Cassiopaea Forum Reading Workshops - Public

(CRW Am-EU) What temporary schedule is best for you?

  • Sunday 17:00-19:00 UTC (18:00-20:00 French time)

    Votes: 30 66.7%

  • Saturdays 17:00-19:00 UTC (18:00-20:00 French time)

    Votes: 15 33.3%
  • Total voters
    45
Hi everyone,

Here are the links for the recent Aus-Asia-Am group discussion on The Secret History of the World and How to Get Out Alive by Laura Knight-Jadczyk.

Here's the video of the last meeting
The audio
And the folder
And the slide show

We will be discussing some of the physics mentioned in Chapter 4 from last week for our upcoming workshop on Saturday at 7 pm Sydney AEDST time (GMT+11).

See you all then!

___________________________________________________________________________________________
Below are the links to what we discussed:

Discussion about neutrinos in Session 22 May 2000.
Cs - it's the soul that matters, not the body in 25 July 1998.
Cs- consciousness operates on 4 levels (physical body, consciousness, genetic body and spirit- etheric body) in Session 10 October 1998.
Cs- atomic 'signature' of an individual in Session 15 April 2000.
Cs- root basis of astrology in Session 18 November 1995.
Cs- duality of body & spirit ("As above, so below") in Session 12 April 1997.
 
Hi everyone,

Here are the links for the recent Aus-Asia-Am group discussion on The Secret History of the World and How to Get Out Alive by Laura Knight-Jadczyk.

Here's the video of the last meeting
The audio
And the folder
And the slide show

We will be read Chapter 5 up to (but not including) the subheading Intermixing of the Races on page 157 for our next workshop on Saturday 8th March at 7 pm Sydney AEDST time (GMT+11).

See you all then!

___________________________________________________________________________________________
Below are the links to what we discussed:

The phenomenon of quantum entanglement mentioned in this thread.

Fascinating discussion with Bruce Lipton & Rupert Sheldrake from 2007:
 
Howdy folks,

The Am-EU group finishes the chapters 20-21 of William B. Irvine's A Guide to the Good Life on February 16th, led by Luis.

I've attached the mind map below in both PNG & PDF form. For readability, I've also printed the mind map in bulleted form here:

Chapter 20 - The Decline of Stoicism
  • Marcus Aurelius was one of the great Stoics of the past who was also at one point, the most powerful man in the Western world being a Roman emperor. He didn't seek to convert others to Stoicism, and after his death, in part caused Stoic philosophy to begin to decline.
    • Other factors that lead to the decline of Stoicism was the increasing depravity of the Roman empire, causing Stoic values such as self-control not to resonate with increasing numbers of its population. M. L. Clarke adds that there was not many influential Stoic teachers after Epictetus' death.
    • As Christianity raised to the forefront, Stoicism also saw decline, likely due to it subsuming aspects and teachings of Stoicism and it becoming more popular with the masses. See Marcus' advice to "love mankind".
    • (Luis): Maybe this was due to Stoic ideas being used in Christianity. There's not much of a spiritual slant as well in Stoicism compared to Christianity--like belief in an afterlife, soul in a body, etc. The Stoics did believe in the fates/gods, but it didn't seem like it was central.
  • Apt quote by Epictetus: "Always to seek to conquer myself rather than fortune, to change my desires rather than the established order, and generally to believe that nothing except our thoughts is wholly under our control, so that after we have done our best in external matters, what remains to be done is absolutely impossible, at least as far as we are concerned".
    • (RedFox): It's like the saying keeping emotions below the neck.
    • (Turgon): Whitecoast said before, something along the lines of calling it the predator's mind, not the predator's emotions. To use the mind to utilize emotion.
      • (Luis): What about childhood Trauma?
      • (Turgon): You can take some of the Stoic concepts and apply it to trauma. While there are roadblocks in one's life due to trauma, Stoicism can still help someone live a better life.
  • While instances of Stoic ideas popped up here and there during the 19th century (not necessarily mentioning it directly, but in ideas echoing it), the 20th century largely neglected Stoicism. Those who practice it were largely seen as "humorless, grim, and unfeeling". Ironically, they were most capable of experiencing the world with joy and other positive emotions.
  • Contrary to their beliefs, Stoicism is indeed a viable philosophy of life. It taught that the source of the pain from insults is not the insults themselves, but how one interprets it. The practice of negative visualization also teaches people to value what they have already, sating their desire of continually wanting more and more in excess.
    • (Turgon): The dopamine hits affects one's ability to focus and pay attention.
      • (anartist): Dopamine may be the root of hedonism.
      • (Turgon): Dopamine on the other hand, can also be used to help us accomplish goals.
  • Stoics don't bottle up negative emotions, but sought to overcome and deal with them by minimizing it them via rational thought, while knowing fully that emotions like grief are natural and reflexive.
  • Modern politics seek to blame external factors for the cause of one's unhappiness, stymying the process of self-reflection. It's easier to point to the government as the cause of unhappiness rather than seeking a philosophy of life to counteract it. Stoicism gives one the tools to be happy and maintain tranquility even when imprisoned or exiled.
    • Stoics refuse the victim mentality, as it is a great source of unhappiness. They realize that only the self can ruin one's own life.
    • With that said, Stoics still believe in social reform, in addition to personal transformation. One way (the first step) to reform society is to teach people to depend as little as possible on external circumstances. The second step is to, if possible, change people's external circumstances.

Chapter 21 - Stoicism Reconsidered
  • Some recommendations for those seeking tranquility:
    • Become self-aware.
    • Use rational thought to overcome negative emotions.
    • If one comes into wealth despite not pursuing it, enjoy the affluence. Don't cling to it, and periodically contemplate its loss.
    • Humans were made to be social. Form and maintain beneficial relations, while avoiding befriending those with corrupt values.
    • Use Stoic techniques to deal with annoying people.
    • Periodically engage in negative visualization and the impermanence of all things to cultivate a sense of appreciation, gratitude, and to conquer insatiability.
    • Prevent worrying about things we can't control. Remember to contemplate things we 1) have no control over, 2) have complete control over, and 3) have some control over.
    • For things we have some control over, be careful when one internalizes goals (I.e. the goal in tennis is not to win the match, but to play the best game that one can).
    • Realize that what happened in the past and the very moment are beyond one's control and it is foolish to be upset by these.
  • The teachings of Stoicism is rooted in the observance of nature and living in accordance with it--a pathway towards a flourishing and happier life.
  • (Redrock12): Got to out and live life, try different things. Need to get out of my comfort zone in order to find my abilities.
  • (RedFox): The list of the basic principles can be very good at conserving energy. It's important not to seek tranquility just because it feels good, but to do the Work as well.
    • (Turgon): Gurdjieff says that it's hard for some people to let go of their suffering.

General Notes
  • (Luis): They say we avoided WWIII with Trump getting into office.
  • (Bluefyre): A Canadian commentator said that they started deleting data from databases presumably due to Trump & Elon's investigation into USAID
    • (Redrock12): Yeah, this happened with Global Affairs Canada.
    • (Luis): What do Canadians think of being a part of the USA?
      • (Bluefyre): It's mixed here in Canada. Some provinces are more favorable to it.
  • (Luis): The current Mexico government seems to be cooperative due to the Trump tariffs. It makes it difficult due to the deep roots of the narcos/cartel. There's an internal war in the military due to this. One of the plans is to use drones to find the drug lords and use subsequent military actions. In response, the cartel have targeted civilians. The USA needs to work with Mexico more to stop the cartel from obtaining advanced arms.
  • (Luis): It's sad to see what's happening to Gaza. Trump seems to be careful around this topic.
    • (Turgon): Netanyahu gave Trump a pager as a warning. The Cs also said that Israel planted nukes in various places like the USA.
    • (RedFox): They say that Trump cannot stand Netanyahu.
    • (Redrock12): Trump isn't the type of person to be pushed around.
    • (Seato): There's a chance too with Trump interacting diplomatically with Iran, given his peace talks with Russia and Ukraine.
  • Planes falling from the sky.
    • (Mari): Since then, there were at least 3. The one in Philadelphia where the plane just plummeted really fast. This was also pretty close to that bridge ship crash (around 100 miles). The Cs said that the pilots thought they were going straight through, but crashed into it due to some bleed-through. Maybe this was what happened to the plane?
      • (Redrock12): It could be a heart-attack too. In some cases when it happens, they may push forward on the yoke, causing a nosedive.
    • (RedFox): At least 2 military jets too.
  • (Redrock12): Would like to watch the Joe Rogan podcast with the guy who wrote Chaos.
  • (Luis): Candace Owens after the Bridgette debacle goes to the next step and alludes to MK Ultra and elite pedophile networks in France. Not just this, but there has been so many explosive revelations, as the Cs have seen.

For Next Meeting - February 23rd, 2025

For our next meeting, we'll likely finish the book (1 chapter left). See y'alls in a bit!

See Mari's post on possible books we can read next:
Mari said:
The list of books that were discussed before as potential reading for Am-EU group:
  • Randall Carlson´s articles: Cosmic connection with the Grail mysteries
  • Laura´s articles: The Grail Quest and the Destiny of Man - basically SHOTW, so it´s currently being done by Au-Asia-Am group
  • Comets and the Horns of Moses (The Secret History of the World) by Laura Knight-Jadczyk - will possibly/potentially be done by Au-Asia-Am group?
  • The Sufi Path of Knowledge: Ibn Al-Arabi's Metaphysics of Imagination, William Chittick
  • Books by G.I. Gurdjieff
    • Meetings with Remarkable Men by G. I. Gurdjieff
  • Books by P.D. Ouspensky
  • Books by Boris Mouravieff
  • The Controversy of Zion, Douglas Reed
  • From Yahweh to Zion, Laurent Guyenot
  • Paul and the Stoics by Troels Engberg Pedersen - we are currently doing the other Stoics book
  • Paul's Necessary Sin by Timothy Ashworth
  • Political Ponerology by Andrew Lobaczewski
  • The Polyvagal Theory by Stephen W. Porges PhD
Click to expand...
 

Attachments

Luis Miguel said:
Today we finished A Guide to the Good Life by William B. Irvine, and we agreed to continue with:

From Yahweh to Zion: Jealous God, Chosen People, Promised Land...Clash of Civilizations by Laurent Guyénot.

We'll discuss the Preface and Introduction in the next workshop.
Click to expand...
Looking forward to starting this!
At the end of the meeting yesterday some articles by Laura related to Bible History were mentioned (not the 'Who Wrote the Bible' articles) that had been published on X. Firstly, does anyone know the titles of these articles and secondly, are they available anywhere else other than X?
Thanks Y'all.
 
Do you mean these, @Il Matto?

www.sott.net

The Cosmic Context of Greek Philosophy, Part One

Most of what is included in this post is directly from the book, Comet and the Horns of Moses, though selected and edited for brevity. I intend my main focus to be on the philosophers but I find that what I have written on that topic would be...
www.sott.net www.sott.net

We also had this series on the list:

cassiopaea.org

The Grail Quest and the Destiny of Man | Cassiopaea

cassiopaea.org cassiopaea.org

In the last workshop, some asked for a good ebook reader, I recommend Thorium. It's simple, private, and free (optional donation):

Thorium Reader

COMPLETELY FREE Read, Select, Annotate, Classify Perfect for heavy readers, library-goers, and students alike! No ads, or data leaks to worry about Download links (Thorium 3.1) Windows Windows Store Direct Install Mac Apple Silicon Intel Linux AppImage Debian Minimum system requirement: macOS...
thorium.edrlab.org thorium.edrlab.org
 
Hi y'alls,

The Am-EU group finishes chapter 22 of William B. Irvine's A Guide to the Good Life on February 23rd, led by Turgon. Here's the Video and Audio that he's collated as well.

I've attached the mind map below in both PNG & PDF form. For readability, I've also printed the mind map in bulleted form here:

Chapter 22 - Practicing Stoicism
  • The author shares the insights he's gained by practicing Stoicism in this chapter. The first advise is to practice stealth Stoicism in order to reap the benefits while avoiding the teasing and mockery of others.
  • The second advice is to practice Stoic principles one at a time, starting with negative visualization--to periodically contemplate the loss of whatever one values in life, and cultivate gratitude that it ever came to us in life to experience. It takes minimal time to do, with high chances of improving the way we carry about our daily lives and experiencing joy. It may be easy to forget to do this, and it may be weeks before one remembers to do it again, so consistent practice is advised.
  • Refuse to engage in "if only" scenarios regarding the past. It's alright to delve into the past to learn better how to be in the present.
  • The author used to dread insults, but Stoicism changed him to become an "insult connoisseur", or a collector of insults. He'd rationally analyze and categorize each insult, and looked forward to them, as it gives him opportunities to practice Stoicism. More insults also helps him perfect his insult game.
    • Self-deprecating humor is one of the mainstays in his insult game. By not reactively providing a counter-insult, it shows that one is above that behavior. By not being bothered by it and making light of it in a joking manner, the other may even irritate the other person more-so than a counter-insult. It also shows a degree of self-confidence and imperviousness to the insult.
    • (IL Matto): In the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People The first habit to cultivate, is to be proactive. One can apply it here, to think first before reactively responding to an insult.
  • Anger is one of the emotions that can greatly disrupt one's tranquility. One pitfall of it is that oftentimes it feels good to vent it out--there needs to be a degree of self-control behind it. Anger has its uses though (especially feigning anger) if one's goal is to change one's behavior. Rational thought and presence of mind curtails this--it is pointless to feed into anger if the only output of being angry is one's own loss of energy.
    • One way the author deals with anger is to imagine one playing a part in an absurdist play where things don't make sense. People aren't going to always act rationally and competently, and it is alright to laugh at the absurd things that happen (silently in some cases).
    • (IL Matto): In Marcus Aurelius' morning meditation, he tells himself that he will meet with ignorant people, and that it's important to not let it get to you.
    • (RedFox): Righteous anger seems to be a defensive technique that sets boundaries, putting an end to the energy feeding. More wasteful anger that isn't bridled by the mind continues the energy feeding.
  • The author has his other self that he competes against. This other self lacks self-discipline, is cowardly, and a simple-minded pleasure seeker. As Epictetus says, "an enemy lying in wait". To win points in this competition, he causes the other self to experience discomfort and forces him to face and overcome fears. All to build character and self-discipline, and by making it into a game, he turns it into a source of joy and fun.
    • (Breo): If there's a high amount of stress, it gets really difficult to do these exercises. What helps is to reconnect with the divine/crystals in a deep and personal way, and bliss returns.
  • In addition to imagining bad things that may happen to us, Stoics advise deliberately causing them to occur (i.e. underdressing in winter weather, cold showers, strenuous exercise, etc.).

General Notes
  • (Luis): Heard that the CSU was winning in the polls in Germany. I heard the AfD is trailing behind by 9.5%.
    • (Mari): Germany has no problem with immigrants that come work legally, pay taxes, and integrate with society. The issue lies in those who refuse to do so while living in Germany.
    • (Laurs): In the Merkel era, Soros was one of the reasons why there's a flood of illegal immigrants in Germany.
    • (RedFox): Europe's going to be in trouble if Nord Stream isn't operational.
  • (Bluefyre): The provinces would have the most to gain from Trump turning Canada into the 51st state.
    • (Redrock12): Alberta is like the Texas of the north.

For Next Meeting - March 2nd, 2025

And with that, we've finished the book!

See Luis' post for info on the next book:
Luis Miguel said:
Today we finished A Guide to the Good Life by William B. Irvine, and we agreed to continue with:

From Yahweh to Zion: Jealous God, Chosen People, Promised Land...Clash of Civilizations by Laurent Guyénot.

We'll discuss the Preface and Introduction in the next workshop.

See you!
Click to expand...
 

Attachments

I have been working on the slide show for the first few chapters in From Paul to Mark, as we only started with slide shows from chapter 4 onwards. Below are the recorded audios & videos for the following chapters:

Foreword and Intro: video & audio
Chapter 1- Part 1 video & audio. Part 2 video & audio
Chapter 2- Part 1 video & audio. Part 2 video & audio
Chapter 3- Part 1 video & audio. Part 2 video & audio. Part 3 video & audio.

I'd put the history of Chapters 3 & 4 into a timeline database on a spreadsheet, to make it easier to understand what was going on concurrently around Judea at the time, with references to the relevant pages in FPTM. Here is the link to the Google sheet.

Edit: Added
I highly recommend watching this video on the Maccabean and Herodian family dynasties before starting Chapter 3- trust, it’ll make so much more sense!
 
Last edited:
Arwenn said:
I have been working on the slide show for the first few chapters in From Paul to Mark, as we only started with slide shows from chapter 4 onwards. Below are the recorded audios & videos for the following chapters:

Foreword and Intro: video & audio
Chapter 1- Part 1 video & audio. Part 2 video & audio
Chapter 2- Part 1 video & audio. Part 2 video & audio
Chapter 3- Part 1 video & audio. Part 2 video & audio. Part 3 video & audio.

I'd put the history of Chapters 3 & 4 into a timeline database on a spreadsheet, to make it easier to understand what was going on concurrently around Judea at the time, with references to the relevant pages in FPTM. Here is the link to the Google sheet.

Edit: Added
I highly recommend watching this video on the Maccabean and Herodian family dynasties before starting Chapter 3- trust, it’ll make so much more sense!
Click to expand...

I just want to say a big thank you to Arwenn for all the work that has been put into these and to let everyone know the entirety of the FPTM series will be uploaded in full so that you dont have to go searching back years to find the rest of the slideshow. We just need a little time to put this all together. Thanks again Arwenn.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Trending content

Back
Top Bottom