ETHOS and "Corporatocracy"

 "Corporations are artificial constructions..........you might say they are monsters trying to devour  as much profit as possible at anyone's expense."  Howard Zinn

Recently my computer email was hacked, and "I" spewed thousands of links to all kinds of awful spam to my friends and mailing list.  It's hopefully over, but the sense of violation remains.  And frankly, it's an important lesson - something like that is a perfect example of the violation of the whole world by mindless capitalism.

I think it's pretty clear that we no longer have a true democracy.  What we have is a Corporatocracy.  I recently saw ETHOS,  and was stunned with how concisely and brilliantly the documentary explained the insanity of  "Government for, by, and of the Corporation".  This is one of the most important documentaries  I've ever seen. 

 Download the movie:   https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ethos-the-Movie/115151175221520

Join the debate on Facebook  - the filmmakers welcome comments and questions.

They are developing an e-book to help people make decisions about what companies to support, and also making the next film, ETHOS II.

Last year I blogged about  the history of the U.S. Department of Peace. (or rather why, after 200 some years, we still don't have one).    I was in the streets of San Francisco with 350,000 people in 1970 against the Vietnam war, which supposedly was to "save the world from communist China" (and now, who owns anything that isn't made in China?)......and yet it dragged on for 5 more years.  I marched again in 2003, again with some 300,000 people  against the invasion of Iraq.  Almost ten years later  the U.S. withdraws, and like Vietnam, who can say what it was really for?  Does anyone really believe it was for "freedom"?

"ENDING THE WARS:   I am going to give you a simple example. General Electric is an arms manufacturer. They make weapons for war. They make light bulbs too! They have their hands in so many things. They also own NBC news channel. But let’s stay with weapons for a minute.  If you are a weapons manufacturer you make billions, BILLIONS, of dollars whenever there is a war.  In fact if there is no war you make no money.  So, what we have here is a company that is in a position to support a war, Iraq or Afghanistan for example, on its news channel and then make BILLIONS of dollars if that war happens."

 The film makes it both clear and vital that we practice Voluntary Simplicity in our homes, lives, and what we do with our bodies as well.   The solution to rendering what's left of our democracy, along with the future, over to the soul-less "bottom line" of a global  Corporatocracy  begins in our wallets.

"The minute you change your behavior everything else changes. Our consumer behavior is monitored very closely. As soon as you change the way you consume it will be noticed immediately. Once you have started taking responsibility, getting more than one side of a story instead of just listening to the mainstream media, it becomes very difficult to fool you. Everything will change."

Anima Still Here**, and a Gaian Eulogy

 

I'm pleased to learn that Anima in Reserve, N.M. is still there, and with the fire still just over the horizon, Wolf and family found time to make a eulogy for a friend who died.

There's something very powerful about living like that.

Although I did not know  Gioia Tama, who was a dancer, I  found his words beautiful and wanted to share them.  His Eulogy so much speaks to what I feel, and what I believe ancient peoples felt.......we add to the great Conversation, and return to "the important dark as well as the tribal fire."

"We often hear people say that so-and-so is “gone now”,  an expression partly intended to spare us the difficult vernacular of death, as if avoiding the word could somehow keep the reality at bay.  But, I say, the amazing Gioia has not left for anywhere, she remains evermore a part of the earth she had no desire to leave, ladled back into the anima soup, the vital elements and miraculous energy from which new people – and even new species – are born.  Her cosmology was as eclectic and diverse as any I’ve known, but in every way it was an embrace of the cycles of existence, connection and devotion to the living land.  In her work to contribute to a new culture, she taught the values that nature teaches, in all its wisdom, diversity and splendor.  And when she danced, she danced grounded, with the power of a sentient, ass-kicking planet in every sure flamenco step.  Gioia has not gone, she is here in the important dark as well as in the tribal fire by which we see the path ahead, hear the duende we call mystery, and the eruptions of wildflowers of her beloved Guadalupita homestead. Don’t say “Adios“… always say “Adelante!”

-Jesse Wolf Hardin, Anima Sanctuary, June of 2012

 As I write this morning, I see that Grandmother Spider Woman has sent one of her skilled representatives to leave a message in the window above my desk.  She sits at the very center of a round web made of concentric transparent threads that glisten like a rainbow as the wind causes her creation to vibrate.  Ho, Grandmother Spider Woman!  Thank you!

I've felt a special bond with Jesse Wolf Hardin and family because, like the Web shimmering before me, the friendship demonstrates the mysterious way we're all, truly, connected.

I learned about Jesse's work when I read an article he'd written in Green Egg Magazine in 2000, shortly after I moved to Arizona.  My own article on sacred masks followed his, and the publisher had failed to let me know it had been published, so I found out only by buying a magazine.  I wrote Jesse to congratulate him on his moving article, and to let him know it had been published, just in case his situation was like mine.

That summer was very difficult for me.  I was involved in a kind of love relationship that was very psychic, perhaps karmic,  in its nature, and the situation gave me no opportunity to talk about it, not with the person involved, nor did I have anyone to talk to in my isolation in Tucson.  I was confused, not sure of anything, and self-destructive.  Although Jesse knew nothing whatsoever about me, he began to send me articles he had written about truth, magic, and integrity.  It was as if he knew somehow what I needed to hear  - he sent me a life raft.

The soul connections between us all are stunning sometimes.  Years later I was invited to submit poetry to an e-zine based in Pennsylvania called "The Divine Animal", and the editor  published some of my art and my poetry about Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love.  We exchanged correspondence, and I loved the stories she sent me.  She had lived in Tucson, and when I was doing a cast call for "Restoring the Balance" I wrote and asked her if she knew anyone who was a dancer/ritualist in Tucson.  She did, and that was how I met one of the women who helped "Spider Woman" weave her web during the closing performance!

We lost touch and the magazine ceased publication, but a few years later, I got an email from her that she was moving to New Mexico.  That was Kiva Rose,  one of Jesse's partners!  I so often find myself telling these stories because, well, I see the links sometimes.  I find it so hopeful. 

“What might we see, how might we act, if  we saw the world with a webbed vision? 

The world seen through a web of relationships…as delicate as spider’s silk,

yet strong enough to hang a bridge on.”

Catherine Keller "From a Broken Web" (1989) 

**Whitewater-Baldy Wildfire Now 4 Miles Away

At 420 square miles, the fire continues growing, with its most persistent spread being towards the Northwest… and towards us.  Fortunately the movement is relatively slow, but its westward movement has now positioned it due south of the Anima Sanctuary and only 4 miles away.  It is impossible to know how much of the new burns (shown in red on the map) were deliberately set, but with the rains still 6 weeks or so away, we will continue to be in danger until then.  Dan’l hopes to be able to show up more often now, and with the help of our two WOOF volunteers Mattie and Gina, the water pipes are getting buried, and the huge amounts of hazardous dead brush are being gathered for removal.

Donations to the fire fund have stopped coming in, though not before enabling us to get the last of the pipe and fire hose needed (thank you Dennis, for making the difference!).  It looks like there will not be contributions to pay for foil wrapping for the Gaia and Gifting Lodges, however, and they will burn with the trees if and when this or a future fire sweeps through here.  At the least, our main home/office structures have a very good chance of surviving a conflagration now, and the work for this land, our students and community will be able to continue unabated.

…
Contributions

Thank you to those who have been able to contribute to the protection of the School infrastructure, it would be impossible without the donations last year and now. Contributions accepted for further fire protection needs.  To contribute to the Anima Fire Fund, either send a postal money order in any amount to:

Gretchen Geggis (Loba!)
PO Box 688, Reserve, NM 87830

or make a PayPal instant payment by going to:
 www.PayPal.com
Enter the amount as a personal “gift” and send to: TWHKiva@gmail.com

Update on New Mexico Fire

The folks at  Anima Center in Reserve, N.M. have not been in touch since the 1st, and I have not been able to find out what's going on.  I do know the Mimbres Cliff dwellings have been closed, so I assume the Mimbres community is also endangered. Residents of Mogollon have, however,  been allowed to return to their homes.

You know, the size of this fire is bigger than some European countries.  This really brings climate change home, literally.

To contribute to the Anima Fire Fund, either send a postal money order in any amount to:

Gretchen Geggis (Loba!)
PO Box 688, Reserve, NM 87830

or make a PayPal instant payment by going to:
 www.PayPal.com
Enter the amount as a personal “gift” and send to: TWHKiva@gmail.com

 

Reflections on Visioning

Do you have the patience to wait
till your mud settles and the water is clear?
Can you remain unmoving
till the right action arises by itself?
The master doesn't seek fulfillment.
Not seeking, not expecting,
she is present, and can welcome all things.

 Lao-Tzu

 I've recently discovered a way to publish, inexpensively, my RAINBOW BRIDGE ORACLE cards, and so have given myself the luxury of working on a really nice book to accompany the deck.......this project has been in the works for 20 years, so needless to say, I never really thought it would get published, so this is a surprise.  Going back to these cards is like re-visiting a younger self, trying to  understand her.  I can't say I do.  But I do see that,  the minute I re-engaged with this (for me) ancient project, many colored (rainbow) threads of synchronicity began to weave around me!


The Goddess is all about creativity.  Begin to create, throw in some excitement to flavor the mix, and the universe will nudge you along.  So I entirely believe.

I've created 7 new cards, and am having a hard time writing about them.  I'm actually a visual thinker, and writing is always rather excruciating for me.  So, in the midst of a Bon Mot, wham, a power outage. When that happens, there's nothing to do but take a small vacation, so I went downtown to the studio to sweep the floor, since I'm trying to get it rented.

In walked Kristy, who is doing a series of paintings about the Tarot!  She wanted me to see her new painting in the series, and in the course of visiting her studio, she asked me if I was going to be in a show about Water (we think about water a lot, here in the Southwest).......it seemed I only had two hours left  to bring work to the gallery.

 I  rushed to Raices Teller, where a conversation ensued about my experience last year with the Waters of the World ritual at the Goddess Conference in Glastonbury.   I have a vial of the "holy water"  from the ritual, the White Spring and the Chalice Well.  One of the curators asked  if I had anything I could bring to the show about that experience.

Immediately a distinct vision of a little shrine popped into my head, and now I have two days to make it! 

I brought the "Waters of the World" with me on the plane, carrying the essence of those holy places and the joined waters from around the world to share its beautiful blessing.  Now I find myself thinking about "visioning". To be an artist is to make a career of it, but we are all the artists of our lives, and when we engage the mythic mind, we find ourselves woven into the rainbow threads of many other lives as well.  There's  a thread dangling around me these days, as I honestly don't know what to do with my life anymore..........I'm trying to catch it.......over the rainbow...........

Update on the Anima Center

 

I've so often written about Speaking to the Earth, how this is something we have lost as an unsustainable industrial civilization.  What Jesse Wolf Hardin, Loba, and Kiva Rose do at the Anima Center in New Mexico is to live that way, and their work is so very important.  I'm taking the liberty again of posting from their blog as forest fire continues to threaten the center for the second time in a row.  I know they have many friends, and do this to spread the word.

To contribute to the Anima Fire Fund, either send a postal money order in any amount to:

Gretchen Geggis (Loba!)
PO Box 688, Reserve, NM 87830

or make a PayPal instant payment by going to:
 www.PayPal.com
Enter the amount as a personal “gift” and send to: TWHKiva@gmail.com

  

Whitewater-Baldy Wildfire Updates 
(from Anima Center Blog)

300 sq. Miles and Growing – Largest in Recorded State History
Under 6 Miles Away From Us – But We’re Nearly Sprinkler Ready!

The growing Whitewater Baldy Complex Fire is now over 300 square miles in size, engulfing 250,000 plus acres as of the publishing of this post.  On the map below, its northernmost spur appears to have crept a little closer still to us, though much of the red on the Northwest edge is certainly indicating backfires set to slow the progression.

June 1st Whitewater-Baldy Fire Perimeter, Anima location marked top left

The winds have been largely blowing out of instead of towards the Northeast, resulting in more smoke in the mornings and more worry about the fire’s direction, though they thankfully remain under 20mph.  The perimeter nearest us and the village of Reserve seems secure enough for the time being, but another day of those earlier 50mph winds could easily push the front again our way.

 

The mountain across the river from our cabins, in thick smoke that fortunately moves away by 11A.M. so far. Whitewater-Baldy Fire Photo by Jesse Wolf Hardin

On the list if more fire donations come in, will be expensive protective foil wrap to enclose the two guest cabins.  If not, all that may remain is to get a small trailer outfitted for the pump so that it can be moved easier, and purchase some kind of fuel reservoir so the pump purchased last Summer will run unattended for more hours, pumping water up and to… yes, you guessed it!….

…

Sprinkler Test #1 - Wolf and Rhiannon - Yippee!

Protective Sprinklers!

There is still lots of adjusting, routing and burying of the water pipes to go, but Trail Boss made sure the sprinkler system was ready to spray water on our main buildings.  What you see in the pictures is the excited first test of the system, with everyone (and even Kiva’s camera) getting a bit of a drenching.

…

….

The walls of our rough built structures have a lot of gaps where the water could get in between the walls and cause problems with rot, so Dan’l will close them up as best he can as time permits.  But already, even unadjusted, the sprinklers up the odds that a wildfire doesn’t take out our funky little home and office.

…

Projects Continue

Having the sprinklers working and close to ready means we’ve been able to think about other things besides the fire’s approach, including release of the recent 44 page long TWHC Newsletter, completion of the new 297 (!) page long Plant Healer Magazine… and the readying of The Medicine Bear novel with dear proofreaders’ help, a historically accurate story of not only the Southwest’s people but the land and lifeforms such as are suffering from the megafires today (www.TheMedicineBear.com). The flames, for second year in a row, have added to and rearranged our priorities, but they’ve also kept a fire under our arses so that everything that matters most gets done.  We were determined to be prepared for the fire, and determined that the magazine would be both more amazing than ever and go out on time.

….

As with life itself, there are mornings when it can be hard to see through the smoke and obfuscation... but always, the glow of the cliffs somehow remains visible, as does our purpose, and the work and love ahead.

A Positive Side

Being hounded by record breaking wildfires two Summers in a row can seem like nothing but a repeat nightmare, the destruction of plant and animal, the damage or threat to human homes, and the awful image of this sanctuary being torched after such intense and prolonged efforts to replant, restore and rewild it.  Cottonwoods may or may not burn, but the roots they’ve established in our 33 years of protection will live and sprout again.  The giant Ponderosa pine forest facing us on the east slope is unlikely to regenerate under current climate conditions, but sad as that is, there will be a succession of green life forms brimming with the anima vital force and eager to use this home and opportunity to thrive.

And if this canyon happens to be spared yet again from the flames of a record fire, through the efforts of fire fighters, prayers of friends and supporters or the canyon’s own will and purpose, then we will have the benefit of a protective buffer of already burned or reduced fuel-load land now both the east and west of us… with this river canyon being a rich strip of biodiversity acting as the seed bank and mother roots from which new life will spread.

Gila Wilderness Fire - Anima Center Threatened

 Once again, the fire season is upon the Southwest, and the past few years have seen monster fires unlike anything in previous years. I am very saddened to learn that the Gila Wilderness fire in New Mexico is close to Reserve, where the Anima Center is located. I copy below from Jesse's blog, and urge all friends of Anima and their important work to contribute to the Fire Fund, as well praying that this year, as last, the blaze will bypass their land.

“Largest Wildfire of The Year” Bearing Down On Anima

by Jesse Wolf Hardin on May 25th, 2012

Time to stay calm, do our Plant Healer and conference work, and keep noticing what is wonderful and right. This is the blog post we didn’t want write, but considering the amount of worried emails we have been getting, it is time.  As has been reported on NPR and television news, the officially proclaimed “largest fire of the year in the U.S.” is consuming the rich Ponderosa ecosystem only 20 miles to the south of us… and is fast heading our way.

…

WhitewaterBaldy Fire, looking east from Anima, early May 25

…

For the second time in as many years, the Anima Sanctuary and our homes are threatened by wildfire, this time by what has been named the Whitewater/Baldy Complex Fire due to its being a merging of two separate burns into one.  As of tonight, it is over 100,000 acres in size, covering around 150 square miles.  We’d been spared breathing or even seeing the smoke until Friday the 24th, thanks to the SW winds pushing the column east as much as north, but as of Thursday night the wind direction had shifted to due north and brought the terrifying smoke column close enough to see.  The photos show Friday’s view above our cabin, facing east.

We have reopened the Anima Fire Fund to donations, to help make sure we can get all the materials and labor needed to maximize Anima’s protection.  See Fire Fund details below.

…

WhitewaterBaldy Fire Column above Anima cabin

The New Mexico Department of Health and New Mexico Environment Department today issued a smoke advisory for norther and eastern New Mexico, as a result of our Whitewater/Baldy Complex fire.  One line stood out: “Based on current extreme drought conditions, it is possible that smoke in the region could persist until the monsoon season.” When mentioning smoke, of course, they are inferring that the fire producing that smoke isn’t likely to slow any until the rainy season which could start as late as August… something that the USFS has yet to publicly admit.  The fact that the Forest Service press releases describe the 500-plus firefighters now based here as being “kept on the sidelines” due to terrain and weather conditions, is a pretty clear indication that neither the existing fire management policies nor fire fighting technology and resources are adequate to the task.  After decades of complete suppression and fuel buildup, it is impossible to simply write off a fire as a process of nature, and both when to do control burns and when and how to suppress wildfires needs to be figured out while there is anything left of the drought stricken mountain West.

…

Whitewater-Baldy Fire and Anima Sanctuary

Whitewater Baldy Fire flames as seen from Glenwood, 20 miles south of us, May 25

As always, the winds will be the factor in the speed as well as direction of the fire, and hopefully the 40-plus mile per hour winds of the last few days will at least slow after the weekend.  Following a course towards the Northeast would destroy some wonderful forest but threaten the fewest human abodes.  Whenever it blows due north, the edge of the blaze is being driven straight towards us.

Truthfully, it is hard to imagine that this latest inferno will not have already reached and singed our reforested canyon in the upwards to two months that it could be before the monsoons roll in.

And no matter what the evidence, it is impossible for me not to imagine that this land that gives to so many, might somehow again be spared.

…

WhitewaterBaldy Fire, Late Afternoon May 25

…

THE ANIMA FIRE FUND

Last year’s Anima Fire Fund was suspended even though the protective measure were undone, because the immediate threat from the Arizona fire had ended… in some places only 7 miles from our property’s edge.  Now with all gratitude and humility we are opening it back up for donations.  We would prefer that any help come primarily from folks who can really spare a contribution, so we’re not causing any hardship by accepting the gift.

Project Progress

Monies raised last year paid for the purchase of a high-volume water pump and storage tank, plus wages and much of the needed pipe.  The pump has already been used to fill the water storage tank twice, water which has been used by Loba for the kitchen and washing as well as keeping our few planted beds green.  The main pipe lines have been laid and much of it covered, and the smaller feed lines to the sprinklers are nearly half done, lying in dug ditches awaiting fittings and burial.

Project Needs

To effectively prepare for the possible arrival of the Whitewater/Baldy fire, we will need to be able to invest in:
-3 more high pressure hoses with quick release fittings
-Modification of a small trailer for permanently mounting and easily moving the pump
-Additional pipe and fittings
-Fabrication of an external fuel tank so the pump can power the sprinklers longer, unattended

Any additional monies raised will be used to try and purchase heat-reflective wrap to cover and protect our guest cabins, the Gaia and Gifting Lodges.

This may or may not be the fire that finally gets us, sweeping away the green wildness we have grown.  But even if it does, then with the help of those of you who contributed last year and those who can help now, we may have only bear the expense of protection instead of the cost of replacing school infrastructure, belongings and home. Thank you!

To contribute to the Anima Fire Fund, either send a postal money order in any amount to:

Gretchen Geggis
PO Box 688, Reserve, NM 87830

or make a PayPal instant payment by going to:
www.PayPal.com

Enter the amount as a personal “gift” and send to:

TWHKiva@gmail.com

(Kindly Share)

Henri....An Existentialist Cat

Following in the footsteps of Sartre and Camus......