Animá Lifeways & Herbal School

THE PRACTICE OF AWARENESS

The Animá Approach to a More Aware, Decisive & Satisfying Life

by Jesse Wolf Hardin

www.animacenter.org

The Call to Awareness

Awareness is one of the most precious opportunities and essential life practices, determining in part the richness, health and even length of our finite existence.  It is vital for presence, necessary to notice and learn from, to discern and evaluate, understand and appreciate.  It’s crucial when it comes to avoiding accidents or improving technique, defending ourselves or our loved ones from attack or getting the most from our exposure to a potent work of art.  It is an ingredient that we cannot do without, if we are to truly taste the intermingled flavors of our food or fully savor each available moment.  The better we become at being aware, the better choices we make, and the better we are able to give, whether in the role of healers, teachers, craftspeople, parents and providers.  And the more aware we become, the more flavorful and meaningful our world becomes, the more wondrous and useful what we are given.  Awareness is – optionally, ideally – our simultaneous work, art and reward.  It is not simply what we seek or grow, it way that calls to us.

How aware we are is a matter of how much we notice, how broadly we perceive, and how deeply we understand.  As an Animá practice, awareness is intentionally noticing/engaging as many aspects of ourselves and the world around us as possible, consciously making choices as to how much attention and focus to give each element, each moment.

The word “aware” comes from the old Germanic “war,” or “wer,” meaning to “watch” or to “take care.”  When we’re aware of something we are not only observing but evaluating – in the sense of continuously estimating the immediate value (significance, relevance, importance) of each.  We give it care, being either careful of it or with it.

Make no mistake, awareness isn’t a state or condition so much as an activity!   It’s not where we rest or reside, it’s something we naturally – and preferably intentionally – do.

Animá’s 7 Elements of Awareness

There are seven definitive aspects of awareness that we teach students to develop.  Though they can be derivative, successive and even progressive, we don’t like to refer to them as levels.  That tends to make them sound disconnected and unmoored, otherworldly, stratified and even hierarchal.  Nor do we say “degrees,” because while one builds from the other, and they are related aspects and capacities more than degrees of ability.  We prefer to think of them as elements instead, even though they are multifaceted rather than singular.  They are decidedly elemental, not in the sense of inert ingredients but in the same way that air, fire, water and earth are all energetically interconnected and interactive, feeding, informing and enabling each other.  Each of these seven elements of awareness are stages that we don’t move on from, but rather, that we incorporate, integrate and utilize.

The necessary first such element exists at ground level if you will, the initial awakening of the senses,  and becoming increasingly conscious and feeling, without which none of the others are possible.  The second is increased awareness of self as a definable subject of experience – awareness of the self that feels – along with an ever deepening sense of one’s inner states and increasing awareness of our subconscious processes.  The above two correlate with “earth” in elemental theory, with the living planet, our original nature and innermost essence and core.  From that can follow an increasing awareness of the world outside our skin, contexts and situations, revealing patterns and evolving interrelationship.  This make possible increasing awareness of self in relationship to the world, of one’s daily choices and their criteria in making them, of the potential consequences and benefits.  The fifth element is an increasing awareness of past and future, of the distant or unseen, un-sensed or for now incomprehensible, of impending death and its attendant mysteries, of the finite nature of our mortal lives and the importance of how we spend it.  These three could be seen as relating to water – overflowing its vessel, probing and making contact, as well as seeking out the depths and those secrets that await there.  The sixth element is an increasing awareness of the timeless nature of existence, or more clearly, of the unified presence of past and future as well as of the continuity and continuousness of the Anima or life force.  The seventh is akin to the Chinese element of wood, ceaseless movement and consistent fruiting: awareness of a need to initiate action or respond in ways that further our growth and better the world, inspired, informed and motivated by all that we become aware of.

1. Awakening, Becoming Conscious

In the beginning, we awaken from an unconscious or less conscious condition, from death into life, from less discernible oneness to distinguishing consciousness.  Such consciousness is the beginning of and foundation for awareness, not a thing that proceeds from it.  The start of life –  and of each day of our lives – is an awakening into consciousness, bringing with it only the option for differing degrees of awareness.

To be conscious requires only that we be aware of the world outside of our narrowly defined selves.  It doesn’t require that we understand much of what we sense, or even that we sense it in more than one way.  Someone coming out of a coma after an accident can be said to be conscious even if they are unable to open their eyes or move, and even if their brains are unable to make sense of the information their ears receive.  Even the most distracted and habituated of modern men and women – oblivious to their surroundings, shopping for matching fashions instead of developing an opinion on what to wear, voting the way their friends vote rather than studying the issues, unaware of their own feelings as well as their spouses, stepping off of curbs without watching for traffic – can still said to be conscious… though not necessarily to a survivable or even personally satisfyingly degree.  Even to be ultra-conscious is simply to be fully awake, a term that we prefer for several reasons.

There are, in fact,  few other situations in which we even use this term “consciousness” in the teaching of Animá.  First, because there is so much disagreement, from spiritual figures arguing its meaning to medical ethicists offering contesting definitions of what constitutes consciousness, unconsciousness and the so-called “vegetable” state where further medical life support may no longer make sense.  Secondly, consciousness is too often described as a state that only humans are capable of, when so much of other-than-human life is clearly more awakened, aware and responsive than all too many of our own blessed kind.  And thirdly, the related expression “higher consciousness” is too misleading to be useful, evoking as it does an out of body, unearthly location or condition, an imagined way of knowing suspended somehow above messy bodily and planetary experiencing.

To the contrary, what is needed to further develop our awareness is to (as the saying goes) “come down to earth,” ground in presence and place, reconnect to the living land and the seeming secrets that such connection affords, and to revisit our feeling beings and sentient bodies, natural abilities and informative challenges, needs and proclivities, callings and dreams.  Awareness requires we not ascend so much as dig in and delve, submerge and insinuate oneself in the web and weft… that we take the time for long explorative journeys into the winding labyrinths of our energetic and creature beings, into the context of relationship with other people, the food we eat, the plant whose breath we breathe.  To notice – often up close and intimate – the interacting world, our place within it, and the ways we can most powerfully receive and give.

Awareness isn’t a subcomponent of consciousness, it is its expansion, prioritization and application.  Consciousness and awakeness constitute the basic and fundamental level of awareness from which we can then further develop and expand… through not only intently sensing but emotionally feeling,

2. Self Awareness & the Subconscious

Once conscious – and consciously feeling – self recognition becomes possible… for our kind, as well as at least a handful other species.  Wild creatures are usually and necessarily more awake and notice more than civilized human beings, with quicker response times.  For the most part they are not, however, able to form a mental image of themselves, or hence to imagine themselves in new situations.  When confronted with its reflection in a mirror, a rat seems to see only light or space, a dog will run or bark as though spotting a stranger in the neighborhood no matter how closely the movements in the mirror match its own.  Using the Mirror Self Recognition Test, only our closest relatives the apes, dolphins and elephants have so far shown to know that a reflection is of them, with both of the latter rubbing the appropriate part of their face after noticing a mark that researches had daubed there.  What appears to be exclusively human is what’s sometimes called meta-awareness, an awareness of the self that feels, self as the knowable and definable subject of experience… and awareness of one’s feeling process itself.  This occurs not when some inner witness separates itself from the input and effects of emotions or action, but when the observing self begins to actively relate to its own shifting feelings and processes.  In a healthy person emotions aren’t objectified and analyzed so much as plumbed, and then weighed-in.

Deepening awareness of one’s inner states includes not only feelings, emotions and moods, but also our ongoing subconscious processes.  By definition, much of what goes on in the subconscious occurs unnoticed, and yet we can increasingly get glimpses of our subconscious issues and icons, patterns and tendencies through self exploration, artistic experimentation, vision questing, meditation and dream work.  And self-awareness and self-understanding can be greatly served by our uncovering of that which is ever being confronted or tested, assayed or inflated, deconstructed and re-created there.

Self awareness is essential to a healthy ego, not be confused with the negative “egotistical.” Ego is simply sense of self and identity, not self-centeredness.  Most of the problems in our world our brought on not by inflated egos – nor even for egotism – but by people’s generally undeveloped sense of self, a remarkable lack of self awareness, self knowledge, and thus self esteem.  People blindly react, lash out, suffer depression, remain in unsatisfying or abusive relationships, subject themselves to toxic food additives and soul deadening jobs, silently enable ecological destruction and permit their governments to wage unjust wars, largely because they are unawares… not just of the facts and mechanics of the food industry or Congress, but unaware of how they feel and the origination of those feelings.  Of their values and the basis on which those values were formed.  Of their habits, both those the bring order and repetition to healthy behaviors, and those that trap them in harmful and unproductive ways of perceiving or acting.  Of their personalities, their tendencies, or where they are on their personal Medicine Wheels.  Of their real needs, let alone how to meet them.  Of their repressed desires, untended dreams and unanswered callings.

Self awareness provides some of the necessary information and input we need when consciously contacting and interacting with the world.  By making us familiar with our needs and desires, it makes it possible to act to meet those that benefit, as well as to transform those that cause stress or harm.  Awareness of our true nature helps us to serve that nature, as well as capitalize on it, knowing what our honest weaknesses are means we can address and strengthen those areas, recognition of our true abilities means we can better trust them, grow them, apply them, take pride in them.  It makes it possible to align our behavior with our values, standards and intentions.  Equipped with an intimate understanding of, and personal acceptance of who we really are, the less likely we are to feel insecure and act of that insecure place.  Regardless our degree of awareness of external happenings or outside factors, increased self awareness means we become more confident, which makes us more motivated, thus more effective and potentially fulfilled.  And knowledge of our own inner workings, brings greater ability to understand, assay, predict, empathize with, help heal, clarify, assist, affirm, empower or transform the feelings and actions of others.

Like the apes and elephants in the MSR experiment, we come to see ours selves mirrored in the world around us.  And then there’s the next element or step, where we see in the world more than a reflection of ourselves.

———————-

Postscript:
The above explains in depth the general principals and first 2 Elements of Awareness, as taught by Animá.  Following Awareness of Self comes 3. Awareness of the World, Noticing & Orienting; 4. Awareness of Self in Place, Relationship & Dynamic; 5. Awareness of Finite Time and the Importance of Timing; 6. Awareness of Timeless Nature & the Animate Whole.  7. Awareness of Callings, Purpose & the Need to Respond.  The entire 10,000 word essay will appear in the book in progress known for now as the Book of Animá.  Meanwhile, those wishing to delve deeper will find an entire lesson of the redesigned Animá year-long Mentorship program devoted to this skill and topic, as well as an entire, new 8 week long Animá course on Awareness that will include self exploration questions and assignments for implementing. We expect to be able to accept registrations for this and a number of other courses within the next two weeks.  Your comments and responses are valued as always.  It is important that I am clear with this, as there are so many contrary approaches and beliefs out there, and it is so easy for us humans to hear only what we are comfortable hearing.  Hence the stress… on awareness!  be well, live fully, love deeply.…
-Wolf

(Please forward and post freely)

Share This

 (Note from Wolf: The following is a letter we thought you’d enjoy reading, by Shaman Path Intensive participant Henry.  I sensed and felt good about his energy and huge heart as soon as he came into the Canyon, and we were all impressed with his gentle but energetic tending of whatever needed doing that weekend.  He is the epitome of the word caretaker, meaning to care about, and take care of, that which matters most… land, a relationship, a project or cause.  What I believe he discovered here was the degree to which he had long been doing this laudable service, the importance of focusing his efforts and not mis-allocating them, the possibility of making it wholly conscious, deliberate, purposeful and directed.  “Am I out of mind doing this?,” he wondered.  Yes, out of the tape loops of self doubt and the habits that bind… and into your self in a clear, present, active, focused and beautiful way.  We’re hoping Henry will be able to assist Resolute with some of the logistical efforts around the 2010 Traditions in Western Herbalism Conference, and welcome his help as well as the opportunity to continue helping him.)

I recently “found” and made contact with the Animá Learning Center, and attended my first-ever event, all of which occurred within less than a month.  Considering my current nomadic state of disconnectedness from modern technological society, the circumstances surrounding my last-minute decision to attend the July Shaman’s Path Intensive weekend were, in my opinion, nothing less than miraculous, far too many “coincidences” to review here.  However, my personal journey that brought me to the canyon began many years ago.  For the past 10-years, since I took the proverbial leap leaving life as I had known it for 58 years behind, I have felt adrift, looking for my path, my higher purpose, asking many questions of the universe, looking for answers.  And although during these years many questions have been answered, the most burning of my life’s, or better yet my path‘s questions seemed to remain unanswered, or so I thought.

There was no question that the decision to attend was right, but the angst and confusion that I think we all experience, the WHAT ARE YOU DOING?  ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!, was with me all along, even as I drove the last few miles from the town of Reserve, even as I began the last 1½ mile walk to the Sanctuary.  And somewhere during that walk, probably past the second or third river crossing, my shoes came off and most of the angst disappeared as the canyon, the river, and ALL of creation welcomed me, and I knew that this was where I was supposed to be.  I was welcome.  I was safe.  I was home!

I arrived 1-day early to give myself time to settle in a bit.  After finding my campsite and setting up camp, I began to explore the canyon.  And immediately, upon officially meeting the river of the canyon, I was beckoned by the river to come and play, in what turned out to be a formal welcome and cleansing.  From that moment it was clear that my being here was no mistake, and I knew that spirit knew what it was doing.  As if there is ever any question that spirit knows what it’s doing.

As the weekend evolved there were many opportunities for introspection and spiritual movement.  It didn’t matter where I was, who I was with, or what I was doing.  Each time I was with one of my fellow students or one of our hosts, we became teachers for each other and questions were answered and guidance given.  I felt compelled to take off my shoes and get to know the earth more intimately.  I walked barefoot for much of my week in the canyon.  I danced with the wind.  I was cleansed by the river.  I was warmed and cleansed by the fire, and nurtured by the mother herself.  I was healed by the primordial sounds created by Wolf’s drumming.  I was beckoned to sit down in the dry creek bed and just be, and fall asleep, something previously unthinkable.  I melted into that gravely wash as if wrapped in the softest bedding.  The ancient volcanic rocks lining the dry wash called to me to come sit and visit, and together we sang and shared stories.  The trees, the flowers, the herbs, the birds, all available, all welcoming, and very excited to be recognized and to have their stories heard.

During my week in the canyon in July, and upon my return to this other place commonly referred to as “the real world?”, my life, my value, my gifts have been unquestionably validated again-and-again.  The so-called confusion surrounding my path and my higher purpose has mostly evaporated.  Turns out I had a better sense of purpose than I could see.  I just needed to get away from the mundane, and into a more nurturing environment to help me see myself more clearly.

I ended my canyon week with a personal counsel session with Wolf.  It was during this session that the true nature of my reconnection with our mother became apparent.  I shared with Wolf the incredible impact the land, and particularly the river, had on me.  My daily cleansing and healing bath in the river was so impactful that I cried as I told Wolf that I wanted to do whatever it took to find places to bathe in unfettered waters.  Wolf spoke of my challenges being relationship and commitment.  Wolf, you’ll be happy to know that with the exception of a few days in the city where I truly had no option, I have sought out and found free-flowing waters, rivers, streams, and ditches, lakes and ponds, to continue my daily ritual of reconnecting and reaffirming my relationship with my home, and my commitment to my self to continue seeking.

To my new found family, Wolf, Loba, Kiva, Rhiannon, I say thank you.  Thank you for your intuitive spirits.  For knowing and trusting the process.  For tending and caring for such an incredibly sacred piece of land, and for making it available to the vulnerable spirits of those like me who come looking for answers and guidance.  For sharing ALL of your gifts, ALL of the time.  Individually and together you provide magic the likes of which our vulnerable world needs so much more of.  I love you, and I’ll see you again.

Share This

Hello Everyone!  Time for a new blog:

Happy Birthdays:

I just had my 9th birth day last week. It was so fun! I can’t possibly list all of the things we had. Here are the things I remember:

Mussels
shrimp
scallops
cherry cordial
salad
we put red wine, cheese, olives, and a delicious honey mustard dressing
in the salad. I’m sure we had more, but I cannot remember. I will not forget the taste of those delicious mussels. They were amazing! I can tell you easily what we had for dessert:
Cherry pie
peach vanilla ice cream
We ate this delicious homemade dessert, while listening to the Fawn music Mama Kiva had brought over in her computer. I had a wonderful birthday. For my birthday Mama Loba gave me a beautiful map she had made. Of the canyon and my pretend world. She burnt the edges and cut them to give it a old fashioned look. She soaked the paper in water then rolled it up with blue (Blue is my favorite color) ribbon. Mama Kiva gave me two penny whistles and a flute. Which I love I play them every day. I’m still working on flute. It’s a Side blown flute, So it’s kind of hard to make a sound on it. But just yesterday evening I was able to make a sound on it!  I’m also practicing on the penny whistles and the flute a lot.  So many activities! Also after supper I got watch some DvD’s of music showing a band I think they were called the Fawn. There were lots of interesting instruments but I was most interested in watching the woman who was playing the bagpipes. I also got to hear one of my favorite songs called yano estacodo. One of the things Silver sent me was a piggy bank for my birthday.  I’m still gathering money for my house fund. Another thing Silver got me was a pretty pink shawl dress, it has no straps and I’ve been wanting one for a while I’m so glad to have it. She also gave a little necklace it does not have any beeds it’s just a plain piece of green fabric tied together to make a necklace but it has a shell at the end of it. I love it and I wear it every day. She also sent me a lovely card studded with beeds. She sewed the beeds on to the paper then glued some pretty lumps of glass on too! It was a very pretty birthday card. Then my dear friend Henry sent me some Mexican money. Angie sent me a beautiful birthday card, and Phil sent me a picture from a newspaper of a otter with a sweet card too!

Rain Ditches:

Here’s a picture of me keeping the ditches clear of mud so we don’t get water in the house when it storms!   It makes me strong and makes me feel like I’m doing a lot to help my special home!

Books:
I’m making a book called The History of Vilu Daskar the Great.  It’s going to be a novel. It may not be as long as most novels but I’m hoping it will be pretty long. My favorite books at the moment are:
The Treasury of Beatrix Potter
Wise Child
The Moor Child
his dark materiels
Redwall
Fire arrow
East
I’m sure there’s others but that’s all I can remember. When I’m done with the book of Vilu Daskar I think I’ll have to put it up there too. It’s going to be a very nice book. I’m excited to have it done, and I already have 18 pages. I try to work on it every day. Speaking of books our friend Silver has just got me a book on fairy’s. It’s about all of the different fairy’s in the world. It’s called The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Fairies. She got it for my birthday. It’s fascinating I even drew a picture from it!
Early Fall !:
I woke up one morning to find that it was quite cold, and windier then usual, like it was Fall.  Sadly, it cold mean that the monsoons are done. As much as we welcome early winds on a hot day, we also find much pleasure in getting  a nice shower. Not only does it cool you off, but it fills the barrels and sometimes brings a welcome rainbow. Wind can’t fill barrels! There’s still some hope, we’re hoping that we’ll get fall rains like last year. So far the clouds show no sign of letting go of whatever rain they had packed inside their misty bodies. Sometimes to our relief between 2:00 and 3:00 the clouds come in to shade us from the sun. Though the clouds have not rained so far, but I guess we should be grateful for the rain we did get a while ago and be still more grateful the clouds sometimes shade us.

There is so much to talk about. I hope you enjoy this blog post.
Rhiannon Cadhla Hardin!

Share This

Dear Friends,
Okay, after lots of prodding from you readers, here’s another taste from The Enchanted Pantry — the first recipe that appears in the  “Summertime in the Canyon” section of my long-time-upcoming cookbook!  Enjoy your tomatoes, and your what’s left of your yummy Summer!!! Love, Loba

The Tomatoes and Basil Meals

by Loba

www.animacenter.org

   This one’s not so much a recipe as a way of eating that to me is the very epitome of Summertime. It was after a huge monsoon flood that we landed the epic tomato bonanza that had us eating this way every night for weeks. Our friends up the river with the gigantic garden had let it be known that their tomatoes were out of hand. It had been raining and raining every day for over two months, what joy! The only problem was, how to get the tomatoes from the first river crossing to our homestead, just past the seventh river crossing– two miles down the river, with no chance of getting a truck through. Kiva and I had already hauled multiple seventy pound backpacks full of monster squashes and onions down the steep mountain trail, but we anticipated instant salsa should we attempt to haul in the tomatoes that way. Wolf had the brilliant idea to carefully pack them in boxes, and float them down the river in our inflatable kayak. Of course there would be no room for us in the boat, but that really wasn’t a problem. It was a blissfully sunny day, with enough clouds to make us want for more sun. Kiva and I swam alongside the boat, which was full of about 200 pounds of tomatoes and huge bunches of multicolored basil that dear Jane had thrown in for good measure. We each held one end of a rope, controlling the boat as it eased down the river, and miraculously, didn’t topple over! When we made it to the seventh crossing, we howled for Rhiannon and Wolf to come help us bring the bounty the last several hundred yards up the rocky hill, which seemed particularly vertical that day for sure! When we finally made it back up to the kitchen, we were so hungry we ate some version of this meal, mostly standing over the counter, ecstatically dripping tomato juice everywhere as we tore into the bag of basil, and ripped open a package of our best cheese. I remember us grinning at each other between slurpy bites and at some point one or both of us said, “you know, it just doesn’t get any better than this.…”

Essential Elements:

Garden fresh tomatoes
Some really good cheese, especially local goat cheese if possible
Fresh Basil or Rosemary
The freshest, stickiest garlic you can find, or some roasted garlic
A handful of fresh, peppery greens (like arugula and/or watercress)
Sourdough bread, preferably homemade & with unsalted butter and/OR some softly scrambled or boiled farm-fresh eggs
3 (or more) olives apiece, (preferably kalamata or oil cured black olives)
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Negotiable embellishments

A juicy garden bell pepper
A little mound of hummus and/or babaganoush
Some toasted pine nuts
A little mound of grilled or roasted meat
Extra virgin olive oil

To Assemble:
Cut the tomatoes into large wedges and put a huge pile of them in the center of each plate. Arrange the rest of the accompaniments around the tomatoes in any way that shows them all off, contrasts their colors, and makes you feel good just looking at it! Sprinkle with salt and grind a bunch of freshly ground pepper over everything, or let everyone do their own. Offer a cruet of your best olive oil as well.

To Enjoy:
First dig in to the tomatoes, and revel in their glory. Then try combining the tomatoes with the other treats, in every conceivable way, and enjoy little nibbles of things on their own. Smear the juice of a cut garlic clove on a tomato and top with a leaf of basil and a glob or sliver of cheese. Wrap an olive with some tomato flesh in a piece of arugula. The possibilities are endless, and I wouldn’t dare spoil all the potential surprises! This is truly my favorite way to eat on a warm night. It’s like getting to play with your food the whole meal through!

Share This

Nonsensical Economy & Champion Greenbacks

by Jesse Wolf Hardin

www.animacenter.org

I never gave much thought to money in my life, and usually vilified it in my mind when I did.  To this day, we live entirely on sporadic donations and a very few article sales, have no savings and prefer barter.  That said, money has never seemed plentiful enough to waste.  Yet looking at how our economy functions and what incentives our government offers, you’d think money was to burn.

Frankly, there’s something wrong with an economic system that depends on a constant increase in production, spending and debt just to avoid complete collapse.  Here’s how it works, just is case you didn’t fully understand: The economy suffers even if we spend and produce the same, exactly the same amount as the year before.  It requires not only that we buy ever more stuff, needed or not, but it also needs us to go into debt, the economy’s health depending increasingly on our purchasing things we cannot yet afford.  It’s sounds like something out of a bad science fiction movie, the ponderous creature that must constantly grow or die, needing to kill and eat ever more in order to remain on its feet.  All the frightened townsfolk need to do is figure out a way to slow it down and it will get sick and begin to die… but in the case of the ever expanding economy, if it sickens, we all suffer.  This is frankly nonsensical, and not a very promising model for doing business in a world that is of measurably limited size, created and then gifted to us with a finite amount of water for drinking, a specific number of acres suitable for farming, a still undetermined amount of minerals for industry, and at best only just so many salmon for sushi not matter how you shake your rod.

President George Bush said that spending was patriotic, and his mantra was to “buy, buy, buy.”  Current President Obama is mortgaging future generations by his monstrous swelling of the national debt, spending a mint in the emergency room trying to save the life a sick patient that had never done anything to contribute to its own long term health.  Such approaches stand in stark contrast to the sentiments and strategies of our national past, with frugality and savings being an aspect of the American spirit since the founding of the country and the sensible proclamations of cofounder Benjamin Franklin.  President Theodore Roosevelt came from a wealthy family and was militarily an unapologetic expansionist, but he was also a conservationist who wanted to see wildlife, coal and oil reserves conserved, and a conservative who believed in Americans saving their hard earned money so we would be well prepared in case of future hardships.  Even later President Franklin Roosevelt, who’s “New Deal” initiated the first Big-Brother management of social services in an attempt to crawl out of the economic depression of the 1930’s, still preached the importance of conserving and recycling precious materials like steel, and instead of being encouraged to dump their few dollars at the nearest strip mall, they were told that the most sensible and indeed American thing they could do was to grow a “Victory” garden and learn to generally make rich lives with less.

If there are any advantages to our system the way it works, it’s that it can fuel innovation and contribute to diversification.  And it’s great the way buying gives us a degree of individual and collective power.  We wouldn’t have to sign up for organized boycotts to start working in unison to influence the world we are in.  You don’t like a certain political leader?  Then refuse to give your business to any businesses associated with conglomerates that fund them.  Might take a little education on our parts, mercy sakes, but then we could start making every expenditure an informed decision.  Tired of work being contracted overseas?  Simple, pay a little more and buy American made.  Better yet, buy locally whenever possible, and be part of the solution for your own local economy.  If we want products that are made well and last long, instead of engineered to need regular replacement, then we need to research and buy the best made items we can afford.  Want to see less produced, then buy more used items, they’re often more cool anyway.  Can’t bear to see forests clearcut for pulp?  Pay for recycled or tree-free agri-waste paper instead.  We need to know what we truly need and most want, and then search out the best as well as the best priced, instead of going for the cheapest possible at WallyWorld, or making impulse purchases of crap that we’ll soon pitch in the closet or garage and never look at again.

I believe I’d really have enjoyed being alive at an earlier date when both words and money were spent carefully, when meaningful conversation was of more importance than accumulation, when free time for having fun was seen as more valuable than owning more toys, when a good friend was considered worth more than a thousand investors, love more precious than gold and one’s word more bankable than a lawyer-penned contract.  That said, if cash is to be “king” like the classified ads often claim, then we might ought to consider making every purchase a personal decree.

Whether we make conscious spending decisions or not, we verily decide the culture we are a part of, not only who will lead it but what it will look like.  We could be equipped by vehicles that run for years without repair, long lasting tools powered by wind generators or who knows what, stores stocked with hard goods from somewhere besides Chinese sweat shops, our homes furnished with real wood and lovely if sometimes pre-owned material, if we only we insisted upon it and spent our unreasonably powerful dollars accordingly.  The fact that our political leaders range from puppets to paternalists, that 2/3 of what’s on the variety store shelves could be considered disposable, that multinational corporations are expanding while small town businesses close, that new cars only last a few years and come with tacky plastic body parts, is all determined by the spending choices we together and separately make.

If I feel guilty and out of sorts going into that monolithic, many-tendriled discount store, saddened at the sight of the resigned blue-vested workers, shuddering under its flickering fluorescent lights and all-seeing cameras, it is not just because of the low wages paid its laborers, the jobs lost to the Orient when it orders its merchandise almost entirely from there, or the laid-off stateside workers now struggling to pay even the discount store prices for the food their family needs.  If I feel sickened, it is also because I know this particular monster – the same as our national economy – has to endlessly eat and expand its repulsive bulk if it is to survive… and I, in my haste to get a bargain on imported raspberries and an air cleaner for the Jeep, have helped to feed it.

As I learn more, I increasingly intend that my scarce but powerful dollars speak loudly in support of individual liberties and my own personal values, that they impact the world I am a part of, if not always to an evident degree.  I no longer see the few computer encoded greenbacks in my wallet in the same entirely unpleasant light I used to.  They are my weapons of justice, agents of love and good taste.  They are my champions, few but now purposeful, dedicated and directed for an intended good.

 (feel encouraged to forward and post this essay elsewhere)

Share This

Our book “I’m a Medicine Woman, Too!” has finally received its first Negative Review on Amazon.com.  Thank you to “H. Sanders” for the spirited rebuttal, we loved it.  I am not, however, as stung as I am dismayed.  After all, this was to the one book carrying forth with sweetness the most unequivocally positive earthen, progressive message.  As a result there was no text indicting our dominant culture for somehow communicating to 90 plus percent of children from every generation and social class that they are somehow inadequate, can’t trust their feelings, have to compromise in order to fit in and surrender their dreams just to get by.  Nor was there a paragraph – however helpful it might have been – with me explaining to Rhiannon the ways in which women and girls in particular have been and still are dismissed, held back or pigeon-holed into limiting roles.  There are, I should also point out, no illustrations showing Rhainnon’s terrible sadness over learning of the disappearing rainforests, children starving on the streets of Mexico City, or the shredding of individual liberties taking place in her time, no drawings of clearcut forests where few medicinal herbs can grow.  And none of the looks of anger that accompany her resolve to heal, better and beautify this world.  What, then?

Maybe there’s some indication of the buttons we managed to push, in the complaints of reviewer “UU Parent”:

“This book is a great concept, but the writing and illustrations never allow it to reach its full potential… writing which ranges from didactic to stilted.  The illustrations are disappointing and amateurish–hopefully a few will eventually be available for viewing before purchasing. All the women are portrayed as long-haired neo-hippies wearing flowing dresses (think Renaissance festival garb), with the exception of poor disheveled Annie Mae who is in denim overalls.  It’s a nice concept to marry an intro to botany with Girl Power, but somehow the attempt just falls flat and never reaches its full potential.”

I did not, as I have done in the past, set out to alienate or discomfort anyone.  That said, I worry about any artwork, writings or whatnot of mine that fail to stir strong feelings, raise hackles, mangle preconceptions, shred illusions, expose lies, prompt difficult changes, threaten established orders, or prompt unwanted attention from agencies of control.  While IMWT! may not be threatening enough to the dominant paradigm to deserve its its own dedicated governmental task force, it apparently isn’t without the power to offend.

-Wolf

(If you have ever bought anything on Amazon, you can leave your own review of IMWT! by Clicking Here)

Share This

Technology: 

Making Purposeful Choices

by Jesse Wolf Hardin

www.animacenter.org

Like it or not, we live in a largely technologically defined age, an era in which almost everything we do makes use of or is influenced by the wonders of industry and science.  Having no agenda of its own, this powerful force can be harnessed to create everything from valuable new diagnostic tools for doctors to less laudable modern weaponry and mind control, from the long lasting solar electric panels I power this laptop with to dreadful nuclear warheads whose blast seems to briefly outshine even the sun.  Brain implants can be put to use by doctors to help patients manage their seizures, or just as easily by an intrusive future government seeking to further increase its control over all aspects of our behavior.

Some people think acts is if technology as our earthly savior from discomfort and suffering and certain remedy for every problem our relentless tinkering might ever cause… while many of our friends consider it an evil genie unleashed from its bottle, from which no good is believed to come without unjustifiably harmful and dehumanizing results.  Indeed, it will never be a cure all, nor (believe it or not) would the world suddenly become a peaceful paradise if every high-tech creation were to disappear.  If we’re to serve as the conscious, deeply feeling and highly discerning co-creators of our world and reality we evolved to be, we need to be able to see technology for the hugely complex, dual-edged sword that it is, and then act accordingly  We need to define our relationship to inevitable innovation not in terms of acquiescence or adoration, cynicism or rejection, but rather, personal responsibility and astute, mindful selection.

To begin with, we must understand that technology is not now nor will it ever be solely benign.  Those solar panels I mentioned earlier make no noise, create no exhaust, and allow us to get by without buying electricity from conglomerates that dam nearly every flowing river or burn polluting coal.  On the other hand, their manufacture required a number of potentially harmful processes, beginning with mining of its basic and finite materials.  Worse yet perhaps, is that the same kinds of solar cells also power American surveillance satellites that are or have the potential to intrude upon the private lives its own citizens.  Genetically modified foods contribute to production but at great risk to ecological integrity and the continuance of evolution itself.  The petroleum based herbicides and pesticides that have helped farmers feed the growing population of the world, have also damaged human and wildlife health.  Life saving antibiotics have spurred new forms of viral disease, and those given to livestock have reduced the immune response of people eating them.

Other effects are not so easily discerned.  Case in point:  A person grows stronger by pulling a load, pushing hard against an obstacle, or rising to a mental challenge.  Thus to the degree it ensures ease and comfort, technology threatens to take away the very sources of our strength.  It promises the possibility of us living hundreds of years through the use of synthetic bionic parts, and yet it is our awareness of the finite nature of life – of how relatively short our life spans are – that we come to fully appreciate, value, and concentrate on each precious present moment.  It can accelerate our day to day activities and increase our production, but unless we take careful countermeasures we may find ourselves experiencing things on a more superficial level, having no time for the depth of relationship and understanding that lead to wisdom and enlightenment.  Because technology gives us the means to manipulate appearance, we find ourselves increasingly surrounded by the artificial, with a reduced capacity to know the difference.

It is our job, then, to carefully examine and bodily intuit both the many benefits and possible problems, with not only the things we buy and subject ourselves to but also their components and the processes by which they were produced… in order to ascertain their likely impact on us, on the human psyche itself, the precious diversity of culture, the well being of other species and our shared environment, and the needs and direction of the living planet.

The most appropriate and defensible technologies are those which deplete the fewest resources and do the least damage, while accomplishing the most good… not just for people but for the rest of the living world as well.  Appropriate means not “efficient” so much as beneficial and beautiful, leading us not away from self, earth and spirit, but ever deeper into those experiences and relationships we think of as “natural” or “spiritual.”  Likewise, the most “sustainable” technology is not which can be sustained the longest, but that which helps sustain the spirit and integrity of human life, of other life forms, besieged habitat and the planetary whole.

The Apple laptop I write this on was created out of plastics made from oil, which contributes to the pressure for more drilling in sensitive places like the pristine Arctic National Refuge.  There’s environmental damage and pollution associated with the production of its computer chips, and those hours spent on it writing about spirit and the natural world are hours that could have been lived outside, directly engaged in practical matters or a personal quest.  Does this mean that folks like ourselves, working to preserve nature and heal human kind, should reject the latest tools of technology?  Of course not, that would only be relegating such tools to people who may have more interest in managing or exploiting our world.  Nor should we ignore or downplay the personal, social and environmental cost of our using them.  Instead, we can contribute to the balance by making the most of such existing technologies, putting them to work for the best of reasons, on behalf of even the most non-technologically focused causes.

We are not served by “either or,” black and white thinking.  Life is too complex for that, and our potential choices and actions too important.  What we need instead is to see, distinguish, understand, appraise, and discern between between the ever larger field of options.  When we’re in touch with our aware, feeling selves – with spirit and the will of the land – we naturally know what technologies to diss’ or to use, well as when and how, how much or how little.  We are born to be response-able decision makers and not strictly antagonists or converts, empowered and informed by our connection to the rest of enchanted creation, impelled by a force deep inside ourselves, committed to sustenance and significance, healing and love.

(Please copy, post and share this piece)

Share This