Dear Willamena,
WOW. You asked so many good questions and had so much to say. Thank you. Id like to answer your questions one-by-one, otherwise Ill get confused.
You mentioned Joseph Campbell and mythology; and you asked if I had come by his works yet. The answer is two-fold. First of all, I have not read any of Joseph Campbells writings. However, I have started my own comparative religion study.
Following a dream that I had, I began my studies in the books of the Apocrypha and some esoteric and magical texts. Later on, after a radical spiritual shift, I began to earnestly study the Torah and Jewish mysticism (namely The Zohar of the Kabbalistic writings). In fact, I was unemployed at the time; and I studied every day, most of the hours while awake, for nearly nine months. From there, I went into a deeper and broader study of the Kabbalah.
The following year, I was introduced to Gnosticism by a professor in Virginia, who also founded the Apostolic Gnostic Church in America. I branched out into the study of classical Gnosticism, mainly based upon The Nag Hammadi Library. I read and studied many works pertaining to Gnosticism and early writings of Gnostics. During that time, I continued to feel more of a kinship to the Jewish mysticism.
After a while, I began to also include the study of Hermetics; and then, I became interested in the study of Egyptian writings (namely The Egyptian Book of the Dead). I started getting more and more interested in the overlapping symbolism in magical and Alchemical texts. Then I started to read some of the Thelema and some works by Aleister Crowley.
During that time, and even now, I have briefly looked into Buddhism (namely The Tibetian Book of the Dead among other works), Taoism, Tantra (namely works written by the followers of Osho), and Dzogchen beliefs (a small devout sect within Buddhism).
In doing all the reading, I was learning the different feels of the various religions and cultures. However, I was more interested in answering my own questions. So, after all that, I started to read and study Greek mythology, starting with The Odyssey.
It was really when I started to read Greek mythology (and also the mythology of King Arthur) that I found the most striking parallels to the symbolism contained in Christianity and even the Kabbalah. The Greek mythology, from my opinion, was very obvious in its nature; whereas many of the other religions have either watered-down their meanings or obscured the meanings in some manner. I was pleased with the Greek mythology the most. It also helped me to understand the meanings of the Tarot cards. I had earlier on opted for a Kabbalistic deck of Tarot cards over the Greek mythology because I simply did not know the stories and the inner-connected nature of the cards.
At no time did I join any churches or change beliefs. I want it known that I am merely a student of religion and ancient culture. Furthermore, I have often been chastised by members of strict religious frameworks (such as classical Gnosticism) for using more scientific language than the terms that are more commonly accepted in those groups. So, I found myself to be a bit of an outcast, even among friends, because everything that I was learning and continue to learn, I often put those ideas into a language that is more comprehensive outside of any one religious construct. I was even told one time that I should use different terms in my writings, because as I was told We dont want to look like a science cult.
Yes, I do work with a scientist, a psychologist and a computer programmer in the area of synchronicities and discovering patterns. No, there is no money exchange involved; however, they have bought me dinner and so on. Not sure if that counts. They are all friends of mine, who have a passion for these things as well.
The scientist is now a private inventor, but he used to work for the U.S. government in the area of Magnetics Research and Development.
The psychologist graduated from Duke University having studied Carl Jungs work; and nowadays he continues his study of Jung in the area of synchronicities. He is a 32nd degree Freemason and is very interested in symbolism and religions.
The computer programmer has a less interesting background, other than he used to be a preacher as well. However, he and I have worked together researching historical patterns of synchronicities. Id love to share some of our findings sometime. Its very interesting.
Through my studies of synchronicities, I have to agree with my psychologist friend, who says that he believes that
synchronicities are associated with the light effect and also Eros. He believes that
synchronicities point to the Hidden Light and even Sophia, or hidden wisdom. He is also the one of the three who does not give any credit to astrology. I have expressed my interest in the area of astrology because I do think that there are patterns that can be calculated to reveal startlingly results. The other two friends also share my passion for patterns.
I have recently written that I believe that what is commonly considered intuition is actually a numeric code inherent in the human psyche. I believe that as humans continue to evolvespiritually and mentallyeven the way we perceive form (numbers) will change, much like was seen from the leap of evolution in the Greeks, who mastered the human form in sculpting.
To continue answering your questions, yes, I have been looking mainly at natal astrology. Im especially interested in eclipses as well. Here is why:
I had a dream on August 28, 2001, where the obvious symbolism pointed to the Twin Towers and the massive deaths on September 11, 2001. Within that dream, I also was shown (by an angel in the dream) a triangular pattern with a pigs face and an Egyptian-like eye in the middle. I was awakened from the dream by a phone call; and the caller ID time said that it was 5:46 p.m. EST (on August 28th). Of course, as you know, the Twin Towers were hit in the hours from 8:46 am EST 10:28 am EST on 9-11.
I have been researching this dream for years, because even as I woke up, I knew it was multi-layered. And just recently, as I was looking over the dates of eclipses for this year (2007), I was absolutely flabbergasted.
There will be a total lunar eclipse on August 28th and, during the 90 minute cycle, it will start the total eclipse at 5:52 p.m. EST. Furthermore, there will be a solar eclipse on September 11th of this year from 6:25 a.m. EST to 10:36 a.m. EST. And to add a third undeniable element, this year (2007) is the Chinese year of the Pig. I have been attempting to figure out the meaning of this dream, in its entirety, which is available on the web, for years. I have asked many for their interpretations. The timing and symbolism of the dream are absolutely astounding; and even the most staunch of skeptics would have a difficult time explaining this one!
I think that is enough for now.
