My old Christian mates in Fusion talk of a "Awakening" beginning in Australia. I think Mal Garvin first begun to speak of it back in 1980? Its a different take on the old idea of a revival. Mal I think will go down in history as a modest yet remarkable visionary. He is a yet to be recognised national treasure. And Fusion is a huge gift to our nation.
Whilst my beliefs now differ I still hold him as one of my primary mentors and a huge inspiration. And the time I spent in Fusion from when I was 18 to 30 has left such an incredible legacy that I am eternally thankful for. Painful...yes and stretching yes but in retrospect incredibly helpful. And I think there is a awakening happening in the Christian Church but also much broader. The creative religious explosion that I talk of is much broader. It will no doubt effect churches but it will cross all boundaries. Many people will return to churches some for the first time and Christianity will have to adapt and grow to handle that and I think as is already occurring many people will seek spiritual nourishment from all sorts of other places. My preference is to go deep into our Western culture first. And that means the intertwining of Christianity with Greek Mythology. The Greek myths and there connection with astrology came first. Then Rome came with its structure that we still have and Christianity came later. In the same way that African Christianity is so obviously influenced by African culture that was in place first Christianity in Europe was originally overlaid on what is called Pagan culture. The Pagan culture never disappeared as its the ground from which the West grew as is Judaism to a lesser degree.
A creative religious explosion is a creative reworking of those elements. The history of the West has many attempts to reweave these sources intellectually.Thomas Aquinas being the big one but certainly loads of others have had a go. The Renaissance was a creative reweaving of Greek and Christian sources. In Australia we now have this vast history as well as Psychology especially Jungian Psychology which is Jung's attempt to reweave. Jung is seen as one of the primary sources for the reemergence of Astrology in the 20th century. As well as that Australia has our indigenous cultures that are so unique in so many ways. We are only just beginning to wake up to that and what our ongoing interaction with them will bring is yet to be seen.
Phew that's a lot isn't it!!
And its almost impossible for the mind to grasp so I believe we have to digest it aesthetically and creatively. This is The Great Re-Weaving that I see is needed. A whole hearted devotion to the creative religious process has to be central to our culture. Art has to be democratized and poured out into the community. Any community artist or art therapist knows that art connects and heals and builds community. We need nothing less than a explosion of energy in the community arts within a broad religious framework. How do I express my christian faith, my nightly dreams , my pain and frustration, my hopes and fears, my astrological chart and its insights, the planets and there stories via art? And in community and for the community and not just the human community but also the ants the bugs m,the trees ,the birds, and the rocks ,the sky the wind and the ocean?? How do I paint that dance it , sculpt it , sing it, tell stories about it, do rituals and ceremonies with it ?
We can create something new together. This will be a awakening of the Creative soul in Australia, a creative religious explosion , a great Reweaving of where we have come from with where we are now and where we want to go. Please write a response but more importantly turn off the computer for an hour and do something different for an hour, something creative that you have you have even the faintest desire to try. No materials? then improvise! And share with others how you went.
Take care.
This used to be the home of the Mysterius Doctor Mercurius...and still has reflections on Alchemical Carnivale. But it evolved as the Shed and I fell in love and begun to work on each other. Its still evolving and may contain some of this stuff: The Reenchantment of Public Spaces, Archeytpal astrology and psychology, crazed Uranian thinking, Australia, arts, creative process, Holotropic Breathwork, Jung, therapy, shape-shifting, birds and bugs and dreams and visions and more.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
Singing in the t(rain)
I'm singing in the rain , what a wonderful feeling , I'm happy to say...
I think the lyrics go like that? Anyway I got on the train the other day and three Maori/ Samoan Islander looking boys who could be seen as intimidating in some contexts where sitting in a double seat singing out loud. They had a I-pod with speakers and thankfully they had ignored the sign saying keep music down. ("don't do, this don't do... that cant you read the sign" anyone remember that song? "The sign said long haired freaky people need not apply..." now that's gotta be the sixties! Anyway what a relief to hear human voices in song on a train rather then blank stares(the classic I-pod look) and silence or people talking into mobiles!! I was too shy to join them( next time I will) but imagine if I had and then others too and the whole carriage broke into song. Its not about singing in tune that matters its about connecting to other human beings and sharing culture, life... love even. Imagine what our day would of been like if we sung and laughed together for 5-10 minutes on the train on the way to work. What new thing would of emerged from there and maybe snowballed. A revolution of connection and laughter and more song.
When was the last time you sung a song with someone else? or in the rain or just walking down the street. Many Africans quietly complain that life here is boring(yes its peaceful and they appreciate that) and it is boring!! But it doesn't have to stay that way, does it!
Take care... and did you notice I have one follower of this blog! Wahoo from little things big things grow!
I think the lyrics go like that? Anyway I got on the train the other day and three Maori/ Samoan Islander looking boys who could be seen as intimidating in some contexts where sitting in a double seat singing out loud. They had a I-pod with speakers and thankfully they had ignored the sign saying keep music down. ("don't do, this don't do... that cant you read the sign" anyone remember that song? "The sign said long haired freaky people need not apply..." now that's gotta be the sixties! Anyway what a relief to hear human voices in song on a train rather then blank stares(the classic I-pod look) and silence or people talking into mobiles!! I was too shy to join them( next time I will) but imagine if I had and then others too and the whole carriage broke into song. Its not about singing in tune that matters its about connecting to other human beings and sharing culture, life... love even. Imagine what our day would of been like if we sung and laughed together for 5-10 minutes on the train on the way to work. What new thing would of emerged from there and maybe snowballed. A revolution of connection and laughter and more song.
When was the last time you sung a song with someone else? or in the rain or just walking down the street. Many Africans quietly complain that life here is boring(yes its peaceful and they appreciate that) and it is boring!! But it doesn't have to stay that way, does it!
Take care... and did you notice I have one follower of this blog! Wahoo from little things big things grow!
Another 60s rave.
I was born in the 60's and as I hit my teens in the 70's I had the feeling like "you should of been here yesterday". I had missed out on some monumental event. The Skyhooks sang a song lamenting, "Whatever happened to the revolution?". And I was wanting to be a part of a revolution, desperatly! I wanted to change the world(now) but the world had moved on and wasnt interested anymore.
Uranus conjunct Pluto that my generation including Obama was born under is revolutionary energy. But timing is everything. Many of us have been waiting a long time for the party to return and its at our doorsteps now. Except we are not teenagers but (sort of) mature, middle aged people right at the heart of our cultures. Its like the Cosmos has placed all these sleepers right through out the world in key positions and we are waking up!!! The Cosmic alarm clock is going off. Can you hear it?
I read an article of a women leading a lightning fast protest of other women in Zimbabwe recently. Incredibly gutsy, hopeful and creative response to oppression. She's the same age as me. No coincidence with the age and the gender. Those of us born from 61 - 67 especially are waking up. Men and especially enpowered women. We are about to see women come to the fore in leadership roles all over the world.
Sadly some of us havent survived the ride so far. David Foster Wallace was the latest to suicide, born in 62. Any Psych student wanting to research and correlate suicide rates and mental illness for that age group would find a spike I bet. Map that onto astrological charts and I bet there is some fascinating connecttions.
I have begun going to a predominatly African church and the word coming from the head pastor in Trinidad is that this is a year of restoration of god doing "a new thing". They are not reading Astrological charts that point to Jupiter Neptune conjunction, they dont have too as its in the air that we breath. Can you feel it yet? You will...Everything breaths together!!
As Neptune rules fashion, that irrational feeling level thing that just seems to happen, keep an eye out for the Sixties returning in all sorts of ways. Its been starting to pick up speed over the past year...
"the beards have all grown longer overnight : The Who.
Hair, clothes, music, art , politics. Its more then just a whim its a returning t o the similar archetypal dynamics in a new context.The 60's was just the trial run. The clearing of the stage, now we do revolution differently.
A Creative Religious Explosion that begins in Australia and in Brisbane and radiates out around the world is my choice. Crazy, foolish, idiotic, impossible. Maybe. New things dont begin in Australia they begin in the U.S dont they and then we follow them. True...mostly. And Brisbane of all places?? Bris Vegas is a redneck backwater compared to Melbourne and Sydney where all the action is. True..maybe. Nothing new begins in Brisbane...or does it? Brisbanites no doubt have a long list. Lets wait and see what comes next.
Uranus conjunct Pluto that my generation including Obama was born under is revolutionary energy. But timing is everything. Many of us have been waiting a long time for the party to return and its at our doorsteps now. Except we are not teenagers but (sort of) mature, middle aged people right at the heart of our cultures. Its like the Cosmos has placed all these sleepers right through out the world in key positions and we are waking up!!! The Cosmic alarm clock is going off. Can you hear it?
I read an article of a women leading a lightning fast protest of other women in Zimbabwe recently. Incredibly gutsy, hopeful and creative response to oppression. She's the same age as me. No coincidence with the age and the gender. Those of us born from 61 - 67 especially are waking up. Men and especially enpowered women. We are about to see women come to the fore in leadership roles all over the world.
Sadly some of us havent survived the ride so far. David Foster Wallace was the latest to suicide, born in 62. Any Psych student wanting to research and correlate suicide rates and mental illness for that age group would find a spike I bet. Map that onto astrological charts and I bet there is some fascinating connecttions.
I have begun going to a predominatly African church and the word coming from the head pastor in Trinidad is that this is a year of restoration of god doing "a new thing". They are not reading Astrological charts that point to Jupiter Neptune conjunction, they dont have too as its in the air that we breath. Can you feel it yet? You will...Everything breaths together!!
As Neptune rules fashion, that irrational feeling level thing that just seems to happen, keep an eye out for the Sixties returning in all sorts of ways. Its been starting to pick up speed over the past year...
"the beards have all grown longer overnight : The Who.
Hair, clothes, music, art , politics. Its more then just a whim its a returning t o the similar archetypal dynamics in a new context.The 60's was just the trial run. The clearing of the stage, now we do revolution differently.
A Creative Religious Explosion that begins in Australia and in Brisbane and radiates out around the world is my choice. Crazy, foolish, idiotic, impossible. Maybe. New things dont begin in Australia they begin in the U.S dont they and then we follow them. True...mostly. And Brisbane of all places?? Bris Vegas is a redneck backwater compared to Melbourne and Sydney where all the action is. True..maybe. Nothing new begins in Brisbane...or does it? Brisbanites no doubt have a long list. Lets wait and see what comes next.
astrology links
If your new to astrology and you google it , as this is what we all seem to do these days, you will find yourself overwhelmed with information. And you may have your honest fears confirmed, e.g what a load of rubbish that speaks in an obscure language!! Its true many astrolgers shoot themselves ( and the rest of us)in the foot ...say no more. But for intelligent insightful writing that is in dialogue with cutting edge science and psychology check out The Mountain Astrologer and its links. Also Cosmos and Psyche which is Rick Tarnas site and its links and also Liz Greene who is a Jungian writer par excellence. I am sure there's loads of great stuff out out there but thats a good start. Take care we are living in a very, very interesting moment !!
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Big Dreams
2 weeks before I turned 38 I had the following dream. I am talking to a unknown person on a football oval. Its Deanmore oval just down the road from Scarborough primary school.Perth where I grew up. In the background behind the man I am facing, a light pole falls over and leaves a red dent in the ground. Out of this dent arises a sort of shit volcano. Its shaped like a volcano but its made of shit. It keeps growing until it begins to envelop the man I am talking too. To be precise the shit comes up to his mouth.
Its well known that big changes happen to many men at 38: the midlife crisis and I was no exception. 8 years later and lots of monumental changes that are still working there way out I can get some perspective on it. On the one hand it was my dream and it was connected to my"shit" so to speak, and at the same time I think it is concerned with much wider issues. In tribal cultures it would be called a "big dream" that's meant for the whole tribe. I have had many thoughts and reflections about it over the years here is some of them. Its a "light" pole that falls over:Our source of literal light and metaphorically our source of spiritual light perhaps, the light of reason maybe? And electricity is something we just take for granted now and is so fundamental to our way of life we are only just beginning to think twice about where it comes from and the enormous cost to the earth to have it at our fingertips! My surname is Power and my dad was an electrician. I did an apprenticeship as an electrician but didn't continue. Its like fate has conspired to make me be aware of electricity! Uranus is conjunct Sun in my astrological chart and Uranus is connected to electricy( what a coincidence...not!)
And again metaphorically its a light that is up high(in my head maybe) that falls over and dents the ground. Like lightning earthing, it draws up the shit which must of been under the surface all along. What is the shit of the earth that I/we have discarded/buried? Partly it was to do with my mind-body split, something we all suffer from in various ways. My depression, despair that I had run away from since childhood and also the awareness that I/we live in vast interconnected ecology of life-forms that are tired of being ignored. There is a lot more that I will return too (in a future entry...I promise)as it was and still is a big dream.
What struck me recently was when I shared this dream that two men(no coincidence here!) wanted to argue with me about what it might mean. Not that either had any special expertise in dreams but hat never stops men from having opinions does it . One who is an indigenous artist of some repute told me that dreams are just the rehashing of events of the day. A sort of simplified Freudian approach. Neither could grasp that the dream might be bigger then me or that after 8 years I might have some insight into it!! Sadly this is to be expected from most educated people. White supremacy is not dead and it doesnt just belong to white people...but thats another blog. Our education even in the Arts more often then not reduces the world and robs it of mystery, awe and anything remotely spiritual . And worse still it reinforces our rampant individualism and narcissism.
Coincidentally my indigenous mate had experienced a number of meaningful coincidences(synchronicity) recently that he didn't want to accept as meaningful. He was turning 38 in a week!! Sadly I think his education had cut him off from his roots in the culture of collective dreaming. Its ironic that a Swiss Psychiatrist(Jung) can propound theories that open the door beyond Western rationalism and are very compatible with traditional indigenous religion yet he wont be taught to indigenous students who will suffer through fashionable French Postmodernism. No wonder the earth is erupting with shit!! We mine her, concrete and pave over her and worse of all ignore her, pretend that we are autonomous units and that she can't communicate to us meaningfully. That's what my good friends are implying, that the earth , the cosmos is just there. It doesn't care about us or what we do to it, its just there and we are here and what ever goes on in my head is about whats going on in my head. If the last 8 years have taught me anything its that its all alive!! Everything is alive and meaningfully connected and communicating. If we are not hearing its because we don't have ears to hear!! Our theories scientific, postmodern, cultural have conspired to block all meaningful communication and we are surprised to be facing a "epidemic of depression" as the psychologists tell us. A tidal wave of depression as some say!!
Wake up folks! That shit volcano is not just mine its ours. "We are all in this together" says the Coke ad. Clever marketing as usual. Its targeting what we are dreaming. At some level we know this and we are hoping to live more fully like this . After all its human to be connected. Selfishness sucks, get with the revolution. Share your dreams with friends and listen to there's and imagine that they are you and you are them and lets hope that shit volcano doesn't erupt! Take care.
Its well known that big changes happen to many men at 38: the midlife crisis and I was no exception. 8 years later and lots of monumental changes that are still working there way out I can get some perspective on it. On the one hand it was my dream and it was connected to my"shit" so to speak, and at the same time I think it is concerned with much wider issues. In tribal cultures it would be called a "big dream" that's meant for the whole tribe. I have had many thoughts and reflections about it over the years here is some of them. Its a "light" pole that falls over:Our source of literal light and metaphorically our source of spiritual light perhaps, the light of reason maybe? And electricity is something we just take for granted now and is so fundamental to our way of life we are only just beginning to think twice about where it comes from and the enormous cost to the earth to have it at our fingertips! My surname is Power and my dad was an electrician. I did an apprenticeship as an electrician but didn't continue. Its like fate has conspired to make me be aware of electricity! Uranus is conjunct Sun in my astrological chart and Uranus is connected to electricy( what a coincidence...not!)
And again metaphorically its a light that is up high(in my head maybe) that falls over and dents the ground. Like lightning earthing, it draws up the shit which must of been under the surface all along. What is the shit of the earth that I/we have discarded/buried? Partly it was to do with my mind-body split, something we all suffer from in various ways. My depression, despair that I had run away from since childhood and also the awareness that I/we live in vast interconnected ecology of life-forms that are tired of being ignored. There is a lot more that I will return too (in a future entry...I promise)as it was and still is a big dream.
What struck me recently was when I shared this dream that two men(no coincidence here!) wanted to argue with me about what it might mean. Not that either had any special expertise in dreams but hat never stops men from having opinions does it . One who is an indigenous artist of some repute told me that dreams are just the rehashing of events of the day. A sort of simplified Freudian approach. Neither could grasp that the dream might be bigger then me or that after 8 years I might have some insight into it!! Sadly this is to be expected from most educated people. White supremacy is not dead and it doesnt just belong to white people...but thats another blog. Our education even in the Arts more often then not reduces the world and robs it of mystery, awe and anything remotely spiritual . And worse still it reinforces our rampant individualism and narcissism.
Coincidentally my indigenous mate had experienced a number of meaningful coincidences(synchronicity) recently that he didn't want to accept as meaningful. He was turning 38 in a week!! Sadly I think his education had cut him off from his roots in the culture of collective dreaming. Its ironic that a Swiss Psychiatrist(Jung) can propound theories that open the door beyond Western rationalism and are very compatible with traditional indigenous religion yet he wont be taught to indigenous students who will suffer through fashionable French Postmodernism. No wonder the earth is erupting with shit!! We mine her, concrete and pave over her and worse of all ignore her, pretend that we are autonomous units and that she can't communicate to us meaningfully. That's what my good friends are implying, that the earth , the cosmos is just there. It doesn't care about us or what we do to it, its just there and we are here and what ever goes on in my head is about whats going on in my head. If the last 8 years have taught me anything its that its all alive!! Everything is alive and meaningfully connected and communicating. If we are not hearing its because we don't have ears to hear!! Our theories scientific, postmodern, cultural have conspired to block all meaningful communication and we are surprised to be facing a "epidemic of depression" as the psychologists tell us. A tidal wave of depression as some say!!
Wake up folks! That shit volcano is not just mine its ours. "We are all in this together" says the Coke ad. Clever marketing as usual. Its targeting what we are dreaming. At some level we know this and we are hoping to live more fully like this . After all its human to be connected. Selfishness sucks, get with the revolution. Share your dreams with friends and listen to there's and imagine that they are you and you are them and lets hope that shit volcano doesn't erupt! Take care.
The Spirit/s of Christ
A strange thing happened over Christmas that caught me by surprise. Thats Uranus for you and perhaps Mercury! I had decided to go to Ros's Church just to make her happy but honestly I wasn't really into it and couldnt imagine myself being into it again. I had left Chrisitianty behind over 15 years ago. Out grew it , lost my faith...disillusioned with the church and its message , too many other interests, felt more pagan, discovered Astrology...its along list. But still something was bugging me as Chistianty is our culture, our dreaming and we cant escape it. I knew this rationally and then something just changed inside( I was under the trees and moonlight one night) and I felt that I could return with all of me . That I could connect and commit to the spirit of Christ the revolutionary as well as connect to the spirit of the Cosmos or God's thinking via the astrological movement of the planets. Both can intertwine. I am not sure how but i have to find a way. The universe is really a universe of stories. infinite stories upon stories all interconnected. Its time to reweave all the stories together, including the stories of science. Hope this make sense. Take care!
festina lente
I went to woodford festival for a day and night with my boys. It was great as per usual. My only complaint was that people seemed to still be in a hurry!! I danced the night away and it was great fun yet I must of been moving at half the speed of everyone else!! I think this has to do with being immersed in African culture daily. It dawned on me that to slow down is a act of leadership! perhaps even a revolutionary action!
Why are weall moving so fast??Perhaps the influence of "do you think you can dance" where dance has merged with athletics and gymnastics, impressive but totally exhausting. Ros my partner is West African and she scorns this show and says "White people dont know how to dance". Some do...but as a culture we seem to be caught in a manic rush forwards away from the rythms of nature. I cant help but wonder if this hides a underlying panic that is brewing about the state of the world. If we stop and reflect on the world its pretty damned scary and overwhelming. Then too I wonder if as others are saying that we are in the midst of a collective death rebirth cycle . One that has never been seen before on such a scale and as we enter the final death experince a sort of frenzy of energy is being released. What to do ? Festina lente is latin and means Hasten slowly. Its a paradox! We have to make huge changes quickly yet paradoxically we have to go slowly. Going slowly is the path! Its a path not a highway!Not just going slowly but also noticing what the great world around us is wanting to communicate. Imagine what life is like for a tree? a bird or a insect or a rock? Take care.
Why are weall moving so fast??Perhaps the influence of "do you think you can dance" where dance has merged with athletics and gymnastics, impressive but totally exhausting. Ros my partner is West African and she scorns this show and says "White people dont know how to dance". Some do...but as a culture we seem to be caught in a manic rush forwards away from the rythms of nature. I cant help but wonder if this hides a underlying panic that is brewing about the state of the world. If we stop and reflect on the world its pretty damned scary and overwhelming. Then too I wonder if as others are saying that we are in the midst of a collective death rebirth cycle . One that has never been seen before on such a scale and as we enter the final death experince a sort of frenzy of energy is being released. What to do ? Festina lente is latin and means Hasten slowly. Its a paradox! We have to make huge changes quickly yet paradoxically we have to go slowly. Going slowly is the path! Its a path not a highway!Not just going slowly but also noticing what the great world around us is wanting to communicate. Imagine what life is like for a tree? a bird or a insect or a rock? Take care.
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