Veterans and Target Stores

Wasn’t it last Christmas that Target refused to let the Salvation Army ring their bells in front of their stores?

Dick Forrey of the Vietnam Veterans Association wrote.
'Recently we asked the local TARGET store to be a proud sponsor of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall during our spring recognition event.
We received the following reply from the local TARGET management:
' Veterans do not meet our area of giving. We only donate to the arts, social action groups, gay & lesbian causes, and education.'
So I'm thinking, if the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall and veterans in general, do not meet their donation criteria, then something is really wrong at this TARGET store. We were not asking for thousands of dollars, not even hundreds, and just a small sponsorship for a memorial remembrance.
As a follow-up, I E-mailed the TARGET U.S. Corporate Headquarters and their response was the
same. That’s their national policy
Then I looked into the company further..
They will not allow the Marines to collect for 'Toys for Tots’ at any of their stores. And during the recent Iraq deployment, they would not allow families of employees who were called up for active duty to continue their insurance coverage while they were on military service. Then as I dig further, TARGET is a French-owned corporation.
Now, I’m thinking again. If TARGET cannot support American Veterans, then why should my family and I support their stores by spending our hard-earned American dollars! And, have their profits sent to France
Without the American Vets, where would France be today?
'They, most likely would be speaking German and trading in Deutsche Marks'
Sincerely,
Dick Forrey
Veterans Helping Veterans
Please send this on to everyone you know to let Target know we don’t need them either !

Who is Native American ...

Since Teresa and I hosted our first powwow, of which some in the "Indian Community" called a "White-man's Powwow", we have continued to receive flack and negative comments about being wannabes or psuedo-indians. It continues to amaze me on how many full-bloods or half-bloods or members of federally or state recognized tribes, bands, or clans are behind much of the negativity. It also amazes me how so many members of federally recognized tribes call members of state recognized tribes the same names.

As I look across the spectrum there seems to be a common thread, that is, many who belong to the federally recognized tribes often feel or comment that members of state recognized tribes, bands or clans, or those who are not affiliated with any group, are trying to steal the heritage or rights or ceremonies that "belong" to federally recognized groups.

I will concede that among every organization spectrum or grouping, whether they are Native American, African American, or they are doctors, lawyers, or others, there are going to be "bad-apples."

But here we are in 2009, 141 years after the Ft. Laramie Treaty, and 179 years after the Trail of Tears, and I'm sure we can come up with many more dates more than two or three generations ago that Native American People were removed from the homelands.

Does the fact that some members of the Native American People decided that instead of removing themselves to reservations, opted to remain on or near their homes and adopt the ways of the conquering white culture, make them any less Native American? By some "definitions" many of those who opted to stay are still technically considered as "hostile" by the federal government.

In addition because of the situation of society in the late 1800's and early 1900's many of those who did stay behind, when it came time for the Census by the Federal Government were enumerated as "mulatto" and some were even classed as "white". Because of society many of these Native Americans were forced to keep their heritage "in the closet", much like gay and lesbians had to until the late 1980's. Does that change who they are?

Does that little piece of federal government paper called a CDIB card mean that one person is more Native American than another person? Sometimes, especially for descendants of those who stayed behind and intermixed with the dominant society, it takes a couple generations to recognize a part of one heritage. Around the turn of the 1800's into the 1900's it was truly a social stigma to be Native American. For someone born in the late 1950's, their grandparents were likely born around 1900, at time of not publically admitting Native American heritage. If it was the grandparents, grandparent that was Native American, thus the 1950's individual's 2nd-great grandparent ... the blood quantum is 1/16th.

Many of us who are 1/16th or 1/8th already have a living, most of us don't want federal aid, or anything else, but the right to return to our heritage of our grandparents and the freedom to practice it. If federally recognized tribes, bands, or clans are concerned about those of us who are in that 1/8th to 1/16th quantum doing ceremonies wrong, come teach us, instead of criticizing us.

In closing ... my wife and I purchased the forty acres we have for one reason ... the furtherance and perpetuation of all Native American Cultures and Traditions. We've created powwow grounds through sweat and blood equity, we've privately financed a monument to 32 Native American Veterans that received the Ultimate Eagle Feather, the Congressional Medal of Honor, we've set up a food bank for all Veterans in southwest Geneva County, Alabama, we've initiated a toy drive in conjunction with our annual powwow to provide toys for underprivileged Native American Children. Please do not criticize those who are wanting and willing to learn the heritage of their ancestors. It may be a white-man's saying, but ... Never criticize unless you've walked a mile in your brothers moccassins. If we can get by our differences, the Native American People can again become a strong voice in this country.

That is all I have to say.

Choices

Do I believe that in "becoming willing" I have made the best of all choices?

We must never be blinded by the futile philosophy that we are just he victims of our inheritance, of our life experience, and of our surroundings --- which these are the sole forces that make out decisions for us. This is not the road to freedom. We have to believe that we can really choose.

Genesis 2:15-17 --- The Lord God took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

God gave Adam responsibility for the garden and told him not to eat from the knowledge of good and evil. Rather than physically preventing him from eating, God gave Adam a choice, even though Adam might choose wrongly. God still gives us choices today, and we, too, often chose wrongly. These wrong choices may cause us pain and irritation, but they can help us learn and grow and make better choices in the future. Living with the consequences of our choices is one of the best ways to become more responsible.

Everyday of our human existence is filled with a multitude of choices. From the moment we awake to the moment we finally fall asleep, we make many choices … what we'll eat, what we'll wear, and of course what we'll do. Many of the choices we may make are insignificant in many ways, yet the same choices depending upon the situation can also be quite significant.

For example, what we eat, is for the most part based upon what we like and have developed a taste for. However, if we have one of various health problems there are certain things we should not eat. Also there are certain things that are poisonous, or if not stored or prepared properly can cause sickness and even death.

Another example, what we wear. We must often consider a number of things when we choose what we will wear. Are we going someplace? What is the weather going to be like? If we are staying at home, we may choose not to get dressed and stay in our pajamas. We would most likely not choose to wear shorts, a tank top and sandals outside, when the temperature is 10 degrees below zero. We would most likely not wear a tuxedo or formal gown to do yard work.

We often hear from psychologists and psychiatrists that a certain individual is genetically predisposed to such and such condition, for example, being an alcoholic or diabetic. Obviously one is quite different from the other in a general medical sense. However they both are often subject to personal choices, sometimes associated with a psychological or physiological need. How many times have we had such a desire or want for something that we've ignored our inner gut feeling of not to and done it anyway?

Often times we make choices based upon our life experiences. For example we may be extremely hesitant to go into a body of water that is over our head if we have experienced nearly drowning, i.e., the sense of danger. Yet in the same vein, we may also strap into a top fuel dragster, amidst the potential danger, merely because of the adrenaline rush that it provides us.

Yet one of the most common and frequently used excuses for our choices is based upon "That's how I was raised," or "I'm a product of the society I live in." Is that really how we want to live our lives and make choices about the things we do in life? Two of the most common cliches of this manner of thinking are: "When in Rome do as the Romans do," and "A million Frenchmen couldn't be wrong." These choices are based not upon life experiences or wisdom but based upon our perception of the world around us.

An aphorism I like to express the issue of choice: "In effect it (life's choices) can be likened to the soldier who is alone and trapped behind enemy lines. He knows there are enemy patrols out searching for him, and if they catch him they will kill him. Between him and his own army is a vast minefield. His options of getting back are continuing to try and evade the enemy patrols and circumnavigate the minefield risking capture and sure death. Or using his military training and skills and attempt to navigate his way through the minefield still risking death but with the knowledge that the enemy patrols will not follow him into the minefield. And that should he make it through the minefield he has secured life by embracing death."

Much is the same with daily life and our individual journey along the path of life. The experience we gain by embracing death, embracing our fears, becomes a life changing experience of how to change our life by facing our deepest and darkest fears. Do I face my fears head-on with the intent of having nothing to loose? Do I continually try to take detours staying in familiar surroundings? Do I daily embrace death in today's battle for my life? For each moment and choice is a battle for life. What is my life worth? Am I content to follow the path of others and possibly loose the battle today? Yes there are times which only wisdom from experience can tell us which is the path of least resistance or effort; and which path will grant us personal freedom should we successfully navigate the day's minefield. What is my life worth? Am I content to follow the familiar, or am I willing to step out of my comfort zone and face my shadows? Will I continue to be haunted by my shadows and stay where life is comfortable? The choice is mine and mine alone; no one can make it for me or help me make it.

I ask you to think back to the years as a little child, when you may have been told to stay out of the cookie jar because it would ruin your dinner. Did you? Or did you allow the desire of those cookies to overrule what you were told? What was the feeling in your gut, as you looked around the room to make sure no one was watching and reached your hand into the cookie jar? It is that same gut feeling that comes from our heart-of-hearts that gives us the proper answer, no the desire of our thoughts.

How do we base our personal choices? Do we examine the potential consequences of those choices? Do we examine not only the individual consequences but also those to others? Do we make our choices based upon the social norms of society? Do we rely on our thinking instead of our heart? Lastly, are we willing and ready to accept and take full responsibility for the choices we make and the consequences or results of those choices?

Politically Incorrect: On Owning

Owning things is what white people's lives are about. From the first you are told, "This is mine, this is yours;" "Don't touch that, it doesn't belong to you." You are told to keep away from things because of ownership, not because of respect. In the old days we never had locks on our doors. There was no stealing, but if someone was hungry, they could go in your house and get food. Why didn't people take things? Because of respect.

You build fences around your yards and pay money for people to measure the ground to tell you if your neighbor's fence is one inch too close to your house. You give nothing away unless you can get something in return. Everything is economic. No wonder white people need such big houses. They aren't to live in, they are to store things in.

We believed everything was a gift, and that a good man or woman shared those gifts. Good people thought that they should give, not that they should get. We didn't measure people by rich or poor. We didn't know how. When times were good everyone was rich. When times were bad everyone was poor. We measured people by how they shared.

Things are important when we need them. If we don't need them, they're not important. Our ancestors believed that you owned something only so long as you needed it. Then you passed it to someone else.

In our way, everything had its use, then it went back into the earth. We had wooden bowls and cups, or things made of clay. We rode horses or walked. We made things out of the things of the earth. Then when we no longer needed them, we would burn them or leave them, and they would go back into the earth. Now we can't. Now things don't go back into the earth.

Politically Incorrect: On Land and Property

Let me tell you how we lost the land. It wasn't our land like we owned it. It was the land where we hunted or where our ancestors were buried. It was the land that the Creator had given us. It was the land where our sacred stories took place. It had sacred places on it. Our ceremonies were here. We knew the animals. They knew us. We had watched the seasons pass on this land. It was alive, like our grandparents. We were part of it. The land was part of us. We didn't even know about owning the land. It is like talking about owning your grandmother. For us, the earth was alive. To move a stone was to change her. To kill an animal was to take from her. There had to be respect.



We saw no respect from these people. They chopped down trees and left animals lay where they were shot. They made loud noises. They seemed like wild people. They were heavy on the land and they were loud. Then these new people started asking us for the land. They wanted to give us money for the land. Our people didn't want this. Then these people said that we didn't belong here anymore. That there was a chief in Washington, which was a city far away, and the land was his, and he said they could live here and we could not.



We thought they were insane. These people would ride across the land and put a flag up, then say that everything between where they started and where they put the flag belonged to them. That was like someone shooting an arrow into the sky and saying that all the sky up to where the arrow went belonged to him. We thought these people were crazy. They were talking about property. We were talking about the land.



Your people came from Europe because they wanted property for their own. They had worked for other people who had claimed all the property and took all the things they raised. They never had anything because they had no property. That was what they wanted more than anything.



Everyone believed that whoever had a piece of paper saying they owned the land could control everything that happened on it. The people came here to get their own property. We didn't know this. We didn't even know what it meant. We just belonged to the land. They wanted to own it.



Your religion didn't come from the land. It could be carried around with you. Your religion was in a cup and a piece of bread, and that could be carried in a box. Your priests could make it sacred anywhere. You couldn't understand that what was sacred for us was where we were, because that is where the sacred things had happened and where the spirits talked to us.



Your people didn't know about the land being sacred. You were killing all the animals. The buffalo was gone. The birds were gone. You would not let us hunt. You gave us blankets and whiskey that made our people crazy. We were put in little pens of land that were like tiny islands in your sea.



The worst thing is that you never even listened to us. You came into our land and took it away, and didn't even listen to us when we tried to explain. You made promises and you broke every one. You killed us without even taking our lives. You killed us by turning our land into pieces of paper and bags of flour and blankets, and telling us that was enough. You took the places where the spirits talked to us and you gave us bags of flour.



To us the land was alive. It talked to us. We called her our mother. If she was angry with us, she would give us no food. If we didn't share with others, she might send harsh winters or plagues of insects. We had to do good things for her and live the way she thought was right. She was the mother to everything that lived upon her, so everything was our brother and sister. The bears, the trees, the plants, the buffalo. They were all our brothers and sisters. If we didn't treat them right, our mother would be angry. If we treated them with respect and honor, she would be proud.



For your people, the land was not alive. It was something that was like a stage, where you could build things and make things happen. You understood the dirt and the trees and the water as important things, but not as brothers and sisters. They existed to help you humans live.



You took the land and you turned it into property. Now our mother is silent. But we still listen for her voice.



The picture at left is the ending still of a "Keep America Beautiful" television advertisements in the 1970’s. In the advertisement Iron Eyes Cody is standing by the roadside as a passerby tosses a fast-food drink cup to the roadside, landing at Cody’s feet. The camera pans upward and freezes at the picture to the left.

The words of Chief Seattle, "If men spit on the earth, they spit upon themselves," emphasize the love and respect Native Americans have for Mother Earth.
Please Keep Mother Earth Beautiful!

Politically Incorrect: On Leaders

Sitting Bull was a leader. He was a real chief. People followed him because he was great. He never won any election or was appointed by any government. That's not how you get to be a leader. It was an honor you earned.

There are leaders and there are rulers. We Indians are used to leaders. When our leaders don't lead, we walk away from them. When they lead well, we stay with them.

Your system makes people rulers by law, even if they are not leaders. How can a calendar tell us how long a person is a leader? That's crazy. A leader is a leader as long as the people believe in him, and as long as he is the best person to lead us. You can only lead as long as the people will follow.

In the past when we needed a warrior we made a warrior our leader. But when the war was over and we needed a healer to lead us, he became our leader. Or maybe we needed a great speaker or a deep thinker.

The warrior knew when his time had passed, and he didn't pretend to be our leader beyond the time he was needed. He was proud to serve his people, and he knew when it was time to step aside. If he won't step aside, people will just walk away from him. He cannot make himself a leader except by leading people in the way they want to be lead.

That's why Sitting Bull was a leader. He was needed by the people and the people followed him. He was brave. He was smart. He knew how to fight when he had to. And he understood what the white man was all about. People saw that he could not be tricked by the white man, so they followed.

That's why the U.S. government hated him so much. It wasn't just that he set a trap for Custer. Anyone could have done that. It was because he was a leader and people listened to him, and he wouldn't listen to the U.S. government. He listened to the needs of his people.

Politically Incorrect: The Failure of Society

In today’s world it has become “politically incorrect” to offend someone, whether it be on the basis of race, creed, religious belief, gender, age or the celebration of a religiously-based holiday. Yet all one has to do is look around them at their little piece of society and see the world around them.

True love must be unconditional, meaning that it is based neither in fear nor in ambition, and is therefore a pure expression arising from the heart. The implications here are that we are not afraid to speak and to act openly and honestly, even if our actions are not going to be perceived as being supportive and uplifting, and even if this then does mean a separation of sorts, as in the loss of a relationship, or even a job for that matter. And yet realize that the intention behind all acts of unconditional love, whether perceived as being supportive or not, is to uplift the other person and to encourage them to become the expression of their true purpose within life.

However, people are so incredibly selective in their perception, that whenever they are told something they do not want to hear or whenever an action is taken which they perceive to be against them in some way, they usually end up feeling hurt, victimized, and hard-done by. Yet such people never realize that they are not their behavior, and therefore that whenever they are confronted, it is not they personally who are being confronted but only their behavior.
by Theun Mares, Shadows of Wolf Fire

Every single action, physical, emotional or mental is dependent upon firstly, MOTIVE, and secondly, CIRCUMSTANCE. Thus to measure action, we must consider whether it is life supportive or life destructive. Sometimes it is hard to know when to defer to the weaker person. A simple rule of thumb . . . we should be sensitive and gracious. While some actions may not be wrong, they may not be in the best interest of others. While we have freedom, we shouldn't exercise our freedom at the cost of hurting another. We are not to consider only ourselves, but we must be sensitive to others ... Do what you will, but harm no one.

Yet if someone is stuck in their view of the world about them and one wants to uplift them, the one has no choice or alternative than to shake them out of the perception which is keeping them stuck. However, in doing so, one's actions are never seen to be supportive, for invariably one is forced in to having to destroy that person's present perception in one way or another in order to make room for a new view.

Let us consider for a moment just a single area of American, and possibly the global society . . . television and the movie industry.

Both of these industries were brought about as a venue of not only entertainment but a dissemination of information to the general public. Before cable and satellite television some areas of the United States were lucky if they had but one or two television stations to watch. Television stations went off the air between 12 midnight and 2 a.m. to perform maintenance on the transmitters. When these stations went off the air, they closed the broadcast day with either the National Anthem or some other patriotic closing. Then early in the morning when they came back on the air, it was generally accompanied by the Pledge of Allegiance. When was the last time you heard or saw either of these on television?

What about program content? It was not uncommon in the sixties for a program or movie that contained even the slightest suggestion of sexual activity or innuendo to be rated “R” and definitely not broadcast on television. Neither was cussing or the suggestion of vulgar language permitted in either venue.

How about the “news” media? Before the advent of satellite communications to the general public, news stories that were carried live were limited to those that could be transmitted by telephone cables, unless it was an event happening here in the United States. Reports from the Republic of Viet Nam were not live, see it as it happened, as we have witnessed with Dessert Storm, Iraqi Freedom and others of recent history. Yes, we did see some tragic events on live television, the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King, and presidential candidate Robert Kennedy.

It has been through both of these audio-visual media forms that we have witnessed a desensitizing of the global community. In the sixties and seventies, it was not uncommon for all the network television stations to carry the launches of Gemini and Apollo space missions, as well as their return to Earth and their splash downs in the ocean. Today we’re lucky if you can watch Space Shuttle launches and landings on 24-hour cable news stations.

The print and audio-visual news media will be the first to cite civil rights of the freedom of the press and freedom of speech to justify their articles or television news stories. But they don’t just report the events; they bring in their analysts to tell us what we just saw or just heard. Do they think the general populace is stupid and can’t comprehend what we saw or heard? Or how about these college sports half-time show analysts? In the sixties and even into the seventies, you didn’t have the entire half-time of a college football game filled with three guys in suits telling you about what should be done in the second half. You were able to watch the young men and women who busted their tails with hours of practice just like the players in performing the marching band half-time shows.

The public outcry towards the war in Viet Nam, and the loss of so many American men and women is an American tragedy. Yet can you fathom to think the level to which that outcry might have reached, if Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather, Chet Huntley or David Brinkley were standing their on a hotel balcony or in a rice paddy, like we have witnessed today’s reporters report from Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, or Bosnia?

I’m not a clinical sociologist, but I do believe I have a level of common sense equal to most American people. In the sixties and seventies American society had it’s problems, the race riots of Watts and Detroit, but it would be an interesting study to compare the volume of hate crimes, sexual abuse and rapes, between then and today, especially with the differences of media content.

While some actions may not be wrong, they may not be in the best interest of others. While we have freedom, we shouldn't exercise our freedom at the cost of hurting another. We are not to consider only ourselves, but we must be sensitive to others. What cultural benefit is there so showing sexual content in television or movies? What cultural benefit is there to vulgarity? I’m not promoting censorship in the remotest way, but there are a time and place for such things.


Silver Eagle

We the people of .... Almighty God

This is something that I have never seen before... take the time to read it all, (or skip to the bottom)
Alabama 1901, Preamble. We the people of the State of Alabama, invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish the following Constitution.
Alaska 1956, Preamble. We, the people of Alaska, grateful to God and to those who founded our nation and pioneered this great land.
Arizona 1911, Preamble. We, the people of the State of Arizona, grateful to Almighty God for our liberties, do ordain this Constitution...
Arkansas 1874, Preamble. We, the people of the State of Arkansas, grateful to Almighty God for the privilege of choosing our own form of government...
California 1879, Preamble. We, the People of the State of California, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom.
Colorado 1876, Preamble. We, the people of Colorado, with profound reverence for the Supreme Ruler of Universe.
Connecticut 1818, Preamble. The People of Connecticut, acknowledging with gratitude the good Providence of God in permitting them to enjoy.
Delaware 1897, Preamble. Through Divine Goodness all men have, by nature, the rights of worshipping and serving their Creator according to the dictates of their consciences.
Florida 1885, Preamble. We, the people of the State of Florida, grateful to Almighty God for our constitutional liberty, establish this Constitution...
Georgia 1777, Preamble. We, the people of Georgia, relying upon protection and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish this Constitution...
Hawaii 1959, Preamble. We, the people of Hawaii, Grateful for Divine Guidance establish this Constitution
Idaho 1889, Preamble. We, the people of the State of Idaho, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, to secure its blessings.

Illinois 1870, Preamble. We, the people of the State of Illinois, grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy and looking to Him for a blessing on our endeavors.
Indiana 1851, Preamble. We, the People of the State of Indiana, grateful to Almighty God for the free exercise of the right to choose our form of government.
Iowa 1857, Preamble. We, the People of the State of Iowa, grateful to the Supreme Being for the blessings hitherto enjoyed, and feeling our dependence on Him for a continuation of these blessings establish this Constitution.
Kansas 1859, Preamble. We, the people of Kansas, grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious privileges establish this Constitution.
Kentucky 1891, Preamble. We, the people of the Commonwealth are grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberties...
Louisiana 1921, Preamble. We, the people of the State of Louisiana, grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberties we enjoy.
Maine 1820, Preamble. We the People of Maine acknowledging with grateful hearts the goodness of the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe in affording us an opportunity ... and imploring His aid and direction..
Maryland 1776, Preamble. We, the people of the state of Maryland, grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious liberty....
Massachusetts 1780, Preamble. We...the people of Massachusetts, acknowledging with grateful hearts, the goodness of the Great Legislator of the Universe ... in the course of His Providence, an opportunity and devoutly imploring His direction ..
Michigan 1908, Preamble. We, the people of the State of Michigan, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of freedom establish this Constitution.
Minnesota, 1857, Preamble. We, the people of the State of Minnesota, grateful to God for our civil and religious liberty, and desiring to perpetuate its blessings:
Mississippi 1890, Preamble. We, the people of Mississippi in convention assembled, grateful to Almighty God, and invoking His blessing on our work.
Missouri 1845, Preamble. We, the people of Missouri, with profound reverence for the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, and grateful for His goodness... establishes this Constitution...
Montana 1889, Preamble. We, the people of Montana, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of liberty establish this Constitution...
Nebraska 1875, Preamble. We, the people, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom... establish this Constitution.
Nevada 1864, Preamble. We the people of the State of Nevada, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom establish this Constitution....
New Hampshire 1792, Part I. Art. I. Sec. V. Every individual has a natural and unalienable right to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience.
New Jersey 1844, Preamble. We, the people of the State of New Jersey, grateful to Almighty God for civil and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for a blessing on our endeavors.
New Mexico 1911, Preamble. We, the People of New Mexico, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of liberty
New York 1846, Preamble. We, the people of the State of New York, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, in order to secure its blessings.
North Carolina 1868, Preamble. We the people of the State of North Carolina, grateful to Almighty God, the Sovereign Ruler of Nations, for our civil, political, and religious liberties, and acknowledging our dependence upon Him for the continuance of those .
North Dakota 1889, Preamble. We, the people of North Dakota, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religious liberty, do ordain...
Ohio 1852, Preamble. We the people of the state of Ohio, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, to secure its blessings and to promote our common
Oklahoma 1907, Preamble. Invoking the guidance of Almighty God, in order to secure and perpetuate the blessings of liberty ... establishes this...
Oregon 1857, Bill of Rights, Article I. Section 2 All men shall be secure in the Natural right, to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their consciences..
Pennsylvania 1776, Preamble. We, the people of Pennsylvania, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religious liberty, and humbly invoking His guidance
Rhode Island 1842, Preamble. We the People of the State of Rhode Island grateful to Almighty God for the civil and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for a blessing
South Carolina, 1778, Preamble. We, the people of he State of South Carolina grateful to God for our liberties, do ordain and establish this Constitution.
South Dakota 1889, Preamble. We, the people of South Dakota, grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious liberties...
Tennessee 1796, Art. XI.III. that all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their conscience...
Texas 1845, Preamble. We the People of the Republic of Texas, acknowledging, with gratitude, the grace and beneficence of God.
Utah 1896, Preamble. Grateful to Almighty God for life and liberty, we establish this Constitution.
Vermont 1777, Preamble. Whereas all government ought to.... enable the individuals who compose it to enjoy their natural rights, and other blessings which the Author of Existence has bestowed on man...
Virginia 1776, Bill of Rights, XVI ... Religion, or the Duty which we owe our Creator... can be directed only by Reason. And that it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian Forbearance, Love and Charity towards each other.
Washington 1889, Preamble. We the People of the State of Washington, grateful to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe for our liberties, do ordain this Constitution
West Virginia 1872, Preamble. Since through Divine Providence we enjoy the blessings of civil, political and religious liberty, we, the people of West Virginia reaffirm our faith in and constant reliance upon God...
Wisconsin 1848, Preamble. We, the people of Wisconsin, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, domestic tranquility
Wyoming 1890, Preamble. We, the people of the State of Wyoming, grateful to God for our civil, political, and religious liberties... establish this Constitution.

After reviewing acknowledgments of God from all 50 state constitutions, one is faced with the prospect that maybe, just maybe, the ACLU and the out-of-control federal courts are wrong! "Those people who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants." - William Penn If you found this to be "Food for thought.." copy and send to as many as you think will be as touched as I hope you were.
MAY GOD BLESS?

World Affairs: July 15, 2006

United Nations Security Council

Middle East: UN team holds talks in Cairo on need to defuse crisis15 July – Aiming to help defuse the current crisis in the Middle East, a three-person team dispatched by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to the region held talks today with key Arab countries in Cairo.

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Israel accelerated its air attack on Lebanon on Saturday, blasting Hezbollah hideouts and hitting central Beirut for the first time. It accused Iran of helping fire a missile that damaged an Israeli warship in an ominous sign the showdown could spread.

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Saturday to impose limited sanctions on North Korea for its recent missile tests and demanded that the reclusive communist nation suspend its ballistic missile program. North Korea immediately rejected the resolution and vowed to continue missile launches.

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — Leaders of the world's industrial powers clashed Saturday over the escalating violence in the Middle East even as the summit host, Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged, "We will find common ground on this."

Reflections from History

Chicago, February 27, 2002: Today, the Board of Directors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moves the minute hand of the "Doomsday Clock," the symbol of nuclear danger, from nine to seven minutes to midnight, the same setting at which the clock debuted 55 years ago. Since the end of the Cold War in 1991, this is the third time the hand has moved forward.

General Douglas MacArthur, September 2, 1945 (on the deck of the USS Missouri) "Men since the beginning of time have sought peace," but "military alliances, balances of power, leagues of nations, all in turn have failed, leaving the only path to be by the way of the crucible of war." Now "we have had our last chance. If we do not now devise some greater and more equitable system, Armageddon will be at our door. The problem basically is theological and involves a spiritual recrudescence and improvement of human character that will synchronize with our almost matchless advances in science, art, literature and all material and cultural developments of the past two thousand years. It must be for the spirit if we are to save the flesh."

Commentary - - -

As we look at the current events of the world in the recent past, we are faced with the stark reality that on a "global-scale" humanity sucks. As a "child" of the Cold War between the United States and the former Soviet Union, I personally would prefer to face the "Evil Empire" of the Soviet Union with their nuclear arsenal than the present state of global affairs, with the numerous terrorist groups that have so many initials you could use two or three cans of alphabet soup to cover them all.

During the "height" of the "Cold War" while we all faced the doctrine of "Mutually Assured Destruction", it was that same doctrine that in many ways kept a facsimile of peace in the world. Each super-power essentially riding herd on its client-states. Third-world nations that currently sponsor state-terrorism were under the generalized threat of losing their "super-power" foreign aid and economic support if they "rocked-the-boat" too often.

In today's global hierarchy without the former Soviet Union riding herd on countries like Syria, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and to a lesser extent North Korea (more a Chinese client) these countries are to an extent on their own. And who's their targets? Client states and governments of United States allies and the United States itself, its people and overseas offices and installations.

Why are we the target? For lack of a better cliche' lets call it "Cowboy-Yankee Arrogance." I'm not arguing that the United States is the best place on the planet to live, but we have plenty of room for improvements to be made, and until we no longer have people living in poverty, people without medical benefits, elderly losing their hard earned homes; until we no longer have the scourge of illegal mind altering substances polluting the population because people refuse to face reality; until we no longer have to protect women and children from sex offenders and predators; we had better remember that CNN, the BBC and other news agencies provide global 24/7 new coverage. So while the American Ideal is noteworthy and honest, it is not 100% reality.

Secondly we need to consider the fact that what works in our American Ideal, is NOT going to work all over the globe! It doesn't even work 80% of the time in the United States. Hence the term used by many third world nations, dictators and terrorists ... Yankee Imperialism.

Since the human race's entrance to this scene of Earth history, mankind has had before them a freedom of choice. The rules, the dogmas, the teachings ... you can through them all out the window, for unless we as a race, a species, choose to follow whatever set of rules we believe in; we as a species are far worse that even the most vicious animals of the animal kingdom. For even they do not kill their own kind, except in cases of self-defense or defending their young.

We often hear from psychologists and psychiatrists that a certain individual is genetically predisposed to such and such condition, for example, being an alcoholic or diabetic. Obviously one is quite different from the other in a general medical sense. However they both are often subject to personal choices, sometimes associated with a psychological or physiological need. How many times have we had such a desire or want for something that we've ignored our inner gut feeling of not to and done it anyway?

Often times we make choices based upon our life experiences. For example we may be extremely hesitant to go into a body of water that is over our head if we have experienced nearly drowning, i.e., the sense of danger. Yet in the same vein, we may also strap into a top fuel dragster, amidst the potential danger, merely because of the adrenaline rush that it provides us.

Yet one of the most common and frequently used excuses for our choices is based upon "That's how I was raised," or "I'm a product of the society I live in." Is that really how we want to live our lives and make choices about the things we do in life? Two of the most common clichés of this manner of thinking are: "When in Rome do as the Romans do," and "A million Frenchmen couldn't be wrong." These choices are based not upon life experiences or wisdom but based upon our perception of the world around us.

It's high time we wake up!

Sometimes .. Life is or can be a continual test.

Sometimes, Life is or can be a continual test ... and that test can cover everything we may experience in this existence called "Life." Those "tests" or "challenges" will come at you in every facet of your life, from family, to employment, to recreation, to relationships, to your personal health - both physical and mental, to even inanimate things in everyday life.

As we face each challenge, the outcome is dependent upon our choices, often without the consideration of the long range effects, affects, and consequences.

Even now in 2006, I am experiencing the consequences and affects of getting my 2nd DUI when I lived in California in 2001, and the behavior and choices I had made or basically neglected to take care of at the time. Those consequences and affects on my life are nobody else's fault or responsibility but my own.

Without going into details, I will merely state in complete agreement with "Ascended Masters" who have come and gone before us, that much of this life is an illusion of our perception of what is. We face our challenges in many ways. Some will face them with mind-altering substances of alcohol, prescription drugs, non-prescription drugs or "illegal" drugs and substances. Why, because we do not have the personal courage and inner strength to face them on our own together with the Creator. We feel we need something else to not feel the pain of life. We don't want to feel the emotional let down of something not gone our way. We don't want to feel alone. There are many reasons why.

Yet in the same token, when we have made that choice to avoid the use of mind-altering substances or beverages, we begin to face a new challenge unless we are a 21st century hermit lving in a cave, forest, jungle or swamp. That new challenge is finding and making new friends and acquaintenaces who are also "free" of the use of mind-altering substances.

Over the course of my mere four years of sobriety, I can honestly say that there can be no friendship or relationship with someone who "indulges" in the use of mind-altering substances. Even when that individual treats you with the proper and due respect of not using the substance or beverage in your presence. Because one day, they will slip and will use in your presence. And when they do, their personal insecurities which brought them to use in the first place will surface with the splash of a tidal wave.

That tidal splash will engulf you unless you are personally prepared and have within you the internal fortitude and strength of Creator's Spirit to basically walk, if not run from that person. For if you attempt to remain, you will be engulfed yourself. You may not use yourself initially, but the course of events become laid out for you to slip and stumble. And to slip and stumble after having a period of sobriety, often leads to prisons, institutions and death.

The personal emotions associated with walking or running away from such a person, can be emotionally traumatic and devastating. Especially if you have chosen to "ignore" the other person's use and have begun to develop an emotional and physical bond with them. I have been there, and unfortunately done it also a number of times. It just doesn't work.

Silver Eagle

National Pride & Immigration ... you may not like my opinions

Hello Everyone ...

This may offend many of you, and if it does, ... oh well ... because basically it's truthful.

Over the recent years since September 11, 2001, there has been a underground backlash at many of our nation's immigrants. There have been many valid points brought forth on each side of the table. Issue's such as "national language", observance of "Christian" holidays and their being "secularized" to Winter Holiday (Christmas), Spring Break (Easter), there have been issues pertaining to long held (230 years this July4th) "American" traditions. Issues such as cultural traditions of our immigrants and retaining their language.

First off let me say this ... I love my country, I have served as a member of the United States Military and would with duty, honor and respect, serve my country again if the need required a 48 year old male to defend it's constitutional freedoms we so much enjoy today.

Hmm .. constitutional freedoms ... nice ring to it right? Did you know that prior to the development of our original constitution that Benjamin Franklin spent many months with the Iroquois people and Iroquois Confederation studying their constitution and used it as a model from which the Constitution of the United States was developed?

Hmm ... Benjamin Franklin ... one of our early American forefathers ... In 1492 Christopher Columbus discovered the "New World" and in 1620 (or there abouts) the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock in what is now Massechusettes. Meaning that if you can not trace your family history in America back to a time before 1620, YOU ARE AN IMMIGRANT or descended from an immigrant.

Hmm ... Immigrants ... I don't have the numbers, but I would safely venture a guess that at least 70 percent of the present population of the United States can not trace their heritage or ancestory to someone who lived in "America" before 1602, and probably nearly 95 percent can not trace it back before 1492.

Now I'm sure that the above image may offend many ... but it's the "Truth".

The American Indians (the true Native Americans) have been fighting "terrorism" since 1492. They have been called "savages" and much worse. They have been subject to government condoned and implemented genocide (you think I'm kidding, read some history on the Trail of Tears, read the history of the Sioux People, the Lakota, and the unprovoked slaughter of innocent women, elders and children at Sand Creek). Read about the forced "sterilization" of Native American women in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Read about how "Christian" missionaries took Native American children from their parents and sent them away to boarding schools to become "Christianized".

The Lakota in Particular were learning that the Ft Laramie accord Red Cloud had signed in 1868 meant little to miners and settlers clamoring for access to their sacred Black Hills.

Although the land was protected by treaty, in July 1874, William Tecumseh Sherman dispatched Custer to lead a survey expedition into these Lakota domains. A pack train accompanied by 1,200 troopers wound its way through this game-stocked preserve-complete with guides, a photographer, a wagon master, a howitzer and three gattling guns, 110 wagons, 1,000 horses, and 300 cattle for meals along the way.

Once word leaded out that Custer's illegal 1,205-mile survey of the Black Hills had verified rumors of "gold from the grassroots down," mining in the area increased noticeably the following summer. In 1876, two years after the expedition, 6,000 newcomers had taken up residence in Custer City, SD, and gold strikes in Deadwood Gulch predictably lured thousands more. Streams were clogged by sluice boxes, and timbering operations were already moving into the virgin forests of the Black Hills.

Not surprisingly, the Lakota were incensed that their sanctuary had been invaded in so flagrant a violation of the 1868 treaty. Calls for resistance and revenge filled the air. When Senate negotiators came to Lakota territory in September 1875 to try to work out a lease agreement to the Black Hills, a warrior clad in battle attire led a chant: "Black Hills is my land and I love it-And whoever interferes will hear this gun." -Little Big Man, Oglala Lakota

Indeed, the government tried in 1888 to carve up the Great Sioux Reservation (then comprising about half the present state of South Dakota, plus parts of Wyoming and Nebraska) into six smaller Indian reserves and purchase the remaining 9 million acres for 50 cents an acre. The Indians balked. A year later Gen. George Crook was sent to Lakota country with an offer of $1.50 per acre and the implied threat that the land would be seized if the Indians did not agree to sell. Crook, dealing with the tribal leaders one by one, got nearly all to sign-with the notable exception of Sitting Bull.

So ... back to Immigration ... around the time that Red Cloud met with President Grant he met with Crazy Horse upon his return ... basically telling Crazy Horse that the "old ways" would soon be gone for there were a great many more whites and more were coming. That it was best for the Lakota to accept the offers of the reservation lands where they could still retain a bit of their sovereignty. Crazy Horse disagreed and vowed to die a true Lakota, living in the old ways. Many followed him, until he finally surrendered after bringing hardship to both Red Cloud's and Spotted Tail's agencies ... Pine River Reservation and Rosebud Reservation as they are now known.

As history bares out the facts, Crazy Horse died while surrendering through the treachery of other Lakota.

My Point?
Over the past twenty or so more years we have witnessed a great influx of "immigrants" coming from all over the globe to these United States. I would be willing to venture out on a limb and state that the number of "new immigrants" who are not of caucasian race, quite possibly outnumber those of us who are caucasian. So here we are some 140 years or so after the discussion between Red Cloud and Crazy Horse.

We have but two choices before us ... we can adapt and keep some of our ways and enjoy a peace and serenity of life in our own homes or ... we can resist, like Crazy Horse, and possibly end up at the business end of a bayonet, or "New Immigrant's" weapon of choice.

Do the math, 2006 – 1776 = 230 years

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship. The average of the world's greatest civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, and from dependency back to bondage." ---Alexander Tyler in 1778

---

Declaration of Independence

[Adopted in Congress 4 July 1776]

[Proposed Amendment March 28, 2006]

---

The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen [People of the] United States of America

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights: that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes
destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to
them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their
former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain (President of the United States) is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a
candid world.

He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his [state] governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless
those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature.

He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to civil power.

He has combined with others [corporation owners] to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: [that the members of our armed forces owe primary allegiance or loyalty to those who temporarily exercise the authority of the executive branch of the government rather than to the country and its Constitution which they are sworn to defend.]

For protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit
on the inhabitants of these states:

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing taxes on us without our consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury:

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses:

For abolishing the free system of English [United States] laws in a neighboring province [fifty states], establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule in these colonies:

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the
forms of our governments:

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves [himself] invested with power to
legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us [those who believe contrary to him].

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our
people.

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy of the head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country to become victims of the Patriot Act, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is
undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions taking lands, privileges and rights of Native Americans guaranteed by duly signed and approved treaties.

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms:
our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince [President], whose
character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British [American] brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends.

We, therefore, the representatives [People] of the United States of America, in General Congress, assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies [fifty states], solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies [states] are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown [President of the United States] and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain [the Executive Branch] is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this
declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.

Ancient / Primitive Cultures

Recently, in part of my studies, my quest for understanding and wisdom, I began studying ancient/primitive cultures. What I have found (so I think) is that in a majority of these cultures that were predominantly of a nature-based religion or belief system is that they were for all intents and purposes, a peaceful and harmonious society. That is not to say that they did not conduct warfare, or what we would today consider atrocities, such as human torture or sacrifice.

In most instances warfare or raids were conducted either as a means of protecting one’s hunting grounds, or as an expansion of those lands because the wildlife had moved on. From what I have been able to absorb, those nature-based religions or belief systems were not “into” spreading or forcing their will or belief upon others. They existed in a tribal or familial clan type structure, very similar to the herd or pack structure of many animal species, often with what we now call an alpha-male and alpha-female in the leadership or hierarchy of the tribe or clan.

As the tribe or clan grew, there always became a potential for another male or female to challenge the position of the “alpha”. Depending upon the outcome of the challenge and the nature of the level of support between the “alpha” and “challenger” the tribe or clan might split into two separate, yet intrinsically related sub groupings. In the same token, if there was not a level of support behind one of the participants, the loser might be expelled from the clan or be forced into a position of submission.

As the numbers of these sub groupings and the tribe or clan grew, one begins to see the development of a “nation” or “people”. Again, this is purely opinion pertaining to those grouping that were of a nature-based religion or belief system. For many hold the belief or position that all life, two-legged, four-legged, winged, finned, plant, and even stone was sacred or holy. Further this is why there are so many and diverse accounts of nature-based peoples following the precept of “Take from the Earth what is needed and nothing more,” or something extremely similar. It is also an example of why so many of these cultures had a ritual of prayer following the kill of the hunt, to thank and honor the spirit of the animal for giving itself as food and shelter for the people.

Regarding the issues of human torture and sacrifice, I have not studied enough to make an “informed” assessment, only a personal perception or opinion. First in order to attempt to comprehend the purpose we need to be able to step outside our current 21st century frame of mind and existence.

One of the most common beliefs or understandings of nature-based peoples is that all things are related. Additionally it is believed (or so I understand) that all life besides being sacred or holy has within it a “life-force”. The shedding or spilling of blood is representational of that life-force being taken or given by the one whose blood it is. Which is why in certain cultures after the kill, the hunters promptly after a prayer thanking the animal for giving its life, then consume either the heart of the animal or drink its blood. The concept is that the “life-force” of the animal then becomes a part of the hunter. In other similar cultures that are farmers, they would take the first fruits of spring milk or honey and pour back unto the soil, Mother Earth, as an offering to continue the abundance of the farming season.

We tend to think of human sacrifice as barbaric in this 21st century world. Yet when one considers the time of ancient or primitive culture and what it meant at that time, to give one’s life as a willing sacrifice for the good of the people, would be considered an honor. Yet in some instances the sacrifice was made through the shedding of captive’s blood, prisoners of battle, which by today’s standards in barbaric. Often times such a prisoner sacrifice was or could likely more properly be as atonement for actions of the individual or people.

And I’m sure I’ll catch a little flak for this statement, but Jesus of Nazareth did say, “Greater love hath no man than to lay down his life for his brother.” Granted in the context used here by me, the quotation of Christ is out of context with Hebrew teachings about killing another person. Yet my purpose of mentioning it is associated with the “honor” and “respect” of giving one’s own life for his brother or sister or people. This is another reason those who were warriors of the clan or tribe or people were always held in high honor and respect for they chose to put their lives on the line for the protection of the people.

21st Century Society . . .

We of humanity, in the 21st Century are the most vile, viscious, destructive and selfish species on the planet likely since the begining of time. We seek to control, kill or destroy that which we do not understand, accept or believe as we do. Even the most viscious of the animal kingdom does not kill its own kind even to appease it's hunger. Yet, we humans, the stewards of this planet, will kill each other for a pair of designer tennis shoes, a few ounces of a man-made chemical to alter our sense of reality, or worse for the thrill or adrenalin rush. We have no reason to be at the top of the proverbial food chain.

In fact it begins to scare me to an extent when I look at today's younger generation. These are going to be the ones in government positions making decisions about society and life when I reach my "golden years". They will be the ones in control of this country's nuclear arsenal for the defense of this country. They will be the ones required to take action should Al'Qeda, the Red Dawn, Shining Path, or other terrorist group strike the American homeland again. Yet these are the same ones today who accept no responsibility for their actions and are so quickly to point the finger of blame at someone else.

May the Creator have Mercy on humanity!

Silver Eagle

Parallels ... Toltec and Lakota

Toltec ... 2nd Agreement

Don't take anything personally ~ Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

Lakota ... Let the wind blow through you

You cannot forget what other say anymore than you cannot feel the wind when it blows. But if you learn to let the wind blow through you, you will take away its power to blow you down. If you let the words pass through you, without letting them catch on your anger or pride, you will not feel them.

commentary

Here we have two teachings or concepts by two cultures from the Americas, separated by thousands of miles, yet of almost identical concept. A concept that if not only followed but lived by has the capability to revolutionize human life. Yet a concept that is so humanly challenging to live by, because of the poison of the spoken or written word, is likely the most difficult to master.

March 16, 2006

Another thing that came to mind this morning is the teaching of Jesus to his disciples about forgiveness, which to some might be a broad reach to connect with the above Toltec and Lakota teachings. Consider Matthew 18:21-22, 35 . . .

Then Peter came to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. ... So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts frogive not every one his brother their trespasses.

The rabbis (of that time) taught that people should forgive those who offend them three times. Peter, trying to be especially generous asked Jesus if seven (the "perfect" number) was enoughtimes to forgive someone. But Jesus answered, "Seventy times seven" (the number ofeternity), meaning that we shouldn't even keep track of how many times we forgive someone. We should always forgive those who are truly repentant, no matter how many times they ask. ... Because God/Creator has forgiven all our sins, we should not withhold forgiveness from others. Realizing how completely God/Creator/Jesus/Christ has forgiven us should produce a free and generous attitude of forgiveness toward others. When we don't forgive others, we are setting ourselves outside and above Christ's law of love.

Is there a connection between this Christian scripture and the Toltec/Lakota teachings? I believe so. That connection is the "natural" progression or sequence of events, from "Letting the wind blow through you to forgiveness. For letting the wind blow through you or not taking the action of another personally, we take the "power" out of the action whatever it may be. But by forgiveness we remove from that voice within us, that small seed which could grow into a massive tree of resentment.

In various texts and teachings one will find however a divergent view pertaining to forgiveness of an action and forgetting the act. Some teach that after we forgive that we should also then forget, whereas, I am of the understanding that we do not forget, that is erase the event or action from our memory. For by "letting the wind blow through you" we have already removed the power of the event or action, and by forgiving we have expressed the nature of the Creator's love. By removing the power from the event we have made it "neutral", like the words on a page, it's just there.

In the book Black Elk Speaks, Black Elk speaks of what wisdom is, the merging of knowledge with experience, or " Knowledge + Experience = Wisdom ". Every action, event, situation, etc., that occurs in the physical world does so for a specific reason in the Creator's Plan. We cannot begin to comprehend the vastness of the Creator's Plan, so many times we question it ... Why? Much like I initially questioned the purpose behind the squirrel I named "Compassion".

Forgiveness can be in today's computer world likened to anti-virus software, protecting your computer's hard-drive from infection. In our human situation it is protecting our spirit from developing resentments. Forgetting, on the other hand can be likened to "wiping" your hard-drive clean in the process of reformating, you loose all stored information.

If I were to walk up behind you and tap you on the shoulder, then as you turned to see who tapped you, I punched you in the nose, you might eventually forgive me. Now if you were to forget that event happened, I could do it again. By forgiving me you have taken the power from the situation and made it neutral, however by NOT forgetting the experience you have gained "wisdom" to be carefull when someone taps you on the shoulder from behind, that you might get punched in the nose!

Mitakuye Oyasin,

Silver Eagle

Value of Life

Auburndale, Florida - Spirit of the Buffalo Powwow

What is the value of human life? How is it quantified? Who decides who is valuable?

For those who have read my posts, you know where I stand, that all life is invaluable without limits. Over the weekend of January 12-15, I once again attended and this year directly participated in the Spirit of the Buffalo Powwow in Auburndale, Florida. What does that have to do with the topic title of this post you may ask?

The Native American people value human life from beginning to end, birth to death, at the highest level. The children are reared with honor and dignity because they are the future. The elders, are respected with the same honor and dignity, because without them we would not be here today. Sadly, these are so unlike the "traditional" white society in so many cases.

The children from the earliest ages are taught the traditions and culture of their family, their tribe, their clan. They are NOT told that children should be seen and not heard. They are taught to question "Why?" to gain understanding and knowledge. They are taught the traditions and culture verbally by their parents, grandparents, and others of the extended family. They do not rely on books to pass this on, instead it is committed to personal memory. Much in the same way the Celts and Druids of old passed on knowledge. They are not belittled or made to feel ashamed when the make a mistake or error, for they understand that through mistakes learning and knowledge are transformed into wisdom. It is a blessing to understand the limited bit that I do of the various Native American cultures and traditions.

The elders share the stories, the legends, the traditions of their culture, of their famiy, of their tribe, of their clan. Each generation responsible for passing it on to the next, and updating or adding to them. Among many Native American families there live three sometimes four generations of the family. Grandparents and great-grandparents are not wisked of to some retirement home or nursing facility, and left there to be forgotten. Watching and listening to these elders at the Spirit of the Buffalo Powwow was inspiring, to witness the glow of life in their eyes as they shared their stories to those who would listen.

I recognize that it appears that I'm coming down on the "whites", but I am not, so to speak. What I am attempting to share is what Native American tradition honors as the existence of Thunder Beings. These Thunder Beings are understood by Native Americans to be messengers from the powers on high, the Star People (extraterrestrial visitors). The Thunder Beings are a force for both dissolution and re-creation. In the Plains Indian tradition, a person who has a visit by a Thunder Being, in person, in vision or in dream, becomes a heyoka, a "contrary". [4] This heyoka then customarily soon starts behaving in a way opposite to the conventions of the dominant culture. The heyoka does so, precisely in order to wake up society to see that there are other and fresher ways of doing things. Thus, the heyokais the human counterpart of the Thunder Beings, who repeatedly dissolve the existing order and fashion a new arrangement from the pieces.

As we transition from the Fourth into the Fifth World, it occurs to me that not all heyokasare Plains Indians. Some have yellow skin, others black, others white. These heyokas of every color are experiencers, and have been changed by their experience of extraterrestrial contact by messengers from the sky (Thunder Beings). As modern-day heyokas, experiencers are charged to live as active witnesses against the ignorance and corruption of the Fourth World, and to live as witnesses of the Fifth World which is emerging. In doing so, modern heyokas honor the Thunder Beings, the extraterrestrials, who have come as cosmic midwives to help us birth the Fifth World.

Full Article: Transition from Fourth To Fifth World: The "Thunder Beings" Return (WOVOCA.com - Earth Mother Crying!)

Some may say "bull" to the concept of these Thunder Beings, Star People, Heyokas. Yet those wrapped up in the convoluted intestinal knot of Christian dogmas without question accept the teachings and concept of angelic beings.

My friends, I do not ask you to change your beliefs but merely to open your eyes and experience life going on around you each day. Do not be ignorant of what your senses are telling you. Do not be ignorant of what your heart-of-hearts is telling you. In the same token, do not listen to that "liar" in your head telling you the rules of society, trust your heart-of-hearts.

Mitakuye Oyasin,

Silver Eagle

11/28/05 11:28am

As the Thanksgiving holiday weekend closes, a couple things come to an awareness of the mind and heart. Society and quite possibly "humanity" in general has become wrapped up with and spoiled by the advances of technology and science. There is a sense of need or desire for I want this and I want it now ... instant gratification ... as well as "needing" our ego stroked. This is happening in relationships, business dealings and family life.

There is a fine line between self-gratification (ego stroking) and being appreciated by others. The gratification/ego stroking is rather unattractive and is often found or experienced through fishing for compliments. In many ways I "personally" would attribute it to a lack of self-worth and a poor self image. In either case it is an emotional need or attachment to seek validation of who we are in life.

In many ways it causes me to recall the teaching of Jesus about the giving of alms ... to do so in secret, so that the lfet hand does not know what the right hand is doing.

Which then leads us or takes us to our personal motive for doing something. Are we doing this or that because we want to from our heart-of-hearts, or are we doing it, even if subconsciously, for our mind's recognition or praise or thanks from others?

The test is very simple ... after we do something, do we move on to something else, and let go of what we've done? Or do we linger waiting to show others what we've done, or do we feel neglected, or unappreciated if what we've done goes unnoticed?

The words of Oriah Mountain Dreamer

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for....and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of the sorrow....if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear or further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain....mine or your own....without moving to hide it ..or fade it..or fix it. I want to know if you can be with joy....mine or your own....if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning you to be careful, be realistic or to remember the limitations of being Human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself....if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul.

I want to know if you can be faithful and therefore be trustworthy. I want to know if you can see beauty even when it is not pretty every day and if you can source your life from God's presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure....yours and mine....and still stand on the edge of a lake and shout to the silver of the full moon....Yes!

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up after the night of great despair, weary and bruised to the bone and do what needs to be done for the children.

It doesn't interest me who you are....how you came here. I want to know if you'll stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep....in the empty moments....

OriahMountain Dreamer(c)From Dreams Of Desire 1995..by Oriah House-all rights reserved-published by Mountain Dreaming

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't gettested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitch hiking.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And wewere O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride downthe hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cellphones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chatrooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no law suits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in usforever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn'thad to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

And YOU are one of them! CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good and while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

The Cave of Fire

The 'Cave of Fire' marks the beginning steps of going beyond regular emotional states of self awareness.
By Deja Allison

The ritualizing of human evolutionary process is older than when our forebears crawled out of the primal waters. It has over time set itself into our cultures, philosophies and human traditions.

This paradigm has surfaced and intertwined itself through human traditions such as Shamanism, or anyone of the many obeah practices that are prevalent in our many different cultures. Druidism, Whirling Dervishes, Buddhist monks, Cloisters and the many other lamasery practiced have taught the steps necessary to allow for personal growth and awareness through certain established edicts in order to raise the level of human awareness and consciousness.

Religion, in it's own system has been the more accessible criterion available to the masses. All cultures have known that a process outside the physical is essential to complete the total human evolutionary process. It is not by thinking, alone that we achieve this.

Spiritual precepts, metaphysics, sorcery, magic, and all forms of divination are the beginning (if one knows how to use them) instructions to take us further along the transformation than human reasoning could take us, but very few people had access to this knowledge on a mass scale. Most of the arcane knowledge was kept secret (more human power control struggles) from us ordinary folk, so the inner levels were kept guarded and not explored generally, by the mass populations. Read More

A Most Beautiful Heart

One day a young man was standing in the middle of the town proclaiming that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley. A large crowd gathered and they all admired his heart for it was perfect. There was not a mark or a flaw in it. Yes, they all agreed it truly was the most beautiful heart they had ever seen. The young man was very proud and boasted more loudly about his beautiful heart.

Suddenly, an old man appeared at the front of the crowd and said, "Why your heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine." The crowd and the young man looked at the old man's heart. It was beating strongly, but full of scars, it had places where pieces had been removed and other pieces put in, but they didn't fit quite right and there were several jagged edges. In fact, in some places there were deep gouges where whole pieces were missing. The people stared -- how can he say his heart is more beautiful, they thought?

The young man looked at the old man's heart and saw its state and laughed. "You must be joking," he said. "Compare your heart with mine, mine is perfect and yours is a mess of scars and tears." "Yes," said the old man, "yours is perfect looking but I would never trade with you. You see, every scar represents a person to whom I have given my love - I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to them, and often they give me a piece of their heart which fits into the empty place in my heart, but because the pieces aren't exact, I have some rough edges, which I cherish, because they remind me of the love we shared.

Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away, and the other person hasn't returned a piece of his heart to me. These are the empty gouges -- giving love is taking a chance. Although these gouges are painful, they stay open, reminding me of the love I have for these people too, and I hope someday they may return and fill the space I have waiting. So now do you see what true beauty is?"

The young man stood silently with tears running down his cheeks. He walked up to the old man, reached into his perfect young and beautiful heart, and ripped a piece out. He offered it to the old man with trembling hands. The old man took his offering, placed it in his heart and then took a piece from his old scarred heart and placed it in the wound in the young man's heart. It fit, but not perfectly, as there were some jagged edges. The young man looked at his heart, not perfect anymore but more beautiful than ever, since love from the old man's heart flowed into his. They embraced and walked away side by side.

Astrologically Speaking - November 2005

There are signs you can see in the sky for yourself this month:

Look to the east as the Sun sets behind you, and you'll see Mars coming up over the horizon.

Watch through the night, and you'll see Jupiter rise - coming up over the eastern horizon just before the Sun does at dawn.

Simultaneously, Saturn looms overhead, while Mars is setting in the west. This is what a T-square looks like in the sky: two planets opposing each other (Mars and Jupiter at opposite ends of the horizon in this case), with a third planet at the halfway point, between them, which is Saturn.

Unseen is Neptune, not only because it's too dim to be seen with the naked eye, but more to the point in this case because it's directly below you - which is to say, overhead on the other side of the world forming a Grand Cross.

Along with all the Mars action is telling us that, from collective violence like war to individual violence like murder and other criminality, terrorism, from accidents and crashes and fires and explosions due to recklessness or evil intent and sometimes just plain bad luck, November is yet another adrenalin surging month. If you sense angst and impatience in yourself and others, don't be alarmed: it's par for the course when Mars is so prominent.

Get a grip, calm yourself as much as possible, keep focused on what you're doing and watch out for interference (or worse). Be ready to dodge danger, and for heaven's sake don't go where you're likely to find it unless you're just bound and determined for trouble. That being said, our best behavior = being aware & staying cool.

The Serenity Prayer ... expanded

No better statement of our need to reestablish balance in our lives can be found than in the Serenity Prayer.


The Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change
The courage to change the things I can
And the wisdom to know the difference.

Serenity means that I no longer recoil from the past, live in jeopardy because of my present behavior, or worry about the unknown future. I seek regular times to re-create myself and I avoid those times of depletion that makes me vulnerable to despair and to old self-destructive patterns.

This Serenity comes from within the individual.
It is not based upon material wealth or external pleasures.
It comes from daily doing our best and the understanding that our "best" is going to change from moment to moment, often based upon our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health.
It comes from using our special gifts and talents on a daily basis in a manner that will not only benefit others but also be a witness of our personal beliefs.

Accepting change means that I do not cause suffering for myself by clinging to that which no longer exists. All that I can count on is that nothing will be stable --- except how I respond to the transforming cycles in my life of birth, growth and death.

Accepting things I cannot change.
You cannot change your environment in which you live.
You cannot stop the sun from moving across the sky.
If it is external to you, you most likely cannot change it alone.
Giving up my attempts to control outcomes does not require that I give up my boundaries or my best efforts. It does mean my most honest appraisal of the limits of what I can do.

Courage to change the things I can.
I can only change that which is internal to me.
I can change an external appearance.
I set my own personal boundaries of what I can do or allow to be done unto me.
By daily doing my personal best I am satisfied, but I let go of the outcomes and place no expectations on them.

Wisdom becomes the never forgotten recognition of all those times when it seemed there was no way out and new paths opened up like miracles in my life.
The wisdom to know the difference.
Wisdom does not come from a book, listening to a tape or watching something.
To be knowledgeable or learned does not imply wisdom.

Wisdom comes from the application of knowledge within the experience of life.
True wisdom comes from stepping outside the common boundaries of the mundane world and fully living life, often on what may be considered the ragged edge.

True wisdom comes through facing the challenges and opportunities presented by the daily events of human experience and learning from each experience; even if that experience teaches you that the experience is beyond your personal, individual ability to achieve or accomplish.
True wisdom teaches that failure is not being able to not succeed, but rather that failure is not being willing to try.

History repeated ... 1960 ... 2003

In December 1960, the Wizard had come into predominance in its new cycle. John F. Kennedy, a wizard Soul, had just been elected President of the United States, and a war was waging on the other side of the globe, brought about by the vagarities of the last Priest cycle (1950-1960), to which we were sacrificing our youth, much as the Grecians sacrificed their youth to a far-off monster, the Minotaur, on the Isle of Crete.

I truly believe that we will probably never know the true story as to who killed John Kennedy. I also believe that it's not really important that we know who killed him, as it is that we understand why he was killed, or sacrificed, actually. The sacrifice of the Sacred King is an ancient ritual in which the blood of the King would be shed in order for the land to be renewed and reborn. There was a great horror facing humanity at this time; that of the sacrifice of youth to the machine of war. It was not just the Vietnam war; other wars around the globe threatened the lives of our youth and the survival of our race. In allowing the sacrifice to take place (and there is evidence that Kennedy was aware that the sacrifice would occur), he averted the horrors of a greater war that would have wiped out most of the population of Earth. It doesn't really matter who pulled the trigger that killed Kennedy, or whether or not he was liked as a persona. The important thing is that Kennedy was successful in his service as a soul, and he is greatly honored for what he gave to humanity and the rest of the world.

We stand now upon the threshold of a new Wizard cycle, that began in April, 2003. It is up to us to bear the responsibility of bringing in a kinder, gentler cycle; one in which the Wizards are loving creators instead of warriors. Much of the current Priest cycle of the 1990's has been geared toward bringing in this Light energy. Many metaphysicians believe that it will be during the next Wizard cycle (April 2003-October 2013) that the Ascension of Humanity into the fourth dimension will occur. The window of opportunity, opened for us during the Harmonic Convergence during the Warrior cycle of August 1987, remains with us. It is up to us to make the decision to go forward into the New Energy.

President Bush Addresses the Nation The Oval Office
President's Remarks

view listen

March 19, 2003 10:16 P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: My fellow citizens, at this hour, American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger.

On my orders, coalition forces have begun striking selected targets of military importance to undermine Saddam Hussein's ability to wage war. These are opening stages of what will be a broad and concerted campaign. More than 35 countries are giving crucial support -- from the use of naval and air bases, to help with intelligence and logistics, to the deployment of combat units. Every nation in this coalition has chosen to bear the duty and share the honor of serving in our common defense.

To all the men and women of the United States Armed Forces now in the Middle East, the peace of a troubled world and the hopes of an oppressed people now depend on you. That trust is well placed.

The enemies you confront will come to know your skill and bravery. The people you liberate will witness the honorable and decent spirit of the American military. In this conflict, America faces an enemy who has no regard for conventions of war or rules of morality. Saddam Hussein has placed Iraqi troops and equipment in civilian areas, attempting to use innocent men, women and children as shields for his own military -- a final atrocity against his people.

I want Americans and all the world to know that coalition forces will make every effort to spare innocent civilians from harm. A campaign on the harsh terrain of a nation as large as California could be longer and more difficult than some predict. And helping Iraqis achieve a united, stable and free country will require our sustained commitment.

We come to Iraq with respect for its citizens, for their great civilization and for the religious faiths they practice. We have no ambition in Iraq, except to remove a threat and restore control of that country to its own people.

I know that the families of our military are praying that all those who serve will return safely and soon. Millions of Americans are praying with you for the safety of your loved ones and for the protection of the innocent. For your sacrifice, you have the gratitude and respect of the American people. And you can know that our forces will be coming home as soon as their work is done.

Our nation enters this conflict reluctantly -- yet, our purpose is sure. The people of the United States and our friends and allies will not live at the mercy of an outlaw regime that threatens the peace with weapons of mass murder. We will meet that threat now, with our Army, Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard and Marines, so that we do not have to meet it later with armies of fire fighters and police and doctors on the streets of our cities.

Now that conflict has come, the only way to limit its duration is to apply decisive force. And I assure you, this will not be a campaign of half measures, and we will accept no outcome but victory.

My fellow citizens, the dangers to our country and the world will be overcome. We will pass through this time of peril and carry on the work of peace. We will defend our freedom. We will bring freedom to others and we will prevail.

May God bless our country and all who defend her.
END 10:20 P.M. EST

Comment - - - Some will say that current military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan are nothing like Viet Nam and Southeast Asia. What is important is the "coincidence" of the timing of the events ... December 1960 to March 2003. The soul impulses of Warrior, Priest, Wizard, and Thief manifest not only among individual souls, but also manifest as generational influences within humanity. Each one of these archetypes cycles in and out of manifestation in accordance with a 127 month (10 year, 7 month) period for each one, for a full cycle of approximately 42 years. The occurrence of each Wizard cycle always has to do with breaking bonds that limit individual expression or creative action. From December 1960 the next "Wizard" cycle technically began in August 2002. This Wizard cycle will last until approximately January 2013. Of interesting note here is the association or proximity of the end of the Mayan Calendar, December 22, 2012.

Thesis for Bachelor of Sacred Religious Philosophy

The Divine, God and Goddess

The Divine

Growing up in the Roman Catholic faith, then being married to a Southern Baptist woman, the concept of The Divine, of God, of a Supreme Being and Intelligence or Higher Power, was not something that was or is foreign to me. My understanding was along traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs.

It was through rehab, Alcoholics Anonymous, and Narcotics Anonymous that I discovered it was not necessary to consider other's concept of The Divine or Higher Power. All that was necessary was my own conception and understanding of the existence of this Creative Intelligence, a Spirit of the Universe, underlying the totality of all things. The Realm of the Spirit is broad, roomy, all-inclusive and never exclusive or forbidding to those who earnestly seek it.

As I stated, with a Judeo-Christian background or foundation, I had an understanding of this Divine as a being called God. Throughout the pages that follow because they have been written at various stages along this present Earth-journey, you will find I will frequently use the terms "The Divine" and "God" interchangeably. Yet in some of my latter writings I will use "God" in a different context, and will leave that to your discernment.

Throughout the world there are many names associated with The Divine. All referring to a supreme and inclusive, universal and eternal, essence and energy, visible and invisible, tangible and intangible. The Divine is all that is, and all that is not. It exists in all things, past, present and future. It is organic, as well as inorganic. "It Is" can just as well describe The Divine, as "I Am" is spoken of within the Old Testament of the Bible. The Divine has no beginning and no ending. It has no form or shape, but is present in all things. It can also be called The Source of all things.

As my studies have transcended beyond traditional Christianity by coming to an awareness or understanding of both Native American and Celtic/Druid beliefs, I now personally call The Divine ... "Spirit". The use of Spirit is consistent with all belief systems that have a divine Higher Power. Furthermore it is consistent with my personal awareness and understanding.

Within Biblical scripture, the Infinite and Eternal being is revealed as God. Purely spiritual, Supreme Personal Intelligence, the Creator and Preserver of all things, the perfect Moral Ruler of the universe (Unger's Bible dictionary, p. 410).

Here is where I depart from traditional Judeo-Christian teachings and doctrine. The Divine in Native American beliefs is known as "Great Mystery" and within the Celtic/Druid beliefs is known as the "Sacred One." For within Judeo-Christian doctrine, The Divine or "God" is often referred to in the masculine tense. Yet the perfection of The Divine transcends masculine and feminine, and is the embodiment or essence of harmony and balance.

Therefore, The Divine, as the Supreme Being, Creator and Preserver of all things, the perfect Moral Ruler of the universe then must be the union of that which is masculine and feminine, enjoined as One.

Of God & Goddess

The Divine, as the Supreme Being, Creator and Preserver of all things, the perfect Moral Ruler of the universe then must be the union of that which is masculine and feminine, enjoined as One.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1:27)

Blessed Lady and Ancient Lord, enjoined as the Sacred One.

Earth Mother and Sky Father united as the Great Mystery.

Now the Judeo-Christian faith originated from a region of the world that is predominantly patriarchal or male dominated society. This dominance is often sited as being Biblical by using Genesis 3:16 to support it's claims ... "and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall have rule over thee."

At issue however comes the separation of the attributes of The Divine, The Sacred One, The Great Mystery, into masculine and feminine, of God and of Goddess. Through the ages, non-Judeo-Christian doctrines have identified the Goddess with the Earth and the Moon, and God being identified with the Sun and the life cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. I am not advocating "Feminine Spirituality" here, but rather the simplicity and balance of God and Goddess who are enjoined as The Divine. Just as my left arm and right arm are enjoined as parts of my physical body.

A perfect or complete knowledge of The Divine, of Spirit, is not attainable by the finite rational reasoning of the human kind upon this earth. The completeness of The Divine may be closer understood and revealed by an understanding of the godhead ... Spirit, God, and Goddess. For we cannot completely know Spirit, The Divine, unless we are able to experience Spirit. Yet by experiencing and understanding God and Goddess, as the masculine and feminine attributes of Spirit, we can become closer to the complete knowledge or understanding of Spirit.

As I previously stated, Spirit, The Divine, exists in all things. The Divine created man and woman in its own image, God and Goddess. Thus both God and Goddess are then also in all things, including us humans.

In non-Abrahamic descendent beliefs, the Goddess is often identified as I stated with the Earth and Moon. The Goddess is often called the triple Goddess of Maiden, Mother and Crone of whom the three aspects are related to the cycle of the Moon. The waxing New Moon is the Maiden, the Full Moon is the Mother, and the waning Old Moon is the Crone. God is often identified as stated with the Sun and life cycle of birth, death and rebirth. In certain beliefs, God is not only the spouse or mate of the Goddess, but also is Her offspring representing unbound fertility and is often crowned with the horns of a wild buck.

The existence or non-existence of God and Goddess can not be proven by scientific or technological methods any more than can The Divine or Spirit be proven or disproved. Thus the question I must present, "Is not the acceptance of a masculine and feminine, God and Goddess, essence of a Supernatural, Creator and Protector by any name in balance with the Natural Order of All Things? For in order for they're to be balance and harmony within nature, do not all-living things exist in a male and female? In science are not the flows of energy addressed with a positive and negative polarity? From the previously quoted Genesis 1:27, does it not stand finite human reasoning that there is both God and Goddess as part of the Divine, of Spirit, if male and female are created in their likeness. In concert or connection to my understanding of Native American and Celtic/Druid teachings that God/Father and Goddess/Mother are aspects of what is called Great Mystery or Sacred One or Spirit.

Then if we can accept, believe in "I Am" from biblical texts as "God", can not the same be said for the aspects of "Goddess"? Furthermore, I would ask ... Does it truly matter what we call The Divine or it's attributes of God and Goddess? For they truly know who they are, as well as they know to whom we are referring to in prayer and meditation? Do they not?


Silver Eagle

Recapping ...

My Totems
Power --- Bald Eagle --- the Power Totem is that Animal Spirit which is most closely related (of spirit) to us, and thus will reincarnate with us again and again, and from lifetime to lifetime, as it is our constant ally. Much as the Soul Ray will explain the Soul`s Unique Purpose whilst in flesh , the Power Totem is a reflection of our own Soul, and likewise represents our Life Path and the major lessons, attributes and abilities of our individual and eternal spark. --- Role: ~Illuminating Force~Lesson: Soar Above . . . Illumination . . . Ability to See Hidden Spiritual Truths . . . Strength . . . Connection to Spirit Guides & Teachers . . . Courageous . . . Intuitive . . . Rising Above . . . Creativity . . . Healing . . . Keen Sight

Theme --- Arctic Wolf --- While the Power Totem is the reincarnating You, and is with us from incarnation to incarnation, the ~Life Theme Totem~ is with us only for the current Earth Walk. This is the Animal Spirit that is with us to Teach the Wisdom and Understanding of the current Life Theme, as well as to assist us in fulfilling our Souls present ~Life Mission.~ For those familiar with traditional astrology, the Role of the Theme Totem is very similar to the Ascendant or Rising sign that establishes the "goal post" for the current incarnation. --- Role ~The Teacher~Lesson: Learning & Using Potential . . . WisdomMedicine: Manifestation~Keywords~Teacher . . . Resistance to Change . . . Stamina . . . Resilience . . . Wisdom . . . Determination

Mission --- White Buffalo --- Along with our Life Theme for the present incarnation, we also arrive with a Life Mission. Where the Theme represents the general goals and focus of the current earthwalk and is the current Pathway or direction for the evolving soul, the Life Mission is a specific Role we have come onto the Wheel to learn, absorb and fulfill. As such, we will feel the pull of our Life Mission as a "higher calling," and this is not far off the mark, as it is quite literally a Mission or Special Service that we have agreed to fulfill long before beginning our Earthwalk. --- Role ~The Bringer of the Light~ The Builder of the Bridge . . . The Giving Spirit. . . Lesson: Truth . . . Medicine: To Cross between Planes . . .

So what's it all mean?
In very simple terms (I hope) I see it as follows, ... the Bald Eagle represents my soul/spirit throughout eternity and across the borders or boundaries of what our human mind conceives as "time." Possessing that ability to see hidden truths and provide illumination of them ... the Arctic Wolf represents the now, this present life, that is to be a teacher of what is illuminated, the ability to learn and use pure potentiality in wisdom ... the White Buffalo represents my "mission" in this life, the higher calling, which is to Bring the Light, the illumination, the truth, and to build the bridge through a giving spirit so that others may cross between the physical and spiritual.

Which as I look at my life and past and desire of the future with The Eagle's Nest for Spiritual Studies is actually a very neat package yet to unfold.

Spirit of White Buffalo

Spirit of White Buffalo
with
astrologybydiana@netscape.net

Role ~The Bringer of the Light~ The Builder of the Bridge The Giving Spirit
Lesson: Truth
Element: Water
Wind: North, The Elders
Medicine: To Cross between ~Planes~

White Buffalo walked from the West, her large eyes watching the grass that covered the endless plains as it waved in the breeze, like strands of golden hair stirring with the gentle touch of unseen hands.

Hooves trod over endless miles, mighty head held aloft as she continued her journey, following the whisperings of the summer breeze that carried the message meant for her ears alone. She would not rest until she had completed her Journey.

From over the softly rolling hills, emerged a figure walking upright. She recognized this figure`s shape as being that of a two-legged, and she hastened her own approach, recognizing the urgency of the voice that continued its whispering in her ear.

The man looked up toward the distant horizon, having been compelled to journey toward the west where the sun would soon be dipping down, marking the end of the day. His eyes caught the vision of white brilliance that was filling up the plains around him, indeed the very sky, and for a moment his heart leapt in fear, for this was unlike any light he had ever known, dazzling in its intensity and brilliance.

For some reason not completely known, yet thoroughly compelling, like the beat of the drum during the Sun Dance, the warrior suddenly felt no fear, and walked toward the magnificent creature who now had stopped just a few feet from him.

The beautiful creature`s great eyes met his own and the movement of time halted its relentless thrum. Long strands of grass moved in slow motion and he could see tiny particles of pollen dance and glitter in the rays of the sinking sun like tiny crystals cast upon the winds.

Her Light enveloped him and he knew no fear, no concern or anxiety, he knew only peace, as though the light were a warm blanket left before a roaring fire before being placed over his form. And in the next moment he was following the White Buffalo . . . toward the setting sun.

As they reached the Doorway Between Planes, White Buffalo turned to the two-legged and encouraged him forward. He stepped into the brilliance of the Light that spilled forth from the Great Doorway as a Warrior among Men. Yet he emerged on the other side as a Dove.

White Buffalo looked toward the farthest reaches of the Western Gate, the Place where the Buffalo Nation resides. She felt their love for her, and as she cast her eyes to the Sky Nation, she heard the song the Ancestors sang, yet as she watched the fading figure now enveloped in the brilliant Light, she knew the reason she had made the journey, and her heart sang a song of resounding joy.

Keywords
Light Bearer
White Buffalo is the Totem for one whose Life Path is to awaken the Soul of Others. Yet in order that she might fulfill this role, she need first to find the Light Within herself, to integrate the Mind, Personality, Emotion and Soul.

This is not an "easy" incarnation, as the process of divining ones own Light is an intensive undertaking that is achieved through a combination of life experience, acknowledgment and integration.

Yet the Light Within will illuminate the process of Discovery and lead him to the Doorway Between Planes, the Gate where the Blue Road and the Red Road intersect.

When he has attained true Integration, the LIght he brings will be seen by All who are willing to learn of the Light within themselves in the splendid dance of the Awakening Soul.

Builder of the Bridge
When Great Spirit moved Its Creative Force across the expanse of the Earth Mother, a Doorway was left between the Blue Road of Spirit and the Red Road of Physical Life. And yet there remained a chasm between Planes that the two-leggeds found difficult to cross, so Great Spirit called upon White Buffalo that she fashion a Bridge to link the Two Planes together.

She stood on the precipice of the mighty chasm and contemplated the task she had been given. For some time, she pondered the space between worlds and wondered how she would manage to bridge that distance. Then, a great calm settled over her Being, as she laid her body down only to discover that her back legs touched the Plane of Physical LIfe, and her mighty head rested upon the golden shores of the Blue Road.

***One who is blessed to have White Buffalo walk beside them, is aware of a "higher purpose" to Life. It is as though they can hear the call of Great Spirit in the secret language of the Oak trees as the wind whispers its path along its branches and leaves, sees the Chasm between Planes in the reflection of the setting sun upon the oceans shimmering surface, and feels the rhythm of Great Mystery in the beating of an eagles wings.

This soul has been gifted the blessing of White Buffalo Totem through his actions of Selflessness in previous incarnations . . . in his ability to integrate the many aspects of his Self into One in the current life as he seeks Truth and Understanding.

Yet with the Blessing comes also Responsibility, for the commitment is to Build the Bridge Between Planes so that Others might also cross.

This will manifest as one who will link understanding between different nations, creeds, religions and beliefs that currently separate their fellow two-leggeds in the ultimate understanding of the Truth, that the many, are in truth, One.***

Truth
It is said that part of the reason White Buffalo is white, is because she cannot speak any untruths, her spirit blessed in the Waters of Truth and Honesty which in turn turns her hide white.

***One with White Buffalo Totem is a soul that is based concretely in Truth, in the belief, adherence to, and upholding of, Truth in all of it`s wondorous forms. Consequently, she will always seek to operate from nothing less than Truth, though this is of course a gradual process, given our Physical Personalities and experiences along the Red Road.

First, Truth is merely spoken as a child, free of editing. Yet, as the child grows and matures, he observes that being direct and honest is not always favored by adults, since the things he may sometimes say seem to elicit a strong reaction, or even pain in others.

Though one who is blessed with White Buffalo will always come back to Truth as the cornerstone of their Belief System, and will live by a strict code of Honesty. Perhaps this is why, when Truth is not honored by Others, White Buffalo Soul may have moments of sadness for the dousing of the LIght of Honesty Within. Then he will raise his head once more to Light and Beauty of Great
Mystery and resume his Path of Truth.***

Elder Spirit
White Buffalo is an Elder Spirit amongst the Animal Totems, for she was with Wakan Tanka at the creating of Earth Mother and placed in the West to hold back the tides.

Her Wisdom is forged in watching, ever vigilent, the progression of the two-leggeds. She observes, understanding the pain the people experience while in the flesh, yet also witnessing the beauty of their souls as they unfold in Conscious Awareness of their Life in ~Physical.~

***One with Buffalo Totem is generally not given the gift as the Power Totem, yet inherites the gift both through previous lifetimes spent in service to their fellow Two-Leggeds, and in the current lifetime through continual study, learning, and conscious growth.

As this is a Totem with tremendous responsibility, she will be drawn to an "Elder Soul," one who has walked many times around the Sacred Hoop of Life. She will walk with one who is focused upon the complete integration of Self, as only once one has integrated all parts of the Whole within themselves, may they then seek to Unite others both to themselves, and to one another.
Herein lies the challenge, as the Path for White Buffalo is never smooth, yet riddled with pebbles, boulders and divided at times by raging rivers. Yet through Trust in his Path and Soul`s Purpose, Faith in Great Mystery that all will be exactly as it is meant to be, and Love for All, any challenge that presents itself will always be acknowledged, embraced and absorbed, leading him to the Light streaming from the Gateway where he may then lay himself down to fashion the bridge so that others might make the journey across.***

Spirit of the Arctic Wolf

Spirit of the Arctic Wolf
with
Wolf`s Moon

Role ~The Teacher~
Lesson: Learning & Using Potential
Element: Earth
Wind: North, Wisdom
Medicine: Manifestation

~Keywords~

Teacher Resistance to Change Stamina
Resilience Wisdom
Determination
Resistance to Change

Arctic Wolf lives in a land frozen in time where, for three quarters of the year, frigid winds blow across the tundra, creating landscapes of sculpted ice. Here, all life holds its breath while awaiting longer days that will bring the sun to gently bathe all in it's golden light, coaxing the emergence of new life to dance for awhile in its brilliant rays. Walking across these bridges and valleys of glimmering snow, the Arctic Wolf, thick white coat ruffled in the frosty breath of the Northern wind, is in a state of contented ~Oneness~ with his surroundings.

***It is said that at the door of each of the Four Winds, a wolf keeps silent vigil, each bringing change to the life of those who walk the Good Red Road and with the change, a lesson unique to that Wind.

The Arctic Wolf is the Wolf of the North Winds. He stands quietly in rigid determination, unyielding at times, much as the barren landscapes of his home appear to resist the beginning of Spring. She is a soul that is comfortable with her surroundings and therefore sees no "reason" to change.

Yet the promise of the North Wind is Wisdom unfolding through gratitude and acknowledgment. This is the Direction in which Wisdom is sifted from the sands of experience and then fashioned into a Red staff of Manifesting that wields personal potential. Therefore, if White Wolf Soul can accept change when it appears, yet remain true to his/her values, then the higher vibration of Wisdom and Truth can emerge from beneath stubborn resistance like shoots of sweet summer grass bursting forth from a blanket of winters snow. Thus, Personal Power can be embraced, understood and ultimately, the souls individual potential manifested.***

Resilience
In a climate in which very little life can exist, Arctic Wolf thrives. Drifts of snow gather in intricate patterns and shapes, castles of frozen snow glittering in the brilliant light. Wind, cold enough to freeze exposed flesh, passes nearly unnoticed by Arctic Wolf as he roams the blinding white expanse of his territory, thick white fur keeping him well insulated . . . Mother Earth has prepared him well.

***The individual with Arctic Wolf as their Power Totem is one who is capable of withstanding numerous challenges and setbacks, only to emerge stronger than before. It is little wonder that these souls will often face adversity in their lives in order to build the resilience with which to overcome obstacles? Paradoxically, they are also gentle souls with a great deal of emotional sensitivity . . . and this is the area in which they are likely to encounter their greatest lessons. Yet by calling upon the inner strength and resilience of the Arctic Wolf, they can triumph and raise their heads with gratitude to the loving rays of the Sun.***

Stamina
The Arctic lands stretch for miles, blinding white expanses that demand respect of all who dwell there. Upon this vista of pristine white, the Arctic Wolf roams his territory in search of food, a mate or any encroaching threat and will travel up to twenty miles a day, or more, to perform his tasks.

To withstand the harshness of the unrelenting winds, the brutality of an unforgiving and bitterly cold climate, and to do this while traversing many miles, the Arctic Wolf has been engineered with tremendous stamina to fulfill her role in Nature.

***Arctic Wolf soul is an individual who is capable of performing nearly miraculous bouts of stamina that would weary other souls as she travels the good Red Road.

He possesses within him the ability to push his body and mind to the limits, and in fact, can appear to even derive pleasure from doing so.

With each new goal that has been met, Arctic Wolf individual will then set his/her sights on the next task at hand. Preferably the new goal will be even more challenging than the one just completed, as this engenders the ~acknowledgment~ within their own reasoning that they are ~worthy~ of that which has been given to them, yet the truth of the matter is that anything they have received, has been honestly won.***

Spirit of the Bald Eagle

Spirit of the Bald Eagle
with
Wolf`s Moon

Role: ~Illuminating Force~
Lesson: Soar Above
Element: Air/Water
Wind: ~East~ Illumination
Medicine: Connection to Grandfather Sky

Keywords

Illumination Ability to See Hidden Spiritual Truths
Strength Connection to Spirit Guides & Teachers
Courageous Intuitive Rising Above
Creativity Healing
Keen Sight

On the currents of the Four Winds you ride the sky held aloft by unseen hands that hold you close to the Grandfather

Far below lies the world of Man a realm in which you also dwell, yet always from within comes the ache to rejoin the Great Spirit

Caught between two realms, you remind all who witness your beauty and strength of the eternal struggle of the two-legged to rise above the mundane and feel the Soul take flight

Illumination
In Earth Medicine, we recognize the Eagle (all members of the Eagle family) as a symbol of a powerful, spiritual energy. Because the Eagle soars so close to the Grandfather Sky, it is believed that Eagle hears the voice of the ~Great Spirit~ and is thus a link between the Divine and the Two-Leggeds (humanity)

Bald Eagle feathers are treasured and revered amongst the Native People, for they are recognized as containing a very powerful Medicine energy/magic). While speaking in Truth, seeking to bridge differences, or in asking for guidance and Illumination for a course of action, the Eagle feather is held during ceremonies to draw in such spiritual illumination.

As a means to speak with spiritual clarity and Truth, the Speaker will hold an Eagle feather, either as it is attached to a ~Talking Stick,~ or held in the hands. This serves as a connection to the Divine, so that all words that are spoken, are spoken from Higher Intent, and also as a means of asking that the Ancestors and the ~Great Mystery~ speak to and through, the Holder of the Feather.

***Thus, One who flies with the Eagle, has a responsibility along the Good Red Road, to operate from Higher Intent, to develop the latent abilities of Illumination, and then freely share this Illumination with Others. Obviously, this is no small task, or one to ever be taken lightly, for the ramifications are very far reaching, as are the Gifts and blessings for the Self and Others, which ripple outward from this particular attribute.

The Path to Illumination is one often fraught with boulders and stumbling blocks that serve as a schoolroom for the developing soul. A broad range of experiences (both pleasurable and exceedingly painful), are met by the one beside whom Eagle flies as it is from the depth of experience that true wisdom is forged and from wisdom, comes the Illumination of the Soul, or ~Enlightenment.~ However, as while encased in the Robe of Physical Life, there exists the possibility that the personality center may arise that Eagle soul may examine his/her current level of growth and integration. In some instances, one such manifestation of the Personality Center may be a sense of self-aggrandizement or self-importance, as these are individuals who have an intuitive grasp on mysteries that elude other less observant and/or intuitive individuals. This ~arcane knowledge~ often gets the Eagle individual noticed, and where the soul has not sufficiently integrated the lower vibrations of the personality center, arrogance may surface. Or the converse may be true wherein the Eagle Soul has not acknowledged the splendor and beauty of his/her soul. In this instance, what is obviously apparent to Others as to the Gifts and Quality of Being that exists in the one beside whom Eagle soars, will be non-apparent to the Eagle Individual, and the lesson then becomes acknowledging and embracing the Light of their own Spirit.

Soul of Bald Eagle will possess an innate ability to ~see,~ dream, feel or ~know~ secret or hidden spiritual truths, both of the other realms and planes of ~Being,~ and the hidden truths of ~Others.~ Such powerful insight and perception (think of the eagle’s powerful vision and ever-alert and intense eyes), comes from both a plethora of past life experiences whose memory bubbles just below the surface of conscious recollection, and partially from present lifetime experiences which serve as lessons in developing and honing the gift of ~Insight.~

For the one who is able to find the splendid dance of balance between self-love and humility, celebration of Self and celebration of the All, the dance is a beauty to witness, as the Eagle Spirit unfurls the wings of their Soul, like their winged Totem dancing upon the Wind as they fully embrace and inherit the brilliant Gift of true Illumination.***

Intuitive
The Eagle, as he soars amongst the clouds and floats upon the unseen currents of air, dwells in close proximity to Grandfather Sky. From his connection to the Grandfather, Eagle also seeks to rekindle his connection to the creative force of the ~Great Spirit.~ As such, Eagle intuitively understands that we are never far from Home, or completely dis-connected from the Source of All That Is.

Bald Eagle is one of the Totem Animals that dwells simultaneously within two realms. Such dualistic Totems symbolize the need for Balance between two points, or the requirement that the Soul whom Eagle flies beside, learns to dance between two planes. In the instance of this Totem, Bald Eagle is considered to be a Water or Fish Eagle, as the primary source of the Bald Eagle’s diet consists of fish that the Eagle will capture in fresh water rivers, streams and lakes. Yet he also exists in the realm of Air, living on the wing and soaring above the mountain peaks.
Earth Medicine teaches us that each elemental clan symbolizes various aspects of our walk along the Red Road. Water represents our emotional and spiritual Self, while Air represents our intellect and conscious mind. Hence, Eagle must dive into the water with precision in order to retrieve her meal of fish, which she will clutch firmly in her razor sharp talons, then to rise once more to greet the sky. Within this behavior of Bald Eagle, lies the clue as to the nature that it represents within all two-leggeds who have the Soul of Bald Eagle.

Water, as intuition, psychic attunement and emotions, represents your Soul’s ability to intuitively assess situations, individuals and circumstances with an immediate grasp. Yet water also symbolizes a depth of emotion and feeling that is nearly fathomless. Love is given whole-heartedly and without restraint, a trait that can often lead to your being hurt by souls who have not reached sufficient maturation and integration with their own Emotional Centers. Then, it is imperative that one learns the value of appropriately timed detachment (as represented by the Air), and the quality of discernment so that the beautiful nurturing and loving energy that flows so effortlessly through you is not "wasted" on those who have not earned this most precious of Gifts, and shared instead with those of a similar depth and maturation who are able to reciprocate what has been received.

With each successive incarnation, the Soul learns how to move swiftly from one realm to the next, to know when to utilize the psychic/intuitive gifts and depth of emotion, and when to soar above and revisit the condition of the encounter or experience with detachment. This is one of the primary factors in the Life Path of one with this Totem.

Ultimately, the Soul will reach the Zenith of this Life Lesson, and the Eagle’s desire for reuniting with the Great Spirit will be fulfilled as the Eagle Soul learns to love and nurture the Self.

Courage
Wherever Eagle soars, the Native People have recognized this splendid bird as a symbol of strength & courage. The builders of the American Constitution likewise acknowledged this majestic creature’s aura of strength, and established it as the national symbol of America.
In the wild, the Eagle is the undisputed king/queen of the skies with no other bird equaling the Eagle in either size or hierarchy. And it is in watching the heart stopping dives as the Eagle pummels downward to capture their meals of fresh fish, that one truly begins to understand the connection between these mighty birds and the keyword for this Totem of Courage.

***Like their totem Ally, the two-legged who has Eagle flying beside them, will often exhibit great depths of inner strength and courage. Often times, they will encounter situations in their flight along the Red Road of Physical Life in which they will need to call upon that courage in the face of overwhelming adversity. Does this mean that the Eagle Soul feels no fear? Hardly, yet once the fear has been felt and acknowledged, the Eagle Soul will then establish a plan of action in order to confront and resolve the situation as these are the problem-solvers that will find a possibility in what appears to be an impossible scenario. In facing their fears we witness the Eagle demonstrating the literal meaning of Courage.

Whenever faced with situations, people or circumstances in which fear is felt, one with this Animal Spirit might call upon Bald Eagle to bring the Courage to face what must be done. In so doing, they are not only recognizing and giving thanks to the role of this Totem in their Life, they are honoring their own Divine Essence of the ~Eagle Within.~***

Rising Above
Much as the Eagle soars majestically, held aloft on the Four Winds and leaving the ground far below, so does the Soul who has Bald Eagle as their Power Totem, possess the same ability to Rise Above the mundane.

***In many respects, this keyword is linked to the preceding one of Illumination, for it represents the Soul’s ability to integrate the lessons of the physical world, to leave behind the trappings of the past and the darker shadows of the human mind, so that one might soar on the winds of illumination and awareness. Only once the ~Lower Personality~ has been thoroughly embraced, understood, resolved and integrated, will the Soul have the freedom to Soar. The road “there” is not an easy one to take, nor for the faint-hearted, yet it is a Journey that all of us must make in order that our Soul may evolve beyond the need to incarnate into flesh.

This process is begun by uncovering those habits, beliefs and actions which are either self-destructive or cause pain for another, and is the crucial first step in the Journey of integrating the personality to the Soul. Many lifetimes may be spent in this first step alone as to face one’s own Inner Truth in complete honesty may be painful and require a good deal of detachment, it also requires that we embrace those aspects of ourselves that we may see as less than desirable. Yet once the Soul has acknowledged these ~Truths~ then the greatest step has already been taken.

Next in this process (once our ~stumbling blocks~ have been identified), is to evaluate what lessons they have presented in our life. This is then initialed by once again evaluating the Self in honesty, by asking if these lessons and issues have been resolved, for if they have not been, they will simply re-present themselves again and again, becoming exponentially larger, until we are “forced” to confront and resolve them. For some who chose to evade and fool themselves, this can ultimately manifest physically with the individual either becoming so ill that they are left under the surgeons knife, in the hospital, or they ~transition,~ only to come back in the next life and face those very same lessons yet again.

If indeed, one can honestly affirm that those lessons have been thoroughly acknowledged, learned and absorbed, then the unfolding of the Soul begins and with it, the ability to rise above the mundane. This, as stated earlier, is a very involved process and must always be approached in conscious awareness, yet the freedom of the Soul on the wing, able to rise above those things that have caused one so much pain, anger or torment in the past, is a glorious unfolding to behold.***

Connection to Spirit Guides and Teachers
As an Animal Totem, the Eagle has long been revered by the Native People for the proximity in which he/she soars to the Great Spirit. Because of the Eagle`s ability to fly so near to the roof of the sky, to view all that which lies below from a viewpoint similar to that of the Great Mystery, this mighty bird is believed to be a conveyor of messages between the Blue Road of Spirit and the Red Road of Physical Life.

***Like their Spirit Animal, the two-legged beside whom Eagle soars, will have an aspect of him/herself that will be attuned to the voices of the Ancestors. This ability to tune into other realms and hidden knowledge, may be seen by those lacking in such sensitivity and attunement as "day dreaming" or "spacing out." The truth of the matter is that the soul of the Eagle individual is in a near-constant state of receptivity, though they may not be consciously aware of the messages they are receiving from Spirit Guides, Totems and Teachers, the messages are coming through none the less.

The more that the Eagle Soul can learn to tune into his/her feelings, intuitions and visuals received, the greater this perception and ability to tune into ancient wisdom becomes. For some, the knowledge received will be expressed as "automatic writing" or trance channeling, others will express this ability via creative artwork in the form of beautiful illustrations that convey a deep spirituality, for others still, such knowledge and connection to the ~Higher Self~ is expressed via deeply stirring music.

Regardless of the medium through which such a connection to both the Spirit Guides and Higher Self is established, the end result is that these are the souls that carry profound messages for the rest of Humanity. Through conveying such messages in their non-judgmental and beautifully presented manner, the messages and knowledge passed along is received on a deeper level, and thus both the Messenger and the Recipient benefit from this beautiful Talent.

Creativity
The Eagle is recognized in Earth Medicine as a Winged One that is a symbol of Creation. In particular, the Thunder Eagle (or Thunderbird) is revered as a powerful Spirit that heralds great change and unlimited happiness that arises through the fountain of the Divine Creative Spark.

Eagle’s place in Native American culture is quite significant, as very few Totem Animals are believed to possess such a broad and all-encompassing range of Medicine. For Eagle, the greatest creation is Life, either in the saving of the life of another (as through the strong healing emphasis associated with this raptor), or in the act of procreation. Like the legendary Phoenix, the Eagle is a Animal Totem of Transformation and Regeneration, a Spirit in a continual creative process.

***The two-legged who is blessed to have this Spirit Animal fly beside him/her, will be an individual that has entered onto the Good Red Road to express themselves creatively. This Divine Spark of Creativity may manifest in a multitude of channels, from music to making intricate and stunning jewelry, producing beautifully illustrated paintings to conceptualizing impressive architectural designs. Whatever medium this creative genius asserts itself, these will often be amongst the most skilled of artisans, poets and musicians.

Indeed, the entire existence of the Eagle individual will seem to be a creative process, and life will be seen with a sensitivity that is both esthetic and deeply spiritual. Herein lies the key for the Eagle Soul, as the art they create will contain deeply spiritual overtones and undercurrents, their music, writing or art will transcend their captive audiences to a higher vibration where all life is celebrated with a deep reverence and joy.

The irony perhaps is that often these souls are not fully aware of the talent they possess, as like the white crown feathers of the adult Bald Eagle, the two-legged beside whom this raptor travels will mature into his/her supreme talents. Such profound creativity must be reclaimed with a willing heart, yet one that is willing to fully embrace the responsibility to convey the realms of ethereal beauty, mysticism, music and art that is often invisible or unheard to the average two-legged. Yet when the Bald Eagle Soul has fully embraced both his/her talents and the responsibility to pass along their ~Vision,~ the physical world is not only made more esthetically appealing, the spirituality inherent in the visions conveyed will call to Others to reach for that sense of Beauty, Peace and Illumination within.***

Power Totem, Theme Totem, and Mission Totem

~Power Totem~
Chief amongst the Animal Totems, the Power Totem is our primary animal spirit that walks, flies or swims beside us as constant companion, guide, protector, teacher, soul brother/sister, and connection to the Blue Road of Spirit and the ~Great Mystery.~

In esoteric astrology, the Soul Ray is the reincarnating You, the essence of the eternal spark which transcends physical "death" to continue its evolution as it reincarnates into different bodies, times and places so that it might experience all that it needs in order to reach the point where there is no longer the "need" to incarnate into flesh.

Similarly, the Power Totem is that Animal Spirit which is most closely related (of spirit) to us, and thus will reincarnate with us again and again, and from lifetime to lifetime, as it is our constant ally. Much as the Soul Ray will explain the Soul`s Unique Purpose whilst in flesh , the Power Totem is a reflection of our own Soul, and likewise represents our Life Path and the major lessons, attributes and abilities of our individual and eternal spark.

~Theme Totem~
While the Power Totem is the reincarnating You, and is with us from incarnation to incarnation, the ~Life Theme Totem~ is with us only for the current Earth Walk. This is the Animal Spirit that is with us to Teach the Wisdom and Understanding of the current Life Theme, as well as to assist us in fulfilling our Souls present ~Life Mission.~ For those familiar with traditional astrology, the Role of the Theme Totem is very similar to the Ascendant or Rising sign that establishes the "goal post" for the current incarnation.

To understand a little better exactly what the role of this Animal Spirit is, perhaps it is best to begin by understanding what is meant by the Life Theme and Life Mission.

As we are standing at the Eastern Gate of the Wheel of LIfe and preparing to enter into the flesh for our next incarnation, our Soul is guided to make choices and decisions that will bring us the lessons and experiences that we need in order to best achieve the Souls growth. Part of this is the choice of what the general ~Theme~ will be for the new incarnation.

As an example, for one who chooses the ~Theme of Truth,~ their experiences within that lifetime will be encountered so that they will learn the importance and necessity of operating from Truth, not only in the words they speak, but in the way in which they conduct their dealings with Others, how they face their own issues and lessons, and ultimately, in how they relate, respond and act upon ~Life in Physical~ itself. Consequently, this soul may encounter many individuals and situations in which they are deceived, lied to and spoken Untruths to, causing emotional pain or perhaps resulting in financial losses, or other such manifestations that will reinforce within their own Soul the importance and value of Truth in all things.

Truth thus becomes a motto that they will then live the remainder of their life by, and held as a banner of sorts that will mark their personality (both to others, and to themselves). This would be an example of a Life Theme.

The Theme Totem in this example then, would be one that would have Truth as an integral part of that Animal Spirits Wisdom, and hence, he/she would act as a guide, teacher and mentor to light the way toward fulfilling that two-leggeds current Life Theme. One of the Totems that would have Truth figuring prominently in their Medicine would be White Buffalo.

~Mission Totem~
Along with our Life Theme for the present incarnation, we also arrive with a Life Mission. Where the Theme represents the general goals and focus of the current earthwalk and is the current Pathway or direction for the evolving soul, the Life Mission is a specific Role we have come onto the Wheel to learn, absorb and fulfill. As such, we will feel the pull of our Life Mission as a "higher calling," and this is not far off the mark, as it is quite literally a Mission or Special
Service that we have agreed to fulfill long before beginning our Earthwalk.

As an example, say one chooses the ~Mission of Healer~ in the present existence. That individual would come in with latent healing abilities, either through the "laying on of hands," the ability to send out healing energies across vast distances, or as a highly skilled surgeon or doctor. There would be the sense that the soul has a "special calling" to fulfill in Medicine and must obey that call at any cost. Thus, the Animal Totem that walks, flies or swims beside the individual who has Life Mission of Healer, would have a strong alignment to Healing as an integral part of that Animals Medicine.

As Little Children

The mind is fertile ground for concepts, ideas, and opinions. If someone tells us a lie and we believe it, that lie takes root in our mind and can grow big and strong, like the majestic oak tree. One little lie can be very contagious, spreading its poisonous seeds from person to person when we share it with others.

The voice in our head doesn't belong to us. When we are born we don't have that voice. Thinking comes after we learn --- first language, then different points of view, then all the judgments and lies. The voice of knowledge comes as we accumulate knowledge.

Before we eat the lies that come with knowledge, we live in truth. We speak only truth. We live in love without any fear. Once we have knowledge, we judge ourselves as no longer good enough; we feel guilt, shame, and the need to be punished. We begin to dream lies and separate from our true spirit.

The concept of heaven exists when our spiritual eyes are open, when we perceive the world through the eyes of truth. Once lies hook our attention, our spiritual eyes are closed. We fall from the dream of heave and begin to live the dream of hell.

There mere importance of having nearly a pure mind of a child, unblemished by millenia of social, family and religious tranditions and knowledge, is important to our mental, physical and emotional stability. I say "nearly pure" because we only possess the purity of mind and awareness but once. However as the authors, creators, and artists of our own story, we are able to rewrite and change our story.

Yet just as with a computer, while we continually rewrite our story, there will always be residue of the first files written on the hard drive, on our brain. Sometimes these will be buried beneath layers upon layers of our story and its changes; though just the right word, circumstance or event will cause them to come forward to our present consciousness and awareness.

To become as a little child does not mean to act or possess the behavior of a child, but rather to posses a newly aware childlike perception. Meaning that each moment in life becomes a new experience untainted by the past and its perceptions. Yet that in and of itself does not mean we proceed with wreckless abandon. Instead we use the lesson of prior experience to guide our present action. As some would say . . . to be twenty again armed with the lessons and knowledge of what I know at eighty!

A very simple mental exercise and challenge is to begin to attempt to notice or become aware of at least five new things each day. When five becomes easy, double it to ten, when ten becomes easy, double it again. These don't have to be some monumental or earth shattering. They may be the simplest things such as a new flower, the shape of a cloud, taking a different way to the conrer store. Use all your senses to experience life each new day. Another good part of this exercise is that with five senses, try to use each sense for one new thing.

Silver Eagle

True, Unconditional Love

True love must be unconditional, meaning that it is based neither in fear nor in ambition, and is therefore a pure expressions arising from the heart. The implications here are that we are not affraid to speak and to act openly and honestly, even if our actions are not going to be perceived as being supportive and uplifting, and even if this then does mean a separation of sorts, as in the loss of a relationship, or even a job for that matter. And yet realize that the intention behind all acts of unconditional love, whether perceived as being supportive or not, is to uplift the other person and to encourage them to become the epxression of their true purpose within life.

However, people are so incredibly selective in thier perception, that whenever they are told something they do not want to hear or whenever an action is taken which they perceive to be against them in some way, they usually end up feeling hurt, victimized, and hard-done by. Yet such people never realize that they are not their behavior, and therefore that whenever they are confronted, it is not they personally who are being confronted but only their behavior.

by Theun Mares, Shadows of Wolf Fire

Every single action, physical, emotional or mental is dependent upon firstly, MOTIVE, and secondly, CIRCUMSTANCE. Thus to measure action, we must consider whether it is life supportive or life destructive. Sometimes it is hard to know when to defer to the weaker person. A simple rule of thumb . . . we should be sensitive and gracious. While some actions may not be wrong, they may not be in the best interest of others. While we have freedom, we shouldn't exercise our freedom at the cost of hurting another. We are not to consider only ourselves, but we must be sensitive to others ... Do what you will, but harm no one.

Yet if someone is stuck in their view of the world about them and one wants to uplift them, the one has no choice or alternative than to shake them out of the perception which is keeping them stuck. However, in doing so, one's actions are never seen to be supportive, for invariably one is forecd in to having to destroy that person's present perception in one way or another in order to make room for a new view.

Analogy - - - much like now in our information age of computers. Every so often we must run the defragmentation program and wipe disk program to restore the operating efficiency of the computer. The human brain, in very simplistic terms, is much like the computer's hard drive. The years of life are much like writing new computer code onto the hard drive. And every once in a while it becomes necessary to reboot, or even reformat.

The Purpose & Meaning of Life

What is the purpose of life?
Everyone has a purpose in life. A unique gift or special talent to give to others. When we blend this unique talent with service to others, we experience the ecstacy and exultation of our own spirit, which is the ultimate goal of all goals.

" Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving others. Some of us can speak with wisdom, while other can speak with knowledge, but these come from the same Spirit. To others Spirit has given great faith, or the power to heal the sick, or the power to work mighty miracles. Some of us are prophets, and some of us recognize when God's Spirit is present. Others can speak in different languages, and still others can tell what these languages mean. But it is Spirit who does all this and decides which gifts to give to us."

The above passage from the Christian Bible, the Apostle Paul's first letter to the church ar Corinth (1 Corinthians 12:7-11) identifies eight gifts of Spirit ... wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, speaking in tongues and understanding other languages. He also states that Spirit decides who receives what gift. Which can also be taken to mean that some may not receive a gift of Spirit. Here it is important to point out that there are other things ... talents ... that a person may possess that can be used in service to others.

At this point it would be interesting to review the etamology of the word used here as "service" and later in the Apostle Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus where in a similar context he uses the work "edifying". Both are the imparting of ones ability to another, however to edify is to build up. Where as service can be anything from an actor to zoologist, and everything in between.

As I have grown older, the teachings of Jesus of Nazereth "that unless you change and become like little children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven," has taken on new meaning. Look at a little child ... most of the time they have a big smile on their face and they're having fun with life. They are exploring the world about them. They are not affraid to play. They are affriad when they are hurt, when they are hungry, when some of their needs are not met, but they don't worry about the past, don't care about the future, and only live in the present moment.

Very young children are not affraid to express what they feel. They are so loving that if they perceive love, they melt into love. They are not affraid to love at all. That is the desciption of a normal human. As children we are nto affraid of they future or ashamed of the past. Our "normal human tendency is to enjoy life, to play, to explore, to be happy and to love." (Four Agreements of Toltec Wisdom)

So what is the purpose or meaning of life? In an ideal world the purpose or meaning of life would be to do that which you have a talent for, which likely means that you are happy doing it, and to do it in service or for the betterment of those around you ... to quote former President John F. Kennedy ...

... "And so my fellow Americans ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. And my brothers and sisters around the world, ask not what American can do for you, but what together we can do together for the betterment of mankind."

Mitakuye Oyasin,
A Guardian and Servant of Spirit,
Silver Eagle

Short History of Halloween

Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). It is the time between Samhain (pronounced "SOW-in" in Ireland, SOW-een in Wales, "SAV-en" in Scotland or even "SAM-haine" in non Gaelic speaking countries) and Brigid's Day "the period of little sun." Thus, Samhain is often named the "Last Harvest" or "Summer's End". The Earth nods a sad farewell to the God.

We know that He will once again be reborn of the Goddess and the cycle will continue. This is the time of reflection, the time to honor the Ancients who have gone on before us and the time of 'Seeing" (divination). As we contemplate the Wheel of the Year, we come to recognize our own part in the eternal cycle of Life.

While almost all Celtic based traditions recognize this Holiday as the end of the "old" year, some groups do not celebrate the coming of the "new year" until Yule. Some consider the time between Samhain and Yule as a time which does not even exist on the Earthly plane. The "time which is no time" was considered in the "old days" to be both very magickal and very dangerous. So even today, we celebrate this Holiday with a mixture of joyous celebration and 'spine tingling" reverence.

The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their New Year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. They believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to Earth.

In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter. To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.

By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.

The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of "bobbing" for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.
By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands.

In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1st as 'All Saints' Day', a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday.

The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween.

In 1000 A.D., the church made November 2 'All Souls' Day', a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints', All Saints', and All Souls', were called Hallowmas.

The Interrelationship of Life

Something from the past ...

July 3, 2004

This morning while chatting with a few friends and others we had an interesting discussion on and about life, and some of the basic concepts about personal expectations and feelings. I thought they were rather profound and decided to try to share them with you ...

As we sat chatting, looking at the whole of life, the big circle of the Great Mystery, I am continually finding evidence of the interconnection and interrelationship of all life. For example how many spiritual principles are inter-related to how we respond to life when our self-esteem, our security, our ambitions, our personal and sexual relationships are interferred with or threatened.

How we realize that the people who wronged us were perhaps spiritually sick, and how if we give into their barbs, we are actually giving them some of our own precious personal power.

How we must stand firm in the precept to not take things personally. Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

How can I be helpful to this person or how can I or will I allow God of my understanding to save me from being angry, resentful or even vindictive towards this person, place or institution.

How have my wants, desires, expectations potentially clouded or created an illusion of what is really there? The illusion of life as is seen through our socially conditioned eyes and thoughts. Then taking account and responsibility for where we have been selfish, dishonest, self-seeking or frightened.

How our own personal fears touch every aspect of our lives. Fear, the evil and corroding thread that through our conditioning over our years becomes woven into the very fabric of our human existence. A thread that if pulled, can set in motion circumstances which can bring us misfortune, and loss of personal power.

The pathways of personal power and personal freedom are both selfless and selfish. A paradox? Yes in many ways it is. For as we choose our battles and assess the circumstances and conditions of every battle with the utmost care, we are using our perosnal power along the path of least resistence. We use our gifts and talents in the service and betterment of others, which in turns comes full circle back to us in its own timing.

The catch here is that the use of our gifts and talents must be unconditional and impeccable, that is without expectation and with a clear Spirit. For we can not allow our personal power to be eroded. By that I meanwhat we do, we do, it's done, and let go of. We can not go or come back to say at a later date, "Look at what I did for you." For therein brings to light the true nature and motive for our actions ... and shows we did under the surface attach expectations to the outcome.

Many of Jesus' teachings taught the same about life and unconditional use of gifts, talents, and love. Paraphrasing a section pertaining to the giving of an offering at the temple, "Do not allow your left hand to know what your right hand is doing." This can only be done with a clear heart and clean Spirit. That is without personal motive, i.e., not recording it in some account ledger to manifest a balance for at some later date to extract payment for services rendered. It is unconditional, no strings attached period for all eternity.Best wishes and blessings for Today,

Mitakuye Oyasin,
A Guardian and Servant of Spirit,
Silver Eagle

Celtic Shamanism: A Brief Introduction

When one thinks of Druids and the Celts, one generally brings to mind images of Merlin and Morganna, people in long flowing robes with extraordinary magical powers. Powers to harm or heal, powers to curse or cure. What few automatically bring to mind is their deeper, more personal mysteries. What gave the Druids their powers? With so many records and accounts destroyed or permanently altered by the Christian invaders, we can only guess based on what is actually known of the time. The solitary nature of the Druids, their affinity for nature and their seeming ability to speak to it lead to the logical conclusion that we are dealing with a form of European, and indeed, Celtic, Shamanism.

A Shaman is considered to be a person who acts as a mediator between the spiritual and material worlds. As such, shamanism can exist side by side with other spiritual beliefs without conflict. It is not, in and of itself, a religion. It does not require group participation. In fact, group participation can often be detrimental to the practice as it inhibits one from going as deep spirituality as they could.

Unlike many other religious leaders, Shamans understand that there are aspects of their lives that must be brought into balance before their abilities can be used to help others. It's a lifetime journey. One where the Shaman is constantly working to improve him/herself as well as helping others. Since all life springs first from the spiritual realm, that area must be tended to before those on the material plane can be healed. Dedication, discipline, control, patience and reflection are all required of the aspiring Shaman. A true Shaman tends to be a healer first, a prophet second. In fact, it's the healing traits that are in highest demand.

While in ancient times the training of an aspiring Shaman could be dangerous, even fatal, that is no longer the case. Shamanism, unlike so many other religious practices has grown and changed with society. It had no choice. By being static it would have become useless. Training today is as easy as reading a few books, meeting with a teacher or two, or even learning from valid internet sites.

What is different about Celtic Shamanism as opposed to the better known Native American Shamanism? In practice not much. Many of the exercises are similar and many of the ways in which people are helped are similar. The difference is in the heritage of the Shaman. The symbols that may be encountered and the paths that may be walked may have vastly different meanings depending on the heritage of the Shaman. Many of these symbols have come about because of the personal experiences of our ancestors. Over time the Shaman will learn these. In spiritual practices where you connect with yourself many times, as in past life healing, your own heritage and that of your past lives comes into play a great deal. These things must be taken into account on a continual basis. It is a lifetime journey and not something possible to accomplish overnight.

If this is a path you wish to examine further then I urge you to read everything you can on the subject. It's a fascinating study into the deepest workings of the human soul and the part we play in the universe.

Mitakuye Oyasin
Silver Eagle

A Meditation Guide

What is Meditation?
Meditation has been practiced around the world in every known religion, from Buddhism to Christianity. Many people have meditated for spiritual communication, personal fulfillment, as a form of worship or just to relax and relieve stress. During this century western societies have begun to recognize the benefits of meditation. The breathing and visualizations employed by traditional medicine help patience fight cancer, physical illnesses, relieve stress and so on.
Basically meditation is an altered state of consciousness achieved through controlled breathing and visualization. Webster's New World Dictionary defines meditation as a deep continued thought and solemn reflection on sacred matters as a devotional act. Both definitions are accurate, but meditation is so much more.

Meditation helps the physical conscious mind connect with the higher or divine consciousness we all have inside ourselves. Through practice and dedication, this bridging between our physical and divine selves, opens the doors to a new spiritual knowledge that has always existed, but that we may not have been able to tap into.

Side Effects
As you practice your mediation technique, you should begin noticing a few side effects. You should become a little calmer and more relaxed during your regular daily activities. You become better able to handle unexpected events or can think more clearly when dealing with a problem or trying to find a solution. Some of the stress and tension you experience should begin to subside each time you perform your chosen meditation technique. All in all, less stress and tension will lead to a healthier and happier you.

On a spiritual side, you may begin to notice an increased interest in your chosen religious path. A degree of self-discovery may also begin to happen. People who meditate on a regular basis report feeling the `need' to improve their attitudes or outlook on life. They feel as though there's more to life than this physical existence and they want to know and understand what that is. I believe this is a result of successfully bridging the conscious and sub-conscious spiritual minds together.

The How To's Of Meditation
There are numerous forms of meditation. Yoga, Ti-Chi, Mantras, Gazing and Freeform are the most common types practiced in the western world (see definitions below). No one way is better than another. What works for one person may not work for another. So it's best for a person to choose the type of meditation that feels the most comfortable for them. Then practice, practice, practice.

Yoga and Ti-Chi
These methods use physical movements or positions to focus the mind and body away from everyday happenings.

Mantras
This vocal method uses a personal sound, like a hum or phrase, to focus and clear the mind.

Gazing
Using an object, such as a crystal ball or candle, to help focus and find the meditative state.

Freeform
This method is generally the most common type of meditation practiced in the U.S. today. Freeform is just that, it does not rely on sound, movement or visual stimuli to focus the mind and body. Rather it uses your own ability to concentrate on nothing. Soft relaxing music can accompany this form of meditation to help the mind block out background noises and distractions.

The best way to learn Yoga or Ti-Chi is to find an experienced teacher or master in your area. These methods require several physical movements that lead the mind down a relaxing path into a relaxed state of awareness. There are also many video tapes on the market for self / home study as well.

The Gazing method is much like the Freeform method, the only difference being one you do with your eyes closed, the other you stare at an object. Read the following instructions for the Freeform method and alter the procedure as needed for the Gazing method.

How to Meditate with the Freeform Method
Science has proven that thought is energy, thus what you think creates energy patterns. The visualizations employed in the Freeform method help your conscious mind create some of those energy patterns to physically relax and push out stress from your body. These visualizations are highlighted in the following steps, to help you gain the most benefit from your meditation practice. However, once you learn the basics, you should think about changing the visualization patterns to best suite your own needs and interests.

How to Start
Choose a piece of music that you find relaxing. Classical and some soft Jazz can be used, but the best form of music is New Age, much like that performed by Yanni or Ed Van Fleet. Many music stores are now carrying New Age music so these should be easy to find. Your meditation music should be totally orchestral (no vocals) and should act as sound barrier between you and the outside noises of the world.

Find a quiet place to sit and relax where you won't be disturbed for 20 to 30 minutes. Meditations have no time limit, but to really appreciate the event a minimum of 30 minutes is really all that's needed.

Sit comfortably, on the floor, in a chair ~ you shouldn't lay down; doing so might cause you to fall asleep instead of meditate. In stead find a comfortable upright position and keep your back straight. Your arms should be placed comfortably in your lap, or at your sides if your lying down. What ever is most comfortable for you. But remember, your going to be in this one position for at least 30 minutes.

Begin your meditation with a deep cleansing breath and close your eyes as you exhale.
With your eyes closed focus on your breathing. Slowly, take in 5 long, deep breaths through your nose filling your lungs to their fullest capacity. Then just as slowly, exhale though your mouth, allowing your lungs to collapse as much as is comfortable for you.

Visualize: As you exhale, imagine the events of the day or week being carried out through your mouth on a gray smoky cloud. Put these worries aside and begin to relax your entire body and mind.

Return to normal breathing and begin to relax each portion of your body, especially your muscles. Feel the tension in your muscles begin to subside. Visualize: With each inhale, imagine a Divine white light collecting inside your body around the solar plexus. With each breath you take in, this light grows stronger, more vibrant and soon begins to increase in size. Within a minute or two, the light grows so large that it encompasses the entire mid-section of your body. Now, begin by pushing the lower portion of the light down toward your toes slowly. Imagine the white light pushing all the stress and tension out of your muscles one at a time. Imagine this stressful energy like a gray smoke being pushed down your lower extremities until it's pushed out your toes. Now the lower half of you body is fully surrounded inside and out by this Divine white light. (This visualization should take approximately 1-2 minutes). Use the same technique to push the light from the solar plexus up your back, neck and head, pushing the `gray' stress out the top of your head. (The Solar Plexus is a network of nerves in the abdominal cavity behind the stomach and just below the position where your rib cage meets.)

This step takes a little practice, don't worry if you can't do this for any extended period of time, but at least give it a try. (It gets easier with practice, but even daily practitioners don't do this step during their entire meditation). Keep your eyes closed, but look up at the pineal gland (pronounced Pin-eel). This is a small gland located in the middle of your forehead, just above the brow. Try to keep your eyes focused on this point. The muscles around your eyes may become sore as you stretch them upward, so don't over do this at first. As you practice, this step will become easier and easier to do. For centuries, the Pineal gland has been considered by many to be the location of the third eye. This step then is a symbolic gesture to bridge the physical eyes with that of the Divine eye.

Now the hard part, clear your mind of the nitty gritty. Don't think about the work on your desk, don't make your grocery list, just think about being at peace. You are training your mind to shut down for several minutes and to do nothing. This is a state of mind foreign to most people But with practice you'll be able to do it. This step is the key to effective mediation. First timers may want to concentrate on their breathing instead. Keep it slow and relaxed.

Quieting the Mind? How do you do that?
Many people believe they have to see nothing, just blackness. This in fact is keeping your mind busy and active trying to force yourself to see darkness. So there is a difference between thinking of nothing and quieting the mind. It's not as simple as it sounds, but it can be done. Calming the mind is left up to you, not to some outside force or mantra. So how do you do it?
The easiest way is through a visualized process. Each time your brain makes a list of things for you to do, shut it down by imagining yourself walking down a road away from your cares and troubles or through a field or along an empty beach. One favorite visualization is to see a large ocean wave fall over the list and wash it away.

Sometimes it's hard for people to tell which images are from their conscious mind and which are from their higher self. If you begin to see strange images, like potted plants or a hand coming from no where to give you a dozen roses, let it happen. As long as the image is non-threatening and peaceful, don't force it away. Practically all people who meditate say they see images, like daydreams, drifting in and out of their mind.

This is normal. In fact, some psychologist believe these images can tell you a lot about yourself. They can help you resolve issues or problems you might be dealing with. Other people believe these images come from their God, Angels or deceased relatives. Their interpretation is strictly up to the individual and what their belief structure is. My favorite explanation of these images is actually a combination of these two. I think this is the way our higher conscious mind communicates with us. Through this symbology we may gain valuable insights or messages from not only your higher self, but perhaps from our spiritual teachers as well.
So quieting the mind doesn't mean turning the lights out, basically that's impossible.

Meditative Journeys
A meditative journey is much like a visualization, but with an specific purpose. You can visualize a specific set of images to get in touch with your higher consciousness, to travel to an island and meet your `animal guide', or to examine files in your Akashic records. The possibilities are endless and are bound only by the confines of your imagination.

Or if you have a specific meditative journey you'd like to take, record your own visualized tape. Just choose you're favorite music, write out what you want to see and record the two together. This can be a powerful tool for journeying, and can help the process along. Instead of imagining on the fly so to speak, your recording would guide you through a deliberate path to helping you reach your goal.

Rituals
Within many religions there is a certain amount of ritual. Christians light white candles before each service begins, Native Americans burn sage and other incense to cleanse the environment for spiritual growth, Buddhists bang a small gong before beginning their prayers. Humans are sensory creatures, we rely on sights, smells and sounds to help us retain memories and understanding. So any combination of ritual can be performed before each meditation to heighten the experience.
In addition, do the same ritual can almost be like a pre-program that begins to prepare the conscious mind for relaxation. This pre-programming can help the meditator get into a relaxed state much quicker, leaving more time for the meditation itself.

Keeping A Record
Keep a record or diary of your meditation sessions. Write down the time, place and weather if you want. Keep track of the images that float into your mind. Record the differences in sensations you feel when visualizing the white light, or the relaxation of the muscles. Make notes on how your attitudes or viewpoints change. How you handle situations with people or at work. All this information is important for you to see how far you've grown over what will be a very short period of time. You'll be amazed at yourself in just 6 months. But you may not notice, if you don't write it down.

How Often Should You Meditate?
Well that's entirely up to you. Some people meditate twice a day, once in the morning, once in the evening. Some people meditate once a day or once a week. Once a week can still be beneficial for relieving stress and anxiety, but if you can't fit once a day into your schedule, at a minimum, you should try to meditate 3 times a week.

I hope this may help those interested who read it.

Silver Eagle

Potpourri

Plymouth, MI - Today's blog is a Potpourri of observations, comments, etc.

Hurricane WILMA - Monday's south Florida crossing of Hurricane Wilma was south of the forecast track as well as well south of my sensed track between Ft. Myers and Melbourne. It is a good thing that Wilma took this southern track. Ironically as with any hurricane, forecasting thier track and intensity is not an exact "science", not to mention that aspect of "Mother Nature."

I must admit watching the news and Weather Channel from here in Michigan ... there was one city manager, that stated that they're preparations are geared for a storm of at least one Category above the forecast intensity. Well Done! Then there was some guy (resident) in or around Key West that said something like we've been through Category 1 and 2 before (the original forecast intensity), so unless she throws us a curve and becomes a Category 3 or greater we'll be okay. What was that old TV commercial ... You don't fool with Mother Nature!

Employment & Housing - After nearly thirty years of being away from Plymouth, MI I was kind of blown away at the cost of housing in the area I grew up in. Just like I mentioned previously pertaining to Florida, they are building $300,000.00 and up homes here too. In talking with a few individuals during the reunion, they said most of the old laborer jobs in the area are predominantly gone. Companies are "outsourcing" employment overseas and to Mexico because they can pay $2.00 per hour instead of even minimum wage for basic labor. The result is that unless you are working in a high-tech industry, or bio-technology, most likely you'll find yourself below the federal poverty level.

In addition that "blue-collar" work is disappearing, there is a move of individuals and families from the larger cities into the suburbs often resulting in over an hour's commute to and from work. I experienced this in California where people began leaving the San Francisco/Oakland Bay Area for outer communities of Livermore, Fairfield, then going further out to Stockton and Vacavilled, and ultimately into even Sacramento. In Central Florida we are witnessing this too, as people are moving from the Tampa Bay metro area and the Orlando metro area into Polk County. The end result is that housing costs are being driven up as these folks move into the formerly rural areas.

The 30th Reunion - This was the basic reason for coming north to Michigan the past week, as well as visit with family that I haven't seen since about 1998 or so. In an overall situation it was or has been a rather enjoyable event .. the football game .. the get together after the football game .. and the reunion. A rather memorable series of events.

I came north with no preconceived ideas or expectations other than to meet up with some old "friends" and "acquaintenances". Interestingly not a lot had changed. Oh sure, some had that middle age midsection, a number of us guys were sporting gray hair, but I wonder how many were using Grecian Formula or have thier hair dyed. What was in my opinion kind of comical was that many of the "cliques" that existed during high school still seemed to exist. But then we are "human" and many people (in general) don't like to leave their comfort zones. So hanging out at the reunion with the "old gang" is understandable.

One thing that I really had to chuckle at, was just like at the old school dances, the guys stood around talking to each other, and a number of the women decided to dance together. Since I like to dance, it wasn't a problem finding someone to dance with. It was even funny that after dancing a couple songs, I could have ended up dancing the remainder of the night, since so many of the women wanted to dance.

It has been a good trip.

Silver Eagle

Hurricane Wilma - 10/23

Plymouth, MI - As I wrote yesterday, I really do not have a good feeling about the "forecast track" of Hurricane WILMA. The above image while small shows the Infrared satellite view with the forecasted positions of Sunday at 8:00 pm and Monday at 8:00 am. According to latest National Hurricane Center data the hurricane force winds extend out to 70 miles from the center and tropical storm force winds extend out to 200 miles. Also according to the NHC the wind field is offset of center on a three-fifths on the right of track and two-fifths on the left of track. This approximately equates to 45 miles left of track for hurricane force winds and 133 miles left of track for tropical storm force winds. The forecast landfall point around 8am Monday is 102.5 nautical miles almost due south of home (Winter Haven, FL). The forecast point for 8pm Monday is approximately 350 miles to the northeast of landfall, which means the closure distance as Hurricane WILMA tracks across Florida will reduce to less than the 102.5 miles.

Looking at the above graphic you'll notice that the current hurricane warning as of the 10PM CDT advisory of 10/22/05 extends around the Florida peninsula. Winter Haven is located about midway between Tampa Bay (where the red line ends on the Gulf of Mexico) and Kennedy Space Center (about the boundary between the yellow line and pink line on the Atlantic Coast).

I'm not "scheduled" to return to Florida until Wednesday afternoon at about 4:30pm. Which according to the NHC Five Day Graphic Wilma should be northeast of Maine. I'm a little concerned for Central Florida ... because as my previous post indicated ... my sensation is that this storm will come ashore between Venice and Ft. Myers and exit into the Atlantic between Melbourne and Kennedy Space Center. A great deal of the media attention seems to be focused on the Florida Keys north to Ft. Myers.

Based upon the 11pm EDT advisory the 8:00am Monday forecast position is 36 hours away. 36 hours isn't a lot of time to prepare or to evacuate. The distance between the 11pm advisory and the 36 hour forecast postion inland is about 400 nautical miles. Which means a forward speed of about 11 miles per hour.

Category 2 Wind Model Graphic Link

Silver Eagle

Hurricane Wilma

Plymouth, Michigan -- A few days ago while celebrating my 48th birthday with my mother and friend at home in Winter Haven, Florida, I told them that I saw Hurricane Wilma crossing the State of Florida on a Fort Meyers to Melbourne line, which appears to be about 30 miles to the north of the black line across the State of Florida on the above satellite image at 1:15pm on the 21st of October. Interestingly enough just four hours ago, the forecast was for Wilma to be crossing the south central part of Florida between 7pm Sunday and 7am Monday. Now just four hours later it is anticipated to cross Florida between 7am Monday and 7pm Monday.

Of course the longer the delay in Wilma's movement could also interrupt my return travel plans from Michigan and my 30th High School Reunion on Wednesday the 26th. According to the latest forecast information posted by the National Hurricane Center, Wilma "should" be off the Florida east coast near the Kennedy Space Center by 7pm Tuesday night.

Just a little distance information:
Winter Haven to Orlando International Airport --- approximately 40 miles, northeast
Winter Haven to Kennedy Space Center --- approximately 60 miles, east-northeast
Winter Haven to Fort Meyers --- approximately 60 miles, south-southwest
Hurricane Wilma's current eye diameter --- approximately 30 miles
Hurricane force winds (75mph or more) extend outward up to 85 miles
Tropical storm force winds (34mph or more) extend outward up to 200 miles

In retrospect the 2004 Hurricanes ... Charlie, Frances and Jeanie passed between 7 and 15 miles from Winter Haven. Charlie had an eye diameter of only 5 miles and Frances and Jeanie had eye diameters of 15 miles.

Hurricane Wilma at 7am Monday is forecasted to be a Category 2 hurricane and retain Hurricane status as it crosses Florida and be a Category 1 hurricane at 7am Tuesday in the Atlantic Ocean off shore the Kennedy Space Center.

Personally, I don't have a good feeling or reading of this storm and it's effects on Central Florida. The numbers definately do not look good, especially the fact that it retains hurricane status all the way across the state.

Silver Eagle

A Mission

Michigan - Today I set out with one mission in mind: to visit the grave site of my paternal grandfather, Michael Silaghi. Above is his grave marker, as it says he ways born in 1898 and passed away in 1959 when I was just two years old. I didn't know exactly where the cemetery was, though I did remember what road it was on. My grandmother thought that it was at 10 Mile Road and Inkster Road. Driving around on 10 Mile Road and found it where Beech Road dead-ends at the entrance to the cemetery.

I went into the office to get directions to "Pa's" grave site. The man in the office was most helpful and within minutes I was following the directions and map he provided me. As I followed the map, I passed the crypt of Frank Navins, founder of the Detroit Tigers. I knew from past experience that I wasn't far from Pa's grave site, when all my memories from the past began to flood my brain. Then as I passed this one tree, I saw it, four rows back from the road, just like recapturing a photo from the past, and my emotions just cut loose, tears began streaming down my cheeks uncontrollably. As I got out of the rental car, all the way to the grave site and for a good few minutes of being there at the grave the tears just continued to poor out.

There at the grave site, I had the most awesome and euphoric feeling come over me. I understand that only his physical remains have been there since 1959. Yet it was as if his spirit which has been around and with me for many years now, was intensified in this place. I cleared the leaves and pulled the overgrowing grass from the edges of the grave stone.

After cleaning up the marker, I sat below and to the left of the marker, lit an incense stick which I had brought with me. I went into one of my trance-like meditations and soon we were talking together in the spirit and again my tears of happiness flowed down my cheeks. His presence was surrounding me and it was like some 46-47 years ago when I used to sit upon his lap.

As I sat there I could here flocks upon flocks of Canadian Geese flying nearby. The trees of autumn in there changing colors were beautiful. The above photo of the Canadian geese was one of four small flocks of about 50 geese that were feeding on insects across the roadway from Pa's grave site. I was very happy that I went today. It was as if being rejuvenated in my spirit. Even though Pa was around for only two years of my life, I know and have experienced his presence regularly in the last few years.

I'm not sure what it was, but after my hour visit with Pa, I really couldn't leave. I don't know what it was but for almost another hour, I felt a need to stay there. Whether it was the peacefulness and serenity of the place; or that because I am a shaman and deathwalker that I truly have a connection to this place and able to walk in both worlds: physical and spiritual. I know this ... I was there because I was supposed to be there today. I am truly blessed today by the Great Spirit, by God and Goddess. It was a good day!

Silver Eagle

On Language

On Language

I think I should talk about words. Your language. It is another thing that bothers me, and I think I should take away the burdens of the things that bother me. That is what I heard from the old ones.

I grew up speaking the language of my people. It wasn't until school I had to learn English. What was important to Indian people was saying something the best way. In English you had to learn to say things a hundred ways. I still watch white people talk and I'm surprised at all the words. Sometimes they will say the same thing over and over and over in different ways. They are like a hunter who rushes all over the forest trying to bump into something instead of sitting quietly until he can capture it.

I don't mind this, mostly. But I don't like it when it is used to hurt us or other people. Now I'm going to tell you some of those things that hurt because of the way people say them.

The first one is about the battles. Whenever the white people won it was a victory. Whenever we won it was a massacre. What was the difference? There were bodies on the ground and children lost their parents, whether the bodies were Indian or white. But the whites used their language to make their killing good and our killing bad. They 'won'; we 'massacred'.

I don't even know what a massacre is, but it sounds like dead women and little babies with their throats cut. If that's right, it was the white people who massacred more than we did. But I hardly ever heard anyone talk about the white massacres.

Here's another one: uprising. You use that word to talk about anytime our people couldn't stand what was happening to them anymore and tried to get our rights. Then you should call your Revolutionary War an uprising. But you don't. Why not? There was a government taking freedom away from you and you stood up against it. But you called it a revolution, like maybe the earth was turning to something better. When we did it, it was called an uprising, like everything was peaceful and orderly until we 'rose up'.

What about 'warpath'? When you came out against us you 'formed an army'. When we came out to defend our families we 'went on the warpath'. I won't even talk about words like 'bloodthirsty' and 'savage'.

My little great grandson came home one day and told me they were studying the frontier in American history. I asked him what it was. He told me it was where civilization stopped. Just look at that! They were teaching him that civilization only existed up to where the white men had reached. Well, we were on the other side of that line. We had governments and laws, too. Our people were better behaved than the people that came into our lands. But here is my little great grandson talking about the frontier and civilization. It was like we didn't exist.

Every time you talk about the frontier you are telling us that we don't matter. You teach about the frontier. You talk about the wilderness and how empty the land was, even though to us the land was always full. You talk about civilization like we didn't have any, just because we didn't try to haul big chairs and wooden chests across the desert in a cart.

The way you teach it, America started from some ships that came to Massachusetts and Virginia. The people got off and had to push their way through some big empty land that was full of danger. It was like the place was empty and you filled it up, and history is the story of how you filled it up and what happened while you were filling it.

That's not the way it was to us. For us, this was a big land where people lived everywhere. Then some people came and landed on the shores in the east while others came up from the south. They started pushing us. Then some others came down the rivers from the north. All these people were fighting each other. They all wanted something from us —furs, land, gold. They either took it or made us sell it to them. They all had guns. They all killed us if we didn't believe that God was some man named Jesus who had lived in a desert across the sea.

Our land was taken from us from every direction. We can look at the same facts as you, and it is something completely different. But you build your history on words like 'frontier' and 'civilization', and those words are just your ideas put into little shapes that you can use in sentences. The big ideas behind them are weapons that take our past from us.

Without even knowing it, you made us who we are in your minds by the words you used. You are still doing that, and you don't even know it is happening. I hope you'll learn to be more careful with your words.

There was an old man who told me when I was a boy that I should look at words like beautiful stones. He said I should lift each one and look at it from all sides before I used it. Then I would respect it. You people have so many words that you don't respect them the way you should. There is always another one, so you just throw them out there without thinking. Those words are like stones. Even if they are beautiful, if you throw them out without thinking, they can hurt someone.

Silver Eagle

Two Years in Florida

Today, October 17, 2005, makes it two years that I have been back living in Central Florida after spending 24 years in Central California. It has been an interesting two years to say the least. So here's a little personal assessment.

Pro's of Central California
1. Had quite a few "friends" and "acquaintances" there.
2. Sacramento area is two-hours from Reno/Lake Tahoe, two to two and one-half hours from the San Francisco/Oakland Bay Area, three hours from the Pacific Ocean, four to six hours from the beautiful redwoods of the northern US-101 corridor.

Con's of Central California
1. It's E X P E N S I V E
2. A great many people are "plastic" and I don't mean "silicone". They're phony, smiling out of one side of their mouth and plotting to stab you in the back out of the other.
3. Cultural diversity ... last I checked California was still part of the United States, yet how many Californian's speak English as their first and primary language?
4. California state politics - the State Assembly where you can get legislation passed on sexual diversity and gender bias, but can't get legislation passed to post the photo's and address locations of the State's thousands of Registered Sex Offenders on the Internet, like 39 other states already have done.
5. Earthquakes, no notice shaking, rattling and rolling.

Pro's of Central Florida
1. I can wear shorts nearly all year round.
2. The cost of living is not expensive relative to average wages.
3. People say what they mean, i.e., being politically correct isn't the "in" thing to do. You actually know where you stand with people.
4. Gulf of Mexico is 90 minutes away, Atlantic Ocean is 90 minutes away and the water is generally warm in both places.
5. Hurricanes typically give you seven days advance notice before attempting to ruin your day, destroy your house and mess up your life.
6. See #1, bikini weather nearly all year round, lots of silicone revealed.
7. At least six Bald Eagle nests within a fifteen minute drive of home.

Con's of Central Florida
1. Haven't been here long enough to make some good "friends".
2. Have to go to Tampa (80 minutes) or Orlando (60 minutes) for any significant amount of "night-life" or "cultural events", this is kind of like John Denver's reference to Toledo, Ohio where they allegedly roll up the streets about 10:00 pm.
3. Being part of the "bible-belt" region, some areas are still back in the bronze or stone age.
4. This region of Central Florida is allegedly the "meth-capitol" of the world, ... I've seen better teeth on race horses than some of the men, women and children here.

Deathwalkers

The shaman also assists the dying and those departed on their journey from this world.

Shamans are often identified in older or more primitive cultures as essential in aiding the process of fertility and birth. Very often, in modern society, we want to overlook another one of their fundamental tasks in serving their communities and that is to be there also at the end of life and assist the dying and those departed on their journeys from this world.

We have no issues when we look at primitive cultures in allowing for both those positions in a Shamanic culture, but in our own we have defied both in order to embrace what we like to think of as more culturally sophisticated and civilized behaviors. The modern shaman, however, still functions in those capacities within the communities they serve to a greater or lesser degree.

When we speak of roles in the shamanic, those talents and tasks that seem to act as specialized areas of the experience where people may find themselves drawn, or even innately attached, also include both of these positions. Today, without culturally morbid and fearful sense of death we don't like to associate the end of life with a particular practice or set of practices and those who are often drawn to that area of the work can suffer because people may think of them as just too weird even for the shamanic. Just as there are dreamers, seers, healers, power seekers and specialists of all sorts in the shamanic, the deathwalkers are still a part of any real tradition and represent an important element of the practice that all shamans need to understand and work with to some degree. The deathwalker is not a grim reaper, they are releasing that which is trapped, moving that which is beyond life, but not yet truly within the clutches of death, theirs is an important role in endings just as midwifery and fertility are for those that attend the beginning of the cycle of life.

Those who are naturally attracted to it as a role are not sad depressed people with beagle eyes and cynical outlooks. They are usually optimistic and find great satisfaction in that process of dissolution, acting as an intermediary, counselor and prod, to help that human energy which is trapped or refusing to let go. This is not Hollywood, the deathwalker perceives their task as part of the necessary cycle of life and one that they are particularly adept at through virtue of their own predilections. That energy, which may exist after death, or is becoming unbound during the process, may well seek them out, not through intellectual choice, but through an attraction to the affinity for sight and action which seems to lie in those who work this practice in particular.
While a person who has died or is dying may have written the poetry of their own existence they lack the final verse and with gentleness, kindness and compassion they are able to write the last words with the help of the deathwalker.

How does one know if they are a deathwalker?

The process usually begins in childhood, although it can start much later when you start to actually 'see' what you were seeing all along but denied. You will usually have spontaneous visitations, energies are drawn to you, emotions that strike you that don't fit, even memories that are not of your life. Pursuing those things leads you to understand that you stand apart from them and they are something different, human, yet undefined in totality, but insistent in existence. This is part of what all shamans do, some are blessed with an innate ability to deal with the dead, others work with it in more indirect ways, but it is something that all shamans are called upon to do as a part of their work. It’s just like hemorrhoids, we don't just work on the nice parts of people, we have to work on all of them and their problems aren't always pretty.
The deathwalker is called early and called upon often, if they lack training and it starts in childhood what you can end up with is a dreadfully fearful, neurotic individual. If they have just the right balance, they can survive that at least to a point they can begin to see it not as a threat, or terrifying, but something wonderful and intrinsically a part of life. If you don't find dead people in your car, then you probably are not a pure deathwalker, that doesn't mean that you do not work with the process, all shamans do, it’s in the job description. It is a very real form of energy, the energy of the void.

I can feel it standing by, when people are dying, it’s very palpable to me.

Yes, just like birth itself, the struggle to live, it is the struggle of death and dissolution. It’s not a bad thing, but it can make people very nervous.

I have learned to keep quiet about it.

The more you see; the less you can say.

Can this be why cemeteries can be so overwhelming for me?

Yes, you fall more closely to the category of the pure deathwalker. Tribes, (some shamanic traditions,) used to have specialist shamans who worked this way. Cemeteries can be very sad places, but they are above all repositories of history, energy that remains.

Seeing Energy Unravel

You mentioned before that what I see is based on the point they are at in the dissolution. Can I pinpoint this place in order to better help?

Yes, the way to pursue it is to watch the dying. Watch the process; 'see' it in its raw natural state.

I don't have much opportunity for that.

Everything dies; humans aren't special in that, the process is the process. Even the mountains are dying.

Oh I was thinking only of human energy because that seems to be what I deal with.
Yes, but you can learn from any energy. How it moves towards dissolution, the process of separation and how each individual strand of life become unbound.

But non-human would dissolve differently would it not because of the lack of attachments?
Yes, it does, but the process is the same. Once you understand the process you can begin to see where humans break away or get stuck in it by how far they have moved through it.

I thought perhaps I was seeing their energetic form.

In a way you are, and it can be quite lovely, but it's almost impossible for humans or anything to retain all of its energy at death, only certain parts will remain. They can even split off and end up in different places; the rules are no longer applicable. Some appear nearly perfectly human in form too. Watching someone die is hard, even someone you are not attached to in an emotional way. In the past death was in everything and humans died easily, so access was better.


Interesting in a strange way to actually see the energy come apart

Yes, it's a strange place to be cast in to that’s why I have always referred to it as becoming unbound. It’s not a breaking, or a purely dissolving thing; it really is more as though we become unbound. It’s a beautifully awesome thing to see... the tapestry of their life, unwove by an unseen hand. It is not an entirely sad thing to deal with, although I can see how people in this culture see it that way. I try to see it as a service, the same as healing, seeing, or anything else.

Identifying Deathwalker Energy

What are some of the early indications or experiences that might point us to identify deathwalker energy? If identified, how would you suggest working with it most effectively to help them? (Both children and adults)

When children come to you and speak of their invisible 'friend' or friends, don't dismiss it out of hand. I think most people wouldn't do that anymore, but then you are called upon to do more. Question them about the nature, description and things they talk about with those friends. (That is if it's that apparent to them.) If they are dealing with a less specific contact, in other words, they have some talent in that direction, but are not that drawn to it naturally, you need to work with them to discover the nature of their feelings. If it scares them, where do they feel it first, and so forth. Most people will feel the energy in one of two places, either the pit of the stomach or the nape of the neck, these are the two areas through with people start the process of unbinding and is usually where living humans will feel it when the energy touches their own.

Crossing Over

Can you walk us through the shamanic process of helping someone 'over'?

Yes. The key is to watch if you can. Let's speak of that process first, since there are essentially two. When someone dies, or begins that process, there is what you can think of as an event horizon, a point at which there is no return and beyond which things in this reality are of no more concern. If a person is dragging their own energy behind them in the sense of great guilt, or grief or fear, then you can have a process where energies can cling to the rim of that horizon and the process is broken, energy unbinds but does not leave the world completely. It is very crucial, as a shamanic practitioner and deathwalker to step into the process with them and walk a ways with them on their journey. You must recognize the essential energy, emotional almost always, that is causing them to attempt to recoil within their own energy. You must reach out and soothe, calm, and help point them on their way. You must create a space for them that allows them to let go, that nothing that bound them in the world is now important. Time is gone and their time is past, not as a sad thing, but as a change from one point of existence into many.

Some will fight this

Yes, some do and it is not our place to fight their process or control it, we can only walk with them as far as they can go, some won't go and have to be dealt with after the fact.
So, because we can walk further across the bridge, so to speak, we walk with them and help them make the passage to that point where we cannot go further ourselves?

Yes, which brings us to the second method. When you find yourself in contact with energy that has clung to this side of the world, you have to coax, push, even prod it to finish the process of letting go. There is a point at which you will cease to breathe, stop there. Some energies combine with other energies and create other problems, but that is really a subject for another night.

The place of white light

Yes, don't go there, that would be the big twinkie. It is the form of human expression both into and out of this world - the gateway. Don?t go through it.

I have a profound respect for the act of helping someone to die, and I know it's part of healing. A part of me knows it's necessary as the ultimate act of healing, but the healer in me doesn't know when that point is - 'heal and live dammit!'

Yes, why do we do this instead of insisting on healing - because we're not gods. One of the hardest things for any healer to deal with is the fact that you can't heal everyone and you can't cheat one of the fundamental processes of life itself, which is death. You can maneuver some, you can move things for people to a place where if it really isn't taking hold they can recover, but there is that place where it has stopped being a living process and has become a dying process. We as healers must be honest enough and detached enough to recognize that and allow what must be to be. I've brought people back from the brink, I've also watched young people die from things that didn't have to kill them except in their own perception that was what was expected of them. This is serious business, when you reach a point as a healer that people are willing to put their very lives in your hands there is no room for anything except absolute impeccability. To do less than your absolute best is failure. But once you have done your absolute best, you have done all you can do. People don't understand me, I've watched things die; people I loved immensely died, inch by inch, day in and day out, only to realize I could not be the commander of the process. I could only walk the path with them and offer my hand. We are wounded and we heal best from our deepest pain.

Letting Go

When I saw my friend the Tuesday before she was hospitalized, it felt like her energy was draining. I sensed she was going to die but tried to convince myself otherwise, even though I felt myself pulling away from her. When she was in the hospital, people were saying they thought she wasn't accepting her death and was fighting, in denial. I sat next to her, setting intent to heal her. Instead I took her hand, and wished her to let go. That everything she needed to do here was done. After that, she seemed to slip into a coma and only talked 3 more times the following days before she passed. I found myself not really mourning over her death or losing my best friend so much as, well crying over what I did. At the time I felt guilt for doing it, but I now see differently. I'm wondering if it's strange not really mourning over someone's death?

Yes, and you did the right thing with your friend, you offered her the serenity of a life completed and a future of new expansion. The energy of those that go on may linger, usually not more than a few months, but it tends to seek out those most familiar to it in terms of energy. Then there is the final movement of all their energy past the barriers of our perception. You did well not mourning. It was only because you let those attachments to her go so she could begin moving. It was a selfless act.

The longer someone has been dead is there less chance of connecting with their energy?
Not necessarily, energy that stays here can last a long, long time. It really depends on how intense the intent to hold on through those parts of themselves was. But over time even that will fade away. It could last centuries though.

If they were fairly enlightened?

Enlightenment is a process of mind, emotions rule our existence here, it really depends on their emotional energy. The mind is a construct of perception, human energy is so much bigger than that, if they were prepared to let go and were at peace with that, then the odds are that they went all at once.


You can talk to his energy any time, nothing is past except our perception of it. Everything exists now. Reach out for him; he is there.


So why do I include this in this entry?

Tonight while out and about for my "night on the town" ... lol ... I went to my "usual" hang-out for a couple of O'Douls and to sing some karaoke. I don't remember what time it was but a young man came in dressed in desert camo BDU's came in. I had a sense of feeling pride for this young man. That is until I shook his hand. The moment that I touched his hand, I felt "death" around him and within him. It was the very same feeling that I felt when former President Ronald Regan passed away.

I had to ask a good friend of mine if he felt anything from this individual? My friend told me this would be this young man's third tour to Afghanistan, but that he felt he wasn't coming back. I asked him (my friend) point blank, you mean as coming back in a body bag and he nodded yes.

The remainder of my evening basically sucked to the n'th degree. I pray that the feeilings and sensations that both I and my friend felt were wrong and this young man comes home to his family.

For all the men and women serving this country overseas . . . may "GOD" protect you and keep you safe to return home alive to your loved ones.

Silver Eagle

Since I'm ranting ...

Over the past twenty years I have observed or witnessed many things, events, and changes in the United States, the world and humanity in general. Some may consider my writings or rantings here on this blog or in The World of Silver Eagle to be rather negative or anti-American society. That is far from the case, at least in my opinion. Much of what I have written about is this present course that human events in America seem to be taking us towards. I still believe that the United States of America is still the best place in the world to live. But I am not an ostrich, and I'm not going to bury my head in the sand to not see, or admit, or acknowledge what is going on in this country or in the world for that matter either. You can take being "politically-correct" and shove it where the sun doesn't shine.

Does my opinion offend you? Guess what, that's why it's my opinion. If it offends you . . . hmm . . . does that mean what I've said or written must be cutting to the quick of your nature? Have I caused you to consider your personal accountability and personal responsibility to being a contributing member of this human society? Does it make you uneasy after reading to look in the mirror at the individual you are?

When you get what you want in your struggle for self,

And the world makes you shine for the day,

Just go to the mirror and look at yourself,

And see what that face has to say.
For it isn't your father or mother or wife,

Who judgment upon you must pass;

The person's whole verdict counts most in your life,

Is the one staring back from the glass?
Some people may think you a straight-shootin' chum,

And you're always willing to try,

But that face in the glass says you're only a bum,

If you can't look it straight in the eye.
There's the one to please, never mind all the rest,

For it's with you clear up to the end,

And you've passed your most dangerous, difficult test

If the one in the glass is your friend.
You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years,

And get pats on the back as you pass,

But your final reward will be heartaches and tears

If you've cheated the one in the glass!

I wrote earlier on this BLOG about "Living Wages" and certain economic events or actions such as sports figures, corporate CEO's, making in excess of a million dollars a year, and I should add to that group the stage and film actors and actresses too!

In the 30 years since graduating from high school I have watched, read reports of, and heard reports of jobs leaving the country. Whole corporations moving part or all of their operation out of the United States. Why?


A number of reasons.
1) The American society has become law suit happy. . . the individual who sued McDonald's because the coffee was hot and she burned herself when she spilled it on her lap . . . the burgular who sued a homeowner for being shot in the thigh while robbing the homeowner's residence and being caught in the act.
2) Everyone seems to want something for nothing . . . laziness . . . to get paid for doing nothing . . . or the federal government paying farmers to NOT farm their fields.
3) The costs associated with running a business or corporation, . . . workman's compensation . . . environmental restrictions . . . liability insurance . . . malpractice insurance . . . unemployment insurance . . . taxes.
4) The lack of many individuals taking responsibility for their actions.

No where in the Constitution of the United States does it say the government owes an individual diddly-squat, yet over the years people have discovered that by voting in this congressperson or senator into office they'll get something free back. Damnit, social programs are not meant to be a way of living, but a way of getting a leg up to get on your own. Yet we've all, I'm sure read stories of certain parts of the country where there have been two or more generations of a family living on welfare! What ever happened to the addage about "Don't give a man a fish to eat for today, but teach him how to fish to feed himself for a lifetime?"


Years ago when I was in the military and the "Cold War" was still running strong, the rhetoric about nuclear weapons and bombing this or that country back into the stone age abounded. Now I have to wonder, is the or was the "simple-life" of the stone age better to this so-called technilogically advanced society of today? I mean is a automobile really worth one or two years salary? Is it really necessary to spend ten times the annual federal poverty level income of approximately $17,000.00 on purchasing a home? Or spending more than you make in one day for a pair of tennis shoes?


We've lost sight of the basics . . . food . . . shelter . . . clothing. We often joke about it when listening to today's elderly talking about when they went to school, and how they might have to walk five to ten miles in the snow to get to and from school. Yet I wonder, today how long is the average school bus ride?


Okay ... enough said for today.

Silver Eagle

My "Haven" ... aka Patio

The first stages ... those are 12 inch patio stones and the circular ones are 16 inch. The central pedestal is two layers of sand filled cinder blocks topped with four 16 inch square red patio stones.

Adding the tiki torches and cauldron

Night time ... added redwood bark, more white stones around perimeter of the red and 12 more 12-inch circular stones.

The privacy fencing goes up, 4' x 8' sheets of lattice work, two on each corner.

The finished product ...

Though now there are four large split leaf philadendron vines growing in each corner, a 52 inch wind chime hanging above the little guy with the urn in the picture at left, and a new 24-inch ceramic cauldron on the center pedestal. Also two 42-inch tall statues of a native american male and female that are standing on the circular stones to the left and right of the little guy with the urn.

"Men since thebeginning of time have sought peace," but "military alliances, balances of power, leagues of nations, all in turn have failed, leaving the only path to be by the way of the crucible of war." Now "we have had our last chance. If we do not now devise some greater and more equitable system, Armageddon will be at our door. The problem basically is theological and involves a spiritual recrudescence and improvement of human character that will synchronize with our almost matchless advances in science, art, literature and all material and cultural developments of the past two thousand years. It must be for the spirit if we are to save the flesh."
(General Douglas MacArthur, September 2, 1945, on the deck of the USS Missouri)

A few weeks ago, my dear friend "Mystical Me" dated September 19, 2005, on this blog server posted the following link on her blog, titled "The Forgotten Victims" of Hurricane Katrina.

http://www.forpitssake.org/katrina.html

And while I have previously posted some comments pertaining to the awesome post and assoicated web page, something within me still seems to be clawing about the situation and the apparent lack of "moral fiber" of our nation. As the first paragraph text above, taken from General Douglas MacArthur's speech upon the surrender of Japan in World War II so poignantly states, "The problem basically is theological and involves a spiritual recrudescence and improvement of human character that will synchronize with our almost matchless advances in science, art, literature and all material and cultural developments of the past two thousand years. It must be for the spirit if we are to save the flesh."

The "cultured humanists" of our day who repudiate any form of a spiritual life undoubtedly may lead morally respectable lives; but not all. A good number of them dislike the spiritual or religious overtones of society, namely because they insist on purity and chastity instead of doing what feels good. In our "technilogically-advanced" times we have seemed to forgotten a simple basic tenet of "Do what you will, but harm no one."

We wonder why third-world countries have distaste for Americans, American foreign policy and American government in general. The human race has become the most vicious of the entire Animal Kingdom. Even the most savage "wild-animals" do not destroy his own species to appease their hunger, yet mankind destroys our fellow man, woman and child for much less.

Ironically, just recently I read an interview on the Internet of comedian George Carlin pertaining to the pursuit of capital punishment, i.e., death penalty, for drug dealers. In which, paraphrasing here, Carlin says the death penalty doesn't phase the drug dealers because they know already that if their drugs don't kill them, that someone trying to get their turf will. Carlin continued, the death penalty should be pursued for those billion-dollar members of corporate society who are "laundering" billions of dollars into illegal off-shore enterprises that are supporting the various drug cartels and terrorist groups around the globe.

Advances in technology to where we can place men and women in a habitable environment on an orbitting international space station at a cost of billions of dollars in development and operation are wonderful. But what is that doing for those in third world countries around the globe, where thousands if not millions die each day from starvation?

A little over two and one-half years ago, the present Bush Administration launched Operation Iraqi Freedom with it's "Shock and Awe" campaign. The Administration says this will not be another Vietnam, to which I say "Bullshit" it already is in more ways than one. Just ask any Veteran about it.

Corporate America has become so greedy and money hungry. In 1971 my father bought a Ford Grand Torino automobile for about $3,500.00 (brand new). In 1995 I bought my first new car, a Dodge Intrepid, about the same size vehicle and similarly equipped, the difference is that I paid about $19,500.00 for that car. We're talking about nearly a 550 percent increase! Yet in 1975 the minimum wage was $2.00 an hour and today it's only $6.15 per hour (or a 307 percent increase)?

Here I must digress a little bit and revert back to a little American History of about 230 years ago.

The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen ColoniesIn CONGRESS, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. —Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain [George III] is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

Something must change if we as not only an American People but a part of the entire human race are to survive. I'm sure "Corporate America" would defend the differences in the cost of an automobile, or building a new home, or that the "government" would defend is increase in taxes because of an increase in need for materials or provision of social services.

Again, "Bullshit!"

As a previous post of mine stated the present 2005 Federal poverty level is $17,028.00 per year or just over $8.18 per hour for 2080 hours worked. Presidential and Vice Presidential SalariesExclusive of Perquisites shows that the President in 2003 had an annual salary of $400,000.00. Now then explain to me why some corporate CEO's are making over a million dollars per year, or why some sports figures are also? According to the US Census the median income in the United States is $44,389.00. That figure if multiplied by 45 (from age 20 to age 65 is 45 years) is $1,997,505.00, or an approximated median income for a working lifetime.

In the case of a sports figure (athlete) their useful lifetime as an athlete is maybe let's say ten years. So for ten years of their life they are in the limelight, does that mean they are more productive to society than a doctor, police officer, grocery clerk? Should they make in one year what many will never make in a lifetime of working 45 years, five days a week, 52 weeks a year?

I could be wrong, I have been many times before, but if I recall correctly, in 1975 when the minimum wage was $2.00 per hour, the former Detroit Tiger Baseball great and player, Al Kaline was making $250,000.00 per year, or the annualized equivalent (2080 hours) of about $120.19 per hour, roughly 60 times the minimum wage. Today the minimum wage as I said is $6.15 per hour, and sixty time that is $369.00 per hour or annualized as $767,520.00. Which for a ten year career is still 3.8 times what the average/median worker will make in a lifetime.

Basically put ..... our priorities as a people, a nation are screwed up.

Silver Eagle

Issue: The Living Wage ... A wake up in the real world.

Two years ago before leaving California and moving to Florida I had the opportunity to work with a friend of mine as a Legislative Advocate (Lobbyist). While there the issue were working on was the strengthening of California's version of Megan's Law.


On May 17, 1996, President Clinton signed Megan's Law . Megan's Law goals include:


1. Sex Offender Registration - Each state and the federal government are compelled to register individuals who have been convicted of sex crimes against children. Sex offender registration laws are necessary because: sex offenders pose a high risk of re-offending after release from custody; protecting the public from sex offenders is a primary governmental interest; the privacy interests of persons convicted of sex offenses are less important than the government’s interest in public safety, and release of certain information about sex offenders to public agencies and the general public will assist in protecting the public safety.


2. Community Notification - Each state and the federal government are compelled to make private and personal information on convicted sex offenders available to the public. Community notification is based on the presumption that: it will assist law enforcement in investigations; establish legal grounds to hold known offenders; deter sex offenders from committing new offenses, and offer citizens information they can use to protect children from victimization.


But Megan's Law is not the topic of this post. While participating in the legislative proceedings at the California State Capitol, I was also introduced to the topic of "The Living Wage". For the previous 25 years I had worked and comfortably compensated as a federal air traffic control specialist. I had an eye opening to what was really going on around me in the "private" sector.


By far the most realistic standard of what constitutes "real" poverty would ask what income would be required to survive at normal rents, food and transportation costs, etc., without any form of public or private "welfare" assistance. Such a standard has been compiled for Florida – it is known as the "self-sufficiency standard." The self-sufficiency standard was developed as a means to measure, based on family size, age of children where applicable, and location (counties or selected areas within counties), how much a family must earn to afford housing, transportation, food, child care, health care, and other essentials without the assistance of public or private entities. The standard assumes that children and adults do not share a bedroom and that there are no more than two children in one bedroom.


In most cases, the self-sufficiency standard for Florida is approximately twice that of the federal poverty thresholds for similar family types. For example, in 2004, the poverty threshold for a family consisting of two adults and two children under the age of 18 was $19,157; however, according to the self-sufficiency standard in 2004, the annual wage needed for a working family consisting of two adults, one infant, and one preschooler was $33,226 (close to double) in Jefferson County, Florida and $50,963 (more than 2 ½ times) in Broward County, Florida, respectively the lowest and highest self-sufficiency standards for this family type in Florida.


One of the typical ways to define what qualifies as "low-wage" is to choose the 20th percentile wage, which is the wage at which 20 percent of the working population makes less and 80 percent of the working population makes more. Analysis of the Current Population Study (CPS) indicates that the 20th percentile wage in Florida for 2004 was $8.23 per hour. Thus, the beginning definition for low-wage workers is those who make below the 20th percentile wage, or $8.23 per hour. (Note: The newly enacted Florida Minimum Wage is $6.15 per hour.)


So why do I bring this to my blog?


Well, after 25 years of government service and now working in the private sector as a Security Supervisor for a local retirement community, I am "seeing" first hand how the private sector functions. I am "experiencing" how nearly impossible it is to find quality and qualified individuals for a simple "security" position with a starting wage about one-half way between the Florida Minimum Wage of $6.15 and the 20th percentile wage of $8.23 per hour.


Ironically the other day I did a web search for security officer incomes/wages in Central Florida. I found that your typical "Security Attendant" (i.e., one who sits in a gate shack of a business or gated community has a starting/probationary wage of about $7.83 per hour and it increases to about $8.16 per hour after 90-days. Whereas a "Uniformed Security Officer" has an average starting wage of $12.73 per hour and it increases to an average of $13.30 per hour after probation. The Uniformed Security Supervisor, comperable to my present position starts at $14.36 per hour and increases to $14.99 per hour.


Suffice it to say that neither myself or the security department staff member with nearly 13 years of service are any where near making the $12.73 per hour starting average for a Uniformed Security Officer! Interestingly enough it is the "Security Department Staff" who are left to "manage" the facility operation during non-administrative hours, responding to resident assistance calls, medical aid calls, or maintenance items such as water leaks or even just unstopping a plugged toilet. Although not traditionally thought of as "first responders" security officers are often literally the first to respond to an emergency in the building. We are there to provide first aid and CPR until the EMS/Fire-Rescue personnel arrive.


With such wages, many in the security field must take a second jobs, because the security position often does not pay an annual salary of $17,028.00 ... the federal poverty level, which ironically is $8.16 per hour, or seven cents below the 2004 Florida 20th percentile wage. Case in point you either have individuals working security as a second job, or individuals working a second job besides their security position. The net result is the same, you have an employee that is often physically spent.


So much for "corporate" America, and the American Dream.

Response to President Bush's Inaugural Address
January 20, 2005

My fellow citizens of the United States and the world:

On this day prescribed by United States law, George W. Bush was sworn into the Office of the President of the United States of America. On January 28, 2003 President Bush stated in his third State of the Union address: "The qualities of courage and compassion that we strive for in America also determine our conduct abroad. The American flag stands for more than our power and our interests. Our founders dedicated this country to the cause of human dignity, the rights of every person, and the possibilities of every life. This conviction leads us into the world to help the afflicted, and defend the peace, and confound the designs of evil men."

Today President Bush stated:
"At this second gathering, our duties are defined not by the words I use, but by the history we have seen together. For a half century, America defended our own freedom by standing watch on distant borders. After the shipwreck of communism came years of relative quiet, years of repose, years of sabbatical - and then there came a day of fire."

"We have seen our vulnerability - and we have seen its deepest source. For as long as whole regions of the world simmer in resentment and tyranny - prone to ideologies that feed hatred and excuse murder - violence will gather, and multiply in destructive power, and cross the most defended borders, and raise a mortal threat. There is only one force of history that can break the reign of hatred and resentment, and expose the pretensions of tyrants, and reward the hopes of the decent and tolerant, and that is the force of human freedom."
All throughout today's address the President spoke of freedom . . . "Freedom, by its nature, must be chosen, and defended by citizens, and sustained by the rule of law and the protection of minorities. . . . America will not impose our own style of government on the unwilling. Our goal instead is to help others find their own voice, attain their own freedom and make their own way. . . . America's influence is not unlimited, but fortunately for the oppressed, America's influence is considerable, and we will use it confidently in freedom's cause."
But I must ask Mr. President and Honorable Members of Congress . . . At what cost to the American People?
The demise of a Social Security System designed to aid our citizens in our golden years of retirement?
The reduction of benefits and services to the 26 million plus men and women of this country who put their lives on the line to support and defend the Constitution of the United States and freedom of the American People?
Or maybe the milking of the various "trust-funds" for aviation, sea ports, highways and others by borrowing millions if not billions of dollars from them to pay for this "War on Terrorism"?
Mr. President, you state: "I have asked patience in the hard task of securing America, which you have granted in good measure. Our country has accepted obligations that are difficult to fulfill, and would be dishonorable to abandon. Yet because we have acted in the great liberating tradition of this nation, tens of millions have achieved their freedom. And as hope kindles hope, millions more will find it. By our efforts, we have lit a fire as well - a fire in the minds of men. It warms those who feel its power, it burns those who fight its progress, and one day this untamed fire of freedom will reach the darkest corners of our world."
"A few Americans have accepted the hardest duties in this cause - in the quiet work of intelligence and diplomacy ... the idealistic work of helping raise up free governments ... the dangerous and necessary work of fighting our enemies. Some have shown their devotion to our country in deaths that honored their whole lives - and we will always honor their names and their sacrifice."
Mr. President in 2003 you stated: "The qualities of courage and compassion that we strive for in America also determine our conduct abroad. The American flag stands for more than our power and our interests. Our founders dedicated this country to the cause of human dignity, the rights of every person, and the possibilities of every life. This conviction leads us into the world to help the afflicted, and defend the peace, and confound the designs of evil men." In nearly every nation of the world today, the American flag flies proudly at our embassies. It flies as a symbol of human success: the freedom of speech; to choose who will govern us at every level, from the small town right up to our nation’s capital; to worship and believe as our own personal conscience dictates; to educate our children in a manner of our own choosing; to own property; and to enjoy the fruits of our own hard work.
History has shown the willingness of the United States to stand beside any nation determined to build a better future by seeking the rewards of liberty for its people. However, as much as our allies and friends abroad may not like it, the duty of the United States Government is to the people of those United States, first and foremost. I would like to quote a part of some famous Canadian words at this point,
"Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy were lifted out of the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and forgave other billions in debts. None of these countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States.
When France was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up, and their reward was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris. I was there. I saw it.
When earthquakes hit distant cities, it is the United States that hurries in to help. This spring, 59 American communities were flattened by tornadoes. Nobody helped.
The Marshall Plan and the Truman Policy pumped billions of dollars into discouraged countries. Now newspapers in those countries are writing about the decadent, warmongering Americans . . . .
. . . You talk about scandals, and the Americans put theirs right in the store window for everybody to look at. Even their draft-dodgers are not pursued and hounded. They are here on our streets, and most of them, unless they are breaking Canadian laws, are getting American dollars from ma and pa at home to spend here.
When the railways of France, Germany and India were breaking down through age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both are still broke.
I can name you 5000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble. Can you name me even one time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble? I don't think there was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake.
Our neighbors have faced it alone, and I'm one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them get kicked around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating over their present troubles. I hope Canada is not one of those."
Gordon Sinclair, 1973
Many of you may notice I omitted a portion of the middle of Mr. Sinclair’s "Tribute to the Americans." I did so not because they were not true when Mr. Sinclair broadcast them, I omitted them, because as one of my personal beliefs state, "Speak the truth, but only of good in others."
Sound foreign policy begins at home. What is the desired goal of American Foreign Policy?
The willingness of the United States to stand beside any nation determined to build a better future by seeking the rewards of liberty for its people.
Is not our Foreign Policy not like a business’s Public Relations Policy?
Should not American Foreign Policy be based on an attraction to our principles? The freedom of speech; to choose who will govern us at every level; to worship (or not) and believe as our own personal conscience dictates; to educate our children in a manner of our own choosing; to own property; and to enjoy the fruits of our own hard work. Rather than the promotion or projection of those principles? We must always work daily to place those principles before personalities.
While our American system of principles works here, we could use some improvements on their application here at home. The same applies to many countries around the world, their systems work for them, and some could also likely use some improvements.
Yet you do not see Ford Motor Company telling IBM how to build computers. You do not see IBM telling Boeing how to build airplanes. You do not see Boeing telling Hormel how to make chili. And you do not see Hormel telling Ford how to make cars. What you do see in business, is those in the same line of business observing each other and learning from each other’s mistakes.
But governments are not corporations, they direct peoples lives you say. To that I say our elected, and then subsequently appointed government leaders are there for one and only one purpose, to serve then needs of the People of the United States of America. Look at the words of the Preamble of the U.S. Constitution, "We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States."
There are seven key phrases there:
We the People
Form a more perfect union.
Establish justice.
Insure domestic tranquillity.
Provide for the common defense.
Promote the general welfare.
Secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.
Why do many nations not trust the United States or dislike us? Could it possibly be that we do not practice at home what we preach abroad? It took the United States how many years after the end of World War II to pay restitution to the survivors of the Japanese-American internment camps? How many treaties with the original residents of this continent, the Native Americans, were blatantly ignored and what of those atrocities, such as Wounded Knee and the Trail of Tears?
In the Bible, the Book of Matthew, Chapter 7 it says, "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye, and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye’ when all the time there is a plank in you own eye. You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye."
True compassion comes without judgment. True compassion means we personally are accountable and responsible for our own actions. True compassion comes when our own house is clean, first. True compassion is experienced when we respect the rights and property of others.
Yes, Mr. President we live in one of the most wonderful and greatest nations in the world. But as that beacon of freedom standing atop the hill, we must remember that the light from that beacon does not only shine outward to other nations, but also downward upon our nation for all to see. Have we established justice? Have we ensured domestic tranquillity? Have we promoted the general welfare? Have we secured the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity? At best in these areas if we as a nation were graded, we might receive a "B" quite possibly a "C" by other nations or independent observers.
Mr. President you speak of the Homestead Act, the Social Security Act and the G.I. Bill of Rights and how "now we will extend this vision by reforming great institutions to serve the needs of our time." I'm sorry but you can not "Save the World" on the backs and the wallets of hard-working Americans and our senior citizens. Do not worry today what the history lessons twenty years from now will say about your Presidency and if you helped advance the cause of freedom.
As a former Federal Employee and a Honorably Discharged United States Air Force Veteran, we can not and will not stop the bleeding of America's military men and women on foreign soil, until we can stop the figurative and literal bleeding of our citizens on American soil.
A great responsibility rests upon you and the Congress to develop the best possible public relations policy for the United States. Through many painful experiences, some should have and idea of what that policy ought to be. It is the opposite in many ways of usual promotion practice. Policy makers must realize that they must rely upon the principle of attraction rather than promotion.
America isn't about a building or two, not about financial centers, not about military centers;
America isn't about a place;
America isn't even about a bunch of bodies.
America is about an IDEA.
An idea, that you can go someplace where you can earn as much as you can figure out how to, live for the most part, like you envisioned living, and pursue Happiness.
No guarantees that you'll reach it, but you can sure try!
The principle of attraction, rather than promotion. Something rare in the world -- a society that wishes to publicize its principles and its work. We Americans know what we have here. Yes, at times it is not so rosy or covered with silver-lined clouds, as Gordon Sinclair stated, we put our scandals in the store front window for all the world to see.
This principle of attraction in geo-political affairs requires a delicate balance. As you stated, "supported by communities with standards, and sustained in our national life by the truths of Sinai, the Sermon on the Mount, the words of the Koran, and the varied faiths of our people." Those truths and standards are global in nature, if not universal. But we as a nation can not expect others to follow our lead in the ideal of freedom, unless we as a nation have made direct amends to those we have harmed whenever possible.
Yes, it is unfortunate that there are tyrants who rule and control people by fear and oppression. But it was only 229 years ago that the first Americans faced similar fear and oppression.
"When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security."
Do we aid others in their efforts to throw off such government and help to provide new guards for their future security? Most certainly, however the world has dramatically and dynamically changed since 1776, there are no new "frontiers" but the ocean and space any longer. Therefore we must then act in concert with other like-minded nations to aid others in this endeavor, i.e., the United Nations. How many years did the American Revolution last?
Do we respond in kind to any acts of aggression against the American Homeland or its Territories? Hopefully diplomatic efforts can preclude the necessity to respond in kind, but that is always an option. However, when in the case of September 11, 2001 an act of aggression or terrorism is perpetrated against the American Homeland, ... what is the appropriate response? Is the act sponsored or effected by the government of another sovereign nation? Or is the act sponsored or effected by some cross-national group without government support?
Obviously we face a new warfare scenario. A tactical/surgical operation such as was launched against the Al'Qeda facilities in Afghanistan in my personal opinion was and is warranted and politically acceptable.
At issue is the perceived lack of integrity for the hawk-like methods used for Operation Iraqi Freedom. For as history has brutally shown us in Vietnam, 20th and now 21st Century wars of liberation are not only expensive in dollars, but in the lives of American Military men and women.
I close with two quotations from General Douglas MacArthur:


"I find in existence a new and heretofore unknown and dangerous concept, that the members of our armed forces owe primary allegiance or loyalty to those who temporarily exercise the authority of the executive branch of the government rather than to the country and its Constitution which they are sworn to defend."
(In testimony before a Senate committee)
"Men since the beginning of time have sought peace," but "military alliances, balances of power, leagues of nations, all in turn have failed, leaving the only path to be by the way of the crucible of war." Now "we have had our last chance. If we do not now devise some greater and more equitable system, Armageddon will be at our door. The problem basically is theological and involves a spiritual recrudescence and improvement of human character that will synchronize with our almost matchless advances in science, art, literature and all material and cultural developments of the past two thousand years. It must be for the spirit if we are to save the flesh."
(September 2, 1945, on the deck of the USS Missouri)

Who's to blame? The People or The Government?

Failure of an idea... and a people In his 1935 State of the Union Address, FDR spoke to a nation mired in the Depression, but still marinated in conservative values: "Continued dependence upon welfare," said FDR, "induces a spiritual disintegration fundamentally destructive to the national fiber. To dole our relief in this way is to administer a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit." Behind FDR's statement was the conviction that, while the government must step in an emergency, in normal times, men provide the food, clothing and shelter for their families. And we did, until the war pulled us out of the Depression and a postwar boom made us, in John K. Galbraith's phrase, "The Affluent Society."

By the 1960s, America, the richest country on earth, was growing ever more prosperous. But with the 1964 landslide of LBJ, liberalism triumphed and began its great experiment. Behind the Great Society was a great idea: to lift America's poor out of poverty, government should now take care of all their basic needs. By giving the poor welfare, subsidized food, public housing and free medical care, government will end poverty in America. At the Superdome and New Orleans Convention Center, we saw the failure of 40 years of the Great Society.

No sooner had Katrina passed by and the 17th Street levee broke than hundreds of young men who should have taken charge in helping the aged, the sick and the women with babies to safety took to the streets to shoot, loot and rape. The New Orleans police, their numbers cut by deserters who left their posts to look after their families, engaged in running gun battles all day long to stay alive and protect people. It was the character and conduct of its people that makes the New Orleans disaster unique. After a hurricane, people's needs are simple: food, water, shelter, medical attention, but they can be hard to meet. People buried in rubble or hiding in attics of flooded homes are tough to get to. But, even with the incompetence of the mayor and governor, and the torpor of federal officials, this was possible.

Coast Guard helicopters were operating Tuesday. There were roads open into the city for SUVs, buses and trucks. While New Orleans was flooded, the water was stagnant. People walked through to the convention center and Superdome. The flimsiest boat could navigate. Even if government dithered for days - what else is new - this does not explain the failure of the people themselves.
1865 and 1940, the South - having lost a fourth of its best and bravest in battle, devastated by war, mired in poverty - was famous for the hardy self-reliance of her people, black and white. In 1940, hundreds of British fishermen and yachtsmen sailed back and forth daily under fire across a turbulent 23-mile Channel to rescue 300,000 soldiers from Dunkirk.
How do we explain to the world that a tenth that number of Americans could not be reached in four days from across a stagnant pond? The real disaster of Katrina was that society broke down. An entire community could not cope. Liberalism, the idea that good intentions and government programs can build a Great Society, was exposed as fraud.

After trillions of tax dollars for welfare, food stamps, public housing, job training and education have poured out since 1965, poverty remains pandemic. But today, when the police vanish, the community disappears and men take to the streets to prey on women and the weak. Stranded for days in a pool of fetid water, almost everyone waited for the government to come save them. They screamed into the cameras for help, and the reporters screamed into the cameras for help, and the "civil rights leaders" screamed into the cameras that Bush was responsible and Bush was a racist! Americans were once famous for taking the initiative, for having young leaders rise up to take command in a crisis. See any of that at the Superdome?

Sri Lankans and Indonesians, far poorer than we, did not behave like this in a tsunami that took 400 times as many lives as Katrina has thus far. We are the descendants of men and women who braved the North Atlantic in wooden boats to build a country in a strange land. Our ancestors traveled thousands of miles in covered wagons, fighting off Indians far braver than those cowards preying on New Orleans' poor. Watching that performance in the Crescent City, it seems clear: We are not the people our parents were. And what are all our Lords Temporal now howling for? Though government failed at every level, they want more government. FDR was right. A "spiritual disintegration" has overtaken us. Government-as-first provider, the big idea of the Great Society, ! has proven to be "a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit." Either we get off this narcotic, or it kills us.

God Bless America And God Bless Our Troops

The Four Agreements

1) Be impeccable with your word. Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

2) Don't take anything personal. Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

3) Don't make assumptions. Find the courage to ask questions and express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness, and drama. With just this one agreement, you can totally transform your life.

4) Always do your best. Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment; self-abuse; and regret.

Come Fly With Me

Come Fly With Me
"Come fly with me"
the Eagle says to you.
Experience all I have to give,
and through my birds eye view.
Come step off that earthly plane,
For a different point of view.
Soar high above lifes troubles and woes,
Let this new vision become a part of you.
Climb high with me,
And touch God's face,
To heights you've only dreamed
about but never understood.
Look through my eyes,
And see all life below
To see how really small you are,
In this larger view I give to you.
But remember always dear one,
Just as the eagle flies,
I too must come back to earth again
Lest I fail and die.
So this is my message to you
Come fly with me on Eagles Wings
Join our connection with Spirit,
Yet always come home to Mother Earth.
Because as that old song once said,
You can be so spiritually minded,
That you're no earthly good.
Come Fly With Me, the Eagle has called on you.
Copyright 2003, All Rights Reserved
Silver Eagle, The Path of the Eagle