Category: Personal development | The world of Brian Snellgrove

some thoughts … Astrology considered. Also re Anxiety

I have had an on-off relationship with astrology for as long as I can remember. One of the best readings I ever had was with someone who assisted in the vetting of American troops. Every single thing he mentioned was spot-on including weaknesses and strengths of character. He had never met me, and the only thing he had was my birthday details.

C G Jung on astrology “Understood in terms of his own psychology as a symbolic representation of the archetypes of the collective unconscious, Jung found in astrology a wealth of spiritual and psychological meaning and suggested it represents the “sum of all the psychological knowledge of antiquity.”

In 1955 he said ‘The basic meaning of the horoscope is that, by mapping out the positions of the planets and their relations to one another (aspects), together with the distribution of the signs of the zodiac at the cardinal points, it gives a picture first of the psychic and then of the physical constitution of the individual. It represents, in essence, a system of original and fundamental qualities in a person’s character, and can therefore be regarded as an equivalent of the individual psyche.”

Astrology readings in the newspapers which divide everyone up into 12 types, depending on their birth day, may or may not be valid but when I read them, I find a degree of blandness, advice which could apply to anyone in terms of being cautious, venturesome, this is not the time to do, this action.

I just received via Nexus Newsfeed an article written by Lorna Bevan “what goes around, comes around”: Astrology forecast October 29th to November the 5th 2023. The writer has quoted the aphorism “There is no try. There is only do or not do” Yoda. The article starts with the following advice:

The week opens in the active seismic window of the October 28th Taurus lunar eclipse. Keep your agenda light, as both personally and collectively much that has been concealed or hidden will begin to reveal itself. Refuse to be carried away by fake dramas and overreaction stirred up by the Scorpionic Sun/ Mars opposition to the eclipsed Moon and Jupiter.

It goes on, “pay attention now to any part of your life where you’ve been cutting corners, hiding your head in the sand or evading responsibility – there’s no more from the consequences. Saturn means business. Resist any tendency to self sabotage through toxic habits or addictive behaviour or to be a rescuer or a victim.

As Saturn turns forward, choices are to be made and stances taken:

# Actions matter more than intentions
# be impeccable with your word
# If you are lacking sobriety and accountability, you are likely to drown
# Consistently deliver more than you promise
# Be kind and sensitive to the more vulnerable, or chaotic parts of yourself”

The writer then says that for much more information obtain “your guide to Saturn in Pisces: 2023- 26” as an immediate digital download.

I understand that overall astrological configurations i.e the position of the planets and so on can affect various factors irrespective of your date or birth but there is an additional factor a particular characteristics based on your exact place and time of birth.

Looking at the above advice, I find nothing harmful in it; you could say that it could apply to any living person. The materialist would ridicule astrology, because they have never studied it but think that if they did, they would find nothing of significance. However, if they look further they would find a statistical significance between types of occupation and the so-called star-sign as one verifiable instance.

The date you were born. It is likely that the critics have never had an analysis. If not, they should do so and then answer objectively and honestly weather the report bears any relationship to what they recognise about their own lives. If the astrologer is any good at all, he or she will get it right at least eight out of ten times.

The summary of this brief article is:

* don’t dismiss anything without having a go
* if you have a chart already, read it from time to time and take notice of which aspects jump out at you
* at worst, the often bland advice does no harm to anybody
* if you tune your intuition to the universe, you will probably get it right anyway

Anxiety – what is it and how to minimize it

I would like to consider the topic of anxiety. As you must all know by now, I love the English language and the more it is attacked and degraded the more I love it. Consider the various words that are used as equivalence to anxiety.

Anxiety – this is an uneasy state of mind usually over the possibility of an anticipated misfortune or trouble. It can come about most easily when you have no control over the situation

Unease – this is a slightly more creepy version where you say for example I met someone and I had a feeling of unease with them. It is more psychological than the first anxiety which can relate to the outcome of anything on the material plane

Apprehension – this is a suspicion of fear of future harm or misfortune. So you are anxious for something but you are apprehensive about say your partner going hand gliding for the first time

Nervous – we can be nervous of strangers which can alter our behaviour, we can have a lot of nervous energy. Nervous twitch which originates in our nervous system. Nervous is a catch or word which needs to be more clearly defined.

Agitation – this is more about instability of emotion which can happen to humans or animals for example I could to tell from the horses agitation that something terrible was going to happen

Tension – this is essentially about things unresolved. The subject is striving in a state of unrest. They can be in a state of latent hostility or opposition between individuals and groups. Tension can also arise between opposing forces or elements in a committee for example

Dread – is an outside factor that causes fear for example ‘I dread the arrival of my father because he bullies me’

So let’s Stick to anxiety for a moment

I was drawn to this topic by reading a broadcast from one of the bible study tools groups that I subscribe to. The website is https://www.crosswalk.com/slideshows/ways-you-are-letting-anxiety-control-your-day.html

The first reason in the article they give is that we solve the problem of anxiety by avoiding it. There are various texts from the New and Old Testaments that can be read to support what they are saying. My take is that if you have a feeling of an inner presence in your life that will give you the extra confidence to move forward and face what ever it is that makes you feel anxious. My input – If you can put a name to a face and see why you are anxious, it may be that you can either on your own or with a supporter face the situation whether it’s a job situation, or a person that is troubling you or a fear that something might happen.

The second reason for anxiety is one well-known and that is overthinking. Today I was expecting a call back from my dentist’s assistant and it did not come. It was probably because they were overworked or someone had not handed a note to the people concerned. Perhaps they had a very busy day and just did not get round to it. I tend to think of more fanciful reasons why they should not call me for example because they had nothing to say to me or in some way taking it personally and this is a waste of energy.

Some people would find that praying or meditating or asking for help in your head is a more effective use of energy. I like the phrase in Matthew where Jesus says “therefore do not worry about tomorrow, tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” so we are encouraged to focus on the present and not overthink about the future. I also think it helps to imagine that things will go right, and to think about things where you have succeeded and got pleasure from it. This helps to balance your mind.

The third way of dealing with anxiety is to attempt to be in control of every aspect of your life. Perfectionism in my experience can be a disease and a need for control can lead to exhaustion and frustration. Where the element of trust comes in and if you can trust in God and his guidance for you then so much the better. So rather than wasting time and energy anxiously trying to control situations, choose in God’s sovereign will or if you like trust in the universe. Whatever suits you. My own experience of controlling people is that they are very unpleasant people, dictatorial, bossy, do not listen and frankly do not care. To anyone who wants to control the universe by brain power, I wish them the best of luck but please stay away from me.

The fourth Way of dealing with anxiety is procrastination. I am better than I was but I often used to say to myself, I really must get around to this sometime and I never did and the list got longer and longer. I find that undone things wear me out when I think about them. For example, ‘I really must clear out the attic and throw away what I don’t need’. Now I am much better and when I think of doing things, I do them immediately. I’m reminded of the text, whatever your hand finds to do who, do it all your might‘ in other words, time management and discipline are required.

Related to this is planning. When I’m going to go on a journey of more than a day, I always get all my paperwork ready, think of anything that could go wrong for example making an insurance claim and making sure I have the details. This is very important way and going abroad especially to USA where the medical charges are stratospheric, $5 for an aspirin and then anything else they can get out of you. There is nothing better than starting a holiday having made a list of what you need and a list of what you would do if things go wrong and then you can enjoy yourself. Inevitably, if you prepare for the worst you get the best but if on the one occasion you don’t plan you will pay for it.

The fifth way of becoming anxious is to criticize yourself too much. We can talk ourselves into a negative state and feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt and our thoughts can be plagued by it. The sad thing is that with the right support and the right inspiration you probably could do a task that you were afraid of doing. So, you can fuel anxiety without any basis at all. This can lead in many cases to loss of sleep, loss of appetite, and loss of general health and even if it persists to the loss of friends, There is a text I find particularly useful ‘Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.”

Gardening

We decided to risk it this afternoon doing a gardening job that we had been waiting weeks to do. It started in bright sunshine but within 45 minutes we had the pleasure of small hail stones, thunder and rain so we had to give up the job and we’ll go back on Friday to finish. I feel sorry for people who have to work come rain or shine and who just have to put up with inclement conditions, otherwise they don’t get paid.

Reflections on 45 years of gardening

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Memories of 45 years of gardening

Today at 11:00 we trimmed a hedge for a local resident. I always enjoy doing hedges if only to see the improvement of its appearance after my efforts. For this we were paid £50. I do not need the money but I need to be compensated from my effort. Why do I do gardening at all? I do it to keep fit. Power tools and their use are part of keeping the upper body responsive. I also do it to show myself that I am still capable of work. I know there are people who work until their 90s and I admire them. Farmers and so forth.

I have already reduced my workload considerably and know that one fine day I will say, ‘enough is enough’. I first did gardening in my early 30s. That means 45 years of work, not consistently but when I needed to. Most of my clients have been very content with my work. Only two people in the whole of my 45 years have not paid me. One was a gypsy family or gypsy related should I say. I would like to say that I have met a lot of interesting people. This for the most part has not been true. They were regular everyday people who wanted their gardens done. I came, I did the job, I left. Occasionally I got offered a cup of tea but I did not mind if I did not.

Any outside occupation involves communion with nature and this is always a blessing. However for the last five years I have made it a rule not to work for people who are difficult or complaining. I find that in effect it becomes hard work just dealing with the customer never mind the work itself. I find that if I work for someone who is grateful and appreciative the burden is lighter and I end the day feeling refreshed and satisfied. My rule is, if relations with the customer start badly it’s going to go on badly.

Overall, the work has kept me fit, hopefully improved the quality of life of some of my people and enabled them to enjoy their gardens. About charging rates, some people have no idea what is involved in self employed work. They do not do so now but in previous decades they expected me to work for 10 pounds an hour. ‘ man with spade works for 10 pounds an hour’. They do not exist any more. We have to buy, service and maintain our own equipment and bear our own travel costs. If I worked for £10 an hour it would be working for less than the national minimum wage and I would in fact be working out a loss. 20 pounds an hour is my minimum and more if the work is hard.

Failure of my internet connection

This may sound like a very nerdy thing but I have come to rely on my mobile phone in particular and the internet in general for so many flows of information such as my bank details, text messages from friends, deciding which of many applicants to employ, keeping up to date with my covid discussions not to mention the odd social media platform.

Last Sunday at about midday my mobile phone simply refused to connect to the internet. I’ve had this happen once before and I fell into the trap of thinking it was the fault of the phone. It was in fact a local connectivity issues so when the same thing happened again I decided not to panic but wait and see. Sunday night went. Nothing. Should I call someone? Who to call? If it was a very local problem the company (Sky) probably wouldn’t know about it anyway. The point, I tell myself, is that in my area there must be other subscribers who have also been cut off so instead of engaging on yet another campaign and listening to endless music whilst waiting to be put through to some droid, I assumed that the powers that be will eventually know that the system was not functioning, and other people will have telephoned to complain.

Sure enough the system came back today at about 3 o’clock. It is still stuttering with some apps but I guess ‘re-booting’ takes time to work through the system.

Fear

I’m shortly going to write a big article on fear. Everything is frequency, wavelengths and vibration as Nikola Tesla said. Fear is being forced on us as an idea 24/7. I noticed they are even weaponizing the weather forecasts.
There’s a great storm threatened for this Wednesday, storm Agnes

UK weather: Danger to life warnings issued by Met Office as 80mph winds set to batter Britons

I’m sick of reading these prognostications. They take the worst case scenario in other words the area which is most likely to be hit by a storm and then apply it to the whole country. Believe it or not – and I don’t mind if you don’t believe it, The Powers That Be are trying to keep us in a state of fear which is very much like being tuned to a particular radio channel. If they can keep us on the channel then we’ll do what we are told. So the reason – in a word – is CONTROL.

This is only one aspect of the topic so expect a substantial article when I can get around to it, probably sooner rather than later. Ideas are boiling and they cannot be suppressed. If inspirations are ignored consistently they will go away to return another day, and return they will.

The value of hugging

Here is a small part of a discussion, which started on the topic of ‘community’ but reverted to hugging. Every Monday evening and other evenings the Scientific and Medical Network have ZOOM conversations. You are welcome to join that network.

Arthur Janov, the founder of Primal Therapy said that ‘a twenty second hug was the equivalent of 5mg of valium’.

We discussed this topic at this evening’s meeting of the Scientific and Medical Network. The topic was the importance of the wider community introduced by the chair, Paul, but before you knew it the conversation turned to hugs. The theme of hugs returned repeatedly during the whole time.

A man gave a testimony that hugs run in his family and children regarded hugging as normal.

snippets:

there were some research that if you hold it for say a longer time like 20 seconds something happens. It’s not like just a squeeze it’s like you make a connection

when you’re hugging it’s a heart thing and you produce the hormone oxytocin

I live in Central America where touching is normal, touching is seen hugging is seen as some part of life I know that covid stifled a lot but we are slowly getting back into it

I guess I’d be called a natural hugger. I hug everybody as much as I can as long as I can and I consider it energy sharing . When you are hugging you are really sharing energy with one another and you know it’s just a wonderful thing to do and I do it all the time

It comes natural to me and I just think it’s a wonderful thing to do people need touch, people need touch. We don’t touch enough we don’t we really don’t and I think it’s important

The average length of a hug between two people is three seconds. researchers have discovered that when a hug lasts 20 seconds there is a therapeutic effect on the body of the mind and that hug will produce a hormones called ocytocin and also known as the love hormone so something to think about especially with my grandchildren and loved ones. If we can hold that hug for a little longer I think we get a special feeling from that

I’m a hugger but I am very discerning about hugging I think it’s really important that we deserve that we don’t rush into people and assume they would like a hug because as everybody has said touch is really important but it depends on who you’re touching and their history for instance if there’s a history of sexual abuse or anything like that that can be very threatening

I just wanted to mention about where maybe you know but the idea of meta as in say Buddhism so matter as in loving kindness and this is a practice that can be done through kind of meditation so it’s in the mental space so it’s not physical hugging

I’m out in the street I regard everyone as a friend that I haven’t yet met I promise you it transformed each and every day and when I go out I’m not lonely for one single second because I’m excited about the person I have yet to meet who could be around the next corner who knows and there’s no excuse for self-pity here ‘nobody loves me’. Well jolly will go out and demonstrate love to others. Stop whinging

The whole thing is about relationships. That’s why masking people was such a killer because the kids at their key age couldn’t see their mothers reaction and we have yet to see the full consequences of that. I’m afraid they’re going to be stunted or they ARE stunted.

An example of a town with all the right community vibes is Bridport in Dorset and I recommend it to anyone. There’s a lot of art there, intelligent people, and you can virtually talk to anybody and get a meaningful response.

If after talking to someone you want to hug them it is okay to ask their permission for example do you mind if I give you a hug

Funny is the English language. Consider the use of the word ‘touchy’ vs the word ‘touchy-feely’. Same word, two opposite meanings.

What does it mean to care?

Ominous Sky

To me this is a reflection of our times. The sun is shining but there are dark clouds on the horizon. Possible lock downs to come. Not good.

Caring

Today I had a philosophical chat with my friend John. We were talking about understanding or should I say comprehension which is a slightly more sophisticated word but then we moved on to another topic – caring and love

I joked with John that one of my longest diary entries was on a day that I entitled ‘is it possible to do nothing?’. Nature abhors a vacuum.

Brian: trying to understand life on a material level is a bit like being familiar with two stories of a nine story building. You never get the full picture.

John: For example in medicine, they don’t do it holistically. They don’t realize that there’s a consciousness that is independent of these various mechanistic functions. That consciousness is capable of cleaning itself out if it wants to. The problem is that a vast number of people are unable to do this or be aware of it so they are on a slippery slope to becoming increasingly held by a molecular mechanism.

Brian: Even the thought of being healed has a power of its own. Fear leads to a false self imprisonment. I should be even more optimistic than I am at the moment

John – While we are still free we have the capability of doing anything

Brian- I want to talk about love. I think it’s more than emotions. It’s actually a presence of mind which is far deeper than any emotion you could have.

John – Emotions are the translation of the restricted interpretation of an overall caring function. It is restricted because separate emotions is like shining white light through a prism. You’re going to get a variety of different effects from the same thing. The overarching concept is caring.

The emotions are what happens when you shine it through all the prisms of life, into a brain format of feeling this way or that way and that. Caring is emotionless in its way although it’s a primary emotion; it is the concept which is a fundamental property of a living thing. Caring is an original function of what we call a soul.

Brian -so caring is the carrier wave.

John – Caring is the function that if everything comes from one thing caring is the gravity if you like, It’s not the same as gravity but it’s the glue that puts everything back together. Love itself is a larger concept not an individual perspective.

Brian – Caring is actually compassion in action and one of the effects is let us say an interference pattern which we would describe as the emotion of love.

John – We translate it into a personalized function because we’re individuals and therefore we’re using that function, so caring in our perspective is an outward function. It is what you do to others. There is caring and of course (in the course of life) there is hating. Hating is when we try to restrict others. It’s a negative function.

Hatred or hate is an intense negative emotional response towards certain people, things or ideas, usually related to opposition or revulsion toward something. Hatred is often associated with intense feelings of anger, contempt, and disgust. Hatred is sometimes seen as the opposite of love

Brian – (about publishing these thoughts) My overall aim in these discussions and indeed all real live meetings is to provoke people into thinking, and considering, in ways they would not normally do. Our task in these conversations is to help consciousness of the population rise in subtle ways. Plenty of people go on marches and attend demonstrations. This is not my style though maybe it is cowardliness.

Brian – Let’s talk about this other level of consciousness which means you can cancel out the effect of of entropy. We all know about eternal souls but if I’m to give practical advice to people who might benefit what do I say.

John – positive thought … people say that if they actually visualize the cancer in their mind they make it go away if they continuously think that they want the thing to go away, it often does. Mind over matter is a real effect. It’s claimed not to be by ‘the science’ but it is it’s very powerful thing and that’s one example of it.

The placebo effect is another.

Brian – I thought you were going to say cancer and sugar because isn’t is not sugar the main contributor to cancer.

John – it’s one possible cause. It makes it worse – defective mitochondria and therefore it’s only got glycolysis so it is a defective mitochondria which means you have glycolesis (the breakdown of glucose by enzymes, releasing energy and pyruvic acid) so it takes all the sugar out these system. So if you deprive the body of sugar it’s less able to grow so that’s not the only thing. What I was talking about is a positive attitude not molecular. This ‘attitude’ treatment IS thought. The key thing is to incorporate the dynamic of thought into our change paradigm plans.

Brian – When you are dead, you do not think, you are just thought. When you die, thoughts are the only thing you can take with you. You cannot change. It’s a bit like being in a river with no paddle.

Loneliness

Brian – As for loneliness, think there is a big element of laziness in this and people should just get on with things. That was a hymn somewhere that said ‘live each day as if thy last’ and I do try to do this, it keeps me buoyant.

This is a famous quote with many off-shoots.

Live each day as if it were the last day of your life because, so far, it is. Live each day as if it were your last. Learn as if you would live forever. Remind yourself of all the things you love about life, stay in touch with your loved ones and friends, and do what your own heart tells you to.

Reflections at the Recycle Centre

A philosophical point occurred to me when I was taking garden rubbish to the recycled centre here in Midsomer Norton. I am at an age now where people think I might need help with tipping a large bag over into the metal containers. A man asked me if I wanted help and I replied, ‘no thank you I am okay’. I was not just saying this out of politeness, I was saying it because the weight was not as bad as it looked and I need to do something to keep myself physically fit.

I am concerned that I may have put this good Samaritan off from asking other people because in his mind an offer of help has been linked with a rejection. Should I have accepted the help because it was given even though I did not need it.

I take the same view when I’m in London on the subway or tube as we call it. Actually I prefer to stand up but people want to offer their seats. The same principle applies. Am I putting people off volunteering to give up their seats because I say no. Do comment in the comments section if you wish.

To Halfords

There is nothing like a forthcoming longer drive to stimulate a checking of my motor vehicle. Apart from filling up with oil, power steering and windscreen washing I had to replace a tyre that for reasons of bad tracking had worn on one side. Warning lights appeared on my dashboard so I had to go to Halfords to get some new bulbs. They have a scheme where the company will on demand replace small items like bulbs and fuses for a small amount of money, a fiver or so.

The closest to immortal life since the Morris 1000?

The sales person was having difficulty with the computer system. It took forever to work. He said it was the same system that was installed 25 years ago. This almost beggars belief but he was not the sort of person who would deceive me. We joked about Volvo’s being immortal and he said that his own Volvo was disposed of only when it reached 165,000 miles. My Volvo is at 82,000 miles so plenty to go. Fingers crossed of course. Once a Volvo driver, always a Volvo driver. Is it an addiction?

——VIDEO LIBRARY ——–

Why AMISH children have almost no disease or mental health problems. An eye opener from the Health Ranger Report.