Toxic Groups and Traveling

I will be traveling to a case from the 29th to August 8th so my posts may be farther apart. I wanted to talk about the signs of a toxic group. Many people get on the internet to make friends and just talk with people. There are many special interest groups that help foster these discussions.

Yet there are also many toxic groups in the area of magic, and spirituality. They have the marks of being a cult, and are into control over others. I plan to mention the different things I have found in toxic groups. A group may have one or two of these signs and it is a good experience being a member. Four of these signs or over four will be something where you should not join them and avoid them at all costs.

1. Control-does the leader demand obedience and treat people poorly. Does he do what he tells others to do. I know one of the worse groups I was in the leader always said to do what he said not what he did.

2. How are members treated? Does a higher rank or status in the organization mean that people are allowed to be abusive? Is the rank considered a sign of work upon themselves or just a way to bully people.

3. Does the group believe in an apocalyptic shift of energies, an end time date, or have a us against them attitude? Are compounds isolated, members watched, and other aspects of a cult where the members are controlled in every way. Run, do not walk away from any group that does this to others.

4.Do they come down on others for mistakes but never admit to their own mistakes? If they do admit to them how do they act about them. Are they too serious about themselves and others.

5. Are they angry, stressed, upset or just negative in their attitudes about life. Are they working to overcome these problems or is it just accepted as part of the group.

6.Do they make fun of other traditions and methods. A certain amount of this in learning a method is normal-like it makes use of shamanism what is the rest of this all about. Yet trying to understand a method that seems valid is different than saying that it is impossible.

7. Do they force everyone on the same path with out any allowance for differences and variations in peoples energy systems and talents.

8. Do they talk at their students or to them. Do they brag all the time and never keep their mouth shut. Do you have to hear them put down everyone but themselves.

9. Do they help their fellow members and trust their members enough to ask for help from them. Do the members feel they are part of a big family that accepts them. Or a dysfunctional family that abuses them.

10. The last is one thing that should send any woman running for cover. How are women treated or accepted. I had one group leader who felt he had a right to try to have sex with every woman that joined that fitted his standards of beauty. He actually put love spells on the students while saying it was a demonstration. Some traditions have sex and nudity mentioned right at the beginning where people can decide what they want to do. If it is not required then do not expect to be treated properly if you turn the leader down and want to learn.

Any woman has to be a judge of whether this is normal attraction or not. Yet the leader I am mentioning was married and doing this to everyone. A group that does things this way will show favoritism, and demean others. No woman should join this group.

I know that this will hold true for males who are joining groups. It can also be a lower rank male trying to get to the top the way he feels is easiest. Watch out for any of these actions as the entire group can break apart even if it has potential and promise.

11. If the group leader has hurt students and threatened people in public and it is a spiritual organization leave it. The reason for this is he has not done any work on himself if he acts that badly.

I hope these tips help anyone joining a group. I have seen this happen with yoga groups, magic groups, and many others. Any one joining a magic group should look at the people and ask if you would trust them with your life. If you could depend on them no matter what happened. The reason for this is you will be doing ceremonies and any mistakes they make could endanger your life, and sanity.

Life, magic and friends are to be enjoyed even if they are work. If you are in a group that does not accept or support you then that group is not right for you. Staying will only make it worse. Look for the good groups with people you can trust and accept as people. It will make your experience so much better not putting up with groups hoping that they get better.

Shamanism Continued

I did read up on the shamanism techniques with the New Age beliefs and methods added to them. Even with the extras it ought to be of benefit to many people. I do not like the dogma about 2012 being added in yet people can become luminous bodies even with out 2012.

It is what is called an Ascended Master in magic and other beliefs. The Norse Gods and many others could be considered Ascended Masters from another point of view. They always had a divine that they worshiped. People have been perfecting themselves for many years and they do not need a deadline to do it.

I am a bloodline lineage Shaman and Witch with receiving a Lineage Grimoire in my youth. I can do things similar but many times the research into different cultures bring out new techniques that are useful.

I just wish they would have left out the 2012 myth like if you do not ascend then you get left behind. I always feel cults and toxic leaders have a them against us manifesto. They try to control people by apocalyptic occurrences and deadlines.

It is why I have such a knee jerk reaction to many of the new shifts, and beliefs going on because no one knows for sure what is going to occur.

Shamanism Techniques and how they are marketed

I just watched an interesting series of videos. They are talking about techniques from ancient peoples and quote the nationalities. Yet they tie it into 2012 when in the cases of a couple of them I have heard of no years mentioned. Just incidents that would happen before mankind became able to have years of peace.

They then mentioned DNA, and the directions. The directions and the medicine wheel are sacred yet where did the DNA get added? I saw the rites in the video and even with out describing them completely I could see what they were doing and they had great potential.

Yet they added in the rest of this to attract people to what they were doing instead of staying real. That is such a shame as their methods had merit and could help many people. Why not stay in truth with out adding in all of the catch phrases?

The ancient shamanic techniques are priceless and I guess they felt that by adding these additions they could reach more people which would be a good thing. Yet why isn't reality enough to show that the work is enough to let people judge on its merits?

I guess that is where I go wrong. I do not fancy my methods up and look evolved. I am just happy when I help others.

Change

All of my posts have mentioned negative conditions. All of them lead up to the one thing that can bring positive influences into someones life. That thing is change. Change is powerful as it can make bad turn to good. Resolve abuse, overcome blockages. It is a gift from the God the creator that we can use in our lives.

Our choices bring about change. It means that doing something different. Taking that class in school, doing something YOU want to do, and just relaxing can all bring about change in a persons life. People are always stuck in a routine, and wonder why nothing works. They just do the same thing trying to do everything right and get stuck in cycles and patterns. Change breaks us out of these moments in life.

My suggestion for people is to go out and do something nice for someone. Charity is great for this but volunteer for a food bank, help out in a mission, do something that is not for you but is a gift to someone else. Work for pet adoption organizations. The list of places that can use people just to help is amazing. You can do almost anything.

The energy from the charity and good choices will help you in your life to overcome blockages. The reason for this is it gives a sense of perspective to your life. We judge our lives by what we see others doing. A person who just goes home from work and watches TV will be very discouraged. Everything points at flaws, we are too fat, have to many problems and most of the messages are not positive. The commercials can make anyone depressed.

Someone who gets out and gets around different people helps the people and themselves. They feel good about what they are doing, and happy to be there. They see how others live and have a chance to get a different view about life.

They quit looking at their life in the same way. You never know who you will run into when you do this. A new friend, a soul mate, a person who inspires you. Break out of your life and do an act of loving kindness for someone else. You may be amazed at the results.

Communications, Explanations and Balance

Yesterday I was reading through some yahoo group emails from people. One person stated that I hated someone. I never hated this person yet I did hate the sarcasm and ways he had belittled me in the past. I had to work through these issues, and find one of the things in my life that I was clinging to which was a wrong thought. All of the issues in your lives can cause lack of harmony with ourselves and others. We are never on the same page as everyone else.

So I gave an explanation of what caused it saying I never hated this person. He had really helped me work through some emotions I thought I had dealt with but that came back in this instance. It goes back to abuse and cruelty which no one really wants to hear about but I did not want to go down as hating anyone.

Communications with ourselves and others can be the bane of this world. We try to do and say the right things and never have it go right. We can fall into others comments and just cause more troubles. Explaining ourselves instead of being seen as something purged and cured because of the challenges and interactions with others can be taken wrong. We are at the mercy of the emails.

Balance in our life comes when we deal with ourselves and the issues brought up. It means that I could not let that comment go by as I did not hate this person. Just how they acted at times. Hate is not right as it is something engendered by emotions which cause us to go out of balance.

Many victims of abuse dig themselves into a spiritual pit that has to be dug out of to balance their lives. Issues, emotions, communications are all part of this and stating what we are about can help or make things worse. I guess it depends upon the people involved and the willingness to realize what the person means.

Fluffy bunny was mentioned as a name for others who just sort of go along on the happy side of life. It is a nice image. Yet are people more bold, and touchy on the Internet because we know we will not meet the people we talk too? Do they take advantage of that distance to act poorly? Yes they do. The only thing we can do is to keep ourselves in balance. Realize that a difficult person is someone we need to watch our reactions on in every way. They may be a gift from the divine to show us where our weakness is that is holding us back in our studies and our life.