BND!

The Holy day of consumerism is almost upon us. On November 25th the hordes will descend upon the shopping Meccas. The weapon of choice will be made of plastic, but it cuts as deep as any sword. In the eternal struggle to keep up with the Jones', many will wield the power of "free" money and holiday interest rate breaks only to find that the battle has not been won, and another year must be spent in slavery to debt. There will be more to buy. 2006 is sure to be another year of amazing new gadgets, if only we could have them all, if only we could show God himself that we have shopped, and horded and paid the price, and created our Eden. A world created in our image and God itself the money that has blessed us with more stuff.

I will not be participating in the rituals, for my gods are neither money nor power. But, I'd like to do more. Who would like to get together and make some Buy Nothing Day plans? Celebrate our way, celebrate the human spirit, and fuck the Jones'.

A question of language

Language plays a big part in defining our reality. Our words seem to make things real, as if the things we see would only be phantoms of our imagination without the words we use to shape them. Like how a pile of wood can make a chair real.

Language itself only works if the words convey the meaning they were meant to. Thus how we define our words and whether the recipient of our words shares that definition determines whether we are just making noises or making talking pictures.

Let’s play with the word God. god. YHWH. Allah. The same Word. Idea. Essence. Power. You wouldn’t know it just by looking around in today’s world though. Because, although we have the word to describe that mystery which has haunted some and illumined others since the dawn of time. We have a hard time defining it has humans, and somehow tied into that, we have a difficult time defining “human”. (There was once a country, a beacon of liberty in the world, which defined some men as only 3/5ths human. Our language has played tricks on us before, and I’m sure it will again.) We hear one of those words, or a word from a hundred other languages, a billion other mouths, and it carries the connotations that we attach to them. And they carry the weight of the ages, the brand of their accompanying religion. We fight over which name is right. Proper. True. And those who try to tell the story fight as well, and are fought over.
Because as with any other story the storyteller spins bits of themselves into the web they weave.

The tragedy I think is that although nearly every god, and nearly every thought, command, decry, deed and book attributed to them tells us that this thing is unknowable,  indefinable, and most mysteriously, except perhaps to saints, sinners, animists and their ilk, that this grand mystery is within us, without us. And we are it surely as it is us.
Many would say that their particular dogma is different, and doesn’t tell us of the universality and interconnectedness of everything. Well then how do they define god if not “all”? (Is their god so small?) I would love to know who to crunch this huge wide world and all of its enigmas into a nice little ball and name it. And then tell others how to define it, but not how to understand it to make it definable. God™, all you need is a bright package, a logo, and a talking point or two. (I hear eternal damnation, and hell are great selling points.)

I will not be told who my god is, what my god is, or if my god is.

I can think of another people who seem to understand that - the Jews. After billions have shared the books of their prophets, and found a messiah, and 6 hundred years later, another messiah still they do not share the view that the messenger has come. They will not let themselves be told who their god is.


This game of defining god is ultimately destined for defeat, but of course will continue to be played until we can look inside and define it for ourselves. Would any of the gods people pray to for grace and guidance share their fervor for destruction in the pursuit of righteousness? I remember the son of one who had anger for nothing but self-righteousness, and shiver when I think of the pain, the “disturbance in the force”, caused by those who deliver that self righteousness with his name on their lips as they kill and die to prove that their language, and their “beliefs” were right.

How far must we travel, how much must we destroy, how much must we buy, how much must we consume, how deep shall we dig to satiate that question that burns in our souls? Do we even know the question? Are we even aware that there is a question burning within us that we feel impelled to answer?

I see people and I see the hints of these questions, begging for attention. I look in their eyes and I see the fires, the pain, and the endlessly unfulfilling pursuit of substance. It is frightening, the lengths we will go to fill our holes, while rarely reaching into the void to see if its darkness can be lit by our own divine presence, to see what answers we have in our depths.

Perhaps in time, the words shall rise from the depths to our lips, and the deeds shall follow. Perhaps we can define what is means to be hu-man. And just what god means to us.

Or perhaps our insatiable needs to quantify, label, conquer, and put a price tag on everything will define us.

Sprigs of Rowanberries

 
 

Time away with Rudha-an

Rowan. Mountain Ash. Sorbus. Witchywood. A tree important enough to the Druids of old the dyed ceremonial robes with its gifts. They named it Rudha-an, or “The Red One”, and made it the second tree in their Ogham alphabet. I have been spending a lot of my time with this tree. I first noticed its bright red berry clusters and wondered if they were edible, something I wonder about most plants that come into my view. The skills of a forager are tightly entwined with what it means to be human, and as someone with a nomadic inclination and animistic intentions, they are, or at least I presume they are, essential to life. And the great wheel. (Something on my mind since I realized Jordan’s new book is out, and since I have been watching the “Into the West” series on DVD).
Once I found that those enticing berries were indeed edible as a jelly, and perhaps a few other things, I immersed myself in learning about this tree, it history as a symbol of wisdom and strength, and it’s fruit. About this same time a book I had ordered, “ the Neighborhood Forager”, had come in and there in its pages was the Sorbus, and a recipe for its fabled jelly. A jelly said to be like cranberry sauce, but more complex, good with meats, poultry and scones.
So I decided to make some, and since the berried had not been “shocked” by a frost yet, they are a bit bitter, due to the berries nature as an astringent. That took up the better part of 2 days, plucking, sorting, washing, drying, boiling, straining, and boiling, and canning.
Jelly making and canning both being new to me, I had to get the jars and miscellaneous equipment on the cheep, thrift store style, and I had to get the knowledge to do it.
Anyhow then I found that you can make not only jelly, but wine, schnapps, and drams too, and the search for the knowledge of these arts was on.
Its hard to believe I am investing so much time into this pursuit, but I feel drawn to it, the Nature of the practice, the nearly 8 hours I spent today plucking and sorting berries, and the sense that I am learning skills that although integral to our development as a species, are falling into oblivion.

A parable of sorts

In the span of the last 20 minutes or so on CNN I have learned that there is an uncorroborated, supposed plan to attack the N.Y. city subway system within the next few days, there was a raid in Iraq with connections to the CIA, that apparently, but not positively may or may not have been connected to the supposed terrorist plot in N.Y., and NASA is working on a highway system in the skies that millions of small-motored flying cars will tool around on (in?). I shit you not, AND they showed an example of one of these cars, a sleek ruby red classic American auto meets Naboo star fighter, AND the damn thing was flying. The news can’t be sure whether the information we are receiving from our government is true, and subsequently reason for alarm, but they can, in effect, tell us that if we some how make it through the next 10-20 years, let alone the next few days, for those of us who may be the projected targets of terror, we as a species will inherit the earth with technological wonders that seem the stuff of cartoons and cinema.

Also on CNN, the U.S. government has perhaps foiled two terrorist plots, so they say. An ‘expert’ was asked if he thought those had been significant plots, and he said something like, ‘One was from Jose Padilla, but he hasn’t been charged.” Keep in mind he has been held for over two, if not, three years, and is an American citizen,” So we don’t know how serious that was.” They also say he was involved in a plot for a “radiological” attack. He sort of shrugged off the other ‘official’ plot in the same manner.

How long can “WE THE PEOPLE” support, defend, and empower policy that takes away our civil liberties, with so little to show in exchange for our faith in democracy, and this republic. It is hypocrisy to embolden federal power, and federal secrecy, while giving away our right to live without centralized, large government looking over our shoulders and into our homes. Where are the fiscal CONSERVATIVES to protect the people from out of control big government spending? Where are the small government REPUBLICANS to stand up for the common man?
The meek, the humble, the hungry, the dispossessed?

The have been led astray by those who stand for corporations, for profits over people, for corporate finance over American families. They divide. They conquer. It is their Nature, if a machine fueled by greed and arrogance, can be said to have such.

The proverbial wool over the proverbial eyes.





Government + Business = Corporatism (Fascism) + God = Neo Conservatism

A prayer

So, here I was sitting here trying to think of something to write about on my new little blog, knowing that if I don’t continue to write on a regular basis that this blog will go the way of my previous attempts at web journals and blogs, the way of the dodo, and Inspiration struck in the form of a phone call. I didn’t recognize the number, but figured I’d answer anyhow. It’s a bit of a crapshoot, whether or not I answer an unrecognized call, but as I said, this time I did. It was a customer of mine (I’m a bartender), but not only a customer but a friend too, someone who has a heart of gold, a smile to match, a beautiful daughter, and a crazy, yet charismatic husband who’s the type of guy you could call at 3 in the morning and he’d be there for ya if even just to tell a joke or make you laugh if you needed it. You see, this friend called to ask me to say a little “Buddha prayer”, or a little of my “spiritual voodoo” for her father who has to go to the doctor tomorrow, the O.R., I believe, to have some cancer checked out. Biopsies, or some such, (the enigmas of the hospital are not my area of expertise) but I can and will light a candle and say a prayer to G*D.

I just took a moment to do that, hopefully she will bring me good news tomorrow.

There’s something I’ve heard about cancer, which has been partially corroborated by a doctor, at least he said that it would make sense if it were true, and jokingly said, “you didn’t hear that from me”, and that is that cancer cannot exist in an alkaline environment. Like many ailments, common and rare, a high, acidic pH level in the human body can exacerbate the problems that arise with poor general health, diet, and life itself. In eastern medicine, too much yin is known to be the cause of many health issues. And if one understands the principle of macrobiotics, yin/yang, pH balancing, and whole body wellness, it is easily recognized that the typical western, especially American diet with our sodas, burger and fries, definitely throws the body out of whack, and in many ways, some of which unseen, affect our internal and physical health. It seems to me that our very way of life is killing us in more ways than one, just look around and you can’t help but see destruction and death within our habits as a culture. How many times in your life have you heard in response to the news telling us about a newly discovered carcinogen, “aw, everything causes cancer these days”? Well maybe it’s not these things, but our lifestyles. Perhaps it’s our karmic penance for the ways we live our lives, not as individuals, but as a society. Perhaps if we are not mindful of our actions, then the consequences will be just as indifferent in their effects.


(for a well-rounded crash course  in whole body principles, and many other things, including knot-tying, sailing by the stars, and handwriting analysis I heartily suggest “The Art of Shen-Ku by Zeek” available thru any book-seller)

To Kim and her family, and the human species in general,
Namaste and Amen

A small clarification

Well, I was thinking about something I said on my first post, "revolution", and I thought I should clarify before my, as of yet, nonexistent readership or big brother gets the wrong idea. When I say revolution, I don't mean armed insurrection. I mean a changing of minds, not governments. I don't know of any violent revolution that led to a long lasting international peace. Please, feel free to inform me if you know of one. Violence in my opinion does nothing except breed violence. As the bumper sticker says “War doesn't find out who's right, only who's left." And I wholeheartedly agree.
A violent insurrection will not change minds, at least not in the way I mean. I don't think we need new programs in order to fix our old programs. (For a better understanding of that idea I suggest reading Daniel Quinn's "Story of B"). As far as I can tell the new masters have always been the same as the old masters.

Changed minds, a revolution in and of itself that for many is hard to imagine. Maybe even for you dear reader. Let's play a game of make believe. Let's imagine we live in a world of changed minds, a world in which we no longer believe that it's ok to pollute our air in exchange for profits, pump our rivers full of waste and toxins, allow mercury emissions to contaminate our streams and rivers (I have read more than once and seen on TV, that children and women of child bearing age should not eat any fish out of any body of water in the continental United States due to high level of mercury, which comes from coal-burning power plants). Imagine a world where we put people over profits, where the natural world was no longer considered separate from us, where we no longer saw melatonin as a basis for discrimination, or economic growth a substantive reason for exploitation. Imagine a world in which one out of every four women didn't get raped. Hell, forget those utopian ideals.
Imagine a world where your child could identify more plants and animals than logos. Imagine knowing your neighbors, or family for that matter.
Imagine a world where our interconnectivity was felt rather that theorized by quantum physics, and spiritual gurus.
A world where education meant learning how to live in such a world, wholly, holy.
I see evidence in my day to day life that we are reaching a critical mass of awareness, I see minds changing. Imagine a revolution that would ensure that our children's children would have a cleaner, safer world to live in. Imagine a revolution that looked to the seventh generation for inspiration.

In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.
-from The Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy

This gave me a chuckle. It's the little things in life ya know. 

Hello blogland

My brain's a bit slow this morning perhaps I should have had some post toasties before I toast my first post. Anyhow, I think too much. Some say, way too much. I think about the things I see on the news and the world around me. I think about how it seems that we humans, as part of the community of life, just don't seem to understand the game we're playing. We don't seem to know the rules, the scoring, who's on whose team, what the object of the game is, and most detrimental to the life systems around us, we just plainly don't give a shit about the next season.

Because of these things I decided I might as well put my thoughts in bits on magnetic disks, somewhere unbeknownst to me, and tell the world (or at least the few of my friends that I can convince to give this a read) of the things I read and see, to make a little more sense of the game we play where the actions of the past form the rationalizations of today and a deficit of hope for the wasteland we are creating for our children.

Now, I'm not all dark and dreary, nor hopelessly obsessed with the negative possibilities of tomorrow. In truth, I'm hopelessly obsessed with the brilliant opportunities we have as a species to actually heal our planet, save the governing of the people from red tape and bureaucracy, power and profits, fascism and repeated mistakes. But, all too often those opportunities go unnoticed, undiscussed, and many times, fought unrelentingly by those who already maintain control of the world as we know it and the game as we play it.

This blog is about animism, anarchy, love, revolution, G*D and heretics, politicians and poets, thieves and liars, what unites the Tribe, and what destroys us again and again.