(Display Name not set)August 2006 Archives

Check out Michael Shermer's article "Who Believes in God--and Why?" An excerpt:

In sum, being female and raised by religious parents in a large family appears to make one more religious, whereas being male, educated, in conflict with one’s parents, and older appears to make one less religious. As people become older and more educated, they encounter other belief systems that lead them to see the connection between various personal and social influences and religious beliefs. This helps explain the differences we observed in reasons people give for their own beliefs versus the reasons they attribute to other people’s beliefs.

Here's what he says are the top five reasons people say they believe in God (sorry, you have to work with his awkward syntax here):

1. The good design / natural beauty / perfection / complexity of the world or universe (28.6%)

2. The experience of God in everyday life (20.6%)

3. Belief in God is comforting, relieving, consoling, and gives meaning and purpose to life (10.3%)

4. The Bible says so (9.8%)

5. Just because / faith / the need to believe in something (8.2%)

I found the following gratitude meditation on a Rudolf Steiner website. It was written by Dennis Klocek, a teacher of "Consciousness Studies" at Rudolf Steiner College who also runs the weather forecasting system at docweather.com.

"When I pump gasoline into my tank, I can imagine that the gasoline that is actually entering my tank is flowing backwards from my gas tank back through the pump nozzle and into the tank in the ground. From there I imagine the gasoine coming out of the tank in the ground into the tanker truck from the refinery. I imagine a fictional driver "Bob" or whoever, and I thank "Bob" for driving the truck to deliver the gas so that I can use it to live my life. It doesn't matter that the image of "Bob" is an accurate image of some actual person. What matters is that emotionally I am contacting some human who served my life with a deed of sacrifice...

Once I feel that I have thanked "Bob" sufficiently. I continue my exercise at the gas pump by tracking "Bob's" tanker truck to the refinery where I meet "Shirley" the lady who makes out the invoice that is on "Bob's" clipboard. I thank "Shirley" for her work and I thank "Bob" for his work and then listen intently as my gesture of thanks towards them flows into silence...

In this way I can contact numerous unrecognized persons who are serving me by working in the fossil fuel industry. Through this exericse of gratitude I can personalize the issues around the use of fossil fuel and find the serving human being at the basis for most things encountered in the daily life. This goes a long way towards dealing with the nameless and pervasive guilt and anxiety that live in the souls of most people today surrounding the loss of personal power to impersonal organizations and exploitive economic systems."

Phoenix Soleil is probably swamped with work right now. But I'm telling you about her anyway since she represents a kind sensibility that is somewhat unusual in the computer biz. Her gentle approach to home-and-office computer tech support got her mentioned on the New York version of Daily Candy newsletter this week. She calls herself a "left-brain computer geek, right brain artist" who can help you in person or by phone with your various computer issues, using a language you can understand. "My teaching method is nurturing... My goal is to destroy shame and make using technology enjoyable." Not the standard pitch, right? Brilliant.

I very much like the fact that the New York Times has hired a fragrance reviewer to contribute real journalism on the subject of scent. After years of being pretty primitive when it came to essential oils and fragrances (and a bit like Granny Clampett who as you may recall, used to place "vanilly" extract behind her ears on "The Beverly Hillbillies"), I'm seeing more merit to my least favorite sense. By expanding my appreciation of smell, I've found new ways to be present. I also like the fact that the commercial perfume industry is producing fragrances that are more natural and ephemeral.

What's your pleasure in the realm of fragrance? Everybody's different.

Photo by bleu celt

Find everything you ever wanted or needed to know about the healing powers of the honey bee at apitherapy.blogspot.com.

Photo by Sarah Macmillan

Have you ever wondered what to do with those raw cacao beans you purchased at the health food store? Remember, those little brown beans of totally unprocessed chocolate that you then gagged on at home because they were so bitter?...

It was only a matter of time before the ritual of lighting Jewish sabbath candles was put online. Chabad Lubavitch recently launched FridayLight.org, a site that encourages women everywhere to say the Jewish blessing over candles 18 minutes before each...

Don't rush out to get married after midnight in Las Vegas, Nevada anymore. Law changes this week force those dying to tie the knot to wait until the morning to get hitched. It's sort of like a gun law, I...

Today, I tried on my first pair of Masai Barefoot Technology shoes--the next big thing for your legs and feet, said to mimic the motion of walking barefoot on the beach. Corporate literature claims that wearing these sneaker-like sabots reduces...

I've written two semi-humorous posts on basement and closet de-cluttering in the last week. Some of you took my tone seriously, others knew I was kidding somewhat. A lot has been written on this subject. And yet, many of our...

"...we all have the ability to rule our own world and live with confidence. To do this, we need to use our daily lives to be strong, as opposed to aggressive, and to act with wisdom and compassion. This may...

Astrologer Shelley Ackerman generously mentions her affiliation with Beliefnet.com in this Wall Street Journal article about how minimizing the planetary stature of Pluto could have complicated astrolgoical effects. "Whether he's a planet, an asteroid, or a radioactive matzo ball, Pluto...

Well, I hope playing rock music met the negative chi of your messy closet or basement head-on ! Today, we're going to be more assertive with these disaster areas, but we'll fall just short of disassembling them. This is gentle...

Do you love Garry Wills? Read his article "Christ Was Not a Christian" here.He writes: "For two years, Jesus slipped through all the traps set for him. He moved like a fish in the sea of his lower-class fellows. He...

"The mind carries its own confusion unless we bring about clarity. Our self-esteem is so vulnerable that our mind comes to our rescue to protect ourselves against the light that would shatter us...It requires a lot of courage to face...

Everyone has a problem area of their home where unused belongings fester for years. This can be tough since often we could really use that space for our trance-dancing, healing work, sauerkraut crocks, or singing bowls.So, let's get rid of...

Thanks to CM reader Stephan for providing us with this cool link to the Q-link necklace, which some people believe can increase your energy and provide protection from EMFs. Let's not argue about it. Those who believe will buy, and...

You'll find a great radio conversation here (scroll down to Take Charge of Your Health, Friday August 4, 12 p.m.) between clinical nutritionist and radio personality Corinne Furnari, and cardiologist Dr. Stephen Sinatra. They cover metabolism, weight, and chronic fatigue...

Thanks to Debra Lynn Dadd's holistic newsletter for informing us all about these eco-friendly backpacks for kids returning to school. The eco lunch bags, shown at right, also make sense for kids, though I'm not sure how a banana would...

You DID, however, like my chattering thoughts on the reduced importance of physical beauty, beauty you have to mimic or buy. Says Stacey-Robin H. Johnson: "I think culture-by-culture we are becoming more aware of our true selves, sans 6-pack abs."Asks...

You know, as I was editing your posts about beauty above, my mind cast back to two icons of glamour when I was a tiny girl: Judy Garland and Marilyn Monroe.When my Dad was out of town, I sometimes stayed...

A lot of you guys didn't embrace the "Yoga Mom" moniker, and you haven't bought into the notion that yoga moms have political clout...yet.Heck.George Stephanopoulos didn't call either.One day, you'll look back and say, "Chattering Mind called it." Not that...

Visit here to read Beliefnet editor Sherry Huang's lovely list of recently published spiritual books for children....

Oh man, I'm so jealous. The chef at Google's company dining room serves staffers daily shots of Kombucha tea. Here's how to make it at home. And here are the fermented beverage's alleged benefits....

In late August...I'm sorry...my chattering thoughts drift to school harvest festivals, and Thanksgiving plane reservations and December gifts for family members. If you think your coming schedule is full, start paying attention to every wisdom tradition's holiday! Not only are...

I am loving the cooler August mornings we've got going here. Bright sun. Breezes tinged with autumnal foreboding. Judaism has it right: This is the sweet ending of the old year. The farmer's market was exploding with wonderful produce Saturday....

Two great articles related to Wednesday's new moon in Virgo have been added to Mooncircles.com. "Virgo is often harshly criticized for being a picky sign... But on a deeper level this sign’s dissatisfied restlessness is more often a symptom of...

The New York Times Sunday magazine ran a long and inspiring article by Lisa Belkin about the arduous task of improving the nutritional quality of America's school lunch programs. Results thus far with obese and at risk children are "cautiously...

There's been a lot of press lately about the difficulty of selling homes where something awful has occurred: a murder, suicide, or even divorce. Some people feel spaces can be unlucky or cursed. Whether or not this is true, the...

"Life is dependent on the air around us, and the quality of life is dependent on the quality of air. In an atmosphere of Torah and mitzvot there is healthy life. The first general step in healing is to purify...

This segment from PBS's evening "News Hour" is really worth watching (scroll to Wednesday, August 16, fourth item down). It's about the current trans fats debate in Chicago initiated by Alderman Edward Burke, who thinks the artery-clogging ingredient in many...

Lots of fabulous mail on my recent post about prayer beads and home altars. Basically, most readers contentedly catch sacred moments when they can.Krista White meditates and prays in the "woods, washing dishes, waiting in line at the school to...

In the last election, the term "Soccer Mom" described suburban, swing-voting women. The feeling was that Soccer Moms were important because no one was really sure how they'd vote, and that they carpooled in large numbers. In the end, this...

"Honey, these prayer beads shouldn't be in your car! They should be on your altar!" my friend Frances exclaimed the last time she drove around Brooklyn with me."Oh...yes. Well. I was hoping they'd enhance the car's sacred energy," I said...

Have you seen this? It's a blog written by Israeli women of various academic and media backgrounds who wish to promote peace so all might prosper. Born out of frustration with mainstream news coverge, the blog's authors use their personal...

You know, right now, I have piles of Ken Wilber books, and CDs and DVDs stacked around me. Hi, Ken. How are you? He's always with me. I keep waiting to more thoroughly digest his spiritual theories of the universe,...

I had an epiphany while standing in the yoga pose Warrior II yesterday. This epiphany may not blow you away. But it meant a lot to me. It came in the form of the sentence: "This is me." Or in...

Here's an endearing excerpt from Robert Wright's conversation with spiritual teacher, author and Beliefnet contributor Sharon Salzberg. Some might be put off by his self-assured nature, but I am amused by it. And I find Salzberg's response to his confession...

There's so much to explore on Robert Wright's MeaningofLife.tv, a series of cosmic webcast interviews admirably picked up by the webzine Slate.com. You'll have to visit more than once. Wright is a Schwartz Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation,...

Ever since my darling stomach lining (DSL) was pronounced "inflamed" by my doctor, I've been a culture vulture, by which I mean a fan of "live-culture" or "living" foods. Yogurt is the best recognized substance of this nature. But to...

This past weekend, I learned that a growing group of progressive Christians regularly congregate at CrossLeft.org. Check it out. Claiming to take the Bible seriously but not literally, the group has published manifestos about how the religious left can--culturally and...

Thanks to the excellent Buddhist blog Woodmore Village for alerting me to the fact that 21-year-old Buddhist blogger Will Henderson has developed a downloadable meditation software with timed silences, gongs, and even an ability to coordinate with iTunes! Henderson, a...

Beliefnet published an audio meditation about overcoming fear by Dr. Bernie Siegel today. You might find your square acre of peace by listening. Here's an excerpt:Come out once again into the garden and the sunshine, and walk over to the...

Airports clogged, news of arrests, tanks in Lebanon, hard rains up and down the East Coast (I'm still in South Carolina filled with irrational worry that water may have come in through some open windows at home that Mr. Chattering...

Beauty is over. It's so passé. Pouty lips? Trendy hair? Well-tapered brows? These things are no longer of pressing interest to the vast majority of American women. Here's Chattering Mind's humble prediction: Magazines that primarily feature the latest bang trim...

Picked up a copy of Oprah's "O At Home" magazine today and enjoyed Martha Beck's piece about "environmental autobiography" called "My House, Myself." An excerpt:"Life keeps happening; your home should be an ideal spot for the best and most meaningful...

Sorry, I can't stop there. I'm truly a love child of the Sixties (and Seventies); these are my people.Here's a charming 1978 exchange between Bob Dylan and Rolling Stone's Jonathan Cott:Cott: You've described and communicated the idea of two aspects...

I knew it. Astrologer Caroline Casey's website has great downloads of her most recent radio programs which always wed "spiritual magic to ingenious social action." You'll find Rabbi Michael Lerner speaking on the Middle Eastern conflict and more, plus Rev....

You don't have to be a long-time Bob Dylan fan to be blown away by Jonathan Cott's recently published compilation of interviews with the poet/rebel/sage ("Bob Dylan: The Essential Interviews").Any student of the heart, any devotee of creative thinking will...

You're going to love this: photographer Demetri Dimas Efthyvoulos spent most of the 1980s in Iquitos, Peru--along the Amazon River--and one day as he was printing a photo of foliage he'd taken on a boat trip down the Amazon's banks,...

Thanks to CM regular Daria who posted this:Another view, disturbing as it is, says "War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning"... According to Chris Hedges, author of a book by that title, 'The seduction of war is insidious because...

I encourage you to read Dexter Filkins's flattering review of Lawrence Wright's new book "The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11." Here's a salient passage of the review that should get you talking... Just as dramatic as the...

Oh, this is such fun! Beliefnet has pulled together a "multifaith slideshow of novelty sacrilege." Please have a look.If you like this sort of thing, you'll also giggle over Laura Sheahen's classic round-up of religious kitsch. Crucifixion necktie, anyone?...

Here's the advertising copy you'll find inside a carton of "Pete and Gerry's Organic Eggs.""Our girls spend an absurd amount of time singing and chatting. Each day begins with a stretch, a wing flap (and for some an attempted flight)....

Thanks to Mary Ann Brussat for introducing me to "The Jerusalem Candle of Hope," an unusual joint-venture, $36 dollar product crafted by Israeli and Palestinian women to raise money for needy Israeli and Palestinian families, as well as foster greater...

You cannot imagine what a queen of the earth I was when I was 12 years old...Ah! how you would have loved me, and how I miss myself!--ColetteI've heard that whenever a woman feels indecisive or depressed, she should recall...

In a feng shui seminar I once took, teacher Nancy Santo Pietro told us to always unplug appliances when they weren't in use because they can still produce an electro-magnetic field that can create health problems over time (ranging from...

By age eight, about half of African-American girls and 15 percent of Caucasian girls show clear signs of sexual development. Boys too are maturing earlier than ever. Thanks to author/researcher Marcia Herman-Giddens, we knew that in 1997. But now public...

In 1996, a Laguna Beach psychotherapist named Sharon McErlane was startled by a vision of a "council" of loving grandmothers who urged her to help balance the "masculine and feminine energies" of the earth.Ever since that day, McErlane has been...

Check out the cute photograph that has disgusted some 5,000 complaining readers of BabyTalk magazine. Oh, what a world, what a world!...

Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson says that this summer's high temperatures have converted him to believe in global warming.Do you like him any better?...

Send in a thousand grandmothers,They will surely volunteer.With their ancient wisdom flowing,They will lend a loving ear. First they'll form a loving circleAround the wounded wing,Then contain the brutal beasts of warSweet freedom songs they'll sing! A lullaby much strongerThan...

I wholeheartedly recommend that you read Beliefnet's new "Posts from a War" blog--particularly if you, like most people, find the Middle East conflict confounding. Every day Beliefnet posts new commentary on the war by scholars and religious leaders designed to...

Medical intuitive and mystic Caroline Myss sent the following around in her newsletter(which is always a riot of interesting thinking).First of all, when a planet is at war, the entire vibration of the planet shifts to one of trauma. The...

This new study sort of gets you thinking that the folks once considered "extremists" (like vegans) actually prove to be leaders dragging us all in a good direction. I do not practice a vegan lifestyle, but I learn much about...

Thank you for all the sincere and supportive posts on the item I wrote last week about Alcoholics Anonymous. Beliefnet has an ongoing 12-Step Spirituality support group. And here's the last piece we ran about Buddhism and the 12 Steps,...

Beliefnet published a great package on hands-on healing therapies yesterday. You might get re-energized by taking a peek....

Thanks to Daily Candy for informing me of the grand opening of a new Thai Privilege Spa in downtown Manhattan. It sounds incredible. The photos of models on massage tables at the Bangkok-based company's other facilities are sexy and lush.In...

You know your kids are in a lefty summer day camp when the music teacher turns to the gathered parents at the final concert and says, "Now we're going to sing a song that I learned in Cuba." After the...

Astrologer Shelley Ackerman is sending an email to friends entitled "In Vino Veritas." In it, she says Mel Gibson's astrological chart (which she discussed in The National Council for Geocosmic Research newsletter two and a half years ago when "Passion...

In case you missed it, here's a recently repackaged piece I wrote for Beliefnet on ways to have a more spiritual summer. Unplug the television, swim in real water, gaze at the night sky, make presents for those you love,...