The End....

I don't normally get political in my blog. My buttons have been pushed.  In the news there seems to be something reflecting a deeper sickness in a world. Humanity is struggling with suffering, on levels we have never seen before with problems that we have never had to solve before. 

Women make up the majority of the world's population and for the most part get treated as "less than" almost everywhere in the world. Rape, Oppression, Ownership, Slavery are just some of the ways women are trapped and abuse in order to suppress women's rights, choices and dignity.  This is inflicted by  “half” of the population, myopic laws, Governments, cultures and religious beliefs. 

 I have grown up in a privileged and wealthy country when compared to many other countries. It's called the United States. Growing up my family did not have much yet it was more than what most have in other parts of the world. I was able to make choices about where I wanted to take my life because other women before me fought to make that happen. I have the right to vote…. My grandmother’s generation was the first to embrace and use this amendment.  

I didn’t have to get married nor was I required to have children. I had the freedom to choose a career and to follow my educational pursuits. I had the option to take birth control when I need to and make choices about my body as I saw important to my life and my relationship to the world. I suffered a date rape in college and thankfully I was on the pill at that time. My life could have been very different.

Yet on the heels of the next United States presidential election... in the 21st century I might add... we are negotiating  ways to define a woman's right to her body and what she can and cannot do with it.... There is no excuse for this ignorance and oppression. We send women to war... women are an intricate part of the workforce...Women design, create, research, write, work in all industry, raise families, practice medicine, law, etc... We are everywhere.

Today in the United States for women one of the political soccer balls this election is the right to name a violation to our body called "Rape". No man has the right to define this.  Another hot issue is protecting the fetus as being more important than the woman who carries it. This idea of manipulating the language used to define life; the laws chosen and voted on to govern it forget that to bring "life" into this world you need a woman.
 
Women do more than just birth a baby... they feed, nurture, teach the skills to socialize and educate the baby to be part of society.  Women give up their life to create a "human being" ready for the world. In this world at this time, women have the right to decide if they want to do this and when they want to do this.

 Rape and the suppression of women has been a tool of war for thousands of years. No matter how it is worded, defined or rationalized it is an act of war on women.

The unfolding events from the news in the last few days illustrate the need for women to take a long look at the last 100 years. Then UNITE to put a stop to the backward lurch of a political party that would keep us suppressed, pregnant....and... In our proper "place"… The "place" they deem suitable for a woman... that place is without a vote.... a voice.... a sense of being....

It is time for a very big change and WE (women) must do it.

The Gift

The road my life has taken was dotted by odd things that came out of the blue. I grew up in Connecticut into a garden variety blue collar and loosely Catholic family. I was was gifted in the arts and curious almost to my physical detriment.
I some how always came out okay... even when I thought my parents would cull me for giving them grief.

From a very small age I received a lot of experiences from nature that to me seemed odd and magical. I was fascinated by bugs, birds, animals, rock stones and trees....in fact all manner of "wildness". We live  close to the beach and me and my siblings spent a good part our days on the beach as a place to go, explore, and grow up. We were sent there quite independently...without supervision so it represented a kind of freedom.

My favorite thing to to do while on the beach was explore the tide lines for shells and interesting things. This kind of exploration excited me. After great storms you could find all sorts of different shells, bits and pieces... churned up from the depths. For a young artist this was a treasure source for new materials.

When I was around 8 I was exploring a pile of shells and discovered a unique thing... It looked like a tooth about 2 inches long and a inch wide. I wasn't sure what it was yet I knew it was special and rare. When I showed my parents they dismissed it as a crab claw or a kind of snail shell...I was not conveinced
and keep the "tooth" in a special place. I would take it out and marvel at it and wonder who it was?

Around a year later my Dad took me and my older brother camping at Hammonassette State park. It is on the beach. They have a small nature center with displays of things you can find left by the surf. In one of the cases held an exact specimen of my tooth. The label said "Baby Sperm Whale Tooth" I was amazed and it really deeply affected me to have this rare item.

Back then I didn't know anything about "Shamanism", "Life Force" energies, or anything that I would later be initiated into. What I did recognize was that the ocean had given me a gift... a rare and special gift. I kept the tooth with me and near me for almost 18 years after that.

Life has a way of unraveling when you are "gifted" with talents and you do not understand how those gifts fit in the world. My mid 20's were mark by self destruction and trying figure things out. I moved a lot. I ran from my self... or at least tried to. I was angry. Resentful. Lost. And in one of those "moves" the precious tooth was lost. At the time when I realized it was gone I felt that I had not taken care of the gift and the universe was doing what it needed to do.

I'm now 48. My life is different and full. I travel and teach. I work hard to share knowledge that has been given to me from my teachers and mentors. The tooth has been long gone yet never forgotten.For me it was lesson that reminds me how fragile our connections are and if we do not cultivate them they move on.

Over the years I marvel at some odd facts about the State of Connecticut. One being our state Animal. Which is the Whale. Connecticut was also known for having one of the largest whaling fleets... so, we hunted our state animal to almost extinction.

I never thought I would receive another whale's tooth.Yet the universe works in mysterious ways. I'm just part of how it manifests and I do my part as needed. At the American Society of Dowsers convention this year I was gifted a sperm whale tooth by a woman who's father was a scientist and when he died he left all sorts of bones and teeth. She wanted to give this tooth to someone who would know what to do with. And she felt in her heart that it was me.I was humbled.

I was unprepared for my emotional response to this. Thinking about this tooth and the long cycle my life's journey took to receive it. There have been deep tears from somewhere inside of me that I don't fully  understand yet I know something has begun...

Some things I did not know about the sperm whale that I found interesting.(via Google and Wikipedia) It has the largest brain, makes the loudest sound, dives the deepest,and  is the largest toothed mammal... I suppose I have my work cut out for me.

Gadget Geek Shaman

I haven't posted in a while. It seems life has this way of consuming time and energy. This leads me to believe that some days it would appear that there are random ferrel black holes running loose. Of course this is not the case... It is more like poor time management or bad planning. One can take comfort in knowing the universe is not ending in 2012 and there will be ample time to sort out these things while navigating climate change and if "organic-ness" really exists... The latter is an argument that leads to some of the most interesting debates... Not for today...
So, earlier this week I updated my smartphone and for first time in a very long while I'm pretty excited about new technology. I upgraded to Samsung Galaxy note which is very handy and does many things I've yet to discover. I do want to say this blog is not a commercial for Samsung. It is a blog about bringing worlds together.
In 2001 I purchased what was probably one of the first smartphones it was the Kyocera 6535. It was big... Clunky... Small B&W screen..... It could surf the Web poorly.... Had a calendar... Overall lots of potential with crude early cell technology. Everyone said this idea of a multipurpose device was going no where.... I felt this was smart technology... I felt this would change the world and given time it would reshape the world to a greener place. I'm not without my critics... Yet these devices have come along way and what they can do is change the world. Businesses run on them, families connect with them,revolutions are organized by them, artists create with them we keep up with each other and find new inventive ways to use them. They're not going away as our lives become more integrated with them.
This is a kind of global "shape shifting".... and shape shifting is the ability to move from one form to another at will. I have in a sense become a technological shape shifter by integrating technology with ancient ways to embrace the full experience of being here now. In doing so I have a global connection to the world and my view is very wide. This makes me far more sensitive to the issues of the world and working toward finding solutions.
If we are to solve the reality of suffering and it's causes then we need to embrace all the ways to shape shift into our future of
Technology, Sciences, Design, Arts, Spiritual development and the overall  pursuit to be better in the world.
As one of my teachers said,"... we must love everything we create. As long as we love what we create there always the ability for reconciliation and change..."

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.