2010.02.02 07:00 - hidden Shaman within

The Guardian for this meeting was Riddle Sideways. The comments are by Riddle Sideways.

Yakuzza Lethecus: hey riddle
Riddle Sideways: good morning, Yak
--BELL--
Yakuzza Lethecus: will you attend the san francisco retreat by the way ?
Riddle Sideways: am thinking about it very strongly
Riddle Sideways: need to check the dates and free up a couple things
Riddle Sideways: how about you?
Yakuzza Lethecus: no, i don´t plan to attend anything oversea :)
Yakuzza Lethecus: there will be another one in propalby stuttgard this year
Yakuzza Lethecus: stuttgart
Yakuzza Lethecus: i think malta and that is enough, even tho it would be interesting to see america
Riddle Sideways: ah, I know your point
Yakuzza Lethecus: but nova scotia is really only retreat
Yakuzza Lethecus: what are you interested in mostly at the moment by the way
Yakuzza Lethecus: in the context of contemplation
Yakuzza Lethecus: or which kind of buddist traditions are you following or if it´s a free approach
Riddle Sideways: very good and tough and multiheaded question...
Riddle Sideways: a. the little things. the one moment contemplations are most interesting to me
Yakuzza Lethecus: nods
Riddle Sideways: b. the contemplation during busy workday, during choas, thoughts from nowhere
Yakuzza Lethecus: for me it´s mostly mindfullness practice but still where to draw the line beween accepting and being in the future or the past
Riddle Sideways: c. unusual/unknown factoids (little bits of wisdom/knowledge/history) that fit into the puzzle of being
Riddle Sideways: d. taking all the world/globaliztion borderlessness into a Jewish lifestyle
Yakuzza Lethecus: ah, i didn´t know that you are jewish even when i knew that ur child was in israel
Riddle Sideways: currently wrestling with Shamanism in Jewish traditions
Riddle Sideways: many religions travel to Israel
Riddle Sideways: was sreading this morning about Spain in 10th thru 12th century
Riddle Sideways: It was a muslim state where judism flurished
Yakuzza Lethecus: yes, before the reconquista
Yakuzza Lethecus: when the islam was the only one keeping philosophy alive and we were still in our darkest ages
Riddle Sideways: [small but important point that on a spinning globe the sun shines somewhere while others are in darkness]
Riddle Sideways: a plot of land sits there, the trees grow, nations of peoples and governments and religions roll through
--BELL--
Riddle Sideways: might be interesting to be a rock and watch the play unfold and roll across my stage point of view.
Yakuzza Lethecus: talking about tree´s gowing there will be very old tree´s in nova scotia
Riddle Sideways: then again, it is interesting to be a bird and fly off to see the vast different stages doing the same ol things
Riddle Sideways: yes, old trees
Yakuzza Lethecus: they´ll propably seen the times before european´s conquered
Riddle Sideways: I live near many old trees (the Redwoods)
Yakuzza Lethecus: how old are the forests ?
Riddle Sideways: (can't remember) there are several trunk slabs that people like to put pins in to show 0 AD/BC/NE
Riddle Sideways: that are only a third of the way out
Riddle Sideways: (google helps answer) my Big Sur Redwoods are average about 2000 years
Yakuzza Lethecus: didn´t see the age of the tree´s when i found the redwood nationalpark before :)
Riddle Sideways: the coastal redwoods are a little younger then the mountain ones
Riddle Sideways: the ancient mother tree drops seeds straight down
Yakuzza Lethecus: jewish shamanism ?
Riddle Sideways: the young trees grow in a ring around it's base
Riddle Sideways: todays big trees are in a ring around the missing ancient
Riddle Sideways: Morning, Adams
Yakuzza Lethecus: hey adams
Riddle Sideways: yes, jewish shamanism
Adams Rubble: Hello Riddle and Yakuzza. A bit of an adventure getting here today
Yakuzza Lethecus: tell us more
Riddle Sideways: many times that happens, adams
Yakuzza Lethecus: what happened ?
Riddle Sideways: very few cultures today admit to shamanism.
Adams Rubble: I think my internet connection is a wobbly wheel today
Adams Rubble listens to Riddle
Riddle Sideways: but, if you look at the practices
Riddle Sideways: and ask "why do we do that..."
Riddle Sideways: "Tradition !!!"
Riddle Sideways: at some point in almost all practices (Judism included) there is a time you thank the 4-6 directions
Adams Rubble hums "Tradition"
Riddle Sideways: yes, love that tune
--BELL--
Adams Rubble: I agree with you Riddle
Riddle Sideways: I heard an amazing presentation/lecture/entertainment by a wife/husband (completely different complimentary) team on Jewish Shamanism
Riddle Sideways: she has written 3-4 books on it
Yakuzza Lethecus: you got names to google ?
Riddle Sideways: hmm, that would be a good factoid, but I do not have right now [note: to commentary]
Riddle Sideways: it is not just the moranos of Spain who light candles friday night (but do not know why they do it) before going to mass
Riddle Sideways: it is the deep rooted practices the place the earth in a religious practice
Riddle Sideways: a facing toward a holy direction
Riddle Sideways: a smelling of esensial odors
Riddle Sideways: and the modern practictioner is hard put to explain
Adams Rubble: Forgetting that every era was just a complex as our own
Riddle Sideways: yes
Adams Rubble: everything has been mixing together for eons
Riddle Sideways: and that the historys may get rewritten by the present gov/rel/etc
Riddle Sideways: but, the root still livies on
Adams Rubble: yes, as in Spain, not everything can be suppressed
Adams Rubble: Religions pick up things too
Riddle Sideways: as a child I had to memorize "In 1492 Columbus sailed the oceans blue"
Riddle Sideways: later, learned that 1492 was some important date that was not to be forgot
Adams Rubble: to vespucciland
Adams Rubble giggles
Adams Rubble: oh yes
Adams Rubble: sorry
Riddle Sideways: then learning that the jews were there under muslim protectorate
Adams Rubble: and had an amazing culture
Riddle Sideways: and those muslim were pushed out first
Adams Rubble: and the Spanish rulers wanted to be the number one Christians
Riddle Sideways: well, pushed is not the work for it
Riddle Sideways: and the Spanish rulers rewrote the histories (mostly)
Adams Rubble: I did not know about lighting candles on Friday night
Adams Rubble: it is sad they forgot why they were doing it
Riddle Sideways: and why they did it in secret
Adams Rubble nods
Riddle Sideways: tell your children to do this/that thing, but do not tell anybody else that we do
--BELL--
Adams Rubble: Is it still done as a secret practice?
Riddle Sideways: yes, many report that
Riddle Sideways: in conversations with almost anybody. Ask what practices did your grandparents do
Adams Rubble: I learned one fairly recently by accident
Adams Rubble: of my great grandparents from someone who was there
Adams Rubble: apparently there is a first night ritual in norhtrn England/Scotland
Adams Rubble: where everyone vacates the house and the youngest male enters first
Adams Rubble: my father was in the hospital
Adams Rubble: and visitied by an older man who visited the sick
Adams Rubble: and when he heard my father's last name
Adams Rubble: he asked him whether he was related to ---------
Adams Rubble: and my father said yes
Adams Rubble: it turned out that when this man was very young
Adams Rubble: my grandfather had enlisted him to enter his house first
Adams Rubble: because he did not have a son who was young enough
Adams Rubble: actually we learned this about 15 or 20 years ago (giggles)
Yakuzza Lethecus: :)
Adams Rubble: but it is neat we learned this little fact that we knew nothing about in such an accidental fashion
Riddle Sideways: see Yak, almost everybody will tell a touching story like that
Riddle Sideways: in an accidental conversation
Riddle Sideways: in a small moment
Yakuzza Lethecus: i like that
Adams Rubble notes that it was the great grandfather who enlisted the lad
Riddle Sideways: we hopefully we tell the story to our grandchildren
Adams Rubble: My great grandfather was in his 90s when I was born
Yakuzza Lethecus: but i got to leave for dinner now, i will elaborate a bit on shamanism since i don´t know the basic traditions, only fuzzy images of us american shaman´s, not the whole definition
Yakuzza Lethecus: thx fore sharering both of you
Adams Rubble: have a good dinner Yak :)
Riddle Sideways: bye Yak
Adams Rubble: Riddle, i came to thank you for helping me accept my present struggle :)
Riddle Sideways: no thanks neccessary
Adams Rubble: After our conversation, I felt a load lifted off my shoulders
Riddle Sideways: good
Riddle Sideways: it helped me too
Adams Rubble: I don;t understand that but I am glad :)
Riddle Sideways: just now, I did not mean to belittle in any way your story
Adams Rubble: I didn't think you did
Riddle Sideways: it was making a perfect point to something only I was seeing
Adams Rubble: we don't know what is in our past
Adams Rubble: it is good for us to know we are all connected
Riddle Sideways: ok, you do get it
Adams Rubble: yes, I can weep for the Jews of Spain who were slaugtered in the mid 14th century
Adams Rubble: for political reasons not religious ones
Adams Rubble: I can mourn the lost culture
Adams Rubble: and I probably have some Jewish ancestors too somewhere in centuries past
Riddle Sideways: I can mourn that it continues to happen
Adams Rubble: yes
Adams Rubble: and continued misunderstandings
Riddle Sideways: wonder if the Durfur-ian culture is gone and lost?
--BELL--
Adams Rubble: We could get ourselves really depressed this morning
Adams Rubble: Eachof us has a chance to work for more understanding though in our own small ways
Riddle Sideways: yes we could, but I need to go celebrate another work day
Adams Rubble: yes, it is enough to be alive
Adams Rubble: It was good seeing you this morning
Adams Rubble: have a good day :)
Riddle Sideways: yes, thank you