LOUD LAUGHTER

LAUGHTER-DAY SAINTS

Initiates of the endowment ceremony which takes place in LDS temples accept a charge to:

“avoid all lightmindedness, loud laughter, evil speaking of the Lord’s anointed, the taking of the name of God in vain, and every other unholy and impure practice”

This charge is to be accepted by covenant “as it has been explained to you” but in reality it is never fully explained. It is assumed that we know what we are promising when we foreswear these things, but few ever bother to raise any questions as to what constitutes unholy and impure practices. Beside the fact that these oaths are to be made between a man and his maker, there have been more or less official interpretations put forth by LDS leadership in regards to taking God’s name in vain, and of course, evil speaking of the Lord’s anointed. But, although I am sure I am not the only one whom is struck a little strangely by the phrase “loud laughter,” rarely if ever have I heard any type of commentary offered by the clergy or the laity as far as what “loud laughter” entails and why it ought to be avoided.

For many it may seem a very straightforward phrase and spark neither uncertainty nor curiosity. Laughter is what people do when they think something is funny, and loud laughter is simply doing it at a volume of high decibels. But if that is the case then there can be no louder laughter than that of the crowd. The throng transforms the softest revelry issued as reverently and politely as possible into the loudest collective roar. The loudest laughter peals out like the laugh track that follows every one of Thomas S. Monson’s silly jokes, or like the obligatory laughter which Crown Prince Frederick Hoepnick queues from his court in the 1965 comedy The Great Race.

I am sure that the guys at Comedy Sportz in Provo, Utah aim to evoke the loudest laughter possible from their paying customers. Are they guilty of promoting covenant-breaking among the college students at B.Y.U.? If you are sure that you are complying with your oath to avoid loud laughter then I would ask you: what is laughter really? Can you explain it, or tell us why it happens?

LAUGHTER IS LANGUAGE

Laughter is a part of our native language, not the languages which we learn and inherit from our parents, but the native language of raw emotion which all humans speak fluently at birth, and which unfortunately gets suppressed and all but forgotten in favor of the limited language of the oppressor. What do I mean by “language of the oppressor”? It has been discussed in detail elsewhere on this blog, and bears repeating, that the priesthood of God is a language. Prior to the point where we are beseeched to avoid loud laughter, the temple drama introduces us to the rebellious character of the Devil in the form of a man wearing an apron. Adam as representative of mankind asks in his innocence and ignorance, what the meaning of that apron is and is told that it is an emblem of the Devil’s power and his priesthoods/languages. The Languages of Lucifer get placed over the holy garments of the endowment we receive from Heaven. Throughout the ceremony we are sure to always place the Devil’s Apron on top.

In life we do the same, insisting proudly on outward expression through the means of so much psychobabble in one or another of the many mixed up languages/priesthoods in use since the confounding and corrupting of man’s relationship to his fellow man in the days of Babel. That the Devil’s A-Pron representing his many languages/priesthoods takes A-Priori precedence in our symbolic, or spiritual manner of dress, can be clearly seen in the way we address one another. Laughter, though it certainly may stem from deep in our pre-conscious, is not randomly scattered throughout speech. For example, a speaker may say “What is that?…ha-ha,” but rarely, “What is…ha-ha…that?” For the most part, our laughter seldom interrupts the sentence structure of our speech. Rather it punctuates speech. Curiously we only laugh during pauses when we might typically cough or breathe. The occurrence of speaker laughter at the end of phrases suggests that a neurologically based process governs the placement of laughter in speech, and that different brain regions are involved in the expression of cognitively oriented speech and the more emotion-laden vocalization of laughter.

During conversation, speech tends to trump, and inhibit laughter. This is evidence of “the punctuation effect” – the tendency to laugh almost exclusively at phrase breaks in speech. This pattern indicates that worldly speech has priority over laughter which is a manifestation of the tongue of angels. Laughter is an unexpected resurfacing eruption of emotion, our first language. So laughter is in a sense a “speaking in tongues” in which we’re moved not by religious fervor but by a spiritual pre-conscious response to social and linguistic cues. Stripped of its variation and nuance, laughter is a regular series of short vowel-like syllables usually transcribed as “ha-ha,” “ho-ho” or “hee-hee.” These syllables are part of the universal human vocabulary, produced and recognized by all God’s people, the House of Israel, no matter where we find ourselves scattered across the diaspora of the world’s many cultures.

If emotion is the native language of little angels freshly arrived from Heaven and born into bondage where they must quickly adapt by adopting the language of their oppressors, then anyone with a genuine interest in establishing Heaven on Earth, or Zion as it is called, should be equally interested in the revival of the almost dead language of emotion. Note that as chaotic, unorganized, and broken as their attempts may be, still the meetings in which the gift of tongues most often manifests are called revivals. Dying languages among many indigenous tribes and cultures around the world today are a grave concern. But it is absolutely shameful, totally unacceptable, that all mankind become totally ignorant of and non-conversant in our first language – the language of the new-born – which connects us all as family. Feeling should not only come at the beckon call of words, our words should come as an answer to our feelings so that the two may share an egalitarian relationship. An obligation to feel can freeze feelings. If we let our native language of raw emotion die then we will be “past feeling”. The Book of Mormon warns against this and makes a direct correlation between spoken language and feeling.

“…and he spake unto you; yea, ye have heard his voice from time to time; and he hath spoken unto you in a still small voice, but ye were past feeling, that ye could not feel his words.” – 1 Nephi 17:45

It is not that languages like English, Chinese, Tagalog, or Arabic are inherently evil or serve no purpose in helping us to effectively reform and revolt till the world and its people are able to achieve Zion. However, to push certain communication skills over and onto the native language of human emotion is to enforce a backwards stereotype of superiority when it comes to the invader, and inflict a false burden of inferiority upon those meek ones whose birthright it is to inherit the earth. What we consider language may be a tool which is extremely effective, but without emotion it is not affective. Affective means – relating to moods, feelings, and attitudes. We cannot deliberately activate the brain’s mechanisms for affective expression. Try laughing on command, it is nearly impossible. To produce any authentic emotion on demand does not come naturally. Crying and laughing are usually considered opposites and thus are closely related, both audibly and emotionally. Mosiah 18:9 gives us the idea that we need to be “willing to mourn with those that mourn,” and other scriptures give the impression that we should also be willing to rejoice with those who rejoice in righteousness.

“Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.

Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.”  – Luke 6:21,25

Obviously Jesus is letting us know that laughter can be good or evil. There exists what we could call living laughter and there is also lying laughter. Laughter is a part of our native language, not the languages which we learn and inherit from our parents, but the native language of raw emotion which all humans speak fluently at birth, and which unfortunately gets suppressed and all but forgotten in favor of the limited language of the oppressor. True laughter is not a learned group reaction but an instinctive behavior we carry intact with us from Heaven for the preservation of the Heavenly Family during our sojourn here on Earth. Most people think of laughter as a simple response to comedy, or a cathartic mood-lifter. After more than 10 years of research on this little-studied topic, Robert Provine, PhD. concluded that laughter is primarily a social vocalization that binds people together. It does this bonding through the pre-learned heavenly order of humor and sacred play. True and pure laughter is an energetic ripple that runs through and cleanses the DNA strands. Were they to remain filthy the very links of our own DNA would pull us down to hell like the chain which the Devil is seen holding in Moses 7:26.

“…and he had a great chain in his hand, and it veiled the whole face of the earth with darkness; and he looked up and laughed, and his angels rejoiced.”

‘Cachinnation’ is a word that long ago fell out of use. It means “loud laughter”. It comes from Latin ‘cachinnationem’ – “violent laughter, excessive laughter,” a noun of action from the past participle stem of ‘cachinnare’ – “to laugh immoderately or loudly.” The word is of imitative origin, meaning it is a type of onomonaepia, a word which imitates the sound of the thing it describes. Its oldest root is in the Sanskrit word for ‘laughs’ –  ‘kakhati,’ from where the English word ‘cackle’ as well as the modern “ha, ha, ha!” ultimately derives. People often laugh using words like “Ha!” or “Hee hee!” Long ago, followers of geloscopy as a divinatory art believed the word you used to laugh revealed part of your personality. People who said “Ha!” when they laughed were considered to be honest but undependable, while people who said “Hee!” were considered to be sad or simpleminded, while people who said “Huu!” were supposed to be untrustworthy. People who said “Ho!” were thought of as brave and generous. That is why “Ho, ho, ho!” is the slogan of Santa Claus and the Jolly Green Giant – both products of the false prophets of a propaganda machine whose intent it is to coax mankind into giving life to the evil spirit of consumerism till it has consumed everything in its path. Remember to watch other people carefully when they laugh. Researchers have found that if a person is really laughing, he will close his eyes for a moment. If a person laughs without closing his eyes, he’s faking it!

Fake or disingenuous laughter is about the worst sound I can think of, yet it is all too common in today’s society. Having been subject to it from the earliest days of our childhood, on T.V. and in person, we are very susceptible to falsehoods. False laughter has the opposite effect of pure laughter. It will firm up the grasp that Satan has on us via that chain of our biological and fallen natures. Whether our laughter enforces or corrects the false traditions of our fathers comes as a revelation as to what we find funny. What we find funny is a revelation as to who is holding onto the other end of that long line of linkage that is our DNA make-up. Whether it is God or Satan in whom we place our trust and honor, either way, laughter can strengthen those bonds. Both Plato and Aristotle were concerned with the power of laughter to undermine authority, however – in the case of defying the general claim of authority that Satan lays to this world – this could be a very useful tactic. Diabolical laughter has the effect of paralyzing which is a type of binding spell. But on the other hand, righteous laughter invites to bind together freely, willfully, in love and cooperation. And this makes laughter by far the best banishing spell one can use when threatened, taunted, or tempted by the devil. So apparently laughter is a two-edged sword, and we will have to view it in the same way that C.S. Lewis, a Pentecostal, explains the phenomenon of glossolalia (the gift of tongues) – as something natural, in some instances pathological, at other times an organ of the Holy Ghost.

LAUGHTER IS LIGHT 

If laughter is language, then laughter is light. On the day of Pentecost, not only is the gift of tongues manifest but also tongues of flame above the affected participants in that group gathering. The two major Semitic languages, Arabic and Hebrew, are both said to have been born of flame. John explains the link between language and light when as a special witness he says that “The Word” was with God in the beginning and was God – then goes on to say that “The Word” contained life, and “The Life” he contained was “The Light” in men. This light, we are told, shines in darkness, but the darkness “comprehended it not” (John 1:1-5). The verb ‘comprehend’ comes from the Latin words, ‘com’ – meaning “together, with” and ‘prehendere’ – meaning “to catch hold of, to ignite.”  Thus, to comprehend means literally to catch fire, or to light together with a counterpart. This, the darkness failed to do, at least so far. But as an all-loving, all-wise father, God has his ways to cause capitulation to occur. He may preside above all creation, but he is not above tickling his children till they double up in laughter and confess that they are at his mercy. It is said that the laughter of little ones lights a home. This textual imagery may be more literal than we think.

A phosphene is a phenomenon characterized by the experience of seeing light without light actually entering the eye from any external source. The word ‘phosphene’ comes from the Greek words ‘phos’ (light) and ‘phainein’ (to show). Phosphenes are flashes of light, induced by movement or sound. These are what we see when we say we are “seeing stars”. Deep in our darkest moments the tickling movements of the Hand of God may provoke sudden sounds of laughter from us, which release in turn shows us the light we had stored inside us all along. Such light shows are divine displays that may be enhanced and more fully comprehended through consecrated use of psychedelics in concert with meditative practices and other reverent, but pro-active work within our temporal temples. Laughter can be a very healthy way of releasing the light within us. Giggles possess the power and potential of gigawatts if harnessed properly. Perhaps it is the proper mode of harnessing the latent and sacred spiritual voltage in laughter to which the officiator at the temple altar is referring when he tells LDS patrons to avoid loud laughter. “Loud laughter” in terms of volume would translate to “bright light”. Could it be that we are to avoid the flashy lights of this world, and turn our life’s focus toward true enlightenment, like Carl Jung said, by “making the darkness conscious”? If the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! (Matt 6:23, 3 Nephi 13:23) We live in a jail called “Liberty”. The life of a prisoner can wear the spirit down, so to keep our minds sharp and clear, we should do as Joseph wrote to us from the confines of Liberty Jail, in Missouri. If our souls are going to get worn down while on this Prison Planet, let our lives at least not be a waste. Instead of drowning in misery, “we should waste and wear out our lives in bringing to light all the hidden things of darkness, wherein we know them; and they are truly manifest from heaven.” (D&C 123:13)

Laughter can light up our life. Used appropriately it can make us more aware of our surroundings. Used inappropriately it can actually leave us more delirious than ever, unconscious of the truth of our dire situation. Laughter as light may seem a ridiculous concept at first glance. But looking at the science we will see that laughter is much more visual than we Foolish Virgins tend to be aware of. As anyone who has ever laughed at the sight of someone doubled over can attest, laughter is contagious. Since our laughter is under minimal conscious control, it is spontaneous and relatively uncensored. Contagious laughter is a compelling display of homo sapiens, and we are a social mammal. Laughter strips away our veneer of culture ie. the false traditions/creeds of the fathers which have been riveted upon the hearts of the children (D&C 123:7) and challenges the hypothesis that we are in full control of our behavior.

From these synchronized vocal outbursts come flashes of insight into the neurological roots of human social behavior and speech. And from the same area of origin of humankind’s mitochondrial matriarch comes some possible insight into the revolutionary roots of the real Zion movement, and how we might cause it to spread like a contagion of hope from Ethiopia’s outstretched hands to the ends of the earth. Consider the extraordinary 1962 outbreak of contagious laughter in a girls’ boarding school in Tanzania. The first symptoms appeared on January 30, when three girls got the giggles and couldn’t stop laughing. The symptoms quickly spread to 95 students, forcing the school to close on March 18. The girls sent home from the school were vectors for the further spread of the epidemic. Related outbreaks occurred in other schools in Central Africa and spread like wildfire, ceasing two-and-a-half years later and afflicting nearly 1,000 people.

The irresistibility of others’ laughter has its roots in the neurological mechanism of laugh detection. The fact that laughter is contagious raises the intriguing possibility that humans have a neural circuit in the brain that responds exclusively to laughter. Scientists speculate that it may be triggered by auditory means, (similar to the way they think contagious yawning may involve a process in the visual domain), but I feel that there may be more than meets the physical eye in the case of laughter, (and possibly more meets the ear in the case of yawning). Spiritual ears to hear and eyes to see aside, what is clear is that once triggered, the laugh detector activates a laugh generator, a neural circuit that causes us in turn to produce laughter.

But how do we harness the power of the gigglewatt? How do we direct the laughter-laser so that it might work for the good of Zion? The awkwardly obvious answer presents itself in the form of our neighbors, our fellow beings. After all, Dr. Robert Provine’s research concluded that laughter is primarily a social vocalization that binds people together. And his work is corroborated by the findings of Dr. Robin Dunbar, another investigator in the field of geloscopy (the science of laughter). He suggests that social laughter, relaxed and contagious, is like “grooming at a distance,” an activity that fosters closeness in a group the way one-on-one grooming, patting and delousing promote and maintain bonds between individual primates of all sorts. In other words: it is a ritual that cleans our spirit bodies and promotes unity. God’s goals for Zion are achieved through this kind of laughter, not the tyrant’s cackle or the “polite titter” of awkward conversation. When we laugh, we’re often communicating playful intent. So laughter has a bonding function within individuals in a group. It’s often positive, but as we have seen, it can be negatively used as well. There’s a difference between “laughing with” and “laughing at.” People who laugh at others may be trying to force them to conform or casting them out of the group. Zion is Heaven on Earth, Zion is inclusive, not exclusive. If we want to establish Zion, one thing is for sure: we need each other.

For the Word to be made flesh it is necessary for the Light and the Dark to comprehend, or activate and discharge in harmony with, one another. Light made material manifests in many hues. Hue-manity is just that – the many hues of mankind in the flesh. For Mormons, the gathering of the 12 Tribes of Israel is a necessary precursor to the establishment of Zion and the return of Christ. In color theory there is a family of only 12 Original Hues, the purest and brightest, which form the basis for all the Many Colors which decorate the Coats of Man. White is not one of them, and neither is black. But there is no such thing as a truly black person or a truly white person. These are only general expressions which do not come close to describing the endlessly nuanced beauty and variety within the Hue-Man race.

Hue is a physically perceptible product of the dominant wavelength of light as it “shineth in darkness.” White Light can only be produced by combining all twelve tribes in spirit. What does the combining or gathering of the Twelve Tribes look like on a literal level? Black is the Color resulting on a physical level from an equal combination of all the 12 Tribes. The concept of one perfect pigmentation is a lie, and those who view themselves and others in terms of a gradient of glory somehow determined by pigment wallow in a pig–mentality. To admire one look above another is to add mire to the trough of racist thought which causes God’s black and white pearls alike to go unnoticed and unappreciated by swine and by their very selves. The only thing that will finally end this war between tints and shades is a mixing of the Twelve Tribes, which does not make an end of either side but simply ‘tones’ down the tension by adding both black and white.

When only white paint is added to a mixture it produces what we call pastel colors. ‘Pastel’ is derived from Italian ‘pastello’ – a word that means “material reduced to a paste” and is a diminutive form of the word ‘pasta’. A person who has a very light skin tone may be described as “pasty” and likely comes from multiple gene-rations of people who have subsisted off of a grain-based diet. (In Cain & Abel, Die-It & Diet, I cover the connections between the Mark of Cain and the grain-based diet) So-called white people live in a culture which in modern times has developed a serious addiction to sweetness. They pride themselves on their knowledge of good and evil obtained from years of rigorous scientific taste-testing of that forbidden fruit while seeking for a way to isolate and separate the bitter from the sweet.  Their “pasty” European forefathers advanced the art of “pastry” with their nutrient-low, bleached flour that tries to pass itself off as “enriched,” aristocratic, and enlightened even. Glazed over in icing, their collective voice clearly and coldly says: “Let them eat cake!” And masses of modern mankind are born sugar addicts under this white supremacy. The sugar, they claim, is “refined”. Granulated or Powdered, Crack or pure Cocaine; it has the same physiological affects, only on a much more subtle and devilishly delicious level.

The elements of art and design provide us with an excellent likeness of our cultural identity. Art can therefore help us dissect our own heads and heart to analyze and hopefully overcome the faulty phrenology of our schizoid social constructs and our relish for pseudo-sciences that segregate rather than integrate the spirit with the flesh, man with his fellow man, and mankind with their God. Within the context of art, we see the fraternal feeling makes itself known with bold strokes that strew the surreal landscape of a soft sororal sentiment with quasi pornographic classical Greek torsos and bloody foot prints leading away from abandoned pedestals where lesbian ladies of liberties once stood. It may not be a pretty picture, but seeing the canvas dripping with our true hues – blood red, washed out whites, and deep delta blues; allows us to come to terms with this Guernica of a dying Age of the Gentiles. Look upon it!

24 And when that day shall come, shall a remnant be scattered among all nations;

25 But they shall be gathered again; but they shall remain until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

26 And in that day shall be heard of wars and rumors of wars, and the whole earth shall be in commotion, and men’s hearts shall fail them, and they shall say that Christ delayeth his coming until the end of the earth.

27 And the love of men shall wax cold, and iniquity (inequity) shall abound.

28 And when the times of the Gentiles is come in, a light shall break forth among them that sit in darkness, and it shall be the fullness of my gospel;

29 But they receive it not; for they perceive not the light, and they turn their hearts from me because of the precepts of men.

30 And in that generation shall the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

31 And there shall be men standing in that generation, that shall not pass until they shall see an overflowing scourge; for a desolating sickness shall cover the land.

32 But my disciples shall stand in holy places, and shall not be moved; but among the wicked, men shall lift up their voices and curse God and die.

33 And there shall be earthquakes also in divers places, and many desolations; yet men will harden their hearts against me, and they will take up the sword, one against another, and they will kill one another.

D&C 45:24-33

The Devil is laughing loudly indeed as the Time of the Gentiles nears its inglorious end, but most do not seem to hear him. They are too busy laughing loudly themselves, mocking others from within that great and spacious building which has been condemned and is slated for destruction. Their laughter is Lucifer’s laughter. Among those who do hear it, many find themselves petrified with fear. They fail to realize that, just as in the movies, if the villain is “monologuing” it only means that he has not yet done what he says he will do. As the enemy gloats over his successes to this point, the real heroes always take the opportunity to act and change their fate at the last minute. We can overcome the Evil One and be Saviors on Mount Zion if we will but pull ourselves together – first individually, then collectively. To this end, we have at our disposal the underrated but valuable bonding agent of pure laughter. Long has laughter been used as a weapon in the hands of the wicked. And no doubt we will be laughed to scorn like the Sons of Mosiah should we seriously propose unification as those brave souls sought with their dark-skinned Lamanite brethren despite the ridicule of their fair-skinned Nephite brethren at Zarahemla (Alma 26:23). But, as promised by Jesus, we will surely have the last laugh.

HUE-MOORING HUE-MANITY

All these scattered points of light need not be lost to the New World Order. We shall use the pure laughter of children as hue-moorings with which the 12 Hues of Israel in the House of Israel may draw themselves in from the ocean of emotion and anchor themselves to the land. It may sound like some corny line from a Care Bear cartoon, but truly, laughter links us together by building rainbow bridges. We have to be hue-moored with this rainbow-rigging – spirit bodies to mortal bodies, and one to another in a Zion network. Rainbows show up frequently in folk traditions from Yoruban to Celtic, from Taiwanese to Nordic, as the bridge we must pass to reach together with our ancestors the perfect world of the New Earth. We need no more rearranged orders of this world, always doing “that which has been done in other worlds.” We want the New Heaven and New Earth that the New World could never give us. The “rainbow connection” between body and soul, ka and ba, is welded tight with an arc of light. Luminous laughter can send an electrical connection surging up through our kabod.  The medium, by which the gap is bridged between dense darkened bodies of dirt and dazzling bodies of light, is water from the emotional body. That is the way of the ancients whereby the perishable will clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality as per 1 Corinthians 15:53. Through mystical mists of emotion a person’s aura can be seen to adorn him or her like a “coat of many colors”. But it takes both sunshine and rain to make a rainbow. The rain is our emotion, the sunshine our eternal spirit.

The appropriately named Japanese energy scholar, Dr. Emoto showed through his experiments how human emotion has an effect on the molecular structure of water. His work specifically illustrates the energetic link between light and sound through language, and the role that water plays as a resonance retainer for any energy emoted at it. It should be understood that E-motion is nothing more or less than energy in motion. Laughter, being essentially erratic displacement of air, can bubble or burst through the watery current of emotion and affect its flow and direction. It can let the world in, or it can let Zion out. The fluidity of emotion makes it a difficult thing to map but that has not stopped many from trying. Theorists have come up with both somatic and mental models for attempting to locate the causation of emotion. But emotion washes over both body and mind and does not originate nor meet an end with either side. It is not easily managed by either side, neither is it unidirectional. E-motion is simply energy in motion and it is meant to flow like water. Positive and negative energy waves push and tug at the body, upwards of 70% of which is composed of water.

Like any body of water, the emotive body can become polluted with debris lodged in it. These emotional contaminants block energy from flowing smoothly and are felt as concomitants accompanying unpleasant emotion. In reality the movement of energy is neither good nor bad, but changes in bodily sensations can greatly alter our initial perception and experienced intensity of E-motion. Biofeedback between the brain and the rest of the body is all that can be tracked or explained by neuroscientists, but the cortex is only a middle-man (Dr. of chemistry Francoise Tibika likens it to a traffic cop) that can either function as a dam or an open gate for the constant tide of energy-motion forever flooding to and from mind and matter. In the case of laughter, which is generally associated with positive energy flow, the mind can unfortunately play the role of a party-pooper, or an outright tyrant. Mindful cherubim may see themselves as honorable life-guards along Life’s Beach who keep vigilant watch and prevent us from drowning in emotion, when in fact they are blocking the pearly gates and barring entrance into the Kingdom just like Jesus accused the Scribes and Pharisees, religious leaders in his day of doing. Sometimes we have to do as Brigham Young taught in his quote which is still repeated today at the veil in LDS temples. That is, we must slip past the “angels who stand as sentinels there” and dive in with joy and laughter. You will recall that the research reveals we only laugh during pauses when we might typically cough or breathe. Is it the laughter which threatens to drown us, or the stifling, and choking back of emotion that poses the real danger to our souls?

In the LDS temple endowment session we are admonished to avoid “lightmindedness” lest we judge lightly the things of the Lord. But that directive in no way ought to interfere with Christ’s command to “be of good cheer”. Lightheartedness should never be prohibited, for it is according to our hearts that we are judged at the pleading bar, as depicted on ancient temple walls. Those whose hearts are as light as a feather are granted entrance to the Kingdom of Heaven, those who’s hearts exceed that weight are judged too heavy for the Land of the Light. Laughs are like gasps for fresh air – the spirit of freedom – which fill our lungs and our heart with love and light that then shoots out to surrounding brothers and sisters like so many delightful sparks.

From a purely physical standpoint, hue-man laughter evolved from the panting behavior of our ancient primate ancestors. Apes laugh with a panting sound in the same conditions in which human laughter is produced, like tickle, rough and tumble play, and chasing games. From a spiritual standpoint, the laughter of hue-mans is capable of lighting the sky like fire-works. Light laughter is like a safety flare that can attract good spirits to our aid and ward off evil spirits. Remember I said laughter was an excellent banishing spell, and laughter coupled with colorful light is even better. Many are familiar with Holi, the Hindu springtime festival also known as festival of colors, but not many may be familiar with its origins. Holi celebrations start with a Holika bonfire on the night before Holi where people gather, sing and dance. The next morning is a free-for-all carnival of colors,where everyone chases and plays with each other, throwing brightly colored powder and colored water. One of the chief scriptural bases for this ancient celebration comes from a story in the Bhavishyottara Purana.

The legend says that there once was a good king named Raghu who was endowed with all good qualities, a kind speaker, and deep read in the Vedas. He treated his subjects as if they were his own children and during his reign there was neither famine, nor sickness, nor any iniquity, nor departure from the precepts of religion. So the man was a perfect picture of the LDS temple initiate who strives to live up to every covenant made within those hallowed walls, supposing he knows what it is to truly be of a regal caste. But despite his exceeding righteousness, one day a female demon appeared and started terrorizing the people, especially the little children of his kingdom. The demon could not be driven out by charmed bracelets, or magic garments; not even with water, olive oil, or by holy home teachers skilful in exorcisms. When the report came from the people to King Raghu, he consulted the Muni Narada. Narada replied:

“I will tell you by what means the fiend is to be destroyed. This day is the fifteenth of the light fortnight of Phalguna; the cold season has departed, the warm weather will commence with dawn. Let the people, freed from terror, laugh and sport; let the children go forth rejoicing, like soldiers delighted to go to battle, equipped with wooden swords. Let also a pile of dry wood and stones be prepared, and let it be lighted according to rule, while incantations are recited destructive of wicked fiends. Then let the people, fearless, thrice circumambulate the fire, exclaiming, ‘Kila, kila!’ (Flame, flame!) and clapping their hands. And let them sing and laugh, and let every one utter, without fear, whatever comes into his mind. In various ways and in their own speech, let them freely indulge their tongues, and sing and sing again a thousand times, whatever songs they will. Appalled by those vociferations, by the oblation to fire, and by the attahasa (loud laughter) of the children, that wicked Rakshasi shall be destroyed, and thenceforth the festival of the Holika shall be renowned among mankind.”

In Sanskrit ‘hasa’ means laughter, ‘atta’ means loud…‘attatta’ means very loud. So perhaps only ‘attattahasa’ – very loud laughter – was to be avoided in ancient times. Or perhaps more likely the moral of the story is that: even loud laughter has its appropriate time and place. Superstition and false traditions will over time attract and even create devastating demons which can be difficult to root out using the same religious dogma and social order that attributed to their being in the first place. The Church would have us guard against every unholy and impure practice. But while we are attending to all the do’s and don’ts, administering in complete righteousness like King Raghu, and avoiding the appearance of evil, then evil itself will sneak in and reek havoc – particularly among our poor children. I include this story, not only because of the striking use of the word ‘attahasa’ meaning “loud laughter,” plus various other more subtle parallels to Mormon culture, but to call attention to the observance of and credence given superstitions in the broader context of our cherished Christ-Shun cult-sure.

Attahasa is somewhat commonly used in India as a boy’s name as it is another name for Lord Shiva in Hindu religion. But of course, a good Christian must assume that Lord Shiva is the name of a pagan god, and possibly even one of the many titles of the Devil himself. There was a group of religious fanatics circulating a rumor recently on the internet; that when one types the letters ‘L-O-L’ they are really typing “Lucifer Our Lord” and thus unconsciously evoking the Lord of Darkness. Most people of course considered the idea humorous and took it and ran with it as a joke. I do not think that usage of this common communication trend is tantamount to summoning Satan. But like many things in the drama of life, while the practice may not be insidious, there is a comedic side, as well as a tragic side to it.

NO LAUGHING MATTER

The acronym LOL stands for “Laughing Out Loud” and is used online or in text messages to express the feeling or at least the idea of amusement. While thousands of people are prone to use this internet slang item multiple times weekly or even daily, of the countless occasions where one might type ‘LOL’ only a small number of those occasions are likely to actually involve any real laughter escaping the vocal cords. The initialism has crept into even our face to face speech in this spiritually dull digital age which is chock full of meaningless exchange. Is feeling going to become completely taken over by banality? If the Christian fanatics were right, then the irony for LDS would be that Lucifer actually helped them to stay true to their temple covenant not only to avoid loud laughter but to virtually avoid laughter altogether. LOL! Even though Jesus in the Book of Mormon explicitly states that anything more or less than his simple doctrine of believing on his name, repenting, and being baptized, comes of evil, still, going above and beyond is what Latter-Day Stains excel at as members of the broader scheme of Christ-Shun culture. Laughing in silence is just another extreme, every bit as unholy and unhealthy as laughing too loudly.

While these matters of silly superstition are surely to be laughed at with lighthearted laughter, I would hope we might simultaneously take the opportunity to reflect with a sober mind on the deterioration in the quality of feeling among men in today’s world. This deteri-oration is a detour-oration, an onslaught of empty speech steering us away from our hearts and our emotions. The coldest, longest emotional winter is setting in upon us with each passing year. It may be felt more harshly in some places than others but it is, on the spiritual plane, a bona fide ice age that calls for the ritual igniting of bonfires, bond-fires to ensure the survival of the huddling hue-man race. These cold days upon us have been prophesied for many centuries now. In Christian scripture it is known by the general title of the Last Days. Mormon scripture more specifically calls it the End of the Time of the Gentiles. And Old Norse prophecy gives it the name of Ragnarok – Final Fate of the Gods of the Nordic Peoples. All of these speak of the love of man “waxing cold.” In the Poetic Edda poem Völuspá goes into gory detail and tells us that:

“Brothers will fight and kill each other, sisters’ children will defile kinship. It is harsh in the world, whoredom rife – an axe age, a sword age – shields are riven – a wind age, a wolf age – before the world goes headlong. No man will have mercy on another.”

Stanza 46 of the same Scandinavian scripture states that the “Sons of Mím” are “at play” while “fate burns”. Though no further information about these “sons” has survived we can understand the reference to mean those mortals whose personalities correspond to the symbolic attributes of that god. Mímir is Old Norse for the “The Rememberer”. Mimir’s head is stuffed with knowledge, for which he is renowned and sought after. But, he ends up loosing his head, literally, in a battle; after which Odin carries it around with him and it recites secret knowledge to him whenever he seeks counsel. When the individual becomes enamored with the knowledge he amasses and the intellect he dispenses, then the head can easily become severed from the rest of the body. The “Sons of Mím” are the intelligentsia of our day. Whether they are the college educated fools, the YouTubeversity graduates, or the intelligence gathering NSA, and CIA agents on the other end – The Book of Mormon slams them all saying:

“When they are learned they think they are wise…their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish.” (2 Nephi 9:28)

Nephi’s doomsday prophecy often goes overlooked as simply hyperbole by the Mormon “Sons of Mím” who function in life as headless bodies, and who serve as bodyless heads in various Church and State positions. When Nephi tells them that “it profiteth them not” they know very well that he is not speaking of profit in the sense of money. But their heads are so immersed in the world of business, and so anxiously engaged, gainfully employed in the world of business that there there develops a detri-mental disconnect between so-called religious life and so-called real life. Neither realm is real in this derangement. For most Mímirs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints either their dismembered body is “at play” while the head is “at work” or their haughty heads are play while their bodies slave away. Nephi continues in verses 29 and 30…

“To be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God. But wo unto the rich, who are rich as to the things of the world.”

Some may think it is unfair and even inaccurate to make a particular case for these things against the LDS people, however there is undeniable corollary. When Nephi says: “Wo unto him that has the law given, yea, that has all the commandments of God, like unto us” (2 Nephi 9:27), when Nephi says: “Wo unto the rich, who are rich as to the things of the world” he is specifically addressing the LDS who are rich as to things of the world, not anyone else. If God arranges for your voice to cry from the dust through the words of a book entitled with the name of Mormon, then it is because your message is especially for Mormons. Mormons have for many years been numbered among the rich and today they are even to be found in no small representation among the elite ranks of the super-rich. And, contrary to Zeezrom Daft Benson’s eleventh point in his 14 Fun-dumb-mentals for Following the Profit, we’re not talking about ex-mormons or even inactive members here. The rich and super-rich LDS are our very own Snake Presidents and Area Fauxthorities. 3 Nephi 6:12 further establishes the connection between the learned and the rich. It says that:

“The people began to be distinguished by ranks, according to their riches and their chances for learning; yea, some were ignorant because of their poverty, and others did receive great learning because of their riches.”

So a societal portrait of the false god Mím begins to emerge with the working class as his body and the educated elite as the talking head. This specifically applies to Mormondom because from Brigham Young to Gordon B. Hinckley the Mormon people have placed a very high value on receiving a college education. Hinckley expressed it most succinctly when he said:

“The world will in large measure pay you what it thinks you are worth, and your worth will increase as you gain education and proficiency in your chosen field.”

Hinckley knew that we the people are classified by ranks, according to their riches and their chances for learning, just like the Nephites were only a few chapters before the pending destructions, and he honored that dishonest social order. He established the Perpetual Education Fund and in so doing, he put the money where the mouth is, where the hungry head and the mouth of Mím is. Hinckley’s Perpetual Debt-U-Cation Fund is undeniably poised to feed the rich while offering better training to the poor as their servants. In 1964 the Church established the Benemerito school in Mexico. In 1999 Church News referred to it as the “BYU of Mexico”. But by 2013, just over a decade after the PEF had been founded, the Church decided to discontinue the education of all the students of Benemerito to convert the facility into what the Church Office had determined to be the more lucrative venture of another missionary training center. What Hinckley meant when he said:

“You belong to a church that teaches the importance of education.”

was more explicitly expounded by J. Craig McIlroy as president of the BYU Alumni Association in his commencement address given to graduates on April 26, 2007. He prefaced the main body of his remarks with these words:

“Might I suggest that you consider wealth creation as a commodity made up of financial, human, and intellectual capital. Business people know that they must spend 70 to 80 percent of their time growing assets. In families, growing the human and intellectual assets is often overlooked. The members in the family are the human capital.”

Then McIlroy referenced the founder of the secret combination known as the Illuminati:

“Mayer Amschel Rothschild understood that two important elements of a family’s wealth are its human and intellectual capital. He saw to it that all family members were well educated and that they worked. He also provided specialized mentorship opportunities as his sons entered the workforce.

Like the Rothschild children, you have been given a figurative loan, if you will, in the form of a financial subsidy of your tuition by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You represent the human and intellectual capital of your own families and, in a broader sense, of the Church.”

Hinckley himself was in attendance when these words were spoken, along with Vice President Dick Cheney. The presence of the Profit of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints at that commencement ceremony, his actions while there, as also his inaction, speak volumes, and voluminously. In short it said:

“You BELONG to a CHURCH that teaches the impotence of education.”

It is all a big joke. It’s okay to laugh. They are certainly laughing at you, and LOUDLY!

All of this ties in strongly with Ragnarok – The Final Fate of the Gods of the Nordic Peoples in many ways. Firstly, the Gods of the Nordic Peoples are just that, they are the Gods of Nordic people. They could be land and riches, or whatever else people of Nordic descent idolize. They could be the various names of the Old Norse pantheon, Odin, or Thor, or Mím (who we have discussed in detail here). But most importantly, they are the Nordic people themselves. We all have our heavenly counterparts dwelling in dimensions high above us. Something similar to the basic plot for the 2012 film, Upside Down – they live an existence of relative luxury while we struggle to survive here below in the lone and dreary physical world. For now we, like the characters in that movie who were inhabitants of “Down Below”, scavenge for bits of “inverted matter” from that better world overhead to warm our furnaces during the dead of winter.

The Bible foretells the day when Heaven and Earth will be rolled together as a scroll. It says that the stars will fall as they are shook from the sky. Literally this will come about as a result of a reversal of the Earth’s poles. Inter-dimensionally and spiritually speaking, this means that the hosts of Heaven will have to come down from their high places. If there are spiritual powers of wickedness in high places as Paul warned, and we do not struggle against them, then those forces will take us over as they fold into us, their mortal counterparts here below. I’ve written of the Lorentzian Manifold in What Makes the Book of Mormon a L.I.T.M.U.S. Test? pt. 2, and in We Are The Weather about the pole shift set to occur for this planet. Eurocentric interpretations of verses describing the Lost Tribes of Israel as returning from the “Countries of the North” will be shook. Even those few LDS who hold that Inner Earth beings resembling Nordic Gods will come to the rescue may want to do as Isaiah says and consider that which they have not heard (Isaiah 52:15). They can start with considering what ancient Norse prophecies like the tale of Ragnarok have to say about these matters.

The world tree Yggdrasil shudders and groans. The gnomes groan by the stone doors which are entrances to their inner earth dwellings. Rocky cliffs open and the Jötunn women sink. All this may seem like very strange and foreign imagery, but a side by side comparison between the legend of Ragnarok and Christian/Mormon scripture and even modern American news documents should serve to clarify. First of all, Yggdrasil is the World Tree of Norse mythology. In What Makes the Book of Mormon a L.I.T.M.U.S. Test? pt. 2, I make mention of the simple and universal concept of the Axis Mundi, and I endeavor to emphasize that this fractal fact applies not only to the planet but to individual people too. When the Old Norse legends tell us that the World Tree will shudder and groan, they are testifying to the same truth that the apostle Paul spoke upon in Romans 8. For, said he:

“I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

For we know that the Earth and all creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”

Crying and Laughing are parts of that vibratory language which can not be uttered with words. These actions cause our sides to shake and our personal axis to align with the Spiritual North. This allows for smooth assimilation of the spirit body which is, esoterically speaking, the Nordic Man. Until perfect alignment is achieved, there is an unequal distribution of power between the world of the Fathers and that of the Children. The prophet Elijah was sent to remedy this injustice, and set things straight. Perhaps you will recall that the prophet Elijah laughed loudly in the faces of those priests of Baal when, in a showdown against the God of Israel, they failed to produce fire with which to light the sacrificial altar. We have apparently forgotten the power of the One God, and have subscribed to dumb idols who deny us that heavenly flame we all need. Under these present circumstances, as it says in D&C 123:7…

“The whole earth groans under the weight of its iniquity.”

Gnomes are also heard to groan at the onset of Ragnarok. There are good and bad gnomes. Gnomes are creatures which hide treasures deep in the Earth, either by placing them there, or by preventing those treasures naturally contained within Her from surfacing to see the light of day. They work in huge underground halls, away from the eyes of the world, but very much affecting events upon the face of the earth on a geological plus geopolitical scale. Many major cities have underground catacombs and some of these are very extensive and elaborate. There is a subterranean network of halls and rooms known to exist underneath the streets of Salt Lake City. It is also no secret that the Church has immense cavernous vaults in the mountains where they hide many treasures.

And speaking of mountainous country, according to the Norse eschatology, rocky cliffs are to open and the Jötunn (pronounced Yotun) women will sink. The Jötnar are a race of frosty, gluttonous, man-eating giants who live in Jötunheim. But why would their women specifically take such a hard fall during this apocalyptic scene? I believe that one reason has to do with the schemes of the Evil One in these last days which are specifically targeted at young women. The strange sounding name of the World Tree in Norse Mythology – Yggdrasil – may hold the answer to the mystery. Though its etymology is disputed, its pronunciation is indubitably known to be – ɪɡdrəsɪl. Without removing or adding any letters to the word, and by reversing the sequence of the first two letters, then flipping the third and fourth around, we get – ɡɪrdəsɪl – nearly an exact phonetic match for “Gardasil”, the Merck manufactured vaccine against HPV, the cancer-causing human papilloma virus. Gardasil received FDA approval in the summer of 2006, and by 2008 had been accepted in 41 states of the U.S. The vaccine garnered a great deal of controversy from the start. It was thought to be the cause of many cases of illness and several deaths even when it was first released and marketed for females ages 9 to 26. Since that time it has been shown to damage young girls’ ovaries to the point of being rendered useless, and causing premature menopause.

Within the first two years after the vaccine was introduced, the federal Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System, run by the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, collected 8,000 reports of problems after Gardasil shots, including paralysis, seizures and miscarriages. Earlier this month, national talk show host Katie Couric featured a woman on daytime TV who was the mother of the first girl whose life was claimed by this vile vaccine. Jessica Ericzon, 17, collapsed dead in her bathroom on Feb. 22, 2008. On the advice of her family doctor, Jessie had taken a series of three Gardasil shots. Seeing such uncanny parallels between Yggdrasil and Gardasil, it is chilling to note that the blond-haired, blue-eyed honors student bore the most famous and common Scandinavian surname of all time. And even more eerie is the fact that she died on Feb. 22^nd, the last day of the feast of Jolablot, the third of a series of tri-annual feasts celebrated by the Vikings. This is also the date when experts in Norse mythology estimate that Ragnarok will begin. The first two feasts of the Viking calendar – Sigrblot and Vetrarblot – happen to coincide with the summer season and harvest time. Jessica Ericzon got the first injection in July 2007 followed by her second shot in September.  Her mother, Lisa, said she complained of a pain in the back of her head which would subside after some time, but grew progressively worse with each injection.

In Utah, the controversy over Gardasil takes on very Mormon moralistic overtones which aren’t always distinctly addressed by members of the medical establishment poised to make decisions related to the issue. Utah’s Southwest Health Department says Gardasil is too expensive and questions its effectiveness while the Utah Scientific Immunization Advisory Committee pushes for its implementation state-wide. However, the generally conservative public does not particularly like the idea of issuing a vaccine designed to counter sexually transmitted disease to girls so young. They fear that it might reflect poorly on their morals. But this defense does not truly have the young women of Utah’s best interest in mind or at heart, nor does it truly provide for their safety and well-being. The LDS people are very open to the idea of vaccines as they are led by men who laud the so-called modern miracle of western medicine. As soon as the cunning doctors of death can find a presentation for their poison more in keeping with the people’s Victorian ideals, they will administer it and the Utahn/Jötunn women of the land in the mountains will fall.

Descendants of Scandinavians settled in the United States during the 19th and 20th centuries. There are about 2 million Americans of Danish descent. Like other groups of Americans of Scandinavian descent, many of them are Lutherans. However, they contrast with Norwegian and Swedish Americans in that a large percentage of them are Mormon converts who settled in Utah and southeastern Idaho. Early Mormon missionaries were particularly successful in Denmark, but there are also many families in Utah with Swedish ancestry. Nordic blood runs through the veins of many Utahns. What might be the effects when the blood of the slain Norse gods runs through their vain brains in the form of false traditions passed down from their fathers? Shall all of their “work for their dead” in Valhalla, the Hall of the Slain, amount to nothing more than “dead works” in defiled temples when their false gods finally die?

In 2010, former member of the 3^rd Quorum of the Seventy, Elder Hans Mattsson and his wife Birgitta made news when they came forward and expressed serious doubts and dismay about the history of the Church and how it has handled faithful and honest members who have questions. Many Swedish Mormons including a stake president then also opened up about their feelings and formed a group to discuss the faith crisis they were facing. This group seriously alarmed Salt Lake and a special “emergency” fireside was held for local leaders. Church historian Elder Marlin Jensen and his assistant Elder Richard Turley were sent from Salt Lake to Stockholm to attend the meeting and deal with the “problem”. It can not be denied that major stirrings are awakening many of the Scandinavian people. Whether they are stirred up to anger or to spiritual strength and liberty remains to be seen.

Vikings believed that as a prelude to the Ragnarok apocalypse, three freezing winters would follow each other with no summers in between. In The Thermodynamics and Eternodynamics of Desire – Continued, I touch on the elementary connection between temperature and time. In We Are The Weather pts. 1 & 2, I try to explain the spiritual, multigenerational and multidimensional facets of weather phenomena. Time cycles and weather patterns mirror each other, and can offer clues to those who know what to look for. Last year Utah experienced its coldest winter temperatures since 1978. Now as winter sets in again official statements from Salt Lake echo that time when the Church altered its policy on priesthood regarding non Caucasian males. Of course the Saltican city is only trying to keep in step with the Vatican city as they vie for publi-city. Their statements do not represent repentance in the present and therefore have no effect on the past. As for the future, the forecast looks grim.

What bitter winds blow from Angel Moroni’s horn? And do they portend a similar fate for European emigrants as that signaled by the blowing of the mythical Gjallerhorn said to herald the approach of Ragnarok? Solar activity as recorded by astronomers has entered a period of freefall, always a precursor to a cooling cycle, and scientists say 2014 could be the harbinger of a mini or even a full-scale ice age. Europe’s Little Ice Age was a period of cooling that took place between 1550 and 1850 AD. It brought about catastrophic consequences for peoples all across the European continent but was most drastic for the Vikings who suffered much death and total loss of their holdings in Greenland. Today people may not think that they are as susceptible to death and disease due to changes in the weather, but despite our modern lifestyle, the environment still has a way of adversely affecting our health by stealth.

In some accounts of Ragnarok it is foretold that: the soil and the sky will be stained with poison. As the spirits of deceased warriors gather on the ethereal battlefield, we see the militaristic and industrial forces of mortal men take to the sky in planes spilling mass amounts of poison which affects and infects not only the air quality but also the soil. Swedish parliamentarian Pernilla Hagberg has stood up and voiced growing concern over chemtrails on behalf of her constituents. She personally vows to do all she can to put a stop to the spraying of tiny particles of aluminum and barium chaff in the skies over Sweden. The U.S. military admits that “cloud seeding” as they call it has been going on since the late 90s. The expanding program was launched with the purpose of creating “clouds of microscopic computer particle all communicating with each other to form an intelligent fog that could be used for various purposes” according to a research paper produced for the U.S. Air Force. As chemtrails rapidly grow ever more prevalent in the skies over Utah, the Mormon people below would do well to review their scriptures and read in Mosiah 7:30 where the Lord says:

“If my people shall sow filthiness they shall reap the chaff thereof in the whirlwind; and the effect thereof is poison.”

Norse legend and Chrisian lore both tell us that an angel in heaven shall sound the trump. The sons of Odin are called to the battlefield, the whole of earth and creation anxiously awaits the manifestation of the sons of God. Apocalypse simply means revelation, and that which is to be revealed is our own future form. John 3:1-2 reminds us….

“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”

After the gloom and doom comes light and life! After the death of the Norse gods, after the Time of the Gentiles is finished, then a new and glorious earth will emerge.

THE SIDE (SPLITTING) EFFECTS OF LAUGHTER

Yes, Zion will E-merge, but before the new Heaven-N-Earth energy merge is possible, the world will be submerged in cataclysm, and all worldly creatures will be divided by multiple schisms. Mankind will be split into various opposing sides. Laughter plays a significant role in this societal side-splitting. This should be no surprise after examining its dual nature as a tool for simultaneous connectivity and corrosiveness. The charge to avoid loud laughter should make us aware of the powerful electromagnetic charge inherent in laughter. And with a basic understanding of electromagnetic principles we ought to recognize its potential for repelling as well as attracting, energizing as well as zapping. If we would tap into laughter’s healing properties and potential we have to be aware of the delicate nature of this spiritual technique.

Laughter is an energetic activity that raises our heart rate and blood pressure, but these physiological effects are incompletely documented and their medicinal benefits are even less certain. Lennart Levi, of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, reported that comedy activates the body’s “fight or flight” system, increasing catecholamine levels in urine, a measure of activation and stress. Lee Berk, DHSc, of the Loma Linda School of Medicine, countered with a widely cited study that reported that laughter reduced catecholamines and other hormonal measures of sympathetic activation. This reduction in stress and associated hormones is the mechanism through which laughter is presumed to enhance immune function. Unfortunately, Berk’s studies show at best a biological response to comedy. His reports included only five experimental subjects, never stated whether those subjects actually laughed, and were presented in only three brief abstracts. Does a sense of humor or a lighthearted personality add years to your life? Not necessarily.

A large-scale study by Howard Friedman, Ph.D., professor of psychology at the University of California at Riverside, found optimism and sense of humor in childhood to be inversely related to longevity. This may be because people with untempered optimism indulge in risk-taking, not so much believing, but thinking that the system of slavery we live under in this present physical reality will somehow not affect them adversely. And ultimately, not loving and valuing their souls enough because of long-term abuse, they do not care if their brash rebellious reaction does effectively free them or not. Of course the parable of the talents, if anything, teaches us that risk taking is crucial. But to indulge in untempored emotion is not in line with the scriptures which warn us to bridle our passions so that that they can be to us, tempered tools with which to build Zion. The warning against defiling one’s garments with “untempored mortar” was very prevalent in freemasonic teachings during the early part of the nineteenth century in the United States, and this provides a very accurate analogy and important lesson in regards to “loud laughter”. It is not good for building, and certainly not fit for building the type of familial bonds necessary to sustain Zion.

Pain reduction is one of laughter’s promising applications. Rosemary Cogan, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Texas Tech University, found that subjects who laughed at a Lily Tomlin video or underwent a relaxation procedure tolerated more discomfort than other subjects. Humor may help temper intense pain. James Rotton, Ph.D., of Florida International University, reported that orthopedic surgery patients who watched comedic videos requested fewer aspirin and tranquilizers than the group that viewed dramas. Humor may also help us cope with stress. In a study by Michelle Newman, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychology at Penn State University, subjects viewed a film about three grisly accidents and had to narrate it either in a humorous or serious style. Those who used the humorous tone had the lowest negative affect and tension. A problem with these studies is that none of them separate the effects of laughter from those of humor. None allow for the possibility that presumed effects of laughter or humor may come from the playful settings associated with these behaviors. And none evaluate the uniqueness of laughter by contrasting it with other vocalizations like shouting.

Loud laughter, similar to copious amounts of alcohol, might drown out pain entirely, in which case we are sure to miss the pricking effects of the Holy Spirit upon our soul. Loud Laughter could well be classified as laughter which solidifies a lie, rather than gently helping us cope with reality while we work to change it for the better. Laughter was developed in our species as it was adopted from heavenly helpers for beneficial bonding between brothers and sisters. It is not to be used as a drug. Yet this has become its primary usage in today’s society. The larger the group gathering these days, the louder the laughter – and we are not speaking in terms of mere volume. The more recreational our bouts of laughter, the less reconciliatory it becomes in its effects. A purely wreck-creation-all approach to laughter, like most of modern medicine, often ignores the side(splitting)effects. It only re-creates a false atmosphere of comradery by forcibly inducing mass release of endorphins. If we use comedy as a pill to mask the symptoms of social ills, then, like an anti-depressant with a 99% success rate, 1% of the time the built-up depression will suddenly erupt from the unconscious mind in violent fits as we have seen with the alarming, and growing frequency of infanticide and suicide in the U.S. lately, where a very high percentage of cases involve some kind of anti-depressant medication.

Mass media promotes laughter as medicine, and it certainly is. But today’s decadent culture does not promote responsible use of powerful medicine. Print and broadcast reporters produce upbeat, often frothy stories like “A Laugh a Day Keeps the Doctor Away.” A best-selling Norman Cousins book and a popular Robin Williams film Patch Adams amplified this feel-good message. But left unsaid in such reports is a jarring truth: Laughter did not evolve to make us feel good or improve to our health. Certainly, laughter unites people, and social support has been shown in studies to improve mental and physical health. But the presumed health benefits of laughter may be coincidental consequences of its primary goal: bringing people together. Bringing people together as family must be our focus. Without this focus, laughter is improperly used, and sorely abused to keep people from feeling sorrow for the sins of the world. Since laughter was intended to hold the human race together then any other use can eventually lead to condemnation in the spirit. This condemnation is hastened in our day by a new trend: Laughter as a carelessly administered vaccine or drug.

Laughter, in many ways, can be observed to behave similarly to a virus. A virus is a small infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of other organisms. Laughter can be highly contagious. In a study conducted by Dr. Robert Provine and associates, 1,200 people were observed laughing spontaneously in their natural environments. The results of their study surprised them because they suggested that the critical stimulus for laughter is not a joke, but the presence of another person. While we usually think of laughter as coming from an audience after a wisecrack from a single speaker, contrary to expectation, the speakers observed laughed almost 50% more than their audiences. The study also showed that laughter mostly follows comments which are not particularly clever or comical. Only 15% of laughter followed anything joke-like. Excluded from the study were all vicarious social effects of media (television, radio, books, etc.). The direct social nature of laughter was striking: Laughter was almost 50 times more frequent in social than solitary situations. In fact, a person laughing alone is sometimes judged to be mentally unstable. We’re much more likely to talk to ourselves or even smile when alone than to laugh. However happy we may feel, laughter is a signal we send to others and it virtually disappears when we lack an audience. Like a virus, the ripples of laughter can only ripple-cate themselves in other living organisms.

Just as live viruses are used in many vaccines, laughter is used similarly in modern social media. Earlier I mentioned that laughter has the potential to let the world in, as well as bring Zion out of us. In appropriate doses one’s external environment should be let in for purposes of building a spiritual immunity, but always through the filter of laughter, never taking in quantities that would prove lethal. For this reason we are told to avoid loud laughter and be prudent in our use of this potent practice. Most people these days do not go to God for their laughs. They go to mass media, and here laughter is isolated and mass produced like the active ingredients in most modern medicine. Technologically triggered mini-epidemics are produced by television laugh tracks. Laugh tracks have accompanied most television sitcoms since September 9, 1950. At 7:00 that evening, “The Hank McCune Show” used the first laugh track to compensate for being filmed without a live audience.

Canned laughter may sound artificial, but it coaxes TV viewers to laugh as if they were part of a live audience. Lying laughter promotes disconnection from our fellow man. Not only have live audiences become extremely rare, but viewing of live performances, up-close and in person, have become largely a thing of the past in today’s virtual world. We can see this same trend leading away from life-promoting laughter towards increasingly dead forms of social interaction in the area of LDS ritual. Live temple sessions are extremely rare, and dead works are rampant. Of course we may say that laughter seems completely inappropriate to us in such a sacred setting. I admit that laughter has been conspicuously absent from any temple session I have ever attended, but I am not entirely certain that this is as it should be, or as it was intended. God’s people are always infamous for missing the point of God’s teachings.

Joseph Smith’s sense of humor comes out very strongly in the lines of the original temple drama which has been slowly but significantly edited over the years. Joseph’s sense of humor reflected his sense of humanity. Here, through the symbolism of the Adam and Eve story, Joseph addresses the spiritual and physical beginnings of humans. Comical characters like the Preacher play along side the Lucifer character that constantly spews forth wickedly witty lines. We sit in complete silence, many of the audience members, from the geriatric to the youthful; experience acute drowsiness in the darkness of the theatre while watching the viral program which is projected on the video screen many times a day in temples throughout the world. Up till recently the Church had two temple “vids” catering to a corrupted race dominated by males who are in turn dominated by “visual” stimulation. Initiates basking in the soft glow of the video screen, illuminated by illusion, were offered the options of blonde or brunette to appeal to their vain and false sense of individuality. So-called individuals have been reduced to Indy-Visuals who are not independent, nor are they capable of seeing truth.

One truth that the temple drama was originally intended to convey was that humanity, as in physical mankind, can become separated by our minds from the spirit of humanity. Or in other words, humanity as a heavenly attribute may be either attained and expressed or suppressed and lost through cultural practices. The temple drama, like life was meant to rotate with the Prayer Circle of Life, not remain rote and mechanical. Once upon a time in humanity’s distant past, all the performers, including the witness couple, formed one interactive whole with the audience members. The whole point of RITUAL is to en-RICH-YOU-ALL! In the beginning, the ancient temple drama was infused with LIGHT and LIFE! Call and response chants, and raw animated acts kept the participants from simply “acting” as we see the practically emotionless figures do in the previously used LDS temple movies, or in the pretend emotion portrayed by the actors of the new temple film. I don’t know which is worse, but I know there is a more excellent way, and so do you.

When dealing with laughter our minds must remain sober if our hearts are to be freed. We need to always retain a remembrance of laughter’s sacred purpose – to connect human beings to one another. In his post, Connecting With Pixels, Justin explains that pornography addiction is so prevalent in this age, especially in places like the U.S., and it reaches its highest rates in the Mormon state of Utah. Justin says that pornography’s prevalence in latter-day culture is a question of technology making it so readily accessible and even pushed. And he identifies pornography addiction as a symptom of larger underlying social problems – namely: “poor socialization by parents on sexuality, unaddressed childhood abuse, an addictive personality, or feelings of insecurity.” LDS men may acknowledge pornography as a plague, they may even take measures to restrict online access and guard against such images, but sadly, for the most part it is their pre-dis-position to remain locked into and tied down by various aspects of the bigger pornographic picture projected by Satan onto humankind as they sit like a captive audience in Plato’s Cave. Sports, military service, and even manual labor are highly addictive hero-porn for the body. Schooling, political debate, and even reading can all be forms of intellectual porn for the mind. Church and temple attendance is religious porn for the spirit. Porn in all of its forms channels real energy into fake settings, encourages complacency, and replaces authentic human exchange of energy with holographic projections – hollow graphics dancing provocatively across the walls of our private porn prison cell.

Porn, like anything else, can be imp–properly used to prop up imp–personal personas. Our persons are poisons, and should be used with a certain degree of precaution. But the point is not to imagine that we may cast them off permanently, or cover ourcellves and our sins with pretentious priesthood garments of our own make. They may be more holy for a time, but over time they also may become more holey, moth bitten, and vain than the Emperor’s New Clothes – vain because of vanity, and vain in their ridiculously failed attempt to cover our nakedness. Holy and protective layers of being “may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to cover” up…then we are not sealed as Heaven’s own but are left to ourselves (D&C 121:37). Why do we revel in a con-sealing when we could strip down to the bare-naked truth of all things as revealed by the see-through robes of the Holy Ghost? True success is never achieved by outward means, and herein lies the real power to protect and strengthen. Focus on outward appearances will only bring us suck-cess, and will forever be susceptible to spiritual and physical sickness. King Benjamin tells the people:

“And finally, I cannot tell you all the things whereby ye may commit sin; for there are divers ways and means, even so many that I cannot number them.” – Mosiah 4:29

But through shifting our awareness into the all-encompassing true order based on the first-born flow of the inward being, we are able to not only justify, but purify and eventually sanctify every action, and everything around us.

Ancient life-affirming ways have been hacked by a wedge shaped virus that is perverting sacred r-i-t-u-a-l into v-i-r-t-u-a-l reality. Virtue is lost in the present virtual reality, and the people are not even aware. Mankind and males in particular are spoken of as predominantly unaware beings in the Doctrine & Covenants section 121 in the succinct lecture on the rights of the priesthood that falls between verses 36-40. Why is man not aware when it comes to his inimical, enemy stance towards God? Man is not aware because he is not man enough to be. The simple and eternal truth is hidden from us behind the etymology of the word ‘man’ and the word ‘virus’. Although not “aware” in literal terms, literary examples from Anglo-Saxon writers in the 5^th to 12^th century show us that, in Old English, a ‘man’ was a ‘wer’. ‘Wer’ meant man, and from this word we get the modern English word werewolf (literally man-wolf). From the Old Norse – verr, through the Caucasian Mountains to the Ossetian – ир (ir), and Latin – vir, on back to its Proto-Indo-European root – wiHrós, and all the way back to the original Sanskrit cognate – वीर (vīrá); earlier linguistic roots all held the same simple meaning. And this ancient root word for man or male can be found today in the word ‘virility’, meaning manhood, or masculinity. It can not be ignored that it is also part of the word ‘virus’. The Latin word ‘virus’ means poison, venom, or slime. Its more ancient roots lie in the Sanskrit – विषम् (víṣam), which means “anything active” but has the connotation of “anything actively pernicious” such as poison, venom, or bane. विषम् (víṣam) is only a masculine a-stem declension of विष (víṣa), meaning ‘servant’.

Following a similar trail as the linguistics from the Indian subcontinent to the Mediterranean culture of ancient Palestine, Jesus, the greatest/least Master/Servant Teacher of all, brought us wisdom and presented us with the concept that:

“No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.” (Matt. 6:24)

If a man is aware, Christ is awareness. Awareness is a virus. A virus spreads. It can spread in one direction or another. If a virus is aware of its self as awareness it knows it has the power to save or it can ravish, but it can not do both simultaneously. It can not serve God (All) and Mammon (Some/$um). Complete companionship with the Christ means at-one-ment, true enlightenment, or lightening the load rather than weighing one’s self down with more and more of “that which doth canker”. The difference between a lifestyle driven by the principle of seeking the Kingdom of Heaven first and a deathstyle driven by the habit of taking care of bu$ine$$ before tending to things of the spirit, is the same as the subtle yet decisive difference between all, and most. All/Most knowing God does not count. Mankind can either identify its self with God or it is an enemy to God. We are either fully aware or else we are at least partially unaware of the extent of our actions. From moment to moment in time we are either being human or we are acting as  poison. There are of course varying degrees in either direction, but generally speaking, when we are acting as poison we are acting prideful and we tend to Euro-neously call Original Hue-manity slime and despise it when we “see” it. The truth is we can’t see humanity for what we are while in the service of Mammon. Only while in the service of our fellow man are we in service to our God, like King Benjamin taught in Mosiah 2:17. PathoGen-tiles who remain unrepentant have a deadly effect on the Blood of Abraham, and they act as a scourge upon the House of Israel wherever they are found throughout the Earth. The extreme damage that an unaware man is capable of is truly devastating.

“Behold, ere he is aware, he is left unto himself, to kick against the pricks, to persecute the saints, and to fight against God.” – D&C 121:38

“Kicking against the pricks” paints the picture of a person whose awareness has become numbed to the point of not feeling the pain caused by his actions in either direction. Unwittingly fighting against one’s own creator and the sustainer of all life is a sign of a very pathogenic pathos. Unaware human beings are virulent in their emotional illiteracy. Father may forgive them, for they know not what they do. But when there is willful ignorance and a conscious acceptance of falsehood over real emotion, then those germs will be utterly eradicated in their physical form by the Mother’s immune system.

The modern phrase “going viral” has no greater consummation than the Biblical prophesy of Christ’s ultimate sovereignty, that: “Every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess.” In fact this scripture (Romans 14:11) is an expression of the viral nature of Truth. Like an unstoppable live Virus of Veritas, the Lord sayeth:

“As I live, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.”

And the preceding verse talks of the futility in resisting the Virus of Veritas, the True and Living Church of the Firstborn. In it Paul asks:

“why do you judge your brother? Why do you regard your brother with contempt?”

When one stops seeking his life, he then finds it (Luke 17:33). As soon as he succumbs to the Christ, the Virus of God, he instantly recognizes that there is no difference between his brother and his self. Through Christ we become aware that self does not end where our skin begins. When we awaken we abandon our destructive vices. We join as part of King Benjamin’s greater audience. His audience was surely wrought upon by a spiritually viral epidemic of conversion. Envision it; a whole huge crowd spontaneously crying out with one voice, and suddenly feeling “no more disposition to do evil” (Mosiah 5:2). We will no longer behave like vicious virions for we are at one with our environs. The Love of God exceeds even the speed of light and it completely takes us over as it explodes from our hearts and assimilates all creation. But until that moment when one feels and understands his unique position in the universe, then he is literally dis-positioned towards unrighteous dominion and all manner of evil. This is the unfortunate state of almost all men in the world as a study of D&C 121 will tell you. The study of viruses is known as virology and it has revealed to us that viruses are found in almost every ecosystem on Earth and are the most abundant type of biological entity.If man’s nature tends toward that of a vile, havoc-wreaking virus how then are we to be redeemed from our toxic attitude? What could possibly reconcile a man’s violently torn soul? Well, another hallmark of those who are found possessed of the Love of Christ in these latter days is recorded in Doctrine & Covenants 84:71, also known as the Oath & Covenant of the Priesthood.

“If any man (vir) shall administer poison (vir) unto them it shall not hurt them”

The Bible also testifies to the divine protection and immunity experienced by God’s servants. Harriet Tubman, who not only led over a thousand slaves to freedom at great personal peril, but also administered to Civil War soldiers who lay sick and dying with dysentery and small pox, was unafraid of death in any of its forms because she was on the errand of the Lord and stayed busy about her Father’s work. She acquired quite a reputation for her skill in curing dysentery with a medicine she prepared from roots which grew near the waters that gave the disease. She never once suffered even the slightest symptom of the diseases she was treating and it was said of her that the Lord was with her. The Hevajna Tantra contains several verses referring to men and their relationship with poison. On page 93 we read:

“With the very poison, a little of which would kill any other being, a man who understands poison would dispel another poison.”

Then on page 107 it says:

“If he drinks strong poison, the simple man who does not understand it, falls senseless. But he who is free from delusion with his mind intent on the truth destroys it altogether”

One more reference on page 117 delivers what it calls, “the profoundest secret of the beauteous purifier of existence”….

“Useless is a gem uncut, but once cut, it gives forth its brilliance. Likewise this gem of the saṃsāra (continuous flow), possessed of the properties of the five desires (five carnal senses), becomes like poison in its unpurified state, but when purified it becomes ambrosia (food or drink of the gods).”

The profound truth in all these scriptures, LDS, Christian, and Buddhist, is that a man of god may partake of the same things which an impure man does, but the effect will not be the same. One of the great mysteries of God is how holy men and women arrive at consecration and subsist by purifying themselves, by purifying poison. Transmutation is the key.

It may sound weird to hear the Word of God-to-Man articulated in terms of the Virus. But think of it; a virus is an active strain of DNA-altering particles and “As man is, God once was, as God is, man may become”. Even if Lorenzo Snow, who coined that phrase, and was in many ways a prideful product of his gene-ration, never considered it; the fact remains that at some point the agent that offers to take him from manhood to godhood is going to require some altering of those prideful genes. On April 6, 1844, Joseph Smith preached to a congregation of 20,000 saying:

“Here then is eternal life – to know the only wise and true God; and you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves, and to be kings and priests to God the same as all Gods have done before you” (JOD 6:4; TPJS p.346)

Of those who have gone before us, few ever thought to attain to godhood, and of those few even fewer obtained it. I believe this is because, like the Founding Fathers, they too died holding firmly to a freemasonic belief in the “pursuit of happiness” which is perhaps the main lie underlying all of the Devil’s false doctrine. God suffers us to conduct experiments with life and liberty, hoping and trusting that we will one day tire of experimenting and desire now to enter his presence. From the Colonial English of the U.S. Constitution to the Latin of the Magna Carta, we should remember that in Old English ‘Wer’ meant ‘Man’, and “We the People” being a vir-us, must remember that our ancestors were-us and we are them. This is the real meaning of priesthood lineage.

Until we succeed in bringing past and future gene-rations into alignment the present will remain a perpetual prison to us. That is the curse with which the earth is to be smitten if not for the Spirit of Elijah. Only a turning/tuning of the heart signals of the Fathers to the heart signals of the Children and visa versa will result in the meeting in the middle which is necessary to eliminate the phase effect of sometimes constructive and other times destructive interference that varies with frequency, giving a series of peaks and troughs in the frequency response of the god-man system which in general do not occur in a harmonic series. Such are the uneven and troubled waves of spirit produced by the dis-positioning of all-most-all-most-all men, or the patronizing pattern-all pattern lamented in D&C 121:39 where it speaks about the patriarchal passing of priesthood. But there is hope. For, as verse 33 says:

“How long can rolling waters remain impure?”

Whether surface water waves, sound, or light; the ripples of laughter can be grasped to displace air waves which essentially help us begin to freely ripple-cate ourselves as children of the Divine rather than children of the Matrix. There is a way for us to dial in our hearts, and sync the radio receiver of mind. A way to shift our physical body to resonate in harmony with the high and low pitches of the Yahweh frequency as it goes, “^EEAA_OOAA^EEAA_OOAA^EEAA_OOAA^EEAA_OOAA^EE.” In audio engineering the technique is known as flanging. Flanging is done by taking the original signal and adding a uniform time-delayed copy of itself, which results in an output signal with peaks and troughs which are in a harmonic series. The flange effect was developed in the days of tape reels at EMI’s Abbey Road Studio. And it was first featured in the recording of the symbolically titled Beatles track, Tomorrow Never Knows from the album Revolver, which was recorded on April 6, 1966. This is symbolic of what Joseph Smith had proclaimed precisely 122 years prior to the date. He said that we have got to learn how to be Gods ourselves, and to be kings and priests to God the same as all Gods before us. He said that eternal life is here, now. It requires direct action in the present, or else you will be forever stuck in the revolving doors. As the Beatles sing; “Tomorrow Never Knows.”

THE LAST LAUGH

If tomorrow never knows then certainly the past is equally ignorant. The present is the true point of origin and the ultimate destination of all beings. The first shall be last and the last shall be first, and he who laughs last laughs best. We are all the same, age means nothing. Life’s pilgrim-age is cyclical like the Haj of the Muslims who come from far and wide to Mecca only to run in circles around a big black cube with a piece of meteorite in it.   This metaphor extends to (or from) the center of the galaxy. The galactic center is a dark void from our perspective. Around it spin stars and star systems, billions like (or unlike) our own. All of life, in this way, is a-void-dance – a dance around a void. But within the dark abyss is God. Light within dark, surrounded by swirling light enshrouded in more darkness, and so on and so forth, this is the fractal nature of reality. This cosmic dance around the throne of God is repeated throughout the Universe, and is addressed in the book of Job.

Is not God in the height of heaven? And behold the height of the stars, how high they are!

And thou sayest, How doth God know? Can he judge through the dark cloud?

Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.

Job 22:12-14

This was the laughable reasoning of earlier empires upon the face of the earth in the time of Noah. They laughed at Noah for counseling with an inner voice. But that global network of civilizations was cut off right at its peak. It was not the first time this had happened and would not be the last, but as far as the Earth’s cycles go, we are told that: As it was in the time of Noah, so shall it be in the end (Matt 24:37). Today we hear the loud laughter of the wicked, but who will have the last laugh?

Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?

Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood:

Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them?

Yet he filled their houses with good things: but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

The righteous see it, and are glad: and the innocent laugh them to scorn.

Job 22:15-19

Our persons are our people self-replicated over time. Those fathers farthest removed from the present into our past are those most closely acquainted with our future. Our people are the peep-hole through which per-ception filters as per the con-ception of each individual being, who in turn subjects his or herself to new and everlasting in-ception of old ideas and revolving IDs which have been changed to protect The Innocent children; perSONS and perDAUGHTERS of the G.O.D.s in the whirl-P-O-O-L of consciousness which is one big L-O-O-P-whole of eternity and reality. We could liken it to a donut with a jelly-filled center of plasma discharging simultaneously in arc and dark mode. It is to that center that we must go if we wish to comprehend the whole configuration. Joseph Smith once likened it to a ring. Said he:

“I take my ring from my finger and liken it unto the mind of man-the immortal part, because it has no beginning. Suppose you cut it in two; then it has a beginning and an end; but join it again, and it continues one eternal round. So with the spirit of man.”

Being only a fraction of divine mind, the psyche of man sometimes suffers a fraction in its perception of the eternal round. To help us stay centered we can do as the Book of Mormon advises:

Cry unto him when ye are in your fields, yea, over all your flocks.

Cry unto him in your houses, yea, over all your household, both morning, mid-day, and evening.

Yea, cry unto him against the power of your enemies.

Yea, cry unto him against the devil, who is an enemy to all righteousness.

Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them.

Cry over the flocks of your fields, that they may increase.

But this is not all; ye must pour out your souls in your closets, and your secret places, and in your wilderness.

Yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those who are around you.

Alma 34:20-27

Laughter is intimately linked with crying. Of course the verb crying is used in these passages to mean vocalize out loud and not necessarily to cry as in shed tears. Still, the point is to pray with emotion and out loud whenever and wherever possible. The last verse above deals with what we should do when it is not possible to cry out and it is a perfect description of Zen Buddhism. Zen Buddhist Thích Nhất Hạnh says:

“The moment of awakening may be marked by an outburst of laughter, but this is not the laughter of someone who has won the lottery or some kind of victory. It is the laughter of one who, after searching for something for a long time, suddenly finds it in the pocket of their coat.”

The reason why the wicked, whether in times past or times to come think that God is ignorant of their evil deeds, is because they themselves are not present to the fact that God exists in the midst of everyone and everything. They never think to look inside. They are convinced that there is nothing there in the dark pockets of life. Well, not exactly convinced, but the fear of the unknown keeps them from penetrating that cloud under which they go about in circles like the Israelites in the desert region around Sinai, afraid of their own God and unable to enter the Promised Land. Moses beckoned them, but they preferred to keep God at bay, and opted to obey Ten Commandments written on their stone hard hearts instead. Until we jump into the thick dark clouds mentioned in Job 22 and connect with God, our obedience is abeyance. We avoid the void and thereby keep God in a state of suspension, in a state of dormancy, in a state of uncertainty, up in the air. It is a classic case of the childish notion that: If I can’t see him he must not be able to see me. Oh, but he CAN judge through the thick dark cloud! It is only we who fool ourselves as we walk round and round in the circuit of heaven.

To testify of Christ is to be a prophet (Rev. 19:10). When we speak as prophets we have to understand that in many or most instances along this big spinning people-WHEEL one functions simply as a SPOKES-person for and in behalf of the ante-sensors (ancestors) as well as the un-born. I can’t expect people to always listen or even understand what I am saying until they actually disregard “me” altogether and look/listen past me, beyond the messenger to get the message its self. Alma 26:23 tells us that the Sons of Mosiah were laughed to scorn by their brethren back home. So, to all those who are or have desires to be traveling teachers of the gospel, I say: Be of good cheer. Learn to love and laugh at yourself, and when you have learned that all is self, you will laugh and love your way through life. Job 5:22 makes this grand promise:

“At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.”

I’m sure you have heard it said that God has a sense of humor. The figure of the Laughing Buddha is fairly well known. The Laughing Christ portrayed so often in the Gnostic Gospels, which were never admitted into our censored and perverted bibles, may be less well known; nevertheless we must come to know this laughing Christ. The name Isaac means ‘laughter’ and his character and back story in the bible reveal much about the Love/Laugh of God. Upon first hearing of foretelling of Isaac’s birth, both his parents’ first reaction is to laugh. Surely the idea of begetting a son in their extreme old age tickled their souls. Genesis 17:17 says that:

“Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?”

In the book Arcana Coelestia, Emanuel Swedenborg – a Swedish philosopher, theologian, chemist, anatomist, and visionary whose writings had a profound influence on the mind of Joseph Smith Jr. – wrote the following commentary on this bible verse.

“[…and laughed] That this signifies the affection of truth, may be seen from the origin and essence of laughter, for its origin is nothing but the affection of truth, or else the affection of what is false, from which come the gladness and merriment that in laughter display themselves in the face, which shows that the essence of laughter is nothing else. Laughter is indeed an external thing that belongs to the body because to the face; but in the Word interior things are expressed and signified by exterior things; just as all the interior affections of the mind are expressed and signified by means of the face, interior hearing and obedience being signified by the ear, interior sight or understanding by the eye, power and strength by the hand and arm, and so on, and in the same way the affection of truth by laughter.”

Swedenborg, who influenced Joseph Smith, was himself influenced by Ibn Sina aka Avicenna, author of Canonica Medica and The Book of Healing, to whom I make extensive reference in my Making SENSE of it All series. Each of these men did not rely solely upon the words or his predecessor for an understanding of these heavenly secrets, but were inspired by one another’s works to “experiment upon the word” in a direct, and personal, spiritually scientific manner as Alma advises and as all true men and women of God do. Remember we are talking about the curious and wonderful relationship between spiritual and physical, immaterial and material, being and form, and so these things are very literally a matter of life and death. In the previous section we looked at life and death on a microbial level and determined how spiritual intent begins to manifest on the physical plane at that microscopic level. It is wisdom to know the essentially viral nature of all things so that we may be conscious and choose either to operate for good or evil, to be one with God or an enemy to Him. Avicenna illustrates this in his Treatise on Love:

 “Every being which is determined by a design strives by nature toward its perfection, ie., that goodness of reality which ultimately flows from the reality of the Pure Good, and by nature it shies away from its specific defect which is the evil in it, ie., materiality and non-being. Therefore, it is obvious that all beings determined by a design possess a natural desire and an inborn love, and it follows of necessity that in such beings love is the cause of their existence. For everything that can be signified as existing belongs into one of these three categories” (i) either it has arrived at the specific perfection, (ii) or it has reached the maximum of defect, (iii) or it vacillates between these two states with the result that it is essentially in an intermediate position between two things….Beings in the real sense, then, are either such as are prepared for the maximum of perfection or such as are in a position intermediate between a defect occurring by reason of some cause and a perfection existing in the  nature itself. Therefore, no being is ever free from some connection with a perfection, and this connection with it is accompanied by an innate love and desire for that which may unite it with its perfection.

This becomes clear also from another aspect, that of causality and the “why”; since (i) no being which is determined by a design is devoid of a perfection specific to it; since (ii) such a being is not in itself sufficient cause for the existence of its perfection, because the perfections of the beings determined by a design emanate from the per se Perfect; and since (iii) one must not imagine that this Principle from which perfection emanates intends to cause a loss to any one of the particular beings….”

I want to interject here and demonstrate how Avicenna’s treatise is in alignment with the teachings of Father Lehi. I also intend to show how Lehi’s words borrow from the Asian tradition with which the Lord had brought him into contact along the way to the Americas, and how that ancient wisdom corroborates the new discoveries we have made here in our study of laughter as a poison which must be administered expertly – neither too much nor to little will do. Avicenna is firm on the point that all real beings must be determined by a design. Lehi reiterates this fact as he attempts to explain his Grand Theory of Unified Opposition in All Things. He says:

“Wherefore, the ends of the law which the Holy One hath given, unto the inflicting of the punishment which is affixed, which punishment that is affixed is in opposition to that of the happiness which is affixed, to answer the ends of the at-one-ment— For it must needs be [so], that there is [be] an opposition in all things. If not so….righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility. Wherefore, it must needs have been created for a thing of naught; wherefore there would have been no purpose in the end of its creation. Wherefore, this thing must needs destroy the wisdom of God and his eternal purposes, and also the power, and the mercy, and the justice of God.” – 2 Nephi 2:10-12

When Avicenna defines real beings as: “such as are prepared for the maximum of perfection or such as are in a position intermediate between a defect occurring by reason of some cause and a perfection existing in the nature itself,” the “cause” to which he alludes and ascribes blame for the intermediate position, or “opposition” as Lehi calls it, between Per-Fect and De-Fect, is in fact poison and more specifically its mode of administration. We could identify it as “forbidden fruit in opposition to the tree of life; the one being sweet and the other bitter” for so does Lehi a little later in verse 15 of 2 Nephi chapter 2. We might suppose that the ‘bitter one’ is the forbidden fruit and comes from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and we could suppose that the ‘sweet one’ is the Love of God and comes from an entirely different tree – the Tree of Life. However these things are supposed to have played out in physical reality, the lesson is ONE, one of deadly poison and its anecdote. The “only way” we really have of discerning between the two is by noting the key difference between hurting and healing.

Thus we come to know the “Sun of Righteousness with healing in his wings” that is referred to in Malachi 4:2. And we may see that the rendering of this bible verse with the word “Sun” not “Son” purposely points back to the trunk of the Tree of Theology, the religion of ancient Egypt based on a firm understanding of the “Aten” sometimes called the Winged Sun Disc. Ancient Egyptian religion having stemmed from a deeper, Sub-Saharan root system of sacred regard for the interaction between the bright Sun and the dark Soil, it is vital to The Restoration of the health of hue-manity that we continue digging and reaching where the Prophet Joseph left off when his life was taken at Carthage. As Latter-Day Saints we take upon ourselves a vow more sacred than the Hippocratic Oath, to do no harm, but to build up Zion. Let us no longer mock God with hypocritical oaths. Let us compare the latter-day scripture of the Doctrine & Covenants side-by-side with the ancient teachings of Afrika, India, China, Scandinavia, Ancient America, etc. to discover just how long these devils have been doctoring covenants with malfeasance and priest craft.

Avicenna continues his treatise with these words:

“It is a necessary outcome of His wisdom and the excellence of His governance to plant into everything the general principle of love. The effect is that He thus indirectly preserves the perfection which He gave by emanation, and that He thus expresses His desire to bring them into being when they are absent, the purpose being that the administration [of the universe] should run according to a wise order. The never-ceasing existence of this love in all beings determined by a design is, therefore, a necessity. If this were not so, another love would be necessary to preserve this general love in its existence, to guard against its non-being and to retrieve it when it has lapsed, anxious lest it might disappear. But one of these two loves would be superfluous, and the existence of something superfluous in nature – which is divinely established – is impossible. Therefore, there is no principle of love other than this absolute and general love. And we can conclude that the existence of every being determined by a design is invariably accompanied by inborn love.”

Laughter and love are much more closely related than we may typically think, even at the basest of levels. Studies found that in cross-gender conversations, females laughed 126% more than their male counterparts, meaning that women tend to do the most laughing while males tend to do the most laugh-getting. Men seem to be the main instigators of humor across cultures, and this usually begins in early childhood. Think back to your high school class clown – most likely he was a male. Typically, women seek men who make them laugh, and men are eager to comply with this request. In 3,745 ads placed on April 28, 1996 in eight papers from the Baltimore Sun to the San Diego Union-Tribune, females were 62% more likely to mention laughter in their ads, and women were more likely to seek out a “sense of humor” while men were more likely to offer it. When Karl Grammar and Irenaus Eibl-Eibesfeldt studied spontaneous conversations between mixed-sex pairs of young German adults meeting for the first time, they noted that the more a woman laughed aloud during these encounters, the greater her self-reported interest in the man she was talking to. In the same vein, men were more interested in women who laughed heartily in their presence.

We may not always know why we laugh. Certainly there is a deep mysterious quality to the way in which our facial and abdominal muscles react to the unification of outward and inward stimuli from this world and the spirit world. But if we are in tune with the love of God then our laughter will have an uplifting effect. Laughter, like orgasm, should not be faked or forced. It should not be used to elicit self effacing techniques; rather it should come from a free heart shared in love. Laughter is a pressure valve and can let things in or out. When we laugh we are made vulnerable to higher powers and impregnable to seeds of faith. At the same time, some part of us is energized and empowered by the forceful release of raw emotion which pours out of us almost uncontrollably. Some knowing and confident presence deep inside us consoles and comforts us when we confront fear with faith. It is hard not to laugh when we feel our power, which is the power of love and goodness God has planted in our hearts. It is hard not to laugh when we realize the stupidity of society and its dictatorial die-wreck-tors. As it says in Psalms 37:13….

“The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming.”

May those who find themselves in a situation similar to Job – who complained that “Children despise me and laugh when they see me” – find comfort in knowing that after these Gentile brat oppressors which Isaiah spoke of have all died from off the face of the Earth, then will the laughter of children born to you during the glorious millennial reign of Christ fill your ears. From God the Father embedded like a seed of light within clouds of darkness, followed by the starry whirlpool of the Milky Way, then pro-seeded by more ominous darkness, etc. – the pattern is a playful one, and energy moves along best through the lovely vehicle of holy laughter.

“The Universe is the Practical Joke of the General
at the expense of the Particular, quoth Frater
Perdurabo, and laughed.
But those disciples nearest to him wept, seeing the
Universal Sorrow.
Those next to them laughed, seeing the Universal Joke.
Below these certain disciples wept,
Then certain laughed.
Others next wept.
Others next laughed.
Next others wept.
Next others laughed.
Last came those that wept because they could not
see the Joke, and those that laughed lest they
should be thought not to see the Joke, and thought
it safe to act like Frater Perdurabo.
But though Frater Perdurabo laughed
openly, He also at the same time wept secretly;
and in Himself He neither laughed nor wept.
Nor did He mean what He said.”

― Aleister Crowley, The Book of Lies

AN ANARCHICAL VIEW OF THE KEYS pt. 1

PRE-STOOD POWER IN ALL ITS FORMS

In An Alternate View of the Keys, LDSA sets the record straight about the difference between priesthood power and priesthood keys. He points out that even though the current common understanding within the LDS Church is that Priesthood = Authority, and that Keys = Power, according to their own definition priesthood is not increased with the reception of keys, so in reality Priesthood = Power, and Keys = Authority to use that power in a particular setting or for a particular function. I wish to say the same thing in other words that will expound upon our expanding view of priesthood.

From this point forward in this text I will use the words pre-stood or pre-stood power to distinguish the eternal and pure power of GOD – without beginning or end – from the various groups which have come and gone throughout world history, organizing themselves and claiming ultimate authority over others. There is only one pre-stood power but it takes many forms, commencing with masculine and feminine and from thence giving rise to infinite form and variety. But if there is one thing we can learn from the accounts of the prophet Joseph’s First Vision it is that having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof is an abomination in the sight of the Lord. These forms of godliness serve specific purposes in performing timespace rituals and it is hoped that they maintain awareness of their connectivity to the pre-stood and therefore with one another. But as any one form falls out of congruence with the pre-stood power it starts to fade. If the form remains incongruent for long it dissolves and eventually disappears from this realm being absorbed back into that which stood prior to the foundations of the world, that which is pre-stood.

The forms can help us understand the pre-stood power but no single form can adequately define it. For example, in Mormonism we conceptualize the pre-stood in terms of keys. But oddly enough we never speak of pre-stood locks. Of course keys are pointless without locks and locks are a hopeless concept without keys. So, while it can be helpful to talk of the pre-stood in different forms, we must remember that its all one thing. The Sanskrit word Kilak illustrates this point perfectly. Representing a key to unlock the power inherent in a particular mantra it resonates all the way through to our modern English with an ancient understanding of the inseparability of Ki (Key) & Lak (Lock). Any and all forms of pre-stood can be valid provided we understand how the lock and key work together to seal or loose. Without this crucial knowledge the Devil and his agents keep us under lock and key.

One form that people everywhere are awakening to is the linguistic form. Many are coming to the realization that pre-stood is a language. We are finding that this is not new knowledge. There is nothing new under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9) But it is exciting as people in, but more so outside of the LDS Church, are also reviewing the language/priesthood of the ancients in a “new” light. Their hearts are turned to ours and as we the children attune our hearts to theirs, we begin to understand why the fathers associated priesthood so closely with the idea of seed. The fathers ‘handed down’ language. We inherit pre-stood not so much at their hands as through them. We are their seed. For them, we are their only way of realigning and continuing with the pre-stood power. This is why I said that the purpose of the variety of forms is to perform specific functions in timespace rituals. We can think of it like a tool box shared between father and son for teaching, learning and repairing rifts across the fabric of timespace, throughout all gene-rations.

IN HIS HANDS

This post’s primary focus will be on certain forms of godliness like limbs, phalanges, keys and other phallic extensions of pre-stood. In this post I will address these appendages of the pre-stood within a mostly masculine and Mormon context. However it should be understood that these share an overlapping relationship with all other forms of the pre-stood and would be incomplete without those counterparts which are especially feminine and ‘Non LDS’. Men and women of any or no religion alike may find something useful in what I write here. Because LDS males make the bold claim to have a monopoly on God’s power and authority, I would like to direct my comments to them particularly. It is impressively arrogant to say you are the only people who “hold” the priesthood when you are obviously not the only ones with hands.  Latter-day man is inclined to defile and dismiss the god-given physical body as nothing special since everyone’s got one. Still, the Grand Truth stands and was always pre-stood; that where we see a hand it signifies authority. If you have hands you have authority. Whether you use it or not, the power is in your hands.

When Moses spoke with his God He said:

“Behold, thou art my son; wherefore look, and I will show thee the workmanship of mine hands; but not all, for my works are without end, and also my words, for they never cease.” (Moses 1:4)

If we wish to comprehend the language of pre-stood power it will do us no good to remain adrift in the sea of endless words emanating from it. We need to travel upstream like salmon on a pilgrimage to the headspring and witness where the original body splits itself in two tributaries – one of spoken word and the other of silent gestures. The latter demonstrates the need for balance. It is not enough to be running off at the mouth. The river of power must flow out through our arms, hands, fingers and opposable thumbs as well. An example of holy union, where spoken language (mantra) and sign language (mudra) meet, is to be found in the written word. Stan Tenen and the Meru Foundation’s research into ancient Hebrew illustrate this concept with detail and depth. It is as if scripture were the child of this mudra/mantra marriage. So it should be no surprise that the Son bears engravings in his hands.

Our hands are formed by God’s hands; the power can come through them, hence the importance of the laying on of hands. But Mormon men are highly mistaken in their assumption that pre-stood power can only be valid if passed down from the hands of another. Even their religious leaders have acknowledged that titles conferred in this manner do not ensure activation of the power. Of course they only say this as a way to keep bishops and pawns in their places in a craftily constructed priesthood pyramid. Their P®iesthood comes complete with an obstruction manual wherein we are told that:

“There is a difference between being ordained to an office in the priesthood and receiving keys of the priesthood….In their fullness, the keys are held by only one person at a time, the prophet and president of the Church. He may delegate any portion of this power to another, in which case that person holds the keys of that particular labor.”                    – LDS Melchizedek Priesthood Manual

Man-u-als are dangerous collections of the philosophies of this man or that man dictated in a one size fits “u-all” manner that discourages actual activation of power and displeases the Lord greatly. As an adjective, the word ‘manual’ has been used since c.1400 and comes from Latin ‘manualis,’ meaning “of or belonging to the hand; able to be thrown by hand.” Since the early 15^th century they have been “throwing the book” at us with the Latin word ‘manualis’ coming to mean a “service book used by a priest,” through the Old French word, ‘manuel’ – “handbook”. The CHI (Church Handbook of Instruction) is nothing more than instruction on the obstruction of Chi (Life-force/Pre-stood). A defiant hand lifted against God. In this way a manual is the established antithesis to Emmanuel, a Hebrew word meaning “God is with us”.

It is this false and vain idea of handling priesthood that keeps Mormon Helping Hands tied as to operations of the Spirit yet ever at the beckon call of government agencies and agendas across the globe. Moroni tells these “do-gooders” quite plainly that none of them actually do good. (Moroni 10:25) Do we need more men like these Mormons? We do not. By imagining that the powers of Heaven may be handled on anything less than the conditions of Justification, Sanctification and Purification, they manage to allow power to fall into the wrong hands. Do LDS men hold the Holy Pre-stood after the Order of the Son of God? Certainly – The question is why are we holding it back?

GIVE ME FIVE BROTHER!

I would now like to give a Key to all the true brethren out there. Well, that is the way Joseph Smith Jr. would have put it. But perhaps it is more accurate to say that I wish to point out to you a key which is already in your possession so that through awareness of it and its great value you may begin to make more effective use of it.

As you may have already guessed, that Key has something to do with the human hand. It is an amazing tool through which we may bless many and I think that a more in depth review of it is necessary since the precepts of men have caused us to forget just how much a spiritual man can do through his bare hands. I do not mean to trivialize or oversimplify the power nor the authority of pre-stood. I endeavor only to bring up the importance of a physiological connection to the powers of Heaven so as to dispel some of the mists of darkness that have kept man cut off from his maker.

We have been con-vinced to channel our belief mentally and emotionally into this group or that group to the neglect or our own souls. The enemy has succeeded to an unacceptable degree in cleverly divesting us of our great endowment. It is the belief of an individual that opens him up as a channel for the Lord. This is why, despite the imagined Mormon Monopoly on power and authority, Scientologists have managed to pool belief and build up the minds of its adherents till confidence creates a spiritual flow through the members of many of its church members. The tactics are very similar to what has been done in modern Mormonism as far as believing themselves to be special and set apart from everyone else. This is why we hear Tom Cruise saying:

“Being a Scientologist, when you drive past an accident, it’s not like anyone else, it’s, you drive past, you know you have to do something about it. You know you are the only one who can really help.” – Tom Cruise on Scientology

To be sure, being set apart from the world is a necessary step. The scriptures refer to it as sanctification. But the idea that sanctification hinges upon membership in any type of religious institution does more harm than good in the world. And believing the vicious lie, that your sanctification process somehow places you above your brothers and sisters at a soul level and therefore at the material level, is the root of iniquity and corruption in this world. I’m not saying that LDS men must necessarily remove themselves from the company of the Church, much less get involved with Scientology. But if you are an ordained Elder in the LDS Church and have never experienced even the slightest healing of another person through your humble hands and fingertips like John Travolta when he assisted the healing of Marlon Brando’s leg, then you owe it to yourself to remove some of the mental blocks that unfortunately come with any religion so that you can better magnify your pre-stood. If you have felt and witnessed the power of God working through you to bless others then you should desire that all may receive it.

Sanctification is one of five factors identified by LDSA as being needed for positive and full working of pre-stood keys. Justification and purification are two more which could be seen as pre requisite steps. Plus the more functional requirements of Mantra and Mudra (vocally pronounced affirmations and non verbal signs usually made with the hands). To be sure it is not an easy task to achieve and maintain all of these factors but neither is it impossible. The point is it entails much more than simply a title bestowed by a licensed authority. This worldly idea that priesthood is controlled by man like some sort of Levitical L-I-C-E-N-S-E is what causes the deafening S-I-L-E-N-C-E of Spirit plaguing so many across the face of the earth.

Our heads have been hacked and filled with all sorts of false ideas about ourselves and the result is that our religious leaders now have some of the biggest heads of all. Jack and Jill went up the Hill of the Lord to fetch a pail of Living Water from the well mentioned by Jesus. When Jesus’ head was pierced with a crown of thorns vinegar was then applied. Jack fell down and broke his crown, so the first step is to patch up our heads with some herb-infused vinegar and brown paper. I invite you to come wrap your head around some forgotten, browning papers from the past which have been kept from the eyes and minds of the masses. Then, like Alma has said, “if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words” you can begin to familiarize yourself with the supernatural spirit power that flows through and around the natural, highly conducive forms of things like branches and leaves, arms and spiritually clean hands.

Although we distinguish between parts of the whole we are not likely to forget the connection and deem the hand an entity apart from the arm. Yet, we seem to have forgotten that the physical body is not a separate entity but intimately connected with the spirit and visa versa. What can we do if we wish to experience the two as one again? We need a key. A key is an instrument that can be used to seal together or to loose two things from one another. Ironically it is the same thing that loosens our bodies from our spirits that has the power to lock them into one another again. In this sense, a key is a tool used to cleave, either apart, like a knife, or together, like a nail. This why the Latin word for key is ‘clavis’ and ‘clavus’ is Latin for nail. A key always takes the form of a line and this is true throughout all planes of reality, making it perfect for aligning things for the purpose of connecting or dividing them. The Chinese word ‘Qi’ is pronounced sort of similarly to the English word ‘Key’ and it means “Life Energy”. Qigong means “Life Energy Cultivation” and is the practice of aligning breath, movement, and awareness for exercise, healing, and meditation. Much of modern society may not be accustomed to thinking of keys in terms of energy and body parts. And yet, even the Germanic roots of our English word ‘key’ trace back to ‘kaig-jo’ meaning “pin with a twisted end,” which seems strictly material until you realize that it lines up very well with more esoteric and scientific studies of the energetic origins of creation, like the aforementioned research of the Meru Foundation, which have come up with a model that resembles a pin with a twisted end and corresponds directly to the human hand.

In keeping with the dual functions of clavis and clavus (key and nail), we have the ultimate of the Grand Key-Words and Signs of the Pre-Stood as expressed within esoteric Mormonism in the Sure Sign of the Nail. This is an alternate name for the Second Token of the Melchizedek Priesthood. Another name by which it is known is the Patriarchal Grip. So not only is this in keeping with the cleaving symbolism of keys and nails but it also represents the trans-generational timespace rituals which I touched upon in the first section. This two-way covenant between living and dead is all-important for the continued existence of life on this earth according to the word of the Lord in Malachi 4:6.  Unfortunately I am unable to give the matter the amount of attention it warrants in this particular post. But as I said before, we can think of these pre-stood ordinances like a tool box shared between forefathers and their sons for teaching, learning and repairing rifts across the fabric of timespace, throughout all gene-rations. What is it that needs to be bound together? – Heart, mind, time, space, fathers and children. And what is it that must be loosed? – Faulty connections, false traditions that bind us to false gods and negative neurological pathways that lead to depression, oppression, captivity and death.

No believing Mormon should have any reason to doubt that this reciprocal relationship between us and our ancestors, commonly known in LDS circles as the Spirit of Elijah, is the central purpose of the pre-stood. The Church’s founder himself took note of the fact when reflecting upon the exact wording of the message he received from the angel Moroni. Said Joseph:

And again, he quoted the fifth verse [of Malachi 4] thus: “Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.”

He also quoted the next verse differently: “And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers. If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming.”

Joseph Smith History 1:38-39

Later, when Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery received the visit of Elijah during a vision in the Kirtland temple, Elijah told them.

“Therefore, the keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands; and by this ye may know that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors.  – D&C 110:16

Ancestral promises can bridge past and present, interdimensional doors can be opened, but only with the corresponding keys. And it all has much more to do with hearts and hands than one might be led to think.

Hold your hands out in front of you palms up. If you if you label the left thumb A and the right thumb Z, then starting with the top joint or knuckle of the left pointer finger and working down you get B C D. Then up to the top of the middle finger on the left hand and down the knuckles you get E F G.  Starting back at the left thumb or A we can alternately assign numbers to these key points so that, from the left thumb to the base of the middle finger you have 1 2 3 4 5 6 7. The middle finger on the left hand then represents ‘G’ which can stand for God, Gnosis, or Grand as in “Grand Architect,” “Grand Master” or “Grand Truth”. The middle finger on the left hand can also said to represent the numerical value of 7, which is a holy number representing God and Spirituality in many traditions around the world.

We have reached the highest point on the left hand, and so we now resume numbering or lettering the knuckles, but this time working backwards (654321) starting at the one towards the top of the ring finger on our left hand and ending up at the base of the pinky finger. At this halfway point we can see that ‘M’ figures right in the middle of the English alphabet. Jumping from the pinky on the left hand to the pinky on the right hand and employing the same system we find that here the middle finger includes the letter ‘T’. The ‘T’ is a sacred symbol in Free Masonry and one of the earliest forms of the cross had in many civilizations. Since this system corresponds specifically to the English alphabet we could also say that ‘T’ stands for “Truth”. Thus the symbolism of the two middle fingers hold a “Grand Truth”.  All 26 letters can be perfectly listed on our left and right hands.

The Key is in Your Hands

On the chart above we see how the letters K-E-Y correspond to numerals 3-5-2 which add up to 10, the total number of fingers. Applying the 3-5-2 code to corresponding points on the right hand may help to explain the similarities as well as the differences between the aforementioned Patriarchal Grip in Mormon ritual and its Masonic equivalent, the Real Grip of a Master Mason. In both instances the hand grips are used in conjunction with what is known as the Five Points of Fellowship. The correlation between the Five Points and ancestral communion was already lost among Masons by Joseph Smith’s time. Some scholars have refuted Smith’s claim that the Mormon temple ritual was closer to antediluvian temple rites than Freemasonry, which he described as degenerate priesthood. But the focus on vicarious work for the dead is the smoking gun. Of course the true implications and applications of these rituals have remained rather obscure and mostly veiled in Mormonism too. Despite incantations invoking trans-generational staying power and abundance of symbolism relating to the body, most folks think they are basically completing paperwork for those who have passed on. The Five Points though not emphasized as much in modern Mormon ritual are nonetheless interesting to note in their association with the veil between worlds and in light of this recurring theme of 5 which we will see more of later on.

KEYS TO THE KINGDOM

Zomarah has attempted to enlighten the average Latter-Day Saint’s understanding of keys. In a post written late last October, approaching that time of year when our predecessors used to honor and commune with their predecessors, Zomarah felt impressed to write about two topics which are often considered taboo in the Church. Those two topics were Joseph Smith’s practice of Magick then Masonry and the LDS Temple Rituals. He makes the connection to influential writings like those of 15^th century German occultist Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa and then points out that, judging from Smith’s understanding, a Key possesses three attributes.

“The first attribute is physical. A key must possess some physical manifestation such as a hand grip, hand gesture, or something written.

The second attribute is something spoken. A key must possess a spoken manifestation. But this is not simply saying a word. It is speaking something with complete conviction, as if your entire being is that word.

The third attribute is the Spiritual power or attribute that is accessed by the previous two elements.”

Zomarah – Understanding Priesthood Keys

Zomarah does a good job of treating these sacred subjects delicately. I, on the other hand may be seen as not so gentle or subtle. Nevertheless, I am driven by the same motivation as my brethren (LDSA and Zomarah) – to clarify the current misunderstanding of pre-stood keys which keeps the world in darkness by holding the latent power of the pre-stood hostage and to seal in the minds of God’s true servants the physiological links between the powers of heaven and the rights/rites of the pre-stood.

I hope that everyone will read Zomarah’s post linked above as it can be the means to unlocking many dormant Kilaks lost to the Latter-Day Saints since the Kirtland era. He identifies three attributes of Pre-stood Keys – first physical, then vocal – the third is the actual power or blessing sought. I would like to point out that the particular order in which Zomarah lists these components may add to our mechanical understanding of Pre-Stood Kilakas. I assume that Zomarah’s ordering here was neither intended as a precise road map nor was it necessarily random. Subconsciously I detect that he is spelling out a very important part in the Lord’s method for communication with us, but which part is being described here – the first or the last of it? I think it is the latter half of the formula since physical action is mentioned first, but of course if that which we sought were already apparent in the physical we would have no need of petitioning God for the keys. All that would be left to do is to thank Him.

The Master says He stands at the door and knocks. It is from our side that we must work with the locks. If these are looked at as steps – physical action, spoken word, and obtainment – to open a D-O-O-R hitherto locked, we should be specific about the O-R-D-O by which we set about unlocking it. There is a Holy Order after the Son of God. If I may offer an observation; this order (Physical toVerbal) is perfect for returning praise to God for things already received in the world of physical form. But the praise process can not end at the verbal world, or else the Lord may rightly say that we draw near unto Him with our lips, but that our hearts remain far from Him as He has said in Matt. 15:8, Isaiah 29:13 and of course in Joseph Smith’s First Vision. It is apparent that we must reach higher than the world of words if we want to truly offer our hearts in gratitude. If our heart reaches God’s heart then the connection triggers a reversal and intensification of our small effort that will in turn elicit a continued flow of blessings. However, there appears to be a missing step in this list, one which is nonetheless strongly implied later in Zomarah’s post. The missing step is thought.

Network Model for Working with God

We of course think a lot – practically incessantly during the course of a typical day. But the vast majority of our thoughts originate from some type of external stimulation – “I gotta get to work” “I’m hungry” “There’s a car over there.” While in this type of mundane mind-state we can be sure that our thoughts are not His thoughts, as it says in the Bible. (Isaiah 55:8-9) We mortals are counseled to take no thought for the morrow (Matt. 6:34, 3 Nephi 13:34), but we do it anyway. At the same time Jesus also reprimands us for taking no thought save it be to ask (D&C 9:7). It seems to me that the crucial thing about thought is its direction and its directive power. Thoughts should be directed at the Lord through the medium of the moment. This is called “turning to the Lord” and only through this type of meditative state can one be in a position to open spiriphysico doors.

Picture in your mind a little toddler who desires to go through a door. Her parents have left it slightly ajar and she is free to pass through if she so desires. Her curiosity propels her forward and scooting straight up to the door she is pleased to discover that, just as expected, her little hand is capable of giving a little push which will cause the door to swing open for a sufficient space of time in which she may get herself to the other side. This is the way mankind behaves. Having faith (expectation) in the work our hands can produce through pushing at the world around us, we take advantage of the openhanded and generous nature of our Heavenly Parents. We are welcome to live this way, but what happens when the door swings shut behind us? The little baby in our example feels she has conquered the door but after her curiosity is satisfied she wants to be able to return again to the security of the room where she left her parents sitting. Dealing with that same door she must now figure out how to swing it inwardly, toward herself. This is a more complicated matter for a toddler as it requires more than the feed-forward thinking that comes so naturally to her developing mind.

To us it seems counter-intuitive to back up even slightly from the goal we see before us. But it is actually right in line with our intuition however counter to our logic. Acting on intuition requires greater faith and it is absolutely necessary if we desire to enter the presence of the Lord. At the present we feel shut out from paradise but won’t we feel silly when we discover we have been pushing on a ‘pull’ door. This is what the mystics are saying when they tell us to “go within”. Take a step back from your self. When it comes to the veil there is no pushing or pulling necessary. Even analogous terms such as locks and keys can be a bit deceptive about the true nature of Heaven and Earth and their accessibility to and from one another. They are eternally connected through no doing of our own. But by adhering to the Pre-Stood Order we may send and receive messages and eventually travel freely between the two. Heaven and Earth are connected by the simultaneous first and final step which is so automatic, so passive yet pervasive that we usually don’t consider it a step at all. We call it feeling or emotion in its mixed states. But in its purest form spiritual sensation and physical feelings are one. This is pre-stood essence. It has been around for eternity and its not going anywhere except wherever you let it. When all is in Order there is an electrifying and undeniable current felt.

“I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it”

– Joseph Smith History 1: 25

THE WAY  TO OBTAIN KEYS

Lao Tzu is the honorific title given to a mystic philosopher of ancient China, who lived in the 6^th century BC. He is credited with having written the Tao Te Ching and is considered the founder of a philosophy called Taoism which is popular among many Libertarians and Anarchists today. Tao means “The Way”. The 6^th century BC is right around the time of Lehi’s Trek to China and North America, and coincidentally Lao Tzu’s birth name was Li Er, which sounds a lot like Lehi.

Even though it is not commonly known or widely accepted among Mormons, the Book of Mormon itself supports the idea that Lehi and company passed through China. As they made their way across China to the seashore they undoubtedly had

The Liahona showed them the ‘Tao’, the way.

interaction with and most likely were joined by many Chinese who, like Lao Tzu himself, saw too much corruption in the society around them. To be influenced by the gentle wisdom and deep spiritual insight of Lau Tzu, who legend says left the kingdom to travel and teac

h “The Way,” and to then hear this traveling group of expatriates from Jerusalem speak of a promised land must have had a great effect on at least a fair number of souls. Whatever connections might have been made, there is no doubt that Taoism found its way into early Nephite culture. Since even a superficial comparison of the Tao Te Ching with the writings of Lehi, Jacob, King Benjamin and others will yield striking similarities. Through “The Way” they were able to receive the visitation of angels, have prophetic dreams and even command the trees and the waves of the sea. (Jacob 4:6)

Lao Tzu taught:

“Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habit. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.”

The Book of Mormon contains the caution to watch our thoughts and our words and our deeds, in that particular order. (Mosiah 4:30) This is the correct order for manifestation of a blessing but even a petition, though it may originate with physical need, it too must be sent up through the appropriate guided vacuum of thought if it is to reach the right department. We can think of it like sending an urgent message or payment through one of those devices commonly used at your local bank branch drive-thru for which the proper name is Pneumatic Tube Transport or PTT. In the case of proper prayer petitions PTT stands for Physical Talking Thinking. The pre-stood channels are set up for the express purpose of eternal giving and receiving back and forth between Heaven and Earth. This is not a worldly bank. It is the data bank of Heaven, the seed bank of Abraham. Whether depositing or withdrawing, there is no need to feel prideful or ashamed.  The temple patron’s donation, the widow’s mite, and the beggar’s petition are roles we will all fill at various times in our lives. God is no respecter of persons and His true apostles never charge money to let you hold real keys like we are charged to hold a temple recommend. They instead say to those who think they can purchase priesthood, “Thy money perish with thee!” (Acts 8:20) We must remember Christ because the whole thing functions as a memory bank, not a key bank.

The whole secret to keys is unlocking the mind of the Lord first by showing that we have at least become aware of keys in our possession and desire now to learn from Him how to properly use them. Each step in the process of learning keys and opening doors is vitally attached to the others in a loop. But since a loop is essentially a curved line, and because that curve is so long and gradual we feel as though we were just walking a straight line from point A to point B. The cyclical nature of eternity confuses most of us, most of the time. We can sometimes seem lost in the task of trying to find a starting place and indeed God Himself tells us that His “works have no end, neither beginning.” (D&C 29:33) However the Lord helps us out with a point of reference in verse 32. “First spiritual, secondly temporal….and again, first temporal, and secondly spiritual,” He says.

Now before we get all excited about having been provided a starting point, we should keep in mind that it is still a circuit the Lord is describing here. That information will be useful to us later on if we truly want to accomplish His purposes. We are to seek first the Kingdom. If Melchizedek Pre-Stood holders were earnestly seeking the Kingdom of God they might finally notice and admit to themselves and God that the Church is not that Kingdom. We could learn much from a simple quote from Theodore Parker about how our own theology blocks the door to the millennium and keeps us parking when we should be moving forward toward Zion.

“I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways; I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice.”

Its that type of faith and honesty alone that can bring clarity of conscience. Without obtaining clarity of conscience we will remain stuck in con-science of our own invention. For, while thought is an important step, it is not always those thoughts that we deem rational that come from God.

Fourth Chapter of Luke

A sense of the “Can-be Doing“:

The number of good things in the world that you can do are innumerable.  The number of things for which we are sent to do is considerably more limited.

and immediately after
when they had left the synagogue
they entered into the house of Simon and Andrew
with James and John
but Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick with a fever
and soon after arriving
they told Jesus about her

and he came
and took her by the hand
and lifted her up
and immediately
the fever left her
and she ministered unto them

At the evening
when the sun did set
the people of city brought unto him
all that were diseased
and any that were possessed with devils
and all the city was gathered together at the door

and he healed many that were sick of divers diseases
and cast out many devils
and suffered not the devils to speak
because they knew him

and in the morning
rising up a great while before the dawn
Jesus went out
and departed into a solitary place
and there prayed
and Simon
and they that were with him
followed after him
and when they had found him
they said unto him

all men seek for thee

and he said unto them

let us go into the next towns
that I may preach there also
for that is the reason I am sent

and he preached in their synagogues
throughout all Galilee
and cast out devils

[Mark 1:29-38]

Peter realized what they had going there in Capernaum.  They could set-up shop in his house.  Jesus stays inside — while he, Andrew, James, and John mediate access to Jesus’ miraculous works as door-keepers.

all men seek for thee

Peter says — why bother traveling around?

But the solitary time Jesus spent — fasting, praying, receiving and over-coming trials from the devil — gave him a sense of calling and purpose, so that he did not get bogged-down in the good works he could’ve done as the town-healer in a city of Galilee.

let us go into the next towns
that I may preach there also
for that is the reason I am sent

Jesus knew that he was come to seek and to save that which was lost [Luke 19:10], not to be sought after.  He was come to minister [Mark 10:45], not to be ministered to.

A sense of the “Should-be Doing“:

and Jesus
being full of the holy spirit
returned from Jordan
and She led him into the wilderness
to there be tried
by the devil
for forty days

and when the devil had exhausted all his trials
he departed from Jesus
for a period of time
and Jesus returned
in the power of the spirit
into Galilee

and he came to Nazareth
the city where he had grown up
and as the custom was
he went into the synagogue on the day of Saturn
and stood up to read the torah
and the leaders gave him
the book of the prophet Isaiah
and when he had opened the book
he found the place where it was written

the spirit of YHVH is upon me
because he has anointed me
to preach the gospel to the poor
to heal the broken-hearted
to preach deliverance to prisoners
and the recovering of sight to the blind
to set at liberty them of a contrite-spirit
to declare the Jubilation year of YHVH

and he closed the book
and he gave it to the minister of the synagogue
and sat down
and the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue
were fixed upon him
and he said to them all

this day
is this scripture fulfilled
in your ears

[Luke 4:1-2, 13-14, 16-21]

How do we get a sense of purpose in our life?

• Time in the wilderness

What do we do with that spirit of purpose?

• preach the gospel to the poor
• heal the broken-hearted
• preach deliverance to prisoners
• recover sight to the blind
• set at liberty them of a contrite-spirit
• declare the Jubilation year of YHVH

What is the most likely result?

and all they in the synagogue
when they heard these things
were filled with wrath
and rose up
and thrust him out of the city
and led him unto the cliff of the hill
whereon their city was built
that they might cast him off of it
headlong

[Luke 4:28-29]

Next Article by Justin: Plasma Theology

Previous Article by Justin:  The Revelation of God in Jesus Christ

(How do we pray? (When flowers do…))

The seeds of the powers of godliness

We are here on Earth in a temporal (mortal) existence to develop our faith as a principle of power by walking by faith. As an aid in that endeavor, we are offered the gifts of the Spirit.

Walking by sight

In our pre-mortal life, we walked by sight.  As we saw, so we did, imitating the beings around us, learning by copying what we saw others do.

Upon entering mortality as children, we bring this capacity to imitate others with us.  We imitate or emulate our parents, our brothers and sisters, our friends and associates, the celebrities of the day, etc.  Eventually we assimilate into whatever society we are born into.  Like the chameleon, we become what is around us.  A baby born in France, raised by French parents with French customs and language will soon feel and act like all other Frenchmen.  It is the same with every other culture.

While we resided in the heavens, we copied our perfect, heavenly Parents and their angels.  Here, we copy imperfect mortals.  Mortality, then, does not limit our ability to walk by sight.

Two principles of faith

The Lectures on Faith divide faith into two principles: one of action and one of power.

Regardless of which principle you use, all things are done by faith, though most everything in mortality is done by using faith as a principle of action.

Moving mountains

There are two ways of moving a mountain.  You can move it stone by stone with your hands, or by using shovels, bulldozers or other technologies, to force the elements that make up the mountain to move to another spot.  This would be faith as a principle of action.  Or, conversely, you can command the mountain to remove and it can obey you.  This would be faith as a principle of power.  The former uses coercion or force, wrestling with the elements to model them however you want them to be.  The latter uses agency.  The elements must voluntarily move themselves at your command.

Power faith is celestial

When we lived in the heavens, as all things were given agency, nothing that surrounded us there could be forced to do anything.  We could not even pick up a handful of heavenly dirt without its say-so.  Everything in heaven was accomplished “without compulsory means,” meaning that coercion, force, was (and still is) non-existent there.  In other words, we exercised faith only as a principle of power.  The elements around us obeyed us only insofar as they respected us and they respected us only insofar as we followed (imitated) the “grown-ups.”  There we learned to use faith as a principle of power by observing our heavenly Parents and the angels, for that is the only way that they operate.  They commanded the elements and were obeyed and so did we.

Action faith is earthly

Mortality is different. It is designed to allow faith to function under both principles.

Action faith is given to us a temporary crutch, as well as a test.  The elements that surround us here are commanded by God to allow us to push them around, regardless of our righteousness or lack thereof.  They voluntarily submit to His divine command and thus we can manipulate all the various earthly materials here.  If we desire it, we may never need to develop faith as a principle of power.  Mankind can survive on this planet (for a limited time, at least) solely on action faith.

Once we come here from heaven, we find ourselves in a fallen world.  Sin is rampant, both around us and in us.  Were the elements here operating like they did in heaven, everyone would immediately die.  We wouldn’t be able to even force air into our lungs, for the air would not allow itself to be forced into the lungs of a being it did not respect (a sinful being).  This would frustrate the design of God to prepare a world in which we could be tried and tested and in which would could develop faith as a principle of power.  So, as explained above, God commanded the elements that make up our temporal (mortal) existence to allow themselves to be pushed around by us, according to a specific set of laws that we term physics.

Imperfect memory is necessary for our test of power faith

If we had arrived here with our memory of pre-mortal life intact, we would remember how to use faith as a principle of power and would never sin, keeping our heavenly powers intact, as all things would continue to respect us and obey us.  But by the design of God, our memories are wiped clean and we become, as a result, unable to use faith as a principle of power (because we have forgotten how to).  The situation is okay, though, because we now can use faith as a principle of action, forcing the elements to sustain us.

Our limited memories serve another divine purpose.  As we cannot remember our past life in the heavens and we cannot see the future, plus the memory we have of our mortal lives is patchy at best, nothing is remembered perfectly and only bits and pieces remain in our minds to access at moments of recollection.  All of this is done so that we become blinded, so as not to instinctively walk by sight as we did in the heavens (and use power faith).  By limiting our memory (which is primarily a visual organ), we can only really see the present clearly.  The future is pitch black and the past is foggy.

Blindness required to walk by faith

In this state of blindness, we can be put on probation (tested) to see if we truly desire to use faith as a principle of power.  Whereas in the heavens we all learned to use faith as a principle of power, by walking by sight (because there was no other way to operate), here on Earth we can go our entire lives without ever using power faith, for action faith is available to us.  Thus, only those who truly desire to (re-)learn to use the heavenly powers will do so.  And so mortality becomes a test.

Additionally, mortality allows us to more fully develop our faith as a principle of power by walking by faith*.  There is no one to look at (imitate) to learn how to use the heavenly powers, nor can we access our memories to remember examples of how it is done.  When we walk by sight here we only learn to use faith as a principle of action, for this is the principle under which everyone here operates.  So, to use power faith we must walk by faith, or walk blindly, trusting in only the word of God and not the sight of Him.

(*Note: Although all things in heaven walk by sight, God walks both by sight and by faith.  In order for us to become like Him, then, mortality is given to us to develop this capacity.  I may have already explained this concept in the Faith of God series, but if not, I will, that is if I ever get around to finishing it.)

To re-iterate:

In the heavens we walked by sight, imitating the celestial beings we saw around us, copying what they did, and learned to use faith as a principle of power, for that is the only way that we saw them operate. We had no capacity to walk by faith, only by sight.

In mortality, we also walk by sight, imitating the fallen beings we see around us, copying what they do, and we thus learn to use faith as a principle of action, for that is the only way that fallen beings operate.  We are unable to exercise the power faith we previously had because we cannot remember (see) how to do it.

Being essentially blind, once we are presented with the word of God we are enabled to walk by faith and re-learn to use power faith.  Mortality is a test to see if we will choose to drop the crutch of action faith and start using power faith by walking by faith.

We must walk by faith

Mortality is the brief moment that God has given us to learn to walk by faith.  We are to walk by sight and use faith as a principle of action only until we are enabled to walk by faith.  Once we are presented with the word of God, we must let go of the crutch of action faith and re-enter the world of power faith.  We must stop walking by sight and start walking by faith.

If we do not learn to walk by faith and re-learn to use faith as a principle of power, we will be in for a whole lot of disappointment in the afterlife.  This is because the orders given by God to the elements that surround us in mortality (in which they allow themselves to be pushed around by us) only apply to mortality.  In the afterlife, the former rules (agency) apply and once again it will be impossible to force the elements to do anything against their wills.  In other words, in the afterlife faith as a principle of action no longer works.  If we haven’t re-learned how to use faith as a principle of power here on Earth, we will be powerless in the afterlife.

The best gifts develop power faith

To that end, that we might re-learn how to use faith as a principle of power and that we might learn to walk by faith, God has given us the best gifts of the Spirit.

The best gifts of the Spirit are the seeds of the powers of godliness.  When all of them are possessed in their fullness, one becomes omnipotent, able to do all things.  Here on Earth we are not expected to achieve every gift in its fullness, but we are expected to seek for them continually.

The gifts given to the LDS Gentile church

The LDS Gentile church of God has been given 14 best gifts, with one gift given to presiding elders to be able to discern the other gifts and weed out imposters.  They are obtained by asking God to receive them.  Once one of the gifts are received, faith can be more fully developed, for the gifts only operate on the principle of power.  As faith increases, and petitions for additional gifts are sent up to God, He grants more of them to the individual.  Eventually, following this pattern, all gifts may be obtained.

Gifts are paired

There are seven pairs of gifts.

1^st Pair – The gift of knowing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that he was crucified for the sins of the world. The gift of believing on the words of those who have the gift of knowing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that he was crucified for the sins of the world.

2^nd Pair – The gift of knowing the differences of administration according to the conditions among the children of men. The gift of knowing whether the diversities of operations are of God.

3^rd Pair – The gift of the word of wisdom. The gift of the word of knowledge.

4^th Pair – The gift of faith to be healed. The gift of faith to heal.

5^th Pair – The gift of the working of miracles. The gift to prophesy.

6^th Pair – The gift of the discerning of spirits. The gift to discern all best gifts.

7^th Pair – The gift to speak with tongues. The gift of the interpretation of tongues.

Gifts are designed to be used in a church (group) setting, for the benefit of all

Only one gift is typically given to an individual.  For this reason, God has placed us into groups, or congregations, or churches.  If you have 13 individuals, each with a separate gift of the Spirit, each member of the group receives benefit from the 12 other people who have the lacking gifts.  If their individual gifts are fairly well developed, you can place this group of 13 people in any location, in any situation, and they will have power to do all things which are expedient to the Lord.

For example, place them among a foreign group or tribe who speaks an unknown language and the ones who have the gifts of tongues and interpretation would allow the other 11 members to communicate with the foreign tribe.  Or, place them among sick people and the one with the faith to heal would heal them all.  Or, have them deliver a message to an area of sickness and pestilence, of a highly contagious plague.  Who would be sent?  The one with the gift to be healed.  Place them among an ignorant people with no books or learning materials, whatsoever.  What would they do?  They would have the ones with the gifts of the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge start teaching the people.  And if the 13 themselves have no access to learning, these two individuals would immediately begin teaching the others of the group.  Or, just place the 13 alone, without any means of survival whatsoever, would they survive?  Of course, they would.  The one with the gift to work miracles would assure that.  Put them among a lying tribe and the one who discerned spirits would discover the lies.  Try to surprise them and it wouldn’t work, for the one with the gift to prophesy would have already seen that coming.  And so on and so forth.

Thus we see that by placing us in a congregation or church, the Lord has allowed all members to receive benefit from all the gifts which they may not have yet obtained.  If we were just baptized and told to go home and worship God on our own, we would not receive any benefit from the gifts we lack, until we ourselves finally reached the point where we obtained all the best gifts.  Also, being around others, who possess gifts we do not possess ourselves, makes it easier for us to obtain them.  The same principle of learning by sight, or imitating others, works with the gifts, too.

Perfection of the saints

In fact, the only reason we are commanded to meet together is to perfect ourselves and the rest of the saints assembled through the manifestation of the gifts.  Everything done at church can be done in a home (family) setting if the priesthood is found in the home.  But to obtain benefit from gifts we do not possess, we must assemble with others who possess gifts we lack.  Said Paul:

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.  Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led.  Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.

Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.  And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.  And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.  But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.

For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: but all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.  For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.  For the body is not one member, but many.  If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?  And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?  If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?  But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.  And if they were all one member, where were the body?  But now are they many members, yet but one body.  And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.  Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: and those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.  For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked: that there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.  And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.  Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.

And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.  Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?  Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?  But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.  (1 Cor. 12)

Paul also said:

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. (Ephesians 4: 11-16)

Order of the gifts in the church

The church in Paul’s day had an order to the best gifts:

And God hath set some in the church,

first apostles (gift of knowing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God),

secondarily prophets (gift to prophesy),

thirdly teachers (gift of the word of wisdom and gift of the word of knowledge),

after that miracles (gift of the working of miracles),

then gifts of healings (gift of faith to be healed and gift of faith to heal),

helps (gift of believing, gift of differences of administration, gift of diversities of operations, gift of discerning of spirits),

governments (gift of discerning of gifts),

diversities of tongues (gift of tongues, gift of interpretation). (1 Corinthians 12: 28)

Another of Paul’s lists can also be assigned gifts:

And he gave some, apostles (gift of knowing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God);

and some, prophets (gift to prophesy);

and some, evangelists (gift of tongues, gift of interpretation);

and some, pastors (gift of discerning of gifts)

and teachers (gift of the word of wisdom and gift of the word of knowledge);  (Ephesians 4: 11)

We see from these lists that church callings are to come according to the gifts a person has.  This is why the gift to discern the best gifts, which is given to the bishop and to the presiding elders, is so important.

Modern view of the best gifts

Modern LDS (the Gentile Mormons) typically avoid the best gifts.  It is unusual to find anyone prophesying or publishing revelations or performing miracles or speaking in tongues or raising the dead or instantly healing people, etc.

When LDS speak of the gifts that they have, they’ll perhaps mention piano playing as a gift from God, or being a good doctor or surgeon, or being a good athlete, or being a nice person, etc.  A certain percentage of Gentile Mormons believe that manifestations of the best gifts routinely happen, but are just never spoken of, since they are “too sacred.”  Stories of gift manifestations are usually hearsay.

“Someone once told me that when he was on his mission, he met a man whose companion had healed someone by…”, etc.

Another percentage of Gentile Mormons have downgraded the best gifts to fit into more acceptable administrations.  So, for example, the gift of tongues becomes going to the MTC for two months and learning the language.  Or, the gift of healing becomes going to medical school and becoming a doctor or surgeon.  Or, the gift to prophesy becomes gaining the title of President of the Church and being called “the prophet.”  In like manner, the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge are delegated to those who have enough money to study at a university.   And the working of miracles becomes the “happening of miracles” and every little unexpected thing becomes a “miracle.”  Etc.

None of the best gifts work this way.  You cannot use faith as a principle of action to activate a best gift.  They only work by faith as a principle of power.  To illustrate, let’s examine the gift of the word of knowledge.

The gift of the word of knowledge

And again, verily I say unto you, to some is given, by the Spirit of God, the word of wisdom.  To another is given the word of knowledge, that all may be taught to be wise and to have knowledge.  (D&C 46: 17-18; the gift of the word of knowledge is in bold type.)

Ammon possessed the word of knowledge

The Book of Mormon contains an example of the gift of the word of knowledge in action:

And it came to pass that when they had established a church in that land, that king Lamoni desired that Ammon should go with him to the land of Nephi, that he might show him unto his father.

And the voice of the Lord came to Ammon, saying:

Thou shalt not go up to the land of Nephi, for behold, the king will seek thy life; but thou shalt go to the land of Middoni; for behold, thy brother Aaron, and also Muloki and Ammah are in prison.

Now it came to pass that when Ammon had heard this, he said unto Lamoni:

Behold, my brother and brethren are in prison at Middoni, and I go that I may deliver them.

Now Lamoni said unto Ammon:

I know, in the strength of the Lord thou canst do all things. But behold, I will go with thee to the land of Middoni; for the king of the land of Middoni, whose name is Antiomno, is a friend unto me; therefore I go to the land of Middoni, that I may flatter the king of the land, and he will cast thy brethren out of prison.

Now Lamoni said unto him:

Who told thee that thy brethren were in prison?

And Ammon said unto him:

No one hath told me, save it be God; and he said unto me—

Go and deliver thy brethren, for they are in prison in the land of Middoni.  (Alma 20:1-5)

Ammon had knowledge that his brethren were, at that moment, in prison.  No one but God gave him this knowledge.  He then communicated the information to others, namely Lamoni.  This wasn’t knowledge of a spiritual thing, but of a physical fact that could be verified: Aaron, Muloki and Ammah were in prison at that very moment.  So, this was knowledge of something physically happening in the present.  It didn’t deal at all with anything pertaining to the future.  Nevertheless, no one but God told Ammon this fact, so, although it was knowledge of a physical thing that could be verified with one’s own two eyes, it was communicated via spiritual means.  This is, essentially, what the gift of the word of knowledge is all about.

The Savior mentioned the word of knowledge

Another example from the Book of Mormon comes from the Savior’s visit. Speaking to the Nephites, he said:

And I command you that ye shall write these sayings after I am gone, that if it so be that my people at Jerusalem, they who have seen me and been with me in my ministry, do not ask the Father in my name, that they may receive a knowledge of you by the Holy Ghost, and also of the other tribes whom they know not of, that these sayings which ye shall write shall be kept and shall be manifested unto the Gentiles, that through the fulness of the Gentiles, the remnant of their seed, who shall be scattered forth upon the face of the earth because of their unbelief, may be brought in, or may be brought to a knowledge of me, their Redeemer. (3 Ne. 16: 4; the gift of the word of knowledge is in bold type.)

Contrasted with the gift to prophesy

Notice how the gift of the word of knowledge contrasts with the gift to prophesy.  Again, an example from the Book of Mormon:

And it came to pass in the eleventh year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, on the fifth day of the second month, there having been much peace in the land of Zarahemla, there having been no wars nor contentions for a certain number of years, even until the fifth day of the second month in the eleventh year, there was a cry of war heard throughout the land.  For behold, the armies of the Lamanites had come in upon the wilderness side, into the borders of the land, even into the city of Ammonihah, and began to slay the people and destroy the city.

And now it came to pass, before the Nephites could raise a sufficient army to drive them out of the land, they had destroyed the people who were in the city of Ammonihah, and also some around the borders of Noah, and taken others captive into the wilderness.

Now it came to pass that the Nephites were desirous to obtain those who had been carried away captive into the wilderness.  Therefore, he that had been appointed chief captain over the armies of the Nephites, (and his name was Zoram, and he had two sons, Lehi and Aha)—now Zoram and his two sons, knowing that Alma was high priest over the church, and having heard that he had the spirit of prophecy, therefore they went unto him and desired of him to know whither the Lord would that they should go into the wilderness in search of their brethren, who had been taken captive by the Lamanites.

And it came to pass that Alma inquired of the Lord concerning the matter. And Alma returned and said unto them:

Behold, the Lamanites will cross the river Sidon in the south wilderness, away up beyond the borders of the land of Manti. And behold there shall ye meet them, on the east of the river Sidon, and there the Lord will deliver unto thee thy brethren who have been taken captive by the Lamanites.  (Alma 16: 1-6)

In this case, Alma the younger had the spirit of prophecy, in other words, he had the gift to prophesy, and so he inquired of the Lord and received a prophecy of the future.  The “Lamanites will cross the river Sidon” (a prediction of the future), “there ye shall meet them” (another prediction of the future), “the Lord will deliver unto thee thy brethren” (a third prediction of the future).

Similar gifts

Prophecy does not deal with knowledge of things present and past, it deals with things pertaining to futurity: what will or shall happen.  On the other hand, the gift of the word of knowledge deals only with what has happened (the past) and what is happening (the present).  Both gifts, though, come through the manifestation of the Spirit.  Or as Ammon put it, “no one hath told me, save it be God.”

So, prophecy and the word of knowledge are almost the same gift, except for this one division: facts revealed of the present or past correspond to the word of knowledge, whereas words pertaining to the future correspond to prophecy.

All best gifts obtained by faith, not by study

All gifts of the Spirit are obtained by faith.  The healing gifts are called “faith to heal” and “faith to be healed” (see D&C 46: 19-20), but all the gifts could be worded the same way.  In other words, faith to speak the word of wisdom, faith to speak the word of knowledge, faith to prophesy, faith to work miracles, faith to speak in tongues, faith to interpret tonges, etc.  Without faith, none of these gifts are obtainable.

And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith.  (D&C 88: 118)

The above scripture speaks of wisdom and learning (knowledge).  Wisdom and knowledge are two gifts of the Spirit, but the only way to obtain them directly from the Spirit is by having faith.  However, because not everyone has faith to speak the word of wisdom and faith to speak the word of knowledge, we are instructed to seek words of wisdom and learning out of the best books and teachers by study.  Wisdom and knowledge obtained by studying the best books and teachers should not be confused with the gift of faith to speak the word of wisdom and the gift of faith to speak the word of knowledge.  These gifts come by faith, not by study.

Nevertheless, the Lord is saying in this verse that those who do not possess the gifts of wisdom and knowledge, can still obtain wisdom and knowledge through those who possess these gifts.  In other words, the two gifts of wisdom and knowledge are for the express purpose “that all may be taught to be wise and to have knowledge.”  Those who possess these two gifts of the Spirit are to be the teachers that “teach one another words of wisdom” and “learning.”  They are to be the ones who write “the best books” in which are found “words of wisdom” and “learning.”  Their wisdom and knowledge does not come to these teachers through study, but by faith, directly from the Spirit, for they are spiritual gifts.

Confusion of the gifts

Modern LDS often confuse the obtaining of knowledge or wisdom through study and life experience as gifts of the Spirit.  If we find a man who is possessed of great knowledge or wisdom, and who seems to be a God-fearing righteous man, we are apt to believe he possesses the gift of the word of wisdom or knowledge.  He may or may not possess those gifts.  It all depends how he obtained his wisdom and knowledge.  If it was through studying at a university and life experience, then he doesn’t possess the gifts.  If it is through the revelations of the Spirit, (“no one hath told me, save it be God”), then he possesses these gifts.

How the best gifts work

“No one hath told me, save it be God” is the standard to determine whether a best gift is operating or not.  Regardless of the gift, for it to be a legitimate operation it must be by faith as a principle of power, meaning that if you speak words of wisdom, you must have gotten those words from God and no one else; if you speak words of knowledge, you must not have learned it from anyone but God; if you heal the sick, the healing power must not have been learned at medical school but must have come solely from God; if you work miracles, it must be a work done by you (such as Jesus turning water into wine) and not mere happenstance; if you prophesy, it must not be an educated guess based upon others’ speculations or statistics, but must be a prophecy you received solely from God; if you speak in foreign or unknown tongues, it must not have been learned through study; etc.

Let’s say that I prophesy that during this month of September (2010) that there is going to be a massively destructive earthquake in California that will turn the financial markets upside down.  Let’s say that I am the only one saying this and that I am claiming that no one has told me this, save it be God.  Let’s say that others believe me and then they also go around saying that in September there will be a great quake in California, as if it were their own prophecy. Then, along comes some date in September and lo and behold, a moment magnitude 9.0 quake strikes, sinking California’s economy and plunging the nation’s finances into the worst mess ever seen.  In which of the individuals would the gift to prophesy have been manifested?  In me or in the others who parroted my words?

The answer is only in me. Since I received the prophecy from no one, save God, the gift was manifested in me only.  The others benefited and repeated the same message, as if it came to them directly, but they didn’t have the gift.  Just because you repeat a real prophecy doesn’t make you a prophet.

In the same manner, just because some obtain words of wisdom and knowledge (through study and schooling) or ability to heal people (through study and learning) or language learning ability (through study) doesn’t mean they are possessors of these best gifts.

Some personal experience

I have had some limited experience with the various gifts. In the vast majority of the manifestations, if not all of them, I have been left totally perplexed. To the rational mind, it all appears insane.

For example, I once received a prophecy whose fulfillment was a distinct possibility. Then conditions changed and it became totally impossible for its fulfillment. But, I was sure that as crazy as it sounded, it would come to pass. So I simply waited for the conditions to change. Eleven years later conditions miraculously did change and the prophecy was fulfilled every whit.

On another occasion, I was praying for guidance on what to do and a manifestation of the word of wisdom occurred (the only time that has ever happened to me). I was told what would be the wisest course of action to take but it was the absolute craziest thing I had ever heard. But I knew this was from the Spirit and so I did it. In hindsight, I see that it really was a word of wisdom.

On yet another occasion, I remember, I was at work when the Spirit came upon me and told me that a friend of mine was in great danger. Who gave me this knowledge? “No one, save God.” As soon as I was able to, I made the phone call to my friend and sure enough, the Spirit was right.

Each manifestation I’ve received over the years has caused my logical, rational mind to protest. Yet, I have continued to ignore it. In fact, as time goes on, the revelations, prophecies and manifestations seem to be getting even more illogical and bizarre, at least to my rational mind. So, based upon my own experience, I don’t believe that we should expect to rationally understand the manifestations that may come. After all, the natural man cannot comprehend the things of God. In other words, it doesn’t really matter what the manifestation is, the only really important thing is that the manifestation comes from God.

Gifts are unscientific

Recently I commented on a blog by posting a link to The Split-Brain Model of the Gospel post. The blog’s owner replied,

“I will allow the link, but please note that I do NOT accept the proposed model therein as either good science or good theology.

A significant problem with “split-brain” popularizations is one of going far beyond the data into the realm of wild speculation. Readers of such popularizations should beware.”

The reply is interesting because it beautifully shows the reaction of the logical, rational, intellectual left-brain-mind to something written from the right-brain-heart (my post). I especially enjoyed reading that the model was considered unscientific.

Gifts are intended to engender and develop faith

Taking the gift of the word of knowledge again as an example, we should understand that even this gift, which appears to be based upon science (after all, it is knowledge, right?), is primarily designed to develop faith, not impart knowledge. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? Let me explain.

Knowledge communicated by the Spirit through this gift is fact, not fiction, nevertheless, it is information that may not be readily verifiable.

For example, when Lehi stated, “I know that Jerusalem is destroyed,” this was the gift of the word of knowledge working in him. It was a fact. Jerusalem was destroyed at that time. This could be verified with one’s own two eyes if one could visit Jerusalem and see it for oneself. However, the Nephites could not visit Jerusalem, so they could only take Lehi’s words on faith.

Ammon’s word to Lamoni also were verifiable fact, but Lamoni could not verify them at that moment, so they had to be taken on faith.

So, the word of knowledge is a gift that imparts knowledge of present and past things that cannot immediately be verified using secular means, to the end that the listeners can develop their faith. The knowledge imparted is not of eye-witness accounts, but is a revelation from the Spirit.  The only way to immediately verify it is by another witness of the Spirit.

To illustrate, let’s say a group of 200 people are congregated and a man stands up and says that there is an army of 50,000 men in Cuba making preparations to attack Florida. Who told him this? “No one,” says he, “save it be God.” The man is not an eye-witness. The knowledge is received through spiritual means. Can it be verified? Sure, if one could be transported to Cuba. But as one can’t, it must be taken on faith.

Now let’s say that 5 other people in the group stand up and say that the Spirit has just told them the same thing. Does this add to the credibility of the first man? Not really, as none of them are eye-witnesses. There is nothing scientific about this. Yet, this is how the gift of the word of knowledge functions. It is designed to engender faith, not mere knowledge. Is this good science? Nope. Is this good theology? Yep.

Now let’s say 6 other people stand up, having just come from Cuba and they state they are eye-witnesses and can corroborate that indeed, Cuba is getting ready to invade Florida. Is this good science? Perhaps, if the witnesses are reliable. Is this good theology? Not really.

Don’t avoid the best gifts

I’ll be the first to admit that the best gifts take some getting used to, like an acquired taste. But again, we shouldn’t have an expectation that the things of God are going to be like the things of men.

The current trend in the church is to mainstream our image. As a result, I largely see LDS avoiding the best gifts. But this is a dangerous mistake, one which will lead to widespread deception among the membership.

The gifts are to avoid deception

The Lord said, “that ye may not be deceived seek ye earnestly the best gifts” (D&C 46: 8). Any man or woman who possesses one of these gifts and actively uses them will be protected from the deceptions of the day, whether they be “doctrines of devils, or commandments of men; for some are of men, and others of devils” (D&C 46: 7).

Nephi prophesied that the Gentile churches “which are built up, and not unto the Lord” will “deny the power of God, the Holy One of Israel; and they say unto the people: Hearken unto us, and hear ye our precept; for behold there is no God today, for the Lord and the Redeemer hath done his work, and he hath given his power unto men; behold, hearken ye unto my precept; if they shall say there is a miracle wrought by the hand of the Lord, believe it not; for this day he is not a God of miracles; he hath done his work.”  (See 2 Nephi 28: 3, 5-6.)

Sound familiar? We are well on our way to fulfilling this prophecy, as LDS blindly follow their leaders, trusting that the leading brethren will not deceive them and relying upon their mortal guidance, without earnestly seeking and manifesting the gifts.

The gifts are no more

Among the majority membership, most of the best gifts are no longer manifested. The first two gifts are still among us: knowing Jesus Christ is the Son of God and believing that He is. But the rest of them are all but gone. At church, where the gifts are supposed to be manifested for the benefit of the congregation, no one prophesies, no one knows the diversities of operations, no one knows the differences of administration, no one teaches words of wisdom and words of knowledge, no one heals, no one is healed, no one works miracles, no one discerns spirits, no one speaks in tongues, no one interprets tongues, and none of the leadership discerns the gifts, for there are hardly any gifts manifesting which need discerning.

We have replaced a reliance upon the gifts with a reliance upon our leaders (the Brethren), setting up the fulfillment of Nephi’s prophecy. Instead of going to church and being spiritually uplifted and edified by participating in the manifestations of these gifts, we are lulled into a deep slumber and security. Our meetings are largely spiritually dead. The Holy Ghost has all but left the LDS Gentiles.

But two gifts left

The day that the last two remaining gifts are taken away from us will be the day when no one will join this church anymore. People currently join the church because the Holy Ghost manifests that the message is true. But the day fast approaches when the Holy Ghost will stop manifesting even that. When that occurs, the church (or churches, as it will be), will need to change their proselytizing methods. No more will it be, “ask God if these things are not true” but “come unto me, and for your money you shall be forgiven of your sins” and other wicked enticements to enter the church.

At that point, the wo pronounced by Moroni to the Gentiles will come to pass:

And now I speak unto all the ends of the earth—that if the day cometh that the power and gifts of God shall be done away among you, it shall be because of unbelief. And wo be unto the children of men if this be the case; for there shall be none that doeth good among you, no not one. For if there be one among you that doeth good, he shall work by the power and gifts of God. And wo unto them who shall do these things away and die, for they die in their sins, and they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God; and I speak it according to the words of Christ; and I lie not. (Moroni 10: 24-26)

The return of the gifts

The good news is that although at some point the gifts will be lost to the Gentiles, He will send more messengers who will be manifesting these same gifts. Unless you, yourself, as an individual, have developed one or more of these best gifts, and have come to recognize the manifestation of the gifts that you do not have—by being around people who have them (a congregation)—you will, like the majority member, be deceived into rejecting the new messengers sent from heaven. You cannot recognize bona fide best gifts of the Spirit unless you have experience in them. We must all then become familiar with these gifts, lest we perish at their re-appearance.

The future use of the best gifts

There is a great work to be done in the future, using these seeds of power, before the advent of the Lord. Everything mentioned in the scriptures that was done by them will be done again, with additional, new uses. Everything done before is but a precursor to what lies ahead.

To give an example, we are told that the Nephites had power to move mountains, that the brother of Jared moved mount Zerin (sounds similar to Zion, doesn’t it?), that the Savior told his disciples that if they had faith as a grain of mustard seed, they could move mountains.

Why all this mentioning of moving mountains by power faith? What is so important about it? Why do we need to learn this power? The obvious answer is that at some point in the future, prior to the Second Coming, mountains will need to be moved to fulfill the prophecies. Previously on this continent, the Nephites (and the brother of Jared) moved mountains. It may be that those mountains will have to be removed (or moved back) to their original locations at a future time.

There will not be the time nor the means to accomplish this using action faith, so we must learn to plant and engender and develop these seeds of the powers of godliness that the Lord’s plans may be fulfilled through us. If we do not develop these gifts, someone else will and it will be he or she who fulfills the prophecies, while we are cut off from the privileges we might have had.

Complete List of Articles authored by LDS Anarchist

My extended fast journal

After writing about the physical benefits of extended fasting, I decided to try it myself. As I’ve never engaged in an extended fast, this is my first foray into Moses, Gandhi, Alma and Jesus territory. I am seeking both spiritual and physical blessings with this fast and will report what I learn.

My goal is to fast at least 30 days and maybe reach the golden number of 40 days. But I’ll be happy with 30.

I started my fast Sunday night, April 6th, 2008. Here’s a quick recap.

Monday night, April 7th. I completed a 24-hour fast. Whoop-dee-doo. I do this every month. No biggie. I can handle this.

Tuesday night, April 8th. I completed a 48-hour fast. Wow. I’m impressed. I don’t think I’ve ever gone two days without a bite to eat. Strangely enough, I have no temptations and hardly any hunger. Piece of cake. I can easily reach 30 to 40 days.

Wednesday night, April 9th. Most of the day was fairly easy, though my sense of smell has gone up a notch or ten in sensitivity. I can smell every dish being cooked up from a block away. For most of the day, it’s no biggie. This evening, though, hunger hit hard. Maybe it was me watching episode after episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations on the Travel Channel, which I regularly record, that set me off on a hungering after non-spiritual physical things. I don’t know. As I don’t normally watch television, other than Bourdain and Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern (another Travel Channel show), I didn’t think it would hurt to keep watching my favorite shows during my time of fasting.

I was wrong.

Although my mouth normally waters while watching Bourdain stuff himself with things I have only dreamt of eating, this time I got an epiphany. My childhood dream of becoming a chef hit me again. Not that I want to change careers and work at a restaurant of my own or of another. Heaven forbid. No, but suddenly, this man who doesn’t ever cook (my wife being the chef of the house), suddenly found himself desirous to both cook and eat. Everything. Who cared what it was. But especially the good stuff. I saw my culinary experience as very limited and realized that I had to catch up. What if I died tomorrow, or on the 30th day, fasting, and never got to eat any of the good stuff? No, I now know without a shadow of a doubt, that on that 41st day will begin my newfound second profession of cook. And not just any cook, at that. I plan on making my mark on the culinary world by creating my own personal dishes, unique in all the world. Thank you Bourdain and thank you fasting.

Okay, so, now it’s the middle of the night, technically April 10 (Thursday) and I’ve somewhat gotten over the starvation I earlier experienced. Will I make it through this fast? Will I make it through tonight? Or will my strong will see me through it? I’m betting on my strong will (as I really want the spiritual and physical blessings that supposedly come from this.) This blog post will document my new journey. Anyone who wants to leave encouragement or even tell me what a stupid thing I’m doing is welcome to do so. (If I get the latter, it’ll make it all the more pleasurable to say “Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah!” to the scoffers and naysayers as I recount my improved physical state and enhanced spiritual powers with a demonstration that my will is stronger than theirs.)

Note: the only thing I am ingesting during this fast is lots of water and some sea salt. I’m also ingesting a special clay, mixed in water, to help clean out the intestines.

Thursday night, April 10th. I have completed a four-day fast. Today was easy. I don’t know why.

Friday night, April 11th. I’ve got a five-day fast under my belt. I had no temptations today, whatsoever. I did feel a little tired in the late afternoon, but it didn’t last long. My wife decided this morning she would also fast to clear up some physical conditions that have not responded to medical treatment. She lasted until this evening. She says she’ll try again tomorrow. The 6th or 7th day is when the body switches signals. I look forward to finding out what this feels like.

Saturday night, April 12th. I’ve now completed a six-day fast. Still no temptations, however, I went to bed kinda early last night and overslept today. I was exhausted pretty much the whole day, with sporadic bursts of energy in between. I took a two-hour nap in the afternoon, which helped to restore energy. I hope that tomorrow I’ll be past this stage. For those who attempt an extended fast, I recommend that you time it so that your sixth or seventh day lands on a non-work day, such as the weekend, so that the fatigue doesn’t cause problems. I don’t know how long the signal switching lasts, but I’m ready for it. My wife, on the other hand, apparently has a food addiction. She tried to fast again today and lasted about 4 hours. She has now ditched the fasting idea, which is too bad, as her conditions constantly afflict her.

Sunday night, April 13th. I’ve completed a seven-day fast. It appears my appetite has completely switched off. The sight and smell of food causes no reaction. My strength has returned, too. My stomach still feels weird at times, though, from being continually empty (hunger pangs), but I have no desires to eat. I wonder if the hunger pangs will go away eventually. Today was also kind of weird as I partaking of the sacrament, as I realized I couldn’t partake of the bread, only the water. Hopefully, Heavenly Father understands the situation and blesses me according to the desires of my heart, despite partaking of a partial sacrament. It should be smooth sailing from now on until the “wolf’s appetite” arrives after the 30th day. I’ll deal with that when it comes.

Monday night, April 14th. I have completed an eight-day fast. Today was a piece of cake, or should I say, a piece of nothing? Had I known that extended fasting was this easy, I would have done it along time ago. All one has to do is get through the 3rd day and the 6-7th days and it’s easy sailing until the end. I weighed myself on a scale this morning and found that I have lost 13 pounds during this fast! I had no fatigue whatsoever today, only energy and calmness.

Tuesday night, April 15th. I now have nine days under my belt. Red areas are starting to break out in certain parts of my body. It’s not quite a rash, more like dermatitis. It doesn’t itch. In fact, I wouldn’t have known it was there until some one pointed it out to me. It is not extensive, just one or two very small spots. As the skin is an eliminative organ, this doesn’t phase me. I had plenty of energy today, no fatigue, drank lots of water, etc. Tomorrow will make the ¼ mark. Maybe I should throw a celebration or something, without the cookies and milk.

Wednesday night, April 16th. I’ve completed a 10-day fast. So far, so good. I dreamed I went to a restaurant last night and chewed a morsel of an orange, only to realize that I was fasting and attempted to spit it out, but some went down the hatch. I had a Herxheimer effect tonight for a few hours due to another healing modality I’m using, but it passed. No fatigue, plenty of energy, etc. 20 – 30 days left of this fast.

Thursday night, April 17th. 11 days down, 19-29 left. My stomach has been queasy on and off today. I trace it to that “other” healing modality I did yesterday. The red areas are not spreading, but have become more noticeable. They are drying out with small scabs. I expect they’ll fall off eventually. The bad thing is some of these areas are on my face (forehead and cheek) so people are probably going to think I’ve got some contagious disease. At least it appears to be in its “out” phase.

Saturday afternoon, April 19th. Tonight will make 13 days into this fast. 17-27 days left. The queasiness of my stomach has steadily decreased over the last two days, but occasionally I still feel it. Smelling foods and being around foods seems to help get through the days. Smelling a lemon removes queasiness temporarily. According to a friend of mine, smelling food imparts the food’s energy to the body. My 13-day experience seems to indicate that this is correct.

As I’ve been thinking a lot about food lately, I ended up inventing a novel way of serving a simple sandwich: peanut butter and jelly. Make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, pour some cold milk in a bowl, place the sandwich in the bowl so that one side soaks up the milk. Pour more milk if necessary until the one side is saturated with milk to overflowing. Flip the sandwich over using a spatula. Pour more milk until the second side is saturated. Cut the sandwich into small squares and serve immediately with a spoon. I tried it out on my youngest son. I also prepared a second peanut butter and jelly sandwich (the normal way.) He ate both. Afterward, I asked him which he preferred. His answer was the one soaked in milk.

There has been no fatigue, etc., so far. Nevertheless, I am anxious to get to the 40 day mark so that I can finally start eating again. The red spots have turned dark and dried out. I don’t know when they will fall off, but I expect it to happen soon.

One last thing: I probably won’t be writing any more original articles on this blog until this fast is over. Although I have already noticed a significant improvement in mental clarity, I’m trying to bathe as little as possible in the radiation of a computer monitor as I can. But I may still comment on posts from time to time and I will definitely continue to update this journal.

Monday night, April 21st. No I haven’t keeled over and died. However, my wife did save my life Saturday night. (It was nothing fasting related.) As I have saved her life on an occasion, which I thought would forever put her in my debt, she has now repaid the favor, so we are now even. Now back to the regularly scheduled fasting updates…

I’ve completed a 15-day fast. I am at the half-way mark for a 30-day fast. There are 15-25 days left. I feel fantastic. No loss of energy, no temptations, though I think about food constantly. I’ve even invented other culinary dishes much more complex than the simple BJM sandwich (peanut butter and jelly with milk sandwich.) The queasiness of my stomach, which was due to a accident with another healing modality that I did, has finally left. Thank goodness! I can handle hunger, but constant nausea without vomiting was driving me up the wall. My skin blotches have not entirely gone away, yet. I got a call from a good friend today to find out if I was still alive. His assessment, based upon our conversation, was that I had more energy than ever before. He’s right. I do.

Tuesday night, April 22nd. 16 days down, 14-24 days left. No changes, other than that the dry blotches are still slowly falling off. I think and talk about food constantly and need to smell all food odors around me. I am haunted by its memory. I weighed myself yesterday morning and I had lost a total of 18 pounds so far. There are still more areas where poundage can come off, so it will be interesting to see what my final weight will be. My wife said to me tonight that she will attempt a fast starting tomorrow. We’ll see.

Wednesday night, April 23rd. 17 days down, 13-23 days left. They don’t call this the hunger cure for nothing. I get really hungry at times, but without any appetite. I know it sounds like a contradiction in terms, but those who have gone through this before will understand what I’m saying. It’s a very strange sensation. My wife has fasted all day today. We’ll see if she sticks with it tomorrow.

Thursday night, April 24th. 18 days down, 12-22 days left. My skin is clearing up more and more each day. No problems, no temptations, no appetite, no loss of energy or strength, etc. My wife completed a two-day fast tonight. I’m proud of her, though she is suffering tremendously with a hungering appetite. If she can last past three days, her appetite will switch off and it’ll be much easier. We’ll see if she makes it. what4anarchy is now considering doing an extended fast, too.

Friday night, April 25th. 19 days down, 11-21 days left. It’s amazing to think I only have three weeks left of this. My wife’s will broke down this morning. She ended her fast two and a half days into it. She says she’ll try it again. The first three days really is the hardest part. No changes as far as I go. We went to a church function tonight, which, off course, had food. I hated seeing people leave food on their plate. I wanted everyone to eat every last bite. Fasting gives one a new perspective on just what a blessing food is. Also, the starving people around the world have been on my mind. I can’t bear to see food go to waste.

Saturday night, April 26th. 20 days down, 10-20 days left. About a year ago I broke my big toe in a crush injury. I have never had full mobility in it since, but I now, since fasting 20 days, have full mobility with no pain, at all. I was told that I would probably develop arthritis in the joint. If it did develop, it’s gone now. The last I checked (yesterday), I had lost a total of 19 pounds since starting the fast. My skin seems to be noticeably improving all over my body.

Monday, April 28th. 22 days down, 8-18 days left. Tonight I will complete 22 days. The last few days I’ve felt nausea. I can deal with hunger, but constant nausea drives me up the wall. I found that a broken cinnamon stick right under the nose so that I am continually smelling it takes away the nausea. Today, I’ve had minimal nausea. It appears to be going away. Also, there is a bump or inflammation in my throat, at the back of my mouth. It’s been there for days. It feels like a hair stuck there. Again, it is driving me crazy, but it, also, is diminishing. I want to clear my throat constantly. The red blotches have all turned very dark and are starting to lighten up to match the color of the surrounding skin. They are no longer dry or flaky or scabby, as all of that has fallen off, leaving only dark “stains” which each day lighten more and more. It still looks like I got some vile skin disease, though, as they are in a very noticeable area (the forehead.)

I broke my big toe last year (a crush injury) which prohibited me from full mobility and what little mobility I had was with some pain. Some were of the opinion that arthritis would develop in the toe and I would always have pain and limited mobility. The other day, though, I noticed I had full mobility with no pain, whatsoever. If I did have arthritis, it appears to be gone. [Tue 29 Apr ’08 update: I didn’t realize I had written this same thing last Saturday. Sorry for the redundancy.]

The miracle of the toe has inspired my wife and mother to try a seven-day fast, to see if their symptoms improve any. If improvement is noticed, they will continue longer. They started last night. We’ll see how long they last.

One piece of advice to any who wish to start an extended fast: the bowels should be purged first before beginning the fast. The best way to purge bowels is through squatting.

Tuesday, April 29th. 23 days down, 7-17 days left. Still going strong. I’ve learned that the nausea is caused by the lymphatic system dumping an overabundance of toxins into the liver, which then delivers bile to the stomach to attempt to get me to vomit it out. In other words, this is a detoxification symptom. Though less today, there is still some nausea. I’ll just have to wait it out.

Thursday, May 1st. 25 days down, 5-15 days left. Tonight will make 25 days on this fast. It’ll take me at least 10 days to get off of it gradually. Will I make it to the magic number 40? I am anxious for the end to come, but very curious as to when the “wolf’s appetite” will hit. Spiritual benefits have already been manifested. A couple of nights ago I received a prophetic dream which woke me up. About 45 minutes later the prophecy was fulfilled. (Unfortunately, it wasn’t a “good” prophecy.) At any rate, though, it is good to know that extended fasting does work as promised to increase one’s faith so that spiritual gifts already possessed are enhanced or new spiritual gifts are obtained. My skin blotches are now nearly faded away. My wife lasted but one day on her fast, but my mother, who it turns out started her fast last Saturday afternoon, is still going strong. She has a surgery scheduled for next month (a replacement) that she is hoping to avert by curing her condition with fasting, so she is a bit more motivated than my wife.

Friday, May 2nd. 26 days down, 4-14 days left. Tonight will make 26 days on this fast. Two weeks left, unless I decide to go for a record. (Highly doubtful.) A mystic intellectual (strange mix) friend of mine thinks I have sufficient mental and spiritual constitution to go past the “wolf’s appetite” phase and just live on the Spirit. She may be right, but my goal in this fast is just to clear up certain physical ailments and to gain more spiritual powers. When those physical ailments are gone, I will stop. The next time I do this—and there will be a next time, as I now see that faith is rapidly increased on an extended fast, and I desire even greater faith—it will be a strictly spiritual fast, to obtain the spiritual gifts that I do not yet have and to obtain the higher manifestations of the gifts that I do have. I’d also, one day, like to get to the point of Moses, who apparently went 40 days and 40 nights without food or water. That requires living on the Spirit from the get go. My mother is still going strong on her fast, too. (Almost six days now.) Oh, yeah, and I weighed myself today and have lost a total of 23 pounds on this fast.

Monday, May 5nd. 29 days down, 1-11 days left. Tonight will make 29 days on this fast. It looks like I’ll be going at least 40 days on this fast. Although one of the two conditions I was hoping to clear up appears to be completely gone, the other condition is not, yet, entirely eliminated, even though each day it gets better. I will fast until the second ailment has entirely disappeared. If, though, it disappears and the “wolf’s appetite” hasn’t struck, I’ll wait until my appetite comes, then stop. If the appetite strikes and the condition is not completely gone, I’ll ignore the appetite until the condition is gone, then stop. That is my plan. I don’t care if it takes 40 or more days. I suppose all the medications I took as a kid (steroids, etc.) have accumulated in my cells and my body is now scouring every last nook and cranny, trying to get rid of all foreign substances. This is, in fact, what happens with extended fasts. The first part all the “obvious” poisons are gotten rid of, the second half of the fast is dedicated to removing the junk from all “hidden” spots. Each day you extend it, more garbage is found and thrown out. Eventually, I’ll be completely clean of the medications. I believe it is the medications, as I’ve been a fairly good eater pretty much all my life.

This is not to say that the fast is easy. It is not. It is very hard. It takes guts to go cold turkey like I’ve done. Usually, fasting experts suggest you build up to long fasts with short ones, using juice fasts, etc. I don’t recommend doing what I’ve done unless you’ve got what it takes. I am extremely motivated, though, so I don’t mind passing through 40 days of absolute hell and boredom. On other news, my mother lasted almost nine days on her fast and today she decided to wean herself off of it. She experienced lightheadedness, dizziness, nausea, weakness, etc. She will go through with her surgery, even though a slew of ailments she has always had have disappeared in the last nine days, including the limp she used to have.

Wednesday, May 7th. 31 days down, 9 days left. Tonight will make 31 days on this fast. I was just about ready to throw in the towel last night. The last few days my salivary glands have been overactive, salivating constantly. Plus, I have had to expel phlegm continuously. Not the green or orange stuff, but even though it is white, I know it is toxic because after clearing my throat and spitting it out a few times, I’m left with a putrid taste in my mouth. I’ve got to brush my teeth often to get the taste out of my mouth. This has become quite an inconvenience as I need to spit all the time and it has been affecting my work. I was left with a decision: continue on and have my work disrupted or discontinued (for a time) or stop before the body had cleared out everything. Initially, I decided in favor of work and putting food on the table. But then I reconsidered. The Lord has always provided for us, even miraculously in the toughest of times. I’ve made it a practice to try to always live by faith. Why change now, right? So, I’m pushing on. Still no appetite. Yesterday I weighed myself and found that I’ve lost a total of 26 pounds, so far. There are a few more areas of stored fat that can be melted away, so I expect to lose even more. Even so, I look extremely skinny. Not skin and bones, but muscle, skin and bones, as I’ve lost none of my muscle fiber. However, the muscle is now lean muscle, not fatty muscle, and I can finally see clearly just how much actual muscle tissue I have on my body. The last few days I’m having a hard time getting water down the hatch. Water gives me the chills. Also, I’m unbelievably cold all of the time. I need to wear layered clothing all the time. Go figure with all the insulating fat I’ve lost. One other thing, I now have times of lack of energy. I need to take rests often. My mystic friend says the last ten days of a 40 day fast is the hardest part. She says to keep in mind that I am on “nature’s operating table” and to take it easy. Whatever is happening in my body must be radically altering every part of the organism.

Friday, May 9th. 33 days down, 7 days left. Tonight will make 33 days on this fast. Although I am encouraged that I only have a week left to complete 40 days, the last few days have been absolute hell on earth and very discouraging, to say the least. First of all, my appetite still hasn’t returned. When will it, I wonder? What if the 40th day comes and still no appetite? Should I still push on until the body has completely cleaned itself? How long will this fast have to last? Then there was (and still is, to some extent) the horrendous experiences of the last few days. Imagine the worst tasting medicine you’ve ever had to ingest. Now imagine tasting that medicine 24-hours a day for days at a time. This is what I’ve been going through. I was nearly brought to tears yesterday by this purging process. Granted, yesterday was not as bad as the day before yesterday, meaning that that the taste was not as strong, but it was nonetheless constant with no solution in sight other than waiting out the purging of these synthetic chemicals embedded in my organism. I remember being sick all the time as a kid—I was the boy in the bubble, just like John Travolta, except only in the hospital “oxygen bubble bed,” nine times before the age of nine due to pneumonia—but I had no idea until a couple of days ago when I asked my mother that I had received pharmaceuticals from the get go, from birth onward. She had attempted to limit the amount of medications the doctors wanted to administer to me, but I still got a fairly decent dosage on a daily basis, year after year after year. Now the “miracle” of modern medicine is being purged out of my system and I am suffering to an extent I had not anticipated. Hopefully today and subsequent days will not be as bad as the last few days.

Tuesday, May 13th. I completed a total of 34 ½ days, ending the fast on Sunday, May 11th. I came up about 8-10 hours short of completing a full 35 days, or seven weeks. The medicine taste was too much for too many days. So, I decided to cut the fast short. As it is, I’m still detoxifying (spitting up toxic goo and poisoned saliva).

Alma, Jesus, Moses and the other saints in former ages never had it quite like we do. Unlike them, we are totally surrounded with chemicals, from pesticides and herbicides in our plant foods, to chemical leakage into our water tables (yes, even trace pharmaceuticals are found in our water supply), to deodorants, air fresheners and disinfectants sprays in the air we breath (inside), to smog and other air pollutants (outside), to chemically treated and laundered clothes that we wear against our bodies all day and all night, to all the chemicals we use to clean things with, including our own bodies. Then, of course, there are the chemicals (pharmaceuticals) that we partake of when sick. This environment is so polluted with artificial substances that it is virtually impossible to escape it. Even getting your own piece of land and growing your own food doesn’t guarantee that the ground underneath you is not polluted to some extent. You’d have to start with new, clean soil (such as Square Foot Gardening) and purified water (using something like a Berkeley water filter) to begin a new, clean cycle, which is not something everyone can do.

When faced with such pollutions, it is only natural that the body’s natural defenses to cast out the bad and keep in the good would eventually be overrun. Especially since none of us are even taught the proper way of expelling the bad (squatting), which causes us to keep it in, compacting it and making ourselves a toxic breeding ground. It is only logical, then, that our bodies contain embedded poisons accumulated over years of bad living, or even just living in a polluted environment, compounded by direct injection of those same chemical poisons in the form of pharmaceuticals under the guise of medicine.

The saints in former ages never had to deal with this. Their extended fasts were purely spiritual feasts. Detoxification wasn’t an issue. Their water, food, clothing, air, soil, and environment didn’t contain the pollutions ours does. Although they may have ate an improper diet, according to some modern researchers, as they squatted and did other anatomically proper movements, their bodies were more or less able to get whatever bad was in, out. Thus, their fasts were not for physical benefits, though undoubtedly, they experienced physical benefits. And I highly doubt they experienced detoxification like I have been going through.

When one’s body is detoxifying in such an extreme and rapid manner, such as what I experienced, it becomes a bit more difficult to focus on the spiritual aspects of the fast. All your mind can focus on is: when will the suffering end? This is not the right environment for spiritual fasting. Nevertheless, I have grown spiritually on this fast.

I’ve also grown in knowledge about the body in general, especially about my own body. I now realize that I have more embedded synthetics (chemicals) in my body than I realized. 35 days was not enough to clear them all out. I needed more time. Perhaps as long as 10 or more days. I now believe I understand to a greater degree the underlying causes of the two physical conditions I had hoped to clear up. Although certain raw-foodists will cry out: Cooked food is poison!, the truth of the matter is, what came out of me, that put me in hell for days on end, was not cooked food, but pharmaceuticals. Cooking food may change the chemical composition of the foods, but in no way or not to the same degree as synthetics. Chemicals are the real poison. The body can deal with many cooked foods. It cannot deal with chemicals. I see this clear as water now.

One of the two conditions I had appears to be gone, however, as I did not complete the entire duration of the fast—as my appetite never came back, because I was still detoxifying and my body still had stored energy that was not used up—I am going to assume that possibly it did not fully get cured and that it may still return. The other condition was clearing up, but not fully cleared up, either. So, what this means is that I will have to perform yet another fast of extended duration and this time take it to completion.

However, before I attempt this again, I will take some time out to try to detoxify using other means as much as possible. Luckily, there are other means available that don’t require one to taste medicine continuously.

All in all, this was a successful experiment, I’d say. I’ve learned much, gained more faith, am definitely healthier and now know for sure that going without food for 35 days does not kill a man, as long as he is drinking water. I’ve lost a lot of weight, but I expect to gain it back. This time, though, it will be healthier flesh than what I lost. Not the toxin-loaded cells that I discarded.

I’ve got about one more week to wean myself off this fast. As of today, I’m drinking pure, fresh-squeezed juice. My appetite is beginning to really (finally!) open up, too.

Thursday, May 15th. I was supposed to start eating yogurt today but instead had a cup last night with chopped strawberries mixed in. It sat well, but began producing gas in the intestines. Today I’ve continued with the yogurt with fresh, whole, chopped (and also liquified) fruits mixed in. The gas continues to bubble in there, but it is not uncomfortable or painful. I chose to use whole milk yogurt from cows that aren’t treated with growth hormone (and that have probiotic cultures, etc.) It is just plain yogurt which I sweeten by the fruit. To be truthful, normally I don’t enjoy plain yogurt sweetened by fruit. But for some strange reason, it now tastes good to me, or at least, I can eat the whole thing without complaining. It is also really filling. I’m also drinking straight water now, lots of it, with no more medicine taste and no more need to put lemon juice in it (to overpower the taste of the medicine.) My salivary glands have completely calmed down, too. I no longer need to spit or clear my throat of saliva. All in all, I’m feeling fantastic, though I do look really skinny.

Friday, May 16th. This will be my last update. Tonight marks 40 days from when I first started this fast. I feel fantastic. I have successfully transitioned into eating a normal diet now. I want to mention and link to a free, online book written by Arnold Ehret called Rational Fasting: Regeneration Diet And Natural Cure For All Diseases taken from this page. It is in the public domain so anyone can download and read it. It contains an interesting theory as to why fasting works to cure so many illnesses so quickly. It also goes into the fact that all those who worked miracles were ascetics, who fasted much, whereas today we have many preachers who pray much and preach much but who do no miracles, as they fast very little. I had originally intended to wait maybe year before attempting another extended fast, however, as I was not able to fully cleanse my body, I plan on waiting some time, gaining strength, weight and experience, and then engaging in another extended fast, which I now think I should be able to easily go through to completion, as my understanding of how and why the body works, and how to control it, has been enlightened tremendously. When I perform the next extended fast, I will be sure to write another public journal on the experience. In the meantime, I plan on doing short fasts of one or two days from time to time. This is still a new experiment for me, but the results produced, despite the period of suffering I went through, were well worth the time, effort and diligence required. As I said, I feel fantastic. Everything tastes wonderful. I feel like much has been cleared out, but not everything. My confidence is soaring. My mind is sharper than ever before. My faith has grown stronger. All things considered, this has been a marvelous experience and I recommend it to everyone.

The End

(until the next extended fast journal, that is)

Previous Fasting article: Extended fasting: a cure for all spiritual AND PHYSICAL ailments

Complete List of Articles authored by LDS Anarchist

Extended fasting: a cure for all spiritual AND PHYSICAL ailments

Fasting is a faith amplifier or multiplier. By voluntarily reducing our bodies’ reliance upon food, we increase its reliance upon Spirit. We can then increase our portion of the Spirit by coupling it with prayer and righteous living. This can lead to a greater probability of receiving whatever spiritual blessing we are seeking.

Spiritual blessings are essentially spiritual remedies for spiritual ailments. For example, the spiritual gift of belief cures the spiritual condition called doubt. The spiritual gift of charity cures the spiritual condition known as fear. And so on and so forth.

When we are afflicted with spiritual ailments, sometimes mere prayer, scripture study, and other typical activities of LDS are simply not enough. However, the Lord, in his mercy, has given us yet another tool, fasting, to use in our search for healing.

When the scriptures talk of fasting, they say that the saints of former dispensations “fasted much and prayed much” and “fasted often.” But these are relative terms. How often is “often?” How much is “much?” Different people will give different definitions. Proper frequency and proper length will vary according to person and circumstance.

One thing we do know is that the most spiritual people ever to exist on this planet engaged in extended fasting. For example, Moses engaged in a fast of 40 days and 40 nights without any food or water. (See Ex. 34: 28 and Deut. 9: 9.) Jesus likewise engaged in a fast of 40 days and 40 nights. (See Matt. 4: 2 and Luke 4: 2.) And Alma said that he fasted “many days” to gain the spiritual gifts he ended up possessing. (See Alma 5: 46.)

It is instructive that of the three persons mentioned above, two of them ended up getting translated. If translation isn’t evidence of how far advanced your spiritual state is, then I don’t know what is.

We LDS are accustomed to think of fasting as producing spiritual blessings, but physical blessings also accompany its practice. In fact, the Lord has given us at least three means to overcome physical ailments: the gifts of healing, herbs and mild food, and extended fasting.

Think about it. Whenever you get sick, your body’s first or initial reaction is to reject food. You stop eating because fasting is a mechanism of healing. What most people, including LDS, don’t know is that extended fasting heals just about anything. To demonstrate this principle, I quote in its entirety a newspaper article on the healing effects of extended fasting:

Soviet Cure-All: Eat Nothing for 30 Days

By Murray Seeger

Times Staff Writer

MOSCOW—Vladimir Leshkovtsev had the flu and was sore all over. The doctors he saw told him he had infectious metabolic polyarthritis.

The doctors treated Vladimir for six weeks but he felt no better. He decided to be his own doctor and to follow a radical course of treatment he had only heard about.

For 45 days, Vladimir ate nothing. He drank lots of water, but had no solid food. He lost 44 pounds and got rid of his arthritis. And he has not seen a doctor for the last 10 years since then.

The experience of Vladimir Leshkovtsev, a physicist and writer, is only one of thousands of cases of remarkable recoveries claimed in the Soviet Union for what advocates call the “hunger cure.”

Besides arthritis, advocates claim controlled starvation will cure almost everything from eczema to hardening of the arteries. It is recommended for some cases of gallstones and pancreatitis.

The method is used to treat schizophrenic patients and others with less serious neurotic afflictions—fears of crowds, darkness, strangers, infections and sharp objects, and it is effective for people who only think they are sick.

“Leshkovtsev was in great danger of becoming an invalid,” Dr. Yuri Nikolayev of the Moscow Research Institute of Psychiatry observed. “The experiment conducted by him is one of the most successful cases of healing.”

The Soviet Union, which has one of the largest and best organized systems of public health protection in the world, has several clinics devoted to research and practice of the hunger cure.

In the clinic he heads, Dr. Nikolayev specializes in using controlled starvation to treat mental disorders. Another clinic at Patrice Lumumba Friendship University has used the same method to treat psoriasis and at the First Medical Institute hunger is prescribed to cure other skin disorders.

Other Soviet doctors have written papers on their successes in treating metabolism, disorders, bronchial asthma, hypertension, gallstones, tumors, pancreatitis and early forms of artery hardening.

“There is a German saying that ‘the illness which cannot be cured by fasting cannot be cured by anything else,'” Dr. Nikolayev said in a statement in the Moscow News.

The physician traced the origins of hunger therapy to ancient Egypt, Greece and India. Starting in the 18th century, Russian doctors at Moscow University experimented with the treatment, beginning a series of case histories that is still being extended.

“Our innovation,” Dr. Nikolayev said, “is that we initiated the use of controlled hunger for the treatment of psychic disorders, primarily sluggish forms of schizophrenia.

“Particularly good results have been obtained in the treatment of hypochondriac conditions when patients are over-anxious about their health, are likely to greatly exaggerate their existing ailments and believe they are suffering from diseases which they do not have.”

Dr. Nikolayev cautioned that the hunger treatment should be administered only under carefully controlled conditions. The patient and his relatives must approve the procedure and the patient is thoroughly examined before the treatment starts.

Food intake is not halted until the physicians are sure the patient will not have a negative reaction. He receives no drugs during the treatment which lasts from 20 to 40 days.

“Before the commencement of abstinences, the patient’s intestines are purged,” Dr. Nikolayev said.

“He is given a great deal of water, a hydro treatment every morning, general massage and baths. Our patients spend most of their time in the open.”

A patient’s appetite disappears in the first three to five days and he no longer reacts to the sight or smell of food or the rattling of dishes, he said.

“However, pleasant memories of food persist, particularly if the patient is not distracted from such thoughts,” Dr. Nikolayev continued. “This is when the experience of the doctor and psychotherapy help.”

The crisis for the patient comes on the sixth or seventh day of treatment. He begins to feel heavy because his body is switching signals to start consuming stored fat.

After a few more days, the patient passes the crises and gains a feeling of euphoria. The patient’s symptoms begin to disappear and he feels very good, until the stored energy source is consumed.

This occurs after about 30 days, the doctor said. By that time, the patient’s tongue is clean, his skin color is a healthy pink, bad breath disappears and he develops a “wolf’s appetite.”

“This is when the most important process commences—the process of rehabilitation,” Dr. Nikolayev asserted.

Food is reintroduced to the patient slowly. First, he is given diluted fruit juices, then whole juices and grated fruit mixed with yogurt. These are followed by cooked vegetables and boiled cereals. Near the 40th day, normal eating is resumed.

Meanwhile, the patient has lost 15% to 20% of his body weight. If the patient’s ailment is obesity, the weight loss can be even greater.

“For instance, some time ago, two brothers applied to our clinic,” Dr. Nikolayev recalled. “The elder of the two weighed 210 kilograms (462 pounds) and the younger 175 (385 pounds). They could hardly pass through the door.

“Having taken the hunger cure, both patients lost half of their original weight and both feel quite well now.”

The doctor said the hunger treatment gives the entire nervous system and the brain a rest. The body is cleaned of poisons and the tissues and glands renovated.

Resting the brain “forms the basis for the treatment of neuropsychic disorders,” he added.

Why is self-imposed starvation healthful when involuntary starvation is harmful? The difference, Dr. Nikolayev asserted, is that under involuntary starvation the body dies from poisons contained within itself.

“In our case, we try by all means to withdraw endotoxins from the body as soon as possible,” the doctor said.

“Altogether, we have treated some 7,000 patients at our clinic. Our extensive experience enables us to broaden the range of application of this method and to take up the treatment of cases formerly considered hopeless.”

The doctor recalled one patient who was starved for 50 days in order to achieve a cure. Leshkovstev, who starved himself for 45 days, joined the ranks of the “record setters,” the doctor observed.

Since taking the tough, self-imposed cure, Leshkovstev has maintained his health by careful dieting and annual fasts of eight to 10 days.

Dr. Nikolayev acknowledged the success of Leshkovstev’s experiment, but recommended against others trying the same method “without any medical control.”

“A cure by fasting is a very complicated method connected with a profound reorganization of the organism.”

Mon. Apr. 3, 1972

Los Angeles Times

Fasting resources

You can read a free, online book called Fasting, Hydropathy and Exercise by Bernarr Macfadden or you can go to www.fasting.com to obtain extended fasting programs. You may also read my own extended fast journal.

Next Fasting article: My extended fast journal

Complete List of Articles authored by LDS Anarchist

Scriptural Discussion #4: Sick—Faithless Members/Faithful Saints

SICK—FAITHLESS MEMBERS

The Lord said, “And whosoever among you are sick, and have not faith to be healed, but believe, shall be nourished with all tenderness, with herbs and mild food, and that not by the hand of an enemy. And the elders of the church, two or more, shall be called, and shall pray for and lay their hands upon them in my name; and if they die they shall die unto me, and if they live they shall live unto me. Thou shalt live together in love, insomuch that thou shalt weep for the loss of them that die, and more especially for those that have not hope of a glorious resurrection. And it shall come to pass that those that die in me shall not taste of death, for it shall be sweet unto them; And they that die not in me, wo unto them, for their death is bitter.
• • •
“And they who have not faith to do these things, but believe in me, have power to become my sons; and inasmuch as they break not my laws thou shalt bear their infirmities.” (D&C 42: 43-47, 52)

SICK—FAITHFUL SAINTS

The Lord said, “And again, it shall come to pass that he that hath faith in me to be healed, and is not appointed unto death, shall be healed. He who hath faith to see shall see. He who hath faith to hear shall hear. The lame who hath faith to leap shall leap.” (D&C 42: 48-51)

Discuss.

Next Scriptural Discussion: #5 TEACHERS—MUST BE SANCTIFIED

Previous Scriptural Discussion: #3 SEXUAL SIN—AMONG MEMBERS/AMONG INVESTIGATORS

Complete List of Articles authored by LDS Anarchist