole process until you have completed it seven times. And then put the whole procedure out of your mind. Do it and forget it.

I've kept these exercises, based on Rosicrucian teachings,  very simplistic.  They are by no means a cure all but if they appeal they will no doubt lead to other things. Once we try to help ourselves we normally receive further assistance.

Other things also help us to accumulate a balance of energy and harmonium: proper food, moderating the lower emotions, thinking clearly and positively, laughter, contemplating beauty in all its forms and so on.

As I see it, it's up to us to help ourselves as best we can. The answers are out there.

The Power Of Love To Cure

I have always believed that all things are possible. This doesn't mean I have personally achieved everything I have wished. Far from it, but I do feel I could have - if only I'd maybe had enough belief or brought other factors into play.

What put me on this track today was the story of Laura Binder who was diagnosed with breast cancer, had a mastectomy, and then found it had spread to her liver.

She was told by doctors in February of this year that they could not cure the cancer but would try and control it. Laura said, "I was so scared that I was going to die and leave my daughters without a mother."

Things were certainly looking grim but the cancer hadn't reckoned with Laura's nine year old daughter. Children don't know about the limitations that we adults put on ourselves.

Every day for over seven months Linzi wrote to her mother urging her to get better and not to give up the fight.

She wrote messages such as, 'You are like the centre of a rose and you smell just like a beautiful red one. You can fight cancer. You can fight it. I love you'

and

'I want your cancer to sail away mum, in a boat.'

Laura said of her daughter, Linzi refused to give up on me and wrote these wonderful letters every day. She was determined that I wasn't going to die and that I would get better.

So I took lots of photos of the children (she also has a two year old) and we went on lots of outings. I was desperate to spend as much time with them as I had left.

Linzi's letters brightened her mother's days as she lost her hair through chemotherapy and felt exhausted from the treatments. Laura said, "But her letters gave me strength to fight on."

Then a miracle happened.

At the end of September Laura went for a scan and fully expected to hear that the cancer had spread further - but it hadn't. The doctors were amazed: the scan revealed no trace of any tumours.

In Laura's words, "I just couldn't speak. I was in complete shock. To be told there was nothing that could be done for me and then finding out the cancer had completely gone was just incredible. The doctor just said to me that I was a miracle.

Laura credits Linzi with helping her win the battle over the disease. The doctors can't can't explain why the cancer disappeared.

Linzi sent one last letter to her mother:

'Congratulations! All your cancer is gone. I love you!'

A spokesman for Cancer Research UK said, The love from a daughter is a strong powerful thing. Positive thinking provides an incentive to get better. It's amazing how things like this can happen and there is no explanation for it."

No explanation? What about love - the most powerful of powers.

All things are possible.

How Phases Of The Moon Affects Plants

Many mock the idea of planting or picking plants at a precise time or when the moon is in a certain phase. But maybe there is an element of truth within, what some would consider to be, an 'old wives tale'.

Over 2000 years ago mistletoe was described as a cure for cancer. I'm not for one minute saying it is, though Joan van Holsteijn claims the herb cured her cancer. Also note that large intakes of mistletoe can be dangerous.

A cancer research institute in Switzerland, however, did some interesting experiments with mistletoe. They looked at the old cure recipes and saw that the plant had to be picked at a specific time, otherwise the effectiveness would be considerably diminished.

The research institute did 70,00 experiments on parts of the plant picked at hourly intervals during the day and night.

They analysed the constituents, the degree of acidity and also tested the effect of preparations on white mice (I don't agree with animal testing personally). What they discovered was that the properties of the plant were affected by the time of day, the weather and also the phases of the moon. In other words it did matter when the plant was harvested.

Normally, when a so called alternative medicine is effective, it is dismissed as psychosomatic or the placebo effect. But by doing this we limit the possibilities of what might just be true. The planets affect our lives and those of the plants: the right herb or plant, picked at the right time may just be worthy of serious investigation.

References: Moon and Plant: Capillary Dynamic Studies and Supernature by Lyall Watson

Other Posts:
The Secret Teachings Of Karma And Sickness
The Mysterious Crete Goddess Myrtos
The Globes In The Sky

Photo: Kenraiz

Photos That Soothe Pain Better Than Pills

Got a bit of an ache or a pain? Don't reach for a paracetamol or aspirin, reach for a photograph instead.

Our friendly scientists have been at work and this time they may well have got it right. According to their research looking at a photograph of a loved one can soothe pain, just as efficiently as the aforementioned tablets.

A picture of a spouse or partner actually dulls activity in the pain processing areas of the brain. And it does this as efficiently as painkillers, narcotics such as cocaine, or physical contact with a loved one.

Volunteers had varying levels of heat applied to their skin while they focused on photos of their partners. Scans were taken of their brains while all of this was going on.

Neuro-scientist, Jarred Younger, found that on average pain was reduced by between 36 and 44 per cent. Intense discomfort was eased by 13%.

The scientist explained: "It appears to involve more primitive aspects of the brain, activating deep structures that may block pain at a spinal level - similar to how opioid analgesics work. You don't have to just rely on drugs for pain relief."

In a different study 25 women, with long term boyfriends, were subjected to different levels of pain while they held their man's hand. It was found that looking at a photo of their boyfriend provided as much pain relief as physically holding his hand.

So there you go, grab a photo of someone you love to soothe a pain. No doubt paracetamol manufacturers won't be publicising this!

Further Reading:
How Rituals Combined With Action Can Cure Illness
Woman Walks After 23 Years Through Spiritual Healing
The Night Demon Sitting On Your Chest