A Stand Against Hate Crime

"We must stand against crimes that are meant not only to break bones but to break spirits. No one in America should ever be afraid to walk down the street holding the hands of the person they love." ~President Barack Obama, while signing the new Hate Crime Legislation

The new law adds acts of violence against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people to the list of federal hate crimes.

~Linda

Messenger: Legacy of Mattie J.T. Stepanek and Heartsongs, New Book

“I believe that peace becomes possible when we choose to make peace an attitude and a habit. I believe that the reality of peace begins within each of us….”
~Mattie J. T. Stepanek, (1990-2004), Just Peace, A Message of Hope



I received an email this morning from Jeni Stepanek, mother of Mattie J.T. Stepanek, announcing her new book to be released Monday, November 2, with her appearance on the Good Morning America show. Her book, Messenger: The Legacy of Mattie J.T. Stepanek and Heartsongs, is not a book by Mattie, but the first book ABOUT Mattie's life, written by the person who knew him best, his mother, Jeni, who shared him with all of us. Mattie was a young poet, philosopher, and peace maker, who lived a short life but while here he gave us the wisdom, the vision, the poetry and essays, from a brilliant, yet young, mind who knew about love, peace and joy, despite his struggle with a terminal neuromuscular disease.

Mattie left this world days before his 14th birthday, but not only did he leave us with his books of poetry, but with memories of his beautiful smile, his wisdom of an old soul, his humor, his love, and his belief that peace was possible.

I will never forget Mattie, will never forget his smile and the sparkle in his eyes. For those of you who do not know about Mattie, please read my review of his Heartsongs books, including the last one he wrote with former President Jimmy Carter, Just Peace, A Message of Hope.

Jeni’s book is now available at Amazon. The Foreword is by Maya Angelou. If you want to know more about an angel, visit Mattie’s website.

“Peace is possible. It can begin simply, over a game of chess and a cup of tea.” ~Mattie J. T. Stepanek, (1990-2004)

This video song, a tribute to Mattie, He Was Just Like Me, was written and recorded by his young friend, Madison Cross. Madison is the daughter of singer, songwriter, Christopher Cross.





~Linda

A Consideration of the Human Experience

“Why are we here and what is our role in the ever-expanding reality of being? To question is the basis of all understanding, so join in the search for meaning and find that place wherein all of your answers for all of your questions may be realized!” ~Greg Pendleton

Greg Pendleton has published his book, What About Me: A Consideration of the Human Experience. Available at Amazon in tradepaper and Kindle

“Why has our world become such a crazy, unmanageable place? What is my role in its current state of affairs, and how can I be instrumental in the needed changes ahead? This book seeks to provide you, the individual, with these and many other answers to be found in your investigation of the mystery of Life.”

Greg Pendleton is the son of Don Pendleton. Greg, like his late father, explores the human experience and the steps to reawaken oneself to the true realities of life in order to find love and happiness moment to moment.

Greg's blog

~Linda

The Cosmic Breath: Metaphysical Essays of Don Pendleton

“Is there a reason for the existence of the world? This is perhaps the most basic question of metaphysics.” ~Don Pendleton


Don Pendleton’s Metaphysical Essays dramatically explore the human experience and the spiritual meaning of existence. In Don’s inspirational examination of religion, science, and philosophy, his findings are thought-provoking, inspiring, and, perhaps, even transformational for the true seeker.

Don Pendleton (1927-1995) was creator of The Executioner: Mack Bolan Series, Joe Copp, Private Eye and Ashton Ford, Psychic Detective Mystery Series. He published more than one hundred novels and has sold nearly two hundred million copies world-wide in more than twenty-five languages.

He wrote the nonfiction A Search For Meaning From the Surface of a Small Planet, and with his wife, Linda Pendleton, co-wrote the popular books, To Dance With Angels and Whispers From the Soul.

Don Pendleton considered himself to be a metaphysical scholar and although most of his writing career was devoted to fictional works he often wrote essays of his metaphysical ideas and beliefs.

Friend and fellow writer, Jon Guenther wrote a tribute on his blog to Don Pendleton on the 14th anniversary of Don's death, which was October 23, 1995.

The Cosmic Breath is now available at Amazon and will be available for the Kindle in a few days.

(Update) the book is available at Kindle.

~Linda

Dumping Emotional Garbage

“Guilt drives people to be deaf, dumb, and blind to their own drives, hopes and fears and wants, bias and prejudices therein.” ~ Spirit, Dr. James Martin Peebles, from Three Principles of Angelic Wisdom by Linda Pendleton



I was speaking with a friend today about feelings and letting go of the past. You know, dumping the garbage that one can tend to hold onto. So that brought to mind the late Dr. David Viscott, Psychiatrist—his books, his radio show, and his TV show.

I very much admired him and did know him on a social level. I had read his first book, The Making of a Psychiatrist, published in 1972, and then a few years later, in the late 1970’s, I found Dr. Viscott’s book, The Language of Feelings, to be insightful and it gave me a greater understanding of the dynamics of feelings, of emotions.

“Anxiety is the fear of hurt or loss.
Hurt of loss leads to anger.
Anger held in leads to guilt.
Guilt, unrelieved, leads to depression.”
~David Viscott, M.D., The Language of Feelings

And here from my book, Three Principles of Angelic Wisdom, Chapter 12, Dumping the Garbage:

More than a hundred years ago, Dr. James Martin Peebles wrote in one of his many published books, "The oak remembers not each leaf it bore; and yet each leaf and bough and brawny limb help to make up the towering tree. Many of the acts and minor events of our lives have died out, or cease to echo in the memory chambers of our souls; still, their results live in our characters. Let then, be forgotten! It is not wise to brood over the broken rounds of the ladder our feet just pressed. The summit of the temple is to be reached. Direct the eye upward, and press forward towards the higher altitudes of heavenly truth and wisdom.

"The toiling seamstress remembers not each stitch she took in the garment; and yet, every stitch helped to make up that garment; and so each thought, word, purpose, and deed, help to make up the real life of the soul; and backward-looking memory, tracing the effects, may--ay, must construct a mirror before which we shall be necessitated to stand, face to face with ourselves...We weave the moral garments in this life that shall in quality clothe us when entering the future state of existence."

I asked Dr. Peebles about that and he told me: “Hmm, much wisdom there, indeed. I did not refer to events as lessons as I now do but I would suppose my meaning is exact. Life is an upward movement toward heavenly truths, a remembering so to speak of our spiritual nature, a fulfilling of our soul, and it is true that every thought, every movement, every action and deed, become part of our very soul, at least in a deductive sense. It is the reflection in the mirror which enables one to have new understanding of self. I still agree with all that I wrote as one has to let go of the backward-looking memories in order to continue on a smooth path toward enlightenment. There is no point in retracing or brooding over where one has walked. The movement is forward and upward. To stop on one broken round of the ladder and to not step beyond to the next, stifles. Do you understand?”

I said to him, “Perfectly. I also opened this chapter with one of your more recent heavenly quotes which I think you are familiar with.” (the quote at the top of this posting).

Dr. Peebles: “Ah, yes. When one becomes blinded to life, closed to the echoes, the beauty of life becomes absent, silent, and fear takes hold. Fear of diversity, fear of love and intimacy, and the illusion of separation becomes overwhelming. Guilt disables, lowers self esteem, reduces hopes, kills dreams, destroys creativity, alters the ego to the point that self worth suffers tremendously. So what do you do about it? You release it by realizing that you don't need it any longer. It becomes a lesson learned. When you accept that you created that place, you also realize that you can create another place, one free of guilt, full of joy, full of love.”

“When one is faced with looking at all that garbage, what many refer to as baggage, recognize that it no longer serves you. And in all probability, the person who may have been the reason for your baggage, that is, in your own mind, has probably not even given you any thought, or the event any thought, so why do you continue to carry it with you? Remember, your world is your very own perception. You have the choice to perceive it as you wish. And if you wish to be the victim, so be it. But if you wish to be the pilot of your life, the one at the wheel, so to speak, then consider that you can shift your perception, let go, forgive, and move forward.”


In this video Dr. Viscott reads from one of his excellent books, Emotional Resilience: Simple Truths for Dealing with the Unfinished Business of Your Past, published not long before his untimely death at the age of 58.

~Linda

UFO and Alien Information

Today I go from angel connections to UFO and alien connections.

UFO researcher Billy Booth is webmaster of one of the Internet's largest UFO web sites, UFO Casebook Website. It is an excellent UFO site overflowing with information, sighting reports, documents, research, videos, photos, a forum, and newsletters.

BJ Booth is often called upon to evaluate UFO sightings. He has also spent many years researching UFO photographs and video film. He is known as an expert on UFO crash accounts, and had given his opinion in several books on the subject. He has been a guest on many UFO radio and television programs. He has written more than 400 articles on UFO and alien sightings. He is a longtime member of MUFON, the Mutual UFO Network.

I recommend his website and there is so much information available I would suggest bookmarking it as you will want to visit often to discover all the information available there, and it is updated often.

~Linda

Angel Connections

Photograph © Copyright 2009 by Sylvia Stites

Do you suppose the love and appreciation of angels can be in our genes? I’m wondering about that.

I always felt connected to my first cousin, Sylvia when we were young, although we didn’t spend a lot of time together during those early years. And then our lives went in separate directions for more than forty years, and just this spring Sylvia got in touch with me via one of my websites (thank goodness for the Internet and email). She and her husband, Tom live in Vienna, Austria, and recently retired from teaching. Sylvia taught school for forty-two years around the world; early on in the U.S, but for the most part in places such as Pakistan, Indonesia, South America, and Vienna. They are now retired.

It so happens Sylvia has a love for angels like I do. They just returned home to Vienna from a vacation in Switzerland and Italy. Syliva took this photograph of an angel for me. It is on the exterior door of the Duomo di Milan, a Gothic cathedral in Milan, Italy.

Duomo Milan is the largest Gothic cathedral and the second largest Catholic cathedral in the world.

By the way, our grandparents were born in Sicily. Our grandfather, Calcedonio Spera came to America when he was about eight years old in 1882, and in 1895 went back to Sicily and married our grandmother, Antonia Barcia and they both came to America.

~Linda

Bombing the Moon

Photo Copyright 2009 by Ted Grussing

I just realized my last post was my Post 100 on World of Spirit! Where does time go? Already well into October and it seems like the holidays were just behind us a little bit.

When my husband, Don and I wrote our book Whispers From the Soul, we had a chapter titled

The Natural Acceleration of Change with the opening Section, The Quickening.

A quick review of the recent history of change in the last 60-70 years just in America, will reveal a current pattern of natural and manmade disasters girdling the nation, from civil unrest and violence, devastating earthquakes and fires to the hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards and floods, occurring in virtually every region of the country...and even elsewhere within the world.

These are examples of the inconstancy of the human experience on this planet. It would perhaps be proper to state, then that change is the most compellingly natural state of existence throughout the universe. Without change we would exist within a totally static universe in which there would be no meaning to existence itself.

So why is it that most of us resist change with such tenacity and insist that "things" remain the same as they always have been? "Things" have never been "the same" in this world of time and space.

Change is a necessary state of being--whether we are thinking of a rock or a tree or a human being. Continual change is a mandatory state of all existent elements everywhere. The very planet beneath our feet could not survive without constant activity. In the cosmic sense, our planet is very much alive, very much involved in the process men call evolution--as is the entire manifest universe.

It is well to keep in mind that the basic stuff of which our bodies are made is precisely the same as the basic stuff from which was made the most distant star. We are of the universe and we are subject to the universal laws which keep the whole production functioning.

In speaking of the cosmos, I must say I do not feel good about NASA attacking our Moon in the coming hours. Is it always our nature to invade, to bomb? Think about it. What if some alien civilization out there in the universe decided to send a rocket our way to see if they could get a splash of water out of our blue planet? Don't get me wrong, I think man should have gone to the Moon again long ago, and call it conspiracy theory if you want, but I often wonder why we have not. What is it that our government does not want us to know, or to see?? But to send a $79 million dollar space craft crashing into the moon to stir up some dust to see if there is any water mist seems a waste of good money.

Some might say I'm not being visionary or looking for environmental answers for the future. Maybe not, but I'm not happy about this event. I am in favor of space exploration, but only with respect, and for some reason this does not feel like respect.

Do you have any thoughts on that?

Do you suppose this happened in Arizona when some off earth beings were looking for water in the desert? (well, they did find a 1,406 pound meteorite nearby, apparently not a rocket).

Meteor Crater, Northern Arizona

Photo Copyright 2009 by Ted Grussing

~Linda

History of Alternative Spirituality in America

“Self-trust is the first secret of success.”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

I read an interesting interview in the September 28 edition of Publishers Weekly Magazine with Mitch Horowitz, editor-in-chief at Penguin/Tarcher Publishing, and an author, and scholar. Tarcher’s list has always had a significant number of New Age, New Thought books. Horwitz has published some of the leading titles in world religion, metaphysics, philosophy, and spirituality. As a writer and speaker on metaphysical topics, he has appeared on television shows such as The History Channel, Montel Williams, and various radio shows such as Coast to Coast AM. His articles have appeared in various magazines.

He is author of Occult America: The Secret History of How Mysticism Shaped Our Nation.
In the interview with PW, Horowitz was asked what political and religious values characterize today’s New Age movement. He spoke of the very diverse nature of New Agers, geographically and demographically but that they do seem to hold in common belief systems such as “liberal politics, the equality of all religions, body-mind-healing and the principle that our thoughts to some extent can influence outer circumstances.”

He went on to say: “they also believe that you can obtain spiritual understanding without belonging to a specific faith or religion, and there is a lack of emphasis on membership in a particular congregation or an allegiance to a particular doctrine. They move freely among religious movements and ideas, and believe that humans have some kind of intuitive faculty, and that it is possible for the mind to evolve to some kind of higher level. It is a theology, an ethics, a psychology and an outlook. In terms of politics, they tend to associate with various progressive political movements. And this is not a recent thing. Politics and esoteric spirituality grew up together in America. When Spiritualism began to sweep this country (in the 19th century), it created the first opening in the modern world for women to serve as religious leaders, in that case as trance mediums. So you had a tremendous crossover between the Spiritualist movement and the Suffragettes and voting rights activism. This was a civic, spiritual movement that provided an opening for women both politically and religiously. New Age has always been reformist.”

I discovered that to be so true while doing research on Spiritualism in the 19th century that I’ve done over the years and recently for my latest ebook, How Thin The Veil! 150 Years of Spiritualism. There was a merging of the Spiritualist movement with women’s rights but also with the abolitionist movement. Many of those leading Spiritualist, men and women, were interested in equality, religious and otherwise, were progressive and visionary and I believe a big part of the forward movement of America.

Although we often use the term New Age, there is really nothing new about it. Our country was founded on progressive and visionary ideals.

Mitch Horowitz had an interesting answer to this question by PW: “You also write about the positive-thinking approach that characterizes much of the esoteric, or New Age, philosophy. Do you see a vein of that in the mood that brought President Obama into office?”

His answer: “Yes. The positive-thinking approach is in the groundwater of our country. People who would never think of themselves as New Agers embrace the idea of positive or motivational thinking. This viewpoint arose partly out of transcendentalism. In 1870, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote an essay called Success in which he discussed the power of enthusiasm. That aspect of the American character is so basic it travels across all our religious or political lines. Barack Obama identified Emerson’s essay Self-Reliance as an influence on him. This tone of positivism is a key part of American spirituality.”

Horowitz’s book sounds like a good look at the founding of America around the mystical elements that have moved us forward through the years to today.

I believe you can read more of his interview here, and more about him at his website.

~Linda

New UFO Documentary, History Channel; and UFO eBooks

This Sunday evening on the History Channel is the two hour documentary on UFOs, I Know What I Saw. From the History Channel Website:

“Director and host James Fox assembles the most credible UFO witnesses from around the world to testify on the subject and share their experiences and observations. Air Force generals, astronauts, military and commercial pilots, government and FAA officials from seven countries gather at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. to tell stories that, as former Arizona governor Fife Symington states, "will challenge your reality." These accounts reveal a behind-the-scenes U.S. operation whose policy, in the eyes of some observers, seems to involve confiscation of substantiating evidence from close encounters--to the extent that even Presidents have failed to get straight answers.”

“The most compelling film on the subject to date.” ~Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14 Astronaut

It should be an interesting show. I’ve had two sightings, and a few more that were not very significant. But once you have a sighting, or in some cases contact of some sort, it does tend to make you a believer that we are not alone in this universe, and that we may be under observation by off-earth beings—or gads, even guinea pigs of extraterrestrials.

If the show sparks some interest of wanting to read more about the UFO phenomena you might want to look into the ebooks I recently wrote, The UFO Phenomena: The Cosmic SOS, and the free ebooks that go along with the purchase of The UFO Phenomena: The Cosmic SOS.

Are we alone in the universe? Many people do not believe we are. A recent U.S. National Roper Poll showed seventy-two percent believe that our government is not telling us all it knows about UFO activity. Another CNN-TIME Poll showed eighty-percent believed the government to be hiding knowledge of UFOs.

Nearly half of Americans believe UFOs have visited earth in some form. And a Roper Poll conducted by the SciFi Television Channel indicated one in seven has had a UFO Experience. What do you believe? What do you know?

The UFO Phenomena: The Cosmic SOS
Chapter 1 ~ Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
Chapter 2 ~ UFO Flap
Chapter 3 ~ The Cosmic S.O.S.
Chapter 4 ~ Reverberations
Chapter 5 ~ To the Rescue?
Chapter 6 ~ Flying Triangles in the Skies
Chapter 7 ~ Amber Orbs Over the Red Rocks
Chapter 8 ~ Off-Earth Beings
Chapter 9 ~ Messages From Beyond?

Embark on an exploration and discussion of extraterrestrial life. Let this eBook serve as one of your guides. Could the Earth's much needed healing be part of another planet's mission? Do astronauts know of extraterrestrial life forms? Together, we can begin to unlock long held secrets and mysteries about extraterrestrial life.

Free with Purchase:

Crop Circles in the Fields, Objects in the Skies, and Creatures in the Bedroom
by Linda Pendleton

This 97 page e-book is packed with a collection of compelling articles and credible firsthand accounts of sightings and experiences intended to shed light and insight into Crop Circles, UFOs, and abductions. Articles by Dr. John E. Mack; Nuclear Physicist and UFO Investigator, Stanton Friedman; Crop Circle Researcher Nancy Talbott; and more. Also find astonishing photographs of recent crop circles, courtesy of Lucy Pringle and others.

Have we been visited here on earth? If so, since when? Could Crop Circles be a message to us? If so, what might that message be? What are crop circles theories? How is a hoax (i.e., man-made) crop circle identifiable from the real thing? Has anyone or thing ever been caught in the act making crop circles? This eBook examines these questions and provides intriguing responses, as it explores life beyond this planet and contemplates our connection to it.

Also Included:

Read about my UFO sightings Here and Here.

~Linda

Emotional Eating

Strawberries are the angels of the earth, innocent and sweet with green leafy wings reaching heavenward. ~Jasmine Heiler

We’ve all heard the term comfort food, and each of us probably have our “favorite” comfort food, such as ice cream, chocolate, or some favorite food that may have a significant memory attached to it. And with that warm memory comes a warm and cozy feeling when enjoying that particular food. Often that particular food may be a food full of calories—sugar, fat, etc.

Dr. Judith Orloff has an interesting perspective on over-eating. It is often said that emotional issues can play a role but I don’t believe I have heard it explained in regards to those of us who are intuitive and consciously or unconsciously use food as a buffer against negative energy.

Do you do that at times? ...maybe after a phone call from a family member or friend that seems to have lots of negativity...and after ending the conversation do you head to the kitchen for a “snack?” Or after a disagreement with someone?

~Linda

Comparison of Channelings From Spirit Guides, Part One

Truths and Other Truths
A Comparison of Channelings From Spirit Guides
By Linda Pendleton
Part One

Are you among the eighty-two percent of Americans who believe in an afterlife? In recent times, the numbers have been increasing for those who believe they have had communication from a loved one on the Other Side.

And what about angels and spirit guides? Nearly seventy percent of Americans believe in the existence of angels as messengers of God, and nearly half believe they have their own guardian angels or angels. Are you aware of your angel or guide? If so, do you communicate or receive signs from them?

It would seem the religious/spiritual instinct is innate within humankind, as though a template for the experience had been programmed into our genetic structures that govern human expression. Within the innate religious or spiritual instinct are experiences that might be classified as miraculous. But, are many of the events or experiences actually miracles or no more than ordinary occurrences?

Reports of extraordinary and astonishing events attributed to a supreme being or a divine power will be found in virtually every world religion, every culture, and probably within every human mind from primitive times right up into the modern age. Many cultures do not regard miracles or paranormal events as anything extraordinary but merely the natural workings of a natural world. Most cultures who share that idea have well-formulated spiritual beliefs that have been carried forward from generation to generation, throughout history, and many of these cultures have evolved highly sophisticated belief systems.

When one reads the history of cultures, it is very apparent that there has always been a “knowing” within mankind that evolves into understandings that we are, indeed, spiritual beings and that life does not end with the death of the physical body. Mankind has always looked to the heavens in a search for answers. I have often wondered why that is and the answer I have come up with is, no matter our religious upbringing or belief system, we have an innate knowledge within, a knowledge that we are much more than a physical body having a life experience. We are temporarily using a physical body for an ongoing spiritual life.

So in taking those ideas of an innate spiritual connection it should appear absolutely normal for one to have communication with the Other Side, with angels, spirit guides, and loved ones who have left this physical dimension.

Channeling spirit is the receiving of messages from the Other Side – the spirit world, through the various classic psychic avenues such has mediumship, trance-channeling, clairvoyance, clairaudience, clairsentience, and intuition. The receiver is an open line, a conduit, similar to what one could consider an open telephone line or radio receiver. Although channeling or mediumship has always been with us, in recent years it has gained more attention through various movies, literature, and television shows, featuring psychic mediums such as John Edward, James Van Praagh, Char Margolis, Rosemary Altea, and others.

Shirley MacLaine was one who helped to get the idea of mediumship, past lives, and even UFO phenomena out of the “psychic closet” and into the mainstream with her book, Out On a Limb, the resulting movie and other books, and her many television appearances. Even though there were often overdone jokes about her spiritual experiences, it did open the “closet” door, and for many, it was a “new” look at what was possible—and within the norm of the human experience.

We all have intuition, and for some it is more pronounced, such as it might be with the aforementioned psychic mediums. But all of us have the capability of communicating in various ways with those on the Other Side. Sometimes, all it takes is trusting in our intuition and being open to the possibility of contact.

I’ve put together a collection of quotations from various spirit guides through their channels/mediums. It is very noticeable how they “ring” of similar ideas, wisdom, and truths.
Probably of these listed spirit guides or the mediums who work with them, it would be Edgar Cayce who probably stands out as the most profound and the “clearest connection” to information coming from the Other Side.

I have noticed that many people either began or enhanced their spiritual journey by reading the fascinating story of Edgar Cayce and his psychic gift, There is a River, The Story of Edgar Cayce written by Thomas Sugrue, and published more than sixty years ago.

Dr. Christiane Northrup, M.D., best-selling author and frequent guest on Oprah, had this to say about Cayce: "The story of Edgar Cayce has inspired me from the time I was 12 years old. As one of the first well-studied medical intuitives, his work and his life helped blaze the path for the future of medicine."

Not only did he blaze the path of future medicine, but he gave understanding and acceptance of mediumship, and also of reincarnation, as his readings focused very much on past lives. And with his work in that area, and several other books written about him, he awakened America to reincarnationist thought.


Read PART TWO, The Channelings


Copyright © 2008, 2009 by Linda Pendleton

Comparison of Channelings From Spirit Guides, Part Two

Truths and Other Truths
A Comparison of Channelings From Spirit Guides
By Linda Pendleton
Part Two

“The Three Principles: Loving Allowance for all things to be in their own time and place, beginning with yourself. Increased Communication with all of life everywhere and with respect. Self Responsibility, for you are the eternal creator, never the victim.” –Spirit Guide, Dr. Peebles

"For, each soul enters with a mission . . . we all have a mission to perform.” –Mediumship of Edgar Cayce

“Each of us has the opportunity to consciously decide who we wish to become as well as how long it's going to take us to get there.”–Mediumship of Edgar Cayce

“Mankind is growing beyond many of its leaders in willingness to find alternate solutions, alternates to war that is. Meaningful understanding between polarized religious systems and compassion has become imperative. And, bridges between the modern world and the third world countries must be built: in education, technology, science, delegating food sharing without (economic) financial motivation, and finally medical sharing that is sincerely caring for one's fellow man.” –Spirit Guide Gilgamesh of the Understanding Ones, Shawn Randall

"A journey into the NEW is always a journey into more of YOU."–Spirit Guide Torah, Shawn Randall

"Process is simply the amount of time for some reason you deem it necessary to take until you finally give yourself permission to see the obvious." –Spirit Guide Bashar, Darryl Anka

“Create the effect of being happy, and you will attract into your lives all of the causes to support the happiness you have created...just because you want to. And just because you say so. Because you are the creators of your reality, there doesn’t need to be any other why or how. What you say goes!” –Spirit Guide Bashar, Darryl Anka

“You have free will, and you can create any reality you desire; that is being made in the image of God. Act as such and you will have heaven on your Earth–guaranteed.” –Spirit Guide Bashar, Darryl Anka

“Nothing can match or even come near the miracle of who you truly are. Let this be the mantra of your life. A Being of Indescribable wonder has, has again, become a bearer of the Light on Earth. Let nothing dissuade you from this truth.” –Spirit Guide Emmanuel, Pat Rodegast

“Come home to your Selves. The journey is no more than a breath in time, no more than a heartbeat in distance.” –Spirit Guide Emmanuel, Pat Rodegast

“Every moment of your life you are offered the opportunity to choose–love or fear, to tread the earth or to soar the heavens.” –Spirit Guide Emmanuel, Pat Rodegast

"You must learn to listen to the voice of the inner self and work with it." –Spirit Guide Seth, Jane Roberts

"You create your reality according to your beliefs and expectations, therefore you should examine these carefully. If you do not like some aspect of your world, then examine your own expectations." –Spirit Guide Seth, Jane Roberts

“Choice is focused intent, and as such, it is critical to changing intent and thus the function and form of energy. It is critical to changing action and image. Choice is essential to all learning.” –Spirit Guide Lazaris, Jach Pursel

“In order to understand that you carry with you only an illusion of separation, to reach that spiritual truth, you have to first allow yourself to love God and then to love yourself. Only then, when you are comfortable with the truth of that love, can you then reach out to life around you.” –Spirit Guide Dr. Peebles, Linda Pendleton

“Never be afraid. The greatest enemy of humanity is fear. Be confident in the love and wisdom of God, and remember if you go into shadow, darkness will not touch you if you are radiating light.” –Spirit Guide White Eagle, Grace Cooke

“Three things: You ask; the Universe gives; you let in. That's all there is to it. And if you're not living it, it's not because you're not asking. You are. And it's not because the Universe is not yielding. It is. It's because you are not in the receiving mode.” –Spirit Guide Abraham, Esther Hicks

“We are here to remind you that pain and fear are not the only methods of growth; that you can more elegantly grow through joy and love. . . that you can create your own reality . . . that there is a God/Goddess/All That Is who loves you, who knows your name. . . and that you love good enough.” –Spirit Guide Lazaris, Jach Pursel

“No longer technicians, you are the masterful magicians of the current and future age, the masterful magicians of the mysteries and the mysticism. And this is the dawning of your day. It is time to find your voice and then to lift that voice, heroic, lyrical, or celestial, so that you can be heard...so that your world can hear you. It is time to rise to the new dawn. Oh, we love you; we love you so.” –Spirit Guide Lazaris, Jach Pursel

“Humanity is gradually moving beyond the narrow concept of isolationism and secular ‘religion’ into the expanded and cohesive truth of spirituality whereby you turn inward and connect to your own Divine Source for Creator truth and universal laws to guide you, instead of turning to someone you think is more knowledgeable and powerful than you.” –Archangel Michael, Ronna Herman

“What gives you your Divine essence is that you have the freedom to embrace and experience whatever thoughts you desire. And that divine essence, called free will, is love. It is the gift of love from God to each of you. Each of you has the divine essence of will so that you have the freedom to create uniquely whatever ideal you envision through thought.” –Spirit Guide Ramatha, J.Z. Knight

“You did not come to earth to become perfect. You came to the earth to stop condemning yourself for not being perfect.”–Spirit Guide Dr. Peebles, Athena Demetrios

“There's no higher energy or power on Earth than you. There's no higher power or energy in the Universe than what exists and flows through you in a divine way.” –Spirit Guide Kryon, Lee Carroll

“You are never separate dear ones from the source of love, abundance, and joy. It is an illusion that you could ever be separated from your angels or God. You are like drops of water in an ocean, part of something so much greater and yet individual as well.” –The Angels, Ann Albers

“If one believes that he alone creates his life, all his experiences, his thoughts, his actions—and reactions—and takes full responsibility for that, then he can never be a victim. Fear, resentment, anger and hate fall away like the petals of a daisy caught up in the wind.” –Spirit Guide Dr. Peebles, Linda Pendleton

“The entire universe is a loving and living experience of divine thought...a fabric that is intermeshed with all things.” –Spirit Guide Dr. Peebles, Thomas Jacobson, To Dance With Angels by Don and Linda Pendleton

“Allow your fear, if only for a moment. Acknowledge the fear that the terrorists have created in you, and move through it, and then let it go, and know that there is nothing to fear. As you move within your own mind, and move to understand that separation is the factor that motivates fear, then you can recognize that you are never alone, and are never the victim, unless you choose to be a victim.” –Spirit Guide Dr. Peebles, Linda Pendleton

“As you welcome change, as the creator that you are, you have the ability to move with that change in whatever way you wish. If you deny it, you will have pain. You will feel victimized, helpless. But if you embrace it then you have the opportunity to have a creative dance with it. And in that creative dance you can mold it, fashion it, to your own liking. If you want it to be an opportunity for new experiences, so be it. If you want it to be adventurous, so be it. If you want it to be mysterious, so be it. And if you want it to be denied, so be it. It is your ballet slippers that move across the stage, it is your melody that is strummed on the musical instruments, and it is your audience who experiences your song and dance. You are the choreographer, the composer, the arranger, the director. It is your show and you decide how you want to present it. But might I suggest, dear friends, that you hold no expectations of how others will receive it—just present it with an open mind and loving heart. And present it with joy!” –Spirit Guide Dr. Peebles, Linda Pendleton

“Peace and healing will come when you take action to diminish the illusion of separation within the self. Only then.” –Spirit Guide Dr. Peebles, Linda Pendleton

“Find something to feel good about and get out of the way, and allow the cells to receive what they’ve been asking for. That is the key to healing.” –Spirit Guide Abraham, Esther Hicks

“You can’t fill up anyone else’s cup until yours is runneth over.” –Spirit Guide Dr. Peebles, Summer Bacon

“You are spirit. The real you, the consciousness, is spirit. As you strengthen this realization through meditation and worship of your Creator your spirit will begin to dominate the physical atoms, until your body becomes irradiated with life, and every particle obeys the direction of spirit, the real you.” –Spirit Guide White Eagle, Grace Cook

“You are Beings who intend to come forth and to continue to expand and grow and change. What is the perfect age? “Well, it is the age where I finally understand my freedom, and I finally understand that I am free to create, and it’s the age that I am at my most beautiful.’ And we say, by whose standard? In other words, who gets to decide the perfect age? And we say, rather than determining what the perfect age is, why not decide what the perfect state of being is–and then discover that you can find the perfect state of being at any age.” –Spirit Guide Abraham, Esther Hicks

“Pain is a divine messenger. Your soul calls upon pain to help you locate your resistance to this and to that.” –Spirit Guide Dr. Peebles, Athena Demetrios

"Your thoughts are powerful creators, and your words are even more powerful than your thoughts, but your actions are more powerful than your words or your thoughts." –Spirit Guide Abraham, Esther Hicks

“To increase your connection to your guide, you can consciously think of your guide or your guide’s name. You need not do more that [than] this to bring your guide’s light and love to you. You can also learn to call in your guide for brief moments by closing your eyes and asking for guidance and getting simple yes or no impressions instantly. You can do this whether you are standing in the grocery store line, driving your car or walking down the street. You can bring the essence of your connection to your guide through at any given time for however long you want–be it thirty seconds or three minutes. This type of connection does not need to be a lengthy one.” –Spirit Guides Orin and DaBen, Sanaya Roman and Duane Packer

“Every decision you make—every decision—is not a decision about what to do. It’s about Who You Are. When you see this, when you understand it, everything changes. You begin to see life in a new way. All events, occurrences, and situations turn into opportunities to do what you came here to do.” –Spirit Guide “God,” Neale Donald Walsch

“Death is only passing through God's other door.”–Edgar Cayce

"There is no death, there is only change." Spirit Guide Dr. Peebles

Copyright © 2008, 2009 by Linda Pendleton



Part One Here

Don Pendleton Essays

This is an excerpt from the soon to be published book, The Cosmic Breath: Metaphysical Essays of Don Pendleton. The publication date for the new book should be October 15th, and will be available at Amazon. Don considered himself to be a metaphysical scholar and although most of his writings over the years were fiction, he loved sharing his metaphysical beliefs. I love this quote by Albert Einstein and wanted to share it.

This excerpt is from Don’s Essay, The Basic Question, which is about just that—Is there a reason for the existence of the world?

All the great systems of human thought have conceded that all of science and all of philosophy and, yes, even all of religion cannot answer the unanswerable question of existence—yet we have done so, and we have done so negatively.

Okay, back to metaphysics. Why? Why is there not a reason for the existence of the world? Because you cannot see a creator, a God? Albert Einstein has seen him. If science is your religion, then listen to the testimony of one of the scientific greats of all time. “My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble minds. That deeply emotional conviction of the presence of a superior reasoning power, which is revealed in the incomprehensible universe, forms my idea of God.” Is that science? No, that is metaphysics. It is also religion, and Einstein had something to say about that also: “Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.” And that, also, is metaphysics.

Indeed, all that admits or examines or even questions the great primordial mysteries of existence is metaphysics. Metaphysics is religion, and science, and philosophy—without the self-imposed chains of those inquiries. Metaphysics is ESP, it is mysticism, it is magic, it is spirituality—and it is the human mind pondering the imponderable.

~Linda

Spiritual Awareness

"O Reality, Divine Father Mother of all that is...I am your eyes, I am your ears, I am your voice in the land of time and space, I am your heart, I am your awareness, I am your consciousness of that which is, and I thank you that this is so. Accept me now, in my awareness, into that consciousness which gives rise to time and space. Accept me now into divine union with thee."
~Don Pendleton, Author (1927-1995)

Creative Tools

“The voice of our original self is often muffled, overwhelmed, even strangled, by the voices of other people’s expectations”
– Julia Cameron, Author of The Artist’s Way

Julia Cameron is a poet, best-selling author, playwright, and filmmaker. Her book The Artist’s Way has sold over two million copies and has inspired many artists in their creative endeavors. Cameron collaborated with Emma Lively on the musical play, "The Medium at Large," a story set in 1938 New York about a reluctant gay medium who hopes to connect with his deceased partner but instead connects with numerous other spirits including the parents two sisters who want the best romantically for their daughters but can’t seem to make it happen from the other side.

Sounds like a great play.

~Linda

Authentic Power, Authentic Self

What is Authentic Power?

According to Gary Zukav, author ot the best-selling book Seat of Soul, it is alignment of the personality with the soul, and that can be achieved by looking inside yourself to create Authentic Power.

A few days ago, Mark at the Naked Soul Blog wrote an excellent blog (all his blogs are excellent and inspirational) about being your authentic self. He said, "Being our authentic self, being in alignment with who we truly are is attractive! When we are in alignment, we FEEL good about our self. When we feel good about our self we become confident, we raise our vibrations and in doing so we become attractive to other people, that is we become attractive to people who feel our vibrations and our aligned with our vibrations."

"Conversely when we are out of alignment with our authentic self, our energy is low or the energy that we emit is a 'bad vibe' and we repel people whom we would want to attract and we tend to attract people who are equally out of alignment with their true selves and therefore we perpetuate and grow the feeling of being out of alignment and unconsciously create a circle where as we are not attracting the people into our life that we desire to attract."

Read the rest of Mark's post.

~Linda

Harmony Brings Happiness

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”
~Mohandas Gandhi (1869 – 1948)

Happiness, they say, is a state of mind,

but it is so much more. It is a state of being.

~Linda Pendleton

Live Large!

“Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other's eyes for an instant?”

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined."

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

Note:

The term "Live Large!" is attributed to my late husband, Don Pendleton and his fictional character, Mack Bolan. Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, Volume II H-O.

~Linda

Soul Pictures

A Russian Professor of Physics at St. Petersburg State Technical University, Konstantin Korotkov has used rigorous scientific methods and research to come to new discoveries about the spirit or soul.

He is author of numerous professional papers and books and has given seminars, workshops both nationally and internationally. He is associate editor of the journal Consciousness and Physical Reality, published both in Russian and English.

He holds at least 12 patents on biophysics inventions. His technology includes the Gas Discharge Visualization technique (GDV), which is a breakthrough beyond Kirlian photography for direct, real-time viewing of the human aura. This fairly new technology allows one to capture by a special camera the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual energy emanating to and from an individual, plants, liquids, inanimate objects and translate this into a computerized model. This allows the researcher and client to see imbalances that may be influencing an individual’s well-being greatly facilitating the diagnosis of the cause of any existing imbalances showing the area of the body and the organ systems involved.

The Russian Ministry of Health accepts the GDV technique as Medical technology and hundreds of medical doctors, practitioners and researchers benefit from using this technology worldwide.
One of the greatest benefits of GDV is measurements of a variety of treatments for such conditions as cancer to determine which is the most appropriate for the patient. Its use for the diagnosis and treatment of physical, emotional, mental and spiritual conditions is invaluable in medicine, psychology, biophysics, genetics, sound therapy, forensic science, agriculture, ecology and other areas.

I heard a report last night on Coast to Coast AM Radio by George Noory that the GDV machine used by Dr. Korotkov is now able to record the spirit or soul leaving the physical body at death. The doctor referred to it as a transition that could be observed with his special camera.

Many intuitive people are able to observe the aura and soul energy without a camera.

This also reminds me of what Dr. James Martin Peebles wrote in his 1903 book, What is Spiritualism?... "...to show that this conception of the nature and power of thought is no empty flight of the imagination, it will only be necessary to draw attention to the photographic experiments conducted by the late Dr. Baraduc, the eminent nerve specialist, of Paris. If thoughts are things, he considered it should be possible to photograph them. He accordingly prepared a special apparatus, with an exceptionally sensitive plate attached, and under the most conclusive conditions obtained a series of strikingly distinct and, in some cases, most beautiful pictures of these thought forces and emotions. These pictorial wonders were reproduced in the Illustrated London News, and their publication caused a great sensation in the scientific circles of Europe. One of these photographs represents a column of prayer. By arrangement with half a dozen devout persons, a prayer meeting was held in an apartment at the top of the Eiffel Tower. The special camera was arranged in position, and at a given moment Dr. Baraduc took the picture. The result was a very clear and impressive demonstration of the thoughts and aspirations of these intensely earnest souls rising like a column of incense as though ascending direct to the very throne of God."

"He has also taken good thoughts and bad thoughts of certain individuals, placid thoughts and stormy thoughts, and the pictures they produce are most remarkable–some beautiful in their sweet and tranquilizing aspect, whilst others resemble a veritable mental typhoon, according to the humor of the subject at the time the photo was taken."

"Dr. Baraduc further believed that psychic powers could be applied to the treatment of diseases, and in this connection the pictures representing the forms of benedictions and of a flow of curative force at Lourdes during the performance of a 'miracle' are certainly very suggestive. The wonderful cures wrought at Lourdes year after year have hitherto been regarded by the majority of people either as frauds or purely imaginary occurrences, but it is now known that they are well based scientifically and are too real to be any longer disputed. They are, apparently, due to that Spiritual 'gift of healing,' of which [Saint] Paul writes, and the potential curative agency is, seemingly, a mysterious psychic emanation which is sufficiently palpable to impress a sensitive plate."

"'I am not a Spiritualist, nor a doctrinaire,' says Dr. Baraduc, 'but speak from experience, and I declare I have found forces surrounding man which have been registered on photographic plates. Man is surrounded by an atmosphere of personal ether. Every human being has an impalpable double, which reproduces his form and which allows us to explain ghost stories and the phenomena of double sight. Call it soul, if you like, or astral body. I have photographed this ether double eighty hours after death. When my wife died I photographed a nebulous globe which escaped from her like a soul. You see, there are forces in this world and forces in the other world. When, in the name of truth, spiritual scientists unite with material scientists, we will arrive at a knowledge of the synthesis of the forces which regulate our life and our immortality, for man does not belong to this planet only, but to the starry spaces in which his thoughts revolve.'"

It seems that we are now moving ever closer to that union between spiritual and material science as it fashions a more realistic, holistic understanding of the forces that shape this universe. The pity is that it has taken more than a hundred years to reach anything approaching that level of understanding. The recent movements in both medicine and physics are a very hopeful sign that the gap is closing steadily and that many of us can now have the expectation that during our own lifetimes we shall witness a totally new awareness, within the scientific community, that the body, mind and soul are one.

~Linda

Crop Circle Messages

Photo by Lucy Pringle, 2000

I’ve always believed the Crop Circles have been messages to us, almost a symbolic notification that we are not alone, and I feel the reason for the messages has to do with our treatment of Planet Earth and the environmental and nuclear threats that we pose for the universe.

Are we alone? I think not. It has been an innate human nature, since the beginning of time to look beyond and above for answers to universal questions: What is this all about? Why are we here? What is beyond? Maybe at sometime in the not too distant future all of us will know the answers about life beyond this planet, and our connection to it.

We may think of ourselves as the “new kids on the block” but within the vastness of the cosmos could be far older civilizations active for millennia, greatly predating the human experience on Earth. And if we look at our own advances in technology in the last few decades, it only makes since that “others” could be far beyond us in understanding how all of this works.

Crop circles not only remind me of early cave drawings but also of the Nazca Lines of Peru. The Nazca Lines are a series of geoglyphs located in the Nazca Desert, a high arid plateau that stretches between the towns of Nazca and Palpa in southern Peru. Etched in the surface of the desert pampa sand are about three hundred figures made of straight lines, geometric shapes, most clearly visible from the air. The aridness of the desert have apparently helped to preserve the markings.

The Nazca Lines are a mystery, as no one knows who made them or why. It is believed they were created between 200 BC and 700 AD. Since their discovery, the Nazca Lines have inspired various explanations such as they were made by ancient gods, made by aliens, is a landing strip for returning aliens, a celestial calendar created by the ancient Nazca civilization.

In the recent online issue of Kinetics Magazine, published by Kathryn Peters Brinkley, wife of Dannion Brinkley, known for his NDEs after being stuck by lightning, is an interview with former astronaut and founder of the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS), Dr. Edgar Mitchell.

Katheryn asked him a question about crop circles:

Kathryn: You know, Dr. Mitchell, one thing that has fascinated me in the last ten years is crop circles. Has IONS done any real research into the crop circles? Do they have an opinion about those?

Dr. Mitchell: I know Colin Andrews quite well, and also Nick Pope, in England, both of whom have been very much involved in the UFO and crop circle area. It is pretty clear these are signals, from somewhere else, to help us see things in a different way. There have been crop circles hoaxed, but by and large, the real ones are not. They are created in this powerful ways we don’t understand, yet.

Maybe one day....

~ Linda

Patience

Patience is virtuous and most of us wish we had more, don’t we? So often in life we lose patience with others. Lack or loss of patience, is operating under one's own agenda and not affording the other person the courtesy or love that would give them the necessary things they need. In other words we are not giving them loving allowance.

Losing patience is being self-focused, rather than being other-focused. We all have been guilty at some time of judging others, and when we become impatient we tend to blame the other person, yet, it really is a lack of sensitivity on our part of not understanding, ignoring, or not caring about the needs of another.

Patience, in its best light, is affording the other person to be in their own time, place, or space, and to be accepting of that.

"Patience is the companion of wisdom." ~ St. Augustine

During illness, impatience can easily appear for all involved–the patient, caretaker, observer–as the stresses of the situation build up. If you are able to put into action and proper perspective the needs of another you may discover that impatience will fade away.

Another aspect of patience is patience with self. Often, we are impatient with self by not loving ourselves enough to meet our own needs and to allow new experiences. When we have needs and desires and set them aside and deny our authentic self, we are not happy, and may become angry, resentful, and stressed out. Anxiety builds and that is not healthy.

In both areas of patience we have to learn to be allowing, to give others their space–and to grant that same to ourselves.

~Linda

Knowing a Truth

“It is not easy to escape from a truth, once it has been presented to you. It has a way of itching your mental ear, once it has lodged there. For behind that ear is a part of you, hidden though it may be, by many sheaths, which knows-which KNOWS!”

~Yogi Ramacharaka (William Walker Atkinson), 1862-1932, Life Beyond Death

Contentment

“A little consideration of what takes place around us every day would show us that a higher law than that of our will regulates events; that our painful labours are unnecessary and fruitless; that only in our easy, simple, spontaneous action are we strong... Place yourself in the middle of the stream of power and wisdom which animates all whom it floats, and you are without effort impelled to truth, to right, and a perfect contentment.”
~ Vernon Howard, (1918-1992) American spiritual teacher, author, philosopher, The Mystic Masters Speak!

~Linda

Miracles of Poetry, Walt Whitman

“To me, every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,
Every cubic inch of space is a miracle,
Every square yard of the surface of the earth is spread with the
same,
Every foot of the interior swarms with the same;
Every spear of grass--the frames, limbs, organs, of men and women,
and all that concerns them,
All these to me are unspeakably perfect miracles.”
~Walt Whitman, Miracles

Dr. James Martin Peebles (1822-1922) wrote of his admiration for his contemporary and friend, the influential poet, Walt Whitman (1819-1892) :

“Whitman was literally a giant of soul impulse. There was not a shadow of sham about him. He was innocent of fashion and affectation. ‘I am,’ he said, ‘but an idea–a spirit–a new language for Civilization. What am I but you, and what are you again but this same I, the two halves of a circle in an infinite circle.’”

“Whitman was a child of nature. He loved alike the loneliness of the forest, the surging throngs along Broadway–the shoutings of children by the roadside and the singing of crickets in the gray of evening time. He was equally at home studying a sunset, riding upon the top of an omnibus, among the convicts of a prison, or sitting in a Quaker church. He was an all-around man, shunning the shallows of fashion and daring the roughness of life. His peerless presence was like a dynamo–radiating vigor and health, peace and good will.”

“He wrote of life as he saw it ‘on the road.’ Fame was to him a bubble to be shunned. Thousands admired both his personality and his verse. Some mocked. He heard the taunt–the jeer–the heartless scoff; but not heeding he continued ‘on the road.’ Now better appreciated, he is receiving unstinted praise from this and foreign lands.”

~Linda

Coming Together Through Music

“We have been born to associate with our fellow-man,

and to join in community with the human race.”

~Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.)

Today on my other blog I posted Inspiration and Peace Through Music about Playing for Change. Take a look and listen. I believe what Mark Johnson has created along with Jonathan Wells and the hundreds of musicians and singers from all over the world is so very inspirational and incredible.

Not only is their project an example of love but a testament to it. PBS is featuring their new DVD all of the month of August so check your local PBS station to see when it is available.

“Our true nationality is mankind.” ~H.G. Wells (1866-1946)

“True goodness is loving your fellow man.” ~Confucious (551-479 B.C.)


“As you give love, you will have love.” ~Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892)

I love this one, the first song Playing for Change did. Stand by Me was written by Ben E. King, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, and originally done by Ben E. King and was at the top of the charts when it was first released in 1961.

On my other blog I have more videos from Playing for Change you may enjoy. I know I sure do.

~Linda

Inner Communication

“Every cell in the body receives a chemical message, when you fall in love, or feel God's presence or go into ecstasy.” ~Deepak Chopra

Jewelry: Wearable Sculpture by Liam Herbert

My dear friend, sculptor Liam Herbert of Sedona Arizona has a new spiritual jewelry collection of wearable sculpture. I have his first piece, Rising Joy in sterling silver and I love it. I have never worn a piece of jewlry that I have had so many complements on, from both women and men. Every time I wear it! Amazing how it catches people's attention.

Liam’s art inspires and moves the heart, as he explores the human spirit—family relationships, faith, anger, passion, grief, hope, and love. His sculptures alternately crackle with excitement or soothe the soul in a quiet embrace.

You can contact Liam at artbyliam@msn.com if you have questions for him.

Here’s Liam's new video!

~Linda

The Blending of Science and Religion

Dead Sea Scroll Exhibit, June 12 - July 5, 1965
Garrison Theater, Claremont Colleges, California

For 2,000 years a collection of nearly 900 ancient manuscripts, some in fragments lay concealed in the Qumran desert caves near the Dead Sea. It is believed that the Essenes had hidden the manuscripts in the caves, and they were not discovered until 1947.

Recently I read about the Dead Sea Scrolls and the controversy that appears to be going on over an exhibit in Toronto, Canada. And that brought to mind when I attended the Dead Sea Scroll Exhibit years ago that was held June 12 - July 5, 1965 at Garrison Theater at the Claremont Colleges in Southern California. The exhibition was arranged by the Smithsonian Institution in cooperation with the Jordanian government and the Palestine Archaeological Museum.

For many years I lived a few short miles from the Claremont School of Theology and the Claremont Colleges, a consortium of five undergraduate colleges and two graduate institutions in Southern California. And there is located the Ancient Biblical Manuscript Center (ABMC), a non profit corporation whose purpose is to serve as an archive for accurate copies of original source material of the Jewish and Christian Bibles. Their mission is preservation and research while seeking to foster greater accuracy in textual work on the Bible.

The ABMC holds the world’s most extensive collection of Dead Sea Scroll images and they distribute both digital and photographic images of the Dead Sea Scrolls in cooperation with the Israel Antiquities Authority.

While reading about their program I was interested to see that in 1994, ABMC collaborated with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratories (JPL) in Pasadena, California, a few miles from Claremont, to use state of the art digital image technology to elucidate previously illegible text on the ancient and deteriorating Dead Sea Scrolls.

NASA’s Dr. Gregory Bearman used multi-spectral digital imaging to identify the region within the spectrum of light in which text could or would be legible.

Apparently, in visible light both the ink and the blackened animal hide reflected equal amounts of light and therefore there was no contrast and the text was invisible. Dr. Bearman discovered the text would become visible at 900 nanometers into the infrared as a contrast occurred between the ink and animal hide.

In a 1993 press release Dr. Bearman stated in regards to the use of a solid-state sensor and computer image-processing in examining the fragments from the 2,000 year old manuscripts, "This approach allows us to see details that are invisible using traditional photography on film. Archeology is just beginning to learn about digital imaging technology, and it should prove to be a very powerful tool."

According to the ABMC website, “In its climate-controlled vault, the ABMC preserves one of the world’s largest photographic archives of manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible (or Old Testament, or Tanakh) and the New Testament Scholars and students worldwide consult our collections, which can be used either on-site or by Interlibrary Loan. The ABMC also curates the films of the International Greek New Testament Project (IGNTP), distributing them to assigned collators in North America and Europe.”

They also house the John C. Trevor Collection. Dr. John C. Trevor was the first photographer of the Dead Sea Scrolls in February and March, 1948 . His photographs are still considered the best photographs of the Scrolls. In 1981, Dr. Trever gifted his extensive collection to the Claremont School of Theology, which in turn placed them in the ABMC’s custodial care.

When I saw the exhibit I do remember feeling awe in seeing the manuscripts and realizing these scrolls had been hidden away for safety, no doubt, for centuries and may have contained historical facts, opinions, and wisdom.

While science and religion have most often been in opposition, in this case, they married, and that marriage is very good for humanity, for we may have learned something we did not know before as the hidden text came into the “light.”

It would be a few years later before I encountered other things even older, about twice as old. In fact, the oldest living things on earth. And that was the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest of the White Mountains of eastern California. Some of those pines, with their gnarled and twisted branches and trunks, have for more than 4,600 years, fought the harshest of weather conditions to maintain life.

I wrote an article about the Ancient Bristlecone on my website if you'd like to learn more. And my poem about the ancient trees:

Bristlecone

O ancient Tree so gnarled and bold,
How strong you stand, how long you hold,
'gainst bitter winds across your face–
All perils that contest your place–
So much of life that you have seen,
So much of strife where man has been,
From tools of stone to fossiled bones,
You've seen the flames, you've heard the groans;
The Patriarchs have come and gone,
While you, O Tree, have struggled on.
To understand Eternity,
I need but talk with thee, O Tree.

–Linda Pendleton

© Copyright by Linda Pendleton, All Rights Reserved

~Linda