Illusion and Magic

"The magician seemed to promise that something torn to bits might be mended without a seam, that what had vanished might reappear, that a scattered handful of doves or dust might be reunited by a word, that a paper rose consumed by fire would be made to bloom from a pile of ash. But everyone knew that it was only an illusion. The true magic of this broken world lay in the ability of the things it contained to vanish, to become so thoroughly lost, that they might not have existed in the first place." Kavalier and Clay
Found this while reading Kiss on Wet Glass earlier - very cool.

A Sioux Story

The Creator gathered all of Creation and told them, "I want to hide something from the humans until they are ready for it. It is the realization that they create their own reality."

The eagle said, "Give it to me, I will take it to the moon."

The Creator said, "No. One day they will go there and find it."

The salmon said, "I will bury it on the bottom of the ocean."

"No. They will go there too."

The buffalo said, "I will bury it on the Great Plains."

The Creator said, "They will cut into the skin of the Earth and find it even there."

Grandmother Mole, who lives in the breast of Mother Earth, and who has no physical eyes but sees with spiritual eyes, said, "Put it inside of them."

And the Creator said, "It is done."

Philosophy

Philosophy can be loosely defined as a system of values by which one lives. In the dictionary this definition actually comes last in a list of other definitions, but it seems to be the one most people use when they say things like "My philosophy of life is..." or "The [insert religion here] philosophy is....".
The problem with this lies within the attitude of most that an entire "philosophy" must be accepted in whole, or not at all. For example to accept the philosophy of "Great Book X" means you must also accept something you may find disagreeable on page 359, in the 18th paragraph of the 16th chapter.
Personally, I find this to be nonsense. Never have I encountered a complete document espousing a potential philosophy that, in its whole, did not contain at least something I found disagreeable or simply useless, if not outright offensive. But, very rarely have I encountered a complete document espousing a potential philosophy from which I could not take things that strengthened me in some fashion.
As I get older this collection of “values”(although I find it is more than values alone) becomes my “philosophy”. It is the guidebook not only by which I live and act, but the guidebook by which I teach and learn, and the guidebook by which I believe in the things I believe in. Very often I find the same “values”, or a take on them with more depth and clarity, across multiple disciplines and philosophies.
Those who’ve read back in my blog a little will recall posts I have made quoting from a variety of philosophies, from Eastern to Western, Taoist to Christian. All of these parts are parcel to my belief, my way, my tao. I beg, borrow and steal from all sources to bring myself closer to the source – and I feel great strength for that. This accumulation of philosophy is without compromise – because there is no way to be true to a belief/philosophy/way if you have to compromise yourself to do it.
An old Native American story, from the Sioux I believe, tells that when the world was created, and the creator was seeking to hide complete knowledge from man, all the counsels of the creator, the other animals, offered suggestions such as the moon, or the ocean bottom, and all were met with the answer “No, for they will someday go there”. And so it was hidden within our hearts. This is the origin of our greatest journey, that within ourselves: where the truth of ourselves is the truth of the universe and the Creator. This is also why our heart is our compass. If we compromise to fit the ideals of a philosophy, if we bend that compass needle by force, we are compromising ourselves, and our truth. I know far too many people who do that. Far too many who claim a philosophy, a faith, a religion, but are not true to it or to themselves. I can honestly, and proudly, say I am not one of them. I am an amalgamation – the magnetism of my compass pointing to the purest steel – and I am true, and strong.

Full of Hope and Promise

Cool days, after the rain
When everything smells so clean and new
Full of hope and promise

It rained yesterday afternoon, and when I got home last night the air was cool and hung heavy with the smells of wet earth, plants and the crisp cool cleanness of it all.
Clouds sat low across the western horizon, like heavy lids pulled back on the clear starshot sky above. Lighting burst and shattered deep inside those dark lids, providing a backdrop for the stars above.
I sat outside for a good while, smoking my last cigar, and just enjoying the darkness and cool. It was nice.

"My indian name in nanatache, it means he who lost his American Express card and doesnt give a fuck..."

Okay, so the above quote I used is a line from the movie Down and Out in Beverly Hills, and is quite funny but I want to talk about something I find appalling, actually... that was just a better title, and still slightly in context, than my original one ("I am Choking Chicken, Hear me Roar" which is a product of my own diseased grey matter...)

There is a show on ABC right now called Brat Camp - its a reality show, following this group of problem kids while they go through this program thats sort of a cross between Scared Straight and a Tom Brown course (for those who dont know Tom Brown is a wilderness survival expert with some decidedly odd "native american"-esque stuff in his courses and beliefs).
They take these kids out and through a series of essentially trust and character building exercises built around a wilderness survival theme teach them to be better people.
Now, as that is said above I think its a great idea - very few things can bring people togather with their self better than A. being in the wilderness, and B. having to essentially fend for themselves in that wildnerness, and few things inspire confidence in one's self better than being able to take simple materials and build a fire in the rain.
But, the entire thing is tainted with this quasi-Native American theme crap like some bad vacation resort. The counselors all go by these names like "Strong Elk" or "Boulder", instead of their real names and the camp name is even something like Sage Burning or something. The kids go through these weirdo "ceremonies' where they do TV indian things, and earn names like "Timid Moose" or something.
Now I understand, to a degree, the point of things like this - but as someone who has seen it from the inside, and the outside, I think its bullshit.

First of all the names - If people need to find strength within themselves to become stronger, better people, then the idea that making them earn a new name like Bold Eagle will accomplish this is insane. People who have these kinds of problems continually, regularly, look outside themselves for strength from things that do not actually provide it, surrogates to support and carry them. A name, other than your own name, is nothing but that kind of surrogate. It creates just another kind of dependency for these kids, and helps nothing.
Six months after they leave the camp, unless they obsessively hang onto and use that name (which gets into other psychological problems suddenly exarcerbated by this crippling "naming"), the name will cease to have meaning for them and suddenly their strength will be gone, and they will turn back to Drugs, Lying, Stealing, Acting Out as sources for strength and support they cannot find internally.
This is not a solution. It is a travesty. It is crippling. I know, I've been there. And it is a mistake to use this as a therapy method, absolutely.
I'd love to see a wilderness survival themed school/camp for kids with these problems that taught them that *insert their name here* was strong, and capable and better, etc. while providing them with outlets for emotion, and some truly valuable knowledge not just of wildnerness survival but of other things - without this crippling, bullshit, quasi-native american new-agey sounding faux naming, ritual, crap that is nothing, nothing, but another way of creating dependency on outside forces.