The Sacrifice of the Female Tree Huggers

 Very powerful, and very tragic. 

Female Indian tree huggers:

“Soil is ours. Water is ours. Ours are these forests. Our forefathers raised them. It’s we who must protect them.” A song from the Chipko Movement in India

The Chipko Movement is a great example of a Gandhian movement that was based on nonviolent principles of satyagraha. Chipko means to hug, and this movement is synonymous with the enduring images of rural women hugging their community trees to stop rampant deforestation.In the Garhwal Himalayan region of Uttarakhand in the 70s, there was rapid environmental degradation due to commercial logging. It became clear, especially to women, that logging was destroying their forests and threatening their access to key forest resources needed for their daily sustenance.

The article also relates the story of women who stood, defiant, and hugged the trees even as they were being slaughtered by the loggers.  

ESP is Real: Mitch Horowitz

 

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! 

And a reminder that I am pretty much blogging at WordPress now. You can read my recent posts at Orange Orb on WordPress.

Thank you!

How to Fight a Nazi

My time with the alt-right Nazis of the esoteric was a long time coming. I had been surrounded by people my whole life who identified as the left and quite frankly, I was pretty sheltered from a lot of things. Namely, the left's own inability to see how similar their neuroses and shortcomings were the SAME ONES that the alt-right's were. (I'm not talking about the actual political beliefs, I'm talking about the psychology and trauma responses to external stimuli/emotional states.)

This speech is something essential as it details one of the few amounts of research available on political ideologies and radicalization. I saw the same rigidity of thought on the far left (and academic left) as I saw with the alt-right: both sides were convinced of their "rightness". Both were incredibly insecure, both incredibly narcissistic and wounded and projecting a lot of their paranoid fantasies onto the world. Both included the other side as the "Great Demon" (of course the left doesn't believe in literal demons, but I digress), both demonstrated enormous amounts of immaturity and lack of personal responsibility for their words, thoughts, feelings and actions.

But both! Miraculously! Both sides were convinced they were "right" with their execution of ideas. This situation didn't happen overnight. Getting a Day-Glo colored president in the White (ahem) House didn't happen without some kind of systematic breakdown of empathy that has been fomenting in the American public for centuries and was encouraged even as we fought King George's armies.

The founding fathers were slave owners and YET were also brilliant orators, thinkers, desirous of what is, pardon the term, "right". But when they drafted the Constitution, "All Men Are Created Equal", it was only supposed to refer to white, straight male land owners. And people say we have cognitive dissonance.

Cognitive dissonance is part of our culture.  It was collectively created by both sides agreeing, whether implicitly or explicitly, that the system, for whatever its faults, was the one we all live in. I mean, some humans are considered less than (according to this idea that everyone lived under and some still do to this day) because of superficial things they have no control over, but regardless, this situation is what has caused systemic/endemic systems of thinking/being while it systematically causes societal breakdown.

But this video actually gave me hope. Because it shows that people aren't broken so much as they are a product of a system that tells them one thing and does another. It is only when dignity and self-determination is restored in a human being that they can call *themselves* human beings again.

And cults (I would consider the white power movement to be a form of a very insidious cult-like mindset if it is not flat-out one) very handily are laying in wait to catch your son or daughter if you haven't done a very good job of "handling" them in the first place, parents. They are laying in wait to inject a false identity, one that gives them purpose and meaning where you have failed in that regard. Long story short, if you have the audacity to have a kid, at least spend time with them and be honest as you can without being too graphic when they ask a question. Don't make asking questions verboten, and don't be an authoritarian dickhead who is absent or oscillates between negative attention and no attention at all.

This seems obvious to even the most stupid third grader, but apparently some people who choose to breed have not gotten the message yet that it's not enough to simply unload your DNA into a receptacle or receive said DNA and then walk away. That's not parenting. Neither is being in the room but constantly ignoring your child. That's not parenting either. But that IS the quickest way, compounded by years of that style of neglect, I mean "parenting", to make the kid try to find another family. One that tells them they are all they need. That's the quickest way to get your kid dead,  too, whether spiritually, emotionally or literally.

This video does a very good job of explaining the role of "substitute" families in these subcultures and how easy it is to help form ready-made identities pulled from very poisonous soil. 

I wish everyone wellness. Because what's the alternative? And if you are part of the cult of the alt-right and reading this (and I know a lot of you do), please consider writing to Mr. Picciolini for assistance.

He does a good job of listening and doesn't judge you for your experiences but also can help you find resources if you are going through a particular dark night of the soul. 

If you know in your heart of hearts that blaming an entire race or religion or ethnicity of people for all the world's problems is inherently bad, then consider the alt. The alt-alt of the situation is the alt that will save the alt.

Coming into ourselves, healing the rift of identity can be sorted. Can be fused. Can be healed.

Blessings. 

https://www.freeradicals.org/

Do Jellyfish Dream if They Sleep, And, Two Haiku

I am fascinated by jellyfish. And apparently they sleep. Does this mean they dream?

Deep sleep: Even jellyfish need their slumber: Cassiopea jellyfish live in clear, shallow, tropical waters of the Pacific and western Atlantic oceans, eating plankton. Measuring about 1-2 inches (2.5-5 cm) in diameter, they are dubbed the “upside-down jellyfish” because they lie on the seafloor inverted in the water with their tentacles upward.

Through lab experiments, the researchers determined Cassiopea met three important sleep criteria: periods of decreased activity known as behavioral quiescence; a decreased response to stimuli; and an increased sleep drive after being sleep deprived. (Reuters.com)

Two jellyfish haiku I wrote not long ago:

a jellyfish sky

clouds pinked by the setting sun

in electric blue

But, more to the point:

the jellyfish, soft

talking about consciousness

white-pink minds, floating 

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Contactees, Victims of MILABS? Mind Control?

Here's the call out: what do you think? Are some of the contactee and UFO, abduction encounters caused by us --  our own government?

I think so. It's no secret (now) that the U.S. government has covertly experimented on its own people. Drugs, mind control, staged scenarios and more -- all done in the name of, apparently, science. My opinion is that our government (and others) have been complicit in many a UFO and or abduction event. Whether or not in tandem with aliens, or, by themselves. Or, both. (I also think that our government has long been aware of other beings, not necessarily, always, ET, but other non-human entities and has manipulated these beings, and forces, for their own agendas.) None of this negates the concurrent existence of aliens, ETs, etc.

I'm interested in hearing what other Women of Esoterica think.

White Supremacists Part of Annual Oregon Fair

Every July, in Veneta, Oregon (stone's throw from my town of Eugene) the Oregon Country Fair (OFC) happens. Every time I go, I want to run away and join the rainbow circus. No, really, I do. The urge to just sell and donate the bulk of my possessions, and jumping in a camper to live off the grid, is a strong one. I haven't been to the OCF in years, for a variety of reasons, including the cost, but every July, I have a "I'm there in spirit" vibe within. Until I read this piece by Eugene Antifa, who brings our attention to the fact that the OFC welcomes white supremacists to the Fair:

Home: The Oregon Country Fair, held the second weekend of July every year in Veneta, Oregon, will once again be host to white supremacists Jenn and Aaron Laskey. The Laskeys will be receiving their weekend overnight passes through the Recycling Crew and will be camped in Miss Piggy's campground. It is ironic that a gathering known for its hippie-peace-and-love attitude would harbor Islamophobes, racists, and white supremacists. While the Oregon Country Fair describes itself as creating "events and experiences that nourish the spirit, explore living artfully and authentically on earth, and transform culture in magical, joyous and healthy ways," we contend that Jenn and Aaron's participation violates the OCF Code of Conduct and their toxic presence threatens the safety of other Fair goers. (Eugene Antifa)

Like all things, the acceptance of white supremacists into the Oregon Country Fair is a sign of appropriation by mainstream culture. There's the veneer of inversion, counter-culture, freedom, etc. but, the high cost of admission, combined with the allowing of white supremacists, gives a different message. A monkey wrench thrown into the counter culture ideal.

There's also this:

 Living in the Eugene-Springfield and Creswell area, the Laskey family continues to embed itself not only in the networking of neo-Nazi and white nationalist circles, but they also attempt to embed and infiltrate themselves in alternative community circles such as the pagan community,… (Eugene Antifa)

In my experience, I have found it disturbing, creepy and just plain weird that there is a distinct white supremacist element in some pagan groups.

Is UFOlogy Dead? : Do We Even Want To Ask?

Noticing a lot of UFO pundits posing the question: is ufology dead? Oy. Here we go again. This question gets asked every now and then. The question raises another question: Why does one believe UFOlogy is "dead" in the first place? A lack of, … what, that causes one to ask the question.

And maybe UFOlogy isn't "dead" so much as it is dormant. Like the Phoenix, it rises again, renewed.

Classic cases remain unsolved. The whole thing remains unsolved. As in, what are they, who are they, what do they want, how are we connected . . .

Because the questions are unanswered -- at least to a global community agreement -- some consider UFOlogy as "dead."

Things change, while remaining the same. True of all, certainly of the UFO realm. Maybe what's "dead" is us, not "it." We're not asking the right questions, we're still eating our own, and stubbornly clinging to assumptions. We're still drawing lines in the sand about what is all right to consider, and what is too far out, kooky, embarrassing.

The Return of WOE, and Throwing Down

We've been tired, distracted, dealing with mundane and practical facts of life, wandering, doing our own thing, etc. But now is the time to come back.
Read my new piece at Tim Binnall's BOA, (Throwing Down With Tina Sena) which has to do with Tina Sena's (a WOE contributor) recent comments about being female and the search for answers in UFO Land.

How Culture Views Psychics, Cultural Distortions of Psychics

Marie D. Jones: Take My Life, Please! (No, really…take it!): Out of Control!

Author Marie D. Jones (contributor to Tim Binnall's site, and more) has been blogging again. Take a look:

Take My Life, Please! (No, really…take it!): Out of Control!: Personal shifts happen all the time in life, especially to those who are open to growth and evolution. People who are not happy staying stuck in the same rut or shit pile. People who are ok going outside the comfort zone no matter how much it hurts, feels weird, disorients, frightens or confuses. (Marie D. Jones)

5 Secrets of Female Master Mystics and Magicians

Remedios Varo "Know Your Symbols"

5 Secrets of Female Master Mystics and Magicians: Five of history’s most amazing women were also interested in mysticism, magick, yoga, esoteric religion, meditation, art, surrealism and the occult. They truly blazed a trail where few were willing to go—here’s a few lessons we could learn from these magical mavericks. (Ultra Culture.org)

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Acclaimed Novelist Sells 30 Million Books, Is Remembered For Her Physical Appearance In Obituary | ThinkProgress

Woman who did things like, write several best selling novels, invent electrothermal hydrazine thrusters, and such. And when they passed this earthly realm, they were remembered for their looks and dutifulness. For example:

Acclaimed Novelist Sells 30 Million Books, Is Remembered For Her Physical Appearance In Obituary | ThinkProgress: The whole incident brings to mind the backlash to the New York Times obituary of Yvonne Brill, a rocket scientist who died in 2013. When she started out in the field in the 1940s, Brill was one of the only, if not the only, women working in rocket science, and she went on to invent the electrothermal hydrazine thruster, a rocket propoulsion system that keeps communication satellites from falling out of orbit. In 2011, she earned the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. And the lede of her Times obit read as follows:
She made a mean beef stroganoff, followed her husband from job to job and took eight years off from work to raise three children. “The world’s best mom,” her son Matthew said.

And so on. The latest being the passing of author Colleen McCullough, who was remembered for her looks:

Because the second sentence of that obit reads: “Plain of feature, and certainly overweight, she was, nevertheless a woman of wit and warmth.” 

 

Mary Beard; Academic, Author, Feminist: A Don’s Life

Mary Beard's blog: A Don’s Life. That's Professor Mary Beard, as in professor in classics at Cambridge. A very incredible woman indeed.

No Pardon - Young Woman To Serve 30 Years For Miscarriage

 Daily Kos; young El Salvador woman is serving 30 years for a miscarriage. Many other women are also serving time for miscarriages. And if you think it can't happen here, it does:

No Pardon - Young Woman To Serve 30 Years For Miscarriage: Currently, at least 38 states have fetal homicide laws. The states include: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin. At least 23 states have fetal homicide laws that apply to the earliest stages of pregnancy ("any state of gestation," "conception," "fertilization" or "post-fertilization"). Read more at NCSL.

The Orange Orb: Random Rants

My rant on UFO Land at The Orange Orb. For example:

The Orange Orb: Random Rants: Oh I have mocked the alien reptilian scenario, the hybrid baby scenario, and much more. On other hand, we all know the UFO realm is rife with these kinds of tales. Let's not get on our UFO Police high horses and dismiss such tales because they're "nutty." Okay, so some of them are nutty, but that doesn't do any of us any good if we just chuck them out the porthole. With all sincerity, the witness has these tales to tell. They believe they've experienced them. We have to listen! We have to respect. We have to -- hey, anyone here remember Jacque Vallee?

Orange Orb Tarot : Dog Visits Again

Medicine Cards oracle

Orange Orb Tarot : Dog Visits Again

Mothman and More

New posts at Mothman Flutterings,  Orange Orb Tarot, and the Orange Orb!

Speaking of Wicca/Witches and Definitions. . .

See link below to great article on wiccans, er, witches . . .

Which inspired me to note, that here at Women of Esoterica, where there are many women (we've  been dormant but that doesn't mean we're not here and won't awaken very shortly) who contribute to this blog, that is not to say we're all about wicca, wiccan, witchery, etc.

Some of us here. Some of us aren't.

I am. But that's me.

So this isn't a witchcraft blog, or magick blog, or pagan place or goddess moon dancing site. Some of us indulge in these things, and may post about them, but it is not our focus.

All Wiccans Are Witches. Period. | gardnerians

I do so love this. The entire article is funny, well written, and, in my opinion, right on:

All Wiccans Are Witches. Period. | gardnerians: very day online, people are being bombarded with misinformation. From the Westboro Baptist Church to Fox News to ex-gay reparative therapy success stories like Michelle Bachman’s husband, the world is full of people who will lie to you because they desperately want to believe in the bullshit they’re spouting. It’s just a part of human nature, and it’s something that we, as witches, need to remain aware of. Sometimes people say untrue things to your face, and don’t even know that they are lying

Professor Says Elf On The Shelf Is Preparing Your Child To Live In A Dystopian Police State

Professor Says Elf On The Shelf Is Preparing Your Child To Live In A Dystopian Police State: Philosopher and cultural theorist Michel Foucault warned of a future in which society is under constant surveillance. He used the "panopticon" -- a model prison watch system designed by 18th century political philosopher Jeremy Bentham -- as a symbol of modern societies that use surveillance as a form of disciplinary control.

That future may be here, in the form of a sprightly little elf telling children that they better not pout and they better not cry, because Santa is coming to town -- and his little helpers are always watching. (Huffington Post)

At first, this seems like overblown conspiracy stuff -- hysterical, silly even, and full of bah humbug anti-Christmas sentiment.



But look at the retro image of the little red elf. Very 1950s, 1960s. Pleasantville all around. Our little elf isn't helping Santa make toys; he's watching you. Me. Us. Always, watching. Not protecting -- watching.



Huffington Post has an article about the "Elf on a Shelf" who watches us all, especially children of course. Watching to report back on the naughty ones. Watching us whether we're good or bad, just always … watching.



Professor Laura Pinto thinks this is preparing children for the police state.

"When a family adopts the elf and gives him a name, the elf takes to his watchtower in various parts of the house and monitors the children's behavior. During the Christmas season, children are told that they must play by not only their parents' or teachers' rules, but also by the elf's rules.
In Bentham's panopticon, the inmates never knew exactly when the watchers were watching, so they were forced to behave at all times as if this were a possibility. " (Huffington Post)

And it gets down to this:

"If the children are the subjects, then Santa is Big Brother, and his elves are the Ministry of Truth. Pinto's concern with the Elf on the Shelf phenomenon is that the children see the surveillance not as play, but instead accept it as real." (Huffington Post, Pinto) 

On the surface, sure, this is fun and cute and no doubt on the conscious level sinister aspects never entered the minds of authors, parents and teachers. But swirling beneath the surface those sinister elements do the work in parallel eso metaphysical ways.

 

Orange Orb Tarot : 7 Steps to Developing Your Intuition With Tarot Meditation | Biddy Tarot Blog

Linked at my tarot blog Orange Orb Tarot, "7 Steps to Developing Your Inutition with Tarot Meditation" by Biddy at Biddy Tarot:

Orange Orb Tarot : 7 Steps to Developing Your Intuition With Tarot Meditation | Biddy Tarot Blog: From Biddy Tarot, one of my favorite tarot people on the web (Lisa Frideborg being another) on developing one's intuition using the tarot:

7 Steps to Developing Your Intuition With Tarot Meditation | Biddy Tarot Blog: A Tarot meditation typically begins with a general relaxation of the body and the mind, before going deeper into the image of the selected Tarot card and exploring the messages of the imagery.

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Speaking of Orange Orb Tarot, it's been revamped a little; clearer to follow, I think. Plus, reviews from satisfied clients!

Orange Orb Tarot : The UFO Tarot

Orange Orb Tarot : The UFO Tarot: The Magician: UFO Tarot

I haven’t seen this deck yet in person -- haven’t held it or worked with it -- and, while I am of course, all about UFOs, aliens/entities and all that goes with the phenomena, I’m not sure about using this deck. More specifically, I don’t know what I think about using this deck to directly address one’s UFO/entity/abduction/missing time experience. That might sound contradictory, I realize. But, I haven’t actually handled this deck -- it’s just the overall impression I have. It seems to me too trite and too easy. An interesting artistic deck, but to use in a serious way to get at these experiences? Not sure.

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Day Three: Tarot Essence Meditation

 On my blog Orange Orb Tarot:

Orange Orb Tarot : Day Three: Tarot Card Essence: Last night I decided to choose a glass to use just for this purpose. I got a pretty vintage cocktail glass that I had stored in my cupboard down from the top shelf, washed and cleansed it, and that is what I used last night. I also used the violet cloth I use for spreads with the Angel Tarot deck. I’ve been doing this little ritual close to bedtime, using filtered water and letting the glass sit for at least fifteen minutes -- last night it was about forty five minutes.

Orange Orb Tarot

New posts, including one about my days as a telephone psychic, on my blog Orange Orb Tarot.