L.U.E. - An Anarchaotistic View

Disclaimer: This article is not designed to trample on belief systems, but to provide an alternate opinion. I saw a solution to a problem, and had to comment on it. This is a work of emotion and feeling, not statistics and so-called facts.

Genesis in a Nutshell
Once, long ago, our ancestors were monkeys in the trees of Africa. We came down from the trees and lost our tails, and most of our fur. Then began the era of the ape. We ingested the new foods from the forested floor. One of the new foods, was a curious red food that grew at the ground of the trees, after the fall grace, after the decent from happier and more innocent times. It was a soft and spongy red substance, with white spots, and it gave those who ate it visions of a being that was higher and more advanced than ourselves. When they saw that the mushroom grew in the waste of certain cattle, they began a settled life, and began to domesticate this holy animal of the gods.

Tribe life continued on, over centuries. The men who ate the mushroom were given a higher visual accuracy, helping them on the hunt. The women, who were left behind to care for the children, used the powers of the mushroom to listen to the visions and create a language. A way of making sounds and giving association to them. It was then that the concept of a deity was born. A high and powerful being, or beings, that were teaching and informing us.

The elderly and less active would become the shamans and story tellers and bards, weaving tales that would captivate any audience. After all, these tales came from people who had experienced much of life, and of the divine. They were the elders, the experienced, and their words were wise.

The storytellers would gather the tribe around the fire late at night, and weave tales of great struggles and victories, deaths and sex, hate and love, fears and desires. The tribes people would laugh and shout, happy in the victories and openly weeping at the losses. They were a people unafraid to feel their emotions, and express them openly.

When they were joyous, they would laugh and frolic, with no need to worry of what others felt.
When they lost a loved one, they would mourn, loudly and with open emotion.
They felt everything around them, and loved the sensation of emotion.
Men were allowed to openly cry back then, and women were allowed to be filled with rage.
At the end of the day, they respected each other, and had empathy for each other.

But as there were many interpretations and perceptions of what the visions were, and after in-fighting among the ape population, factions and groups split off. They would associate only with those that followed the way of their alpha leader and interpreted the teaching of their gods. Whatever made sense to an individual decided their fate in these divisions. Each split caused a rift in their language, as anything that resembled what they once held dear for communication was now shunned. Each split carried with them the red and white mushroom as well as the domesticated cattle, as it was their holy sacrament, though the word and meaning had not been invented yet. Some splits resulted in battles, in which the losing side would lose their cattle, as well as contact with the divine. This was the greatest of losses to them. The winning side would have access to the divine knowledge, and it would empower them over those who did not. The ability to become drunk with power was invented, and it's progression through time became known as the dominator culture.

It was then that the first mushroom cults arose in Sumer and Mesopotamia. Its priests were a mixed bunch, some using the holy sacrament for further research and greater enlightenment. Some priests used it for dominion over the populace. Higher knowledge over others could be used to enlighten the masses, or to keep them dull and stupid. This was the birth of the Information War, the time when information held the power to elevate an intellect, or to hold dominion over other apes decendants. They were no longer a nomadic people, they were domesticated, locking themselves in walls and squares of stone against the outside world. Keeping their agriculture to themselves, inside the prisons they made for themselves.

Once, long ago, our ancestors were scattered tribes of humans across the landscape of our planet, all speaking different types of languages. This became known as the fall of the tower of Babel. As we fell from the tree tops, we fell from grace of movement through the branches, to take on a new form. Different peoples spoke different languages, and shared a splintered history. There were those who sought dominion over the natural world, so that it might give up its secrets to a select few priests of the mushroom cults, that they might hold dominion over others.

We emerged from the caves and makeshift dwellings. The nomadic tribes who held fast to our original beliefs since the days of coming down from the trees. Seeing others like us, come across the horizon, with various weapons. They had a similar form to us, and yet we did not recognize them. Their spirits were hard and dull, and they knew only following orders for their demi-gods, the mushroom cult leaders. The dominator culture envoys to the peaceful tribes.

We know what happened next, the dominator culture rose and fell, taking various forms. Using native beliefs against the natives, trying to collect them all under a Status Quo. This was much more easy that simple warfare. If you could trick a population into serving your god, or convince them that your god and their gods were the same thing, you had control over them. The Roman Empire, Emperor Constantine, Paganism into Catholicism. The mushroom cults evolved and kept their holy sacrament to themselves, foisting other sacrament substitutes on to the populace.

And so on, until now. We no longer believe our sacraments hold any power, and religion is a dying art of confusion and guilt. Yet we still hold to certain ideas of spirituality. These ideas sustain us for now, but we want more than just ideas and sustainability.

We want prosperity at the expense of no one.
At the expense of no people.
At the expense of no animals.
At the expense of no plants.
At the expense of nothing at all, prosperity now.



The Archaic Revival
A relatively famous ethnobotanist and South American shamanic authority named Terrence McKenna coined the term "Archaic Revival" to describe something that humanity is lacking, and may soon be recovering, if he was correct. It was his theory that the psychedelic mushroom had a very pivotal role in our development as a species, and through his scientific research, was able to prove the vast majority of it. Yet he gained no recognition from pop-culture and the scientific community. He broke a taboo.
The taboo inherent in our culture that psychedelic drugs hold little or no value to human kind, past, present, or future. I personally find it interesting that he and Timothy Leary enjoyed quite a great deal of popularity in North America and Europe, until the government of the United States declared a "War or Drugs" which criminalized and came down hard on all drug use, even the useful and medicinal ones. Any drug that was not authorized by pharmaceutical companies and the FDA, had no value to humans or was suddenly dangerous.
Quick question. How many people have died of psychedelics? No, not the guy who jumped off a building on acid. Frank Olson was actually a CIA clerk, when they were testing it in the 50's. And they didn't warn him before they did this experiment, so he thought he was losing his mind for no reason, which you never hear about in the urban legend. There is also evidence that says he was thrown from the window. Never mind the sidenote.
I'm talking about the natural psychedelics. The plant based hallucinogens that were used by indigenous tribes the world over for several thousand years until today. The ones with no recordable ill-effects. The ones that drop you off pretty much the way they found you, just with new ideas about life, the universe, and everything. There appears to be something in there.

There is a molecule in the human brain, excreted by the Pineal gland, that is speculated to be the cause of human imagination and dreams. It excreted only during three phases of a human beings life. When they are being born, when they are dreaming, and just before they die. The only points in human life where magic seems to occur naturally.
There is a 4th place where the molecule is excreted from the Pineal gland, and that is when the human being has ingested a hallucinogen. A molecule that has been extracted from plant matter by shamanic tribes for thousands of years. Without negative side-effects.
The molecule is called dimethyltryptamine, also known as DMT. It allowed Shamans and tribes to communicate with the Earth-mother and other other gods. They arrived at decisions and practices they came upon thanks to the visions.

Terrence McKenna often spoke of the best way to search for extraterrestrial life, which was to search for evidence of it here, on our home planet. Search for some form of life on this planet that was non-invasive and put it to the test. He believed that he found it, in psychedelic mushroom spores. They are one of the few naturally occurring biological entities on the planet that can survive in deep space conditions. They grow only upon matter that is already dead, or decaying, which allows it to non-invasively thrive in most ecosystems. Mushrooms and fungus growing around the Chernobyl nuclear disaster have been found to actually diffuse the radiation in the soil, only recently. And when ingested, not only provably improve the quality of your vision, but also provide visions of the universe and ideas bigger than yourself and your pre-conceived notions of supposed "reality".
He also mentioned of the irony of looking for radio signals from space using a giant radio collecter dish in South America, seeing as how they cleared the bottom of the crater's bowl out to make the dish, by letting white cows eat the grass. The same domesticated animals that allow the mushroom to exist. No wonder I think, like the dark comedian Bill Hicks, that fast food burgers are the Antichrist.
Fungus and mushrooms now sound like something a non-invasive alien intelligence would launch at starter planets, so that species might develop on their own, and evolve at their own pace and preference. After all, without a certain sense of free-will, we would resign to fate. A sort of Exo-Genesis or Panspermia is the idea of life on this planet originating elsewhere in the universe. A Bell non-locality theorem seems very likely, if the Exo-Genesis is to be taken seriously. After all, the information had to come from somewhere, didn't it? So why not this one? We suspend our disbelief in the movie theaters and every time we hear a story, and then we are inspired into certain actions and behaviors over time, even if we don't agree with what is presented we are still affected by it.

The idea of the Archaic Revival is one of the human collective unconscious retreating from the horrors of the world we currently live in, and reflecting on somewhat simpler times. Instead of a focus on taxes, wars that threaten to never end, and the powerfully corrupt banksters and corporations preying upon the weak of their own species, a redirecting of our spirit and will toward something more tranquil and beautiful. We have a wish to go back to Eden, whatever the details of that means to us on a personal level.
We see it everyday. The signifiers of someone rebelling against the status quo. Tattoo's and body piercing, willful body modification, movies of the little guy winning against the powerful status quo. Feathers in our hair and earrings, and a tribal beat to our popular musics. Stories of ancient peoples allowed to live their lives without intrusion upon the natural order of things. The meek inheriting the Earth. We all want it, the majority of us at least. A return to innocence and magic and wonder. Where we are all treated equal, in spite of how different we appear or act. Our differences celebrated, our quirks allowable and our opinions considered, rather than causes for in-fighting. Respect.
Sounds like a threat to a corporate profit margin to me. The same profits that sky-rocket when we all eat the same, and buy the same, and listen to advertisements designed exclusively to hook us based off our fears. If I have to buy something to be "cool", then I'll settle for being myself.
And slowly, we're all realizing that.



Avatar Depression Syndrome
Since the release of James Cameron's written and directed film "Avatar", there have been people experiencing what I would call "Avatar Depression Syndrome". That is to say, people who have watched the film "Avatar" and have become depressed that they can not live like the protagonist characters, the Na'vi. Some have even expressed thoughts of suicide.

It reminds me of a 60 Minutes article on people who become depressed after playing Everquest, the MMORPG that swept the video gaming nation a decade back. One person they examined actually killed himself because he was so distraught that his online life in the game was not "real" and he would never be so happy again in this world. I've heard similar stories about World of Warcraft, and Dark Ages of Camelot.

I'm rather sympathetic to this state, as I like a good deal of escapism from time to time, but am coming from a very unique perspective. The word "Avatar" is a very old reference to a Deity who takes human form. A God or Goddess takes human form to better understand the people around them.

Similar to how we don Avatars in video games. We control a character in a virtual universe that is similar, but not the same as our own. We are interacting with another universe, with a higher knowledge of what is going on in that game, or universe. Sometimes we can alter the appearance of our Avatar to better suit how we wish to interact with an alternate universe. But, ultimately, we have knowledge from outside the virtual space that gives us an advantage over the game characters.

Similar to how Jesus had a advantage over those he interacted with. Jesus was an Avatar. He was the representation of God in human form, to better interact with the average human. Like the "Sky-people" were just humans in Na'vi form, to interact and better understand them. When it comes down to terms and language, we can quickly see that we have a great deal more in common than we have to separate us. After all, "Avatar" is a Hindu reference, that on it's surface indicates a relationship between humans and a god or goddess.

In the story, the Na'vi are under siege by a human corporation looking to mine a rare mineral from under the native people's land and planet. The Na'vi have a very symbiotic relationship with their home, and interact with the other animals and plants with a very respectful and necessary way.

Military trained "guns for hire" are enlisted by the human corporation to make way for their mining operation, very similar to the Halliburton and XE (formerly Blackwater) forces that are currently ripping the native people of Iraq and Afghanistan and Iran and Pakistan out of their homes and slaughtering them. Either through economic sanctions or military brute force. Cowardly drone fighters are controlled remotely so the pilot will never risk their life while killing others. The same terms are used by the mercenaries in James Cameron's epic as they were in the continuing massacre in Iraq, "Fight Terror with Terror" as well as "Shock and Awe". Interestingly enough, the Na'vi fight back. And yet, we cower before an ever more powerful military force and corporations that control our very thoughts and inclinations.

There are two scenes in the movie Avatar where the military pilots are flying against the native Na'vi, while the General speaks of that nights dinner, and holds a coffee cup. This shows quite plainly the non-chalance in regard to intelligent life, and their paid job to kill it. "It?" I mean people. Their non-chalance in regard to killing other peoples who look different and worship different. The coffee cup represents their over-confidence and relaxed attitude in their ability to massacre an entire race of people for being "in the way". In the way of what? In the way of clear-cutting a forest to obtain a mineral deposit. The name of the resource doesn't matter, but the point is clear. This has been the short-sighted plan of human politics and corporations since the Industrial Revolution.

Do we feel a symbiosis with the Na'vi, or the corporate space marine mercenaries? The Na'vi worked out a symbiosis with the natural life around them, and a mutual respect on individual terms. The corporate space marine mercenaries were trained to destroy life and beauty for a profit.

Where do we each fall, individually, in this duality?

And we respond to these tales, told to us by modern day mass story tellers, and we know them to be real tales. Parables that explain right and wrong, and what to think about when we see similar situations in our day to day life. Our directors and writers of Hollywood, like it or not, represent a kind of Shamanic Bard. Telling us tales of how the world seems to be, and assuring us that all will be well in the end, as long as good people stand up for themselves. Taking us along on their vision of fantasy, that originated somewhere in their imagination, and has a certain basis in reality. And telling us that if we can dream it, we can live it someday.

In their, "Image-nation" of how we all dream things could be.
These things are to be celebrated, and aspired to, regardless of how depressing the current world is.
The world never changed for the better on the ideas of pessimism.
The world changes for the better on the ideals of optimism.

Not optimism for yourself, but for everyone you care about. This can include friends, family, coworkers who become friends, strangers on the street who become friends because you dared to speak up. It's a chance we take with every day we get out of bed.

Suicide is no option, or rather it is an option with a dead end. It will get you nowhere toward happiness in this world, even if you believe another world after life exists or not. There is no guarantee of a better world beyond this one. Heaven or hell, this world we have is what we make of it. I'll not pass judgement upon any who choose this path, but it is a choice of giving up on what you have now. Regardless of how much better you imagine other worlds to be, they are not what you live now.

You are here, now. Work on one project before committing to another one. Especially if that new project has no provable ends.

I wish so much for other realities it hurts me. I wanted to be Atrayu riding Falcor in the Never-ending Story. I wanted to be Wesley in The Princess Bride. Hell, I wanted to be Inigo in Princess Bride as well. I dream of being a satyr running through forests of peace and joy. I want to be things that do not exist on this planet. I want to be so many characters and aspects that dwell within myself, and yes, I am currently stuck being myself. No escapism there. So I may as well be the best version of myself that I can be. I will be the hero of my own story, and I will decide the rules that I live by. The heroes and characters we adore and love have to live in their worlds, dreaming of others, as we live in our world dreaming of others. Our imagination always offers more advantages than what is called "reality", and like Avatar, it usually has a better soundtrack.

If I get the chance to participate in a real avatar program such as the one in James Cameron's movie? You bet, I will try anything once, if I can come back. Maybe even twice if I like it, or did it wrong the first time.

The point is, we don't know for sure if we get another life after this one, so lets do the most that we can with what we got.

We have such a need for immediacy in North America. We want it all and we want it yesterday. No wonder we get so depressed, the world and the universe don't work that way yet.

If modern technology is any indicator, and we keep doing more and more with less and less, our dreams might come true. And relatively soon. I would imagine within my lifetime, and yours as well. And all those people who want to be Na'vi might be able to someday. And perhaps I too can vacation in the body of my choosing. Maybe it will be in a virtual environment, or a reality based one. Maybe I will upload myself to a Matrix of my choosing, or swap one shell for another. But I can't right now, so I'll be patient.

But I will always be myself. It's what I know how to do best. Even if I were to be in an avatar body of some type, I would still be myself.

We have the technology to fix this planet up, and live our dream lives, if we can simply wrestle control of it away from corporations who want only to make a buck off of our entertainment. You can design your future, and nobody else, unless you invite them to do so alongside you. To see your vision. And if you invite them, allow them to invite you into their vision as well.

If you do nothing, then you are inviting the dominator culture to decide your future for you. You are inviting the corporate space military mercenaries to decide your future for you.

Or in our current realities case, if we let the corporate entities and non-representing politicians lead us to disaster rather than our salvation. At our own hands, either way. It's our choice at this point. Accept irrational wars, or be consumed by them.

There is no single way to achieve what we want in life, but there are many. As many as there are opinions and perspectives in the world.

You can invite others to see you.
As you can see them.
As I see you.
As you see me.

Namaste.
( I see the Devine in you, as you see it in me.)