spirit walker
between the trees
amongst the thistle
with due respect for the small and powerful
mushrooms and moss
under the light of the moon
with friend at side
the silence
and the hoot of an owl
amidst the stillness
we cracked the mini ice ponds
with thrown rocks dislodged from the frozen mud -
Kali at the helm.
last night how I gazed at Mars from my bed
tonight I gazed at her from the forest -
an assuring warmth the red planet so near,
its orbit greater than ours, like a kind, older sibling.
i believe
that cosmic space beings are using Mars
as their operative outpost
for an intervention mission on Earth.
Mars,
and the waterfall at the side of the road
are two of life’s many beautiful things,
its joy
precisely proportional to
the time we take to experience it.
i am no stranger to love,
yet each day brings new blessings
and in my heart I know
that the logging trucks, financial institutions and prison complexes
will dissolve at dawn.
“i believe
that cosmic space beings are using Mars
as their operative outpost
for an intervention mission on Earth.”
you really believe this?
you are wayyyy far gone, my friend
you might as well be from mars the way you are talking!
i wouldn’t mind if i was from mars, actually.
yeah actually i do believe that.
Here you go, Anonymous — the value, validity, and necessity of expanding one’s grasp of reality. It all starts with a conversational reference to a newspaper article about impending massive food price increases in North America:
(2:28:35 AM) Tom: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servle…al/home
(2:28:48 AM) Tom: is it panic time?
(2:31:42 AM) Shiraz: definitely
(2:32:00 AM) Tom: collapse
(2:32:01 AM) Shiraz: the prophecies are coming true
(2:32:17 AM) Tom: the deck of cards is tumblin
(2:32:12 AM) Shiraz: look for the spaceships yo
(2:32:38 AM) Tom: nah man, there
(2:32:47 AM) Tom: ’s no external messiah
(2:33:02 AM) Tom: it come from within, then builds crystalline
(2:33:07 AM) Shiraz: no messiah yo
(2:33:14 AM) Shiraz: external assistance however
(2:34:22 AM) Shiraz: have you researched crop circles at all?
(2:37:06 AM) Tom: no
(2:37:43 AM) Tom: but it disturbs me that intelligent people are looking to external sources for solutions, to be honest
(2:38:33 AM) Shiraz: it disturbs me that there is a great wealth of information dismissed because it is deemed irrational, without any investigation.
(2:39:08 AM) Shiraz: it’s not about giving up power, it’s actually about empowerment.
(2:40:00 AM) Shiraz: a basic scientific analysis begs for greater than human explanation. the data informs the ideology, not the other way around.
(2:40:51 AM) Tom: not so sure about that
(2:41:19 AM) Tom: it seems to me that the need for hope inspires external solutions, non?
(2:41:54 AM) Shiraz: it does, but on the other hand does not explain the sheer magnitude of what’s happening.
(2:43:49 AM) Shiraz: moreover, mythology is as ancient as humankind.
(2:46:28 AM) Shiraz: most significantly i believe in paradigm shift — this entails shifting beyond what we currently know or understand.
(2:47:25 AM) Tom: okay…..but we still need to have clean water and nutritious food, non? I find that as a dad I’ve become way more practical and less esoteric in my politics
(2:47:34 AM) Shiraz: in particular our culture today believes it understands reality much more than it does, and when something falls beyond the realm of what is readily understood, it is written off entirely.
(2:47:44 AM) Shiraz: ahh
(2:47:58 AM) Shiraz: in a few weeks i attend a food security group
(2:47:59 AM) Tom: that’s the jig, yo
(2:48:06 AM) Shiraz: i don’t see the conflict.
(2:48:18 AM) Tom: food prices might be doubling in the next year or two yo
(2:48:25 AM) Shiraz: right
(2:48:36 AM) Shiraz: good reason to look beyond, isn’t it?
(2:48:44 AM) Tom: like, rather than looking to the skies, we need to be looking to our backyards and gardens, that’s what I’m saying bro
(2:48:54 AM) Shiraz: i’m saying, look to the sky
(2:48:58 AM) Shiraz: and work on the ground.
(2:49:08 AM) Shiraz: else you take the ground too seriously… and forget what’s possible.
(2:49:09 AM) Tom: not when you have a 6.5 year old needing food man
(2:49:42 AM) Tom: it becomes less philosophical and more practical
(2:50:18 AM) Shiraz: i have friend with kids yo, friends that are fully engaged in this material.
(2:50:24 AM) Shiraz: that support their kids well.
(2:52:10 AM) Shiraz: i find that the more i become concerned about material well-being, the less in touch i am with the essence of existence. by being in touch with the spirit, material well-being takes shape.
(2:52:40 AM) Shiraz: i’m not saying there’s not a tendency for people to try to escape from material reality through philosophical or spiritual notion…
(2:53:20 AM) Shiraz: but i am saying that people overestimate the actualness or realness of things.
(2:54:08 AM) Shiraz: but anyhow, you’re drunk so i’ll leave you to it….
(2:55:20 AM) Tom: well, my intoxication does not discount what I’m sayin bro, I’m still here 100%
(2:55:38 AM) Shiraz: no i mean do you really feel like talking about this? i thought it would be a drag
(2:56:30 AM) Tom: no, I’m engaged with the conversation
(2:55:58 AM) Tom: I think in a way, it’s a water sign vs. air sign paradigm difference, and that’s cool
(2:56:08 AM) Tom: I respect your visionary role
(2:56:21 AM) Shiraz: yeah i respect you too fo sho
(2:56:50 AM) Shiraz: and i agree the difference is one of perspective more than anything.
(2:58:37 AM) Shiraz: i’m just trying to make a plea with humanity at large to consider the sheer dynamic nature of reality. i mean, it’s not really a philsophy or a pasttime for me. it’s a way of responding to challenge… your concern for your boy is real. my concern for humanity is real.
(2:59:01 AM) Tom: yeah, I can respect that
(2:59:07 AM) Shiraz: at the end of the day, my clients are the Post Carbon Institute — it doesn’t get much more real than that.
(2:59:20 AM) Tom: it’s sorta like workin it at different levels I suppose
(2:59:26 AM) Shiraz: YEAH that’s what i’m saying
(2:59:55 AM) Shiraz: i had a chat with a good friend the other day, and he was also concerned that i was using 2012 as some sort of ideology that could never possibly come true.
(3:00:06 AM) Tom: I mean, it’s scary but exhilirating that capitalism is on the way out
(3:00:14 AM) Shiraz: specifically mentioned the way it can disempower people, because then they don’t take the shit on themselves.
(3:00:25 AM) Tom: yeah, I share that concern
(3:00:38 AM) Shiraz: and i certainly understand that, and it made me reconsider the way i’ve been working it.
(3:01:04 AM) Shiraz: but consider the sheer ecological reality of what’s happening for humanity — population vs. resources.
(3:01:41 AM) Tom: I mean, looking to extra-human sources of salvation frankly divulges us of some responsibility
(3:01:45 AM) Shiraz: there is a natural balance to the forces of light and darkness. a taoist truth to that.
(3:02:04 AM) Tom: the karma is ours to carry, it’s sorta cheap to look for an “out” externally
(3:02:10 AM) Shiraz: i understand what you’re saying, however, one need not be looking for salvation.
(3:02:19 AM) Shiraz: one may be simply looking for inspiration.
(3:02:51 AM) Tom: okayyyy, what does that mean?
(3:02:55 AM) Shiraz: the message in crop circles, for example, for anyone that takes the time to investigate the phenom, is possibly the most inspiring message i’ve found.
(3:03:03 AM) Shiraz: check out these interpretations:
(3:03:11 AM) Shiraz: http://www.cropcircleconnector.com/anas….html
(3:03:39 AM) Shiraz: people write this shit off way too easily, cuz it’s just too crazy to be true.
(3:03:42 AM) Shiraz: and that’s the whole thing.
(3:04:07 AM) Shiraz: as far as i can tell, it *is* true.
(3:05:26 AM) Shiraz: if you start researching about the nodes in the plants and the way the crops are interwoven, and the time it takes these things to appear, hoax theories lose credibility.
(3:05:17 AM) Tom: honestly, at first glance, that website looks completely wacky
(3:05:29 AM) Shiraz: exactly.
(3:05:32 AM) Shiraz: that’s my point.
(3:05:39 AM) Shiraz: it looks so wacky that it CAN’T be true, right?
(3:05:53 AM) Shiraz: the evidence supports the wack.
(3:06:14 AM) Shiraz: now — i understand that one can come up with a thesis, and then come up with data to support that thesis, regardless of what the thesis is.
(3:06:17 AM) Shiraz: i understand that.
(3:06:27 AM) Tom: like, that’s not science
(3:06:41 AM) Shiraz: that’s the amazing thing, man.
(3:06:54 AM) Shiraz: there’s a lot of scientific research done on crop circles.
(3:07:24 AM) Shiraz: and the scientific research not only supports extra-human theories, but also demands for an explanation far greater than hoax.
(3:07:47 AM) Shiraz: the *only* human possibility ends up being high-end military stuff, stuff from satellites.
(3:07:59 AM) Shiraz: but the board and planks theories don’t even come close.
(3:08:18 AM) Shiraz: so for years i thought about the US military satellite thing…
(3:08:44 AM) Shiraz: and ultimately it actually makes more sense to me , it’s literally more plausible to me, that the things are created extra-humanly than humanly.
(3:08:46 AM) Tom: but dude, who cares?
(3:08:55 AM) Shiraz: WHO CARES?!?
(3:09:01 AM) Tom: we need fresh water and non-contaminated food!
(3:09:18 AM) Tom: like, we need to look to the earth, not to the skies
(3:09:31 AM) Shiraz: the evolution of humanity is the very way we address our challenges.
(3:09:47 AM) Shiraz: you can’t address a systemic problem by staying in the system.
(3:10:22 AM) Tom: no, but the solution is not to escape
(3:10:34 AM) Tom: but to face the reality here, on the ground
(3:10:40 AM) Shiraz: the reality, here on the ground…
(3:10:58 AM) Shiraz: is that extra-dimensional intelligences are attempting to communicate with humans that will listen…
(3:11:02 AM) Shiraz: that’s pretty real to me.
(3:11:05 AM) Tom: bullshit
(3:11:15 AM) Shiraz: so you’re saying that these crop cricles are in fact human creations?
(3:11:59 AM) Tom: it’s too wacky for me to invest time into invetigating
(3:12:03 AM) Shiraz: exactly.
(3:12:14 AM) Shiraz: that’s what they said to galileo, yo.
(3:12:52 AM) Tom: that’s bizarre logic, but okay
(3:13:21 AM) Tom: I mean, “they” also said that to people with crazy ideas
(3:12:33 AM) Tom: I’m more concerned with feeding my family and helping these gangsta kids get it together
(3:13:14 AM) Shiraz: you could go to africa and feed people all your life, but the system wouldn’t change that way… not to say there isn’t value in doing that for it’s own sake, but the point is you need to do both.
(3:13:39 AM) Tom: yeah I hear that
(3:14:05 AM) Tom: I mean, I recognize that you’re a visionary and working on the air plane
(3:13:55 AM) Shiraz: so, let me ask you this…
(3:14:02 AM) Shiraz: say you saw a huge UFO hovering over your house, like tomorrow night…
(3:14:18 AM) Shiraz: cuz i actually believe this is going to start happening. hell it’s already happening in mexico.
(3:14:30 AM) Tom: wouldn’t happen, figment of human imagination, but okay…..
(3:14:52 AM) Shiraz: okay, but if it did happen, would you then say that it’s irrelevant?
(3:15:16 AM) Tom: I believe in direct experience, so yeah, theoretically, sure
(3:15:31 AM) Shiraz: you thought i said relevant? okay…
(3:16:04 AM) Shiraz: so, say, i was to take you out to these crop circles, say you had an extra week to spare and i flew you out to them…
(3:16:31 AM) Shiraz: and what you saw you just couldn’t explain… or do you believe you would be able to explain it within the context of human hoax?
(3:16:51 AM) Shiraz: here let me reign in my point…
(3:16:57 AM) Shiraz: crop circles are merely a symbol in our discussion.
(3:17:33 AM) Tom: okay, hold up
(3:18:05 AM) Tom: it’s a *huge* leap to say that because crop circles are beyond current scientific explanation
(3:18:29 AM) Tom: that they are therefore attributable to alien lifeforms, like c’mon brutha!
(3:18:36 AM) Shiraz: no, i disagree with that.
(3:18:43 AM) Tom: is that not a massive leap to make?
(3:18:51 AM) Shiraz: i would say that’s extremely anthropocentric…
(3:19:22 AM) Shiraz: i would say that humans believe they are the most intelligent species, and thus categorically have a hard time comprehending that intelligence would extend beyond us.
(3:19:33 AM) Shiraz: i would say, what do you think humans look like to ants?
(3:19:48 AM) Tom: nah man, it’s anthropocentric to attribute them to extraterrestrial, human-like beings
(3:20:02 AM) Shiraz: who said anything about human-like?
(3:21:21 AM) Shiraz: there’s absolutely no reason to believe that humans are the most intelligence species in the universe. there’s *more* reason to believe we aren’t. and what’s poignant here is that when a species is more intelligent than another, the less intelligent species actually lacks the ability to *perceive* the greater species…
(3:21:27 AM) Tom: okay, like our planet is one of the only in the galaxy that supports “life”, so what are you suggesting, that some life-force, or “consciousness” is able to supercede human understanding?
(3:21:35 AM) Tom: where is the proof for that?
(3:21:41 AM) Shiraz: that’s my point..
(3:21:56 AM) Shiraz: the proof you’re talking about is within the confines of current human conditioning.
(3:22:03 AM) Shiraz: but there’s plenty of evidence…
(3:22:10 AM) Shiraz: and crop circles are just that kind of evidence.
(3:22:16 AM) Tom: I mean, we’re entering into completely speculative territory here
(3:22:44 AM) Tom: like that’s the thing
(3:22:24 AM) Shiraz: hmmmm…
(3:22:42 AM) Shiraz: the whole shared human perspective is a constructed mythology…
(3:23:12 AM) Shiraz: NASA will never find life in outerspace the way they do it, because they’re limiting their definition of life.
(3:23:19 AM) Shiraz: who’s to say the clouds aren’t conscious?
(3:23:23 AM) Tom: of course it’s possible, *anything* is possible, but to speculate about what that might be, to me, is not a good use of our resources
(3:23:54 AM) Shiraz: i’m not speculative as a mere matter of possibility. i’m actually speculating based on what’s available to me.
(3:24:53 AM) Shiraz: the problem is that humans define consciousness anthropcentrically, and thus by definition they cannot understand intelligent life beyond themselves. it doesn’t fit the limited perspective.
(3:25:08 AM) Tom: I mean, if you’re an ant, and inherently can’t comprehend extraterrestrial life, then why invest so much energy into it, when there’s more pressing needs
(3:25:33 AM) Tom: like ensuring that Malcolm has clean water and uncontaminated food, that’s my point
(3:25:23 AM) Shiraz: a moth becomes a butterfly…
(3:25:28 AM) Shiraz: we evolve…
(3:25:43 AM) Shiraz: and an evolutionary LEAP is exactly what’s required right now in our stage of evolution.
(3:26:19 AM) Tom: I mean, there’s the theoretical, and then there’s the practicalities, which you may be a bit isolated from sometimes
(3:26:29 AM) Shiraz: Malcolm will *never* have clean water and uncontaminated food in 20 years from now if we continue with business as usual… we need more fundamental shifts than that.
(3:26:42 AM) Shiraz: fundamental…
(3:26:50 AM) Tom: so……the aliens are going to help us with that?
(3:27:03 AM) Tom: ???
(3:27:18 AM) Tom: ce n’est pas fait du sense
(3:27:10 AM) Shiraz: they would help us, yes, but they certainly wouldn’t do that for us.
(3:27:21 AM) Shiraz: that much was understood long ago by folks that seriously care about this.
(3:27:36 AM) Shiraz: they will help us precisely by reminding us to look beyond.
(3:27:38 AM) Tom: how are you able to access their intentions for humanity, uhh….
(3:27:47 AM) Shiraz: that’s where channellers come in…
(3:27:57 AM) Tom: dude, we have *no* way of knowing that, if they exist, according to your ant logic
(3:28:32 AM) Shiraz: well the point is that we can step up our intelligence
(3:28:43 AM) Shiraz: we can broaden our perspective, deepen our consciousness.
(3:28:58 AM) Shiraz: as can the ants… all animals are evolving in fact.
(3:28:56 AM) Tom: by getting high?
(3:29:05 AM) Shiraz: no, dude that’s not the point
(3:29:10 AM) Shiraz: your skepticism clouds you.
(3:29:27 AM) Tom: incorrect
(3:29:35 AM) Shiraz: then we’ll leave it at that.
(3:29:38 AM) Tom: I am grounded in reality
(3:29:49 AM) Tom: oh, “we” will?
(3:29:54 AM) Shiraz: reality is maleable my friend
(3:30:03 AM) Tom: if you can afford it, yes
(3:30:10 AM) Shiraz: ahhhh
(3:30:11 AM) Shiraz: the crux
(3:30:17 AM) Shiraz: a point of privilege, you say?
(3:30:21 AM) Tom: privilege comes into play, yes
(3:30:32 AM) Shiraz: not like i haven’t thought about this
(3:30:53 AM) Shiraz: the closer to the survival level you are, indeed…
(3:30:58 AM) Shiraz: the realer things feel.
(3:31:01 AM) Tom: yeah
(3:31:04 AM) Shiraz: there’s no doubt about that.
(3:31:25 AM) Shiraz: why does that make the surival level perspective more real?
(3:31:44 AM) Shiraz: for a drug addict on the street, things feel pretty real.
(3:34:03 AM) Tom: a “drug addict” is a totalizing term which dishonours the personhood behind that label
(3:34:25 AM) Shiraz: i apologize for the classist term.
(3:34:38 AM) Shiraz: my point remains.
(3:35:31 AM) Tom: I guess I have faith in the minutuae of everyday human life
(3:35:35 AM) Tom: and the beauty of that
(3:35:52 AM) Tom: the Zen of it, so to speak
(3:35:58 AM) Shiraz: i believe you privelege the perspective of the dispossessed as a matter of political balancing, but that it biases your point of view. i believe this to be a righteous standpoint, but i do think it’s problematic.
(3:36:19 AM) Shiraz: sorry, shouldn’t be using the word “you” there…
(3:37:07 AM) Tom: aiiite
[digression]
(3:53:40 AM) Tom: thanks for the frank discussion
(3:54:01 AM) Tom: ….and your grocery bill is doubling, no matter what ET sez
(3:54:21 AM) Shiraz: wait one thing
(3:54:25 AM) Shiraz: i want to make clear…
(3:54:26 AM) Tom: yeah?
(3:54:36 AM) Shiraz: those grocery bills are tripling, and ET doesn’t say otherwise.
(3:54:58 AM) Shiraz: peace out
(3:57:02 AM) Tom: later
Shiraz: I came upon your sire when I was on a search for the definition of Spirit Walker even though I have a sense of what it is. I did a meditation today at the Unity church in St. Louis as a prelude to a white stone naming ceremony, Throughout the servuce I had been fdumming on a very special drum. The name that came to me to replace the one I had taken last year was ‘Spirit Walker’. As with all gifts, I had not heard it before and last year my name was Esther - courageous love. Now I am not sure what to do with it.
Email be vs a public posting please? Thanks