Superstition @ MindSay 
friday the 13th
Living in the world of Jehovah's Witnesses is to live in a haunted world. A world not haunted by ghosts, or spirits of the dead, but Satan and his evil demon army. To a Jehovah's Witness, demons are around every corner, and relish inhabiting inanimate objects, hoping to "trojan horse" their way into a Witness home.
I remember nights where I was paralyzed with fear. I would break into a cold sweat, feeling an eerie presence in my room. Random, everyday noises would confirm my fears. I would pray silently to God, even whisper "Jehovah" out loud, as many Witnesses believe that uttering the divine name will "scare" demons away.
These irrational beliefs evolved into full-fledged urban legends shared exclusively by the witness community. Us kids were constantly warned with stories of the couple that went to see The Exorcist at the theater, how they tried to leave and felt in invisible force holding them down. There was another tale of the Smurf doll that was taken into a Kingdom Hall, lept up from the child's hands, and ran out of the building, much to the bewilderment of the congregation. The most famous stories of all, of course, were of the Ouija Board. After playing the game and deciding it was "demonic," the Witness family would attempt to burn it. Surprisingly, the board resisted burning, but when it finally succumbed to the flames, a chilling, audible scream came from it--proof positive of demon inhabitation.
My personal favorite is the one obviously designed to be a stern warning to rebellious young Witnesses. An elder is getting his hair cut at a new barber shop. As the barber is cutting his hair, the shop empties, and the barber's personality completely changes. He asks the elder if he is a servant of Jehovah, to which the elders responds affirmatively. The barber replies, "Your God Jehovah killed our children with the great flood, now we're going after your children!" The elder flees the barber shop, hair half cut.
Often in Jehovah's Witness folklore, there are a set of rules regarding demon/human interaction:
- Demons cannot invade the home of a Jehovah's Witness without the Witness's consent. Thus, they often look to inanimate objects as their "trojan horse," waiting for a Witness to unwittingly buy it at a garage sale.
- Demons have a strong aversion to the audible pronunciation of "Jehovah." Often, repeating it enough will cause them to run away from you, as they are afraid you will attract Jehovah's attention.
- An object inhabited by a demon must be removed from your home and burned in order to keep it away permanently. A tell-tale sign of a demon-possessed object is it's resistance to burning, especially if the material is normally very combustible.
- Another common avenue for demons to enter your home is through heavy metal or rap music, or by drug use. Often, young people are said to have had to burn their "bad" music and tape collections in order to curb the demonic harassment.
Every once in a while, I still have episodes. My rational brain turns off and I regress back into the world of demons and angels. I sweat bullets and freeze in my bed. I close my eyes, and crack them open half expecting to see a ghoulish, tortured face staring back at me. It never happens. It's happening less and less, but the intense fear of these creatures still haunts me, and still will for years to come I'm afraid.
Whenever I have an episode and force myself to snap out of it, to realize that I'm just in my bed and it's dark, I vow to never raise my children this way. I'll never try to scare them into a belief system with threats of physical attacks by demonic spirits. I will teach them that Satan and his demons are just like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny: pure mythology.
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Date Line June 10, 2007
"Superstition Brings Bad Luck."
I love phrases like that; and so try to use them as often as possible. In reality, it is paradoxical. Consider that paradox: "superstitious about being superstitious." The usage of the state of mind to avoid the state of mind which is destructive. In medical terms, one might say it is taking poison to prevent death from a poison.
Hum. Combining poisons to gain something good? That is table salt. That is genetic disease in a world where having it will extend ones life. Sickle-cell anemia as defense against malaria; diabetes as defense against freezing to death; anemia as a defense against bacterial disease.
Curious stuff.
The universe is great, it has designed everything to survive, reproduce, and make it interesting. That which is alive and seeks your destruction does so out of ignorance, or your unwillingness to find a common ground which will allow both of you to prosper.
Hum? Where did that thought come from? Just popped out.
Well, back to our starting point: "Superstition Brings Bad Luck."
The black plague involved idiots (OK, they were Christians) who killed those who were clean or kept pets who killed the contaminated. They burnt Jews and witches rather than clean their homes and kill the rats.
The Jews were killed because they were clean; being clean protected them from disease and removed those things which attracted infected rats. (Plus they were symbolically killing Christ, preventing, in their belief system, his return.)
They killed the witches because they practiced herbal medicine and kept cats � who killed the rats who carried the lice who transmitted the plague.
Superstition, ignorance, the things which are used to enslave the minds of fools, these are the things which cause plaques. Christians thrive on such things; as do fundamentalist Islamists.
Think about the Black Death of 1347, within a year it claimed over 25 million Europeans; Christian all. These were people who did not wash, did not clean their houses, tossed garbage in the streets and feared black cats (or cats in general).
In short, Christians were people who attracted disease.
There are those who have a knee-jerk reaction to me pointing out the evils inherent in Christian action and thought. But be honest. Would blood diseases (AIDS, Hepatitis and so on) be spreading as they do, if Christian fundamentalists weren�t actively refusing to support, or actively blocking, condom and needle exchange programs? Would there be as much drug usage if drugs were as legal as tobacco, and the locations for their usage controlled (as they are being with tobacco)?
If people could be openly gay, would there be a negative stigma to being HIV/AIDS tested? If the reality of human sexuality were accepted, would there be as many STD related disease problems?
If the scriptural prohibitions against blood contact were applied and the invented health destroying dogma ended, would there be as much illness? Would there be as much illness if Christians simply followed the teachings and specific words of Jesus; words which said explicitly to care for the sick?
Christians follow a doctrine: Inflict the most harm on the most people.
If you doubt that, test each of their practices by it. Anti-abortion? Bring into the world a child who cannot be supported, was unplanned, possibly unwanted, and raise them in a home from which, statistically, the most criminal types are produced. Pro-life is (as the statistical evidence on crime reduction post-1972 Roe v Wade has shown) is really pro-crime, pro-violent crime.
Look at medical care. Send troops to kill (violation of scripture) in a war of choice and when they are injured, deny them proper treatment. This inflicts harm on those killed, the families of innocents killed, on the soldier, their family, their community, and the economy as a whole.
Inflict the most harm on the most people; it is a Christian thing to do.
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I got bored, I'll admit it, decided to flip through the stations on the TV - usually I don't bother - I just leave music on and go about my day, or the weather station or a news channel... but for some reason I was inspired to flip through the stations until I came across an older man, quite greyed, wearing a jacket that appeared to be of the old neru style - perhaps it was supposed to be similar to a Catholic priest's black collar with the white center. He was giving a speech somewhere in South Africa, a man who claims god speaks to him. Some people have the sense that god only speaks to them but not to others, so I found what he was saying intriguing - why would he think what god says to him is somehow more important than what god says to someone else?
It was the Benny Hinn Ministry show, I caught just the end of it and then jumped over to check out his website.
Benny Hinn, (www.bennyhinn.org if you want to check it out) he seems to be another evangelistic styled christian and he raised some questions in me. He referenced burning incense as inviting the devil and suggested that "people in the east, people in India and Japan are inviting the devil in...", and that "using perfume is okay, sprinkle it all over", he said, "scented candles are okay, but be careful with that incense..." He was on a roll speaking of how the devil and satan gets into a person's home and their life through various avenues - music, books, photos, artifacts and then "takes over"... And that the devil, once in one's life, will always seek to come back - if removed - and "bring seven more with him". Funny too, cause I remember the heavy scent of incense in our family's church, it was so overpowering, it almost made me feel ill at times. Though I liked it when it was lighter, like at times when I was in the church and there wasn't a sermon going on, and just a hint of the fragrance was still in the air.
Ugh! Promoting fear. I have a problem with any religion that promotes fear! That promotes superstition, that tries to take away a person's sense of empowerment... In particular, after checking out this man's schedule - where he's traveling to spread his word, his ministry, his ministry training, his conferences... (The Dominican Repulic, elsewhere in Africa, in Taiwan, in Rome, and several cities in the US) And he suggested that people need to physically attend these conferences of his, to receive the "energy" of god... Interesting I thought - I've heard this said by others as well.
I pondered this idea - about this energy being received. It's interesting because that sensation of receiving energy is universal to many religions as well as within imaginative activities. Children tap into it, artists of any medium do as well - painters, writers, musicians, poets. Interesting - because it is also the thing often used to put fear in the hearts of people - that surge of energy. Yet, I get a sense myself that this might simply be a natural tap into creation itself. And It's not something that need be feared. It is something that can enrich our lives and bring us closer to our own divinity - to our own natural way of being. Again children and artists tap into it quite naturally, often without much effort.
People who lead meditations can help to bring this sensation of energy into focus for a group and help to strenthen a person's own receptors, still there, but virtually forgotten from his or her own youth, after being buried under the "seriousness" of living and so-called maturity. I have to ask myself, why burden ourselves with superstitions and generalizations inherited from our elders and leaders, all the expectations we carry on our shoulders and attempt to live by? When in the end we simply wish to appreciate and receive and sense that "energy from god"? When in the end we all wish to have a conversation with god ourselves, our own personal relationship with god. Jesus and St Francis both told us this was possible if anything in the scriptures and history is of truth. That god is with us always and that we can speak freely with god at any time and be answered.
And so, while I take issue with how some ministers go about scaring their congregations I guess I can take comfort from what they are attempting - in that they are attempting to bring people back to that place where they can sense that energy. That's a very good thing. I'm not thrilled with the means - to be sure. But I hope people can build this strong sense - a sixth sense really. Once people "get that" and really appreciate it they may see how children manage the same technique effortlessly and allow the children to run with it instead of bending it out of them only to try to put it back in again, later, when they're older, after they've learned discipline!
It's no wonder people are so mixed up and children are so confused in this modern world!
That sense of energy is part of the magic I relate to, it is the magic fabric of the natural world and is what makes things work for us all - however way we wish to describe the process, no matter what names we wish to ascribe to it. THAT energy is what swims around us and within us and throughout the universe. It touches each of us differently, and yet, magically the results - in the end, are the same... For those who prefer the scare tactics I wish you very well and welcome the time your sixth sense comes to you that you too can see just how very magical and beautiful this life on earth is. This magical earth that can be the heaven we all hope to create. The garden of eden we all hope to return to, can be created right here, right now by using that sixth sense and allowing the same for all other beings. I do believe this world is truly an enchanted garden and I am certain we are about to see it's unfolding before us. We are humans, evolving, and it is a beautiful and natural thing to behold!
(...link back for visitors from Our Enchanted Garden)
Really, I don't believe the world will end today and I find the wide range of ideas of what 666 really means quite fascinating!
Last night I watched some extensive Canadian reporting on the terrorist cell broken up in Toronto, and found the news quite interesting and thought provoking. Additional reporting today adds not only to my interest but also brings up tons of questions and concerns about how this will be interpreted on a world wide basis. Canadians know there are targets fundamentalist extremists would like to topple right here in this quiet country.
I can't imagine living as people do in Israel, Iraq or Kashmir, with the nagging fear of a terrorist attack; where bombs could go off beside you at any bus stop or streetside. I don't wish to see anything like it here. And yet there are some people, with tactics and thoughts brought from their ancestoral homelands, that wish to create such calamity in our very midst! No matter their reasoning - there is nothing at all that justifies such a thing!
And I had to take a deep breath when I heard some officials on the American side of the border suggesting Canada is a big risk to the United States. Because of our so-called liberal policies. Now all of a sudden there's a whole new angle to immigration policy and the debate in the US builds now over which border is more important to protect.
But before everyone gets too wrapped up in the fear coctails being offered up to us to imbibe today there's a need to really look at the issue impartially - and that's likely the hardest thing anyone can do, at least today!
And we made it through because it's June 8th and I'm still alive to post this!
Sorry meant to send it on Tuesday - Just the same Happy Belated 060606 - and aren't cha glad you and I are both here to share it!
Phew - we must've fooled somebody!
T heee!
Then again think of all the photographs I'd miss out on taking! Ha Ha!
Only in Canada, eh? Pitty!
biked away my frustration and confusion at two minutes a mile this afternoon.
ran through my head what i could say or could not say on the ride back home
but decided that.
i'm confused.
The Lord knows that this world is cruel
I ain't the Lord, I'm just a fool
and in love with somebody don't make them love you
Must I always be waiting, waiting on you
Must I always be playing, playing your fool
I sang your songs, I danced your dance
I gave your friends all a chance
Putting up with them wasn't worth never having you
Maybe you've been through this before
But it's my first time so please ignore
These next few lines because they're directed at you
I can't always be waiting, waiting on you
I can't always be playing, playing your fool
I keep playing your part
But it's not my scene
Want this plot to twist
I've had enough mystery
Keep building it up
Then shooting me down
But I'm already down
Just wait a minute
Just sitting, waiting
Just wait a minute
Just sitting, waiting
Well if I was in your position
I'd put down all my amuntintion
I'd wonder why it had taken me so long
But the lord knows that I'm not you
and if I was I wouldn't be so cruel
cause waitin' on love ain't so easy to do
Must I always be waiting, waiting
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i went to physical therapy. what a bust.
so i went to roundtable's pizzza and hablado con el jefe.
i might get a job by saturday. whoozah.
so later i might go on my roof again, like yesterday, and just play the guitar.
nice. bright. white. night. lights in the sky and from the lampposts.
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