People’s perceptions are limited to the scope of their Life experiences. In our society, sadly enough, many — and I would perhaps go as far as to say that most — people do not truly seek knowledge. They simply look for justifications of pre-conceived notions, notions that have arisen not from free-thinking abstract critical thought, but as a result of psycho-social conditioning …
Well, several concerns about some updates I wrote a few weeks ago have been brought to my attention. The individuals voicing these concerns know me and they have no problem with what I’ve written, but they think that perhaps people who don’t know me might.
Two issues are at hand: 1) That I spoke about Thor’s Hammer, The Mjolnir.
The concern is that supposedly some Neo-Nazi group in Scandinavia uses the Thor’s Hammer symbol. Wow. My first response to that was “so, who cares?!” I mean, I’m very obviously not a Neo-Nazi. A U.S. street gang that I once heard a F.B.I. spokesman describe as “the most vicious, ruthless and murderous gang in America” uses the Star of David/Seal of Solomon as their main symbol. Should we utterly denounce the 6-pointed star because of this? Should I never draw or use a Star of David because the Palestinian people are suffering extreme oppression dished out by those flying the flag of Israel, which has a 6-pointed star on it? Or, should I have an aversion to the 5-pointed star because Israeli civilians are being assaulted by rockets fired by a Muslim militant who may use the symbol?
I thought of these 2 examples because I recently heard about a protest in the U.S. calling for peace in Palestine-Israel organized and attended by both Jews and Muslims. At the protest people were flying both Palestinian and Israeli flags, as symbols of Peace and Unity amongst the 2 countries. (I don’t believe the Palestinian flag has a 5-point star on it, but the flags of some other predominantly Muslim countries do.)
To delve into the Symbolism of the 5 and 6 pointed star would take far too many pages. However, let me just say that both Symbols have existed for thousands of years and they are both Symbols of Unity, Oneness and upliftment of Consciousness. The Mjollnir symbol has existed for thousands of years, signifying Strength and Perserverence in the face of Adversity. I was just reminded that next month, on the 14th of February, the “Feast of Thor” would be held in ancient times by Northern and Central European peoples. Some Odinists/Pagans still celebrate this day. Is it a day to celebrate exterminating Jews, beating gays or lynching black folks?
Why no, the feast is held for the peak of winter. It’s symbolic of Thor using his Hammer to beat back the Frost Giants and the cold and darkness (Winter) that surrounds them. If some Neo-Nazi group in Scandinavia uses the Thor’s Hammer to symbolize beating immigrants out of Sweden, Finland and Norway or whatever-the-hell, that has nothing to do with me! At this point I can’t help but sigh as this thought crosses my mind: Why oh why did Hitler’s Nazi Party have to distort so many beautiful ancient symbols (along with all of the other more seriously sick and depraved things they did? And why oh why (!) are people still doing it today?!
I can go on and on about this but I’ll move on to the next issue:
2) What I wrote about leaving kids in the woods
This concern took a minute for me to grasp … I suppose that for someone who has never been on a farm or ranch, or lived out in the country, the thought of kids going out in the woods by themselves, especially at night, might be terrifying. When I first read about this concern I laughed, thinking “poor, poor city folk — what a strange breed they are!”
I grew up in Houston, the 4th largest city in the U.S. A lot of people don’t realize this, but the majority of the population of Houston is Latino. Yes, check the Census, it’s true. Houston also has the largest Vietnamese population in the U.S. There are many other large groups of people of various ethnicities as well. Although I spent most of my time growing up in Houston I also spent time out in the “country” areas of Texas. I’ve always loved animals so I was never into hunting, but I’ve been around people who love hunting. To some people out in the country, deer hunting season is their favorite time of year.
Children as young as 12 years old go sit in a deer-stand by themselves with a large rifle. They kill a deer and perhaps in a stand a mile away their dad kills a deer. Then, they’ll go back to the ranch house. The 12 year old child will take a knife and slice the deer open and “dress it” — separating the meat from the organs, taking the skin off and cutting off the head. Yes, thousands of little children decapitate deer in Texas each year. That’s what people do in the country — they shoot guns, they hunt animals and skin them. That may seem horrible to people who’ve never lived in or spent time in the country, but that’s quite normal to country folk. The thought of killing and skinning animals does indeed make me cringe and I’m from Texas and have been around hunters and hunting …
Let me get back to the issue I wrote about. At certain ages parents give children certain responsibilities and allow them certain privileges. Let us focus our gaze upon a family in the city of Houston. We’ll be a bit idealistic and say a family of a mother and father and 2 children, 2 boys. At a certain age the parents may allow the older child to “babysit” the younger boy when the parents want to go out to dinner by themselves. Whenever they feel their children are old enough to have them, the parents may give the kids cell phones or personal computers. When the older boy gets his driving permit at 15, 16 or 17 (or whenever) and the parents feel he’s responsible enough, they may let him drive the family car …
Wild boars have killed people before. There are places in Texas where boars are everywhere. A 10 year old kid out in the country might need to go chop down a tree for firewood and he’ll carry a small-gauge shotgun with him he does so, in case he encounters a mean wild boar who is quite upset that his favorite tree is about to be chopped down. Yes city dwellers, gasp in shock — young boys and girls walk around the woods alone with axes and guns all the time in the country.
They also go fishing by themselves not only carrying guns and knives but armed with various hooks, fishing poles and fishing lines.
Out in the country at certain ages parents allow their children certain privileges and bestow upon them certain responsibilities, just like parents do in the city. Being able to go out in the woods alone at night in the country can be a privilege and a responsibility. If a boy wants to go deer hunting he may have to set out to the deer-stand at night and spend the night in the stand and wait for the dawn when deer are most active. Many deer-stands only seat one person and deer-stands are always spaced quite far apart.
Being able to go out alone at night in the country can also be a responsibility. If firewood is needed and a young boy is the only one available to go get it, then he can’t be afraid to go out at night alone. Out at the ranch, before the ranch house was built there was only a 1-room cabin with no indoor plumbing. We had to use an outhouse that was around the corner from the cabin. I remember times when I was really young and me and my cousin (who is my same age) would wake my uncle and/or grandpa up in the middle of the night because we had to go pee and we were scared to go out alone. There came a time when we very simply had to go out in the pitch black darkness of night, in the middle of the woods by ourselves. Leaving a boy in a deer-stand over night is a very common thing out in the country. I think age 12 or 13 is probably when most kids would first do this. Poor, poor feeble-city dwellers please my good friends, don’t faint when I say this, but children in Texas might go fishing by themselves as early as 8 or 9 years old!
A’ight, I’ll go ahead and close off for now. I think I’ll perhaps read some prose from ancient Hebrew Gnostic scriptures, look at some Arabesque art, cast some runes, chant some Sanskrit mantras while doing yoga, send some good vibes of Solidarity to those organizing against prop-8 in Cali and protesting for Peace in Palestine-Israel, think of ways to harvest the fervor for change Obama has brought about in order to advance the grassroots Social Justice Movement and propel the Obama administration to dramatically change U.S. foreign and domestic policy, and laugh gleefully at the thought of anyone having a problem with it!
Muuwhaahahaaaa!! …!
Umwälzung!
Rob
*The tone of this update is a bit sarcastically funny, but I very seriously do want any and all questions, thoughts, or suggestions concerning what I write.
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