Yesterday’s visit to Chinook centre was quite revealing in that many changes had taken place in the physical aspects of its appearance. This was much needed, because even I had noticed that the old, southern part with the Bay store felt dated in its appearance. No doubt, the new American management of the old Bay had some suggestions and this must have combined with the North end of the mall being new.

However, even though Chapters had also rearranged things with the books, I could not find anything in their selection that raised my interests. It made me draw a comparison with the many titles that interest me when I browse in ShelfLife Books at Memorial Park or Pages on Kensington.
DJ’s was still closed and I had to go back in the afternoon. They are in their last full week, but intend to be open on the weekend days, for the hours around the noon. Last year that never worked, so we’ll see this time.

Yesterday’s daily entry got posted complete with two images. My new method of having the image files referenced in the Windows library along with the daily entry folder works well. But now, I need more images!

I also transferred my talk’s sound file from my RCA recorder, split the closing part from the talk and prepared the handout file for the web. All this will need a bit more work today, before it can be uploaded to the ‘Talks’ category on my site. So far, so good.
This afternoon is Seniors Tea again, when I’ll make my second visit to this interesting group; interesting because of the varied ethnic backgrounds of the participants.

I have been giving some thoughts to my talk topics for the coming year, because Herman composes the winter programme around this time of the year. Earlier this fall I had considered the Mayan religion as a possible choice, but the end of January does not give me enough time to prepare for that major subject.

So, thinking about my choices and areas of interest, spirituality re-emerged from earlier considerations. Then, it occurred to me that I have an essay already going under this title, which in turn reminded me of my essay on reincarnation, also under construction! So, that settles it. It will be ‘Spirituality Explored’ for the Winter programme and Reincarnation for the spring. The summer and fall topics will have to wait for later inspirations.

Spirituality in its modern usage has caught my attention, because it has became a way to avoid saying ‘religion’. It is the kind of language fashion switch that happened when ‘it’ became approved to use ‘black’ for ‘negro’. Negro is Latin for black, so no change there, but the word negro and its derogatory partner ‘nigger’ have many negative notions of intolerance associated with it in the Americas.

My suspicion is that people in general feel that they have become more tolerant by means of using the word black for negro. Whether values and behaviour have followed this switch is a matter worthy of a market survey, but who will pay for that? Maybe, a sociology candidate at some university.

Last year I located a book, talk and author on the idea of the wanderings of the idea of the holy. This I combine with Carl Jung’s book ‘Symbols of Transformation’, which was called ‘Wandering of the Libido’ in German, meaning wanderings of the human psychic energies. This in turn relates to Jung’s notion that when handed down symbols loose their fascination - numinance - for people, the relating energies of will go some where else, they will wander.

This wandering to some where else is happening when people vote with feet leaving the churches in our ‘Western’ world and attend other gatherings, such pagan solstice events. These old and long discarded symbolisms seem attractive again, invested as they are with energies no longer held by Christian symbols.

This process of replacing symbols and their associated feeling-vales is underlain by an urgent modern need to be more tolerant towards people of other identities. Use of the word spirituality indicates to the other a willingness to let go of or modify old identities. In this process of wanderings the earlier, but now redefined references and symbols allow for compromises, mutual valuations and understandings. This kind of exchange was inhibited by the exclusivist attitudes that prevailed/s in the handed down traditions.
Considering this unexpected energetic flow of ideas and notions, this topic must have legs and is worthy of further explorations.
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