Sunday, November 30, 2014

Turban to Turban II

Big fun last night in Mt View as Warren Peace opened with his canine poetry for another turban to turban match up with the Swami From New Jersey and Swami Beyondananda (along with a surprise appearance by the feathered pundit Glenn Beak of Fax News).



Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Micro-books


I am always coming with ideas for books, complete with titles and cover concepts. The problem is I would have to live on Red Bull and no sleep to actually write them all. Today it happened again.

While pondering the homicidal rage of ISIS and other extreme Muslim groups my mind wandered off into Christianity. There I found the bloody crusades, the Inquisition and the Salem witch burnings. And of course we have recently seen our Jewish brethren bombing the hell out of school children in Gaza.

All this got me thinking about the role of religious dogma in the manifestation of slaughter. Coming from a Christian background I think back to early days in church. The only concrete memory I have is the weekly singing of "Onward Christian soldier...marching as to war....with the cross of Jesus...marching on before..." Now there's a set up.

The Hopi Prophesy foretold of the return of the White Corn People. It was said that they would have taken the Hopi symbol apart. The Hopi symbol entails a cross within a circle. The spokes of the cross represent the out-flowing energy of the male while the surrounding circle represents the containing energy of the female. When the conquistadors came marching across the desert for the first time with their swords and muskets a padre led the way, holding a standard cross (without the circle around it). I can only imagine the abject horror back on Oraibi Mesa when the scout made his report. Big trouble coming, of a Christian kind.

A few years ago I read about an incident in Mexico where someone had stolen money from the church. The thief was apprehended by a local mob and beaten to death as the police struggled unsuccessfully to intervene. When the crowd dispersed the dead body hung from the church fence alongside candles and crucifixes. Mind you, this is the Roman Catholic Church we're talking about. It got me to thinking about the Roman part. In many ways it seems like we have been modeling the behavior of the Romans as much, or more, than that of Jesus.

The violent accounts of current Muslim extremist groups does not need further mention. It speaks for itself. And I know many Jews are appalled by the behavior of the government of Israel. I am left to create the next cover for the next book I will probably never write.

However, I may eventually accumulate enough of these book covers to create a book of book covers. Perhaps later down the line, long after I'm gone, some ambitious writers will come along and fill them in. Until then....