Tales of Power

The history between the Native Americans and the Europeans need not be re-told for it is one that is known to all of us. It is common knowledge that the European conquerors that came to the New World not only brought with them disease and new technologies but also the end of a way of life that had existed for thousands of years.

What is not known, perhaps, is the reason why the two cultures clashed so violently and why even after the almost genocidal destruction of the Indians, the Whites furthered ensured that the survivors remained isolated from mainstream society by putting them on reservations and systematically eradicating the culture through the use of boarding schools – the latter being an institutionalized system that remained in place even through the 1950s. The result was a people that were internally fractured, riddled with problems like poverty, alcoholism, drug abuse, domestic violence, and suicide. But the destruction of the people specifically was not the ultimate purpose.

Life on the Res – modern day

While at first glance it may appear that the decision to eradicate the Indian peoples was similar to what is typically found in any other conquest, there is, I believe, much more to it – for the destruction of the Indians was not so much focused on eliminating a particular ethnic group or destroying a way of life but rather on eradicating a system of knowledge that posed a substantial threat to the dominant society.

The Indian people came to North and South America from Asia in various migrations, bringing with them much of the knowledge that was possessed by their ancestors in the Himalayas and Mongolian steppe. Among the things they brought with them were shamanistic practices that gave them the ability to traverse distances in ways that defied the principles of modern physics, the ability to channel an animal and acquire it powers, the ability to perceive and know things in mysterious ways, and the knowledge of how to affect people from remote distances - positively or negatively.

A Tibetan Shaman

This knowledge, if applied, posed a tremendous threat to White society not only because it meant they were subject to dangers for which they had no knowledge of how to combat but also because it challenged their understanding of the nature of reality and how they saw the world. To top it all off, it posed a serious challenge to Christianity – the theological foundation of European society - because only through the power of Jesus should one be able to do “miracles.” Anything else was inherently the work of the Devil. How could they explain, then, what these Indians were doing?

An Indian Shaman practices his craft

In essence, it was a Stone Age culture with “supernatural” knowledge caught in the midst of an industrialized society which neither acknowledged nor understood what these people, who were supposed to be more primitive, were able to do. And so, the decision was made to eradicate it.

The Lakota Sioux Medicine Man, Yellow Bird, lies dead after the Wounded Knee Massacre, 1890

Fortunately, despite their best efforts, the knowledge did survive in small pockets and has been transmitted down. Whether it remains as vast and potent as it once was, however, is impossible to say as it seems as if much has been lost along the way.

Lost in Time

So in the end, the ultimate aim of the Indian genocide was achieved: the knowledge that they carried was largely forgotten. This is not only confirmed by individual Indians but also by shamans well-known to White society like Rolling Thunder and Don Juan Matus. Fortunately, however, in the 1960s a renewed interest in the Old Ways led to increased awareness of the plight of the people and the system of knowledge they maintained and, as a result, efforts were made to ensure its survival - within limits. Now Indians are able to practice without fear of direct persecution and the younger generation is able to learn its ways. One can only hope they will be able to carry it on.

Job of the Future

I'm a Wannabe Airborne Ranger

Anders Behring Breivik, perpetrator of the July 23, 2011 Norway attacks

Member of a state militia

The Real Deal

When the Wind Blows

There are moments in history in which the course of events is suddenly and radically altered and in that short time span an Old World dies and a New World emerges out of the ashes. While it is tempting to think that all change is for the better and in furtherance of some evolution towards order, a brief look at human history over the last 3,000 years will show that this is not always the case, at least in the short term (500 or 1,000 years). The fall of the Roman Empire, for example, led to the Dark Ages in Europe from which the continent did not emerge for a millenium. The political, social, and economic structure that the Romans had created and spread across the known world was replaced by fuedalism, a decline in literacy and culture, and poverty. While it must be admitted that the Dark Ages possess an alluring fascination and romantic appeal it was probably not a sentiment shared by those who had to live through it.

Life in the Middle Ages was "nasty, brutish, and short"

A similar decline took place in Asia with the fall of the Qing Dynasty in China in the late-19th and early 20th centuries. A marvelous civilation with a history that stretches back 5,000 years was reduced to a fractured nation buckling under mass starvation, political turmoil, and foreign occupation. Established rigorous civil service exams that dated back thousands of years and that tested literacy, math, law, military strategy, and the Classics, were replaced by corruption and cronyism. Society crumbled and hundreds of millions suffered.

The Chinese Civil Service Exam

Witnessing the increased turmoil in the world over the past decade I fear that we may be entering such a moment of radical upheaval. Increased social and political instability, the outbreak of numerous regional wars, economic crises, water shortages, radical climate change, frequent and unprecedented natural disasters, and the real possibility of nuclear terrorism have brought us to the brink of collapse. All these paint a picture of a coming apocalypse. But perhaps not in the Biblical sense.

In Old Norse mythology, Ragnarok is the climactic battle in which the world is destroyed and from which a New Age emerges. While I'm sure some Vikings took this quite literally, I believe that, in accordance with the general patterns of myths, the transformation represented is a symbolic one.

One possible outcome

The destruction, then, may not mean literal destruction but rather the end of the present Consciousness and the emergence of a new, higher Conciousness. It is, essentially, the death of one way of understanding and perception, and the birth of a new one. So perhaps it's not that the world is going to end on December 21, 2012 (the date on which the Mayan Calendar ends) but rather that the world as we know it will end. And that may not be a bad thing.

Turin looks to the Future

Human consciousness has, for the last few thousands years, remained largely constant. People today have the same general understanding of phenomena and their place in the Cosmos as their ancestors in the 3rd century B.C. had, with some slight variations to account for regional and cultural differences. On the whole, though, most people have a framework within which they view themselves and understand their relationship with external phenomena. That has remained largely unchanged for thousands of years. It is for this reason that The Odyssey and Romeo and Juliet still resonate with Modern Man - for he can see himself in the characters he reads about from ancient times.

Odysseus and the Sirens (12th century B.C.)

Ulysses and friends meet the Sirens in O Brother, Where Art Thou? (1937 A.D.)

For the past 5,000 years of recorded human history there has been a phenomenal increase in knowledge. The past century alone saw the advent of aviation, space travel, nuclear power, and electronics. Mankind now has the ability to create tools that can take him to the stars. And it has come at a price.

Hiroshima, 1945

For while knowledge has vastly increased, wisdom hasn't. In general Modern Man is not much wiser than his medieval peasant great-gandfather. If he were, then the wisdom of the Tao Te Ching would be common knowledge. Instead, he harbors the same limited understanding about the effects of his actions except that now has unprecedented power. He is a cave man with an Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile.

"Nuke those Commies!"

In short, he fails to see the interconnectedness that surrounds him and how he is inseparably linked to his environment; instead only focusing on short-term tangible results. So he starts wars for profit, pursues strategies that provide short-term material benefit, and analyzes every situation in terms of how he, himself, can gain. What he fails to see is that what he does to others, he does to himself.

You are Here

While knowledge comes from our own analytical ability, wisdom comes from an entirely different source. It comes from the depths of the Universe and gives us an understanding of the relationship that exists between events. It implies an understanding of Cause and Effect - seeing how current circumstances are the the result of past causes and how choices in the present will manifest as effects in the future. Not suprisingly, when we have the wisdom to see Cause and Effect, we make very different choices.

Given our abundance of knowledge and our severe lack of wisdom we have reached a point where we will have to change what we do or risk self-destruction. The current volatility and instability on this planet is a manifestation of the internal lack of harmony in our own minds. The planet is sick because we are sick. And we are not separate. As a race we have to learn to see beyond obvious, short-term effects and look farther ahead, to see the real consequences of our choices - and how they last for infinity.

Ripples travel to the edge of the pond

Soon we will be faced with a stark choice: change or die. I believe we will change and that a New Age of higher Consciousness and awareness will be ushered in. I suspect it's always been part of the plan - part of the Universe's game of self-discovery and development. But when the wind blows, I fear it'll take everything we've got to make it through.

When the Wind Blows (1986)

Review: Throne of Blood

Kurosawa's 1957 masterpiece, Throne of Blood, is an adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth, set in 14th century medieval Japan. It tells the story of one General Taketoki Washizu (played by the charismatic Toshiro Mifune) who murders his lord and usurps power through manipulation and treachery, ultimately to suffer his demise at the hands of his own men.

Perhaps the darkest of the Kurosawa samurai epics, it was filmed on the slopes of Mt Fuji where Kurosawa had an entire medieval castle built to serve as the set for the film. The elevation being so high, the area was a barren wasteland and fog covered the ground most of the time, giving the film a bleak, stark tone - consistent with the story itself.

One of the most interesting aspects of the story itself is the role which General Washizu's wife, played by Isuzu Yamada, has in orchestrating the entire plot. For although her husband is the lord of the castle she is truly the one calling the shots. This relationship brilliantly captures the nature of feminine power - subltle, dark, yielding - and yet clearly as powerful as the more overt male. It is an interesting manifestation of the yin-yang principle in which the yielding yin submits to the dominant yang and the male yang then, in turn, submits to the dark yin.

Lady Washizu suggests the murder

Ultimately, Lord Washizu's dramatic fall from grace is a vivid testament to the short-sightedness of greed and the desire for power. It is also a poignant example of the principle of karma. With stunning cinematography, powerful acting, and a mysterious atmosphere of foreboding that is unparalleled in any other Kurosawa film, this publication endorses this cinematic masterpiece with the greatest enthusiasm.

Lord Washizu's demise

The Razor's Edge

"The sharp edge of a razor is difficult to pass over; thus the wise say the path to Salvation is hard."

-Katha-Upanishad

I am Death

[To decide who begins in the game of chess that will determine his fate, the knight hides a piece in one hand, but Death chooses the empty hand.]

Knight: Black for you!
Death: It becomes me well.

-The Seventh Seal

Politics As Usual

Some things haven't changed: political wrangling in Massachussetts in the 1780s (Shay's Rebellion)

Fire

"Self-portrait, Anger"

-Photograph by Nicole Tamashiro

The Litany Against Fear

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

- Dune

Better Call Saul

"We don't need a criminal lawyer, we need a criminal lawyer."

-Pinko, Breaking Bad

Courage