Wednesday, November 22, 2023

If You Don't Vote Democratic in 2024, Putin & Iran Will Have Gotten What They Paid For From Hamas On 10/7

  

Blood-stained copy of the lyrics of "Shir LaShalom" ("Song for Peace"), found in Rabin's pocket after the assassination

Anwar Sadat was buried in the Unknown Soldier Memorial, located in the Nasr City district of Cairo. The inscription on his grave reads: "The hero of war and peace".
 

If You Don't Vote Democratic in 2024, Putin & Iran Will Have Gotten What They Paid For From Hamas' Genocidal Attack On 10/7/23 

“In this week’s edition we publish The World Ahead 2024, our 38th annual predictive guide to the coming year, and in all that time no single person has ever eclipsed our analysis as much as Donald Trump eclipses 2024.” 
- The Economist (11/16/23)

“I don’t like the way autocrats are running Israel, so I’m going to help elect an autocrat to run the United States” is the most shortsighted, idiot shit take on the planet."
- Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote):  
 
“There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.” 
- Audre Lorde, “Learning from the 60s” Sister Outsider (1984)

Sinclair Lewis wrote "It Can't Happen Here" in 1935. Well, it didn't. Then. (Although it was a closer call than you might think.) And we are much closer this time.

Not only can IT happen here, it IS happening here, unless we hold the ground taken in 2020 & 2022 & almost every off year election since 2020, AND expand upon those victories in 2024.

Nothing else matters now. All that matters is what is in front of us. Right HERE, right now. 

No one issue gives you an excuse to walk away from this struggle.

Some of you are making declarations such as "I will never vote for Joe Biden or anyone else who had approved military money or weapons to Israel & I won't vote for any Democrats until the party repudiates its pro-genocide members & commits to ending our support for genocides masked as military aid."

This is a direct quote. I don't know the person who tweeted this. I don't want to single them out, so I am not going to cite their name or twitter address. I just did a search on "I will never vote for Joe Biden ..." and this one is typical of the many that bubbled up. 

Here are talking points to refute such dangerous & delusional declarations among friends & family.

Before I go any further, it is important to say where I stand, & how this could have played out differently. In the immediate aftermath of 10/7, I was against the bombing of Gaza, & against the IDF going into Gaza on the ground. I say "immediate aftermath" because these options should have been on the table, & all necessary preparations should have been made, but going in immediately gave Hamas exactly what it wanted, & within 48-72 hours after the atrocities of 10/7, all of the world's media coverage was turned away from what happened on 10/7 & re-focused on the plight of the civilian population of Gaza, & soon many of you were in the streets & on social media sloganeering for a ceasefire, & condemning ... Israel ... I would have preferred two weeks of detailed exposes on the atrocities of 10/7, inundating social media with the horrors perpetrated that day, yes, the videos, yes, the mutilated bodies, yes, the decapitated babies, all of it, in granular details, I would have preferred to see the Hamas fighters who participated identified through facial recognition, I would have had bounties put on their heads dead or alive, I would have preferred two weeks of news media reports highlighting the leaders of Hamas, where they live, how they live, endlessly repeating over & over their statements taking credit for 10/7 & that they would do it again & again until Israel was wiped from the face of the earth, I would have placed bounties on their heads dead or alive, I would have welcomed shooting down their private jets, I would have welcomed commando raids on their luxurious living spaces even in third party countries, I would have welcomed those international incidents, all the while demanding the release of the hostages, & threatening the bombing & land invasion if the hostages were not released ... 

But this is where we are now.

Did you know that October 7th is Putin’s birthday? Seriously. October 7th is actually literally factually Putin’s birthday.

Hamas wanted this war because it serves the purpose of their sponsors in Moscow & Tehran, Netanyahu wanted this war because he saw it as his best way to hold on to the power that was slipping away from him. The people of Israel are the victims of Netanyahu just as much as the victims of Hamas. The people of Gaza are the victims of Hamas even more than the victims of Israel. Hamas knew how the war monger Netanyahu & his extremist faction would respond & they wanted thousands of Palestinian deaths. 

"Ceasefire! Ceasefire! Ceasefire!" ???? There was a ceasefire ... until 10/7/23 ... when Hamas launched its genocidal attack, featuring rape as a weapon of war & the decapitation of babies (yes, confirmed) … Another ceasefire was recently achieved, one predicated on the incremental release of hostages. A ceasefire that the Biden team negotiated and forced upon Netanyahu. And yes it too was broken BY HAMAS. Because of the terrible condition of the remaining hostages. Further release would have revealed that the rapes continued during during captivity.

1.  In 2024, No Margin of Error to Spend on “Votes of Conscience," & Indeed ...

At least three very dangerous third party candidacies are in play for 2024. There is no margin of error to spend on “votes of conscience.” Indeed, your imagined "vote of conscience" is actually a conscienceless vote. Whether you vote for third party candidate or simply do not vote at all.

In 2024, every vote for a third party candidate, every voter who doesn't vote at all, makes it more likely that Trump or whoever the zombie cult's candidate "wins" There are more of us than them but we have to vote overwhelmingly. If we are divided, if our turn out is low, if too many vote third party, the republic will LITERALLY fall this time

Timothy Snyder (@TimothyDSnyder): Yes, the fact that the US as we know it could cease to exist in fourteen months would seem to be the real story. "The public doesn't understand the risks of a Trump victory" - Margaret Sullivan, The public doesn’t understand the risks of a Trump victory. That’s the media’s fault,  Guardian (11/9/23)

2. Have You Weighed the Consequences of Your Abandonment of the Democratic Ticket?

Do you understand what Trump and the MAGA movement are planning if he gets back in? No, do you really understand in detail? Have you heard about “Project 2025”? It’s not a looney tune conspiracy theory it’s a massive undertaking being driven by the Heritage Foundation

"Hundreds of people are spending tens of millions of dollars to install a pre-vetted, pro-Trump army of up to 54,000 loyalists across government to rip off the restraints imposed on the previous 46 presidents." - Jim VandeHei , Mike Allen, Behind the Curtain: Trump allies pre-screen loyalists for unprecedented power grab, Axios (11/13/23)


Joe Scarborough warns Americans on what Trump will do if he’s back in the Oval Office: “He will imprison, he will execute whoever he is allowed to imprison, execute, drive from the country. Just look at his past. It’s not really hard to read.”

3. Does Your Selective Memory of History Allow You To Acknowledge the Damage Done By Those Who Voted Third Party or Just Sat Out Previous Elections?

Do you remember the consequences of those who voted for Nader in 2000 & Stein in 2016? A shift of even a few hundred votes in FLA in 2000 and Gore won have won the electoral college. 

The thousands who voted for Stein in 2016 in MI PA & WI delivered the electoral college for Trump. 

And the consequences? Well, just off the top of my head: no Bush-Cheney would have meant no invasion of Iraq, no obscene tax cut for the super rich & no leaving the Kyoto protocols on climate action, no Trump would have meant no repeal of Roe v Wade, no second obscene tax cut for the super rich, no leaving the Paris accords on climate action.

In the struggle to mitigate the worst impacts of runaway climate change we LITERALLY have only 10 years left (at maximum) to make the significant shift begun since 2020 by Biden-Harris a permanent one. We simply have no time left for another setback in WH policy.

4. Have You Weighed the Consequences for Moslems in General & Palestinians in Particular If  MAGA &Trumpism Win In 2024?

You can look forward to MUCH WORSE if your "vote of conscience" enables Trump's return to power, including this by executive action probably within the first horrifying 100 hours:

Doubling down on the hardline immigration policies that have long animated his base, Donald Trump on Monday vowed to bar refugees from Gaza and immediately expand his first-term Muslim travel ban if he wins a second term following the deadly attack on Israel last week.- Trump vows to expand Muslim ban and bar Gaza refugees if he wins presidency, Former president in speech in Iowa says he would immediately begin ‘ideological screening’ for all immigrants, Associated Press via Guardian (10/17/23)

Furthermore, all restraints on Netanayahu & the Israeli hard right will be removed.

You don't think restraint is being applied? Lol. I hope you never get to see how wrong you are. See #8.

5. Do you understand how bad it was for Palestine when Trump was in power?

Seriously, do you remember how bad it was for Palestine when Trump was in power?

When Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, he in effect quashed the possibility that East Jerusalem would ever belong to a Palestinian state. When he moved the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, in 2018, he signaled the abandonment of even the pretense of good-faith negotiations with the Palestinians. Rather than use the prospect of these gestures as an incentive for Netanyahu to adopt a comprehensive peace plan in the region, Trump simply made them ... “Netanyahu got everything he wanted from Trump,” Amit Segal, the chief political analyst for Israel’s Channel 12, told me. Trump’s alignment with Netanyahu has been so total that, ahead of the U.S. election, sixty-three per cent of Israelis supported Trump, and only seventeen per cent supported Joe Biden, according to a November poll by the Israel Democracy Institute. If Israel were a U.S. state, it would be the “reddest state in the Union,” a column in the left-leaning newspaper Haaretz noted. Scroll through the Twitter feeds of some of Netanyahu’s most ardent proponents and you could be forgiven for thinking that you’ve landed on the Hebrew accounts of Sean Hannity or Tucker Carlson ... Three weeks after the U.S. election, Yinon Magal, a well-known pundit and former right-wing lawmaker, told Israeli radio, “We still pray for a miracle that Donald, son of Fred, will win the election.”  - Ruth Margalit, Trump’s Legacy in Israel, The New Yorker (1/12/21) 

The worst elements in the Israeli leadership & body politic were sad to lose their greatest enabler.  

Few countries have been as invested in Donald Trump’s presidency as Israel, where a recent survey found that Israelis favor the incumbent by an almost 45 percent margin ... Whereas other world leaders have often strained to maintain constructive relations with the Trump administration, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has managed to stay high atop the president’s short list of favorite allies over the past four years. Now, after having been a conspicuous beneficiary of U.S. diplomatic bounty throughout Trump’s tenure ... In 2019, Trump signed a presidential proclamation affording recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo signed a declaration that the “establishment of Israeli civilian settlements in the West Bank is not per se inconsistent with international law.” ... - Shalom Lipner, Has Trump Been Good for Israel?, Foreign Policy (11/3/20)

6. Gabor Mate is Living in the Past & Cornel West has Lost His Mind

Scrolling through social media a few nights ago, I came across Gabor Mate speaking on the current crisis in Israel & Palestine, it's all way out of his lane of course, but I made myself listen, because I know most of you think he walks on water. Lol. Everything he said was right - TEN OR FIFTEEN YEARS AGO.

Someone can be very right on in their understanding of what has gone down in Israel & Palestine over the last forty years or even over the last 80 years, but still be VERY WRONG about this moment.

In 2016, the world changed for the worse. Putin's information warfare operations succeeded in subverting critical elections in the U.S. & U.K. elections, which is how we ended up with the idiocy of Brexit & the malignancy of Trump. Well, to be precise, the change for the worse started in 2014 with Putin's savage occupation of Crimea. So since 2014-2016 the world order has been reeling. Biden-Harris, working with our NATO & the EU allies have done a lot of good work in returning us all to R-E-A-L-I-T-Y but the balance is still tenuous, & will be until Putin is defeated in Ukraine & Trump (or whoever he is swapped out for) is defeated (again). You need to understand what is happening now in Israel & Palestine within the context of this global geopolitical struggle.

Cornel West wants you to see Hamas as "love warriors & freedom fighters." (Yes, that's how he described them a few nights ago.) But, of course, Hamas are not "love warriors," they do not represent the Palestinian people, they do not fight for the Palestinian people, they certainly do not protect the Palestinian people. Hamas is really more like Prigozhin's Wagner Group than a band of freedom fighters. 

Putin & the Islamic Republic are underwriting Hamas to provide distractions from Putin's looming defeat in Ukraine & the Islamic Republic's femicide against its own people. This is all one struggle.

This is a different world. The MAGA insurrection on 1/6/21 in the U.S. & Hamas' genocidal rampage in Israel on 10/7/23 are of a different order than previous terrorist attacks, even different from 9/11/01. This is far more dangerous moment than any since WWII itself.

“Putin and Hamas hope to collapse broader regional stability and integration and take advantage of the ensuing disorder. America cannot, and will not, let that happen. For our own national security interests — and for the good of the entire world.” - President Joe Biden, The U.S. won’t back down from the challenge of Putin and Hamas, Washington Post (11/18/23)

7. "How can Biden send $15 billion in weapons to Israel for this ...?

Many of you are used to seeing Israel as the "neighborhood bully" & rightfully so to a degree. So you say to me with great indignation, "How can Biden send $15 billion in weapons to Israel for this ...?" 

I am going to assume (perhaps naively) that when you chant "From the river to the sea ..." you aren't really calling for the extermination of the Israeli state, although that is precisely what the Hamas chant is calling for. Israel may seem to possess overwhelming military superiority but they are nevertheless in a very vulnerable position. If Iran & Hezbollah enter this war, & Israel is forced to fight on two or three fronts, it will probably all go very bad very fast. Very bad, very fast. Do you want the Israeli people exposed to a war of extinction? In their homeland, established by the U.N. in 1948, as an acknowledgment of the Holocaust? Let's say you are OK with all of that (& after the Tik-Tok love affair with Osama Bin Laden's "Letter to America," I wouldn't be surprised), are you also OK if faced with defeat, the Israeli decide to use the nuclear arsenal everyone pretends they don't have? 

The U.S. has always given this level of military aid to the Israelis it's certainly not going to cut it off after the atrocities of 10/7 & in the current geopolitical crisis mentioned above. Israel must remain strong. But Israel needs new leadership, bold, progressive leadership. There is a real peace to be had, a real peace, one that does not include Hamas (which must be destroyed. In 1981, Sadat died for this real peace, in 1995, Rabin died for this real peace, in 2000, Arafat didn't feel it was the right time for him to die for this peace. I remember every one of those tragic days, as if it were yesterday. Here we are now.

8. The BEST & the WORST

One of the numerous ironies of this moment is that the BEST person possible to deal with this crisis leads the U.S. currently, & yes, the WORST person possible to deal with this crisis leads Israel.

ClearingTheFog (@clearing_fog): A lot of folks won’t read past the first couple paragraphs of Biden’s op-ed today - but don’t sleep on it. In addition to calling out Hamas, it is a direct refutation of Netanyahu’s policies - almost unheard of from an American President. 

Joe Biden: The U.S. won’t back down from the challenge of Putin and Hamas. Washington Post, 11/19/23 

Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote): Biden calls for peace, a two-state solution, a free Palestine, & will impose sanctions against Israeli extremists in the West Bank. He also calls for support for Ukraine. Here is a gift link to the President’s opinion piece in WaPo:

https://wapo.st/47jWaIC.

If indeed all you care about is Palestine or if you think it’s importance outweighs all else from abortion rights to climate action, do you realize how much worse it will be for the Palestinians & for Moslems in general if Biden loses? Of course, to answer that question you would have to acknowledge that Biden struggles with Netanyahu & is an important counterbalance to him among the Israeli leadership. You would have to acknowledge that aid trucks & "humanitarian poses" mean something. You would have to acknowledge that there was a CEASEFIRE in place FOR YEARS until 10/7/23, when HAMAS BROKE IT with their genocidal attack. You would have to acknowledge that a new CEASEFIRE is going into effect now, because of Joe Biden's direct engagement. 50 hostages, women & children, are being released imminently because of Joe Biden's direct engagement. The four-day CEASEFIRE going into effect can be extended one day for every 10 more hostages are released, because of Joe Biden's direct engagement. 

9. Genocide

Addressing the false claims of "Genocide" is a thankless job, it's touching the third rail, it's damned if I do & damned if I don't, but these three points are vital & must be articulated. 

As horrific as what is happening in Gaza is, it is NOT genocide. And by abusing that term, you are insulting the memory of those who died in Darfur, Rwanda, Cambodia, Armenia & yes, the HOLOCAUST. 

9a.

Massive civilian casualties do not equate to "Genocide." It's an ugly fact, but it is a fact. Please do not cheapen the term with your sloganeering.
 
If the massive death toll in both Israel and the Gaza Strip was not horrendous enough, the false claim continues to be spread that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza in retribution for the massacres carried out by Hamas October 7.  
The genocide claim bus has a range of passengers.
Among them are antisemites who believe Jews are the ultimate evil in the world, conspiracists, “influencers” who, in addition to caring about the Palestinians, have their eye on their social media clout, pro-Palestinian activists who support the Palestinians' right to "armed resistance" and who are trying to bridge the unbridgeable gap between their supposed concern for human rights and the atrocities committed by Hamas by shifting the focus to the “bigger atrocity” of genocide.
Also along for the ride are some cynical politicians, including Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan who said Israel’s assault “amounted” to genocide as well as some human rights activists, journalists, who may have honest intentions but are simply wrong.
There’s a very high bar set for defining genocide laid out in international conventions and law. These state that it is not enough to count the dead, but one must also prove "intent to destroy" in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.
For now, that is not what is happening on the ground in Gaza and this is why the International Criminal Court Prosecutor didn't mention it in his statement in Cairo.
That's because there is no evidence for this special intent. Civilians in Gaza were killed not because Israel specifically targets them, but because of the extensive Hamas military infrastructures that are located near, inside civilian buildings and in the tunnels beneath them ...
As long as it is not based on facts, the genocide claim will not be useful for ending the war or promoting the freedom of the people in Gaza. It could also lead to deadly attacks on Israeli citizens, those in Western countries and embassies around the world.
It is true that international law is flawed in its protection of civilians, both in definitions and in practice. We need to make up for these flaws by upholding the morals and universal values that Hamas, its jihadist partners and also the Israeli far-right oppose –not by getting lost in the false claims of genocide. - Eitay Mack, Israel Is Not Committing Genocide in Gaza, Haaretz (11/1/23)

9b.

I have a logic question for you. You say you’re raising your voice against genocide.

Well, Israel says it is not committing genocide & has a substantive argument to validate its position.

On the other hand, Hamas officials have openly acknowledged the genocidal nature of the 10/7 attack on Israel, & boast that they will do the same again & again until Israel no longer exists.

For the sake of my logic question, it doesn't matter whether or not you believe the Israeli denial, it doesn't matter whether or not that denial is objectively true under international law. Both are irrelevant.

I am simply asking you to explain your logic.

Why is it that you say Biden supports genocide but you cheering Cornel West for calling Hamas “love warriors” is not supporting genocide? Why aren't you carrying both Palestinian & Israeli flags in your protests? There is legitimate dispute about whether or not the Israelis are committing genocide, there is no dispute about the genocidal nature of the way that HAMAS BROKE THE CEASEFIRE ON 10/7, they openly boast of it & they promise more & more genocidal attacks.

Seriously. Check yourself.

9c.

In the last few nights, I have seen many of you go on social media to shame your friends who not posted about "CEASEFIRE" or "GENOCIDE," you say "Why the silent? Why ..." As if you are reading from a script, or at least repeating what you have heard over & over as the bots play the algorithm & in turn the algorithm plays you. Take a look at this chart of "Post Cold War Conflicts Death Toll In Proportion" (Virgil Hawkins, "Stealth Conflicts: How the World's Worst Violence is Ignored"). Take a long look at it & then ask yourselves some hard questions about disproportionality, ignorance, hypocrisy ...


The Congo, Sudan, Rwanda, & many others, some recent history, some ongoing. Do you have any idea how small this conflict is in relation to the horrors of the Congo or Sudan or even Bosnia, Kashmir or Columbia? Of the 29 conflicts displayed, Israel-Palestine, along with Chad, are the smallest.* AND YET, you declare that you will not vote for Biden or any Democrat because of U.S. support of Israel?

Well, as huge a horror as the Congo is, as UNSPEAKABLE as the total death toll as all of these 29 conflicts combined truly is, all of it is as if a single drop of blood when compared to the LOOMING DEATH TOLL OF THE GLOBAL CLIMATE EMERGENCY CURRENTLY ACCELERATING.

Humanity has ten years, at the most, to mitigate the worst of what is coming. We can. We must. We will. Unless the U.S. government is turned over to the control of fascist tools fronting for the oligarchs East & West. So much, everything really, is at stake.

The 2024 election will determine whether this republic's democratic institutions are strengthened or utterly hollowed out. The 2024 election will determine whether or not the new demographic reality of our body politic (more women, more people of color, more youth) is allowed to produce an assault weapons ban, the restoration of women''s reproductive rights, the protection of voting rights, & an even more sweeping climate action than what Biden-Harris & the Democrats have already delivered.

If you vote for a third party candidate or you don't vote at all, you will actually be voting for the the unthinkable, truly, pure, unbridled fascism.

These are the real stakes. So tell me now, what does a "vote of conscience" really look like in 2024?

Have you really thought this through? Or have you just been played?

It’s clear now that while the Palestinian cause has been hijacked in the Middle East by terrorist death cults like Hamas and Hezbollah, it has been hijacked in America by those in the progressive movement who suffer from some poisonous mixture of ignorance, ideological blindness, and latent anti-Semitism (by which I mean they know nothing about the Middle East and its history, they hold the inane view that every conflict reduces to white colonialists oppressing virtuous people of color, and they just hate Jews). Now, here we are, witnessing a growing storm of hatred and violence toward Jews. How can this be the response of our fellow Americans? Think about the fact that Pakistan is forcibly returning 1.7 million Afghan refugees to the clutches of the Taliban or that Russia slaughtered an estimated 200,000 Chechen Muslims or that Serbia committed an internationally recognized genocide against Bosnian Muslims or that China has disappeared or locked in concentration camps 1.3 million Muslim Uyghurs, all with no comparable reaction from America’s progressive left. They are not assaulted by mobs on the streets of New York. They do not have to barricade themselves inside college libraries or dining halls. They do not have their murdered friends and relatives mocked by BLM Chicago posters glorifying hang-gliding terrorists.

10. Credible Casualty Numbers? We Have None

The "Post Cold War Conflicts Death Toll In Proportion" chart shown above will have to be revised to reflect casualties in the current phase of conflict. But whatever the updated number is it will not impact the relative proportionality in any significant way. There are no credible, independent numbers yet, everyone is using the numbers reported by Hamas-controlled entities in Gaza. In other words, we have no idea how many casualties there really are. IF & when we do get credible numbers from an independent source don't be surprised if they are substantially less than the very numbers you yourself have been spreading with great certainty & outrage. Of course, whatever the real number of civilian deaths actually is, it is too many, whatever the number is it is an obscene number. That blood is on Hamas' hands at least as much as on the Israelis hands. But do not accept Hamas' numbers. Demand independent substantiation.



Remember the innocents. In Israel & in Palestine.





Sunday, April 30, 2023

Of Goddesses



In “Secret Engine of the World” (2021), I spoke of 3 doom-defining or doom-defying deadlines: the US elections in 2022 & 2024, & a 2031 drop-dead deadline for any significant mitigation of Anthropogenic Climate Disruption (ACD) & the Sixth Great Extinction.

In 2022, I chronicled the run-up to the first of the 3 deadlines w/ a series of monthly updates from July to November. In 2024, I will chronicle the run-up to the second deadline, similarly.

A series of talks & writings on the third deadline is also underway.

"Of Goddesses" is the third in this series of Gaia Talks.

The first, “Gaian Poetics & Gaian Politics,” was delivered in November 2022 & the second, "The Emerald Tablet: 21st Century Insights on Its True Nature” was delivered in March 2023. 

The full text of each talk, along with accompanying PowerPoints & embedded videos, are available here. The videos also reside on my YouTube channel, "Spoken Words of Power."


God Is A Concept, God Is Dead

In the 1970s, rock star, political dissident & eventual martyr John Lennon declared "God is a concept by which we measure our pain." A century earlier, in the 1880s, Friedrich Nietzsche, tortured genius, true giant of Western philosophy, had already declared,"God is dead." 

From very different vantage points, both of these magical beings were actually, albeit unconsciously, heralding the collapse of the patriarchal narrative. This has been a painfully slow & dangerous process. And now, at long last, we are finally nearing the denouement.


God Is A Woman, God Is A Black Woman

On Friday the 13th, in July 2018, Ariana Grande released her "God is a Woman," a song that celebrates both female sexual power & feminist liberation. 

"When all is said and done, You'll believe God is a woman ..." 

In February 2022, Christina Cleveland published her "God Is A Black Woman," a book that deconstructs the “whitemalegod” & reveals the Sacred Black Feminine. 

“Imagination is theology; we can only believe what we can imagine. And our cultural landscape hasn’t given us many tools to imagine a non-white, non-male God.”

Grande's song and Cleveland's book epitomize vital new cultural memes.

The "God Is A Woman" meme is more accurate mystically and cosmologically than dominant "whitemalegod" thought-form. Furthermore, "God Is A Woman is perfectly calibrated for this critical juncture in the evolution of our species, i.e., the end of history and the beginning of herstory, the end of the patriarchy and the beginning of what evolves even beyond matriarchy.

The "God Is A Black Woman" meme is even more apropos for the personification of this great shift.

Cleveland explains.

“We are unable to imagine a God who is with us while we wonder if our beloved sister will survive the night. We are unable to imagine a God who proclaims #blacklivesmatter, a God who says #metoo, a God who stands not atop the social hierarchy, but at the bottom with the people who have been cast aside, silenced, and forgotten. When god is solely male, he can only show up as fatherskygod who is nowhere near us.”

“Indeed, social science scholars agree that what’s good for Black women is good for all people. The liberation of all Black women requires the dismantling of all systems of oppression—white supremacy, patriarchy, capitalism, Islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia, and more. These systems harm all of us. So, if Black women are thriving and free, it also means the oppressive systems have been eradicated and we are all thriving and free."

Clockwise from Bottom Left: Venus of Dolní VÄ›stonice, Artemisia Gentileschi - Sleeping Venus (1630), Kali Yantra, A golden statue of Durga slaying Mahisasur. Delhi (Oct 22, 2004), Kiki Smith - Lilith (1994), Andres Zorn - Freya (1901),  Ekajat, the Blue Tara, Ferocious, Single-Breasted, One-Eyed, Single-Toothed Protectress of Nyingmapa Lineage, Painted by Shri Ram Bahadur Lama, Kathmandu

Pantheon

A pantheon of Goddesses smuggled Life, Nature & Reality through thousands of years of metaphysical misogyny & gender slavery providing cover for actual, literal misogyny & gender slavery, & some of these Goddesses could stand as the divine power behind the next civilization:

The Celtic Triune Goddess in the West, Durga Ma in the East, both all-powerful representations of FULL EMBODIMENT & FULL INDIVIDUATION

 Freya the Nordic Goddess of BOTH Love & War. 

Venus Aphrodite of course, expressive of the Ultimate Power, D-E-S-I-R-E. 

The incomparable Tara, in all her 21 flavors, offering, oh, boundless compassion, salvation from suffering, & so much more, e.g., Ekajat, the Blue Tara, Ferocious, Single-Breasted, One-Eyed, Single-Toothed Protectress of Nyingmapa Lineage

In the East, the indigo blue skinned Kali, in the West, the raven winged Morrigan. Holy ferocity, primal security. Self-defense. War of liberation. Sacred rage.

 Lilith too. Like Daath, the abyss at the center of the Tree of Life, Lilith is the Shadow of them all.



Gaia

All of the Goddesses in this global pantheon are of the Sambhogakaya, they are like the rays of the Sun (Dharmakaya) warming & nurturing those human incarnations who open to them (Nirmanakaya). They are Mythoi, they are not unreal, they are realer than real, they are Supra Real. They feed the psychological body, the Manamaya Kosha, with the stuff of the Vijnanamaya Kosha, the Intuitive Body, The Jungians would say they are from the realm of the archetypes.

There is one Goddess who pre-exists the Pantheon, that pre-exists our species, that pre-exists all but herself, because all else is her creation. She is the ONLY truly IMMANENT Divinity, she was the forging of oceans, the flow of lava, the bacteria in a dark crevice organizing itself into the first neural network, & now many billions of years later whoever you are, when you look in the mirror you are seeing only Her. She is the Divine Intelligence. She is both the Temple and the Oracle within it. Yes, Her name was taken from the ancient Mythoi by a 20th Century scientist. But only Her name, The rest of Her new narrative is composed of scientific fact, corroborated by shamanic vision. In the South of the Americas, She is known by another name, Pachamama. Gaia-Pachamama is the only Divinity which offers direct, irrefutable proof of Her own existence every moment of every day in every place in all the world.

For those with eyes to hear and ears to see.

Without her you would not be, no five bodies, no incarnation, no path of individuation, no psyche, no soma, no karma, no you. Without her you would never have felt the sun rise from inside the stillness of your meditation or heard the coyotes massing for a hunt in the hills on a moonless night. Without her, no Iceland, no Uluru, no Kahlo, no Coltrane, no Amazon, no Congo, no Lana Del Ray.

If we are going to overcome the folly of our genius & survive the pathologies that poison us, we need to rapidly retool this scarred & conflicted civilization into a green, feminist world in which altruism & sustainability are the defining imperatives of governance. Gaia is the Goddess to place at the center of all you do to pursue this new beginning.



Thursday, April 06, 2023

Words of Power 2023-2024: The End of A Cycle, & the Beginning of the Next

San Francisco Theosophical Society Lodge, 6/16/17

"Thank you for being everything you are and upholding this world, you secret tsaddik ...
Deep bow to the living mystery school that you are, Richard Power.
Such a blessing to the world.” - Vera de Chalambert (@vera_de_shalom)"

“These books by Richard Power are portals of mythic truth and transmit Sovereignty Codes. I highly recommend reading them as you navigate all the changes - whenever I open the pages, it's like sitting at the feet of a great Oracle. Thank you Richard."
- Rhiannon Seraphine Morgana (@awakeningavalontemple)

The Center, San Francisco, 7/23/18

At 2:00 a.m., sometime after Yule 2022, before the end of the Muggle calendar year, I picked up “Wyrds of Power” to look up something for someone. Flipping through, searching for the passage I wanted to reference, I kept running into whole chapters I hadn’t laid eyes on in several years. I was awestruck by the sweeping scope of my work.

That same month, a close friend and ally chose to no longer be a friend or ally. It happens.

Both experiences left me NOT in the mood for having my work forgotten or my life disappeared.



Curating Legacy & Legend

To further the curation of legacy & legend, first, I released 3 series of Instagram and Facebook posts (IG/FB) that underscore the scope & depth of the creative cycle stretching from 2010 thru 2021.
  • Gatherings for the Spoken Word: 10 IG/FB posts featuring 10 photos each from some of the 25 in-person talks that were foundational in the shaping of these 3 books
    • 2010: "User's Guide to Human Incarnation: Yoga of Primal Reality" (series of 3)
    • 2012-2013: "Mapping Primal Reality: Further Notes for A User's Guide to Human Incarnation" (series of 7)
    • 2014: "Planetary Emergency, Personal Emergence (series of 4)
    • 2015: "Cauldron Yoga, Gaian Poetics & the Way of the Ancient Future"
    • 2016: "Wyrds of Power: New Language for A New Reality"
    • 2016: "Matrika, Midi-Chlorians & the Mysterium"
    • 2017: "7 Beasts, Tale of the Mysterium"
    • 2017: "5 Survival Tips for Your Journey into the Wilderness"
    • 2018: "I, the Dragon"
    • 2018" "Dragon Medicine: A Journey into Healing & Redemption"
    • 2019: "Dragon Bone Broth"
    • 2019: "Legends of the Ancient Future: Cauldron of the Dark Goddess, Secret Engine of the World, & the Riderless Horse that Crosses the Himalayas"
    • 2020: "Pandemic 2020: Dreamtime Dweller"
    • 2020: "Straw Dogs, A Mysterious Valley & the Power of Nothing"
    • Many of these talks on my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@rgpowerIII/videos
  • Readers Testify: 7 IG/FB posts enshrining 39 rave reviews from friends & allies, e.g.,  
    • “With his feet rooted firmly in the earth and his head in the Mysterium, Richard Power has written a dazzling book of great scope and meaning. It is a literary Ouroboros - Power’s extraordinary experiences, confessions, insights, revelations, and epiphanies unite to serve his fearless pursuit of truth and his inspiring vision of the infinite. Having just finished it, I am starting it again." - Susan Gammie 
    • "I'm so moved by your transparency... Your book is a gift. It will help heal many hearts. Including mine." - Kim Amadril (@undertherug)
    • “Truth infusion that feels like time travel through mystical traditions. Richard Power brings these ancient tools to our modern day ground zero so we might remember who we are.” - @RobinGorn
    • For more, see below.

San Francisco Theosophical Society, 9/20/19


“Wyrds of Power," "I, the Dragon," "Secret Engine of the World" were not brought forth from my mind, in a seated position, at my laptop. They arose exclusively from talks & walks, from what yoginis call “the Throat Chakra” & from what Gurdjieff called “the Moving Center.” 

The talks were delivered over the course of 11 years (2010-2021). Many at the sftslodge, some online, late at night, from an urban cave. The walks that led to what I call the “Epiphanies” (some might call them poems or prayers) took place over that same span of time. Some in a lush, deeply magical forest (incinerated in the Climate Catastrophe of 2021). Some in the City of the Golden Gate, on the high hills or amidst flocks of pelicans at the ocean. 25 talks & 156 epiphanies. 

The talks formed the skeleton & the nervous system of this body of work, these epiphanies shaped & animate its vital organs & 6 senses. These  galleries of images offer powerful witness: magical beings coming together in celebration of the Mysteries.


"San Francisco Theosophical Society Lodge, 9/23/16


"I, the Dragon" Audio Book Released

On the Spring Equinox, with the help of friend & producer Harrison Nir, I pushed out the audiobook version of “I, the Dragon.” (A project that had been halted during the pandemic.) 

Available now via Audible, iTunes & Amazon.





The Three Deadlines & The Taxonomy 

In “Secret Engine,” I spoke of 3 doom-defining or doom-defying deadlines: the US elections in 2022 & 2024, & a 2031 drop-dead deadline for any significant mitigation of Anthropogenic Climate Disruption (ACD) & the Sixth Great Extinction.

In 2022, I chronicled the run-up to the first of the 3 deadlines w/ a series of monthly updates from July to November. In 2024, I will chronicle the run-up to the second deadline, similarly. 

A series of talks & writings on the third deadline is also underway. Most recently, “Emerald Tablet: 21st Century Insights on Its True Nature” (@sftslodge 3/26/23), & before that, “Gaian Poetics & Gaian Politics” (@mpowerdanceproject 11/13/22).

This narrative tracking of the 3 deadlines will be incorporated into my next book.

The centerpiece of this new work will be the full text of “Taxonomy of Magical Beings: Field Notes of An Occult Anthropologist.” I offered a glimpse into this research in the talk “Dragon Bone Broth” & included that transcript and accompanying illustrations in “Secret Engine.”

The full “Taxonomy” will detail the characteristics of the magical species we have identified so far, it will also offer examples of how we determine a being’s species classification & examine the complex interrelationship of the magical & muggle worlds.



San Francisco Theosophical Society, 10/24/14


Rave Reviews from Readers

"Reading Richard's words while in college supplemented a kind of learning, of growth that I wasn't finding in my assigned work, but so desperately wanted. His was the first language that worked on my body like yoga, a poetry that explained little and somehow still delivered me to heights of feeling! Reading 'I, the Dragon' is an experience of transformation, not just a retelling but an active process of reliving. Within its pages, Richard gives us the greatest gift possible: his life." -- Harrison Nir (@just_a_har

Still the greatest book I have ever read. You have never read anything like it. The format is like no other ... Richard Power is one of the most relevant writers of our time. As the world moves deeper into chaos, Richard presents his personal saga, 'I, the Dragon,' as proof that one can come from complete madness, see how madness is effecting humanity politically, economically, environmentally, and yet still find healing and the ability to love unconditionally." - Brenna Geehan (@brennageehan)

"I’m not sure how else to tell you this. You must read this book. An essential artifact from the Ancient Future ... A necessary survival guide for humanity and where we are going... Written by one of the greatest living writers Richard Power @rgpoweriii Genius dragon devotee of the Dark Goddess, channel of a new language for a new reality. Weaver of the anthropological spiritual political arc of human evolution at this critical juncture on planet earth. His writings are water in a desert. Inoculations against spiritual delusion. Seeds planted in the heart that awaken the reader to their own depth of wisdom & direct knowing ... You know where to find it. This is a must, required reading for incarnated beings." - Maya Luna (depravedanddivine)

"Richard Power is magnificently depicting the jagged layers of our underworld and the absolute and fucked up perfection of everything. The ugly, disorderly, unforgivable … He shamelessly offers truth. Uncensored … His heart wide open in this book. His knowledge & experience vast, daring & evermore melding into the holy, deep, dark & feral beauty of this world …” - Aurora Rose @aofthisplace

How genuine, honest, authentic and whole ‘I, the Dragon' feels. With all the facets, ebbs, flows, textures and malleability of a human being, with a gift for sharing life and truth in a way that is so relatable. Touching, moving, and inspiring!! Your book is like advice that is neither unsolicited nor unwelcome! It is just magical, intuitive, deep, personal connection." - Jenn Jackson (@lovejennik)

"Reading 'I, The Dragon' I was struck by the tests, trials and tribulations Richard has endured that began as a young child and have woven throughout his life. And I sense the hero’s journey he has lived, learning to rely on his intuition ... To forgive is not to forget. The true hero must undergo a death and resurrection in order to progress. Richard has achieved this multiple times within his life, emerging each time to a higher level of understanding and release. His story is raw and penetrating and touched me at the depth of my being." - Wendy Ellsworth

"Richard Power is a dear friend, soul brother, true blue ally, real-life magician, 21st-century bard, fountain of authentic wisdom, and all-around extraordinary human. I am blessed to have him in my life and now the world is blessed to have his memoirs in the collective consciousness. 'Epic Life' is not an exaggeration! Richard's life and work is a channeled articulation of the most profound Truths about the human experience, conveyed with wit, brilliance, poetry and pathos. I love this man SO MUCH. THANK YOU, dear wizard, from the bottom of my heart, for existing and for delivering this gift to a planet in desperate need …" - Sarah Hendlish

"Into the Sublime. A Must Read." - Terence Smith (@Callmenadu

"’I, the Dragon’ is more than an incredible work of art. Richard Power delivers a personal nakedness never before shown, one that breathes healing into the deepest shadow of torture and survival. A most important work, masterfully written in three styles: porn cult-classic, polished blade of a global security expert and literary philosopher-poet. An undercurrent exists throughout this book, taking us beyond the desolation of his experience. Power never fails to find a way that leads us all into a new green oasis." - Mary Power (@mpowerdance.project

"I, the Dragon is equal parts intimate memoir, zen treatise and firsthand historical document. Across a life filled with both trauma and triumph, Richard Power has traveled the world, witnessed extraordinary things, met an astounding list of fellow travelers and emerged with a story—many stories, many of them remarkable—that is both resonant and beautiful." - Kali Holloway (@kaliholloway

"’I, The Dragon’ is a book of healing. There is vast tenderness in the transformative journey that this hero took upon himself as he embraced his power. The journey & the tenderness are gifts of Great Medicine from a courageous soul. The magic of this unique epic is that it can uplift anyone ..." - @rosalynvintageshop

“No words to describe what your words do to me. Thank you. You changed my life." - Maya Luna (depravedanddivine)

"Summer is almost gone except here in the SF Bay where winter happens in July and summer happens in October. I am thoroughly immersed in "I, the Dragon" this powerful page-turner that chronicles the extraordinary life of the incomparable Richard Power. You will be entertained, you will be dazzled, inspired and magically transformed through these pages." - Courtney Wynn Sheets @eyesofcourtneywynn


San Francisco Theosophical Society Lodge, 2017


"This book has a hypnotic effect that pulls you deeply inward into the most subtle spaces that typically can only be felt versus read, but Richard has the ability to successfully convey these inner landscapes in such a way through word that I gained much personal insight and clarity as a side effect of the read. His personal stories have transpersonal gifts and the tone of mystery painted throughout the book way-showered me into a deep sense of the familiar. This multi-dimensional book led my psyche into an awareness, as if inner doors kept opening into a homecoming of mysterious revelation. On the same note, the aha! moments I received when reading were inspired from the book's great practicality, rawness, and depthful wisdom that is acquired through direct experience, age, and the courage to embrace the full journey of a mystical, inter-dimensional life." - Maalika-Shay DeviDasi

"Reading & re-reading Richard.... what has struck me most strongly about 'I the Dragon' is the beauty of the lyricism in some of the narrative passages... the content is yours (you lived it) yet I, the reader, own the breath, joy & tears that all rise with each turned page .... it's a staggering work of memoir and literature, so much so I want to take this copy to Sligo, place it on W.B's grave stone, photograph it and send it to you...." -- Kevin McLaughlin (@thesolarboutiq)

“With his feet rooted firmly in the earth and his head in the Mysterium, Richard Power has written a dazzling book of great scope and meaning. It is a literary Ouroboros - Power’s extraordinary experiences, confessions, insights, revelations, and epiphanies unite to serve his fearless pursuit of truth and his inspiring vision of the infinite. Having just finished it, I am starting it again." - Susan Gammie

"I'm so moved by your transparency... Your book is a gift. It will help heal many hearts. Including mine." - Kim Amadril (@undertherug)

"Richard Power your words infuse my soul with Musings of the worlds unseen.
I can’t seem to put this book down ..." - Alita Arose (
@alitaarose)

“Truth infusion that feels like time travel through mystical traditions. Richard Power brings these ancient tools to our modern day ground zero so we might remember who we are.” - @RobinGorn 

"This book has rocked my world on so many levels! The story pulled me in and wouldn’t let me go! An amazingly honest, personal account wrapped in revelation, wizardry and mystery. This intensely heroic life is written with poetic mastery ... Inspiring medicine …” - Kate Henke

“‘I, the Dragon’ brought me on a journey into a very profound life. It aligns with anyone searching for their truth in healing & becoming Self. It is honest, deep, & tells a wonderful story of a life well lived. Thank you Mr. Power for your strength, compassion & words.” - @lucienshapiro

"This book ['Secret Engine'] is a treasure for humanity, an experience to be lived, a download of love filled with remarkable insights and visions written by a poet. Richard Power, a modern mystic, is gifting us an unusual yet practical life raft for our times. If I were you, I would reach out and grab it.” - Courtney Wynn Sheets (@eyesofcourtneywynn@outriderart)

"Captivating, riveting. A wild ride of a read. The wisdom of an incredible man whose precious l
ife was recovered from the heart and soul of a young boy." -- Helena Zera (@helenavyana)

 

San Francisco Theosophical Society Lodge, 9/25/15

“What a gift you are to this world.” - Allison Hodge (@kalikscollective)

"This novel has me engrossed. The title alone set me into a completely compelling desire to get absorbed in the secrets of each page. Richard Power your words infuse my soul with Musings of the worlds unseen. I can’t seem to put this book down. Thank you for your honesty, your courage, your truth. I’m honored to know you." -- Alita Arose (@alitaarose)

"Yes, 'I, the Dragon' arrived just in time to begin savoring it in conjunction with blood blue moon. Which as we know is as it had to be. It is remarkable and anchoring and fracturing, all at once. A shard of reality in these illusion-filled times." -- Jennifer Ruth Keller (@aplaceapart)

“The book that I cannot put down and at the same time I have to put down to catch my breath. “The sands are spilling through the hourglass for all of us. There is a finite number of grains. Don't waste your time in this world." - Lalyn Curtis @breathingskyhealingarts

"Your words pierce my heart. Your exquisite words, You vast ocean! So much wisdom - all alchemized within." - Lauren Searles (@loveangelcoach)

"Into the Sublime. A Must Read." - Terence Smith (@Callmenadu)  



Emily Shurr is a gifted poet whose work I have encouraged. Her review of my book is itself a work of utter brilliance:

"A short review of I, THE DRAGON is like a week in Paris. Overwhelmed with beauty and majesty, art and revolution, with just enough squalor to keep it really real, you just have to hit the high points and promise to come back soon ..."

 "It’s ecstatic, it’s bizarre, it’s frantic, it’s tender, it’s like Whitman gone wild ..."

“It takes the form of a complex chronicle … including a historic timeline of world events alternating with deeply personal narratives, often in footnotes that go on for pages. Our story begins with tales of horrific abuse and exquisite transcendence, told in waves and incantations. Statues and stones speak from across aeons, pouring the Presence of Archetypes into author and reader alike ... This is deep and high, this telling. This is a wild, precise, elegant rampage of the Goddess Herself through a single man’s life -- a man who has carried fire for the whole world ..."

"These blessings are unending. Each one contains myriad others. They open into themselves in a fractellating way. So many, so thick, pouring like complex spiced honey, I obviously can’t address them all here. Tackling the nature of Evil, page 395. Obviously a gigantic topic, one which most professional ethicists actually avoid. How to access Grace in no uncertain (deeply uncertain) terms, page 400. A closing Feast with goddesses Grace and Gratitude, guests Anger and Bitterness, the 7 Beasts and the 5 Richards, page 404. Nothing like it in all of literature …”

Full text of "This Eden Does Not Tolerate Cowards -- A Personal/Universal Review of Richard Power’s "I, THE DRAGON" (NSFW)"