thanks for reading this blog. im taking a personal sabbatical from this blog for a while to develop a new project.

the feeling is that there needs to be more guidance on the direction where to go and to illuminate the path, rather than to dwell on the difficulties.

the material you will find in the blog below represent the struggles and traumas with issues in our world, in our work and the difficulties of the seeking of faith and the search for truth.

these are many random ideas that represent the search for questions...and whether we find the answers.


parable:

2 men bump into each other in a forest.

one says - do you know the way out?

the other says - no, but i can tell you where not to go.

The history of middle east conflict led to Israel possessing nuclear arms as a means to the ultimate attacking defence strategy. This initiated an arms race in the middle east amongst many, including Israel's most serious enemy, Iran.

Ahmadinejad uses Israel/Zionism propaganda as a scapegoat for many of Iran's problems, as well as to appease and control the conservative ruling elite of Iran.

hypothetical scenario

1.  israel and iran run test runs in attacking/defending their 'sovereign integrity' (what self imposed leaders believe through their own ineptitude, lack of vision)
2. hamas announces truce. hizbullah offers prisoner swap. to create more positive mood on the ground.
3. syria makes positive noise toward peace talks. Olmert begins to offer large portions of Israeli territory, including shaba farms to lebanon.
4. hamas, hizbullah, syria, iran arm heavily.
5. Olmert is further weakened in the Israeli media through his corruption case. His decision making becomes flawed - needing to court and distract public opinion.
6. Olmert /Barak begin to fray nerves that their enemies might be preparing for a simultaneous attack, a la '67.
6a. The USA is distracted/diverted by intense election frenzy, recession and pre-existing conflicts.
7. Minor war of attrition erupts with Hamas and Hizbullah. Minor skirmishes as distraction.
8. Olmert launches a pre-emptive attack on Iran's missile defences, nuclear sites and air force.
9. Only 40% of the intended attack are successful.
9a. The UN emergency security council slams Israel's unilateral action, isolating the state.
10. Iran launches counter defence methods. Missile attacks reign down on major Israeli cities.
11. Hamas, Hizbullah launch guerilla wars, backed by katyusha missile fire.
12. Israel fighting on multiple fronts.
13. Murder and mayhem cause Fatah to announce war.
14. Jerusalem is seen as the objective in the Arab world. Take Jerusalem and its sites and the world will
have to accept this new symbol.
15. Slaughtering on the streets. Jewish people fighting to save their homes.
16. Doomsday...

REWIND...

Alternative reality...

Israel bravely announces that multilateral middle east peace will begin with a mass conference and petition, that a peaceful middle east is one without nuclear weapons. a complete disarmament of the middle east from WMDs.

Israel negotiates with multiple states on the basis of land for peace.

Jerusalem is formulated as an international "city of peace" with a Jewish run municipality, for the majority of jewish inhabitants plus a higher ruling parliamentary councils containing seats for Jews, Christians and Muslims of all denominations - governing religious sites, tourism, cultural institutions & international events.

Israel draws up a new constitution as a middle eastern european state, a bridge of the world, and as a state for all its citizens, a majority of whom are Jewish and who choose to be Jewish alone.
The right of return is scaled down (originally it was a response to holocaust victims, refugees and now applies less to the current reality).
Zionism is replaced with a more transformative Jewish ethical led approach to politics, ideology and administration, guided by halacha for many groups.

The middle east is a hub of positivity, technology, development and economic prosperity.

part of the power of the ninja comes not from themselves but from the fears of those around them. but another very important source of power comes from the ninja's own shadow. here, rather than giving away the energy if the shadow, it is retained - via accepting their own negative and inferior qualities rather than denying them or pushing them away.
it takes tremendous courage to face our own shadow side, to admit that we have qualities of being that we wish we were free from, to acknowledge our inferior sides. we all want to be strong, powerful and secure not the opposite. however, strength is not gained by ignoring our weaknesses, but by seeking them out, working with them and correcting them.
facing the shadow does, indeed, take courage. it also takes genuine discipline and it certainly does not include repression. however, as difficult as it is to face the shadow, once it has been faced, an interesting thing happens. we see that the shadow side of ourselves is not all negative. from our former, limited ego perspective we only thought it was. indeed , we suddenly find that the shadow also contains energies and characteristics that could be of tremendous benefit to us, only they are often in a form with which we are not entirely comfortable.
the important idea is that values, qualities and energies that are needed by consciousness are in the shadow. and the ninja intuitively knew this. they knew that  to survive they would have to marshall all available sources of inspiration and strength. this included the aggressive strength rejected and thrown into the darkness of the shadow. true, such strength often results in conflicts with morality and is difficult to integrate with more peaceful tendencies, for it is often in an inaccessible form, but it is only salvageable if the shadow is faced and accepted.
ironically, not only does the shadow contain strengths that have been rejected because they are viewed a negative, but it actually contains positive qualities that have never been recognised. but again, these aspects of psyche can never be approached and integrated with the personality if the shadow is refused entry to consciousness. it is only when we begin to realize that the darkness within us deserves to be listened to - indeed, needs to be nurtured and given appropriate expression - that we can begin to approach wholeness.


from 'mind of the ninja; exploring the inner power' kirtland d. peterson

amy winehouse

isnt it just the western dream, of the girl who makes it big and what has the media whipped her into. a gaggling crack addict. is this really who the girl is, or an expression of the state of the world. a self indulgent mind bash. visual stimuli. eye candy. take the young woman and sacrifice her before the eyes of the ogling hoards. lets all watch her die.

fits perfectly with the virgin-mother-whore triad of the western world. this is what its all about. celebrate the talent. go platinum. hangers on. too many shags. blurred with drugs. the company making its profits. some dodgy headline. all press is good press. cart her out before the masses and...

“There's probably no movie more responsible for the birth of the modern horror film than George A. Romero's "Night of the Living Dead". It established the foundation upon which modern horror is built and set the standards by which it is judged.”

Zombie movies basically begin with the wonderful 1932 film White Zombie, starring Bela Lugosi, and found it’s next serious incarnation in the Val Lewton-produced I Walked With A Zombie (1943, directed by Jacques Tourneur). But those first movie zombies were fairly benign, more or less content just to skulk and look scary. You’d never see an early zombie having brunch on someone’s intestines back then, nor was the zombie’s role as a cannibal really even an issue until the advent of the modern zombie.

After the Big One - WWII - and, specifically, the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan, Hollywood (and its bastard child - drive-in cinema) presented audiences with fantasy worlds representing post fallout - exemplified by the nuclear ramifications of wiping out Hiroshima. Of course, this event had devastating implications and the realization was that, even though America dropped the bomb, its effects were relative. We, in the good ol' U.S. of A., were not immune to the possibilities of becoming victims of a nuclear winter.

This paranoia of apocalyptic destruction was fuelled not only by mushroom cloud newsreels but by the movies. Especially movies shown in the heartland of America - at midwestern drive-ins pumping the imaginations of impressionable kids and commie fearing adults everywhere.

As movies moved away from gigantic nuclear fuelled ants ("Them!", 1954), grasshoppers ("Beginning of the End", 1957), and lizards ("The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms", 1953), cinema moved toward a more 'realistic' anti-nuclear stand immersing characters in situations that didn't seem as outrageous as, say, "Godzilla, King of the Monsters" (1956).

In other words, beginning in the mid- '50's ( "Kiss Me Deadly" [1955] ), the characters caught up in apocalyptic situations were written with a strong psychological disenchantment of humanity as opposed to the dated and wooden dissertations spouted by Peter Graves in "The Beginning of the End" hoping to 'save' humanity rather than flee from it.

Franklin J. Schaffner's "Planet of the Apes" (1968) is an interesting comparison to Night of the Living Dead.

Whatever the case, Romero's intent was to emulate the old EC comics of the '50's with "Night of the Living Dead" and many of those comics delved into the deadly effects of nuclear fallout. For Romero, however, the mass zombification of humanity just was. The reasons weren't overt yet, about a quarter into the film, Romero shows a television interview with a scientist who claims that the 'disease' was caused by astronauts who had recently come back to Earth from a lengthy space trip.

The excuse is as feasible (or feeble) as any other for the spread of some bizarre virus. Whether its nuclear fallout or space spores ("Invasion of the Body Snatchers", 1978), sexual infection ("Shivers", 1975) or infected skin grafts ("Rabid", 1977), the results are all the same - the rise of a marauding race of bloodsuckers and flesh eaters.

The ramifications of "Night of the Living Dead" are far more gruesome than those of any of the '50's paranoid reactions to fallout. Romero has stated that his film is, in fact, a parable. That it represents the fate of mankind, that man is terrified of himself and that to destroy another human being is a potent way of destroying yourself. Its a narcissistic viewpoint but one filled with self-loathing. Romero ups the anti-humanitarian ante and throws an addiction to mass consumerism into the zombie mash in his 1979 "Night" sequel, "Dawn of the Dead". 

“Romero somehow manages to remind us that the zombies that are slowly gathering around the house are still out there even when not explicitly showing them to us. Somehow, on his tiny budget, he manages to create a convincing world where the things that lie off screen are still threatening. He warps our collective fear of the dark into a dread that what we can’t see might be worse than we can imagine. Even though the house’s inhabitants are successful in beating back one wave of the undead, we’re left uneasy because we know that more will soon replace them. “

“Light. Night. A small grey room, a pale grey, the colour of a herring gull’s wings. Eternal limbo, at least eventless, tolerably nothing. If it had not been for the two women staring down.

Obscurely reproached by the closer and more requiring face, it made another unwilling deduction: for some reason it was a centre of attention, an I of sorts. The face smiled, descended, with a mixture of the solicitous and the sceptical, concern tainted with a perhaps involuntary suspicion of malingering.

‘Darling?’

With another painfully swift and reducing intuition it realized it was not just an I, but a male I. That must be where the inrushing sense of belowness, impotence, foolishness came from. It, I, it must be he, watched the mouth glide down like a parachutist and land on his forehead. Touch and scent, this could not be film or dream. Now the face hovered over his. Whispered words issues from the red orifice.

‘Darling, you know who I am?’

He stared.

‘I’m Claire.’

Not at all clear.

Your wife, darling, Remember?’

‘Wife?’

The most strangely alarming yet: to know one has spoken, but only by the proximity of the source of the sound. The brown eyes hinted at appalling depths of conjugal betrayal. He tried to attach word to person, person to self; failed; and finally shifted his eyes to the younger and more distant woman on the other side of the bed – who smiled as well, but professionally and indifferently. This person, hands in pockets, trimly observant, wore a white medical coat. Now her mouth also gave birth to words.

‘Can you tell me your name?’

Of course. Name! No name. Nothing. No past, no whence or when. The abyss perceived, and almost simultaneously, its irremediability. He strained desperately, a falling man, but whatever he was trying to reach or grasp was not there. He clung to the white-coated woman’s eyes, abruptly and intensely frightened. She came a step or two closer.

‘I’m a doctor. This is your wife. Please look at her. Do you remember her? Do you remember having seen her before? Anything about her?

Genesis 11

The Tower of Babel

 1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As men moved eastward, ^[a^] they found a plain in Shinar ^[b^] and settled there.

 3 They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."

 5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. 6 The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."

 8 So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel ^[c^] —because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

THE ROOTS OF BABYLON 

Babylon is an important Rastafarian term, referring to human government and institutions that are seen as in rebellion against the rule of JAH (Zion), beginning with the Tower of Babel. It is further used by some to mean specifically the 'polytricksters' who have been oppressing the black race for centuries through economic and physical slavery. Rastafari is defiance of Babylon, sometimes also called Rome — in part because of the 1935 Italian invasion of Ethiopia, then ruled by Rastafari's 'Living God,' Haile Selassie I, and partly because as the head of the Roman Catholic church the Pope is considered an opponent of Selassie I and Rastafari. Babylon the Great and Whore of Babylon are apocalyptic terms from the book of Revelation that may have been used to describe the pagan Roman Empire, which often persecuted Christianity. Babylon is also sometimes used by some Rastas with the more specific meaning of "police", insofar as they are seen as executive agents of Babylon's will.

The concept of Babylon plays a central role in Rastafarian Ideology: There is only one other word Rastafarians use with more frequency and passion, and that is the name of their Majestic Ruler, Haile Selassie. People who have even a mild interest in reggae understand what"Babylon"means, yet the roots of the word"Babylon"remain unknown to the masses. To gain a better understanding of this term, it is necessary know the full history of Babylon, which starts 6000 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia.

The popular use of the word"Babylon"can be difinitively traced to Marcus Garvey's teachings, which liken the Afro-Caribs in the West to the Jews Exile into Babylon. The institution of slavery created tremendous suffering for those that were enslavedin both of these cases. Many people in Jamiaca are still suffering, due to the successor of slavery, which is racism and poverty. The Bible contains many stories of slavery that describe the hardship that was endured in ancient times, as well as the eventual emancipation from the hardship. Rastas have found much applicable meaning from within the Bible, and it is only natural that they identify with the Jews in Babylon, who faced much of the same obstacles that they themselves face. By labeling the source of their own oppression as"Babylon", the Rastas shed more light on the fact that opression is in fact taking place. This definitive name gives the oppression that they face a center, or a heart, which can be targeted easier. Instead of saying"Injustice must fall","Poverty must be alleviated", or"Jamaican legislation must represent its people", a Rasta need only say"Babylon must fall". When this centralized, encompassing word is used, it provides the Rasta with a target to be passionately against, and increases his sense of unity with his people.

The word Babylon is by no means an arbritary word that is used to describe oppression. Babylon was one of the first power structured cities to ever stand on Earth. It is quite clear that there is much to be learned about this mythical city that will help us to better understand the modern"Babylon system". I believe that the modern definition of Babylon describes a type of mentality that is common to all the institutions that are labeled as being"Babylon". However, the essence of what this midframe is can be most closely encountered through the study of the real Babylon as it grew, prospered and fell thousands of years ago.

In a valley in the dry desert region of the world that is now Iran, Babylon not only grew to a formiddable size, but also thrived, even amidst many changing factors. Babylonia was located between two rivers- the Euphrates, and the Tigris (hence the rivers of Babylon). Through simple irrigation, the Sumerian people of the desert were able to make use of the otherwise desolate land for some basic agriculture. Agriculture proved to be succesful, but the Sumerians desired more than just sustenance. Trade with other peoples became a very strong influence in the development of the city. To trade with foreign peoples was a very difficult and dangerous task. As a general rule, the larger the trading caravan was, the safer it was. This tendency is one of the factors that promoted the growth of villages into cities. The resources and securities of a large and centralizated population were viewed as desirable. The first people in the area were the Sumerians, who had been living in bands. These Sumerian people developed the first Monarchy to ever exist, along with the first written language (Cuneiform). A complicated legal system, religion, and culture subsequently developed under the monarchy. Their first City States formed between 4000 and 3000 BC. These City-States went through various stages of conflict and collaboration. But within the next hundred years, a people called Akkadians migrated up the Arabian penisula. The Akkadian people battled the Sumerian peoples, and eventually they controlled all the City-States. This forceful take-over is particularly interesting, because of the high degree of Sumerian influence that remained after they were conquered. The Sumerian Cities were taken by the Akkadians, yet the Akkadians ended up absorbing much of the Sumerian culture, laws, and religion, and letting go of their own culture. It has been theorized that this was the case because the Sumerian peoples system of operating a city was effective, and much of its culture was complimentary to the oprations of the city.

The original"Babylon system"is exposed to us as something was somewhat self-perpetuating. These bold new cities in Babylon couldn't possibly function without Beaurocracy. Beaurocracy was a new concept. In order to the feed the city people who worked, but didn't produce their own food, there needed to be middle men. These middle men had the task of figuring out the ammount of food that needed to be grown, etc. And this is where written records became of high importance. The writing style began as heiolyphic-like pictures, and quickly evolved into cunieform- a letter system consisting of wedge shaped scrapes. This new field that emerged; the field of record keeping and beaurocracy, can be considered to be the most influential role in creating what we call the"Babylon Mentality". The Babylonians saw this element of calcuting and coputing as a most important pursuit, and it quickly became a predominant mentality in the cities_. The Babylonians avidly pursued facts, numbers, measurements, workings, etc. They developed a complicated astrologocal charts, and detailed anatomony charts through observation.

"For these observers, whose knowledge was deeply rooted in primitive ideas, the heavenly bodies which they studied over the centuries were living gods, whose ordered movements in space, correctly interpreted, could be used as a guide in the daily activity of men."(Babylon-The old Babylonian era)

The Babylonians were solely concerned with the material aspect of living, and the way that they practiced religion mirrors this tendency. The first records of any written language are traced back to about 5000 BC in Mesopotamia. This language was originally used for accounting purposes and continued to develop throughout the era in which Babylon stood. The scientific, logical mentality that governed their lives, extended into, as well as received from, their religion. They were, in fact, a very religious and superstitous people, but the deities they believed in had concrete ties to the realm of physicality. Babylonian people believed in Polytheism. To believe in multiple Gods seems slightly absurd to the modern person. However, the effect it had on its people is similar to the increasingly popular modern religion known as Atheism. It becomes apparent how the"Babylon Mentality"of the modern Rastafarian vocabulary has a truthful synonomity with the Ancient Babylon's way of thinking.

It is important to look at the context in which the kingdom of Babylon stood in order to better understand what it stands for and what its final outcome was. The era surrounding about 1600 BC serves as a good point by which the different Empires of the past can be understood in relation to eachother. Many other great Narions grew powerful soon after Babylon did. In the 1600's BC:

-Babylon was already large and powerful nation, under King Hamurabi's rule

-The Mycennean (Greek) Empire was growing to significant power.

-Rome did not yet exist, nor did the Mesoamerican civilizations (such as the Mayans)

-Ancient Egypt was at that the beginning of its great empire, already with Pharoahs, pyramids, and hyroglyphics.

-It was at this time that the Jews wandered from their homeland to Egypt due to famine, and were taken by the Egyptians as slaves.

Egypt has a particular relevence to the topic of Babylon. The Biblical book of Exodus is written almost solely about the Jewish enslavement in Egypt. For this reason, Egypt can be looked upon as another"Babylon". The most obvious difference between Egyptian opression and Babylon oppresion is the fact that the Jewish people came to Egypt on their own accord, but in the Babylonian scenario, the Jews were captured and brought into slavery. Looking at both cases, it becomes apparent that ancient Egypt was just as oppressive as the ancient Babylon. However, there is one quality that makes Babylon different from this other great nation that like Babylon, rose, prospered, and fell. Babylon valued the pursuit of knowledge of the world, where the subjective perception of the individual is secondary. This mentality promotes the creatrion of efficiency and innovation. Also, this non-acknowledgement of the self can in fact create a superficially unified (but unified non-the-less) people. City life creates changes in the way that its residents think, and view themselves. This is the same tendency that is later seen in Mycennean culture, as well as Roman culture.

The term Babylon is used in Rasta terms with much negative connotations. It is something that they are radically opposed to. Corruption, politics, police, laws, and cities are often reffered to as"Babylon". Although it is possible to see these mechanisms as having qualities that are detrimental to the well-being of any society, there are elements of oppresion that take shape through these various creations of civilization. These mechanisms were created out of necessity, else civilization would fall apart. (Note: It is quite possible that there are benefits of living in more natural, smaller bands of people, but we will assume that in the Mesopotamian era, people valued the security and various facilities of city life.) There are oppressive aspects of police, politics and laws that cause them to be labeled as Babylon, although it is not true to say that these insitutions where created with the intent of harm. The harm that is brought about stems from the institution's ignorance or insesitivity to the suffering that is created. Ignorance and insensivity are not always syncronous with evil and malice- many times they are the necessary first steps to wisdom and higher intuition. However, it is not my intention to defend these mechanisms of civilization, because it can be argued that these institutions are still oppressive, 4000 years later.

The materialistic nature of Ancient Babylon provides us with sharp contrasting element to the Rastafarian Ideology. Rastafarian religion places high value on the natural world as something that should be lived in harmony with, but not controlled. The Rastafarians believe that they should live their life as Jah intends is to be lived. The emphasis here is on the personal, subjective understanding of one's purpose in life. The ancient Babylon mentality that is prevalent today, has many contrary elements to Rastafarian ideology. For example, modern society values its members according to their wealth, and ability to work in a"professional"setting. The Babylon mentality sees daily life as serving a utility, but does not place importance on the experiential and mystical elements of living.

Babylon is an important Rastafarian term, referring to the white patriarchy that has been oppressing the black race for centuries through economic and physical slavery. Rastafarianism is defiance of Babylon. 
I and I is a complex term, referring to the oneness of Jah (God) and every human. Rastafarian scholar E. E. Cashmore: "I and I is an expression to totalize the concept of oneness, the oneness of two persons. So God is within all of us and we're one people in fact. I and I means that God is in all men. The bond of Ras Tafari is the bond of God, of man. But man itself needs a head and the head of man is His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia." The term is often used in place of "you and I" or "we" among Rastafarians, implying that both persons are united under the love of Jah.

Egyptian Masters say the Soul is a Living Star
Bring the Living Star into the dark and
Illumination will transmute the dark.
This is the simple truth. This is Real Magic.

What if we were all versed in this simple
Intention—
This Simple Truth—
To turn trash into Treasure—
On this beautiful planet
Upon which we all
Live and breathe
And have our Being.
This is Real Magic of course.

When fission hits you, there is nothing quite like it man.

It strikes, I mean – it really strikes, completely unexpected and like a huge scorpion tail – locking back and whipping out, whipping you into a wild and uncontrollable spin.

Cutting through the air, I plunge into a deep cool pool, so deep that at first one thrashes around like cat in a thorn bush – the fear strikes and the pain is intense.

A gut wrenching pain, a pain so deep that it screams at past ancestors.

Everything comes together for that one moment and there – with such clarity, one can see, really seeing – without seeing but seeing with a feeling of knowing and hearing the cries of it all.

It is frightening and it strikes deep at the emotions but one cannot extricate oneself from the inevitability of it all. One yearns for this experience above all else, even if it is unlike anything known before.

There it can be seen – in its purist glory, its entirety, its unity. It is so massive and deep. I am speechless from its magnitude. My tongue is ripped from my mouth. I stand there dumb and shivering, an insignificant spectator.

There I can feel the heat of it on my face, it drives me into a crazy obsession – I question everything – myself, my life, my faults.

I feel all the pain there ever is and it stabs me again and again and again.

Sparks fly and fire flashes, I continue to spin a frenzy and I lay awake all night long - just thinking and being. I feel such pain -  the disattachment, the severance and cries to be re-engaged. There is sobbing all around me of the lost ones.

I heard their screams, intruding upon a party where I am not invited – and they look at me with confusion – I do not belong.

I am back, sitting alone, deep in my thoughts or my thoughts deep in me. I am still trembling now from the journey – where a mere tiny sliver opened itself up and bared all. 

‘Well, you wanted to see…here you go!’

I am left whimpering in the corner.

Eventually, things subside. I can look with fresh eyes, I can rationalize and I can objectify. I can remove and rub out the experience – and I am sad, that these are so rare and so fleeting but they leave such footprints. We have to move on, I wish I could stay but we have to move on. As a result, we humanize it - and lose what it was all about.

But they are all worth it. I loved it. Even through the pain I can see what it was, a tremendous gift – a personal enlightenment.

And I return to the audience, from leaving my part on the center stage.

in the hebrew tradition, one thing that is never spoken about is the mind. the bible only describes specific actions, events and visions. jacobs inner poetic love for rachel is not described, he just demonstrates it through accessing superhuman energy and pushing the rock off the well. we never get the inner psychology of the characters, this gives the interpreters a field day in discussing the inner reasoning of the biblical personalities. it is indeed part of the mysterious beauty of the bible.

rarely we get a slim mention, such as pharoah hardening his heart. firstly he wasnt a hebrew. and then the info is so limited that the commentaries go to town on the meaning.

on the other hand, greek literature and narrative is full of passionate excitement describing the inner world of the characters - their human foibles. weaknesses, jealousy, lust. the interplay of the gods is a complex web of intrigue. this inner world is the underworld. and is an essential part of greek folklore. through semitic eyes, it is a perversion from truth. the jewish heroes are straight, tam simple, clean. but the greek world is full of irony, complexity and contradiction. orpheus, the poet, enters the underworld to find dead eurydice alive. its the forbidden twisted world that is loved by the greeks, that is the animus for their art. and jean cocteaus filmic interpretation of this linked it to a homoerotic fantasy.

this world and its continued spiritual prevalence, is the world of lies, the world of edom/babylon/exile that needs to be seen through to find the completion of homeland/zion. as picasso says - art lies to reveal truth.

when the jewish characters do have to fight, it is very much a fight with the fragmented distorting energy of the underworld. this is where truth is threatened by overdosing on reality, the golden calf, multiple gods, decadence, human sacrifice. keep it simple, keep it real. say no. dont give in. its the straight down the line energy that makes the tzaddik true. its hard to be simple in life.

traditional normative judaism never speaks of inner psychology. you dont get frum jews on jeremy kyle speaking about their battle for their mental state. its seen as explicit, immodest and a cheapening of the human condition. this is the underworld and you dont chat about it. you dont get decent jewish art. because jewey jewish art is made by happy people and westernised artists need to have sold off their soul in a faustian pact. happiness is found through practical dedication to God. completion & unity. ritual is all one needs. obviously this can get out of hand when one sees the ways taboos can be treated in the orthodox world, where guilt, anxiety and paranoia emerge. but again these are signposts to the underworld and must be avoided. 

freud of course was the ultimate heretic. he sensualised or fetishized human psychosis. even trying to do so for the jewish tradition in his text moses and monotheism. he suggested that human experience was built on repression, infantile psychosis and neuroticism.

he was the ultimate heretic but also the ultimate postmodern jew. an orthodox woody allen.

what he gets at is near to the truth. the law being the law can only be given to give a mask to reality. to crystallize it, to make sense of it. nature is blind, seemingly chaotic. the greeks believed in the random futility of existence, their theatre being forever tragedy. but the jewish experience was to make order of chaos, to focus and harness the wild beast of creation. 

for the law to have meaning there must be wildness. hassidut speaks of making oneself a desert. not a fat trifle to stuff your face but to make oneself hefke - ownerless/disconnected - in order to accept the torah. maybe this is the secret to hassidic wedding dances. the torah was given in the desert, in the complete wildness once the polytheistic egyptian system had been destroyed by the plagues.

torah law is an inbuilt magical system to protect oneself from the blind and relentless forces of the dark. its the antidote to this. to make sense of the chaos.

one custom lost to jewish tradition was the almost shamanic dance of death performed at weddings in the ashkenazi world. the irony of a death dance at a wedding, the supreme symbol of life, is a powerful omen to the finitude of existence but also the inversion of the jewish experience.

to really know the law, to know obligation, to know the word 'no' the true human experience may only arrive at its fullest civilised enlightened understanding when it has exhausted its feral streak - the freudian thanatos death drive. judaism only emerged when pagan society had nearly destroyed itself through human sacrifice. this is an unfortunate lesson for humanity. because essentially the wisdom of creation contains the inner logic of the law. morality is divine will. it can be deciphered via inner logic. knowing via intuition what is right is a gift of inner sight. inner sight being the yetzer hora/yetzer tov. the law is as innate as breathing. 

but humanity being humanity may only learn through transgression. or through the mad dance of the mask wearer.

Fire has been afforded spiritual qualities since pre-historical

times, and most myths and traditions, both eastern and western, recognize

some element of the sacred in fire.

The myth of Prometheus, stealing it to human beings (Greek tradition), is

well-known: the Greeks equated the gift of fire with the gift of culture.

The discovery and use of fire is charted, whether literally or

metaphorically, on the walls of many caves by prehistoric humans. As the

ability to control fire elevated these primitive ancestors above the

animals, it was endowed with sacred qualities.

One of the earliest Hindu deities, Agni, dates from the Vedic period.

He is the fire-god, and Hindu-Vedic traditionalists still perform dail

y Agni-Puja, or worship to Agni to this day. As the son of Dyaus (*heaven*)

and Prthivi (*earth*), he is accorded the place of the *first* god. Agni

is older brother to Indra, ruler of this realm, and guardian of the earth.

Fire is associated with erotic love and sexual desire in many ancient

traditions of both east and west.

Tantric texts call fire the origin and the end of all phenomena. Modern

cosmologists have theorized about 'fire' as the main element at the

moment of the creation and the destruction of every star.

With the advent of Christianity, many ancient traditions of sacred fire

were suppressed; with the advent of modern science, fire became replaced

by electric energy. People who are lucky enough to have homes with

fireplaces perhaps recall, on a Jungian archetypal level, the holiness of

fire--lovers often curl up in front of an open fire; everyone enjoys being

warmed by the heat and light of a fireplace or campfire. Fire has long

been a source of inspiration for Yogis, Yoginis, artists, poets, lovers,

and mystics of all stripes. 

Eastern traditions hold that there are two fires: inner and outer, and that

both are sacred. The meaning behind the symbolic depiction of Agni as

two-headed is that he is Lord of both inner and outer fire. His vehicle

is the ram, which would seem to have astrological as well as other

interesting significances. The inner fire is the vital principle that,

when stimulated by Pranayama, scientific breathing techniques, blazes up to consume the impurities

of mind/body/ spirit. The inner fire, drawn upward from the solar

plexus/power chakra, can be stored in the heart chakra, inflaming the

emotions, blending erotic and transcendental love; when drawn into the

forehead or third-eye chakra, it manifests as clarity and delight, and

enables flashes of intuitive, non-physical 'seeing.' When drawn downward,

into the root and male/female chakras, the inner fire manifests as

awakened Kundalini, who flashes up the spine like lightning: liquid

fire, hot and cold at once. The main place of the inner fire, of course,

is the solar plexus/power chakra, from which it blazes up to unite the

solar energy with the down-flowing lunar energy, travelling through the

physical and Subtle bodies, empowering consciousness and transcendence.

Fire is a potent meditative tool. If you do not have access to a fireplace,

or it's impractical for you to build a fire on the beach or elsewhere,

the flame of a candle can be used. The care and consideration in handling

purely physical fire should be given to the transcendental aspect of fire

as well. Meditate upon fire as an actual being, as a teacher or guru to

the Self. Priests and Yogis in India to this day offer sacrifices of food

to the fire, even offering part of each meal before it is tasted.

Look at the fire, try to merge with it. Focus your attention on the

dancing flames, their patterns. If a candle is being used, focus the

eyes and the mind on its small flame, 'seeing' it grow and leap ever

higher. Meditate on the power chakra, 'see' the sun within the Subtle

Body burn all physical impurities and bodily problems, mental doubt and

confusion, and psychic obstacles. Fill your entire body, physical and

Subtle, with the sacred flame, become one with it. The seed-syllable

RANG is the Mantra of fire. Repeat it aloud or silently, after watching

the fire for some time. When the solar rays of the inner fire are drawn

into the third-eye chakra, visions of spiritual realms are attained.

Two people…stand alone

Naked through their innocence

Staring into a mirror

Their eyes know

The spark of dreams

And their arms entwined to infinity.

Nothing moves between them,

Their hold is bound tight.

No noise…no sound

And their fire rages

The flames licking their souls.

But it all pours out…

Out of control.

Too young to understand,

Life’s lessons and mysteries.

They are thrown into a nothing,

Punishing and hurting

Questions missing answers

All solutions negated.

So many voices…

Whispering and confusing.

The simplicity of the selves is cracked,

The mirror smashed to tiny pieces.

The fragments muddle,

Scattered into far corners.

Distant flickers of the real,

Fading into darkness…

Suppressed and hidden.

Flashes of a once bright orb,

The synergy of two young forces…

Slowly begin to dim.

Do we do things through intention?

Or does Another guide us?

The power of instinct…

It is never wrong

But can never be heard, known or spoken.

There is silence…

A death or a life renewed?

Time ticks

Sculpted over memory

Move on move on

To think is to be 

To be is to hurt

The only way 

Is to turn away

Then…they meet again

Covered in scars

And a something still lingers

Halting any ending.

Because through the tangled web,

The mirror still glistens…

A few edges catching a ray

That illuminates our cowering souls.

For however much we try

We never fully understand…

The Real…

Like a splinter

Still digging deep inside.

We deny and scream

At the cusp of our lungs

At the absolute unknowable

But where do we shout?

When the answer lies within

For however deep we bury them

They always float to the surface.

GENESIS 6: 1-2

‘And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth,

And daughters were born unto them,

That the sons of God

Saw

The daughters of men

That they were fair (good)

And they took them wives

Whomsoever they chose’

‘young people of the opposite sex…grow accustomed to attend to different objects and to make comparisons; imperceptibly they acquire ideas of merit and of beauty which produce sentiments of preference. The more they see one another, the less they can do without seeing one another still more. A tender and sweet sentiment steals into the soul and at the least obstacle becomes an impetuous frenzy; jealousy awakens with love; discord triumphs, and the gentlest of all passions receives sacrifices of human blood.’ 

Rousseau