LOVELIGHT
Magazine
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January 2008***Volume 5, no.1
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Managing Editors: Richard Shining Thunder Francis and Adamaria Francis
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Special thanks, and public acknowledgement, to these, our faithful, smart, and amusing contributors: Ericka, Pat Fields, Linda Jung, Steven McDaniel, Nathan Merritt, Ty Scharrer
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LOVELIGHT MAGAZINE:
WHAT WE'RE ALL ABOUT
Lovelight magazine is free, coming directly to your inboxscreen once a
month. We love to laugh.:) So, if you discover any jokes that make
you roar, please send them along to the efamily.:) But no bigoted, prejudiced, scatological, geruntological,
low-quality, or poor-taste humor, please.
Still, life is not all laughs.
So, we hope also to share with you some pleasant and happy thoughts. Lovelight wants to promote peace and
harmony, and to aid you. If you
are working on any religious, psychological, or spiritual issues, we encourage
you to read the ezine, or to write to us at rmfrancis@juno.com
Also, if you come across any wise or touching pieces, not copyrighted,
fairly short, please share them with the efamily. Also welcome are practical tips, short pieces on personal
philosophies, interesting facts, wordplays, and general spirituality (but no
religion or "preachy" dogma, please.:). We reserve the right to make whatever changes we deem
necessary or desirable before inclusion in Lovelight.
As a subscriber, your email
name/address will not be shared.
Please share, send, or copy, this magazine, or any parts of it. Share it as widely as possible, with
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Please use it on your
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please have friends send us their emailaddress and subscribe. Subscriptions are free.
This is "light" reading.
And it is also great, fun reading.
A collection of magazines is produced once a year. We have published three volumes, and
this would make a sweet gift for a loved one. Happy reading!:)
*****
*****
CREDITCARD
SCAM WARNING,
sent in by Ty Scharrer
The following is real and everyone should take note of the
scam. This is important enough to forward to everyone.
This one is pretty slick, since they provide you with
all the information, except the one piece that they want. Note, the callers do not ask for your
card number; they already have it. This information is worth reading. By understanding how the VISA & MasterCard Telephone
Credit Card Scam works, you'll be better prepared to protect yourself:
An employee was called from "Visa." The scam works like this: Caller says, "This is (name), and I'm calling from the
Security and Fraud Department at VISA. My badge number is 12460. Your card has been flagged for an unusual purchase pattern,
and I'm calling to verify. This
would be on your VISA card which was issued by (name of bank). Did you purchase an Anti- Telemarketing
Device for 497.99 from a Marketing company based in London?"
When you say no, the caller continues with, "Then, we will be
issuing a credit to your account. This
is a company we have been watching and the charges range from 297 to 497, just
under the 500 purchase pattern that flags most cards. Before your next statement, the credit
will be sent to (gives you your address), is that correct?"
You say yes.
The caller continues: "I will be starting a fraud investigation. If you have any questions, you should
call the 0800 number listed on the back of your card (0800-VISA) and ask for
Security.
"You will need to refer to this Control Number." The caller then gives you a 6 digit
number. She/he then inquires
politely, "Do you need me to read it again?"
Here's the IMPORTANT part on how the scam works:
The caller then says, "I need to verify that you are in possession
of your card." She/He will
ask you to 'turn your card over and look for some numbers. There are 7 numbers; the first 4 are
part of your card number, the next 3 are the security numbers that verify you
are the possessor of the card. These
are the numbers you sometimes use to make Internet purchases to prove that you
have the card. The caller will ask
you to read the 3 numbers out loud. After you tell the caller the 3 numbers, (s)he will say,
"That is correct, I just needed to verify that the card has not been lost
or stolen, and that you still have your card. Do you have any other
questions?"
After you say no, the caller then thanks you and states, "Don't
hesitate to call back if you do', and hangs up.
You actually say very little, and they never ask for or tell
you the Card number. But after we
were called, we called back within 20 minutes to ask a question. Are we glad we did! The REAL VISA Security Department told
us it was a scam; and in the last 15 minutes a new purchase of 497.99 was
charged to our card.
What the scammers want is the 3-digit PIN number on the back of the
card. Don't give it to them. Instead, tell them you'll call VISA or
Master Card directly for verification of their conversation. The real VISA told us that they will
never ask for anything on the card as they already know the information since
they issued the card! If you give
the scammers your 3 Digit PIN Number, you think you're receiving a credit.
However, by the time you get your statement you'll see charges for purchases
you didn't make, and by then it's almost too late and/or more difficult to
actually file a fraud report.
*****
*****
A PEEK AT THE
DARK SIDE: COMMENT ON BLOG,
sent in by "Erika"
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Evil
Clown":
I love your blog. Hopefully you
will get your website up and running again soon, because I would like to order
a book.(I am currently reading: "Love is God, The Jehovah Myth, The Mystic
God, and The Mystery of Suffering".
Okay, as to the blog: this did not start with Bush. All the American presidents
within my lifetime have been war criminals. This started way back when the federal government was
hijacked by big business starting in the mid 1800s.
Please read Smedley Butler's
"War is a Racket".
The hijacking culminated when the Federal Reserve Bank was installed, and the
organic common law constitution began to be replaced by Universal Commercial
Codes-- statute law.
IF you take an unbiased look at history, the US government has been one
of the largest progenitors of evil, terror and bloodshed in the last one
hundred years, all over the globe.
The US government have murdered heads of state, armed uprisings to
overthrow democratically elected heads of state that are threats to their
business interests, and have sent death squads committing terroristic acts all
over the globe. This doesn't
include special ops where CIA or Brit intelligence pose as arabs and blow up
buildings (as happened in falluja).
America has never been a shining land of peace simply because the
political machinery is run by smiling sociopaths. It has ALWAYS been this way. The least fit, the least able, the least wise always are
found in positions of power. That
is The Way of the World.
Bush is simply more blatant than previous presidents.
When Satan was showing Jesus all the kingdoms of the world, Jesus did not dispute
that Satan owned them all. He did
not say yes, all but the United States.." Now we both know this is probably allegorical. Satan is
usually the ego, but there are also evil discarnate spirits and lost souls in
this world which could be "satan's," I suppose. (spirit is different from soul)
ALL governments throughout time are "satanic."
[fear-serving]. They are in fact
institutionalized ego. Everything
any government touches turns to evil.
Always. This never fails.
Look at the history of government over the last 6000 years of written
history.
IF most governments were
incarnated people, they would be locked up for being criminally insane. This is the way it has always been.
So, Jesus recommends, "Don't store up your treasures on earth where
the moths can eat them and rust can destroy them."
You know what real treasure is; and you will not find it in this world.
Bighugs, and Blessings to you
Erika
*****
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HERBAL COMFORTS FROM NATURE, sent in by Pat Fields
Peppermint-- As tea , good for intestinal and stomach
problems.
As an oil, improves oxygen supply to the blood. Used by Native Americans for medicinal
purposes. Has been used throughout
history, in all nations, and is among the oldest of "folk remedies". All parts of plant are used, the stem,
the leaves, and the oil. Has been used in the following ways : Headaches-- including migraine *** Gas
*** Toothaches *** Sorethroat***Heartburn***Nausea***Coughs***Depression***Gallbladder***Insomnia***Morning
sickness***Mouth wash. It has also
been used as an anti-bacterial,
antiseptic, and aromatic.
*****
*****
LETTERS FROM BUDS, PALS, FRIENDS, AND OTHER HAPPY PEOPLE OF
COMPASSION
From Nathan Merritt:
Dear Shi and Ada Marie
THANK YOU, both of you,
VERY much, for the beautiful Seasons Greeting card you sent to me! You
certainly intuited my taste in art! It brings back so many memories of walking in the cities of
my youth while it snowed. The feel
and scent of the cold air, the almost magical effect of the snow turning
everything into huge coral sculptures, the feeling of peace and contentment. I've placed the card above my computer
monitor where I can see it and enjoy it whenever I wish. 
Divine blessings to both of you
for such thoughtfulness and affectionate efforts on my behalf.
***
From Linda Jung:
I have copied and pasted my ethics paper onto this email for
your enjoyment. There were certain criteria that I had to include in this
paper so it isn't an inclusive recording of my life. Just a little mini
peek. But I want you to know that the good influence that you have had on
my life as a teacher is clear. I would not have survived my personal
trials without your concept of the God of love. I really don't think I
would have made it without knowledge of reincarnation or the eternal
soul. In fact, the only thing that kept me from committing suicideÉ
*****
*****
A ZEN MASTER ON ENLIGHTENMENT, by Steven McDaniel
Dogen was a Zen master from Japan who possessed great insight. Remarkably,
he lived at about the same time as Rumi in the early 13th century. IÉ
would like to share the incredible power of his studyÉ First,
I want to set you up with a little background about Dogen from Wikipedia:
"ÉBuddhismÉ maintain[s] that human beings are endowed with Dharma-nature
by birth. If this is the case, why
did the Buddhas of all ages-- undoubtedly in possession of enlightenment-- find
it necessary to 'seek' enlightenment and engage in spiritual practice?Ó
--Dogen
"This question wasÉ prompted by the 'Tendai' concept of 'original
enlightenment.' Hongaku states
that all human beings are enlightened by nature; and that, consequently, any
notion of achieving enlightenment through practice is fundamentally
flawed."
-- Dogen
The following passage is, perhaps, the most famous of Dogen's writings:
"To study the Way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be enlightened
by all things of the universe. To
be enlightened by all things of the universe is to cast off the body and mind
of the self as well as those of others. Even the traces of enlightenment are wiped out, and life with
traceless enlightenment goes on forever and ever."
ÉIn closing , here is Dogen's last poem written just hours before
his death in 1253:
Fifty-four years lighting up the sky.
A quivering leap smashes a billion worlds.
Hah!
Entire body looks for nothing.
Living, I plunge into Yellow Springs.
Praise to the Immortal Beauty beyond and behind all worlds."
*****
THE YEAR 2012: END OF
THE WORLD OR YET ANOTHER HOAX?
Many, if not most, people in the modern metaphysical community share
some roots, origins, and even subconscious assumptions with members of
fundamentalists communities.
This by no means suggests that they think the same way, or share the
same teachings. They do not. But powerful teachings, especially if
they are subconsciously planted in the mind, can exert powerful but subtle influences
over a person who has totally transformed her exterior (visible, public) self.
The ghastly, nightmarish, bloody, messy slaughter and massacre of almost
every living thing, in a nightmare called "Armageddon," is precisely
this type of idea. It can be
enormously, immensely, vastly powerful.
It might be even more powerful than anything designed to replace it.
The horrible idea has lived for millennia within the collective
unconscious. So, its force should
not be underestimated. It is all
but irresistibly powerful. It can
hold a largely subconscious mesmeric sway over the mind.
In the history of Biblical doctrines, the theme of the "end of the
world" has been central to the dogma of many churches, denominations, and
cults. Christians of various
brands have been suspiciously eying the clouds for centuries, and creating
time-tables to predict this hideous event. All of nature, they say, will go totally insane, and the
"hordes" of the evil, running in the streets, will escape control by
police and armies.
This unimaginable horror lies at the nucleus of many Christian
denominations. But it has not been
contained by "Christian" history. It has overflowed the banks of the Christian Lake. A perfect example of the fundy
"end of the world" contaminating the purer spirituality of others were
the predictions-- often mislabeled as "prophecies" for the "end
of the world" in 1999. We at
Love Ministries simply shrugged, and laughed, it off.
For our careful and detailed studies proved that for virtually every
year of history, some "prophet" or small group has "prophesied"
the "end of the world."
When 1999 became twenty-hundred, for example, we were working on our
home; that work continued, without interruption, and without letup. The ghastly "y2k"
catastrophe-- in which all computer-systems were supposed to collapse-- never,
of course, occurred. But many who
were alive during that time well recall the panic in the eyes of thousands, as
they freaked out about the "end" of civilization. Many kept stashes of food and water.
Several native American spokes-persons, and hundreds of "channelers,"
and dozens of gurus, preachers, and pastors, and recognized "new age"
leaders, all over the world, as well as the famous Edgar Cayce and Nostradamus,
all predicted the "end of the world" in 1999. Some were so careless that they
actually made this serious error in print, but the really slick ones avoided
this documentation of their silliness and panic. We studied these systems, and could only smile in the end. For they were as illogical, fearbased,
and looney as had been all previous predictions of the "end of the
world"!
This quest, this actual desire, to see the death of billions of innocent
human beings, and as many animals, is a genuine disease. It is a mental disease. We will call it "eschatosis." There is a certain psychological type
called a "worldender."
She suffers from the delusion that the entire world is "soon"
going to "end." Perhaps
this is simply symptomatic of her boredom; or perhaps it represents a
deep-seated hatred of people and other creatures. Or perhaps it is a blend of both. At any rate, the worldender-- and some are metaphysical,
others fundamentalistic-- clearly suffering from a mental disorder.
For she would delight in massive nuclear destruction; worldenders from several
denominations have agreed that nuclear war would be a "good thing,"
for it might lead to Armageddon-- the slaughter of all the "bad guys"--
usually meaning all those outside my church!
One of the latest hair-rising myths is that the Mayan calendar
"proves" that these ancient people expected the "end of the
world" in 2012. First, it is
by no means clear that the ancient Mayans did expect an "end to the
world." The whole idea is a
Christian doctrine or dogma, and it cannot be simply superimposed upon other
cultures and other times. And even
if the Mayans really, truly did expect some kind of "end of the
world," there is absolutely no reason why we in the twenty-first century
should do so. As is true of the
ancient Hebrews, Greeks, and Babylonians, the Mayans were as capable of writing
gibberish, nonsense, and superstition as anyone.
The Mayans had their own rather complex worldviews, most of which had
nothing to do with modern times.
When they wrote, they usually did not have the twenty-first century in
mind!
Thus, no matter how much we, or our culture, might want desperately to
believe in the "end of the world," we cannot and must not assume that
a very different culture, from a very different time-period, on the opposite
side of the globe, believed. For,
after all, when considered objectively, the "end of the world" is a
very strange, weird, and oddball concept.
The Mayans did believe in several mythological deities. And one thing for certain that we know
in which they believed was that time
was cyclic. It did not progress in
a mere straight line from past to future.
Instead, it was seen as repeating itself in smaller cycles. This was, of course, reflected in the
Mayan calendar. According to that
calendar, the year twenty-twelve was the end of one cycle, and the start of a
kind of "golden age," or time of great progress, discovery, and new
hope. It might begin an age of
discovery-- on the planets, or in the sciences.
But the year that begins on January 1, 2012, need not make you
tremble. It will end, and the new
year will begin on January 1, 2013.
Twenty-twelve will evolve naturally into twenty-thirteen as naturally
and quietly as the opening of a rose to sunlight.
We need not live in fear and terror. For, from the view of the Enlightenment tradition, fear is
the only "devil" (lower nature), as, symmetrically, Love is the only
God. And, as people of Love, we
refuse to live our lives hiding from life, or from time-- nervous, quaking, and
miserable. Instead, we insist on
transforming each and every day into a Day of Love and compassion. We do not play with the toys of fear,
talk the talk of fear, or walk the walk of fear. Instead, we cast fear from our minds and lives, and we
prohibit it from making nests inside our heads! We refuse delivery!
As beautiful Love-filled beings, we evolve and move towards
the perfectly blissful states of absolute fearlessness!
If you suffer from the mental illness of "eschatosis" (belief
in the violent "end of the world"), you are strongly advised to seek
recovery as soon as possible. You
need immediate help, for this belief is the most anti-human conceivable. For the destruction of the world is
closer to universal hate than to universal Love, and no lover of humanity can
ever accept seriously any idea that nature, the universe, Mind, or God will
massacre her beloved children.
*****
*****
SMILES, GOOFY LAUGHS, AND DR. PEPPER OUT THE NOSE: HUMORTHERAPY
LITERAL IMITATION OF ORIGINAL CELEBRATION. I celebrated
Thanksgiving in an old-fashioned way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to
my house, we had an enormous feast, and then I killed them and took their land.
***
"FLYING" AWAY. The restaurant was so bad, on the menu
there were flies even in the pictures.
***
REINCARNATION, NOT HEAVEN! Sid and Irv were partners. They made a deal: Whichever one dies first would contact
the still-living one from the afterlife. So Irv died. Sid
didn't hear from him for over a year.
So, he started to figure that there was no afterlife.
Then, one day he got a call. It
was Irv. "So there is an afterlife!
What's it like?" Sid asked.
"Well, I sleep very late. I
get up, have an enormous, delicious breakfast. Then I have sex, lots and lots of great sex. Then, I go back to sleep. Then, I get up for lunch, and have an
enormous, delicious lunch. Then, I have loads and loads of great sex. Take a nap. Huge dinner. More sex. Go to
sleep, and wake up the next day.
Then, it starts all over again!"
"Oh, my god," says Sid "So that's what heaven is like?"
"Oh no," says Irv. "I'm not in heaven. I'm a bear in Yellowstone Park."
***
GOTTA GET IT JUST RIGHT!
This one works hard for the punchline, but it makes a great and
important point, as a miniparable:
I was walking across a bridge one day, and saw a man
standing on the edge, about to jump off.
So I ran
over and said, "Stop! Don't
do it!"
"Why
shouldn't I?" he asked.
"Well,
there's so much to live for!"
"Like
what?"
"Well,
are you religious?"
He said yes.
I said,
"Me too! Are you Christian or
Buddhist?"
"Christian."
"Me
too! Are you Catholic or
Protestant?"
"Protestant."
"Me
too! Are you Episcopalian or
Baptist?"
"Baptist"
"Wow!
Me too! Are you Baptist Church of
God or Baptist Church of the Lord?"
"Baptist
Church of God!"
"Me
too! Are you original Baptist Church of God, or are you reformed Baptist Church
of God?"
"Reformed
Baptist Church of God!"
"Me
too! Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1879, or Reformed
Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915?"
He said,
"Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915!"
I said,
"Die, apostate-heretic scum," and pushed him off.
***
NOT REALLY SERIOUS. I failed my driverÕs test. The guy asked me "what do you do at
a red light?"
I said, I
donÕt know. Look around, listen to
the radio."
***
STAY AHEAD OF THE GAME. An old woman was upset
at her husbandÕs funeral. "You
have him in a brown suit and I wanted him in a blue suit"
The mortician said, "WeÕll take care of it, maÕam." And he yelled back, "Ed, switch the
heads on two and four!"
***
REALLY CHILLY! Last night, it was so cold, the flashers in New York
were only describing themselves.
***
CONFUSED CRITTER. A guy was sitting at home when he heard a knock at
the door. He opened the door and
saw a snail on the porch. He
picked up the snail and threw it as far as he could. Three years later, there was another knock on the door. He opened it and saw the same snail. The snail said, "What the hell was
that all about?"
***
Sincerity is everything. If you
can fake that, youÕve got it made.
***
My grandfather is hard of hearing. He needs to read lips. I donÕt mind, but he uses one of those
yellow highlighters.
***
They say animal behavior can warn you when an earthquake is coming. Like the night before that last
earthquake hit, our family dog took the car keys and drove to Arizona.
***
I bought a box of animal crackers and it said on it "Do not eat if seal
is broken." So I opened up
the box, and sure enough...
***
I went to a restaurant with a sign that said they served breakfast at any
time. So I ordered French toast
during the Renaissance.
***
FAST IN FRENCH. (Works a bit hard for the punchline, but worth it.) There was once a snail who was sick and tired of his reputation for being so slow. He decided to get some fast wheels to make up the difference. After shopping around a while, he decided that the Toyota was the car to get. So the snail went to the nearest dealer and said that he wanted to buy the car, but he wanted it repainted with an "S on the side.".
The dealer asked, "Why an 'S'?"
The snail replied, "'S' stands for snail. I want everybody who sees me roaring past to know who's driving."
The dealer agrees to have the car repainted. The snail got his new car and spent the rest of his days roaring happily down the highway at top speed. And whenever anyone would see him zooming by, she'd say, "Wow! Look at that S-car go!"
***
TIMELESS LIFE. Jesus
told us to live like the birds and flowers. If he had used this miniparable, he might have recommended
that we live as the pigs do as well!
There was once a man from the city
who was visiting a small farm, and during this visit he saw a farmer feeding
pigs in a most extraordinary manner. The farmer would lift a pig up to a nearby apple tree, and
the pig would eat the apples off the tree directly. The farmer would move the pig from one apple to another until
the pig was satisfied, then he would start again with another pig.
The city man watched this activity for
some time with great astonishment. Finally, he could not resist saying to the farmer, "This
is the most inefficient method of feeding pigs that I can imagine. Just think of the time that would be
saved if you simply shook the apples off the tree and let the pigs eat them
from the ground!"
The farmer looked puzzled and replied,
"What's time to a pig?"
***
AD-DITIONAL THOUGHTS: FUNNY ADS
Now is your chance to have your ears pierced and get an extra pair to take home, too.
***
Tired of cleaning yourself? Let me do it.
***
Mount Kilamanjaro, the breathtaking backdrop for the Serena Lodge. Swim in the lovely pool while you drink it all in.
***
Sheer stockings. Designed for fancy dress, but so serviceable that lots of
women wear nothing else.
***
Stock up and save. Limit: one.
***
MARKETING ERRORS IN TRANSLATION
In Chinese, the Kentucky Fried Chicken slogan
"finger-lickin' good" came out as "eat your fingers off."
***
Pepsi's "Come alive with the Pepsi Generation" translated into "Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave," in Chinese.
*****
*****
PSYCHOBIOCRYSTALOLOGY: METAPHYSICAL APPLICATIONS OF CRYSTALS
AND MINERALS
abalone-- used by athletes and
others for the reconstruction of muscle-tissue, including the heart.
agate-- GR (grounding) and BAL
(balancing); CON + ( consciousness-raising).; DIGES (aid to digestion).
*****Botswana agate-- Used as
protective against heat or smoke; also ,to aid in quitting smoking;
circulation, kin, and brain; oxygen-assimilation. Depression.
Astro-affinity: Gemini.
*****Fire-agate-- GR, calming,
settling; meditation; relaxation and mellowness. Stomach, endocrine.
Reveals hidden problems.
AST: Aries, Gemini, Leo,
Virgo, Capricorn. REC (recommended
for): dentists and other healers.
***** moss agate-- REC: agriculture, botany, mid-wives. Cleansing (detox) and circulation. Depression. Intuition, creativity.
Hypoglycemia. AST: Gemini.
albite--Depression, immune,
respiratory. Stress; spleen,
thymus. AST: Cancer, Scorpio,
Pisces.
alexandrite-- Nerves, pancreas,
testes. Self-respect. Promotes
energy-retention.
amazonite-- used in data-processing. Soothes brain, nerves, filters data. Artistic, creative, masculine. AST: Virgo.
amber-- used by ancients as talisman. Brain, lungs, thyroid, spleen,
endocrine, inner ear, neurons.
Draws out disease; neutralized neg energy. GR. BAL. Depression.
Memory-aid. Cleanse after
use. AST: Leo, Virgo, Capricorn. REC: Chiropractors, massage-people.
amethyst-- see "quartz."
apatite-- Muscle-tissue,
motor-skills.
Hypertension.
Thought-clarifier.
aquamarine-- soothing. BAL. Filters data to brain, calms nerves. Detox. Eyes, jaw, throat, stomach. Reduces fear. Increases
sensitivities; mystical.
Creativity/intuition.
Meditation; nature-attunement.
Tolerance. Sore
throat. Verbal expression.
Tonic. Pro-angelic. AST: Taurus, Libra, Scorpio, Aquarius, Pisces. A Pisces-birthstone. REC: teachers, counselors, lecturers, massage-people.
atacamite--genitals, thyroid, nerves.
Anti-herpes (?).
azurite-- CON +. Mental control and meditation. Psychic abilities. Brain-restructuring; fetal development. Forgiveness and forgetting. Spleen, thyroid, bones, skin. AST: Sagittarius.
benitoite-- pituitary.
beryl-- includes aquamarine and
emerald. Focus. Simplicity, attention, anti-stress. Detox, circulation, heart-lung, eyes,
throat.
bloodstone-- circulation, detox;
soothing. Life-energy; courage;
CON+. General
blessing.
brass-- copper + zinc.
Detox.
caingorn-- see "citrine."