“I use to have a Crowley Tarot Deck, based on the Kabbalah. Dang thing gave me nightmares until I got rid of it.”
“I use an Aquarian Blue Back one now.”
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Indeed. Really, in my view, the Kabbalah is a kind of mnemonic for visualizing how layers of reality unfolds from the “creating” aspect of God to essentially us. I doubt very much if those involved in creating the system literally believed they had a roadmap of reality. Instead it is alternating levels of essence and then form, essence and then form until the final form which is reality as we see it. It is metaphysical poetry.
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In computer science when you look at the computer right now, you are NOT looking at the operating system. You are looking at the shell which is an interface to the Kernel which IS the operating system…sort of…the CMOS is also part of it, etc. but the point is the shell is not the OS.
In Hinduism there is the term Ishvara, which the simplest way of explaining Ishvara is it’s a point. Like the shell it’s an interface to the OS.
Ishvara is not Brahman it is something our minds can grasp. Ishvara is all the gods in Hinduism as interfaces to the Brahman.
Just like in Christianity there are three persons in one god, in Hinduism there are many gods (Ishvara) in one Brahman. Brahman is similar in concept to The Force in Star Wars, or “god” without attributes. Each god in Hinduism is an attribute the Brahman.
So in Kabbalah, the Tree of Life is three dimensional, with each Sephirot having four levels. Highest level is the Archangels, followed by angel, followed by (I think the elements? It’s been a while) then the celestial world. For example, Keter the highest level - representing wisdom, has it’s archangel called Metatron.
When Moses encountered the burning bush, that was NOT god. I have looked at many translations of the bible and they all say, “the angel of the lord appeared to Moses in the form of a burning bush” ANGEL not god.
Metatron is the archangel of the presence of the lord. When Metatron is there, the presence of god is there, but like Ishvara, it’s a point of reference not the totality of “god” as that cannot be “seen” since we are limited. Something finite cannot comprehend somethin infinite.
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Tarot was originally created to just be Playing Cards so them being used for Divination is a corruption of their purpose!
Tarot Cards based on Crowley of course are based on a self proclaimed Mystic who claims to have forbidden knowledge and anyone who knows Hebrew knows that anything tied to Forbidden Lore is blasphemous!
Stay far away from Crowley…very far.
“Tell me something I don’t already know.”
/giggle
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I figured you knew, but for the sake of others it needed to be said. 
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“A lot of the truths were lost, during the time of blending, when the Christian Church took over most all of the Old Celebrations and Beliefs, and blended them into their Church, to absorb the so called ‘Pagans’. They buried their history, and replaced it with their own. I no longer trust what they all say.”
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He’s a liar. The highest level you can obtain in this life is Magus. Crowley claimed to be an Ipsissimus which is a level that can only be obtained IN THE NEXT LIFE. He’s lying about his own tradition.
Indeed. All the famous Mystics are frauds in one way or another and that which they taint are the tools of Demons probably explaining why said tools no matter how remotely related to said Mystics seem either haunted, possessed or lucky…
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trying to give up cigs.
doctor gave me patches.
i didn’t know the patches were meant to be used in conjunction with cigs!
now i only have a few left, and get to practice going cold turkey 
(i can already feel the “BONESTORM!” anger starting to brew) 
…if i struggle making it through the night, i’ll go get another pack first thing in the morning to use in conjunction with the patch.
if i make this harder on myself than it needs to be, i’m more likely to slip up.
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got an exiled orb just now! it’s the equivalent of an epic dropping in classic wow
heavy breathing intensifies
allso salute to all just had to share
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“Sunflower seeds. They help A LOT.”
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“If you have trouble cold turkey, I have a plan. First, switch to roll your own tobacco. You can get it cheaper than Pre-Packaged Tobacco, and it has little, to no, added chemicals, depending on the brand you buy. American Spirit is the best, as it is completely free of added chemicals. When I made this switch, I went through about three weeks of Chemical Withdrawal. Now I smoke much less. The next step is to ease back on how much tobacco you put in each cigarette. Something you can’t do, when you buy them already made, off the shelf.”
“Eventually you will be rolling them so small it won’t be worth smoking them.”
“Your body only needs about a puff or two, to actually satisfy it’s additive need. The rest of the Cigarette is just wasted fuel. When you roll your own, you will see, that small Cigarettes will give you the Satisfied feeling, without the extra Tobacco. That is what will make it easier, and easier, to roll them smaller and smaller.”
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i’m not meant to be going cold turkey, but i didn’t know that…
the patches are meant to be used in conjunction with smokes, so i’m meant to use the patches as a method to cut down.
i just finished the last one in my pack, and am about to do apple/tablets/bed
in the morning i’ll go grab a pack of cigs, and see if i can find some sunflower seeds to distract my mouth, so thanks for the tip.
the hardest part will be … the first one in the morning, and the after food smoke.
i should have planned better, and researched how the patches were meant to work.
with the after food one, i’ll try to just have half, and leave the other half for later.
i can do this!!
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I’ve gone the vaping route myself . Not much better but it is nice not smelling like an ash tray any more.
i was thinking about that… but got scared by all the popcorn lung stories.
i figured it was probably better to not replace one habit with another.
(plus, i drive a subaru, and i’d be embarrassed to fall into the stereo-type of “all subaru drivers vape”) 
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The chemical that causes that is called diacetyl and is actually used in some food products like movie theater butter to make it taste like butter. It really isn’t good for when vaped and is or was found in many dessert flavored juices like pastry or custard flavors. However the same chemical is also in cigarettes and at about 300 times the level then what is in vape juice.
Not saying take up vaping but it is something to consider . JUst do a little research if you decide to .
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WHat I feel like after working 2 doubles the last couple of days
No not the kid the pinata
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The Torah in Exodus 3:6 is very explicit that the burning bush is a representation of God. “I am, He said, the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” On the other hand, I completely agree that anyone who thinks that the burning bush was literally God is quite mistaken. The Creator cannot be contained within the creation.
For the record, the word “Metatron” does not appear in the Torah, but rather as a metaphor in some Kabbalistic texts.
The Torah (or most of the Old Testament) is rich in metaphors. A great example is Moses turning the rod into a serpent. The rod is a clumsy thing to assist in walking or bludgeoning things but with God’s guidance, Moses turns it into a serpent, a symbol of wisdom. Moses is not literally being a cheap stage magician, He is giving wisdom to the dull and bringing them from bestial ignorance to spiritual life. Jesus will often amplify this theme; “Let the dead bury their dead.”
Sorry to ramble on but studying comparative mystical traditions, especially related to the world’s religions is a lifelong avocation of mine.
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