3-20-01 - DREAM - I was in my 16th St. house with my kids who were all under age 10. I was planning to go down into the basement and clean and do laundry as I usually did.

My son Michael came home from somewhere and said that he had gone to a rummage sale and fell into a well. He wasn't hurt so I let him go do whatever he was going to do, but knew we'd have to tell his Father when he came home.

My husband then came home from work, and he was no sooner in the door, he said he was leaving again to go out to the west of town to Mosely or a name like that to get the stakes I needed for my garden. He said his friend had 30 of them.

I told him that was great. I told him I could get by with a minimum of 10, but 30 was even better.

After he left, I wondered why he had driven all the way home from work to tell me about the 30 stakes, when it would have been so much closer and faster to just go get them from work, but I let that thought go to go do my own work.

My son Michael was sitting on the sofa playing a war game of some kind on the TV. I was curious where the rummage sale was that he fell into a well, so I asked him about it.  He answered, "It was in the coal bin downstairs."

That was a bit bizarre, but I knew that old houses had wells and cisterns in the basements, so didn't give it too much thought except that we had to tell his Father when his Father came home again.

I opened the door to the basement stairs (it's important to know that this house has two stairways ... one that goes down from the kitchen for convenience, and another stairway that goes out into the backyard for easy access to the outside to hang up laundry and not have to traipse through the house with all the wash baskets.)

I had my key to the basement door in my hand, and a metal clothes rack for hanging hangars on. This I attached to the basement side of the doorknob, so I wouldn't lock myself in the basement by accident, and that I wouldn't lose the key should I happen to accidentally lock the basement door.

I went down the stairs and at the bottom of the stairs, I saw a long dog chain embedded in ice on the floor.  I thought this was really strange because I didn't think it was so cold outside that ice could form inside the basement. It was also strange because we never had a dog.  I also saw water dripping down from above, which I assumed was water leaking down through the walls from the roof all the way to the basement.  

I turned right, and right in front of me was a humungous green turtle.  There was nothing unusal about this turtle, no unusual markings, he was just so big and I couldn't figure out how he got into the basement. The turtle was going rather around in circles, always watching out for enemies it seemed and he couldn't see in all directions at the same time.

I wanted my kids to see this turtle, so I went back up the stairs, told the kids about the turtle and got the littlest child by the hand and led him downstairs to see the turtle. The other kids were playing a game and didn't want to be disturbed at the moment.

I took the child downstairs and to the right, I saw the turtle over aways, like on an island, underneath a small table, almost like a short stool. He was under the table, still going around in circles, trying to protect himself from two cats which were taking swipes at him from both sides of this island. One cat was red, and one was black and white.  The red cat was nearest to where I was standing, the black and white cat stood on the other side of the island, behind the table, though I could see it clearly between the legs.

The turtle was really large and I wasn't too worried about the cats hurting the turtle, yet they continually took swipes at it with their claws.  All of a sudden, the turtle decided to defend itself more than it had been and started to nip back at the cats.  The cats were more incensed that the turtle was now fighting back and swiped at the turtle more fiercely. The turtle was really angry now and the turtle took one big nip at the red cat and I saw blood go flying. I thought to myself, "Oh! Oh! The turtle got a bite out of the cat." But it was worse than what it looked like at first glance. The turtle had actually bitten out part of the cats neck and blood was gushing out of the cat, seemingly more than I figured a cat would have inside of it.

I grabbed the child's hand and turned to the right to go up the other stairway, and stepped in the turtle's doo doo which was encased in ice.  It actually stuck to my foot and I couldn't get my foot out of the doo doo or the ice.  I had to stand on the ice with the other foot to dislodge the first foot.  Luckily the second foot didn't get stuck too, and I made a mad dash up the stairs to get away in safety.

The name "Turtle Island" comes from a common Native American legend and is their name for the North American continent. The story tells us that North America is perched on the back of a very large tortoise who has volunteered its shell as a home for the land animals.

Who is Turtle Island?

Though you may not realize it, probably right under your feet! Turtle Island is the name that several native American tribes gave to the North American Continent. In their lore, the earth was at one time all water. The land animals had no place to live until a giant tortoise arose from the water and offered its shell as a home for these creatures. Thus, with North America perched on the back of this large turtle we need to treat our "island" home with honor and respect.

Important Dakota Terms and Concepts

Traditional people call North America "turtle island" because it is shaped like a turtle (Florida is one hind leg, Baja California is another, Mexico is the tail). Minnesota place names derived from the language include: Minnesota (whitish water, land of sky tinted water, etc.), Chanhassen (birch trees), Chaska (oldest son or first born male child), Winona (oldest daughter or first born female child), etc. As Luther Standing Bear noted with reference to males: "In the natural course of events every Lakota boy became a hunter, scout, or warrior. It was necessary that every boy should choose one of the three callings and by the time he had reached eary manhood he was ready, by training to follow the one for which he seemed most fitted. The selection was his. . . . Most young men at some time in their lives tried to become medicine-men. They purified themselves and held the vigil hoping for direct communion with spirit powers, but in this few succeeded" (Standing Bear 1978: 39). Traditional Dakota spiritual leaders are creationists and do not believe in the Bering Strait hypothesis for the peopling of North America nor the evolution of human beings in a Darwinian sense. According to Luther Standing Bear, "our legends tell us that it was hundreds and perhaps thousands of years ago since the first man sprang from the soil in the midst of these great plains. The story says that one morning long ago a lone man awoke, face to the sun, emerging from the soil. Only his head was visible, the rest of his body not yet being fashioned. The man looked about, but saw no mountains, no rivers, no forests. There was nothing but soft a nd quaking mud, for the earth itself was still young. Up and up the man drew himself until he freed his body from the clinging soil. At last he stood upon the earth, but it was not solid, and his first few steps were slow and halting. But the sun shone and ever the man kept his face turned toward it. In time the rays of the sun hardened the face of the earth and strengthened the man and he bounded and leaped about, a free and joyous creature. From this man sprang the Lakota nation and, so far as we know, our people have been born and have died on this plain; and no people have shared it with us until the coming of the European" (Standing Bear 1978:44-45). This creation story, of course, is one of many Native American and European creation stories and contrasts sharply with the perspective of anthropology concerning the evolution of homo sapiens and the peopling of the americas from Asia.

Turtle Island - Ojibway

Interestingly enough, I wanted to go to the hardware store to buy 12 stakes for my new garden the other day. At first I thought that's what this was all about, just picking up on my real life because we never went. Below, I am presenting varous types of stakes ... it seems to me that the Moses/10 Commandments fits the best.

It comes to mind that one has to drive a stake through the heart of a witch to stop her from coming back from death. Or is that a Vampire?

However, people got burned at the stake all the time, Joan d'Arc for One. Here is another:

Michael Servetus (1511-1553), born in Spain, received a degree in Medicine from Toulouse in 1534. He was one of the first European to write about the principle of the circulation of the blood [see earlier work by Ibn Al-Nafis (1213-1288)]. Servetus wrote three important works: 'The Errors of Trinity' (1531), 'Two Dialogues on Trinity' (1531), and 'The Restoration of Christianity'. Luther publicly condemned him in 1539. Servetus followed the views held by the early apostles who belonged to the Antiochene school of Christianity, and he supervised the printing of a Bible in 1540. Servetus corresponded with Calvin for more than twenty years. As a result of bitter conflict, Calvin had him arrested in Milan, and after a quick trial Servetus was burned to the stakes. Servetus is regarded by many as the "founder of modern Unitarianism."

Isaiah 33 20Look upon Zion, the city of our festivals; your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful abode, a tent that will not be moved; its stakes will never be pulled up, nor any of its ropes broken. 21There the LORD will be our Mighty One. It will be like a place of broad rivers and streams. No galley with oars will ride them, no mighty ship will sail them. 22For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; it is he who will save us. 23Your rigging hangs loose: The mast is not held secure, the sail is not spread. Then an abundance of spoils will be divided and even the lame will carry off plunder. 24No one living in Zion will say, "I am ill"; and the sins of those who dwell there will be forgiven.

Isa 54:2  Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; Isa 54:3   For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

In the days of Jesus, condemned criminals normally carried their own cross (the horizontal beam, the ‘patibulum’, not the upright stake) to the site of the execution; the victim was usually stripped naked for the procession and execution as well, although this full nakedness must have offended some Jewish sensibilities in Palestine… Several stakes, at most about ten feet high, stood in Golgotha ready to be reused whenever executions occurred. On the top of the stake or slightly below the top was a groove into which the horizontal beam of the cross would be inserted after the prisoner had been fastened to it with ropes or nails. According to Jewish tradition dating from the second century or earlier, Passover lambs would be hung up on iron hooks and flayed" (Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary).

Mohammed's Qur'an has many mythological ideas about the earth . In the Sura Alkalam(68:1), Allah swears in the whale and the pen, as very important entities . And Mohammed explained in his Hadith what that means . He said that first the throne of Allah was on the water ( Sura 11:7), and Allah created the pen which wrote of every thing that should happen till the end of ages . And he created a whale over which he placed the earth . Then the whale moved and the earth started vacillating . So Allah created the mountains through which he fixed the earth on the whale in order not to vacillate . So the mountains are stakes ( Al tabari 1: 39 and 40)

Mohammed brought many verses in the Qura'n to support this , He said that Allah put the mountains as Stakes in order so the earth would not vacillate (or shake ) ( Sura 41: 9,10 and Sura 21:31 . Mohammed supported his idea in the Qur'an about the earth being vacillating (shaking) and then fixed by the mountains in other Hadith . Confirming his belief in a whale carrying the earth and causing this vacillation .

We see that the mountains being stakes is an old myth of the Indians which found it's way to the Arabs in Arabia . The sacred Indian book Mahabharata ( between 300 B.C. and 300 A. C.) speaks about the mountains as gods that fix the earth so it will not to vacillate . At one time the mountains flew away and the earth started vacillating till the other gods made peace with them and caused them to return as stakes. Also the Persians speak of some mountains as Stakes . This justifies how some Arabs at the time of Mohammed believed and adopted the same concepts about the earth and how it is carried by a big whale fish which the Arabs used to worship . In fact among the gods of Arabia their was the Hut god which means the whale. They believed that this Hut was carrying the earth, and that the mountains were Stakes to fix the earth on the whale divinity . Mohammed copied this perfectly and made of it many verses of the Qur'an .

From: http://www.flash.net/~conflame/quran.htm

Internalizing Three Phases of Religious Behavior

Phase 1: The Moses-Phase: Sectarianism

The Moses-phase of religion is least internal or relatively external, in the sense that the laws of conduct are not rationally justified to the believer but given as Divine Laws to obey. Rituals are followed because of tradition and denominational membership. Sentences of Scriptures are applied to life in a literal sense without much concern for its more interior or spiritual sense. In this fundamentalist phase of religious behavior we tend to be dogmatic and intolerant, and there is a lack of clear separation between cultural and religious loyalty. I call it the Moses-phase because the Five Books of Moses (or Pentateuch or Torah) represent the mentality of the Old Testament as a whole. In this non-spiritual religious orientation, external rituals, prescriptions, and proscriptions are strict and unforgiving, exacting harsh punishment and retribution upon the unfaithful and disloyal. Compliance is from fear or superstition, and is attendant with the hope of reward or merit. Status differences are based on one's degree of compliance and earned merit through strict adherence to ritual.

All religions that are in the fundamentalist phase evolve similar behaviors involving the personal use of holiness that may be attached to some physical object or person. Holy shrines and miracles performed by holy men exist in all major religions on our earth when they pass through their own Moses phase. Intercessionary prayer, either for expected voluntary payments or for charged services, are offered in many Christian churches today, and is a mainstay feature of radio and television evangelism.

Besides ritual and holiness, sectarianism leads to an anti-scientific attitude and orientation that is very harmful for intellectual and rational development. An example is Creationism, which is the rejection of scientific knowledge and rational thinking whenever these appear to be contradicted by a literal reading of the Old Testament.

The Moses phase is based on the emotion of fear, which is external or below the spiritual level.

In the Moses phase we are not capable of understanding the personalist universal and symbolic idea that "neighbor" means "any human being" and therefore one is not allowed to mistreat strangers or enemies. "Love thy neighbor" means family, friend, and all those that we like or share a fate with. That's in the external natural Moses phase. To the extent that we accept the New Testament re-definition of "neighbor" as universalist and personal, namely, excluding no one, to that extent we have crossed into the inner worship, the spiritual worship of the New Testament.

In the Moses-phase we define "neighbors" as those who are of the same ethnic or denominational group ("tribe").

In the Moses-phase "holiness" of a person corresponds to consciensciousness of obeying all regulations.

The central idea of the Mosaic religion was that we are unsavory to God when we commit sins unless we follow God's precise laws about ritual purification from sin. And this meant animal sacrifices, an ancient practice that was widespread in the middle east at around the time when the Hebrews were to conquer the Land of Canaan (or Palestine). The book of Leviticus is replete with very precise instructions about when to sacrifice, what animals to sacrifice, how to prepare them for the kill, what to do with the blood, how to dispose of the carcass, and many other details of timing and accompanying mandatory ritual procedures. To the external worship of the natural mind, this concrete physical proof was required before one could feel forgiven and pure once more.

The idea of God in the Moses phase is a natural idea as shown by the fact that we separate self from God. God is a force outside of us. He may be distant or absent, while natural phenomena play themselves out. We want to counter this distance by doing things that bring God closer, like ritual, prayer and sacrifice. The fact that we have an idea like "God is watching us" or "God knows what I think" indicates that our idea of God is natural and external.

In the Moses-phase of religion, holiness and rituals are viewed externally. The saintly person is endowed with magical powers. There is an orderly hierarchy of predestined positions allocated to each, and one's spiritual status is measured by how much one is endowed.

In our external phase of religion we behave as if we were Moses people. For example, in childhood we believe and fear the omnipresent Eyes of God. We believe that we can offend God by our actions, and indeed this is the appearance given in the Old Testament. We believe that we need to appease God by performing certain requisite rituals like washings and penitence. Sin is an external blemish that can be removed by the Grace of God. We believe in meriting a place in heaven through loyalty and steadfastness to ritual, icon, and prayer.

Those who are unfamiliar with the Old Testament but live in a Western culture obtain this sectarianism from indirect sources in society, all of which ultimately are based on the Old Testament and the New Testament. Those who are from a non-Western culture, and therefore religion, draw their sectarianism from their own religious books and popular teachings. If for instance a native of Bangladesh were to understand the Moses phase of themselves, they need to be told what "Moses" is, and perhaps they need to find a Moses of their own who has done for them what Moses the Hebrew has done for Western culture and religion.

Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock; and he said to them, Hear now, you rebels; must we bring water for you out of this rock? And Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod. Nonetheless much water came out Then Jehovah said to Moses and Aaron, Because you did not believe in Me and honor Me as holy in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you will not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. (Num. 20:10-12)

In this way he will make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the uncleanness and rebellion of the Israelites, whatever their sins have been. He is to do the same for the Tent of Meeting, which is among them in the midst of their uncleanness. (Lev. 16:16)

When the LORD heard what you said, he was angry and solemnly swore: "Not a man of this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your forefathers (Deut. 32:35)

But the LORD said to me, "Tell them, `Do not go up and fight, because I will not be with you. You will be defeated by your enemies.'" So I told you, but you would not listen. You rebelled against the LORD's command and in your arrogance you marched up into the hill country. The Amorites who lived in those hills came out against you; they chased you like a swarm of bees and beat you down from Seir all the way to Hormah. You came back and wept before the LORD, but he paid no attention to your weeping and turned a deaf ear to you. (Deut. 43-45)

Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Ye have seen all things that Jehovah hath done in your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh and unto all his servants, and unto all his land; and Jehovah hath not given you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, even unto this day (Deut. 29:2, 4).

I know the figment of the people which they do at this day, before I bring them into the land which I sware (Deut. 31:21).

I will hide My faces from them, I will see what is the last of them; for they are a generation of perversities, sons in whom is no truth.

That "the tables" here signify the external of the Word, is because they are here distinguished from the writing, which denotes its internal. But when they are not distinguished from the writing, then by "the tables" is signified the internal and the external of the Word together, thus the Word in the whole complex (as above, n. 10452). The reason why they are here distinguished, is that the tables were broken, and yet the same words were afterward written by Jehovah upon other tables which were hewn out by Moses. The external of the Word is the sense of its letter. This sense of the letter is signified by "the tables" because this sense is like a table, or a plane, upon which the internal sense has been written.

That the tables which were the work of God were broken by Moses when he saw the calf and the dances, and that by command of Jehovah other tables were hewn out by Moses, and on these were afterward written the same words, and thus that the tables were no longer the work of God, but the work of Moses, whereas the writing was still the writing of God, involves a secret as yet unknown. The secret is that the sense of the letter of the Word would have been different if the Word had been written among a different people, or if that people had not been such as it was

As therefore the sense of the letter of the Word was made such for the sake of that people, therefore those tables which were the work of God were broken, and at the command of Jehovah others were hewn out by Moses. But whereas the same Divine holiness was still within, therefore the same words which had been written upon the former tables were written by Jehovah on the latter, as is plain from these words in Moses:

Jehovah said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, that I may write upon the tables the words that were on the first tables, which thou broke. And Jehovah wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten words (Exod. 34:1, 4, 28).

At that time Jehovah said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and I will write on the tables the words that were on the first tables which thou broke. And Jehovah wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten words, and Jehovah gave them unto me (Deut. 10:1-4).

That Jehovah did not acknowledge that people as His own people (although it was so said for the sake of the agreement of the internal sense with the external), but as the people of Moses, is evident in these passages:

Thy people have corrupted themselves, which thou madest to come up out of the land of Egypt. Go, lead the people unto the place I told thee (Exod. 32:7, 34).

Jehovah spoke unto Moses, Go up, thou and the people which thou hast made to come up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land of which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. And I will send an angel before thee; for I will not go up in the midst of thee, for thou art a stiff-necked people (Exod. 33:1-3).

The like is signified by Moses being put in a cleft of the rock, and not being allowed to see the faces of Jehovah, but only the back parts (Exod. 33:22, 23); and in like manner by Moses, when the skin of his face shone, putting a veil over his face when he spoke to the sons of Israel (Exod. 34:30-35). What the quality of that people was to be, is foretold by Jehovah to Abraham, when it was His will that his seed should inherit the land of Canaan, and it is said:

After Abraham had divided a heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, in the midst, which were for entering into a covenant, a deep sleep fell upon Abraham, and behold a terror of great darkness falling upon him. And when the sun was set, there was thick darkness; and behold a furnace of smoke, and a torch of fire that passed between those pieces (Gen. 15:9, 10, 12, 17).

The Moses, Paul, and Swedenborg Phases of Religions  (This is 130 pages)

THE 10 COMMANDMENTS

1. "Thou shalt have no other gods before me."  

2. "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image...Thou shalt not bow down to them."

3. "Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain."  

4."Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy."  

5  Honor your father and mother"

6. "Thou shalt not kill."

7. "Thou shalt not commit adultery."

8. "Thou shalt not steal."

9. "Thou shalt not bear false witness against your neighbor"

10. "Thou shalt not covet your neighbor's goods. Thou shalt not covet your neighbour's house. 
Thou shalt not covet your neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, 
nor his bull, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbour's."

Moses Law vs.
the 10 Commandments

Compare below Moses Law vs. the 10 Commandments

People often confuse one for the other, but they are very different. 
Moses Law ended at the cross whereas the 10 Commandments 
are God's Eternal Moral Law which will last forever.  

 THE BROKEN DOG CHAIN