Raptor kitty (31 Days of Halloween Kitties Day 11 Year 3)

Raptor kitty does not need a costume.

The greatest asset you can have is a playful imagination, or at least that what I tell people while I am pretending to be a spiritual and productive guru. And here we have a fabulous kitty demonstrating the fact that you do not need a costume to improvise a character. "Roar! I be mighty dino-raptor! Now give me your sandwich!"

Personal mental problem (31-HP Day 11)

You say I have a mental problem
You insist that I am ill
Not evolved enough to understand you
That an enlightened being of prime intelligence
Would totally agree with you
If I was really smart, you say
Then I would obey your every whim

Well, I am sorry that you hurt
Because I won't follow you
But your ideas are boorish
And a touch immature
They smell of cheap tequila
And dollar a gallon perfume
Yes, it's a personal mental problem for sure

Oh yes, you are smarter than me
Yet you seek my advice
Yes, you are more experienced than me
Yet I have more scars
You know my business better than I do
Yet I am the one with the profit
Oh yes, I do see a personal mental problem here

You rack up evidence of your truth
Bogus websites and shady reviews
Plus a history that is truly daft
Oh yes, the problem is with me
Being unable to follow you
Because I am laughing too hard to even walk straight
Oh yes, it is definitely a mental problem I suffer from

Yes, I need some counseling and some happy pills
A priest and salvation
A guru and enlightenment
But most importantly, complete adherence to your will
Yet I would rather stuck with my lowly opinion
That you are a complete and utter prate
The cheese in the fridge is less green than you

And yes, there is a personal mental problem here
On that I would agree
But no amount of exorcism
Therapy or dog-kissing
Will negate the fact that I am old and grumpy
Quite unwilling to believe your fantastic claim
That the personal mental problem is actually mine

Sathya Sai Baba 1926 to 2011

Sathya Sai Baba, born Sathyanarayna Raju (23 November 1926 to 24 April 2011), has passed away. This story would have probably passed me by if it wasn't for the fact that a friend of mine (not a member of Bast Temple) has a picture of him in her temple room. While he was alive, there was some debate on whether he was a fraud or not. I am not sure that practicing sleight of hand makes the message corrupt or not. After all, I have seen worse from others. My favorite quote from the man is something that he said about the Narasimhaiah Committee, which was created to study miracles and other superstitions. Being challenged to perform his miracles under controlled scientific conditions, Sathya Sai Baba replied, "Science must confine its inquiry only to things belonging to the human senses, while spiritualism transcends the senses. If you want to understand the nature of spiritual power, you can do so only through the path of spirituality and not science. What science has been able to unravel is merely a fraction of the cosmic phenomena." Whether you take that statement as a spiritual lesson or the statement of someone who does not want to be tested because he is conning people depends upon your faith and your opinion of the man and his message. Personally, having not dealt with the man or his organization, my opinion is still on the fence. Rest in Peace Sathya Sai Baba.

Most of the prophets are...not!

One of the things that I find depressing about the esoteric field is the number of people who say (more or less):

"I am a prophet, authorized by the great spirit EERTYMFOTUO, to spread the word of my wisdom. And as a prophet, I do not have to worry about spelling, grammar, formatting, or even logic."

Yes, last night I was (trying) to read the writing of someone who claims such...and an army of goblin editors died in shame. The person literally came out and said that spending the word about their insights of a particular magical system was more important than making their insights actually readable.

(No, I am not going to mention names or the exact subject matter; just fill it in with the latest crackpot that you encountered and this becomes a timeless blog post.)

I am sorry, but unless your works (writings) make sense and are readable, no one is going to pass them onto their friends. And odds are that if a spirit has authorized you to spread unedited occult insights all over the internet, that spirit is the demon OGE. Even if the spirit is another one, maybe even IHVH himself, them telling you that you do not need to edit your material is a LIE.

The sad truth of the matter is that most prophets, both false and true, are not writers. There have been notably exceptations in the past, but odds are that you are not one of them. Especially if you think that the genius of your ideas is more important than making sure your insights confirm to the standards of educated, written English (or whatever lanuage you are writing in).

So please, if you are a prophet or guru, summon up an editor or ghost writer...because the world's best idea is useless if we consider flushing it down the toliet because your spelling and grammar stinks.

[I would like to extend a big thanks to my friend Stephanie J. Reisner, whose post "All the Frauds and Impostors are... Not?" inspired the title of this post. Her post was about how real writers tend to feel like frauds. I had been thinking about what to entitle this post for hours when I saw her title and realized the perfect title for this post.]