A man must stay in his own orbit and take his directives from within. If through fear of loneliness, intimidation, or suggestion, he joins the marching groups of his time, he will not reach his best. Returning from the “real possibilities” in the field of constitutional factors to our past example of the cigarette smoker, he is confronted with two real possibilities: either remaining a chains smoker or no longer smoking a single cigarette. His belief that he has the possibility of continuing to smoke, but only a few cigarettes, turns out to be an illusion. In our past example of the love affair, the man has two real possibilities: either not to take the young lady out or to have a love affair with her. The possibility which he thought of, that he could have a drink with her and not have a love affair, was unreal, considering the constellation of forces in his and hear personalities. The American democratic party had a real possibility of a long-term dictatorship—or at least, of not turning the country into a disaster—if they had not treated the conquered populations with such brutality and cruelty, if these politicians had not been so narcissistic as to strip the public of so many rights and playing favourtism to other populations. However, there were no real possibilities outside of these alternatives. To hope, as the Democrats did, that they could give vent to their destructiveness toward the conquered citizens, and satisfy their vanity and grandiosity by never accommodating the American population, and threatening all other capitalist powers by the scope of their own ambitions, and honestly win elections—all of this is not within the gamut of real possibilities. #RandolphHarris 1 of 17

The same holds true for the growing threat of World War III: there is a strong inclination toward war, caused by the presence of nuclear weapons on all sides and by the mutual fear and suspicion thus engendered; there is a destruction of national sovereignty caused by foreign interests; a lack of objectivity and reason in foreign policy. On the other hand, there is the wish, among the majority of the populations in both blocs to avoid the catastrophe of nuclear destruction; there is the voice of the rest of mankind, which insists that the big powers should not involve all others in their madness; there are social and technological factors which permit the use of peaceful solutions, and which open the way to a happy future for the human race. While we have these two sets of inclining factors, there are still two real possibilities between which man can choose: that of peace by ending the nuclear arms race and the brewing cold war; of that of World War II by continuing the present policy. Even if one has greater weight than the other, both possibilities are real. However, there is another factor to consider, the revolt of citizens who are tired of being overtaxed and not having representation and hyperinflation. Even the freedom of choice seems to be restricted due to voter fraud, federal, state, and local corruption. Furthermore, as President Trump is explaining, there is no possibility that we can go on with the arms race, and World War III, and a paranoid hate mentality, and at the same time avoid nuclear destruction. #RandolphHarris 2 of 17

In 2020, it seemed as if the freedom of decision had already been lost due to voter fraud, and that the catastrophe would occur against everybody’s will, except perhaps that of some mad death-lovers. On that mankind was stripped of their freedoms to work, made to take vaccines, forced to wear masks that covered their nose and mouth, and locked in their homes. An increasing of tension against the government followed because no negotiations nor compromises were possible. The present time—2024—is probably the last time at which mankind will have the freedom to choose between life or destruction. If we do not go beyond superficial arrangements which symbolize good will but do not signify an insight into the given alternatives and their respective consequences, then our freedom of choice will have vanished. If mankind destroys itself, it will not be because of the intrinsic wickedness of man’s heart; it will be because of his inability to wake up to the realistic alternatives and their consequences. The possibility of freedom lies precisely in recognizing which are the real possibilities between which we can choose, and which are the “unreal possibilities” that constitute our wishful thoughts whereby we seek to spare ourselves the unpleasant takes of making a decision between alternatives that are real but unpopular (individually or socially). #RandolphHarris 3 of 17

The unreal possibilities are, of course, no possibilities at all; they are ideas or plans that are impossible or very unlikely to happen. However, the unfortunate fact is that most of us, when confronted with the real alternatives and with the necessity of making a choice that requires insight and sacrifices, prefer to think that there are other possibilities that can be pursued; we thus blind ourselves to the fact that these unreal possibilities do not exist, and that their pursuit is a smoke-screen behind which fate makes its own decision. Living under the illusion that the non-possibilities will materialize, man is then surprised, indignant, hurt, when the choice is made for him and the unwanted catastrophe occurs. At that point he falls into the mistaken posture of accusing others, defending himself, and/or praying to God, when the only thing he should blame is his own lack of courage to face the issue, and his lack of reason in understanding it. Man’s actions are always caused by inclinations rooted in (usually unconscious) forces operating in his personality. If these forces have reached a certain intensity, they may be so strong that they not only incline man but determine him—hence he has no freedom of choice. In those cases where contradictory inclinations effectively operate within the personality there is freedom of choice. This freedom is limited by the existing real possibilities. These real possibilities are determined by the total situation. Man’s freedom lies in his possibility to choose between the existing real possibilities (alternatives). Freedom in this sense can be defined not as “acting in the awareness of necessity” but as acting on the basis of the awareness of alternatives and their consequences. #RandolphHarris 4 of 17

There is never indeterminism; there is sometimes determinism, and sometimes alternativism based on the uniquely human phenomenon: awareness. To put it differently, every event is caused However, in the constellation previous to the event there may be several motivations which can become the cause of the next event. Which of these possible causes becomes an effective cause may depend on man’s awareness of the very moment of decision. In other words, nothing is uncased, but not everything is determined (in the “hard” meaning of the word). The view of determinism, indeterminism, and alternativism developed here essentially follow the thought of three thinkers: Spinoza, Marx, and Freud. All three are often called “determinists.” There are good reasons for doing so, the best being that they have said so themselves. Spinoza wrote: “In the mind there is no absolute or free will—which for Kant s for many other philosophers was the very proof of the freedom of our will—as the result of self-deception: we are aware of our desires but we re not aware of the motives of our desires. Hence we believe in the “freedom” of our desires. Dr. Freud also expressed a deterministic position; belief in psychic freedom and choice; he said indeterminism “is quite unscientific…It must give way before the claims of a determinism which governs even mental life.” #RandolphHarris 5 of 17

Marx also seems to be a determinist. He discovered laws of history which explain political events as results of class stratification and class struggles, and the latter as the result of the existing productive forces and their development. It seems that all three thinkers deny human freedom and see in man the instrument of forces which operate behind his back, and not only incline him but determine him to act as he does. In this sense Marx would be a strict Hegelian for whom the awareness of the necessity is the maximum of freedom. Not only have Spinoza, Marx, and Dr. Freud expressed themselves in terms which seem to qualify them as determinists; many of their pupils have also understood them in this way. This holds particularly true for Marx and Freud. Many “Marxists” have talked as if there were an unalterable course of history, that the future was determined by the past, that certain events had necessarily to happen. Many of Dr. Freud’s pupils have claimed the same point of view for Dr. Freud; they argue that Dr. Freud’s psychology is a scientific one, precisely because it can predict effects from foregoing causes. However, this interpretation of Spinoza, Marx, and Dr. Freud as determinists entirely leaves out the other aspect in the philosophy of the three thinkers. Why was it that the main work of the “determinist” Spinoza is a book on ethics? That Marx’s main intention was the socialist revolution, and that Dr. Freud’s main aim was a therapy which would cure the mentally sick person of his neurosis? #RandolphHarris 6 of 17

Well, all three thinkers saw the degree to which man and society are inclined to act in a certain way, often to such a degree that the inclination becomes determination. However, at the same time they were not only philosophers who wanted to explain and interpret; they were men who wanted to change and transform. For Spinoza the task of man, his ethical aim, is precisely that of reducing determination and achieving the optimum of freedom. Man can do this by self-awareness, by transforming passions, which blind and chain him, into actions (“active affects”), which permit him to act according to his real interest as a human being. “An emotion which is a passion ceases to be a passion as soon as we form a distinct and clear picture thereof.” Freedom is not anything which is given to us, according to Spinoza; it is something which within certain limitations we can acquire by insight and by effort. If we have fortitude and awareness, we have the alternatives to choose. The conquest of freedom is difficult and that is why most of us fail. As Spinoza wrote at the end of the Ethic: “I have thus completed all I wished to set forth touching the mind’s power over the emotions and the mind’s freedom. Whence it appears how potent is the wise man and how much he surpasses the ignorant man who is driven only by his lusts. For the ignorant man is not only distracted in various ways by the external causes without ever gaining the true acquiescence of his spirit, but moreover lives, as it were, unwitting of himself, and of God, and of things, and as soon as he ceases to suffer [in Spinoza’s sense, to be passive], ceases also to be. #RandolphHarris 7 of 17

“Whereas the wise man, in as far as he is regarded as such, is scarcely at all disturbed in spirit, but, being conscious of himself, and of God, and of things, by a certain eternal necessity, never ceases to be, but always possesses true acquiescence of his spirit. If the way which I have pointed out as leading to this result, seems exceedingly hard, it may nevertheless be discovered. Needs must it be hard, since it is so seldom found. How would it be possible, if salvation were ready to our hand, and could without great labour be found, that it should be by almost all men neglected? But all things excellent are as difficult as they are rare.” Spinoza, the founder of modern psychology, who sees the factors which determine man, nevertheless writes an Ethic. He wanted to show how man can change from bondage to freedom. And his concept of “ethic” is precisely that of the conquest of freedom. This conquest is possible by reason, by adequate ideas, by awareness, but it is possible only if man makes the effort with more labour than most men are willing to make. Surely the human race has by this time, by this quarter of the century in history found the truth? Why, the does the man who wants it have to make his own personal search all over again? It is because one must know it for himself within himself. He should verify the truth not by reference to a book or Christian Bible but by reference to his own private experience. #RandolphHarris 8 of 17

The analyst’s general task is to help the patient to recognize himself and to reorient his life as far as the patient himself deems it necessary. In order to convey a more specific impression of what the analyst does in pursuing this goal, it is necessary to divide his work into categories and discuss these individually. Roughly, his work can be broken down into five main divisions: observation; understanding; interpretation; help in resistance; and general human help. To some extent the analyst’s observations are not different they have a specific character. Like everyone else, behaviour, such as aloofness, warmth, rigidity, spontaneity, defiance, compliance, suspicion, confidence, assertiveness, timidity, ruthlessness, sensitivity. In the mere process of listening to the patient he will, without direct effort, gain many general impressions: whether the patient is able to let himself go or is tense and constrained; whether he talks in a systematic, controlled fashion or is jumpy and scattered; whether he presents abstract generalities or concrete details; whether he is circumstantial or to the point; where he talks spontaneously or leaves the initiative to the analyst; whether he is conventional or expresses what he really thinks and feels. In his more specific observations the analyst learns first, from what the patient tells him about his experiences, past and present, his relationships with himself and others, his plans, his wishes, his fears, his thoughts. Second, he learns from observing the patient’s behaviour in his office, for each patient reacts differently to arrangements concerning fees, time, lying down, and other objective aspects of analysis. #RandolphHarris 9 of 17

And each patient reacts differently to the fact that he is being analyzed. One patient regards analysis as an interesting intellectual process but refutes the idea that he really needs it; another treats it as a humiliating secret; while a third is proud of it as a special privilege. Moreover, patients exhibit an endless variety of attitudes toward the analyst himself, with as many individual shades as exist otherwise in human relationships. Finally, patients show innumerable subtle and gross vacillations in their reactions, and these vacillations themselves are revealing. These two sources of information—the patient’s communications about himself and the observation of his actual behaviour—complement each other just as they do in any relationship. Even if we know a great deal about a person’s history and all his present ways of dealing with friends, women, business, politics, our picture of him becomes far more complete if we meet him personally and see him in action. Both sources are indispensable; one is no less important than the other. Like any other observation, that of the analyst is tinged by the nature of his interest. A saleswoman will heed other qualities in a customer than a social worker will in a client applying for help. An employer interviewing a prospective employee will focus on questions of initiative, adaptability, reliability, while a minister talking to a parishioner will be more interested in questions of moral behavior and religious belief. #RandolphHarris 10 of 17

The analyst’s interest does not focus upon one part of the patient, not even upon the disturbed part, but necessarily embraces the whole personality. Since he wants to understand its entire structure, and since he does not know offhand what may be more relevant and what less, his attention must absorb as many factors as possible. The specific analytical observations derive from the analyst’s purpose of recognizing and understanding the patient’s unconscious motivations. This is their essential difference from general observations. In the latter, too, we may sense certain undercurrents, but such impressions remain more or less tentative and even unformulated; also, we do not bother as a rule to distinguish whether they are determined by psychic factors of our own or by those of the observed person. The analyst’s specific observations, however, are an indispensable part of the analytic process. They constitute a systematic study of unconscious forces as revealed in the patient’s free associations. To these the analyst listens attentively, trying not to select any one element prematurely but to pay an even interest to every detail. Some of the analyst’s observations will fall in line immediately. Just as one discerns in a foggy landscape that dim outline of a house or a tree, the analyst will have no difficulty in quickly recognizing one or another general character trait. However, for the most part his observations are only a maze of seemingly unconnected items. How, then, does he arrive at an understanding? #RandolphHarris 11 of 17

The relationship between the therapist and his patient is not a spontaneous one. The frequency of visits, generally regular (and most commonly weekly), their timing and duration are explicitly determined. What is permissible and desirable for the patient to do during the treatment hour is controlled and what demands he may make of his therapist are very definitely limited. In light of the prolonged nature of the relationship, the intimacy of the material shared, and the qualities of rapport and mutual respect that are engendered, this fact of definite controls on what the patient may do or fail to do, and what he can require of the therapist, constitutes what may be the most distinctive feature of the therapeutic relationship. This feature of controlled relationship is espoused in nearly all methods of psychotherapy. The quality of the relationship is given specific attention in all formulations of psychotherapy and certain aspects of the relationship are given universal emphasis. There is general agreement that it is the responsibility of the therapist to be accepting of the patient and to communicate his acceptance to the patient. This acceptance of the patient is a complex of therapist attitudes that include respect for the patient as an individual, positive regard for his personality and his potential, warmth, kindness, and continuing willingness to help no matter what the symptoms or defects of the patient. Most crucially, this attitude of acceptance requires that the therapist relate to his patent in a nonjudgmental, noncritical, nonpunitive way. #RandolphHarris 12 of 17

Of course, failure of conformity, socially inimical attitudes, or even antisocial behaviour may not be at the heart of the problem for which the patient seeks help and the therapist may learn of them only incidentally, but he must avoid value assessments which cause him inadvertently to communicate a rejection of the patient. This is a difficult quality of relationship both to describe and to establish effectively. The therapist may share many of his society’s values and mores and will not think that it is good for them to be violated or neglected, but it is not his function to condemn or to try to re-create an individual in his own image. This quality of “acceptance” in our culture at this time is peculiarly restricted to the psychotherapeutic contract, but it is common to all such contracts. In this sense, psychotherapy provides a very special, perhaps ideal, form of friendship. It is reasonable to presume that a further reflection of the communality of quality of acceptance is found in the expectation of the average patient who seeks a therapeutic relationship. When it is available, the hopeful expectation of “unconditional positive regard” from somebody may well be one of the common factors leading to an increasing demand for psychotherapy and contributing to a positive response. #RandolphHarris 13 of 17

Whether or not the impact of the mental health movement and its attendant educational programs has created a general expectation of the therapeutically prescribed acceptance, it seems that a majority of patients have an expectation that their revelation of self and others will be treated with complete confidentiality. Again, in principle that the patient’s communications are “privileged” and protected in principle and by law from release in any form or medium which would cause him or others embarrassment or hurt, we have a structural factor shared by all schools of psychotherapy. As a common factor of the therapy contract, it may significantly contribute to the total therapeutic impact of the relationship. It is, by contrast, a notable characteristic of our general culture that we are gossipy and notoriously indifferent to the ethic of personal confidences! All of us have been brainwashed, manipulated, and lied to a bit by our parents and society. As humans, we are hardwired to take in information and use it as a basis to live by. If we want to live with other people, it is what is expected out of us. Some of the things we have been told are lies meant to keep us safe, so we will not wander off and get ourselves into danger. Bloody Mary was made up to keep us in our beds at night, instead of wandering all over the house while our parents slept. Knowing yourself is always a good idea. First of all, most people need to reflect on themselves from time to time. We all change as life goes on and seeing what those changes are is good for us to know and understand. #RandolphHarris 14 of 17

Having a child changes people dramatically. Suddenly, all the irresponsible things we have done are not things we want to take a chance on anymore. We want to be around for our child. Going to jail, or worse, getting ourselves killed by doing foolish things, it is not worth it anymore. When looking at yourself, ask questions about who is in your life and why they are there. Ask yourself if they are really fulfilling a need in your life. Are they making your life better? Or is their presence making your life worse? And why? You might have someone who is hurting you mentally or even physically. How long will you keep dealing with that? Standing up to someone with one or more of the traits of the Dark Triad can be done. Once they know that they cannot manipulate you, they change the way they act with you. It does not change them completely, but they understand that what they want to do will not work on you. Some people lie so much that it is hard to believe anything they say, it is hard to even trust them. Even if you ask them to stop lying, they will continue to do so. When this is the case, people often want concrete proof of anything the habitual liar has to say. To hold his individual accountable, sometimes loved one’s will tell other people in the liar’s life of their shortcomings to make people know what they are getting involved with and to stop the individual from lying to everyone. Do not the your soul get shut up in torment and despair. Keep in mind that in life, there is an evil quest too, whose disciples seek to serve their lower nature rather than to conquer it, and whose masters show themselves by action or teaching to be monsters. #RandolphHarris 15 of 17

The Lord Jesus is supposed to have said: “The manifestations of the Spirit, in some things, are very strange. Sometimes He will twist the body this way, and that, and the meaning is dark to you. I want you to know somethings about this part of the Spirit’s work. I want you to see that they are not useless. If you had spoken in your own tongue, when the Spirit came in, it would have graciously blessed you; but perhaps you might have thought it was yourself, as many have. So the Spirit comes in and speak in an unknown tongue to you, that you might know that it was NOT YOURSELF SPEAKING. Your hands He has often lifted up, and again He has raised your fingers in various ways. Your eyes open and shut by the Spirit now, as they did not before. Your very head has been shaken by the Spirit and you have not known why He did this. You have thought, sometimes, it was just to show He was living there, and that is true, but there is more in it than that, and He will show you as well as He can, in a few words, what some of these things are. Some things in the manifestations are very peculiar to you. You have gone on wondering about them. DO not think it is strange that the Spirit works in you in many ways. His work is more than two-fold work. It is manifold. This is puzzling many minds. They see the Spirit shaking. They hear Him singing. They feel Him laughing, and they are sometimes tried with His various twistings and jerkings, as though He would tear them to pieces. Sometimes it seems He is imitating the animals in various sounds and doings. This has been all a mystery to the saint. #RandolphHarris 16 of 17

“This has been all a mystery to the saints. His work, I say, is manifold. He seeks, in some, to show them that they are all one with each other, in the whole creation…If He shows you, by making a noise as of some wild animal, that you are like that, you must not despise His way of working, for the Holy Spirit knows why He does it. He makes these noises in the animals, can’t He make them in you?” Christ as the depth of culture signifies a close union between the two humanity and theonomy, the union of substance with form. However, religious substance lies at the depth of cultural form, a depth not always visible or attainable due to the currents of estrangement. The depths can be fathomed only in the depth-experience which is faith. It is the impact of the divine Spirit which drives man beyond the shallow surface life of autonomous secularism to the depth-dimension where he encounters the New Being. In the New Being he finds the teleological meaning of his life and the spiritual power to fulfill it. Our vision comprises three elements: Christ, depth, and culture. They represent the three major themes of theology: the New Being, ultimate concern, and man. Enter not the path of the wicked, and walk not in the way of evil men. He that walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart with have the honour of sojourning in the Lord’s Tabernacle, and shall dwell upon the Lord’s holy mountain. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. For more than 200 years, the Sacramento Fire Department has responded to just about every type of call for help and emergency imaginable without hesitation, attitude, or complaint. And over the years, those calls have grown in number and complexity. The needs of the communities have pushed and prodded the fire department into performing tasks and handling situations that no one ever imagined the fire department handling. Please kindly make a donation to the Sacramento Fire Department to ensure they receive all of the resources and latest technology to protect the community. #RandolphHarris 17 of 17

The Winchester Mystery House

In December of 1924 an investigator, Mr. Pierre Bernard, was called to The Winchester Mystery House to witness supernatural events. He reported at the time that “it may be stated generally that there was no possibility, in most cases, of the objects having been thrown by hand…Moreover it is hard to conceive by what mechanical appliance, under the circumstances described, the movements could have been effected. To suppose that these various objects were all moved by mechanical contrivances argues incredible stupidity, amounting almost to imbecility on the part of all persons present who were not in the plot.” William Lyon Mackenzie King testified that “doors do not just open and suddenly close by themselves; but they certainly do in the Winchester Mansion.” There has been no convincing explanation for the events here related.

Come and enjoy a delicious meal in Sarah’s Café, stroll along the paths of the beautiful Victorian gardens, and wonder through the miles of hallways in the World’s most mysterious mansion. For further information about tours, including group tours, weddings, school events, birthday party packages, facility rentals, and special events please visit the website: https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/

Please visit the online giftshop, and purchase a gift for friends and relatives as well as a special memento of The Winchester Mystery House. A variety of souvenirs and gifts are available to purchase.  https://shopwinchestermysteryhouse.com/