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The Sacred Planets

Joseph Dewey

The Sacred Planets

DK tells us that there are seven sacred planets in our solar system. They are Vulcan (a hidden planet), Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

The rest of the known planets are not sacred, which are the Earth and Mars. Pluto was classified as a non-sacred planet by DK, but has now been downgraded by astronomers to a dwarf planet because of its small size. Nevertheless, it is still considered a planet esoterically.

After Alice A. Bailey died there have been three additional dwarf planets discovered beyond the orbit of Pluto which are Haumea, Makemake, and Eris. One additional was known in her lifetime which is Ceres. In her day it was considered the largest asteroid.

DK specifically tells us that in addition to the Earth, Mars and Pluto that there are two additional non sacred planets that were veiled in his day. (See Esoteric Healing, Page 507)

He also indicates that there are three hidden sacred planets for he speaks of the “seven planets at its densest point and three hidden.” A Learning Experience, Page 65

Apparently, there are quite a few others that are not classified as either sacred or non-sacred for he speaks of “many ‘hidden’ planets. Of these, the Ageless Wisdom claims that there are around seventy in our solar system.” Esoteric Astrology, Page 6

These 70 could include numerous undiscovered dwarf planets, as well as several undiscovered larger planets. Included in this figure are a number of planets that exist in the etheric matter and are invisible to the eyes of scientists.

Then concerning “lesser planetary bodies he says “There are more than 115 of such bodies to be reckoned with, and all are at varying stages of vibratory impulse.” TCF, Page 793

He could be referring to the larger asteroids and the smaller dwarf planets. Some may be made of etheric substance and invisible to telescopes.

Out of all these bodies there are seven in dense matter which are considered sacred planets. The earth is not yet achieved this status, but is expected to in the near future. The fact that it is on the threshold of the transition is evidenced by the statement that the earth is “subjectively considered is a sacred planet; the effects of this transition from non-sacred to sacred have not fully demonstrated themselves objectively.       Rays and Initiations, Page 414

 After the full transition is made there will be eight but, “Eventually, there will be twelve sacred planets, corresponding to the twelve constellations, but the time is not yet.” A Treatise on White Magic, Page 438

After a student sees several references to sacred and non-sacred planets he begins to wonder exactly what a sacred planet is and what makes it different from a non-sacred one.

It is somewhat astonishing that DK says he cannot tell us:

“The reason which makes a planet sacred or not is one of the secrets of a certain major initiation, and I may not further elucidate here.” Esoteric Psychology, Vol 1, Page 335,

Even so, DK does give us a number hints on the subject. Here is one when writing about the war in heaven:

“In every grouping,—whether in heaven or on earth—there is always evidenced a tendency by some units in the group to revolt, to rebel and to show some form of initiative different to that of the other units in the same grouping. When our solar universe came into being, we are told in the allegorical language of the ancient scriptures, there “was war in Heaven”; “the sun and his seven brothers” did not function with true unanimity; hence (and herein lies a hint) our Earth is not one of the seven sacred planets.” Psychology, Vol 1, Page 394

We see here that among the sun and the seven brothers there was a revolt and this gives us a hint as to why the earth is not a sacred planet. How does this make sense since the earth was not one of the seven?

To make use of the hint we must discover which of the seven sacred planets was the rebel.

Actually, DK makes this pretty clear for he tells us that Saturn is the only sacred planet on which there is pain and sorrow and difficulty.” Esoteric Psychology, Vol 2, Page 98

The cause of this pain is that “Saturn, therefore, ‘fell’ when man fell into generation. He ‘followed the sons of men down into their low place.’” Esoteric Astrology, Page 105

That low place was the earth, but how was it that Saturn followed the sons of men here? The key to understanding this is coming to the realization that Sanat Kumara, while being “The Planetary Logos of our earth scheme (is) one of the Seven Spirits before the throne.” Initiation Human and Solar, Page 28

Since the earth logos is not one of the seven this means that Sanat’s true home is a sacred planet, and not the earth. Which of the seven would that be? DK is hesitant to tell us:

“Sanat Kumara alone, in this scheme, is self-sustaining and self-sufficient, being the physical incarnation of one of the Planetary Logoi, which one it is not permissible to state, as this fact is one of the secrets of initiation. Initiation Human and Solar, Page 39

Many just assume he is the incarnation of the planetary logos of the earth but DK tells us he is one of the seven spirits that preside over the seven sacred planets, but he does not have permission to tell us which one.

Actually, I think it is pretty obvious which sacred planet is his.

We are told that Sanat is on the third ray of active intelligence, as well as the earth. Which of the sacred planets is also on the third ray?

That would be Saturn.

“Both the Earth and Saturn (one a non-sacred and one a sacred planet) are exponents or expressions of the third Ray of Active Intelligence.” Esoteric Astrology, Page 189

The fact that “Venus, Earth and Saturn form one triangle of great interest.” TCF, Page 181 coupled with the fact that the Lord of Saturn “followed the sons of men down into their low place” tells us that Saturn would be Sanat Kumara’s point of origin as one of the seven Spirits.

We are told that “The love and thought of that divine Life (the Solar Logos) is turned towards this “little daughter of a long lost son”, as our planet is sometimes called in the occult books of the Great Ones.      A Treatise on White Magic, Pg 314

The little daughter is identified as the earth, but who would be the “long lost son”?

Again, that would be the Logos of Saturn who “followed the sons of men down into their low place.”

So what exactly caused the Lord of Saturn (a sacred planet) to fall to the earth (A non sacred one)?

The previous solar system was governed by the third ray of intelligent activity and in that system, Sanat Kumara became a master of that aspect. It is natural and good that when one step is achieved to relax a little and enjoy and use its benefits, but then the temptation is to stay there too long and avoid taking your next step.

A hint about how this problem may apply to Sanat Kumara and ray three is given here:

“The planetary Logos of our Earth is primarily conditioned by a cosmic ray, to be sure, but not by His egoic ray. Perhaps in this condition may be found the reason (or one of the reasons) why our Earth is not one of the seven sacred planets. On this I need not enlarge, but it was necessary to call attention to this great determining factor, the third ray, which is the personality ray of our planetary Logos…This ray brings in the factor of discrimination through mental activity, and this, in its turn, balances the so-called love nature, and it is in truth the cause of our evolutionary growth.” Esoteric Psychology, Vol 1, Pages 335-336, 338

We are told some interesting things here that would be easy to overlook. Our logos is primarily conditioned by a cosmic ray, but not the egoic. The cosmic ray governing this solar system is Ray Two, Love-Wisdom. The egoic ray is three – Intelligence in Matter and governs the personality of our Logos. Concerning this we are told to “Forget not that the Personality of our planetary Logos is not yet perfect, hence the fact that His body of manifestation, the planet, is not reckoned as being one of the sacred planets.” Externalization of the Hierarchy, Page 87

The focus of our Logos is on the Love Wisdom, but using the intelligence from the third ray or his personality imperfectly. To become a sacred planet he must harmonize Ray Three with Ray Two to become a sacred planet.

This is a higher correspondence to aspiring humanity. We must bring our lower nature into alignment with the higher to become soul infused and achieve the higher initiations. Similarly, our Logos has to do the same on a higher level to become a sacred planet.

His next great step depends largely on the progress of humanity. Humanity’s focus needs to shift away from the lower personality to the Higher Self and DK gives a sign as to when this shift will happen which is an extension of my last quote:

“When humanity will have solved correctly the Jewish problem, and when it has been resolved in a humanitarian and sound manner, then the energy of the planetary solar plexus centre will have been raised to the heart and a great transmutation will have taken place.”

The Jews are on Ray Three, the personality ray of our Logos, and the conflict associated with them over the millennia is a symbol of the imperfection of the personality of our logos. Their achievement of harmony with other races will be a sign that our Logos has achieved the advancement necessary to become a sacred planet.

DK speaks of “the force which brings about the fusion or integration of the personality, the at-one-ment of personality and soul, the unification of humanity or the Great Approach of the Hierarchy to Humanity. It will produce also the integration of our Earth into the body of the “sacred planets” Esoteric Astrology, Page 482

So in the most basic terms we can say that a sacred planet is one that has perfected the personality aspect and put it under control of the Higher Self. The planet is working on the same goal as is the individual disciple, but just on a higher level.

The seven planets that are sacred have intelligent life but the focus of that life is not on the dense physical plane as it is on earth. We are told that “the seven Heavenly Men, whose bodies they are, function normally on the fourth plane of the system, the buddhic or the fourth cosmic ether.” TCF, Page 123

Life on this fourth cosmic ether is totally invisible to our earth scientists.

The seven logoi of the seven sacred planets are not perfect. DK says that “The seven Spirits, we are told in the Scriptures of the world, are ‘before the Throne of God’; this signifies that They are not yet in a position to mount the Throne, symbolically speaking, owing to the fact that They have not yet achieved complete divine expression.” Esoteric Healing, Page 298

Each of them are on different rays, and though highly evolved, are still working to express them in perfection.

Vulcan, the hidden planet is on Ray One, the ray of Will-Power and Purpose.

Mercury is on Ray Four of Harmony through Conflict stimulating creativity.

Venus is on Ray Five, the Ray of Concrete Knowledge.

Jupiter is on Ray Two of Love-Wisdom, the same as the Solar Logos.

Uranus is on Ray seven of ceremonial magic and synthesis which governs the approaching age of Aquarius.

Neptune is on Ray Six which presents the ideal accompanied by powerful emotion. This is the ray governing the passing age of Pisces.

Saturn, most closely associated with our logos, is on Ray Three as is the Earth. This demonstrates intelligent activity, especially in relation to matter.

Even though Sanat Kumara may be the original Lord of Saturn, and has descended to the earth to assist humanity, the actual Logos remains. Each planet has a core logos assisted by an advanced being who represents that logos. Sanat Kumara was its representative, but now represents the Logos of Earth. Since Saturn is still a sacred planet one would assume that another entity has been appointed to represent Saturn’s Logos until Sanat completes his work with the earth.

All the major planetary bodies radiate their influence throughout the solar system.  The influence of the sacred planets is picked up by disciples with a degree of soul contact and the planets that are not sacred are picked up by general humanity.

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Handling Dead Ends

Joseph Dewey

Handling Dead Ends

A reader asks this question:

If you have come to a complete wall on what to do next, is it a good idea to fast, pray and meditate on your next step?

JJ: This is a problem all of us have had from time to time. Even super human lives reach an impasse now and then and do not know which direction to take is the better.

One can understand why this would happen to the average person, but why would it happen to even the masters and beyond?

The answer is simple. All of us, high and low, are learning and we learn best by experience. Our next step in learning has many unknowns in it. You do not learn if you already know all there is in a certain area. The fact that we are ever learning tells us that all of us are attempting to discover the unknown and make it known.

This creates a problem for all us all now and then, but it is a good problem. If we didn’t have this problem then it would mean there is no more learning and if there were no more learning there would be no purpose and without learning and purpose there would be no creation and without creation all life would dissolve and we would all be as if we never were.

So, what do the masters do when they reach an apparent dead end and are not sure of their next step?

They do the same thing that we have to do. They stand still for a period of time and think about it. They do however, ask themselves a question that is often overlooked by average humanity which is this.

They assess all the things they should have accomplished with what they know and ask themselves if there is any more work that needs done before they take their next step. If the answer is yes then they understand that there may be a few things they yet need to do before a next step is possible.

So, when the disciple has done all that is possible to prepare for the next step and the next step is still unclear, then what?

For inspiration on this go back to the Parable of Decision in the first Immortal book. There we see an example of the wrong thing to do. The two who could not make a decision suffered the most. The other two who took the two paths were both far ahead of those who stood still in fear.

If one does not know what to do then he must use the first Key and Decide – decide something even if there is a good chance the decision is wrong. If the decision is a bad one the error in it will reveal itself as you move forward. Then you can see more clearly and make a good decision that was impossible earlier.

It is imperative then that we make a decision and then force ourselves to act upon it. Always try and incorporate the principle of harmlessness into that decision.

Another reader writes:

I have read extensively on soul contact yet have never experienced it. I feel hollow and am struggling. I remember your writings on life cycles and how if one does not find his purpose by age fifty, a self-destruct mechanism activates and ends the life. Part of me wants to let that mechanism activate and another part of me wants to cross the finish line victorious. I feel paraplegic in my attempts to see the purpose of this incarnation. I am obviously doing something wrong but not sure what.

JJ: You are referring to the age of crystallization and that is 54-56 years. Someone reaching this does not self-destruct, but just takes it easy on the learning curve for the rest of their lives. About 90% of humanity gets caught in this trap.

Many people are under the illusion that God has some complete plan for them and they must discover it. They often wait in vain. Why?

Because most of us have to develop our own plan. Every once in a while, a disciple will receive a revelation on what do to next but most of the time it is up to us and the sky is the limit. We can do whatever we want.

So ask yourself. What type of work do I enjoy. Then learn some more things around that which you enjoy and apply them or teach them. This will give you purpose.

Also ask yourself – what new thing can I learn that would be fulfilling? Then set about to learn that thing.

In the process of all this look back upon your life and ask yourself if there was any message from your inner self that you ignored and have not acted upon. If there was and you know it then retrieve that guidance and act upon it. This act can restore purpose very quickly.

It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it. – Upton Sinclair

Dec 28, 2010

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Finding Peace in the Storm

Joseph Dewey

 

Finding Peace in the Storm

A reader expressed concern over the current political situation, for there seems to be storms on the horizon everywhere with political conflict, economic threats and world instability. He wondered how Jesus reassured his disciples and what assurance could be offered us today.

Perhaps it would be wise to look at the example of the Master and see how he handled two different stormy situations.

In the first account there was a storm at sea that was so precarious that the disciples thought the ship was going to overturn and sink. They were afraid for their lives. In their terror they turned to their one hope – Jesus. Jesus was a man of miracles – maybe he could do something.

But where was Jesus???

They looked all over the ship and finally they found him. To their amazement he was sleeping. How in the world could any human being sleep in the midst of such turbulence they wondered with great curiosity.

They shook him and woke him up and pleaded with him to save them. To their surprise, Jesus seemed completely unconcerned with the danger from the storm and chastised them for their lack of faith.

Now the question that no one I know of has asked in the last 2000 years is this. Why was Jesus sleeping?

The question becomes more poignant when you consider that they were on a small boat that was being tossed to and fro. There is no way that Jesus was not aware that he was in he midst of a great storm, yet he chose to sleep even as his reclined body was tossed back and forth.

Why would he sleep in such a situation?

There are two parts to this answer.

First, he was tired and not being pestered by people wanting to be healed. This was a chance to get some rest.

Secondly, he was in touch with his spiritual center and even though danger seemed obvious, he knew that they would be protected. He knew the storm would not destroy them.

Because he knew this, he saw no reason to stay awake and pace back and forth with worry. Instead, he slept as sound as a baby until the disciples forced him to awake. Thanks to their lack of faith and no inner contact to receive assurance Jesus didn’t receive his needed rest.

Then there was a second stormy situation that Jesus handled much differently. This was in the Garden of Gethsemane where he knew he was betrayed and Roman soldiers were coming to arrest him. Again, his life seemed to be in danger.

Did he lay down to sleep again?

No. This time it was the disciples who slept. Jesus tried to wake them but instead of coming to his aid they just fell back to sleep.

Jesus was very concerned about the situation and pleaded with his Father to remove him from it.

The answer was no and he was so overcome an angel had to appear to him to strengthen him.

Now, what is the difference in the two stormy situations? The answer is key, and it is this.

In the first one Jesus knew through his inner guidance that, even though things looked bad, he was in no danger and might as well get some rest.

In the second situation the storm again looked dangerous, but this time his he inwardly perceived that the danger was real and there was no way to escape it. Because of this he was truly concerned. His faith could not alter divine will.

We as disciples are in a situation corresponding to the first storm, which was at sea. We look at the weakness of the dollar, the economy, the maddening direction our leaders are taking us and it appears that we will be swallowed up in this sea of distress.

But will we?

Have we as disciples tuned out the storm and sought guidance from within as Jesus did just before he took a peaceful nap in the midst of turbulence?

We must seek the answer within and when we get it peace will be ours in the midst of the storm to come, for we will know we will make it through.

That said, I am about ready to retire to a peaceful sleep.

Premature Birth and Astrology

I was asked if a premature birth or something that interrupts the timeline such as a caesarian or induced labor prevents the astrology chart from being accurate.

A premature birth creates little interference, as the entity designated for the body is usually aware that the birth will be premature for some time before the event. In many cases a premature birth is related to his karma.

A caesarian birth or induced labor does alter the birth time and thus the chart, but not always the rising sign. Each rising sign repeats every 24 hours and if a certain rising sign is desired as an imprint, then circumstances will often change the day of birth, but not the time of day that the person may be born.

Now let us suppose that the entity is born a week earlier than would have been naturally he case. There will be quite a few things in his chart that will be different, but also quite a few things that will be the same. The differences will not create a different destiny but different influences. For instance, maybe the alternate energies will influence him to be more introverted than he otherwise would have been.

If his rising sign is changed through induced labor then the new sign will still indicate a lesson to be learned but his main destiny will be somewhat hidden, but will still be subtly there in other parts of his chart.

At the time of birth whether it be natural or induced we receive an imprint of astrological energies that influence us for a lifetime. Note, I say influence and not control.

Times of general calamity and confusion have ever been productive of the greatest minds. The purest ore is produced from the hottest furnace, and the brightest thunderbolt is elicited from the darkest storms. – Charles Caleb Colton

Dec 27, 2010

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Rebel Lightbringers

Joseph Dewey

Rebel Lightbringers

One of the problems in understanding Lucifer and the fall of angels lies with the meaning and application of the word itself.

Lucifer means “Lightbringer” and is also translated as “Day Star’ and Morning Star in the Bible. All the bringers of light and truth in the universe are Lucifers, but not all of them rebelled or fell, and became adversaries or Satans.

In every level of intelligent existence there is some level of disagreement among the lightbringers. This “fall” from the divine council chambers not only happened on earth, but also in the chambers of the Solar Logos and higher. Our Ancient of Days is somewhat of a rebel and this is one reason the earth is not yet a sacred planet. He is taking us on a non standard route of progression and has provided humanity with extra stimulus causing us to evolve more quickly than we otherwise would have. If this route had not been taken the average human would be like a native in a jungle.

There was risk in this move in that we could wind up destroying ourselves with knowledge gained too quickly. There is also the possibility of a great payoff. Our Logos took a risk that others shied away from and thus he was out of sync with his own higher council chamber.

Even so, the intent of his end game was in harmony with his higher ups.

From this angle of vision our Logos and all of humanity are fallen angels. In other words, we have fallen off the trail and are attempting to find a shortcut to the end of the path.

Then within the Council Chamber of our own Logos we have a group of very high Kumaras which have all lived on other planets and mastered the physical plane. In this group our Logos has his own rebels to deal with. The problem there has filtered down to us as a fight between the left and right in the political spectrum. Where is the right balance in law and freedom? How much freedom can humanity be entrusted with? Was allowing them the freedom to obtain the atomic bomb a major mistake or a necessary evil?

Finally among humanity we have our own fallen Lucifers. A dark brother can only evolve out of the lightbringers of humanity. It is only when the third initiation is approached and the pilgrim is a light to his fellow men that the dark path can be chosen.

We thus have “fallen” lightbringers among the gods and even humanity itself. The higher rebels are not evil as we understand the term but have advanced beyond what we see as evil. The rebel lightbringers that came from humanity are very evil, however, and seek to take away the free will of humanity. The problem on the higher levels is not so black and white but a matter of judgment and the degree of assistance that humanity should be given as well as the constraints and limitations that should be applied.

Thus when the various teachers past threw out words like “devil,” Satan, Lucifer etc they were loosely referring to forces that resist the good, the beautiful and the true and did not understand what was behind the apparent evil.

Twelve Days of Christmas Explained

Most people just see this as a cute song, but few realize there is deeper meaning involved.

What in the world do leaping lords, French hens, swimming swans, and especially the partridge who won’t come out of the pear tree have to do with Christmas?

From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.

The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.

Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.

Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.

The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.

The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.

The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.

Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit: Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.

The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.

Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.

The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.

The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.

The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles’ Creed.

It is by attempting to reach the top at a single leap that so much misery is caused in the world. – William Cobbett

December 20, 2010

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Seeing Eye to Eye

Joseph Dewey

Seeing Eye to Eye

A reader made a comment that deserves some attention. He surmised that third degree initiates and higher are pretty much in agreement. So, is this a true statement and if so what is the principle involved?

The answer is that from the perspective of normal human consciousness this is true, but from a higher perspective it is not. Let me explain.

The principle is this. People agree consistently on that which they understand. If a subject or idea is below the level of understanding of those seeking union then there is likely to be disagreement.

It is interesting to note, however, that two can agree on a falsehood. In this case the union of thought comes not from understanding but from either wrong mutual perception or the acceptance of an outside authority who is in illusion. If the authority changes his mind the followers will normally be united in changing their minds also.

In the days of Galileo, the church members as a whole were united in the idea that the earth was the center of the universe and the sun circled around it. They “knew” this for two reasons. First, they could see the sun moving around the earth each day and secondly the Vatican Scientists stated that this was both scientific and spiritual fact.

Their authorities were wrong as well as their perceptions so they were united in illusion. The goal, however, is not to be united in illusion, but in truth. This is only achieved consistently through a mutual understanding or shared vision of the real.

As people advance in their spiritual evolution, they become united in a larger number of shared truths.

Average people can now understand that the earth circles the sun, that 2+2=4, that human slavery is undesirable, that basic freedom of speech is good, getting an education is a good thing and numerous other items.

As we move up the scale of thought there is less agreement among the masses, but agreement is still to be found among the thinkers.

The first initiation pertains to the physical plane and physical desires. These initiates will tend to agree on diet, exercise and sex.

The second initiation is centered on mastery of the emotional nature so these individuals will extend their agreement to values centered on the feeling nature. They will agree on the importance of taking personal responsibility, the ingredients of success, love and relationships to name a few.

They will agree on physical and emotional values yet still have disagreements on the plane of the mind and have differing philosophies.

The third-degree initiate masters illusion on the plane of the mind so two such initiates, even with widely different backgrounds and belief systems, can sit down and reason together and see the logic in each other’s thought. If one is able to bring forth facts, reason and logic that differs with the others’ beliefs then he will consider the new information and will not reactively reject it.

So do the higher initiates agree on everything?

No.

Why not?

Because no matter how high you get, there are many unknowns to be discovered. Even though they have solved illusion on the plane of the mind, there are still many things unknown to them and with such unknowns they can only theorize and guess about all the truth involved.

Not knowing an unknown is not illusion if you know you do not know. If you do not know how many beans are in a jar you know you do not know and there is no illusion. If you think you have some special gift to guess the correct number of beans, then that is illusion. The many are in illusion because they accept certain things as fact that are not facts and they do not know that they do not know.

In the story of the archangel Lucifer falling from heaven, he did not sink into illusion as we understand it but was part of a group seeking solutions to the advancement of humanity, a project with many unknowns to the group. He therefore thought that he could devise a plan as good as his elder brothers. He liked his ideas better than theirs and went with them and drew many after him. Since there could only be one master plan for the whole of the human race a plan was accepted and he was overruled. He has been seeking to prove he was right ever since.

As entities progress, they will agree on lessons learned and truths understood, but their disagreements will become more complex as they strive to achieve their next level of understanding and expand their own ring-pass-not.

King for a Life

Reader Question: Can you explain why someone is born rich or born a King, Queen or Emperor? Not everyone can be born a king out of the billions of lives that inhabited the earth. What makes that person so special? Is there karma behind this?

JJ: You are right in that it is mathematically impossible for all of us to take a turn as a king, a famous movie star or President of the United States. What then is the criterion that allows one to assume a position of power where he can influence millions?

The principle is this. If a person has karma that pertains to millions that were harmed then he will eventually be born in a situation where he can undue that damage by performing a good service for millions. This is true if he seeks redemption and has not taken the dark path.

Let us say that a tyrant who brought suffering to millions has seen the error of his ways and after a series of redemptive lives he finally has an opportunity to pay for much of the damage he did. Because he damaged millions of people he cannot pay off this debt with average lives. He must be in a situation where he can benefit a similar number of people that he previously hurt.

Just as not everyone becomes a king, even so, not everyone was a Hitler. Even so, all of us have lived like kings in some lives and in others made grievous mistakes. Fortunately, most of us haven’t done enough damage that requires us to positively influence millions of lives to pay off our karma.

Unfortunately, when the big opportunity comes for the seeker to pay off his karma through a position of power he will sometimes revert to his old patterns and create worse karma for himself. The difficulty in paying off great karma is therefore very hazardous and thus the seeker should always do everything in his power to tread the path of harmlessness.

So, was everyone who is now in a position of power paying off a huge dose of karma from being a bad dude in the past?

Not necessarily. Not all positions of power are reserved for working out karma. Sometimes disciples who owe little karma seek and obtain positions of power merely so they can have greater power to serve. Sometimes the need is great and hierarchy supports a karma-free disciple obtaining power so divine purpose can be more easily worked out.

In almost every case and situation general laws and principles apply, but not in the black and white mode with no judgment involved. There are always exceptions to every rule of thumb.

Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion. Isa 52:8

Dec 14, 2010

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Dark Brothers and the Masters

Joseph Dewey

Dark Brothers and the Masters

Question: You say that in our journey through many lifetimes we have all gone through periods where we have committed a lot of harmful acts. Does this mean that we have all played the role of a devil or Satan at some time?

JJ: This is an interesting question. In other words, are all of us destined to be a devil before we become one with God?

The answer is yes and no. As we make the long journey to the feet of God, we all go through periods of great selfishness and do some pretty devilish things and cause a lot of hurt along the way. We also become tempters and lead many astray with us. Does this mean that we all eventually spend an eon as a dark brother at some time or another?

No. Most of us learn our lesson as karma forces us to see the results of our bad behavior. Only a handful proceed onward on the dark path despite all the warnings and attempts by the soul to turn the entity around.

The teaching seems to be presented by all the prophets, scriptures and masters that when we reach a certain degree of progression that we will be “saved” or dwell in the light forever onward. But then we read of how Lucifer, a son of the Morning, rebels against God and was thrown out of heaven and apparently became Satan.

Now this being was of a celestial nature and a son of God as we hope to become, yet he fell. Does this mean that after all our efforts of finally achieving liberation that we could still blow it and become a Satan? That doesn’t seem to quite jive with the promises of eternal life as most understand them.

This is an area that has never been cleared up by any teacher that I know of. Here are several points that should help.

After liberation we do not lose our free agency. We still have power to choose and the choice always leads to higher and lower paths. The difference between humanity and those in the kingdom of God is the Higher Lives have learned certain lessons and know better than to revert to known errors. For instance, the hiker who gets exposed to poison ivy will avoid it in the future.

Those who have gained entrance to the Council Chambers of the Most High have learned certain lessons and there are many errors that they will not repeat. Even so, on a higher level of thinking where new concepts are being considered there will not always be agreement. Therefore, even a liberated soul, such as a Son of the Morning can disagree and present his own ideas that may not be in harmony with his master.

When a liberated soul falls out of alignment with his brothers he does not descend to the lowest realms of darkness but continues to move forward the plan as he understands it. The Dark Brotherhood evolved from beings on this earth and not from the Council Chambers of the Most High. A fallen archangel may use the forces of darkness but in his mind he is still moving the work of God forward.

Good and evil as it plays out with liberated beings is a much different thing than good and evil as humanity sees it as it pertains to them.

We never arrive at a point where we will be totally free from mistakes for all eternity. We learn by making mistakes and this principle even applies to Christ, the Planetary Logos and on up.

Here’s another question I received:

I am an amateur astronomer and was wondering if the JJ could explain what dark matter is which is a theory about missing matter in galaxies.

JJ: A reader showed some good thinking in indicating that dark matter and regular matter represent male and female polarities.

Scientists believe that there is dark matter because there are gravitational pulls in the universe that cannot be explained by the gravity of regular matter. Even though they cannot find this elusive matter they believe that 80% of the matter in the universe is this dark, or unseen matter.

Does such matter really exist? Yes, but it is not dark, but very light compared to our own. There is much matter in the universe that science has not discovered and this is clearly taught by the Ancient Wisdom. First, we have the matter of the etheric plane. Next up we have astral matter and then mental matter. Above this we have undifferentiated matter. All this matter and life from unseen worlds has an effect on life, form and matter in this plane.

Science will find dark matter when they discover that there are co-existing dimensions that interplay with us and affect us.

Where Are the Masters?

A reader voiced concerned that the United Sates and much of the world is going to hell in a handbasket. He feels that this borrowing and overspending will lead to a financial collapse and wonders where are the masters and initiates to help us set things straight when we need them.

Unless some turnaround occurs, we are indeed headed toward financial catastrophe. One just has to do the math on the increasing interest payments we are making on our debt.

There are ways to turn things around and perhaps the only real solution will come from the people themselves as politicians seem to lose all touch with common sense after they get settled into office. The new crop shows some promise but we’ll have to wait and see.

Mentally it seems logical that I should be placing all my energy into organizing something to incorporate some of the changes I have written about but my soul tells me that the time is not quite right and wait for a season. I do not think the time is far off as more people are looking for solutions as time passes.

As to where the masters or initiates are it appears that not many high on the scale have entered politics as there doesn’t seem to be much light in the halls of Congress.

An amazing number thought that Obama was a master or high initiate. Now, even many of his supporters are coming to the conclusion that he is in way over his head.

So, if Obama was not a master or high initiate then where are they – or do such entities avoid politics completely?

If we want to find any initiates among politicians, we must know what to look for. What kind of approach would be taken by a lofty soul who is in politics? The masters focus on the line of Love/Wisdom and can be found on the plane of the mind so a high initiate would use logic and reason tempered with love.

Anyone working with the forces of light would show these qualities.

(1) He or she would not support the idea of continually spending more money than we have and strapping the next generation with high interest payments.

(2) He would support the principle of freedom and thus work to run the country on the lowest possible tax rate giving people freedom to invest their own money.

(3) He would not seek for excessive regulation and quantity of laws but only essential ones.

(4) He would not use the poor and unemployed to increase his power base but sincerely seek to assist them in ways that will get the willing back into productivity.

(5) He would be a true environmentalist. He would not use the environment as a weapon to increase political power or raise taxes but seek to aid the environment in common sense ways.

(6) He would not be black and white but willing to use the principle of judgment as situations change.

(7) If he is an initiate then he will be working on initiating something new.

That said – let me throw this out to the group.

First, do you agree with the above seven points? If not what criteria would you use?

Secondly, can you think of anyone involved in politics who you think could be an agent for the Brotherhood of light?

If the answer is yes then why do you think this?

Most people would succeed in small things if they were not troubled with great ambitions. – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Dec 4, 2010

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Cayce and Wilcock

Joseph Dewey

Cayce and Wilcock

A reader brings this up: A friend of mine sent me a link to these YouTube videos of a seminar given by a man named David Wilcock at The Conscious Life Expo in San Francisco in Spring of 2008. I find it to fit in nicely with the ‘puzzle’ (at least the one I have been driven towards) so to speak and he answered some questions I had been pondering within myself concerning OBE’s. I wanted to know what the Keysters thought. He claims to be the reincarnation of Edgar Cayce.

JJ: I came across this guy (David Wilcock) a number of years ago and wasn’t impressed at the time. It seemed his only desire was to prove he was Edgar Cayce reincarnated.

I figured he was just one more person wanting to be someone famous without earning the fame.

I was pleasantly surprised at watching the video to see Wilcox giving a very intelligent presentation in addition to claiming to be Cayce. Even though the presentation raises more questions than it answers it is well worth watching.

I do not know if Wilcock is Cayce or not but at least he is probably as intelligent as him.

I decided to take a look at the charts of David Wilcock and Edgar Cayce to see if there is anything that stands out.

Probably the most significant thing, as the online astrologer pointed out, is their moons are very close in Taurus, about a degree apart. Also both have Saturn, Mercury Venus and the Sun in the most emotional and sympathetic sign of Pisces. Both also have Mars in Capricorn.

There are two ways to interpret this seeming coincidence. One could say that it indicates that David could have been Cayce because of the coincidental sameness. But there is another more logical view and that is this.

On any given day there are about a half million people born so there are many thousands of others who have a similar chart. Anyone with such a chart who studies Cayce will feel an affinity for him and if such a person studies him deeply he will feel a strong identification with him. This particularly applies to someone with a moon only one degree different in location.

When a person contemplates his own past lives he is likely to guess he may be someone who dealt with similar astrological forces as he is. That is not strong evidence that Wilcox was Cayce in a past life. Instead, it is evidence tat Wilcock is drawn to Cayce because of emotional similarities.

A chart can give subtle evidence of a past life but astrology is a very weak tool in identifying or proving one. A chart is merely a description of forces that surrounds us and saying two people are the same because of two charts is like saying Jim and Bob are the same because they both live in Denver and deal with the same traffic problems each day.

It is also notable that a person’s chart will often be very different from life to life as the entity faces new challenges.

That’s not to say that Wilcock is not Cayce. He could be and it should be easy to prove. He claims that several of his friends were associated with Cayce. All he has to do is regress everyone who he thinks was associated with Cayce in a past life (including himself) and see if they can retrieve information that is not in any book but can be validated.

Another thing to do is compare handwriting samples. Whereas thousands of charts are very similar no two handwritings are the same. Unfortunately, handwriting is usually not solid proof because it changes over the years as does character – but similarities will remain.

Reader Comment: I was impressed how similarly his associates looked to Cayce’s associates. That is one of the signs you have taught in the past.

JJ: Yes, I’d say that was his best evidence so far.

Actually, Cayce didn’t come up with much on his own, but in the trance state – so unless Wilcock goes into the trance state he doesn’t have to go too far to duplicate Cayce’s intellect.

Handling Difficulties

A reader makes this comment: I feel like I have been living The Immortal for the past month or so. As I have been trying to work on my log home it seems one adversity after another has come my way, it reminded me of Joe going from one seemingly impossible task to the next. I wondered how I was going to get the roof on, I had no help and it was slow going till my neighbor came up helped me out of the blue loaned me equipment etc.

I even tried to hire some help but no one was interested then a fellow log home builder called and I hired him (even though I couldn’t afford it). So with the 3 of us we got the structural roof on and papered so it can weather the winter but it still needs a sleeper roof with insulation and the metal etc. I was feeling pretty good about that then my truck broke and a few days later my car broke. Then within a day I was driving my wife to the airport and her car broke, all within one week. And the next night my son called and his car had over heated… Needless to say I was beside myself wondering what the heck was going on…

So I have spent the last week working on cars and we had to buy one so we at least had two running cars as My wife’s car is shot the engine threw a rod meaning it needs to be replaced or rebuilt (not cheap). Now I am broke but we have two cars at least. I haven’t even had a chance to work on the truck but It is just the alternator so I can fix that.

JJ: After having gone through a number of life experiences where my bad luck seemed to defy the laws of probability, I feel for you. If it is any comfort, I might add that in my experience, sooner or later, things normalize and then even some good fortune presents itself.

It does seem though that the good fortune is usually earned by the sweat of your brow whereas bad fortune can sometimes comes like an unannounced tsunami.

Question: Can regressive hypnosis cause or trigger certain events in future? – Is it any good for everyone, indiscriminately to have access to past lives information? Can it cause damage? Is it always better not to know something one is not supposed to know?

JJ: Each of us has been through many past lives. Some have been pleasant and some not so pleasant. I have found that people are much more likely and willing to visit and explore the more pleasant lives than the painful ones.

Also with a difficult life a person is more willing to recall the good times than the bad times. This is not a black and white rule though for I have had subjects return to very painful times.

It is interesting that returning and reliving painful experiences in past lives can alleviate current physical problems. This is one of the correct things taught by Scientology.

I think I told you the story about a lady who had terrible neck pain in this life. I regressed her and she relived an experience where she was beheaded. After going through this her neck pain disappeared and never came back.

Returning to past lives can therefore at times be helpful rather than a hindrance – but not always. Sometimes past memories can be a distraction in the present and this is one reason we forget so we can forge a new path without the past holding us back.

In this life a terrible mistake can paralyze us so we do nothing but feel sorry for ourselves. But when such a person dies and is reborn with a blank slate he no longer has that memory to hold him back.

Overall, I haven’t seen much that can be considered bad results from taking people back. Even when people discover something uncomfortable it usually doesn’t settle with them as strongly as a memory in this life. For instance, if you harm someone in this life you may feel guilt over it, but harm done in a past life is seen more from the viewpoint of the observer and permanent guilt is not likely to resurface.

There is some risk in anything we do so if you decide to be regressed first check your internal barometer and see if taking such an action feels right.

Answers are easy. Finding the right questions is the tricky part. – Anonymous

Dec 3, 2010

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Many Books or One?

Joseph Dewey

Many Books or One?

Question: Why do we need to have more than one life, or many lives? Wouldn’t it be better to just have one really good or interesting life and get it over with? For example, a good book is interesting if read at a good clip, but if one went through it at the rate of a crawl it would become boring. Therefore, it seems reasonable that we should go through life experiences in this world quickly rather than slowly over hundreds of lives.

JJ: First, let me point out that the analogy here is somewhat incomplete. Our whole existence on the material plane is not like a book, but each life is like a book. Consider this. How many of us would be satisfied to read only one book and then never pick up another one? The reader will have a burning desire to move on to other books, especially if the last book was a good one.

Many lives do not mean stretching one story for a much longer period, but it means that each of us lives through many stories. Some of the stories are interesting and some are so so, just like books we read in real life.

It is true that we live many lives before we become enlightened but that doesn’t mean that those lives are without meaning. Many such lives are very interesting and provide a wealth of experience to savor during the great pralaya. When enlightenment is achieved the life just takes another turn and new things fascinate the pilgrim as he continues his journey.

There are many more good arguments for reincarnation than against it.

One of the best ones is that without it those who die as children would forever be denied the knowledge of what it is like to live a full life.

Then those who do live full length lives die feeling that many desires have not been fulfilled and many accomplishments have not been achieved.

Here is a mystery revealed for you to ponder on. We do not have rebirth in the universe because God designed it that way. It exists because it is the only way for creation to be and the life therein to grow and develop. God and his reflections have to accept this principle as they participate in creation in time and space.

We have before us eternal lives on eternal worlds – worlds and universes without end. One life in some static finished situation for eternity would drive us crazy. Who wants to read The Wizard of Oz again and again forever, even though it is a good book? The only way to continue on the path of joy is to be born again and enter again and again a new kingdom of God with new challenges and a new story to write for ourselves.

Prime Directive

Reader Comment: I would suggest that far more prayers go unanswered than they are answered, and that for me is where so much of the frustration lies. Eventually, one is going to tire of asking. I do not ask questions flippantly; I ask only when I want to know something that I think is necessary. If I blanked my children as much as our Higher Selves blank us then I wouldn’t consider myself to be a good parent. If our Higher Selves do not know something, then let them speak, let them say “I do not know”.

Maybe if the communication channels were a little more open, and a little more trust was given concerning knowledge, then perhaps there would be a little less suffering for all and we wouldn’t need the 600-year holiday between each incarnation.

JJ: It seems logical to you that the Masters, Higher Lives and our own Higher Self should be more interested in helping us out a little and communicating more directly and consistently with us. If they really wanted to help it would seem that they wouldn’t make us jump through so many hoops to get a little assistance.

I’ll make a few comments on this trend of thought.

This thinking is correct if we are talking about physical-to-physical help, but we are not. Instead, we are talking about assistance that must be given through the soul of the person involved.

Now there was a time when the guides of the race walked among us and helped us on the physical level. This was necessary because even the highest among humanity was not soul conscious to much of a degree. Therefore, if the higher lives were to assist humanity at all it had to be on the physical plane.

At that time the human teachers could just ask the Masters (who they called gods) whatever question they desired and they received some kind of answer. It wasn’t always a complete answer, but it was something at least.

Then the Masters made a mistake and they helped too much. This caused a negative effect comparable to the story of the person who helped the butterfly escape from its cocoon and killed it because the butterfly needed to participate in the struggle of escape to survive.

Partially because of too much help the late great civilization of Atlantis was destroyed. After this the Masters contemplated their work and determined that they must be more careful in giving out help. They must assist just the right amount and not too much if humanity is to survive another cataclysm.

After civilization sprung up anew they helped again on the physical plane as related in Bible stories, but much less than they did before. Then came Jesus Christ and opened the door to soul contact for the masses. As disciples become sensitive to the soul the door was shut as much as possible to physical on physical help. It was determined that humanity would advance at the fastest rate possible if they placed their attention on the soul and the inner voice became the voice of God to them instead of an outside physical entity.

Higher lives are as available to contact as they ever were, but more participation is demanded of us than in ages past. The seeker must penetrate the veils that separate heaven and earth.

This has several disadvantages. The main was that very few people as of yet have consistent soul contact. But it has one overwhelming advantage and that is humans are forced to stretch themselves spiritually and seek the inner voice so they can become one with God in their own right.

When a critical mass of humans reaches soul contact then the earth will no longer be in danger of destruction. We will then become one of the few physical planets to have achieved the station of progress where we can move ahead and eventually become cultivators of other planets and assist in a greater creation that is in its infancy in this universe.

Beware of the man of one book – Thomas Aquinas

Nov 21, 2010

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Why Are We Here?

Joseph Dewey

Why Are We Here?

Reader Comment: I have a hard time believing in “The Dark Brothers”. As I get older I find I am not believing everything I’m taught or told anymore.

JJ: It is certainly not good to believe anyone just because they teach a thing but finding and observing people who work in darkness is an easy thing to do.

I’ve had a lot of people tell me that they do not believe in dark brothers, but to them I say – look around. What do you see with your own eyes? There are people shrouded in darkness all over. Take Kim Jong Il, for instance, who allows no freedom in his country of North Korea and will imprison or execute anyone who shows a peep of independence. Then Hitler, Stalin and Mao are other obvious examples. These murdered and tortured many millions.

The auras of people, which can be seen with a little training, show a great difference in light. Some people are actually surrounded with literal darkness and others are bright and radiant.

I have seen the truth of this scripture:

 “But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” Matt 6:23

If there are workers of darkness on this side of the veil then they must also exist on the other side as noted in the scriptures.

 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Eph 6:12

“High places” is not an accurate translation as it comes from the Greek EPOURANIOS which means “heavenly or celestial realms.”

So here Paul was telling us that we fight against enemies in the heavenly or spiritual realms as well as “rulers of the darkness of this world.”

Reader Comment: I read Max Skousen’s works before I discovered you, JJ. Max’s main teaching is, We were God’s in the pre-existence and we are here to learn what it’s like not to be God. I really believe that.

JJ: I’ve heard this teaching a lot, not only from the LDS but also many new agers and it has never made sense to me. If this was our purpose then our next step should be to become an insect so we could live a life that is not human to discover what it is like to not be human.

Ask yourself – being a human – do you want to become an insect so you can see how good you now have things? Yet many believe we were once Gods and were further above humans than we are the insects and we came down here just to discover an appreciation for being gods.

I do not need to become an insect to discover how much better it is to be a human, neither do I need to become a human to discover how great it is to be a god.

The real joy for all life comes from growth and accomplishment and as we grow from one point of consciousness to another there is joy.

We were one with God in the beginning as we are technically one with him now, but we came here for growth, experience and joy rather than to just gain an appreciation of what we were in the past.

Reader: However, Max did not believe in reincarnation. Then I read your book, Eternal Lives and that made sense. If I’m not mistaken, I got from your book that we started our progression on some lower life and in each life thereafter, we made progression upward until we come unto this life. Maybe we all lived evil previous lives like Hitler, or Saddam Hussein and observed those lives like Max taught.

But we progressed up. Paul says in Colossians Chapter one that the mystery is, Christ in you the hope of glory. In that same chapter it says that Christ reconciles all things unto himself. Sometime in eternity Christ reconciled me, a thing, unto himself.

JJ: We all have within us the soul, a link with God, which is the Christ Principle so technically this is true.

Reader: Therefore, I do not believe that God creates failures like the dark brothers. Right now I do not believe that one can get so low that one can not repent and come back sometime in eternity.

JJ: Yet God created Hitler and he was a big failure.

We are reflections of God so if we want to understand God we must examine ourselves. Are the creations of humans in this realm perfect?

No.

Do our creations need a lot of work to become perfect?

Yes.

Are God’s creations in this universe perfect?

No. There is not a perfect planet, moon, human, dog or crystal.

We are not here to obtain joy from being perfect but by accomplishment.

The word perfect in the New Testament Greek (which is Teleioo) when referring to God and Jesus means to finish a work. Perfect as religion uses it today was a word embraced by the Pharisees which was Akribela. This means flawless.

Reader: The reason I have these questions is when I had my baptism of fire experience I was shown two main teachings. The first was that Christ loves me a rude and crude person not matter what. He forgave me all my sins. The second was that all people are perfect and that salvation is free and cannot be earned. Therefore I am not to judge anyone.

JJ: It’s quite possible you received a correct impression but are not seeing the whole picture. There is nothing that can be imperfect in the spiritual realms, but in the lower worlds of time and space absolute perfection is impossible. No one has ever drawn a perfect circle. Our souls that link us to God are relatively perfect, but we have free will and can sever that link if we so choose. Once this is done then the life of God is lost and the entity has to lose his progression and start over again in the far future.

But even the dark brothers will eventually progress back to oneness with God so one can say that in the end of the great cycle of cycles that relative perfection will be attained by all.

Then a new cycle shall begin and we will create even greater problems to solve so our intelligence can expand even more.

Reader: How do I deal with both your teachings, Max’s teachings and the spirit’s teachings which seem to have 3 different teachings?

JJ: Don’t worry about what either Max or I say. Just go with what feels right with the spirit within. If you are pure in heart then error after error will be discovered and corrected.

Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from poor judgment. – Fred Rose

Nov 12, 2010

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Cities on the Sea

Joseph Dewey

Cities on the Sea

I did a little searching to see if much was new in seasteading – the idea of building cities on the sea. No major advances have been made but I did find a synopsis of projects attempted in the past. Thought the group may find this of intreats.

Attempted Projects

Those who do not learn from the mistakes of history are doomed to repeat them, and so we have studied what little material exists about attempts at seastead-like ventures. We find some of the following quite illustrative. Note that the distinction between “attempted” and “proposed” is somewhat arbitrary. Since most nation-founding attempts don’t get past the drawing board, our standards for what constitutes an attempt are fairly low. Also, some of these attempts are still ongoing.

The Freedom Ship

The Freedom Ship is a proposal for a mile long “City At Sea” for 80,000 people. The chief architect is an engineer named Norman Nixon. The folks working on this one have managed to generate an extensive amount of press coverage (including Popular Mechanics and the Discovery Channel) and enlist dozens of volunteers. Construction cost, unfortunately, is in the neighborhood of ten billion dollars. While the large size makes the idea newsworthy, it also makes financing extremely difficult. This is especially true when ResidenSea, which was approximately 1/40th the cost, could not sell all its units. It seems fantastically unlikely to us that anyone will finance such a large project until smaller ones have demonstrated that the floating condo concept is viable

Indeed, no signs have yet been seen of this staggering sum, although the company has built an 11-foot long, 400 pound model, which puts them well ahead of the average project. A lack of transparency has been notable from the beginning, with interested but skeptical people complaining that their criticisms have all been deflected or ignored. However, rumour has it that they’ll soon be selling copies of the huge amount of design work they’ve done. Only time will tell whether they can raise the funds for this gigantic project. While we are rather skeptical that it reach fruition in its current form, we would be delighted to be proven wrong.

(Note from 2025: The Freedom Ship never dd materialize and seems relegated to the wishful thinking category of history, though something similar could surface at some future time)

Aquarius Project

Another well-publicized venture during the 1990′s was the Aquarius Project, based on the book The Millenial Project by Mashall Savage [Savage1992]. An organization was created called the First Millenial Foundation, which later changed its name to the Living Universe Foundation. Savage proposes building many large floating cities out of hexagonal cells made from a material called Sea-crete or alternatively Seament. They would be powered by OTEC generators, which operate on the temperature differential between surface and deep water. Income comes from mariculture, hydrogen, magnesium, and several other sources. Actually, only the first 100 pages of TMP are about Aquarius, and the remainder discusses the remaining 7 stages necessary to begin colonizing the galaxy. This is an excellent example of the viewpoint that ocean cities are a stepping stone to space colonies.

Unfortunately, while the book is stuffed full of technical information, the basic ideas behind Aquarius are at the very least ahead of their time. They may even be inaccurate. We discuss the flawed calculations behind seacrete [Seacrete] and the currently nascent state of OTEC [OTEC] in more detail later, when explaining why those technologies are not currently part of our plan. In addition, Savage is overly ambitious, focusing on huge cities without any plan for starting with small ones. Unsurprisingly, without prototypes to demonstrate that the ideas were sound, there was not enough interest to build an initial Aquarius settlement.

Minerva Reef

A seamount is a not-quite island, an underwater mountain without enough oomph to make it to sea level. Like land, seamounts are geographically stable but politically problematic. They can act as breakwaters if they’re close enough to the surface, which is quite useful since waves are one of the major dangers of the ocean. Also they can function as anchoring points or pillar foundations. However if they are raised above sea level, they are vulnerable to claim by land-based jurisdictions, as happened with the Minerva Reef. Since this incident exemplifies the reasons why free-floating sea structures are better politically, we will recount it here.

Michael Oliver, a Las Vegas real estate millionaire, made several nation founding attempts. At one point he focused on the Minerva Reefs, 260 miles southwest of Tonga, which were conveniently outside the territorial waters of any nation and below water at high tide. Quite large, they seemed perfect as a foundation for a new, sovereign territory. His plan was to build them up with sand and create a new island and a new country, and he hired dredges from Australia in 1971. After six months, he proclaimed the independence of the Republic of Minerva, which issued coins.

The only reaction he got was from the Kingdom of Tonga, Minerva’s closest neighbor. A box of supplies was dropped on the new land which said “supplied and maintained by the government of Tonga”, an action said to be supported by other nations in the area. His Majesty then ventured to Minerva with a gang of convicts and a four-member band. They planted the Tongan flag, played the Tongan national anthem, and claimed the sandy patch for Tonga. After they left, the forces of nature did their work, and the sand of Minerva returned slowly to the ocean from whence it had sprung. [Strauss1984 pp. 115-117].

This is a classic example of the lengths to which nations will go to preserve their cartel status – even a worthless patch of sand is seen as competition. If a new nation is created on land (no matter how small or undesirable), it is likely that the nearest traditional nations will claim jurisdiction. It may be possible to negotiate a treaty, but that is likely to be expensive and prospective nation founders are unlikely to have much to bargain with.

The Isle of Roses

The short-lived Isle of Roses offers another excellent example of the antipathy with which countries view nearby nation-founding attempts. As Strauss explains:

Giorgio Rosa was (or is) a professor of engineering in Bologna, Italy. In the early 1960′s, he built a tower in the Adriatic Sea, in water less than 20 feet deep, about 8 miles off the coast of the Italian city of Rimini. This first tower was wrecked by a storm on February 13, 1965. A new one was built, with an area of about 4,000 square feet. It had a bar, a restaurant, a post office, a bank and a store, all surrounded by a promenade. The Italian authorities took no notice (since they only claimed 3 miles from shore as their territorial waters) until May 1, 1968, when the platform was declared to be an independent republic, whose official language was the artificial one Esperanto. The Italians invaded 55 days later, speaking vaguely of such things as “national security, illegality, tax avoidance, maritime obstruction and pornography.” In the spring of 1969, Italian Navy frogmen dynamited the structure. At last report, Rosa did not plan to try again, saying darkly that “This country is all Mafia.”

Mafia or not, this illustrates the extent to which existing countries are willing to brush aside written law if they think a new-country project has the potential to seriuosly inconvenience them.

[Strauss1984, p 129-130]

Cortes Bank

Another brief example of the greed of traditional nations relates to the Cortes Bank, which lies off the coast of San Diego:

The USS Abalonia was a concrete cargo ship, constructed for the purpose of becoming an independent nation. The company which built it hoped to anchor it in rich shellfish beds on the Cortes Bank, 100 miles off the coast of San Diego, and claim jurisdiction over the area. Shortly after the Abalonia’s launch in 1969, it foundered and sank, nearly killing the crew. In the wake of the Abalonia fiasco, a second company began plans to build a platform on the Cortes Bank and declare it the nation of Taluga. The US government quickly gave notice that the Cortes Bank, as part of the continental shelf, fell within its jurisdiction.

[FootnotesToHistory]

Laissez-Faire City

This Ayn Rand-inspired project began as an attempt to found a modern-day Galt’s Gulch. The organizers placed a declaration of sovereignty and request for a host nation in several high-profile publications, including The Economist (6/10/95, 8/12/95). Media such as the London Times and BBC World Radio covered the story, and 3000 people from 108 different countries contacted the founding Trust.

Unfortunately, the response from potential sites was less enthusiastic. The principals followed several leads without finding an acceptable location (although their standards may have been a bit high – the shallow shoals which LFC turned down would be more than sufficient for our purposes). With no land in sight, LFC transitioned to seeking freedom in cyberspace, developing tools for digital freedom.

Eventually, due to personality problems and poor business practices stemming from one of the founders and major financers of the project, LFC was dissolved. Their early experiences exemplify two of our claims about nation founding: that there is a large potential market, and that it is extraordinarily difficult to get sovereignty from existing nations.

Celestopia

Their webpage states:

Dedicated to creating ecologically balanced, floating ocean communities and terra-formed, permacultured islands, grown from the mineral-rich waters of the tropical oceans. We wish to share our creations and technologies to help expand the unity, prosperity and quality of life, of all the people of Earth.

This currently active project is based in Costa Rica, and the fact that its principals were willing to relocate there suggests that they are serious. Their website contains a timeline, including the steps they have completed. They are currently in the stage where they are beginning to need financing, which is a very difficult time for any project. While they pitch the seacrete + OTEC combination which we later debunk, they also acknowledge that seacrete is not ready for prime-time yet and plan to start with ferrocement. Their designs are partly based on the Monolithic Dome Institute [MDI], which is another good sign, as the MDI has helped construct hundreds of concrete domes. They believe, as do we, in teaching by example rather than rhetoric. Unfortunately they seem to be looking mainly to donations for initial funding. It seems to be the most mature environmentally motivated project.

Sealand

The Principality of Sealand [Sealand] is arguably the most (perhaps the only) succesful new-country project in recent history. It was founded in 1967, when Roy Bates, a pirate radio operator, moved into an abandoned WWII anti-aircraft platform called Rough’s Tower. The platform was located about 7 miles off the British coast, which was then in international waters.

Several incidents have supported the Principality’s claims of independence. Sealand fired warning shots at a nearby repair boat, who took King Roy to court over the matter. The ruling was that the tower was outside of the court’s jurisdiction. Later, some German men briefly seized the platform by force, and were captured in a helicopter raid. One was kept as a prisoner for several weeks, during which period the German government appealed to the British government for help. However, the British Foreign Office said that the tower was beyond their jurisdiction [Strauss1984, p. 132-138].

More recently, Prince Roy has retired, and Sealand was leased to a company called HavenCo [Havenco] for several years as a data haven. Unfortunately, the experiment was ended in 2003 because of worries about the country being blamed for aiding terrorism. There have been suggestions of expanding Sealand by damming off and then draining an area around it. It will be interesting to see if this upstart country can continue to maintain its independence, and whether it can turn sovereignty into business opportunities.

Note from 2025: Since writing this article there are been numerous floating city/community projects underway. Perhaps the most significant is in the Maldives. They are creating a 500-acre eco-friendly floating island city inspired by brain coral, developed by Dutch Docklands in partnership with the Maldives government. It includes thousands of waterfront homes, hotels, shops, and restaurants in a car-free, boating-focused community.

He who is afraid of doing too much always does too little. – German proverb

Nov 10, 2010

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