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Blessed are the Meek
To the warrior, meek is the same as cowardly. He can't grasp the concept that it takes more courage to turn the other cheek than to respond with escalating violence. To him, meek is weak. The more violent the response, the more courage shown.
To the peace loving person, turning the other cheek is a refusal to participate in that madness. It is not so much a matter of courage as it is toughness. Nonviolence is the only reasonable option. Pity the warriors, they know not what they do.
We are all in this together. Catholic, protestant, jew, muslim, atheist, evolutionist, revisionist, warrior, saint and sinner have been inspired, encouraged and terrorized by the same gods. We all lose if the biosphere collapses. None of us are going off to find heaven in the stars. They have pitted us against one another, in deadly competition for their own gain. They have used us badly.
We have reached a plateau where we have to stop killing each other and our environment, or else. In the worst case scenario, there is going to no room in the cramped quarters of post biosphere existence for the warrior mentality. The meek ones that survive long enough to inherit the earth will be very tough indeed.
When I had this encounter with the sacred fungi, I reacted by naming this a devil force if not outright evil. I thought of the Garden of Eden myth and the fungi as the snake. I felt they had betrayed us and that Mother Nature was our only salvation. In the twentysix years since then I have studied the situation a great deal and have changed my view somewhat. Hey, I still feel betrayed, but there doesn't seem to be any option but to get over it. There is really no way to take sides in this competition. We have both earthly and starborn components inside us. The future lies in healing and understanding. This is a very complex situation.
I discuss this further in LifeOS.
One of the episodes that we need to take a closer look at is the Ergot poisoning of the town of Pont-Saint-Esprit in France. This is an extreme and vivid example of the kind of insanity brought on by our symbiotic relationship with the fungi in question. The symptoms of these severe cases are the same symptoms exhibited by our present day "mushroom cultures". The mass insanity of our "civilization" is at a lower intensity, but no less obvious to the objective observer. Take our "Planetary Health Department" for example. You remember, our space vehicle in orbit over the Earth. From this vantage point, the observers are struck by the fact that most of the population is engaged in keeping track of numbers, while having no concern for the end result of their combined efforts. The human animal carefully measures and counts every individual and species it hounds into extinction. From this point of view, the man counting the window panes in his bedroom in France, is at least benign, and no harm to the environment, while the "sane" ones are out there, destroying the rain forests, poisoning the air and blowing their fellow human beings to bits. We see the same bleeding walls and the grinning skulls, and we use these "demons" as the excuse to fortify ourselves and build the bombs to kill the ones possessed. We are as sure of our ability to violate the laws of Nature as the young pilot who jumped out the second story window. Even faced with the evidence of failure, and the obvious damage to vital parts, our culture staggers ahead on the "green stick fractures" of a crippled ecosystem. All the while, the caring ones are locked into the role of looking after the people who are too suicidal to take proper care of themselves. The people with the capacity to behave rationally are overwhelmed by the needs of a society gone mad. While each of us is lost in our own struggle to "do our part" the whole of civilization is eating away at the support system of our only biosphere.
Just as for the hapless victims of Pont-Saint-Esprit, there is nothing for us to do but ride it out, and QUIT EATING THE "DAMNED BREAD". If you are already a big beef eater and/or milk drinker, you are not likely to change your ways. You are addicted and there isn't even a twelve step program to help you.
Now the "ego" side of us doesn't want to hear this story in the first place, because it must take part of the blame for the errors in perception that have gotten us into this mess. If it listens at all, it will try to pin the blame on the "bad guys" who eat mushrooms, or blame the fungi themselves, and try to wipe out one or the other. That kind of thinking has been at the root of the problem all along. The many attempts at genocide found in our history books have been fostered by the belief that there was something very wrong with certain groups of people, and that they must be eliminated to keep the species "pure". The "impurity" that the murder was supposed to remove from the human race usually had to do with these hallucinogenic fungi and their bizarre rituals.
It doesn't do any good to say that those folks over there are "mushroom people" and another group isn't, because all races and all lineages have some degree of fungus influence in their past. Any culture that has consumed hallucinogenic mushrooms, beef, milk and cheese has this information locked into their genetic code. Of course, that means that those cultures that have eaten the most of these foods are probably the most influenced. It is no accident that the countries with the largest beef consumption are also the most militant, dominant, space oriented and bloodthirsty on the face of the Planet. We all embody the problem to some extent and the only place that we can bring about change is in our own lives. There is only one act that we have the power to clean up, and that is our own.
Our ideals are hollow if we continue to support the plunder of the biosphere for energy, the rape of the forests for wood and grazing land, the filling of our atmosphere with smoke, and otherwise degrading our host Planet. We buy into this deal with every dollar we spend within the system, every gallon of gas we buy, every federal tax we pay, with every utility bill, with every techno-toy we buy, and especially every beef product we consume, whether it is milk, meat, leather or bone. Like it or not, those are the rules.
It was back during some legal maneuvering regarding the activities of the environmental group known as "Earth First!" The man was a lawyer for the government, I think, and he was pointing out how wrong he thought they were in their stand on the issues. "Look at the name," he said. "It should be, People First." That points out the problem quite well. We need to realize that people are a part of a total living system that includes all matter around us; the Earth is Alive! If we don't put this Earth ahead of our own selfish interests, if we don't put EARTH FIRST, She, and all of Her creatures, including us, are doomed. If we don't begin to see the divinity of all things and act accordingly, we are HISTORY.
If you make your choice to continue to follow the way of the warrior, that is your problem. You will continue to live and die by the sword. Your attitude will cause you to continue to abuse your inner Temple just as you will keep on plundering the Temple that surrounds you. You are the one who will suffer in the end. To continue to live by the "warrior ethic" and its rules, leaves no choice but to get away from a Planet in the last convulsions of death. There may be some great places out there in the stars for you to colonize. It may be a great life, out there, On the Right Hand of God. ADIOS!
On the right hand of god, we're the home of the brave,
Put those enemy children in a fiery grave.
On the right hand of god, we're leading the race,
To be the first humans to rape and murder and plunder in space.
On the right hand of god, we're off to the stars,
Leaving a cinder, just as lifeless as Mars.
For every malaise of human kind, there is an herb furnished by the Holy Mother that will surely heal it. It seems apparent to me that the herb marijuana is the best antidote for this fungus disease. Cannabis has been shown to reduce the production of testosterone in some males, which would be a welcome condition. The use of marijuana tends to emphasize the right hemisphere of the brain and in general mellow people out. This leads to a greater interest in Nature, and ultimately to a better understanding of green plants. Before this Planet can begin to heal on a global scale, we must begin to worship green plants with the same enthusiasm we show for our fungus friends. Their position of importance on the maintenance and healing of this biosphere makes them our only real salvation. They are the foundation or our existence and we must restore them to the place of honor due them. When the year comes that we can say that the forests of the world have increased by some percent, then will She be on the road back to health.
Just as with our own personal health, it takes more than a medicinal herb to heal the body. The illness is caused by some imbalance in the overall system brought on by a thing we can call "lifestyle". This is the total of a person's activities, in-put, out-put, and means our action in real life. Along with the remedies, we need to change the bad habits that got us sick. It's the same on a Planetary level; if we truly intend to help heal our Mother, then we need to change our bad habits. We need to give up all of the products and practices that ultimately lead to any damage to the biosphere, and concentrate on those activities that serve to heal it. To do that we need to build healthy soil, and aid in the growth of green plants. That means sustainable organic gardening techniques and the recycling of all waste. There are a lot of changes in our collective lifestyle that will have to be made, or else.
It is unwise to assume that eating a particular mushroom will simply cause a specific behavior. It is not as simple as that. These hallucinogenic fungi introduce "organization" to their symbiots. This is the same organization that fungi provide for the anthill. Just as ants are organized in "duty specific" castes, so do human beings follow a hereditary caste system. One need only examine the genealogy of the American people to see that we are firmly divided into castes. The ruling families provide the sons and daughters that run government, the legal system, the media, the military and big business. The middle class provides the managers, clerks and other workers needed for the carrying out of the policies of the "upper crust". The labor force and the fodder for the military, are provided by the lower echelons of the system. Sure, there are exceptions, but few enough to make it a big deal when someone breaks with the pattern and "makes it big". It used to be in our "blood", now it's in our genes.
The rhetoric, that all are created equal, doesn't ring true in the real world. It sounds good, and divisions are less visible than in some other cultures, but a close examination of our own culture shows it to be highly stratified. The idea that anyone in the country can grow up to be president is theoretically possible, but in practice, they are all selected from the same elite group of families. This group contributes nothing to our prison population, not because they are so law abiding, but because the are above the law. This ruling class considers itself a species apart from the rest of us. In a way, they may be right. They are the direct descendants of the early priesthood that learned the arts of writing, fire-building, religion and warfare, from the sacred fungi. The rest of the world is a "slave" species to them. They see it as their duty to use this mass of humanity to shape the world to fit their vision.
It has been 33 years since Mr. Allegro published his landmark book, The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross. More than 50 years have past since R.G. Wasson linked the Amanita muscaria with man's early concept of deity in, Russia, Mushrooms and History. It has been more than 30 years since he positively identified the plant that inspired the originators of the Hindu religion in Soma, Divine Mushroom of Immortality. In all of that time, there has not been one comprehensive rebuttal to the theory that religion, as we now know it, was directly inspired by the consumption of hallucinogenic fungi. The evidence is mounting with every year, but the message is falling on deaf ears.
Organized religion is fighting tooth and nail to keep the news from becoming common knowledge. The discovery of man's symbiotic relationship with these plants is probably the most important bit of news since the beginning of history. An understanding of that relationship can answer our most persistent questions. The behavior of humankind takes on new meaning when these plants and their potent alkaloids are added to the equation. Religion will not lead us to the truth. The mists of holy bias will do nothing but cloud the issue and suppress the evidence that they possess.
"Plants are the foundation of all existence, of humans and animals, of society and civilization.
They are the source of our nourishment and health, pleasure and ecstasies; they sustain religions, cultures, civilizations. In the end they can kill us, and return us to the soil on which they themselves feed.Lehane"
Personally, I have made my choice. I throw my lot with the Earth Mother and the green plants that hold this biosphere together. That doesn't mean I'm anti-mushroom, just pro-biosphere. All of the supply channels belong to the Mother. Everything that the fungus knowledge molds into devices of destruction is essentially made out of material supplied by the Earth Mother.
When you "pray", you are in-putting the natural request channels that keep all living cells supplied with their needs. This is a channel that is always open to you whether you call it god, or visualization, or mind control or positive thinking. Just as every cell in your body is supplied with its needs on demand, so is each individual. Those needs are established and communicated in the mind of the individual. If that mind sees death and despair as its future, it probably will be so. "It is done to you as you believe." If you visualize a healthy and harmonious Planet and work toward that end, your life will reflect that harmony. The secret to a happy and healthy life is to live one.
Don't give up on the belief in God; just recognize that it is the female aspect that is contained in all things, is supremely understanding, and provides for all of our needs that deserves our faith. The male deity that has demanded our tribute is a phony.
In the arms of your Mama, hell, that's where you belong,
She's the one who feeds you and has made you so strong.
In the Arms of your Mama, hell, that's where you belong,
She's the one who heals you, and She'll have you before long.
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Sources
Click on Author to return to quoted text.
1 Lehane, The Power of Plants, McGraw(c)Hill, New York, 1977,From the title page
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