jeff lindsay proved wrong "by his own hand"

http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_Abraham2.shtml#hand

One of the more diversionary arguments used against the Book of Abraham is the claim that Abraham could not possibly have been the author of scrolls, since they date to many centuries after Abraham's day, yet the Book of Abraham says that it was written "by his own hand." The key is understanding that this phrase, "by his own hand," is a way of attributing original authorship. It does not mean that the copy Joseph received was made by Abraham - only that Abraham was the original author of the text.

Russell C. McGregor and Kerry A. Shirts offer further light on this topic [McGregor and Shirts, 1999, p. 203]:

It is obvious from reading the Hebrew Bible that the phrase by his own hand is a Hebrew idiom beyadh, which means "by the authority of," as we can clearly see in the Stuttsgartensian Hebrew text that Kohlenberger translates. He renders Exodus 9:35 as "just as the Lord said through Moses," while the Hebrew has beyadh, that is, "by the hand of."

nice try, but beyadh (d;y.B) is a hebrew idiom translating to "by the hand of", not "by his own hand". i think most people can agree that those phrases have two different meanings. but no matter what, just look at the context of your example:
"as the Lord had spoken by Moses." (h,vm-d;y.B hwhy r,BiD) the lord is literally/physically speaking through/by the hand (mouth, actually) of moses; it is literally moses who is speaking (and i might add, by the authority of the lord, not any authority of moses'. did moses authorize the lord to speak? no, its the other way around)

apologists are trying to change the meaning so that by his (abraham's) own hand now means by someone else other than abraham, when lindsay's example says that "by the hand of" (which still is not the same as 'by his own hand', but lets assume it is in this case) means literally the named person after that phrase. the lord spoke, physically/literally "by" moses. the BoA papyri was written physically/literally by abraham.

christianity in old magickal grimoires - sometimes possibly just a cover?

ive always been a little annoyed by the elements of christianity in older grimoires, thinking that since christianity seems to be made up (archeology/fossil record+dna/theory of evolution, "bible unearthed", etc), then doesnt this in a way discredit everything else in the grimoire?
i used to wonder about this until i read this in joseph c. lisiewski's book ceremonial magic and the power of evocation:

Despite their authors' long-winded Christian stance and admonitions-a socially proper and politically correct carry-over from the days of church punishment if the grammar fell into the hands of an Inquisition tribunal-such texts have their practical use.

the appearance of a christian framework might have been necessary to avoid trouble in times where witches and mages were tortured and burned/killed?

the smoot exposure by frank j cannon - president/prophet joseph f smith admits to illegal polygamy

why is this not more well-known? joseph f smith is admitting to violating the state law and the "law of god"!
http://www.sacred-texts.com/mor/upu/chap13.htm

President Joseph F. Smith admitted that he was violating the law of the State. He was asked: "Is there not a revelation that you shall abide by the law of the State and of the land?" He answered, "Yes, sir." He was asked: "And if that is a revelation, are you not violating the laws of God?" He answered: "I have admitted that, Mr. Senator, a great many times here."

the entire transcript of the trial can be read here:
http://www.archive.org/details/testimonyOfImportantWitnessesFromTheSmootHearing

joseph smith plagiarizing reginald scot's discoverie of witchcraft?

scot (1584):

This was the work of one T. R. written in faire letters of red & blacke upon parchment, and made by him, Ann. 1570. to the maintenance of his living, the edifieng of the poore, and the glorie of gods holie name: as he himselfe saith.

joseph smith (18??):

The record … found with the mummies, is beautifully written on papyrus, with black, and a small part red, ink or paint, in perfect preservation. (History of the Church, 2:348.)

Q. so the question is did joseph smith have a copy of reginald scot's discoverie of witchcraft?

update:
holy piss! according to this site:
http://www.saintsalive.com/resourcelibrary/mormonism/a-necromantic-incident-joseph-smith-and-ceremonial-magic

he did!

i elaborated on this here:
http://www.exmormon.org/boards/w-agora/view.php?bn=exmobb_recovery&key=1277408091&newest=1277408091

remote healing for my brother with possible kidney cancer 20100624

i meditated and i could feel energy in the palms of my hands as i was doing this. i imagined my brother laying on a table and i had a big fan in front of me and i was standing at his feet. i moved the fan across his body starting at the feet and ending at the head and it was blowing all bad things out of his body, and it looked like grey smoke being blown out, far away from him, then i obliterated the grey smoke with heat and energy, turning it into nothingness or tiny harmless particles. my brothers body was whiter after this and looked clean. then i made a bubble/aura of light around his whole body to protect him from further harmful influences/diseases. anything harmful trying to come at him was repelled and burned up by the aura/light/heat. i imaged my brother jumping up off the table and hopping up and down doing some boxing punches showing that he was well in every way =)

update 20100824
i did a remote healing 2 nights ago and yesterday. i could again really feel an energy in my hands and it was almost like something external was pushing my hands around in a circle as i was "playing" with energy (reconnective healing style).

remote healing for friend in poland 20100623

i was chatting with a friend in poland today and he said his wife was sick and was going to the doctors to have an ultrasound (i think it was something about breast cancer or something with the breasts) and so i asked him if it was alright it i did a remote healing for her and he said yes.

i found a picture of her that he had sent me before and focused on her face for a couple of seconds then set a timer for 10 minutes.

i started a meditation. i envisioned blowing all bad things out of her body, like a big dark cloud, blowing it out to space, then shattering it into a million pieces so that it no longer was dangerous. then i envisioned her body healing itself, then i made a bubble of light around her body to protect her from further illness.

it was interesting because i could feel energy in my hands while meditating and my left hand twitched a little, a couple of times. interesting =)

i just got a message from him saying that his wife had now been to the doctor and he said to come back in 4 months for a checkup because it didnt look too dangerous right now =)

homemade healing and cleansing rituals

my son has been troubled by a dark shadow/spirit lately so about 5-7 nights ago as he lay asleep on the couch (he was scared to go to his bedroom), i held my hands hovering over him and meditated and concentrated, attempting to draw away fear from out of his body and pushing light and confidence into his body. i probably used about 10 minutes on it. after that he hasnt said that he has seen anything scary.

to reinforce this, yesterday i lit some incense and went into my sons room. i walked clockwise around the room pushing the smoke towards the wall and saying:

spirits troubling my son X
choke on this smoke
go away, you cannot stay

The Book of Abraham is not central to the restored gospel of Christ

"So if what is most important needs to be defended, what are some of the things that need to be defended?" he asked.

He suggested six: God exists; Jesus Christ is His Son; God talked and still talks with men through the power of the Holy Ghost; Jesus Christ atoned for the sins of the world; the Atonement is available to those who trust Jesus, turn from sin, make and keep sacred covenants, and follow the course throughout their lives; and the Book of Mormon is true, an authentic record of God's interactions with actual ancient people.

"Now, we may be called upon to defend smaller points than these, but if these six things are not true, there is no point in the rest," Brother Gee said.

"Now where is the Book of Abraham in this?" he asked. "It isn't. The Book of Abraham is not central to the restored gospel of Christ."

-- John Gee, an associate research professor of Egyptology at the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at BYU.

the funny thing is that the book of abraham is a part of the canonized lds scriptures and is the source of major lds doctrines like:
* polygamy
* plurality of gods
* the priesthood ban on blacks
* the pre-existence

and if the church is indirectly admitting that joseph smiths "translation" of the papyri isnt "correct", then they are also indirectly putting the book of mormon in danger.

positive results from self-healing

for over a week now ive been suffering from some nasty, itchy and painful sores on my tongue and in my throat. i think it is from chewing some CZ leaves. 2 nights ago (20100613) i decided to do a self-healing on myself to make them go away. they were gone the day after (20100614) =)

what i did was simply meditate and imagine the sores being taken out of my mouth and into the air and floating away.

jiahu flutes vs neanderthal flutes - which are older?

according to this article:
http://www.shakuhachi.com/K-9KChineseFlutes-Articles.html
the jiahu flutes are considered the oldest flutes (and musical instruments) in the world because some of them are completely intact and playable, whereas the neanderthal flutes are apparently only fragments.

adam + evolution ?

Q. what if adam and eve and their lineage were created alongside of the rest of evolution by a different creator/god?

was muhammed supposed to be the successor of jesus?

an interesting little dissertation by Francis Stephen:

Koran accepts virgin birth and second coming of Jesus but not death. The argument was that God would not allow anyone to kill Jesus who was God’s prophet. Prophet Muhammed was poisoned and it caused his death. How did God allow this “slow killing”. God, should also by same logic saved Prophet Muhammed too if he was the last and greatest of all prophets as claimed.Why accept only half of the Old Testament on birth and second coming but not death of Jesus by crucufixion.The reason is there would be no place for Prophet Muhammed or Islam if Koran accepts it. It would end with Jesus who was indeed the greatest of all prophets and Messiah. Prophet Muhammed had a reason to deny Jesus’s death so that he could live to preach Islam otherwise he would not have any followers.Jesus and his apostles were a complete contradiction to Prophet Muhammed. Jesus preached forgiveness, love and peace by saying “if someone slapped your right cheek, offer your left” but prophet Muhammed lived by the sword and he fought wars where there was much killing. Would ever Jesus who always spoke of love,peace and forgiveness picked a successor such as Prophet Muhammed??? who preached and acted just the opposite. Jesus asked his apostles to be honest, upright, faithful and chaste with their spouses and no apostles had any polygamy inclination whatsoever. But Prophet Muhammed was a complete contradiction having not less than 12 wives, one who was only 6 years old. The prophets before Jesus may had numerous wives but Jesus came and literally put a stop to polygamy. This is the New Testament. Jesus came and showed how to lead a family life for those apostles and followers who were married.Arabic traditions and customs are mere excuses for Prophet Muhammaed to be polygamous. Jesus even went against Jewish cusoms and traditions during his lifetime had put a fullstop to this already. If Prophet Muhammed was truly the chosen prophet by Jesus surely he has to honour , abide and agree to Jesus teachngs and way of life and in fact enhancing it rather than creating new contradictions and unacceptable teachings. A religion must be universal and not confined to people,customs and traditions of a particular time, race or people. In fact all other religions or their founders believed and practised monogamy be it Hindusism, Buddhism,Sikkhism,Taoism etc and the only major religion which allows polygamy is Islam. Buddha ,who was a prince, in fact gave up his kingdom,wife and children and chose to be celibate and disowned the material world to achieve nirvana. Prophet Muhammed on the other hand just kept on adding wives.Can such a person who claims to be the last and greatest of all prophets be truly be a messenger of GOD? Can we rely on his teachings,sayings and way of life? Would you ever in the first place marry a girl who is six years old, and for that matter when you are fifty as Prophet Muhammed was? Can you then use the Koran which came from such a character as Prophet Muhammed to judge the Bible?

If anyone changes his [islamic] religion, kill him

The Qur'an commands your death for leaving Islam (4:89 calls for the murder of renegades from the faith), and Muhammad is explicit in a hadith: "If anyone changes his religion, kill him" (Bukhari).

the "official english translation by dr. rashad khalifa" says "only in war":

[4:89] They wish that you disbelieve as they have disbelieved, then you become equal. Do not consider them friends, unless they mobilize along with you in the cause of GOD. If they turn against you, you shall fight them, and you may kill them when you encounter them in war. You shall not accept them as friends, or allies.

but the yusuf ali, pickthall, palmer and rodwell translations say "kill them wherever you find them":

[4:89] ... But if they turn renegades, Seize them and slay them Wherever ye find them; ...

pickthall:

if they turn back (to enmity) then take them and kill them wherever ye find them

palmer:

but if they turn their backs, then seize them and kill them wheresoever ye find them,

rodwell:

If they turn back, then seize them, and slay them wherever ye find them;

its not difficult to see why the khalifa version is the "official" version =)

Q. i wonder what the literal translation of the arabic actually says?

وَدُّواْ لَوْ تَكْفُرُونَ كَمَا كَفَرُواْ فَتَكُونُونَ سَوَاء فَلاَ تَتَّخِذُواْ مِنْهُمْ أَوْلِيَاء حَتَّىَ يُهَاجِرُواْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللّهِ فَإِن تَوَلَّوْاْ فَخُذُوهُمْ وَاقْتُلُوهُمْ حَيْثُ وَجَدتَّمُوهُمْ وَلاَ تَتَّخِذُواْ مِنْهُمْ وَلِيًّا وَلاَ نَصِيرًا

i went to what i would expect to be the official islamic website for the world:
islam.org

i was redirected to islamcity.com

i clicked on quran search and searched for "slay them" and found 4:89:

and if they revert to [open] enmity, seize them and slay them wherever you may find them

ill take this M Asad version as the "official" version since it was the default search preferences.:
seize them and slay them wherever you may find them

Message of the Qur'an
Muhammad Asad (Tra...

Best Price $40.00
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dice divination

i was just in the bathroom, trying to contact bune in my mind and asked him what i could do in order to obtain what i asked of him and all of the sudden i was injected with a thought about dice divination. i have never read about it or thought about it before. when i googled it there was actually a lot of information about it. ill have to read up on it. i just now got a thought about getting several dice to use in picking lotto numbers. ill give it a try.

not-praying experiment

i havent personally prayed in about 3-4 weeks now because i want to experiment with a period of non-prayer. i have prayed some times with my children when they ask, but no personal prayers.

drømmeurt (calea zacatechichi) experience

20100611
my tongue has been itching and has little sores on it. it started maybe about a week ago. i wonder if it has anything to do with chewing on the cz leaves? i search for "itchy tongue" and the only explanation for touch itch listed is contact dermatitis. im going to try to rub some of the cz on my arm to see if i get a rash.

20100609
i still havent drunken any cz tea since june 3, but last night i was able to change my fate and stop somebody from killing me in my dream =) i was a witness in a court trial and the evil defence attorney (played by Frank Langella) didnt want anyone to attend the trial, but i showed up anyways and he got all angry at me and looked like he was going to kill me, but i remained calm and told him that if he touched me i would sue his ass of so he just got upset and went into a closet and yelled at the top of his lungs... =) i also remember snowboarding or skiing or sliding down a snowy mountain.

20100607
last night i dreamed that i could fly! i havent had any CZ since june 3 though, but it was a cool feeling to fly! then at then end of my dream i couldnt fly anymore for some reason. i tried, but it was like i wasnt psychically strong enough in my dream to do it. weird. i remember that C James was in my dream and her sister M. i also remember being inside a huge shopping mall and there was some construction on one side so i had to go out of the parking lot on another side and walk to my car a ways. i also remember being chased/hunted. i think i also was inside the lds church building in KWA where i used to go to church as a teenager.

20100604
was too tired to drink cz tea last night, dont remember anything from my dreams.

20100603
drank some fresh cz tea last night, dont remember anything from my dreams.

20100602
last night i tried reusing the cz leaves i used 2 nights ago while watching more of the shining (im still not done). when i was done drinking it i took the leaves out of the little ball and chewed on them and sucked whatever i could out of them, then threw them away. i can honestly not remember anything from my dream, but i have a feeling that i remember feeling like i had control of a particular situation in my dreams.

20100601
i fell asleep last night before i could drink some cz tea and i specifically remember in my dream where my brother in law had 2 girls all over him, rubbing his chest and giving him attention and i felt like that was unfair =) in other words, i didnt have control over that situation. there seems to be a connection here =)

20100531
had another cup of CZ last night while watching more of the shining. again, i felt like i was in control of some elements of my dreams, or i never felt out of control. interesting. still nothing else extraordinary though. i have been wondering if i should just chew the leaves. i tried chewing just a little piece of a leaf and it was super strong, so i actually doubt i would be able to put a little handful in my mouth and keep it there for very long... tonight i am going to try to recycle the leaves i used in my tea last night to see if that works or if i need to use new leaves every day.

20100530
last night i drank CZ tea while watching the shining. during my sleep i again experienced "control": a neighbor lady was chasing me trying to kill me and i successfully overpowered her and killed her. i smashed her into a little compartment of flesh just like this recycling commercial here in norway about a woman who does that to all her boyfriends.
i also was able to convince an unwilling fashion director to let me give her a full body sensual massage. i seriously cant remember ever really "getting what i want" in my dreams, at least when met with blatant opposition, where i then could turn the situation to my favor. i feel that maybe this CZ gives me that ability somehow. other than that, i have noticed no other effect. my dreams are not in any way more vivid so far.

20100529
last night i drank a cup of CZ tea. i filled up one half of a little metal-mesh ball and filled my cup up about 70% of the way. the tea is really bitter. before i went to bed i told myself several times that the next time i was going to be conscious that i would be able to control my dreams and that i would fly. what i did notice during my dream was that i actually got away from my chaser. i usually never get away, but this time i did. that seemed to be something different from the norm.

tonight i am drinking the tea again to see if the effect will get any stronger.

btw, i ordered the herbs from denmark and they got here to norway 2 days later without any trouble.

miraculously saved during dangerous fall

my 1 and a half year old son was running by the top of the stairs and tripped and fell all the way down to the bottom. i heard him as i lay on the couch reading and jumped up, but for some reason i was pretty calm. he miraculously did not get hurt in any way, not even a bruise, even though the stairs are wooden with a super thin carpet layer in the middle of each individual step! he cried out of fear, but was completely fine 2 minutes later after i held him a little and went on as if nothing happened =) he even crawled down the steps a couple of minutes later =) thanks to who-/whatever protected him during the fall =)

rolling thunder healing for isaac bonewits

i did the rolling thunder healing here from norway last night. i was sitting on the couch with 2 minutes to 9 and all of the sudden i got an idea:
go ask your 2 sons if they want to help you with the ritual.
they were downstairs playing wii, so i was thinking "ok this will be interesting"
then i got another idea. i remember hearing/reading about how people "need" ritual, so i felt i should take with me 3 small tea-lights (candles) and light them with the boys; maybe that would help get their interest? =)
it proved to be true. they both broke away from the wii and we sat in a triangle on the floor and each of us lit our own candle and put it on the ground in front of us. before we started i explained that a very famous an important writer was very sick and we were going to do a remote healing ritual for him. we all held hands then i said that they were going to repeat with me the mantra:
isaacs tumors fade away, 30 more years with phae
and that we were going to say it 8 times. i had read earlier today about the number 8 and was quite impressed by what i read and it seemed totally appropriate being the ultimate sign of "longevity": eternity!
as we started saying the mantra we started out slow and then a THIRD idea came into my head: say it with a smile and be happy, it will help raise the energy =)
each time we repeated the mantra we did it faster and faster too (the fourth idea i got =)
when we were done we blew out the candles and i took them upstairs.
upstairs my wife and i have a little chest of drawers where we light candles usually every night. and i felt i should light the 3 candles we used in the ritual so i put them next to the candles already on the chest of drawers and counted them up. guess how many there were total? yep, 8 =)

quite the little experience. get well quickly isaac! =)

legal and illegal, drugs, prescriptions, herbs, medicine and narcotics in norway

medicine, prescriptions, herbs: legemiddellisten (legemidler, unntak, urter, unntakslisten, urtelisten)

drugs, narcotics: narkotikalisten (narkotika, stoff, stoffer, droger, preparater)

led by the hand of christ a woman's journey to paradise-and back book review

disclaimer: i havent read the book led by the hand of christ, i have merely read its description, but the concept of the persons life after death experience is what i am reviewing.

i had a near-death experience when i was shot as a teenager and having been raised mormon i remember seeing god and jesus as 2 separate beings, talking about me from a distance. i am now in my 30's and have found out that the LDS church is not true and have left. the LDS church is one of the few (if not only, although i hate definitives like that) that teach that god and jesus are 2 separate physical beings. this leads me to believe that we see what we want to see when we die or nearly die. it has even been said that we are not "really" dead until after something like 5 or 6 hours after being pronounced clinically dead. so a "life after death" experience really might not be what we think it is after all. that which someone experiences before those 5-6 hours after "death" cannot really be taken as "proof" of the "real" post-mortem state.

update 20100531
heres a recent interesting article similar to what i propose:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1282598/Near-death-experiences-explained-Scientists-believe-gasp-dying-brain.html