Thoughts on the Haitian Earthquake
As I sift through the rubble and shattered lives through the images and videos and news on the internet, my heart feels extremely heavy, and sad. I sit here, in New York City, in the capital of the American financial industry, in one of the crucial centers of wealth and global imperialism, looking through the internet at the wreckage of the earthquake, in one of the many historically impoverished nations in this world. And I wonder, why are the places that are the most in need, the places where the people have so much to lose because they had so little to begin with, the places where the poverty is so high, why are these places continually targeted by natural disasters? The last several major disasters that come to my mind were all regions where many numbers of impoverished people lived.... Haiti, New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina, the SE Asian Tsunami, the Hurricane in Guatemala............ (letting out a deep, sad sigh....)
Why, why why?
One of the thoughts that my mind immediately thinks of is that Haiti (and the Dominican Republic) sits on the island of Hispaniola, the Island that historically was the very first piece of land in all of the "New World" to be "discovered" by the European conquest. The Island that was to become Haiti and the Dominican Republic was originally a fully Native American inhabited island, to a people that were known as the Arawak. A people that were decimated, through out and out genocide and smallpox and other diseases. Not a single Arawak has survived that decimation. They were the first land hit by the Europeans and they scream to me as a symbol of everything that changed the minute that the European conquistadors arrived to the "New World."
And then, the Caribbean became the region for the sorting and distribution of slaves into the New World, for the transport of stolen wealth from Mexico and South America back to Europe, as well as a region that became known for its sugarcane plantations and rum. I remember in my college history classes learning that in the 1700s and 1800s, African slaves were brought to Caribbean Islands and worked so hard in the sugarcane plantations, that in the first two years after their arrival, most of slaves died. But the Europeans didn't care, because there was an endless supply of black skinned slaves to import, so they imported more and worked them until they died. Eventually, courageous slaves, such as the ancestors in Haiti, fought a war against their slave-masters and won their freedom, but lost their potential for wealth in the world of money and business, the Euro-centric ways of life.
It is an outrage that the descendants of people who were brought to the New World as slaves to replace a population of genocidally decimated Native Americans that were not fit to be slaves, on an island that has historically been a place of wealth but became a place of poverty should now be devastated by an earth-borne disaster. In all our folly as a human species, it feels like the ultimate injustice. The financial ruin of our economic recession pales in comparison to the loss of life of tens of thousands or potentially hundreds of thousands of people, especially people who are symbols of the catastrophe of a history of European conquest and greed gone mad. We as a human race need to right these historical wrongs, and need to open our hearts, not only to the heart-breaking devastation of this moment, but to the heart-breaking devastation of history beneath our collective feet.
We are all walking on earth that once bore the bones and bodies of people who have been similarly devastated by the unnatural disasters of arrogance, greed, and total disrespect for other humans and their cultures.
As I look at the pictures of the situation in Haiti, I am visually reminded of Mexico, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, and Costa Rica. There is a common architectural aesthetic design throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. The buildings in the pictures could have been anywhere in Latin America, and they could have been devastating the lives of Mexicans or Puerto Ricans, but instead, Haitians. And despite the differences of the colors of our skin, or our historical lineages, or our place in the strata of economic wealth, we are all, ultimately, human beings -- totally fragile, with the ability to be born and to die, and to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and to be vulnerable to the fragile balance of life that surrounds us all in every moment. No matter where we are, we are always tenuous threads in the fabric of existence, making the connections to the hearts of every other human being.... Whether separated by great distances, or by one arm's length away.
I personally feel that one important step we as a human species on this planet must make, is to deeply apologize to the ancestors and spirits of all the desecrated, devastated, enslaved and genocided beings on this planet (and that includes trees and animals as well) -- and give offerings and prayers, and ask for forgiveness -- in the hope that some of the spirit imbalances can be restored to equanimity, for I feel tremendous anger and sadness in the ethers... We also need to redistribute the imbalance of wealth, and the imbalance of priorities as people in the powerful nations. But really, I cannot but help think that there is a spiritual level to this that wants to be reckoned with, and until it is, disasters will continue to flourish. I see and feel hearts pouring out to contribute help, even in the smallest of ways... But on the levels of consciousness in this culture, I feel that deeper levels need to be addressed. And I hope that the heart-pouring and out-pouring of assistance in times of great disaster, such as this, will crack open the hearts of even more, so that we recognize our common humanity, our common vulnerability and our common need for cooperation to move forward and evolve as a human race into the future.
Nobody is better than another person. Compassion is the only medicine.
Please find a humanitarian relief organization and donate money to help the people in Haiti!
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HAARP PRoject and Haiti earthquake
"Will the transformation."-Rilke
look into
Nikola Tesla's work (scalar technology)
To get some idea of what's possible from UNLIMITED funding of Blackops… For real check out
http://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Truth-Forbidden-Steven-Greer/dp/0967323827
"Condemnation without investigation is the height of ignorance." -- Albert Einstein.
The power of advanced technologies...
Here is another take on the the possibilty that the earthquake in Haiti was the result of HAARP technology:
http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message965951/pg1
Although I am not 100% sold on the idea that HAARP was responsible for this disaster, I am becoming increasingly convinced as I further research into the shadow politics of the true world powers (not necessarily nations) and the extent of technological advances that are kept secret from the public domain. I highly recommend that anyone interested in researching the existence of highly advanced technologies and other important topics relevant to this issue visit www.projectcamelot.org (a website dedicated to making public the testimonies of whistleblowers, both from within the government/military as well as independent scientists and researches whose findings are not exactly popular among the mainstream media).
Peace and love to you all in these exciting yet turbulent times,
-Ryan
Plucking the Harp ... more guns than relief in Haiti
http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/794.html
So they do a test run on Hararp {possible scenario} , and send US army all over the place in the name of relief ........ the very dream of what could be done in Iran as American people slap themselves on the back for their "forced" benevolence.
Any child can play "connect the dots" ... when will the actual pictuire of US political strategies be actually scene for the story it is ....pictiured by the rrest of us .. once and for all
Don't blame Tesla ...
What if I told you that since 1901 there was a KNOWN technology that created electricity 250,000 times better than the technology we used for the last 100 + years; which was TOTALLY CLEAN, generating NO REFUSE and utilizes ZERO NATURAL RESOURCES. It's enough to really MAKE PEOPLE ANGRY. SO, GET REALLY, REALLY MAD!!! And, read this.......DEMAND "ZERO POINT" FREE ENERGY!!!
TESLA'S RADIANT (Dark) ENERGY SYSTEM
1901
by Bruce A. Perreault Brooklyn Eagle July 10, 1932 Nikola Tesla states: I have harnessed the cosmic rays and caused them to operate a motive device. Cosmic ray investigation is a subject that is very close to me. I was the first to discover these rays and I naturally feel toward them as I would toward my own flesh and blood. I have advanced a theory of the cosmic rays and at every step of my investigations I have found it completely justified. The attractive features of the cosmic rays is their constancy. They shower down on us throughout the whole 24 hours, and if a plant is developed to use their power it will not require devices for storing energy as would be necessary with devices using wind, tide or sunlight. All of my investigations seem to point to the conclusion that they are small particles, each carrying so small a charge that we are justified in calling them neutrons. They move with great velocity, exceeding that of light. More than 25 years ago I began my efforts to harness the cosmic rays and I can now state that I have succeeded in operating a motive device by means of them. I will tell you in the most general way, the cosmic ray ionizes the air, setting free many charged ions and electrons. These charges are captured in a condenser which is made to discharge through the circuit of the motor. I have hopes of building my motor on a large scale, but circumstances have not been favorable to carrying out my plan.
New York American November 1st, 1933
Device to Harness Cosmic Energy Claimed by Tesla:
"This new power for the driving of the world's machinery will be derived from the energy which operates the universe, the cosmic energy, whose central source for the earth is the sun and which is everywhere present in unlimited quantities."
This is a diagram of Tesla's first radiant energy receiver. It stored static electricity obtained from the air and converted it to a usable form. Tesla's invention is a simple version of T.H. Moray's device. Moray's device used a unique rectifier (RE-valve) to efficiently capture the static electricity from the surrounding air. Moray's oscillator tubes (magnetron transducers) utilized this high-voltage energy to generate an internal secondary "cold" fusion reaction.
Stick an antenna up in the air, the higher the better, and wire it to one side of a capacitor, the other going to a good earth ground, and the potential difference will then charge the capacitor. Connect across the capacitor some sort of switching device so that it can be discharged at rhythmic intervals, and you have an oscillating electric output. T.H. Moray simply expanded on Tesla's idea to use high-voltage to create ionic oscillation.Tesla's free-energy concept was patented in 1901 as an "Apparatus for the Utilization of Radiant Energy." ( see below ) The patent refers to "the sun, as well as other sources of radiant energy, like cosmic rays," that the device works at night is explained in terms of the night-time availability of cosmic rays. Tesla also refers to the ground as "a vast reservoir of negative electricity."
Tesla was fascinated by radiant energy and its free-energy possibilities. He called the Crooke's radiometer, a device which has vanes that spin in a vacuum when exposed to radiant energy "a beautiful invention." He believed that it would become possible to harness energy directly by " connecting to the very wheel-work of nature." On his 76th birthday at his yearly ritual press conference, Tesla announced a "cosmic-ray motor" when asked if it was more powerful than the Crooke's radiometer, he answered, "thousands of times more powerful."
In 1901 Nikola Tesla was one the first to identify "radiant energy." Tesla says that the source of this energy is our Sun. He concluded that the Sun emits small particles, each carrying so small of a charge, that they move with great velocity, exceeding that of light. Tesla further states that these particles are the neutron particles. Tesla believed that these neutron particles were responsible for all radioactive reactions. Radiant matter is in tune with these neutron particles. Radiant matter is simply a re-transmitter of energy from one state to another.
How his radiant energy receiver worked
"a suitable time interval," the accumulated energy will "manifest itself in a powerful discharge" that can do work. The capacitor, says Tesla, should be "of considerable electrostatic capacity, " and its dielectric made of "the best quality mica, for it has to withstand potentials that could rupture a weaker dielectric."
Tesla gives various options for the switching device. One is a rotary switch that resembles a Tesla circuit controller, another is an electrostatic device consisting of two very light, membranous conductors suspended in a vacuum. These sense the energy build-up in the capacitor, one charging positive, the other negative, and, at a certain charge level, are attracted, touch, and thus fire the capacitor. Tesla also mentions another switching device consisting of a minute air gap or weak dielectric film that breaks down suddenly when a certain potential is reached.
Tesla received two patents for this radiant energy device; U.S. Patent No. 685,957 - Apparatus for the Utilization of Radiant Energy and U.S. Patent No. 685,958 - Method of Utilizing Radiant Energy. Both these patents were filed on March 21, 1901 and granted on November 5, 1901. In these patents he explains:
"The sun, as well as other sources of radiant energy throw off minute particles of matter positively electrified, which, impinging upon the upper plate, communicate continuously an electrical charge to the same. The opposite terminal of the condenser being connected to ground, which may be considered as a vast reservoir of negative electricity, a feeble current flows continuously into the condenser and inasmuch as the particles are ...charged to a very high potential, this charging of the condenser may continue, as I have actually observed, almost indefinitely, even to the point of rupturing the dielectric."
The Earth's Electrostatic Charge
Tesla's intent was to condense the energy trapped between the earth and its upper atmosphere and to transform it into an electric current. He pictured the sun as an immense ball of electricity, positively charged with a potential of some 200 billion volts. The earth, on the other hand, is charged with negative electricity. The tremendous electrical force between these two bodies constituted, at least in part, what he called cosmic energy. It varied from night to day and from season to season but it is always present.
The positive particles are stopped at the ionosphere and between it and the negative charges in the ground, a distance of 60 miles, there is a large difference of voltage - something on the order of 360,000 volts. With the gases of the atmosphere acting as an insulator between these two opposite stores of electrical charges, the region between the ground and the edge of space traps a great deal of energy. Despite the large size of the planet, it is electrically like a capacitor which keeps positive and negative charges apart by using the air as a non-conducting material as an insulator.
The earth has a charge of 96,500 coulombs. With a potential of 360,000 volts, the earth constitutes a capacitor of .25 farads (farads = coulombs/volts). If the formula for calculating the energy stored in a capacitor (E =1/2CV2) is applied to the earth, it turns out that the ambient medium contains 1.6 x 1011 joules or 4.5 megawatt-hours of electrical energy. In order to utilize this high-voltage energy you must do two things -- make an energy sink and then devise a way of making the "sink" oscillate.
"Zero-Point Energy?"
Such a "sink" has to be at a lower energy state than the surrounding medium and, for the energy to continually flow into it, the energy must be continually pumped out of it. Additionally, this " sink" must maintain a lower energy state while meeting the power requirements of the load attached to it. Electrical energy, watt-seconds, is a product of volts x amps x seconds. Because the period of oscillation does not change, either voltage or current has to be the variable in this system's energy equation. Bifilar wound coils are used in the system because a bifilar wound coil maximizes the voltage difference between its turns, the current is then minimized.
A coil in our system, then, will be set into oscillation at its resonant frequency by an external power source. During the "zero-point" portion of its cycle the coil will appear as one plate of a capacitor. As the voltage across the coil increases, the amount of charge it can siphon will increase. The energy that is taken into the coil through the small energy window (zero-point), call it what you will, appears to be the key to the success of this system. It is at this zero-point where energy is condensed into positive and negative components of current. When energy escapes from the "sink" the magnetic field collapses and a strong magnetic quake is created in it's wake. A properly tuned system can capture and convert radiant energy in such a prescribed arrangement.
Energy Directly from the Atom
The radiant energy system is a self-oscillating capacitive system. Once it is set into oscillation, very little power is expended in keeping it going. Because it is an electrostatic oscillating system, only a small amount of charge moves through the system per cycle, that is, the coulomb per seconds = amps are low. If the charge is used at a low rate, the energy stored in the system will be turned into heat at a slow rate enabling the oscillations to continue for a long period of time.
Tesla's "COIL FOR ELECTRO MAGNETS," patent #512,340 is a very special coil design because, unlike an ordinary coil made by turning wire on a tube form, this one uses two wires laid next to each other on a form but with the end of the first one connected to the beginning of the second one. In this patent Tesla explains that the double coil will store many times the energy of a conventional coil.[1] Measurements of two coils of the same size and with the same number of turns, one with a single, the other with a bifilar winding, show differences in voltage gain. These bifilar Tesla's coils can be explained solely on the basis of their electrical activity. A bifilar coil is capable of holding more charge than a single wound coil. When operated at resonance, the distributed capacitance of the bifilar coil is able to overcome the counter - electromotive force (e.m.f.) normal to coils, inductive reactance.
Because of the electrical activity, a bifilar coil does not work against itself in the form of a counter - e.m.f., the potential across the coil quickly builds to a high value. The difference between the turns becomes great enough that the energy is practically all potential, at this point, the system becomes an electrostatic oscillator.
Minimal work is done in my radiant energy system due to the absence of wasted displacement currents. As small heat losses occur, oscillations are maintained by surplus charge generated by atomic catalytic reactions, energy is siphoned from the kinetic moments of these charges. Very low energy expenditure allows power delivery to an electrical load over an extended time period without an external fuel supply. After an initial input of energy from an outside source, the radiant energy electrical generator will operate as a very efficient device.
By reviewing history it is understandable why some inventions are not commercialized. It is economics, not science, that is the main factor. It will be remembered that alternating current was opposed by powerful financiers in Tesla's time.
Michael Pupin, noted in his autobiography:
"...captains of industry...who were afraid that they would have to scrap some of their direct current apparatus and the plants for manufacturing it, if the alternating current system received any support. A most un-American attitude...but ignorance and false notions prevailed in the early nineties, because the captains of electrical industries paid small attention to highly trained scientists."[2]
Philadelphia Public Ledger November 2, 1933 Tesla 'Harnesses' Cosmic Energy
Inventor announces discovery to displace fuel in driving machinery. Calls Sun main source. A principle by which power for driving machinery of the world may be developed from the cosmic energy which operates the universe, has been discovered by Nikola Tesla, noted physicist and inventor of scientific devices, he announced today. This principle, which taps a source of power described as "everywhere present in unlimited quantities" and which may be transmitted by wire or wireless from central plants to any part of the globe, will eliminate the need of coal, oil, gas or any other of the common fuels, he said. Dr. Tesla in a statement today at his hotel indicated the time was not far distant when the principle would be ready for practical commercial development. Asked whether the sudden introduction of his principle would upset the present economic system, Dr. Tesla replied, "It is badly upset already." He added that now as never before was the time ripe for the development of new resources. While in its present form, the theory calls for the development of energy in central plants requiring vast machinery. Dr. Tesla said he might be able to work out a plan for its use by individuals. The central source of cosmic energy for the earth is the Sun, Dr. Tesla said, but "night will not interrupt the flow of new power supply."
Clearly Tesla is not talking about an atomic reactor. He is directly converting ionized particles generated by radiant matter. It is not nuclear energy as we know it today. Radiant Energy is directly converted to electrical power! Tesla believed that the Sun generates highly charged particles and that radiant matter is a re-transmitter of energy, it is this transfer of energy that could be used for practical purposes.
References
[1] Nikola Tesla, U.S. Patent #512,340, "COIL FOR ELECTRO MAGNETS, " he explains that a standard coil of 1000 turns with a potential of 100 volts across it will have a difference of .1 volt between turns. A similar bifilar coil will have a potential of 50 volts between turns. In that the stored energy is a function of the square of the voltages the energy in the bifilar will be 502/.12 = 2500/.01 = 250,000 times greater than the standard coil.
[2] Michael Pupin, From Immigrant to Inventor, Charles Scribner's Sons, N.Y., pages 285-286, 1923.
power and energy
The earth's entire electric charge is only 4.5 megawatt-hours of energy? And you think this is some vast source of free energy that can run our civilization?
And really, the important part of you discussion should be the power of the sky current, not the energy of the residual charge of the earth. The power appears to be about 2000 amps at 300,000 volts, for a power of 600 megawatts (note the different units).
This is still about the same as the output of 5 of the 17 generators at Hoover Dam, stealing power from the motion of the water of the Colorado River.
If only our civilization were so energy efficient and frugal!
Also on Evolver
http://www.voltairenet.org/article163729.html
Pat Robertson and the magic worldview
Your words on the cause of the earthquake are treading on shaky ground. I apologize for what I am about to say, but your perspective is close to that of Pat Robertson's controversial statements on the cause of the quake. You said:
"But really, I cannot but help think that there is a spiritual level to this that wants to be reckoned with, and until it is, disasters will continue to flourish."
Pat Robertson, in his controversial quote heard round the world, said:
"Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it . . . They were under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon III, or whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, we will serve you if you'll get us free from the French. True story. And so, the devil said, okay it's a deal . . . ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after the other."
I sympathize with your position of compassion and empathy, and agree with your desire to make up for the wrongs of the past. However, claiming causal connections between devastating physical events and "spiritual" factors bestows on you a burden of proof that I'm not sure you--or anyone--is ready to formulate. Suggesting that we should "give offerings and prayers, and ask for forgiveness -- in the hope that some of the spirit imbalances can be restored to equanimity" in order to prevent more natural disasters is not productive, nor is it much different from the cries of fundamentalist Christians.
I know that you didn't say that Haitians "swore a pact to the devil," but you do offer a magic worldview on the causality of natural disasters. This is not evolutionary progress, not higher consciousness; it is regress to humanity's pre-rational worldviews.
We need something to set us apart from the Pat Robertsons of the world. Explaining physical phenomena in pre-rational terms is not the ticket.
With respect,
l
well.... i hear you
and i will have to say that i do think that human being's consciousness is definitely playing a part in earth changes, and i think this is an example of earth changes that is happening in the process of the shifting of the planet.
Tom Kenyon's most recent channelling from the Hathors (http://tomkenyon.com/haiti-and-the-chaotic-node/) states that we are to expect increasing 'Chaotic Nodes' of unpredictability for the next long while.... I don't have the mental energy to really go into it in great deal. However, shamans have long done a lot of work to MAINTAIN BALANCE in the relationships between humans and animals, humans and land, humans and ecosystems, humans and the spiritual world. And I think that it has gotten completely screwed up and imbalanced, and thus 'chaotic nodes' will be taking place during the time of earth awakening for the process of re-equilibrilizing... just how i interpret such events.
http://embodiedbeing.com
Magical interpretations of natural events . . .
I realize that this is "just how [you] interpret such events," but this interpretation is not different from that of religious fundamentalists. This is my point. You are attributing "spiritual" causes to a natural occurance and placing blame on human deeds for an earthquake, a natural process that happens on planets throughout the Universe. Your perspective is (a) completely anthropocentric, (b) rooted in the principles of a pre-rational magic-mythic worldview, one that dominated human consciousness 4,000 years ago, and (c) frankly arrogant and egocentric, as you presume to know the moral code by which the spiritual forces of the Universe operate. I am so sorry that I am comparing your statements to those of Pat Robertson, but the fact is, they are virtually identical in their logical structure:
He says that Haitians violated the rules of the Bible and so God blasted them with an earthquake. You say that (someone?) violated your conception of how human cultures should treat one another , causing a "spiritual imbalance" and so the "ancestors and spirits" are taking vengence and causing "nodes of chaos" in regions where such mistreatment occured.
Now that I lay it out, it seems that Robertson's claims make more sense than yours, because you are saying that the Haitians are suffering because of a "spiritual imbalance" caused by the deeds of those who enslaved them. Shouldn't the wrong-doers be hit with natural disasters instead of the victims?
I find something deeply off in your following statement:
"However, shamans have long done a lot of work to MAINTAIN BALANCE in the relationships between humans and animals, humans and land, humans and ecosystems, humans and the spiritual world. And I think that it has gotten completely screwed up and imbalanced"
Again, your perspective is very anthropocentric, egocentric, and shockingly arrogant. I am guessing that you see yourself as one of the shamans that are so hard at work "mantaining balance" between humanity and the rest of the Universe? Without the important work of yourself and your fellow shamans, we might all be swallowed up by the "nodes of chaos." We need the work of shamans to apologize for the imbalancing deeds of humans or the Universe will take vengence on us all . . .
wow.
I base my statements on readings and understandings of Indigenous Shamanism. I can see that you are basing your response on a lot of 'post-rationalistic' 'arrogant' and wildly 'anthrocentric' worldviews, and that you seem to imagine you know everything about reality... And obviously, the study of indigenous shamanism has escaped your field of study or interest. I am sorry to inform you, but maintaining balance between different spiritual / devic / animal / earth / forces is one of the main things that shamans have been skilled in doing, through states of consciousness, through prayers and rituals, through offerings, etc. It is not an uninformed assumption based upon nothing that I make these statements, in fact this train of thought is largely based on the books by Martin Prechtel, in which he is a mayan shaman apprenticing to an elder who is teaching him how to maintain balance and do healing through rituals to re-equilibrilize relationships of human beings between other spiritual forces - the earth, for example. He's an amazing author and storyteller, you may want to read his inspiring books, and learn a little bit about this concept.
http://embodiedbeing.com
Your 'Indigenous Shamanism' is not authentic (I hope)!
Since you base your thoughts on the Haitian earthquake on "Indigenous Shamanism," why not also base the rest of your views on this as well? For example, you could suggest that, like 90% of shamanistic hunter-gatherer societies, we should engage in regular warfare. Maybe we should take a lesson from the Yanomamo--an indigenous culture that practices regular shamanistic rituals with DMT and ayahuasca, alongside aggressive violence and frequent warfare--and become completely male-dominated, treat women and girls almost like they are an inferior species, and make it acceptable to regularly sell, trade, and brutalize women. Or should we, like many shamanistic cultures, practice human sacrifice, child sacrifice, cannibalism, or female infanticide?
Should we follow the practices of the Tukano and strictly prohibit women from participating in certain male initiation ayahuasca ceremonies, and poison any woman who shows curiosity in the rituals?
I point out these facts not to discredit the data that comes from shamanistic techniques, but to emphasize that we need modern interpretations that avoid the pitfalls of premodern cultures.
Look Wahkeena, I know that I am being an overly analytical nitpicking jerk about your post. I'm sorry about that; it's typically not how I prefer to present my thoughts. But when you tell me that you base your views on "Indigenous Shamanism" and then add condescendingly that "obviously, the study of indigenous shamanism has escaped your field of study or interest," I cannot help but correct you. I am not ignorant of the literature on shamanism, whether it be anthropological, ethnobotanical, sociological, or the testimonials of shamans themselves. A decade ago my backpack was filled with books from the likes of Mircea Eliade, Richard Evans Shultes, Nicole Maxwell, Mark Plotkin, Terence and Dennis McKenna, Michael Harner, Wade Davis, Luis Eduardo Luna, and many others. And I'm not just an armchair analyst; I have practiced shamanistic techniques first-hand. They have provided some of the most significant spiritual and educational experiences of my life.
From this I have concluded that shamanistic techniques are valuable--we can learn a lot from them. However, the indigenous interpretations that surround shamanistic experiences are outdated; human consciousness has evolved beyond the worldviews of hunter-gatherer societies. We need to take this data and interpret it from a standpoint of scientific rationality and beyond, not from the original worldview in which it emerged.
Indigenous Shamanism and Disaster Relief
Linkx, I find myself agreeing with you again, you glorious rational bastard. As someone who spent alot of time with Pat Robertson types doing disaster relief work, the "You brought this on yourself with your Godlessness" mentality was one of the most despicable and frustrating things I've ever encountered.
But take it a little easy on the author, she's just speaking from her heart chakra. Your points about hunter-gatherers and tribal animism are well taken, but there is a dash of disingenuousness to them. Just as we don't go around diagnosing people through humours and phrenology as our recent European ancestors did, most contemporary indigenous spiritualists aren't eating people and engaging in tribal warfare (at least not the ones I've met).
There ARE 21st century shamans and curanderos. And there is definitely wisdom to their world-view. For example, coastal development by degradation of marine wetlands is both offensive to the Pachamama and a really good way to lose everything you own. No matter the source of a disaster, be it a hurricane supercharged by elevated subsurface temperatures (Katrina), a massive wave caused by shifting underwater tectonic plates along the ring of fire (Asian tsunami), or the Pisco earthquake, the one constant was where the devastation was worst: man-made beaches.
Degraded coastal wetlands are one of nature's most diverse breeding grounds for all forms of terrestrial, amphibious, avian, and aquatic species plants and animals. As permaculturalists say it, they got the 'edge' effect going for them. And yet people call them bogs, swamps, bayous, jungles,mangroves, whatever, and chop them down.
Usually to make charcoal, ports, and resorts.
We get away with it for a while too. But inevitably, the PachaMama is gonna take it back. It may take thousands of years, it may take 5, but coastal development is just asking for disaster. It doesn't take a civil engineer or a shaman to tell you that. But either of them COULD...
Does that mean I blame the Haitians for the earthquake and the subsequent social disaster? Hell No! Their situation is far more complex and their history far more tragic than I have space to write here. And bottom line, people are going to build where they want, but I think taking into consideration not just people's history but also future sustainability is imperative in a situation like Haiti and in all redevelopment efforts. Now more than ever they need a reforestation campaign, efforts to replenish their watershed, restore their fisheries, rebuild their topsoil, and rejuvenate their economy in a localized fashion.
Sadly, the disaster capitalists will probably just tighten the stranglehold of the huge resorts and the sweatshops. But there ARE disaster populists...
Thanks Inspeyere - good call
Hah! You called me a "glorious rational bastard" - that makes me happy! ;) I agree completely that my indigenous shamanism comments are slightly disingenuous. Your points about european medicine are spot on and well taken, as well as your plea for me to chill out and back off my attacks on the author.
As a supporter of shamanistic wisdom and practices, I was playing devil's advocate with my harsh presentation of the ugly side of indigenous shamanistic cultures. While these are the facts, I know full well that there are a lot of contemporary shamans who have transcended the ugliness of old and yet have included the timeless wisdom into their 21st century lives. It is these beings who guide us on our path to neo-techno-trans-rational-shamanism.
peace
Why the poor?
No Original Indigenous "Haitians" left
History
Haiti is one of the saddest cases in the Caribbean area. It was the world's first independent post-colonial Black state, occupying the western part of the island of Hispaniola (Spanish Island).
The name derives from the original inhabitants' name for the island - Ayiti. But the Taino Indians had mostly died by the end of the 16th century. As St. Domingue it was a French colony from 1664 under the French West India Company after French pirates had begun to occupy the abandoned Spanish colony in the western part of the island. Spain had killed the Indians (by enslaving them and disease) but couldn't settle the western part of Hispaniola because of disease and climate.
The French made of Haiti (or St Domingue) a profitable sugar and coffee colony worked by African slaves mostly from modern Benin and Nigeria (Yorubas).
An uprising of slaves fought against their French masters in 1791 encouraged by the French revolutionaries and led by the "Mulattos" = semi-free or freed slaves often of mixed ancestry. The leader was Toussaint l'Ouverture who was born a slave. He controlled the whole island by 1798. The revolutionaries in France in 1793 proclaimed the abolition of the slave trade and in 1794 of slavery itself as part of the Declaration of the Rights of Man. When he came to power, reversing the revolution, Napoleon didn't agree and Toussaint was captured by French forces through treachery when Napoleon tried to re-establish both French authority on the island and slavery. Toussaint died in a French prison in 1804. But the French failed to regain control. In 1803 Napoleon's army occupied the island but lost Haiti again due to disease (yellow fever) and a British naval force.
The agreement on Independence required the new republic to pay a huge compensation to France, in gold francs - at first 150 million gold francs, reduced to 75 million in 1830. As the economy had been destroyed in the revolutionary wars, there was no possibility of paying this "compensation". In fact France demanded payment until 1947. This was the origin of the huge unpayable debts the republic acquired.
The black population was left in control but with few educated people. Since then there has been a series of regimes which have failed to establish a regular political culture.
Jean-Jacques Dessalines, one of Toussaint's generals, proclaimed the independence of Haiti in 1804 and himself as emperor - imitating Napoleon - but he was killed in 1806. There was a long period of extreme political instability which has not ended. During the 19th century there was another Empire, and many military regimes.
As a state of revolted slaves the new nation was boycotted by its neighbors, all of whom (especially the United States) continued to have slaves. This may be another cause of the failure to develop both economically and politically. Its neighbors actively wanted the Haitians not to succeed, from explicitly racist motives. Even after the United States and Spain abolished slavery, racism continued in the nearest parts of the US.
US Occupation
US marines intervened in 1915 after very frequent revolutions and revolts. An important motive may have been fear that Germany would use it as a base during the first world war. It was an informal US colony until 1934 but suffered the disadvantages of having no trustworthy administration, that is, the US did not establish an overt colonial regime which might have established a political culture. They did however create an army which seized power - as the instrument of the owners.
During the 20th century the most recent regime was that of Francois Duvalier, a medical doctor (Papa Doc), who established a regime of dictatorship (President for Life). He ruled from his election by plebiscite (no opponent) in 1957 until his death in 1971. He passed the regime on to his son Jean-Claude (Baby Doc) who was deposed in 1986. They ruled with the use of sinister secret police known as Ton Tons Macoutes (Uncle bogey men) and made use of the African religion of the island, Voodoo, to make the illiterate peasants believe he was the incarnation of one of their principle gods.
A revolution against this corrupt and stagnating regime in 1986 drove out Jean-Claude Duvalier but elections were canceled in 1987 and instead there were a series of military regimes. Attempts to hold elections were frustrated by the Macoutes and other military. The brutality of the Macoutes (now called attachés) continues. Presumably only massive investment from outside in education and development could break the cycle begun when the French killed Toussaint l'Ouverture, the charismatic leader. Elections were held in December 1990.
Most of the leaders since independence have come from the lighter skinned group. As in Brazil: the blacker, the poorer. Duvalier tried to drive them out of the island, but with them went most of the educated people.
AIDS came to Haiti early, probably with sex tourists from America.
There is said to be 90% illiteracy.
Father Jean Bertrand Aristide, a Catholic priest and campaigner for human rights, was elected president in December 1990 by a huge majority in an honest election, perhaps the first in the history of the state. He was overthrown by a military coup in September 1991. The international community in the form of the Organization of American States and the UN did nothing other than economic sanctions which increased poverty.
By February 1992 there were reports that the military regime was even more brutal than that of the Duvaliers. Haiti is a good example of the problems of the regime of National Sovereignty. How can outsiders help the Haitians gain relief from the nastiness of their rulers? Many Haitians tried to escape in small boats. Mostly they were taken to internment camps at Guantanamo (US base on Cuba) and then returned to Haiti, where some were killed by the various "security" forces. There is no good news from Haiti.
President Clinton in his election campaign promised to pay attention to human rights rather than short term national interest. By October 1993 the UN had gained an agreement that Aristide could return by 30 October.
They only landed on 20 September 1994 after a dubious agreement with the military government. A sort of civilian regime was restored.
Aristide was elected again but the government is very weak as the island dissolves into the modern equivalent of feudalism - each area controlled by a local gang. The outlook continues bad.
What will be the effect of the 2010 earthquake which destroyed the capital, and some of the surrounding district, but not the rest of the country?
Languages
Patois (Afro-French pidgin)
French
Yoruba, Fon etc. (African ritual languages used only in ceremonies)
Politics
For much of its history politics was a struggle among the Mulattos - the mixed race people - to maintain control over the illiterate mass of people. The Duvalier regime claimed to rule in the name of the Black majority and drove out most of the Mulattos who were the best educated group. But the Duvaliers did not educate the majority so that the economy stagnated.
Since the ousting of the Duvaliers politics has not really existed. The government has been controlled, in so far as there was a government, by a small number of army officers and secret policemen whose main desire is to steal the nation's revenues and indulge in the drug trade. As in so many of the Central American and Caribbean states the military have been clients of the CIA.
Earlier elections were disrupted by massacres at polling stations believed to have been conducted by former Tontons Macoutes (secret police), now usually called attachés.
The people are mostly illiterate. Until there is more education it is hard to see how genuine democracy can function.
In the elections of December 1990 Jean Bertrand Aristide, a radical former Catholic priest with a mass following, was elected president. The hope was that if he could have avoided accusations of communism and the hostility of the United States and could find the money for education things might have changed. But he was overthrown on 30 September 1991, probably by the drug traffickers.
The question of non-interference in internal affairs arises - the doctrine of sovereignty. An agreement by the UN to restore him by 30 October 1993 was resisted by the military under General Cedras, responsible for numerous massacres and acts of terror. A blockade was imposed, especially of oil imports. His restoration was scheduled to last only for nine months till his five year term ended (why not declare the military period void and start the clock running from his ouster? Ah, but he couldn't succeed himself and he was unpopular with the US government.) Parliamentary Elections took place in June 1995. A successor in his own party was elected.
He himself was re-elected in January 2001 in an election criticised for irregularities. Was he a dictator? Probably not, at least not by the time he was removed.. But he was not very effective in promoting change and development - possibly because he got no support from such institutions as the IMF.
By 2003 and 2004 he was increasingly seen as yet another dictator - though the reality may be that as there is no real state to rule, a ruler has no instruments to conduct a democratic rule. In January 2004 mobs calling for his deposition were to be found in the streets of the capital. Who paid them? Who would replace him? Aristide fled on 29 February 2004, initially to the Central African Republic later to Jamaica and Venezuela. He claims he was made to leave by US forces, against his will. Will he and his supporters try to regain power?
He was replaced by Réné Preval, a former ally.
Possibly the United Nations provides what should be recognised as limited government services. It and various non-government organisations (NGOs) provide health and education.
Interesting reading
Grahame Greene - The Comedians
(still an essential text)
DVD - the Comedians 1967
Economics
The poorest country in the Americas. US aid has been mostly to the military (they were not Communists, so were OK during the Cold War). Some very low wage assembly factories have been set up. Subsistence agriculture could only be viable if better methods could be used.
Important center of Cocaine trafficking.
US blockade choked off what activity there was in an attempt to force the ruling elite to allow the elected president to return. (But they didn't suffer). But the sanctions were not lifted even when Aristide was re-elected.
Probably what Haiti needs is a period of collectivisation, as in Cuba, to provide discipline and a government concerned with peopleÕs welfare. "Capitalism Now" doesn't seem a sensible policy until there is a cadre of skilled workers and civic sense - what is lacking is Ibn Khaldun's "Group Feeling".
Green/Ecology
Large areas of the formerly forested island have been reduced to eroded desert by the cutting of the forest for charcoal and cultivation. This overcrowded island cannot support the people with the techniques they use at present. But the political chaos and corruption makes education in better methods difficult.
Much of the former fertility of the soil has been eroded away. A large scale reforestation scheme is necessary using the methods of Vietnam and Burkina Faso, though even these might be ineffectual as the underlying rocks have been exposed. This would also provide employment and might be the best method of creating a viable economy and greater stability. Population growth continues to be high, increasing the pressure on what land remains. Emigration, mostly illegal, to France and the United States remains a necessity.
AIDS seems to have been introduced by sex tourists from the US.
The Coasts might be suitable sites for Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion plants to produce non-carbon emitting energy, fresh water and mitigation of Hurricanes. These could supply electricity, fresh water and cooling facilities, with employment in such enterprises as fish farms. A payment for climate mitigation and carbon credits would help to finance them.
An earthquake of scale 7 demolished Port au Prince 12 January 2010. This is said to have been the worst earthquake for 200 years, that is since Independence. Most of the buildings, including the Cathedral and the Presidential palace, proved to have had no earthquake resistance. 200,000 are believed to have died.
The destruction is so bad that it may well be necessary to move the capital to another site and build it properly with modern earthquake resistant buildings.
Human Rights
None, as a modern state cannot be said to exist.
Climate effects
As the Caribbean warms, hurricanes become more frequent and more intense.
This was illustrated by a succession of 4 hurricanes in 30 days in 2008.
all valid viewpoints...
as a survivor of Hurricane Katrina, and a formerly science and culture-oriented humanist student and traveller, i can absolutely understand the stance of Wahkeena here. Watching the rooftop fly off my house in Mississippi as the winds rushed by in surreal, nearly supernatural gusts five years ago, i thought of the origins of the storm in the lands of the Sahel and sub-Saharan Africa, the land from which millions of natives were forcibly abducted by the American empire and distributed as labor chattel.. especially in Mississippi, the state that had the greatest slave population and was certainly, though sadly neglected by the media, the most affected region post-Katrina.
Disasters like this are also man-made, possibly in the sense of which Daniel speaks with HAARP, but especially in the way that civilizations are built out of harmony with nature and essentially asking for the ass-kicking, as Karma Burner notes. Linkx, i most certainly can understand your viewpoint, but i would be wary of inapplicable comparison here. Robertson is a pawn of the evangelical wing of the neo-con machine, indeed, but as a former Baptist ministers' son who understands the reality filter behind folks like aforementioned preacher, i can say that what Wahkeena is postulating here is not so much a spooky pact-with-the devil perspective on this late disaster, but a very valid realization that these disasters are indeed created as the result of mass human consensus.
Had not masses of people already been placed in such a precarious condition as a result of imperialism and neglect by the global economy, such disasters of mass effect would not be possible.
or it could be that the shadow government is implementing a little of the ol' ultra-population control... Kubrick reference.
The Taino are not dead!
Oh wow!
Thank you Moonpath! That's awesome. I gratefully stand corrected.
http://embodiedbeing.com
manifesting
My bad. Your bad.
Pre-egoic cultures noted the unity within every tiny bit of existence. The theories as to why their views were such are many. Meanwhile our modern egoic cultures separate everything out into what our advanced intelligence considers to be elements of either cause or effect because we are ourselves in an already obsolete state of separation consciousness.
In our confused state regarding whether the mind is the cause or the effect, or whether the body is the cause or the effect, we project this same confusion into our environment.
In the future, we will again know unity, but we will also know about unity; both its architecture and its structure. We will then return to an appreciation of the intrinsic intimacy of cause and effect, and every imagined boundary between them, with their very mechanical drawings under our arm.
Rather than considering that humans are continuously evolving from that which once was, to that which is now, and to that which will soon be, realizing that these are all perfect representations of different states of the consciousness of humans within that state, we waste our time developing a basis upon which to justify our accusations of other's inferior opinions, and therefore their supposed inferior states of consciousness. Yes, I am equally guilty of doing it too.
It should by now be obvious to everyone that the opinions of even the most modern theorists will be inferior in the far future. So, given that all opinions are agreed to be inferior when seen from the vantage point of a forever-receding horizon, who are we really ridiculing from our supposed ivory towers when we accuse someone of having a pre-egoic viewpoint? Our egoic viewpoint will seem just as lame to those of the future, unless they have come to appreciate that every state is perfect during its own necessary development.
One finger points outward while three fingers point back.
I'll admit it: My bad. You admit it: Your bad.
Love is all we need!
Sorry . . . my bad.
My apologies for taking a tone of finger-pointing and accusation of inferior viewpoints. I am with you: all perspectives are worth offering, worth considering, and deserve to be treated with respect. And I completely agree that each stage of consciousness development has its place, and that each unfolding stage unveils the limitations of previous stages. As you point out, our perspectives today--no matter how "evolved"--are inferior to those that will unfold in the future . . .
But of the many ways to interpret reality, some are better (more useful, more productive) than others, and we can make judgments on the merits of interpreting reality from any given stage of consciousness. This, in fact, is what allows us to say that consciousness evolves at all. (And the slogan of this site, after all, is "evolving consciousness, bite by bite.") We need to be able to make value judgments on the merits of one perspective over another, otherwise you cannot have consciousness evolution, nor can you have truth, justice, etc.
I personally like to think that when we are interpreting the causal factors of events such as earthquakes, we should use the tools of logic, reason, science, and evidence--rather than magical causes involving spirits, ancestors, or generalizations like "spiritual imbalances."
Wahkeena's post is speculating on the causes of a devastating earthquake. That's no trivial matter. She offers her thoughts on it, and those thoughts happen to reflect a viewpoint similar to that of religious fundamentalists, pre-modern cultures, and four-year-olds. I am talking about the perspective that sees events in terms of animism and magic.
What if I said this? "I said a sun prayer last night, and it is sunny today, therefore my sun prayer caused today's sunshine." Would that be an acceptable explanation for today's sunshine? Would it be "finger pointing" to deem my causal explanation inferior to weather science?
Wahkeena warns that if the spiritual forces continue to be upset with our behavior, "disasters will continue to flourish." This is exactly like saying that if Disney World hosts Gay Days then the wrath of God will descend on Orlando and bring "earthquakes, tornadoes, and possibly a meteor." The moral code is different, but the principles of causation are identical. This mode of thinking is inferior to rational scientific explanations.
When you explain physical events in terms of vague and unverifiable spiritual laws, you are utilizing a stage of human consciousness that is, dare I say it, less valid than scientific rationality. It is a less accurate, less useful way of understanding events.
Of course, there are modes of knowing beyond the rational-scientific mind that make logic look like a silly, clouded, limited perspective. We need to explore these together, corroborate our findings, and do our best to communicate them and establish standards of truth for our uncharted stages of consciousness. This is likely to make rational-scientific perspectives look as limited and inferior as magical-animistic perspectives appear to the rational eye.
Thanks for your reply, linkx
Yes, “there are modes of knowing beyond the rational-scientific mind that make logic look like a silly, clouded, limited perspective.” These have already been explored, their findings have been scientifically corroborated, and many concerned individuals continue to “communicate them and establish standards of truth for our uncharted stages of consciousness” as you call them.
But these states of consciousness have already been charted, and the resulting standards have already made “rational-scientific perspectives look as limited and inferior as magical-animistic perspectives appear to the rational eye.” You cannot personally see them yet, and so you naturally doubt their reality.
I've made this a focus of my studies and have found Ken Wilber among many others to have mounted a considerable library of scientific research just waiting for your review. Such reading indicates that these advanced states of consciousness have been in existence for centuries albeit in a minority of individuals throughout the world. Yet the number and the similarity of their experiences have now become sufficient for serious scientific review, which continues apace. I would be happy to provide a sample bibliography.
While these states of consciousness are already an established reality to those curious and open-minded enough to read the pertinent journals, their presence has yet to be acknowledged by the majority of people because, as Ken Wilber has shown, those who exist in a lower state of being cannot recognize a higher state due to their having yet to penetrate it, while those who have penetrated it can easily recognize the state of consciousness below, because they have deliberately transcended that state. “Transcend and include”- Wilber.
Very soon the majority will believe in energies beyond the current grasp of the rational-scientific mind, because we will have experienced them.The rational-scientific epistemologically leaning mind will then appreciate the enhancement provided by the universal-holotropic ontologically leaning mind, and quantum statements referring to a butterfly’s wing beats in a jungle somewhere will never again be misunderstood.
These two minds have already joined all of our previously developed enhancements in a minority of individuals. What remains is for the curious to become more familiar with the mechanics of these advanced states, and for the tipping-point event to occur.
In addition...
“Wahkeena's post is speculating on the causes of a devastating earthquake. That's no trivial matter. She offers her thoughts on it, and those thoughts happen to reflect a viewpoint similar to that of religious fundamentalists, pre-modern cultures, and four-year-olds.”
Are persons like Wehkeena remembering an actual state of unity that is lost to the consensus view of the rational-scientific mind, or are these persons simply imagining something that never existed? Studies relating to the evolution in hominids from uroboric states of consciousness show their evolution through existing realities, not their inferior interpretation of nonexistent realities.
Those who have either chemically experimented with, or admit to actually having visited or are fully living within alternate states of consciousness also report the existence of a fundamental state of unity in the cosmos. How do you interpret their findings?
Another way of saying it would be that the pre-conscious state of the uroboros prefers the unity view of oneness; that the conscious state of the ego-mind prefers the dualistic view of cause and effect; and that the super-conscious state of the mystic prefers the unity view of oneness.
Which view seems to be the predominant one here? And which view is in the minority?
If, as you say, “When you explain physical events in terms of vague and unverifiable spiritual laws, you are utilizing a stage of human consciousness that is, dare I say it, less valid than scientific rationality” Then how is it that the mystic can demonstrate an expanded understanding of physical events using the same vague and unverifiable spiritual laws? An open-minded study of mystical states of consciousness has proven to me, not their inferiority, but their supreme superiority!
Isn't it more forgiving to say then, that the mystic views the unity state a little more clearly than the uroboric does? Two views, but of the same reality? And therefore, wouldn’t it also be forgiving to say that the consensus view of reality; the rational-scientific view is the one that is in transition, and might justifiably be considered inferior? I, for one, think so.
(Wehkenna might, in your estimation, be guilty of an inaccurate view of a more fundamental reality than the one you believe. If so, aren’t you nitpicking? Hell, she may very well be a freakin’ mystic! I have no way of knowing, do you?)
I think that I object more to the arrogance of someone who gets it mostly wrong than I do the innocence of someone who gets it mostly right. When “Wahkeena warns that if the spiritual forces continue to be upset with our behavior, "disasters will continue to flourish."” I believe her to be mostly right, not mostly wrong. I believe there is as much misunderstanding in the void of what is referred to as spirituality, as there is in the void of what is referred to as space; that there is as much, if not more rationality in the views of the mystic, than there is in the views of the scientist, and there is much more power in the total being of our cosmos than there ever could be in the sum of its parts.
“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge”–Stephen Hawking
P.S.Yours are views I have held in the past. My intention is not to embarrass you, but to wrestle you from the strong magnetic pull of the overly rational mind.
Fantastic reply to a very interesting subject!
Leon Night, your reply is informed and articulate. Thanks for taking the time to type to my text. I find your responses to my thoghts to be much more substantive than the responses of the author herself.
Looks like this Ken Wilber fellow has done some impressive and groundbreaking work that relates directly to our conversation. As you mentioned, Wilber suggests that human consciousness development--in individuals and in collective cultures--evolves through three broad stages: prerational, rational, and transrational. In the charts at the end of Integral Psychology (Wilber, 2000), he provides an impressive and carefully presented account of this process, drawing on dozens of models put forth by developmental psychologists, anthropoligists, philosophers, and spiritual thinkers from around the world and throughout history. Wilber also cites and presents the developmental model Spiral Dynamics as a useful referent when describing these stages as they unfold from prerational to rational to transrational. Here is a summary [1]:
Wilber provides piles of painstaking pages warning about common mistakes that people make when talking about the validity of viewpoints informed by spiritual experiences. I boil them down to:
Wilber warns that mystical experiences do not exist in a vaccum; they are always interpreted from within some structure of consciousness. The words of Wilber himself (emphasis mine):
"It is my opinion that every one of those spiritual experiences is, or can be, a real and authentic experience. However, those experiences become more adequately interpreted the higher the stage that experiences them. A turquoise experience of the Sacred, for example, would include the fact that the Divine is given freely to all sentient beings, whereas a blue experience of the Sacred maintains that God is given only to a chosen people, or only to a few who embrace this version of God, or only to this nation, and so on--in other words, blue is ethnocentric Spirit, turquoise is worldcentric Spirit. Although both of those individuals might have had an authentic spiritual experience (in this case, an experience of a very real, very authentic subtle state), the turquoise interpretation is more adequate to Spirit than blue because turquoise has more developmental depth and is thus more inclusive and more integral.
"This approach can help us make sense of many apparently conflicting experiences. Shamanism, for example, is a profound technique of inducing altered states of a psychic and subtle nature. For this reason it is rightly honored by many contemporaries looking for a way out of flatland. At the same time, shamanism originally emerged in tribal structures that were purple and red, and thus the interpretations that surround some of these shamanic states are, by today's standards, somewhat problematic, outmoded, restrictive, or even regressive. The trick is to be able to take the altered-states technology but fit them into much more adequate interpretations (e.g., turquoise and higher). But shamanism itself--the original shamanism--was, to put it mildly, a mixed bag. It arose in cultures that were deeply ethnocentric, that often practiced slash-and-burn foraging techniques, that found infanticide a necessity, that aggressively divided the world into 'us' versus 'them,' and whose tribal structure firmly locked them out of a worldcentric compassion. So let us be careful just what we eulogize, yes? We are not denying that shamanic states are higher STATES--but just what STAGES are you going to plug them into?"[2]
Using Wilber's model, we can say that Wahkeena's spiritual experiences may be authentic phenomenological data; however, she interprets these experiences using the language of PURPLE, or the prerational magic-animistic worldview. Wilber explains this worldview in Integral Psychology, Chapter 4:
"2. Purple: Magical-Animistic. Thinking is animistic; magical spirits, good and bad, swarm the earth leaving blessings, curses, and spells that determine events."
With this in mind, Wahkeena's Thoughts on the Haitian Earthquake are clearly the result of shamanic experiences interpreted from the Purple worldview. Remember, she suggests that we all should "deeply apologize to the ancestors and spirits of all the desecrated, devastated, enslaved and genocided beings on this planet (and that includes trees and animals as well) -- and give offerings and prayers, and ask for forgiveness" or consequently "disasters will continue to flourish."
If this isn't an example of Wilber's prerational, magical, purple worldview ("Purple. Placate spirit realm; honor ancestors; protection from harm") then I don't know what is.
I agree with Wilber (and you) that transrational perspectives transcend-and-include rational and prerational structures. Yet when you claim that Wahkeena's interpretation transcends rationality, you are committing Wilber's biggest no-no, the pre/trans fallacy, by mistaking her purple statements for transrational interpretations of mystical experiences.
Do not pass GO
State vs. Stage: My definition of some of Wilber’s word choices may be a little different than his. I find his States vs. Stages definitions illogical and confusing, but not his use of the overall logic itself. I define a State as a vast mostly-permanent level of consciousness such as the physical, egoic, mental, spiritual, subtle, and causal realms he outlines. In other words, a State is an area larger than a Stage, which as I picture it, is a limited sized platform on which individuals attempt to interpret and portray their different character assignments. My States and Stages all occur in daylight consciousness; the inclusion of sleeping states, etc. in this discussion is, to me at least, immaterial. This, therefore is a minor issue between us, due to my having dropped out of high-school. ;-(
Pre-Trans Fallacy: Regardless of how a pre-cognitive consciousness interprets reality differently than how a cognitive, or trans-cognitive consciousness interprets it, the reality remains the same. Unity is acknowledged in many different ways. Unity is also denied in many different ways. Some people dissect Unity in the sincere practice of their cognitive scientologies to the point where Unity no longer exists. Some people re-member Unity in the sincere practice of their pre-cognitive mythologies to the point where much of the essence of the mystical has been lost. And some people are given the gift of the knowledge of Unity in the sincere practice of their mystical trans-cognitive states to the point where the physical, egoic, mental, spiritual, subtle, and causal realms unite; where All is One, and All is understood in Unity.
While Wilber’s PTF warns of making certain interpretive mistakes, it doesn’t to my knowledge, deny the reality of Unity itself. Someone may interpret unity differently with a pre or a trans awareness, but it is denied by neither. Those who are under the influence, and cannot seem to break away from, the strong attractor of their proud ego-driven cognitive myopathy, seem to be the ones who deny the reality of Unity, and therefore it’s potential universal influence regarding the supposed boundaries between cause and effect. (Regarding my use of the word myopathy, please see Merriams:Myopia, definition #2)
While Wahkeena's interpretation appears to be pre-rational, so do the interpretations of many mystics by those in the rational community. My point (and I’m-a-stickin’ to it ;-) is that while her position could be seen as inferior, compared to the position of a true mystic, your position of rational myopia is more inferior to her mistaken interpretation of an existential Reality-as-such.
No... You do NOT get to pass go, nor do you get to collect two-hundred dollars ;-P
"My intention is not to embarrass you"
Not sure that I follow your logic in this comment. If you are going to use Ken Wilber in your attempts to discredit my viewpoint then you had better make sure that you understand his work.
Also not sure what this "Do not pass GO" stuff is all about but it looks like you are embarrassed that you brought up Wilber's work, which ends up supporting my statements when you actually study and understand it.
You give up?
Okay.
Great Post Linkx
Excellent post,linkx.
Lucid and intelligent without succumbing to personal attack.
I found your post to be informative and worth rereading.You crystallised my own thoughts on why I found Wahkeena's article a little naive and simplistic,even though it was beautifully empathetic to the Haitian tragedy.
Your nuanced perception is definitely superior (lol....oh no now I'm succumbing to judgement!) in my perception.
You not only get to pass go with flying colours in my book but may all your detractors land on a hotel laden Park Lane for their waspishness and lack of Oneness.
Magical thinking,you just can't beat it.
Another take
"The SACRED (whatever that means) is surely related (somehow) to the BEAUTIFUL (whatever that means)..."
Gregory Bateson
A time for feeling
For the Children...
For the Children,Animals and People of Haiti:
The meeting was called to order by the great Angel whose body was the Sun-
We were alerted to the unusual significance of the occasion... when flickering across the face of the Moon we beheld the countenance of the Universal Mother...and it was She who spoke:
She whose very body is the Galaxies-
Her purpose in addressing us was introductory in nature and proved of value in preparing us for what was to come-for it was none other than the White Light of the Eternal One...Focused in a manner rarely seen in any Star.
In the communications that followed the< 3> manifestations of Being--- Solar---Universal---Eternal---flowed in and out of one another...blending...merging...weaving the Colors of the Whole-
At times it was hard to identify which of the < 3> was the speaker...so Unified were their Waves~~~.
Ken Carey
Return of the Bird Tribes (+)
Haitian Oil and Gold...
i am sorry for those people.