Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 9:46AM

I thought you might like to have a look at the unedited foreword to my new book:

Foreword

My name is John Davis and I have an interesting story to tell you. I travel around the country telling my spiritual stories, or modern day parables based in fact as I like to call them, teaching, and facilitating healings. But I wasn’t always a speaker, teacher and healer. I, for twenty five years, have been a comedy sword-fighting comedian at renaissance festival around the U.S. That’s right, for over two decades have been wearing tights and living in the woods.

It was during my years living the glamorous life of porta-potties, beat up vans, and low pay that I began to question a lot of my beliefs. You see, I was raised catholic. My mother, an Irish catholic mother of the highest standing, was so faithful that she got her master’s degree in liturgy. That degree landed her the position of head of liturgical doctrine at her church, which basically means that when the priest wants to do a sermon he has to pass it by my mom. She then gives her blessing and the priest happily runs off to deliver his message.

Raised as a good catholic I was an altar boy, went to C.C.D. for twelve years (Confraternity of Christian Doctrine for you heathens. If it snowed, the church sidewalks were always cleared by my trusty shovel and aching hands. All those years of catholic upbringing lead me to an interesting place: I became an atheist. You see, the fear of God didn’t sit well with me. I remember a time in my most evil youth that my even more wicked brother swayed me from the faith by taking me for ice cream and putt-putt golf instead of church one Sunday morning. My career as a brazen blasphemer began that day in my eighth year.

The Sunday morning after “the alleged incident,” I sat in the choir loft next to Mom, who also played the organ for the mass. The parish, in forty part disharmony, ended a hymn and the priest launched into his preapproved sermon. “Mortal Sin” he began. His sermon went on to tell of the severity of the punishment that would be laid upon any soul that would dare to sin against God. In the middle of his sermon, the priest, who I knew well for his weekly visits, mentioned that knowingly missing mass was a sin. I was doomed. Who knew that the ice cream and put putt would be so costly? I burst into tears and confessed to a higher power (Mom) what my brother and I had done. Mom tried to console me, but I knew it was over, my short life passed before my eyes. I’m not sure but I think that my brother’s life also passed before his eyes later that day.

After years of feeling lowly, unworthy and afraid, I decided there had to be a different way. I chose the atheistic path and though I am no longer an atheist I am grateful that I went that route. By becoming an atheist, I experienced the true fear of a world without faith. I became morbidly curious about the possibility of nuclear war, and knew that we were on our way to global mass destruction. I began having what I now know was depression. You see when you have nothing to put faith in, there is no hope.  You are accessing your experience only through information at hand and most information we as a society generate is negative. So I believed we were headed to a negative place.

In reality the couple years as an atheist was a great base line for finding my eventual faith, a spiritual faith and not a religious faith. How I came to that faith is my interesting story. I tell you this story as a means of conveying a message. You see along the path of finding my personal spirituality I made several very profound realizations. Each realization built upon the last until they unveiled a simple path to God/Universe. I found a divine simplicity to my life. It was so simple and yet so completely powerful. I had found the awareness spoken of by the avatars of old: Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, Mohammed, and many more unnamed enlightened beings. To fully show the realizations as I discovered them I must tell you some of the stories that transpired. My story, from the beginning, was much like a lot of people’s stories. As I said I was raised in a good Catholic family, number six of an eventual seven kids. After my sojourn through many spiritual belief systems, I had settled into being a seeker. I had always been looking for the next teacher, the next guru, the next person who would take me to the next rung of the ladder. I was now in a place of just experiencing the world through spiritual eyes.

The stories ahead are meant to teach, not in the style of a classroom, but in the style of the enlightened ones of old. Through reading the stories and then through realization of the principles and then inspired action you will begin to see the simple path before you. As you step out onto that path, you will witness the life of your desires unfold.

Friday, May 7, 2010 at 4:46PM

“Be yourself. Above all, let who you are, what you are, what you believe, shine through every sentence you write, every piece you finish.” ~John Jakes

How does a professed spiritual person justify his work as a Fight Director? I don’t. I have always loved my job directing and performing stage combat, or, as I call it, dramatic illusions of violence. My current work is much more of a spiritual endeavor - how do they mesh? I find great joy in that work. I believe that the feeling of joy comes from the truest essence of our source. So in doing the work I do, I am truly living my source. What I do is safe and exciting and the people I work with feel empowered and confident in the end. I have seen over the years people with great self doubt overcome it through learning stage combat.

It may seem that these two professions are at odds. It may also seem that to be a fight director you have a thought or a philosophy that is based in violence. I have found this to be almost universally untrue. I have found the most caring and sensitive individuals at the top of the stage and film combat world. Most of them have a spiritual side to them; many of them meditate and most love to laugh.

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”~Dr. Suess

I feel that in life we need to be true to ourselves. When younger I always had a passion for swords. When the opportunity came to perform a fight I just understood it and had a natural skill. I was offered amazing opportunities by some of the best fight directors in the world and am grateful for their faith in me. They allowed me to overcome many of my self-doubts and embraced me as a brother. I am blessed to have wonderful memories from my life. If it was not for the career I had pursued I would not have been in the places that allowed me to awaken to my truest self. Do I think I will leave fight directing behind? Probably not. I love the work and the brotherhood of the men and women of that field.

What passion did you follow in your life, or did you let it pass by? If so, realize that it is never too late to follow a dream. Let go of your fear and burst forth into the creation of joy that comes from living your dreams. I always wanted to be a fight director. I AM. I always wanted to have my own stage show. I DO. I am living my spiritual life in all capacities. How about you? Do the things that harm no one but make you joyful and you will never fail!

“There are no failures - just experiences and your reactions to them.” ~Tom Krause

Saturday, April 3, 2010 at 4:15PM

“Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.” ~Albert Einstein

A life of service is my desire. But what service do I intend on delivering? I have been very fortunate to have miraculous things happen in my life. Over time I became aware that I was the cause of the miracles in my life. This is not because I was different in anyway, but because I became aware of the simplicity of creation. Sometimes I still get in my own way and each of these times is a learning experience for me. I feel as if I have learned so much and yet it all seems to be getting simpler. The simple truth of it all is that you are the creator.

So here I come desiring a life of service to humanity. What can I do for you? I desire to show you the simplicity of it all. I desire to awaken you to your divine self. I desire for you to be empowered. I desire You to be the best you that you can be. Most of all, I desire that you be happy. I feel I could give you many things, but as they say, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

So I serve. I serve by writing blog posts to make you think and to show the simplicity of what I have learned. I speak so that people may hear the words and so get the teachings. I do private healing sessions to release fear and ailment. I coach to assist in the long term empowerment. I focus on Healing the Earth as a means of connecting our global consciousness towards a divine purpose. I personally meditate to allow divine inspiration to come through for you. I make jokes to make you smile so you will feel your divine self. I lift people up and if they do not stay up, I offer again. I am expressing to you that we are one with all that is and through divine realization of that fact you are served.

I serve for you. I serve for me. I reap as I sow. I am truly blessed that you allow me to serve. What can I do for you?

“I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.” ~ Albert Sweitzer

Monday, November 2, 2009 at 3:00PM  [Warning - some graphic content included.]

I wanted to take this forum to share a bit of my dear friend Jeshua (pronounced with a soft "J" and a hint of a "y"). Modern belief is he was a somber, esoteric man who when entering a room choirs sang and lights dripped down from the heavens. He would have laughed at the concept. He was an amazing man who had a wisdom that came in his words that have spanned the ages. They have done so because he spoke the truth. I am blessed to have memories of Jeshua. He was funny, at times stern (especially when frustrated), completely loving (but he understood the difference between love and coddling). He performed amazing feats by empowering people to step into the role of creator by having a true faith in God.
He spoke frequently of the fact that he was no greater than us, that we can do everything he does. His words were always fun unless he need to take a stronger attitude.  He would get you laughing by joking and then slip in a spiritual truth right behind it.  He relished joy and lived it daily even laughing on the way to the cross.

When he was taken, his beating was more brutal than you can imagine. Though I did not see the barbed floggers of The Mel Gibson movie, I did see a whip that had beads woven in for more impact. Jeshua, during his ordeal, cried out and then would again laugh as if to say to the soldier "that was a good one." By the time of arriving at Golgotha his body was covered in a combination of dried blood and free flowing blood. They laid him down on the cross, which was on the ground. (Nailing him on the ground was the easier method for the soldiers.) As they laid him down he slid off the cross because of the sweat and blood. When they raised him up and the cross fell into the hole the jarring action made him wince. He looked at me as if to tell me that hurt and then he smiled. His eyes gazed at me and on the cross, he loved me. I felt a rush of his love fill my body. For a moment his eyes seemed larger than his head as all else faded from my sight. The sky was filled with circling birds waiting thier chance. When he died I was devastated. All I could do is hold myself up with my right arm wrapped around the base of the cross while my left reached up to touch his foot.

My memories of these events are very clear. The more clear, however, is the life he lived before these events. My funny friend who spoke truth, changed John of Old and John of New - and now to honor him I will continue the work as John of Peniel and scream his message from the mountain tops.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009 at 11:12AM

"And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved."- Genesis 32:30

In 1934, Edgar Cayce predicted that John the Beloved would reincarnate and that his name would again be John.

“There is soon to come into the world a body, one of our own number here that to many has been a representative of a sect, of a thought, of a philosophy, of a group, yet one beloved of all men in all places where the universality of God in the earth has been proclaimed, where the oneness of the Father as God is known and is consciously magnified in the activities of individuals that proclaim the acceptable day of the Lord.  Hence that one John, the beloved in the earth - his name shall be John, and also at the place where he met face to face [Peniel].”

In the mid seventies another “sleeping Prophet” Paul Solomon said this:

"He will come then to this land as a teacher, one having acclaim, and men will marvel at his words. He will be called John. The last name is not, by birth, Peniel, but that name adopted for its meaning, "where I met God face to face." And he will use that name in the ministry and will be known of men not because of his use of the name, but because of his teaching and his work among men."

I have been asked many times if I am the John these men have spoken of. The confusion is, of course, the use of the name Peniel. I believe I am the person they spoke of, mainly because of the way the information was brought to me. I ran into the information in a book by Jess Stearn, entitled Edgar Cayce on the Millenium. In this book there is no reference to Peniel, just that John the Beloved would again be called John. This discovery was a huge awakening moment to my past life, and another sign post along the way. I do not ask that anyone else believe that I am John of Peniel, nor do I think it matters. The work I do would be the same, were I John of Peniel or not. I am called to do spiritual work in my life.

Let’s look at the word “Peniel.” The word has come to mean “The face of God", because the well of Peniel is the place where Jacob met God “face to face”. I am a firm believer that all that we perceive is the image or “face” of God. Einstein proved that there is nothing solid within an atom, and thus it is formless energy. If this is true then all we observe is an illusion. I believe this illusion is God and so we are all “part of the image or face of God”; in essence, we are all “of Peniel.”

Recently I was creating a new CD based on the channeled blog, Now a word from our sponsor.  As I was doing the cover art for the CD, the spine needed an author’s name. Typically I would just put John of Old John of New. As I began adding that into the artwork, I was ”inspired” to stop and put “John of Peniel” instead. I debated it, and called a few trusted friends to see what they thought about such a change. Each informed me that it was time to step forward into that role. The story, John of Old, John of New, has led me to this new place along my path.  That was the journey to where I was, and now I need to step forward becoming John of Peniel in the present moment, and truly live my work. For this reason I am making the shift from John of New to John of Peniel, in my work.

The goal of this new level of work is to reach more people, and affect the human consciousness on a much greater scale. We will be helping people find the divinity within, and step into their role of avatar. My personal goal is that we become a signpost or a resource for your personal enlightenment. Over the next few months you will see things shifting in that direction. I thank you for your support as we take our continuing work to the next level. If you have found inspiration, knowledge, healing, or simply enjoy the work, please share these pages with as many of your friends as possible. Choose a Blessed Life.

"The name we give to something, shapes our attitude to it."-- Katherine Patterson

John of New
John of Peniel