The Free Radical

It was good to get back out there again… if only for a short cold excursion. The following photo however, is from a few weeks ago, from before the current blanket of snow “tucked” the Forest in, readying it for story time and then a winter nap.

In the late autumn, when the leaves have all fallen from the trees, hives and nests are revealed in the naked branches… and often their sudden exposure sends them tumbling to the Earth.

This shot is reminiscent of a paper mache brain with its tattered bottom… perhaps having been torn from its spinal brain stem. Throughout this season, wasps nests have come to represent the Old Authority of our world in Transition.

“Are you a series of digits in a computer database, a number in a government ledger, just another entry in a glut of meaningless statistics? Or do you sense that you may indeed be something more? What are you aligned with?

“You may think upon alignment as the choosing of friends… of allies. Would you choose to spend your time and energy in maintaining the bureaucracies of the hive mind, being sure to always fill out the correct paperwork? Or are your alignments more organic, unpredictable, or even dirty? Growth relies heavily upon dirt– another word for Earth.

“Are you conscious? How conscious are you? Dogmatic mainstream science denies the very significance of consciousness. The fact of your consciousness is a meaningless fluke, an inconsequential blip in evolutionary procedure. Consciousness has no bearing upon the world… or so your ‘experts’ would advise you.

“How did consciousness arise in the human being? A random mutation? If so, then according to Natural Selection, human consciousness must confer a survival advantage. Or in other words, human consciousness must have significance to the physical development of the world.

“Or is consciousness perhaps the inevitable result of complex systems self-organizing? If consciousness is an epiphenomenon arising from complexity, then how can the human being achieve the requisite complexity whilst the much more complex system of evolution which produced the human being in the first place is not conscious?

“Am I, Mother Earth, conscious? Of course I am– despite what your ‘experts’ say! I am the organization of all of the living systems you have ever known as an embodied human being. I am deeply conscious and exquisitely aware. I know you. I love you. All I ask in this tumultuous moment of Transition is that you do not forget me; connect with me.

“You would be hard pressed to find a more suitable ally than me.”

With temperatures still wallowing in the -20C to -30C range the Forest has remained rather inaccessible. Sitka and I have been holed-up indoors working on other projects instead. We hope to get back out there again in a few days, as the biting cold is beginning to abate.

This has been my work station the past several days… and great progress has been made! I’m steadily working now toward the final mixes of the twelve songs comprising Missing Peace’s second album. This particular collaboration has dragged on for many years already, but for the first time the end is actually in sight.

The message is: hang in their everybody! Whatever we choose to co-operate on that enriches or serves the Earth collective is fully supported by universal intent. Nothing is ever flawless, and plans never turn out as planned… but the results may just be spectacular anyway.

Today, I’m willing to share a rough mix of a song I wrote back in the nineties called Dexter’s Elixir part 2. Part 1 was released in ’96 on our debut album Tense Moments, and is currently available as a Free Download on my website (at the bottom of the page). There are currently six parts to the Dex series written, but only these first two parts have been recorded thus far.

If anyone can figure out what these lyrics are all about… please let me know!

No one ever said apocalypses were easy things!

And… didn’t we think that things would be a whole lot better by now?

Well, the thing is… it’s a solitary affair– with billions of variations! We each have to make (create) our own way through the veil. At some point, the Journey demands that we have to go it alone. And sometimes that feels a mite uncomfortable… loneliness creeps in.

Now add to that the shortness of the days (around here), and they’re still getting shorter… and we might be tempted to get downright depressed! Oh, and let’s sprinkle in the biting cold too!

Though I didn’t know it at the time, I underwent deep and thorough loneliness training a few years back in 2003, 2004. Above, you can see my cabin in the woods. This is well away from any bulwarks of civilization. I spent the months of November and December living alone in my little cabin in the woods.

It is a unique and challenging enterprise to remain sequestered from all human contact for long stretches of time. It really takes some getting used to! I fondly look upon that time back then as training for this time now.

As we move ahead now beyond the veils of familiar limitations, we are required to momentarily shed our physical support groups. We can only move through and beyond individually. At times the inexplicable loneliness can feel overwhelming. Rest assured that it is temporary.

We’re not allowed our usual baggage on this Journey… not even a piece of carry-on. It’s as though we go naked– despite the cold!

But warm reunions await us… in the New Interconnectivity! I’m a forerunner, so I foreshadow for the rest. When the loneliness creeps in, just allow it… and know that it is nothing more than the dropping of false comforts. Connections on the “other side” are far more real and transparently enduring.

Day-by-day we’re having to play it by ear. Plans make way for improvisations.

It’s not even officially winter yet and winter is settling right in regardless. Temperatures this week are predicted to hover around the -20C mark! As such it is difficult to coax Sitka into frequent walks… and even my own Canadian ass is a bit reluctant. Expect the Forest Reports to be a bit more sporadic throughout the coldest months. (You’ve probably noticed already.)

We’ll do our best under the circumstances!

The cold does however bring an overall positive message.

“In the deepest ‘freeze,’ inflexibility turns into rigidity and brittleness. That which is unworkable and uncompromising will simply shatter.

“When it’s cold outside, it is natural to draw oneself within… to the cozy confines of self-examination. You are able to see illusions for what they are: fantasies which have never served. Let them fall to pieces now, during the coldest time… so that you will not waste energy on that which is clearly unworkable. In the warming spring the broken shards will simply melt into the Earth for recycling without the need for any misplaced grief.

“People too who are ‘cold’ and ‘rigid’ may face the real prospect of shattering into a million pieces. Mind that you are not in harm’s way of icy shrapnel! Allow the false ice sculptures to fall. Edifice and artifice need to be removed– if not actively and consciously, then through the passing of the seasons of the soul.

“All of the energy bound up in rigidity will soon become available to more warmth-oriented intentions. Just allow the process… and watch for falling icicles!”

Winter sure is beautiful though!

“Keep silent, and go about your business.”

This is only the second time I’ve encountered owl. They are nocturnal creatures; I am generally not. We, myself and Sitka, were out for just a short walk. The puppy is still too young to sustain the physical exertion required to complete the full circuit.

We were trudging up the main hill at the beginning of the walk when a white and grey speckled bird arose from the forest floor on our right to perch momentarily in a tree. It then quickly swooped right in front of us to disappear over the little ridge on our left. It was large and utterly silent in flight– that’s how I knew it was an owl.

I must apologize that I have no picture to offer of this brief encounter because my main concern was for the safety of Sitka. She’s still small enough that a large owl could conceivably scoop her up and, well… So here’s another pic of the puppy instead.

I recently did one of those personality thingies I found on Facebook that promises to determine “what type of animal you are.” Not surprisingly, I was revealed to be an owl type. Despite our infrequent meetings in the physical realm, Owl and I have always had a good rapport.

“Magick abounds in the darkness. The aggregation of your senses coupled with intuition allows you to penetrate the maneuvers being made under the cover of night. Humanity is beginning to ‘see’ what is going on and has been going on unreported for a very long time. These times of chaos are forcing each of you to hone your skills… as hunters of Truth.

“You are not so easily deceived as you penetrate your own experience with the expertise of insight fuelled by your own inner light. The disembodied whispers of the night are losing their potency for instilling fear. You are finding more and more that your fear of the dark is baseless. It is where lies have been habitually placed to keep them hidden. But falsehoods can only harm you by the credence you yourself assign them.

“You are finding the true ground of your being– rooted in the Earth. This is the sure knowledge which allows you to take flight– to gain a greater overview. And then are you free to swoop upon new vistas and horizons– to move confidently into heretofore uncharted territory.

“I look forward to our sojourns together.”

Granted, it’s a big topic for such a small mushroom… but appearances can be deceiving.

To me it’s the picture of nurturance– a symbolic micro-reality. It had this to say:

“Tyranny has been institutionalized in systems outside of your human makeup.

“And freedom is first found in chaos.

“Oneness– or unity– is achieved through the dedication of individuals to their own inherent integrity.”

(It might be best to reread those statements a few times in order to let them truly sink in.)

“You are the creators of your own micro-realities. It is as though each of you lives within your own shimmering bubble, reflecting your unique colours. It has always been thus, but such has been obscured by your manipulated dedication to dead external systems. You have denied yourselves at a very fundamental level in order to assimilate into the institutions which drive the civilized world. Tyranny does not– cannot– recognize you. You must claim your own immaculate reality!

“Start small. Do not concern yourselves with forming intricate systems and networks; they will form in due time of their own accord once you have verified yourselves to yourselves.

“Through choice you define where you– the sovereign actor– ends and the theatre begins. The role you play from now on is solely one of your own making. It need not assimilate into decaying systems; indeed, it would be foolish to do so.

“Stand tall and fully enlivened in your chosen roles. Unity will be paradoxically achieved through maximum diversity; it is Nature’s way. If you find it uncomfortable to stand alone in your integrity… merge with Nature. Her systems are proven and ever viable. She will make room for your unique contribution, your quirks, your strange beauty.

“The New Earth is one of countless micro-realities choosing to co-operate. Get your own ‘house’ in order; that is all that is required of you. Together we are heading into uncharted territory– in a million directions at once… and you need not follow anything other than your own heart’s true desire.

“Do no harm… and your own highest good serves the highest good of all!”