Posted On Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 By Chris Walden
Recently someone asked me for some advice on a Tarot deck for her daughter who had just developed curiosity about the subject. Many people become curious about the Tarot. It is a very accessible way to connect to the unseen world for divination or even magickal purposes. I know writers who have used the amazing story-telling aspects of the Tarot to help dig them out of a situation of writer’s block.
Many beginners put a lot of stock into the choice of their first deck. Quite honestly, it is like the choice of your first almost-anything. You really don’t know what you need until you have some experience with it. Therefore you should not aim for anything that is too exotic. Get cards that will let you grow accustomed to the symbols and become comfortable with reading the story that is before you.
Variations on the Rider-Waite deck are probably the most widely used version of the Tarot. Originally published in 1909, these cards are the ones that are immediately recognizable to most people. If you are looking for a deck to start with, the Quick and Easy Tarot deck shows the meanings right on the cards, both standard and Continue Reading
Posted On Thursday, July 1st, 2010 By Chris Walden
Wednesday night I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Mary Ann Clark , in my program, The Shadow Hour, about connecting with the invisible world without all of the gadgets. I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation as it reinforced many of my own personal feelings about exploring the paranormal. (Isn’t it wonderful to be validated?)
Right now there is a lot of excitement surrounding television programs like “Ghost Hunters.” Many people are gathering groups, buying equipment and jumping at the opportunity to capture evidence of the spirit world. Yet, when this evidence is found it is often mysterious and inconclusive. Vague voices or images tell us little or nothing. Something is there, but what? and what do they want?
Rather than trying to capture evidence, why not try to establish contact? Humans are meant to interact with the unseen world in different ways. Whatever it is that gives us life and consciousness is able to tap into things in a way that goes beyond mere recorders and detectors. Where a camera can show us an “orb” or give us a hint of a voice, or minds can receive flashes of information that contain emotion, memory, and relevance. We are best able Continue Reading
Posted On Friday, June 18th, 2010 By Chris Walden
Many years ago, I saw a silly movie with Billy Crystal and Jack Palance called City Slickers. The film was about the ways that men’s lives can run astray and how to discover what is important. Curly, a rough and tumble cowboy played by Palance, has a philosophy of life. Life is about one things… and you have to figure out what that one thing is. At the time that was a delightfully simple philosophy. Find a single thing to focus your life on and the rest would work itself out. Now I could go through life trying to figure out what my one thing was at any given time. I suppose there is a reason why movies are usually served with popcorn.
There is a lot of value in letting things go, but I think it’s a great disservice to deny our human capacity to be many things at once. Think about that single-mindedness. Think of animals who seem to have a high degree of specialization, who can only eat very specific things and spend the vast majority of their time in pursuit of that one thing. I love animals, but I wouldn’t want to trade my life of variety Continue Reading
Posted On Monday, May 24th, 2010 By Chris Walden
When a computer programmer learns a new technology, he or she will generally start by creating a simple example that does nothing more than print a message. The traditional message, so traditional that it has actually become the common name for the first example, is “Hello, world!”
When I set up this web site, there was an example article entry to teach me how things worked, called “Hello, world!” I started to erase it and replace it with something else, but then I realized what a fitting title that it was. I am learning a new language. I’ve done things for the public for years, and I’ve certainly dealt with technology and web sites… but I’ve never been as open and honest as I intend to be with this project. I’ve never dared to hope that I could remove the masks and simply share my wonder in everything, with the full knowledge that some will disagree with my views and even my experiences — some cruelly so.
In that respect, this is as much as a time of learning as writing that very first program. Ironically, it comes as I work to cast off so much of the programming that I received Continue Reading