While the Earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, shall not cease. The Earth shall remain. Even in destroyals, She remains. She changes. The Earth cannot be wholly stripped away. So long as it remaineth, then, She is preserved. That is what this promise teaches: that Earth shall not decay. So long as she remains, she will be abundantly blessed with Seedtimes, and Harvests. So long as Earth shall remain, there shall be Seeds and Harvests. There is no Earth prophesied where the vegetable life forms cease to reproduce. Plant life will live along with the Earth, until Her very last day. But since plant life preserves the Earth, we must assume that A + B = C. A permanently vegetative Planet can do nothing but Remain. The Earth shall Remain.
Remnant, magic remnant. In every world destroyal a remnant is preserved. This remnant renews the whole. Noah was saved, a remnant. And in him the whole Earth was renewed.
Doubt the naysayers who insit the World Shall End. The World shall change. Shall be renewed. A Remnant Shall Remain.
Into the New Earth that is emerging, into the Rediscovered Garden, into the Flesh of Eden, may We Remain. May We, the human race, be in the Remnant. May the Man and the Fox and the Dolphin and the Whale Remain together. May the Trees not perish, the Rivers not fail, the Herbs not cease Abundance. May life grow, and bless, abundify the Earth. May She be Replenished. May Life Breathe Anew.
This is a call, this is an awakening. These are magic words to unite the flow, unite the Energies, unite the Universe. You may sing them with me. You may sing them All Creation. Abundify the Earth!
Magic Trixter FoX
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
What We Do to Meat
Eating Meat is not bad. Its what we do to it.
From the very beginning of the process until the end... Consider the way we farm and raise raise meat. The fact that it is inhumane isn't even the point, though of course it is very inhumane.
You can kill an animal for food and there is nothing wrong with that. We are a partially predatory species and hunting is in our Nature, our genes. But to raise an animal in conditions of abject suffering -- to speed up their lifestyles with hormones and to confine them in steel factories devoid of any Natural light... To raise an entire generation without providing them a single comfort... Not even a noiseless place to sleep where they are free from the prospect of mutilation... Where they are not allowed to have families... Where chickens are artificially hatched by machines instead of hens! Where calves suckle metal arms instead of their mother's teats! And then to kill them... not with a bullet but with a CONVEYOR BELT!!! Where they aren't even given the option to skip away or put up a fight but where their legs are tied and they are automatically moved towards a grisly, mangling death. Where they are splattered with the blood of the Animal in front of them before they themselves die...
Besides this, we are stripping the Earth itself of its vegetative cover in order to raise enough grain to feed these Animals! To mass-produce them in far greater numbers than they would naturally exist! Slaughter every cow and chicken currently in the system, today, but then stop, and you wouldn't see me shed a single tear for the removal of these animals. Cows and chickens are so plentious that they are literally a vermin that is eating the planet to death. We could eat the crops we are raising for them and have more than half our acres back for parks, for clean air, for recreation. So much more wealth would be available in the economy. We could pay back the national debt with the money we saved on dropping the meat industry.
And then, if you get a craving for meat, by all means, please go out into the Woods and kill something! Since there are more Woods at this point (having recovered them from farms), there are more Animals, and you may have your pick! I would not even bother to make you get a hunting license! Kill as much as you can eat! Fish to your heart's content! Heck, raise a cow or chicken of your own if you really like the taste of beef and poultry specifically... But why ruin the economy, bankrupt the government and maintain the torture of millions of unnecessary cattle just to have a burger on every block.... Millions of which are thrown away every day into dumpsters, half eaten and often wholly uneaten.
With the situation this bad, every ONE person who chooses to give up meat even ONE meal per week... is making a significant change for the better. Why go all the way?? Every action counts.
I, personally, care enough about this issue to go ALL THE WAY. I lack discipline... I am not a saint after all, just an idealist. I have my own tastes. I like McDonald's double cheeseburgers, of all things, although I hate myself after wasting the money on such a cheap thrill. So I am not there yet, but I am evolving. I am training myself to depend on less. I am cultivating new tastes. I am trying new things. I am not looking for the ONE BEST WAY TO LIVE. I am trying to look for A BETTER WAY. My way.
So far, I know that VEGAN > VEGETARIAN > any other number of small steps, ranging from the one who only eats fish to the one who only eats fish & poultry to the one who eats all of it, but no pork, to the guy who eats as wide a range as possible but seldom.
I want my diet, my clothing, my electronic usage, the type of transportation I use, etc., etc., etc., all to reflect my ethic of treating the Earth right. Of being a GOOD STEWARD.
Besides this, we are stripping the Earth itself of its vegetative cover in order to raise enough grain to feed these Animals! To mass-produce them in far greater numbers than they would naturally exist! Slaughter every cow and chicken currently in the system, today, but then stop, and you wouldn't see me shed a single tear for the removal of these animals. Cows and chickens are so plentious that they are literally a vermin that is eating the planet to death. We could eat the crops we are raising for them and have more than half our acres back for parks, for clean air, for recreation. So much more wealth would be available in the economy. We could pay back the national debt with the money we saved on dropping the meat industry.
And then, if you get a craving for meat, by all means, please go out into the Woods and kill something! Since there are more Woods at this point (having recovered them from farms), there are more Animals, and you may have your pick! I would not even bother to make you get a hunting license! Kill as much as you can eat! Fish to your heart's content! Heck, raise a cow or chicken of your own if you really like the taste of beef and poultry specifically... But why ruin the economy, bankrupt the government and maintain the torture of millions of unnecessary cattle just to have a burger on every block.... Millions of which are thrown away every day into dumpsters, half eaten and often wholly uneaten.
With the situation this bad, every ONE person who chooses to give up meat even ONE meal per week... is making a significant change for the better. Why go all the way?? Every action counts.
I, personally, care enough about this issue to go ALL THE WAY. I lack discipline... I am not a saint after all, just an idealist. I have my own tastes. I like McDonald's double cheeseburgers, of all things, although I hate myself after wasting the money on such a cheap thrill. So I am not there yet, but I am evolving. I am training myself to depend on less. I am cultivating new tastes. I am trying new things. I am not looking for the ONE BEST WAY TO LIVE. I am trying to look for A BETTER WAY. My way.
So far, I know that VEGAN > VEGETARIAN > any other number of small steps, ranging from the one who only eats fish to the one who only eats fish & poultry to the one who eats all of it, but no pork, to the guy who eats as wide a range as possible but seldom.
I want my diet, my clothing, my electronic usage, the type of transportation I use, etc., etc., etc., all to reflect my ethic of treating the Earth right. Of being a GOOD STEWARD.
Don't you?
A Better Way to Eat
I think there is a better way to eat than the way we normally eat. Whether you are a vegetarian or a meat-eater, there is always a better way to eat. Part of being a responsible human is eating RIGHT... But that is nonsense. There are a thousand diets and a thousand lifestyles, and there is no RIGHT way to eat. There are just better and worse ways. I can identify several eating choices that would be better than the one I am currently observing, and it is my goal to move toward better eating. But I would not be foolish enough to say I knew what the BEST way is to eat. I can just look for a better way, and move toward it when I think I've found it. And that's really all any of us can do. We're all trying to eat better in our own ways, and over time we have started to realize kind of what works and what doesn't. And that's the whole way people make diets, by selecting different eating strategies, turning them into rules, and then calling them This or That Diet.
Rather than prescribing a diet, I would like to talk to you about better and worse eating strategies, and from them, if you, like me, are trying to learn a better way to eat, then perhaps you would benefit from some of the ones I have identified. Or perhaps you could leave some eating strategies of your own in the comments below, because I am interested.
EATING A LOT is generally considered to be a poor eating strategy. For one thing, its expensive. For another, it makes you overweight. In our culture, overweight not only means unhealthy it also sometimes cruelly is interpreted to mean uncool or even ugly. I think coolness and beauty are both qualities of the spirit, but I do think it is best not to be overweight if you can help it, because overweight people have less energy and cannot enjoy as much of life, because life is action.
EATING FAST FOOD is a horrible way to eat because the food is of questionable quality, very messy, and society's most fattening.
EATING FRUIT is an excellent strategy because fruit is ridiculously cheap, available everywhere from farmer's markets to convenience stores to FOR FREE in certain trees that you can find in many parks and public places. Fruit is nutritious and unbelievably delicious. Fruit doesn't have to be prepared but can be eaten raw, at the ready, most times even unpeeled.
EATING ORGANIC is an excellent strategy because organic food is of the highest quality both nutritiously and taste wise. Organic, however, can be expensive, which in my book lowers the excellence of the strategy by several degrees. Each person must balance out for themselves whether the pros of organic outweigh the cons, but I have estimated in favor of organic food - whenever I can afford it.
THROWING FOOD AWAY is a horrible eating strategy. Food production rates are unsustainably high throughout the world, and in some cases, food itself is still scarce. This contradicts logic, until you take into account the stockpiling of food and the wasting of food by the wealthiest nations, and the wealthiest individuals within those nations. But seriously, NO MATTER WHAT YOU ARE EATING, even if it is the greasiest, most unhealthy burger, please do not throw it away unless it is for real needing to be thrown away or will be a health risk.
EATING LEFTOVERS saves you prep times, saves you money, saves the Planet from the Scourge of Food Overproduction.
FOREGOING MEAT, whether altogether or even just one meal a week. Opting for a bagel with cream cheese instead of a sausage biscuit. Having a cheese quesadilla instead of a chicken quesadilla. This is an excellent eating strategy because meat is high in fats, low in energy, makes you complicit in the killing of an Animal who had a life of its own, and is EXPENSIVE. The human body, biologically, requires not a single nutrient that cannot be supplied by a vegetarian diet. Even so-called "animal proteins" are manufactured naturally by your own body given the right plant ingredients in your diet.
EATING STUFF YOU HUNTED YOURSELF is a good strategy if you really have a meat craving. Fishing and hunting are both enjoyable activities, they get you out in Nature, and plus, you will have an appreciation for the food you are eating that McDonald's could never duplicate. Plus, food you killed yourself is FREE.
EATING LOCALLY PRODUCED FOOD is an excellent strategy because you are helping out your friends and neighbors involved in the production, which makes everybody think you're a helluva fella. It makes you a bit of an expert on local tastes and eating joints and farmers and just what's up in your community. It makes you an interesting conversationalist. Its good for the Environment because chances are your 'local farmer' isn't deforesting vast acres to run his factory meat mill. Also, food produced locally doesn't have to be loaded on diesel-consuming trucks and carted all over the Nation instead of eaten by the people next door to it. So, less gas. Less pollution. Less corporate bullcrap. BETTER TASTE. Cuz there's nothing like the taste of stuff that grows in your own state's dirt.
DRINKING WATER is an excellent strategy because WATER can be found in abundance, FOR FREE!!!!! Get a bottle, fill up at a water fountain or at your own tap! Keep it with you! Next time you are thirsty, you won't have to stop for a Coke! Cokes are expensive and unhealthy and after a while they start to lose their taste. If you are the kind of person who has been drinking a soda for the past year just about everyday, I GUARANTEE YOU that you have lost the ability to taste that soda, and simply haven't noticed the loss. For proof, go without it for a week, then come back and take a gulp. It will shock you to rediscover the original taste that you had forgotten about. So really... if you aren't even tasting Coca Cola when you drink it habitually, why are you wasting the money and empty calories?
LIMITING DAIRY is a good idea, too. In my own mind I think of vegans as the saints of the Human Food Chain. I aspire to be one of them as I once was before. (I am a fallen-from-grace vegan). But you don't have to give up all dairy to make a difference! Limit it. Because dairy is also costly, often high in fat, and has a large carbon footprint.
EATING FOR FREE is an amazing strategy, because chances are, if it is available for free, that means it is not in high demand, and stands a chance of being thrown away. Refer to above to see that throwing food away is a horrible eating strategy. These days, any dollar you save on food and put into savings will help out your future ENORMOUSLY. The economy has never been more unsound so why waste money on food when you can get it for free?
Where can you get food for free?
-- If you find it in Nature (like growing on a Tree in a park). Looking at a few field guides will identify countless species for you, then all you have to do is look while having a pleasant walk in the Woods.
-- If it is about to be thrown away by less scrupulous persons. (This happens ALL THE TIME.) Your friends aren't finishing their food at the restaurant and they aren't asking for a box... Swallow your pride and ask for the box! Also, ask around and you may find out that a local restaurant throws away its unpurchased food at a certain time each day or each week. There is nothing wrong with the food, and they may give it to you. A place at the college I graduated from does this, and they have good food, well-packaged, and they actually give people a chance to take it off their hands before they throw it away.
-- At a friend or relative's house! And no, I am not talking about being a freeloader. If you eat food that someone else gives you, you should be polite and return the favor. But if you are, in fact, having a short month, that is the very best time to go over to someone's house for dinner! I am sure they will not mind.
For some people, getting food for free is unfortunately the only way they can get food, or at least, food in the quantities they require. These folks have been led to eat straight out of trash cans, which is certainly not ideal, but nevertheless, can sustain them. And there are soup kitchens. And if there's not, there needs to be. If you really want to make a difference, volunteer or contribute to one some time. And then you can use them if you ever need them, without feeling the slightest twinge of guilt, or of feeling like you are getting a handout.
Eating insects. The fact remains, eating cows, chickens, and pigs, as they are currently produced in the United States Meat Industry, is such a destructive process that truly, eating insects is a much better strategy. 1,417 different species of arthropod are edible to humans, all are more nutritious than eating mammals or birds. The idea sounds strange but people of 300 different cultures all have insects as a normal part of their diet... And even in the West certain insect dishes are considered delicacies. Honey, for God's sake, is an insect product, and its downright delicious, and there's nothing weird about it. Insects can be found in the Wild, for FREE, if you are ever in a pickle and have no money for food.
Just a few thoughts, friends. Munch on them and digest them and then leave something behind for me.
Rather than prescribing a diet, I would like to talk to you about better and worse eating strategies, and from them, if you, like me, are trying to learn a better way to eat, then perhaps you would benefit from some of the ones I have identified. Or perhaps you could leave some eating strategies of your own in the comments below, because I am interested.
EATING A LOT is generally considered to be a poor eating strategy. For one thing, its expensive. For another, it makes you overweight. In our culture, overweight not only means unhealthy it also sometimes cruelly is interpreted to mean uncool or even ugly. I think coolness and beauty are both qualities of the spirit, but I do think it is best not to be overweight if you can help it, because overweight people have less energy and cannot enjoy as much of life, because life is action.
EATING FAST FOOD is a horrible way to eat because the food is of questionable quality, very messy, and society's most fattening.
EATING FRUIT is an excellent strategy because fruit is ridiculously cheap, available everywhere from farmer's markets to convenience stores to FOR FREE in certain trees that you can find in many parks and public places. Fruit is nutritious and unbelievably delicious. Fruit doesn't have to be prepared but can be eaten raw, at the ready, most times even unpeeled.
EATING ORGANIC is an excellent strategy because organic food is of the highest quality both nutritiously and taste wise. Organic, however, can be expensive, which in my book lowers the excellence of the strategy by several degrees. Each person must balance out for themselves whether the pros of organic outweigh the cons, but I have estimated in favor of organic food - whenever I can afford it.
THROWING FOOD AWAY is a horrible eating strategy. Food production rates are unsustainably high throughout the world, and in some cases, food itself is still scarce. This contradicts logic, until you take into account the stockpiling of food and the wasting of food by the wealthiest nations, and the wealthiest individuals within those nations. But seriously, NO MATTER WHAT YOU ARE EATING, even if it is the greasiest, most unhealthy burger, please do not throw it away unless it is for real needing to be thrown away or will be a health risk.
EATING LEFTOVERS saves you prep times, saves you money, saves the Planet from the Scourge of Food Overproduction.
FOREGOING MEAT, whether altogether or even just one meal a week. Opting for a bagel with cream cheese instead of a sausage biscuit. Having a cheese quesadilla instead of a chicken quesadilla. This is an excellent eating strategy because meat is high in fats, low in energy, makes you complicit in the killing of an Animal who had a life of its own, and is EXPENSIVE. The human body, biologically, requires not a single nutrient that cannot be supplied by a vegetarian diet. Even so-called "animal proteins" are manufactured naturally by your own body given the right plant ingredients in your diet.
EATING STUFF YOU HUNTED YOURSELF is a good strategy if you really have a meat craving. Fishing and hunting are both enjoyable activities, they get you out in Nature, and plus, you will have an appreciation for the food you are eating that McDonald's could never duplicate. Plus, food you killed yourself is FREE.
EATING LOCALLY PRODUCED FOOD is an excellent strategy because you are helping out your friends and neighbors involved in the production, which makes everybody think you're a helluva fella. It makes you a bit of an expert on local tastes and eating joints and farmers and just what's up in your community. It makes you an interesting conversationalist. Its good for the Environment because chances are your 'local farmer' isn't deforesting vast acres to run his factory meat mill. Also, food produced locally doesn't have to be loaded on diesel-consuming trucks and carted all over the Nation instead of eaten by the people next door to it. So, less gas. Less pollution. Less corporate bullcrap. BETTER TASTE. Cuz there's nothing like the taste of stuff that grows in your own state's dirt.
DRINKING WATER is an excellent strategy because WATER can be found in abundance, FOR FREE!!!!! Get a bottle, fill up at a water fountain or at your own tap! Keep it with you! Next time you are thirsty, you won't have to stop for a Coke! Cokes are expensive and unhealthy and after a while they start to lose their taste. If you are the kind of person who has been drinking a soda for the past year just about everyday, I GUARANTEE YOU that you have lost the ability to taste that soda, and simply haven't noticed the loss. For proof, go without it for a week, then come back and take a gulp. It will shock you to rediscover the original taste that you had forgotten about. So really... if you aren't even tasting Coca Cola when you drink it habitually, why are you wasting the money and empty calories?
LIMITING DAIRY is a good idea, too. In my own mind I think of vegans as the saints of the Human Food Chain. I aspire to be one of them as I once was before. (I am a fallen-from-grace vegan). But you don't have to give up all dairy to make a difference! Limit it. Because dairy is also costly, often high in fat, and has a large carbon footprint.
EATING FOR FREE is an amazing strategy, because chances are, if it is available for free, that means it is not in high demand, and stands a chance of being thrown away. Refer to above to see that throwing food away is a horrible eating strategy. These days, any dollar you save on food and put into savings will help out your future ENORMOUSLY. The economy has never been more unsound so why waste money on food when you can get it for free?
Where can you get food for free?
-- If you find it in Nature (like growing on a Tree in a park). Looking at a few field guides will identify countless species for you, then all you have to do is look while having a pleasant walk in the Woods.
-- If it is about to be thrown away by less scrupulous persons. (This happens ALL THE TIME.) Your friends aren't finishing their food at the restaurant and they aren't asking for a box... Swallow your pride and ask for the box! Also, ask around and you may find out that a local restaurant throws away its unpurchased food at a certain time each day or each week. There is nothing wrong with the food, and they may give it to you. A place at the college I graduated from does this, and they have good food, well-packaged, and they actually give people a chance to take it off their hands before they throw it away.
-- At a friend or relative's house! And no, I am not talking about being a freeloader. If you eat food that someone else gives you, you should be polite and return the favor. But if you are, in fact, having a short month, that is the very best time to go over to someone's house for dinner! I am sure they will not mind.
For some people, getting food for free is unfortunately the only way they can get food, or at least, food in the quantities they require. These folks have been led to eat straight out of trash cans, which is certainly not ideal, but nevertheless, can sustain them. And there are soup kitchens. And if there's not, there needs to be. If you really want to make a difference, volunteer or contribute to one some time. And then you can use them if you ever need them, without feeling the slightest twinge of guilt, or of feeling like you are getting a handout.
Eating insects. The fact remains, eating cows, chickens, and pigs, as they are currently produced in the United States Meat Industry, is such a destructive process that truly, eating insects is a much better strategy. 1,417 different species of arthropod are edible to humans, all are more nutritious than eating mammals or birds. The idea sounds strange but people of 300 different cultures all have insects as a normal part of their diet... And even in the West certain insect dishes are considered delicacies. Honey, for God's sake, is an insect product, and its downright delicious, and there's nothing weird about it. Insects can be found in the Wild, for FREE, if you are ever in a pickle and have no money for food.
Just a few thoughts, friends. Munch on them and digest them and then leave something behind for me.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Death, Stars and Trees
The Sun not only Shines, but Rumbles.
The Stars are all designed to crumble.
Each Star produces Sound.
It is a whirled ball of gas to light a Galaxy,
To heat the Planets. To breathe Life.
But as the Stars give out their heat,
They sizzle and evaporate.
This creates a Sound.
No Silence in Space.
The Sound is a dying hiss.
It will last for almost Eternity, but the Star, it soon will die.
If Evil is what brought Death into the World, as is commonly assumed,
Then what brought Death to the Stars?
Why should they die?
Surely THEY did not fall with Adam?
Assuredly, they existed before Adam.
Had been born and died before he.
What was the Sin of the Stars?
I can solve this dilemma.
Here is how:
I question the Teaching that Death is not Natural.
Neither Death nor Life are meaningless Things.
Both have a purpose.
Both can be beautiful.
Nothing unnatural is ever beautiful.
If you doubt that Death can be beautiful,
Consider the way a Tree dies.
But to do this first, you must consider the way a Tree lives.
I have been listening a lot lately, to the things Trees say.
So I present to you, the biography of a Tree:
Trees are beings that plummet to the Earth as Seeds,
Beginning in a place that is so high above the Earth
That he, the Tree, may as well have been a Being from Space.
He crashes out of his alien pod
In response to the Earth’s sultry Heat
And he puts his green foot deep into the Earth, like an invading Martian.
Then he rears his enormous head up,
Over a period of many decades,
And he sinks his hooks deep into the Skin of the Earth.
It is curious that we think of creatures that do the same on any other kind of skin as a Parasite.
But we think of the Tree as a Life-giver.
He takes from the Earth but he gives to the air.
And the Tree has Lovers.
Other Trees whose roots he entangles,
Tickling them each deep beneath the covers of the Earth
For centuries,
And each Spring sending them all chemical love notes
On the wings of birds and bees,
Wearing perfumes and pollens,
Giving them flowers and fruits,
Making them pregnant, as well as getting pregnant himself,
With new seeds and flinging them down.
New children, but also new lovers.
Oh, yes, Trees are promiscuous –
Yet they are faithful to every one of their Lovers.
Yes, Trees Love one another epically.
And this lifelong, epic love of one Tree for his lovers in the Forest
Finds its final answer in Death.
For as a Tree crumbles, decays, softens and rots.
All the while he embraces the process.
He Accepts the Universe.
At each stage of Death, the Tree looks grand.
Even as a pile of sawdust in the end.
All the while, the Tree embraces the process
Because he knows
That his elements are going back into the Earth,
That warm, sultry Earth,
And now full union can be possible
Because the roots of his living lovers,
As well as the spirits of his long-departed lovers,
As well as the seeds of his children,
Will all re-absorb him.
This is simultaneously his last, and greatest, gift,
As it is also his guarantee of immortality.
This is Heaven for a Tree,
And it is inseparable from Death,
And it is inseparable from Love,
And it is inseparable from Joy.
I think, we humans have a lot to learn about Death.
The Stars are all designed to crumble.
Each Star produces Sound.
It is a whirled ball of gas to light a Galaxy,
To heat the Planets. To breathe Life.
But as the Stars give out their heat,
They sizzle and evaporate.
This creates a Sound.
No Silence in Space.
The Sound is a dying hiss.
It will last for almost Eternity, but the Star, it soon will die.
If Evil is what brought Death into the World, as is commonly assumed,
Then what brought Death to the Stars?
Why should they die?
Surely THEY did not fall with Adam?
Assuredly, they existed before Adam.
Had been born and died before he.
What was the Sin of the Stars?
I can solve this dilemma.
Here is how:
I question the Teaching that Death is not Natural.
Neither Death nor Life are meaningless Things.
Both have a purpose.
Both can be beautiful.
Nothing unnatural is ever beautiful.
If you doubt that Death can be beautiful,
Consider the way a Tree dies.
But to do this first, you must consider the way a Tree lives.
I have been listening a lot lately, to the things Trees say.
So I present to you, the biography of a Tree:
Trees are beings that plummet to the Earth as Seeds,
Beginning in a place that is so high above the Earth
That he, the Tree, may as well have been a Being from Space.
He crashes out of his alien pod
In response to the Earth’s sultry Heat
And he puts his green foot deep into the Earth, like an invading Martian.
Then he rears his enormous head up,
Over a period of many decades,
And he sinks his hooks deep into the Skin of the Earth.
It is curious that we think of creatures that do the same on any other kind of skin as a Parasite.
But we think of the Tree as a Life-giver.
He takes from the Earth but he gives to the air.
And the Tree has Lovers.
Other Trees whose roots he entangles,
Tickling them each deep beneath the covers of the Earth
For centuries,
And each Spring sending them all chemical love notes
On the wings of birds and bees,
Wearing perfumes and pollens,
Giving them flowers and fruits,
Making them pregnant, as well as getting pregnant himself,
With new seeds and flinging them down.
New children, but also new lovers.
Oh, yes, Trees are promiscuous –
Yet they are faithful to every one of their Lovers.
Yes, Trees Love one another epically.
And this lifelong, epic love of one Tree for his lovers in the Forest
Finds its final answer in Death.
For as a Tree crumbles, decays, softens and rots.
All the while he embraces the process.
He Accepts the Universe.
At each stage of Death, the Tree looks grand.
Even as a pile of sawdust in the end.
All the while, the Tree embraces the process
Because he knows
That his elements are going back into the Earth,
That warm, sultry Earth,
And now full union can be possible
Because the roots of his living lovers,
As well as the spirits of his long-departed lovers,
As well as the seeds of his children,
Will all re-absorb him.
This is simultaneously his last, and greatest, gift,
As it is also his guarantee of immortality.
This is Heaven for a Tree,
And it is inseparable from Death,
And it is inseparable from Love,
And it is inseparable from Joy.
I think, we humans have a lot to learn about Death.
FoX's RiDDLe
There was Music playing over a Cliff.
The wildest, danciest Music ever!
It sounded like pure intensity.
It sounded like UMO by OOIOO, actually.
I heard this Music and started running after it.
I got to the edge of the Cliff and JUMPED!
And immediately, as I began to fall, I realized what I had done.
This Cliff was the famous and feared Cliff
Over the BOTTOMLESS CANYON!
I had jumped from the greatest imaginable height.
Here's the Riddle:
Why didn't I panic?
The wildest, danciest Music ever!
It sounded like pure intensity.
It sounded like UMO by OOIOO, actually.
I heard this Music and started running after it.
I got to the edge of the Cliff and JUMPED!
And immediately, as I began to fall, I realized what I had done.
This Cliff was the famous and feared Cliff
Over the BOTTOMLESS CANYON!
I had jumped from the greatest imaginable height.
Here's the Riddle:
Why didn't I panic?
The River of January
As a kit, I once visited Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.
I knew almost nothing about the World then.
This City is named after an Invisible River: the River of January!
Before it was built it was a Wild place where the Mountain and Jungle met the Ocean.
There was an invisible River there that only the shamans knew about.
When the Wild place was discovered by Explorers, and they decided to build a City there, it happened to be January.
The Invisible River that runs through Rio de Janeiro is a River called Discovery. It actually runs through the entire Earth, not just Rio de Janeiro.
However, since January is the month when it floods, January is the only time that some of it spills over into the Visible World.
Here is a great mystery.
The Explorers were very smart men. They plotted courses across the entire Ocean and they crossed it in little wooden ships powered by renewable energy called Wind. They were able to do this because they knew how to read the Stars and they understand the patterns of the Sky. They also could listen to the Wind and talk to Birds and Sea Monsters and Mermaids to get their way across. They were piloted by very devilly Men who were blinded by Greed and ended up committing unspeakable acts against Red, Wild, Free Men. But these were just their pilots: most of the Explorers were poor, simple, good Men who lived in tune with Nature and believed in God.
One of these smart, good Explorers was in tune enough with the Invisible World that he could see the River of January.
He named the place after that Experience, although the Story is usually simplified to say that the Explorers thought there was a River there and were later mistaken, but since they found the place in January they called it "River of January." The Story has been modified in this way because devilly Men do not believe in Invisible Rivers or indeed, any Invisible Things at all.
If you go outside tonight and listen to the Wind, which is almost an Invisible Thing (yet still detectable enough to remain part of the Visible World), perhaps your senses will open up enough that you can also hear the flooding tide of the River of January. Most places in the World, at this time of year, a sensitive and determined person can hear the River.
Listening to the River of January has remarkable effects upon the Brain. Although the River speaks no Words, as its Sounds move through your hearing they will trigger many hundreds of Thoughts. The River giggles rather than talks, but it is a very intelligent and meaningful giggle.
It was not January when I went to Rio de Janeiro, but in many ways, Rio de Janeiro is the place where I began to truly Discover the World. This may in fact be partly because of the River of January for which the City is named.
This January, I discovered a Newt in a Tree Stump! Newts are in serious decline where I am from, not to mention they are hibernating, so to have found this Newt was extremely unlikely. Also, Newts are a sign of luck so finding them even where they are abundant is a sign of good things to come. I imagine finding them in an area where they are rare, on the very first day of a new Decade, is a sign of REALLY GOOD things to come! I take it to mean that things are pointing Southwest, toward Oceany-Beach. I think Oceany-Beach lies along the River of January as well.
-KiJjiT
I knew almost nothing about the World then.
This City is named after an Invisible River: the River of January!
Before it was built it was a Wild place where the Mountain and Jungle met the Ocean.
There was an invisible River there that only the shamans knew about.
When the Wild place was discovered by Explorers, and they decided to build a City there, it happened to be January.
The Invisible River that runs through Rio de Janeiro is a River called Discovery. It actually runs through the entire Earth, not just Rio de Janeiro.
However, since January is the month when it floods, January is the only time that some of it spills over into the Visible World.
Here is a great mystery.
The Explorers were very smart men. They plotted courses across the entire Ocean and they crossed it in little wooden ships powered by renewable energy called Wind. They were able to do this because they knew how to read the Stars and they understand the patterns of the Sky. They also could listen to the Wind and talk to Birds and Sea Monsters and Mermaids to get their way across. They were piloted by very devilly Men who were blinded by Greed and ended up committing unspeakable acts against Red, Wild, Free Men. But these were just their pilots: most of the Explorers were poor, simple, good Men who lived in tune with Nature and believed in God.
One of these smart, good Explorers was in tune enough with the Invisible World that he could see the River of January.
He named the place after that Experience, although the Story is usually simplified to say that the Explorers thought there was a River there and were later mistaken, but since they found the place in January they called it "River of January." The Story has been modified in this way because devilly Men do not believe in Invisible Rivers or indeed, any Invisible Things at all.
If you go outside tonight and listen to the Wind, which is almost an Invisible Thing (yet still detectable enough to remain part of the Visible World), perhaps your senses will open up enough that you can also hear the flooding tide of the River of January. Most places in the World, at this time of year, a sensitive and determined person can hear the River.
Listening to the River of January has remarkable effects upon the Brain. Although the River speaks no Words, as its Sounds move through your hearing they will trigger many hundreds of Thoughts. The River giggles rather than talks, but it is a very intelligent and meaningful giggle.
It was not January when I went to Rio de Janeiro, but in many ways, Rio de Janeiro is the place where I began to truly Discover the World. This may in fact be partly because of the River of January for which the City is named.
This January, I discovered a Newt in a Tree Stump! Newts are in serious decline where I am from, not to mention they are hibernating, so to have found this Newt was extremely unlikely. Also, Newts are a sign of luck so finding them even where they are abundant is a sign of good things to come. I imagine finding them in an area where they are rare, on the very first day of a new Decade, is a sign of REALLY GOOD things to come! I take it to mean that things are pointing Southwest, toward Oceany-Beach. I think Oceany-Beach lies along the River of January as well.
-KiJjiT
Two Futures for Humankind
The Fox invites you to explore a Future where the political squabbles that divide Humans into arbitrary divisions like Nations and Races and Religions and Cultures have been eclipsed by a sense of responsibility to our Mother, the Earth.
In this Future, Humans have used their technology to bless the Earth, not to exploit Her. Human dwellings are comfortable and efficient, yet they rely on much smaller amounts of Energy (now gathered from renewable sources) than ever before. Human waste has ceased to be called "pollution" for it is now disposed of properly in carefully maintained facilities until it bio-degrades naturally. Human activity has become less about work and more about play because the Earth has become more productive and there is wealth in abundance literally growing from the Trees. The land area of Earth is almost exclusively made up of Planetary Parks that are maintained by environmentalists from all over the globe and used by vacationing Humans who relish the clean Rivers and Oceans and Air. Human population is centered in safe, comfortable, clean cities rather than in sprawling suburbs. Since most Humans have very little work to do, and what little they do have is closer to their homes than ever before, Cars and Highways have become nearly obsolete. Most Humans only go so far as their legs can carry them except when they go on Vacation, and since most folks are physically fit, traveling becomes an immensely pleasurable (not to mention inexpensive) activity. Humans wander about in the Woods as freely as the Deer and find delicious, healthy food anywhere they choose to stop: as well as safe and comfortable places to lay their heads.
Humans have finally remembered how to live like Animals. In so doing, they have put themselves once again in a position where they are capable of Evolution. They have stopped being plagued by the diseases caused by couch-potato lifestyles and foods with large amounts of preservatives. They live longer, have more sex, are more spiritual, happier, more peaceful than ever before.
They are still Humans. They still belong to specific Nations and Religions and other groups. But at their core they have all realized the values that will guarantee the survival of the Species. They will never again let their ideological disagreements undermine their Speci-al unity and their resolve to be the Caretakers of the Planet.
Humans must choose this Future, or the Universe will choose a harsher Future for them. In this harsher Future, only the wealthiest Humans will survive the impending waves of famine, drought, disease and disaster that the Environment will endure. Billions of Humans will die out. Those who are left will be ever more isolated from Nature by ever more complex and expensive Machines. Their quality of life will steadily erode until only a few hundred thousand Humans are alive, sequestered in indoor facilities eating synthetic garbage, wielding unexercised limbs, staring at screens with eyes that are growing weaker every generation. Humans will be smart, and they will survive. But they will also be sick. They will be a race of spoiled children who do not grow out of their spiritual immaturity until late in their lives, if at all. This is because their lives will be barely long enough to take them all the way to adulthood in the first place. It is also because their consumptive lifestyles will so pamper them that they will be prevented from growing up until much later than they are meant to grow.
For the Human race to choose the better possible Future, it is necessary that a majority of Humans, especially in the most environmentally exploitive areas (such as the United States and Western Europe), make a whole host of small, individual changes.
-Eat less meat
-Watch less TV
-Get outdoors more often
-Be active
-Think positively
-Spend less
-Travel less
-Buy organic
-Buy fair trade
-Buy local
-Encourage others to do the same!
One individual committed to making even some of these changes can make a huge difference because the way of life I am describing is enjoyable, readily available to you, and others will follow your lead!
In this Future, Humans have used their technology to bless the Earth, not to exploit Her. Human dwellings are comfortable and efficient, yet they rely on much smaller amounts of Energy (now gathered from renewable sources) than ever before. Human waste has ceased to be called "pollution" for it is now disposed of properly in carefully maintained facilities until it bio-degrades naturally. Human activity has become less about work and more about play because the Earth has become more productive and there is wealth in abundance literally growing from the Trees. The land area of Earth is almost exclusively made up of Planetary Parks that are maintained by environmentalists from all over the globe and used by vacationing Humans who relish the clean Rivers and Oceans and Air. Human population is centered in safe, comfortable, clean cities rather than in sprawling suburbs. Since most Humans have very little work to do, and what little they do have is closer to their homes than ever before, Cars and Highways have become nearly obsolete. Most Humans only go so far as their legs can carry them except when they go on Vacation, and since most folks are physically fit, traveling becomes an immensely pleasurable (not to mention inexpensive) activity. Humans wander about in the Woods as freely as the Deer and find delicious, healthy food anywhere they choose to stop: as well as safe and comfortable places to lay their heads.
Humans have finally remembered how to live like Animals. In so doing, they have put themselves once again in a position where they are capable of Evolution. They have stopped being plagued by the diseases caused by couch-potato lifestyles and foods with large amounts of preservatives. They live longer, have more sex, are more spiritual, happier, more peaceful than ever before.
They are still Humans. They still belong to specific Nations and Religions and other groups. But at their core they have all realized the values that will guarantee the survival of the Species. They will never again let their ideological disagreements undermine their Speci-al unity and their resolve to be the Caretakers of the Planet.
Humans must choose this Future, or the Universe will choose a harsher Future for them. In this harsher Future, only the wealthiest Humans will survive the impending waves of famine, drought, disease and disaster that the Environment will endure. Billions of Humans will die out. Those who are left will be ever more isolated from Nature by ever more complex and expensive Machines. Their quality of life will steadily erode until only a few hundred thousand Humans are alive, sequestered in indoor facilities eating synthetic garbage, wielding unexercised limbs, staring at screens with eyes that are growing weaker every generation. Humans will be smart, and they will survive. But they will also be sick. They will be a race of spoiled children who do not grow out of their spiritual immaturity until late in their lives, if at all. This is because their lives will be barely long enough to take them all the way to adulthood in the first place. It is also because their consumptive lifestyles will so pamper them that they will be prevented from growing up until much later than they are meant to grow.
For the Human race to choose the better possible Future, it is necessary that a majority of Humans, especially in the most environmentally exploitive areas (such as the United States and Western Europe), make a whole host of small, individual changes.
-Eat less meat
-Watch less TV
-Get outdoors more often
-Be active
-Think positively
-Spend less
-Travel less
-Buy organic
-Buy fair trade
-Buy local
-Encourage others to do the same!
One individual committed to making even some of these changes can make a huge difference because the way of life I am describing is enjoyable, readily available to you, and others will follow your lead!
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