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Archive for the ‘Features’ Category

BIKE WHISTLE POW!: Meditation

Posted in Features, tagged , , , , , on July 25, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

I normally pooh-pooh bike trails. Springfield’s trails are set up on the edges of our city, and designed to be driven to, as biking is viewed as a purely recreational activity. My bike is my main mode of transportation, and I admit, after risking my life biking to the chain store to get milk for [...]

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THE J’RAMA: Drowning in the sea that shamans swim in

Posted in Features, Wellness, tagged , , , , , , on July 20, 2010 | 2 Comments »

It’s been a challenging year, watching a friend transition from being a fun drunk to being immersed in a psychotic episode. It’s been difficult for our community of friends, for his family, and for anyone who happens to be in his presence. My friend Jay (not his real name) has had “episodes” for most of [...]

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FIZZLING DREAMS OF “BACK-TO-THE-LAND”

Posted in Features, tagged , , , , on July 18, 2010 | 22 Comments »

I have this dream, where I wake up in the morning to no other sound than leaves rustling in the breeze. I step onto the recycled barn wood floorboards that I laid down with my own two hands (with the help of friends), put on a robe and walk to the kitchen. On my way, [...]

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INDEPENDENCE DAY: With Beauty and Fecundity For All

Posted in Features, Holidays, tagged , , , , on July 5, 2010 | 2 Comments »

What does it mean to be a patriotic American in this day and age?  If we shop at Wal-Mart, we may be under the impression it means buying red, white, and blue plastic crap—extruded petroleum from China, of course.  Newspapers suggest that being patriotic means supporting the wars du jour, rooting for the home team [...]

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THE JOURNEY BEGINS: Fiction

Posted in Features, tagged , , , , , on June 15, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Sofia Runciter duly went through the transaction process as dictated by an email accidentally directed to her spam folder.  Soon thereafter, 40% of unfortunate death money, unclaimed by next of kin, was deposited into her account.  Since she was a spirit of energy, there wasn’t a whole lot of use for money in her society, [...]

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LEVITATING OVER THE PRISON WALLS: It can be done (final sections 5 through 7)

Posted in Features, tagged , , , on June 10, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

5. Pistis is the reciprocal trust with the universe, from part to whole to part. We trust the universe to act according to its nature, its Will. The universe trusts us to act according to our natural way, our Will. This is our flow. This is creation. This is synergy beyond imagination. There is what [...]

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LEVITATING OVER THE PRISON WALLS: It can be done (sections 3 and 4)

Posted in Features, tagged , , , , , on June 9, 2010 | 2 Comments »

3. PKD realized this world is deranged, to the point it destroys any attempts to heal it. But the physician (the plasmate) is moved by love, and risks all to plant the seeds of knowledge: that this psychosomatic illness is easily treated, once one becomes aware of what it is that is really wrong. The [...]

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LEVITATING OVER THE PRISON WALLS: It can be done (sections 1 and 2)

Posted in Features, tagged , , , , , , on June 8, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

1. We must trust ourselves. We’ve been filled with a lot of bullshit (time, money, religion, government, morals, etc.) while at the same time denied acknowledgment of vitally important and real phenomena (our experiences, for example). It drives us crazy, being born into and raised by the “Deranged Mind” (a term coined by Philip K. [...]

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FOR THE PRESERVATION OF DECAY: The cost of keeping our distance from death and burial

Posted in Features, tagged , , , , , on June 7, 2010 | 5 Comments »

My grandmother grew up in Brooklyn in the early 1900′s. She told me a story about how she had a mischievous friend who dared her to go into a house if it had a wreath on the front door, indicating that there had been a death in the family. My grandmother said she was too [...]

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THE VIRTUE AND EASE OF NON-STRIVING (BLOOMING, WILTING, REPEATING…)

Posted in Features, tagged , , , , , , on June 3, 2010 | 9 Comments »

My legacy — What will it be? Flowers in spring, The cuckoo in summer, And the crimson maples Of autumn. —Ryokan ~ Sitting with a lovely Lebanese gypsy girl in Oregon one night (she was telling me about her love for owls), I said something about my love for the wilderness, generally.  We were on [...]

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THE MINISTRY OF THE NOW EMERGENCY: An emergency of the highest order

Posted in All That is Sacred, Features, tagged , , , on May 24, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Ordinary time demands our attention to keep the clocks going. Those for whom time has stopped, we are blessed with immortality. We join the universe in its waiting, waiting, waiting…for what? We wait for the Deranged Mind and the disparate members of the human experience to awaken and cognize, to incarnate spiritually and psychically, to [...]

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GIFTS OF A FINITE PLANET: From symbiotic relationships to baby showers

Posted in Features, tagged , , , , on May 21, 2010 | 2 Comments »

You received gifts from me; they were accepted. But you don’t understand how to think about the dead. The smell of winter apples, of hoarfrost, and of linen. There are nothing but gifts on this poor, poor Earth. —Czeslaw Milosz My cousin’s baby shower is this weekend. I scan the registry looking for a gift. [...]

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TO YOU, THE MOST BELOVED: Misunderstandings of “crazy” (part 2)

Posted in All That is Sacred, Features, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 19, 2010 | 5 Comments »

Traditionally, a culture’s shaman is the neurotechnician of a tribe. A shaman is the bridge between the physical world and the spiritual world, the psychopomp of mystical journeys. Often a shaman will induce a trance, either through the use of psychoactive drugs (traditionally this means anything from ayahuasca, to marijuana, to DMT, and to the [...]

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MOOOOOO!: The many corrals of the modern world

Posted in Features, tagged , , , , , , , on May 18, 2010 | 2 Comments »

Guest writer, Cody Meyocks, brings us an insightful ditty on drawn-and-quartered time and space. Beware ye of the many faces of segmented existence. MOOOOOO!: The many corrals of the modern world Corrals. Everywhere I look I see corrals. That’s the divine design of harvest: the squared off, the segmented. The fence. The enforced limit. All [...]

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TO YOU, THE MOST BELOVED: Misunderstandings of “crazy” (part 1)

Posted in All That is Sacred, Features, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 17, 2010 | 4 Comments »

In America, we have words to describe the experience of hearing voices: wacko, delusional, crazy, schizoid, etc. To hear a voice speaking to you, whether out loud or in one’s mind, is not allowed. Hearing voices, especially those of God, is viewed as insanity within the rational paradigm that provides the framework for everyday life. [...]

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ZOMBA NOT ZOMBIES 2012: A look ahead at the blissful chaos of a Permanent Autonomous Zone

Posted in Features, tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 10, 2010 | 3 Comments »

Although the next election is linear time away, I, as an agent of chaos, hope to proactively provoke you all into doing something different. I act in hopes that we (the big We) manifest a different result than the normal cycle of election BS—business as usual. No matter how well believed a politician’s promises, time [...]

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PLAYING NORDIC: The fine line between honoring one’s own heritage and creepy white pride cultishness…

Posted in Features, tagged , , , , , , , , , on April 15, 2010 | 17 Comments »

At These New Old Traditions we talk a lot about reclaiming lost heritages and spiritual traditions (here and here), and how our hyper-capitalist consumer culture has made doing so rather difficult (here and here). Personally, I am, at times overwhelmingly, interested in the myriad of ways in which people of European descent handle these issues [...]

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PODCAST ON WITCHERY 101

Posted in Features, tagged , , , on April 6, 2010 | 1 Comment »

How Stuff Works has a podcast on the history of the persecution of witches, as well as some basic info on contemporary neo-paganism and wicca. At times it’s a little bit “Wiccans believe…,” but still decent and at times properly funny. You can listen to it here. The series has a ton of podcasts on [...]

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BEAUTY IS NOTHING OTHER THAN THE PROMISE OF HAPPINESS

Posted in All That is Sacred, Features, tagged , , , , , , , , , on March 31, 2010 | 2 Comments »

Beauty is a tricky word, as we’ve been brainwashed into believing that it means something like the poet Amber alludes to: skinny, pale, photoshopped models in provocative poses. It’s been so drilled into our heads that this bizarre conformity is the only guise beauty takes that most people walk around feeling particularly unbeautiful. That’s unfortunate, [...]

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UNSCHOOLING & UNWORKING: Confessions of a stay-at-home family (Part 4)

Posted in Features, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on March 28, 2010 | 5 Comments »

My grandparents believed, as Revelations said, that the earth would be consumed with fire. They believed this would happen via nuclear weapons, because in the mid-80’s, this seemed a quite realistic scenario. Sure, the good folks would go to heaven and the bad folks would die and go to hell, but as a little kid, [...]

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