Alice in Wonderland Trailer #2.

I will absolutely see the 3D version of this one. To do otherwise would probably be missing half the fun and fantasy!!

The Color Green.

Ever since I can remember green has been my favorite color. It is soothing yet strong but not forceful. It is obviously the color of nature, life, health and rejuvenation. It is a color for humans for, which we are reliant upon for life, medicine and shelter just to name a few benefits from green. It is a color of growth and rebirth. The word green is similar to the old English verb, growan, "to grow." Some of Earth's greatest spiritual beings have had their deepest connections, experiences and insights from within the sacred spaces of nature. It is a warm color in that it fuels energy to grow but also cool in that refreshes the sensitive eyes and mind. When I have a strong presence of green in my life it calms me and makes me feel at peace with my surroundings. It is the color of wisdom in my view as it represents Earth's oldest secrets and knowledge as found in the vast natural environment. Some of the oldest organisms on Earth are trees. They hold the living history of planet Earth in their green flesh. They are nature's great libraries. It is also a symbol of fertility and thus green can elicit a strong, sensual feeling in some -- like myself, for one. :)

The Way of the Hermit.

The world is spinning out of control faster and faster with each passing day. Narcissism is rampant and sociopaths seem to reproduce with all the speed of aggressive and tenacious cancer cells. Embracing harmony, co-operation, kindness, sharing and compromise use to be the currency of sanity but now these traits are considered "weak" and "naive." It is a world I no longer recognize but instead feels like a parallel dimension, which embraces the opposite of what we use to consider appropriate and beneficial behavior. I have invested a lot of time and energy into politics over the past 15 years to do my part in trying to restore sanity to this world. This took the form of fighting the conservatives in nearly every venue. So naturally I supported the Democratic Party here in America as the only viable alternative. I had high hopes that I was on the right "team" and put my complete trust in them.

They have been in the minority for most of those 15 years and thus I assumed once they regained power that they would move quickly to effect change. Especially given that's what that fraud Barack Obama pumped us with for two years during the campaign. Imagine my surprise and disgust, however, when I realized that they were ineffectual leaders who couldn't even agree amongst themselves let alone change the status quo of self-destruction, which has been the direct consequence of 30 years of conservative rule and brainwashing of America. I was patient for months with the Democrats as they worked to fulfill the promises they made to a country desperate for help. Then came this health care battle and seeing how disastrously they've handle that has snapped my will to defend them any longer. I am done with their ineptitude and corruption -- and the conservatives are straight out sociopaths. Thus, I'm embracing the Green Party and European style government. So am I increasingly dropping out of the institutions of this bizarre existence and cutting my ties with society one by one.

That void is being filled by nature, which is the last barrier to total world destruction and eradication of humanity. As it is right now, we live in our own filth due to over-consumption and are destroying the only home we have--Earth. Thus, we are like parasites who suck the life force out of their host (Earth) before moving onto the next victim except there is no where else to go but the way of the dinosaurs. As a consequence I find much of humanity to be infected with insanity and as destructive and brain dead as zombies. Therefore I retreat further into the cave that is my home; surrounded by an artificial rain forest of plants. I am a happily reclusive being who embraces the simple, solitary life of a hermit because if I try to stay too much apart of society I will lose my mind. It is better for myself and everyone else that I avoid most people.

My day-dreams usually consist of various ways to be a hermit such as: Monk-hood at a far-flung Buddhist monastery, building a cabin tucked away in the deep bowels of a dark and inaccessible forest or wandering the Earth with nothing but a robe, a bowl for food and a walking staff. I want to return to the life of my ancestors -- a simpler life of balance and freedom from the traps of modernity. I want to grow a beard down to my waist in protest of societies rigid, soul strangling "rules." I have tried playing by societies rules for 34 years and it has left me drained of hope for a better society and drained of tolerance of year after year of failure upon failure of society to get its shit together -- even a little bit. I haven't asked for complete utopia in the least but American society can't even seem to handle basic progress.

In just about every way my nature is one that falls outside what rigid, American society tolerates. It's not even that I try to be someone who is on the fringe of society on purpose but it has just shaken out that way. The majority of America is Christian -- I'm a Buddhist with a Pagan streak. I have a brain disorder (schizoaffective) and America as a whole doesn't accept such illnesses as real. Or they accept them as real but reject us as "defective" and worthy of shunning. Liberalism runs in my veins yet I live in a country dominated by not just conservatives but conservative extremists. I'm bi-curious in a world that demands nothing less than straight, neanderthal manhood. I'm college educated living in a country that despises intellectualism and an environmentalist in a place that worships oil and denies global warming. Why should I continue to embrace and support a society that rejects everything that makes up who I am? One day I'll disappear into the mysteries of the mountains like a lynx and be gone.

PHOTO CREDIT: Shut up and whisper

I Went to the Woods.

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.

~Henry David Thoreau

Green Man: We have tamed our earthy ancestral roots with the rope of a neck tie and the apron ties of a house wife. Our inner connection with nature has been buried by layer after layer of materialistic pursuits. We have traded the protective, giving and sacred labyrinth of nature for the cold, gray, polluted concrete jungle, which are our cities. We have destroyed much of nature including the recent guardians of them -- the First Nation Americans. Still, there are some of us who heed the call of the wild, pick up the tradition from the First Nation people and seek out the untamed pockets of the natural world so that we might always remember our true source of life. I was lucky to have been born and raised not a few miles from the great, untamed Rocky Mountains and spent just as much time wandering through the great pine forests as I did the barren concrete side walks of "progress." I know the sounds, smells and instincts of the wilderness like I know my own neighborhood.



I am a child of the woods and thus guardian of these sacred spaces. Especially a spot so remote into the high mountains and dense pine stands that in 14 years of backpacking to it I can count on one hand the amount of other people I've seen up there. It is a hallowed place, which has become a place that our family cherishes deeply. It is an oasis of untamed land where moose and large herds of elk and deer roam freely. They have been under protective status in this area for so long they seem right at home sharing the land with us. I have had the humbling honor of moose walking by our camp within 10 yards or so. We come to an understanding especially with the moose who are the animals that most frequent our divine alpine lake. When they look at me I avert my eyes slightly so as not to be confrontational but in that shared moment an understanding is reached to respect each other's space and right to enjoy the land. For all are but guests when visiting the wilderness.



It saddens me that many people including children have not even seen a cow let alone some of the most raw, natural wonders of this divine planet we share with all expressions of existence be it animal, plant or rock. It is with that knowledge that I recognize my fortuitous circumstances to be able to live in such an area like Colorado, which is one of the last truly untamed places left in America. As I've said the woods have been my companion and guide since I was a child and even still after all these years of visiting I learn knew lessons each time I enter their inner sanctuaries.



There is an immediate change that occurs when you take that first step to engulf yourself in a forest. Things get instantly much quieter as if in reverence to the natural temple that is a forest. So that when something does sound like a bird call it becomes much more than a simple bird call that we might not even be aware of down in the city. Yet in the holy places of nature these sounds might as well be trumpets from the descent onto Earth of an almighty god. It is because of this palpable feeling of reverance that inspires me to ask permission every time we enter these places and upon leaving offer up gratitude for the gifts, lessons and protection granted us.



So indeed Thoreau touched on something powerful about nature, which gives meaning and a sense of being alive. Thus, a person who has not fully experienced nature in all it's glory has not truly lived. It is therefore my hope that all men and women can respond to the call from Mother Nature to return home again and be healed. Embrace her with open arms and feel whole once more. If I had money I would set up a program to enable kids and young adults from inner cities to come and experience the awesomeness of pure nature. I want them to see that there is a world that is ten times more amazing than any video game.

PHOTO CREDIT: Stunning, mysterious and beautiful picture by D L Ennis. I highly recommend looking at the rest of his pictures because he is an amazing photographer. Click here to view this picture and many others.

-Not All Who Wander Are Lost-

Independent Pagan.

I have noticed a trend in American religious thought that many are leaving the cold, rigid religious boundaries of the past as we emerge from the cocoon of a puritanical society. The trend seems to be one of reclaiming one's independence and freedom to tailor one's philosophy/religion/belief system to what feels right for them. It is in that light from which I write out this declaration of what Paganism means to me. It's long but I hope you find it interesting.

It is but one branch, however, to my overall tree of beliefs, which also include Buddhism, Taoism, Hindu Mysticism, a bit of the Occult and Secular Humanism. I am writing this out mostly for my benefit as I explore what I believe as far as my Pagan side expresses. If anyone finds it useful or interesting then I'm happy to have aided you in some way:

I am of Scottish and Norwegian descent. My last name is an old Scottish one, which is also the name of a small fishing village not far off the northern, Scottish, Shetland islands on the far eastern coast of Norway. As my parents are Mormon they are very into family genealogy and figure that my Scottish ancestors were originally Norse Vikings who migrated to northern Scotland. Thus the fiery orange red beard I wear. I say all of this to say that the foundation of my Pagan philosophy is a mix of ancient Celtic, Gaelic and Norse pagan practices/beliefs. I'm also very atheistic so I am not one of those Pagans who believe in spells, praying to gods or worshiping other mythical beings. I enjoy them as aspects within myself represented in a very easy to understand and absorb fashion in visual images. That is why I connect so well to altars and images of gods as visual information is my best way of processing things. They are symbols to me of what I seek to embody, strive for and avoid.

I collect objects important to me, which I place upon my altar not because I believe they have any magical power but because they mean something meaningful to me. So to see all these personally sacred objects collected and positioned altogether, with care, is inspirational and visually very pleasing and thus calming to me. My therapist speaks of balancing my scales as I am a very pessimistic and cynical being. It's a weakness of mine I struggle with daily. So basically my scales are totally lopsided with negative stuff weighing the scale down to one side. One reason for my constant low level of depression and feelings of hopelessness come from not having enough positive things that bring my scale into more balance. So since I have realized that seeing all these images, (such as the ones on this blog, in my house and on my altar) bring me happiness, empowerment and peace I am embracing it.

Animism is another important facet to my independent Pagan philosophy as I spent two life changing years in Cote D'Ivoire, West Africa where I came into contact with the belief system. It is one that believes all things have a "life force" or "energy" within it that connects all things together in an interdependent web of existence. Rocks, plants, waterfalls, rivers, mountains, springs, trees, dirt, rain, etc. This blends nicely into my Buddhist, Taoist and general pagan beliefs. Traditional Animism believes these things such as objects or wooden statues represent spirits, which if given the right things will bless or curse you or others. However, again being atheistic I use my objects and locations as symbols of people and places that I cherish deeply.

These memories are more easily and more powerfully activated for me by visual representations, which I place on my Animist altar. The objects also represent my hopes and aspirations, which when contemplated upon bring about a feeling of peace and contentment. Some things I place upon either of my three altars without really knowing why -- just that they catch my attention and fascinate me. My altars are like moving art -- they are alive and a moving, ever evolving sacred space. I change things around based on the seasons, my mood, my intentions or just for a change. I often don't ask why I should put something where I place it but rather follow my intuition that it is meant to be there. If it's pleasing to the eye that is often enough for me to find it meaningful. Sometimes we ask too many questions and seek too much for reasons for doing things. This life is often about letting go and just following the flow of energy and see where it takes us.

The final aspect of my Pagan philosophy right now is that of Shamanism, which involves a Shaman acting as intermediary between the spirit world and the human realm. I don't believe in spirits much but I do believe that all things have an energy that could involve electromagnetic waves, which pulse throughout all objects and beings. Those waves would seem to affect and connect with the electrical behavior of our brain. It isn't the same as traditional electricity but in both cases they involved pules of energy radiating through a network of circuits. Plus, Earth has it's own magnetic field that is pulsing throughout everything that resides upon it. This would all explain why some places and people have a stronger pull to them than others such as the north and south poles, etc. However, I am severely digressing from discussing my interpretation and practice of Shamanism.

One of the other important aspects to Shamanism is connecting with, watching, learning from being guided by the animal kingdom. Animals have always been attracted to me, especially cats. Where ever we move there are always cats that seek us out. We have saved so many strays over the years. At this one place we lived there was this cat that would come and hang out with me on our porch. He would sit on the post of the railing and I would sit on the stairs and we'd just sit and absorbs the sights, sound and smells of nature together. I am very cat like with excellent reflexes, acute senses, strong spirit of independence and a creature of the night. So cat like animals are especially totem guides to me as well as hawks/eagles/owls but I find inspiration in all critters. I see them in part as omens. For example, I was about to head off to a weekend in Las Vegas (we all know what THAT means) but while we were waiting on the airplane they told us the previous flight that this plane had just landed from was being cleaned because it sucked a red-tail hawk into the engine!! I was horrorfied as the red-tail in particular is a favorite animal totem of mine as we both have red spots (it feathers and me my beard). So, well, the rest of that weekend in Vegas turned out of be one of the worst three days of my life. I should have known.

The other part of Shamanism that I have adopted is the role of healer. Since I was a young adult I've always taken an interest in plants and use to chew on mint leaves from my neighbors garden. Then one of my first and longest jobs was working at a vitamin and herb company selling it too people who would call in to place orders. I got to know what vitamins and herbs did what for a person's health. I have committed many of the herb books to heart and am that guy who is always suggesting herbs and natural remedies for common illnesses like colds, stomach ailments and the like. This includes psychoactive substances such as cannabis and magic mushrooms to explore the depths of consciousness. Well, I think that's enough for now.

~Be well~

Joseph Smith and Book of Mormon Place Names.

As many of your know by know I was raised Mormon and spent 22 years of my 34 years loyally devoted to that religion. I left in large part due to my curious nature, thirst for knowledge and skill at researching, (thanks to my history degree). There are many questionable aspects of Mormonism, (otherwise known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints or LDS) but I'm only going to focus on one in this post. It involves place and personal names found in the Book of Mormon.

I have read the book 5 times (three in French and two in English) and practically have it memorized. My French copy of the book is highlighted everywhere with notes scribbled around the edges of the pages. In addition, I have done countless hours of research into both the Mormon church and the Book of Mormon. Having grown up LDS I'm practically an expert on Mormonism and Mormon culture.

So, one of the first names you come across when reading the BoM (Book of Mormon) is that of Lehi who is one of the main characters in the book. He a man who supposedly led his family and others out of Jerusalem to sail to the Americas. Well, it just so happens that not very far down the road from where Joseph Smith lived and "translated" the BoM is an area of Pennsylvania known as the, "Lehigh Valley." Strange coincidence don't you think? Smith spent a lot of time wandering around Pennsylvania working as a, "glass looker" which entailed him looking at "Seer stones" at the bottom of a hat to locate, "treasure." This is the method he used to "translate" the BoM. Then there is the town of Alma, New York and it sits on the border with Pennsylvania and New York. Alma is another main character in the BoM. New York is another state Smith knew well as he spent much of his growing up years in the upper west side of the state. This next part is quoted from one Vernal Holley who wrote a book called, "Book of Mormon Authorship: A Closer Look." Below is a map of BoM places names on them. Following that is a map showing the same map but with real places on them that are very similar if not identical to names in the BoM:Throughout the Book of Mormon we read of such features as "The Narrow Neck of Land" which was a days and a half's journey (roughly 30 miles) separating two great seas. We read much of the Hill Onidah, the Hill Ramah, and the city of the City of Angola—all place names in the land of Joseph Smith's youth. We read, in the Book of Mormon of the Land of Desolation named for a warrior named Teancum who helped General Moroni fight in the Land of Desolation. In Smith's era, an Indian Chief named Tecumseh fought and died near the narrow neck of land helping the British in the War of 1812. Today the Canadian city Techumseh (near the narrow neck of land) is named after him. We see the Book of Mormon city Kishkumen located near an area named, on modern maps, as Kiskiminetas. Canadian locations are marked with an asterisk and appear in the Book of Mormon as lying in "The Land Northward" I'm going to list the real location first and the BoM (Book of Mormon) location next to it in green and in parentheses. Each name entry will be separated with a dash mark "-". Study them carefully to see how similar they are:

-*Agathe, Saint [Canada] (BoM name, Ogath) - Alma, PA (BoM name, Alma) - Angola, New York (BoM name, Angola) - Antrim, PA near town where Smith "translated" the book (BoM name, Antum) - Antioch, OH [Located on the border between PA and OH] (BofM name, Anti-Anti-) - Boaz, Biblical name (BoM name, Boaz) - *Conner (BoM name, Comner) - *Ephrem, Saint, Canada (BoM name, Ephraim Hill) - Hellam (BoM name, Helam) - Jacobsburg (BoM name, Jacobugath) - Jerusalem (BoM name, Jerusalem) - Jordan (BoM name, Jordan) - Kishkiminetas (BoM name, Kishkumen) - Lehigh (BoM name, Lehi) - Mantua (BoM name, Manti) - Monroe, NY and PA (BoM name, Moroni) - Minoa, NY (BoM name, Minon) - *Moraviantown, Canada (BoM name, Morianton) - *Morin, Canada (BoM name, Moron) - Noah Lakes (BoM name, Noah, Land of) - Oneida, NY (BoM name, Onidah) - Oneida Castle, NY (BoM name, Onidah Hill) - Omer, MI (BoM, Omner) - *Rama, Canada (BoM name, Ramah) - *Ripple Lake, Canada (BoM name, Ripliancum, Waters of) - Sodom, NY (BoM name, Sidom) - Shiloh, PA (BoM name, Shilom) -Land of Midian, Middle East (BoM name, Land of Midian) - *Tecumseh/Tenecum, Canada (BoM name, Teancum).

Green Man: Some Mormons might say that the similarity just means that the ancient Mormon place names were kept by the white settlers to come later. However, many of the real location names are European in origin such as Conner, Jacobsburg, Monroe, etc. I also find it interesting that most of these locations were around places that Joseph Smith knew well, which were surely on any map available during that time. The Book of Mormon might have some good lessons in it for society and how to be a better person but it's not divinely inspired by some "God." Joseph Smith is just another in a long line of American charlatans. He started this religion in a time when there was much religious fervor in the area. There were countless preachers roaming the New England area preaching that they had the right answer and spoke of visions, newly reveled scriptures, etc. It seems to me that Smith, (being a simple person) wanted in on the high profile position of being a preacher and being the creator of an entire new religion is even better!! Why just be another preacher of the same old Christianity when you can attract a lot MORE attention by making up your own?!! You can probably start to see by now why I left that cult-like religion.

-Be Well-

I'm Reclaiming the Pagan Wreath from Christians.

One thing I do to help remind me that life will return despite the freezing depths of winter is by bringing a wreath into the house. It is a nice splash of green life amidst all the lifeless snow and the scent of pine is so relaxing and invigorating. I choose wreaths in part because Christmas trees have become synonymous with Christianity. And while wreaths are still used by Christians they seem less polluted by Christian tradition. I want to reclaim the wreath for Pagans. I know that part of these Christian Christmas traditions were stolen from the Pagans to assimilate Pagans into Christianity but that makes me wonder even more about the supposed "peaceful message" of Christianity. They sure don't like it when someone mocks their traditions but it's o.k. to maintain the Christian mockery of Pagan, yule-tide celebrations by stealing our symbols and supplanting the Pagan meanings behind them with Christian ones?

No, I'm done with sharing. So I'm reclaiming the wreath, the "Christmas tree" and all the other Pagan traditions that Christians enjoy but probably have no idea of their origin. Imagine the outrage they'd feel if we took the cross and said it was now a symbol of Pagan resistance to Christianity as carried out by the Romans. They'd be furious and rightly so but they don't give a shit about stealing someone else's traditions. You'd think they'd want to purge those elements from their supposed, "pure" religion like some have tried to do recently with Halloween celebrations, which stem from the fall, Pagan celebration of Samhain. What these Christians don't realize is that they'd not have much left to celebrate the season except the cross and the manger. They love to have it both ways -- They don't want anyone to call this holiday season anything but Christmas but they'll keep using Pagan oriented traditions? Then again, since when did many (not all but many) Christians worry about double standards?

Plus the circle represents the cycle of life, death and rebirth -- rebirth being a the key to emotional survival in the winter months. The empty hole in the center of a wreath reminds me of all that is yet to be known such as the great mysteries of our existence. It is also a symbol of our homes (the center space in the wreath) being surrounded and protected from the elements by nature such as big pine trees that withstand and blowing winter winds. I have considered ordering a wreath made specifically for Pagans but we'll probably just get one at the grocery store because of a tight budget. We, like a lot of people don't have a lot of money to spend this time of year.

~Be well~