The Hole in the Boat - A Story

A man was asked to paint a boat. He painted the boat a bright red, as the owner asked him. While painting, he noticed a small hole in the hull, and repaired it.

When he finished painting, he received his money and left. The next day, the owner arrived and gave the painter another cheque for more money. The painter was surprised and said “You've already paid me for painting the boat!”

“But this money is not for the paint job. It's for repairing the hole in the boat.”

“Ah! But it was a small service... it's not worth paying me such a high amount for something so insignificant.”

“But you do not understand. Let me tell you what happened:

“When I asked you to paint the boat, I forgot to mention the hole.

“When they children took the boat out this morning, they did not know that there was a hole. I was not at home at that time and when I returned, and noticed they had taken the boat out and I was desperate because I remembered that the boat had a hole in it. Imagine my relief and joy when I saw them returning from fishing.

Then, I examined the boat and found that you had repaired the hole!

Repetition Compulsion

 

What is Repetition Compulsion?  This is a Freudian term. When we had trauma, we didn't develop a good way to deal with it, so in our adult life, we unconsciously recreate the same situation in order to work through it to a good outcome, learning how to deal with it well. 

Templars!

The Templars had great success in defeating the poor peasants of the Holy Land, but Templars were trained warriors who fought on large and heavy armoured horses. The Crusaders wielded expensive swords and wore expensive armour, how could the poor people of these areas fight and win against them? God was said to support the Crusaders as they rode through the countryside, many hundreds of miles, taking from local peasantry whatever they needed in terms of food and other necessities, sometimes they returned home with great stolen luxuries! Over the course of 200 years, the local people gathered and trained themselves to fight against these Crusading intruders. Losses occurred, and God no longer supported Crusader successes! This would lead to the downfall of the Templars. 

The Templars honoured St John the Baptist and also Mary Magdalene, who were saints, but neither featured in the Christian Creed. Templars were dedicated to both these prominent saints but not instead of Jesus the Christ or his mother, Mary the Theotokos, Mother of God. There were two pillars of the church, John the Baptist and Jesus. Both had a powerful ministry. 

A Novel Approach to Healing - An Extract

Extract from A Novel Approach to Healing by Angela DeHSP  - a Highly Sensitive Person: 

In recent years, I've come to understand what it means to be a "HSP". Through this, I've looked at the bigger picture of my life and seen how and why stress (the biggest factor undermining human health) has affected me.

Because stress levels are determined by ones own sensitivity, being a HSP meant my biochemistry suffered big time, creating a string of mystery health issues over the years that pre-empted my need to develop coping strategies. Whilst I did plenty of research into my biochemistry in order to stabilise my health, the most difficult aspect was to develop the emotional resilience I lacked, being the main source of my high stress levels - something that is common among HSP's.

In order to monitor my energy, I follow my Biorhythms online to see how much energy I can expect each day. I have noticed that when the three main biorhythms - physical, emotional and intellectual - are low simultaneously, I feel totally exhausted for a week with digestion and sleep being affected. At such times, I find it wise to conserve energy rather than resort to stimulants, in order to be ready for the inevitable upswing in energy when the biorhythms rise again.

The Fool

Wise men learn more from fools than fools learn from wise men! 

Taking as an example of the Fool from Tarot Apokalypsis by Erik  C Dunne and Kim Huggens we read... At the beginning it is the end; at the end it is the beginning. The highest point is the lowest! Ambiguity reigns! But from the lowest, the highest might be attained. This is the path of the Holy Fool! The madman filled with the ecstasy of union with the Beloved. What wisdom is concealed in the moment? What love is hidden in the yearning? What progress is achieved in the dance? Truly God comes to us like madness, but the connection is prepared, the steps are learnt over generations, the rhythm guarded, and supervision required for structure to achieve the union with the deity. For you are not you, and I am not I. Your head will grow dizzy from the spinning and weaving of love, drink deeply of the wine that is communion with the Godhead and inhale the opiate of joy. You will know ecstasy that will liberate you from chains of density. Only when you cannot think of yourself without thinking of God, will you realise that when you turn your head in any direction, God will be there, as God is within yourself and within the Beloved. You no longer exist, only God exists. The One, the All - and the Nothing! All your moments will be eternity! 

The Fool is an instigation and a conclusion! It exists at the beginning and end of the Major Arcana, as each of the Major cards provides a learning experience, and we are the greater Fool, the Sacred Fool, as we end each of the 21 destinations of our karma. There are no boundaries between ourselves and the Beloved, ourselves and the deity. 

The Gypsy's Curse - A Story

Christina and Leah were two sisters who had been brought up in a French convent.When they were children, a cart-horse had run over them, leaving a scar across both their bodies. A gypsy who saw the accident made a pronouncement "Their destiny is tied to blood!" 

The date is 1910. Christina, the eldest is a maid looking after a lady and her daughter. They thought highly of Christina as she worked hard but she was paid very little. The convent often wrote to the mistress asking for money, which she gave. Within 5 years, Leah was ready to leave the convent and applied to join the small household. She was accepted but only at no further cost to the mistress. Both sisters slept in the same bed, as they had as children. But they argued about sending what little money they had to their mother who constantly asked for financial assistance, especially as they were not in good health. Christina used the money they would have sent to their mother to make lace ribbons and knitted garments for Leah. The mistress saw the beautiful clothes and thought they were stealing from her. 

The White Ship

The White Ship was extraordinary for its time, as usually ships were waterproofed with black pitch and this one might have been limed to distinguish it as the most prestigious royal vessel that sailed the seas. It was certainly the largest, with a massive 50 of the very best oarsmen, so when it set sail on a calm November day in 1120, it sought to out rival the Ming’s ship that had set sail a few hours previously from Barflour in Normandy and heading to Southampton. 

The day began with Captain FitzStephen of the White Ship requesting King Henry I to honour him on the White Ship for the voyage across the Channel, but King Henry decided to leave earlier but offered his son, the Prince and his entourage to accompany the Captain. Prince William, upon boarding and his men immediately got drunk and very rowdy, commanding the oarsmen to out strip the King in making it Southampton first. 

When the White Ship hit the rocks of Quillebeuf, the Prince was placed in a boat for safety, but his half sister, Countess Matilda, cried for him to save her and his boat returned and was upturned by drowning men. There was only one survivor, Bertold from whom the story was told. 

Coincidence! What’s it all about?

A 'coincidence' is two unrelated events that take place at the same time. Coincidences are surprisingly common and occur many times each day, for example, I was thinking about a friend this morning when she telephoned me. Is this just a co-incidence or could it have been telepathy?

Richard Dadd

Richard began his life with a tremendously promising career as a distinguished painter.

 Of the seven children of Robert Dadd’s first marriage, three, Richard, George, and Maria were to become completely insane, while Stephen had a private attendant but little more is known of his circumstances. Robert the eldest brother, born 13, July 1813 practiced as a chemist for many years in Whitechapel. George was the youngest of Richard’s full brothers, born 13, December 1822. He was a skilled carpenter at Chatham Dockyard. He began to show signs of mental instability when he was 20 yrs old and in 1843, the same year that Richard became unstable. He was admitted to Bethlehem and stayed there until his death in 1868. Though both brothers were confined in the same hospital, it is unlikely they met. John, a half brother, born to his father’s second wife and the second of two boys, was born 24, May 1829. He was apprenticed to Robert and went to America to establish a popular drug store. 

Validations - A Story

A school teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name. Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could write about their classmates.

At the end of the class, each one handed in their paper.

At the next class, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual.

 

At the following class, she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. Each student said 'I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!' and, 'I didn't know others liked me so much".