Author: Xenofact

Xenofact’s Job Hacks Is Out!

You, yes, YOU can get a polished, expanded, compendium of my Job Hacks Posts! What does that cost you?

NOTHING! All you have to do is trundle over to itch.io and get a copy. You can donate if you want, but only if you want, it’s free!

I also have PRINT COPIES but am setting up a Ko-Fi to sell them and haven’t quite got that. If you really want one now we can work something out, just ping me or comment.

This is a plan to start rounding up my blog posts now and then into useful Xines (get it, Zine, but with an “X” because why not).

So get on board with this bold new direction in publishing and go and download!

– Xenofact

And So Words Become Part of Us

I have many copies of the Tao Te Ching in my library.  I found joy in reading different translations because I found new insights each time and learned about the different translators.  One copy could provide lessons no other could, and together they were more powerful.

Regretfully, I had not read any of my copies in a while.  When I remediated this, I found something interesting happening after reading two or three translations – I felt the words in the book as much as I read them.  This feeling helped me gain insights and even led to some well-needed behavior and personal changes to deal with certain challenges.

(Specifically, this happened while reading the Red Pine translation, an excellent one, but one to read after you’ve gone through some easier translations)

In my younger years, I would read philosophical and meditative writings and then be frustrated at how hard it was to “change myself.”  With study and time, I found that personal growth or exploring mental and mystical spaces took work.  Mental and mystical journeys are oft one foot in front of another, and trying to jump ahead risks frustration or delusion.

Words inspire, guide, and inform but they are not a destination.  Now I saw they were also their own form of meditation.

I realized my reading of the Tao Te Ching had been a kind of exercise or meditation.  Anyone familiar with the book knows the small chapters, well-translated, can be very evocative.  I had soaked these in by reading and rereading nearly two dozen different copies, and now reading them brought forth lessons old and new.  The words had become part of me.

Reading words and trying to bash our thoughts into place to follow them is too easy to do and usually fails.  These experiences are a reminder that reading and rereading (or hearing and rehearing) wise words and transformative thoughts is a meditation.  We have to give words time to work their way into our minds, to be analyzed, felt, and understood.

I’m sure we’ve all heard stories of sages, holy men, hermits, and mystics who would read and reread a certain book.  Now I understand their efforts much more.

– Xenofact

May The Podcasters Be Kind In My Imagination

Mystics like me – magicians, meditators, theurgists, and the like – face a problem of ego.  We may have a deep insight or powerful experience and get full of ourselves.  Perhaps the opposite occurs, and something or someone shakes our ego, so we shore it up by overdoing it.  Whatever challenges we may face I want to talk about something that’s helped keep my “mystical ego” in check.

Podcasts.

I love podcasts on conspiracy theories, religious scams, and weirdness – as you can see on my resources pages.  These subjects fascinate me in general, but they’re also critical to dealing with the world.  Many gurus, politicians, and grifters are happy to sell bullshit and eat away at society just to get some money or an ego boost.  These podcasts help me stay aware of such people and how we may armor ourselves and others to stop them.

Sometimes I wondered what these podcasters might make of my own mystical activities and realized that such ruminations were a fantastic exercise to keep my ego in check.  Imagining very witty people I respect using their bullshit detectors on me gives me pause for thought.  Would my writings and philosophy withstand their gaze if I was more well-known?  If my plans come to fruition, would I be worthy of their ire or someone they’d respect?

This has been a great way to reduce arrogance in the metaphysical areas of my life.  These podcasters are people who could detect bullshit if they met me.  They’re also people I respect, so I suppose the idea of disappointing them even in my imagination is useful.

As you, my dear reader, are probably much like me – you despise spiritual exploiters and grifters – consider this useful exercise (or perhaps exorcise)  Not only will you discover some amazing podcasters, you’ll develop an insightful tool to keep your ego in check.  That way you’re one more helper in a world with a lot of exploitative assholes hijacking spirituality.

– Xenofact

The Map Is The Mirage

Earlier I commented on how my own meditative work was slowed when I focused less on doing it and more on reaching milestones.  When I focused on milestones, I got frustrated or risked taking shortcuts.  When you have a map, you can forget the importance of the journey – and no matter what you still have to make the journey.

This was part of a realization of why many esoteric documents may resort to obscurity and symbolism.  Too much of a map, and you end up inviting frustration and confusion.  However, I want to share another realization from my “contemplation of maps” – that detailed “mystical maps” also invite self delusion.

One of my interests is keeping an eye on spiritual grifters (indeed, it comprises a surprising part of my podcast listening).  As I follow the grifters I also wonder about the followers.  These followers will report spiritual experiences, alien incarnations, but heir descriptions were filled with jargon, repeated conspiracy theories, and so on.  They seem quite sincere, but their experiences often seemed to be, well, a little too imagined.

I’m sure we’ve all had times in meditation or magic where we realized “I am deluding myself,” of course.  Remember when you had expectations and later realized you’d made some of it up?  When you map out experiences you can make yourself believe you’re experiencing them.

I think some people taken in by spiritual grifters imagine these experiences as the grifter gives them a map.  Do this meditation to awaken your starseed self, be it Blue Avian or Pleadean!  Do these meditations and you’ll experience Angel communication!  Tell people their needs are met by “doing x to get y,” throw in some social pressure, and people will imagine all sorts of things.

Plus the grifters get to sell books, amulets, talks, get internet exposure, and so on.  If it goes stale, just make up some new grift and do it all over again.  Some people selling spiritual ephemera go through multiple entire belief systems.

Thus we can see another reason for use of symbolism or a little obscurity in mystical documents.  Not providing too much of a map lowers the chance people will delude themselves.  I imagine finding the right balance is a challenge, and makes me appreciate the many monks, magicians, and philosophers who found it.

As a closing note, as stated earlier, I believe mystic practices are fundamentally liberating and should be shared far and wide.  I’m just realizing it’s good to require some work, skepticism, and analysis of those you’re trying to reach.

– Xenofact