What an excellent point, Joy. I've also said that God is a verb, although perhaps as the ultimate reality, God is the ultimate noun--what actually is, whatever that is.
Gan also wrote the same thing, Joy, on my YT: "Love is a verb. It's something you do. Whatever you give attention to, protect and cherish."
I replied: "Someone on my Substack just said the same, and I agreed. Yet attention is finite and I guard mine pretty closely. I certainly agree with your principle, which was the point of To Love Me is To Know Me. Attention is the medium of personal love, and I wish we had more words to describe the most important relationship rather than one word for intimate life partners, children, and strangers you'll never meet.
"But I was also trying to puzzle out what I could give freely, without reserve, to everyone. Rather than taking responsibility for others, as I do with my daughters (although less and less), I've found that releasing myself from that responsibility allows me to release judgment. I can wish the homeless person well and not project how miserable I would be in their position. I can wish both the Palestinians and Israelis well, which means an end to the cycle of abuse. I can even wish the oligarchs well, which means taking away their power to do harm. That's what I'd want, deep down, if I was in their role. Does that make sense?"
Haha, hope you've had your coffee kick in by now ;-)
To keep puzzling this out, if Love is action then the concept of loving everyone is nonsense. Love under that definition requires a great deal of judgment and discernment. In that sense, it is a 'barter-gain'--I'm spending my finite time and energy, and perhaps resources aka money, on you and I need to determine if that will be a good or bad 'deal' before I get into it. When I give up what's finite, there's less for me the more I give up to you. I have to be choosy.
If I take away the requirement for action, I also take away the need for judgment. In my second reply to Joy, I reposted my reply to Gan on YT who also said Love is a verb. But can it be a passive state of mind? There are certainly roles in my life, most notably as a parent, that take on obligations for action. Even then, though, I found the less responsibility I took for meeting their needs, the more reciprocal our relationships became. It seemed like putting the obligation to meet others' needs was a deterrent to seeing them without judgment. I could see behaviors as thwarting themselves but not a reflection on me.
Oh yes, I get your philosophical larger question. I was keeping it in the romantic realm mostly thinking about guys who say they love you and don't act like it at all. Or even in the larger sense of loving God in your soul but committing violence on others. And in between, other love relationships like a parent child one...some parents say they love their children yet hit them. (My mother) That kind of action made me question her love. But I don't pretend to be an expert on any kind of love, believe me!!! 🤣 And I do think there are many forms. I love my dog. But it's not the same as the love I feel for my husband. I guess the coffee got me going. 🤣
Haha! My middle daughter just sent a note asking, "Who put money on me having the first grandchild?" with a photo of an adorable beagle puppy. We'll see how that goes.
I've found the concept useful of people 'loving as best as they can.' There's a psychologist I like on vulnerability who says that women who recognize this about abusive partners, and stop blaming them, are more likely to leave because they realize he'll never change. He's already trying.
I have a complex theory about abusive moms. I think that, deep down, they feel they don't deserve their children's love and so they make their fears true in a way they can subconsciously rationalize--it's not that they rejected them, they drove them away. But other than growing up in an era when spanking was the norm, it's not something I know anything about.
I suspect hers is also a hybrid. Her housemate is fostering the sister for a week so they don't get lonely, which sounds like an SPCA arrangement. They're very cute snuggled together.
Needs more than one reading to comprehend. In my second reading, it brought to mind a quote of German philosopher Walter Schubart (1897 - 1942):
Western European man views life as a slave whose neck he has stepped on... He does not look with devotion at the sky, but, full of lust for power, looks down at the earth with evil, hostile eyes. Russian people are obsessed not with the will to power, but with a feeling of reconciliation and love. He is filled not with anger and hatred, but with the deepest trust in the essence of the world. He sees in man not an enemy, but a brother.” An Englishman wants to see the world as a factory, a Frenchman as a salon, a German as a barracks, a Russian as a church. The Englishman wants loot, the Frenchman wants glory, the German wants power, the Russian wants sacrifice. The Englishman wants to profit from his neighbor, the Frenchman wants to impress his neighbor, the German wants to command his neighbor, but the Russian doesn’t want anything from him. He does not want to turn his neighbor into his means. This is the brotherhood of the Russian heart and the Russian idea. And this is the Gospel of the future. The Russian all-man is the bearer of a new solidarity. Promethean man is already doomed to death. The era of John's man is coming - a man of love and freedom. This is the future of the Russian people. The West is driven by unbelief, fear and selfishness; The Russian soul is driven by faith, peace and brotherhood. That is why the future belongs to Russia…”
Thank you, Fadi, and for sticking with me when I switched topics. I often gain readers on one topic and then lose them on the next--particularly because I tend to take a feminine approach to masculine topics like economics, religion and history, and a masculine analytical approach to feminine topics like love, parenting and mysticism, to name a few ;-)
That's a very intriguing quote. My belief is that all people are inherently good and, when they behave badly, systems and stories are to blame. Certainly people aren't genetically pre-disposed to different character traits--those are the results of differing systems of governance and economics, and stories of culture and nationalism.
In my book I write about the system of debt that drove colonization. Greed can be traced back to the City of London and the same insular group you and I have been tracing. Those who self-identified as Jews were also disproportionally active in the slave ships out of Marseilles and making that the basis of 'shares' so that the risk and gain was spread around, except for them who only gained.
Germans never agreed to the Great War, which was entirely funded by the bankers, notably Rothschild/ Bauer. Their offer of peace without reparations when they were winning was certainly not for power. But for the bankers to 'win', there had to be a loser. The Germans were sold out, with everything to lose--as they did--and nothing to gain from that war.
If Russia is said to possess one character only, including the Pale of Settlement, it would be schizophrenic indeed at the turn of the 20th c. Yet it makes me wonder if, under the Romanovs, economics and governance were more decentralized than they became under the Bolsheviks.
There's no story of more 'specialness' than God's chosen people. Throughout the Bible, love for God is shown by violence and aggression, superiority and domination towards other people. "Go forth and subdue the nations" is the last word of the literary device named Jesus. To undo the psyops, we need to unravel that too, imo.
Very beautiful, it's interesting how the different cultural perspectives have unique outlooks on Love. Cultural sense does play a part in it to a certain degree. Individual Spiritual experience mixed into relationships; people and their willingness to be open to seeing their reflection in each other.
There is way too much to unpack; however, I will address one statement:
“My belief is that all people are inherently good”
This seemingly simple statement is the fundamental difference between the Platonic humanist Republic and the Aristotelian oligarchical Empire which has persisted and oppressed for a millennium.
Whereas Plato’s view is that man’s actions result from three driving forces; namely reason, spirit and appetite. Reason seeking truth and knowledge, spirit seeking honor and glory, appetite seeking material things. Aristotle essentially reduces man to a beast seeking material things. Naturally it was Aristotelian philosophy that was adopted by the Empire.
Quoting Professor Ingraham, "The Modern Anglo-Dutch Empire: its Origins, Evolution, and Anti-Human Outlook":
Empires are not empires because of their geographical boundaries, nor because they have hereditary monarchies, nor because they have colonies. Empires are empires because of their species nature, one where humans are treated like cattle, to be used and culled by an oligarchy.
Aristotelianism and Roman Law were the two epistemological social control mechanisms perfectly suited for this primitive oligarchical schema. Roman Law established the legal basis for treating the vast majority of the population as non-thinking beasts. Aristotelianism, with it’s emphasis on “sense certainty,” not only denied the Platonic notions of hypothesis and creativity, but also postulated a cosmology of a fixed perfected universe, within which no change or progress were possible.
Roman Law begins with the concept that all men are beasts. The heart and soul of Roman Law is the Corpus Juris Civilis, written at the direction of the Emperor Justinian and issued in 533 AD.
The Corpus Juris Civilis is the source of all modern “contract law,” as well as various theories of property rights. Again, the approach taken is completely bestial: “The things we take from our enemies become immediately ours by the law of nations, so that even freemen thus become our slaves...
Although the post-1582 developments in Venice, Amsterdam, and London ushered in a new modern form of Empire, in a certain sense the peculiarly European characteristics of Empire that have come down to us today, can all be found in the first Venetian empire of the 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries, from the usury of the Venice-dominated Lombard League to the anti-human notions of Aristotelianism and Roman Law.
Your book already came, Fadi! Looking forward to digging in when I'm finished with Guyenot. I was wondering, given your title and background, if you had any thoughts on Charles Eisenstein addressing Bretton-Woods and his connection, with RFK, on cryto-currencies and the B-W digital currency? I talk about my suspicions here: https://thirdparadigm.substack.com/p/deep-fakes-eisenstein-and-rfk.
Matt Ehret, who it seems you might know, said the intro to my book was the most perfect Platonic statement he'd read ;-) I include the link here, only because it keeps coming up since we are both clearly talking about empire as a concept: https://www.amazon.com/How-Dismantle-Empire-2020-Vision/dp/1733347607.
My first chapter, called 'A Democracy of Slaveowners,' starts with a quote from Aristotle's Politics: "Humanity is divided into two: the masters and the slaves; or, if one prefers it, the Greeks and the Barbarians, whose who have the right to command; and those who are born to obey."
I have a draft episode called 'Wholly Roaming Empire' that looks at the origin of Rome as a military outpost sans women until the Rape of Sabine. The complete and total erasure of women is, I think, essential to empire. Religion-as-empire is what expanded the Vatican as the largest empire in the world, on which the sun never set.
Where did the military that became Rome originate and who controlled them? Nefahotep has been investigating the Scythians and has an upcoming article. Another reader, who's Greek, referred us to several articles on Scythopolis in ancient Palestine, including this one that I just read, that might interest you: https://www.e-synews.gr/2019/02/04/thymitheite-tin-skythopoli/.
It's difficult to get through, both because it requires the translation tab and is full of photos from the torture museum, which I generally avoid allowing into my imagination. But the information is paradigm-shifting. Scythopolis is named Bethlehem in the Bible (!) but was occupied by Scythians from 631 BCE.
This became a concentration camp for the torture and extermination of Greek pagans in the 300's CE under Constantine and a 'professional' named Paul. Since this is the earliest written version of the NT, this seems likely to be the Biblical Paul. It's the largest slaughterhouse of people ever recorded. One photo shows a person burned inside a golden bull.
Their property was confiscated. Constantine was also known for taking all the gold pagan statues to melt down into gold coins called 'solides': https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_the_Great. So the 'Christianity' of theocracy, torture, coinage-slavery and empire seems to be 'born' in Bethlehem.
That's very open minded of you, Fadi. My premise is that the story of Jesus was written to destroy the Christ, which was not a person but an anti-imperialist movement with a mystical understanding that made them fearless in the face of torture and death. I think the zealots knew something we've forgotten, that takes a modern form in A Course in Miracles, something I've studied for two decades.
I also spent a decade studying the roots of Christianity (as the cult of Jesus is called, having usurped the concept of Christ as one person). I attended the Int'l Bible conferences of The Jesus Seminars where scholars present primary source research and 'vote' on a passage's authenticity.
I started that journey like you, believing that it started out as something pure that was later corrupted. I've since come to the conclusion that it's the opposite--through good people projecting their goodness onto the story, it's 'softened the blows.' Subsequent translations become more palatable to modern sensibilities. The closer you get to the original, the uglier it is.
It gives me no joy to present the ugliness to people who have imbued Christianity with their own beauty and inclusive love. But the truth mixed with lies becomes a poison that we take in willingly, that nullifies its strength.
Your research on the first three centuries is interesting. I peeked at Guyenot's Anno Domini because I was too curious to wait. It's really intriguing that whole centuries may be entirely made up.
I'll be posting an article today on some of this history, including that first Greek article. Thanks for linking the other two. The third, on the language, will particularly interest Nef. We've been delving into language and how its meaning has been twisted. This quote is great:
"the Greek language that served the establishment in each case remained, but it also brutally altered its service. Thousands of words took on a different meaning from the conquerors who knew that you would conquer a people when you really changed their language."
WOW you and Nef are very advanced in your research on origins of Christianity.
"My premise is that the story of Jesus was written to destroy the Christ"
I am reaching this conclusion, at least that the institution of the Church, usurped and distorted teachings of Christ for the purpose of power, material power. Which is absolutely opposite to the message of Christ as I understand it.
"I also spent a decade studying the roots of Christianity"
Have you published any of your findings, if so, where?
In addition to the Etymology for “Beit” meaning “house of,” Bet Leḥem in Hebrew (Habiru), it literally means"house of bread" or "house of food.” This is extremely interesting because of the existing Bread and Wine Ceremony of the Vatican. If this is the origin for that ceremony, it could be a clue that there may have been a Cannibal Cult located at Scythopolis; in the ceremony, Jesus (Yes’us’) is suppose to say: “Eat of my Flesh and Drink of my Blood.”
"Jesus was written to destroy the Christ" that sticks out as FACT.
Can I use any of what you state in the above comment?
Thank you for the additional context, Tereza. I have been trying to gain a better concept of what was really happening there in Scythopolis, but it's also tied into the location of Amaru; also the main stronghold of the Hyksos, Avaris, only had it's rulers removed. The majority of the Habiru remained even after the "Expulsion." It wasn't much of an Exodus it seems. Habiru were the labor and craftsmen who were being controlled by the Hyksos rulers. So when there was a change of rulers to Egyptian, they inherited the same work force.
Land is not valuable unless you have the labor to work it.
The Habiru are possibly a mixture of peoples who intermarried with the original indigenous population of Canaanites, so it is now more apparent that what we are trying to uncover is entirely based off "Culture." I'm trying to find something that connects the Seth Cult to the Scythians but that is specifically hard to get at. I'm now realizing there are some mistakes in the post I did on The First Holocaust, because of what I'm now noticing.
Are you saying that Amaru was once called Scythopolis, and that Avaris was once called Scythopolis? Very interesting. Are there sources to that? It certainly is another rabbit hole.
No, Beit She'an was renamed Scythopolis later during the Hellenistic Period. Amaru is a different place all together in Northern Palestine; here's what I have on Amaru: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amurru_kingdom
There's a pretty good map on this link if you give it a click, it enlarges there are a few cities shown including Amaru. I'm going to provide as much of the raw information as I can on each of these cites.
The trouble I'm running into is there are multiple names in multiple places as these places got over taken by the next rulers.
(I think you are way ahead of me in this research, I'm trying to keep up.)
My approach is to try to figure out what cultures were active at what times. I think it's possible that Beit She'an was for awhile since, Nineteenth and Twentieth dynasties (c. 1295-1075 BC) a stronghold for Seth worshipers, while Egypt held control of it.
"One of the major events that shaped the nature of Egypt during the New Kingdom was the invasion of the Hyksos people from the Levant into the Delta sometime around 1,600 BC. The Hyksos took an interest in Seth, viewing him as similar to their own god Baal. [8] But once the Hyksos were vanquished by native Egyptians from Thebes, some of their ideas stayed, including Seth worship."
Later during the late Roman period, when this place was turned into a human slaughter house, it was controlled by the Christian Yahwehist, Constantine that I think you said once were the enemies of the Seth Cult. But I now wonder if this was always roughly the same cult that changed names? That's a question I think is difficult to find direct answers for.
Avaris is located in the Nile Delta area. There were many locations that Habiru lived.
I hope I can cover all this in a single post, maybe I'll need to do a series, with the Scythians in greater Scythia, this does connect to Firestarter's material on Dragon Court.
Venetian Empire was run by what would later become known as the Black Nobility. They were former Roman Senator families. Frances Leader has done an excellent job at exposing them.
In this post, Black Nobility 101 there are excellent links to reference material, showing who created the concept of Incorporated Government, the establishment of the Trust System which dilutes private ownership,
It has a lot of true facts, and a few some not so accurate:
"occupy the hot and hostile desert "Holy Land": There are some desert area in the south, but otherwise it was a rich agricultural civilized region for several millennia.
A bit surprised by the Astana city design.
I am hoping that the RIC (Russia, Iran and China) are not players in the master plan, but facing it.
Ingraham's book is a MUST READ... fascinating book, I have read it 3 times already. It has a wealth of information, and was extremely useful for the research for my book
I find your insight enlightening, I am getting a copy of your book, I found your link in a prior post of Tereza's.
I realize you probably quite busy, but I would love to have your thoughts on the following posts I did on the Globalist System:
Intergranular Corruption and how it Spreads Black Nobility, Dragon Court, Order of the Garter, Diagrams and Charts. Individual Parasites and their Crime Families have relationships, this creates spheres of influence that are compartmentalized. Through Private Trusts, their decisions are anonymized.
Corporate Chains of Custody, Illustrate how Control is more emphasized than Ownership. Owners of Equities in the Public / Private Fiefdom of Globalist Power Hierarchies, use Trusts to enable Power to be exercised anonymously. Reducing the Individual through Fraud and Force.
The No Annexation Principle and why it matters. The traditional spoils of War were always the Assets of a given Country, if it was a loser in a War, it was usually Asset Stripped. There was a change to this in Practice but maybe just in Appearance, No Annexation Principle IS the definition of Globalism, Corporate Franchises all linked together form an Empire held together by Private Trusts and Contractual Debt based Economies.
I read "Intergranular Corruption and how it Spreads Black Nobility, Dragon Court, Order of the Garter, Diagrams and Charts help map Secrets"
my comments:
I agree that Wahabi sect is a British intelligence creation dating back to end of 18th century
Also agree about the BJP having kidnapped Hinduism and is very damaging for the population of India.
The Shiite 12th Imam, not so sure about. There are some Shiites based in London and some in Iraq who preach division within Islam, these I have no doubt they work for MI6, but others in Iraq, Iran and Lebanon are the spearhead against the Empire.
Marx: It would not surprise me that he was a tool. Especially that the main fruits of Marxism was destruction of Orthodox Tsarist Russia, and destabilization of Germany which along with Tsarist Russia had government controlled central banks.
China: In my opinion was in grave danger in the 1980s, when Soros organizations were spreading like a cancer. Since then Chinese leadership awoke to the need of a civilizational anchor to provide immunity to society, hence the revival of Confucianism by the CCP, with President Xi assuming a lead role in this revival. Most importantly is that the major commercial banks in China are government owned.
Figure 3: I refer to "Policy Makers & Policy Distributors" as Bretton Woods institutions, one of the three pillars of the Empire, that other two being Virtual Reality (Policy Propagandists) and Military.
Figure 4: Public Side, I refer to them as Bretton Woods institutions and Virtual Reality pillars.
Experiencing love is Seeing the truth that we do not exist as Separate beings.
When we can see our self reflected in another; in a personal way, we become aware there is only One Thing and that's Consciousness, we are One coming from Oneness which is also Love.
Spiritually, One who sees the Self in all Existences and all Existences within the Self, finds the perfect Bliss.
Sat --------- Chit --------- Ananda
Existence--- Awareness--- Fulfillment.
All this rests within Balance. And this can be personalized in the human persona.
Masculine and Feminine are one coming from one realizing One.
The Masculine is physically strong and emotionally vulnerable.
The Feminine is emotionally strong and physically vulnerable, yet together, nobody is weak.
The two forces together build our world and hold it healthy and strong.
The Masculine’s greatest strength is his surrender to the Feminine; Her greatest strength is upholding and protecting life, for Her very spirit is a nest to Life.
The Male and Female interaction is not one of superior or inferior, it’s a true coming together.
The Feminine warmth and nurture is the truest home to the Masculine heart. This is both Spiritual and Psychological, which includes the emotional and mental spheres. Of course it can also be Physical. She is his Heart's true protector, his most ardent supporter, in love, her Heart becomes his only home that really matters. She is His only goal. In human terms, this seems so complex and yet in Spiritual sense, so simple at the same time.
Human love is exclusive, Spiritual love in inclusive, yet it really comes from the same inner source of Attention. A camp of the Divine pitched a in Human Time.
Friendship is a form of inclusiveness that has no natural boundaries, no expectations.
The love you have in your life adds greatness to your health.
Oh it's nice to see you're still reading my blog, William. Yes, I haven't done one on The Course for awhile. With all my focus on the twisting of scriptures, violence, economic collapse and psychological manipulation, I needed to touch back to what's real. Glad to see someone else pursuing the same path, it feels more vital than ever.
When I heard that sound after the spiritual slut, let's do this.....RRRRRRRRRRR.....
*SMILE!!!!* I was LIKE....WHA????
How did she do that....oh, it was a motorcycle. HAHAHa
AWESOME sound effect and personal affect.
YOU ARE SO FUNNY
That was pure magic.
I love the tree :)
NONJUDGEMENT, yes. One of my favorite concepts.
I release all people.
Not judging people is so much better for you.
You can breathe in your body when you think of them. I imagine green things, soft green things like
nice plants and leaves and grasses. I send that to them and say, "may they have healing and may they have discernment." It feels good. Every now and then I think "may they have happiness." That one feels great. I play with a rock in traffic now and do the same thing there. It keeps me much calmer about things.
I am not interested in guilt and blame anymore.
I see what you did there with the "real world" verses the "other real world". There is yet another one. The unseen one in which we feel each others thoughts from time to time.
"Able to make that connection," yes. I love what you said about your loneliness and your shining.
You do shine.
And those earrings are "on point."
Judgement always rests on the past. RIGHT!
It's true, when I lay judgement down, I always have a more beautiful experience. It's also fun to watch people be pleasantly surprised as well. I was very nice to my ex on the phone recently. We don't talk regularly, it's not like I have been mean this whole time. But he said "Amy, are you SURE this is you? You sound so SWEET." HAha
I like the words "in the Holy Instant" and that it "reaches into eternity".
I love that you always get my jokes, Amy. And then you said you love the tree and followed with NONJUDGMENT. And I thought--the tree of nonjudgment, rather than the tree of judgment in the Garden of Eden. We need a tree like that! Valencia Orange!
What a deep and profound person you are. "may they have healing and may they have discernment." Beautiful! And "may they have happiness."
Yes, I think the place of loneliness and longing is the place of connection.
The EARRINGS are from Neshma! Sane Franciscan! One of three beautiful pairs she gave me. We're working on a little project and met, and she surprised me with these. I'll be sporting the other two soon.
More to say but I gotta go to a conditioning class. I'll be back with more soon.
I’ve had a lot on my plate of late but just wanted to come on here quickly to say that you are such an inspiration in Love and showing Love and that the earrings are perfect on you, as I hoped they would be. Keep shining! ✨💕
I thought you were likely busy but it's so kind of you to drop me some hearts and heartfelt wishes. Back 'atcha! I think I'll plan my look around another pair for this next video.
My dance teacher told me something tonight that I thought you would like: You have yet to meet all the people who are going to love you. I'm certain that's true for you.
And both Kathleen and Tonika said they were stealing my 'spiritual slut.' So now they're having a spiritual slut-a-thon. Isn't that exciting?
Here are the lyrics: "I will never be what you want and that's alright. 'Cause my skin ain't light and my body ain't tight." And it continues with these great lines: "Tell me who made you the center of the universe, to be the judge and jury over me?" Also perhaps my favorite staging and choreo.
I'm going to end up with the whole episode written in these comments but one genre I forgot about is belly dance. One teacher from our group has a body made of orbs, including her belly, and they all operate independently. Okay, that was all I was wanting to remember to say.
And yes on the holy instant! I liked it even better when I wrote it as wholly instant. It seemed like revelation where you just add hot water and viola!
Firstly, that song stay outa my business is great! I love the choreography too. I will put it in my word dox for inspiration. I love the Laura Mvulu one too. Thanks for introducing me to that. I will save all of these for reference. :) AH! Wholly instant, I see. All can be encompassed there. Thank you for that. You are so good at really thinking about the meaning of things. YOU are a profound and deep thinker. The non judgement tree is awesome. HAhaha. I will take note of a valencia non judgement tree as well. :)
Spiritual slut! Yo! I am stealing that! Although you’re offering it freely, so I guess I’m just making good on your offer! ❤️
Oooo, that reading at the end! I was listening to this in my car and it’s golden hour and I’m stuck in Chicago traffic and I’m just smiling to all these people in their car being hella mad that they can’t move faster and if they make eye contact (rare!) I smile even more! I’m letting them get in front of me if they want, I got no urgency and so I feel lucky. There’s a jam jam happening at my house currently so when I get there, I’ll just join the circle and lift my voice in harmony with others: what a direct way to experience inclusive love!
Btw, the twins and I used to do these mantras when they were little, before going to bed. They were call and response type. And the first one was “What is love?” And the response was “The only answer.” Don’t know where I had heard it but I liked it well enough to include it in our nightly ritual. And I still stand by it.
Ha, Kathleen already beat you to it on Rumble! You'll have to arm-wrestle over it. Or see who can be spiritually sluttier ;-) I'm not sure who to bet on.
There you go, distributing miracles to random drivers on the Chigo freeway! Jam jam at your house? What a good life you have, Tonika, you hippie gal. Nice way to spring out of the gate on the spiritual slutathon.
Beautiful mantras. Your boys are so lucky. We had three questions I'd ask before bed: 1) What's something nice someone did for you? 2) What nice thing did you do for someone else, and 3) What didn't turn out like you planned, that you'd do different if you could?
And then they'd ask us to tell them a secret. That meant make up a story with three girls in it, natch. And we'd try to stay awake long enough to outlast them.
When my middle daughter went on her first solo trip by Joshua Tree, she got a little spooked after dark and called her gay guy friend, and asked him to tell her a secret. He knew just what she meant! And made up a story until she fell asleep. Is that love? I'd say so.
I think I’m going to try to incorporate your questions into my dialogue with the little one. He is a lot more communicative than the twins were at that stage. I’m going to create a version similar to your inquiries. It’s important to always be reminded of your own awareness.
What a terrific anecdote about Joshua Tree and the secret! I’d say you’re absolutely right about that being love.
Yes, jam jams are the best. My hippie life style suits me rather well.
Oh, the spiritual slut circle expands! Talk about inclusivity! 😆
Thank you for this, especially the part about guarding your loneliness. I'm struggling with that part right now, but I sense that there's something important there that I'm not quite getting. I have always needed my alone time in so-called big-R "relationships", but in those long periods between those "relationships", the loneliness can sometimes feel very painful. But I think you're talking about something deeper than that. I need to ponder this for a while.
Much to respond to, Mark, let's start with loneliness. When I mentioned doing an episode called "Guard Your Loneliness," one of my aerial buddies thought that I should change it to 'aloneness.' But that wasn't what I meant. I do think that loneliness is a precious source of sustenance. In the end, your relationship with loneliness is the only one you can control.
If I had found one person who understood what I was saying about economics, I would never have taken ten years to research, write, rewrite, hire editors, bribe neighbors and learn how to produce, illustrate and distribute my book. It was a profoundly lonely experience--ten years of talking to myself and writing what no one wanted to read. And before that, I'd had my radio show where I wrote 3000 words a week but got a smattering of people, even around the world, who were freely giving me their attention. Giving that up was lonely.
It also created a level of confidence to stick to my ideas, even when everyone thought they were ridiculous--still generally the case for people in my 'real' life, who pat me on the head and humor me. If loneliness wasn't a happy place for me, I would have abandoned my ideas long before they grew up.
I suspect most, perhaps all of us on my threads are the same. We're all looking to connect, not from the places that are easy, but from the deep recesses of who we are and what we think that other people just don't get. My material takes way too much work for people who don't have that need to dive for sunken treasures of meaning.
I hope that, in your new place, you can find people to fill roles in your life without needing to be everything. Sometimes the big R relationships can leave you more lonely, because you seem from the outside to not be alone. When the inner and outer reality match, there's some congruence that I found to be easier. Good luck with it!
I had a friend in Vermont who described herself as "alone", not "lonely", because she had no family or partner, but she did have a busy social life online and in person. I would like to know what the distinction means to you, so I'm looking forward to your "Guard Your Loneliness" episode.
But your example of the loneliness in writing your book makes a lot of sense to me. I think I feel some of that in my musical world now. The work at insanely hard stuff like the Chopin Barcarolle has been a very lonely experience: no teacher, and no listeners for a good while yet because it's so rough and incomplete. But that work can be a pretty happy thing, like when I make some breakthrough and a passage that was horrible for so long starts to sound like music.
I agree that the Big R relationships can leave you more lonely. That was certainly true in my second marriage. I think that kind of loneliness can be (though not necessarily) a sign that you're in an abusive relationship, because the abuser needs to keep you isolated from outside influences.
I should add that I do agree that romance is exclusivity. It's why I'm very distrustful of it these days. I've had a number of non-romantic but loving relationships with women, and in both of my marriages, I was expected to drop those relationships. Never again.
It is said that there are two types of Human love that men and women can share; one is of course Eros, physically grounded Love which is and rightly should be "exclusive." The other is Agapaos that is not physical but loving someone like a friend.
Friendships with women can sometimes be tricky in those situations, especially if the man is married. Usually, the man is at a disadvantage because of how we men think. I don't mean to generalize, but men tend to think in a very logical, a straight forward manner; women tend towards a very intuitive and often unpredictable way of thinking, curly-ques that can at times be fun or very painful for the man, every individual circumstance is unique so no fixed rule there.
Men are most often the ones who are seeking acceptance from the women, it is they that decide how things go; as a result, men are also the regular recipients of rejection and abandonment, but again not always.
I am sorry to hear about what you have experienced in the past.
I first experienced abandonment by my own mother at the age of 10; she decided to leave my Dad, my sister was only 5 at the time, girls need their mothers but boys need them even more for other reasons.
In friendships with women, it is usually the women who set the limits, partitions and boundaries. Since it is us men who are usually the ones that are open and willing because we tend to seek their acceptance; but again no fixed rules, every relationship can be unique and rewarding. If you inquire within and know yourself well, you will see that the other person is reflecting that part of yourself you most accept and appreciate.
I agree about sexual Eros and exclusivity; I tried non-exclusivity in the early part of this century, and it was a very stressful and mostly disastrous experience. But I learned a lot from that experiment, mainly about what NOT to do.
Where it gets hazy for me is "physically grounded Love", because it seems to be a continuum. A very small number of my women friends have been cuddle-buddies at various times, and Eros was banked way down. I also had one very close friend, almost like a partner for several years, who was also my massage partner, but we were never physically affectionate in any way. I would find it difficult to be exclusive in these gray areas where sex was excluded.
I was mostly writing about the completely platonic form of relationship.
How there may be some similarities in terms of emotional and psychological acceptance or rejection.
I was saying "Friendships with women can sometimes be tricky in those situations, especially if the man is married."
Meaning "that friendship" doesn't even have cuddling or anything else, just roughly similar characteristics as two men may have a friendship.
The bond can be based off of anything. Partners in playing the game of tennis, for example. Two students who go to the same school, and find they really appreciate each other's perspectives on certain things and later develop a regular in real life experience that stays platonic, yet mutually enjoyable.
A personal example:
In real life, I am friends with someone who collects rare plants; I am a Landscaper, the resulting friendship is based from that common experience, yes it's a wonderful lady friend. She visits me sometimes just to check out the plants I have in the yard. There's nothing even remotely physical, nor could it be, as I am married for the last 20 years.
Some of those boundaries I mentioned can just develop naturally, without artificial mental impositions. Friendships can just exist freely and passively; at least that's been my experience.
Generally though; I think that both genders are wanting to Trust and be Trusted by each other, in any relationship they engage in. ;-)
My dance teacher has been playing it in class and I can't get it out of my head. Perhaps the instigation for the title but it definitely didn't help! At least it wasn't the Donna Summers song 'Hot Stuff' that she's also been playing. Maybe I'll do that next ;-)
Wow, can I relate to both the grief and the unwillingness to admit it. I think I left NYS on a surge of righteousness that's catching up with me daily. I know my sister in Buffalo feels as though I deserted her, so there's a pile-on as well. I'm glad your daughter is allowing that grief to be felt and named -- so healing!
Gratitude abounds on my end for you and your fierce, loving intelligence, Tereza. You are a rare find. ❤️
Tereza, writing a meaningful response to this massive, important topic would take all day! I have so many thoughts, questions, quibbles, and hurrahs that I'm stymied. I'll just commend you for your leap into the deepest waters, and trust that one day, I'll join you in person to swim there alongside you. Xox
I was thinking about you this morning, Mary, and your post about being on the Left and subconsciously and gently joining in the disdain of the Right. And then finding yourself in the midst of the Right and your dismay over seeing the same playbook in reverse.
It's a very schizophrenic feeling, isn't it?
I was thinking more about what I mean when I say that I approach topics like economics, religion and history from a feminine perspective. The essence of the feminine, I think, is relationships. Particularly the family, the familiar. Inside these stories of religion and history (and economics) is the intimate repetitive stories of what happen(ed/s) to families.
In both the Biblical narratives and those reflected by the Amarna Letters are subsumed 100s of 1000s of intimate stories of families destroyed by a trick. I think Nefahotep phrases it well as "ingratiate, infiltrate, usurp."
Listening to my daughters' friends this weekend, it's the same thing in a modern form. Every one is living a highly stressful life, stretched to capacity to make the rent or mortgage (if they've left California to buy a home). The community my daughter had from daycare or before, counting family, is dispersed, scattered. And she's finally admitted her grief over it, and the feeling that they deserted her--for reasons she can't be reasonably mad about, like their spouses having a job.
Anyway, just wanted to share my morning thoughts and my gratitude to have you in my life.
Hi, denise. I'm so honored by your invitation! Between the blog and another project I'm working on (also women-oriented) I couldn't make that time commitment, I'm afraid. I don't know whether doing it once would be more disruptive than constructive for you. If you feel it would be constructive, please send me more information. Thank you for thinking of me!
I can well imagine you are kept busy. We will be having guests on our podcast so I hope we will have your company on it at least one time. I can't wait for women to be heard as much as men. When you look through history and current speakers, women are barely visible. It is vastly occupied by men. It seems men always want to tell people things yet they have only ever seen things from the man's perspective, they have only half the story to tell. The other perspective, the women's, is barely mentioned or even thought about. Men know very little about women and the kind of lives we lead which is very different to what men lead. I'm not condemning men when I say this, just stating a fact. I always have to chuckle when men talk to me like they're talking to a school girl and often I know tons more than they do in the subject matter. So we need to hear more from women although women don't feel free to state their perspective openly. I know through experience, that you get pilloried for it, but I keep on going anyway and challenge the status quo. Often it causes rifts unfortunately, just for having a different opinion. And this too we must highlight. Let's just bring it all out!
I think about the women's perspective quite a lot, but you are essentially right about the male centered social condition. If there was more emphasis on the Feminine power of nurture, our world would be moving towards Healing instead of more war.
I wanted to share with you a piece of the comment I left way further down, interested in what you may think:
Masculine and Feminine are one coming from one realizing One.
The Masculine is physically strong and emotionally vulnerable.
The Feminine is emotionally strong and physically vulnerable, yet together, nobody is weak.
The two forces together, build our world and hold it healthy and strong.
The Masculine’s greatest strength is his surrender to the Feminine; Her greatest strength is upholding and protecting life, for Her very spirit is a nest to Life.
The Male and Female interaction is not one of superior or inferior, it’s a true coming together.
The Feminine warmth and nurture is the truest home to the Masculine heart. This is both Spiritual and Psychological, which includes the emotional and mental spheres. Of course it can also be Physical. She is his Heart's true protector, his most ardent supporter, in love, her Heart becomes his only home that really matters. She is His only goal. In human terms, this seems so complex and yet in Spiritual sense, so simple at the same time.
Human love is exclusive, Spiritual love in inclusive, yet it really comes from the same inner source of Attention. A camp of the Divine pitched a in Human Time.
You explained it really well. It's the balancing of yin and yang. The two go together and if one is not there, it causes an imbalance and chaos. You explained it well between lovers, but now women want to be seen as colleagues, as peers as we are well educated now and can speak on subjects of the highest level. But we're more than worthy of speaking with even without credentials because as you say women are the protectors or hearts and nature. We are the nurturers and we have skills that have been treated with disdain. What we need to aim for in my view (everything I say is from my view, as is everything each of us say) is peer to peer equality. Not sameness - we are both polar opposites, but equality of value, equality of worthiness and the dignity to be heard as a person in our own existence. Culture is still operating as though women are second class citizens. This occurs everywhere, in all classes and all cultures as far as I have seen. There are odd exceptions, very rare alas. But this is the path we must traverse now - peer to peer, equal say and listening to women as much as men and having the numbers meet not just an overwhelming number of men talking vs women. We must look to balance the numbers, not through force or coercion but invitation - men need to learn to invite women to join their little huddles where women rarely tread.
You say: "Culture is still operating as though women are second class citizens. This occurs everywhere, in all classes and all cultures as far as I have seen."
Sadly that's true, and the exceptions I know of, is the culture I was exposed to while I was young. I have many cultural exposures; the one that holds my attention is that of the Hindu, especially of South India. Women are revered socially they are unapproachable in public. I say that based on how it was in the 70's in Tamil Nadu. Men are expected to show respect. Women are manifestations of the Divine Mother. This is important, it also has recognition built into culture that women are important.
And to me personally, I have always felt a bit alienated by the western patriarchy; it's a mental disorder to think based on superiority.
Though I know we don't know each other, please know that there are some men like myself who stand firmly with the feminine, a force without which nobody could exist.
You are a rarity and a gem. I hope your example rubs off on other men. The lack of respect to women makes me want to gag. It is so part of "normal" life. When men speak with me, usually, not always, but usually, they talk down, they TELL me things as though they are an authority and I am a mere pupil. It's very irritating since they only know half of what I know and the concepts that I think about would be totally alien to them. I do know men who are balanced in their own masculinity and femininity. It's been a bit of a battle even between them and myself but I stuck it out and they came through and now they understand. Next base is we have to come together and build this world where men and women are both valued. And yes, females are just as patriarchal as men now, they have lost all their heart and they are mercenary. There is no need for gods or goddesses, just peer to peer, I think would be right. What do you think? I'm looking at building a new culture for those who see it and want it.
Another song my dance teacher often plays in her cool-down, and it always sticks in my head. Such a great song! When Tina died, my teacher choreo'd Proud Mary, another iconic tune.
Thanks for providing making-breakfast-dance-music!
Appreciate your video Tereza. Here's a quote that I thought of while reading it: "Better we should feel cold as ice than indulge ourselves in warm feelings for another based on nothing but our own self-indulgence and self-congratulation, or on an attempt to throw a veil of false good-feeling over the rigors of a hard situation." - Charles Upton, ending page of Chapter 12 in his "Science of the Greater Jihad". He also talks about how pity for a wrongdoer is further from love than righteous anger, and how "There is no such thing as love, only proofs of love.". Anyway, I will now read your next write-up that I missed. Thank you.
Thank you, shaqer. Very intriguing quotes. That 'veil of false good-feeling over the rigors of a hard situation' seems like conflict avoidance. One of my daughters is learning that lesson hard, although jihad is a strong word for roommate conflict. Yet it's proving the rule that what you don't deal with honestly, even if it causes discomfort, always comes back in a harder form.
I'm a strong believer in consequences for wrongdoers, rather than pity or anger. Take away the power to do wrong, which no one should have over another. Then, I suspect, anger will feel unnecessary. As I titled a draft of a book on parenting, "Don't Get Mad, Get Even."
From riding the range to riding the rails...not sure if these pull anyone in to Geodesic City...I'm including Tiny Bradshaw only because he's the one who made the leap from cows to locomotives...if you want to see dudes doin' this tune, Youtube has plenty of XY versions...these are XX-focused clips.
I'm not sure which I like best, the moves on the cowgirl classic, the updo swirl on Imelda May or the cat-eyeliner on the white leather miniskirt gals.
I enjoy not feeling any motivation to have a favorite...different eras, different styles...I only arranged them chronologically, not out of any hierarchy of personal preference...BTW, if anyone knows of a predecessor to Tiny Bradshaw's version, please clue me in. The only future fantasy version I have is Taimane Gardner showing up at a Surfrajettes show and getting invited up to hop on The Train and hang out for a few mainline surf music tunes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JX13LwnZss (not surf...maybe Bizet & not Bach)
Look, style, moves? Not much playing on Part 1 of this eight-part show, but if you use 'taimane first friday 2011' as the search term, you should be able to get the other 7 sections. Oh, heck...I'll just list them all for you.
The dictionary says love is a noun. It is not. It is a VERB. Watch what a person DOES and you'll know what they love.
What an excellent point, Joy. I've also said that God is a verb, although perhaps as the ultimate reality, God is the ultimate noun--what actually is, whatever that is.
Gan also wrote the same thing, Joy, on my YT: "Love is a verb. It's something you do. Whatever you give attention to, protect and cherish."
I replied: "Someone on my Substack just said the same, and I agreed. Yet attention is finite and I guard mine pretty closely. I certainly agree with your principle, which was the point of To Love Me is To Know Me. Attention is the medium of personal love, and I wish we had more words to describe the most important relationship rather than one word for intimate life partners, children, and strangers you'll never meet.
"But I was also trying to puzzle out what I could give freely, without reserve, to everyone. Rather than taking responsibility for others, as I do with my daughters (although less and less), I've found that releasing myself from that responsibility allows me to release judgment. I can wish the homeless person well and not project how miserable I would be in their position. I can wish both the Palestinians and Israelis well, which means an end to the cycle of abuse. I can even wish the oligarchs well, which means taking away their power to do harm. That's what I'd want, deep down, if I was in their role. Does that make sense?"
Yes. This makes sense to me.
"Being" is itself a verb as an action of Consciousness. So, yes Love is a Verb, that's beautiful.
So true! Thanks for expanding on this concept! BEING love! I love it;-)
Joy
Deep questions on a Monday before the coffee kicks in. I think Love is action. Words without loving action are void of meaning. Just my 2 cents. ❤️
Haha, hope you've had your coffee kick in by now ;-)
To keep puzzling this out, if Love is action then the concept of loving everyone is nonsense. Love under that definition requires a great deal of judgment and discernment. In that sense, it is a 'barter-gain'--I'm spending my finite time and energy, and perhaps resources aka money, on you and I need to determine if that will be a good or bad 'deal' before I get into it. When I give up what's finite, there's less for me the more I give up to you. I have to be choosy.
If I take away the requirement for action, I also take away the need for judgment. In my second reply to Joy, I reposted my reply to Gan on YT who also said Love is a verb. But can it be a passive state of mind? There are certainly roles in my life, most notably as a parent, that take on obligations for action. Even then, though, I found the less responsibility I took for meeting their needs, the more reciprocal our relationships became. It seemed like putting the obligation to meet others' needs was a deterrent to seeing them without judgment. I could see behaviors as thwarting themselves but not a reflection on me.
Oh yes, I get your philosophical larger question. I was keeping it in the romantic realm mostly thinking about guys who say they love you and don't act like it at all. Or even in the larger sense of loving God in your soul but committing violence on others. And in between, other love relationships like a parent child one...some parents say they love their children yet hit them. (My mother) That kind of action made me question her love. But I don't pretend to be an expert on any kind of love, believe me!!! 🤣 And I do think there are many forms. I love my dog. But it's not the same as the love I feel for my husband. I guess the coffee got me going. 🤣
Haha! My middle daughter just sent a note asking, "Who put money on me having the first grandchild?" with a photo of an adorable beagle puppy. We'll see how that goes.
I've found the concept useful of people 'loving as best as they can.' There's a psychologist I like on vulnerability who says that women who recognize this about abusive partners, and stop blaming them, are more likely to leave because they realize he'll never change. He's already trying.
I have a complex theory about abusive moms. I think that, deep down, they feel they don't deserve their children's love and so they make their fears true in a way they can subconsciously rationalize--it's not that they rejected them, they drove them away. But other than growing up in an era when spanking was the norm, it's not something I know anything about.
I hope she loves her Beagle. Adorable dogs. I always have rescues who are often mutts... ❤️
I suspect hers is also a hybrid. Her housemate is fostering the sister for a week so they don't get lonely, which sounds like an SPCA arrangement. They're very cute snuggled together.
Needs more than one reading to comprehend. In my second reading, it brought to mind a quote of German philosopher Walter Schubart (1897 - 1942):
Western European man views life as a slave whose neck he has stepped on... He does not look with devotion at the sky, but, full of lust for power, looks down at the earth with evil, hostile eyes. Russian people are obsessed not with the will to power, but with a feeling of reconciliation and love. He is filled not with anger and hatred, but with the deepest trust in the essence of the world. He sees in man not an enemy, but a brother.” An Englishman wants to see the world as a factory, a Frenchman as a salon, a German as a barracks, a Russian as a church. The Englishman wants loot, the Frenchman wants glory, the German wants power, the Russian wants sacrifice. The Englishman wants to profit from his neighbor, the Frenchman wants to impress his neighbor, the German wants to command his neighbor, but the Russian doesn’t want anything from him. He does not want to turn his neighbor into his means. This is the brotherhood of the Russian heart and the Russian idea. And this is the Gospel of the future. The Russian all-man is the bearer of a new solidarity. Promethean man is already doomed to death. The era of John's man is coming - a man of love and freedom. This is the future of the Russian people. The West is driven by unbelief, fear and selfishness; The Russian soul is driven by faith, peace and brotherhood. That is why the future belongs to Russia…”
Thank you, Fadi, and for sticking with me when I switched topics. I often gain readers on one topic and then lose them on the next--particularly because I tend to take a feminine approach to masculine topics like economics, religion and history, and a masculine analytical approach to feminine topics like love, parenting and mysticism, to name a few ;-)
That's a very intriguing quote. My belief is that all people are inherently good and, when they behave badly, systems and stories are to blame. Certainly people aren't genetically pre-disposed to different character traits--those are the results of differing systems of governance and economics, and stories of culture and nationalism.
In my book I write about the system of debt that drove colonization. Greed can be traced back to the City of London and the same insular group you and I have been tracing. Those who self-identified as Jews were also disproportionally active in the slave ships out of Marseilles and making that the basis of 'shares' so that the risk and gain was spread around, except for them who only gained.
Germans never agreed to the Great War, which was entirely funded by the bankers, notably Rothschild/ Bauer. Their offer of peace without reparations when they were winning was certainly not for power. But for the bankers to 'win', there had to be a loser. The Germans were sold out, with everything to lose--as they did--and nothing to gain from that war.
If Russia is said to possess one character only, including the Pale of Settlement, it would be schizophrenic indeed at the turn of the 20th c. Yet it makes me wonder if, under the Romanovs, economics and governance were more decentralized than they became under the Bolsheviks.
There's no story of more 'specialness' than God's chosen people. Throughout the Bible, love for God is shown by violence and aggression, superiority and domination towards other people. "Go forth and subdue the nations" is the last word of the literary device named Jesus. To undo the psyops, we need to unravel that too, imo.
Thanks for reading and responding, Fadi!
Very beautiful, it's interesting how the different cultural perspectives have unique outlooks on Love. Cultural sense does play a part in it to a certain degree. Individual Spiritual experience mixed into relationships; people and their willingness to be open to seeing their reflection in each other.
There is way too much to unpack; however, I will address one statement:
“My belief is that all people are inherently good”
This seemingly simple statement is the fundamental difference between the Platonic humanist Republic and the Aristotelian oligarchical Empire which has persisted and oppressed for a millennium.
Whereas Plato’s view is that man’s actions result from three driving forces; namely reason, spirit and appetite. Reason seeking truth and knowledge, spirit seeking honor and glory, appetite seeking material things. Aristotle essentially reduces man to a beast seeking material things. Naturally it was Aristotelian philosophy that was adopted by the Empire.
Quoting Professor Ingraham, "The Modern Anglo-Dutch Empire: its Origins, Evolution, and Anti-Human Outlook":
https://www.amazon.com/Modern-Anglo-Dutch-Empire-Evolution-Anti-Human/dp/B08T43FN9H
Empires are not empires because of their geographical boundaries, nor because they have hereditary monarchies, nor because they have colonies. Empires are empires because of their species nature, one where humans are treated like cattle, to be used and culled by an oligarchy.
Aristotelianism and Roman Law were the two epistemological social control mechanisms perfectly suited for this primitive oligarchical schema. Roman Law established the legal basis for treating the vast majority of the population as non-thinking beasts. Aristotelianism, with it’s emphasis on “sense certainty,” not only denied the Platonic notions of hypothesis and creativity, but also postulated a cosmology of a fixed perfected universe, within which no change or progress were possible.
Roman Law begins with the concept that all men are beasts. The heart and soul of Roman Law is the Corpus Juris Civilis, written at the direction of the Emperor Justinian and issued in 533 AD.
The Corpus Juris Civilis is the source of all modern “contract law,” as well as various theories of property rights. Again, the approach taken is completely bestial: “The things we take from our enemies become immediately ours by the law of nations, so that even freemen thus become our slaves...
Although the post-1582 developments in Venice, Amsterdam, and London ushered in a new modern form of Empire, in a certain sense the peculiarly European characteristics of Empire that have come down to us today, can all be found in the first Venetian empire of the 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries, from the usury of the Venice-dominated Lombard League to the anti-human notions of Aristotelianism and Roman Law.
Your book already came, Fadi! Looking forward to digging in when I'm finished with Guyenot. I was wondering, given your title and background, if you had any thoughts on Charles Eisenstein addressing Bretton-Woods and his connection, with RFK, on cryto-currencies and the B-W digital currency? I talk about my suspicions here: https://thirdparadigm.substack.com/p/deep-fakes-eisenstein-and-rfk.
Matt Ehret, who it seems you might know, said the intro to my book was the most perfect Platonic statement he'd read ;-) I include the link here, only because it keeps coming up since we are both clearly talking about empire as a concept: https://www.amazon.com/How-Dismantle-Empire-2020-Vision/dp/1733347607.
My first chapter, called 'A Democracy of Slaveowners,' starts with a quote from Aristotle's Politics: "Humanity is divided into two: the masters and the slaves; or, if one prefers it, the Greeks and the Barbarians, whose who have the right to command; and those who are born to obey."
I have a draft episode called 'Wholly Roaming Empire' that looks at the origin of Rome as a military outpost sans women until the Rape of Sabine. The complete and total erasure of women is, I think, essential to empire. Religion-as-empire is what expanded the Vatican as the largest empire in the world, on which the sun never set.
Where did the military that became Rome originate and who controlled them? Nefahotep has been investigating the Scythians and has an upcoming article. Another reader, who's Greek, referred us to several articles on Scythopolis in ancient Palestine, including this one that I just read, that might interest you: https://www.e-synews.gr/2019/02/04/thymitheite-tin-skythopoli/.
It's difficult to get through, both because it requires the translation tab and is full of photos from the torture museum, which I generally avoid allowing into my imagination. But the information is paradigm-shifting. Scythopolis is named Bethlehem in the Bible (!) but was occupied by Scythians from 631 BCE.
This became a concentration camp for the torture and extermination of Greek pagans in the 300's CE under Constantine and a 'professional' named Paul. Since this is the earliest written version of the NT, this seems likely to be the Biblical Paul. It's the largest slaughterhouse of people ever recorded. One photo shows a person burned inside a golden bull.
Their property was confiscated. Constantine was also known for taking all the gold pagan statues to melt down into gold coins called 'solides': https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_the_Great. So the 'Christianity' of theocracy, torture, coinage-slavery and empire seems to be 'born' in Bethlehem.
The Greek site was a shocker!
https://www.e-synews.gr/2019/02/04/thymitheite-tin-skythopoli/
https://www.e-synews.gr/2019/02/05/sfagi-ton-ellinon-to-vyzantio-tin-ekklisia-diavaste/
https://www.e-synews.gr/2019/09/13/lexi-ellinas-apagoreyotan-epi-1-500-chronia-poini/
Thinking that I switched from Catholic to Orthodox... not much difference it seems... I definitely need to dig deeper into this.
What I do know from Laurent and from Marcion, is that Christianity was greatly perverted as early as the 1st century.
Gospel of Marcion: https://ia600301.us.archive.org/8/items/TheGospelOfTheLord/TheGospelOfTheLord.pdf
The Antithesis: http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/antithesis.html
I need to dig deeper into this.
That's very open minded of you, Fadi. My premise is that the story of Jesus was written to destroy the Christ, which was not a person but an anti-imperialist movement with a mystical understanding that made them fearless in the face of torture and death. I think the zealots knew something we've forgotten, that takes a modern form in A Course in Miracles, something I've studied for two decades.
I also spent a decade studying the roots of Christianity (as the cult of Jesus is called, having usurped the concept of Christ as one person). I attended the Int'l Bible conferences of The Jesus Seminars where scholars present primary source research and 'vote' on a passage's authenticity.
I started that journey like you, believing that it started out as something pure that was later corrupted. I've since come to the conclusion that it's the opposite--through good people projecting their goodness onto the story, it's 'softened the blows.' Subsequent translations become more palatable to modern sensibilities. The closer you get to the original, the uglier it is.
It gives me no joy to present the ugliness to people who have imbued Christianity with their own beauty and inclusive love. But the truth mixed with lies becomes a poison that we take in willingly, that nullifies its strength.
Your research on the first three centuries is interesting. I peeked at Guyenot's Anno Domini because I was too curious to wait. It's really intriguing that whole centuries may be entirely made up.
I'll be posting an article today on some of this history, including that first Greek article. Thanks for linking the other two. The third, on the language, will particularly interest Nef. We've been delving into language and how its meaning has been twisted. This quote is great:
"the Greek language that served the establishment in each case remained, but it also brutally altered its service. Thousands of words took on a different meaning from the conquerors who knew that you would conquer a people when you really changed their language."
Thanks for this!
WOW you and Nef are very advanced in your research on origins of Christianity.
"My premise is that the story of Jesus was written to destroy the Christ"
I am reaching this conclusion, at least that the institution of the Church, usurped and distorted teachings of Christ for the purpose of power, material power. Which is absolutely opposite to the message of Christ as I understand it.
"I also spent a decade studying the roots of Christianity"
Have you published any of your findings, if so, where?
Thank you
In addition to the Etymology for “Beit” meaning “house of,” Bet Leḥem in Hebrew (Habiru), it literally means"house of bread" or "house of food.” This is extremely interesting because of the existing Bread and Wine Ceremony of the Vatican. If this is the origin for that ceremony, it could be a clue that there may have been a Cannibal Cult located at Scythopolis; in the ceremony, Jesus (Yes’us’) is suppose to say: “Eat of my Flesh and Drink of my Blood.”
"Jesus was written to destroy the Christ" that sticks out as FACT.
Can I use any of what you state in the above comment?
Thank you for the additional context, Tereza. I have been trying to gain a better concept of what was really happening there in Scythopolis, but it's also tied into the location of Amaru; also the main stronghold of the Hyksos, Avaris, only had it's rulers removed. The majority of the Habiru remained even after the "Expulsion." It wasn't much of an Exodus it seems. Habiru were the labor and craftsmen who were being controlled by the Hyksos rulers. So when there was a change of rulers to Egyptian, they inherited the same work force.
Land is not valuable unless you have the labor to work it.
The Habiru are possibly a mixture of peoples who intermarried with the original indigenous population of Canaanites, so it is now more apparent that what we are trying to uncover is entirely based off "Culture." I'm trying to find something that connects the Seth Cult to the Scythians but that is specifically hard to get at. I'm now realizing there are some mistakes in the post I did on The First Holocaust, because of what I'm now noticing.
Are you saying that Amaru was once called Scythopolis, and that Avaris was once called Scythopolis? Very interesting. Are there sources to that? It certainly is another rabbit hole.
No, Beit She'an was renamed Scythopolis later during the Hellenistic Period. Amaru is a different place all together in Northern Palestine; here's what I have on Amaru: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amurru_kingdom
There's a pretty good map on this link if you give it a click, it enlarges there are a few cities shown including Amaru. I'm going to provide as much of the raw information as I can on each of these cites.
The trouble I'm running into is there are multiple names in multiple places as these places got over taken by the next rulers.
(I think you are way ahead of me in this research, I'm trying to keep up.)
My approach is to try to figure out what cultures were active at what times. I think it's possible that Beit She'an was for awhile since, Nineteenth and Twentieth dynasties (c. 1295-1075 BC) a stronghold for Seth worshipers, while Egypt held control of it.
"One of the major events that shaped the nature of Egypt during the New Kingdom was the invasion of the Hyksos people from the Levant into the Delta sometime around 1,600 BC. The Hyksos took an interest in Seth, viewing him as similar to their own god Baal. [8] But once the Hyksos were vanquished by native Egyptians from Thebes, some of their ideas stayed, including Seth worship."
Later during the late Roman period, when this place was turned into a human slaughter house, it was controlled by the Christian Yahwehist, Constantine that I think you said once were the enemies of the Seth Cult. But I now wonder if this was always roughly the same cult that changed names? That's a question I think is difficult to find direct answers for.
This is what I have on Avaris: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avaris
Avaris is located in the Nile Delta area. There were many locations that Habiru lived.
I hope I can cover all this in a single post, maybe I'll need to do a series, with the Scythians in greater Scythia, this does connect to Firestarter's material on Dragon Court.
I completely agree with you.
Venetian Empire was run by what would later become known as the Black Nobility. They were former Roman Senator families. Frances Leader has done an excellent job at exposing them.
In this post, Black Nobility 101 there are excellent links to reference material, showing who created the concept of Incorporated Government, the establishment of the Trust System which dilutes private ownership,
https://francesleader.substack.com/p/black-nobility-101?utm_source=publication-search
In taking a quick look, that book you linked has a lot of great details, I'm getting it,
-- Thank you, Fadi
I checked https://francesleader.substack.com/p/the-mother-of-all-false-flag-events
It has a lot of true facts, and a few some not so accurate:
"occupy the hot and hostile desert "Holy Land": There are some desert area in the south, but otherwise it was a rich agricultural civilized region for several millennia.
A bit surprised by the Astana city design.
I am hoping that the RIC (Russia, Iran and China) are not players in the master plan, but facing it.
Ingraham's book is a MUST READ... fascinating book, I have read it 3 times already. It has a wealth of information, and was extremely useful for the research for my book
I find your insight enlightening, I am getting a copy of your book, I found your link in a prior post of Tereza's.
I realize you probably quite busy, but I would love to have your thoughts on the following posts I did on the Globalist System:
Intergranular Corruption and how it Spreads Black Nobility, Dragon Court, Order of the Garter, Diagrams and Charts. Individual Parasites and their Crime Families have relationships, this creates spheres of influence that are compartmentalized. Through Private Trusts, their decisions are anonymized.
https://nefahotep.substack.com/p/intergranular-corruption-and-how
Corporate Chains of Custody, Illustrate how Control is more emphasized than Ownership. Owners of Equities in the Public / Private Fiefdom of Globalist Power Hierarchies, use Trusts to enable Power to be exercised anonymously. Reducing the Individual through Fraud and Force.
https://nefahotep.substack.com/p/corporate-chains-of-custody-illustrate
The No Annexation Principle and why it matters. The traditional spoils of War were always the Assets of a given Country, if it was a loser in a War, it was usually Asset Stripped. There was a change to this in Practice but maybe just in Appearance, No Annexation Principle IS the definition of Globalism, Corporate Franchises all linked together form an Empire held together by Private Trusts and Contractual Debt based Economies.
https://nefahotep.substack.com/p/the-no-annexation-principle-and-why
I read "Intergranular Corruption and how it Spreads Black Nobility, Dragon Court, Order of the Garter, Diagrams and Charts help map Secrets"
my comments:
I agree that Wahabi sect is a British intelligence creation dating back to end of 18th century
Also agree about the BJP having kidnapped Hinduism and is very damaging for the population of India.
The Shiite 12th Imam, not so sure about. There are some Shiites based in London and some in Iraq who preach division within Islam, these I have no doubt they work for MI6, but others in Iraq, Iran and Lebanon are the spearhead against the Empire.
Marx: It would not surprise me that he was a tool. Especially that the main fruits of Marxism was destruction of Orthodox Tsarist Russia, and destabilization of Germany which along with Tsarist Russia had government controlled central banks.
China: In my opinion was in grave danger in the 1980s, when Soros organizations were spreading like a cancer. Since then Chinese leadership awoke to the need of a civilizational anchor to provide immunity to society, hence the revival of Confucianism by the CCP, with President Xi assuming a lead role in this revival. Most importantly is that the major commercial banks in China are government owned.
Figure 3: I refer to "Policy Makers & Policy Distributors" as Bretton Woods institutions, one of the three pillars of the Empire, that other two being Virtual Reality (Policy Propagandists) and Military.
Figure 4: Public Side, I refer to them as Bretton Woods institutions and Virtual Reality pillars.
Experiencing love is Seeing the truth that we do not exist as Separate beings.
When we can see our self reflected in another; in a personal way, we become aware there is only One Thing and that's Consciousness, we are One coming from Oneness which is also Love.
Spiritually, One who sees the Self in all Existences and all Existences within the Self, finds the perfect Bliss.
Sat --------- Chit --------- Ananda
Existence--- Awareness--- Fulfillment.
All this rests within Balance. And this can be personalized in the human persona.
Masculine and Feminine are one coming from one realizing One.
The Masculine is physically strong and emotionally vulnerable.
The Feminine is emotionally strong and physically vulnerable, yet together, nobody is weak.
The two forces together build our world and hold it healthy and strong.
The Masculine’s greatest strength is his surrender to the Feminine; Her greatest strength is upholding and protecting life, for Her very spirit is a nest to Life.
The Male and Female interaction is not one of superior or inferior, it’s a true coming together.
The Feminine warmth and nurture is the truest home to the Masculine heart. This is both Spiritual and Psychological, which includes the emotional and mental spheres. Of course it can also be Physical. She is his Heart's true protector, his most ardent supporter, in love, her Heart becomes his only home that really matters. She is His only goal. In human terms, this seems so complex and yet in Spiritual sense, so simple at the same time.
Human love is exclusive, Spiritual love in inclusive, yet it really comes from the same inner source of Attention. A camp of the Divine pitched a in Human Time.
Friendship is a form of inclusiveness that has no natural boundaries, no expectations.
The love you have in your life adds greatness to your health.
The goal of Life is to Realize Love.
"A camp of the Divine pitched a in Human Time." That's beautifully put, Nef. You express the Feminine and Masculine very elegantly.
I read the first few lines and my thought was ‘this person has read The Course’. The Special Relationship is what our society has built itself around.
Oh it's nice to see you're still reading my blog, William. Yes, I haven't done one on The Course for awhile. With all my focus on the twisting of scriptures, violence, economic collapse and psychological manipulation, I needed to touch back to what's real. Glad to see someone else pursuing the same path, it feels more vital than ever.
It has been a big part of my life.
When I heard that sound after the spiritual slut, let's do this.....RRRRRRRRRRR.....
*SMILE!!!!* I was LIKE....WHA????
How did she do that....oh, it was a motorcycle. HAHAHa
AWESOME sound effect and personal affect.
YOU ARE SO FUNNY
That was pure magic.
I love the tree :)
NONJUDGEMENT, yes. One of my favorite concepts.
I release all people.
Not judging people is so much better for you.
You can breathe in your body when you think of them. I imagine green things, soft green things like
nice plants and leaves and grasses. I send that to them and say, "may they have healing and may they have discernment." It feels good. Every now and then I think "may they have happiness." That one feels great. I play with a rock in traffic now and do the same thing there. It keeps me much calmer about things.
I am not interested in guilt and blame anymore.
I see what you did there with the "real world" verses the "other real world". There is yet another one. The unseen one in which we feel each others thoughts from time to time.
"Able to make that connection," yes. I love what you said about your loneliness and your shining.
You do shine.
And those earrings are "on point."
Judgement always rests on the past. RIGHT!
It's true, when I lay judgement down, I always have a more beautiful experience. It's also fun to watch people be pleasantly surprised as well. I was very nice to my ex on the phone recently. We don't talk regularly, it's not like I have been mean this whole time. But he said "Amy, are you SURE this is you? You sound so SWEET." HAha
I like the words "in the Holy Instant" and that it "reaches into eternity".
Excelente.
I love that you always get my jokes, Amy. And then you said you love the tree and followed with NONJUDGMENT. And I thought--the tree of nonjudgment, rather than the tree of judgment in the Garden of Eden. We need a tree like that! Valencia Orange!
What a deep and profound person you are. "may they have healing and may they have discernment." Beautiful! And "may they have happiness."
Yes, I think the place of loneliness and longing is the place of connection.
The EARRINGS are from Neshma! Sane Franciscan! One of three beautiful pairs she gave me. We're working on a little project and met, and she surprised me with these. I'll be sporting the other two soon.
More to say but I gotta go to a conditioning class. I'll be back with more soon.
I’ve had a lot on my plate of late but just wanted to come on here quickly to say that you are such an inspiration in Love and showing Love and that the earrings are perfect on you, as I hoped they would be. Keep shining! ✨💕
I thought you were likely busy but it's so kind of you to drop me some hearts and heartfelt wishes. Back 'atcha! I think I'll plan my look around another pair for this next video.
My dance teacher told me something tonight that I thought you would like: You have yet to meet all the people who are going to love you. I'm certain that's true for you.
And both Kathleen and Tonika said they were stealing my 'spiritual slut.' So now they're having a spiritual slut-a-thon. Isn't that exciting?
Kathleen had this recent post: https://devanneykathleen.substack.com/p/re-claiming-the-trappings-of-power that ends with a music video of someone I thought would fit our Round Body Advocate post. But Kathleen thought she was more of a Round Body Boaster. Isn't that cool?
Two other of my favorite musicians who fit the theme are Laura Mvulu in That's Alright: https://youtu.be/hYjHixQ9Ns4?si=olvdTPdKsakq3L5a.
Here are the lyrics: "I will never be what you want and that's alright. 'Cause my skin ain't light and my body ain't tight." And it continues with these great lines: "Tell me who made you the center of the universe, to be the judge and jury over me?" Also perhaps my favorite staging and choreo.
And this is Simmy with one of my favorite songs with Sun el-Musician: https://youtu.be/4kkdRc4FCs0?si=ZrARPawqV0RMmVx0.
I'm going to end up with the whole episode written in these comments but one genre I forgot about is belly dance. One teacher from our group has a body made of orbs, including her belly, and they all operate independently. Okay, that was all I was wanting to remember to say.
And yes on the holy instant! I liked it even better when I wrote it as wholly instant. It seemed like revelation where you just add hot water and viola!
Firstly, that song stay outa my business is great! I love the choreography too. I will put it in my word dox for inspiration. I love the Laura Mvulu one too. Thanks for introducing me to that. I will save all of these for reference. :) AH! Wholly instant, I see. All can be encompassed there. Thank you for that. You are so good at really thinking about the meaning of things. YOU are a profound and deep thinker. The non judgement tree is awesome. HAhaha. I will take note of a valencia non judgement tree as well. :)
And thanks Amy for 'noting' my article with your comment. It's such a fun surprise to get some random notes and see my name!
Spiritual slut! Yo! I am stealing that! Although you’re offering it freely, so I guess I’m just making good on your offer! ❤️
Oooo, that reading at the end! I was listening to this in my car and it’s golden hour and I’m stuck in Chicago traffic and I’m just smiling to all these people in their car being hella mad that they can’t move faster and if they make eye contact (rare!) I smile even more! I’m letting them get in front of me if they want, I got no urgency and so I feel lucky. There’s a jam jam happening at my house currently so when I get there, I’ll just join the circle and lift my voice in harmony with others: what a direct way to experience inclusive love!
Btw, the twins and I used to do these mantras when they were little, before going to bed. They were call and response type. And the first one was “What is love?” And the response was “The only answer.” Don’t know where I had heard it but I liked it well enough to include it in our nightly ritual. And I still stand by it.
Ha, Kathleen already beat you to it on Rumble! You'll have to arm-wrestle over it. Or see who can be spiritually sluttier ;-) I'm not sure who to bet on.
There you go, distributing miracles to random drivers on the Chigo freeway! Jam jam at your house? What a good life you have, Tonika, you hippie gal. Nice way to spring out of the gate on the spiritual slutathon.
Beautiful mantras. Your boys are so lucky. We had three questions I'd ask before bed: 1) What's something nice someone did for you? 2) What nice thing did you do for someone else, and 3) What didn't turn out like you planned, that you'd do different if you could?
And then they'd ask us to tell them a secret. That meant make up a story with three girls in it, natch. And we'd try to stay awake long enough to outlast them.
When my middle daughter went on her first solo trip by Joshua Tree, she got a little spooked after dark and called her gay guy friend, and asked him to tell her a secret. He knew just what she meant! And made up a story until she fell asleep. Is that love? I'd say so.
I think I’m going to try to incorporate your questions into my dialogue with the little one. He is a lot more communicative than the twins were at that stage. I’m going to create a version similar to your inquiries. It’s important to always be reminded of your own awareness.
What a terrific anecdote about Joshua Tree and the secret! I’d say you’re absolutely right about that being love.
Yes, jam jams are the best. My hippie life style suits me rather well.
Oh, the spiritual slut circle expands! Talk about inclusivity! 😆
Thank you for this, especially the part about guarding your loneliness. I'm struggling with that part right now, but I sense that there's something important there that I'm not quite getting. I have always needed my alone time in so-called big-R "relationships", but in those long periods between those "relationships", the loneliness can sometimes feel very painful. But I think you're talking about something deeper than that. I need to ponder this for a while.
Much to respond to, Mark, let's start with loneliness. When I mentioned doing an episode called "Guard Your Loneliness," one of my aerial buddies thought that I should change it to 'aloneness.' But that wasn't what I meant. I do think that loneliness is a precious source of sustenance. In the end, your relationship with loneliness is the only one you can control.
If I had found one person who understood what I was saying about economics, I would never have taken ten years to research, write, rewrite, hire editors, bribe neighbors and learn how to produce, illustrate and distribute my book. It was a profoundly lonely experience--ten years of talking to myself and writing what no one wanted to read. And before that, I'd had my radio show where I wrote 3000 words a week but got a smattering of people, even around the world, who were freely giving me their attention. Giving that up was lonely.
It also created a level of confidence to stick to my ideas, even when everyone thought they were ridiculous--still generally the case for people in my 'real' life, who pat me on the head and humor me. If loneliness wasn't a happy place for me, I would have abandoned my ideas long before they grew up.
I suspect most, perhaps all of us on my threads are the same. We're all looking to connect, not from the places that are easy, but from the deep recesses of who we are and what we think that other people just don't get. My material takes way too much work for people who don't have that need to dive for sunken treasures of meaning.
I hope that, in your new place, you can find people to fill roles in your life without needing to be everything. Sometimes the big R relationships can leave you more lonely, because you seem from the outside to not be alone. When the inner and outer reality match, there's some congruence that I found to be easier. Good luck with it!
Thank you once again.
I had a friend in Vermont who described herself as "alone", not "lonely", because she had no family or partner, but she did have a busy social life online and in person. I would like to know what the distinction means to you, so I'm looking forward to your "Guard Your Loneliness" episode.
But your example of the loneliness in writing your book makes a lot of sense to me. I think I feel some of that in my musical world now. The work at insanely hard stuff like the Chopin Barcarolle has been a very lonely experience: no teacher, and no listeners for a good while yet because it's so rough and incomplete. But that work can be a pretty happy thing, like when I make some breakthrough and a passage that was horrible for so long starts to sound like music.
I agree that the Big R relationships can leave you more lonely. That was certainly true in my second marriage. I think that kind of loneliness can be (though not necessarily) a sign that you're in an abusive relationship, because the abuser needs to keep you isolated from outside influences.
I should add that I do agree that romance is exclusivity. It's why I'm very distrustful of it these days. I've had a number of non-romantic but loving relationships with women, and in both of my marriages, I was expected to drop those relationships. Never again.
It is said that there are two types of Human love that men and women can share; one is of course Eros, physically grounded Love which is and rightly should be "exclusive." The other is Agapaos that is not physical but loving someone like a friend.
Friendships with women can sometimes be tricky in those situations, especially if the man is married. Usually, the man is at a disadvantage because of how we men think. I don't mean to generalize, but men tend to think in a very logical, a straight forward manner; women tend towards a very intuitive and often unpredictable way of thinking, curly-ques that can at times be fun or very painful for the man, every individual circumstance is unique so no fixed rule there.
Men are most often the ones who are seeking acceptance from the women, it is they that decide how things go; as a result, men are also the regular recipients of rejection and abandonment, but again not always.
I am sorry to hear about what you have experienced in the past.
I first experienced abandonment by my own mother at the age of 10; she decided to leave my Dad, my sister was only 5 at the time, girls need their mothers but boys need them even more for other reasons.
In friendships with women, it is usually the women who set the limits, partitions and boundaries. Since it is us men who are usually the ones that are open and willing because we tend to seek their acceptance; but again no fixed rules, every relationship can be unique and rewarding. If you inquire within and know yourself well, you will see that the other person is reflecting that part of yourself you most accept and appreciate.
Thank you for your thoughtful response.
I agree about sexual Eros and exclusivity; I tried non-exclusivity in the early part of this century, and it was a very stressful and mostly disastrous experience. But I learned a lot from that experiment, mainly about what NOT to do.
Where it gets hazy for me is "physically grounded Love", because it seems to be a continuum. A very small number of my women friends have been cuddle-buddies at various times, and Eros was banked way down. I also had one very close friend, almost like a partner for several years, who was also my massage partner, but we were never physically affectionate in any way. I would find it difficult to be exclusive in these gray areas where sex was excluded.
I was mostly writing about the completely platonic form of relationship.
How there may be some similarities in terms of emotional and psychological acceptance or rejection.
I was saying "Friendships with women can sometimes be tricky in those situations, especially if the man is married."
Meaning "that friendship" doesn't even have cuddling or anything else, just roughly similar characteristics as two men may have a friendship.
The bond can be based off of anything. Partners in playing the game of tennis, for example. Two students who go to the same school, and find they really appreciate each other's perspectives on certain things and later develop a regular in real life experience that stays platonic, yet mutually enjoyable.
A personal example:
In real life, I am friends with someone who collects rare plants; I am a Landscaper, the resulting friendship is based from that common experience, yes it's a wonderful lady friend. She visits me sometimes just to check out the plants I have in the yard. There's nothing even remotely physical, nor could it be, as I am married for the last 20 years.
Some of those boundaries I mentioned can just develop naturally, without artificial mental impositions. Friendships can just exist freely and passively; at least that's been my experience.
Generally though; I think that both genders are wanting to Trust and be Trusted by each other, in any relationship they engage in. ;-)
What is love?
Baby don’t hurt me. Don’t hurt me. No more.
Hands up if you read that to the tune? 😂.
My dance teacher has been playing it in class and I can't get it out of my head. Perhaps the instigation for the title but it definitely didn't help! At least it wasn't the Donna Summers song 'Hot Stuff' that she's also been playing. Maybe I'll do that next ;-)
👏😂
Wow, can I relate to both the grief and the unwillingness to admit it. I think I left NYS on a surge of righteousness that's catching up with me daily. I know my sister in Buffalo feels as though I deserted her, so there's a pile-on as well. I'm glad your daughter is allowing that grief to be felt and named -- so healing!
Gratitude abounds on my end for you and your fierce, loving intelligence, Tereza. You are a rare find. ❤️
Tereza, writing a meaningful response to this massive, important topic would take all day! I have so many thoughts, questions, quibbles, and hurrahs that I'm stymied. I'll just commend you for your leap into the deepest waters, and trust that one day, I'll join you in person to swim there alongside you. Xox
I was thinking about you this morning, Mary, and your post about being on the Left and subconsciously and gently joining in the disdain of the Right. And then finding yourself in the midst of the Right and your dismay over seeing the same playbook in reverse.
It's a very schizophrenic feeling, isn't it?
I was thinking more about what I mean when I say that I approach topics like economics, religion and history from a feminine perspective. The essence of the feminine, I think, is relationships. Particularly the family, the familiar. Inside these stories of religion and history (and economics) is the intimate repetitive stories of what happen(ed/s) to families.
In both the Biblical narratives and those reflected by the Amarna Letters are subsumed 100s of 1000s of intimate stories of families destroyed by a trick. I think Nefahotep phrases it well as "ingratiate, infiltrate, usurp."
Listening to my daughters' friends this weekend, it's the same thing in a modern form. Every one is living a highly stressful life, stretched to capacity to make the rent or mortgage (if they've left California to buy a home). The community my daughter had from daycare or before, counting family, is dispersed, scattered. And she's finally admitted her grief over it, and the feeling that they deserted her--for reasons she can't be reasonably mad about, like their spouses having a job.
Anyway, just wanted to share my morning thoughts and my gratitude to have you in my life.
Hi there... not sure how my response ended up ABOVE your comment, but whatever. I'm glad you got it. 😂
Tereza I want to ask you if you'd be on a podcast of women once every two weeks. These are no air heads and I would love it if you joined us.
Hi, denise. I'm so honored by your invitation! Between the blog and another project I'm working on (also women-oriented) I couldn't make that time commitment, I'm afraid. I don't know whether doing it once would be more disruptive than constructive for you. If you feel it would be constructive, please send me more information. Thank you for thinking of me!
I can well imagine you are kept busy. We will be having guests on our podcast so I hope we will have your company on it at least one time. I can't wait for women to be heard as much as men. When you look through history and current speakers, women are barely visible. It is vastly occupied by men. It seems men always want to tell people things yet they have only ever seen things from the man's perspective, they have only half the story to tell. The other perspective, the women's, is barely mentioned or even thought about. Men know very little about women and the kind of lives we lead which is very different to what men lead. I'm not condemning men when I say this, just stating a fact. I always have to chuckle when men talk to me like they're talking to a school girl and often I know tons more than they do in the subject matter. So we need to hear more from women although women don't feel free to state their perspective openly. I know through experience, that you get pilloried for it, but I keep on going anyway and challenge the status quo. Often it causes rifts unfortunately, just for having a different opinion. And this too we must highlight. Let's just bring it all out!
I think about the women's perspective quite a lot, but you are essentially right about the male centered social condition. If there was more emphasis on the Feminine power of nurture, our world would be moving towards Healing instead of more war.
I wanted to share with you a piece of the comment I left way further down, interested in what you may think:
Masculine and Feminine are one coming from one realizing One.
The Masculine is physically strong and emotionally vulnerable.
The Feminine is emotionally strong and physically vulnerable, yet together, nobody is weak.
The two forces together, build our world and hold it healthy and strong.
The Masculine’s greatest strength is his surrender to the Feminine; Her greatest strength is upholding and protecting life, for Her very spirit is a nest to Life.
The Male and Female interaction is not one of superior or inferior, it’s a true coming together.
The Feminine warmth and nurture is the truest home to the Masculine heart. This is both Spiritual and Psychological, which includes the emotional and mental spheres. Of course it can also be Physical. She is his Heart's true protector, his most ardent supporter, in love, her Heart becomes his only home that really matters. She is His only goal. In human terms, this seems so complex and yet in Spiritual sense, so simple at the same time.
Human love is exclusive, Spiritual love in inclusive, yet it really comes from the same inner source of Attention. A camp of the Divine pitched a in Human Time.
You explained it really well. It's the balancing of yin and yang. The two go together and if one is not there, it causes an imbalance and chaos. You explained it well between lovers, but now women want to be seen as colleagues, as peers as we are well educated now and can speak on subjects of the highest level. But we're more than worthy of speaking with even without credentials because as you say women are the protectors or hearts and nature. We are the nurturers and we have skills that have been treated with disdain. What we need to aim for in my view (everything I say is from my view, as is everything each of us say) is peer to peer equality. Not sameness - we are both polar opposites, but equality of value, equality of worthiness and the dignity to be heard as a person in our own existence. Culture is still operating as though women are second class citizens. This occurs everywhere, in all classes and all cultures as far as I have seen. There are odd exceptions, very rare alas. But this is the path we must traverse now - peer to peer, equal say and listening to women as much as men and having the numbers meet not just an overwhelming number of men talking vs women. We must look to balance the numbers, not through force or coercion but invitation - men need to learn to invite women to join their little huddles where women rarely tread.
What you say here, means everything to me.
You say: "Culture is still operating as though women are second class citizens. This occurs everywhere, in all classes and all cultures as far as I have seen."
Sadly that's true, and the exceptions I know of, is the culture I was exposed to while I was young. I have many cultural exposures; the one that holds my attention is that of the Hindu, especially of South India. Women are revered socially they are unapproachable in public. I say that based on how it was in the 70's in Tamil Nadu. Men are expected to show respect. Women are manifestations of the Divine Mother. This is important, it also has recognition built into culture that women are important.
And to me personally, I have always felt a bit alienated by the western patriarchy; it's a mental disorder to think based on superiority.
Though I know we don't know each other, please know that there are some men like myself who stand firmly with the feminine, a force without which nobody could exist.
You are a rarity and a gem. I hope your example rubs off on other men. The lack of respect to women makes me want to gag. It is so part of "normal" life. When men speak with me, usually, not always, but usually, they talk down, they TELL me things as though they are an authority and I am a mere pupil. It's very irritating since they only know half of what I know and the concepts that I think about would be totally alien to them. I do know men who are balanced in their own masculinity and femininity. It's been a bit of a battle even between them and myself but I stuck it out and they came through and now they understand. Next base is we have to come together and build this world where men and women are both valued. And yes, females are just as patriarchal as men now, they have lost all their heart and they are mercenary. There is no need for gods or goddesses, just peer to peer, I think would be right. What do you think? I'm looking at building a new culture for those who see it and want it.
https://youtu.be/oGpFcHTxjZs?si=KyIJuCw1Ck3LA03n
What's Love Got to Do With It?
Another song my dance teacher often plays in her cool-down, and it always sticks in my head. Such a great song! When Tina died, my teacher choreo'd Proud Mary, another iconic tune.
Thanks for providing making-breakfast-dance-music!
Her best and so true.
Appreciate your video Tereza. Here's a quote that I thought of while reading it: "Better we should feel cold as ice than indulge ourselves in warm feelings for another based on nothing but our own self-indulgence and self-congratulation, or on an attempt to throw a veil of false good-feeling over the rigors of a hard situation." - Charles Upton, ending page of Chapter 12 in his "Science of the Greater Jihad". He also talks about how pity for a wrongdoer is further from love than righteous anger, and how "There is no such thing as love, only proofs of love.". Anyway, I will now read your next write-up that I missed. Thank you.
Dragon's treasure indeed :) - there are things which are sacred, like the person including all their space and world. Rest assured, sister.
Thank you, shaqer. Very intriguing quotes. That 'veil of false good-feeling over the rigors of a hard situation' seems like conflict avoidance. One of my daughters is learning that lesson hard, although jihad is a strong word for roommate conflict. Yet it's proving the rule that what you don't deal with honestly, even if it causes discomfort, always comes back in a harder form.
I'm a strong believer in consequences for wrongdoers, rather than pity or anger. Take away the power to do wrong, which no one should have over another. Then, I suspect, anger will feel unnecessary. As I titled a draft of a book on parenting, "Don't Get Mad, Get Even."
I suspect that it scales up ;-)
I appreciate the kind words.
Here's Bucky telling us why 'attraction' often shows up in the love discussion...
Short, no-math version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LM8oynQQSgA
Optional, slightly longer version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIb0xYvwX_Y
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From riding the range to riding the rails...not sure if these pull anyone in to Geodesic City...I'm including Tiny Bradshaw only because he's the one who made the leap from cows to locomotives...if you want to see dudes doin' this tune, Youtube has plenty of XY versions...these are XX-focused clips.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mq3lCOIY9I8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ci4EQDD4CqA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mz147m98jdQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9Ewovwm7mA
I'm not sure which I like best, the moves on the cowgirl classic, the updo swirl on Imelda May or the cat-eyeliner on the white leather miniskirt gals.
I enjoy not feeling any motivation to have a favorite...different eras, different styles...I only arranged them chronologically, not out of any hierarchy of personal preference...BTW, if anyone knows of a predecessor to Tiny Bradshaw's version, please clue me in. The only future fantasy version I have is Taimane Gardner showing up at a Surfrajettes show and getting invited up to hop on The Train and hang out for a few mainline surf music tunes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JX13LwnZss (not surf...maybe Bizet & not Bach)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cY0TirHPB2g (surf)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oU4t19zlUiA (not surf...definitely Hendrix)
Okay, I'll just respond to one at a time--Taimane, the look, the style, the moves and OMG the playing. I am awestruck.
Look, style, moves? Not much playing on Part 1 of this eight-part show, but if you use 'taimane first friday 2011' as the search term, you should be able to get the other 7 sections. Oh, heck...I'll just list them all for you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy2ovw7V36Y&t=4s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf4l2fXXGxQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtBXc1PRmUE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy6bhuqeO4Y&t=212s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMU2ssJqcHA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uG9fRO_eJqk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4DktccY3ls
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFXrY1-UGMo