Continued from previous posts…. These posts are collections of brief notes on society, politics, and nature. I sometimes include a few short personal notes as well.
Jodorowsky & real imitation. The foreword to the current hardcover edition of The Incal mentions the many who have stolen elements from the story or the visuals. Of course, any good artist “steals” but some apparently have lifted whole segments out of The Incal for their own work.
For me, it’s a reminder of different types of imitation. One form of imitation is to steal – or be inspired by – elements of the final product. Another is is to imitate where it came from. To find in ourselves the courage, authenticity, realness, imagination, and so on that brought it into life. That takes longer and is ultimately far more rewarding.
Jodorowsky & shamelessness. On that topic, I admire Alejandro Jodorowsky for the range and diversity of his work (see his Wikpedia article). How did it come about? I imagine a big part of it was shamelessness, in the best sense of the word. He seems to be someone who is real, authentic, courageous, does what he is drawn to, and follows his guidance. Perhaps most importantly, he seems to not be afraid to create and and put it out in the public.
He probably has fears and doubts as we all do, but he has worked through it or does it in spite of these fears and doubts. And many love him for it because it’s what we want for ourselves.
The Incal & dreams. I haven’t read all the books in the Incal series yet, but I get the impression that these stories are like dreams. They are full of archetypes and archetypal processes and dynamics, and they are free-flowing like dreams.
Often, stories that consciously use archetypes and dream symbols feel clinical. They feel thought out more than something that grows more organically out of who and what we are. Jodorowsky seems to be able to allow these stories to grow organically without pruning and guiding them too much by intellectual understanding (although I am sure that’s there too).
February 20, 2020
Confused about a flexible diet. I tend to eat a mostly vegetarian diet, with some meat on special occasions or if someone else makes the food. It’s what makes the most sense to me. I generally feel better on mostly vegetarian diet, and it’s also better for Earth (at least, as long as most meat is factory farmed). And yet, I sometimes encounter people confused by it. You eat vegetarian one day and meat the next?
I understand why since many – at least traditionally in the west – have been committed to one or the other. Meat eaters used to eat meat daily. Vegetarians never ate meat.
Fortunately, it seems that strict ideological eating is more often giving way for a more pragmatic approach these days. I know many of my activities are not good for the planet (flying, wearing synthetic clothing, occasionally using plastic bags, generating waste etc.).
At the same time, I support policy changes (member of the Green Party), I eat mostly vegetarian when I make my own food (and local and organic when available), and so on. (I used to live more consistently in a more sustainable way but that was in locations where it was easier and while I had more energy. These days, I sometimes take the easier choice because I live in Norway, and because of my health situation.)
February 24, 2020
Sleep direction. When I moved into a new space some years ago, my sleep was uneasy and my system felt a bit weird at night. My spiritual coach at the time suggested I turned around so my head was facing north (it was facing south) and it made a huge difference. I could sleep peacefully and didn’t feel weird. I had a similar experience recently, although this time about facing west (uneasy) and east (more calm). I thought I would mention it here in case trying to switch sleep direction is of help to someone reading it.
Clearing the astral body after dreams. With Vortex Healing, we can clear the astral (and mental) body after dreams, and Vortex healers sometimes do it in order to not bring the dream residues into the rest of the day. Occasionally, I do it too. But most of the time I allow the dream to stay with me after waking up. After all, there is food and nutrients in the dreams and staying with it a bit allows me to digest and process and perhaps find insights and useful pointers.
After the most recent Vortex Healing class (I-Point ended a week ago), I have noticed a lot percolating and bubbling up in my mental field. It feels like dream images or old material and I don’t know exactly what it’s about, but it does create a sense of over-active mental field and a mental field pressure. I have used VH to clear the mental body when I notice this bubbling and pressure, and that seems to be useful and – perhaps – appropriate. (After all, I am not aware of what’s bubbling up, and it does impact my daily life if I don’t clear it.) It works fast and well.
Why “shrink”? Why do some people call a therapist “shrink”? And why is there skepticism to therapists among some people? I haven’t investigated the history of this so I don’t know for certain, but I imagine it has something to do with early forms of psychotherapy – and perhaps especially Freudian psychoanalysis.
The word “shrink” probably has to do with people feeling that the wholeness and infinite richness (and inherent innocence) in their experience of themselves is reduced to a label and a theory. The fullness and richness is shrunk down to something much smaller.
And why the skepticism? If that’s what happens, then people are right to have a skeptical attitude. If a therapist has a fundamentally unkind view on humans…. If a therapist reduces the fullness and richness down to a (somewhat harsh, unkind) interpretation….. If their interpretations seems harsh and unkind…. Then they fully deserve skepticism. And I would add: run the other direction.
Ideologies, beliefs, identities as masks. Ideologies, beliefs, and identities are – in many ways – like masks. We see the world through them. We present ourselves to the world through them. And others tend to see us as them. It’s not a problem. It’s a phase of our development. And when we become more aware of what’s happening, we can relate to it more consciously. Completely identified with it all, the masks become rigid structures we try to fit the fluidity of life and ourselves within. More conscious of this, we can allow the fluidity of life a little more freely.
These masks also hide fear. They provide something that seems safe and certain and something we can hold onto. We can tell ourselves we know how the world is and how we are. Of course, we don’t. But it provides the illusion of safety. To the extent we recognize this, we can hold it all more lightly and allow the fluidity of life.
February 29, 2020
Processing through dreams. To me, it seems that dreams is one of the ways the mind processes itself and life. Sometimes, it processed relatively ordinary experiences from the day before. Other times, it processes more deep material. (Of course, the ordinary experiences touches on archetypes and universal dynamics in us as well.)
Early in the night, last night, I woke up briefly and realized I had a dream that consisted entirely (?) of images from a TV series I had seen before going to sleep. (We watched the whole first season of I am not OK with this). This is an example of the mind processing impressions from the day before. I imagine the more archetypal dreams tend to happen later in the night.
Why do we (tend to) remember the dead fondly? One answer is that we don’t, we just chose to emphasize the desirable qualities since they can’t any longer defend themselves. In our culture, we are taught that it’s not nice to say not so nice things about the dead. (Unless they are universally disliked.)
Another aspect is that our love for each other is deeper than temporary annoyances and grievances. We are love and that’s what’s more in the foreground after they are gone. (Along with any trauma associated with them we may carry with us.) When they are gone, our genuine gratitude for them in our life – which has been there all along – may also be easier to notice, for the same reason. (We are love and annoyances and grievances are temporary.)
There is yet another side of this. If we get stuck in one side – seeing only the desirable or undesirable sides of the person and our relationship – we’ll almost certainly suffer. We are not aligned with truth and reality. The remedy here is to intentionally remind ourselves of both sides. To balance the picture. To align ourselves consciously with the reality. (Which is our love and gratitude along with annoyances, unresolved issued, and sometimes even trauma.)
And to find a deep sense of resolution – with someone living or dead – we need to resolve whatever issues and trauma in us we associate with the person. Whatever emotional issues the person was a catalyst for, or mirrored back to us, or reminded us of.
March 4, 2020
Elections don’t matter? Some say that elections don’t matter. I disagree.
We need a deep transformation of all social systems, and elections – as it is today – are not going to bring that about. That’s a given.
But elections matter – especially for some areas of life and some people. Just look at Trump and the increase of bullying and racism following his election (people feel emboldened to live out their bigotry), undoing of protections for nature and people, children separated from their parents, and so on.
Elections are not going to bring about the changes we need. At the same time, elections matter a lot.
Why are elections not going to bring about the deep transformation we need? Because most people are not aware of the systemic changes needed, or they don’t see it as a priority, or they think it’s not possible so they don’t vote for (the very few) parties and candidates who could bring about those changes. Also, the media and most politicians are invested in the current system and it’s not in their interest to rock the boat too much.
Connecting with the fear deeper down. For those of us aware of what’s going on in the world today, the deep systemic changes we need, and that this – as it looks – is not happening anytime soon, it’s important to be honest about our feelings about it. I feel sadness, grief, anger, and – under it all – fear. When I connect with the fear, it feels healing for me. It helps me avoid too much cynicism and getting too caught up in sadness, grief, and anger. (In my experience, sadness, grief, and anger comes when I am unaware of the fear deeper down. It’s a reaction to the fear and and a way to protect myself from the fear.)
Politically extreme? In some ways, I have always been politically extreme. My view is that we need a transformation of all our social systems – economic, transportation, production, energy, education, health care etc. – that is aligned with ecological realities. It doesn’t mean that we need deprivation or anything like that. It just means we need to take ecology into account when we design these systems. And when these systems are in place, what’s ecologically sound is also what’s easy and attractive to do – for individuals and organizations. It’s not impossible at all, or even terribly difficult. But it does require awareness of this need and the will to do it among enough people in society.
In another way, I am not politically extreme at all. I deeply value democracy, although a version of democracy that’s a more real democracy than what we have today. I deeply value all life – human, nature, and future generations. I deeply value even small steps in the right direction – along with work to bring about culture change and a deeper transformation.