We’re all here because we’re not all there….

Joko Homo

They tell us that
We lost our tails
Evolving up
From little snails
I say it’s all
Just wind in sails
Are we not men?
We are devo!

We’re pinheads now
We are not whole
We’re pinheads all
Jocko homo
Are we not men?
D-e-v-o

Monkey men all
In business suit
Teachers and critics
All dance the poot
Are we not men?
We are devo!
Are we not men?
D-e-v-o

God made man
But he used the monkey to do it
Apes in the plan
We’re all here to prove it
I can walk like an ape
Talk like an ape
I can do what a monkey can do
God made man
But a monkey supplied the glue
We must repeat
O.k. let’s go!

DEVO (De EVolution Of mankind)

In nature, there is a term, neoteny, which refers to immature characteristics in adult animals. The most famous species with neotenic tendencies is the Axolotl (soooooo cute!), though there are many species, man included, which seem to have neotenic tendencies. The Axolotl is not only the most extreme example of neoteny, it also holds the honor of being the first species to be identified with this tendency.  

The Axolotl  (Ambystoma mexicanum) are a species of salamander which retain nearly all the characteristics of their immature newt form, including gills. Essentially they become sexually mature “adults” while still physically juveniles and never reach a true adult state unless certain environmental conditions are met. They are used extensively in scientific research due to their ability to regenerate, their ease of breeding, and their large embryos, and they are commonly kept as pets throughout the world. The species was originally discovered in the lake underlying Mexico city in the late nineteenth century. Six Axolotl were shipped from Mexico City to Paris in 1863, but during their transport, they metamorphosed into their adult form. This discovery was the starting point of scientific research into the phenomena of neoteny in evolution.

What I propose is that the human form is a neotenic version of our true form. I am not the only one who has proposed that humans have neotenic tendencies. It has been argued that humans are a neotenous species of chimpanzee, the argument being that juvenile chimpanzees have almost-identical bone structure to humans, and that a chimpanzee’s ability to learn seems to be cut off upon reaching maturity. It has also been argued that women have several neotenic characteristics when compared to men. These tendencies also vary from individual to individual, and between ethnic groups. But simply googling neoteny in humans will bring up a host of sites on the subject. There have also been many books written on the subject. Nothing that I have found so far has touched upon the spiritual aspects of neoteny however (if such a thing truly exists; these are my theories below).

I have always theorized that humans have similar neotenic tendencies, but with regards to our spiritual evolution. I believe that our physical form is like that of the Axolotl. We never reach our actual adult form until certain environmental conditions are met, that is, our deaths. Until that time, we continue to grow and reach sexual maturity like happy little monkeys, but we do not actually become adults though we can reproduce. Of course, our maturation process is slightly more complicated than that of the axolotl. If certain conditions are not met in life, we may still die immature. In which case, we reincarnate. Not only that, we can choose to come back even if we’re spiritually adult, for our own amusement or to help others mature. Death, I believe, is only one factor in our maturation however. The other is experience, what we learn and how we react to it.

People decide to be reborn because they want to become more developed. Some are born to help them do this. This kind of incarnation is what people refer to as the “Old Soul.” In Buddhism, Old Souls are usually Bodhisattvas. An Old Soul is someone who has been through multiple incarnations, someone who is spiritually mature. Their individualism is well developed from multiple lifetimes, but for all that, they are usually easy going. Though they are highly competent, even in roles they don’t particularly like, they have an inborn knowledge that the pursuit of fame and fortune is a waste of time. Old Souls choose work that is pleasant and undemanding which leaves them free to pursue their desired goals easily, unless the job aids in the spiritual search. Old souls create confidence in animals through their reverence for life and the possibility of the evolution of that life into higher forms. Old souls exist to share their spiritual understanding with others. Their philosophies and writings tend to be simple and easy to read, though their religion is far reaching and has no label. They prefer personal spiritual practices and usually reject anything with even an overtone of dogma. Old souls are wise enough to be discreet in their religious practices however, and know how to pass in public undetected. Old souls all over the world share the experience of emptiness and a longing for that feeling of home. I believe this is because we know there is somewhere else we could be if we chose… but we choose to be here any way. (For a truly excellent explanation of Old Souls and the soul ages in general, go to this website.) I am an Old Soul.

Unless you believe in nihilism and the futility of being, then there must be a reason for our presence here, a reason that goes beyond simple material existence. I feel we are here to learn and grow, to mature. We live all our lives in these physical bodies, but it’s not till the end of our physical existence that we have the potential to be greater than we are as mortals. It is only by living our lives however that we fulfil the environment requirements for the possibility of adulthood. Certainly, we can live materialistic, physically productive lives, again and again, and be content, but it is only when we strive for greatness that we become the beings we set out to be. Like the butterfly that strives to be free of its cocoon, it is only in the struggle that we become whole.

What’s a conscientious commenter to do?

Everyone has the right to edit their Xanga and be as tolerant or intolerant as they see fit. But tell me, does that make it less rude when you comment on someone’s blog in a completely respectful fashion and they delete it before the day is out because it does not agree with the views they have presented in their essay? I have rarely had reason to delete any comments to my blog. Even when the comment disagrees with what I have posted, I leave it. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. The only time I delete posts is when they set out to insult, use foul langauge, or are spam.

So when I comment on someone’s Xanga in a completely respectful fashion, I don’t expect to be deleted just because I don’t agree with the poster. Personally, I think if someone’s essay does not stand up to criticism or additional information, then it’s not a very good essay. And if you don’t want people to post things that might contradict your initial post, well, just block comments, right?

So what has got me all riled up, you might ask?

Kristenmomof3 has a mostly religious blog. On October 28th, she posted a blog called Overcoming Evil wherein she connected Halloween to Paganism and the Devil. Being Pagan myself, I took a bit of offense to the Devil angle and set out to educate her. Halloween is definitely Pagan. It’s my favorite Pagan holiday among many others adopted by Christians. But it has nothing to do with the Devil, Satan, Beelzebub, or any other Christian demon. He’s an entity of Christian origin. My first comment, she deleted. It was not an offensive post, but it did disagree with her Christian-centric viewpoint on the nature of Halloween. When it disappeared, I gave her the benefit of the doubt and figured Xanga had hiccoughed. I tried to be respectful in my repost. Though I was a little offended, as I’m sure you can imagine. My repost was probably less respectful than the original, but she left that one.

Between then and now, I posted my essay on Over population, which she commented on, disagreeing with my assessment. I did not delete it, even though I do no agree with it in the least. She is entitled to her opinion though, and that’s what’s important. She didn’t cuss me out, insult me, or spam me, so I let it stand. Freedom of speech… freedom of religion. These were probably the two biggest goals in the founding of America. I respect both ideals and try to live them. I don’t sanction people for disagreeing with me, and I don’t sanction them for speaking their minds.

I had planned to reply to her comment, but since Socrates_Cafe did such a good job, I went to her site and suggest she come back and read his post. I don’t know if she did, she didn’t argue the point again. While I was at her site however, I saw a post on the word Elohim. So I commented. I figured, she deleted my first post on her other essay, but let the repost stand. So I assumed that my post on the word Elohim would be safe. Again, I was not offensive in any way. I did not use bad language, did not insult her, and it was not spam. In my opinion, those are the only reason to ever delete someone’s comment. I simply pointed out that the word Elohim is plural, like Seraphim and Cherubim. Elohim refers to gods, not God. So today, I checked over my comments and didn’t see it. She had deleted it again. I’ve reposted, but this post was much less respectful than the others, because this time I am pretty offended. One delete could have been a Xanga electro-brain-fart; I don’t think two is, especially when it hasn’t happened anywhere else but her blog.

So I’m posting this blog to get your opinions. I’m thinking of blocking her. After all, she might as well block me since she can’t bear to be contradicted in any way. I kind of find it funny that she belongs to a philosophical debate group like Socrates_cafe. I mean, she obviously doesn’t like to debate, does she? She just likes people to agree with her. No offense to any Christian readers, but this is one of the things about Christians that I hate. Hypocrisy… Oh I don’t think all Christians do it, but it’s a few bad apples that ruin the bunch. If you want respect for your beliefs, you have to give it as well. I won’t post to her site again. Why bother? Though I may still visit her site, link to her posts, and make my comment here. Or do you think that’s just mean? I’m in a mean mood. It’ll probably pass, and I’m not the kind of person to hold a grudge. Actually, after this post, I probably won’t have anything more to do with her.

Edit:

She just commented on the Over Population blog that she did not delete my post and doesn’t know what happened. I don’t know that I believe it. She claims that she touched on the issue of pluralism that I commented on in her post, but I don’t see that she did. Her argument seems pretty sketchy to me, but you can read the new comment here if you haven’t already. And it still seems to be a pretty big coincidence that only the comments I’ve made on her blog have disappeared, no where else.

My Dream Job

Someday I would like to own my own store. It’s no secret that I currently work as a supervisor in a bookstore, but ideally, I’d like to have my own store and do things my own way. I love my job, but some of the things the head office has us do are just asinine. And I’m sorry, but the customer is not always right. If I owned my own business, I would never allow a customer to get away with treating my people like idiots or screaming at them if we don’t give them their own way. I think one of the biggest problems with retail today is that the general public seems to think retail workers are stupid. I’m sorry. I work in a bookstore. I’m probably smarter than most of the patrons. I certainly know more about a variety of subjects than most people know about one. I and most of my colleagues choose to work in a bookstore because we love books. That’s not stupid; that’s living your life instead of letting others buy your tolerance and set your intellectual limitations.

But I digress. This post is not about my current job, which is technically the best job I’ve ever had, with coworkers who are more like family sometimes than my own relatives. This post is about my dream job.

Someday I would like to own my own store. It would be a store centered around all aspects of religion and mysticism. Mainly there would be books, but also all the paraphernalia and trappings that attend such things, from from Advent calendars to spellcrafting supplies. I’d like to have the main room be for general metaphysics and paraphernalia and then have doors to other rooms for books on Abrahamic religions, for Hinduism, for Buddhism and Eastern religions, for Paganism, and a consultation room where someone would do various readings, give consultations on spellwork and teach classes, or that could be rented out by different groups or for interfaith meetings. I imagine I’d be doing most of the consultation myself until I hired more people. Sounds like I’d need a house, instead of a business, but then I suppose I could live in whatever portion was not taken up by the store and guard it against close-minded hooligans.

For a long time, I considered “Opiate of the Masses” for the name, but as witty as it is, it’s also rather obnoxious. It would be more suitable for a religions store in a cartoon a la Marx, than of an actual store that expects to draw customers. But I think I came up with an even better name for a multi-faith store and that would be “All Are Welcome.” I don’t imagine I’d get too many close-minded people as patrons because they tend not to want to share space with people who do not agree with them.

What job do you dream of? What would make you happy if you could do it for the rest of your life? I’ve never planned on being rich, and I doubt I’d ever get rich with such a business, but I think I would be happy. Who needs money if you’re happy?

Pagan………Heathen…………Witch……………

It’s safe to say that our world is defined by the words we use. There are many religions that claim the world began with a sound or word. Words are then holy, even as we use them in our everyday life. They create our reality and allow us to share it with others, but it is by our choice that they define us.

We use words to describe everything, from the world around us to our friends and neighbors to ourselves. We label things. It is in our nature to identify and categorize. But sometimes our words are offensive, often intentionally. We criticize ourselves, and who really has more right to do that than ourselves? But we also criticize others. We insult them, with words, and that is not acceptable. There are certain words which we call “curse words,” which do not curse anyone at all. They are merely insults that people find offensive for their graphic nature. I don’t think I need to go into detail here. We know what these words are and we know that proper people do not use them. Curse words, on the other hand, are words which call attention from the divine, or offend the divine with their irreverence. There are very few real curse words.

There are other words however, which we use to insult others, which are only offensive if we choose to allow them to be. I’m talking of those words which certain groups are actively trying to reclaim. There are a lot of words that people have used down through the generations to insult their neighbors, but the ones that I am chiefly interested in are Pagan, Heathen, and Witch. These are my words for me. These words, among others, are words that define certain aspects of my life. If someone calls me by these words, I am not offended no matter how much they would like me to be. These words make me smile.

Pagan comes from the Latin, paganus, meaning “country dweller” or “rustic.” Heathen comes from old English hæðen, merged with Old Norse heiðinn, meaning “not Christian or Jewish.” It is historically assumed to be from Goth haiþno, “gentile, heathen woman,” used by Ulfilas in the first translation of the Bible, and if so, it could be a derivative of Goth haiþi, “dwelling on the heath.”  Pagan and Heathen are virtually interchangeable. Well I am Pagan and a Heathen then, aren’t I? I live in the country. I’m proud of it. I’d rather live out in the sticks than the city. Cities are like festering sores on the face of the earth. They just keep spreading and corrupting the land around them. Humanity is a virus and we cause city-sores. But I digress.

Pagan was not originally a derogatory term, but came to be one. Just like the term redneck was not originally offensive. Redneck originally meant someone who worked out of doors, under the hot sun, and who had a redneck as evidence. Working outside is good, honest work, and there’s nothing derogatory about it. The same goes for Pagan and Heathen. I am proud to be a both as they defines my life outside of a city. Paganism and Heathen are not derogatory terms in and of themselves but carry the connotations of centuries of bad press. Those who used these terms assumed that people who lived out in the country were uneducated, ill-bred, and foolish for their beliefs. This is no longer true (if it ever was). We have books and we have the internet. We are as well educated or better than our city (and Christian) counterparts. We need to be in order to defend ourselves from their incivility and unfounded abuse.

I am proud of the words Pagan and Heathen as they define my religious beliefs. Though Abrahamic religions use the word Pagan to define any religion outside their belief system, most Pagans would tell you it defines religions that venerate nature. Christians and their related religions use Pagan as such a broad term that it is virtually useless as a reference tool. When everyone “different from us” is called by the same word, that word becomes meaningless. For this reason, I reclaim Pagan and Heathen. I give them definition by adopting them. Paganism is a broad term for my beliefs which include polytheism, pantheism, shamanism, and animism. These are all forms of Paganism which I accept as part of myself.

Witch is another word that I reclaim. Witch comes from wicce which means wise. Wizard comes from the same root. Wizard and witch, male and female wise-ones, people who practice wise-craft. What is so wrong about being wise? There are two interrelated reasons why Witch is a bad word. One is the the King James Bible. When it was translated to English by King James, he took some liberties with the translations, most notably, but not confined to the phrase, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” In the original, the word witch translated to poisoner. Now why would they have changed that word? Because of a witch’s knowledge of herbs? All witches are no more poisoners than all Christians are saints. (As an aside, did you know that the original language of the Bible made no reference to meat? In fact, the word that was translated into meat originally had a vegetarian connotation… makes you think, hmmm?)

The other reason Witch became a bad word has to do with the fear people felt at being called one during the Witch trails. Hardly anyone survived such a slur, finding themselves in the stocks or a dungeon soon after. It didn’t matter that few of the people accused of witchcraft were actually Witches. The accused were as good as dead. More often than not, the accusations were created from greed, not truth. It’s a well-known fact that the Church claimed every bit of the property of the accused if they were “proven” guilty and executed. Just as modern accusers in Africa claim elderly female relatives are witches in order to claim their property for themselves.

So, in addition to Pagan and Heathen, I reclaim Witch. These are my words for who I am. You may call me by these words, but do not expect to insult me with them. I am who I am. In as much as I am proud of who I am and my accomplishments, I will not be insulted by my own words. It took me a long time to create a self-esteem from the nothing I grew up with, and I will not be ashamed of who I have become. There is nothing to be ashamed of in the truth.

What inspires you? What gets your creativity-engine roaring?

I have come to realize that suffering and anger inspires my creativity. My own suffering or the suffering of others. It doesn’t matter. I am at my most creative when I am in pain or suffering from emotional issues. When I am angry over some injustice or defending my own stance on a topic, I am at my most eloquent. If I am responding to someone’s misery, I am at my best when trying to comfort them. If I can make myself righteously angry about something, look out! I will cut the topic to shreds.

Also, some of my best fictional writing is horror, especially horror in which the main character is an emotional cripple. Go figure. They’re practically autobiographical in the respect, right?    

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