There are really only two creation myths.

There are only two creation myths: 1. says a power made the matter from itself - this started the universe, and the other 2. that the universe has always existed - it did not begin it has always just been.

Recently, whilst listening to a series of lectures on Ancient Egypt, the author Bob Brier suggested that there are really only two creation myths. In the classic myth, there is a story that says there was an entity (perhaps a being) that made mater and cause it to move apart – this was the creation of the world and the universe. Although the details change between religions and creeds, the underlying theme remains the same.

The alternative interpretation is to say that matter has always existed, so to suggest that anything could be created from nothing is to misunderstand the issue.

There is one thing that links them however, and which I believe shows the two theories to be driven by the same thing underling assumption – energy. In the first myth, you could say that “energy get’s the idea to change itself into matter.” In the other myth energy, that was always there, changes itself into matter more like what we know today.

The two creations are thus fundamentally in agreement and mutually compatible. One places greater emphasis on change, the other on similarity; but they are both coming from the same place.

Considerable mileage from one series of lectures… Ken Wilbur’s Kosmic Consciousness

Considerable mileage from one series of lectures… Ken Wilber’s Kosmic Consciousness

Having read a few items by Ken Wilber over the last few years, I feel that it is now sensible to write a little on this unusual man. Ken Wilber might consider himself to be a philosopher or simply a writer. He is both of these, he might also be described as an espouser of a spiritual creed based upon comparative religion and textual analysis. He has produced many books which present an unusual “integral” approach to matters such as life, law and consciousness.

Ken Wilber is controversial and provocative; this is evident throughout his writing. In ‘the Spectrum of Consciousness’, for example, he elaborates a system of ever more exalted states of being. Wilber bares a startling resemblance to William James’s Varieties of Religious Experience, owing to the similarity of their methods. Both authors use textual analysis to lay out a system of increasing levels of happiness. Wilber’s levels are marked by ever increasing sizes of self interest. Low levels, for example, see themselves as single individuals in a place in space and time. These individuals only need to look after themselves and no one else. Wilber then goes on to say that if you look at important literary thinkers and indeed one’s own experience, you will see that you can define yourself interest as what is good for you, your family and friends. The next stage, is to see your self interest as the good of your country and even your world. In its final stages, the good of the individual loops back to a union with what the individual sees as divine. Wilber argues that many religions, most particularly the Abramic ones, see God and the individual as separate. Break this pattern, Wilber argues, and one has access to states so exquisite that the effort that goes into acquiring them is more than repaid. Wilber then uses various texts to suggest that if God is infinite the idea of you not being God is ridiculous; it is not possible to separate the creator and the creation: they are necessarily the same thing.

In a recent series of Interviews, Ken Wilber outlines his ideas further by bringing “the Spectrum of Consciousness” into a wider context based upon the assumption that ‘nobody is completely wrong in what they say and write’. From this point, Wilber attempts to slot various groups into a coherent framework suggesting a model that resembles Gartner’s developmental lines. He advocates perhaps 7 separate, but occasionally overlapping, strands to an individual’s state of being. Included in these categories are such topics as: bodily intelligence, morality and cultural perspective. Moral development may be considered advanced at the same time as one’s bodily intelligence (how to perform gymnastics) may be relatively low. Wilber then goes on to argue that the most virtuous system of personal development is first, to accept yourself as you are, then to choose a specific subset of areas to work on; whilst at the same time maintaining a reasonably high perspective on all of the other levels. He believes that whilst it is nice to have the highest level on all facets, at a practical level it is not realistic to achieve this in real life at society’s level of being.

Wilber identifies several stages in the history of societies. Resembling the spectrum, he suggests that societies have their own evolution which can be marked by distinct stages including: mythic, traditional, modern and post-modern. Mythic, for example, encompasses societies which define themselves in terms of their myths which includes the Ancient Greeks. The idea here is that human agents, by themselves are relatively powerless to change the nature of the world, but outside agents such as Gods can change the world. Whilst this may be true, a serious limitation of this statement is that, of course, we have no way of knowing if this is true: since we cannot truly enter into the mind of Ancient Greeks. He then identifies other societies, or groups of people within society as traditional, meaning that they value above all else their membership of a particular nation or kinship group. Modern and post-modern come about when societies industrialise as at this time, women and men have greater levels of equality. In post-modern a sense of moral relativism creeps in, so that people from one nation find it abhorrent to impose their ideas of right and wrong on another people. Wilber’s final stage is the Integral Level, at which time society accepts certain values as worthwhile regardless of the culture or nation saying them. His system presents a coherent framework which certainly has merit.

Taken as a whole, Wilber presents an all encompassing model. It certainly has provided me with food for thought. I will observe, however, that he might have talked at greater length about how we know what we know. Although he uses textual analysis, some sense of how it is possible to know through this method would have increased the veracity of his exegesis. A few more words on why scientific studies may be limited would have strengthened his argument perhaps talking about the difficulty of replicating certain internal experiences. Finally, he could have talked about epistemology rather than implying, but never stating directly, that is by feeling that we select the arguments we find most convincing.

Still, Wilber presents an ambitious framework that is well worth reading. Though individual details may not be right, his overall suggestions appear sound enough. In particular the argument that individual’s are never totally wrong squares well with our contemporary mores. In addition a framework that encompasses all philosophies around levels of increasing perspective seems intuitively right.

A new Britishness test

There has been much talk of immigration of late. One aspect that sometimes creeps into the debate is the “British” test that has recently been employed to test whether someone is suitable for to have the title “Briton”. I suggest that the current system of esoteric knowledge about pocket and customs is a fair attempt, but it could be improved to just one simple test – does the candidate possess a sense of ironic humour?

If the person questioned does posses this faculty then they should be allowed in, if they don’t I think it is unlikely they would qualify as a Briton. Of course there would be an appeals procedure and if, during that appearance, their humour could be demonstrated then citizenship should be granted.

A possible example of ironic humour would be something quoted from the First World War. A fresh private arrived at the front at said to a seasoned soldier “I have heard the front is really bad, the pit of humanity, is it true?”

The senior solder replied “its a holiday, the only thing that stops it being heaven is they don’t make the cornbeef quite right.”

I use this as an example, I hope the principle is clear. Just imagine what a nation of phlegmatic comedians will be created with this humour. I certainly think it a better test than the ability to learn customs from a book!

Bring back the trolley buses

Sometimes, one has to look to the past in order to find the answers to today’s problems. Enter the trolley bus, a public transport solution from over 100 years ago that could clean up our inner cities.

The first overhead powered car was designed in Germany before during the 1880s and proved so successful that its basic design was adopted to make a bus familiar to us from photographs from the 1950s.

So abundant are the advantages of these vehicles, it is hard to see why they so many systems were done away with. To be charitable, it may have been because during the 1950-60s, it was deemed desirable to standardise on just one form of power. In addition, it saved the cost of maintaining pylons. These days, however, such costs must seem very small compared with fuel prices and the benefits of electric transport in cities.

Luckily there are a few systems in the UK that use electric power; Blackpool and recently Nottingham use trams/trolley buses.

Our European, and even American, brethren could teach Britain a thing or to do about using trolley buses for transport. Let’s hope to see more of them on our travels. Transport that does not pollute at the point of delivery has to be the way forward. In addition electric transport may well be cheaper owing to reduced fuel costs. The technology is already in place it is known that it works. Just imagine if the same cities used solar and other renewable technologies for their power as well!

Above is a contemporary Polish trolley bus, showing that the technology is very much alive and well.

Reasons to go to British Museum

A few days ago, Miss Moto and I visited the British Museum in London. We thoroughly enjoyed the trip, as we have a mutual interest in Ancient Egypt. Look at some of the lovely objects we were able to see and be inspired!

Observe, the Rosetta stone, the object which first allowed investigators to understand hieroglyphs because it contains writing in Greek and two Egyptian scripts. Originally, it was found by during Napoleon's expedition of Egypt, but it was subsequently taken by the British, when they won the war in 1815.


Although I am unsure about what the provenance of this statue is, I do remember that the paint on it is the original and survives in remarkable quantity all over the statue. Not bad for 3000 year old workmanship.













Finally, an elegant mummy, which reminds us all why the Egyptians are so renowned for craftsmanship. This elegant example shows what, I believe, is an example of a fairly late mummy (IE from the 20th dynasty). Surprisingly life like is n't it? And so elegant, the Egyptians really understood form.

Cafe Lumiere goes commercial

Once on the blog, I suggested that we use hemp paper as a means of saving trees. Hemp paper would save the carbon stored in trees being unlocked, prevent the loss of useful carbon dioxide/ oxygen converters, help to save the rain forests and reduce the carbon foot print of transporting the trees to the uk to be processed.

After some effort I have secured some hemp paper. It is therefore, with some delight that I announce that Cafe Lumiere has gone commercial. For more details and the chance to order some paper look at the following webpage on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=230180156054&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=013

Britain’s balance of trade concerning people, myths and traditions.

To an observer of such things, it is curious that so many old myths and traditions have a habit of surviving and popping up in the most unusual of places given their origins. Once upon time, Britain was uninhabited and then early settlers cam across the land bridge that existed between Europe and Britain. When that link became water logged, people used small boats such as coracles to navigate the divide. Then Britain imported a variety of groups over some 2500 years of history including Romans, Germans, Vikings, Normans, Flemish, Jews, Irish, Pols, Italians, Africans and many more besides. IN our own time, we are used to immigration from peoples from all parts of the globe. On the other hand, Britain has done its fair share of exporting people too. Consider the mass immigration from Britain America, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the like. Neille Fergusson quotes some seemingly impossible number, like 44 million people dispatched from the UK over the course of the 18^th and 19^th centuries. Yet, this figure believable when examined closely. It goes to explain why people may speak English as their first language in as diverse as Aukland and Arizona.

The British fixation with Roman and Greek history, myths and religion is also another curious case of customs coming in and then going out; just like some warehouse full of goods. Stock comes in, is changed in some small way and is then exported again to some unrelated place. If you were some external observer, perhaps a human from a tribe who had had no dealings with the outside world until recently, would it not seem remarkable that characters such as Hermes and Venus should still be referred to in the language at all? Would not seem even curiouser that the state religion of Britain (at least in theory) is a mildly altered version of Roman Catholicism, which itself is largely a product of Egyptian imagery, Greek ideas and Roman heirachies?

Then there is the unusual case of King Arthur, who Churchill described as the last of the Romans. This great “British” icon, is considered an exemplar of national virtue, yet those very virtues were imported (or enforced) by romans. This then, was a deficit on the part of Britain.

Ultimately, Anglicanism and its variants was exported around the world, having in the first place been imported from many different nations. The lesson to learn, I suppose, is that no people or nation exist in a vacuum, but rather are a result of a collection of influences acting upon it. People are also slow to abandon religious customs, but seem able to acquire new ones within an existing framework. Truly an unusual balance of trade – but one which seems to have balanced itself somehow.

Exciting news... for solar powered transport

Exciting news you may have missed….

A British built, solar powered light aeroplane flew for two days from its own power last week, the BBC announced. The craft, called a zephyr, made two flights of 54 and 33 hours respectively using onboard batteries to store the energy it collected from the sun. Although the aeroplane managed to fly for 54 hours on its longest flight, no official record assessors were there, so the shorter journey has become the world record for the longest solar powered flight instead. Good one team! For more information go to: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6916309.stm

Reasons to eat cheese no 1

Those of you who have attended smart dinners will recall that it is customary to end the meal with cheese and biscuits. It is unusual, however, for anyone to enquiry why they are eating cheese at this time.

The answer seems to be that in the west there is well established custom of eating cheese at the end of the meal in order to clean the teeth from the small bits of food that have accumulated there. You could describe it as flossing without string. In former times, chewing gum and cheese were important ways of helping your teeth survive in times before effective tooth paste, brushes and other devices.

As I enjoy the taste of Double Gloucester and Red Leicester cheeses, I now try to eat them at least once a day, at the end of the meal, as a cheap way of looking after my teeth.

personality of the week.

My apologies for not keeping personality of the week going as much as its popularity might have demanded. Owing to a really busy summer I was not able to put the required work in to produce these personality sketches, so they have not been many of them. However, here is at least one personality of the week it is the Egyptian queen Hatshepsut. Although there were several queens of Egypt Hatshepsut has probably received the most attention owing to her numerous building projects and comparatively peaceful reign.

Hatshepsut ruled Egypt as sole ruler (pharaoh) between 1479 to 1458 BC, although exact dates are open to debate. As ruler she was involved in the usual kind of projects, building temples, presiding at religious festivals, and leading the troops in battle.

The policy that most befits her for entry into the café’s hall of fame is her idea of going to foreign lands – the Land of Punt – and collecting from there frankincense trees. These trees were carefully stored and watered in baskets so they could be replanted back in Egypt. This is the first recorded case a transplant of crops between countries. At the café, we think this shows cleverness, persistence and innovation and for this reason Hatshepsut deserves the title of personality of the week. Hatshepsut, a casket of Frankincense awaits you at the front of the café.

My thanks to for the use of the image: Keith Schengili-Roberts

Electric moped 10 miles over hills

Tonight, I rode my electric moped over some of the most challenging road conditions it is likely to face: steep hills at night and it has risen to the occasion. Given that its 1500 watt motor is fairly small in terms of transporting a human and moped, I think the way it tackled local hills, especially on the coast road was extremely impressive! Tomorrow, I am taking it to work (at the school) - let's see what the pupils think...

A letter from David Cameron's office

As you will probably have guessed by now, the café likes to be active as far as it reasonably can be, when it comes to matters it feels strongly about. Recently, I wrote a letter to David Cameron, suggesting that patents must be developed within a certain time, or become public property freely available to all. Here is the reply I received back…

“Thank you for your letter to David Cameron. He has asked me to thank you and to reply on his behalf.

David Cameron thanks you for what you have to say in relation to fuel efficiency patents and your proposal of specifying the length of time of issuing patents. He appreciates what you have to say and takes on board the various points you have put across to him in your letter.

It is true that we do receive a vast amount of mail but Mr Cameron is always pleased to hear what people have to say.

Many thanks once again for taking the trouble to write and for making us aware of your ideas.

Yours sincerely,

Jenny Stocker”

I have mixed feels about this letter. On the plus side I appreciate that I got a reply at all, I am grateful I live in a country where that is possible. On the other hand, I sense a lack of commitment to any kind of follow up or suggestion that the idea might go any further than this. For this reason, I am disappointed, but I may write back and ask exactly what happens to ideas that are sent to David Cameron and what are the processes by which they might become policy.

I think that the system is more to blame than the people involved. A government that is so remote (because of the distance between voters and representatives) would require monumental determination to implement the many good ideas that are sent in, even if deep down some might rather like the ideas.

Electric transport on the road

It is with great pleasure that I inform you, dear reader, that Cafe Lumiere now has electric transport on the road! Hence forth, the proprietor of the cafe has the option to use the electric moped as a mode of transport to and from work: it can also be used for pleasure purposes. Pictured on the right is me riding it for the first time on the public highways of Sussex! Easy Rider eat your heart out!






The moped will do about 25 mph-30 mph and goes rather well up hills. Cost to fill up, about 2-5p depending on how much you pay for electricity. A full charge will be enough to take one about 20-25 miles. An additional perk of this vehicle is that the tax disc is free! How about that?! I am very pleased with the moped and I hope soon to get a back box to put supplies for the cafe in - perhaps some jam tarts!

I love this moped I hope you love it too!

Moving to the Midlands

Not long now until M-day. By 'M' day, I mean of course, I am Moving to the Midlands; which I am quite looking forward to. I went for a walk around Leicester the other week, and I was impressed by the city and its amenities owing to the fairly copious number of museums and also the number of shops and shopping areas. I was also rather impressed by the Sainsbury petrol station there, the busiest in the country, with a mere 30 pumps if you please. The branch is so busy that it never closes being open 24 hours a day. Customers are allowed into the shop throughout the night, whilst the staff are kept safe by a floor to ceiling glass enclosure much like a bank. I am sure other cities in the Midlands will be the subjects of visits before long. Having been to Brighton, Bath, Winchester and Salisbury, which are fairly southern based, it will be nice to visit the midland equivalents, Warwick perhaps, Worcester and dare one say it Birmingham.
On other matters, one piece of good news, one piece of bad news. The bad news is that W.F. Deedes, subject of one of the first personality of the week articles, has died. Cafe Lumiere sends its condolences to his family and hopes Deedes has found there to be the afterlife which he believed in.
It is also Stephen Fry's 50th birthday and the BBC has set up a website to celebrate. You can find out more at http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/features/stephen-fry.shtml. Enjoy...!

Great British days out

As we approach the midpoint of August, I would like to take the opportunity to convey how much I am enjoying various days out I have slipped when work permits. In the last few weeks, my girlfriend and I went to Great Dixter House, which is near Northiam in Sussex, and the steam trains at Tenterden in Kent. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and I think you will see why when you see some of the lovely sights we did below.

I am so fond of this picture I may try to use it as the basis for some kind of business venture - watch this space!

Riding in style on a Pullman coach, this particular one dates from the 1930s and I believe it was once used on the Brighton Belle...










And finally, a cheeky little saddle tank pulls reverses round the train ready for the last service of the day. These locos posses a very small wheel base and are relatively light. Consequently they are well suited to the KESR, which has tight curves and low quality track. Being a light railway, all trains are restricted to speeds of no greater than 25mph. I wonder why commuter traffic never really took off from this line when it was running under BR...

What would the electorate do if they did not like the structure of contemporary government.

Today, I wish to raise the issues of what individuals are supposed to do if they believe that government in western democracies: a) place too much emphasis on centralised government and b) that there are too many advisers and administrators working for them.

Briefly conceive if you will, of a system not unlike that of the UK and I believe you will see how local government provides priceless advantages over central government. There are around 600 representatives for the population of 60, 000, 000. How much interaction do these people have with their elected representatives? I would suggest not very much and this lack of contact is bad for the electorate. Consider how the Victorians valued civic pride and how government really did take place on a local level in so many ways during that period. Town halls or similar structures were the centres of debates about local policies regarding planning permission, social policy etc. Consider how civic structures such as those in Leeds, Manchester and Staines were built with generous donations from the inhabitants of the locale – now imagine something like that happening today and it is much harder because with a lack of regular contact with inhabitants and local law makers initiatives such as these fall by the wayside. In the past representatives often lived close to their electorate so their interests were similar. Administrators assisted of course, but the system was prevented from becoming too flabby and inefficient because ultimately local people were able to see inside the machine and assess how well it was doing its job.

Central government today is extremely expensive. Consider for a moment the parliament at Westminster. This year, Mps alone have put in a collective expenses bill of £86 million! You can bet that the European Union Parliament (who has even less contact with the electorate than Westminster does) has similar expense levels too. And here is the reason why these representatives will keep smiling – you can’t change the governmental system without them doing so – and how many Mps do you suppose will change a system which allows such a high quality of life with so little comeback, not many! And if you wish to start a party which promises to take less money for government you will stand very little chance of being elected because you will be competing against an advertising/advisory panel funded with millions of pounds. Such is this wonderful thing we call western style democracy. Personally, I feel it is only one stage removed from a dictatorship.

Instead, I propose a considerable alteration to the hierarchy of power. Place more powers in the hands of local government. The more important issues, such as national security, foreign policy etc, should remain centralised, but the remit of central government must be kept as low as possible. Essentially for every level you move up the chain of power, the number of issues they control should decrease. Representatives of central government might should also face a double election to ensure they are really popular. In this system, MPs in a central parliament are elected to office only when the local electorate and local councillors agree on a suitable candidate.

Do you think Westminster would like you to join in my way of thinking – no minister!

Cafe Lumiere gets electric transport

As you will be aware, Café Lumiere takes environmental concerns very seriously and does a reasonable amount to publicise new initiatives to save fuel. It should come as little surprise, therefore, that the café has recently invested in its own electric transport – yes its an electric scooter.

This rather funky little moped can do up to 30 miles and has a range of 20 miles. As a result, it has just enough range to get me to work. I hope to use it regularly both at uni and at home in Sussex. Here are a couple of pictures of this illustrious vehicle. I bought it on ebay and I am pleased to say I got it for a very good price! As it has a free tax disc and costs around 5 p to fill up, it should be economical as well.

In the mean time though, I need to book up something called CBT (compulsory Basic Training) which will enable me to go and ride it on the road; watch this space.

NB the model pictured is the same colour and model as the one I have purchased.

Getting fashionable with French

My younger sister recently produced these wonderful posters as part of her French home work for the holidays. I think they are wonderful and will make an excellent posts. They seek to link French vocabulary with my younger sister's passion for cows.


I find the summer collection and winter pages the most amusing. I especially like the sun specs attached to the rather fashionable cow on the lower left page. The quasi viking cow also merits a closer inspection.

For those of you with an eye to the future, observe the cow in the bottom right of the lower right page. She is wearing scarf, but around her nose, why is this? My sister felt that, cows would wear scarfs on their noses because, this area is mostly likely to get chilly especially after drinking water, or dipping their nose in some snow. Remember, you saw it here first!

Slavery vs petrol

When working today the thought occurred to me that there are obvious parallels between the abolition of the slave trade and the end of the petrol driven car. People in the 18th century recognised that slavery was an awful way to treat fellow human beings, but the important issues which took years to settle was ‘who would pay for an end to the supply of money slavery produced?’ The same question faces humanity today. Companies such as BP and Shell employ thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people. Who will foot the bill if the large petrol companies are wound up? What would governments do if those people enter the labour market over the next ten years?
Even more pressingly for governments, what will they do without the fuel duty? In the UK around 70-80% of the cost of fuel is tax. Just imagine if all UK drivers started using battery cars tomorrow – where would be the money in that? And what if they used solar panels to recharge them? Governments would not even be able to levy a tax on electricity if that happened.
Perhaps the potential lack of revenue from fuel is the reason why the Uk government was so keen to set up a pay as you go system a few months ago. That way, you could still charge people for using roads, even if they drove green cars. What is the answer the average road user?
As a believer in helping the environment, it has to be to go for electric cars as soon as possible as they represent the greenest of the car options available.
Concerning the money, I think other uses for the existing infrastructure as well as changes in our behaviour as a nation could off set the cost. As regards the treasury, perhaps we could have a few less wars, that would go a long way to off setting the reduction in petrol duty – and as for BP – there are two possibilities. Firstly, get them to work in the new solar panel industries and car support roles and also use their infrastructure for retail and office spaces. Think of the number of BP petrol stations there are across the country. Secondly, use BP as a chemical laboratory – where new materials are conceived and tested daily.

How you can eat an organic meal every day for less than 40p.

Given the references in the press and academic studies that heightened levels of pesticides have been linked to raised chances of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, it seems pertinent to describe how you can have at least one organic meal day, just as I do.

It is quite simple, all that is required is to buy some organic breakfast cereal and some milk – et voila! Currently I mainly eat porridge oats. Being a slow release food it is inclined to keep me filled up; and I understand that it can help reduce fat from other parts of the diet. I recommend this start to the day to anyone.

Cost wise, its pretty effective too. I think you can get about one week's worth of food out of a standard large packet of porridge 750g and four pints of milk. Organic milk will cost somewhere between £1-£1.50 for four pints (more than you need probably but we'll be generous) £1.50/7= 21. Oats vary in price, but £1.08 is a figure I have seen quite often at the supermarket I work at. £1.08/7= 15.4, the two together makes 36.4p! Pretty good value I think!

Somtimes, when I don't feel like porridge, I move over to organic bran flakes. Fortunately, both of these meal options are available on the café’s menu.

Room upgrade

You may be pleased to see that one of the rooms in the café has recently received an upgrade. Here is a photograph of my old room, which during the last week of my habitation was looking especially messy.

Now, here is a photograph of my new room. Yes, for the course of the summer at least, yours truly will be living in the nice and new white rooms.

As you can see, it is considerably more spacious than the previous room and the décor has a more contemporary feel to it as well. All in all a real improvement to my living arrangements.

And the personality of the week is…

A little unusually, this week’s personality of the week was by request from a regular reader. I am pleased to say that after due consideration the suggestion was carried forward.

Therefore, I would like to announce Mary Magdalene as Personality of the Week – a cup of free coffee awaits you at the bar.

This aristocratic lady was born some time around 0 AD and is famous today for her role various biblical episodes and the possible mothering of a son of Christ. During the middle ages she was generally considered to be a prostitute who repented of her evil ways and followed the Christian message. A sermon given by Gregory the Great in 591 was influential in forming this belief, but there is in fact little evidence for this suggestion. Magdalene came from an aristocratic house and is therefore unlikely to have needed the money that prostitution would have brought in. Secondly, although a Mary is described by Luke (7: 36-50), this Mary is not identified as Mary of Magdalene, but rather Mary the sinner. Some scholars have suggested that Mary the sinner was Mary of Bethany but not Mary of Magdalene. Given these two pieces of evidence, it is unlikely that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute.

Mary is most famous for her close support of Christ and the disciples. She was a follower of Christ, though not normally counted among the disciples. Feminist historians are keen to point out that it was Mary Magdalene and other women who first saw the resurrected Christ.

Debate surrounds the idea that Magdalene was married to Christ. Against this view, are the traditional arguments about Christ’s emphasis on celibacy and the example of John the Baptist who was known to be holy and a single man by choice. Against this view, are authors such as Elaine Pagels who suggest that the idea of Christ not being married without record in the bible is too surprising to be believed. She reasonably suggests that rabbis in ancient Israel would have been married and expected to be married by their followers. Had this not occurred, it would have been so unprecedented as to require comment. Pagel’s also suggest that the account of Christ’s first miracle at a wedding party was very probably his own wedding, since only someone in the position of groom would have been able to command servants in the way Christ does. Surviving accounts from the Nag Hammadi library also given some support to the view that Mary was married to Christ. However, it is important to remember that many of the sources that do talk about this relationship were written much later than the gospels – the Gospel of Thomas is somewhat of an exception. When coupled with the Gregory the Great Sermon mistake, it is easy to see how some people believe that Christ really was married.

It is too early to say that the marriage between Christ and Mary has been proven, on the other hand it is hard to dismiss it either. I believe it to be true, but can respect others who think it is not.

None of this debate, however, detracts from Mary Magdalene being personality of the week.

(My thanks to wikipedia for the use of the image)

Flashes of blogging

The pleasures of the summer. Currently I am working at a large number of jobs. Those of you who know me will know that this is not unusual. At the moment I am working at a school, offering private tuition and marking exam papers. Somewhere in amongst all of this, I also have to revise for more exams of my own, with the BPS and see about moving rooms on Friday.
Given this, I hope you can understand why blogging has been less fulsome than I would have wished. Still, I expect, as I am doing now a sneeky few minutes can be spent here and there writing about matters of life.
In the mean time, If anyone would like to nominate a personality for the week, I think this would be quite a fun way to make the slot more varied. So, if you feel the urge post a comment and I will consider the personality, or given a good reason why they were not chosen that week.

Café Lumiere’s new piano and the return of father

On Wednesday two exciting things happened: my father came out of hospital and the new piano arrived in the café’s Sussex branch. My father recently went to hospital with a blood problem which caused him to be very out of breath and feel tired. After a transfusion and a few days of rest he is now close to full strength again. A cause for the problem is not yet known and he is having tests in the next few days to ascertain how we can avoid the same thing happening again. The main thing is that he is back at home and well again.

A new piano also arrived this week. My brother and younger sister, who are very able musicians have been struggling on with our old piano for some time. Whilst it has been in the family for 50 years it is need of a rebuild – which costs more than to buy a working second hand piano. For that reason, we have bought another piano. It is a Berry piano made in about 1930 and rebuilt in about 1960. The case was restored again in 1990 or so. Consequently, it is a very smart addition to the café.

We were lucky, as we were able to get it for just over £500 of which I contributed £440. I think it is money well spent, and the sound is much better than that which we had become accustomed to.

(NB, this is not the actual piano but it bares a close resemblance - a photograph of the genuine article will appear within the week - when I can photograph it).

Did someone say hemp paper?

If you could save the environment and save money, whilst also keeping your standard of living the same, would you do it? If I told you the answer lay in hemp, would you believe me?
Friends will know that I advocate the use of hemp for making paper and a variety of other things. Unlike the wood we currently use, hemp paper would allow the rainforest to be saved and would mean we would give climate a sporting chance of sorting out some of the problems caused over 500 years of pollution. Hemp is also very cost effective. It will grow almost anywhere and takes just 120 days to grow to 8 metres, ready for harvest. Compare this with the 100 years of many trees! That is also before you consider the transportation costs of shipping much of the world’s wood half way across the world. Hemp can also be made into furniture and is considerably more durable than wood. Paper made from hemp is also far more recyclable than paper from trees, as the former can be reprocessed more times before breaking down.
Of course the various paper companies do not want you to know this. Where would the money be? For those who disbelieve this, I will quote a brief section from wikipedia on the subject of hemp and paper production

"In 1916, U.S. Department of Agriculture chief scientists Lyster H. Dewe, and Jason L. Merrill created paper made from hemp pulp, which they concluded was "favorable in comparison with those used with pulp wood."^[3] Jack Herer, in the book "The Emperor Wears No Clothes" summarized the findings of Bulletion No. 404:^[4]

"In 1916, USDA Bulletin No. 404, reported that one acre of cannabis hemp, in annual rotation over a 20-year period, would produce as much pulp for paper as 4.1 acres of trees being cut down over the same 20-year period. This process would use only 1/4 to 1/7 as much polluting sulfur-based acid chemicals to break down the glue-like lignin that binds the fibers of the pulp, or even none at all using soda ash. The problem of dioxin contamination of rivers is avoided in the hemp paper making process, which does not need to use chlorine bleach (as the wood pulp paper making process requires) but instead safely substitutes hydrogen peroxide in the bleaching process. ... If the new (1916) hemp pulp paper process were legal today, it would soon replace about 70% of all wood pulp paper, including computer printout paper, corrugated boxes and paper bags."

The decision of the United States Congress to pass the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act was based in part on testimony derived from articles in newspapers owned by William Randolph Hearst, who had significant financial interests in the timber industry, which manufactured his newsprint. As a result of the Marijhuana Tax Act, the production and use of hemp discontinued.

If anyone could grow and harvest hemp, how would they continue to make the vast fortunes that big paper giants do today? Where would the taxes be for governments?

Things are changing however, I attach a link below to a hemp resource page. Enjoy, and remember smoking hemp does not cause you go get ‘high’. Let us hope that if we all push this agenda, we will see greener sources of paper becoming the standard in the future. As for me, I going to start getting green paper asap!

http://www.birminghamfoe.org.uk/newslet/news0898/story13.htm

my thanks to http://www.illuminati-news.com/graphics/hemp.gif for the use of image.

Personality of the week

To regular readers of the blog, you may have noticed that there has been a high number of white anglo-saxon males and (usually) protestant at that. Though this group has done much that is credible, the cafe wishes to acknowledge the very considerable part played in our world by people outside this group.

This week, then it is with great pleasure we announce….

Morgan Freeman – our congratulations to you a free cup of coffee awaits you at your convenience.

Morgan Freeman was born in 1937 in Memphis Tennessee. Despite humble circumstances early in his life he won a number of drama competitions eventually resulting in him winning a partial scholarship to Jackson state university – which he turned down in order to work as a mechanic in the United states air force.

During the 1960s-1970s, Freeman worked in a number of film related roles without really entering the big time. He worked as script writing assistant and also had a number of minor roles in films.

It was during the 1990s that Freeman came to popular attention. A number of strong supporting roles, which included the respected films ‘shawshank redemption’ and ‘Amistad’ raise his status to that of a house hold name. It is for this reason, Morgan, that we give you this week’s prize!

(my thanks to Wikipedia for the photograph)

Taking five minutes off to review Maroon 5

Currently, I am working in a site of historical interest in Sussex. It I an unusual site because it contains a medieval structure, but also later developments – including a school. Today there is going to be a wedding here and I am getting ready to for it. I hope it turns out well, although the weather at the moment is somewhat rainy.

As I sit here I am thinking of the new Maroon 5 album ' it won't be soon before long' which I recently bought. I will review it here.

This is a good album with a number of catchy songs. I especially the b sides on this album such as 'back at your door' and 'better that we break'. Other songs, such as sweet kiwi, whilst acceptable, lack the 'humability' of other songs on the previous album ' Songs about Jane'.

Another difference between the two albums is there thematic nature. Songs about Jane was a concept album and achieved an excellent sense of unity and progression from a simple love affair to something deeper and darker. It won't be soon before long', by contrast has no story riding through it which I think is a shame. Instead, Maroon 5 have turned more 'poppy' with this album they confine themselves to love songs.

Adam Levine et al are such clever and talented people. They demonstrated on songs about Jane that they could play in a variety of styles and use quite different sounds between songs; whilst also keeping a strong rhythm going. Instead, it would be soon before long is more one dimensional. The album is good, but would be better with some acoustic numbers and a few where Adam Levine sang high and low. Topics other than love and relationships might have featured on the album such as what the band were doing between 2002 and 2007.

Overall, I give this album 7.5/10. It is easy to listen to and it grows on one. At least 4 songs are catchy and the rest are acceptable. Buy this album if you want 80's inspired pop/indie songs or you liked songs about Jane – but don't expect to be totally blown away.

Experience, feelings, beliefs and decisions

I will freely admit that I frequently get into long debates about the nature of feelings in the decision making process which have in the past been of limited success. Such debates often occur with Dantares and though such discussions are not confined to his company, it is usually with him that I am challenged the most. I hope here to have bring some insight.

Partly out of a wish to clarify my own thinking on the matter and partly out of a desire to see what other people I offer the following as a starting point for discussion both on the blog and more generally: with a view to finding the forces that best sum up decision making.

On the most simple level, it may be observed that decisions are a logical process. One of two or more propositions is selected from a list – simple logic – nothing to it.

On a deeper level, though I would argue that this interpretation seeks to cut out the ‘subjective’ self or perceiver from the equation. Doing so renders the model at best simplistic and at worst unhelpful because as I will argue subjective factors influence the logic used to answer the question. It is therefore necessary to look at accounts that factor in subjective qualities.

Many times we have heard people say that ‘logically that is possible but it just does n’t seem right’. In such cases people effectively are resorting to the store of their past experiences and understanding of other’s experiences to determine that which is subjectively true. This is because people are limited in their perceptions in the sense that the cannot see all things from all positions. They are confined to their current individual attention. Thus they make a selective interpretation based on what they know. But, that knowledge is ultimately subjective.

That subjectivity is further more expressed as a feeling which informs people’s perceptions of ‘what life is really like.’ Were people to have a series of dramatically different experiences compared to their earlier ones, they beliefs feelings about what life is would be altered quite dramatically. Given this altered feeling, one would then make new statements based on logical processes. Thus for Descartes, the existence of God was ‘logically’ proven because for him his experiences informed his feeling about how life ‘really was’. From that starting point, a philosophy was built which used many logical steps, but which started from a feeling based on his prior experiences.

Whilst we’re on the subject experience and beliefs tend to be relatively stable in most people, which for many, gives the illusion that the two have only a limited relationship. I suggest that in fact they have a strong correlation. Though hard to measure with existing technology, I think that beliefs are formed of experiences which impact on consciousness and are perceived somewhere on the spectrum between good and bad. Based on the number of events of Good or Bad, people form beliefs and from these beliefs they continue to form new experiences which are in line with their existing beliefs.

I also argue that from a conscious attempt to experiences new things, even by just concentrating one’s attention on a different component of known thing, people can change their beliefs. For example, someone who believed that the NHS was a waste of money, might consider the price that private health care problems cost the Americans.

Beliefs can create experience, experience can create beliefs – the two are like Siamese twins – joined at the hip but with an important story of its own. It is also interesting to consider how readily people ignore some of their experiences and some of their beliefs when they conflict with their more deeply held attitudes and memories.

Current business

Owing to the nature of current revision requirements, articles have been kept to a minimum of late. I hope to rectify this soon. In the mean time, I hope to entice you to keep checking for updates by telling you some of the topics I have planned for the near future:

1. placebo effects - what do they show about will power
2. the rules science lives by - what are the paradigms that affect the studies we put so much store by?
3. consciousness - what is it and does anyone know - can we ever know?

In the mean time, two exam left.

Almost there…

The exam season finishes for me in three days. As of Friday, I will be a free bird until the BPS exams in July and I must say I will be delighted to finish this round of exams.

It has been, in so many ways, an extremely busy year. I feel I have progressed in all sorts of ways and the course has provided me with an excellent grounding in psychology. That is not to say, however, it has been a bed of roses. Working at part time jobs – 15 hours a week during term time 45 during the hols, applying for future courses, attempting to buy a piano for my family have all taken up considerable amounts of time and I feel in need of some time to myself soon.

Still, here I am… the end is in sight and I will make a good finish. To those of you who still have exams on, good luck!

And the Personality of the week is…

Once again it has been some time since the last episode of Personality of the week hit the café Lumiere headlines. It is back for another episode now and I think you will be pleased with this week’s choice, it is the antidote to Eurovision its…..

Lord W. F. Deedes, aka ‘Dear Bill’.

W. F. Deedes is quite a remarkable man and here is why…

Born on the fringes of the extremely wealthy and influential in 1913 Deedes was brought up in Saltwood Castle Kent and educated at Harrow until the age of 17. Owing to the 1929 financial depression, however, his father suffered very severe money problems; and young William’s promising academic career was cut short before he could attend university.

He became a journalist in 1931, writing first for the Morning Post and after 1937 the Daily Telegraph, for which he still writes today – yes, you did read that correctly, he is still active!

During world war two he fought with distinction and gained the military cross. After the war, he served as minister under Churchill and Macmillan before leaving politics (at least in Parliament) in 1974. After that he was editor of the Telegraph 1974-1986 when he also developed a friendship with the late Denis Thatcher, husband of the prime minister. Private Eye, during the 1980s, ran a famous column entitled ‘dear Bill’ which satirised the relationship between these two eccentric men.

Deedes was made a life peer in 1986, but that has not slowed him down, it would seem. He has appeared on Have I got news for you (twice) and continues to write and work for the abolition of Land Mines.

He family also takes it lead from him. His son, Jeremy Deedes, is a director of the Telegraph Group.

One of my favourite things about W.F. Deedes, is that he is a link with an age that is almost out of living memory. When I read his short book ‘brief lives’ it was quite incredible to realise that he actually met the people detailed in the book – who included Stanley Baldwin, Princess Diana whilst also surviving them to be able to write in a meaningful way about their legacy or some aspect of their personalities that has been largely missed . In his autobiography, ‘Dear Bill: a memoir’ one received a sense of the extremely sharp mind, yet humane soul that is at work in Deedes.

He reported alongside the young Evelyn Waugh in Abyssinia in 1936. It is sometimes claimed that ‘Boot’ the journalist in Waugh’s Scoop is the young Deedes. It should be noted though, that Bill Deedes has always denied this; saying only that there are ‘passing similarities’. I am not sure he has convinced me on that point.

Nevertheless, his writing continues to impress and inspire me. He is a fine example of Britishness and manhood.

Lord Deedes, a free coffee awaits you!