Pork Chop Nostalgia

I should consider these, tis true

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:48:26 GMT

In 2009, copperstewart resolves to...

Give up horus.
Apply for a new chocolate.
Cut down on my reclaiming.
Get back in contact with some old cats.
Go gardening three times a week.
Cut down to ten isis a day.

Mother Ann Lee

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:50:51 GMT

Mother Ann Lee
words and music by JP Houston (SOCAN)

Stowing alone in a hole on the row up in Gary
I was the lowest and owingest soul of the wary
The son of a motherless child, oh so weary
Woe did my weep water a seed
sewing in my sleep a dream

Mother Ann Lee
sang a stream
Oh holy glossolalia
sa-sa-la-do
on Zion we roll
singing sa-la-sa-ree in her arms

Wallowing low when I woke on the road in the morning
Following only the notes left to float in the pouring
the load of a childhoodless life I've been towing
So did my stride usher a tide
and rising in it's wake a sign

Mother Ann Lee
sang a stream
Oh holy glossolalia
sa-sa-la-do
on Zion we roll
singing sa-la-sa-ree in her arms

Rabbi Matthew invokes the 8th God

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:34:27 GMT

From I Saw You Disappear with My Own Eyes: Hidden Transcripts of New York Black Israelite Bricolage (page 72-75). Diagram below.

Matthew's personal papers in the Schomburg Library in New York include two amulets of geometric designs and Hebrew words borrowed in part from The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses [version published by De Laurence]. These amulets offer an unparalleled view into the hidden transcript and the private settings where Rabbi Matthew performed the most secret transformative rituals at the hidden heart of Black Israelism. The square amulet in Matthew's personal papers (Figure 2) was modified from "The Second Table of the Spirits of Fire," found on page 16 of The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses (Figure 4). What makes the derivation of Matthew's diagram from de Laurence's diagram indisputable is the fact that de Laurence has reproduced a calligraphic error in the Hebrew that Matthew has repeated. The word at the bottom, Ha-ko-ach, meaning "The Power," has been miswritten. An errant vertical line closes the gap of the middle letter, kaph, making it look like an uppercase "D." In fact, there is no Hebrew letter with that shape, but in Matthew's diagram [it] is in the exact same place, underneath the intersection of the diagonals, and Matthew has repeated the same mistake in the letter kaph, demonstrating that he used de Laurence's text as a source for his "cabalistic science."

The two amulets shed light on Matthew's esoteric theology, part of the secret knowledge at the heart of his Black Israelite belief. Matthew wrote several phrases in fractured Hebrew on the diagram, the top one of which can be translated: "Rise and give me good luck." Just below the median line the Hebrew can be translated: "Within the eighth fire you should give me life," and the bottom line may read either: "The eighth God should be my father," or "The eighth God, my God, my father." At the simplest level, this diagram appears to be a good luck charm. But at a higher level, this amulet amplifies and expands on Matthew's theology. In later decades Matthew taught that there were seven "spirits" or elements of God, and twelve heavens, which his daughter explicated in the congregational newspaper in 1965:

Do you know how few of us, the Black fews, know that G-d is Wind, Water, Fire, Life, Light, Power, and Mind? This is G-d—the seven elements. Each one of these elements are all gods among themselves, but the creator of these—the one ruler of these, is the one and only. He is G-d. He is in us, out of us, and is all about us; and without Him we wouldn't exist. Without any one of these gods we would not exist.

Given that Matthew believed in seven elements of God, this diagram appears to have been used to worship and invoke the power and presence of the supreme Creator God, an eighth god who appears through the medium of fire. The repetition of the number eight, the image of fire, and a personal filial relationship with God are noteworthy. Again, the amulet can be translated: "Rise and give me good luck/Within the eighth fire you should give me life/the eighth God, my God, my father." Remembering that Matthew began in the sanctified church, he may have borrowed this fiery conception of God from the common "fire-baptized" Holiness-Pentecostal conception of God. The multiple "god-elements" in his theology, however, is what makes Matthew's creed most like the religions of the Black Atlantic.

Moreover, the ritual use of these diagrams seems to have allowed Matthew to be filled with the presence of God, and to relate to the Creator God as a son relates to a father. The second round amulet (Figure 3) repeats and amplifies this sense of God's immanence and Matthew's own power. The diagram consists of several Hebrew sentences printed over a Mögen David, literally a "Shield of David" or six-pointed star, which is a common kabbalistic referent. After some undecipherable words at the beginning of the prayer, the sentence continues: ". . . Eighth God .. . come God, come to me in the flood." The words overlaid on top of the Mögen David itself can be translated: "The Name of God is in me, the Lord my God Exalted Lord God is in me, my God will see me, my father God." In this second amulet Matthew emphasizes and underlines the immanence of God. After asking God to enter him "in a flood," he triumphantly proclaims, "the name of God is in me!" What is especially notable here is not just the idea that God is inside Matthew, but his almost messianic connection with God. It is even possible that through the ritual use of these amulets and incantations, Matthew believed himself able to unify the triune parts of the Pentecostal Godhead: God is the Father, he is the Son, and they meet via the medium of "the eighth fire," or the Holy Spirit.

The kabbalistic diagrams that Matthew based in part on the publications of de Laurence seem to have provided a ritual blueprint for the embodiment of divine power in a manner consistent with the "reputedly Jewish" New Thought-based practices of Bishop Hickerson and some of the other religious bricoleurs of the interwar era. The "cabbalistic science" that could make one disappear or make God appear inside oneself was a form of both spiritual and temporal power, power that was particularly attractive to Matthew and the mainly poor black people who followed him and his peers. In sum, Matthew's religious practice was far more complex, and far more interesting, than the picture of Orthodox Jewish conformity that he presented to the world in the later years of his life. Rather, hidden transcripts demonstrate that Matthew used personal networks and print culture to invent a polycultural religion, drawing on such elements as New Thought, Pentecostalism, Caribbean pageantry, and Kabbala.

(click through to a bigger version)

7 Gods and Subversive Bricolage

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:30:47 GMT

"G-d is Wind, Water, Fire, Life, Light, Power, and Mind. This is G-d--the seven elements. Each one of these elements are all gods among themselves, but the creator of these--the one ruler of these, is the one and only. He is G-d. He is in us, out of us, and is all about us; and without Him we wouldn't exist. Without any one of these gods we would not exist."

-- teaching of Rabbi Wentworth Arthur Matthew, words of his daughter Shirley Dore ("Who is this G-d We Worship?" Malach (September 1965):3-4.)

"Black Judaism successfully hid both its origins in Pentecostal churches and its secret knowledge drawn from Freemasonry, Jewish Kabbala, and African American conjuring...

When one combines the study of Rabbi Matthew's Black Israelism with similar studies of Black Israelism, Black Islam, Rastafarianism, Father Divine's Peace Mission movement, and various New Thought-based black religions operative in the 1920s, it is possible to appreciate a remarkable wave of overlapping esoteric religious creativity that accompanied the much more famous artistic creativity of the Harlem Renaissance. These were religions of 'subversive bricolage,' the creations of remarkably sophisticated, not 'savage,' minds."

--Dorman, Jacob S. "I saw you disappear with my own eyes: Hidden Transcripts of New York Black Israelite Bricolage." Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions. 11:1 (2007). pages 62-63.

Conflicted Testimony

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:32:47 GMT

I have read and re-read most of the books by Father Divine's contemporaries, the ones that are usually labeled as detractors. When they are not rival clerics, I am of the opinion that most of the people motivated to write book-length pieces about him were often discernibly conflicted in their response to his charisma and work. Writers like Sara Harris and John Hoshor, while lapsing into long passages with the worst sorts of racism (I should need only indicate phrases like "young buck" and "nutbrown mammie" to illustrate the particular flavor of racism), cannot help themselves and often find themselves asserting 1) no one can figure out where the money comes from and everyone has tried, hard; or 2) when all is said and done, it looks like he is indeed celibate and practices what he enjoins on others*, 3) he is indeed feeding and rehabilitating tens of thousands of outcast people, and/or 4) painting pictures like this one:

IF Jesus Christ, Himself, returned to earth tomorrow it is doubtful if He could find a church wherein He would feel at home or even one where He would be welcomed.

The Baltimore Sun proved rather conclusively some years ago that there were none in Baltimore. A dozen reporters were called in and ordered not to shave for a week. Saturday night they were told to report early Sunday morning in the oldest and raggiest clothes they could find. Sunday morning they were each given a specific church and instructed to attend the church's services, incognito of course. After doing so they were to write a truthful account of the reception received. No important denominations were overlooked. One who reads their stories will almost agree with Nietzsche's statement that "The last Christian was crucified."

As far as this observer knows no such tests have been made elsewhere, but it seems safe to assume that the results would be much the same as they were in Baltimore. The reactions would probably range all the way from 'a sneer at' His clothes or person to threats to call the cops unless He cleared out.

Upon entering Father Divine's Peace Mission at 20 West 115th Street, now his official headquarters, one cannot help but feel that, regardless of the purpose of the visit, one is more than welcome. The building, a four-story red brick structure, formerly used for Harlem weddings, stag parties, lodge meetings and tap dancing rehearsals, is rented by Father Divine's cult. It has been their official headquarters since December 19, 1933.

Prominently displayed on the front of the building is a large sign stating that "all people, languages and races, all are welcome."

Throughout the block, as elsewhere in Harlem, are numerous signs in store and apartment house windows, "Peace," "Thank you, Father," "Peace, Shirts made to order," "Peace, three rooms to rent-hot water." Disciples, unmistakably recognized by their radiance and their unworried, happy countenance are coming and going on both sides of the street.

Only a few months before the emerald doors of Father Divine's heaven were thrown open on this street, it was, according to a Harlem police captain, almost unsafe for the prosperous appearing person to walk late at night unprotected through that block. While now, the chances are that should you drop a bill fold, well stuffed with Uncle Sam's currency, in that street or neighborhood, it would be promptly returned with a note: "Peace. Father Divine is God."

As one enters the Mission and climbs four steps to the first floor, greetings from every side are offered through the welcome smiles of the disciples and their watchword-salutation, "Peace." If it is any reasonable hour of the day and night the mission will be crowded.

Continuing through the first floor vestibule one enters a large hall, where the devotees of this faith are seated compactly on wooden benches, while others sit on boxes and crates in the aisles. In the rear of the hall the last eight or ten rows of benches are raised in a grandstand effect. At the front, from wall to wall, a waist high platform extends, at the center of which a twenty-two piece orchestra is playing in hot, swing time, "I've got rhythm, Divine rhythm." The platform, like the main floor, is filled with a swinging, pulsing, motley mass of men and women whose respective "complexions" range through every degree from pitch black to albinism.

Out of their torrid throats arises a throbbing, deeply sonorous, mountain of song:

"I've got rhythm, Divine rhythm
I'm running for eternal life
I've got rhythm, Divine rhythm
Father Divine has freed me from all strife."

The floodgates of their emotions are open. They sing as if to some electrical compulsion. Every one keeps time, some with their hands, some with their feet, many with their whole bodies. They wear their hearts upon their sleeves. The gusto for life, the spirit of love and goodwill, and the fervent enthusiasm of those present warms the listener like a miraculous bonfire. One can almost catch the flame. It is, indeed, a house of happiness.

Here and there in different parts of the audience some are standing, clapping their hands and swaying their shoulders to the rhythm of the song. Others with slightly more space at their disposal loosely fling themselves about like whirling dervishes and prance, reel and writhe ecstatically in their own original manner. The spirit catches one after another, advertising its presence by long deep moans, shrill shouts or intensive floor stamping. One brother is releasing the unseen caller through the medium of a mouth harp, from which comes swinging measures in time with the orchestra. There are no rules of formalism here.

Father Divine has made his followers one great friendly and loving family. No jealousies, no animosities, no class prejudice and no quarrels. It is actually, Peace Brother, Peace Sister. They seem to literally merge themselves into one golden-hearted living creature, mellow with happiness, in an immense state of love.

Hoshor, John. God in a Rolls Royce. New York: Hillman, 1936. 125-128.

* a ready example: "Certain non-believers among the colored race have privately claimed that they had unmistakable evidence of successful sexual advances by Father Divine toward some of his more attractive female devotees; and one white woman who resided at the Sayville heaven insisted that the Negro leader crawled in her bed at night, and that to get away from him she ran out into Macon Street in her night dress. It is extremely doubtful, however, that such assertions are true as the authorities tried diligently for many months, through unusually capable operatives, to secure evidence of such nature without a semblance of success, and it is also questionable if even the most loyal and submissive feminine follower, so glorified, could long refrain from advertising or boasting of her conquest." (Hoshor 101-102)

An (alleged) audience with Father Divine

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:34:14 GMT

A white caller sitting nearby listens with an unbelieving look on her face. This is the twentieth consecutive day that she has been here to see Father Divine. She wants to sell him penny banks. Yesterday when she was here she suddenly got up and rushed out with a great idea. Today she has returned with a gift bank, on which is inscribed the name of Father Divine. She asks the secretary to please deliver it to him. Surely that will get her the long-awaited interview.

It does.

Father Divine calls her in as soon as the little bank is handed to him.

"Peace, Sister. What do you mean by putting my name on this physical thing, this token of Mammon, without my personal permission, without even asking me about it or discussing it with me?"

The lady is flustered, but now that she's in, she intends to get her sales-talk across.

"I thought how nice it would be for you to have hundreds of these banks and place one on the table of each of your missions, so that every one of your disciples could slip a penny into a bank each time they ate. In that way they could help you feed the poor."

"I don't need any help to feed the poor. I feed thousands, millions every day. I have all the money I need."

Father Divine's emphatic tone of voice created belief in the woman's mind.

"Well, I don't understand it. I have a dependent husband, three children and a sister living with me, and I can't even make enough to feed them," the woman offered. Perhaps, she thought, Father Divine would give her the secret of his financial success.

"Why don't you do what you are trying to get me to do? Put one of these little affairs on your table and let each of them donate a penny when they eat? If you think it will work for me, why won't it work for you?"

That ended the interview. She didn't sell any banks.

from Hoshor, John. God in a Rolls Royce. New York: Hillman-Curl, 1936. 25-26.

Useful information: Abacus

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:53:54 GMT

I did not know that was also called an "abacus"

Abacus
"In architecture the slab or plinth which forms the upper member of the capital of a column or pillar, and upon which rests, in classic styles, the lower surface of the achitrave."

Impost Block or Abacus
The impost block, also referred to as the abacus, is the slab that is found between the capital and the architectural element above it, such as the entablature.

Publishing the Past on Scribd...

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:42:34 GMT

I found a wonderful piece of Father Divine ephemera and was able to get it as my birthday gift. It's the only copy of this publication I've seen or seen referenced, and the only one to my knowledge that uses the word "Avatar." It's apparently a special edition of an Australian Theosophy magazine.

I can't get the scribd reader to embed properly, so here's the link:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/20327559/Harmony-No-36-Divinity-of-Father-Divine

And I also put it on Internet Archive:

http://www.archive.org/details/HarmonyMagazineNo.36TheDivinityOfFatherDivine

Census worker lynched as "fed" in Kentucky

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:49:45 GMT

William Sparkman was found murdered and hanging in a Kentucky cemetery on Sept. 12 with the word "fed" scrawled on his chest.

Here is some background about this man, who had recently survived cancer and finished his college degree.

Cancer Survivor Earns Degree

William Sparkman Graduate Speaker at February 2008 Commencement

Pavo & the Wheel

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 18:35:47 GMT

Interesting pairing of peacock and wheel or orb of Fortune.

http://www.humanismforsale.org/text/archives/388

digital darshan

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:52:17 GMT

Go do virtual puja for Ganesha! It's fun and makes for good merit.

http://www.shreedarshan.com/

Hail Mary--I shall miss you.

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:52:06 GMT

Chechen Qadiri Hadra

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 01:44:06 GMT

LIGHTNING ON THE PATH: "The Secret Hymn" from the Hermetica

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 21:08:57 GMT

See with gnoing eye, with Witchly I, and do
For it shows the Mystery of how and why to pray
And Key of Theurgy.

--“I will recite it, O son, just as Poimandres revealed the eighth sphere to me. You do well to make haste to free yourself from the tent of the body, for you have been purified. Poimandres, the Nous of the Supreme, gave me no more than what has been written, being aware that I should be able to know all things by myself and to hear what I wanted to hear, and to see all, and he charged me to create works of beauty. Wherefore the powers in me sing also in all things.”

--“O father, I want to hear and to know these things.”

-- “Be still, O son, hear the harmonious song of praise, the hymn of rebirth, which I had not thought to impart so easily, if you had not reached the very end. For this hymn is not taught but hid in silence. And so, O son, standing under the clear sky, and facing the south wind, at the setting of the sun, bow down; do likewise facing east at sunrise. Be still, O son.”

Secret Hymn

Let every creature in the cosmos give ear to this hymn.
Open, Earth.
Let the rains pour without restraint.
Trees, be not shaken.
I am about to praise the Lord of Creation, the All and the One.
Open heavens; winds, be still.
Let God’s immortal sphere receive my song.

For I am about to sing praise to the Creator of All, who fixed the earth, who suspended the heavens, and who, in lands inhabited and wild, parted fresh water from the ocean for the creation and sustenance of all [hu]mankind; who ordained that fire appear for the use of gods and people. Let us give praise to Him, above the heavens, the founder of all nature.

He is the eye of Nous, may He receive the praise of every power within me.

O powers within me, sing to the One and to the All;
With one accord, all you powers, sing praise at my bidding.
Divine knowledge, illumined by you, I sing through you of the spiritual light and I rejoice in the delight of Nous.
Sing praise with me, all you powers.
You, Temperance, sing with me.
Justice, through me praise what is just.
Generosity, through me praise the All.
Truth, sing of the truth.
Good, praise the Good.
Life and Light, from you comes the praise and to you it returns.
I give thanks to you, Father, the strength of all my powers.
I give thanks to you, God, power of all my strength.
Your Word through me sings to you.
Receive all back through me by the Word, a spoken sacrifice.

Thus cry the powers within me.
They praise the All, they accomplish your will which comes forth from you and returns to you, being the All.
Receive an offering of speech from all beings.
O Life, preserve the All within us.
O Light, illuminate the All.
O God, inspire the All.
For Nous guides your Word, O Bearer-of-the-Breath-of-Life,
O Creator of the world. You are God.

All this your [hu]man proclaims through fire, air, earth, water; through breath, through your creatures.
From you I have discovered eternity’s song of praise and in your will I have found the rest I seek.
By your will, I have witnessed this praise being sung.

--“O father, I have set this hymn in the cosmos within me.”

--“Say, rather, In the world of Nous, O son.”

--“In the world of Nous, O father, I am full of power. By your song and praise, Nous in me has been fully illumined. I , too, strongly wish to give praise to God from my own heart.”

--“Do so with care, O son.”

--“Father, what I behold in Nous, I speak. To you, God, first author of generation, I, Thoth, send these offering of speech. God, you are Father, you are Lord, you are Nous, receive these words of mine as you will. For by your will all things are accomplished.”

--“O son, offer an acceptable sacrifice to God, the Father of all. But also add, O son, ‘through the Word.’”

--“I thank you, O father, for allowing me to sing as I prayed.”

--“I am glad, O son, that you have brought forth the fruit of truth, a good and immortal harvest. And now that you have learnt this from me, keep silence about this miracle and reveal to no one the tradition of rebirth, lest we be call betrayers. We have both been sufficiently careful, I in speaking, and you in listening. In Nous you have come to know both yourself and our Father.

About "Joe" Wilson

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:10:32 GMT

I've got nothing against principled outbursts. Indeed, I encourage them and wish our US Congress looked a bit more like PM's question-an-answer period in the British Parliament.

But "Joe" Wilson is a racist with a long history and questionable involvements, and it looks to me like the Obama + immigration context was just too much for an old cracker to bear.

14 Things You Need to Know About Obama Heckler, Rep. Joe Wilson

A Life-Day

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:21:25 GMT

Today's my birthday and the birthday of ally Marie Laveau. It's also the 44th anniversary of the date ally Father Divine put aside the body.

I regard Father Divine as an extraordinary Hermetic exemplum and a true hypostasis of God Himself. He is a bodhisattva in the sense of one who has nothing to learn, but who chooses to teach, and as far as I'm concerned, he was the greatest Divine Agent to appear in form in the history of the United States.

I am a mystic and Witch, so I don't understand him as Peace Mission followers do, though their ways are among the most inspiring and consistently ethical I've encountered.

I believe that Father's teachings are among the clearest expositons of what might be called "Hermetic Supermentalism" that have been uttered. Perhaps only Sri Aurobindo, his divine contemporary, is as clear or workable. I regard him as energetically much clearer and cleaner than other exemplums I admire, like Aleister Crowley or Meher Baba.

Here are two videos--the first is a fuller version of a newsreel I've posted before. The second is one I've only just seen for the first time. It's amazing to me how favorable they are, on the whole, considering the extreme racism the Peace Mission often encountered and Mr. Hearst's life-long vendetta against Father Divine (Hearst remains the source of most misinformation on Father Divine--if you want to know historical truths about him, stick to academics like Robert Weisbrot and Jill Watts).

And here is a poem or declamation written by a Peace Mission follower on the dedication of the "Shrine to Life" that houses Father Divine's Wholly Form:

I AM known as Alpha and Omega. Before time was, I AM. I encompass the Universe. It is My Habitat, and yet, I AM the heart beat of every man. I caused the mist to roll away and lo, eons of years ago a world appeared, but, even at this very moment, I AM here. And when all is done in My Infinite Plan, It is I Alone Who will remain because I AM eternally the same.

I A M L I F E !

I AM felt in Happiness. I fill the air. Life in all its exuberance is Mine to share. Youth, effervescent and unrestrained is My Domain. Still, in the contentment of the sage, I AM the same. Enjoy My Fountain of Energy, it's boundless, it's free! Let it saturate you endlessly.

I A M L I F E !

I AM seen in Nature. I AM the rush of the wind in the trees, apple blossoms, autumn leaves, the snow-covered crest of the mountain peak, all living creatures that be. I AM the fire that gives warmth and cheer. I AM the seasons of the year. I AM the ebb and flow of the tide; the fury of the storms that rise. I AM the gravity that holds all things to this Paradise on earth I bring. I AM also the Magnetism that suspends the spirit of man in ecstasy, world without end.

I A M L I F E !

I AM heard in Conscience. I speak where no other can, deep within the heart of man. By inner unction I demand to what is always the right stand. But to hear the whisper of My Command man must know that I AM. By constant use and motive sincere and pure, My Whisper, increasingly amplified, is more easily heard.

I A M L I F E !

I AM expressed in Liberty proclaimed throughout the land, I AM the Voice of Freedom that cries out from every man willing to pay for his God-given birthright, generation after generation sacrificing his own life. This relentless surge to be free comes from the very Nature of ME for nothing restricts and nothing binds the movement of My Infinite Mind.

I A M L I F E !

I AM balanced by Equilibrium. From My Veins runs the blood of every nation: in My Sight all are the same. I weigh on the Scale of Justice every act. My Price is just: My reward exact. By ME every man is judged, not by what he says, but by what he does.

The upright do not fear to come before ME. Justice is My Scale: Truth My Creed.

I A M L I F E !

I AM moving in Progress. I never stand still. My press, always onward, My Plan to fulfill. And as man progresses to the Perfection of ME a new dimension to explore, he will begin to see where he can push back frontiers of a new world seen, yet unseen; heard, yet unheard where every challenge is to the perfection of man -- spirit, body and mind where at last he is lost in My Will Divine.

I A M L I F E !

I AM, in essence, the Word made Flesh. I AM the Law of Moses magnified. I AM the Law of the Spirit of Life Personified. By My Spoken Word I AM and in My Word undiluted I remain. Nothing is relevant to the Reality of ME. I Alone Am Absolute. Unrestricted and free I have decreed to be. Through forty-two generations of Biblical history I AM come; through thirty-two lynch mobs in this dispensation every battle I have won. I cannot be separated from the Allness of ME -- Spirit, Body and Mind the same.

I AM LIFE -- I AM ETERNAL
-- GOD FATHER DIVINE IS MY NAME !

Entrain your orbs for 090909

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 01:40:30 GMT

John Pilger on Obama

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:39:13 GMT

Holy Measure

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:44:20 GMT

Neat--"Rubric" has the same root as "Rudra," the pre-Puranic God who became Shiva.

rubric

c.1375, "directions in religious services" (often in red writing), from O.Fr. rubrique, from L. rubrica "red ochre, red coloring matter," from ruber, from PIE base *rudhro- (see red).

Blackwater Whistleblowers?

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 12:53:08 GMT

This seems like a potentially important development:

BLACKWATER FOUNDER ERIK PRINCE IMPLICATED IN MURDER
The Nation, Aug. 4
A former Blackwater employee and an ex-US Marine who has worked as a security operative for the company have made a series of explosive allegations in sworn statements filed on August 3 in federal court in Virginia. The two men claim that the company's owner, Erik Prince, may have murdered or facilitated the murder of individuals who were cooperating with federal authorities investigating the company. The former employee also alleges that Prince "views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe," and that Prince's companies "encouraged and rewarded the destruction of Iraqi life."

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090817/scahill

Al Jezeera on Mountaintop Removal

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:49:00 GMT

Orphan etymology

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:26:05 GMT

orphan

c.1300, from L.L. orphanus "parentless child" (cf. O.Fr. orfeno, It. orfano), from Gk. orphanos "orphaned," lit. "deprived," from orphos "bereft," from PIE *orbho- "bereft of father," also "deprived of free status," from base *orbh- "to change allegiance, to pass from one status to another" (cf. Hittite harb- "change allegiance," L. orbus "bereft," Skt. arbhah "weak, child," Arm. orb "orphan," O.Ir. orbe "heir," O.C.S. rabu "slave," rabota "servitude" (cf. robot), Goth. arbja, Ger. erbe, O.E. ierfa "heir," O.H.G. arabeit, Ger. Arbeit "work," O.Fris. arbed, O.E. earfoð "hardship, suffering, trouble"). The verb is attested from 1814. Orphanage "institute or home for orphans" is first attested 1865.

Eagan, TN: Digging wild herbs in the Appalachian mountains

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 18:13:09 GMT

More about Blair Mountain

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:30:25 GMT

More about Blair Mountain, one of the most important labor history sites in the country, which has recently been removed from the National Register of Historic Places and may soon be utterly destroyed.

Bi-Monthly Access to Vishnu (for the commoner)

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 00:47:35 GMT

There is a great deal about Sri Upasni Maharaj that parallels shamanic practice. For example, he once described a vision that occurred prior to his enlightenment, when two giants came to crack his head open and let the light out. This "discourse" is from 1924 and explains access to the "Temple of Vishnu" on the bi-monthly Vaishnava fast days called Ekadashi.

This is a Dattatreya lineage and has always been syncretic and extra-Vedic, though Upasni was himself a brahmin ayurvedist from a Vaishnava family. Upasni Maharaj was the student of Shirdi Sai and the primary guru of Meher Baba.

Access to the Moving Temple of Vishnu on Ekadashi

katha with Sri Upasni Maharaj (1924)

It is customary to visit a temple to have the Darshana of God on an Ekadashi day, as the portals of Vaikuntha are supposed to be open particularly on that day. (Ekadashi means observing fast on the eleventh day from the full and new moon days, i.e., twice a month. Vaikuntha is the abode of Vishnu meaning the Infinite Bliss.) Darshana of God on this particular day means one's entry into Vaikuntha.

It should be well-borne in mind that to go for the darshana of a saint is virtually going to Vaikuntha for the darshana of God. Today is the Ekadashi day meant for a visit to Vaikuntha, Sometime ago I have spoken about the story of a moving temple, Anybody who is qualified to enter that temple can do so any time at his will. But on Ekadashi day anybody could get into it. This temple is peculiar in that it consists of halls within halls, which are moving in opposite· directions, the doors of which are located in opposite directions, and whose domes are also situated opposed to each other. If the outer hall has its door towards east, it is moving in a clockwise manner--has its dome in the normal position that is directed above, then the next hall within has its door towards the west, it moves in anti-clockwise direction and its dome is kept in a reversed position - i.e., upside down. The third hall is opposed to the second in every way. The God is sitting in the innermost hall of this temple. It is thus impossible for a commoner to enter this temple and have the darshana. A man who is, however, qualified can enter the temple and pass through the different halls and have his darshana. Just as a guard or a person, who knows how to do it, can alone enter a running train and nobody else, in the same way a man, who is qualified and knows exactly how to go about, can enter this peculiar temple any day he likes, even though it happens to be moving at a high speed. Just as for a commoner there are stations instituted for getting into a train, similarly for a commoner to get into this temple the Ekadashi day is instituted. It is on this particular day that all its doors' come in one straight line, one behind the other, and the temple becomes stationary; anybody can get in on this day. Just as even in a stationary train standing at a station one can get in only when armed with a ticket, in the same way, anybody who knows and observes the cogent regulations can alone have an entry into it on the Ekadashi day. Just as a man without a ticket is not permitted to enter a train, in the same way, a man who has not observed the cogent regulations cannot get into it even on this day. Just as a train always stops at a station at the appointed time whether there is a passenger or not, in the same way, that temple becomes stationary on the Ekadashi day. Just as a person who wants to travel has his food, luggage, a ticket, etc., and is ready to enter the train, in the same way, if a man has been following the various regulations and thus qualified himself, he can have the darshana on that day. A man who is not desirous of having the darshana does not naturally worry about any rules or regulations. The temple becomes stationary at the appointed time and a qualified man can enter it. A person, who knows how to get in and all that, can of course enter the temple at any time he likes; it is for the commoner that the regulations are there; he has to observe a fast on that day; the eleventh day [after full and new moons] is reserved for that purpose for certain reasons. Observe the regulations on that day and qualify yourself to enter the temple.

Now the moving temple is this body. The halls arranged in opposite direction are the three - Sthula, Sukshma and Karana bodies (the gross, the subtle and th causal). The Vaikuntha is the Brahmanda situated in the head. The fasting on Ekadashi day means to starve - to stop the ten senses and the mind' from undertaking any action; to stop the activities of these eleven like that is observing the fast correctly. A man, who observes a fast like that, i.e., observes the Ekadashi, becomes qualified to have' the darshana of Vishnu situated in the Brahmanda located in himself. One can also have similar darshana of Vishnu in Brahmanda by associating with [someone] who has experienced it and who is ever in it, i.e., a Sat-purusha.

(scanned from an ancient, battered 6 vol. set of Upasni's Talks I purchased in Shirdi).