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 . . .

Navaratri Energy Still Flowing Strong

Blessings on this night of Devotion to Devi . . .

JAI AMBIKA DURGA!!!!
JAI AMBIKA KALI!!!!
JAI AMBIKA SARASWATI!!!!
JAI JAI JAI AMBIKA MAHADEVI!!!!!!!!

MahaDevi is wonderous, Durga, mighty even beyond the Great Gods. She is pure, compassionate, and rage beyond the heat of the sun, Great beyond the expanse of the Universe. When the Three of the Trimurti, Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Maintainer and even Siva MahaDeva the Destroyer could not defeat the demon Mahishasura (who had obtained great powers by devotion to the Gods), the three Devas of the Trimurti united their powers to manifest DurgaDevi. The nine nights of Navaratri are designated to remember Her victory over this demon, and to do devotion to the Nine forms of Her who defeated a demon even the Great Destroyer could not defeat.

I noted in my post yesterday that Navaratri is divided into three sets of three nights to do devotion to the Three Devi (Goddesses) of the Trimurti. According to another (non-conflicting) tradition, this holiday is devoted to the devotion to the Nine forms of Sakti. An important thing to understand about the religions of sanatana dharma is that they are not meant to become dogmatic or strictly interpreted. These stories, though true, are meant to express the ongoing and dynamic relationships between humans and the Divine and other beings. These modes are an artistic rendering of the beauty and terror of life and death. Though the Vedas are to be understood as more scientific, utilizing metaphoric and symbolic language to discuss natural phenomena, devotional practices are not meant to be narrow or dogmatic, but empowering through the beauty of expression and sensation, sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing (plus however many other senses there might be).



Maa Shailaputri

Daughter of the mountains, also known as Parvati, reborn manifestation of Sakti.



Maa Brahmacharini

Goddess who constantly meditates on the Supreme Being, Brahman (not to be confused with Brahma, the Creator), and is exceedingly austere in Her tapas (extreme Yoga practices, "purifying fire").



Maa Chandraghanta

Goddess who wears the Crescent moon in Her hair, and is exceedingly wrathful if provoked.



Maa Kushmanda

This form of Sakti smiled the Universe into existence. She is the energy of the egg of the Big Bang.



Maa SkandaMata

Mother of the God of War, Skanda. This form of Her is exceedingly maternal and compassionate.



Maa Katyayani

Daughter of the Katya clan, and a devoted daughter and kind Devi, She is also not somebody to mess with--She'll kick some ass if need be!!



Maa Kalaratri

This form of Devi Durga is Kali, the most violent and dangerous form of Shakti. In Her dance with Siva, the Universe is destroyed--long time from now, by the way . . .



Maa Mahagauri
This form of Sakti did an extreme tapas by sitting still until she became covered in dirt. Siva washed her with the water of the Ganges, and She became bright and pure beyond measure.



Maa Siddhidatri

Goddess who offers knowledge of the Supreme Divine, Brahman. She is worshipped by many, both Gods and demons and humans and other beings to obtain the knowledge of the Beyond of the Beyond.

A Winged Something or a Planet or Star . . . and a UFO?

So upon perusing a series of photographs I took when visiting some land I want to purchase, I noticed that one of the photos had an anomalous smudge in the sky. Upon magnifying this section of the photo, I noticed a rather odd figure in the darkening deep blue.

Another photo of the same place I downloaded from the internet had previously drawn my interest, as a particular object hovering above the cliff did not match the nearbye clouds in appearance. Upon magnifying this photo, I considered the possibiiity that the person who took this picture had captured a UFO, if rather more out of focus than the anomaly in the photo I took later.









After discovering the winged figure in the photo, a number of streams of channeled information offered numerous interpretations of what or who this figure was. I must note, that although I am certain that the traditions of sanatana dharma (i.e., "Hinduism") offer a more valid and honest explication of history, human and divine, and in fact encompass the traditions of the Judeo, Christian, and Islamic strands of history (see post titled, "Hidden Origins of the West"), I do not deny that there are valid clues as to the greater story within the texts and traditions of those religions which mimic or are eminations/dispersions of Hindu traditions regarding the Trimurti of Brahma, Vishnu (best known as in America and Europe as Krishna or Buddha) and Siva and Consorts (blessed be the names of Her: Kali, Durga, Parvati . . .). Thus I would not deny that the figure pictured is a winged being known as an "angel" in the English language rendering--though I must note, whether a "good" being or no is by no means certain, as some bits of channeled info have indicated the latter option.

Indeed, depictions of like winged beings have appeared in ancient depictions from Syria and Mesopotamia throughout the so-called Middle East, and are extant in the lore of India, too. As I have continued to maintain, traditions around the world all contain clues to the subtle history of humans and gods and various other beings, and indeed a wild menagerie is evinced and an absurdly twisted tale is woven.

Apsaras flying nymphs of ancient Indian lore

And it could be the figure in the sky is just a blurred star or planet--though the apparition as captured by my digital camera would still maintain significance, regardless of the explanation a rigidly materialistic "scientific apology" might offer. And the UFO might, likewise, be just a cloud.

Sacred Mountains

I've been thinking a good bit about sacred geographic features these days, perhaps to expand my vision to a span beyond the maddening flow of visions of persons I've known, that hover round my thoughts as I consider Devi and where She might be matched appropriate to me, whether passed by in the past, else gracing the earth with her footsteps nearer to where I sit these days.

To focus on the grand, yet tangible forms of mountains and lakes and oceans spans grants a reprieve from confusions of relationship, loves tumultuous tempest as wild as any gale or hurricane storming through my mind leaves me inclined to expand my thoughts to encompass a seemingly more expansive vista than the sound-byte-like progression of so many faces past my inner and external vision, though in truth, She and those other figures exist there, too . . .


Kailash, shown above, is perhaps the best known locale where She and Her love are known to set up housekeeping.


And this peak is expression of Her, Parvati, and Sacred AUM, too . . .




and this mountain is Her abundance overflowing, Annapurna which speaks in wind and waters flowing and rock solid truth of Durga's blessings of compassion and Mother-love to appropriately nourish those who sit beneath Her greatness, beauty and majesty . . .


This set of three peaks is known as Trishul, and is presence of Him who's Her Lover, in some figurations.




And the above shows a lesser know manifestation of a Trishul, as three mountain ranges as blades, and another as danda, or "staff."





Mount Kilamanjaro, above and below, a nearbye peak called Meru--whether the one writ of in Vedic lore or no . . .








Above and below, two peaks sacred to the Navajo, though said people are more appropriately called Diné . . .







Again going north and west, two chosen of many possible magical mountains in the Pacific Coast region, Shasta and Denali








And almost round the world from the start of this picture show, Fuji in Japan, which is also the name of a particular varietal of apples.

Care For a Chip with that Public Insurance Option?

Though I might be often classified as a "conspiracy theorist," I try to take with a proverbial grain of salt whatever new dark top-secret information is revealed via the internet. This in mind, I do feel the obligation to spread the word about a the potential extreme violation of personal privacy that seems to be included in at least one draft of the heath-care reform bill being offered to congress: widescale computer chip implantation!!!!

According to abovetopsecret.com, a site that does include sometimes veritable and sometimes frighteningly valid information about the grand conspiracies of our world as well as some amount of bunk and bullshit, HR 3200 includes the authorization for the implantation of chips containing not only pertinent health information on the implantee, but also the possibility for tracking functions.

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread496625/pg1



If this site hadn't such strong quotation and citations included in the strand I perused, I might brush this aside as an attempt to derail health care reform and the offer of a public health insurance option. I have yet to be able to verify this information on opencongress.org or any other site with copies of this bill. If true, however, this is clearly an exceedingly startling and obvious move further from freedom and towards the sort of totalitarian society warned of in Brave New World and 1984.

Yeah, even with Obama as President the totalitarian creeps are still at it, and perhaps (and if so, quite disappointingly) in the guise of a trojan horse. Inasmuch as I'd like to be unhesitatingly a supporter of the seemingly best figure to hold this nation's highest governmental office in decades, it seems portions of the agenda have changed little from the fascist laws enacted with the Patriot Acts, and likely set in motion decades previous.

In other words, don't let down your guard just yet, young revolutionaries!! The struggle for justice and freedom continues . . . !!!

More thoughts about लीला (lila)

Life as divine theater, a workable analogy for our roles in existence, the Raison d'être for joy and sorrow, for all human drama at the interpersonal and corporate scale (not directly, though not entirely not, including the denotation of the word "corporate" as refering to the most common usage these days, i.e., as an adjective refering to a "corporation" in the nowadays perjorative sense), and even including other two, as well as four and six and eight and no-legged creatures and plants, water and rocks and air and fire, the planets and stars, galaxies spinning and . . .

A "love story" for lack of a better English phrase, of Goddess and God, for lack of a better pair of terms in the English language (though I ought note, as I've in a previous post, the English word God is derived from the Sanskrit word go, which translates directly as cow).

Sometime this divine human drama has been--though hopefully decreasingly in the future--a story played out in the battles between states and between empires; has and shall be writ at levels macro- and micro-, above and below, in a breeze blows, a proverbial tree that falls in the forest, a significant drop of water falling upon a leaf, the collision of two distant planets and in so many other ways which may or may not directly involve the divine creatures known as man and woman in any given scene. Yet always it comes back to a Yoga that is good, a dance that is beautiful, play that is pure (abhyasA-yoga, atirUpa-nata, sattva-lila).

Of options given in any discourse to which I've been made privy, 'tis the best paridigmatic framework I've discovered, the most healthy and beatific vision can seemingly be made of the confusion of love that makes life interesting, and of said word's opposites and seeming opposites that make life not so seemingly beautiful.

लीला, Lila is more Much Ado . . . than No Exit, though life lived sometimes does not well fit lila, at least not from every given vantage.

Plants and Drugs: There Is A Difference

Mexico has just announced the decriminalization of small amounts of certain "drugs" including marijuana, cocaine and heroin. This move is understood as an attempt to shift the focus of Mexican police further towards prosecuting producers and cartels, and away from prosecuting otherwise innocent users. Though I do not entirely disagree that this approach makes some sense in terms of law-enforcement logistics, my primary issue with this policy is that marijuana is still being lumped together with the chemically refined and far more harmful substances which definitely do deserve the classification as "drugs," and which should not be legal, whereas plant form substances should not be controlled by any government.



Marijuana, and even hashish (consisting of the concentrated THC crystals that form on the female Cannabis plant's buds, usually gathered by hand--charas, else separated from the green plant material by a water process, as in the Mediteranean style of hash production), is a natural-form of a plant that happens to have wonderful medicinal and recreational uses. There is neither any significantly negative environmental nor social impact caused by the production or consumption of Cannabis.



The transactions of even pounds of homegrown marijuana rarely include guns or violence (weed just doesn't lend itself to fighting, despite sometimes large amounts of money sometimes involved). A high percentage of functional and happy (very happy) professionals use marijuana on a regular basis, and with incomparably minimal detrimental effects in relation to even the moderate use of alcohol. If one is an accountant, for example, one might find it inexpedient to smoke weed much during tax season, but other than that, ain't any real harm marijuana does to the average man or woman who puffs, from time-to-time or all the time . . . till the enforcement of unjust laws get involved.


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Pure leaves from the coca tree make for a very tasty cup of tea, with a stimulant effect milder and healthier for a body than even caffeine. I was given a box of tea bags packaged and marked just like a box of Celestial Seasons SleepyTime from South America by a friend who went there to visit his missionary sister and brother-in-law. This coca leaf tea was pretty tasty, and didn't leave me jonesin' in the least.



Cocaine is refined by the use of sodium carbonate mixed with coca leaves and stomped in pits or barrels by peasants with bare feet, who thus sustain burns and lose flesh into the mix, then by using kerosene, sulphuric or hydrochloric acid, potassium permanganate and acetone to come up with the final product--all noxious chemicals that damage both the health of the people involved and the environment to no small degree.



Insofar as societal effects, you ever happen to know somebody who was cool and kind until cocaine got involed? Pretty common to see a decent human being turn bad when much cocaine gets into the mix . . . not to mention enhanced violence when cocaine and money are intertwined, which they usually are.
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The opium poppy, a rather pretty flower, produces opium with minimal preparation involving no use of toxic chemicals to produce a substance which has been used medicinally for thousands of years. Though potentially addictive, occasional and respectful use of this flower's pure essence has minimal impact--though I might add, I have smoked opium on occasion, and must say I'm not particularly fond of it.



To make heroin, production near the opium fields and farms of Asia utilizes such environmentally detrimental and potentially deadly chemicals as calcium hydroxide, ammonium chloride, and hydrochloric acid, not to mention those further chemicals used once the partially refined product is sent to the labs. These chemicals end up spilled and dumped on the land and then in the streams, rivers and lakes of the countryside, poisoning fish and plant and animals as well as people having nothing to do with the production of this drug. Heroin is well known as the cause of the ruination of the lives of many users, and as a means of potentially deadly disease transmission via dirty needles.



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Basically, I am arguing that these three plants, when in or very close to plant form, are fairly innocuous, and in fact beneficial with appropriate usage. The refined forms produced from coca leaves and opium flowers, however, have both extremely negative human and environmental impact.

Herbal medicine and "drugs" just ain't the same thing!! The world's laws and law enforcement policies ought to reflect this, and to recognize the difference between toxic chemically-tainted shit and useful plants given by Goddess and God for our use.