Category Archives: Ritual
anarchy of yoga
via http://www.ascentmagazine.com/articles.aspx?articleID=310&page=read&subpage=current&issueID=40
. . . my real interest in exploring Indian philosophy, Buddhism, yoga and Western psychology is not so much how they fit together, but how they don’t fit together. Stephen Batchelor calls this “the anarchy of the gaps.” Between the gaps of systems there is something fertile. Whenever you create a system, something gets left out. And so when two systems come together all those left-out pieces come out of the shadows because one system points out the shadow of another system. That’s why it is really good to study with different systems and different teachers, because it will always point out your shadows.
Centre of Gravity – Michael Stone’s Website
Consumer Capitalism: THE MADNESS OF A LOST SOCIETY
This video is full of fear mongering, and fails to acknowledge that there are ways to take action, and that people already are taking action. Please add links of examples to the comments, and I will add them to the body of this post.
Spiritual Radical
via http://www.lamamarut.org/index.php?s=%E2%80%9CBecoming+a+Spiritual+Radical%E2%80%9D
Buddhism holds out the promise that enlightenment is possible in this very life. Indeed, according to the texts of the tradition, it is only in a human life like ours, endowed as it is with all the freedoms and opportunities, that the attainment of perfect happiness can be reached. For those of us living in the modern Western world – with the tremendous wealth we enjoy, the free time, the education, and the access to the authentic teachings and teachers – the conditions are perfect.
There is only one caveat: we must dedicate our lives to this quest if we expect to reach our highest and final destiny. We cannot be diverted and we must not be seduced by the siren song of samsara in the form of consumer capitalism. Giving up on the idea that samsaric life will work out is the precondition for the renunciation that makes possible true happiness.
This is perhaps harder for us than it would be for someone living a marginal life in the Third World. Renunciation doesn’t really seem necessary. Things seem to be working out so well for most of us much of the time.
But as Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matthew 6:19-24) A religious life and a life dedicated to the pursuit of money, new cars, bigger homes, fancier holidays, and the latest gadgets are mutually exclusive.
A true spiritual practitioner in the modern, Western world is first of all a consumer capitalist drop-out. A serious seeker has given up on the idea that more consumer goods, better vacations, and more entertainment options or cooler and newer gadgets, will provide the true and lasting happiness we all seek. It is only a person like who has begun treading on the real path to happiness by practicing that rare virtue called “contentment” – the opposite of the endless desires and discontentment the manufacturing of which is the very heart of the consumer capitalist machinery.
In a recent article for the London Review of Books, reprinted in Harper’s Magazine, Slavoj Zizek writes despairingly of the “defeat of the left” in the face of the overwhelming and ubiquitous power of global consumerism. “One of the clearest lessons of the last few decades,” Zizek claims, “is that capitalism is indestructible. Marx compared it to a vampire, and one of the salient points of comparison now appears to be that vampires always rise up again after being stabbed to death.”
But consumer capitalism is not “indestructible” for any individual. Samsara, in whatever form it takes, can be defeated by practitioners who strongly desire to be free, recognize the true nature of the chains that bind them, and then learn and practice the time-tested methods that will free the mind from the samsaric matrix.
But this requires radical measures. The spiritual life is a revolutionary uprising against the samsaric status quo. A good practitioner must be a guerrilla insurgent in an on-going resistance movement. A spiritual warrior must be a desperado – desperate to escape from suffering. From the samsaric point of view he or she must appear as a dangerous criminal. He or she must be an “outlaw” – pitted against the “rules” of samsaric life (“You will only be happy if you make money, buy a house, get promotions at work,” etc.).
A Buddhist is supposed to recognize first and foremost that samsara is a dangerous place. It is suicidal to try to make friends with it, to try to “fit in” and “play ball” and be a “pillar of the (samsaric) community.” A real practitioner is a dissenter, in mutiny against the oppressive regime of suffering life.
Be a rebel with a cause. Drop out of and pit yourself against the designer form of samsara consumer capitalism has brought to us. Get serious about your spiritual life. Get radical.
Oppose shopping mall culture and the way it and its values have insinuated themselves into your mind. Don’t try to appear “reasonable” or “moderate” when it comes to suffering and its causes. As Jawaharlal Nehru once said, “The policy of being too cautious is the greatest risk of all.”
Buy Nothing Shopping
“Whirl-Mart Ritual Resistance is a participatory experiment. It is art and action. It came into being in 2001 as a response to Adbusters magazine’s call for foolish action on the first of April. What began as a single happening in Troy, NY has over the course of a year evolved into a ritual activity that is performed across the U.S., and known around the world. It is a ritual during which a group gathers and silently pushes empty carts through the aisles of a superstore. Whirl-Mart utilizes tactics of occupation and reclamation of private consumer-dominated space for the purpose of creating a symbolic spectacle.”- BreathingPlanet
Day of Action, Night of Mourning Against Offshore Drilling Friday May 14, Nationwide
Once again the fossil fuel industry has brought crisis to the Gulf Coast. Devastation of untold proportions spews non-stop from BP’s oil well as politicians try to save face with empty promises, and oil companies preserve their profits with PR campaigns. This catastrophic spill comes on the heels of Obama’s plan to expand offshore drilling. The price of burning fossil fuels is too high. From combustion to extraction the oil industry poisons our communities, destroys ecosystems, and destabilizes the climate. Now is the time to stop offshore drilling dead in its tracks and drive another nail into the fossil fuel industry’s coffin.
Take action Friday May 14 to demand:
-An immediate ban on all offshore drilling
-A rapid and just transition away from fossil fuels
-No bailouts for the oil industry. All recovery costs must be paid for by BP, Halliburton, Transocean and other implicated companies.
-The federal government must remove any caps on liability for oil companies.
-BP provides full compensation for impacted communities and small businesses.
-BP provides full funding for long-term ecosystem restoration for impacted areas.
-Oil companies operating in the Gulf fully fund restoration of coastal ecosystems damaged by canals, pipelines, and other industry activities.
Take action at:
-BP gas stations and offices
-Halliburton and Transocean offices
-Federal buildings
-Offices of members of Congress
-State government officials in states affected by Obama’s offshore drilling proposal.
-Critical Mass bike rides
-Vigils to mourn the unspeakable loss brought by this spill
-Get creative!
θέλημα
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
θέλημα is a blog to collect the thoughts of The Beast 666 – known as Aleister Crowley, Frater Perdurabo, To Mega Therion, etc. – on various subjects.
The Beast was the prophet of the Law of Thelema, and initiated the Aeon of the Crowned & Conquering Child upon reception of The Book of the Law in 1904, era vulgaris.
Therefore, while the Beast is neither the Absolute Beginning nor the Absolute End to Thelema, His words are of utmost importance in understanding this Law of Liberty.
The very Comment of The Book of the Law states, “All questions of the Law are to be decided only by appeal to my writings, each for himself.”
We therefore offer these writings without any opinion or interpretation on our part.
Love is the law, love under will.
Peep & Gaze!
Scrying can variously be defined as a technique of divination or revelation, of producing visions, perhaps of the future, through prolonged gaze at an object.
Our League of the L:.O:.A:. encourages everyone to get out your peep stones and scry-a-little! David Whitmer, one of the three witnesses to the Book of Mormon explains: “I will now give you a description of the manner in which the Book of Mormon was translated. Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing.” You can do this as well! Take a hat throw in you favorite peep stone and Gaze!
http://www.youtube.com/mormonmagick
Bornless Ritual
Bornless Ritual by Baby Bam Bam Bumkin.
The Bornless Ritual, also known as the Preliminary Invocation of the Goetiaor, and the Invocation of the Heart Girt with a Serpent.
“Thee I invoke, the Bornless one.
Thee, that didst create the Earth and the Heavens:
Thee, that didst create the Night and the day.
Thee, that didst create the darkness and the Light.
Thou art Osorronophris: Whom no man hath seen at any time.
Thou art Iabos:
Thou art Iapos:
Thou hast distinguished between the just and the Unjust.
Thou didst make the female and the Male.
Thou didst produce the Seed and the Fruit.
Thou didst form Men to love one another, and to hate one another.
I am _________ Thy Prophet, unto Whom Thou didst commit Thy Mysteries, the Ceremonies of _________:
Thou didst produce the moist and the dry, and that which nourisheth all created Life.
Hear Thou Me, for I am the Angel of Apophrasz Osorronophris: this is Thy True Name, handed down to the Prophets of _________.
Hear Me: Ar: Thiao: Reibet: Atheleberseth: A: Blatha: Abeu: Eben: Phi: Chitasoe: Ib: Thiao.
Hear Me, and make all Spirits subject unto Me: so that every Spirit of the Firmament and of the Ether: upon the Earth and under the Earth: on dry Land and in the Water: of Whirling Air, and of rushing Fire: and every Spell and Scourge of God may be obedient unto Me.
I invoke Thee, the Terrible and Invisible God: Who dwellest in the Void Place of the Spirit: Arogogorobrao: Sochou: Modorio: Phalarchao: Ooo: Ape, The Bornless One: Hear Me!
Hear Me: Roubriao: Mariodam: Balbnabaoth: Assalonai: Aphniao: I: Tholeth: Abrasax: Qeoou: Ischur, Mighty and Bornless One! Hear Me!
I invoke Thee: Ma: Barraio: Ioel: Kotha: Athorebalo: Abraoth: Hear Me!
Hear me! Aoth: Aboth: Basum: Isak: Sabaoth: Iao:
This is the Lord of the Gods:
This is the Lord of the Universe:
This is He Whom the Winds fear.
This is He, Who having made Voice by His Commandment, is Lord of All Things; King, Ruler, and Helper. Hear Me!
Hear Me: Ieou: Pur: Iou: Pur: Iaot: Iaeo: Ioou: Abrasax: Sabriam: Oo: Uu: Ede: Edu: Angelos tou theou: Lai: Gaia: Apa: Diachanna: Chorun.
I am He! the Bornless Spirit! having sight in the Feet: Strong, and the Immortal Fire!
I am He! the Truth!
I am He! Who hate that evil should be wrought in the World!
I am He, that lightningeth and thundereth.
I am He, from whom is the Shower of the Life of Earth:
I am He, whose mouth flameth:
I am He, the Begetter and Manifester unto the Light:
I am He, the Grace of the World:
“The Heart Girt with a Serpent” is My Name!
Come Thou forth, and follow Me: and make all Spirits subject unto Me so that every Spirit of the Firmament, and of the Ether: upon the Earth and under the Earth: on dry land, or in the Water: of whirling Air or of rushing Fire: and every Spell and Scourge of God, may be obedient unto me! Iao: Sabao: Such are the Words!
NYAHBINGHI
Thoth
Haunting and enigmatic, S.K. Thoth built a reputation as one of America’s great street performers. Chronicling his life from childhood to the present, “Thoth” captures the spirit of an individual who has made personal freedom his occupation. Directed by Sarah Kernochan, the film won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short.
8-Circuit Brain
Robert Anton Wilson 9a : Circuits 1-4
Robert Anton Wilson 9b: Circuits 5-8
Peyote Last of The Medicine Men
Peyote Last of The Medicine Men Part One
Peyote Last of The Medicine Men Part Two
Entheogenic Shamanism Ancient Astronauts History
Schizophrenic or Shamanic?
Terence Mckenna giving his view on how we define the mentally ill because we haven’t got any place in our society to put these strange perceptions of reality that some people experience and how we should not fear these states but be confident and turn them into some sort of planetary worldview. The video speaks for itself.
“We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.”
A Hopi Elder Speaks
Via http://www.evolver.net/user/chibione/blog/hopi_elder_speaks
“You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour. Now you must go back and tell the people that this is the Hour. And there are things to be considered . . .
Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in right relation?
Where is your water?
Know your garden.
It is time to speak your Truth.
Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for the leader.”
Then he clasped his hands together, smiled, and said, “This could be a good time!”
“There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are torn apart and will suffer greatly.
“Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above water. And I say, see who is in there with you and celebrate. At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, Least of all ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.
“The time for the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves! Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.
“We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.”
– attributed to an unnamed Hopi elder
Hopi Nation
Oraibi, Arizona
Via http://www.evolver.net/user/chibione/blog/hopi_elder_speaks
Visionary Psychedelic Surrealism by Myztico
via http://myztico.mosaicglobe.com/
InterDimensional Art Zone
“The creative process is truly a spiritual transcedental gift that allows one to co-create with our Divine Creator, to put it simpley “Creativity is my Religion”. It gives me a deeper purpose in life much more gratifying than the quest for impermanent materialism. We are all blessed with certain gifts that we bring to this world while we are here on this earth plane. Each of us are part of a complex matrix of consciousness that spans across the inter-dimensional cosmos. Some of the images in this gallery were inspired by entheogenic sacred teacher plants that I have explored throughout the years. Others appear through Dreamtime cycles behind the veil of perceptions, beyond the superficial everyday experience that the naked eye and our limited 5 senses can decipher. Therefore “ART” is the 3rd eye of human evolution, it is a sacred gift not to be taken lightly. It informs, educates, heals, enlightens and defines our humanity on various levels. Here, I share with you some of the imagery I have experienced within a variety of inter-dimensional realms. I have attempted to capture these visions to the best of my natural abilities”. This is the first gallery of several on this site, take your time to absorb what is here. There is something here for just about everyone and if you can learn something new while visiting here and if the art, music, poetry, videos and educational materials contained within this site resonate with you please share this site with your family and friends. I have put together this site as my small contribution to the human family with the intention of spreading positive energy about the state of our fragile planet and that collectively with our love for all life and the unknown that we can each contribute towards dreaming a better world for generations to come! NAMASTE!
Recent Spotlights of Myztico’s Art & Website: Myztico Art has been recently spotlighted on REALITY SANDWICH at: http://www.realitysandwich.com/interdimentional_art this is a wonderful online publication with talented writers covering a wide spectrum of topics I urge you to pay a visit! Myztico’s latest Blog titled: “Shamanism, Surrealism and the Age of the Visionary“, can be seen exclusively at The Gravaton Collective at: http://www.thegravatonblog.com Myztico has also been featured in the 4th edition of The Visionary Revue by Laurence Caruana along with other outstanding Visionary Artists: http://visionaryrevue.com/webtext4/mystico.html
The 2nd Annual International Surrealist Exhibit 2008 http://www.surrealismnow.com/intsurrealistshow2008.html
To see a world in a Grain of Sand, and a Heaven in a wild flower, hold Infinity in the palm of your hand, and Eternity in an hour”- William Blake
http://myztico.mosaicglobe.com/
Situationist International
Situationist International – Part 1 of 3
Situationist International – Part 2 of 3
Situationist International – Part 3 of 3
Animation and drawings by BLU
Physical Theatre: Butoh and Beyond – Screener
Film distributed by Contemporary Arts Media http://www.artfilms.com.au
The video is a documentary of a weekend workshop presented by Cheryl Heazlewood in Perth in 1996. The participants consist of young actors, dancers, performers and teachers. Cheryl presents powerful and inspiring training exercises which are drawn from her eclectic training in occidental and oriental movement and theatre. Cheryl Heazlewood – Choreographer, Actor, Teacher and Healer – has spent her life involved in theatre and dance.After studying classical and contemporary dance, theatre and mime Cheryl joined the Lindsay Kemp Company in 1982 as a principal artist and moved to Europe. She spent the next 11 years performing internationally. During this time she studied Butoh with Kazu Ohno, Sankai Juku, Carlotta Ikeda and Ko Murobushi, who invited her to work in his company in 1986. In 1992 she formed her own company Butoh And Beyond with the vision of integrating Butoh into Western performance. Cheryl returned to Australia in 1995 and has been teaching in major dance/theatre institutions Australia-wide. 50 min.
post a poxaklips theater
From Ritual To Theater
A great reflection on the transition of ritual to theater in the western world .
It is interesting to note (as the woman at the end of the video also notes) how the circular ritual area, called the orchestra, diminishes in importance and focus as the place of fiction increases. Interesting implications and commentary on western theater (entertainment) and religion.
In watching these videos, I noticed that the roman catholic and eastern orthodox churches based their Eucharistic “drama” and architecture on Greek/Roman theater as well. If you follow the cycle of liturgical services done in the orthodox church as well as older catholic churches, the life cycle of the christian sun god is reenacted, using much of the same props, devices and architecture as Greek/Roman theater.
I was immediately struck by the place and importance of the circle in the original Dionysian rituals that are thought to have inspired and evolved into theater. A brief survey of material on the Greek mystery cults, ritual drama and their influence on all of society will shine a light on how important this all was way back when. Here is an interesting jumping off point . . .
http://www.realitysandwich.com/new_eleusis_long_trip_isn039t_over_yet
Where did our circles and rituals go in the western world?
