How Hermetic Initiates Used Magick to Study Reality

An introduction to Hermetic philosophy, the lost field of scientific investigation into magick, alchemy and the hidden nature of reality

Alchemy is tradition spanning millennia that influenced the development of modern chemistry, medicine, philosophy and psychology. Western alchemy blends Greek, Egyptian, Islamic and Jewish traditions, and is a branch of Hermetic philosophy, which is based on the works of Hermes Trismegistus, meaning “Thrice-Great” Hermes.

It’s debated why Hermes Trismegistus was called “Thrice-Great,” but it’s thought that it was because he knows three parts of the wisdom of the universe: alchemy (the operation of the sun), astrology (the operation of the stars) and theurgy (the operation of the gods). Hermes credited the creation of astrology to Zoroaster, founder of the Zoroastrian religion and Middle Eastern philosopher living sometime in the second half of the 2nd millennium BC.

Hermes Trismegistus is considered the founder of science, religion, mathematics, geometry, alchemy, philosophy, medicine and magic. He is a combination of the Egyptian diety Thoth, god of wisdom, learning and communications, and the Greek diety Hermes, messenger of the gods.

He is also credited to have written somewhere between 20,000 and 36,525 works, of which 42 were kept in the great Library of Alexandria, which was destroyed multiple times. Unfortunately, but against all odds, a small handful of Hermes’ texts remain today, most of which are compiled into the Corpus Hermeticum.

It is said that Hermes Trismegistus received his divine wisdom in meditative trances. He covered topics such as medicine, chemistry, law, art, music, magic, philosophy, geography, mathematics and anatomy. His knowledge was so vast and all-encompassing that the ancient Egyptians called him the messenger or communicator of the gods.

Who Was Hermes Trismegistus?

Hermes Trismegistus may have been an actual living king, philosopher and priest, as well as a sage, scientist and sorcerer. He was known by many names, and was considered to be an amalgamation of several people and mythological figures of ancient history. The main function of the various “incarnations” of Hermes is to transcribe the word of God, and his main symbol is the caduceus or serpent staff.

Historical and mythological figures associated with Hermes Trismegistus included:

Thoth (Egyptian Paganism)

Egyptian god of wisdom, learning and communications. He is the scribe of the gods, and was believed to have invented language, the alphabet and writing (i.e. hieroglyphs). The Egyptians credit him as the author of all works of science, philosophy, religion, wisdom and magic. It is believed that Thoth would have actually been an Egyptian priest-king and philosopher who would have lived somewhere around 2000-1200 BC.

Hermes (Greek Paganism)

The Greeks identified Thoth with Hermes, the son of Zeus and the god of science, commerce, language and writing, as well as the messenger of the gods and the first teacher of alchemy. Hermes was also believed to be the inventor of astronomy, astrology, mathematics, geometry, medicine, botany, theology and all branches of knowledge.

Mercury (Roman Paganism)

The Roman adaptation of Hermes is the god Mercury, who is the patron of commerce.

Enoch/Metatron (Biblical figure in Judaism and Christianity)

Enoch is the great grandfather of Noah who ascends to heaven and becomes the archangel Metatron, celestial scribe.

Idris (Prophet in Islam)

Synonymous with Enoch.

Moses (Judaism, Islam & Christianity)

Moses was an Egyptian prince of Hebrew heritage, who lived in Egypt somewhere between 2000-1200 BC. He established a monotheistic religion in pagan Egypt but was forced to exile. He is credited with the writing of the Torah and the Ten Commandments, which were given by God through Moses.

Akhenaten (Egyptian Pharaoh; reigned from 1353–1336 BC)

He attempted to make pagan Egypt monotheistic under one sun god. His mother, Tuy, was likely of Hebrew origin and he was driven out of Egypt like Moses. The city with the most Statues of Akhenaten is the the city of Hermopolis, which is dedicated to Hermes Trismegistus.

Nabu (Babylonian)

God of writing and wisdom, scribe of Marduk and keeper of the Tablets of Destiny.

In the modern day, the term “Hermetically sealed” is commonly used to mean airtight and impervious to gases. The word “Hermetic” today typically means secret or sealed. Hermeticism was generally veiled in secrecy, and only those who were truly ready could receive the Hermetic teachings. Hermes is also said to have had magical powers that could seal a box or chest is such a way that it could never be opened.

Hermes’ symbol, the caduceus, is also the modern symbol of commerce and medicine.

Hermetic Philosophy

Hermetic philosophy, or Hermeticism, is one of the oldest religious and philosophical traditions, a synthesis of religion, philosophy, that flourished in Ptolomaic Egypt. Hermeticism was not embodied in a single religious group, but instead was a philosophical system that is at the root of many traditions, some of which are still alive today!

Hermeticism is a blend of ancient Egyptian religion, philosophy, science and magic, with elements of Greek Paganism, Alexandrian Judaism, ancient Sumerian religion and Chaldaean astrology/astronomy, and Zoroastrianism. It is associated with the philosophical schools of Platonism, Neo-Platonism, Stoicism and Pythagorianism.

Hermeticism is said to hold “prisca theologia,” a doctrine that claims a true theology at the root of all religions that was given to man in antiquity. The Hermeticists believe in one transcendent God, and that “All is One” in the universe, though they also believe in the existence of other beings such as aeons, angels and elementals. Hermeticism influenced Judaism, Islam and Christianity, especially the early Christian Gnostics, who were considered heretics.

The Destruction of Hermetic Wisdom

Much of the Hermetic and alchemical literature was destroyed, and the remainder shifted to the Islamic world in 400-600 AD, eventually emerging in medieval Europe and through the Renaissance. The Christians, starting with Emperor Constantine and his successors, erased almost every trace of Hermeticism from 312 AD until well into the 6th century, putting to death thousands of pagans, many of whom were Hermetic, and destroying temples and sacred texts.

Being opposed by the Church, the Hermetic tradition was forced into the occult underground, and now permeates Western esoteric traditions. This includes secret societies such as the Freemasons, Rosicrucians, Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Thelema, as well as modern Paganism, New Age and Wicca. The Theosophical Society, the philosophy behind the Waldorf/Rudolf Steiner schools, is also influenced by Hermetic philosophy.

Hermeticism’s Influence on the Scientific Revolution

The Greek philosopher, mathematician and astronomer Pythagoras (570 – 495 BC) was said to be an initiate to the Hermetic arts, which he studied in Egypt. Plato (424/423 – 348/347 BC) was deeply influenced by Pythagoras, and was also inspired by the Hermetic teachings; some claim he also studied with the Egyptian masters. Both Pythagoras and Plato were influential for early modern scholars of the Scientific Revolution.

The Greek philosopher and scientist Aristotle studied at Plato’s Academy in Athens from 328 – 347 BC. He taught Alexander the Great starting in 343 BC, who conquered Egypt in 331 BC and founded Alexandria, a hub for alchemy and Hermeticism.

Contrary to popular belief, Hermeticism, Neoplatonic mysticism and natural magic had a remarkable influence on the Scientific Revolution, which began in the Renaissance period. The Scientific Revolution embraced empiricism, reason and open inquiry over faith, mysticism, or dogma. Ironically, the Renaissance saw a resurgence of Hermetic ideas, as well as in mythical, metaphorical and magical ways of thinking.

Indeed, the fathers of the modern science and the scientific method were deeply religious and many were alchemists and esotericists, traditions rooted in Hermeticism. Hermetic principles can be seen in the works of luminaries such as Nicolaus Copernicus, Johannes Kepler, Robert Boyle, Isaac Newton and Francis Bacon, as well as medieval philosophers, notably Roger Bacon, but also Islamic philosophers like Al-Kindi and Avicenna.

Copernicus, who presented the first predictive mathematic model for a heliocentric system, describes the sun:

In the middle of all sits the Sun enthroned. In this most beautiful temple could we place this luminary in any better position from which he can illuminate the whole at once? He is rightly called the Lamp, the Mind, the Ruler of the Universe; Hermes Trismegistus names him the Visible God, Sophocles’ Electra calls him the All-seeing. So the Sun sits as upon a royal throne ruling his children the planets which circle around him.

Isaac Newton, the father of modern physics, spent most of his time rediscovering the occult wisdom of the ancients, including the Corpus Hermeticum and the Emerald Tablet. He was a devout scholar and practitioner of alchemy, which greatly influenced his scientific work, including the laws of motion, the theory of gravity, his work on optics and the invention of calculus.

Although there is a link between the celestial and terrestrial realms in Hermeticism (“As above, so below”), there is also the central idea of progress of knowledge and advancement of learning. In the Hermetic tradition, nature is investigated through observation, experiment and illumination. The purpose is to discover and detect that which is invisible and find the hidden linkages between things. The magical tradition within Hermeticism endeavors to discover the influence of one thing over another, to understand phenomena and learn how to manipulate them.

Paracelsus was a Renaissance physician, surgeon, botanist, astrologer, alchemist, and is considered the founder of toxicology. He wrote the famous phrase “The dose makes the poison.” Paracelsus had an affinity for Hermetic, Neo-Platonic and Pythagorean philosophy. He advocated that the final arbiter for a theory should be experience, and that humility and diligent labor is necessary.

He can be surprised by an anomaly—like a white raven—which confounds all the books; and all his experience, everything he has learned at the sickbed, is suddenly gone. Therefore study each day without respite, investigate and observe diligently; despise nothing, and do not lightly put too much trust in yourself. Do not be arrogant. – Paracelsus

The Separation of Spirit and Science

While Hermeticism was influential in the rise of modern experimental science, part of the Hermetic tradition had to be repudiated in order for science to emerge. This includes a separation of science from religion and the spiritual world, as well as removing illumination as a way of obtaining knowledge.

Until the mid-17th century, natural philosophy generally described nature as an organic, dynamic, living, interconnected organism. There was no clear distinction between astronomy and astrology; alchemy and chemistry; science and magic. The Scientific Revolution separated these disciplines and brought a mechanistic view of nature, a focus on rational and logical thought, and a separation of religion and spirituality from the pursuit of knowledge.

In science, a phenomenon that is being observed is separated from the soul and the internal value system of the observer. When science observes a phenomenon, it assumes that is its true nature; the perceptual is the actual. However, in the modern fields of relativistic and quantum physics, observation affects the process being observed, with a different outcome than if the process were unobserved.

In Hermeticism, that which is being studied is a reflection of the observer and the two are intrinsically linked. This is central to Hermetic philosophy as seen in the famous phrase “As above, so below”: the universe is a symbolic reflection of what is happening inside of ourselves. The quest for knowledge becomes a spiritual journey to return to a state of unity with the divine, known as the “Great Work” of humankind.

All are one. As above, so below.

FUENTE

10 Surprising Things I Discovered About Myself After I Walked Out

I didn’t really just walk out. He got a Dear John letter.

Leaving was hard. I thought about it for months. A couple of years even. Right after I discovered the last lie it was a matter of time before I left. I had to get all my ducks in a row first. There were several things I had to make sure were in place before I even wrote my Dear John letter. First and foremost, was a stable income. I never once really thought about the life I would have after him. I just knew it had to happen. Eventually.

It was a rocky 8 years. There was good, lots of good, bad, lots of that too and ugly. Oh there was ugly. The lies, the bullying, the emotional manipulation. Yup there was ugly. So much ugly. I had to get away. I was losing myself in a vortex of hate and anger. When I finally left, I discovered many things about myself and life.

I’m pretty strong.

Like stronger than I ever imagined. I mean, I’ve always been a bit of a durable kinda gal but, wow, when shit hits the fan I sure can scramble to my feet in a flurry and maintain my composure. I had no clue. But wait, when strong is all there is left…well.

I’m really smart.

I am. For years I was programmed to believe there were many things I couldn’t do for whatever lame reason there was that week. I have discovered there are many things I really can do, all by myself. And I do have a brain. How awesome it was to discover that!

I’m really nice.

Like I’m a really nice person. I do have a great personality after all. For years I was this quiet meek and mild mannered girl trying not to speak out of turn. I actually have a sparkling personality that people like.

Facing fear is kinda fun.

I had a lot of fears and I still do but it’s actually kinda fun when you have to face serious shit on your own, when no one has your back. When no one is gonna be pissed at you because you did something dumb (but had fun anyway)

I have great friends and family.

I put them aside for my relationship. I didn’t have to; it was just easier to go through life that way. When I picked up the phone to call for help, everyone came out of the woodwork. People really do like me and are willing to help.

I have purpose and passion.

Things that I didn’t even really know existed inside of me. They were buried so deep for so long, they were just gone. I realized there were a few things I really loved (besides eating cereal for dinner and staying up late) and I needed to pursue them.

TV is stupid.

Like I really hate television. I hate it so much that if I never watch another TV show again I will die a happy woman. Wait, except Vikings. And UFC. Ya, just those two. The rest of TV is dumb. Like the news? Forget it.

I have hope.

I found a new hope to do things that I’ve always wanted to do but never could because I was a zombie in this relationship. A zombie that had her life planned out and scheduled day in and day out.

Find self love.

That was a tough one but I had to find it. I had to break the pattern of always getting involved in relationships that were just clearly not good for me. I had to love myself and spend some time alone. Now that was scary, hard but fun.

Life is so much fun.

I really loved life. Loved it like I never have before. I used to dread waking up in the morning, I used to dread each day and never looked for anything good, but man, life is fucking awesome.

I write this blog from sunny Guatemala. Something I would have never been able to do had I stayed in that relationship. I am here, working as a freelance writer, and helping the poor people which is one of my purposes. Yes, life really is beautiful.

I can’t believe Holly lost that title fight. Bartender another margeurita please.

Peace and Love

Iva

FUENTE

Five Ways Science Says to Handle Difficult Times

Navigating Life’s Struggles

A mentor of mine recently passed away, and I was heartbroken — so I tried my best to avoid thinking about it. I didn’t even mention it to my family because I didn’t want those sad feelings to resurface.

In other words, I took the very enlightened approach of pretend it didn’t happen — one that’s about as effective as other common responses, such as get angry, push people away, blame myself, or wallow in the pain.

Even for the relatively self-aware and emotionally adept, struggles can take us by surprise. But learning healthy ways to move through adversity — a collection of skills that researchers call resilience — can help us cope better and recover more quickly, or at least start us heading in that direction.

Here are 12 resilience practices (squeezed into five categories), which can help you confront emotional pain more skillfully.

Wallowing in our pain or bottling our emotions is easy, but it doesn’t help.

1. Change the Narrative

When something bad happens, we often relive the event over and over in our heads, rehashing the pain. This process is called rumination; it’s like a cognitive spinning of the wheels, and it doesn’t move us toward healing and growth.

The practice of expressive writing can move us forward by helping us gain new insights on the challenges in our lives. It involves writing continuously for 20 minutes about a particular issue; exploring your deepest thoughts and feelings around it. The goal is to get something down on paper, not to create a memoir-like masterpiece.

A 1988 study found that participants who did expressive writing for four days were healthier six weeks later, and happier up to three months later, compared to people who wrote about superficial topics. In writing, researchers suggest that we’re forced to confront ideas, one by one, and give them structure; which may lead to new perspectives. We’re actually crafting our own life narrative and gaining a sense of control.

Once we’ve explored the dark side of an experience, we might choose to contemplate some of its upsides. A technique called ‘finding silver linings’ invites you to call to mind an upsetting experience and try to list three positive things about it. For example, you might reflect on how fighting with a friend brought some important issues out into the open and allowed you to learn something about their point of view.

Writing about your pains and emotions helps heal them and transform them into wisdom.

In a 2014 study, doing this practice daily for three weeks helped participants afterward become more engaged with life, and it decreased their pessimistic beliefs over time. This wasn’t true for a group whose members just wrote about their daily activities. It was particularly beneficial for staunch pessimists, who also became less depressed. But the effects wore off after two months, suggesting that looking on the bright side is something we have to practice regularly.

2. Face Your Fears

The practices above are helpful for past struggles; ones that we’ve gained enough distance from to be able to get some perspective. But what about knee-shaking fears that we’re experiencing in the here and now?

The ‘overcoming a fear’ practice is designed to help with everyday fears that get in the way of life, such as the fear of public speaking, heights, or flying. We can’t talk ourselves out of such fears; instead, we have to tackle the emotions directly.

The first step is to slowly, and repeatedly, expose yourself to the thing that scares you — in small doses. For example, people with a fear of public speaking might try talking more in meetings, then perhaps giving a toast at a small wedding. Over time, you can incrementally increase the challenge until you’re ready to nail that big speech or TV interview.

Start off small when facing your fears, and gradually, your confidence will build.

In a 2010 study, researchers modeled this process in the lab. They gave participants a little electrical shock every time they saw a blue square, which soon became as scary as a tarantula to an arachnophobe. But then, they showed the blue square to participants without shocking them. Over time, the participants’ Pavlovian fear (measured by the sweat on their skin) gradually disappeared.

In effect, this kind of ‘exposure therapy’ helps us change the associations we have with a particular stimulus. If we’ve flown 100 times and the plane has never crashed, for example, our brain (and body) start to learn that it’s safe. Though the fear may never be fully extinguished, we’ll likely have more courage to confront it.

3. Practice Self-Compassion

I’ve never been a good flyer myself, and it was comforting when an acquaintance shared an article he wrote about having the same problem; as well as his favorite tips. Fears and adversity can make us feel alone; we wonder why we’re the only ones feeling this way, and what exactly is wrong with us. In these situations, learning to practice self-compassion — and recognizing that everyone suffers — is a much gentler, and more effective, way to heal.

Self-compassion involves offering compassion to ourselves: confronting our own suffering with an attitude of warmth and kindness; without judgment. In one study, participants in an eight-week Mindful Self-Compassion program reported more mindfulness and life satisfaction, with lower depression, anxiety, and stress afterward, compared to people who didn’t participate — and the benefits lasted up to a year.

Be kind to yourself. Be your own best friend.

One practice, the ‘self-compassion break’, is something you can do any time you start to feel overwhelmed by pain or stress. It has three steps, which correspond to the three aspects of self-compassion:

• Be mindful: Without judgment or analysis, notice what you’re feeling. Say, “This is a moment of suffering” or “This hurts” or “This is stress.”
• Remember that you’re not alone: Everyone experiences these deep and painful human emotions, although the causes might be different. Say to yourself, “Suffering is a part of life” or “We all feel this way” or “We all struggle at some point in our lives.”
• Be kind to yourself: Put your hands on your heart and say something like “May I give myself compassion” or “May I accept myself as I am” or “May I be patient.”

If being kind to yourself is a challenge, an exercise called ‘How Would You Treat a Friend?’ could help. Here, compare how you respond to your own struggles — and the tone you use — with the way you would respond to a friend’s. Often, this comparison unearths some surprising differences and valuable reflections: Why am I so harsh on myself, and what would happen if I weren’t?

Once we start to develop a kinder attitude toward ourselves, we can crystallize that gentle voice in a self-compassionate letter. This practice asks you to spend 15 minutes writing words of understanding, acceptance, and compassion toward yourself about a specific struggle that you feel ashamed of — say, being shy or not spending enough time with your kids. In the letter, you might remind yourself that everyone struggles and that you aren’t solely responsible for this shortcoming; if possible, you could also consider constructive ways to improve in the future.

4. Meditate

As mindfulness gurus like to remind us, our most painful thoughts are usually about the past or the future: We regret and ruminate on things that went wrong, or we get anxious about things that will. When we pause and bring our attention to the present, we often find that things are … okay.

Slow down, breath, be present in each moment, and feel the peace that this cultivates.

Practicing mindfulness brings us more and more into the present, and it offers techniques for dealing with negative emotions when they arise. That way, instead of getting carried away in fear, anger, or despair, we can work through them more deliberately.

One of the most commonly studied mindfulness programs is the eight-week-long Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), which teaches participants to cope with challenges using a variety of meditation practices (including the ones detailed below). Various studies have found that MBSR has wide-ranging health and psychological benefits for people in general, as well as those struggling with mental illness or chronic disease.

One meditation that might be particularly effective at calming our negative thoughts is the ‘body scan’. Here, you focus on each body part in turn — head to toe — and you can choose to let go of any areas of tension you discover. Strong feelings tend to manifest physically, as tight chests or knotted stomachs, and relaxing the body is one way to begin dislodging them.

Practise focussing on each body part so you can release any tension that you’re harboring.

In one study, researchers found that time spent practicing the body scan was linked to greater well-being and less reactivity to stress. Being more aware of our bodies — and the emotions they are feeling — might also help us make healthier choices; trusting our gut when something feels wrong or avoiding commitments that will lead to exhaustion.

When stress creeps in, good habits often creep out, and one of those is healthy eating. When we’re emotional, many of us reach for the sweets; when we’re short on time, fast food seems like the only option. So in addition to helping us cultivate mindfulness, the raisin meditation could help change our relationship to food.

This exercise invites you to eat a raisin mindfully — but wait, not so fast! First, examine its wrinkles and color, see how it feels between your fingers, and then take a sniff. Slowly place it on your tongue, and roll it around in your mouth before chewing, one bite at a time. Notice the urge to swallow, and whether you can sense it moving down your throat into your stomach. Not only will you have practiced mindfulness, but you may never look at food the same way again.

When eating, use all of yours senses to slowly experience each mouthful with mindfulness.

One final meditation that we can sprinkle throughout our day, or practice on its own, is ‘mindful breathing’. It involves bringing attention to the physical sensations of the breath: the air moving through the nostrils, the expansion of the chest, the rise and fall of the stomach. If the mind wanders away, you bring your attention back to it. This can be done during a full 15-minute meditation or during a moment of stress, with just a few breaths.

In one study, participants who did a mindful breathing exercise before looking at disturbing images — like spiders or car crashes — experienced less negative emotion than people who hadn’t done the exercise. Negative thoughts can pull us along into their frantic stream, but the breath is an anchor we can hold onto at any time.

5. Cultivate Forgiveness

If holding a grudge is holding you back, research suggests that cultivating forgiveness could be beneficial to your mental and physical health. If you feel ready to begin, it can be a powerful practice.

Begin by clearly acknowledging what happened, including how it feels and how it’s affecting your life right now. Then, make a commitment to forgive, which means letting go of resentment and ill will for your own sake; forgiveness doesn’t mean letting the offender off the hook or even reconciling with them. Ultimately, you can try to find a positive opportunity for growth in the experience: perhaps it alerted you to something you need, which you may have to look for elsewhere, or perhaps you can now understand other people’s suffering better.

Anger, resentment, and grudges are heavy burdens to bear. Forgive, and set yourself free.

If you’re having trouble forgiving, ‘letting go of anger through compassion’ is a five-minute forgiveness exercise that could help you get unstuck. Here, you spend a few minutes generating feelings of compassion toward your offender; she, too, is a human being who makes mistakes; he, too, has room for growth and healing. Be mindfully aware of your thoughts and feelings during this process, and notice any areas of resistance.

Not convinced this is the best approach? Researchers tested it against the common alternatives — either ruminating on negative feelings or repressing them — and found that cultivating compassion led participants to report more empathy, positive emotions, and feelings of control. That’s an outcome that victims of wrongdoing deserve; no matter how we feel about the offenders.

Your Personal Toolbox for Tough Times

Stress and struggles come in many forms in life: adversity and trauma, fear and shame, betrayals of trust. The 12 practices above can help you cope with difficulties when they arise but also prepare you for challenges in the future. With enough practice, you’ll have a toolbox of techniques that come naturally — a rainy-day fund for the mind that will help keep you afloat when times get tough. Just knowing that you’ve built up your skills of resilience can be a great comfort and even a happiness booster.

 

FUENTE

Why Nice Guys Stay Single

“I figured if I was nice, I would impress girls. If I was nice enough, I would get a girlfriend.”

I’ve heard this so many times. And for the record, I think it’s incredible. How awesome does a human have to be in order to understand that basic kindness is the bedrock of all relationships? When young men say this to me, it warms my heart. These are lovely, beautiful people, and they’re going to do well in life.

But they’re not going to get a girlfriend. If they do, it’s likely to be shallow, unfulfilling and short lived.

That’s because ‘nice’ is what you do when you’re scared to be who you really are.

Nice is a tool. It’s a predetermined set of behaviors that can be followed in casual social situations in order to avoid awkwardness and hurt feelings. It’s a default setting, and one that works really, really well for 90% of your life—in the office, going to the bank, meeting someone new, walking down the street. Without nice, rudeness would reign in restrooms, yelling matches would pepper our time on public transit, and don’t even get me started on the damage the service industry would inflict on customers, unfettered by this do-no-harm social code. Sent a steak back to the kitchen? Prepare to be punched in the face by the chef. 

Nice prevents us from clawing at each other’s’ throats. It’s the lubricant that allows complex, weird, hurting people to have social intercourse without too much soreness afterwards. Emotionally, I mean.

It also separates us from the real, authentic experience we’re having every moment. It gives us an excuse not to share that authentic experience with the people who are experiencing it with us. Because it’s pre-set and default, it’s autopilot. It’s a way for us to cop out. Nice is a way to momentarily disown the dirty ugly parts of ourselves that we are so afraid others will see.

Nice is denying the shadow; the parts of yourself that you wish weren’t part of you …. That means it’s denying others—especially romantic partners—the opportunity to know and love you for who you really are.

Nice is denying the shadow; the parts of yourself that you wish weren’t part of you. It’s pretending you don’t feel afraid, or inadequate, or sometimes lost or often lonely. It’s denying that you are a complex, weird, difficult person who struggles in the world and deserves to be wholly loved and accepted anyways. That means it’s denying others—especially romantic partners—the opportunity to know and love you for who you really are.

We’re all weirdos. We’re all hurting. We all have things about ourselves that we think are so awful that we aren’t even aware they are part of us, because we’re denying them so hard. Nice is one of the main tools we use to deny those things. “I’m not angry!” we cry. “I’m nice!’”

The truth is, you’re neither. You’re much more than what you feel. There are real women in the world who want desperately to see the truth of you. Even the parts you don’t like.

While it makes sense to eschew our freak flags in favor of social niceties 90% of the time, it is a terrible way to approach women you want to be with. It negates the possibility of real intimacy, stops the beautiful flower of connection from sprouting. We’re taught that we have to be nice in order to be worthy, acceptable, lovable. While it’s true that we have to be nice sometimes, in order to maintain social equilibrium, it’s also true that we can let our nice shield down with those who matter. Which is scary! Very scary! It’s the single most vulnerable thing a person can do.

We are yearning for your authentic presence. Can you provide it?

Can you be brave enough to do that for the women you care about? We are yearning for your authentic presence. Can you provide it?

Some women want nice, and not just while you’re out at restaurants or meeting her parents for the first time. Those are the ones with whom you’ll eventually feel lonely in love, always a little bit separate from each other and from the real juicy wet sexy awkward moments of your life together. That’s because you’re helping each other maintain separation from your selves. I’ve been there. I dated nice guys, and then wondered why it felt like I was dating a cardboard cut out. When these guys eventually, inevitably showed me who they really were, it was with resentment: they had held back, denied themselves, and all to please me. It hurt them, and they blamed me for that hurt. It’s hard to come back from that in a relationship.

What women—evolved, mature, powerful women—actually need is a man who embodies the divinity of manhood. This may sound mystical, but it’s not. Every man is sacred, can touch the sacred masculine within him, can be a man who stands in compassion, loyalty, and honor, who cares enough to realize that only his true, unfiltered presence is good enough for this world. A man with a powerful heart, who can hold a woman in his presence, who can weather her emotional storms, who is nourished by being near her and sees her divinity and gives endlessly of himself.

I dated nice guys, and then wondered why it felt like I was dating a cardboard cut out. When these guys eventually, inevitably showed me who they really were, it was with resentment: they had held back, denied themselves, and all to please me.

That may seem like nice, and it’s true that they have a lot in common. But it’s different from nice in two critical ways. First, Nice is pretending. Nice is prefabricated, sterile, and not from the heart. If you’re acting from the heart, then congratulations—you’re much more than just nice. Most men who are motivated to be kind and caring are much more than Nice.

The second part has to do with masculine energy. Yang, Mars, active, hot; cultures around the world have used many different words to describe that certain masculine something which is definitely not nice … and definitely something straight women crave. I’m talking about physicality, competition, lust. A demanding, sensual, immediate, winner-takes-all, intense … oh my. I’m getting turned on just writing about it.

Embodying that energy may seem like being a jerk. In the ‘bad boy’ archetype, where that energy isn’t tempered by the loyalty and compassion that’s also integral to the sacred masculine, it does play out as guys being a**holes. Women go for bad boys because at least they know a bad boy can ravish them.

These two halves of masculinity are compatible. They can meet and make a whole, when a genuine, caring man also owns his lust, his insatiable, raw, unapologetic fire and desire.

But these two halves of masculinity are compatible. They can meet and make a whole, when a genuine, caring man also owns his lust, his insatiable, raw, unapologetic fire and desire. That is what women need, what we find irresistible, what we daren’t dream of in our wildest darkest hour of yearning … but dream of anyways.

It’s so much more than nice. It’s like a gourmet feast, and nice is just the appetizer, meant to whet our appetites and hint at the glorious, terrifying, powerful man who’s taking the time to be nice to us.

Some women genuinely seek out jerks. Some men do this, too. That’s because they’re playing out childhood trauma, acting out past hurts and confusions to try to make sense of them. It’s not because all women want, need or love jerks.

We don’t.

We want guys who are nice. But we need them to be more than that. We need men who aren’t afraid to stand in their power with us. Who are brave enough to cast off the trappings of nice, be authentic, be imperfect, have needs, and share those needs with us. Men who are brave enough to stop hiding behind nice, and show us who they really are.

If you can do that, you’ve got me. You’ve got the girl. And she’ll never let you go.

FUENTE

6 Nikola Tesla Quotes That Might Change the Way You See the World

These six Nikola Tesla quotes show a visionary scientist who thought in terms of energy vibration and intuition when trying to understand the universe.

Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, engineer, and physicist. He was best known for developing the alternating current circuit, a technology we still rely on today. However, Tesla has some even bigger ideas, conceiving such technologies as the electric motor, remote controls, hydroelectric power, and lasers.

As the following Nikola Tesla quotes show, he also had a unique way of thinking about the world. Despite his scientific background, Tesla believed in an energetic universe and the power of intuition.

The six Nikola Tesla quotes that could change the way you perceive the world

These quotes show that he had a very different take on the world from the scientists, technologists, and businessmen of his time.

“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.”

This quote shows that he was ahead of his time in truly understanding the nature of the universe. In an age when much of the scientific community believed only material things existed, Tesla had some very different ideas. He understood that the universe, rather than being made up of solid objects, was actually a mass of energy vibrating at different frequencies.

“If your hate could be turned into electricity, it would light up the whole world.”

Tesla always had an affinity with electricity. Perhaps this was because he was born during a lightning storm. According to family legend, the midwife considered this a bad omen. She declared that the newborn would be a child of darkness. His mother replied “No. He will be a child of light.” I think that the quote above suggests that his mother was right.

Tesla clearly understood the energy of hate, too. This quote will resonate with those of us that believe that hate and love affect the universe as a whole. This powerful analogy shows the strength of hate. But Tesla knew that negative emotions would never power a peaceful world as we can see from the quotes later in this article.

This is one of my favorite Nikola Tesla quotes:

“What one man calls God, another calls the laws of physics.”

In a world where there seems to be such a split between spirituality and science, Tesla implies that these are just different terms for the same thing. Universal energy fuels our universe and as he says, some people call this God, others call it universal energy, spirit, mother nature, or just the laws of physics. He shows that we don’t have to choose between being rational believers in science or spiritual believers in the divine – they are one and the same.

“My brain is only a receiver, in the Universe there is a core from which we obtain knowledge, strength and inspiration.”

This quote also resonates with those of us that consider ourselves spiritual seekers today. Tesla indicates that he believed in some kind of source energy that we can all tap into. Many of us have experienced what he describes as being a receiver, whether in meditation or during times of creative flow. 

“But instinct is something which transcends knowledge. We have, undoubtedly, certain finer fibers that enable us to perceive truths when logical deduction, or any other willful effort of the brain, is futile.”

In this quote, Tesla shows how he believed in more than just logical thinking. He is not the first scientist to say how intuition and imagination can help us have transformational ideas. Albert Einstein famously used thought experiments to test out his ideas. If intuition and imagination worked for geniuses like Einstein and Tesla, maybe we should learn to use more than just our logical rational minds, too.

And finally, his most inspiring quote of all:

“What we now want is closer contact and better understanding between individuals and communities all over the earth, and the elimination of egoism and pride which is always prone to plunge the world into primeval barbarism and strife… Peace can only come as a natural consequence of universal enlightenment…”

This is one of the most inspiring Nikola Tesla quotes of all. He understood that the ego gets in the way of humankind’s development. Egotistical fighting for superiority will never allow us to achieve the things we could achieve if we combined our resources and skills. To create peace and harmony on our beautiful planet, we need to work together in love rather than egotistical competition and fighting for resources.

Nikola Tesla’s life

Unfortunately, Tesla didn’t get to see many of his ideas come to fruition. Much like Michelangelo, he was a visionary inventor ahead of his time. He never achieved the fame, fortune or credit he deserved during his lifetime. By listening to this visionary thinker, we could have been enjoying transformational technologies like hydroelectric power and electric cars for years by now.

Being inspired by Tesla in the future

It is never too late to be inspired by the great geniuses of the past. If we follow Tesla’s ideas of working together without egotism and pride and using our imagination and intuition to come up with new ideas, then perhaps we can achieve all that he envisioned and more. Above all, perhaps we should follow his example of understanding the energetic nature of the universe. Whether we call it physics or God, we can harness this power for the good of all.

FUENTE