my spooky reflections

[furlickle]

I recently bought a silver fox boa from ebay circa 1950s. I'm surprised at the sense of connection I feel with the animal as though the space of fifty years since the animal departed means nothing at all. It's as though the experience of tactile appreciation can open up the possibility of some kind of communion that's more than just luxuriating in the feel of fur. I know that probably sounds terribly esoteric and spooky but its an aspect of where my head and heart is at right now.

[Guest]

I have suggested a similar connection . Two milion years of human evolution has relied on that connection. And yes of course the energy of the animal is still in the dna ; hence even scientifially its spirit in a sense is still there.

This isn't sexual as such; it is most definitely spiritual. The animal did not die merely for a soon forgotten meal. Its energy continues. Part of the circle of life.

 

While we value animals in this way furbearers will continue in abundance on the planet.

[lynxette]

What I found interesting about your post is that I have not ever felt such a connection with any of my furs. No, your feelings are not spooky, they are simply yours, and each of us will find our own connections to the things we love. Thank you for sharing though, as it has caused me to reflect on some of my own feelings.

[Worker 11811]

The human mind can not perceive itself. Thus, it must describe the sensation of its own inner workings to that of something outside itself. This is how the illusion of "soul" is born.

 

It is, then, only logical that a soul be given to others. If the mind perceives that IT has a soul then other beings MUST have one. Right?

 

The proof that the soul is an illusion comes from the fact that the mind believes that inanimate objects can have souls too. How many people talk about their car as if it had a soul or that their computer is breaking down because it "wants" to. Cars and other machines are NOT alive and can NOT have souls yet people act as if they do.

 

People pretend that Teddy Bears are alive and that they can think and feel as humans do but everybody KNOWS that they are not real. It's just a popular myth that people perpetuate because it's fun and because Teddy Bears can be used as emotional surrogates.

 

It is the same for the case of fur pelts where the animal was harvested long ago. The animal is long gone. Only its pelt has been preserved. Its soul... if you believe that it even had a soul... has been transported to its final destination (salvation or damnation) long ago. (The Catholic religion and others do not necessarily believe that animals have souls. Only humans can have them.)

 

So, any emotional or spiritual connection one feels with furs can ONLY be an illusion created by the owner/wearer him/herself.

 

Is this wrong? NO! It is NOT wrong! People NEED an outlet for their emotions. Just as we ascribe emotions to Teddy Bears we can ascribe emotions to furs and other objects as an OUTLET for them. It's a process called "sublimation". We devise outlets for emotions we, somehow, believe are forbidden by finding objects or activities that are easier to relate to.

 

For instance, people say that their husband or wife "drove them to drink". Nobody really MADE them become an alcoholic! They did it themselves! But the truth is that the person thought they couldn't express their frustrations to their husband or wife so they found another outlet. They drowned their sorrows in beer.

 

The same goes for people who do other things like watch too much TV or use the computer too much... or collect 1,000 Teddy Bears. They are activities that allow them to express emotions that they otherwise could not.

 

Again, I stress that this is not necessarily a bad thing. As long as the person doesn't hurt themself or anybody else and as long as no laws are broken and as long as any activities are carried out between consenting adults there is no harm in doing most of these things. (Drinking too much or abusing drugs, etc., is obviously a bad thing.)

 

Do furs have souls? No.

 

Is it a bad thing to pretend they do? No. As long as nobody else is getting hurt, you can believe whatever you want.

[Guest]

Folks need to read about Edgar Casey

 

There was a documentary on him last night on the History Channel.

 

Way too much to talk about but I've been a 'reader' of his for many years and follow is readings dilligently.

 

In his philosophy of our "being connected to all" we can be there as well as he was.

 

 

 

 

 

 

OFF

[furlickle]

I just revisited my post trying to locate this troublesome use of the word "soul" and couldn't find it anywhere! Hmm how very strange. Must be in some mind but oddly enough not mine. And if it's a response to something boucing within the responder's neural wiring then methinks the term transference may be aptly applied. Psychology101 revisited. Hooray!! Post-christian era materialism... oh that's so mid twentieth century but hang on to it long enough and it will come back into fashion. I could drift into a juggling act over the possible wider implications of the notion of entanglement in quantum physics.. hey and Einstein called that spooky! I think we're getting somewhere!

 

For now strike up the band and sound the bugle and make music with whatever one can I suppose. What fun! Of course I did say spooky and words do stir up a hornets nest of associations.. I say spooky.. you say white bed linen... I say dirty feet.. you say Carravagio. Carravagio!! Where did that come from? Of course I am inclined to do the "I say tomato" thing but it just doesn't work in the written text. Oh but that's enough of all this I have a seance attend and I was a Roman god in a former life I'll have you know!

[Ravens8]

People pretend that Teddy Bears are alive and that they can think and feel as humans do but everybody KNOWS that they are not real.

 

 

( Do the bears know this?)

[lynxette]

Definitely not mine...and they are made from real furs. Talk about an interrelated topic!

[Worker 11811]

 

For now strike up the band and sound the bugle and make music with whatever one can I suppose. What fun! Of course I did say spooky and words do stir up a hornets nest of associations.. I say spooky.. you say white bed linen... I say dirty feet.. you say Carravagio.

 

Ooh! Word association games! Yay!

 

I say:

 

Baruch Spinoza

 

[frugalfurguy]

Soul, pneuma. You bet it's in fur! That's what gives it it's thermal insulative properties: it traps air, and that non-circulating air creates a barrier for convection of heat. So depends on what your definition of soul is. If it means the stuff of which insipration (drawing in air?) is made, fur's got it! If it means the stuff that can stoke a fire, fur's got it! If it means the fury of a tornado, fur calms it. If it means the stuff that carries blows remains of us breathairians back to the stomata and chloroplasts of reincarnating herbs, fur holds it close.

 

Of course if for you soul is far too abstract to inhabit very literal gas molecules, you might very well argue that fur has nothing to do with it or it doesn't exist, and if I accept your definition, I'd also more or less agree with you.

 

But I also have to agree with Furlickle soul slipped in here sidewise--such a spooky, sneaky essence!

 

And reincarnated Roman dieties certainly must know everything there is to know about souls. Been to the event horizon and back, have you, Furlickle? What's that Xeno's hour all like, especially to an immortal that actually finds a way to die?

 

You can poke me into the black hole myself for that!

 

frugalfurguy

[furlickle]

Immortality ain't what it used to be but good insulation is to die for! Oh and my fox disdainfully replies Wittgenstein to any mention of Spinoza. And for those who do not hear their bears be prepared for most odd dreams when next you lay your heads upon your pillows.