I've always admired the spirituality of the american indian and their respect for the land.

Elder's Meditation of the Day -
"Believing people can soar beyond ordinary life."
--Fools Crow, LAKOTA

'We are created by God to be vision people. First we set the goal and then we see. If we create within ourselves a picture or vision and we hold that picture or vision in our mind, whatever we picture will show up in our reality. If we can see ourselves being educated, then schools and teachers will show up in our lives. If we picture in our mind a positive, spiritual person to be in our lives, we will attract this type of person in our relationships. How big can our dreams be?

Great Spirit, let my visions today be Your vision. Put within me a vision of the being you would have me be. Then help me to keep the vision in my mind.'

posted by bluematrix at 08/28/06 17:51 | link | comments (2)

on a recent trip to table rock lake in southern missouri i stopped for gas in a small station along the highway. i swiped my credit card and was pumping away and happened to look up at the sign displaying the gas prices. below the large plastic numbers were the current specials the owner hoped to entice you with to come inside and purchase. now the 'fireworks' was commonplace - it seemed like the farther out in the country you got, the more places you could buy small explosives.

but 'duckfarts'? i pondered this and the questions came fast and furious. what kind of duck? how did you get it to fart? how did you capture this fart? what is the container duck farts are collected in? does it come in different sizes? does it smell? what does one do with a duck fart - attract (or repel) other ducks? or is it a novelty item like the jackalope - the little stuffed bunny with small antlers glued on its head found at many of the same places fireworks are sold?

i debated whether to go in and inquire about this curious product and wondered what kind of person buys a duckfart? looking around, i tried to discern if any of the large hairy men near their pickup trucks buying gas at the other pumps looked like duck fart users. perhaps a certain gleam in their eye, or relevent t-shirt might give them away as a d.f. user. the person on the other side of the pump from me had a 'ducks unlimited' decal on the back window of his oversized Ford F-150, near the gunrack, but his disdainful look at my japanese-made vehicle made me decide not to ask him about local aquatic avian flatulence.

looking like very much a visitor to these parts, and discretion being the better part of valor, i quelled my curiosity and decided get back on the road towards more familiar parts.

posted by bluematrix at 08/21/06 13:00 | link | comments (2)

some interesting thoughts on the roots of western scientific and spiritual thought from the 'tao of physics'

The roots of physics, as of all Western science, are to be found in sixth century B.C. Greek philosophy, a culture where science, philosophy and reiigion were not separated. The sages of the Milesian school in Ionia were not concerned with such distinctions. Their aim was to discover the essential nature of things which they called 'physis'. The term 'physics' is derived from this Greek word and meant therefore, originally, the endeavour of seeing the essential nature of all things.

This, of course, is also the central aim of all mystics, and the philosophy of the Milesian school did indeed have a strong mystical flavour. The Milesians were called 'hylozoists', or 'those who think matter is alive', by the later Greeks, because they saw no distinction between animate and inanimate, spirit and matter. In fact, they did not even have a word for matter, since they saw all forms of existence as manifestations of the 'physis', endowed with life and spirituality. Thus Anaximander saw the universe as a kind of organism which was supported by 'pneuma', the cosmic breath, in the same way as the human body is supported by air.

The monistic and organic view of the Milesians was very close to that of ancient Indian and Chinese philosophy, and the parallels to Eastern thought are even stronger in the philosophy of Heraclitus of Ephesus. Heraclitus believed in a world of perpetual change, of eternal 'Becoming'. For him, all static Being was based on deception and his universal principle was fire, a symbol for the continuous flow and change of all things. Heraclitus taught that all changes in the world arise from the dynamic and cyclic interplay of opposites and he saw any pair of opposites as a unity.

The split of this unity began with the Eleatic school, which assumed a Divine Principle standing above all gods and men. This principle was first identified with the unity of the universe, but was later seen as an intelligent and personal God who stands above the world and directs it. Thus began a trend of thought which led, ultimately, to the separation of spirit and matter and to a dualism which became characteristic of Western philosophy.

posted by bluematrix at 08/14/06 09:45 | link | comments (1)

friday factoid day again boys and girls. this week its a plethora (always loved that word, especially the scene in the 3 amigos movie) of the subject everyone thinks about, everyone does, but no one likes to talk about...no not that, get your mind out of the gutter...mr. reaper himself... Death fun facts

- Hawaii has the highest percentage of cremations of all other U.S. states, with a 60.6 percent preference over burial.

- The Japanese cremate 93 percent of their dead, as compared to Great Britain at 67 percent and the United States at just over 12 percent.

- Undertakers report that human bodies do not deteriorate as quickly as they used to. The reason, they believe, is that the modern diet contains so many preservatives that these chemicals tend to prevent the body from decomposition too rapidly after death.

- According to suicide statistics, Monday is the favored day for self-destruction.

- In November 1999, two women were killed by a lightning bolt - the underwire located in their bras acted as a electrical conductors.

and lastly my favorite quote of all time from groucho marx on his deathbed 'either those curtains go, or I do.'

posted by bluematrix at 08/04/06 19:26 | link | comments (1)