Saying Goodbye

This week we have had several events that have proven the need to bid adieu to the way we were. On the one hand, the pagan high holiday, Sowen respects the thinning of the veil between this world and the Otherworld, where our ancestors reside. We have been presented with an annual opportunity to bid them well on their journeys and speak our piece directly to those who gave us life, inspired us through their deeds and who have added to our resources of strength and insight. This festival, the last of the harvest season, signals the start of lean times which need to be not only respected but revered for the lessons they hold. Many pagans consider this to be the true new year festival, time for making resolutions and for allowing our less than optimal traits to pass. Saying good bye can be practiced on many levels. We only need to look to the chakras of Eastern thought to think about the levels of goodbye that we can practice at this time.

Much has been said about the election, both before it took place and since. I do not want to bore you with even more hyperbole and hype, but this election coincides with a growing realization that we have to say goodbye to the tyranny of the rich white male, the "powers that be" and their stranglehold on both the economy and our ways of life. The abundant and giving nature of Mother Earth is being realized by more and more folks along the path to our collective future. we cannot take the path to sustainability without saying goodbye to a few things along the way. I know that in the past, I have made reference to the short story, "The Things That They Carried" by Tim O'Brien. Collectively, our culture and society have lots of things that we hold onto, not just for their utility or their eventual use, but for psychological and shamanic resons, thinking that one day they will secure a future that will be better than the one we would find if we just left those things behind.

Approaching what has been called the "Fiscal Cliff" in The United States of America, we will surely hear much rhetoric about what we cannot afford to lose. Many economists are already claiming that the disruptions and change that will occur on the first day of 2013 because of tax increases on the wealthy and incremental cuts in government programs could spur another bout with declining economic activity and lead to another dip in growth for  our weak economy. Those who have been paying attention understand that the worldwide economic collapse has been caused by listening to economists, but that certainly isn't bothering those preaching gloom and doom. I have some of the most excellent friends on Facebook and just yesterday one of them sent a link to a video that i want to share here. It points out the need to say goodbye to an entire thought experiment that we have played out for centuries in our relationship with the planet, our fellow humans and the society at large.

Look here for a short video Now, I'm not sure about moving objects with our minds, but...
The reason that I have chosen to include this video in this post is because the eternally sacred feminine energy has been discounted and overrun by our male dominated culture. this process of cutting ourselves off from half of our true nature has, for the most part, left us strangling ourselves with nowhere to go but backward. Pagans have, for ages, believed that a meeting between the Horned One and his consort has led to the spark of life that all of creation represents. We do have to say goodbye to the male domination of the planet if we are to step into the "new age". Whatever the power brokers tell us, we can rest assured that they are going to try to continue to drive their "tanks" straight over us. To effectively encircle our wagons against them, we need to reach out to whatever communities we have left, share, nurture and encircle those we care about with love, affection and care for them in ways that defy the linear approaches that have characterized the past.

Even the hardest of sciences, Physics is finding that reality is more often about relationship than direct causation. In fact, the terminology that is slowly making headway in the field revolves around charm and relationships between particles and sub-atomic matter as well. Until we look for certain things, they may not even exist, how is that for magical thinking? On the opposite end of the human endeavor, I planted six seeds, this summer and by fall, they had grown to nearly twenty feet tall and created a living roof the size of a two car garage. Miracles abound in the natural world and creation and productivity spiral ever outward influencing life and abundance in other areas that we may not expect. If we look closely, the non-linear relationships outnumber the linear ones by a huge factor. It is time to perhaps not "say goodbye" to the Cartesian Coordinate System, but to at least put it in perspective. Life is not a chart. The sooner we say goodbye to the idea that we can understand and achieve all things through linear thinking, the sooner we can take hold of the true abundant nature of our planet, her people and social structures that reflect the value of the whole over and above the parts. This week I have been fond of saying, "There are precious few buggy whip manufacturers." Perhaps in the future our economy will not revel in an endless barrage of cheap plastic crap from China, the crushing weight of our need for dirty coal and oil to move products across the surface of the planet and the exploitation of human beings and the world's "resources". In a future that more and more of us envision, the gifts that we receive directly from nature and the hands of compassionate individuals will gain importance as physical "goods" that have dominated our ideas about economic activity.

The trend toward distinguishing between wants and needs has led to a blossoming of a new cultural model, one that breaks with traditional values. We have countless examples, proof of concept, showing that "more" is, most often, not "better". The relationship between giving and hoarding is far more fluid than any mathematical "rule" can represent. This year we had a relatively tiny 4 X 8 foot bed (1.3 X 2.6 meter) devoted to tomatoes. So far the produce has been shared with half a dozen households. opening a jar of home canned salsa in the depth of winter has a value that some economists would have difficulty quantifying, but for anyone who has had homegrown tomatoes in the dead of winter knows, the infinite bliss shared in love, defies quantification. The Horned God and Mother Earth have infinite love for all creatures and finding our place involves finding a way forward that honors both. We do need both energies to thrive, but the time has come to say good bye to the idea that one has power over or controls the other. united we will find a way forward, divided against ourselves, we can only fall prey to the old ways of doing business. Just as human beings never bring a new life into existence with the intention of their child have to put up with more pain and strife than we have experienced in our own lives, god and goddess do not want each successive generation to have lives that are worse off with each successive generation. We have the power to change our lives for the better, but we must say goodbye to the childish ways that have brought us to the brink of destroying our (human) chances of survival. By taking time to cultivate a new type of soil and planting new kinds of seeds in that living organism, we can give birth to a culture that will exceed our expectations.

The Luckiest Child Ever Born

Before the superstitions of the modern age, a tiny being was born into this world who was never challenged with the concept of separateness. They were at once a being of the ether and of the Earth. Their blood flowed with a power subtly reflected by the shimmering surface of a great river. Their bones animated the strength of oaks an their mind was clear as a winter's night. They were one with the great and lesser powers that thrived around them and as a result, they verily buzzed with the collected lives and joys of Creator. Logic and proportion paled in their eyes when faced with the ultimate reality, within which they swam. Like the Great Barrier Reef, each moment, space and time was inhabited with a stunning array of burgeoning life, inspiring wonder and awe.

Each time a bridge to new awareness was to be crossed, their mother encouraged them and their father helped them to build the bridges to the other side. The forces propelling them forward on their quest was direct, yet slowly arcing as light waves are bent through space by gravity. The long view of their life was eclipsed by an ever attentive nature and deep sense of this one eternal moment. Their every need was met through the abundant glens and forests around their home. The many-fold increases that took place around the projects and diversions which they undertook were not unexpected. They planted a magical pea seed that gave back dozens more, they planted a lowly potato and were returned a dozen more to plant and harvest the next year. They took time to craft only what was needed and necessary for their family, their friends, their community and gave their wealth of spirit away, contained in all that they had created.

This lucky child, had the ability to transform the world upon which it was put in ways that still mystify after many lifetimes. This child is us. From the empty pot springs the greatest feast and so it is with this child, in each of us. The longing and isolation that we all feel from time to time would remain unknown if we interacted with the world as a child. We may need a mother to encourage us, but that can always be found in Earth herself and we may need a father to help us to build our own bridges as well. The unending track of the sun (Son) can substitute for mere mortals if we need it to. Surrounding ourselves with what brings in light and protects us from the raging storms that may swirl about us is part and parcel to our growth.

A wise old woman once said, "Don't shit where you eat." As we learn to tailor our sense of self to fit more comfortably upon the mantle of who we really are, there is less and less room to hide the ugliness of duality and separation. We are one with all that we experience. Our reality unfolds from ideas and images that we plant in our own minds. I wish you the insight and discipline to plant a garden worth harvesting.

We are all storytellers. We all have the power to share eternal truths through language, yet we often forget that the greatest fables rest on a firm grasp of reality.  I encourage everyone to share their stories and look to the great traditions that brought us to life, infusing their wisdom with the immediacy of our age. To look upon our lives as the ancients did, the mere hint of materialism can gain no purchase on our illusion about who we truly are. We are the fountainheads of eternal blossoming, but we must transcend our egos to unleash the flow of Creator's energy. Let me guide you on to the next level of our collective development. Let me plant a seed in you that grows into collective abundance for us all!

These sorts of stories can also be found at: otherfishwrap.wordpress.com
All funds raised through these sites will enhance our tree planting efforts across Northeast Wisconsin and soon in the Lake Superior Watershed as well! Please give appropriately, to transform the planet! The give away is the most powerful tool on Earth, use it wisely.

Meltdown at Daytona

Technocrats look to be taking a lesson from Mother Nature. Survival of the fittest is dying with a whimper. Tonight's tragic accident that took over an hour to clean up is looking to enter my personal record book as a Live on FOX proof that survival of the luckiest is the real and everlasting fact. As was said over the airwaves, everyone was doing what they were supposed to be doing, yet inexplicably, between the two safety vehicles a car slammed into the jet dryer that was "routinely" cleaning the track during caution. The delay would not be causing much harm, other than the carnage of a lot of steel and aluminum but for the fact that several large boxes of Tide were spread to remove unburned jet and diesel fuel. In addition to the hundreds of gallons of ethanol (White Lightening) burned by the race cars, conventional fuels are still burned in large quantities for "support" and audience travel.

When the true cost of putting on such an event are calculated, even divided by incredible numbers of viewers, the 20 million dollar paving project for this one track seem to never quite add up. The millions of viewers who are waiting up to see Jeopardy will have to go to through their day, tired tomorrow.

When we tug at a single thing in nature, we find it connected to everything else. Nature always bats last and as we enter the realm of honoring Creator rather than our human inventions, we find that inexplicably we are drawn to a place of compassion and respect for the lowliest of forces, in our human conceptualization perhaps that best comes down to chance. Amongst the billions of creatures here on the planet, you have been able to "see" my humble conceptualization of a tiny sliver of reality. rather than becoming preoccupied with this particular shard of reality, see for yourself how things cleave and along what lines you have the power to heal the rift between humankind and nature.

I am always amazed at the growth of interest in my blogs from far away lands. Not that I devalue interest here in my part of the world, but the need for looking more deeply into the collective myths we share worldwide, I think, helps create new myths, new realities and new directions for all of us.
I am reaching out this spring once again to ask each of us to redouble our efforts to make substantial and lasting progress toward sustainability. for my part, I am pledging another year of planting trees.Our local not-for-profit has planted many tens of thousands of trees, some of which now tower over houses,harbor wildlife and help to protect water quality. In America, we still refuse to acknowledge the value of reforestation. What our group has done is to pledge that no money given to ECO-Tours will ever go to pay people for serving on our board, planting, organizing plant-ins or advertising. We put every dollar into either protecting land, creating areas for planting or trees themselves. what we give is of ourselves and in our way we have transformed countless acres. We will continue to do so, with the help of those who fund our efforts.

Donations can best be sent from far off through our Paypal account. That account can be found at tnsaladino42@hotmail.com for those who prefer to send checks via snail mail, we are still operating out of our 1445 Porlier street Green Bay, WI 54301 USA address. It is a good time to think about donating because the discount we receive can allow us to buy more trees for less money as long as we order before the end of March. I like asking for money at this time of year because around the holidays, everyone else is asking and I get tired of trying to be heard above the din of requests for donations around that time.
Blessings to you and may the warm winds of spring bring you myriad opportunities for growth and development. may your days be filled with abundance and may your nights be mediated by pleasant dreams.

For my racing fans, keep the greasy side down and the shiny side up!