Checking Your Baggage

I brought more than I thought I had to this Apprenticeship program. Reading Mutant Message Down Under made it apparent to me. I knew from my earlier acquaintence with thiws work that it was controversial and that the author had been discredited in her claim that the events depicted had actually taken place. I was prepared to scoff at the book, and so I did. . . until my guides started talking to me while I was driving, until they insisted that I only wear black, until they made pithy comments on my diet, and made their own demands in that area - only because my health was affected by my weight. I work in a mental health clinic, and you can bet that people notice changes - what am I supposed to say . . . "the voices told me to do this"? I'd be either fired or committed on the spot! I kn ow where I got my demand for "truth", but it's part of my history now, an old story. How do I know that the autor was not faced with the same dilemna? It matters most that she had truths to tello. Did she journey, did she channel, did her guides grab her on the road too? Look for the message and judge by that.

Was there an Emerald tablet? Was there a mummified Hermes? I could care less. I know that this is ancient wisdom that shaped the European, Asian, and Indian mystical traditions. That's what counts.

Now, I look at what I bring to a book. If it prevents me from judging it on its own merits, if it keeps me from finding and appreciating what is true (without too open a mind, so my brains don't fall out, the n I look for my story, and leave it there before page one.