I have noticed in my life that all humans have a liking for some special animal, tree, plant, or spot of earth. If humans would pay more attention to these preferences and seek what is best to do in order to make themselves worthy of that toward which they are so attracted, they might have dreams which would purify their lives. Let Humans decide upon their favorite animal and make a study of it, learning its innocent ways. Let them learn to understand its sounds and motions. The animals want to communicate with humans, but Wakan Tanka does not intend they shall do so directly. Humans must be the greater part in securing an understanding. – Brave Buffalo (Teton Sioux Music 172)
Section 1: The Signs
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If we are going to accept our inclinations, we should be honest about both the potential and the foolishness of inclination. Therefore, this chapter will have some strange subjects.
In the Sky Atlas 2000.0, the galactic plane appears to cross the location of the Sun during the solstices. This coincidence caught my attention, so I began studying astrology. I found a bunch of nonsense and some interesting stories. Pretending our purpose is written in the stars can comfort someone when they want to believe that stable harmony controls the universe, and they want to feel like a part of the cosmic balance. Hence, people buy magazines to read the astrology section. Perhaps it is all just harmless fun.
The stars show us stability, as star patterns remain unchanged for hundreds of years. We live on a changing Earth, not in the sky; therefore, making up stories about stability above and equating these stories with our deepest motivations is either superstitious nonsense or profound thoughts. I’m not sure which, so let’s talk about Heaven, which is the second perspective.
The ancients created an image of a sphere of stars surrounding the Earth and gave names to the planets that appeared to move across this sphere. This astrological model shows up in ancient Greek books, such as “Tetrabiblos” by Ptolemy. This kind of astrology must have been widely known in antiquity, considering the planets and constellations in the Mesopotamian Mul.Apin tablets resemble those used by the Greeks.
The Earth’s orbit around the Sun creates the illusion that the Sun appears to move along a path known as the Zodiac. Though the Sky Atlas 2000.0 divides the constellations into different sizes, in our temple, each sign occupies 30 degrees on the Zodiac. We could have used the star Regulus as a benchmark when drawing the borders of the constellations. Instead, we will use the Milky Way for the benchmark. The Milky Way appears because of stars concentrated on the galactic plane, and the plane seems to cross the Zodiac at two points called requiems; one requiem divides Gemini from Taurus; the other divides Sagittarius from Scorpio.
An equinox happens when the Sun appears to cross the celestial equator, and since the Earth wobbles, the equinox enters a new constellation every 2148 years, give or take a few years. Knowledge of this change has led modern writers to invent the idea of the Astrological Ages. These ages appear to coincide with significant social and technological changes. Let us number each sign in the order the equinox would enter each house: Leo equals one and Lucifer; Cancer equals two and the Zodiac; Gemini equals three and Saturn; Taurus equals four and Jupiter; Aries equals five and Mars; Pisces equals six and the Sun; Aquarius equals seven and Venus; Capricorn equals eight and Mercury; Sagittarius equals nine and the Moon; Scorpio equals ten and the Earth; Libra equals eleven and Justice; The last and first sign, Virgo equals zero, twelve and Vesta.
The zero points of the cycle of ages would have happened in 10888 BC, which coincides with the beginning of a cold age called the Younger Dryas. After the Younger Dryas, our ancestors became the dominant form of life on Earth. The Age of Gemini was considered the Golden Age, ruled by the Titan Cronus, according to the Greek poet Hesiod.
“…the deathless gods who dwell on Olympus made a golden race of mortal men who lived in the time of Cronos when he was reigning in heaven. And they lived like gods…” (Works and Days 110)
Around 4444 BC, the Zodiac, the celestial equator, and the Milky Way all seemed to intersect in the same place; the spring equinox occurred on the requiem between Gemini and Taurus. The rise of civilization began during the Silver Taurean Age of Zeus, when our ancestors became corrupt as the Milky Way moved away from the equinox. The Bronze Age began around 2300 BC, when Central Asian culture spread across Europe and Asia, merging with earlier civilizations and laying the groundwork for the development of ancient classical civilizations. Portraits from ancient Rome, used in the Mithraic mysteries, showed Perseus killing the old Taurian (Ulansey, 1991). This image implies Mithra was the Savior during the Arien Age. Next, the Iron Age of Pisces began around 148 BC when Rome conquered Macedonia, and the equinox appeared far from the Milky Way. This Christian Age was the most corrupt of all. Fortunately, it ended when the equinox moved back towards the Milky Way, and the new Age of Aquarius began.
In the Sky Atlas 2000.0, Pisces appears too big; therefore, the equinox enters their version of Aquarius after the year 2500. In our scheme, the new Age of Aquarius began when the equinoxes were halfway between the two points where the Milky Way crosses the Zodiac. This climax happened in 1998 when the center of the winter solstice Sun appeared to cross an area near the galactic center, resembling a serpent’s mouth biting its tail. Of course, the solstice Sun never crossed the Milky Way in 1998; it appears to have done so because our perspective shifted while the Earth moved. Additionally, the climax did not bring about the end of the world. Hopefully, during the New Age, the world will get less corrupt, and we will return to a lifestyle more in harmony with the environment.
The mouth of the serpent may have been significant to the Mayans, whose calendar marked the end of a major cycle on December 21, 2012. Monument 6 from Tortuguero, Mexico, uses a long count calendar, which reaches a zero point on the winter solstice of 2012. I assume the Ancient Maya lacked the technology to pinpoint the exact year when the winter solstice would be over the requiem, although missing it by only 14 years is pretty good. Or perhaps they were accurate if they intended for the new Calendar to begin when the disk of the Sun finished crossing the requiem.
Section 2: The Animal
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A Renaissance man named Pico said that we could choose to be Angels or Animals, and then equated this choice with the dignity of being human (Pico, 1468). Pico wanted to freely think about different ideas and pretend to be a Greek philosopher. That way of life may have been enjoyable for Pico, although others might prefer something different. So, how do we make a choice, and are we free? I think something inside us pushes us to make choices, and that something is both our Animal and our Angel.
For centuries, scholars debated whether homo sapiens have instincts, and a wide variety of psychological literature discusses the meaning of the word instinct (Herrnstein, 1972). Most of us overlook this literature by using the word ‘instinct’ to refer to feelings, and the term gets misused when writers use it to describe any behavior, including learned behavior. The way people interact with the world may involve a wide variety of conflicting behaviors; however, for clarity’s sake, let us limit our use of the word ‘instinct’ to inherited feelings that guide the behaviors animals are born capable of performing, since I am trying to talk about our primal human behavior.
Emotions often serve a purpose in Hollywood movies, although the concept of individual destiny may be a figment of the imagination, created by cultures that encourage such foolishness. Watching too much TV makes us think emotions give us purpose. In real life, happiness seekers do not always become the happiest. A friend pointed out that when individuals fail to establish proper boundaries, they get used by others. The friend claims traditions give structure to our lives by setting limits. Such a person sees no reason for us to wander around searching when tradition has the answers. My friend lives within a cultural structure and will probably never need to look for any other purpose.
My friend might be satisfied with their life. Other people might feel the need for something else. The psychologist Abraham Maslow popularized the concept of individuals realizing their full potential.
“I should then say simply that a healthy man is primarily motivated by his needs to develop and actualize his fullest potentialities and capacities.” (Maslow, 1943)
The Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl, after being held in a Nazi concentration camp, wrote about how pursuing purpose motivates us, giving us psychological health, happiness, and meaning in difficult situations.
“What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for a worthwhile goal, a freely chosen task.” (Frankl, 2006 pt. 2)
People will try to explain why they live as they do, and this highly personal experience may sound silly to others. We all struggle to understand the motivations of people who take different paths. You do not need to understand them to accept them. Without recommending or condemning any way, we can say each of us should follow our private Animals in their own way.
Though each individual has the potential to find the right path, I am not saying that every daydream is worth following. I assume some people follow the wrong path before they find their true calling. In movies, people often become unhappy when they are in a role that is not right for them. They may have entered this position while trying to be something that makes someone else happy. Does each person have a place in this world? Where is the evidence? The right place might be where you never expected it. Sometimes, the happiest people have the worst jobs. Sometimes, people find happiness when they work hard and practice a skill. Mike Rowe did a series called “Dirty Jobs” and found people who were genuinely happy.
“Roadkill picker-uppers whistle while they work.” (Rowe, 2008)
Biology may play a role in the Animal a person becomes; however, the Animal is not purely genetic since identical twins can follow different paths. No one knows why people have different paths. The Animal influences your choices, though it is not something you choose. It is not a preference, though it can make your preferences. We are a social species, so don’t be surprised if you feel the need to find your place within a culture. People accomplish more when they work together. However, instead of a culture where everyone acts the same, individuals contribute to the tribe in their own way. A tribe may have different clubs, so if their purpose involves a craft, a person may choose to join a group that can help them cultivate their skills; people will learn more about their desires from others with similar interests.
I assume we should equate fun with happiness, and happiness arises from healthy social behavior. If the sense of destiny of individuals all interconnects, the best way to serve your own needs is when you serve other people’s needs. Emotions motivate us, the Animal guides us, and serving other people gives us purpose. Of course, a few people live in perpetual conflict with society. Maybe those people serve a purpose in unknown ways. Respect for people requires tolerance of other people’s flaws, and respect for people means allowing them to break the rules. Do not expect people to respect you if you do not respect them.
People can have difficulty if their bodies do not match what they need to become. This can include men who need to act in a feminine manner. Does changing a part of the physical body deny Nature? No, a person can change parts and still be faithful to the rest of their Nature. Our Nature comprises both the physical part and the software running in the body. It would be unnatural for a person to ignore their larger Nature. Therefore, people should live their larger Nature, even if it means changing their bodies. Though I assume only a few people would be incompatible with their bodies. I wish those people the best; however, the rest of this book is about embracing what our bodies allow us to do.
When I mention living according to your inclinations, I meet people who assume that I am talking about transsexuals. They then point out that a high percentage of transsexuals are depressed and lonely, and they claim this unhappiness as a good reason for not following their inclinations. First of all, I never equated the Animal with transsexuals. The Animal can also be involved in other activities. Also, not all transsexuals are miserable. I assume that some people become dissatisfied with life when they are not seeking the right place for themselves, though I’m not sure if that’s true for everyone. People can experience a wide range of personal conflicts that impact their lives. All of this confusion somehow might relate to the path you should take. If someone is unhappy with their choices, they may have issues that require professional help. However, experts can’t choose the path for you. Only you can know your Animal.
Someone who believes in psychotherapy might assume that what goes on inside your mind is related to childhood trauma. They might also think that a person can improve their life if they deal with trauma using methods developed by psychologists. A person who follows a religious tradition may equate their behavior with images in their mythology, and they may assume that the best life is lived in accordance with that tradition. Whether the psychologist or the religious person is doing something compatible with following the animal, I do not know. In some situations, the psychologist might be right if the person is mistaking an unnecessary survival mechanism for a necessary part of their selves. In other situations, the religious guy might be right if the person is following too many wrong feelings and needs more structure in their life. So, if there are feelings that lead us in the wrong direction, how do we know which feelings should be equated with the Animal? We don’t know. We don’t know if the Animal is made of feelings that only lead in the right direction. Usually, when someone tries to sell you something, they will claim that it will work. I do not claim the Animal is going to work for you. In today’s civilization, it probably won’t work.
The word “Zodiac” means a circle of animals. In our temple, we use these Animals as allegories for the paths in life. This Animal idea may seem open to interpretation; fortunately, the freedom of uncertainty helps us write our own story. All people have internal motivations that drive them to achieve something in life; these motivations are often tied to their potential, and a person will discover their purpose when they understand their Animal. An old person knew the Animal when young, yet ignored their desires, spending their life living another life. This person could have been what should have been but never was.
Section 3: Sex Objects
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“But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” (Matthew 5:28)
Christians promoted the idea that lust is a sin. Modern writers have put forward all kinds of psychological and sociological stories about lust causing problems for a person, and most books in the bookstore are about this subject. Feminists have taken this idea a few steps further; they think a man’s lust can cause problems for other people. Feminists sometimes use the word ‘objectification’ when they write about men who ignore the person inside a woman’s body when they try to use and possess a woman’s body (Nussbaum, 1995). I think objectification is the incorrect word in these situations, since the image the man wishes to own may not be identical to the physical woman. Sexual violence may be the result of someone trying to force a person to conform to an imaginary image. We should refer to such behavior as subjectification, or we could call it civilization. Using the word objectification when describing porn tends to lead to the idea that men are only focused on the physical body. That is only true in some situations. Men have other interests. For example, the most popular virtual Girls have outstanding personalities.
By not objectifying people and by being subjective, we risk ignoring reality. So much literature on human behavior consists of Freudian nonsense, fake science from Lacan, existentialist dead ends, and Marxist socialist conspiracies. None of this should be taken seriously by real scholars. Unfortunately, it is because most scholars are not studying humans. They are studying past commentary on humans. Philosophers have been arguing that we are not objects since ancient times, and the tradition continues. They are all wrong. Don’t see people as separate from their physical body; instead, we should appreciate the objects that people are.
Situations give objects value. For example, a person might not realize the value of a spare tire until they get a flat. Someone might think that objects are meant to be used, and this person might not like us referring to people as objects, as they assume that people should not be treated as objects. This person fails to realize that objects don’t exist solely for our use; they also exist for their own purposes. Things in nature can possess values that we are unaware of. A wise person would understand the potential for “the unknown value of objects.” Objects that might have unknown value include people.
A person’s Animal could be private or known to other people. It could be every day or at specific times. It could be connected to a sexual practice or not. Each person is different. Am I making this subject more complicated than it needs to be? We could associate sex with fun. We could even say that hidden sexual fetishes motivate all thoughts and activities. We could let the beast within have complete control. Unfortunately, I may be oversimplifying this subject.
Everyone has private sexual fantasies, which people either do not talk about or talk about too often. Some behaviors are acceptable in certain groups and unacceptable in others. You might think some norms are unnecessary; however, some behavior is wrong. Sometimes, people pursue fun in a way that makes other people unhappy. Obviously, not all forms of following inclination need to be followed.
All over the world, both adults and children are sold into prostitution. Getting used as a toy for pleasure can become a degrading act that devastates lives.
“By standing on the sidewalk, they are accessible to predators who seek to rob or attack them, as well as to voyeurs who shout insults and obscenities at them.” (Weitzer, 1986 ch. 1)
Children suffer psychological and physical harm if they have sex before being old enough to deal with the situation. A person below the age of consent is not committing prostitution; the person has been raped. These kids are in danger of growing up in a life where people continue to use them as sex objects, trapped in a life that society fails to value.
“Women involved in prostitution are a highly marginalized population, rarely recognized as individuals with life histories.” (Murphy, 2010)
A few anthropologists think a person can find pride in working as a prostitute.
“It is one of the only contexts in which they can experience themselves as tantalizing objects of desire and develop a sense of personal worth, self-confidence, and self-esteem.” (Kulick, 1998 p. 136)
Unfortunately, some authors promote misleading images about personal worth. In the book “Spirit and the Flesh,” Walter Williams connected the sense of self and religious outlook of men who had sex with men while acting feminine. Williams wants to believe that feminine men are on a divinely inspired mission to be sex toys. Perhaps Williams’ book portrays the author’s pornographic fantasies and does not accurately describe the needs of the targeted people. In that fantasy, people get abused and are called sacred.
Can a person choose to become a sex object, and is the act of prostitution ever sacred? The ancient Greek historian Herodotus briefly described the practice of temple prostitution in Babylon.
“It does not matter what sum the money is; the woman will never refuse, for that would be a sin, the money being by this act made sacred.” (Herodotus 1.199.4)
Herodotus probably exaggerated the description of this practice. Did sacred prostitutes minister pleasures of the flesh for religious reasons, or is the story of the Sacred Whore a joke? Perhaps prostitutes make their profession seem honorable by associating what they do with a religious institution. The Bible says that Asa, the king of Judah, expelled shrine prostitutes.
“And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.” 1 Kings 15:12
Newer versions of the bible change the word sodomite into a less offensive word. By changing the word, we lose some of what the original authors intended to say. The authors wanted the people to be offended. In ancient times, certain elaborately dressed persons would hang around temples. Drag queens have always had an exaggerated sense of self and, throughout history, have often referred to themselves as divine. The Hebrew word for holy (Qadhesh) resembles the Hebrew word Qadesh which has multiple meanings in a way similar to the modern English word bitch, which is used as either an insult or a compliment. Biblical writers condemn the practice of male temple Prostitutes.
“Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the Lord thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the Lord thy God.” (Deuteronomy 23:18)
Feminine impersonator priestesses of Ishtar appear in the ancient Poem of Erra and Ishum (tablet IV verse 56) (Foster, 1995). However, these priestesses recreate characters in Middle Eastern mythology. Associating them with temple prostitutes could be an incorrect interpretation. Perhaps the idea of a Sacred Whore is more myth than reality, similar to the fictional characters in pornography, where actors portray other people’s fantasies.
Though pornography is popular, society treats pornography like a forbidden art. So, in secret, people find comfort in picturing themselves playing a part in a pornographic fantasy world that most will never encounter in real life. The darker side of our desires is full of fantasies that can have horrible consequences on people’s lives. The feminist Andrea Dworkin writes about violent pornography encouraging abuse against women (Dworkin, 1981). Some states have laws that limit pornography. These laws sometimes dictate what society should do.
Instead of dictating what others should do, let’s strive to understand what people truly need. Men like to look at women. Is the male gaze something that should be ridiculed? Is it something that we can do? Or is it only wrong when certain people do it? Human interactions lack easy answers. We can say that an act becomes degrading when a person is forced into a role that is not their own. Sometimes, others try to impose an image on us, and sometimes people tell us we have the wrong image. Notably, feminine people get denounced for not looking like movie stars. Of course, no one has to fit any stereotype, although if you have the desire and ability to look like a movie star, I would say go for it. Only haters condemn people for looking too much like a movie star because haters want to restrict what each of us can do. In an ideal society, no one would become a sex object unless they felt a calling to be a biological toy for pleasure. Hopefully, their practice will have good consequences for those people.
Section 4: The Walk
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I’ve had people get angry at me for using the word ‘normal’ to describe behaviors that people typically exhibit. They say that there is no normal and that I am trying to impose my idea of normal on everyone else. I am not trying to tell anyone what normal should be. However, some people fit society’s standards better than others, and these standards that society sets exist whether we agree with them or not. They are not going to stop existing just because we pretend that there is no normal. Someone might assume that there is no universal norm because different societies have different standards. That is incorrect. Some societies are abnormal. So how do we know which societies are normal? I believe people have a natural ability to create healthy societies, and this ability is most effective in a healthy environment. A healthy environment, however, cannot exist unless people are in a place where their biology is free to make choices.
Is the Animal Genetic or cultural? When do we develop the Animal? I do not know. Some of our personalities may have developed in our mother’s womb before we were born; however, we might never be able to specify which part of the person is the Animal. Some of the Animals might be connected to tradition; however, we might never know which part of tradition. Some of you might say that the universe does not give people purpose. Some of you might think that we need to make our purpose. So do we find it or make it? That depends on the person and their location. Many people demand that others validate their identity. This identity might not be their Animal; it might be a bad habit.
So, how can we distinguish between a genuine calling and a bad habit? What if people have a natural ability to hear a call? What does this ability hear? I am not going to say, but it is something visionaries have been doing for thousands of years. Spending time alone had given me a chance to think, and most of the time I spend thinking about dumb things. It has also allowed me to develop my vision skills.
I went on a vision quest one night while walking down a beach in Florida. Trying to avoid ending up lost as the old person who never followed their inner desires, I went to find my Animal. On one side of the beach lay the saltwater ocean, which the Mesopotamians called Tiamat. On the other side lay a freshwater swamp. Southern Mesopotamia had a wetland called the Abzu (Al-Sheikhly, 2017), and Florida’s wetlands resemble the Sumerian Abzu. I imagined a temple rising out of the Abzu where celebrants perform all kinds of fornications, guided by the High Priestess of Ishtar, the Whore of Babylon. On this dark, moonless night, Scorpio hung in the sky up ahead while walking south toward the point of the Requiem.
Eventually, a road led into the Swamp, which seemed worth walking. The black road goes west through the Abyss, and the only sound is the singing of frogs. Such a place provides a chance to commune with the god of primordial darkness; out here, we see our ridiculousness. Should we accept it as a strength or tell the frogs to shut up? A building up ahead turned out to be a strip club, different from the temple of my imagination. But let’s go in any way. Several employees were offering sexual services for money. One lady said that I did not look like someone who came into places like this and offered service at a fairly reasonable price. I declined service, and the lady said, “You think I’m just some goddamn titty bar dancer. No one wants to work in this place. Fuck you.” Eventually, the person walked away.
These people want money. Some have kids to support, and some let boyfriends take the money. They are not that different from office or factory workers in any civilized society, where workers allow money to control their lives. Money often prompts people to act in ways they were never intended to act, causing us to overlook our internal motivations. Money has domesticated the beast, becoming our cage, and thanks to money, we will never know the freedom of our proper place in this world. The Animal must be free to be what it is, whereas money will make natural acts artificial. Even the beast becomes a perverted imitation of life. The customers have money to spend on artificial sex.
In our temple, people would do what their visions led them to do, getting back something greater than money. Long ago, there was a word to describe what people in the right kind of temple would feel. Unfortunately, such a word has long been forgotten.
After exiting the bar to continue walking down the road, an ugly transvestite began to follow me. This person wore a skimpy, dirty, faded yellow dress and was covered with numerous lacerations. Surely, this person has an interesting life and would be worth talking to. But I was preoccupied and said, “I am trying to think. You should go away.” The person continued to follow, continued to talk, and continued to ask for money. I was trying to explore the underworld as a Devil worshiper who wants to find a way to end civilization to start an orgy cult where everyone would be considered sacred. I never told anyone this before. The person asked why anyone would want to do that and then walked away, so I continued my walk.
Finally, it was quiet again, only the singing of frogs. Scorpio still hung in the southern sky, and now the road turned North. After walking for a long time, the lights of a city became visible up ahead. Civilization does not understand, but what do I now understand? The main avenue led back to the beach, where there was a place to sit and wait for the Sun. Do we want the grand vision only a few mystics ever see, or do we need more time to think? And then it happened. After years of synchronizing my outlook with the four directions and the stars in the sky, it all came into focus for a moment.
Mysticism is the art of treating religion like your own personal entertainment system, and I am the kind of guy who does such nonsense. According to New Age books, this is supposed to be some kind of glorious moment of pure eternal ecstasy. The people who write those books might be exaggerating a little. Perhaps those authors are looking for a way out of their lives. I want more of my life. So, exactly what is inside this vision? Is it just a blank, and are we supposed to fill in the details, or is there actually something bigger in the vision? And why does it feel like the bliss we are looking for? Did our expectations put that bliss there? Or was it there waiting for me to find it? I was a young mystic at that time and did not know how to answer these questions. The view is quite impressive. It looks like a big triangle.
Section 5: The Balance of Nature
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The environmentalist David Suzuki wrote a book called “The Sacred Balance: A Visual Celebration of Our Place in Nature.” The title sounds like a good book, but the idea of a balance of Nature could be wrong. The concept of a balance of Nature portrays more poetry than scientific fact. It means all environmental events exist in a harmonious circle of life. It also implies contradictory ideas about how strong it is. Either the balance can remain easily upset forever, or it can reset. In our culture, the concept of harmony in Nature is reinforced by the popular movies “Avatar” (2009) and “The Lion King” (1994). People want to believe these stories, which seem plausible. The balance of Nature denier John C. Kricher called the balance of Nature ecology’s enduring myth because ecological communities have so much flux and disturbance that life never settles into a balance.
Natural disturbance is now recognized by ecologists as the primary factor that maintains ecological communities in a nonequilibrium state. (Kricher, 2009 p. 91)
The population of predators and prey appears to have a balance, maintaining stable populations. However, other environmental factors also contribute to stability, and when these factors change, the populations of predators or prey change. After a change, the ecosystem may not be able to restore itself to its original state. Consider how the introduction of goats on an island leads to the extinction of plants and animals. However, the goats can’t eat every plant and continue breeding forever. On other islands, the goats cleared the land and starved themselves. On this island, plants capable of surviving goats have become more common. Those plants would grow so fast that they would crowd the island and die if the goat were not eating them. The goats have become contributors to a new stable ecosystem. This island is imaginary; in real life, ecological systems are not isolated. Communities overlap, changing each other as Nature constantly rewrites itself. However, some things have remained the same for millions of years. Trees from 100 million years ago look similar to trees now. Something like stability allowed the forest to stay similar for so long.
Not believing in the balance could prevent us from protecting Nature, especially when Industrial developers claim change is normal to justify more change. Denying the balance implies that Nature does not work independently and that people should manage the Earth. Unfortunately, stewards can make incorrect decisions and harm the ecosystem’s health.
Although change occurs, civilization has altered the Earth’s environment so significantly over the past 300 years that species have gone extinct at alarming rates. The idea of a balance of Nature implies there is a right way for Nature to be. Rachel Carson effectively used the concept of a balance of Nature in the book “Silent Spring,” which discussed the dangers of pesticides disturbing the balance. Carson did not claim the balance was unchanging.
“The balance of nature is not a status quo; it is fluid, ever shifting, in a constant state of adjustment.” (Silent Spring ch. 15)
Carson also knew that too much change can be detrimental. People understood Rachel Carson. John Muir praises the beauty of the balance of Nature (Muir, 1916). Muir thought the wilderness should grow on its own and supported the protection of vast areas of land in Yosemite, which would be ruined today if Muir failed to act. Muir’s belief led to good in that situation. Nonetheless, a false belief in a balance of Nature could prevent us from understanding ecological issues. People might assume the balance will fix anything dumped into the world instead of thinking about what will happen. The problem isn’t which words we use to describe Nature but rather the reliability of the information we use to understand ecology when we make environmental decisions. A better understanding requires us to examine details rather than make appealing answers.
Though words contain multiple meanings, and ordinary speech plays with word meanings, stories give words meaning that people understand. Stories about stability make us feel stable, and such myths will remain an essential part of our language. Without the myths, we would have nothing to say. Even the best scientists still use figurative words. Richard Dawkins wrote a book called “The Selfish Gene,” though genes never experience selfishness. Such fables lead to pseudoscientific confusion when people only read the title of a book before jumping to conclusions. Myths might work in casual conversation; however, avoid them if you want accuracy. Scientists should leave the myths to poets. However, replacing old allegories with obscure technical explanations can get annoying. Perhaps the best language would have a balance of allegory and accuracy.
We should question other myths about equilibrium. Consider the supply and demand in economics. Wall Street brokers perform a variation on the old supply and demand myth when they sell the act of buying. Someone put these cultists in charge of the money. In 2011, small groups occupied Wall Street to protest the undue influence of money changers over their lives. The protesters did not affect Wall Street. The myths used by stockbrokers were too influential to stop. What about the system of checks and balances in government? What about the balance of power in international peace? What if there are no checks and balances and no balance of power?
No one knows the right interpretation when dealing with a complicated, fluxing state of affairs. Chaotic patterns have strange attractors, and you will see harmony in a chaotic pattern if you only look at the attractor. Only looking at the chaos will prevent you from seeing harmony. Both points of view are partially correct and partially wrong. Sometimes, we believe our life has a purpose written in the stars, and we like to think events come together harmoniously.
We should value our place in this harmony, and we will need this value when technology one day allows our species to be replaced with new, improved products. Without value, people could be eliminated. Foolish or valid, the Animal personifies your part of the story called Nature. By building the temple, we can create a version of the Nature story where the value of being an earthling makes earthlings worth preserving.
The philosopher Zizek says ecology becomes the new opiate of the masses unless we embrace the artificial (Zizek, 2008). Zizek can recline in a junk pile and invent scatological jokes. We have better things to do. Nature haters want to silence talk about Nature. Don’t let these pretentious jerks silence you. Instead, say what the Animal wants to say. If you want to say Nature’s balance exists, then say it. If you don’t want to say it, then don’t say it. No group should impose its idea of Nature on everyone else. Nature has plenty of room for numerous definitions. Except for Zizek, we can leave that jerk out.
If roleplaying makes us lose the ability to distinguish fantasies from real life, what should people do? What if this is all just a fairy tale that gets followed when I am too dumb to know better? You may want a purpose, or you may already feel like you have one. Sometimes you might think the world was set up to give you this purpose, or you might think that the world is preventing you from getting what you want. These feelings are a normal part of life, but they don’t tell us what to do. So what do we do? Do we walk down a beach, inventing stories as we walk along? Do we go to a library to do research? Do we ask the guy who lives down the street? Walk with the Animal to find out where it takes you; only then will anyone know what works. People will rediscover an art that has been suppressed by civilization and long forgotten. While sitting on the beach, I looked out over the ocean and said, “Tiamat, teach me how to make the water of life.”
Section 6: Let Us Declare
6
I believe in one mystery: a star among other stars, who created the Heaven and the Earth; in life begotten of the material world, not separately made; in an Earth Mother, the completion of all forms, the life of all life, from where we were born, to where we will return; in a true path of giving or taking, according to our biological needs; in continuity with Nature, which has existed and will continue to exist after me; in a world full of change, set to experience a full life as part of Nature’s cycles; in happiness everlasting.
A person came down from Heaven to enjoy the pleasures of the flesh, becoming life for life, desire for desire, true life for true life, one in person with the environment. Let Earth conceive a child. Our truth and will shall be with the child who, in my name, will be exalted in life as we travel through the four seasons and five stages of life. Glory be to conception, growth, learning, maturity, and death.
Living upon the Earth, who has given our species a place to grow and enjoy the growth, let us celebrate the fullness thereof. It is truly good that we should at all times enjoy the Holy Mother, upon whom our lives grow. All needed gets provided in the world people naturally fit. For this is the ground our feet stand upon, the cup of our blood, the breath of our life, and the fire of our imagination. Blessed is the fruit of the soil. Life has given us the will of the hunter and the shape of the path. We live as the Earth, and together journey, now till the hour of our death.
What dies in Winter gets reborn in Spring. The son will become the father, the daughter will become the mother, and the created will become the creator. Its seed shall live upon the Earth. Thanks be to all that has existed; now the path has become complete. Where we were has become the complete picture of what we are.
Let us gather here to experience a ritual celebrating life. To feel the water of life flowing from the temple. It is good when living life touches another life. Each moment of touch exists eternally. Let us break bread in the temple of life. It is right to break bread in the temple of life. Witness the life and fortifying bread. Heaven and Earth are full of your glory. My flesh of our flesh. My blood of our blood. Hoc est corpus.
May the harmony of the wilderness be with you. May you choose the right path as you walk through life, with life, in life. The word has been made flesh. Arise and live as part of the biosphere’s balance. An inescapable fantasy of undeniable ecstasy. Roam the wood passionately with the Horned God. EUOI
Next Page Chapter 3
The Sacred names
Zero is Sala – who lives in Virgo as Vesta
One is Ain – who lives in Leo as Lucifer
Two is Anu – who lives in Cancer as Uranus
Three is Yeuo – who lives in Gemini as Saturn
Four is Jove – who lives in Taurus as Jupiter
Five is Yesuo – who lives in Aries as Mars
Six is Om – who lives in Pisces as Apollo
Seven is Maya – who lives in Aquarius as Venus
Eight is Eshu – who lives in Capricorn as Mercury
Nine is Nem – who lives in Sagittarius as Luna
Ten is Gaya – who lives in Scorpio as Terra
Eleven is Maat – who lives in Libra as Justitia
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