Hooray for the EPA . . . Maybe

Seems the Environmental Protection Agency has decided to cast aside Bush's protections for coal-fired power plants, and will determine rules to regulate (and hopefully altogether stop) the mercury, lead, cadmium, soot, etc. pollution spewed by such facilities. Though apparently said agency has not yet determined the parameters of these regulations, they are to be finalized (and hopefully in place) by 2011. It's about time this exceedingly important agency takes on polluters!!



Please take the opportunity to thank the folks at the EPA for starting to take a stand on those issues in their parlance, and add a few words of your own, at the Sierra Club's site:
https://secure2.convio.net/sierra/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=3105&autologin=true&JServSessionIdr002=pw0hcr1vx2.app26a

Today is the last day of Skanda Sashti, a festival mostly observed in southern India, as well as in Sri Lanka, Singapore and Malaysia. Skanda is a Hindu war god, and is son of Siva and either Goddess Ganga or a bed of reeds. Seems like a good idea to put the son of the God of Peace--Siva Shanti's seed Skanda--in charge of war . . . i.e., likely means as little of it as possible.

Perhaps also of note is that just across the Indian Ocean in the Zulu tradition, the son of Umvelinqangi (last syllable sounds alot like "Ganges," eh?) Unkulunkulu is born in a bed of reeds (as was Moses of Torah fame), and was celebrated in a festival sometime in the month just passed. During the Reed Dance Festival, thousands of young maidens shimmy their way to the King of the Zulu's palace carrying reeds which extend far above their heads to commemorate the birth of their main deity (see previous post, "Sanskrit and Somali").



Indeed, the seas breadth seems not just recently breached, as the world's peoples always been movin', migrating, meandering, and mingling 'round the globe, whether in search of "home" or homeland, or for adventure's sake alone . . .

Crows Trained to Clean-Up Trash?

There goes more jobs to migrant workers?!?! Yes, it seems now that crows, already trained to use coins in vending machines for the reward of some peanuts, are now potentially to be trained and deployed to pick up litter. (http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/10/crowbox-wants-you-to-train-crows-to-clean-the-planet-seriously.php?dcitc=th_rss)



The best part is, only a small number of these feathered friends would have to be trained, then released. The study in question showed that these trained fowl teach these learned skills to both offspring and peers--and they'll all, quite literally, work for peanuts!! I s'pose that city worker with the bag and spiked stick will have to find work elsewhere . . .

And if you're not pissed off about more local jobs going to the birds, how will you feel when a murder of crows (i.e., like "gaggle of geese") siddle up next to you at the bar and proceed to poop in your complementary popcorn!?!?

More "Modern" Pesticides Ruled Highly Toxic

Think the ban on DDT represented a shift away from life-threatening chemicals spread throughout the land, draining into our water, floating on the dry wind? Think again, Yet another class of widely used synthetic pesticide has proven to be deadly. Endosulfan has been linked to mental retardation and death among farm workers," as well as kindey failure and reproductive system damage according to a study done by an international group of scientists (http://www.worldwatch.org/node/6299#).

Not to mention the synthetic pyrethroid pesticides that are sprayed in neighborhoods to kill mosquitos. Pyrethroids are neurotoxins!! Symptoms of permethrin poisoning include tremors, incoordination, liver damage, elevated body temperature, increased aggressive behavior and disruption of learning. This poison also inhibits immune system activity, causes chromosome aberrations, hormone disruption and is listed as a known carcinogen.

It's time to stop the chemical pollution of our land, our air, our water, and our bodies . . . NOW!!!

San Francisco Makes Composting Mandatory

Despite the fact that some neighborhoods there were built on landfill, the city of San Francisco has decreed that all food waste be composted, and in fact levying heavy fines on businesses and others who fail to seperate food and recyclables and trash. Though those who've read this blog much might imagine I'd unequivocally agree with such an ordinance--and mostly I do like composting--I have to consider all those folks living in said metropolis who dumpster-dive to find good food tossed out by big grocery stores and so forth cuz there's a blemish on one banana in a bunch or a block of cheese is one day past it's shelf date. I hope at least, in light of sympathies and empathies with my dumpster diving comrades, that the compost bins will be designed with access for those who would scavenge still useful food before the next best thing is done with it. Otherwise, a pretty good move for this progressive place, my favorite big city of those I've come to know, I must say.

Obama Becomes First American President to Light Diwali Lamp . . . May This Land And The Entire World Truly Be Led By The True Light Of Dharma

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Wow!! Obama still pretty much rocks in my book (with the primary exception being his war policies)!! It is indeed about time that both the practicing Hindu population of this nation, and all of our heritages that have origin in sanatana dharma (see posts, "Hidden Origins of the West," "Maybe Columbus Found India After All: Traces of India Amongst American 'Indians,'" "Sanskrit and . . . Somali?!?!" and "Mind Your P's and Q's: English-Sanskrit Cognates/Obvious Derivative Words") be recognized in this land.

Congress passed a resolution in 2007 recognizing Diwali in Senate Resolution 299, which recognized the "religious and historical significance of the festival of Diwali," This resolution unanimously passed November 14, 2007 in the U.S. Senate.

This recognition of the significance of this holiday which is important not only for Hindus, but also for Jains, Sikhs, and some Buddhists is certainly a step towards recognizing heritages other than the "Western" as important to America.

Indeed, change for the better is still in the air . . . and in fire, water and earth, too. May the real, good and pure light of truth prevail, and lead us all and each to life, purification and purity (though not puritanicalism), happiness, health, and appropriate relationships with each other and the good earth we have been blessed with . . .

Namaste,

Jeffrey Charles Archer
Dilettante Extraordinaire

Video Devotionals . . . YouTube and My Experiences This Navaratri Season

I did find one little murti of Durga at the Herb House. Other than this traditional sort of ritual use, I downloaded videos from YouTube to access visual and audible expressions of devotion to Devi Durga, and Others expressing Divine Feminine. A rather odd juxtaposition, ancient traditions of practice, yoga, from caves and deepest austerities glimpsed, meeting binary code and worldwide communications, and the culture of a video-crazed community.

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In the past, I have gone to Sivaratri festivals in Taos and Montreal, participating in a sort of experience that engages all available senses: incense burning, sitar and mridangam and harmonium and tabla and ancient chants intoned, brightly colored and beautifully adorned murti, physically manifest expressions of attributes of the divine granted offerings and devotion, prashad tasted, fire and water.

In the case of Navaratri or Durgapuja, a clay statue of Goddess that is later thrown into the Ocean . . . I left the one I utilized somewhere in downtown Laramie . . .

And She is present, thus, in and through material form, and in and through women living life, too . . . Yet downloaded on the internet? Is that sacrilege? Comes to mind, Miss Calendar--"cyber-pagan" from Buffy the Vampire Slayer series. She was pretty hot, except that time when she got temporarily possessed . . .

I made offerings of food and drink to the small murti of Durga I acquired from the Herb House for just eight dollars, burned sage and juniper, and played videos of the Gayatri mantra, Durga Chalisa, and other ditties to Kali, Parvati and Chandraghanta and the likes, and for the other tradition which includes Lakshmi and Saraswati, too, meditating on worldwide transformation . . . whilst at times gazing at a screen connected to the internet--that is likewise connecting to the world.

AUM . . . Ω . . .

Though I'd rather have experienced this year's nine nights of special devotion to Devi Durga, Kali, Lakshmi and Sarawati, and Kick-Ass Divine Feminine Generally, in some temple in India or Nepal, access to depictions of Her and songs sung in devotion to Durga and other names applicable to the festival just passed on the internet was convenient. Not unlike when I was young and would find the radio to be a means to connect to outside the walls of my dark dank basement bedroom . . .

Word Origins and Western Scholarly Lies--Cows, Devils and Divinity

As yet another example of the ineptitude, myopia or outright dissembling of "Western" scholarship, the word "devil" is tauted as deriving from the Greek word "diabolos." Yet again, the European and American scholarly community is seeking origins of their culture in a source less than half-way to the source of the real story. As Abraham, purported father of Judaism, and thus of Christianity and also of Islam, is clearly derivative of Brahma, Creator Deity in the Hindu Trimurti (see previous post "Hidden Origins of the West"), so the word "devil," supposedly derivative of the aforementioned Greek word, has much more ancient origins, likely as a perversion of the most ancient known name for either God or Goddess, Deva and Devi, if in fact the Greek is truly the origin of "the Devil."  The word "God" by the way, is clearly derived from the Sanskrit word go, which translates directly as "cow." Western etymologists have endeavored to maintain the lie that the word God comes from the Sanskrit word hu or "one who is commonly invoked," rather than to admit the more obvious and accurate recognition that "God" is derived from the Sanskrit word go.

"Mooooooo . . . AUM"


Admittedly, tracing the origins of cultural icons and artifacts through their transmissions and dispersions is by no means an easy task. Nonetheless, some of the more obvious LIES disseminated by "Western" scholarship and religion have been called to task on such issues as the origin of Abraham--Voltaire pointed out the obvious fact that Abraham and his wife Sarah are clearly derivative of Brahma and his consort Saraswati, and tauted Abraham's tribe was a band of travelling brahmin priests, yet the same old lies continued to be fomented.

Regarding the word "devil," I did once come across a reference to the notion that it was in Persia that "Deva" or "Devi" was twisted to construct the figure called "devil," though most sources want to stick to the convenient lie that said term comes from Greek or originated in the Anglo-Saxon. This Persian theory does seem to make sense, as it was the general westward movement or migration of Indian archetypal figures or figurations that led to the creation of Judaism, Christianity and Islam--all of which generally deny the truth of their origins further to the east, in the Indus Valley. Also of note is that the Trishul, symbol of the presence of Mahadeva/Siva was perverted into the "pitchfork"/trident of the Devil. It seems certain that something happened which later caused at least the better portion of the dominant cultures to the west to endeavour to "change history"--or more accurately, to lie about it. Precisely the issues at hand are not definitively clear, though I've some likely theories.

It seems very likely that a significant possibility as to why this particular occultation of the truth occurred was as an attempt to hide some "divine drama" or other, possibly the truth behind the myth of Brahma losing his "fifth head" as a result of lusting after or raping his daughter (the Jewish rite of circumcision is an obviously derivative practice of this event recorded as a widely told tale in Indian sacred lore).

Indeed, the study of history is as or more startling than any of the popularly received conspiracy stories and theories in circulation, if one gets beyond the "drum and trumpet" histories, past the overt tales of dynastic successions and even through or beyond the somewhat more valuable social analyses and cultural critiques of life in the past. If a book were writ that revealed the plot lines of these truest secret stories, the "As above . . ." that has informed and to whatever degree forms the "so below," it would read as more like science fiction or fantasy than traditional history, more like a grand and intrigue-filled romance novel than the Bible, and paint a picture that looks more like Hironymous Bosch than it resembles Rembrandt. It might appear very much like the mythologies of India--though not without various other valuable bits and pieces of the story writ throughout the world's sacred and profane traditional tales generally . . .

What a twisted tale is woven . . .