the root of the word “spirit” is breathing, of the wind
In this Year of the Rat – which according to Asian astrology-acupuncture corresponds to the lungs, forehead, brain, nasal passages, and personal space – most people are hanging out in their holes so as to avoid or heal from respiratory issues, fevers, and other symptoms.
(And this is not to allude that the coronavirus started in China because there are different theories about that, some saying, actually in the USA.)
Out and about, more people are bowing, head-nodding and hands-together-over-heart acknowledging each other from a respectable distance. Some are finding it surreal, some further tuning-in with Mother Earth and the natural world that continues feeding, nurturing and providing herbal and other medicines, allowing buds of plants to emerge from the soil, streaking the clearer skies with solar flames of orange and red.
A recent pre-global-virus news report stated that forests are absorbing less CO2. The Amazon Rainforest, referred to as the lungs of Mother Earth, has been under further attack since the election of Brazilian President Bolsanaro. Ben Norton's headline at The Gray Zone tells a different story: “Amid coronavirus pandemic, Bolsonaro's Brazil begs for Cuban doctors – after expelling them: government requested the return of thousands of Cuban doctors to help fight the coronavirus. Months ago, President Jair Bolsonaro smeared the doctors as “terrorists” and expelled them.” [1]
“Instant karma's gonna get you
Going to look you right in the face
You better get yourself together darlin'
Join the human race …
Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun”
~ John Lennon, from his song
“Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)”
The USEmpire, not yet following in Bols' begging footsteps, is still imposing sanctions that are adversely affecting medicinal supplies to Iran and Venezuela; when the going gets COVID-19 tough, the bastards get tougher. Otherwise, Cuba, Japan, China, and Australia appear to be at the forefront of coming up with vaccines/remedies, for example:
“Cuba's Interferon Alpha 2B, Successful in Treating COVID-19”[2]
"Venezuela Guarantees Medicines to Fight Coronavirus"[2]
Due to lack of travel and industrial whatever, air pollution has been clearing up. “Two months of pollution reduction 'likely has saved the lives of 4,000 kids under 5 and 73,000 adults over 70 in China,' he [Stanford University's Marhsall Burke] said.”[3] As a friend noted to me, “What's most remarkable about these figures is 3,226 Chinese citizens have passed away from the virus.”
the shortest distance between two people is now 6-feet
“From a distance you look like my friend,
even though we are at war.
From a distance I just cannot comprehend
what all this fighting is for.”
~ Julie Gold, from her song
“From a Distance”
Didn't the hand-held gadgets, years ago, create social distancing?
In an email from Sane Energy Project, the phrase “physical distancing for social solidarity.”
things/people to think of while in the Rat hole
Leonard Peltier unjustly imprisoned (confined) for about 44 years; he paints beautiful paintings. Mumia Abu-Jamal unjustly imprisoned (confined) for about 38 of years; he writes powerful books and does short radio/podcasts; Julian Assange had been confined in the Ecuadorian embassy in London and is currently unjustly imprisoned for a total of about 8 years; he continues to raise a fist in defiance of oppression and torture. Each of them has been denied or begrudgingly given proper health-care.
Native Peoples confined to reservations. Black People and other minorities confined to neighborhoods/ghettos resulting in little opportunity of finding a career or enjoyable way of life. These Peoples typically have a hard time finding fresh foods.
“The American Indigenous Reservation system started with the 'Royal Proclamation of 1763, where Great Britain set aside an enormous resource for Indians in the territory of the presently United States.'”[4]
Hitler, impressed by that System, used it as a model for the concentration camps.
The current “lockdowns” are in regard to behaviors within The System; one's consciousness need not be locked-down.
on the one hand these are challenging times, on the other it's the global shift many have wondered about
The Essenes, a mystical community of Qumran in the Dead Sea (from whence the Dead Sea Scrolls were “discovered in 1946/47 and in 1956 – from 11 caves”)[5], were major hand-washers and into purification bathing:
They “withdrew to the desert to lead a common like of work, prayer and study of the sacred law.” There were different groupings, one of which: “The monastic brotherhood was concerned primarily with holiness, piety and the contemplative life. There was no mention of the mundane cares and occupations, but the members must have worked, as farmers, potters and producers of manuscripts.”[6]
“The Essenes were obsessive about ritual purity and had elaborate cleansing and washing rituals if any of them was physically or ritually contaminated in various ways. Jesus, on the other hand, is depicted as being blithely uncaring about things that more severe Jewish sects of the time regarded as "unclean". He is depicted being near dead bodies, touching lepers and eating and drinking with prostitutes and tax collectors.”[7]
the big picture rears its ugly-beautiful head
“Even in these worrying and confusing times, there’s still some positive news to be found. Many wildlife lovers in Italy are reporting that animals have reclaimed their canals and coastlines in the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. … Venice’s world-famous canals, for example, have become clear enough to see marine life.”[8]
“Fish and Swans Return to Venice’s Canals as Italy’s Lockdown Leaves the Water Uncannily Pristine”[9]
“Italy Cagliari port dolphin comes out. Video shot today the guys of Luna Rossa. Ferries no longer”[10]
“We know the predator, we see them feed on us, we are aware to starve the beast is our destiny. At times they were kind, they were polite, but never honest.”
- John Trudell, from “Look At Us”
The System has been feeding off of minorities, the poor, even the so-called middle class with money to burn or consciousness to be shaped by the ideology of The System, a System which has been excessively draining the Earth's energies aka resources. The coronavirus has essentially shut down that System.
From the dictionary definition of a “virus”: “Able to multiply only within the living cells of a host; unable to replicate without a host cell.” & “By themselves, they can’t do anything. They need a host cell to replicate,” virologist Paulo Verardi told USA TODAY. Verardi works on vaccine development and is a University of Connecticut professor. He suggested thinking of them like a parasite: An organism that survives by harming another species.”
Those descriptions are akin to how The System works, according to the description of Michael Hudson’s recent book:
“Killing the Host: How Financial Parasites and Debt Destroy the Global Economy”--KILLING THE HOST exposes how finance, insurance, and real estate (the FIRE sector) have gained control of the global economy at the expense of industrial capitalism and governments. The FIRE sector is responsible for today’s economic polarization (the 1% vs. the 99%) via favored tax status that inflates real estate prices while deflating the “real” economy of labor and production. The Great 2008 Bailout saved the banks but not the economy, and plunged the U.S., Irish, Latvian and Greek economies into debt deflation and austerity. This book describes how the phenomenon of debt deflation imposes austerity on the U.S. and European economies, siphoning wealth and income upward to the financial sector while impoverishing the middle class.”[11]
All the shutdowns and closures reveal that the coronavirus is feeding off of The System that has been feeding off of others. Time-lapse instant karma?
tune-in, turn-on, don't drop out
My personal suggestions for dealing with the current situation: Tune-in to your life's purpose. Why are you here at this time and space? Each of us arrives here with a kind of mission or purpose which is beyond limitation to worldly situations, in other words, it applies no matter what the heck is going on. So by tuning-in to that kind of consciousness, one is less likely to feel lost and forlorn about some of the day-to-day challenges, which in some instances are grim.
And even if you don't know of a specific life-purpose, you can tune-in to some guiding light that allows you to care for yourself and others. I tip my hat to all the nurses and medical peoples, all the workers whether supermarkets, post offices, delivery, etc. who are out there on the new front lines.
anecdotes and random acts of friendliness
At a supermarket, while standing in an aisle, I overheard one man telling another (I'm paraphrasing), This is a time of global shift. Many have been asking for this in some form. Some are more ready to deal with it than others.
When out doing necessary errands, I notice more of a genuine concern for the well-being of others. Strangers and neighbors exchanging “Stay well!”s.
Curious how a virus, while troublesome or deadly to some, is also bringing about a shift of behaviors and consciousness.
NOTES:
[1] See here
[2] See here
[3] “Could the coronavirus actually be saving lives in some parts of the world because of reduced pollution?
[4] Indian Reservation
[5] Dead Sea Scrolls
[6] The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Very Short Introduction, Timothy H. Lim, Oxford University Press, 2005, pp. 84 and 86.
[7] “Was Jesus Christ an Essene?"
[8] “Something Extraordinary Is Happening In Italy After The COVID-19 Outbreak”
[9] See here
[10] See here
[11] See here
Mankh (Walter E. Harris III) is an essayist and resident poet at Axis of Logic. In addition to his work as a writer and small press publisher, he travels a holistic mystic pathway staying in touch with Turtle Island. See his new book of nonfiction with a poetic touch, “photo albums of the heart-mind”.
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