Seven Generations of Service

When we grow, we pass through developmental stages. Things that we see, feel and understand change over time and when I was trained to be an educator, there was a tendency to focus on the young, since educating them was the way most teachers would make their living. My approach to education required a deeper understanding of growth stages that we pass through after the "formal" education process is complete. I have never felt that education should cease because we fulfill the requirements of any school. Luckily, I have found a profession that requires me to continue to learn, adapt and develop both skills and knowledge. Of course, what is harder to teach is attitude. Many feel that this is the hardest part of being a teacher, inspiring a curious attitude. Life long learning seems to me to be redundant, but for many, the idea of stimulating one's brain past high school, or college seems foreign. I often repeat what an older mentor said when I was a young man and a bit more impressionable, "I've forgotten more than most young people have learned." however, as my training has taught me, I do know where to look up much of that information when I need it. Sometimes knowing where to look is as important as what you find there.

We have dug ourselves quite a hole over the past seven generations. Many of our resources, (which I like to think of as gifts) are either waning, or have completely run out. Our species has run out of territory to "move on" into. Our cavalier cowboy approach to economics, land use and "development" have led to a broken economy, broken lives, broken homes and broken cities. The numbers of people falling through the cracks has increased exponentially as has our inability to resolve pressing issues. I feel that some of this is because we have been driven to distraction by stressors in our own lives. Many also find that if they look closely at nearly any problem, it seems to be systemic, and resolving it seems like it will take more effort than they can muster. I still have faith in education. I believe that if we can learn new ways of seeing, new ways of behaving and new ways to be of service to others, we can find our way out of several of the messes that we have made over past generations. What we need is a better framework for valuing our needs and critically investigating our wants.

I feel that we need to ask several important questions about each and every one of our choices, from housing to food and from energy to consumerism generally. Even the causes we support and our volunteerism can have lasting impacts on our planet and our collective future. How much is enough? Will this serve the next seven generations? Where have these things come from, and perhaps, more importantly, where will they end up? Remember that in nature there is no away, the planet works with such elegance that there is no waste, everything serves another purpose when it is passed it's "useful life". Every individual organism is an integral part of the whole. I am confident that if we can learn to become like our brothers and sisters in the natural world, we will fare much better in the coming years. We are taking some baby steps in the right direction, but to make a lasting positive change, we will need to embrace changes that will lead to sustaining the planet, it's essential resources, and the ability of future generations to enjoy a standard of living at least as high as that to which we have become accustomed.

Cultural Dangers of Capitalism, a Hopeful View

We have passed on such a culture of greed, that it sounds evil to put things in perspective. Holding the ultra rich to task for their behavior may make a few friends here and there if you find someone who subscribes to a spiritual tradition that honors community and detests depravity. However, most people still seem to feel that power and wealth are honorable in and of themselves. When we take the next logical step, advocating penalties for the moderately wealthy, it becomes a difficult concept indeed. Most people want to see themselves as "good". There are infinite justifications for even the most heinous crimes. Never mind that we all built and lost fortunes by riding the same "wave of prosperity" that we have just seen crash on the shore.

The status quo has not worked. As the stimulus checks continue to flow to outmoded sectors of the economy, it is hard to conceive of a way to make the changes we need to get on course. I'm not too old, or young to remember Reaganomics. When the brakes came off the banking industry, it was just a matter of time until the wheels came off. Do we need any more proof than what we have seen in just the past two years? Who will reign in the most powerful when we still share the collective (but illogical) dream of winning the proverbial lottery? Our cultural mythology asserts that we might all join them if we play our cards right. When we raise each successive generation to want more, and assure them that the sky is the limit, why do we despair when children move away, leaving their parents alone and lonely? When we praise money over people, how can we not expect children to pay for their future without caring for us? We need to reestablish a connection to one another that cannot stand for greed, theft and lies perpetrated on others in pursuit of dollars.

Capital is not inherently good, bad or neutral. It just is. Humans created it to represent something. Initially it was meant to represent commitment. Say I want something from you, if I had put in enough hours, working for capital, I could just give it to you in trade for that thing. Of course we would have to agree on the relative value. In most situations we would both walk away happy. What we have done is sold things without knowing their true worth, and traded things for them that we had no idea what they would truly cost! This would be like playing poker without having any symbols or numbers on the cards. No one said that homes would lose thirty percent or more of their value three years ago, or no one would have purchased any mortgages. Why so much big money is still in the construction trades is baffling. Like road building. The long term costs don't seem to warrant the short term gains. If a few can make money now, it doesn't seem to matter if we will all have to pay later. The spin we have had on capital in the past must shift and in some respects spin the other way. What if we asked the exact opposite question? How can we make some people pay now, so that everyone would reap benefits in the future?

I am reminded of the story of Icarus and Daedalus. The father and son who used beeswax to attach feathers to their arms. The wise old man said, "Don't fly too close to the sun." The youthful and imprudent son just laughed until the sun melted the wax, plunging him into the sea to meet his demise. There is a way to transcend our limitations. It lies in having vision, being creative, and respecting physics. Having it all, at least the way we have been doing it requires that some go without, or have theirs taken away. We must not shudder, and look away, from justice being done. Whether something is illegal or not, certain things are just wrong. In a perfect world, those who flew too close to the sun would have already drowned. Instead, we have all paid for and delivered a posh life raft, well provisioned to these criminals. As our dollar loses value, we all feel the pain that would be over already if we had just pulled the plug. We need to walk away from things that cost too much, not devise ways to prop them up. When people disregard others, or take from our collective future, we must hold their feet to the fire.

When the AIG bailout was about to happen, I asked a fellow who had all his insurance with them..."What would you do if AIG went bankrupt?" His response was enlightening. "I'd buy insurance from someone else." I heard two fellows talking about the demise of the auto industry and the same thing was discussed. What if there were no more US auto industry? We would buy cars from Korea. If they made them. Or China, or wherever. As long as the oil holds out. We have been duped into thinking that the same people who didn't make good choices in a good economy will learn from their mistakes if we just give them another chance. I'm here to tell you that I am paying daily for mistakes that will have lasting effects for decades. We are not dealing with children, who were unaware of what they were doing. These are the most wealthy, and often the best educated individuals in our nation, even their minions are making more than eighty percent of the rest of us. It is time to let these people fail, reorient our economy, and retool for the coming crash of commercial real estate. We need to take capital back, rather than squandering it on the irresponsible who value objects over people.

We do not have to look far for solutions to our current economic woes. In fact, there is a dearth of wisdom on this subject that we have overlooked for centuries. In nature there is no waste. There is no worship of power, capital or greed. There are no tax breaks for advertising, no cable TV. There are no road builders, each individual is tasked with only one objective, to either survive, or help the community survive. Riches do not accrue to individuals, and windfalls are shared amongst the community. When hardship befalls a species, all individuals amongst the species take the hit together. In a functioning, and interconnected world, we must not stand for gated communities. In the sustainable world of the future, the "haves" must help the"have-nots". I'm not advocating mindless giving or charity. These usually lead to either dependence or exploitation by the greedy anyway. What I am speaking of is a real compassion, that will allow us to find ways to help others find their way to a better life, micro loans, access to capital, that when mixed with creativity and sustained effort can grow into security and improved lifestyles.

Imagine if we sent each of our young men to Afghanistan armed with only one hundred fruit and nut trees. Promising to let them come home when they found someone willing to help care for them until they would provide their harvest. Who would shoot at them? If we honestly could face people and say that when we leave, you will be better off than when we came, and here are the tools to prove it. What a difference we could make! Ask your neighbor if he needs a hand the next time you see him toiling. You might be surprised where it will lead. Give of yourself as if others mattered. I think you will find that at first many will distrust you, because they have been indoctrinated into a mindset of greed and lack. Persist and you will find many more who will take and take, but never give anything back. They too have their eyes clouded by despair and a sense of lack. When you leave them behind and keep giving, you will find a fertile soil of like-minded folks who truly want to recreate Eden, and with them continue to plant the seeds of harmony with nature, rewarding important work with respect and being able to live much better on far less than anyone ever imagined.

We can turn the tide of environmental and economic destruction, but only by obeying the laws of nature. When people make terrible mistakes, they should also pay terrible consequences. When we find a way to live better on less, we should shout it from the rooftops. As long as we try to defy the laws of nature, we will continue to be left out in the cold, experience the boom and bust of our own creation, and be left empty and alone when we need others the most. Please, don't forget that we all rely on the same planet, we have all received gifts from our ancestors, and we all want to pass on a live-able world for our children. Do what thou will, but first do no harm.

Blessed Be!

Paganspace.net turns two on my Birthday!

24,000 members share everything from recipes to gardening advice and from Athame selection to Zebra mussel mulch tips (especially helpful on calcium deficient soils) Isn't it ironic that such a large online community would have started on the cusp of Libra and Scorpio. Just like me, it's a bit quirky, but if you look into it, I think you will like the people you find there.

In the Moon of My Birthday, need for ritual discussed

Ah, yes. Ritual as mask. An insight that I had not thought of in quite the same way before. Just as the mask allows "permission" to transcend our normal state, this transcendent state also allows us to become a conduit for the will (will becoming reality) of a force of nature, a plant, an animal or yes even a deity. Like channeling, man... I am thinking about the "tribes" who use ritual dancing and masks to enter trances that allow them to take on the character of deities.
In our highly westernized and intellectualized existence, we may not have to dress like Athena, Hildegaard, or Rasputin to call in the energies of these powerful spirits. We just name them. Theoretically, as long as you can "thought experiment up" the proper seat of power that you are interested in, burning the right candle, or quoting the right passage is window dressing anyway and holds no true power by itself. Actions, props, and incantations are not the energy, only mnemonic devices to spur our awareness of eternal forces.
In any case, of course ritual is vital! Without rituals, all is mundane. Ritual is like the structure that becomes a conduit for our energies to feed into as well as draw on the All. If one cannot create a process for doing this, or don't want to, I am not sure that one has experienced the transformational aspects of discipline. That is why many labor for months on a costume for the one night that the veil between worlds is thinnest! The amount of energy you invest always effects the quality of what you come away with!
I have always been of the belief that you have to get out of your head to be in your right mind. Regimentation is what allows us to be set free of the mundane. Imagine, in a spiritual sense, what it would be like to be a magnificent artist whose media of choice is colored pencils. If you only had one of each color pencil in every location that you routinely passed through. This ad hoc way of organizing would lead to tremendous costs of time and energy as each color had to be found and remembered. How much art could you make this way? How complicated would making your art become? How would your life improve if you had a pencil case, or better yet a subdivided pencil case that had groups of associated colors?
The organization of ritual has the benefit of putting our conscious mind to bed as it were, this allows us to be less fettered than we were before the process was begun. By calling the quarters, and recognizing that we are relative to all things, we open a whole new set of possibilities. Activating these energies is best done when there are lifeguards, experienced coaches or shamen around. Not on one's own. Some heavy changes can occur when in trance. Having an elder, with prior experience in this "new" territory, on hand is crucial to assuring positive outcomes. The recent "sweat-lodge" deaths point this out quite clearly. It is tragic that some people with a little knowledge are still trying to lead others through rites that require a lifetime of study in addition to the wisdom of the ancients to be effective. We all seek enlightenment, but at what cost?

"Shootin' the Moon!"

Just as futile as dropping one's drawers. Now we will see our paltry affect but only after spending many more millions! Fresh water could be assured for all humans on earth for less than it costs us in bottled water in The United States each year. Without investing in true humanitarian aid, we have no right to muck about in space!

Harvest Time 2009

Reflect on what you have planted. Yesterday I harvested dozens of large potatoes. I had planted some tiny little seed potatoes, the largest of which was about the size of my thumb. I planted them in poor soil, not suited for root crops. I fully expected that they would become compost, but... During the growing season I weeded them twice, and mulched them several times with grass clippings. what I pulled out of the ground yesterday was nothing short of miraculous! Rolling out food from a small plot (4x8 feet) I got to thinking about life. We plant seeds of hope, or discontent, doubt, or inspiration. Much like casting seed in our gardens.

Virtually all the earth is covered with soil. To be sure, some soils are more yielding than others, but for the seed, the only thing that exists is it's own will to survive. We can only reap what we sow. The earliest insane people, (and some still exist today) are those who plant lemon seeds and expect apples, or who plant spinach and are confused when iceberg lettuce won't grow! Society, like the rest of the earth is destined to grow, cultivate and give birth to generations of life that both rely on and exploit resources laid down by previous generations. Certainly we can see the results of some actions, but other affects of our behaviors are obscured by time. The people who envisioned the railroads could not comprehend the demise of the Buffalo, nor could those who thought up the interstate highway system imagine a time that we would become addicted to oil, or so preoccupied with securing the last drops of it for our use. Sometimes the very goal of certain actions undermine our ability to see clearly the results of what we are doing. Like what happens below ground with each and every plant, this obscured part is as important as the parts we can plainly see.

Please study your "seed" carefully before you spew it. Once released, the resulting growth can spiral out of our hands. Unlike potatoes, our thoughts and ideas can grow legs. Luckily for us, this is true with true, just and compassionate thoughts and ideas. It is with certainty and great hope that I say, we do have the ability to improve both the quality and amount of "good seed" available for planting. It just takes a commitment of time and energy in the short run. Try improving the quality of your seed by turning off the talking heads. Meet others in your community who seek positive change. Understand that crime is at it's lowest point ever. Don't succumb to the fear of everything that is touted by the media. Focus on each ting that you engage in fully. Study the results of your actions. Read labels. Always remember that by the time each product reaches us, an enormous amount of human energy, resources, and intention have made it possible for us to make a choice. Everything we use has an effect, and also realize that by leaving an object on the store shelf rather than buying it plants a seed as well. The seed of feeling secure enough with what we have has the potential to grow into a future state of being able to give away surplus, without feeling lack. We continue to do the best we can with what we've got. In spite of what our bank account says, we live a very rich life. This site is dedicated to everyone who wants to inject more life into their years, enjoy the adventure of a life well-spent and to learn what we can do to heal the rift between humankind and nature.

While I was rolling out several weeks worth of potatoes from a shady spot behind the garage, my wife was harvesting about two grocery bags full of greens. For $0.95 invested in a packet of seed, we ended up with $10-20 worth of vital, nutrient laden food that grew, literally before our very eyes! Anyone can sow the seeds of ignorance, hatred and malice, underestimating the ability of our species to adapt. The fruits of the harvest that follows that course of action are not healthy for anyone. The time has come to step up to the challenges that we face daily and to study our best course of action, learn to live with and love one another, and forgive those who have trespassed against us. Taking a positive stance, removing the blinders of oppositional thinking and renewing our hope and the goodwill that follows from it, we can create a better life for the next seven generations.

When I first began The Otherfish Wrap

Back in the day, we had two competing newspapers in my town. One was large, and exquisitely conservative. The other was overwhelmed by their own "underdogism". My own belief is that there is nothing inherently good about being an underdog, but neither is there anything patently evil about being the biggest fish in a small pond. In a youthful reaction to these two opposing forces, The Otherfish Wrap was founded. At the time, I worked in a print shop, and fanzines were the rage amongst my cohort of punks, tree huggers, and freaks. Looking around for a forum for intelligent discussion of topical issues, finding none, I took it upon myself to start a vehicle for thoughtful outsiders to share perspectives and converse about issues that are important to all of us as well as our neighbors. Rather than crying wolf, as our smaller newspaper nearly always did, or telling people not to worry (about critical issues), or to worry (about false threats) as the Gannett-owned paper did, The Otherfish Wrap took a hard look at decisions that have lasting impacts on the environment, human health, education, welfare and security.

Many of my friends, acquaintances and even some strangers have encouraged me to develop a cable access program that features meaningful conversation about these important points. In time it may come to that, but for now, this is my forum. cheaper than printing and distribution of my "paper", and far more accessible, The Otherfish Wrap exists here for your enjoyment. Rather than constantly seeking diametrically oppositional belief systems, my goal is to find points that all people can agree on and try to educate everyone about ways to tailor their own lives to reflect deeper truths that have direct effect on our quality of life. I shy away from those who demonize and dehumanize their opposition, so I try not to be one of "those guys", however, when you have egg on your face, I will point it out to you. Like a good friend, I'm not going to let things go, just 'cause they make you uncomfortable. Holding one's feet to the fire is considered torture, ask any witch, but when the fire is of your own making, don't expect me to let you walk away from it either!
Living, as I do, in Green Bay, Wisconsin, I have always been a bit of an outsider. First and foremost, I'm not a big football fanatic. I do love great defense, because I was around for the "Glory Days" of the Green and Gold, but I also realize that the Greeks invented sport to keep the public distracted from politics. The technique still works today (as do glib, self-righteous and close-minded talking heads) and I believe that this alienation of people from the decision making process. This in turn directly affects us, and in my opinion this is pathological in a society such as ours that has little respect for the birthright of individuals to clean air, unadulterated water, healthy food and a living wage. Sports rarely have real world value, and the amount of attention we pay to these things waste time that could be spent solving problems. We must also ask ourselves, why we waste so much time on issues that are reportedly "unsolvable" by pundits. The erosion of human rights and Liberty have not been justified by any threats, real or imagined. The Otherfish Wrap is my own personal attempt to question the logic behind the fear tactics that are being perpetrated on the people of the world for the profit of a few and at the expense of us all.
I may not fit in because of several other things that are unique to my experience, but these cannot be covered in a short post here. Suffice it to say, my own experience has led me to revel in study, unlike many folks I have known, I thrive on learning. Those who are like me know that this is both blessing and curse. Going with the flow is out of line for those who see the pressing need for change. I'm suspicious of the "experts" that they find for every "crisis" that "arises". Recognizing that opinions are like a**holes, can we not see the fallacy in recognizing every delusional, opinionated "expert" that is paraded out for the cameras in today's media? Needless to say, if you are a Fox News Junkie, you won't like what I'm doing here. I would encourage you to open your eyes, and mind, to the truth that I'm seeking. You may be surprised at what you will learn.
My children have asked, "Why does news have to be bad?" I'm here to prove that it doesn't have to be. In my seeking for answers, I am given courage to continue my quest for solutions that honor life, honor individuals, and respect both the dreams and aspirations of those who are willing to feel, learn and grow in the direction of the highest good for all people and the planet that we must all share. I invite you to take a ride with me on the way back to Eden. Truth needs no support to stand. Lies need to be constantly shored up and buttressed to survive. I will have none of that. Speaking truth to power has created most of our martyrs. I don't expect that to stop, but in the end, we have two choices. To put our heads in the sand, or to bravely stand shoulder to shoulder against repression.
Each day, it helps to ask, Whom do I serve?
Blessed Be, and may your answer become, the next seven generations! Namaste' T. C. Saladino