6 January 2025
Share International is an interesting offshoot of Theosophy, putting a space-age twist on the works of Alice Bailey and Helena Roerich. Established by Scottish painter Benjamin Creme in 1974, Share has many of the same goals as Bailey's Lucis Trust and associated organisations: pooling spiritual energy to help humanity, and receiving guidance from the Ascended Masters. What makes Share International unique amongst its neo-theosophical kin is its heavy focus on the emergence of a specific Ascended Master called Maitreya, who will supposedly resolve the world's various ills. The Ascended Masters are not alone in their work, as UFOs and crop circles are signs that various space brothers are assisting them in their rescue of Earth. Creme has made numerous statements and predictions on Maitreya's behalf, many about his full public emergence, and almost none of which came true. However, that has not stopped Share International from claiming that all and sundry weather phenomena and tricks of the light are evidence of his continued presence. I'll try to give a brief profile and history of Share International, one of the more spiritual UFO groups that exist today.
22 February 2021
A member emailed us this week to share an unaddressed letter she received in her mailbox. Thankfully the anonymous author of the document has put in the hard work of joining all the unconnected dots of some of the conspiracies I've mentioned above, and more, and has figured out that the overall aim of the New Zealand government is transhumanism - apparently we're going to be converted to Human 2.0 via the COVID vaccine. As a technology enthusiast I'm having a hard time seeing the downside to being upgraded, although I have to admit to being worried that, given Bill Gates' involvement, my new nanobots may be running a Windows based OS. Hopefully I'll be able to flash them to a more stable BSD or Linux OS, just as soon as I figure out where my serial port is.
23 November 2020
My personal journey into skepticism began back in the early 90s before the internet was publicly available, but podcasts now form a significant chunk of the skeptical content that I consume. My particular favourites are The Skeptics Guide to the Universe (a great weekly roundup of science and skepticism), Oh No, Ross and Carrie (weird and often humorous investigations into fringe groups and claims of the paranormal), and Sawbones (fascinating medical history of dubious devices and cures, but firmly science-based). But there are many others, and tastes vary.