In Deep Water

If the Earth Could Speak in Tongues

"I am. I breathe. I sigh. I feel. I bleed. I cry. I think. I know. My blood is being sucked from me. My bones are being chipped away. My nutrients are being plundered. My source is being extracted from my body. I am just like you, Earthlings. I need my fluids to keep my boney plates suspended so that my body will not suffer from arthritis. I need my bones so that I may be structurally sound. I need my organs so that my body may function and so that I may excrete and process, and process and excrete. I am suffering now from the constant taking you insist you must do, but at who's expense. Ours. We will suffer together if all of you do not realize that, just as your blood cannot be taken without knowing what limits must be honored, my blood also must stop being taken for my sake and yours. You call it oil, but that oil is my blood, my lymph, my lubrication. Stop taking it now. You wonder why my earth quakes? My joints are dry, and as you suck my fluids out in one place, my body tries to replace the need by adjusting it from somewhere else. I move! Don't you know anything, human? Yes, the planetary forces are changing and the weather you experience is becoming more fierce and forceful. That is not my doing. That comes from above from where you have introduced your pollution and your "superior" minds into the natural equation that functioned so well before you came to think you were "meant" to do something, discover something outside of your selves. I am in agreement with the source of those patterns bringing winds and rains from above me. How can I not be? I must survive and I will. You, however will not, and may not. My ground will continue to tremble and shake you and many of you will not survive that, but there is a greater innerstanding than this. My vibrations and your vibrations are similar. We are made of similiar elements, not all the same but you hold some of what I hold more of. So, as I vibrate you will also. As I change, you will too. Well, that is enough now. I am not tired, I cannot be. I have life to give birth to, birth to prepare for, the new season is upon me."

The 7 Tones of Love

Thinking along the lines of Love, it has become in my awareness that we humans, and humanoids, too, love too shallowly and allow the true depths of love to pass us by. As we age, we are introduced into the fold of romance, sexual relations, intimacy, belongingness, and the darker sides of love which include possession, lust, and exploitation. Forget that we live our entire lives, some of us, in one-sided or two-dimensional realities of what is possible in love. We must fight hard against the tide of normalcy and expectation if we try to love in ways that others frown upon or do not innerstand. We are, for all practical purposes, programmed into a complacency once we meet the man or woman of our dreams. We settle in for a lifetime ride, only to love one, and never to ascend to the heights of loving that are our promise from the Most High, our Gift of Life, the Promised Land, the Tree of Life, because, the Tree of the Knowledge of "Good" and "Evil" has taken root and carnality, in flesh and in spirit resides in our hearts, minds, and souls. So, the Truth lays hidden just beneath the skin, the soil of our possiblities lays waiting for the seed of Love True.
What I am learning is that there is a promise that we must demand be kept. That promise lies in the Law of 7. There are 7 levels of Love in man and woman. These levels correspond to 7 within us and vibrating with the 7 levels of Heaven, of Earth, of Mind, of Body, of Soul, of Spirit, of Self. There are 7 tones of love. We sing them in a circle of sound--Do, Re, Me, Fa, So, La, Ti, and returning to the beginning again, Do. Back to the source of love. Do-Earth (Root), Re-Body, Me-Self, Fa-Soul, So-Spirit, La-Mind, Ti-Heaven. In my loving, I am learning that for each of my levels of innerstanding, there is a vibration that corresponds to that Love. I am now seeking to innerstand how each level has its own tone, and each tone corresponds to the Love between my Self and my Other. The first Other being my Self. In the root of it all, at the core of my Love, must be a love for me from me. All the other tones rise up out of the one tone I sing to my Self. If that tone is non-existent, then the Love I experience at the level of the other 6 tones, will not exist either. Since we all have some degree of self-love, this degree sets the tone for the Love I experience on the other levels of my Self. Makes sense? If my Root Tone is set by another, outside of my Self, then all my other tones are compromised and controlled by the one setting the tone at Level 1, if it is not my "I". Once set, my Level 1 Tone vibrates to the next Level to either attract the corresponding tone from within and without. For each Level there is a corresponding Tone another holds and can add to yours, combining two into one, and becoming inseparable, in tune, creating harmony, or out of tune, creating discordance.
What sets the tone? The cultivation of the "I".

Perfect Surrender

On Possession....and The Dangers Thereof

I have experienced, am experiencing, a possession of sorts. Well, not really "of sorts", but of a kind that we are all possessed by, and that is the demon of "wanting" of "desiring to possess" those things we cannot. In Bruce Almighty, the "God" figure, played by Morgan Freeman, tells the "Bruce" guy, played by Jim Carrey, that he was giving him the keys to the kingdom for a time, and that, as a condition, there were certain rules he had to abide by. First, he could tell no one that he was "god", and second, he could not manipulate anyone's free will. The second rule applies to the possession of a possessing spirit. The first thing it wants to do is to override the free will of another, and it's working through the one it's possessing. I can see my picture here.
We are all prone to desire, to wanting and needing. Though, there are only a few "needs": philia (love of family, tribe, clan), sustenance (food, water, air), shelter (housing and clothing), and peace of mind. After that, everything else is a desire, though, we, in our cleverness, attempt to make some wants "needs". Now some would argue that "peace of mind" is a "catch all" that some will use to put all sorts of things they desire and think they need for that peace spoken of, but, no. This peace of mind refers to the knowledge that one is warm and loved and safe and fed, period.
So, what of this demon I speak of? I love a man very much who has a strong sense of self and is clear that he walks this Earth free to love, free to be, and encouraging in his very steps to me, and all the others in his atmosphere, to be the same. I was angry because I could not be with him and he was making no effort to be with me, so it appeared. My emotions raised up to a high point where I was unable to come out of the rut I'd dug for my self. He, helped me through this, never letting me go, but never descending into the depths of my despair with me. Voila! What an awakening. He loved me through my anger, and is there waiting for me to finish getting out on my own. All the while, teaching me a lesson about allowing myself to come under the power of emotions that do nothing for the Spirit, and teaching me that true Spirit has nothing to do with the thing of the flesh when it is possessed by it's own mind. Wow. So, here, for reference sake (really for me) are the 7 deadly Vices (I don't believe in "sin", per se), and the 7 Cardinal Virtues so we can ultimately, make ourselves right.

The 7 Deadly Ones
Pride is excessive belief in one's own abilities, that interferes with the individual's recognition of the grace of God. It has been called the sin from which all others arise. Pride is also known as Vanity.

Envy is the desire for others' traits, status, abilities, or situation.

Gluttony is an inordinate desire to consume more than that which one requires.

Lust is an inordinate craving for the pleasures of the body.

Anger is manifested in the individual who spurns love and opts instead for fury. It is also known as Wrath.
Medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas said Anger is "the name of a passion. A passion of the sensitive appetite is good in so far as it is regulated by reason, whereas it is evil if it set the order of reason aside."

Greed is the desire for material wealth or gain, ignoring the realm of the spiritual. It is also called Avarice or Covetousness.

Sloth is the avoidance of physical or spiritual work.
Sloth is the desire for ease, even at the expense of doing the known will of the Most High. Whatever we do in life requires effort. Everything we do is to be a means of salvation. The slothful person is unwilling to do what the Most High wants because of the effort it takes to do it. Sloth becomes a vice when it slows down and even brings to a halt the energy we must expend in using the means to cultivate ourselves.

Ok. We ALL deal with them, perhaps to some degree every day. Now, I have seen my own casting into the pit, and, I tell you, the way I felt, I don't want to be there any more. It will make you crazy.

So, now for the 7 Virtues, which, may vary according to your source. I list here the Contrary Virtues, those virtues that will oppose and neutralize the 7 Vices if put to the work to do so. Here they are:

The Seven Contrary Virtues
Humility, Kindness, Abstinency, Chastity, Patience, Liberality, and Diligence.
Practicing these virtues is alledged to protect one against temptation toward the Seven Deadly Vices. In the face of feeling like a dread is overpowering you, like you are out of control of your self, and your mind descends into mental confusion and chaos, here are the tools to use:

Humility against pride
Kindness against envy
Abstinence against gluttony
Chastity against lust
Patience against anger
Liberality against greed
Diligence against sloth

Finally, Ghandi had his own take on the 7 Deadly Ones. I apply these more to our human community because what we do collectively had a greater impact on us all and the beings on and in the planet, and, of course, the planet Earth herself.

Wealth without Work
Pleasure without Conscience
Science without Humanity
Knowledge without Character
Politics without Principle
Commerce without Morality
Worship without Sacrifice

I, for one, give thanks for my lover and friend giving me sound guidance, and being wise enough to stand back and not get hit with the venom this demon of possession was spewing out. It got angry, it got lustful, it got envious, it got greedy, it got lazy, it got prideful, it got gluttonous! All of them came out looking for its demands to be met. And, as I searched for a way out of that mud puddle, my friend, my lover, my spiritual partner threw me a rope. He waited until I was ready to take ahold of that rope though. He did not stand there coaxing me to take hold of it. He just waited patiently, never raising his voice (I did all of that) until I realized I was going to have to pull my Self up out of it, and he would give the rope some tension (and the attention) needed so I could. He was humble, patient, kind, he abstained from engaging the demon, he was chaste, he was liberal with his love and wisdom, and in the end, he was DILIGENT! Thank you. This is dedicated to your pure virtue, light and love.

Living Out In The Open

This is really about the Shadow many of us live under. Secret lives, secret loves, secret tastes, secret habits, secret shadows. As the light of the full moon rises above, and the lunar eclipse sheds its shadow over the Earth, the duality in light-dark is asking us to reflect upon our own oppositions. How many of us love too many? And rightly so? How many of us long to bring that love out in to the open? Tell the world about our violation of the expectation of monogamy? What? No, it's not about sex, it's about spiritual elevation. Reaching beyond the bounds of man's mindless possession and control over Love, over Feelings, over Natural Responses to others. This is the Dream, to live love and laugh out loud, out in the open, with verve, nerve, and inspiration! Too many of us live in relations that are meaningful for a time, but we are bound by oaths, vows, and expectations of happiness that fail us almost always. We live in painful circumstances. We know this is not the only way. We look at each other, unloving now, yet imprisoned by expectation. Let this coming time, the next 364 1/4 days be a challenge to find love, live love, dare love, be love. Wisdom is looking for the possibility of love in everything and everyone. Love as boldly as you can. Tell your other that Love is and will always be. Free Love Up! Peace.

Lioness on the Rise

Wonderful message. Thank you, Sistar! As we enter the darkness of winter, the new moon rose, settling into her nest. Out of the labryinth of love's nurturing, will come, in spring, a new cub, a new lioness rising! Sing to us Sistar Queen!

The Truth of Our Existence

John Brown and Me

Today, 150 years ago, John Brown and his warriors, set out to overturn an institution that was denying generations of Black people the right to LIFE, LIBERTY, AND HAPPYNESS! I thank him for his courage and his nerve, and for giving up the one thing he did not acquire at birth, nor did he accept as a consequence of his life, and that is WHITE PRIVILEGE. He is the only white man in the history of this country who gave that up, willingly sacrificing an inheritable position of comfort, a position that would have allowed him to ignore the very trouble his kind was creating for eons to come. Yes, he did not succeed in his ultimate quest to take over the arsenal at Harper's Ferry, but he took a stand that was uncomfortable and stood his ground. That's more than anyone else to have done since given the same privilege and entre in to "white" society that they have not earned. So, Mr. Brown, your position with me is firm, and though your brothers considered you a mad man, I consider you the only one with any sense at all. Thank You.
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/10/16/150_years_ago_today_abolitionist_john