Why Do Some People Have to Have Someone to Hate?

by Katherine Ari, November 17, 2009

On the Internet news, Ian McClellan, the actor, admitted that he rips out pages in hotel Bibles about homosexuality. His actions are what they are. There are many things in the old testament of the Bible that are really offensive. If a woman is in her monthly menses and sits on a bench or pew in the temple or church, she is to be stoned and anyone who sits where she sat is unclean and also should be stoned. There is something in one of the Old Testament books about divorcing and one shoe – really silly if you are going to take the Bible literally. Then there is the scripture that says if you go into another community and they do not have the same god as Jehovah, you are to kill, stone, and castrate the people. Let’s see how far anyone gets taking that literally.

But it is the fundamental Christians, followers of the New Testament, that are screaming and condemning homosexuality the most. They will even say they don’t like the Old Testament because of the killing and castrating stuff and really don’t spend much time reading those stories. But they pick out this page and interpret as a justification to hate homosexuality.

I am not sure whether this one is old or new – "If thy right eye offends thee, pluck it out. If thy right hand offends thee, cut it off" – but how many people can take that one literally? Not many, because if they did, there would be a very large group of Christians and non-Christians with only one eye and one hand and they would be sent to mental hospitals for hurting themselves. And we can even leave lust and sex off of the offensive actions of eyes and hand. Just eating something that is harmful to your body or drinking alcohol that destroys brain cells are offensive acts.

Jesus says, “If someone comes to your door and you turn them away, you are turning him away. If you turn your back on the prisoner in jail, you turn you back on him (Jesus).” And I believe with my inner soul that if Jesus as I know Jesus were to walk into the jail to see those who have made mistakes and have fallen short of the glory of God, he would not scream at them and tell them they were going to Hell for their mistakes. He would not be ugly, angry, or unloving to them. He would not be going to jail to make a point of their mistakes. The Jesus I grew up loving would show love to them. Even the stories of him on the cross next to the others that were criminals tell us of his love for them and his forgiveness.

I am not sitting in judgment – after all Jesus also said, “Let you among us who is without sin (missing the mark) throw the first stone” because no one is without sin. Even if homosexuality is a “sin” (I don’t think so) it is just another sin and Jesus would NOT act the way the religious right acts. WHY do Christians always have to have a group to hate? WHY?

Why do homosexuals want to get married? They simply want to be treated the same and regarded the same as everyone else.

After World War II, the “hated group” was communist. Society feared and hated Germans, Japanese, and “Commies”. The Klu Klux Klan hated black people and Jews all in the name of Christianity. Then the USSR fell and the wall in Berlin came down. Civil Rights were supported by whites as well as African Americans and the KKK was revealed as what it was.

Then the religious right went after the “New Agers” – a work of the devil. If you went into a Christian bookstore, there was a whole shelf of condemning books about their definition of New Agers full of hate, anger, and misconstrued ideas by people that just looked for something to fault. New Age was just a marketing term and NEVER any one kind of people. Anything that some Christians thought was different or against their beliefs were New Age and the Devils work.

I remember so clearly another parent at the Christian school that my sons briefly attended saying that she wouldn’t ever vote for Bill Clinton because he wasn’t a Christian because he didn’t believe in the death penalty and did believe in abortions. I thought to myself that I know many Christians who do not believe in the death penalty and DO believe in the right to choose. But her definition of Christianity included this slant. So many things in the so-called New Age beliefs were considered as non-Christian by some and not so by others. But they preached and condemned and judged and call names and got ugly. Again Jesus would not act that way. He wouldn’t.

The phase of bracelets and signs and billboards of “What Would Jesus Do?” or WWJD was really a good idea. Unfortunately, people wearing those bracelets justified those judgmental attitudes and mean hateful behaviors. They believed Jesus would do that. I don’t!

The anti-New Agers furor died down as any metaphysical group distanced themselves from the term. The occult groups, the Pagan, or Wiccans, distanced from those terms too. The Christians hating – an oxymoron, don’t you think? – needed a new group to go after. (I just don’t understand why.) Homosexuals are tired of the bigotry and being treated like they are second-class citizens. They want to be allowed to marry and have all the rights of other couples. But the vocal ones that find a passage in the Bible to justify their unkind attitudes and beliefs speak out against them, condemning their lifestyle, acting like someone made them God. But I am not God. And I don’t have the right to judge either. If the Jesus I believed I knew as a girl growing up in the Baptist church, (though Baptist is not my spiritual home today) were standing with me right now, with my gay friends, and my straight friends, we would all feel Love, complete Love, unconditional Love, infinite Love. May each of us think every thought, take every actions, and do anything we do with anyone we come in contact with as if Jesus or God, however we interpret the Divine Presence, is standing with us with every breath we take. For I know we all my heart and soul that Peace would be on earth if everyone lived their lives with this practice in their life.

Take a moment now and imagine that your interpretation of God or the sons or daughters of God are in front of you with open arms and looking you in the eye. Don’t you feel it – Love - too? What Would He/She do if you turned toward another and then gave them hate and condemnation? Personally, I think if you turned back to look in the eyes of the Divine presence you would see tears.

My Feelings about Past Lives

My Feelings about Past Lives
by Katherine Ari August 11, 2009

The idea of Past Lives is in many religions and spiritual philosophies. Even in the early Christian religion, it is told, the concept was voted out of the Bible at Constanople in 533 A.D. What I personally have found working with both adults and children and in my own personal journey is that it is possible. It is also possible that there is a Universal Thought out somewhere in the ethers that for reasons unknown, we as individuals tap into for our own growth.

The lesson of someone else’s life is sometime a lesson for my life today, here and now. Sometimes this “memory” seems to be a genetic memory. People feel they are related to someone now that was a relation in a previous lifetime.

To me, it doesn’t matter if it is a stream of Universal Thought or we are actually living another lifetime using lessons from a previous life. I believe the importance is what comes up when I am regressed or if I hypnotize someone is something pertinent to the now consciousness. But it has frequently been more though the bigger picture may take a few years to understand and manifest.

According to some laws of karma, easy past life recall is a sign of good karma – you get to remember these things. I guess I have some good karma because it comes to me like something that happened five minutes ago.


My first experience with past life recall was in 1979 shortly after Doug, my husband, and I became a couple. He knew an elder woman with a traditional Pentecostal background who did psychic past life regressions. Midge would hold a personal object of the people she was working with. She held a silver bracelet of mine and something Doug had made like a small sculpture.

As soon as she closed her eyes, she saw an ancient village. I was the matriarchal leader and Doug was my husband. I had died and his love for me was go great that he would not allow anyone to touch my body. He was slowly pulling a ceremonial platform through the crowd of sad people to a burial location. The platform was heavy and my body was lying on it as he pulled it by a rope. She started crying because she saw such devastation.

When she began to describe her vision, I saw it too. I was tall and thin with long fingers on graceful hands. I say my husband, my daughter who would take over for me, and my people. For a long time I carried this vision of a place before recorded time, but it also may be a future village after our earth, as we know it goes through some major changes. It doesn’t matter. Time is NOT linear. It is circular.


I remember many things about that life. When I focus on it, I remember more details. One story is about my daughters. They were both beautiful. One was strong and would become the leader after my death. She was healthy, confident, and very fair with her decisions. The people would follow her guidance.

The second daughter was delicate and beloved by all. She needed extra care and attention all of her life and protection. Her older sister loved her as much as everyone else and understood. There was never any jealousy because she received so much attention. She was an angel and was only allowed to be on earth in the family for a short time, dying young. We mourned her passing for a long time because at the time we didn’t understand why she had to leave so soon nor why she was so special.

The young girl has returned to a human existence many times. It is her job to bring special lessons to a family and friends. She never grows old enough to live as an adult, dying young each time.

Two years ago at the International Centers for Spiritual Living Youth Seminar in August 2007, we did an exercise called “Finding you Perfect Partner”. Caitlyn was my perfect partner. We only had about 20 minutes together but she touched my heart so deeply that we were forever connected.

The following Easter morning, Caitlyn died in a car accident. I cried desperately over and over for a long time. How could a 20-minute connection to a beautiful young girl be so profound? Why did it hurt more than I could explain?

One day, I knew. Caitlyn was my angelic daughter. Once again, she had come to earth to experience a brief human life, touching everyone in her life. Somehow knowing this bigger picture about the special angels eased my grief for both lifetimes. I am so blessed.

Chris

Chris

(mascara alert)

by Katherine Ari July 10, 2009

I had this really special lady in my life named Chris. She didn’t confide in me, but I knew something was going on with her breast for some time before she told everyone. She had breast cancer, but she had been trying alternative solutions. I really don’t know what she had been doing or for how long but in May, 2007 she had a diagnosis. The condition was in advanced stages and there was nothing the doctors could do.

People at the spiritual center were in little groups whispering and crying. Another friend of Chris and mine was talking to me. He said he was so upset about Chris. “What’s going on with Chris?” I said.

“She has (such and such number) phase breast cancer. She only has about a month or so to live.” He went on to say that he was really angry because she could have prevented it. He was angry at her and angry he was losing a good friend. She was going to die.

I could tell that the little huddled groups were her close friends and they were crying and talking about her condition too. Chris was going to die. Well, I know how sensitive and intuitive Chris was. Having all those people she was close to thinking and saying, “Chris is going to die” did NOT help her live, help her affirm a healthy life.

In July, we had a big celebration of her life while she was still living. It was wonderful but people still cried. The heaviness was there. As “enlightened” as we pretend to be, our own grief and sadness and projections were weighing us down.

I started going through my own stuff. When I get close to people I feel things. I am somewhat of an empath. I felt very in tuned to Chris. When she would have a bad day or night, I would feel her symptoms and discomfort. There would be heaviness in my chest and it was hard to breathe. When I would see her I would say, “Were you having a bad day on Monday?” She would always say yes.

I wanted to be near her. After all, everyone was talking about how sick she was and time was getting shorter. The more I was around her the more I “soaked” up. I don’t think I was helping her and it was making it hard for me to function. I pulled away. I avoided the groups discussing her. I mentally and physically withdrew from the energy around her.

But I still cared – deeply. I loved her very much. And I wanted to help her. I sent her a story I wrote. It was actually an account of a story journey I had with my spirit guides. The journey was about ascending up to the top of the Tree of Life to the land of Keter. I also was told by one of my spirit grandmothers that she would be with Chris instead of me until she was no longer needed. She did not say until she died – just until she was no longer needed.

I saw Chris one Wednesday night before I sent her the copy of the story. I told her about my grandmother guide being with her until, I paused, “you know, when it is time.” Chris was okay with what I said and how I said it, but a woman standing near-by had this horrific look on her face as if what I said was terrible.

I did a painting of T-cells lined up like soldiers going after the diseased cancer cells. My inner guides told me to leave it up on a table easel until they told me to take it down. “You will know when it is time to take it down,” they whispered to me. I would look at it especially when I felt her symptoms. It’s like I felt when she was weakest I needed to do the imaging for her. I would look at the painting and see T-cell soldiers fighting the battle. And her energy would come back up.

One day, I was feeling angry at my own body issues. I was fuming and feeling sorry for myself. I got really worked up. I suddenly realized that was what Chris was feeling. She was angry her body had not been able to be healthy, stay healthy, and get healthy. She felt it betrayed her. She had done everything she could do but she was losing the battle. We were both screaming, “It isn’t fair!”

I took out my watercolors and paper. I painted the angry sick body I – we – were angry at. It was a mess and the anger and disgust showed. I put it on the canvas and then sat a while. Anger is a normal feeling but it is important to not hold on to it, to move through it. The first painting dried enough that I could remove it from the block to do another.

I began a painting of a woman’s body surrounded with healing purple fires. I wanted to use the image of the purple flame to make our bodies whole and well. There are many healers who talk about the purple flame and call it to a situation to heal what needs healing. It’s no coincidence T-cells are mostly purple. Violet fire is a healing energy!

I had released the feelings when I painted them. I then painted a third. It was art therapy. I was going through a transition in my thinking and using art as a way to process it. The third painting I call the Goddess of Health. After the healing process, I saw the woman – me – as a mature healthy woman. (See Painting.)

I took pictures of the raw paintings and exported them to jpegs. I emailed them to Chris with a brief explanation because she didn’t always understand my abstracts. She said she got it, felt that way, and she thanked me.

In December her family moved her into hospice. I could not go see her. I wanted to. One time I went into my meditation state in my bed at home and took her hand to go up to the place of my meditation story. My spirit grandmother and other faint spirits appeared as I imagined the ascension. Yes, Chris could go to that “place” but I was not supposed to be there. I started choking and abruptly was no longer in the meditative state. She went up and was there a while, but she didn’t stay – not that time.

Around Christmas I got a simple command. “It’s time to take the T-cell painting down now.” Nothing else was said but I knew the battle was mostly over. I lay in bed close to midnight on January 1, almost January 2. I hadn’t talked to anyone for a few days about her. They said she was very weak and the morphine had been increased. As I lay in bed, I felt a heaviness and difficulty breathing. I had experienced that same feeling when my mother made her transition. She was in a small town hospital in Oklahoma. I was in a hotel in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Mother passed. I felt no breath, no movement. “Goodbye Mother,” I whispered and wept myself to sleep.

I started the walk up the spiritual path, the magical place with Chris. Halfway up you stop to receive a bundle that becomes your robe and then a white dress. I stopped there and Chris took the bundle. She continued alone though I could see my grandmother Oma and images of others with her. “Goodbye Chris. I love you and will miss you.” A couple of days later I learned Chris made her transition just after midnight on January 2, 2008.