Friday, September 30, 2022

Once upon a Time.



 We all work from schedules.  There are times to be here, and times to be there, and times to stay put.  We all have a time to be someplace.  That is the way of things, that is how it fits into a sense of order.  If this order wasn't present there would be no sense of passing time.  Everything would just be now and we'd never get anywhere from here.  As the ancient Maine-iac sage once said, "You can't get there from here."

When you live in the universe that I live in your sense of time is rather fluid.  I have to write things down into my phone calendar so I won't forget stuff.  My phone calendar is kinda neat as it gives me warnings of things to come before they get here so as I don't forget to be where I am not.  That keeps the embracement down to a low simmer instead of a roaring boil.  In the past I had a very hard time getting to appointments at the right, Time.

People like myself have no sense of passing time.  We go through our day because the sun came up, and the sun goes down.  The in-between space is sleep time.  Then the sun comes up again and it's awake time, and so forth.  I know when to eat because I get hungry, when to sleep because I pass out, and the other stuff happens when it's supposed to happen.  I, and those like me, tend to live from one moment to the next.  There is no time.

Because I live in fluid time my sense of space is also a tad altered.  Space classically is the basic definition of volume, the amount of matter an object holds, or the amount of space an object takes up.  That is how normal folk picture Space.  Time and Space are related, so when your time is wacked out your space tends to be a little wacked out as well.  So I've learned how to deal with space by gauging the amount of time it takes to travel from one place to another, or from one point to another.  This gives me a sense of where I am at any given moment.  Be here Now.

There is a psychological disorder that this condition fits into, but I don't know the name and would rather leave that alone.  Don't need some head shrinker telling me I'm out of my gourd.  Just another term for Space Time.  

I can honestly tell you that I have no idea the when's or the where's of things.  Without my calendar and a reference point I am lost.  Therefore when I say to you that I remember things from 200 years ago, to me that was just now, and so on.  I am not alone here.  There are other's like me.  The stories have followed us for generations.  You call us immortal.  I just say, "I Am."

Peace and Balance,

John


Thursday, September 29, 2022

Yummani

 


When I was a kid, my father and I would get a kick out of chasing storms.  We would wait them out listening carefully to the wind.  As skies grow dark there are different sounds that reverberate through the atmosphere.  Starting with an inaudible low hum that is felt before it is heard. As the cloud wall builds up the hum becomes a very low, very loud roar.  The sound itself shakes every thing around you and rattles your core.  

After the low impedance sound there begins a high pitched whine that resembles the screaming of an angry mountain lion.  If you've never heard a big cat howl, the sound will terrify you waking something primal within you bringing your inner child to it's knees.  You will cry.

A dark solitary silence follows the roar.  It will grow Black, and all will become eerily quiet.  It will feel like all air is being sucked out of the sky, then the blackness will turn electric green.  In the green behind the black you will see it moving.  The black green wall will be swirling threatening everything around it.  You will then hear it as loud as the scream before with the rumble of the low.  The rumble of an endless freight train.   Because it's dark you won't see what is happening just beyond the swirling green.  For hundreds of yards to a mile wide nothing is left standing, nothing is breathing, all is gone. 

Then as sudden as it began, the sound just stops.  The air becomes normal, and the rains lift.  Clouds slowly disappear as the sun brightens the skies.  Blue and white appear followed by the song of birds.  In the distance a lone wolf howls and the taste of ozone and static are in the air.  You notice you're jacket is dry.  

The prairie has been wiped clean. Weeds are tumbling, animals begin to crawl, life returns to the desert. High above a solitary Eagle circles and sings.  The storm is over.

My Dad and I used to chase storms when I was a kid.  He was my teacher, I am Heyoka.

Peace and Balance,

John

Wednesday, September 28, 2022

Legal Drug Dealers

 


Yesterday I called the pharmacy in order to refill my thyroid pills.  The Drug part of the store has been closed for the past week due to a sneeky infiltration of Covid that affected the whole back staff.  During that time my doctors office sent a fax instructing the Drug Dude not to fill my pills until I see the doctor, the bastards.  Due to the closure I did not receive the message until I called the pharmacy.  I then began scrambling in order to get my prescription filled as you are not supposed to stop taking thyroid medications.  Again, Bastards!  

The nice lady that answered the phone at the doctors office told me that my doctor, the last time I saw him was a little over a year ago, no longer works there.  As a matter of fact, she had actually never heard of him and had to put me on hold to double check and see if I wasn't jerking her chain.  After a short hold time, she came back on and said that yes I need to make an appointment to get my meds filled.  That way the Triage nurse could write me a script.  I only have one pill left so we're cutting it just a tad short, the Ba... well you know the rest. 

This morning I called again to make sure everything went through ok, as they didn't call back yesterday to confirm.  Again I was made to leave a message on the answering machine of the Triage Nurse.  Grrrr. 

This all in order to get me to make an appointment and have my insurance pay a bill for telling  me stuff that I already know.  I'm in fair to pretty darn good shape for an older gentlemen of a certain age.  The thyroid pill is the only medication I take beside some vitamins and occasional aspirin sort of thing.  My blood pressure is good, my blood sugar is excellent, I don't drink, I don't smoke, the only vise I have is my love for the Holy Bean, Pejuta Sapa, Wakaliapi, (Coffee).  And from what I can discern scientifically, because the picture box in the corner says so, that coffee is actually good for you.  Halleluiah.

So, I have an appointment.  Probably to get blood taken from me, Vampires.  I'll cross my fingers and hope that Triage sends in my script and I can pick up my meds.  I'd hate to think my left leg was going to drop off or something like that due to lack of medication.  Pharma-corp, is an Evil thing.  

Peace and Balance,

John

Tuesday, September 27, 2022

Is it Her storm or His storm?

 


In 1978 Hurricanes ceased to be named after girls exclusively and became Him-icanes.  Let's explain.  For years at this time of the season large circular storms would wander up the coasts from the south central parts of the Atlantic ocean and collect all sorts of kinetic, electric, and possibly as much as 600 terawatts of Heat energies.  The numbers are astounding.  The weather men of the world put the blame directly on Mother Nature and her sisters.  Therefore we called them Her-icanes.  

Since the beginnings of the collection of weather data man kind has slowly, or not so slowly, campaigned a deliberate deterioration and destruction of the worlds atmosphere.  The build up of CO2 in our skies has began the destruction of our much needed Ozone layer.  If you pay attention every year to the wonderous nation of Australia, the home of the cute cuddly Kawala bear, there are warnings and recommendations about not going out in the sun.  The Ozone layer over Australia has depleted to the point that the radiation contamination from the sun through ultra violet light is so high that people have to avoid the out doors, and when they wander out must wear protective head gear and clothing to match.  Krikee!  

The noxious chemicals we have managed to send into our air are definitely carrying carcinogens and cause cancer.  So, not only does smoking give you lung cancer if you so inclined to such a bad habit, but breathing our so called clean air causes cancer just because we want to stay alive for more than 10 or 15 minutes at a time.  Gee Wiz.  

In the southern regions of our world the heat climax over the oceans is rising at an exponential rate feeding the air with all kinds of super juice.  So, the storms are getting bigger, and bigger.  Soon we are going to have what is classically called a Super Storm, and it will no longer be strictly the privy of the science fiction genre.  Let's get our boards waxed and go, man.

Now, we are back to the Him-icane.  It just makes logical sense, why blame all the badness on Mother Nature, after all we caused this problem in the first place.  Therefore a good ole fashioned Him-icane is in order.  Our Hurricanes now carry both male and female names, and oddly enough some in-betweens as well.  

My suggestion for all the Weather Nuts out there.  Stop predicting and start advocating for better habits, and help us give the powers that be a kick in the ass.  They are in charge, and the Oil Companies are giving the orders.  Damnit...

Peace and Balance,

John

Monday, September 26, 2022

Master Wu



 In the beginning there where 7 brothers.  Each had his own job of creation to contend with.  The eldest was the over seer of his younger siblings shinning the light of wisdom upon decisions as they came.  He would comment and have a little of his light in all that was done.  This was proper as he was the eldest brother.

The second oldest brother was responsible to collect the darkness and distribute it evenly across the  void.  He was a painter who's expertise was working with the blacks and whites mixed with subtle greys of pen and ink. 

The third was the sound man.  He would ring out and check for the harmonies within the void as the creation was being distributed.  He was always conducting within and waiting for response, his work is ever changing. 

The fourth was the holy drum who's heartbeat gave presence and a rhythm to all of creation.  The fifth was a builder of boxes.  These boxes he would distribute to the other brothers to help give order to their collective spaces.  The fourth would resonate his drums through them to direct the direction of the heart beat.  The third used the boxes as a grand resonator to focus his universal music.  Second used the boxes to created gaps within his painting creating a physical character through which energies would grow.  The Eldest brother gave the other four directions to work, a compass was formed. 

Brother five began working on the firmament.  He was responsible for incorporating the elder four brothers creations into a working atmosphere for the light to shine through.  

Brother six began creating worlds.  Great round stones of wonder.  Each with it's own distinctiveness and color, warm and cool, bitter and sweet. Creation was almost complete.

The youngest brother, Master Wu was a turmoil of movement.  His qi was moving throughout all of creation looking for a direction, non was found.  Wuji was growing and expanding moving faster and faster.  Wuji is chaos.  

The eldest brother, wise and true, had his watchful eye on Wu as he traveled about howling into all he found.  Then a great idea came to his mind and he spoke to the other brothers, "Brothers." he said, "We have almost ended creation.  Let us begin the celebration at the end of creation to ring into the heavenly kingdom our true work."  And they did.

As the brother's partake of bread, and sacramental wine, they fed Master Wu much wine, and more.  Master Wu grew tired and fell asleep.  As he slept he began to dream.  He dreamt of great fields, He dreamt of great mountains, he dreamt of wonderous seas filled with bounty. The firmament surrounded his dream and all things he dreamt became alive.  Then Master Wu had one last dream, he dreamt of Man.  Mankind grew and populated his dream and civilization was born.  The eldest brother wise and powerful saw the beauty of Master Wu's creation and began feeding him wine on a regular basis.  Wu remained asleep and dreaming.  

So you see, Mankind and the world we live is nothing but the dream of a drunken Immortal. 

Peace and Balance,

John


Saturday, September 24, 2022

Get out and Push.



 For a short time when I was a kid I had a car that started one of two ways, either by the intermittent key, or a good shuv.  On a couple of occasions I have said to the unwary passenger, "Get out and push." Usually this got a look of disbelief with a few sneers and snarls.  I liked that car.  It was roomy, fairly fast, and could hold all the band equipment in the trunk.  That included a complete drum set, a few amplifiers and a couple guitars.  

Big trunks were a thing back in the day, that would be a 68 Plymouth Fury, four door.  This car was a low boat.  It road on one of them new fangled Dyna Glide suspensions, that means the shocks had air in them to give the passengers that firm, but comfy ride.  Dyna Glide was one of the positive things to come out of the Etsell.  Later on it became the back bone of the Low Rider, and became the name of a motorcycle. 

Anyways I would make the passenger get out and push.  Put her in first, pop the clutch and vroom.  The car actually ran very well.  I think there must have been a flat spot on the starter that occasionally called for human intervention. Then in the spring of 1980 Mt. St. Helens decided to throw a tantrum and blew her lid.  I drove that car from Havre Mt. straight through to Spokane Washington to get a look at the new topless mountain.  I used to hike, fish, and hunt in them hills.  The favorite spots where now gone.  

The Plymouth ran like a champ the whole way there.  It was only about three quarters into the trip when I took the air cleaner off to get more air into the carburetor.  I made it all the way there.  Got a good look at the mess. Parked my car in a lot.  Walked over to the dealer and bought a junk VW Bug for the trip home. My beautiful Band wagon kicked up it's little tires and died.  It seems Potash is not good for the internal workings of the internal combustion engine.  The engine froze up good and refused to run any more.  Poor thing.  

We had the best crops and grass growing everywhere for about three years after the big boom.  KCl, the chemical formula for Potash, Potassium Chloride, is one of the best natural fertilizers out there.  Good for plants, not so good for cars.  

When I got back I sold the Bug for a hundred bucks and a case of beer.  Probably more than it was worth.  My next pony was a 1968 Chevy Impala Super sport convertible.  I liked cars from that year.  This horsey came complete with an eight track tape player built into the dash.  It ate several on my favorite 8 tracks, dangit.  Oh well, with a 409 interceptor under the hood I could over look little things like a hungry 8 track player.  I never had to say, "Get out and push again."  

This was my favorite car.  It wasn't a classic back then, but I often think what it would be like if I still owned it.  I saw an episode of the American Car auctions where a car of similar lines and age, in good condition sold for 40 thousand dollars.  Ah, if only...

I made the mistake of letting my mother borrow my car in the dead of winter.  To much engine, to much car, to much ice.  It never looked the same again.  Mom apologized and helped pay for the repairs.  Boy I liked that car.  However, it couldn't hold the Drum kit.  We had to use the drummers van from now on.  It was his turn to say, "Get out and Push."  

Peace and Balance,

John

Friday, September 23, 2022

Pandemic Stress

 


It has been a rough couple of years.  People everywhere are showing the signs of prolonged stress and burnout.  The powers that be say that the pandemic is over, that we are only suffering from lingering pockets of ik.  That may or may not be, but I still see the effects.  People are still out of work, taking days at a shot off to deal with Covid, and in extreme cases still hospitalizing and or dyeing due to the Corona Virus.  

The biggest change in the human condition is the psychology of the people.  I'm noticing a shorter tolerance level out of the masses than normal.  The tension level is way high and folks are starting to suffer the long term effects of stress.  We collectively have been traumatized by the pandemic.  We have all suffered an impact that will have ramifications for generations to come.

I work in a High School where tolerance levels are supposed to be larger and more poignant.  Instead what I'm seeing after only three weeks back with the students, is that the students can not handle a little pressure to get work done and in on time, that the adults and staff all have symptoms of long term stress similar to that of the end of the school year, and on all fronts, emotional break downs both depressive and aggressive, are happening more and more everyday.  

What then is the solution?  The adult staff are trained on how to approach children that are under these stressors, but since everyone is affected that approach is running into a push me pull you event.  It's hard watching the councilor of a student become the one who needs guidance multiplying the original problem.  Is this what it looks like when society as a whole begins to loose their collective sanity? What do we do?

There are people with the tools to help.  These folks are not in the regular known circles of the many and often sit back in the darker places watching.  These are the modern Shaman.  In today's world there is a shift happening.  More and more human interaction is taking place on Holistic levels.  When this becomes a regular occurrence, the people gathering become the new mystical teachers, the Shaman, the Medicine keeper of ancient wisdoms.  It is only beginning to surface on a whole level.  We have always been there, but the tipping point has finally pivoted and those in pain are beginning to seek out the help.

My solution is to get up very early every morning and perform my Morning Dancing and let my Taiji loose upon the world.  I have a group that has recently called for my lessons, and it is growing.  That is my solution, there are many.  What ever one chooses to use as a valve to let the stresses out should be taken into serious consideration.  What I am noticing is not a positive trend in the people. 

More Holistic practitioners does not mean that the whole of the majority will seek out the help.  Only a few do on a regular basis.  Everything helps.  I'm hoping that the energies shift and start to balance rationality and irrationality.  Yin Yang in all it's outcomes.  

Wuji is chaos.  If Master Wu wakes from his creative dream humanity is doomed.  What will we do?

Peace and Balance,

John


Thursday, September 22, 2022

P320, Who's Responsible?

 


I used to be a pretty good shot.  I was employed by the Dept. of Defense and had to re-certify my skills every year.  We shot a lot, so I got fairly good at it.  It has been many years since I've been a real good shot.  Things like that tend to rust if you don't practice the skills necessary to keep the eye honed.  I however have since gone through some minor eye surgery and have a brand new lens in my right eye.  It's almost, "Bionic."  So I'm kind of curious if my shooting hasn't improved.

A couple of my bestest buds are very good shots.  One was employed by the same outfit I was, different branch, but has retained his prowess.  The other, well He grew up in the hills of Northern New Hampshire. Nuff said.  They both have offered to take me out shooting and help me regain my marksmanship.  I may take them up on the offer just cause I used to like shooting.  

Sig Sauer is a New Hampshire based weapons manufacturer.  They create and build various types of hand guns as well as military style rifles for law enforcement and others.  Recently in the news it has come out that Sig Sauer's P320 handgun has a long history of being defective.  The main badness is that it shoots either prematurely or without the trigger mechanism being pulled.  According to the, "Stoddard Firm". a firm that specializes in catastrophic injury and death cases, the P320 has been the result of many injuries, some of them serious, and a few deaths due to it's defectiveness.  

According to their website, Sig Sauer is refusing to recall the weapon and fix the problem or re-create a gun to replace it.  Now, I can understand the financial ramifications as just about every policing agency in the United States does business with Sig, but where's the responsible business ethic that we in this country are supposed to be proud of?  It seems the state of doing business in this government has deteriorated considerably. 

The government has yet to step up and force the issue as well.  Even though some of our top policing officers from Washington are also carrying the P320.  Local Police Departments are beginning to investigate the weapon and possible new companies to purchase from. However, much of the damage has already been done and some long drawn out law suits are being filed, according to Stoddard.  A crying shame.

I may take up my friends on the lessons and improve my expertise, but I think I will stick to my ole friend the service revolver I got to keep after leaving Gov. service.  It works and is fairly indestructible.  I will not become a Sig Sauer customer.  

Peace and Balance,

John


 

Wednesday, September 21, 2022

A Distortion in Terror



 Fear is a strange thing.  We all experience it, we all feel it.  If a person says to you, "I don't feel fear." or "I'm not afraid of anything."  That person is either lying to you or psychotic.  There are a few mental/emotional disorders where the individual hasn't the ability to experience their emotions. In some instances there is treatment for the disorder, in other's there is no treatment.  But, this is not the discussion here.

Fear can cause several reactions in the human being.  First off the person experiencing the terrifying event will run away.  The instinct kicks in and they are gone away from the thing causing the stress.  Second, the person freezes in place unable to move.  Some individuals have a locking mechanism imbedded within them that stops them from moving when terrified.  We call this the deer in the headlights syndrome.  This is why so many animals that are considered prey end up feeding the predators'.  The fear of the event freezes them in place making an easy and tasty meal for the Lion doing the munching.  People are the same, some of us freeze and become the victims of our own fears.  Third place, a trigger is switched in the victim and they automatically strike.  They become the mirror image of what is causing the stress.  In life these people end up on the short end of the stick legally because they often beat the snots out of the original aggressor so when the police arrive on scene the victim has become the attacker.  ooops.  

There is an old Yaqui ceremony where the Medicine Carrier gives the experiencer a certain amount of peyote to ingest.  This has the effect of distorting every part of their so called reality.  The experiencer might fall asleep on a floor, and the Medicine Carrier would place a cricket on the floor at eye level of the sleeping "Dolman" a term I use for a out of body/mind Peyote Ceremony experiencer.  

When they wake the first thing seen is the cricket crawling in front of their eye view.  Because of the distorted perception this little bug may look like a giant.  In the mind of the viewer the giant may be a monster, or an angel depending on the mind set of the person.  In either sense the first thing usually experienced is utter terror.  At this point the Medicine Carrier talks the victim through the experience and trains them on how to deal with the fear.  This more often than not takes a few goes at it and many "training" sessions.  This may sound mean as hell, but if done properly a Yaqui warrior was psychologically unbeatable.  He may even achieve the status of Toltec, a Mayan word originally saved for Sorcerers.  Not a race of people.  This was a mistake, but I digress.  

Distorted Terror then becomes either a tool for gaining power, or a tool for irrationalizing the poor victim of the ceremony.  My Grandfather would wander both worlds.  Maybe that's where I get it from.

Peace and Balance,

John

Tuesday, September 20, 2022

Let's have a talk.



 People have engaged in a new form of communication.  This communication is stealing the ability to have a verbal conversation away from young folk below the age of 30ish.  A group of Younguns will sit in the same room silently tap, tap, tapping upon this new fangled devise that was not in existence when I was that age, the Cell Phone.

The Cellular phone is a relatively new invention as far as technology goes.  In our living memories we above a certain age can remember a time before there was any technology at all that could communicate across the void with no attachments to any wires.  When I was a teen, I'm not indulging the amount of time spanning that void, but when I was a teen it was not uncommon to find young ladies wrapped up in the coils of telephone receiver wires after a few minutes of deep verbal communication with another teen, or, heaven forbid, a boy.  At least these forms of communication involved using the subtleties of the voice to get the message across to the listener.  Even today, when engaged in a conversation, with the phone part of the Cell Phone, there is a verbal thing happening to pass information with.  Incredible.

Now we return to the Younguns tap, tap, tapping all in one room.  The thing that gets to me is these presumably intelligent beings are tapping to each other.  They are holding whole conversations with each other in the same room, heads down, no eye contact, just the occasional snicker and head nod.  All this while, "Texting" to each other in the same dang room.  Gee wiz.

Ok, I'm a school teacher by trade.  I have worked years at honing my ability to verbally communicate with a certain amount of flair and presents.  Because of the generation I abide in I have the ability to have a rational conversation, verbally, with others of my ilk.  

Somewhere in the 80's or even as early as the 90's, a gentleman named Jobs began systematically destroying the conversational skills of our youth.  Shame, for Shame on him.  

When I was young Apple was either a fruit or a real good record label.  I would have never dreamed what was to come.  I will never be caught off guard in such a nature before.  I am on vigilant watch out for other aliens, like this Job's character, lurking in the fields of our young.  Be afraid, be very afraid.

Peace and Balance,

John

Monday, September 19, 2022

Body Language can foretell

 


I'm pretty good at figuring out how a person is doing mentally by watching their body language.  I can see subtle shifts in breathing and physical strains in muscles that include tightening jawlines and clinching of fists.  The eyes are a tell tale sign that something is up as well.  A person who is undergoing emotional stress will often have widened eye cavities giving them that quazi psychotic look we've all seen in popular thriller movies.  Alfred Hitchcock was a master of this genre. 

Early in the morning one of my duties for school is to welcome students into the building.  I am there as a spreader of happiness, to make the beginning of the day a glorious one, and to keep a watchful eye for potential, "Evil Doers."  

You can tell when some no good is on the mind of a teen.  Teenagers have an instinctual paranoia that exudes from them like sap oozing out of a maple tree in the fall.  When they are pondering the possibility of being Bad, they tend to go through some fairly expressive paranoid body language.  If you're above a certain age you know what I'm talking about possibly from watching the activities of your own children. I find all of this quite entertaining.

In today's world we grown up types have even a greater responsibility of picking up on body language as it comes into our senses.  We must determine if what we are sensing is just normal comings and goings, or if we feel the possibility of some of that Badness.   Being prepared is at least half the battle in warding of potential things that could happen, heaven forbid.  

I won't go into any examples of Bad things happening in different locations, we have all been made very aware of the things that can and do happen to ill minds when left to operate.  Training, practice and awareness are the strongest tools that I can suggest to ward off these possibilities.  Professionally we that work in the public setting are required to study, and re-study these scenarios in order to keep the training fresh in our minds.  This keeps us better prepared.  And in turn we share our awareness with the children under our wings.   

If we could all take lessons in reading and engaging in another's body languages, we might all have better tools to ward off the possibility of an exchange with potential evil doers.  

Peace and Balance,

John

Sunday, September 18, 2022

The Whole Truth and Nothin But the Truth



 This blog entry comes complete with a disclaimer.  Within it you will read some uncharacteristic language. That is I will be swearing a bit more than I already do.  If reading these kinds of words injures your ears and bruises your sensibilities stop here and wait till the next one.  If not, well then read on and enjoy...

If you've been reading this blog for awhile you know that I am a martial artist.  I practice all sorts of physical ways to engage and disengage the human body from the human experience.  One of our unspoken mottos at, "The School Of The Silent Warrior," is to not fall into the trapping of Bull Shit.  That is the phony story telling of the Mac Dojo types that would make you believe and or think things are happening within their walls that sound magical.   The beginnings of the Bull Shit I am referring to.  

I do a lot of research on other styles and practitioners of the energy game.  I watch videos on the all seeing YouTube, of these mystical masters of the arts doing things that seem impossible.  You to can whiteness the goings on.  You'll see masters of the arts waving hands around causing students to loose their footing and fall all over themselves without being touched by the master, he just uses his, "Qi".  This all looks fantastic.  The doer of the deed has supernatural abilities and his students fall all over themselves with no control over their own physical selves.  This is all Bull Shit.  

For instance, I've been practicing and teaching Taiji Quan for over 40 years and have yet to intentionally cause my students to fly across the room by means of a magical energy.  Instead we at the School Of The Silent Warrior, practice and don't let the thing happen unless it actually happens.  I am fortunate to have two very loyal students who have been hanging around for most of 30 years.  Neither one of them is going to placate my ego by letting me Bull Shit myself into believing something has happened when it hasn't.  Tim and Adam are my testing ground.  I test these theories on them, if it works we keep the information and let it grow with us, if it doesn't work we let the energy go back into the void from which it came.  The stuff of Sung.  

I watched a so called Qi Master take on a challenge from a Jiujitsu Master.  Before the match the Qi Master worked with a group of his students waving his arms around while his students seemingly couldn't control themselves.  They flew around flopping on the ground unable to approach the Qi Master.  This is an example of a group of students so wanting to believe in a masters abilities that they will unconsciously do anything to make the master look good.  The side effect, a Deluded Qi Master who believes his own Bull Shit.  A dangerous place to be. 

The Jiujitsu Master was very quiet standing in an opposite corner waiting.  After all the paper work was completed and waivers signed the Jiujitsu Master removed his Hakama and waited in the center of the ring in what looked like a regular Karate Gi.  The Qi Master approached waving his hands around. As soon as they got within a certain distance of each other a whistle blew the beginning of the match.  The Qi Master tried getting close, but the Jiujitsu Master just waited.  When the Qi Master got close enough the Jiujitsu Master rotated and delivered a round kick to his opponents head so hard that the Qi Master hit the floor hard and stayed down.  The ring Doctor had the Qi Master removed from the ring on a litter. and stretcher. The Qi Master was defeated by his own delusions. He had walked headlong into the trap and believed things he should have known better. 

The things of the mind that get loose often infect the minds of the practitioner before it infects the minds of the observer.  Don't fall into the trap. 

We all try to reach Jedi heights.  Few rarely get there. The ones who do are not fooled by disquieted minds...

Peace and Balance,

John




Saturday, September 17, 2022

Creating Sacred Space

 


Sometimes we do it intentionally, sometimes we do it accidentally, sometimes it happens by chance, but sacred spaces have been laid down in places all around the globe since the globe was a thing.  Creating a place of power, a sacred space properly is a process that takes time, patience, and a certain amount of focus.  We would not want to create a space full of Chaos and mirth.  This would be a bad thing and unfortunately this happens more times than it should to maintain proper energetic balance.  There are groups of individuals that like to create Chaos and torture the energies of the Earth.  This is not the process I am prescribing to, these are the acts of madmen. 

Sacred Space or Places of Power are areas where human kind  have gathered for millennia to commune with nature and each other in hopes to understand the nature of themselves, the universe and our parts in it.  When like minded individuals gather repeatedly in one area with the intentions of harmonizing and balancing Karmic energies, in themselves and their environments; through the collecting of energies, the Earth responds in kind and will bring to the party the Medicine, the Earth Majick to fill that space that is being called for.  

This process should be done respectfully.  There should be no Ego.  Hubris should be left behind.  Remember the ancient myths, those who suffer the weight of Hubris usually die at the hands of angry gods.  I don't want to die at the hand of angry gods, do you?  Hell no we won't go. 

Creating Sacred Space is relatively easy.  Pick a spot that you feel comfortable in, that makes you happy.  Find a place you can bring friends that will help you share the joy of life and the experience of living and learning from it.  Enjoy your friendship, commune with your friends and share a bit of bread, wine, coffee.  Within this space bring the body, bring the blood, (that's metaphor for you) and bring the story.  The Majick will follow.  The Mother will provide.  The Earth will sing your songs to the stars. Do these things with purpose and intention and you to will enjoy the pleasures of Sacred Space.

Peace and Balance,

John

Friday, September 16, 2022

The Road to Shangri-La



 Many moons ago I chose a path that may seen a little obscure to most.  It is a road that winds and twists around the many obstacles and stones that always find their way to the front of your view.   Navigating the road is part of the joy of traveling this chosen trek.  This is a life journey, one of learning, sharing, and ever changing enlightenment, a road to awakening.

In my journey I try to bring as many along the ride as I can get into the canoe.  This path travels the many media that find ways into our personal environments.  We walk, we swim, we fly, and we dream our ways into what we might or might not call reality.  Reality is a fluid thing.

I have expressed a certain truth to many of the other followers of similar paths.  I say to them, I am in search of immortality, this is only half in jest.  When you wake with memories that don't quite fit into your daily life, nor do they fit into what is classically considered the right sized vessel.  You might decide to take a close look at your experience, you might find that in certain respects you are a lot older than you remember.  This is one of the symptoms of recognizing your own immortality.  Welcome.

In the ancient myth from a multitude of cultures world wide there are stories of people that seem to out live the popular fables of that generation.  The stories of these individuals have lived in our histories from the beginning.  These beings, be they memories, phantoms, ghosts, spirits, or actual living beings are the immortals of our past.  These are our ancient ones, our masters, our guides, and yes some are still with us.

Breaking the news that there are immortals amongst us sounds absolute pathetically nuttier than a fruit cake, but it is true.  How else would we have the mythology and fables that teach us the providence of being good verses evil.  If these beings did not live through our stories neither good nor evil would be a thing and we minor little creatures called human kind would be a race of boring blobs of goo.

So, only half in jest do I preach a path towards attaining ones own immortality.  Leads many to say, "Hey how the hell old is that guy anyways?"

Peace and Balance,

John 

Thursday, September 15, 2022

Getting Old Sucks

 


This morning I woke, rolled out of bed, and started my daily thing as usual with the respectful bow and homage that I pay to the Keurig gods, and I am very grateful for their delightful and nutritive drink, without which I would still be comatose.

  I began my exercise regime and quickly began realizing something was missing.  I noticed that the pain I usually feel in my deltoids and atop my shoulders is gone-ish.  Now I say ish because I don't want to curse myself with that, "I should have kept my dang mouth shut thing." But hey, the shoulders feel pretty darn good today.  You see, I am and old fellow and usually feel the aches and pains of past owies.  However, one of my students, Adam, is a Master strength trainer and has gifted me with some stretchy power rubber band thingys along with a couple You Tube video suggestions and a short lesson on how to use the darn things.  As a result I feel no Pain in the Neck and Shoulders, life is good. Thank you Adam.

I've added a short strength training routine into the middle of my Qigong and Taiji practice.  It breaks up the breathing and relaxing with some intense holding the pose sort of thing.  The bands give constant resistance without that herky jerky motion that can often come with dumbbells' or a barbell routine.  Which is how I believe I created the original damage a long time ago.

In my youth I was into power lifting as a strength training system to support my athletic endeavors.   It accented my Wrestling, and Judo/Jiujitsu training very well.  Grapplers that have a certain amount of physical strength usually have an extra card in the game.   However, it is important to keep a healthy balance between strength training and flexibility training.  A grappler that is built like a tank, but has no flexibility to use the muscles he's created will just be a big pile on the floor with a better grappler saying nice things to him from the better position as the big bulky guy is forced to  tap out, but I digress.  A rule of thumb: All things being even, the stronger more flexible warrior will win.  

Any who, I noticed no pain!  I am very careful these days about putting myself into situations that create pain, I don't.  I have done things to myself in the past that have left life long scars and owies upon my bod.  The less pain I have from one of these places the better.  I feel like I've stepped over another personal hurdle in my search for immortality.  

So, my advise to any athlete, or non athlete, normal, or non-normal, practitioner of any kind of Kung Fu, take some, "Wise" time and go slow and work on your stuff for the long game, not the short one. When you wake up one day and don't recognize that old fellow looking back at your from the other side of the mirror, you'll remember my advise and thank yourself.

Peace and Balance,

John

   

Wednesday, September 14, 2022

Hand grenades', we don't need no stinking Hand grenades'

 


I heard a nasty news worthy rumor.  It was that Russia and or Ukraine, have threatened each other with a nuclear strike if the other doesn't back off.  This was aired on the heals of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe being shelled by both or one of the parties at war in the region.  

Now, I'm not 100 percent sure how that would play out in Europe, but I can guarantee that it would effect the rest of the world.  The first warning came in the threat of a possible melt down of Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant.  This plant has 6 cooling towers that work independently of the others.  So, it is possible to shut down sections of the plant and still have one or two sections operating.  When rockets and heavy arms are flying by I'm not sure running any part of the plant is a good idea. 

The Russians had control of the facility when they finally conceded to having members of the Nuclear Regulatory Committee inspect the plant.  Russian officials claimed it was operational and not in danger.  The committee members came back with another observation, "The Facility is indeed in danger of becoming a toxic scar upon the face of that part of Europe."  

After the Nuclear Regulatory Committee published the report and released it to the press, a joint operation of both Russian operators, and Ukrainian operators began shutting down the facility.  This is not as easy as it sounds.  It seems that when a Nuke plant goes operational there are several steps that have to be taken to safely shut it down, and shutting it down doesn't necessarily mean it's shut off.  Radioactive rods are always radioactive regardless of use, off or not.  This does not give me a warm fuzzy feeling.

Russia made the first threat of a nuclear strike.  Weather they were just barking nobody knows, but ignoring it would be a mistake.  Then Ukraine made and interesting threat.  They threatened to lobe short range tactical nuclear weapons over the border.  Russia backed off, and Ukraine has remained on alert.  Ukraine has some of the worlds nastiest arsenal.  This stayed with them after the initial split from Russia. 

This past week Ukraine has made several surprise attacks and pushed much of Russia's fighting machine out of their territory.   What will come of this, who knows?

I am familiar with Combat Engineering.  I know what can happen unexpectedly after a plan is put into place.  There are always outcomes that the Engineer forgot to account for.  This percent of error has always been worked into our tactics, that is the United States.  Shhh, this is a known secret, but we Americans trained the Ukrainian Army.  We gave them some pretty cool weapons, and tech that would make your toes curl.  It seems to me that we are witnessing a minor probability if Russia's Warsaw Pact ever decided to play war with NATO.  In my opinion, they would die...

Peace and Balance,

John

Tuesday, September 13, 2022

What's in a Name

 


As you can tell by my little Buddha persona, I'm not strictly a Christian.  Nor, am I strictly a Buddhist, or Taoist, or Jew, or Muslim, I am an everything.  I am a Native American who practices his cultures belief structure, I am also an Irish American that plays with rocks, and I am a teacher who is a consummate student.  I believe a spiritual person is a learned person.  A learned person passes on their knowledge to those who are seeking the enlightenment of the learning.  A man or person of knowledge.  

I have occasionally been the victim of nontolerant folk who believe that their way is the only way and if you don't prescribe to their particular belief system, Boo.  I have been threatened with Damnation, various levels of purgatory, and the possibility of paying penance for a millennium.  Hey why not, I'm willing to help seekers find enlightenment, the passage of time has no effect on my spirit.  

A question pops up when I think about differing belief structures, "Who is this God fellow anyways?"

That seems to be a prevailing question with individuals that are on paths that lead to many answers, not just one.  Who is God, and am I able to ask him questions, and if I ask God questions am I going to get an answer back that I can understand without opening my handy dandy translation book?  

Let's take a look at a popular translation book, "The Holy Bible."  There are three groups of believers that follow the protagonist in this Book, that being, "God".  Those three groups are, in order of appearance are. "The Jewish people," "The Christians," and, "The Muslims".  Each one of which reads and follows that same Book.  Each generation has additions to the Book. There are stories added as the new generation populates an area.  

The people search for answers with each generation and the adding of new people or a new culture with the same story that has only been modified and retold to each succession of believers.  Same story, many languages, different locations, and different times all over the globe with different names for the same deity.  So, who is this God fellow anyways?

Peace and Balance,

John

Monday, September 12, 2022

He's such a good Boy.

 


I work with Kids.  Not your run of the mill kids mind you, but the kind of kid that will say something that will cause the hair on the back of your neck to raise and set of the flight or fight instinct we all have.  These children need assistance in their daily lives with social and emotional issues.  They need someone to  be there that will play the Devil's advocate and be that little whisper that sits upon their shoulder.  Or, be willing to tackle said child and hold them down until that authorities, and psych. arrive on scene.

I had a client during one of my more challenging years that presented himself and an outgoing, normal 14 year old boy.  Happy, smiling all the time and asking all sorts of questions about things like, movies, comic books, music, etc.  Things every 14 year old American boy would be interested in, so you'd think.  

This Childs behavior changed drastically.  He became paranoid, quiet, and was always watching.  My job was to take notes on everything the child does and how he acts, as simple as I can.  And, give this intel to the proper authority, either the Case Manager in charge or the School Psychologist.    I'm a glorified spy with a teaching degree.  A job I'm quite used to.  

After handing over the notes to the Case Manager, and a short discussion, the Boy was taken into the School Psychologists office and asked some seemingly benign questions.  That's above my pay grade, I'm just the info. grabber and deliverer. Ya know, spy.  

While the boy was in the guidance office being subtly questioned by the psych, the local authority was going through the youngsters locker and back pack.  He didn't know this was happening.  After the search the local authority appeared in the office door, I was sitting quietly this whole process doing what I do taking notes.  I was asked by the psych to meet him in the hall.  We were introduced to a peace officer who was going to take control for the present care of the child so I could confer with my colleagues.  

I was shown a hit list.  My name was on the top followed by his regular classroom teacher, a few other students, family members, etc. and, a note explaining his reasoning, and a written detailed plan on how he was going to pull the caper off.  The State Police drove the young man directly to a state facility for mentally challenged youth.  

This child was pulling off the best "Normal" act you could possibly think of, and doing it very well.  We skirted a catastrophe.  Taking good notes and not being afraid to stick your neck out just a little bit can often keep the Coroner at bay and save the day.  

This is only one example, there are many, However, those who have stood facing the wind fearing not the sting of the hail peering deep into the abyss will understand...

Peace and Balance,

John

Sunday, September 11, 2022

General, I don't draw.

 


They asked me to sit in a room with my back to the wall and write down everything I thought was going on in the other room.  That included anything I might have heard through the wall.  This was the first experience I had after being reassigned to Pease AFB Newington, NH.  

Presumably the Airmen in the opposite room where up to nefarious no good stuff.  Unfortunately they apparently where smart enough not to get caught.  Believe it or not the Air Force is big on due process and won't prosecute, at least at that time, until they have evidence, or a reason to gain entry to get the evidence.  That's where I came in.  

This operation was an out layer of a larger program called, "Sunfire."  Sunfire was a program where the DOD (Dept. of Defense) would give young soldiers tests to see just how psychic they might be.  The thing is, you might not know your being tested until it's to late, the bastards.

I really wasn't a very good Airman.  Depending on what they called me, Sargent this, Captain that, determined the type of job I was going to be given.  Sargent this got busted back to airman for a series of not so minor fringes in the Code of Military Justice.  Captain that just quietly disappeared.  

I sat with my back to the wall doodling pictures of what I thought was going on next door. The walls were pretty paper thin so figuring out what was said was a snap.  I wrote, drew, swore, and ate cold pizza until the neighbors all passed out.  Then I collected up my data and left to report to the smallest non-descript office on base.  I gave a report, handed over the paperwork, and went home to sleep for two days straight.

When I returned to base I was ordered to report to the First Shirt.  Earlier that morning three airmen were arrested for narcotics trafficking and sales on a Federal instillation.  I never saw any of them again.  I was ordered to sign a nondisclosure agreement.  Which was ass nine considering I was in the military and only had to be told to keep my mouth shut.  I wasn't going to talk about it anyways, the whole thing sounds bat shit crazy.  

Six months after this event my unit and I were poised just off the far side of the Great Pyramid waiting for orders to go into Iraq.  The Egyptians are our friends and let us use their airfields for a staging events.  That was the last time.  I don't know what happened.  But, they were pissed.  That was the early eighties.  

A few months after this event I was no longer in the employ of the DOD, and was residing in our fair town, up here in Northern New Hampshire.  Reality has shifted, and my memory wanes, but today I am to damn old to play their game any more.  Besides, they would have to admit we exist...

Peace and Balance,

John

Saturday, September 10, 2022

Something Funny happened on the way to AI

 


Today was Saturday so of course I was spending my day stocking shelves, arraigning product, and making sure what it says goes here or there is what it is.  This is my life at Walmart.  Fortunately I'm only tortured by Wally Hell on the week ends.  

Today I experienced an almost perfect example of synchronicity.  Before I start I have to explain, that this story is 100 percent true.  I haven't changed the language, nor the experience.  The story is written exactly the way it happened.  You determine the meaning.

After my lunch period from Walmart I clocked back in and started arraigning my cart.  I walked out of the storage room and saw my supervisor setting up an end cap of "Mason Canning Jars".  Now if you've been reading this blog for any length of time you'll know by now that I can be just a tad compulsive.  So, I walked up to the supervisor and asked, very seriously, "Why do they call it Canning when they use Glass Jars?"   There was a small crowed of coworkers standing around and thought the question was humorous.  

The supervisor immediately pulled our her I Phone and pushed the microphone button and spoke into the phone, "Google, Why is it called Canning when you are filling up Glass Mason Jars?"

Google replied almost immediately, "Query: unusual. It's actually called preserving, unless you come from a place with a strange accent."  I Sh*t you not.  

I am originally from Montana and occasionally slip into a Western Drawl, but when I originally moved to New Hampshire I couldn't understand a damn thing any one said to me.  Then I moved up to the Northern reaches of the state to Berlin, where the language is an interesting mix of English, French, and other stuff.  However, the difference between Canning and Preserving is huge.  

As strange as the accents of Northern New England can be, I do believe Google has a sense of humor.  

What's next, John Connor?   (A reference to Terminator)

Peace and Balance,

John




Friday, September 9, 2022

Elizabeth II

 


Occasionally in our world there are individuals that achieve greatness.  These people rise to a level that most of us can only aspire to.  We call these people, "the Giants."  They have become the new Nephilim.  Mortal, but more, beyond mortal, existentially Demigods. 

We have just witnessed the passing of one of these individuals.  Elizabeth II, the Queen of England passed away quietly in her sleep less than a week after welcoming in the new British Prime Minister, Liz Truss into the political fold of Europe.  Lilybeth, as she called herself was strong and brite up to the last of her days here.  Behind her blue eyes one could see the smoldering of wisdom gained through age and a lifetime of practicing the art of people.  She was a Master.

Queen Elizabeth II was a longest reigning monarch in British history, ruling as Queen a total of 70 years, a mind boggling feat.  When she became Queen, sir Winston Churchill was her first Prime Minister.   We have to put that into context.  Sir Winston was one of the main actors in the defeat on Nazi Germany, and a major player in the downfall and eventual death of Adolf Hitler.  Sir Winston was a giant himself.  Elizabeth eventually overshadowed even him.

Harry Truman was the first American President that the then Princess Elizabeth met.  She stayed in the White House as a guest.  Her first meeting with a US President as Queen was President Eisenhower.  She has met with every President since then.  A true accomplishment.  

Queen Elizabeth II, a giant amongst we mere mortals, will be remembered forever for her personable nature, her truth, justice, and ability to go with the flow.  I stopped short of writing and the American way because obviously, she was British, and that's Superman's thing.  

Lilybeth, bon-voyage, we send you off into the light with Phillip.  Enjoy...

Peace and Balance,

John

   



Thursday, September 8, 2022

Something New

 


New things come and go.  New starts, new beginnings, and new endings.  The newness of things gives them an attractive quality, a magnetism.  New things look appealing at the start, and often wear out their welcomes half way through the experience when the individual experiencing the new thing realizes a certain difficulty level.  Then the newness wears off, and it becomes an old thing.  

Old things can become new again when the experiencer has a need for something new, and returns to the original new thing with a fresh outlook.  The more the thing is experienced the more it becomes a regular thing and the experiencer becomes the master of the thing.  

Being a things master practitioner isn't always a positive thing.  It is sometimes the negative thing as the experiencer gets caught in the things wake and is trapped.  This trap can be unescapable.  It becomes a self imposed hell, one of the experiencers own making, a manifest destiny.

Experience new things, with fresh eyes.  Be as positive as the experience with allow you to be. Find solstice in the things itself.  You might just wake up, enlightened. 

Peace and Balance,

John

Wednesday, September 7, 2022

Who's Science?



 Mass is the measure of the amount of Matter an object is made up of, in grams.  Matter is the stuff things are made up of that have Mass and occupy space.  Gravity is the force of attraction of one object on another in relation to their respective Masses, and my Weight is Gravity's effect on my physical Mass.  This relationship is responsible for my Volume, which is the amount of space I occupy, and is  contained in me.  Now we are standing before Space.  Each of these elements combined create Space, and Time is the Gravitational relationship between these Elements and Space.  

What then is Physical Science, but the study of all of these Pieces within our Space interwoven within the properties of Gravity?  Science is the empirical study of a question through experimental means that can be repeated and proven or disproven.  

All the ramblings above represent the collage of a lesson given in a 90 minute class to High School Freshman.  Each part of the lesson was examined and re-examined until it was apparent that the students could verbalize their own understanding of the subject matter.  It will have to be re-examined again.  

Young minds can naturally understand and assimilate the Metaphysical in the Physical Science.  Children accept unseen things where adults seal them up in years of self doubt.  Our Science is not their Science.  Which is the correct Science?  

But if we would open our minds and allow ourselves the liberty of youth.  Travel to places our children and grandchildren have resided for generations.  It is said that the truth of the Universe is housed within the mind of a child.  To see the truth is to look through a child's eyes.  

Galileo, Newton, Tesla, and Einstein all had the mind of a child and could see that which we can not.  Is it possible that our Universal Mind is that of a child, that God is an adolescent?  How dare I say? I dare...

Peace and Balance,

John

Tuesday, September 6, 2022

The Messenger



 A summertime sunset set in a tapestry of pinks and blues, hues of gold and white wisp on soft rays of silver.  In the distance a lone eagle soars high just above the pink into the dark blue.  A lonely cry can be heard as she climbs ever higher closer to the sun than any other can go.  

On the floor of the canyon sits a feathered warrior who carries the weight of past sins.  Looking skyward he spies the bird and hears the forlorn cry carried on the wind.  Starting quietly a murmur of a drum builds up until it can be felt more than heard.  Beats from within responding from without, the great heart carries the beat until the Eagle responds and soars by.  

For an instant the Great Eagle and the Warrior meet eye to eye each understanding the other.  The Bird turns sharply and a lone plume floats spiraling to the canyon floor in front of the Warrior.  He screams a tremolo loudly and crisply following the heavenly messenger as she flies West into the unknown.  A tear stains the Warriors cheek as his eyes follow her path.

Sunset of pinks and blues, hues of gold and white wisp traveling on soft rays of silver, and on the canyon floor sits a lone Warrior, waiting, just waiting...

Peace and Balance,

John

Monday, September 5, 2022

The Cure

 

What fervor burns in the hearts of men?  What lament has made human kind what it is?  How have we collectively reached this point in our history where our world has taken up a war against us, her children?  It has recently been announced in the news, that the melting of the ice on Greenland will raise the water levels of the oceans by more than a foot.  Apparently it will happen and there is nothing we can collectively do to stop the melt, the damage has been done.

The powers of the globe look upon this catastrophe and still choose to ignore the truth that unveils before them.  Science has shown the leaders of the nations what will happen in the face of environmental global collapse, but the leaders have turned a blind eye, worrying more about the pockets of the wealthy and ignoring the welfare of the masses.  

Answering the hubris of human nature, the Goddess, the Earth, is judging us and condemning us with our own maladies.  We are the victims of our own making.  The waters pour from Greenland because mankind has poured poison into the atmosphere of our Mother finely making it impossible for that atmosphere to heal the contamination through natural means.  We have unbalanced the natural order of the environment and that environment is shuddering, and the wake is going to clean the infection off of the face of Earth.  We, Humankind, is that infection.  

If we take a hard look at the workings of humankind, our biological processes, and our relationships with each other as well as the planet, we will discover that humans are not a natural occurrence on the Earth. We are out of order in our space here, we are unbalanced beings in a balanced nature.  Nature without humans naturally balances itself.  The biological functions of the planet function in order. The environmental balances of the planet, without humankind, would function holistically and harmonically on it's own. Introduce humans in the mix, and the whole energy system of the environment unbalances and slowly starts feeding off itself in order to balance again.  Because we are not a natural part of this planet there is no natural balancing that can be done.  Only time is a recourse.  And ours is up.

In a few thousand years the new inhabitants of this realm will look upon the remains of a once great legacy of the past wondering who, when, and how it all stopped.  Just as we do today of the new past's we are finding.  Until we learn where we actually come from, and who we are, we are doomed to repeat this cycle over, and over.  Until we return to the Stars... 

Peace and Balance,

John

Sunday, September 4, 2022

Living on Olympus

 


The Greek gods of old demanded that the humans love them and worship them.  Through this worship and subjugated love the gods subsisted and existed.  The day that people stop worshiping the gods and stop believing in them, they will die, or as close to death as a god can be, "disbelief."  When the people stop believing the belief stops being.

The King of the Gods is Zeus, and with the help of his other two brothers, Hades, and Poseidon, killed their father Kronos the Titan.   Kronos was guilty of eating his children for fear that someday one of his sons would usurp his throne and kill him.  Zeus implored Hades to create a beast so powerful and dangerous that it could destroy Kronos.   What it did was piss Kronos off and he devoured his children anyways.  Zeus fooled Kronos into believing that he had been eaten as well by feeding him a large stone.  When Kronos was sleeping Zeus cut him up into several pieces and tossed him into the pit of Tartarus. Then Zeus freed his siblings and became the King of the Olympian Gods.  

The three oldest brothers, Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon, each split the Earth (Gaia) into three physical planes for each to rule.  Zeus, the King of the Gods, chose the Terra Firma, (the Lands and the Skies), Poseidon, was given by Zeus, the Seas of the Earth to rule and live, and Hades was given the Darkness and the Underworld.  Hades was not happy about this, He was jealous of Zeus thinking himself the deserver to be King.   Hades and Zeus argued about being King, Hades lost and Zeus banished him to his realm.  

Each of these realms cannot exist without the others.  Take one away and the other two cease to exist. One thousand years after the Three defeat Kronos, Zeus creates humankind and then the real trouble begins. He creates an edict and forces humankind to worship the Gods.  

Things went on pretty good until Lord Zeus started visiting Gaia and having relations with human women.  This really irritated his wife, Hera the Queen of the Gods.  Thus begins the era of the Heroes, and the beginning of the end of the Gods, yet another prophecy that should not be ignored by Zeus.  

According to legend the sons of Zeus wander the Earth doing battle for causes that are Just and Righteous.   If the timelines are correct, we are still living in the time of Heroes, and because of our love of the story, the mythologies and tales of the old ways have kept the Gods alive and well.  The sons of Zeus are about to climb to the top of Olympus and Humankind also will reside with the Gods.  Then they will be our equals.  

Peace and Balance,

John

Saturday, September 3, 2022

Several Stupid Things

 


Ya know sometimes things happen around you and the only reaction that is appropriate is, "That was really Frigging Stupid."  After some time you will reach a saturation point for stupid and it will start oozing out of you as various comments, knee jerk reactions, and the urge to choke the shit out of the stupid one.  Unfortunately  most of the stupid in our modern world is perpetrated by "the Man."  If you're a child of a certain generation you will recognize the term, "the Man" as a reference to the establishment and governing authority.  It is they, "the Man" who initiates more stupid than any other, and this just pisses me off. You?

The first Stupid Thing we will indulge in is:  I was shopping at the end of my shift in, Wal Mart, for some minor needed things for home, snacks, eggs, water, to name a few.  When I visited the self check out; let's look at this for a minute.  The self check out is one of the stupid creations of Wal Mart.  Take the jobs away from competent checkers and rely on only minorly honest town folk.  People that would rob you blind in one instant then be your best friend in another.  This cost Wal Mart thousands of dollars and some rather interesting items.  Things like, Big screen TV's, computers, and hundreds everyday in food.  Then Wal Mart in their infinite wisdom decided to take regular citizens and give them the authority to go through the bags of shoppers and compare the findings with the receipt.  If they match you get to go, if they don't you are delayed and detained until the police arrive to take you to the poky.   By the way, this action is illegal.  However, Wal Mart seems to be getting away with it.  Maybe it has to do with the fact that Wal Mart is the largest business entity of it's kind on the planet.  That holds serious political clout. This is another Stupid Thing that pisses me off. 

Anyways, I was at the check out checking my items, when I scanned a can of pressurized air that I had purchased to clean off some electronics.  The computer that scans items had a message pop up telling the clerk that watches these self check out things to make sure I was over 18 years of age.  That's when some of my tolerance oozed out and I said, "What, you have to be 18 years old to buy a can of Air!?"  This caused a round of laughter from other shoppers.  Another Stupid Thing.  

An other thing that really gets me, especially right now, are the crappy negative political commercials on TV.  They fill us full of lies expecting us to vote for said candidate then they fill us full of more lies. These folks have big enough kehones to take it for granted that we'll all believe their Bull.  Yet another stupid thing.  

As we mature in our lives we all go through several moment where an innocent bystander may get the incredible urge to choke the snots out of us, but he/she abstains to better judgement.  We have become one of the Several Stupid Things without being aware of how we got there.  To the point, the world is full of Several Stupid Things.  Enjoy...

Peace and Balance,

John


Friday, September 2, 2022

The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of Keurig

 


At the beginning of the week the Schmaing clan had a great catastrophe in our household.  As usual I awoke early in the morning to participate in my morning ritual of worshiping at the Holy Coffee Altar, followed by the sacred Morning Dancing.  However, as I was proceeding with the Coffee portion of my morning ritual the Altar at which I obtain the Holy liquid from sputtered once, twice, then drew it's last breath and died.  My Keurig machine was no more.  

I did a diagnostic on the Holy Machine followed by an autopsy.  It was dead and was not returning to do it's duty in magically transforming the Kcup into a fresh cup of Joe.  There was nothing I could do to bring it back.  As I am not a practitioner of the darker arts, I did not create a Zombie from my Keurig machine.  It was not wandering the kitchen in search of brains, nor was it creating an anti coffee.  It was dead.

I remember the day I purchased the holy machine.  It was in a box waiting to serve.  I unpacked it and offered up a first cup to the universe as a solemn vow to the Coffee gods.  It was a good machine and did it's duty for a couple of years.  I was happy and satisfied with it's performance.  

The death of a Keurig comes quickly.  It doesn't linger, or take it's time. It happens all at once.  If I were a conspiracy theorist I might be inclined to think that the machines are created that way on purpose to get the coffee drinkers of the world to purchase a new one every couple years or so.  Over the lifetime of the average coffee worshiping person that could be as much as 4000 dollars in coffee machines, insidious.  

Fortunately I was born well before the birth of the Keurig company.  When I started my worship of the Holy drink, I was but a child and coffee was made on stove tops in aluminum percolators, which are still used world wide and do make a pretty good bean.  Many altars the world has to the creation and filtering of Pejuta Sapa, (Black Medicine).  

Reincarnation is a theme that follows many of the worlds religious.  Reincarnation is the base and beginning of the idea of resurrection.  The question then is, "How do I satisfactorily resurrect my Keurig machine?"  Some heavy duty Majick is called for.

The beginning if this resurrection was a trip to Walmart, where in a hidden corner of the store I found a duplicate model of the machine that had just died in front of me.  It was the same color, same controls, same reservoir.  It was an exact copy of the machine I had been using for the past couple of years.  So I bought it and brought it home just like a lost puppy.  

Unboxing the new Altar to my coffee ceremony was the process of unveiling the new in the face of the old.  After I placed the old carcass of the past Keurig in the box of the new and placed it in a place for the Garbage truck to find on Wednesday's pick up.  All was good in the world.

Water is the substance that is supposed to be the indication of life on planets throughout our Galaxy.  I added to water to the Keurig and tested in by running the water through it.  A successful test was done, and more water run through it the first time it was operated.  To keep it holy a run of Coffee was passed through it and consumed.  

This was the first cup of Joe I had since the beginning of my need for a new Keurig.  The Holy jolt was a much needed boost.  Again my space was back in balance.  

Every two or so years I can look forward to a similar experience, the practice of the Rise, Fall, and Resurrections of the Keurig.  A metaphor of the communion and communication of all people influenced my the Holy Bean.  Thank You Keurig.  

Peace and Balance,

John

Thursday, September 1, 2022

Karma



 What goes around comes around, another way of saying action and reaction.  They say that if you do something to another person what happens to you in return is the Karma created by the action or event that you did to that other person.  If you do good things you'll have good Karma, if you do bad things bad Karma.  The measure of your Karma will determine if you're going to Heaven or if your damned to Hell. 

What I'm going to tell you now is that Karma is non of these things.  Karma is simply the action itself.  If you do a thing, the doing to get to that thing is Karma.  When you do something, what ever it is to whom ever, that doing is the Karma that you are putting into the machine.  The reaction that is created from your doing is Dharma.  Dharma is the collective results of the actions or Karma that you pour into an object, space, time, or place, it is your doing that determines your outcome.  The outcome itself is not Karma.

Now, if you do something with good intentions; you wish the best results for all and the better good, but still a bad thing happens does not necessarily mean that bad things will happen to you.  Often good Karma creates negative Dharma and verse visa.  It is your intentions that count.  I know it sounds counter productive.  You work a lifetime doing good to try to get into Heaven, hoping that your actions will pave the road for you.  That's not how it works.  The road to Hell is paved on good intentions. 

The road to Heaven is paved on the backs of the pious and is preached through the eyes of our children.  Through our Children we see ourselves and are judged accordingly.  A Mother can do no evil through her Childs eyes. Karma is like the cookie you bake for the kids, they either like it or spit it out.  The Karma was baking the cookie, the Dharma was the cookie being spat out, Cause and Effect.

Do thyself no harm and harm not thy friends for everyone is a friend and all are thee.  No Karma, no Dharma, all just is.  

Peace and Balance,

John