Soul’s Code

Tom Hanks’ “Angels and Demons” vs. the Pope

MICHAEL MATTIS — Is movie star Tom Hanks the post-modern Galileo? He has lived with the Holy Roman Church’s ire since he starred in Dan Brown’s Catholic conspiracy-theory-inspired The Da Vinci Code.

Now things are a wee bit different, as Hanks’ character, super-stud Harvard prof, Robert Langdon, actually attempts to save the Vatican from the mythical Illuminati. We remember that this was a pretty good audio-book on a road trip. Maybe you’ll like the movie.

Apple dis’s Jesus app

Apple claims that its much-vaunted iPhone always has “an app for that.” Want to know where you are? They’ve got an app for that. Want a pizza? They’ve got an app for that. Want to look like Jesus Christ?

The flame on our cake is the light that is shining within you . . .

DAVID RICKEY — Soul’s Code is officially one year old, but, like other beings that have a history of incarnations, Soul’s Code is an Old Soul. The present incarnation draws on a much deeper wisdom than its chronological age would lead you to expect. And, like many old-soul embodiments, it seems to have incarnated at just the right time.

Since May 2008, the world around us has seen a bewildering set of crises and cosmic shifts. From the palpable shift stemming from Obama’s Election and the financial meltdown to the melamine-tainted milk and emergence of Somali pirates; from the sex scandals in high places to the human rights abuses in Darfur, Burma, and Post-Soviet Georgia . . . our world is delivering a message writ large that Soul’s Code is uniquely addressing.

Supreme Court: Ten Commandments trump Seven Aphorisms

Last week the U.S. Supreme Court determined that Summum, a religious group that blends Egyptian practices like mummification with Gnosticism, could not place a monument in a Utah public park inscribed with its Seven Aphorisms, even though a tablet inscribed with the Ten Commandments already stands in the park. In his opinion for the court, Justice Samuel Alito noted that such monuments are erected “for the purpose of presenting the image of the city that it wishes to project to all who frequent the park.”  Maybe next time the court should just decide with a game of “rock, paper, scissors.”

Betting against Obama fatigue

By now it’s clear that former President Elect Barack Obama‘s image can sell just about anything, from puppy sweaters to phony commemorative coins. But he can also sell your cause — any cause — as discovered by Care2.com. On its “Yes You Can Challenge” petitions page — where you can create and circulate your own petition electronically — the site boasts a picture and an inspiring quote from the new prez. Piggy-backing an inspiring brand to inspire people is a natural strategy for self-help sites — as long as the brand lasts. Some were already claiming “Obama fatigue” before last year’s election.

From deadbeat dads to the middle initial “H”? The Top 10 reasons why Obama and Jesus are, like, almost the same person

SOUL’S CODE — When Freud coined the term, transference, he used it to describe the unconscious projection we have about a parent, or some other childhood figure, onto a lover, boss — or, yes, in the media age — a presidential candidate.

Is Barack Obama the Son of Promise, Child of Hope, collective father figure, and redeemer in the eyes of the world of us — as in, the “U.S.”?

We rejoice in his victory by documenting the Top 10 similarities and synchronicities between the president-elect and Jesus the savior:

When Republicans look at Bill Maher, they see Lucifer. Democrats see a comic genius. We saw Religulous to escape election withdrawal

BY TERJE FOKSTUEN — As funny as he is, Bill Maher is a cerebral type who lives in his head — at the expense of his heart. He’s missing enough in the soul-department that I almost felt sorry for him as I watched Religulous, his big-screen collaboration with former Seinfeld-writer Larry Charles (now a guerrilla-cinema director, who made his name with Borat).

I say the above with “kid love”, which is Bill’s refrain after punchlines during his stand-up routine on his Friday night HBO series, Real Time With Bill Maher. Yes, I am a fan.

But Bill’s first feature film left me cold. Religulous (rhymes with “ridiculous”)

Did Tolle’s concept of the collective Pain Body drive the election?

BY DAVID RICKEY — September marked the 7th anniversary of what has become known simply as 9/11.

That horrific day flicked a psychic switch for Americans. For most of us, we suddenly had a sense of being a victim, and that completely wiped out any awareness of cause and effect. George Bush’s popularity jumped to over 90%, and the country pulled together under this unified field of “victim” identity.

Part 3 of 7 in a Soul’s Code series about codependence

BY DAVID RICKEY and PAUL KAIHLA — In our description of the Stage 1 of codependence we talked about how common it is for people who had childhoods with an abusive, dysfunctional or weak parent to carbon-copy that dynamic in adult relationships — or compensate for it.

As it happens, both of the 2008 presidential candidates fit the mold with their fathers. Barack Obama (in the B&W photo with his mother, step-father and half-sister) never really knew his father, except by myth.

FATHER DAVID RICKEY — In the public perception, the mighty are just waiting for a fall — and in the public mind the rush to watch the fall is swift.

It is always easier to anticipate, or watch, someone else fall, than to do personal reflection. The public can say: See, they are just like me — or worse.

So, the tabloid-nurtured masses missed the import of John Edwards’ recent true confession: (left, with his wife, Elizabeth, and activist actors Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon). It wasn’t about the affair, it was about his inner awakening:

I started to believe that I was special and became increasingly egocentric and narcissistic.

BY HUNTER REYNOLDS, resident astrologer at California’s celebrated, Harbin Hot Springs, does a reading of the Democratic nominee for president

Choosing a president is embarrassingly similar to courting a mate. In the initial stages, the temptation is to disqualify, or idealize. The astrologer’s job is to help you find the middle path. As passionately supportive as I am of Barak Obama, when I stare at the symbolic map of his psyche and consider his unique blessings and blind spots, I am sobered. He — like all of us — is a cracked vessel.