Religion

This is the third part in a chapter I'm composing about the Divine Feminine. If you've followed the first two installments, you know that after reading and thinking about Margaret Fuller's essay, published in The Dial, entitled The Great Lawsuit, I decided to review her treatise.


Forgive me for taking the long way to getting back to Fuller's essay but I'm trying to let the ocean current take you on this same ride. For us to speed comfortably along on the wave, we must be well aware of the undercurrents.


This is taken from a very interesting website: http://eapi.admu.edu.ph/eapr98/kath2.htm 

Because God as father has become an over literalized metaphor, the symbol of God as mother is eclipsed. The problem lies not in the fact that male metaphors are used for God, but that they are used exclusively and literally. 

Religion means different things to different people if we were to sample definitions. It has become very popular to say, "I'm not religious but I'm SPIRITUAL," or perhaps even more in vogue is the expression that "I identify less with organized religion than with a purely spiritual approach to God and the Universe."


There are several possible root words for religion. The most standard is RELIGO from religare, meaning to bind fast, though Cicero believed the word came from relegere, meaning to read again. I want to propose that it is a combination of both but I'd like to dissect the root words further.


Quick searches almost universally tell us that the Latin LIGO means to tie. But there are other meanings. Unite, fasten, wrap. To "re" wrap or reunite or refasten or to re "tie" our connection to God, seems very different to me than to "Bind Fast." Although when I think about reuniting with God and if I allow myself to think of God as the balancing force of the universe, as the healing power of everything, and not necessarily as a "creator," then I DO want to be bound fast with such a force.


Cicero's definition to read again then will mean what I just described, to re "acquire the word," or rethink my connection. As it turns out I've lived my life wondering about my connection to God so in a sense I'm in a constant state of re "reading," all that has been laid at my feet to help me answer my own question "Who Am I?"


If we follow the etymology of the word religion then we may see the direct link to what I often describe as the point of any practice of spirituality, which is to "commune" with God. To connect, to be connected, to be whole, to have unity, to be the I AM. In this state of blissful communion, we may discover we have powers to be joyful, to heal, to see more clearly, to perceive from a higher vantage point. So really then, we don't have to make a distinction between spirituality and religion, that is if we accept this definition of religion.


But because of the practices of religion and not the meaning behind the religions themselves we have come to think of religion as something else than having a direct connection to God. And it may be those practices themselves which have also distorted our view of who and what God is.


I've promised to keep these posts to short manageable bites. So I'll leave you now with only this much. But I'm encouraged by what I'm finding in religious texts to suggest that they weren't originally written as directories for "boys clubs" and God wasn't originally depicted as a male. Or I should say the texts are open to different translations.

Boys will be boys. God the Mother

This is a complicated story. So ingrained in the human psyche is this issue that one must seek understanding from a place in our minds which supersedes intelligence. To call it an issue is also a mistake. This isn't an issue. It is a matter of evolution. And it is sad to think that we haven't reached a point in evolution in the system we have inherited and contributed to  (obviously--because if we had we wouldn't be here)--to have fully integrated the force we'll tag as yin (feminine, nurturing, energy, as opposed to its opposite-masculine, power-seeking energy).


I believe we have some kind of lopsided paradigm regarding masculine and feminine energy,   There IS some accumulation of excess Yang predominating our culture or at least there is an operating force which has us all in the grip of a troubled world which seems to emanate from some dark stirring power which is violent and not nurturing energy. It is as if we are all victims of a messed up "operating system."


This situation requires that we all spend a little time with it and consider how we can help. For the sake of our children and grand kids, for the sake of the planet, actually for the sake of business and especially small businesses, and for happy families everywhere to include the 90% of the world population that probably has no chance in Hell of seeing these thoughts...it is time for us to seek the Divine Feminine. She will provide the solution for everything. She operates at the deepest roots of our planet if not universe. You don't need to go far to find her. She's inside you. She's inside me. She's easy to spot. Half of us are even more connected to her, because (you--the half I'm speaking of) are female.

HER FAULT, Margaret Fuller

It all started when I happened to read The Great Lawsuit by Margaret Fuller, written in 1843 and published first in the Transcendentalist chronicle, The Dial.

Let me put Margaret Fuller's essay in perspective. When she wrote the essay from her location up around Concord, Massachusettes, half the country still held slaves. The slave trade from Africa had stopped by then, but when Fuller wrote The Great Lawsuit, Thomas Jefferson's legacy of owning slaves and making babies with them (you don't know the story of Sally Hemings?--then after this, go read about it. One of these days I'll write the review for The Hemingses of Monticello) was still fresh. It wouldn't be for another twenty years that it became criminal to hold slaves. I will say this once, and move on. We still hold women as slaves. We still have not learned to fully empower the Mother of all humanity and the planet, let's call her Gaia. 

The era then was sort of an "in between" time. The early modern era had passed and we were in the later modern era. The industrial revolution was taking place, on the heels of the French Revolution. Some would have said it was the Age of Enlightenment or the age of reason. In many ways, the new civilized thinking of that day was enlightened, compared to let's say...the dark ages. 

And there were changes in the midst of many people of the time for women. Great things. I would say that both Sally Hemings and Margaret Fuller were hopeful that things would soon be different, not only in America but all the world, for women.

I will also sneak this in here and be done with it. Fuller, herself, doesn't go in this direction because she didn't even realize how much it has to do with everything. But our male centric religions, which depict God as a man and give very little credence to the significance of other living things besides humans (and yes my lovely readers, we're talking Judaism, Christianity and Islam--all offering up praise to the most high Macho Guru King of the Sky--the Godmeister) are a big part of the problem. I'm not saying to ditch them and let's go get some new Gods (necessarily, though there may be a valid argument there), but we can make a place for the Divine Feminine right smack dab in the middle of those old stodgy religions. That's right--let's stir them up a little and put a face lift on them. Like the Jeez himself said, "I have not come to change a letter of the law." 

Left Over Baggage

Here is some wisdom from the age of enlightenment from one of our most cherished voices of the modern essay, Rousseau:

A woman’s education must therefore be planned in relation to man.  To be pleasing in his sight, to win his respect and love, to train him in childhood, to tend him in manhood, to counsel and console, to make his life pleasant and happy, these are the duties of women for all time and this is what she should be taught while she is young.

And this was even from a few years after Fuller had died, from around 1870, both also written by our more evolved brethren from across the Atlantic:

Beauty has claims for which she fights
At ease with winning arms
The women who want women’s rights
Want mostly, women's charms.' Punch, 1870

‘The best mothers, wives, and managers of households, know little or nothing of sexual indulgences.
Love of home, children, and domestic duties are the only passions they feel.’
William Acton, 1870s

Now all of that nonsense (above to include Rousseau who I like but he too was a victim of this nasty cold we can't seem to get rid of, our inability to connect to the feminine channel of the planet--Gaia) seems to be simply male bigotry and ignorance. I'm just trying to put in perspective what Maggie Fuller was up against when she bravely set down her treatise to help people understand what we're missing by keeping women in chains. 

But there is more. So much more to her essay. It is about energy, love, sexuality, power, yin/yang, how Shiva and Shakti can really get it on, and the future of humanity. By the way, regarding the future of humanity, we are doomed if we don't soon figure this thing out. I'm not exaggerating in the least. Doomed. Like, Adios Humans. Time to go. We the undersigned (meaning the rest of the living planet outside of the Human Race) have decided we've had enough of you and your violent destructive ways. We petition the highest powers of the Universe to remove you from our home. We don't want you around any more. Bye-bye.

Next blog--spotting the Divine Feminine in religion

Divine Feminine

Nestled somewhere in this next group of blogs will be the review of Margaret Fuller's essay named The Great Lawsuit. Originally I set out to merely to discuss the article which she originally published in the transcendentalist periodical, called The Dial but the task grew to include a considerable amount of study and contemplation of a bunch of other material.

Since I've subtitled this site Bite Size Pieces, it would be unfair to the reader to be served a huge banquet as if it were an appetizer. Therefore, each of the forthcoming hors d'oeuvres will have one delicious flavor in common, but shall be designed to not overburden your digestive system.

Since James Lovelock published the Gaia Hypothesis in the early 1970s, it has been a popular hobby by progressive thinkers to hold the planet and the intricate connection of all things in greater esteem. We now widely consider the elements of Yin and Yang as necessary forces to be balanced in nature. And yet, a huge percentage of those same thinkers, perhaps even practitioners of Tai Chi or Yoga, also hold fast to a male centric religion, such as Christianity, Muslim or Judaism.

In these next few blog posts I will suggest that it is our religious heritage which holds us back from our true highest self.  Primarily because our ankles are so solidly entrenched in the concrete of these religions, that we can't fly to the height of our potential.  We have not yet fully embraced the beauty and energy of  the force which will be required to set us free.

This first installment will be especially short and sweet. So I'll leave you now with the most sumptuous flavor our physical senses will ever know. She is the Sacred Feminine. She enters through our heart center and is accessible to all of us, full time. I hope your appetite is whetted.

Fuze--Deceptive Marketing

From the start I want to say that my overall impression of Fuze, the drink line which is now owned  by Coca Cola isn't THAT bad. There are some good things to report. I occasionally drink them, under certain circumstances. But I just thought you may like to know a few facts.

While we were at the Lake last weekend we went to buy a few refreshing beverages to go with a pear, cheese and bread lunch we planned to picnic on in our car, overlooking picturesque Lake of the Ozarks in Camdenton, Missouri.

My daughter grabbed a sugared drink and I noticed the pomegranate and Acai Berry drink from Fuze. Really no different than expected consumer behavior, I assumed the product had pomegranate and Acai Berry as ingredients. After all, it is named THAT!

I know quite a bit about the superfoods category. I've been to Peru and know more than a casual researcher would understand about the Acai Berry story. It is found at the top of very high palm trees in the Amazon and really does seem to possess some incredible health benefits. Pomegranate too is another superfood and both are known to be loaded with antioxidants and free radicals.

Long story short folks, there aint any pomegranate or acai berry in the Fuze drink. I called the company when I couldn't tell which ingredient in the label contained either product. They are only there in spirit. Artificial flavoring. Zero, nada, no percentage, zippo, negatory, pomegranate and acai berry have left the building!

I wondered too about the 10 calorie claim per serving and quickly learned that it was achieved with minimal apple juice but mostly sweetened with sucrolose (marketed as Splenda) and in more quantity acesulfame potasium. Both are questionable as safe, in spite of what food manufacturers want you to believe. As I understand it, both are not allowed to be used as ingredients in foods or drinks in Europe because the consumers there feel enough testing hasn't been done and there is enough evidence to wonder if they aren't down right dangerous.

I use those products in moderation but mostly avoid them.

The taste of the drink is fine. It does make you feel as if it is a healthy drink, though that is probably just the effect of marketing. These drinks by Fuze have several categories, such as Slenderize and sports drinks. They're priced at about $1.50 per drink, which as this category of drink goes, they're pretty toward the bottom of the price structure, which can be pushing $3 by some competitors.

Tip:  What I do when I want my fix for this kind of thing is I buy the little packets of sugarfree drink mixes. I like the ones from Ocean Spray, although they're probably no healthier than the rest and they also contain aspartame and acesulfame potasium. I mix the packet with an EXTRA glass of water to dilute the sweetener and then I add one cup of apple juice. I do all this for two main reasons. It gives me my sweet fix and it is inexpensive while still offering me some real juice in my drink. By doing what I described, I'm able to prepare the drink for about 10 cents a serving and am refreshed after a long run or a hot day.

If you haven't seen the research about aspartame, acesulfame potasium or sucrolose, I recommend you let your fingers do some googling.

Cheers,

Justice--Blind or Just Not WANT to see the truth?

I'll try to keep this review short. It is a story of frustration.

I'm a business owner and a property owner in downtown Springfield, MO. On Halloween this year an unnamed bandit fractured my front door. There was a witness and the police apprehended the suspect who admitted to breaking my glass.

I was called immediately and asked if I wanted to press charges. Of course I did. I knew this was going to be quite an expense.

I waited weeks to receive some notice after my initial call to the prosecutor the following week after the incident. "No you shouldn't have to try to recuperate your costs," I was told by the assistant at the Country prosecutor's office, "We have a victim's restitution program. Wait to hear from us before doing anything like filing a small claim."

"GREAT!," I thought. Finally something makes sense about the law and being a landlord. I've had lots of experience as a property owner as I used to own apartment complexes and other rentals. My overall experience dealing with the courts and criminal activity by my renters hasn't been pleasant. The courts often seem to treat the landlord poorly and the renter with a strange lenience.

As I said, weeks had gone by and I decided I needed to learn what was happening. As it turns out the policeman had estimated the cost of repairs of my door at $400 and so the case would go to municipal court and not County. The city municipal court does not have a victim's restitution program so I was advised to seek whatever damages on my own, either through small claims court or hire an attorney and pursue it as a civil matter.

"But wait," I informed them, "the damages came to over $500 and I have all the receipts."

"Oh, I see," said the administrative person at the municipal court prosecutor's office.

It took another week to follow up with all the different phone numbers including several people in investigations at the police force, several administrative people at both county and city prosecutor's offices. Finally from Sgt. Smith who heads up investigations at the Springfield Police force I was told that the administrative people at the courts don't know what they're talking about and he went on to explain to me what a frustration it is for him because he often gets angry calls from people who were misinformed by the courts.

It requires that the damages exceed $750 to be a felony when it comes to property damage. $500 is the cut-off for theft and burglary. So NO, it will stay at the municipal court.

"So as a victim then," I asked, does it seem fair that the criminal can go breaking out glass doors and not be responsible to pay back for damages?

Sgt. Smith went on to calmly explain that I should just go see the prosecutor and explain that I'd like to seek restitution for PROBATION and the criminal would more than likely have to reimburse me for my deductible before being released from probation.

"Wow, what a relief," I thought. Grateful again for a chance to be reimbursed I called the same lady I've been dealing with at municipal court who explained to me that once Sgt. Smith knew that damages exceeded $500 that the case would probably be transferred to County and the victim's restitution program would be available for me.

WRONG. At municipal court they explained that I couldn't see the prosecutor and they seldom seek restitution. My only option was to fax over the receipts and those receipts will be presented to the judge and at the judge's discretion, they may be entered and used as a factor in the judges sentence.

The administrator at the court also explained that the police force doesn't know what they're talking about. Interesting that the police force said the same about the prosecutor's office. In the meantime, I'm likely to not be reimbursed and have spent hours just to learn the procedure.

Will justice be served? At this point I feel as if I've done something wrong. Each time I talk with people in charge of dealing with my case I get the impression that I'm a nuisance and it is people like me who make their job unpleasant.

To a certain extent, at each crossroads, I felt victim to a prank like this:

Harry and David Pears

I've heard it from sooooo many people that Harry and David pears are yackity yack so delicious. I've had them myself when someone has been suckered in to the marketing and sent them to us as Christmas presents. And I will say, to receive them as Christmas presents, they're lovely and I'm always very appreciative of the givers generosity. But the fact is--they're pears. Bought right and sliced at the right time you can enjoy a nearly perfect pear from your local supplier of pears--usually.

We went to the Lake of the Ozarks for our annual Christmas shopping trip. We love to sit at the fire pit at the Lodge of the Four Seasons and just relax and read, go to dinner and do some shopping. We usually go to Harry and David's Outlet store for a little "silly" extravagance like some Moose Munch or chocolate covered cherries. I must admit, even those purchases are not advisable, but as I said, for a rare treat (as in spoiling ourselves by paying mostly for the marketing of a product and not actually for an advisable purchase), a few extra dollars spent sometimes seems worth it while you sit by a fire and savor a chocolate or a truffle.

This year my daughter had decided she wanted a Harry and David pear instead of sweets. I didn't resist but simply said no problem. I guessed the pear would be $5 and told wife and daughter that.

"No way," said the wise shopper who manages our household expenses. Maybe $5 for two."

"Keep dreaming," I assured her.

When we got to Harry and David there was only one single pear ($4.95). And lots of boxes of the "Award Winning" Riviera or Scam Delicious or whatever they're called. I've poured over their marketing materials before and read the full description of their pears and methods and stories of why and what for and who screwed who to make a pear so plump and pregnant and blah blah blah. The boxes ranged between $26.95 to $34.95. The lower end hadn't been selected as the prize winners and may have some blemishes. The $34.95 were the juiciest most pregnant and had been sired by the Great Kahoona Himself, Mr. Harrier David Thanthou.

I knew my only choice was to purchase a box of pears or your honorable reviewer would suffer the consequences for the next half of his aging life, so the $26.95 pears it was. That is about $3.50 a pear or $7 for a pair.

Please don't bother to write about the reason you think Harry and David pears deserve their reputation. Emerson (I explained to the lady who was giving the free samples of the yogurt covered pretzels about my Emerson story but had to finally add Ralph Waldo because his last name alone didn't ring any bells) would save a pear on his writing desk, because he knew that there was a right time to slice one. I know that too and have sliced many a beautiful ripe pear from Safeway or Dillon's or farmer's market (best choice) and always can't say enough about the fruit. I love the drip, the creamy texture, the syrupy flavor, the nearly absence of waste (ever notice how there is so much less core to a pear than an apple?).

Yes, Harry's pears are good (usually, though I've just read dozens of reviews of negative experiences). But folks, they aint five dollars good. Ours were mediocre and now I'm stuck with six other ones to go with the pears we have already in our fruit bowl from before our trip (which I'm ready to taste test next to Tom, Dick's or Harry's with confidence that our .50 pears will be as good if sliced at the right time.

The free apples in the hotel were much superior but Lord Bless me if I had suggested we have the free apples with the hard Romano cheese we bought and crusty bread.

David's Hairy marketing is as good as it comes. Their pears--not so much.

No Money Blues

This asks you for a bunch of faith for the first 3 minutes. Even after that, only if you go along with the gag, you might not want to hang past 5 minutes, but I hung in there for the full 8. To do that means you sit like a good theater goer and read all the pretty type after the film. At 7:32 I figured, well I've given them my full attention till now. What is anohter 20 seconds, but GODdddddd it was torturous most of the way thru.

No money blues

www.youtube.com

ILB

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Winston Dubby Riley December 3 at 12:47pm

but as a short film it has some very nice elements. i have to say overall, treating it as a product, it's worth its place in the tubisphere (if this is a new word, i'm on record of calling it that first).

• and there is nothing funny about having no money. trust me

  7 minutes ago · 
• 

  Winston Dubby Riley oh, sorry, the most important observation. the music is the point, which is tucked away in there, ready to be missed altogether because of the character we are led to disapprove of