Quirky creatures of the deep

"An octopus with ears like an elephant? Scallops that hang like bats? Yup, they're real and they live off the East Coast." begins the artical published by CBC News. A discovery of exciting, previously unknown species off Canada's east coast includes an octopus with fins near its eyes, "single-cell organism about the size of a grapefruit", "yellow and pink bubblegum-coloured coral" and "orange scallops hanging from underwater cliffs" among other things.

Caroline Myss - The Language of Archetypes (Discover the Forces That Shape Your Destiny)

A good friend recommended this set of 10 CDs by Caroline Myss, "Medical Intuitive" giving lecture on the power of archetypes. I happily jumped into listening to the program since I am very much interested in human behaviour, its motivations, intrinsic or environmental determinants. Well, I was treated to somewhat of a cold shower.

Caroline Myss basically provides a who's who of character and situation archetypes discovered by others, mixed with some overstated obvious truths and a touch of ego trip.

If one has never heard or read about the world of archetypes before, it may not be a wasted time listening to these CDs. One can get a catalog of named archetypes with some (mostly "intuitive") explanation around them. For the most part the "shadow side" discussion of the various archetypes can be interesting as it brings in some reference to excessive or misdirected application of the archetypes.

There a few issues with the way she presents what she has to say on the subject. Number one is the treatment of the subject not as a speculation now widely accepted or a study based on empirical analysis of human behaviour, but a set of hard-core facts cast into humans by some external force, that for the most part the human does not really have a lot of direct control over. My usual beef is that there are all too many schools of thought helping people avoid any responsibility in their own actions. This is another one. If the "good Samaritan" archetype is not in me, then why should it be not OK for me not to help a person who is desperate need?! I just can't help it...it's not in me...

To her archetypes are not generic versions of a personality, which they are to me, but strict classes into which humans belong whether they like it or not. In Myss' view archetypes evolve within us not giving much thought to their hosts, as it were, rather than our life going through changes for various internal or external reasons, and consequently our personality changing to accommodate or to resist such changes.

There is no such thing as straight talk for her. Repeatedly she makes claims that anyone saying anything to her or others is really nothing but a charade for various archetypal intentions that are rather different from the actual words spoken. But she, obviously, reads very clearly amongst these, and truth is never hidden from her while others would have no clue about such things. True, there are covert motives in a number of things people say. Still, I find this a touch too arrogant that hardly anything people say should be taken as is but always a clairvoyant has to interpret true meaning. Just does not work for me.

Caroline Myss' declaration that "I don't do kids...I can't stand them around me..." was a turn-off for me as well. It has nothing to do with the merits of the program. It just says something about the person.

Intolerant references to new age and organized religion of any kind (most notable anything to do with Christianity is a bad do) are also abundant. The one about new age is actually a bit kinky since she actually is preaching some of the same things that define new age... Hmm.

Finally, no reference to where she got her material. Perhaps some credit to the works of C. G. Jung and other pioneers of the field who actually defined such archetypes as The Shadow, Anima/Animus, The Divine Couple (Syzygy), The Child, etc. or even classic authors such as Plato for his theory of ideas would have been appropriate.

Curiousity...

Some of the finds from Bancroft

Finally I got around to taking pictures of at least some of the minerals we brought back from Bancroft. More to follow...

A huge rose quartz specimen:


Microline crystal (6" x 2") - some amazonite mixed in:


Fluorapatite from Bear Lake (3.5" x 1.5"):


Microline (amazonite):


Beautiful dark blue Sodalite:


Another feldspar crystal (3"):

A day at the ROM

We visited the Royal Ontario Museum. This was our first visit there since the reconstruction began to give it new "crystl" face. Some of my favourite exhibitions (such as the gems and minerals) are still closed but one cannot wait forever... I will have to go back in December to see those.

The Wisdom of Your Cells by Bruce H. Lipton

Another exciting audiobook presentation that I had the chance to listen to while driving to and from work. This one is from cellular biologist and author Dr. Bruce H. Lipton.

The Wisdom of Your Cells: How Your Beliefs Control Your Biology is about an increasingly popular theory that I have been long an advocate of: our conscious and subconscious thoughts, and beliefs control how our body responds to environmental inputs.

Through Dr. Lipton's engaging explanations the cell membrane gains new dimensions. It becomes the great coordinator of our cell-level perceptions (the way external stimuli are being received and responded to) via the mechanisms of receptor and respondent proteins. We get a quick tour of cellular biology, history and some out-of-context criticism on church and religion.

The main point the author makes is that we are not the victims of our genes as current media would like us to believe. Genes do not control our lives. We do! Genes are "simply" providing options and possibilities rather than predetermined responses. It is the cell membrane that, through sophisticated interactions, will cause the genes to perform what they are meant to do: provide blueprints for production of those particular proteins that are required to carry out certain tasks. On a human level, again, it is our brain/mind that is the governor of which of the many possible responses to things that happen to us we should manifest, not our inherent genes.

This position is in stark contrast to the current trend that humans are nothing but toys in the "hands" of all-powerful external factors such as genetic inheritance. Free will, reason and decision are but whims of poets and philosophers. Anyone committing crime is just another victim... Don't even get me going on this topic.

I found the discussion on prenatal and early childhood development very enlightening. I new about children's ability to respond to stimuli in ways derivable from their parents' behaviour even from before birth. Dr. Lipton puts forward a very plausible and acceptable explanation. In his view the mother and the to-be-born baby share an information stream, the bloodstream carried through the placenta that provides a "direct download" of knowledge and behaviour patterns into the child. Also, during the first few years of the child's development, by observing the parents' reactions children will again "download" enormous amounts of information, good and bad, about the world around them.


Now I have to say something on the negative side as well.

Dr. Lipton's discussion of quantum mechanics is not entirely satisfactory. It involves a great deal of oversimplification. For instance, I cannot quite support his jump from the realm of subatomic particles to which the quantum mechanics theories he references apply to the realm of the conscious human without a reasonable transition. I do agree there is connection, but I do not agree with his assertion that there is an equivalence between the quantum interference of wavefunctions and a person's emotional response to the "good vibes" or "bad vibes" in a room full of people.

Also, the discussion of the Newtonian physics is distorted. Dr. Lipton brushes classical mechanics (deterministic laws describing the motion of macroscopic objects) aside as completely irrelevant on the premise that quantum mechanics has done away with all things non-relativistic or not probability based. He does not care to state that classical mechanics is still very much valid in the realm of everyday proportions. It still is the norm by which human-scale world operates. True, extremes of physics (subatomic particles, singularities, etc.) follow different laws. But one should try to operate a shower in the morning without considering classical mechanics.

A trip to the St. Jacobs Farmers' Market

Although the trip did not quite work out the way originally planned (it was Sunday, so the real Mennonite market, open only on Saturday, was closed), we still had a wonderful time.

Did some shopping at the Sunday Market - obviously locals recognized the business potential in those tourists who cannot tell Saturday from Sunday. Then headed into St. Jacobs town where we spent a few fantastic hours walking the streets. Once we thought it was time to move on, we did not head back home directly but did a detour via Elora.

The Elora Gorge is truly beautiful. What is less beautiful is that if you just want to see the gorge without wanting to spend a day for picnic, you still have to pay $4 per adult to get into the provincial park :( Also, there was a huge multitude of people making the experience less then ideal for getting in touch with nature's miracle.

Martial Arts Demonstration

Finally, after long wait I have a few pictures from the public demonstration that our school, Energy Martial Arts Academy held recently.