Perfect

One evening I drove home from Plattsburgh New York. I decided to take the long way and not  the ferry across the lake and wander along the islands and in my mind. I was enjoying the glow of the sunset on the fields and the surreal way everything appears at that time of the day. It radiates the "magical". The sky had dark clouds and rain fell here and there adding to the overall visual feast.

That was the appetizer.... more was to come.... 

As I got on to I-89 south in Vermont the real feast began. Rain was falling to my left and the sun was setting on my right perfect conditions for a Maxwell Parish sky and a rainbow..... not just a any rainbow.... a rainbow so big and brilliant that you could not ignore it. The rainbow danced along the ground and in the sky... wrapping itself over the road... illuminating houses on hills with splendid colors... becoming brighter and wider as the sun shifted through the rain drops.... Earth magic of a higher order! 

This is the beauty and the balance in our world. Winnie the Pooh made the observation that all sunsets are perfect. Everyday the Earth shares something of its beauty with us if we pay attention. Rainbows are a magical event. They are a  recipe of water drops, light, refraction evoking the visible spectrum as a "spirit" of the now. This "spirit" inspires in us awe and to be present in that moment of awe.

The balance is found the connection between magical moments. The magic is seamless and abundant....Monday the rainbow....  Tuesday afternoon the Earth moved....  Today the wind blows and the leaves sing....

Some New Ramblings from the New Global Shaman

What is it with this “end of the world” mind set?
Okay…. a 5.8 earthquake in Virginia and one in southern Colorado.... rare yet not unheard of!
This seismic event as everyone buzzing once again on how the Earth is speaking to us and we are soooo not listening. Once again our “Ego” has brought some cosmic Mother Earth wrath or Gaia grumpiness to shake the tectonic surface for us to ponder our evil amputated relationship to the earth.
Oh Mother of Pearl….

I’m not saying we have scored well on our report cards for recycling, treating each other well or reducing our carbon footprint. Evolution and improvement are welcomed and encouraged if we want to perhaps “progress” to something better. I would hope with the age of enlightenment and the teaching of basic Earth science in schools for at least 50 years would bring a minimal amount of reason to the natural facts of where we live. For a short refresher here are some facts...Our planet has been around for some 8.5 billion years… it exists in a perfect relationship to the sun and other planets in our solar system so we can have an Atmosphere and water. We are the 3rd planet from the sun..... Our planet spins giving us days and nights…. because of its mass we have gravity which pulls everything toward the center of the earth…. hence, we don’t float away. The earth has a crust that covers it and in the low spots on this crust we find “Water” which in big enough amounts we call “Oceans” and “Seas”…. The crust is broken up into parts and they slide along the surface of the Earth some pushing up against each other and some passing over and under each other. This movement of these crust parts called “Tectonic Plates” is a naturally occurring process that happens all over the planet. It causes Earthquakes, moves continents, raises mountains, changes the landscape of our planet etc…
Now, it’s easy to lose sight of these bigger facts when the Earth moves under your feet. And those of us in the western world “hate” change. We do want the option of “change” at our leisure, in a comfortable-its-not-going-to-ruffle-MY-plans kind of way…. we “forget” we are part of a big biosphere that has bigger more powerful forces then ours. Once upon a time there was an Ice age on the Earth and human’s migrated to warmer places to live. And once upon a time…. ever further back in time the continents were all clustered together. There were probably floods, heat waves, big bugs, and other stuff that comes with living on a planet that is designed to create life. We live with tremendously complicated forces that somehow come together and create the atmosphere that all the life forms of this planet need to exist, water to drink, and an evolving food chain that sustains life here on Earth. Some human’s call these forces “God” and “Goddess” or something like that to imply this unmanageable, all pervasive, experience that we have no control over yet we are in awe of its beauty and power.
Now we humans can be amazingly adaptive when forced to survive and we “can” live in pretty awful conditions. Comfort and technology make some of us different and less inclined to bash our clothes on a rock to get them clean…. My point though is humans are designed to be curious and flexible in the ways we interface with the world around us. We have a good track record in our ability to solve problems and figure out how to design tools to better our lives. It might not always be graceful… or successful… We do need to keep working at it as long as we are here. We also need to live up to the evolution of our brains. We have the ability to create, reason and think. These three capabilities give us an edge over many life forms in how we can adapt to Earth changes yet we are not privileged by our evolutionary status to be complacent.

Oneness

Oneness...

What is oneness? We like to say we are one and seem to work towards a common understanding of this ideology yet we are some how deflected onto paths that really misuse the term. Some of this misconception comes from a lack of scientific knowledge and this is a place where "belief and "Intention"* do more harm than good. Science is the study of something.... In order to understand "oneness" you have to see how all the seemly chaotic and swirling parts fit together. In the cacophony of bits there is a profoundly deep and eloquent net of patterns that weave together and create the core to true understanding of "oneness" To see this you have to expand your view and at the same time look at the smallest of bits and fibers that create the world around us.
In the sub atomic world there are tiny particles that occur in pairs and between these pairs of particles there is a tiny filament. These particles and filaments create the atoms which in turn create all of what we see. These particles are so small at this point in time we can not even see them. Theoretical physicists have been working on understanding this world and call this particular area of study "String Theory". At this point this is the closest theory we have to a unified understanding of how the universe works. It is a work in progress and as more minds focus on it and decipher the mysteries its has, we will make more progress in better utilizing the potential of the universe.
String Theory also holds the key to understanding other dimensions. The idea is that other dimensions are folded up onto the intersections of these filaments. This can give us a huge insight into how meditation or the shaman's journey might work. So if we ask the question where do we go when we dream? Perhaps we go deeper into the fabric of who we are. Now, if we apply this to idea "oneness" then it gives us an open door to peek into. Over time perhaps we will see how time and space are linked and modulated by ideas, creativity, thoughts, actions, choices....etc.... As the exploration of this theory continues we can discover more links to how the mind, body spirit work together in creating reality.
( I would like to caution using these terms as loosely as the term "Quantum". Quantum theory in brief is the study of very tiny packets of information called "quanta". These tiny packets of information behave in a particular and peculiar ways. This happens on the tiny scale at which they exist. It is only at the Plank scale these rules of Quantum theory apply. As scale/size grows these rules do not apply and the theory loses some of it ability to work on more complex forms. Because of this the Quantum theory has many gaps in how it can help us understand the universe. Unfortunately, the term "quantum" has been applied to all manner of healing, ideas, bad science and such..... in a way that the theory does not work.)

So where do all these particles, strings and dimensions lead us?
We are never separate form anything. In fact it is our conditioned mind that says we must become "one"... and this is a false idea. Its is designed to set you up to fail. It says chase after something and when you do you never see what you are. It requires we see ourselves as floating alone and isolated in the universe waiting for some cosmic awakening to occur. Which is New age rubbish that only helps to further control and manipulate those who are vulnerable.


* There is a saying, " Intentions pave the way to Hell.". I'm not sure who said it first yet it has a very profound meaning if you look at from the magical/spiritual view point. To intent is liken to "trying" it does not hold a commitment or conviction. For example: You can" try to stand up" or you can "stand up".They imply to very different things and you get to very different results. Jesus told the crippled man to "walk" he did not say "try to walk".
* "Belief" is a tool in the tool box of faith it helps the individual to get through a point in time when the mind can not see how it all comes together. In the mind the individual knows there will some kind of outcome yet they still struggle with their ability to "know" and feel comfortable with it.

Shamanism and the Cosmic Brillo Pad

Shamanism is a science. It works with the knowledge of the universe and manipulating seen and unseen forces. The ancestors of this tradition call such phenomena "Spirits" and spent many hours studying the forces at play in the world around them. Modern Shamans must do the same.

My resent research involves the theory of Strings, Branes and Multiple Dimensions. I am wanting to show the relationship between the visions of Shamans and their pathways into other realities and the folded up dimensions of strings and Branes that theoretical Physicists say are concealed in the tiniest of the tiniest below the sub-atomic scale.

Shamans often talk about passing through a "net" or field of threads as they move into another dimension.

Theoretical Physicists explain "strings" as filaments that are present between two sub-atomic particles. These strings stretch and relax in relation to the potential of a given substance. If we could see these strings it would look like a Brillo pad. Perhaps we could call it a "Cosmic" Brillo pad.... Now, These strings are key to understanding other dimensions. Where these filaments intersect are folded up dimensions. Physicists at this point are working with 11 dimensions. We live in 3 of "space" and one of "time"..... There 6 dimension folded up on the strings and the folding of these dimensions is another kind of "time".

(I would like to say at this point that I am writing this to a reading audience that might not have the vocabulary necessary to fully comprehend the science. I have keep it simple yet know that these principles are quite complex.)

When a Shaman takes a journey she/he moves with their consciousness into another reality. These other realities are inside ever particle of their being. To look at in another way.... If you become "Enlightened" you become aware or awake in all of of your realities through out time and space.... This would make you more solid, more present, more of the universe.... more alive.... more discerning.... etc... Master of the Universe?

"Oneness" takes on a new meaning when we look at from this perspective.

Gia Guilt

This will begin with a question. Why would the earth want to harm us for what we do?

I'm asking this because it has been bothering me for a while this strange ideology. I grew up Catholic. I know all about Catholic guilt and the oppressiveness of feeling less than love by "God" because well I have sinned in some way. Now, My spiritual path has moved from these beginnings. It has gone through many changes and phases yet its foundation is in finding "truths" and by that I mean ideas, laws and principles that are without doubt the threads that weave together the universe we live in. This journey has taken me from earth based Pagan beliefs to Buddhism, Shamanism, Hermetic Magic, Physics, Earth sciences, Mathematics, Biogeometry, Radiesthesia(vibrational dowsing, etc...

None of these systems if applied says we are bad and the earth will rise against us. Yet for some reason the superstition plaques even the most "open" of persons as they navigate their journey. The web is filled with channeled and written material about how we are seeing and feeling the wrath of the earth as we create bigger messes and dangerous technologies that are bent on destroying our true nature....

I hear some of my friends say they will not believe in a white bearded wrathful man called "God" who judges them and decides who goes to heaven and hell.... yet the same folks will completely accept the "Goddess" earth mother figure as judging us and creating weather patterns, earth quakes and all manner of natural disasters to punish us for what we are doing....

So, tell me what is the difference?

Now the planet we live on is an organism that functions because of complicated systems that promoted the evolution of life. Its been doing that for a very long time... humans have been around for a while and beliefs come and go based on our understanding of these relationships. We have created religions, civilizations, art, sciences, theories, and all manner of technologies from stone tools to cellphones. Everything we create has had an impact on our relationship to the planet. Some how no matter how we mess it up, create it, or exploit it, the planet still marches on... its not always a pretty process and we get ourselves into trouble with wars and incomplete knowledge about some our our creations yet we some how we resolve it.

Let me get back the the idea of guilt and the way we personify things that seem beyond our control. It seems the earth we live on is doing what it knows how to do... shifting continental plates, releasing magma, adjusting the weather to meet the chemical compositions that exist in our atmosphere, etc... We can spend time blaming corporations, individuals, Illuminati, governments, Churches, Religions each other, Gods, Goddesses etc... We can feel guilty that we are not "doing" enough or "caring" enough or "loving" enough yet this planet is all about evolution, adaptation, and creation... and WE are part of that brilliance, beauty, potential, and all of it. Guilt has no useful place if we really want to be part of this amazing experience.

=Love

There is so much being said about how "love" is the ultimate glue of the universe. If only we loved more or had more love it would be a better family, community, city, country, continent, world....and universe. It seems this equation falls short... or flat. We say we are doing our part yet the world seems less loving as populations grow and our demand on the resources of this planet are struggling to keep up. Maybe its time to look at the equation from a different perspective. Perhaps "love" is the by-product or the answer to the equation. We could start our equation with:
=Love

So, what of the infinite possibilities could bring us to that conclusion?

We could write:

Chaos=Love

Which sometimes is how it feels.... we stumble blindly along and *poof* we fall in love with some variable.... person, place or things. This kind of love is limited to our fickle ego and our emotional stability or lack of it.

So back to the beginning....
=Love

If we can go beyond love being something we become or need to get then it is a"Constant"... unchanged... happily permeating through out the universe... being itself.... something like the speed of light in our universe it is something we can measure other things against. We could also call this constant Divine... or God

So lets re-write the equation to look like this:

Love=

Now what forces or beliefs or practices can we juggle together to equate this constant force call love. Emotions are too unstable and tend to have a short lifespan yet their existence can have long ranging consequences.... similar to nuclear fall out.

One of the things about the universe we live in is that it has a certain kind of patterning that one could call "Beautiful".... and we know that looking at beautiful things creates a certain kind of respond that calms, inspires and soothes..... so, perhaps one of the parts of this equation is "Beauty"

We could write:

Love=Beauty

This seems incomplete. We need an action of some sort. Lets look at the creative process. Everything in the universe is in a state of creating itself or creating something else. Atoms create molecules.... molecules create things.... things create other things... on and so on.....

So let write our equation like this:

Love= Creating x Beauty

or.....


L(Dn)=Cn x Bn

L- Love
Dn-Divinity
Cn- infinite Creativity
Bn-infinite Beauty

Time.... it can take a bit.....

It took humans 500 years to figure out the circulatory system in the body. And over the course of those 500 years corpses and live humans bore the brunt of our scientific research. From the idea that the body was divided into “good” and “bad” humors and their imbalance caused illnesses. Then on to the idea that blood was digested food moving throughout the body. The misunderstanding became medicine of the times and leeches or other tools were used to bleed or restrict the flow of blood with dire consequences. The big breakthrough was the discovery of capillaries and it took a lot of seeming random discoveries and technologies over time to get there. I bring this up in order to illustrate the notion of research, discovery and the duration of journeying to a deeper understanding of something. To know something takes time, observation, patience, experiment, the willingness to make mistakes and great discoveries.

In the last 40 years of my life the telephone has changed. It has gone from hanging on the kitchen wall central to everyone and allowing for no privacy to something in your pocket that completely disregards privacy. Computers were large monsters that crunched equations at university campuses and now we can hold one in the palm of our hand. Photography was once dominated by light, film and the potions of developer, stop and fix baths. It now creates images in an instant with tiny pixels and software.

All this evolution in 40 years got me thinking about how we learn over time.

The ancient Egyptians were mud brick builders for a long time. And at some point they turned to building with stone. This was no small task and it took great effort to learn and acquire the skills to create giant works that we now visit as sacred sites. Yet it appears they grasped these skills in about 200 years and then perfected theses skills to create beautiful temples, pyramids and other wondrous things. Now, there are some who look at this and say it was impossible for them to have learned in such a short time these skills…. They must have had help from unseen forces or aliens or whatever. It fact we cannot replicate the engineering it took to move the large blocks of stone.

Yet if we think about it, if we focus our mind with a strong will we can do about anything. When President Kennedy started the space program he said we would have a man on the moon in 10 years… and we did. We have searched for an inoculation for Polio and Small pox and have succeeded in keeping these diseases from taking so many lives. We can now perform surgeries with minimal entry into the body.

Because of our understanding of the world we are moving into another wave or era. Some might call it the “Plastic” Age considering this is the material of the time and in keeping with the labeling such as Bronze Age or Industrial Age. Some might call it the “Technology” Age or if your of a darker more depressed mind set the Age of Destruction because we’re struggling with the by-products of our technology.

To give it some perspective… the ancient Egyptians had to figure out how to feed, water, remove human waste and manage millions of workers. It hasn’t changed much in fact it remain pretty much the same. We now have some different more enduring waste to figure out.