Thriving Beyond Sustainability: Pathways to a Resilient Society

Book Review: Thriving Beyond Sustainability: Pathways to a Resilient Society by Andres R. Edwards  (New Society Publishers 2010)

This is by the author of – The Sustainability Revolution – which I have not read, but I wanted to read something really up-to-date as timeliness is important in keeping up with the latest developments and issues. This is a book about transitioning beyond mere sustainability to conditions of ‘thriveability’, where we take into account the consequences of our actions, accept responsibility, and count success not only in achieving our own goals but also in terms of enhancing social and ecological harmony.

In the authors own words:

“This book draws a collective map of individuals, organizations and communities from around the world that are committed to building an alternative future that strives to restore environmental health, reinvent outmoded institutions, and rejuvenate our environmental, social and economic systems. It is my intention to describe the emerging ideas and actions so that readers will gain a better understanding of the challenges we face and a determination to be part of the solutions. Each of us has an important role to play.”

The first section concerns what we can learn from indigenous societies about achieving a harmony or equilibrium with the surrounding world. In the past, among some societies, this was a matter of survival. Weather prediction, sustainable irrigation, and following herds of grazing animals were means of necessary adaptation to conditions in various areas. In order to survive they had to adapt, know the rhythms of their surroundings, and develop resilience to any extremes with which they were faced. The author examines four manifestations of ‘traditional ecological knowledge’: Tibetan nomads, Balinese water temples, Inuit traditional knowledge, and South American Kogi traditional land stewards. The Tibetan example shows ancient ways that protected against overgrazing, the sustainable practice of barley agriculture suitable to the region, and the efficient and reciprocal relationship Tibetans once had with the yak. Apparently, the introduction of pesticide-intensive wheat production by the Chinese initially resulted in severe droughts. Also noted is that the harsh and delicate environment of the high Himalayas is a good early indicator of climate instability as here are the most extensive glaciers outside of Arctic regions. The example of the water temple irrigation systems of Indonesian Bali shows a very sustainable (over 10 centuries) and very beautiful way of irrigation. Local groups managed water resources based on a traditional calendar of planting and irrigation schedules. This system was abandoned beginning in the 1960s as the country’s Green Revolution sought to introduce new varieties of rice and new growing practices to help fight hunger. Food production initially increased quite a bit but a few years later the effects of this change resulted in pesticide dependence, pesticide resistance, increased bug problems, water shortages, pesticide runoff problems, depleted soil, and lack of seed availability due to dependence on higher-yielding hybrid varieties. The trend was partially reversed beginning in the 1980s and the water priests returned to managing some of the croplands. Regarding the Inuit he notes that their areas in the far north are also likely to be first impacted by climate instabilities where things like melting snow and ice along the coasts can reduce protection from storms.

“Through observation they have developed pattern recognition useful in understanding animal health, migrations, and seasonal weather changes. The longevity of their settlements and adaptability to changing conditions serves as a contrast to our fast-paced, material-based culture.”

The Kogi are a very small isolated tribe high in the Andes in Columbia that eluded the Spanish conquest. They have survived the harsh conditions by planting various crops at different elevations which have different micro-climates. They also graze cattle. They are threatened by banana and palm plantations, the coca plantations and paramilitary activities of drug cartels, and by extraction of natural resources.

The value of traditional cultures is also cultural diversity and losing those cultures through destruction of their environments, dilution of their traditions by imposing modern ways on them, and by loss of languages is losing potential valuable knowledge. Another issue involves the rights of indigenous peoples. They can be susceptible to manipulation by governments and industrial interests as history shows.   

The word ‘glocal” refers to global localization and the view coined in the 80’s – ‘think globally, act locally. The interaction between global or regional technology, networks of communication, transportation, trade, money, and pollutants transferred by weather – and locally impacted environments has caused many difficult issues that remain unresolved. Examples given are in the realms of energy transition (from fossil fuels to renewables), regional climate protection strategies, and resource management. The examples demonstrate that well organized groups specifically focused on such projects can be successful.

There is a chapter about ‘greening commerce’:

“Decisions made by consumers, organizations and government agencies will lay the groundwork for a thriveable future as public awareness pushes business to take greater environmental and social responsibility.”

In 1994, John Elkington coined the idea of the “triple bottom line” which included environmental and social concerns with the economic. This has also been described as “people, planet, and profit” The idea is to be able to “measure, document, and report” all three of these results. One could also integrate them into one whole. A key issue here is “accountability.” People are demanding more accountability as time goes on and this trend will continue to grow as social and ecological justice issues go more mainstream. The author lists three trends that impact accountability as : 1) move toward globalization – which has brought up many issues of questionable local impact by trans-national businesses, 2) expanded communications – this has lead to increased globalization particularly with internet marketing strategies which allow for customization, ‘viral’ distribution of information, and potential instant networking of millions of people., 3) greater interdependence and a demand for accountability among stakeholders –

“Organizations rely on reciprocal relationships with marketers, suppliers, vendors, distributors, regulators and numerous others in the production and distribution of their products and services.”

So one product often involves very many different interrelated companies. Many different companies have a stake in this or that product and there is more and more demand for transparency. One could argue that all the people involved in any way with a product and the environment itself also have a stake or are at stake so the less direct stakeholder is also demanding to be acknowledged as well as the traditional shareholder.

Other ways of greening commerce include the intriguing idea of “biomimicry”, which refers to designing things based on natural systems as a model. Another is the “cradle-to-cradle approach which is a life-cycle approach that regenerates itself. This can manifest as closed loop industrial systems where heat, water, and energy are recycled as much as possible and where waste in one process becomes food or fuel in another process. Some have noted that recycling often ends up being “downcycling” where a lesser grade product is made from the original and the time to it becoming waste is merely delayed. “Upcycling” implies using the recycled raw material for a higher grade product thus extending the life cycle of the materials. Some manufacturers are now required to take back products and components and reuse the materials so many manufacturers now must come up with ‘recovery plans’ for recycling downed products and components. This has happened with used up computers electronics, appliances, etc.

Increased growth is inevitably tied to increased consumption and increased pollution. Acknowledging this, some companies are opting to donate to non-profits and socially responsible ventures, although traditionally, many corporations have been involved with charitable contributions of various sorts. Many corporations now have environmental staff and policies and attempt to be or at least to appear socially responsible as green is in. The author gives several examples of companies large and small and partnerships of companies that have worked together on promoting green products and donating to social and environmental causes. He even mentions companies like DuPont and WalMart who have been associated with social and ecological ills as making significant efforts at developing sustainability policies. There is some discussion of ‘tax shifting’ where there are extra taxes imposed for an industry that is associated with pollution. It is debatable whether this is ultimately useful and there may be better ways to minimize pollution. In any case the idea of greening commerce begins with sustainability assessments in the workplace.

Regenerative design refers to sustainable building practices and strategies. Energy and water conservation and recycling and waste reduction can be incorporated or retrofitted into building design. Buildings traditionally waste vast amounts of energy so there is much room for improvement with things like passive solar and efficient cyclic ventilation design. Urban renewal projects with pedestrian-friendly and bicycle-friendly features can also be considered a form regenerative design. Green building standards and certifications are being developed and implemented. The author gives several examples of green building projects and sustainable town projects.

In discussing biodiversity and preserving ecosystems the author notes biologist E.O. Wilson’s use of the acronym HIPPO to explain loss of biodiversity: habitat loss, invasive species, pollution, population growth, and overharvesting of species for consumption. Nature preserves exist and are being negotiated in various forms and sizes around the world. Some species need more space than others to survive. Criteria for biodiversity ‘hotspots’ have been designed so that orgs, governments, and land trusts can focus on key areas. These areas are in the most danger of losing biodiversity. Local species protection strategies are being drawn up in many places. Conservation philanthropy began with the establishment of the National Park system in the U.S. and continues as people donate money and land. Ecosystem services are noted. This is an acknowledgement of the services such as:

 “ -- purifying air and water, building healthy soils, pollinating plants and detoxifying and decomposing wastes. They also include seed dispersal, erosion and pest control, carbon sequestration, flood, drought, and storm protection and maintenance of habitats.”

When ecosystems are destroyed these services are destroyed as well. Loss of these services can mean loss of money in big ways like increased flooding and increased storm surges. Conversely, the restoration of ecosystems can increase protection. Ecosystem markets have been developed in specific forms such as the cap-and trade markets for CO2 and sulfur dioxide. This is not an ideal system but has been a way to manage the proliferation of these pollutants and greenhouse gases. Developers who damage wetlands are required to restore wetlands in other places in the same watershed. So we now have wetland markets and species markets based on requirements built in to the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act. These ‘conservation banks’ determine prices of species habitats and wetlands and developers need to pay the price in order to get the land to develop. There is debate about ecosystem markets but certainly it is one way to mitigate loss of ecosystems due to development.

The author lists five global trends that we are challenged to deal with: ecosystem decline, energy transition, population growth, economic disparity, and climate change. About half of tropical forest habitat has been destroyed. Ocean habitats have been devastated by over-fishing. Energy transition is happening at a very slow pace as technology gradually increases efficiency of renewables and viability of new forms of energy and various fossil fuel-renewable hybrids. Energy conservation and efficiency always has room for improvement. Green energy subsidizing has yielded mixed results and energy transition may end up being slower and more gradual than people want. Though there is much debate about the ultimate effects of greenhouse gases, most scientists consider it to be a very serious potential problem that has the potential to go past a tipping point in the near or very near future. Even large corporations are studying and planning for reduction, capturing, and storing greenhouse gases, increasing renewables, and preserving and expanding natural carbon sinks in the form of tropical forests. Fuel-switching, typically from coal to natural gas for electricity also produces fewer greenhouse gases as well as significantly fewer pollutants.

Organic and local food movements and sustainability education on campuses also helps get the word out to encourage more environmental and social responsibility. Local food is big (and successful) where I am – and this trend needs to spread more. Green collar jobs have been promoted by Obama but perhaps have not taken off as much as hoped. Green thinking is gradually becoming mainstream as is organic food. As these ideas become less and less associated with extremism and more associated with common sense they will be adopted by more people.

Another idea brought up is the ‘Open Source’ approach to innovation where problems are solved through collaborative efforts. Examples are the Linux computer operating system which is designed and modified by volunteer contributors and offered free. Another example is Wikipedia, which for all the accusations of inaccuracy has been found to be more accurate than Encyclopedia Britannica – and far more and inclusive I might add. Open-source collaborative websites and think tanks have also sprung up to collaborate in problem solving.

There is discussion of the idea of ‘resilience’ – of natural systems to rebound from crises and to build resilience into our buildings, cities, commerce, and social institutions. He describes resilient systems as having: 1) diversity – diversified services and resources or choices so that if a problem occurs with one there are others to fall back on; 2) modular components – this refers to similar pre-made components to systems such as the electric grid or transportation system which can allow them to better react to problems. He gives the example of the mortgage sector lacking modular components that may have aided a faster rebound to the ensuing economic crisis; 3) tight feedback loops – this refers to depending on easier and quicker accessible goods and services from local sources which creates a shorter feedback loop than the global which is a much longer loop; 4) close social networks – this refers to trust and human connections, especially during times of need, which helps people rebuild from a disaster or recoup from a financial loss much more readily; 5) redundancy and flexibility – this refers to having alternative sources, back up supplies, and various sorts of safety nets in case of problems.

The ‘Precautionary Principle’ refers to being sensitive to the possibility of a problem even if there is insufficient evidence to know for certain. This is how I have always thought about the climate change debate – that it is better to assume it is true and plan for it even if may be found to be less dangerous than thought. It was developed from a 1998  conference about threats to the environment and human health. It is simply erring on the side of caution. This is considered as a life-affirming approach. Here is how it was described:

“When an activity raises threats of harm to the environment or human health, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and effect relationships are not fully established scientifically.”

Finally, there is the idea of ‘thriveability.’

“The environmental, social, and economic predicaments we find ourselves in call for a movement from sustainability to thriveability, shifting from a model of scarcity to one of abundance that taps into the spirit of possibility.”

“ The essence of thriveability is a belief in the capacity of the human spirit to collaborate in creating new possibilities for lasting solutions.”

This book is one of a number of important new guides to developing a sustainable society and culture. I think reading such guides helps to keep one well informed, up-to-date, and

better positioned to help out.

Hesiod's 'Theogony' and 'Works and Days'

Book Review: Hesiod’s Theogony and Works and Days  translated by M. L. West

(Oxford World Classics 1988 – originally 700’s BC)

Homer and Hesiod are the two earliest Ancient Greek writers. Here are two works by Hesiod. The first is the Theogony which contains the genealogy of the Ancient Greek gods culminating in the triumph of Zeus and the Olympians. The alphabet of the Greeks came from the Phoenicians and the translator notes in the introduction that recent archaeology indicates that Ancient Greece was more influenced from the Near East than was previously assumed. As a poet Hesiod claimed that he received instruction from the Muses who told him to sing of the “family of the immortals.” The second book – Works and Days – is more a collection of advice about daily life and how best to do things. The translator points out several instances where Works and Days may have been influenced by Near Eastern (Sumerian, Babylonian, Hebrew-Canaanite, Persian, or Egyptian) literature styles and stories.

In the Theogony Hesiod praises the supremacy of Zeus and the Olympians. Zeus is often referred to as – resourceful Zeus or Zeus the aegis-bearer. Apparently the aegis is a buckle or breastplate made by Hephaestus that conveys the power and religious authority of the god. The kenning for Zeus as aegis-bearer is also used in Homer’s Iliad.

The author mentions that in Greek these works are written in hexameter poetry as are the works of Homer and with similar kennings and descriptive schemes. Homer is associated with the epic tales of heroes while Hesiod is concerned with genealogy and didactic poetry.

First Hesiod tells of the birth of the nine Muses from the union of Zeus and the goddess called Memory. The first names given them are Fame-Spreading, Entertaining, Festive, Singing, Dance-delight, Lovely, Rich in Themes, Celestial, and Beautiful Voice (Calliope). He praises their ability to bless humans with respite from sorrow.

He describes a creation scenario where Chaos (which in Greek means abyss, or chasm) is first and then Earth (Gaia) and then Eros, the handsome god of sexual love. Also out of the Abyss came Night and from night came Day. Earth bore the Sky or Heavens (Ouranos) to cover her all about. Ouranos and Gaia bore many children and as the well-known story goes – some were deformed and monstrous. Ouranos hid them imprisoned under the earth. Gaia sought revenge for this and was appeased when her son Kronos (Time) took the sickle and ended the possibility of further children by cutting off the genitals of Ouranos. From these genitals floating in the sea foam was born the youthful goddess beauty and love Aphrodite. Eros and Desire accompanied her to the family of the gods and are often depicted with her. The children of Ouranos were called Titans. Hesiod also describes lineages of various anthropomorphized human qualities, situations and afflictions:

“And baleful Night gave birth to Resentment also, an affliction for mortal men; and after her she bore Deceit and Intimacy, and accursed Old Age, and she bore hard-hearted Strife. Hateful Strife bore painful Toil, Neglect, Starvation, and tearful Pain, Battles, Combats, Bloodshed and Slaughter, Quarrels, Lies, Pretences, and Arguments, Disorder, Disaster – neighbors to each other – and Oath, who most harms men on earth, when someone knowingly swears false.”

The births and lineages of numerous gods, goddesses, nymphs, gorgons, magical creatures, and many other beings that make up the world of Greek mythology are recounted. There is not much detail in some of the stories here but many are well known in other accounts. He tells of the birth and status of Hecate as a favorite honored by Zeus and valuable to be venerated for increasing honor and prosperity. She is said to aid judgment, fame, battle, glory, competition and success. With Hermes she is said to aid herdsman. He talks quite a bit about Hecate which suggests to the translator that Hesiod may have had a family affinity for Hecate.

He then describes the children of Kronos and Rhea: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Zeus. Then being jealous of a future child usurping his power Kronos began swallowing his children and so Rhea devised a plan to deceive him and hide away the child Zeus on the island of Crete. He tells the story of clever Prometheus stealing the fire and of the fashioning of the first woman as Pandora, molded by Hephaestus and clothed by Athena. Many feminists have a problem with this story as it paints women as a bane created as a punishment to humans from the gods.

In the Theogony he goes on to detail the battle of the Titans and the Olympians where the Olympians prevail. He also details the dreaded river goddess Styx whose waters long punish an immortal who veers from truth according to the commandments of Zeus. He tells also of the various children of Zeus and their mothers. These include Athena who rose from his head, Persephone from union with Demeter, the Fates, Graces, Muses, and many others, and from union with Hera were born Hebe, Ares, and Eileithyia. There are alternative origin myths for some of these deities that are likely older as many speculate that the war between the Olympians and the Titans represents one of the invasions of Greece from the north where the deities – many with well-known Cretan and Anatolian origins were more or less co-opted by the Olympians who are thought by some to be more Indo-European in focus – co-opting the Aegean gods and goddesses. Also these lineages come not too long after the introduction of better iron weapons to add to the bronze (maybe 350 years earlier) and so perhaps the veneration of the sky god Zeus and his lightning bolts is well-timed there as well.

The Theogony is a short work that lists quite a bit of names but with few details in most cases. I am thinking it may have been something encouraged to commit to memory due to it being metrical poetry and a list of names and genealogy – as tribal genealogy was often said to be kept by the bards in Indo-European societies.

In Works and Days after initially praising the qualities of Zeus he mentions that there are two kinds of Strife, one that causes great pain and turmoil and the other more beneficial kind that compels men to work. Then he tells again in more detail the fashioning of the goddess Pandora as ‘woman’ – as a vengeance unto humans in revenge for Prometheus stealing the fire in the tube of fennel and giving it to them. This was by the design of Zeus.

Next he tells of the four races of men created by Zeus. First is a race made of gold who were god-like and became watchers over men and bestowers of wealth. Next was a race made from silver. They were a lower level of gods but were prone to crimes and bickering and refused to sacrifice to the gods. For this they were less honored but still had some honor. Third was a bronze race fashioned from Ash trees. They were fierce and violent and after killing each other settled in the realm of Hades. Next there was made the race of heroes, called demi-gods, from unions of gods with mortal women. They too were said to have much killed off one another through warring, with the Trojan heroes being some of the last and some heading off to be with the gods. The last race given is that of humans – the race of iron. He notes that we are a mixture of good and ill and that the gods will destroy us as well in the end.

He speaks of the virtues of Justice and that violence should only happen for an honorable cause. In some of this book Hesiod speaks rather directly to his own brother Perses who he fears is too lazy and lacks ambition. He speaks of the virtues of work, the value of friendship with neighbors, and the dangers of deception. He goes on to detail the best ways to farm and prepare for the seasons and what to focus on at different times. Time is often reckoned by the appearance of stars – the Pleiedes, Sirius, Orion, Arcturus, etc. Indeed much of – Works and Days – amounts to practical advice for that time and place and culture that Hesiod imparts to Perses. He gives much advice, some quite curious – such as not facing the sun while urinating – and some about auspiciousness, omens, and superstition. He advises trying to avoid being the subject of rumour:

“Rumour is a dangerous thing, light and easy to pick up, but hard to support and difficult to get rid of. No rumour ever dies that many folk rumour. She too is somehow a goddess.”

There is some moral advice given that is generally applicable to all times:

“Be a friend to him who is your friend, and give your company to him that seeks it. Give whoso gives, and give not to whoso gives not : .... For if a man gives voluntarily, even a big gift, he is glad at the giving and rejoices in his heart; but if a man takes of his own accord, trusting in shamelessness, even something little, that puts a frost on the heart.”

“Do not be known as a man of many guests or of none, as a comrade of the unworthy or a reviler of the worthy. And never venture to insult a man for accursed soul-destroying poverty, which is the dispensation of the blessed ones who are forever. The tongue’s best treasure among men is when it is sparing, and its greatest charm is when it goes in measure. If you speak ill, you may well hear greater yourself. And be not of bad grace at the feast thronged with guests: when all share, the pleasure is greatest and the expense least.”

Besides the Theogony being a very old hymn of the gods and their various lineages these works do seem to offer a rare glimpse into the time, place, and culture of a rural early Ancient Greece. The description of the four races of gold, silver, bronze, and iron bear a marked resemblance to the similarly described ages of the Vedas. One can conjecture that maybe the possibly Indo-European Achaeans invaded bringing in the Mycenaean culture and the ideals of the Olympians.

Going Out Green: One Man's Adventure Planning His Own Burial

Book Review: Going Out Green: One Man’s Adventure Planning His Own Burial by Bob Butz (Spirituality and Health Books 2009)

This was an easy to read book about Natural Burial which is basically burial without the use of embalming with toxic formaldehyde, expensive metal caskets, and concrete vaults. Also the services of undertakers and funeral directors are limited or eliminated. Over the last decade or so the Green Burial movement has gradually picked up steam. Previously, in the few decades before that more and more people have opted for cremation which turns out to be only moderately less toxic than chemical and materials-rich burial. Butz approached the topic from the standpoint of an investigative writer and nature enthusiast. He read books, traveled to natural burial preserves, interviewed pertinent people, compiled information comparing the laws of different states, and pervaded the book with his own sense of practicality and common sense, as well as considerable humor.

Hundreds of thousands of gallons of toxic embalming fluid, copper and bronze, hardwoods and exotic woods, steel, and reinforced concrete are buried every year. Cemeteries are also typically maintained as pure grassy areas by the use of herbicide-intensive landscaping.

Bodies decompose. They bloat and distend and stink just like roadkill. Embalming slows this down for a while – often just so people can see a re-touched corpse that was drained and re-filled with fluid and manipulated in many other ways – just so they can see it at the funeral ‘showing(s).’ This has only been standard procedure here in the US for about 150 years. Coffins and caskets only delay decomposition for a while. Eventually the soft parts will turn to fluid. Better to keep out the poisons and just let the body unite back with the soil and enrich the earth that enriched it – or perhaps through the ashes being shared with the earth. Embalming and caskets seem to be for the public ritual and industry that has sprung up around the event of death in our strange and ‘civilized?’ world. Natural burials and home funerals can be way cheaper, more intimate, more meaningful to relatives, and more in harmony with the natural way of things.

The author makes considerable criticism and fun of the $5000 ‘Ecopod’ casket that is totally biodegradable – but which must also be shipped 5000 miles across the Atlantic. He notes that a better choice might be a heavy-duty cardboard coffin offered for about $100. There are many other choices. There are also burial shrouds, often used by Jews and Muslims, and some can be expensive. I suppose if I end up being buried – why not just naked in a hole. It was good enough for the dogs and cats.

He mentions the story of Edward Abbey, a nature writer/poet/backcountry ranger who was buried in his beloved desert illegally by a group of his friends. Those of us who live out in the country can be buried in our own land and there are still rural cemeteries for those who wanna be there. I remember coming across a few headstones at a rural Buddhist temple in Kentucky but I am not sure if the bodies were there or perhaps just the ashes.

The author then sets out to visit a natural burial preserve in Ohio. He notes that there are very few of these ‘green burial preserves,’ the first being Ramsey Creek in South Carolina which opened in 1998. I remember reading about the one he mentions in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York about 4 years ago. He visits Foxfield Burial Preserve in north-central Ohio which opened in the summer of 2008. Each state has specific laws for private burial and a few even require one to utilize the services of an undertaker or funeral director to sign off on the death certificate.

For some reason the author wanted to dig a grave – which he eventually does in his back yard in the sandy soil of Michigan. I wager it would have taken him a bit longer in the heavy clays of southeastern Ohio. Most graves these days are dug with backhoes and are probably too deep to enrich the topsoil. I remember when I was in high school a few of my friends would dig graves when needed for extra cash – I almost got in on that. 

The author did note that very few people involved in the conventional funeral industry were willing to talk to him or show him around. His desire to observe an embalming was not indulged, likely he thinks due to the fact that he was writing a book about alternatives to embalming. The author notes quite obviously that the current conventional funeral industry is mostly about making money and is often assisted in this by the state laws.

The next section discusses the services of the “death midwife.” The author mentions two types of death midwife. One might assist the dying with the actual process of dying more or less like a priest or shaman. The other is one who assists the remaining family with the home burial. One may, of course, have a natural or green burial in combination with a typical funeral (sans the embalming) but perhaps more often one might choose a home funeral as well which certainly seems more natural and organic. The author interviews Rebekah Benner of Akron, Ohio – a death midwife who is also a UU minister that has trained and worked in hospice as well as several spiritual healing modalities and meditation. She goes through the typical questions that she would ask a family considering a home funeral – “Is this your will? Are the wishes in writing? Who has the power of attorney? Who will be involved?” Other questions might be about cleaning and moving the body. She also mentions that the funeral is both for the dead and the living – to try and honor the last wishes of the dead but also to help with healing and dealing with the grief and guilt of the living.

He also interviews death midwife Nora Cedarwind Young. She mentions that the washing of the dead body can be sort of ritualized into an act of love as she has seen people do. It can be a way to help both the dead and the living keep up a positive bond, at least theoretically. This can be done in the home among familiar surroundings and friends rather than among strangers in an ‘official’ death place.

“More than anything, a home funeral is about the healing that’s facilitated by the hands-on physical contact with our beloved dead.” Young says. “I’m still in touch with many of the people I’ve helped through this process, and I’m always humbled and amazed by the ones who have written or called or come up to me years later to tell me the experience was one of the most beautiful in their lives. It’s empowering [for the living] to be a part of those final actions.”

She also describes things like abdominal purging, and ways to set the eyelids shut (perhaps with coins but heavier stones work better) and set the jaw by putting a roll of toilet paper under it. She also mentions the use of dry ice (placed strategically in pieces in paper bags near major organs) to slow decomposition of the body.

Says Young,

“People always say these things are sure things in life. But whereas we talk about taxes all the time, we don’t talk about death. I believe people would be better off if they started having these conversations, and a home funeral is a place where that can happen.”

I noticed when walking one time with some yoga buddies of mine, all women, that when passing a funeral they seemed to want to get as far away from it as possible – possibly due to the superstitious mind. Perhaps some of us think that even to think about death confers bad luck.

The author also mentions Jerrigrace Lyons, who is credited with starting the modern death midwifery movement after carrying out the written wishes of a friend of hers who died. She offers workshops, kits, and books about conducting home funerals.

I also know of certain Tibetan Buddhist death rites (and kits of a sort) but most of this stuff is more ritualistic-oriented than body prep practicalities. I suppose I want my own home funeral to be with some of these practices and meditations but also mixed with the fun spirit of a wake – with games, drinking, and music.

The author discusses some of the laws of various states. In a few states only undertakers can sell caskets. In a few states one is required to hire the services of an undertaker. In Michigan a funeral director is required to sign the death certificate and supervise the handling of the body.

“In cases of non-traditional unions, Michigan is even more rigid and unfriendly with funeral law saying that next of kin – and only legal next of kin – can make arrangements for the deceased. A brother you haven’t talked to or seen in a couple of decades or a father who went to the store late one night for diapers and formula and never came back – they trump the funeral and burial wishes of a best friend or same-sex life partner.”

He then mentions paperwork required for green burial and home funeral in most states (44 of them) as relatively easy. Nora Cedarwind Young mentioned a list of six essentials:

1)      Will

2)      Living Will/Health Care Directive

3)      Durable Power of Attorney Health

4)      Durable Power of Attorney Finance

5)      Disposition of Body Form

6)      HIPPA (authorization forms, patient consent, privacy practices)

She recommends updating these yearly and keeping them in a safe place known to those closest to the person or people.

A final issue the author brings up is that many cemeteries are full or nearly full, especially urban cemeteries. This is so in places like New York City and London.

Finally there is a resource section of books, films, websites, orgs, materials, natural burial preserves, and info on home funerals and death midwives.

Although the author probably overdid it a bit on his own hunting experiences (possibly to display his solidarity with nature or whatever) it turned out to be a good book with tangible and practical information that can help those of us – and I predict there will be way more of us in the very near future – who wish to ‘go out green’ in one way or another.

Forests Of the Vampire: Slavic Myth

Book Review: Forests of the Vampire: Slavic Myth by Charles Phillips and Michael Kerrigan (Time-Life Books Myth and Mankind Series 1999)

Even though the title is not very apt this is a good introductory book about Slavic myth and folklore. It is a big format book with many beautiful color pictures. There is good information on both pre-Christian and post-Christian Slavic lore. There is much Slavic history here as well.

Originally the Slavic tribes lived west of the Carpathian Mountains in modern-day Poland, Ukraine, and Russia. Later they moved west and south past the Danube and Elbe Rivers, from the Baltic to the Black Sea, into the Balkan Peninsula and to lands just north of Greece so now ethnic Slavic influence ranges over a fairly vast area. Many of these areas had populations of humans since Paleolithic times and settled Neolithic farming communities are well-documented mainly in the southern parts of these areas. The Dacians and Thracians were known as fierce warriors and managed to hold off assaults by the Greeks and Romans. In late Roman times most Slavs were not militaristic and lived as farming subjects of the Goths and then the Huns. Christian conversion in Slavic lands began with Bulgaria (mixed with Bulgar Turks) in 870 AD and Kievan Rus (modern day Ukraine) in the late 900’s. I think the tribes in Poland converted a little after this. Slavs in western regions adopted Western Christianity and those in the east adopted Eastern Christianity. The arrival of the Magyars in Hungary around 900 AD served to split up the western Slavs into western and southern portions. Slavic languages began to differ as a result. Russian oral epics called byliny stretch back in time although compiled in the 10^th to 12^th centuries which were the heyday of Kievan Rus. They share some similarities to the Turkic epics. The Viking merchants and mercenaries called Varangians helped to form the Kievan state. In the late 800’s a monk called Constantine (later called Cyril) devised a written script for Slavs – the Cyrillic alphabet. Kievan Rus was a pagan state for 150 years or so before Prince Vladimir accepted Byzantine Christianity. After this, Byzantine architecture was adopted and further developed in Russia where buildings from the 11^th century still stand. Of course, the farming peasants of Russia, Poland, and other Slavic areas kept up many very old pagan traditions. It is debated whether the pagan deities in Kiev were distinctly Slavic or were brought in or influenced by the Scandinavian Varangians. A city in the north called Novgorod was established and the reign of Vladimir’s son Yarisleif was praised.

The early Slavs were certainly influenced by the Sarmatians and Scythians – Persian or Indo-Iranian tribes who practiced a dualistic religion – probably some version of Zoroastrianism. The deities Chernobog (Black God) and Belobog (White God) represented the dualistic conflict of earth and sky, darkness and light. Svarog was a Slavic sky god – og being a Persian suffix – perhaps he resembled the Indo-Aryan Savitri as a solar sky deity. In folktales lightning was often the dynamic gaze of a god or giant. Svantovit was a war god in Baltic areas where temples were found on Rugen Island in the Baltic Sea north of Eastern Germany. Svantovit means ‘strong lord’ and was often depicted with four heads oriented to the cardinal directions. He was also a fertility and harvest god. A white horse was sacred to him and used for divination. Much of the information about Svantovit and other Rugen gods comes from the 12^th century Danish chronicler Saxo Grammaticus. Apparently other multi-headed god-forms were also popular in the Baltic areas.

The source for most early Russian pagan descriptions comes from the 11^th century Primary Chronicles of Nestor also called Tale of Bygone Years. In Kiev, the main war-thunder god was Perun. Perun wielded a club, a battle-axe, and a spear. He has similarities to both Thor and Indra. His motif as riding in a flaming chariot led to him being later identified with the biblical prophet Elijah who was called Ilya among the Russians. The sun and the hearth of home were the centers of sacred activities.  The 10^th century Arab traveler Al-Masudi mentioned a temple in Slavic lands that was used to observe the sunrise. The moon, as Mesyats, was called the uncle of the sun god. Dawn and dusk were fair maidens and the seven planets were judges. Comets were celestial messengers. Russian tales speak of the moon as wife to the sun and the stars being their children. In the Ukraine the sun was the wife of the moon – Mesyats.

“Scholars have established that Svarog (and his sons) ... were the only gods known to all Slavic peoples....... The derivation of Svarog’s name may be linked to svarga, the word for sky or sun in Sanskrit...”

There was also Volos, a cattle god and Simargl, the sacred griffin. Simargl, the dragon bird almost certainly derives from the Persian Simorgh who occurs in stories of Persian lore as a benevolent yet powerful mother bird goddess. She was Simarg among the Sarmatians. Indeed the bird goddess may be very old in Eastern Europe as Neolithic art and figurines depict. Volos is also associated with a prehistoric god of flocks and forests and hunting wild animals. He was venerated along with Perun. Mokosh, the mother goddess of the moist black earth is also likely a very old fertility goddess-form. Mokosh is said to give life-bestowing waters. Scholars think that the motif of a mountain woman with raised hands (in the manner of chthonic Greek goddesses such as Pandora) depicts Mokosh. She is popular among Russian women who spin, weave, and wash. She is also known as Mat’ Syra Zemlya (Moist Mother Earth). Another deity is the wind god Stribog, grandfather of the winds. So the main sources for Slavic deities are from the Balts and from Kievan Rus and both may have been strongly influenced by Scandanavian and possibly Finnish god-forms. This suggests older Slavic pantheons that may have faded away. Perun has been compared to Parjanja, a warrior aspect of Indra, and Volos has been compared to the Vedic Varuna due to the association with cattle.

Orthodox Christianity, of course, co-opted the old pagan feasts. The Mid-summer festival of Kupala where the Bacchus-like hero-god Ivan Kupala was worshipped and burned in bonfire effigy amidst orgiastic behavior became associated with the feast of John the Baptist. Tree spirits and the water spirits, called rusalki, were also venerated at this time. Other festivals revolved around spring, autumn, and midwinter in typical nature-religion fashion. Dragon-slaying myths, which likely evolved from the original story of Indra slaying the serpent-demon Vritra, were popular, especially as a means to convey the triumph of Christianity over paganism, as seems to be the case in many places. The tale of the Christianized hero Dobrynya slaying the dragon is the most notable.

Russian folktales are full of magic. Some magical implements of note are the club and the tablecloth. Ritual towels with symbolic depictions of Mokosh were hung on birch trees and at crossroads. Other symbols of Mokosh are the eight-pointed star (also a symbol of Inanna and other goddesses), birds, and the color red. A heroine (and hero’s prize) of several folktales is the princess known as Vasilisa the Wise. The healing ‘water of life’ and the deadly ‘water of death (kept by figures such as the witch goddess Baba Yaga) appear in many tales. The goddess Rod and the twin goddesses – the rozhanitsy, are associated with birth, reproduction, and the cult of ancestors which is popular in Slavic lands. House spirits, called domovoi, are often given offerings as are ancestors in cemeteries. Domovoi were depicted as shaggy dwarves. They are to be placated but are also protective of house and farm. The prevalence of the ancient mother-goddess cult has given us the concept of Mother Russia, having a substrate as a matriarchal culture. Lands and rivers and forests were populated with various forms of spirits and demons. In the bathhouses lived the dangerous and unpredictable bannik spirits. The ovinnik, was the spirit of the barnyard, depicted as black cat-like creature of considerable danger and power. Spirits of the forest were called leshii. They could be dangerous and cruel but many tales abound where they were outwitted. Baba Yaga appears in many Russian and Slavic folk tales and sometimes is like Hekate, sometimes evil and to be overcome, and at other times beneficial in the end. She is usually associated with danger and as a villain witch. She is said to live deep in the forest in a house with chicken legs. She was often associated with death and entrance to the Underworld. She even helped the heroine Vasilisa the Beautiful in one tale, giving her a lighted skull so she could find her way through the forest.

Death as a journey was a common motif in pre-Christian Slavic lore. This they shared with the Celts, Norse, and perhaps the Greeks and other Indo-European peoples. Some notables were buried in boats like Scandinavian nobles. As in ancient Greek lore, coins were offered as fare for the death journey. A very ancient belief in the bird and bird goddess as carrying off and aloft the souls of the dead also persists. The rainbow and the Milky Way were two possible pathways on the long death journey. There was an idea of the ‘paradise of the setting sun’ in the west (as in Celtic lore). There was also a land to the east called Rakhmane where a happy and holy people lived. Some scholars take this to be India and the Rakhmane refers to the word and land of Brahmins. This lore comes from the Galicians of Poland. There was another curious death motif of the need after death to climb a very steep mountain. In this scenario claws would be very beneficial and it is said that in Lithuania wild beasts were killed and buried with the deceased to assist them in their climb. Jewelry with claws and retaining clipped nails was common. Ladders were also buried with the dead and later on small ladders made out of bread. Lands of the dead for the just and unjust were called Rai (like heaven), Nava, and Peklo (like hell). Tales of heroes (often named Ivan) questing to meet their destiny were possible metaphors of the soul’s journey through the Underworld. These tales of destiny are called skazki.

Tales of blood sucking demons became the famed vampire legends. Only sacred symbols and specific magical items could be effective against them. Vampire tales were common in some areas of Poland, in Romania, and in the Ukraine. Slavic vampires were sometimes ghosts who suffered tragic fates rather than Dracula-like figures. The Romanian leader Vlad Tepes was said to be the model for Count Dracula. Since stealing and reduced cow’s milk was often associated with malevolent magic it is thought by some scholars that stealing milk by milking the cows magically is the source of vampire legends. Others point to the prevalence in the lore of many cultures of cannibalistic spirits.

In another story of the archetypal heroes Ivan and Vasilisa they were separated by the spirit being Koschei the Deathless. But he could only be overcome by finding where he truly dwells apart from his doppelganger. This on an island buried beneath an oak tree in a wooden box, within which was a hare, within which was a duck, within which was an egg. His life was within the egg and he could only be destroyed by destroying the egg. This is one of several stories depicting this Russian motif, often found in the common art objects of the wooden dolls within dolls called Matreshka dolls.

Metaphor and riddle were told in various tales and sayings. Door lintels and window sills were thought to be places where evil spirits or spirits of illness could enter.

“Elaborate decoration and cleansing of door-lintels and windowsills was believed to keep evil influences away from a household.”

The picture shows a very beautiful and detailed wood carved design.

Agricultural protective rituals were done around field boundaries. Some Slavic sorcerers were depicted in garb reminiscent of Siberian shamans with fur, feathers, horns, and metal and bells sewn into the costume. The art of falconry was associated with sorcery – as man controlling wild beast. Cats, dogs, and magpies were familiar spirits that could be shape-sifted into by sorcerers. Werewolf legends are thought to come from ancient wolf-shamanism. Masks of the ram were used in Poland as the ram was probably there a very ancient totem. Serpents and dragons also figure prominently in Slavic lore where several multiple-headed forms appear. There is also lore associated with bears, the medvyed, who was associated with the thunder god (perhaps stemming from Aryan times). Other magical animals are bull, wolves, horses, frogs, pigeons, eagles, birds, and hawks. One sorcerer even transformed into an ant on occasion. The firebird was another magical animal and may as well relate to the Persian Simorgh. Due to the influence of Christianity, dragons and serpents were often associated with evil but birds typically have a benign influence.

The last section of the book discusses the legacy of Slavic Myth in movies, art, literature, and even Marxist poster styles and depictions of cosmonauts as mythical heroes.

Great introduction to a vast subject. Unfortunately, as in many cultures, the written word came late and much was destroyed and altered by Christianity. I find it interesting that the artistic motifs typically of folk art in Russia, Romania, and many other Slavic lands may preserve the artistic symbolic language depicted in Neolithic times among the many excavated sites in Eastern Europe, particularly along the Danube River.

Chapel of Extreme Experience: A Short History of Stroboscopic Light and the Dream Machine

Book Review: Chapel of Extreme Experience: A Short History of Stroboscopic Light and the Dream Machine by John Geiger  (Soft Skull Press 2003)

This is a really cool account of the phenomenon of ‘flicker’ and stroboscopic light as studied in consciousness psychology and therapy and in psychedelia as a means of visionary enjoyment. The Dream Machine is a homemade flicker machine devised by Ian Somerville and Bryon Gysin after Gysin had an experience in 1958 while closing his eyes as he traveled on a bus through trees amidst the setting sun. Under these conditions he saw multidimensional kaleidoscopic visions of both color and pattern that amazed him. He described it as: “the visual merges with the visionary.”

Briefly described are some early machines of the 18^th and 19^th centuries that involved flicker and imagery. Some of these are the Magic Lantern which flashed light with moving slides, early stroboscopes, the Zoetrope which used drawings inside a turning to cylinder to give an illusion of transparency and movement, and Benham’s Artificial Spectrum Top which was a flat cardboard disk on a spindle where the disk was painted half white and half black and with concentric circles. These devices were considered precursors to the motion picture. A surprising effect of Benham’s top was that it produced illusions of color apparently by confusing the retina and led to further study of the visual system. Early electrically powered flicker machines and stroboscopes followed these devices.

In 1946 Neurologist Dr. W. Grey Walter began experimenting with psychophysical responses to an electronic stroboscope. He found that strange patterns can be produced with closed eyes under certain rates of flicker. At the theta rhythm (4-7 flashes per second) emotions of annoyance and anger could be provoked. But at the alpha rhythm (8-13 flashes per sec) the results were often visual imagery. Walter noted the effects of flicker on the brain. Visual imagery, colors, and patterns were most common. In 3-4% percent of subjects there was some brain wave activity similar to epileptics and petit mal (small seizures) induced in a very few subjects. This photosensitive epilepsy was later said to be inducible in 1 out of 4000 people. Some epileptics have noted a pleasant state of well-being just before a fit. In 1953 Walter published his account of the electronics of brain activity called “The Living Brain.” He had an interest in testing flicker as a possible form of therapy for schizophrenics. The schizophrenics to which he induced flicker during experimentation seemed to have some profound experiences of a hallucinogenic nature – but flicker as therapy failed to produce any definite therapeutic results overall. Some effects were comparable – although milder – than the effects discovered in the experiments by Wilder Penfield on electrical stimulation of the brain (ESB) where very intense hallucinatory and mental/psychological effects were encountered.

Colors induced by flicker are often noted to be more vivid than normal experienced colors and are often experienced as in motion, dynamic and changing. Walter theorized that flicker combined with a scanning mechanism of the brain produced the perception of movement.

“Walter further surmised that the activity of the alpha rhythm, as a scanning mechanism, is central to the understanding and transference of information from the visual projection areas of the brain to the association areas ...” Walter described it in a 1952 Discovery article as, “transforming the pattern of things seen in space into a sequence of signals in time.” Walter thought that flicker produced an interference pattern onto brain activity that confuses the brain. I think maybe a related phenomena is that of hypnagogic imagery where the brain perhaps reprocesses recent imagery while the body is falling asleep and there may be some sort of interference or other conditions that make the unusual and often moving imagery.

Next we come to the effects of flicker combined with mind-altering drugs. The experiments of John Smythies, Stanislov Grof with LSD and the writer Aldous Huxley with mescaline are recounted. Huxley used flicker with some of his experiments. Flicker was thought to enhance the effects of hallucinogenic drugs and perhaps by itself or in combination to invoke the effects of hallucinogenic chemicals already present in the brain. Huxley had advocated that these drugs can produce genuine mystical experiences but others noted also that they could mimic the effects of mental illnesses just as well. The whole notion explored – more particularly in flicker research – was that flicker, especially in combination with the drugs, could be used to access visionary experience. William S. Burroughs thought that flicker could be used with very small doses of drugs. He suggested to Allen Ginsberg to add flicker when he took LSD but Ginsberg seemed to have a rather ‘bad trip.’

Smythies and others , in working with stroboscopic light found that certain geometric imagery patterns were predominant like checkerboard, spider webs, mandalas, various crosses, grids, radial patterns, labyrinths, snowflakes, grids, and beehive patterns.

“One explanation was that the flashing light offered no clue to guide the visual system in the process of pattern recognition, so the visual system generated its own hypothesis which took the form of the illusory image or pattern.”

Other theories focused mainly on the visual system and its interface with brain functions.

Grey Walter’s theory was consistent with Smythies’ observation that there were four general types of patterns.

“... each group is similar to a scanning mechanism. You can scan with parallel lines, with a radial scan where you start in the middle and spiral outward, with a star radiating outward, or by moving as through a maze.”

Burroughs was friends with Bryon Gysin and shared books and researches. Gysin was a painter and was living at the so-called Beat Hotel in Paris near other artists of the time.  The psychedelic and consciousness revolution of the 60’s was strongly influenced by the people described in this book – the first ‘official’ explorers with newly available hallucinogenic drugs and brain-altering technologies.

Ian Somerville managed to make the Dream Machine according to Gysin’s wants by using a gramaphone turntable with a light dangled into the center of a cardboard cylinder with slits cut into it spinning on the turntable at whatever speed is chosen. Burroughs mentioned flicker and mind-altering drugs on many of his novels. Indeed his idea of ‘cutouts’, in writing as well as audio and video may have been inspired by flicker – as random and changing – words, sounds, and imagery – to possibly reveal deeper levels of

experience. This imagery as well as that from the psychedelic drugs has been likened to access to Jung’s idea of the collective unconscious. Burroughs and perhaps Gysin and some of the others as well were less hopeful of the drugs as a panacea than was Timothy Leary who was promoting them as the new way to live and totally transform society into a big love cult.

Gysin had sought to market the Dream Machine for many years but was ultimately unsuccessful although he seemed to have come close many times. He saw it as an alternative to TV. Gysin had spent many hours meditating on the imagery and apparently found it a worthwhile device for such. Having read a book about Gysin called Planet R101 – which documents his wild and experimental life living in Morocco – I can guess that  he was a deeply committed consciousness researcher. Gysin showed the Dream Machine in various ‘art Installations’ at galleries. One was called the – Chapel of Extreme Experience – which gives the book’s title. In describing the Dream Machine, author Richard Condon noted:

“The Dream Machine rearranges components of experiences into patterns which are new even to the unconscious mind and they do this by presenting to the perceptual system inputs of such extraordinary novelty that the mind/memory system hauls out its entire stock of perception memories and concept-memories and works itself dizzy trying to assemble and test different combinations of theses components in an effort to recognize or explain the totally new perceptions ... The Dream Machine presents an oscillation between consciousness and memory.”

The flicker response was noted in some films and there was even one in 1965 called – The Flicker – that was meant to induce flicker responses. Strobe lights did manage to become a part of sixties culture as well. There was an episode of a Japanimation movie – part of the Pokeman series – that apparently caused a great many reactions including seizures due to flicker effects. When I was in college I was with about 4 friends watching a horror movie after taking psilicybin “shrooms.” One guy fell forward while we were sitting there and actually went into a seizure with convulsions. He had never had a seizure before. At the time I thought it was the shrooms or another toxic component in the shrooms but now I think that the combination of the shrooms and the flicker of the TV and possibly the fear-provoking effect of the horror movie were the cause – and flicker may well have been the dominant cause.

Walter did other experiments involving flashing light and reactions to unexpected and novel stimuli. Another topic that interested him was the possible use of flicker to detect ‘psi’ phenomena. Walter, Huxley, Smythies, Gysin, and Humphry Osmond were all friends with the famed English psychic Eileen Garrett. Through his experiments Walter discovered that slight changes in brain waves could predict when a person was about to do something. He called these “expectancy waves.” He thought that this finding could have implications for things like willed psychokinesis and perhaps telepathy. Burroughs had taken yage, or ayahuasca which had reputed telepathic effects. Simiarities between mediumship and mind-altering drug experiences were explored as well. One very interesting result of the experiments was that of the seeming detection of remote stroboscopic flashes unconsciously through brain waves but not consciously. The results were apparently statistically significant.

Next comes Genesis P-Orridge, and English art-mage and musician who wrote Gysin to get permission to publish plans of the Dream Machine. P-Orridge’s band Psychic TV had made recordings into the moving Dream Machine which altered the sounds and then cut them up into a CD. After many hours with Dream Machines he stated that he thinks they could be useful in developing telepathy. P-Orridge was instrumental in founding Thee Temple Ov Psychick Youth – which is where I got my own Dream Machine plans in the late 80’s. We hade made two different ones at the time and I must say they did make great ambiance although we didn’t seem to experiment enough with them with eyes closed – only occasionally. I just found the plans the other day and have acquired an old turntable so I plan to make another one soon. 

Gysin, who died in 1986 – mentioned that he had maybe “lived a life of adventure, leading nowhere.” In any case, he did leave a legacy of paintings, writings, books, and an exploratory spirit. The 1986 book Mega Brain – about –new tools and techniques for brain growth and mind expansion - by Michael Hutchison described Hutchison’s use of the Synchro-Energizer, “which utilized ‘stroboscopic goggles’ – rhythmic flashes from small light bulbs surrounding each eye – accompanied by an electronic humm heard through headphones.” Apparently, users described vivid experiences and I remember trying out at least one of the so-called “brain machines” in the early 90’s and had a few friends that used them regularly for relaxation.

A more recent researcher of stroboscopic effects was Stephen Stwertka. He called the  stroboscopically-induced patterns ‘dissipative structures’ in a 1993 article.

“Dissipative structures are patterns of order that exist solely through the dissipation of energy. They are part of the science of chaos, which holds that behind the oscillations, turbulence, and randomness – the chaos – in nature, there exists a strange manifestation of order and pattern. Dissipative structures are found in cloud patterns, in the organization of colonies of unicellular organisms, and in the rotating spirals found in chemical reactions. They display certain preferred patterns of organization, many of them the same patterns described  in the stroboscopic studies – circles, vortices, spirals, and grids – suggesting what Stwertka described as “an almost universal expression of spatial self-organization and order.”

Stwertka also related these dissipative structures to the activity of neurons. He thinks they collectively organize, synchronize, and otherwise cohere – possibly instantaneously across different areas of the brain. Apparently, color, shape, and movement are interpreted in three different areas of the brain. I can see this tying in with some of the quantum matrix hologram ideas as well in a deeper sense.

Well, this was really a cool book about an interesting subject and perhaps another cool techno-art meditation to rediscover.

The Druid Way

Book Review: The Druid Way  by Phillip Carr-Gomm (Element Books 1993)

This was a rather contemplative book by one time chief of the UK based Order of Bards Ovates and Druids. He is also a psychologist. He studied under his Druid teacher, Nuinn, from the age of 15. This book is not a systematized explanation of Druid teachings at all as one might expect from the title, but a book about the quest for knowledge by making oneself available to communication from ancestors and place by walking the ancient pathways between sacred sites. I had opportunity to ask an Arch Druid of the US-based ADF Druid organization about the book and he noted that it was disappointing. I definitely disagree. Perhaps the title was a bit misleading. I thought the book itself is a good exploration of what modern forms of questing for visionary knowledge and experience might be.

The author is part of a modern Druid group in the UK that practices rites together, occasionally at some of the sacred Celtic sites. It seems that there are two sources of magickal connection always available to us. These would be the magick of place and the magick of ancestors. We are always connected to the place we are and the places we frequent. We are always connected to our ancestors. In the author’s case he is accessing both of these in his quest for knowledge and vision. Accessing the magick of place can best be done by being there for long periods. Accessing the magick of ancestors can also potently be done by being in the places frequented by them and exploring their works. I have done this sort of thing here in the US in Native American sites with meaningful experiences. Having a small amount of Native American ancestry may or may not have been a factor. Another source of magickal connection that is likely available to us is that of the connections we have to our previous incarnations and those relationships to people and place. Of course, these are less directly knowable.

The author provides his account of walking journeys over a few month’s time in south-eastern England near the sea that include several ancient sites from the Megalithic period, many even before the arrival of the Celts. Here he walks along  “the old track” as a meditation as some older writers have fancied. His journey was conceived during a Winter Solstice rite on the Lewes Tump. From here he walked along the South Downs Way and on to Alfriston and the Wilmington Giant at Avronelle and returned along the same path.

“The Druid tradition is first and foremost a tradition of the land. It is an earth-religion. It requires a listening to the earth. But it is also a wisdom tradition, and as such carries a heritage of written material.”

Symbolically, he begins his journey by passing through what he identifies as a magical gate made by a yew tree and a beech tree, both sacred to Druids. Hew notes the tradition of planting yews in graveyards – the exoteric explanation that because they are poisonous they keep animals away from the cemetery. The esoteric explanation is that  the yew is a tree of life and death, of eternity (they can live fro 3000 years), and the main sacred tree of Irish Druids as the oak was to English Druids. In the eastern US it seems that a similar-looking tree, the juniper often called Eastern Red Cedar has taken the place of yews as a cemetery tree. This is definitely so in West Virginia where many folk are of Irish and Scottish descent.

His first visionary experience is of a young woman who says, “I am Niwalen, my name means the White Track. I am the goddess of the road. I am the spirit of the journey.” He sees her later standing with a blackbird on her shoulder. The blackbird was known as the bird of the Druids. Another name for Niwalen is Olwen, as goddess of the track. The author scrys for vision by walking the ancient trail and also by meditating and lying down on the ancient mounds. He notes a visionary experience where he presumably falls asleep on a mound and has a vivid dream conversation with his deceased teacher Nuinn as they observe together the goings on of a long past culture in the area. The key thought revealed here was that: “The songs of our ancestors are also the songs of our children.”

“If someone asks what Druid practice consists of, one way of answering is as follows: it involves working with the chalice and the wand or sword. The chalice is the magic circle, the circle of stones, or the grove of trees. The sword, or wand, is the Old Straight Track, the path, the journey. Our lives consist of rest and motion, alternately, of being and doing as alternate states. In the Sacred Grove we find rest, we are calm, we are seated. We work our magic, we open ourselves to the breath of Awen, of inspiration. We find support in letting go of our obsession to do and to have. With the wand, the lance, the spear, the dagger, the sword, we move into the realm of Doing – we act in the world – we ‘go forth’, we journey.”

The author sees this journey as the notion of ‘walking the old tracks.’ Here the outer journey becomes a metaphor for the inner journey. This is akin to vision questing or hero-questing and can help in integrating one psychologically. He contemplates the psychological meaning of dragons and how we relate to our inner monsters – fears, desires, greed, and lust for power. We can fight the dragon which may lead to repression. We can flee from it which may lead to life long fear and regret. We can befriend the dragon or at least live in some sort of harmony with it so that dysfunction is limited in both us and the dragon-force. As the author point outs, in many stories the dragon represents the wild energy of the land, of nature in all its biological urgency.

He gives a chapter comparing Druidism and Wicca, as a newer manifestation of the Old Religion associated with Witchcraft. Here he notes also various cross-influences of Wicca, Druidism, and various magical orders such as the Rosicrucians and the Golden Dawn, as well as some of the reformed Druid groups that have popped up through the centuries.

In a section about ordeals the author notes:

“Our major initiations do not take place in temples or even stone circles. For most of us in the west they take place in bed. Our most powerful initiations are the great Rites of Passage – being born, dying, making love for he first time ...”

He visits an old church along the Cuckmere River that was likely built on an old Celtic Nemeton, or Sacred Grove. At Avronelle he visits the Giant of Wilmington, the Long Man, the great effigy that is the 2^nd largest in the world. He contemplates its position and the reasons why he is without phallus quite unlike the Cerne Abbas Giant. He compares the history and lore of the two giants. The author does manage to tie in the healing potential of ancient fertility rites to modern psychological dysfunctions perpetrated by the demands and persecutions of the Church. He talks about the ‘goddess who has been denied.’ He talks about our seeming desire to destroy the earth by our greed of progress. He apparently experiences much of this in vision where his teacher is talking to him. Nuinn mentions that it is not only significant that he has no phallus but also that he has no mate. He contemplates the loss of the phallus as possibly a mythical wounding of sorts. Such mythical wounding is common in myth, particularly in shamanic cultures. The wounded Fisher King in Arthurian lore is one such story. He said he was awoken when his wife found him lying there in the grass by the road – so I guess it was profound experience for him.

Whilst falling asleep in a presumed hypnagogic state (where visions and aha! experiences are known to occur) the author is given a technique by the Long Man himself for accessing the Otherworld. The giant holds two staves extending from his head to the ground that even look as if he is guarding a gateway defined by the staves. The Long Man tells him to stare at both staves. When the author does this he has a short vision then falls asleep. When he wakes he sees that he has written a note to himself to go back and see the giant as there is something he missed. He does so at the Spring Equinox. Due to the angle of the morning sun he notices that the giant looks more like a woman and may be a goddess of the land. He sees breasts and a depression for the vulva and this is his revelation.

He goes along his journey noting other sacred spots, local history both ancient and recent, old word and place-name etymologies, and notions and stories of myth and Druidism. He tells a sad story of the accidental death of a child of a dear friend and how the Druid folk ritualize the passing as a way to help deal with grief and promote healing.

He tells the story of Rhiannon form the Mabinogion where she is falsely accused of killing her newborn child and must do a penance which lasts several years. For her penance she had to recount the story of her killing her son to each visitor while bringing them to the court on her back. The author notes that Rhiannon is doubly wounded – by false allegation and penance and by the loss of her child. He also notes that the story indicates that we can never truly be separated from those we love. Rhiannon was a Queen of the Otherworld who had crossed over to live among humans and her son was really taken by a king of that realm who later returned him seeing that he was the son of a human. The author also notes the Otherworld Journey as part of the “Druid Way,” where one is trained to explore the inner realms – maybe through incubatory sleep and dreaming techniques, fasting, vision questing, or whatever.

His last visionary experience is a contemplation of death and the meaning of being re-integrated back into the land and then reconfigured into a new life – in the sense that the Celtic tradition accepts reincarnation as likely.

“THIS STORY OF A JOURNEY from Lewes to Wilmington and back is partly an account of the evocatory power of Place. Becoming aware of, and then working with the magic and presence of Place is probably one of the most direct and immediate ways of opening ourselves to the meaning and value of Druidry today.”

He notes entering the magic of Place as a way to integrate the inner and the outer worlds. He also notes the value of appreciating and honoring Time. One can do this, he implies, by accepting that we are temporary, that we are subject to the stages of life,  death, and to being recycled into the next life.

“We are given a body through the act of our parents mating – and here we see the connection between sex and death and initiation. Our major initiations are given to us as we take on or let go of our bodies. Our bodies are given to us through the sexual act. Therefore the sexual act is sacred, since it provides the vehicle for our initiations and our learning in this world.”

Nice book – well worth reading with both interesting info and practical psychology.