Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Friday, December 20, 2013
Shut off one sense to make the other stornger
Sometimes you just gotta close your eyes and listen. Shut off another sense to make one stonger. This morning, she sat outside, looked into the sky and drank my cup of water. With eyes closed she listened to the black and red bird spiral rattle songs into the air as another tooted, the small grasshopper rattled back and forth with the bird, their music putting her in transe. She then began prayer to soar high and break free of worry and obsession over those who were so indifferent towards her existence they they wouldn't care enough to give her air if she were dying. Trying to mean something to those who mean her no good. Trying to control life when all it will do is go on about its business of transformation one way or the other.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
The Psychological Interconnectedness of Our Ancestors
Under feminine guidance, early human beings viewed all aspects of life as interconnected. Life and death were mere reincarnations, woman was synonymous with animal, the spirit that was in the human was the same spirit that was in the ox. The further we track ancestral footprints back in time, the less clear the concept of death becomes, leading one to wonder if the earliest societies had a concept of death at all. Feminist author Monica Sjoo notes that early humans saw themselves as spiritual bodies. Those with a keen eye will notice that the more we move foreward in time the more of a disconnect between spirit and the physical body we see. Following the ancestors one notices that the spirit was incorporated into every aspect of daily life. Early humans understood death as a simple return to the maternal womb. To some cultures death was simply a process in which one went back into the cave of the mother to be reborn. For Neanderthals and early Cro-Magnons, the cave was thought to be the womb of the mother (Sjoo,77). It was within this spheric darkness that life repetitively circled in and out of the physical and spiritual planes only to catapult its way back in and repeat the process. Rebirth occurred within the womb of the mother the same as birth. Sjoo comments that the concept of the living dead can be traced back as far as the Neanderthals who positioned their dead curled up like fetuses inside the womb-like caves, their bodies painted in red ochre so that they may be reborn.
To emphasize the interconnectedness of matrifocal societies, even in death, early people were very much in tune with the needs of their peers. Tribal Ceremonies were performed to assist the dead in transformation so as to avoid the trauma that can occur with death. Those in the process of transformation were buried with their belongings, expected to make personal use of them in the ephemeral realm of life.
Womens’ Use of Sensitivity and Interconnectedness to Create Culture
Even when hungry, early human beings remained a sensitive culture for the most part. In stark contrast to the very male-dominated prolific warrior, hunter stories that “educational” channels like to portray as the dominant force behind early cultures, the earliest societies (particularly in Africa) were very sensitive, and in tune with nature. Sjoo points out that This is still noticeable even today amongst some secluded cultures such as the Kalihari Bushmen and BaMbuti Pygmies; cultures which link love to power, value female authority and both sexes are expected to act as mothers to the young. This sensitivity can be attributed to the fact that the further we go back in time the more we see women being the dominant creators of culture. Sjoo points out that during the food gathering stages which remained prevalent for hundreds of thousands of years, original mans’ main source of food was vegetables, roots and herbs that were dug up by women who devised the first “tools” to dig up their main meal (34). When women actually did hunt, they hunted very small game like lizards and in many cases these small game were brought back as pets. While women were busy digging for roots, men were busy hunting large game which forced them to stay away from civilization for long periods of time and gave them less time than women to devise long drawn out plans and even less time to sit, think and create. Being forced to dig for plants as their main source of food is part of what made women the first “craftsmen”, and in later years the first herbalists. Sjoo explains that being the collectors of plants allowed early women to create and perfect the understanding of plant based medicinal healing through trial and error, grouping certain herbs and their properties by category. Gathering crops also allowed women to develop agriculture as they “observed the relation between scattered seeds and plant growth. This female invention based on generations of experimentation with seed cultivation, cutting and grafting and grain storage brought about the vast Neolithic Period circa 10,000 B.C. (Sjoo, 34).”
Hunting animals for nourishment builds a certain disconnect from the animal and ultimately nature as a whole while collecting vegetation brings about a complete different mindset. This is part of why along with male domination came a disconnect from nature. I will give this particular subject its own topic because i feel it deserves more attention.
The Compartmentalization of Culture
Sjoo contrasts ancient matriarchical societies with modern-day male dominated culture noting how our society tends compartmentalize all aspects of life, separating life from death, art from religion, and scientific discoveries from the intuititve spirit while mocking intuition as “psudo-science.”Instead we prefer to parrot phrases such as man vs. nature and separate art from science. In contrast, primordial humans in particular African societies were the first to incorporate fractals; the mathematical systems that they observed in nature into their artwork, village mapping, hair braiding, spiritual dance and in essence their daily routine since art itself was very much interwined with daily life, utilization, and spirituality for the African. For these societies the three were very much inseparable. All of this from the people who many deem backwards and savage. These were the original ancestors of the earth and the further we move along in time the more of a mathematical, scientific, artistic disconnect from nature we observe, so is the savragy come from us or them? There are still African groups who use the fractals system of mathematics to this day. Other groups outside Africa that incorporate fractals into their daily lives are Native American cultures. I will explain more in depth on fractals system of mathematics and indigenous cultures in a later blog.
The power of images Art and its Connection to Life
I mentioned earlier that for matrifocal cultures, art becomes connected to every aspect of the daily yet ever transforming routine of life. Ancient people fully understood the power of images. Sjoo (76) points out that there are some primordial cultures who still understand the power of these images, and its effect on the human mind and spirituality when noting that aboriginal cultures still to this day trace ancient carvings to gain spiritual insight and maintain connection with the ancestors.
Primordial Humanbeings association of Woman with Nature.
To elaborate further on early cultures connection to nature, Sjoo points out that women were always associated with nature and in many cases were pictured as animals on what she calls “womb-walls.” Particularly in early Europe, women were often depicted wearing animal masks. In ancient Taoism and Western paganism in Teutonic, Nordic and Centic art, women were portrayed as “the energy of metamorphosis and hence evolution (80).” The goddess took on many farms as the doe, cow, pig jackal, salmon, crane, owl, hare, crow, and most importantly the hermaphroditic serpent was always associated with the goddess in a positive way before western religion turned the association of woman with snake into demonic symbolism.
Primordial people believed that the same spirit that was in all animals was the same infinite spirit in each individual human being. This wisdom concerning the infinite spirit that is connected and exists can even be seen today in a documentary called the secret life of plants. Sjoo links the association of animals with humans within matriarchical cultures to the profound revelation of all life forms resonating from the one in infinite physical manifestations that contain differences yet are the same in essence. She points out that this can be understood by the scientific concept of all life forms being birthed from one single cell which she refers to as “the cosmic egg (80).”
To emphasize the interconnectedness of matrifocal societies, even in death, early people were very much in tune with the needs of their peers. Tribal Ceremonies were performed to assist the dead in transformation so as to avoid the trauma that can occur with death. Those in the process of transformation were buried with their belongings, expected to make personal use of them in the ephemeral realm of life.
Womens’ Use of Sensitivity and Interconnectedness to Create Culture
Even when hungry, early human beings remained a sensitive culture for the most part. In stark contrast to the very male-dominated prolific warrior, hunter stories that “educational” channels like to portray as the dominant force behind early cultures, the earliest societies (particularly in Africa) were very sensitive, and in tune with nature. Sjoo points out that This is still noticeable even today amongst some secluded cultures such as the Kalihari Bushmen and BaMbuti Pygmies; cultures which link love to power, value female authority and both sexes are expected to act as mothers to the young. This sensitivity can be attributed to the fact that the further we go back in time the more we see women being the dominant creators of culture. Sjoo points out that during the food gathering stages which remained prevalent for hundreds of thousands of years, original mans’ main source of food was vegetables, roots and herbs that were dug up by women who devised the first “tools” to dig up their main meal (34). When women actually did hunt, they hunted very small game like lizards and in many cases these small game were brought back as pets. While women were busy digging for roots, men were busy hunting large game which forced them to stay away from civilization for long periods of time and gave them less time than women to devise long drawn out plans and even less time to sit, think and create. Being forced to dig for plants as their main source of food is part of what made women the first “craftsmen”, and in later years the first herbalists. Sjoo explains that being the collectors of plants allowed early women to create and perfect the understanding of plant based medicinal healing through trial and error, grouping certain herbs and their properties by category. Gathering crops also allowed women to develop agriculture as they “observed the relation between scattered seeds and plant growth. This female invention based on generations of experimentation with seed cultivation, cutting and grafting and grain storage brought about the vast Neolithic Period circa 10,000 B.C. (Sjoo, 34).”
Hunting animals for nourishment builds a certain disconnect from the animal and ultimately nature as a whole while collecting vegetation brings about a complete different mindset. This is part of why along with male domination came a disconnect from nature. I will give this particular subject its own topic because i feel it deserves more attention.
The Compartmentalization of Culture
Sjoo contrasts ancient matriarchical societies with modern-day male dominated culture noting how our society tends compartmentalize all aspects of life, separating life from death, art from religion, and scientific discoveries from the intuititve spirit while mocking intuition as “psudo-science.”Instead we prefer to parrot phrases such as man vs. nature and separate art from science. In contrast, primordial humans in particular African societies were the first to incorporate fractals; the mathematical systems that they observed in nature into their artwork, village mapping, hair braiding, spiritual dance and in essence their daily routine since art itself was very much interwined with daily life, utilization, and spirituality for the African. For these societies the three were very much inseparable. All of this from the people who many deem backwards and savage. These were the original ancestors of the earth and the further we move along in time the more of a mathematical, scientific, artistic disconnect from nature we observe, so is the savragy come from us or them? There are still African groups who use the fractals system of mathematics to this day. Other groups outside Africa that incorporate fractals into their daily lives are Native American cultures. I will explain more in depth on fractals system of mathematics and indigenous cultures in a later blog.
The power of images Art and its Connection to Life
I mentioned earlier that for matrifocal cultures, art becomes connected to every aspect of the daily yet ever transforming routine of life. Ancient people fully understood the power of images. Sjoo (76) points out that there are some primordial cultures who still understand the power of these images, and its effect on the human mind and spirituality when noting that aboriginal cultures still to this day trace ancient carvings to gain spiritual insight and maintain connection with the ancestors.
Primordial Humanbeings association of Woman with Nature.
To elaborate further on early cultures connection to nature, Sjoo points out that women were always associated with nature and in many cases were pictured as animals on what she calls “womb-walls.” Particularly in early Europe, women were often depicted wearing animal masks. In ancient Taoism and Western paganism in Teutonic, Nordic and Centic art, women were portrayed as “the energy of metamorphosis and hence evolution (80).” The goddess took on many farms as the doe, cow, pig jackal, salmon, crane, owl, hare, crow, and most importantly the hermaphroditic serpent was always associated with the goddess in a positive way before western religion turned the association of woman with snake into demonic symbolism.
Primordial people believed that the same spirit that was in all animals was the same infinite spirit in each individual human being. This wisdom concerning the infinite spirit that is connected and exists can even be seen today in a documentary called the secret life of plants. Sjoo links the association of animals with humans within matriarchical cultures to the profound revelation of all life forms resonating from the one in infinite physical manifestations that contain differences yet are the same in essence. She points out that this can be understood by the scientific concept of all life forms being birthed from one single cell which she refers to as “the cosmic egg (80).”
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Assisting Eachother in Reading Learning and Doing
Life is about continuous transformation. This can be observed even in the natural order; continuous transformation from living to what we call “dead” and back to living. In truth, nothing ever really dies, not even the physical body, it simply transforms into another form; ex. Microorganisms. I’d like for you to walk beside me on a study and application of the primordial self; the mother spirit that resonates and is infinite within each individual. Regardless of your religious, spiritual, political, social beliefs, I’d simply like you to journey with me and consider how you can use each life lesson whether it be from a book or a personal experience to assist your own personal continuous transformation.
What Brought Me to this Place
Today I was uneasy and thinking, worrying if my life was going to go anywhere as I sit, read, talk to my friends and am not writing. A friend asked a question forcing me to reflect on what I am doing in the meantime while I’m chasing dreams that may or may not work out. His questions weighed heavily in mind. You see I am a 25 year old who lives with my parents and hasn’t really gotten out much aside from being attached to my parents hip almost everywhere I went; besides work, volunteering once at urban harvest and aside from the time I went on a trip to Chicago during Thanksgiving holiday to visit my now ex boyfriend. The trip itself didn’t go so well because we ended up breaking up during the visit however it was one of my first real life lessons aside from my interaction with my parents. I will expand a little on that perhaps in later blogs, but that experience is in a way what brings me to this point.
One of my main purposes for blogging is to apply what I read, and experience throughout each day to assist my own personal growth and transformation. Blogging helps to push me in continuing research, understanding and gaining experience in subjects that I feel are of great importance and observing other areas that people often overlook. Blogging helps a natural procrastinator like me to set a daily routine to commit to researching, writing and reflecting daily on what I have written.
Understanding the Layout of the Blog
Each topic will be set up as a series of quotes from books and topics that I have read and researched throughout the day and my reflections on each quote as they relate to my life and life in general. Often I will relate these quotes to historical events that have taken place. In many instances, you will also see me discuss the steps I am taking to actively apply to my life as a set routine lessons learned from experiences, conversations and books that I have read throughout the day. Currently I am reading a book called The Great Cosmic Mother: Rediscovering the Religion of the Earth by Monica Sjoo and The Kyballion; a book on Kemetic philosophy. Therefore most blogs written while I’m in the process of reading these books will contain at least a few quotes from these two books and other books read or documentaries watched throughout that particular day. One major purpose is to use research and personal life lessons to align myself closer and closer to nature and the spirit and possibly assist others in doing the same.
What Brought Me to this Place
Today I was uneasy and thinking, worrying if my life was going to go anywhere as I sit, read, talk to my friends and am not writing. A friend asked a question forcing me to reflect on what I am doing in the meantime while I’m chasing dreams that may or may not work out. His questions weighed heavily in mind. You see I am a 25 year old who lives with my parents and hasn’t really gotten out much aside from being attached to my parents hip almost everywhere I went; besides work, volunteering once at urban harvest and aside from the time I went on a trip to Chicago during Thanksgiving holiday to visit my now ex boyfriend. The trip itself didn’t go so well because we ended up breaking up during the visit however it was one of my first real life lessons aside from my interaction with my parents. I will expand a little on that perhaps in later blogs, but that experience is in a way what brings me to this point.
One of my main purposes for blogging is to apply what I read, and experience throughout each day to assist my own personal growth and transformation. Blogging helps to push me in continuing research, understanding and gaining experience in subjects that I feel are of great importance and observing other areas that people often overlook. Blogging helps a natural procrastinator like me to set a daily routine to commit to researching, writing and reflecting daily on what I have written.
Understanding the Layout of the Blog
Each topic will be set up as a series of quotes from books and topics that I have read and researched throughout the day and my reflections on each quote as they relate to my life and life in general. Often I will relate these quotes to historical events that have taken place. In many instances, you will also see me discuss the steps I am taking to actively apply to my life as a set routine lessons learned from experiences, conversations and books that I have read throughout the day. Currently I am reading a book called The Great Cosmic Mother: Rediscovering the Religion of the Earth by Monica Sjoo and The Kyballion; a book on Kemetic philosophy. Therefore most blogs written while I’m in the process of reading these books will contain at least a few quotes from these two books and other books read or documentaries watched throughout that particular day. One major purpose is to use research and personal life lessons to align myself closer and closer to nature and the spirit and possibly assist others in doing the same.
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