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Psychic School House Learning Times

http://www.PsychicSchoolHouse.com

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Issue 9  December  2008                                                                                               Volume 1

This Issue:

Yuletide Ghosts

New Release: Dynamic Ghostology 2 The Composite Entities

The Celebration of Yule

December: Live chat room Events

New Products: Aura’s Delight Bath Salts

Yuletide Ghosts

 Have you ever wondered during the Yuletide season why so many Christmas special programs feature ghosts?  Also it seems more people see ghosts personally between the months of October and December.  Why is that?  I’ve often wondered about that myself until I gave it some serious thought.

 The logical reason for this is that the ratio of darkness to light hours is greater between October and December.  The hours of darkness become greater and greater until the Winter Solstice in December.  This gives nonphysical entities, a longer opportunity to seen in the extended darkness hours.

 Another reason is that nearly since the dawn of time, during the cold months of winter, before the time of TV, it was traditional to gather around the fire and tell ghost stories to entertain the family.   A part of that old tradition still goes on today as film makers and writers entertain us with ghost stories over the holidays. 

 This tradition goes back a long way.  No doubt over the holiday season you will see one of many renditions of A Christmas Carol on TV which was originally written by Charles Dickens and published December 19th in 1843.   While the story has a strong moral slant as was the tradition back then, this work of fiction is sometimes taken as a standard as to how ghosts really behave in real life.

 But just how accurate was Dickens in his data about ghosts 165 years ago?  How does that measure up with all the current research and Ghost Hunter data that has been collected on the topic since that time?  Let’s look at this.

 The Ghost of Jacob Marley

 Dickens opens his story with a quick sketch of the character of Ebenezer Scrooge who is the owner of a counting house.  Ebenezer is a bi-polar embittered, penny pinching work-a-holic, who is constantly screaming at and invalidating his employees, while making them as miserable as possible in the work environment.  One of his employees, Bob Cratchit is caught up in an all too familiar tangle of working for poor wages to support his large family. 

As Ebenezer comes home, the door knocker to his house turns into the face of his old business partner Jacob Marley who died seven years ago to the day, on Christmas Eve.  Ebenezer is a little shaken but he invalidates what he sees and goes upstairs to his room.  After a specter locomotive hearse chases Ebenezer up the steps, the ghost of Jacob Marley walks through his locked bedroom door, dragging a huge chain and appears in tiles of his fireplace.  He warns Ebenezer that unless he changes his ways he will suffer the same fate as him and be forced to walk the earth carrying the chains of his “sins against humanity.”  He warns his partner of three ghosts that will appear to him.

 The Analysis

 In the first scene with Marley’s ghost Dickens gets it right.  Real ghosts do indeed sometimes appear on the anniversaries of their death.  This has been recorded and witnessed many times.  In these cases, the ghost only appears in the general location where they died, lived or worked and often the incident of their death is played out in some way.  However, they never interact with people.  This is called a Residual Haunting or a charged thought form caught in space and time and played out like a video film, usually at a specific time and place.  I call this a Level 1 Dynamic Energy entity. This kind of haunting never interacts with people and is as harmless as watching a video.

 In the next scene we get Ebenezer getting chased up the stairs by a “specter train” complete with sound and motion effects.  Here Dickens uses this as a device to set the tone of fear and move his character from one location to another.  Could this really happen?  It could happen if Ebenezer’s house was build on or above a place where a train or road tragedy happened – but we are not given this information in the story.  A phantom train was accurately portrayed in Ghostbusters two – when the cast was standing on the old train tracks when a specter train runs through them.  This is probable.

 It’s highly unlikely that a residual phantom train or hearse would run through a house where no train tracks or roads have ever been constructed there, so we can throw this right out.  In order for there to even be an active energy signature caught in time and space, their must first be a real Dynamic Energy cause event in a present time reality.  So energy charged EVENT must take place first, before that event can be trapped in time and space to replay over and over at a future time.     

Next we have the interactive dialogue between the ghost of Marley and Ebenezer.  This is classified as an Intelligent Haunting, or a Level 4 Dynamic Energy haunting.  An intelligent haunting is a nonphysical entity that is actively attempting to communicate with physical beings (us).   The actions of a nonphysical entity and the communication skills of that entity will greatly depend on where they are at on the emotional tone scale at the time of their death and since.  So it follows that the higher their emotional tone the better their communications skills will be.

In the story Ebenezer sees the ghost of Marley come through his door wearing the “chains of his life.”   Marley explains to Ebenezer that the chains were made by his uncaring deeds during his physical life and now he is destined to carry them for all time and wander the earth.  This sounds like something we might get from a Sunday morning preaching – be good or you’re dammed.   Marley goes on to say he has come to warn Ebenezer who is traveling down the same path and then gives him the heads up for a redemption in the form of three visits from three ghosts.

How accurate is this?  It is true that nonphysical entities will often materialize with objects, clothing and other things that were on or near their person when they died?  There are countless witnesses to this.  A woman who died in Victorian times will materialize in period clothing.  A civil war soldier killed in battle will wear the uniform of his era and carry a musket.  A queen walks the castle halls carrying her head under her arm. Again, we see the residual energy created at the highly charged moment of death getting trapped with physical objects around them. These are then suspended in space and time whole – like a video snap shot. 

Now about the only way we would see an entity carrying a chain is if that chain was instrumental in their death. For example, if a person was hanged with a chain, or if they were wrapped in chain and thrown into water.   In all cases the residual energy more or less takes an energy “video” or “blueprint” of at that event and preserves the frames of it whole in space and time.  So unless Marley was wrapped in chain and thrown off London Bridge, the chain did NOT come from the life he lead, good bad or ugly.

The next misconception in this story is that Marley comes to Ebenezer out of the goodness of his heart to warn him about his path in life.  Here again we are looking at a Victorian plot device designed to stuff the redemption concept down the readers throat.  This too is typical of Victorian era stories. 

If Marley the ghost did appear to someone in real life, we can pretty much rule out that the ghost came to him thinking about dear old Ebenezer’s soul.  Negative nonphysical entities in energy Levels 2 – 4 are in horrible emotional shape.  Most of them occupy the lower levels of the emotional tone range like apathy, grief, fearfulness and fear.  At these lower levels the entity is not emotionally capable of thinking of anything other than his self and his own needs. 

Since emotion and physical motion go hand and hand – even in a nonphysical body – we can understand why ghosts are so hard to find.  Think about a person in deep depression - they don’t move much, they often sleep a lot or sit motionless and starring into space.  They also avoid or run away from other people and display anti social behavior.  Professional ghost hunters have a very tough time finding and communicating with these intelligent entities because of their low tone and low energy.  Sometimes their energy is so low that it’s a major struggle for them to do anything at all to affect the physical environment.  They simply don’t have the energy or the motivation. 

Another point is that negative nonphysical entities have their own agenda of priorities.  Most of those priorities include the endless search for food – that food does not include mashed potatoes and gravy or ANYTHING physical.  What nonphysical entities feed on is negative energy.  So where do they get negative energy?

Any paranormal investigator can answer this question instantly.  They get from electrical sources, they can drag it out the negative end of a battery or they can get it by provoking a human to throw off negative energy or by leaching it out of a human gently.  When we understand that a ghost’s primary function in showing itself to a human may be to get them throw out negative energy – it suddenly becomes clear why fear (a negative energy emotion) is universally associated with ghosts.  It’s not that we are fearful, but that fear is provoked by the entity to get us to throw off fear energy so it can feed.   So don’t instantly fear a ghost – unless you just want to give them lunch.

So if the ghost of Marley was real, it’s prime reason for appearing to Ebenezer would be to see if he could stir up enough fright in him to get a free lunch.  So most nonphysical entities are extremely self-centered and couldn’t care about redemption of others.  They are too far down on the emotional tone scale to care about anything but self.

 The Ghost of Christmas Past

In the next part of the story the Ghost of Christmas Past arrives to take Ebenezer on a sentimental journey back through time.  Here we see Dickens using the Ghost of Christmas Past as flash-back device to give us the back story of how Ebenezer got to be a bitter old man.

 The question is could a real ghost do this?  Human nonphysical entities by their nature are trapped in space and time. So intelligent negative entities that are high enough in their emotional tone to communicate with physical humans will know a lot about history up to the point of when they lost their physical bodies.  The point of physical death marks the point where their knowledge in time stops.

 The Analysis

These entities will know much more about their personal history than another person’s history – like any other human.  Some negative entities have been channeled with devices such as letter boards, automatic writing and other such devices, so that some have the ability to travel far back in time – and will get some historical points correct if they choose to tell the truth.  Remember a human without a body is still a human and is full able to lie.  Most entities that are channeled with unprotected devices just lead people on wild goose chase of coy and leading data, mixing lies with truth - just to get a free energy lunch from the user over and over.

 Some negative entities contacted in the unprotected state, will use these devices to not only feed off the energy of the user, but may leave an energy trail that can lead nonhuman entities in a position to try and take over a flesh body.  There are many recorded cases of this, including the film The Exorcist which is based on a true story.  No device of divination should be used without protection and shielding. (To learn how to make and use psychic shields see our back issue newsletters in the library: http://www.psychicschoolhouse.com/newsletter_v1_i2.htm)

 Ouija boards should never be bought, used or even kept in the house.  They are not toys for children – even through they are marketed as such – they are an extremely dangerous device with a long and well recorded history of personal harm to people.   

 There has been many recorded cases of nonphysical strange ghosts appearing to people in the dream state – using nightmares and fear - again these are up to a free lunch.  Negative nonphysical ghost entities are NOT to be confused with Crossed Over relatives that appear in the dream state.  Here we are looking at positive energy Light Beings that are sharing an altered state reality with you in order to communicate with you.  Light beings in the form of Crossed Over relatives either bring a sense of wonder or love to these dreams. They are never fearful. These often GIVE energy and love they never take energy because they are fully charged and have no need of it.

 So while ghosts can appear in the dream state as in Dickens story they don’t have the ability to take you on a magical mystery tour of your personal past history.  

The Ghost of Christmas Present

 Dickens uses the Ghost of Christmas Present as yet another plot device to show the reader what is going on in Ebenezer’s present time world.  The question is, are there “present time” ghosts? 

In Ghost Hunter terminology this would be called an “intelligent” haunting.  Entities that are interactive with physical beings, though many of them will have a terrible time with communications is possible.  Here we are looking at person that has lost the physical body, but for some reason has not Crossed Over to “download” their past life and “recharge” their energy.  In this category we can divide these lingering entities up into three categories, those who have unfinished business, those that have strong ties to issues and those who are fading fast into negative reality.

 In the unfinished business category, we get a range of people who have had near death experiences (NDE’s) who are sent back into the flesh either to alter their life path or complete unfinished business.  We also get a range of people in the nonphysical state who are hang around a while to either finish a task, or to make sure their family handles their Crossing Over with some stability.  The general consensus is that this “hang time” is forty to forty-five days.  Keep in mind that Biblical text tells us that Jesus walked the Earth about forty days before he Crossed Over.  Buddhist have ceremonies and prayers for forty five days – the time it took Buddha to Cross Over.

In the film Ghost, we see a classic example of an entity who hung around for a few weeks to make sure his wife was safe.  Most people Cross back over pretty much around the time when the physical body is laid to rest or disposed of.  Many cultures from the Egyptians to the American Indians call this a freeing of the soul.

Entities with unsolved issues can be people who are waiting for some major issues to settle out.  This can be anything from the birth of a child, to an unsettled court case, to just having someone unravel the truth about their physical death.  Those that are working out issues can exists on this plane of reality as long as the issues are still being work on, be that fifty years or more.  But while they are waiting their personal dynamic energy is slowly tricking away and when any hope of solving out these issues becomes lost, they face a choice to Cross back over or to begin phasing into the negative reality realms.  Many of these drop fairly hard into utter despair. 

Given enough time, people with unsolved issues will run out of dynamic energy and this drops them into the next category of fading into negative reality.  Generally the drop into nonphysical negative reality is a four step drop.  1. Unconditional love.  2. A great want or need. 3. A betrayal.  4. Wrongful or Violent death.  If the four step drop is complete at the time of death the drop will be almost instant.  But people being people, will often hold out great hope that step 2, their great want or need will be fulfilled, completed or solved.  This holding out for the completion of some issue or need can sometimes take years or even centuries.  So while they wait for their issue to solve out in present time, they also stay active in present time: at least until their dynamic energy runs out.

In the book and film The Sixth Sense, we see a young boy that has the ability to see and communicate with “dead people.” These transitional entities come to him in droves to solve out their issues.  In one plot thread a very young girl in a night gown that is throwing up all the time comes to the young boy for help.  He ends up going to the dead girls’ house on the day of the funeral; she leads him to a video she had secretly hidden.  The video is a web cam that was recorded when her stepmother poured poison into her soup.  We come to know at this point that the girl did not die of a “disease” but was killed by her step-mother.   The Six Sense boy gives the video to the father, who plays it instantly.  At this point, the issue is solved and she is free to Cross Over.  This is another good example of an entity in transition and why they linger. 

Another issue with all three of Dickens ghosts is their ability to travel to difference location almost instantly.  Normally, negative nonphysical entities are time trapped and are anchored to the locations where they lived, worked or died.   However, entities that are in the “transition” stage can sometimes travel to many places as they attempt to get help physical help to solve out their issues.  However, the lower they get in energy the more tightly they will be held to their location of death until they are trapped in the time and space of that location.

In the world of the nonphysical entities, who are normally energy deficient, it’s always an issue to have enough energy to move from one location to another or do any small thing.  Energy must be harvested first before any task is done.  This is well known in Ghost Hunting research.  It’s a well known procedure that entities harvest energy from the air before doing tasks like materializing or moving physical objects.  This harvesting of air energy causes a drop in air temperature sometimes five to twenty degrees or more.  We also know they feed on batteries, and electric energy sources to harvest enough energy to affect physical matter.  So it would very difficult for one to move to many locations in a single night as is portrayed with the Ghost of Christmas Present.

However, if we were to correctly place this on our Dynamic Energy chart, we would be looking at physical entities in Levels 5 – 8 composite beings (us) who are being affected by the needs of nonphysical entities in Level 4.  This is because only entities anchored into physical matter have full movement from negative to positive energy and the locomotion to heal these issues. Our physical bodies are what keeps us anchored from getting stuck at either end of the scale.  So in solving out physical issues for a nonphysical entity in present time would require a physical person to take on that task.  Sadly, not too many psychically talented people take this on.  

 The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come

In the last part of this story, in true plotting glory, Dickens saves the most gruesome ghost for last in the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.  Here the ghost shows him the death of Tiny Tim, his own death and the poverty of man.  It is well known that Dickens often dealt with social reform and poverty issues in his writings.  This story was yet another addition to the same.

In the third installment we see a turn around in Ebenezer’s attitude after the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come shows him his own death, all the gloom and doom.  The question is, are there really “future” ghosts?

The Analysis

Nonphysical negative entities by their nature are either trapped in time and space or are transitional in present time.   Their only hope for the future is that someone will come along and help them solve out their issues.  But entities that have fallen into negative realities are in such terrible emotional shape that they hold out little hope of ever getting help, that help or assistance is always given (if ever) in present time.

So in light of the story there is no ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.  Yet we have a long, long history of asking nonphysical entities that are time trapped with help on future events.  Where do we get this idea that a ghost trapped in time can help with the future?  One place is the bible.

The bible gives us an account of King Saul going to the Witch of Endor (who was a medium) to consult the spirit of Samuel to give him advice on the upcoming battle. (1 Samuel 28: 5 – 25)  Translating from the spirit of Samuel, the Witch of Endor accurately tells him all his sons will be joining Samuel tomorrow and that King Saul will lose the battle.  This prophecy turns out to be accurate and from this account many people think that ghosts – nonphysical negative entities – can see the future.  This is a wrong assumption.

Negative nonphysical entities are time trapped and have no access what so ever to future events.  Most are in a terrible mental and emotional state that makes them not only trapped in time, but also extremely self-centered and self-serving.  Many are also feel isolated because they can no longer work on solving out their case without human or angelic intervention.  These time-trapped entities are never a good source for advice about any future events. 

But what happens here between the Witch of Endor, King Saul and the prophet Samuel is not the consulting of negative nonphysical ghost.  What she summons here is the Crossed Over person known as Samuel.  This is very different.  At this point Samuel has already Crossed Over to the Other Side, has downloaded his past life memories and has become a fully charged positive energy Light Entity.  So what she summons here is a positive energy Light Entity – not a negative entity.  From this we can understand that the Witch of Endor was medium whose specialty was to work with Crossed Over light entities, or light beings, much like John Edward or James Van Praag, myself and many others do today. 

This understanding that the Witch of Endor was channeling Light Entities is further brought out by Samuel’s statement that “his sons will be joining him tomorrow” meaning that they would lose their physical body in battle and cross to the Other Side and into the light of Source Energy and the domain of God.  A nonphysical negative entity ghost would not know the fate of his King Saul’s sons or even care.  Also in biblical text references it usually describes the decent into the negative energy ranges as a fall or decent (down).  Where as the ascension into positive energy is called the ascension (up), a rising up or a joining into the light.   

On our Dynamic Energy chart the spirit of Samuel would fall in the positive range of energy in Levels 10 & 11.  Fully charged positive entities, like Samuel, are very good sources of accurate future information.  The only draw back here is that they have a code of ethics that includes a non-interference law.  They are not allowed to tell us every detail, make life changing decisions for us or guide our every step.  That is your job and they know it and cannot interfere with your spiritual journey in the flesh body.  

Sometimes they are allowed to give a warning from time to time, like Samuel gave King Saul through the medium of the Witch of Endor.  But in all cases the decision to heed that warning or not, always rests with the individual.   Dire warnings from Light Beings are fairly rare as are warnings of gloom and doom.  Take a heads-up here if you have employed a psychic that is spewing gloom and doom all the time, run, do not walk away as fast as you can.  This is a sure case of someone running a scam and there are many, many frauds in the psychic profession.  Be warned.

So as we learned there is no gloom and doom Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.  Negative energy entities are not able to tell the future, but they may jerk you around with hit and miss information and from time to time they get lucky with a bit of truth.  But most the time it’s just a leading thing designed to siphon off your energy or a step to get control of a physical body.  

Had this story had been told with a reference to our Dynamic Energy chart, the handing of Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come would have been handled very differently from the point of view of a Light Being who is able to see the future.  Light Beings are fully changed with the intense light of Source Energy and are positive in almost all things.  What warnings they give are always done from a position of unconditional love for us.  They are never given from a point of fear, horror or shame. 

So Dickens could have shown Ebenezer’s transition after the death of his physical body as a delicious drop of that body.  Where the pains, aches, worries and doubts of the physical body drops away like shedding a thousand pound of weight.  He could have shown the powerful release of energy where the aura body lifts out of the physical body and arcs upwards free and light as a butterfly.  He could have shown in that instant, the rushing in of pure joy as we are lifting up into the light and join with pure unconditional love.  He could have shown us a happy reunion of seeing crossed over relatives and the hugs and tears of joy in knowing they are not dead, but have been transformed in to the light of pure positive energy where fear and want do not exist.  The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come would have shown all these things.

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come might have shown Ebenezer the name or location of a good surgeon or healer to fix Tiny Tim’s leg and to heal his malnutrition.  It would have shown him running free and strong with the other children.  It may have made a suggestion to him about making Bob Cratchit a full partner in his counting house, whereby he could better support his family all year long.  Not for just one day with a big turkey.  It may have shown a series of bright and beautiful Christmas’ where the joy, love and validation of family and friends brings the greatest and deepest joy of all.  

All of these things would have come from the positive perspective of a Light Being.  For Light Beings are delighted help us in any way they can if we ASK.  If we do not ASK they cannot help by law – so please ask!  This is the way of unconditional love for Light Beings, be they Crossed Over pets, relatives or Angels they are at the very heart and soul of this pure positive love.  They love us unconditionally, eternally and deep into your soul forever and ever.  We need to remember that always.

I hope you enjoyed a look at A Christmas Carol from the perspective of the known real truths about ghostology and the levels of Dynamic Energy.   If you would like to learn more details about the ranges and habits of ghosts and the working of your own aura body, you can investigate our Dynamic Ghostology course in our course catalog at: http://www.psychicschoolhouse.com/course_general.htm

Meanwhile, I wish each of you a joyous holiday season and ask that you make time to love, share and validate all your friends, relatives and acquaintances in your life. Give with a generous heart and remember that you can’t take material things with you anyway, but those feelings of joy, love and satisfaction you can take with you and those feelings last forever.

 

New Course Release

 Dynamic Ghostology 2:

Levels 5-8 The Composite Entities

Psychic School House is pleased to announce the release of Dnamic Ghostology 2: Levels 5-8 The Composite Entities.

How do animals and people become ghosts?  What causes this to happen?  Is this done on purpose, or are there other things at work?  In this section you will learn the basic properties of the composite beings (us), how they became embedded in an organic body and all they things they can do while in that body.  You will also see scientific and often controversial research studies done on the workings of the aura body in plants, animals and people and how all that relates to you and your eventual transition into nonphysical states. 

Also covered in this material are the levels of dynamic energy used by composite entities every day and how to apply that understanding and why ghosts do what they do. Now you can understand it to empower you own psychic abilities by using all the aura body talents you are born with. 

This is cutting-edge material presented in a simple easy to understand way.  This is NOT a collection of ghost stories, but a hands-on way to understand and enhance your own aura body in this reality and others.  Also included are the complete Dynamic Energy Charts, over 90 hot linked interactive reference points for you to explore, emotional tone charts and a glossary that includes the latest terms in ghost hunting research.  All of this is designed to make you an expert in understanding the ghostly realms of reality.  This is the perfect gift for all those ghost hunters on your Christmas shopping list.

Special Christmas Newsletter Sale:

Through this PSH newsletter offer only, when you buy the New Release of Dynamic Ghostology 5-8 – The Composite Entities for $15.00,  you can also take Dynamic Ghostology 1- 4 – The Negative Entities at 1/3 off.  So you can take both for just $25.00.  But hurry this offer expires on December 31st.   Click on the string below to order your instant download version now.

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=1636405

All chat room events are held in the main chat room at the PSH main web site and are free to all who wish to attend. Click on the link above to take you there instantly.  Times, dates and topics are listed below.  Room names and secret passwords to get into Subscribers only chat workshops will be emailed to newsletter subscribers only on the day of the chat. 

December 4st Thursday – Free Mediumship Readings- 8 to 10 PM Central Time

Come join Debbora as she does mediumship readings in the main chat room.  Please note that who comes through and who gets a contract is not in the control of the medium.  The Other Side chooses who gets these messages and when they come through.  If you plan to attend this chat it is helpful if you follow the chat carefully.  If the data fits you, please answer any questions asked of you simply and quickly.  Remember that other people in the chat room and other Light Beings are waiting to get a message through.

Keep in mind that it is very difficult for the incoming Light Beings or Crossed Over people to lower their energy to chat with you. They cannot hold that lower frequency for long.  If you are chosen to get a message, close off all Instant Message screens and post pone any trips to get food or drinks and hang up phone calls.  This will require your full and undivided attention.    

December 11h Thursday – Yuletide Ghosts Discussion - 8 to 10 PM Central Time

You read the article on Yuletide Ghosts, now it’s your turn share your stories and discuss who they are, where they go on the Dynamic Energy chart and what can or can’t be done to help the situation.  Come share and learn at this discussion that is bound to be lively and educational.

December 18th Thursday – The Celebration of Yule - 8 - 10 PM Central Time

Every year, all around the world, different cultures celebrate at this same time. For some people it is a cultural festival, for others it has a deeply religious meaning. But all of these celebrations are rooted in a celestial event, the Winter Solstice. Come join in the chat, led by Dr. Charlotte Pipes, as we discuss the true origins of modern seasonal celebrations like Christmas, Hanukkah, and the Islamic New Year. Learn about the customs associated with plum pudding, “wassailing” and “first-footing.” Hear about Yule divinations, tree blessings and wreath chants. You can share your own holiday traditions with others, as we all learn together.

December 25th Thursday – No Chat – Happy Holidays!

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The Celebration of Yule

By Dr. Charlotte Pipes

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YULE: Pronounced “YOU-uhl.” Yule occurs each year during the third week of December, when our sun moves out of the constellation of Sagittarius and into the constellation of Capricorn. It will occur this year, 2008, at 7:04 AM EST on Sunday, December 21st. If you look at the Wheel of the Year below, shown in Figure 1, you will see that Yule is situated at the very top of the circle. The date is very important because it marks the shortest day of our year.

 

Figure 1. The calendar known as the Wheel of the Year. Yule, Ostara, Midsummer and Mabon designate the four solar holidays. Many ancient monuments are aligned to these holidays.

Yule is also called the Winter Solstice which means “sun still” referring to the fact that the sun stops moving south on the horizon. If you have been watching the sunrise or sunset over the past few weeks, you will have noticed that the sun is not rising directly due east; rather it is rising southeast. And it is setting in the southwest, not directly due west. In the chilly northern hemisphere, it seems to us that the sun has gone away, heading south for the winter.

Since the sun is crossing only the southern portion of the sky, it doesn’t need to travel so far during the day. So it is shining for fewer hours. If you are an early riser, you have noticed how dark it is outside when you wake in the morning. You have also noticed that the sun is setting earlier, often before you can arrive home in the afternoon. In the southern latitudes of the United States, where I live, at Yule the day only lasts about 10 hours. The night lasts 14 hours. Yule signals the longest night of the year. After December 21st, the sun will start moving north on the horizon again. And the days will start getting longer.

You have probably heard of the famous Neolithic site called Stonehenge in southern England. It is an ancient stone circle used by early man as a religious site and open-air calendar. Stonehenge is famous as a visual indicator for the Summer Solstice or Midsummer. The stones there are set in a particular alignment that leads the eye to a precise point on the horizon. The sun rises at this point on the longest day of the year, in late June.

And what about the Winter Solstice? Are there ancient stone monuments that indicate the moment of Yule and the shortest day of the year? Yes, indeed! Prehistoric places like Newgrange in Ireland were built with the Winter Solstice in mind. Every year, the sunrise at Yule shines down the 19-meter long entry passage to illuminate the interior of the structure, where the remains of the deceased were stored. The entrance to this passage is shone below, in Figure 2. Fortunately, you don’t have to be there to see the sunlight display in the interior. Last year, for the first time ever, the management of the site allowed cameras to capture the event and broadcast it on the internet. You can see it all from the convenience of your computer. Simply log on to www.heritageireland.ie/en/Solstice2007. Click on “view the archive.”

 

Figure 2. The opening to the passage tomb Newgrange in Ireland. It marks the Yule sunrise.

While Newgrange was built to commemorate the Yule sunrise, another ancient site was built to commemorate the Yule sunset. This site is called Maeshowe and it lies in the Orkney Islands, north of Scotland. At sunset on the Winter Solstice, a beam of light passes down the 10-meter long passage and illuminates the interior.

The exterior dome of Maeshowe is shown in Figure 3. From the outside, it just seems like a large grassy hill. But the interior is full of remarkable artifacts, under a lofty ceiling. Unfortunately, the visitor can only gape in wide-eyed wonder—no photos are allowed. Sigh. Happily, the mound is featured in a wonderful website with a live webcam that films the interior every year around this time! For a few days in December 2008, weather permitting, the sun will shine down the passageway to illuminate a specific stone set deep in the interior of the mound. You can log on to watch it all happen live from your computer at www.maeshowe.co.uk/index.html.

 

Figure 3. Exterior view of Maeshowe, one of the finest chambered tombs in northwest Europe. Sunlight from the Yule sunset illuminates the inner chamber. You can’t photograph the interior, but you can watch happen live online this year.

But you don’t have to visit something as far away as Newgrange or Maeshowe to gauge Yule in your location. Simply go out and observe the morning sunrise or evening sunset around the date of December 21, 2008. Stand in a certain spot at your window, on your porch, or in your backyard. Mark the spot where you are standing. You will want to return to it in successive months. From your vantage point, observe where the sun meets the horizon at the sunrise or sunset. If you have no view of the horizon, observe the building or tree in the distance where the sun appears or vanishes. Mark that point physically outdoors, sketch it, or photograph it. Note the time. Then, several weeks from now at sunrise or sunset, stand in the exact same spot and observe the sun again. You will see what the ancients saw—the sun is moving, marching north on the horizon. Note the change in time. You will realize that the sun is rising earlier and setting later. Because it has moved north on the horizon, it must now travel further through the sky. The result is more minutes of daylight and fewer minutes of darkness.

All of this information may not be terribly important for you, but for ancient mankind it meant life or death. The position of the sun on the horizon told them when to break ground and sow seeds. It told them when to harvest. The movement of the sun in the sky controlled many decisions in their predominately agricultural world. But many modern humans may feel estranged from our common agricultural past. Our modern electronic world has removed many of the signs of the passing seasons. We can cool ourselves in summer and warm ourselves in winter. When it is dark outside, we can illuminate the night. All our modern technological advances have come with a price. We no longer feel connected to the earth and its natural rhythms. Many of us feel separated from the very planet that gave us life.

If you are looking for ways to reconnect to the natural world, one sure way to do it is to gauge the seasons by noting the movement of the sun on the horizon. In doing so, you will be participating in an ancient tradition, one that goes back several millennia. You will also begin to notice changes in the natural environment all around you, changes you didn’t notice before. The flora and fauna take heed of the movement of the sun, because they detect the changing lengths of day and night. Gauging the sun can put you in tune with the natural world all around you; making you feel more connected to your local environment. And that is a great way to start the New Year.

 Happy Yule!

Psychic School House is pleased to announce the addition of a new line of products for our psychic readers to use and enjoy; Aura’s Delight Bath Salts.   As you know it is getting more and more difficult to find high quality organic bath salts for the use of aura field washing, healing, spiritual washing and other spiritual ceremonial work. 

At last, here is line of bath salts that gives you everything you could possibly wish for to clean and ground your aura body, to pamper and heal your skin, to use in grounding work and to use for spiritual work.  Aura’s Delight Bath Salts are completely organic dead sea bath salts.  Dead sea salts are two times more concentrated than regular salt so you can use half as much so that saves you money.   Aura’s Delight Bath Salts contains no chemicals, no preservatives and no artificial colors. They dissolve easily in water, be it for a bath or a couple of teaspoons in a pistol grip for grounding, disinfecting, cleaning or healing.

Aura’s Delight Bath Salts comes in a variety of heavenly fragrances and formulations. Awake (peppermint, rosemary, eucalyptus) is designed to awaken and heal the body and contains healing and stimulating herbs. Refresh (Sweet Orange, Lemongrass, Eucalyptus, Tea Tree) combines the healing powers of Eucalyptus and tea tree oil with the sweet fragrance of oranges and lemongrass.  Relax (Lavender & Tangerine) give you the soothing powers of lavender in a light tangerine fragrance.  For the gentlemen that need grounding there is Patchouli and Outdoors a blend of Siberian Fir & Eucalyptus and unscented for everything else.

So you can choose a salt and herb combination to heal, clean, disinfect or ground as your needs arise.   Aura’s Delight Bath Salts comes in generous 16 ounce containers – a full pound of healing and grounding salts in a bathroom safe non-breakable, fresh-locked re-sealable jar.  For all you get, you might expect to pay as much as $60.00 a jar for these scented and healing salts alone – but these organic salts are value prices at just $17.00 each - a fraction of the department store price - if you can even find them at all.  Why pay more for less?

From all the teachers, webmasters, writers, editors and psychics at Psychic School House we wish you and yours a very merry Christmas and joyous and safe Yule season.

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