Disqus - Latest Comments for Embarr

Re: Arresting Bloggers Who Speak Truth to Lies

Embarr — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 10:05:39 -0000

Dear Archangel, thank you for your continuous support of The Unknown Bloggers of the World. I, for one, deeply appreciate it, beyond words.

Re: Obama Gets “The” Endorsement: The Lousy Timing of Al Gore

Embarr — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 09:14:11 -0000

I would like to apologise to all participants of the TMV site, in advance, for the length of this post. I care about this issue deeply and it requires this amount of words to express my true meaning. I hope it is not offensive to anyone; it is just my honest and humble opinion. Last one of this length, I promise!

I view the timing of Al Gore’s endorsement as a symbolic act. It also may suggest to voters that he is not so much interested in the particular person of the candidate but rather the bigger picture of the party’s political message. He may have been trying to demonstrate his own acknowledged place within the party, as a party member, of ultimately lesser importance, within the contextual scheme of things, than the running leader. I think it is precisely because of his ‘weight’ that he decided to stay ‘out of the fight’ because it would perhaps become the focus of media attention which would just serve to ‘oust’ the real issues at hand and no longer allow the real leaders and the real issues that concern them to emerge in the run-ups. I think this was fair and considerate of him to be honest. To me, he respectfully allowed the ‘debate’ between Obama and Clinton to emerge along the lines of the ‘truth’ of the issues of the discussion.

I really respect Lieberman, truly, I admire him (as I do Obama, McCain, Clinton, Edwards….ad infinitum) but it should not be necessary to have to compare him to Gore, they are two different people, with two different ways of being, and with two different approaches to demonstrating their loyalty and/or courage. To speculate by comparison of their personal character is a loss of focus and direction within the dynamic of political debate. The point of debate should not be a continuous focus about the person’s character, but an exploration of the truth they speak in advocating their leadership quality, which is sometimes necessarily ‘inconvenient’.

Anything new worth learning is actually, from my perspective, always inconvenient because it requires a rearranging of the parameters of your knowledge-life-experience which constructs your reality. No one likes change because it requires much effort and is not exactly easy! I think Gore respects this; voters need time to digest the topics of the debate between Obama and Clinton, allow the story-line to play out (so to speak), consider them carefully, and then decide how to proceed for the sake of the ideals they hold dear to their particular reality.

It seems to me that Gore supports democracy as a living-breathing-concept. I think he respects the dynamic of the democratic process as a serious consideration of truth as opposed to a celebrity endorsement campaign: and he shows this by withdrawing from the limelight of the election debate so that it may indeed function on a basis of equality. I think he realises the importance of election debate. The issues brought to the foreground will ultimately change the lives of all members of the (world-wide) population. I add world-wide to this because it will greatly influence and affect foreign policy, and the US is a world-leader or player. This is not just important for Americans but also the rest of the world of ‘the global market economy’.

The general consensus among Europeans during the last eight years has been an experience of total devastation of having to go and follow (by the armed force of our families and friends and loved ones as well as being subjected to continuous coverage live from the battle scenes on television everyday in our homes) Bush and Blair in ‘their’ war, which we ardently opposed as a collective union of nations, forcefully, but to of no avail – this devastation has had long lasting after-effects on all aspects of our lives – economic, political, soulful.

To my eyes, Gore recognises this, nationally and globally as a sort of symbiotic ideological unity, and therefore his endorsement is not half-hearted at all but serious and meaningful, precisely because it is a serious decision that has to be made by each American individual voter, which as his timing demonstrates should not be ‘personal’, or a form of attack, but a considered responsible decision.

The media may speculate about the truth of the timing of Al Gore’s endorsement but it is important to remember that Al Gore is not actually running for presidency, so perhaps the real question is whether or not this speculation is actually valuable. Shaun Mullen poignantly (and I think respectfully) asks here at TMV on a previous article concerning the legacy of Tim Russert a question of a related nature, he asks is this really journalism? I don’t know, I am not a journalist, nor do I aspire to be one. But I can relate, as a human being, to the idea behind journalism, when I try to see the truth of every ‘story’ I encounter.

To me Gore’s endorsement of Obama is an act of ideological-friendship. I would read nothing more into it as far as his character and place in the democratic party is concerned, apart from further considering what Gore’s inconvenient truth actually means: to me, to my particular life, and to our future world. I choose also to see Obama’s candidacy in a new light with the addition of Gore to his campaign. As a European, I consider this to be a very worthy addition, which would seek to constructively repair – from an ideological root upward- the damage to our collective ‘sacred land’ and the damaged souls involved in war, both present and past, ideological and physically - by repairing disunity within world politics. The issues of environment, racial, social, and sexual equality, that this particular team advocate, are also ideas that Europeans value dearly and would welcome an engagement with, on this level. But in truth, most people I know support Obama as ‘an example of a good man’, or as Donald Winnicott, the British psychoanalyst and observer of human behaviour, would say about the turbulent task of mothering, he is ‘good enough’: and that is a complement because its inherent undertone is moderate, not extreme.

Re: Libertarian National Convention in Denver Today: Opening or Barring the Door?

Embarr — Sun, 25 May 2008 04:08:08 -0000

In defence of Bob Barr, I would just like to add that a change of mind or perspective does not always have to be regarded as a weak point for a potential leader. To my mind, it shows the human factor in a leader, in a good way. The image of a seemingly flawless candidate is much more dangerous to the subject of the ruling polity, despotic even, in my opinion. The subjects of a visibly human leader can stand to learn much more, about themselves, and the nature of human truth, inherent within the laws that they vote for, and the ideals they uphold, than they would from a leader with a public and perfect face of power: since it allows for the possibility of identification with the leader, and breaks down the power difference within the governing dynamic of the functional polity. This situation opens up the very real possibility for true and heartfelt change within the minds of all participants of the polity.

An error in judgement need not be regarded as a personal failure within one's record of leadership quality. A change of mind may also be regarded as a testimony to the person's genuine spirit of truth, and can be seen in a very good way, as a means for transformation, to which this person is 'humanly' dedicated to. That Bob Barr is still visibly uncomfortable with his change of mind is also very human, and therefore, also a very good quality, in my mind, for a leader to possess.

Re: The Fox: McCain’s Strategy

Embarr — Fri, 23 May 2008 04:54:22 -0000

Dear Ghostdreams, many thanks for your comments, and the very good, valid, questions and objections to my points that you have made. I really welcome and appreciate the chance to engage with fellow ‘speaking-Beings’ from the diverse, vastly rich, and varied cultural heritages, that the forums of the virtual world bring together, in an attempt to cross-pollinate the ideas inherent within the language of our collective history as simple human beings. I cherish this. I must apologise, I do not mean to dominate the conversation here, Casualobserver and DLS, also, with my theoretically-fuelled-filled responses, I just relish the opportunity to learn the nature of truth through honest discussion: that is, everyone, being themselves in their own unique way, even if my unique manner is rather more like ‘a bull in a china shop’ (that is a crockery shop)! I do not attempt to wear my responses as knowledge-power badges within this discussion, rather, I wish to speak through the wisdom of my heritage in order to engage, in a whole-hearted way, with the wisdom of other ancient cultures, so that we may all learn more about ourselves, from the seeds of awakening that we all leave behind within our writing (ie names like Plato, Lacan etc might invoke someone reading this to pick up one of these works and create something new from its knowledge for the greater Good of the Human Soul). We, here in Europe, long for (contrary to the institution of the European Union which seeks to erase, in an unspoken way, cultural heritage and identity from the collective European identity and reality) a truthful, creative, engagement, with all cultures, irrespective of origin, and yet fundamentally immersed within their ancient heritage. Believe me, wisdom has long left the university halls of the ancients on this continent, and its descendants are left bereft, forlorn, having to look in other places for such wisdom. That is why I would like to engage with you, here.

So, back to your points, Ghostdreams, I think it is precisely because of the reality of your first two points, namely: (1) There are not many languages that are based upon Graeco-Roman language being read, heard, and explored in modern society; (2) Platonic language of our modern discourse is TOTALLY Eurocentric, and blatantly omits a wider integration of other cultural truths within the language of the ever increasing Global-Capitalist-Westernised world; that (3) within the reality of this ever-present, overly standardised, and numbing sameness within language, that does not readily allow for difference, that we are in danger of losing - your third point- the feminine or creative principle of language: that is, we are in danger of losing our origin or orientation within language, ie our cultural identity stemmed from the language of the ancient civilizations that moulded our body-person into Being.

Most ancient cultures, world-wide, have revered Mother Nature as being a creative principle. ‘Our Sacred Land’ was first coined by the Native Americans, the Ancient Chinese, the Ancient Celts etc, to name a few. Your myth about the fox who brought carob, tastes like chocolate, cacao, ‘foods of the Gods’, is exactly what I mean. Raw (pure – unpolluted, without chemicals, preservatives etc) foods, like cacao ( carob, yacon root, goji berries, manna etc – Mother Natures’ ‘leaves’) not only heals diseases that are deemed ‘incurable’ by Western medicine, but also elevates the body to a whole new sense of consciousness, and bodily awakening, that are outside our conceptual understanding defined by Western standards of knowledge and truth. I said yesterday, perhaps, in a rather ‘new age’ fashion, that a return to this way of living, in tune with Our Sacred Land and understood through the guidance of The Mythological Voice, is something I whole heartedly and academically stand behind, because I have seen it cure the ‘un-curable’ that has defied my own ‘Graeco-Roman’ knowledge-accumulated reality.

Our world is becoming a Global World Economy, which will eventually permit, if we follow its thought to its logical conclusion, no allowance for sexual difference, within language, at the level of the soul, when it seeks to unify all cultures under the banner of a Capitalist ethos. In this sense, in terms of our mythological heritage, the memory of the feminine, within the language of historical time, is the creative aspect within all individual speaking-beings(who seek their own unique identity) that if not allowed to speak will become extinct. This is concurrent with the global threat to Nature, and the global warming crisis.

The language of westernised capitalism, is based upon the logic of, unfortunately, predominantly Western philosophy, that is, it was developed by Marx etc through an understanding of the principles of truth first developed by the ancient Greek and Romans, within recorded history.

I was trying to say in relation to this reality, that Nature cures All. By an ‘old-revolution’ of the Trees, I meant ‘revolution’ within the language of westernised capitalist philosophy. Revolution means a turning or rotational movement, that mimics, mythologically, within the ‘silent’ space of language, the cycles of the female body that creates new life.

I do not think there is only one kind of right time to speak about these issues, in a forceful way. It takes a very long time for residual pain to be usurped, and gently shown to the door, in a ‘feminine’ or creative way. The deepest scars cannot be over-thrown or even understood in one swift movement of speech within the short spaces and lines that the internet-forum demands of us. We must trust each other that there is no harm intended by our words. Sometimes they take the form of silence, Ghostdreams, and sometimes hurricanes, like the language of Mother Nature herself: which we cannot comprehend in its entire entirety.

Re: The Fox: McCain’s Strategy

Embarr — Thu, 22 May 2008 13:25:31 -0000

Dear DLS, thank you for your comment. To my way of thinking, feminine and masculine difference, do not just operate at the level OF the body. I would say, within the company of many other scholars on the subject, like Foucault, Lacan, Irrigaray, Ettinger etc, that sexual difference is a function of LANGUAGE, that is, it operates WITHIN the body: the individual or body-Person, is a ‘writing’ within the collective higher Ideals of language, that have been written into time, through politics, culture, and art etc. The body speaks (so to speak!) in relation to the language of the higher Ideas (Archetypes, Images), embedded within the Graeco-Roman knowledge foundations of our language, from which we unconsciously derive and develop our own unique and individual sense of sexual identity.

This kind of gender difference or these operations within language are not as obvious as the physiological difference that is immediately apparent to the image that feeds the eye. Other, deeper, images within language feed the soul. And these are what I am speaking about: the symbolic meaning of the imagery evoked by language throughout time, as a language built upon the words of history. The remnants of the “centuries of feminine repression due to an overly-patriarchal” society Formed (in the Platonic sense, as an archetype within the language, that structures, and therefore, lies dormant, or at least, unchallenged, at this level, behind the structural images of our cultural language) by the ancient Greeks ‘love of Sophia’, is what I am speaking about, in terms of an imbalance of power within language.

I was trying to voice a concern for, and recognition of, an acceptance of this kind of difference within language. In saying that, if according to these theorists the body carries the memory of time within its individual existence in language, then whilst it may be obvious in our seemingly liberated culture, to the eye of language, that we are gender liberated, it will take time, and much collective conscious awareness, to heal the centuries of grave gender imbalance at the level of the individual soul, which is immortal, (continually being born within language throughout the Ages) according to the Platonic language of our modern discourse, and also, the World-Soul that is inherent within Graeco-Roman language that lies beneath our visible reality: which is by ‘nature’ the creative principle of language, and therefore, fundamentally feminine in origin, but equally existent within all individuals, male and female, who are at root speaking-Beings.

Re: The Fox: McCain’s Strategy

Embarr — Thu, 22 May 2008 09:58:17 -0000

I would just like to respond, Casualobserver, that women are naturally 'touchy feely', it is the feminine way, that has been repressed for centuries through an overly-patriarchial society, notably founded by Plato (among others before him), and the institution of 'The Republic', that has laid the foundations for the very notion of modern goverment and modern (or as you say 'new age') civilization and culture that we find ourselves existing within today. The roots of modern politics are deeply embedded within the knowledge foundations of ancient civilization(s). If we are to find a 'balance of power', through the language of 'liberty and equality' for all citizens of this 'new' modern polity (i.e. being 'new' within the context of the history of civilization) then we must show a greater degree of tolerance for all forms of 'natural' expression within the language of politics, so that we may live up to the ideals of truth that our consitution holds to be the Law, within the fluctuating-with-time power dynamic of political discourse, and aright the wrongs that have been done to the citizens of the past, within the memory of time.

I would like to add that 'old school analytical wisdom' is in fact an idea that first came into being (into our language-awareness, that is, it was first written into the Laws of the (Western -Capitalist) constitution, through the ancient Greek (and Roman) discourse of 'Philosophia', which translates into english, as a love of wisdom, philo-sophia, a love of the ancient Greek Goddess of Wisdom, which for the Greeks was a Mythological-Religious-Feminine-Wisdom, that infused every aspect of that which they wrote: laying the foundations for our current constitution, that structures the governing laws of our reality and culture, that ranges from politics, to art, to religion: All aspects of our reality within language.

I do not think it is a form of 'blathering' to speak through an ancient wise and learned imagery when discussing the importance of politics today and what it is that all citizens equally need, at the level of the soul (which was the main preoccupation of the ancient philosophers and scribers of the polity) in order to be able to live a life of liberty, when deciding whom to vote for, and which ideas of truth deserve to be held in high esteem within the building and re-building, of ideals, within the modern polity that has been 'already built upon' an ancient foundation within language.

With all due repect to you, Casualobserver, perhaps you overlooked the simple 'new age' language 'that usually fills these pages' as being inherently feminine in origin, and therefore, wildly creative metaphors that act as building stones for a rejeuvenation of the higher ideals which the Graeco-Roman footprints of the ancients have left for us within language.

All contributions, and thoughts, of all people, are equally important, and we would be wise to remember, that we can learn from all people who have the courage to speak, truthfully, from their hearts.

Re: Senator Kennedy, and The Guardian Tree

Embarr — Thu, 22 May 2008 04:09:47 -0000

Hi, I would just like to add a kind of 'new knowledge' to this discussion that I believe to be an 'old-revolution' of the Trees , for our modern times! Gabriel Cousens research at the 'Tree of Life' (centre and ideology) holds (or keeps) the old healing and loving wisdom of Mother Nature, the Tree of Life, in a new way for modern times, that may, in time, cure ALL diseases by just simply returning to a 'pure' way of living and being, one that is in tune with Our Sacred Land.

I also think that it holds an even greater possibility for healing the deepest and darkest wounds known to man (both above ground and underground) when understood and experienced through the sound of the Mythological Voice, that this, and the other ancient stories posted on this site by the Archangel, Clarissa Pinkola Estes, bring into our collective consciousness.

Here is his site, if you would like to learn more: http://www.treeoflife.nu/

Re: Mother’s Day: A Lost Story

Embarr — Sun, 11 May 2008 05:28:41 -0000

Happy Mother's Day, dear Archangel, Lady of Light: dear Mother-Sister-Daughter, all at once and at the same time, eternally within the sacred heart of the Soul.

Thank you for your words so full of infinite love for all who touch the presence behind your words while reading them: that is, for All people who read them.

Re: And You Thought Sister Mary Ignatius Was Strict: Not Allowed to Vote In Indiana: The Nuns’ Story

Embarr — Fri, 09 May 2008 06:17:35 -0000

Dear Archangel,

Thank you for your reply, your insight, and your kind words, which I now see as a ‘supplement’ to my own writing. I did end my post rather negatively, which, considering I was actually critiquing the purely negative language of modern political speech and commentary, actually, in effect, as the negative of language, serves to contribute to the further reality of that situation.

I agree: the underlying issue of this story is that public discourse in general predominantly misses the actual underlying issue being discussed, precisely, because of a lack of a (public) respect for and integration of, the deeper religious Wisdom within, the nature of the Human Being its language aims at. It is simply not enough, or not Good enough, to openly and publicly critique and expose ‘the badness or cruelty of the world’ through reasoned objective language (even for the good of the subjective soul) within the medium of public dialogue and modern journalism, on forums like these, without the inclusion of the Idea of Good: without offering a remedy or a (simple, personal, individual) positive fragment of a solution to the awful situations continually and openly being discussed. Without a collective genuine engagement with, and a collective effort to find, a deeper Good embedded within the insights this new form of ‘Being- through-speaking’, which modern journalism facilitates, and reveals mostly in the negative, we are also in effect helping to create a situation within language, of bringing only the negative of existence into the light of consciousness. In doing this in the negative of language only, in such an aggressive, almost unsanctioned or unprotected or ‘unedited’ way, we are in effect collectively creating for readers, who will become unconscious writers through their own subsequent outward behaviour, through a kind of ‘reign of terror’, the Idea of Human-reality as being only an existential wound, and thereby frightening the very human spirit that we seek to protect through our very writing itself.

I misrepresented my Self, and the Idea of the human spirit which you graciously sought to catch from such a downfall with your words. I was trying to express, graphically, the effect the new universal language of images has on the human soul. You are right, and it is important to note and remember, that the human soul does not run away, ever. It cannot hide because it is what we are. It is the eternal support of the spirit of the human speaking-being within language, from the outside of language. But it can be hurt and weakened or degraded if the spirit, which it carries, is not allowed to be seen or heard within the words and images that make-up language. If we do not try to support it linguistically through our own individual speech on a collective basis, through clear penetrating insight, ‘right speech’ of one-Self and others, – no matter how horrifically others may present themselves to the world -, which remembers the Good within all human beings that make up the collective Idea of the human soul within language, then we are in danger of losing consciousness, as a people, of the sacred relationship between the spirit and the soul within the Idea of the Self that we are supposedly ‘fighting’ for with the weapons of political rhetoric. And like the symbolic disenfranchised nuns of Indiana, we loose (the strength/power behind) our human-soul- voice.

Iris Murdoch, as a voice for the Idea of the Good within Human-Being, has written, in a way, outside our time, since it was written in the past and she has since past away into the memory of time while only her writing remains, a very encouraging remedy for ‘the fatigue of the ages’ that this ‘political’ situation may cause to descend upon us. She writes, in ‘Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals’, when speaking of entering the dark void and apparent non-meaning of extreme suffering, as we do when turning on the news or entering the vortex of the informational-internet, of a recognition of our collective identity and of an allowance of ‘religious experience’ within, that permits, for a ‘moment’ in time, a kind of ‘creative despair’ from which a new Idea of the Self may be birthed: whereby the ‘dead’ void may come ‘alive’ again on the battlefronts of human suffering through a remembering (in the Platonic sense) of the sovereignty of the Idea of the Good within us all. If we meet a stranger on the road (that is, on our journey through the language-path of life), why may he/she not be ‘me’ in another form, not matter how ‘ugly’? And if we can learn to show a fierce and guiding love in relation to the Other person, as one would to oneself, then as Paul Valery says, ‘an insuperable difficulty becomes a sun’, within the language of consciousness, for One-Self and for All: in doing so, in facing the darkness of public discourse with the eternal light of the Idea of the Good we learn something precious and valuable about the deeper nature of the Self, as One and All at the same time.

For now, we can do this by learning 'to see behind the issues' that accost us in the media, bringing the symbolic meaning of its language to consciousness, and treating its horrific connotations with as much love as we can muster, as if it was a symbol of ourselves in another time, in another, different, body.

Re: And You Thought Sister Mary Ignatius Was Strict: Not Allowed to Vote In Indiana: The Nuns’ Story

Embarr — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:29:21 -0000

This is a very upsetting story because it represents, in an unspoken way, in the space in between the facts of the story, a soulful loss or tear in the fabric of the Idea of Human Being.

As an outsider, looking at the U.S. presidential election from across the Atlantic ocean on the fringes of Europe, it appears to me that the essence of this story is not just about the obvious repercussions of this factual situation on the human rights for all people equally, but rather it is about the symbolic value of the human identity that the elections are either trying to preserve and/or make better. It speaks volumes to the rest of the world watching from the outside about the nature of the American-Human values propagated by the delegates and the constitution they are promising to uphold.

The elderly nuns, as Runasim pointed out are not the ‘issue’ since all voters should be treated equally, however I think they are the issue behind the issue, or the symbolic truth behind the words, in a way, they act within the story as a representation of the human soul of the modern world and can therefore be seen as a symbol of modern identity which has been dealt a blow on a number of levels.

1. The nuns act as a symbol of the sanctity of human being or the purity of the sacred space of being that seems to have been forgotten in this campaign amid all the aggressive attacks by the candidates on each other. The very notion of a super-delegate seems to be diametrically opposed to a retaining of any sense of individual sanctity; a way of being that is fundamentally respectful of oneself and of others. There is a sad irony in this respect to the respectful nuns (collectively by virtue of the nature of their vocation) being turned away from the iron-like-curtain system of voting for the super-delegates.

2. The nuns act as a symbol of a ‘dying tradition’ left by the wayside within this election. Although I agree with the Archangel, that they were turned away properly so by their sister since she was just doing her job, this symbolic demonstration of a lack of respect for elderly sanctity, within the language of American politics, feeds the very core of the subjectivity of the American speaking-Being. That is, it sends a message symbolically, almost subliminally, within language to those who hear it on the news etc, that the elderly do not deserve an equal say with the younger and more technologically-knowing population. Basically, the message I received from this piece of news, while understanding the necessity for the photo ID card, was that ‘if you can’t keep up with the times you are no longer part of the times’. In a way if you can’t vote, you no longer ‘exist’ symbolically within the polity and that hurts very deeply, in an unspoken way (which is generally typical of the gentle manner of nuns). It hurts deeply when you work hard every day for the collective community of the human soul and you are then sent away like second-class citizens because of an age-related inability or permissible disinclination to keep up with the times! Why weren’t measures taken to ensure this new procedure would be implemented to the benefit of all citizens equally? Why are the more vulnerable in society no longer a priority of any kind in modern politic?

3. The nuns act as a symbol of the holy image behind the image. The prominence of
the image is another issue in the U.S. presidential campaign that is deeply lacerating at the level of the human soul. There seems to be more concern for creating a human representation of an Ideal, creating a ‘perfect face’ for all to see, and ‘substantiating’ it with lots of money and celebrity endorsements rather than a focusing on the substance of the issues of Human Being. There are many, many, examples, but in relation to the nuns, the situation between Obama and Rev. Wright comes to mind: the divine face of religion being torn and scrapped at, and dragged through the ‘dirty mud’ of ideological language for all to see, in this manner, really has nothing to do with the true essence of religion, while the elderly nuns, being representative literally within language as religious symbols of our divine face, are being turned away from the voting polls. It is not hard to see the correlation; there is a lack of religious values. The divine face of human being has been replaced with a face for the cameras or media, not just by the candidates but also by the voters; for example in the case of Rev. Wright’s slanderous attempt to ‘get some of the camera/air time’. In all this we see in the face of the supposed leaders of society – political or religious – candidates and voters alike - a loss of elderly, wise-knowing or religious Wisdom. The nuns being turned away in Indiana because they did not have a photo-id (or an ego-representation of themselves), in the language I speak is symbolically a very valuable thing and a very difficult thing for a human soul to attain, but within the politics of the American value system propagated during this election season, it represents something quite Other: it represents within the language of politics the erasure of the human soul from its agenda. I turn on the news everyday and I am bombarded with attacks from all sides, negative criticism, and empty speech-performance: every time I look at these images on the surface of my television screen and delve into this new universal language, the holy, old, soul within me runs away and hides.