What is a terrorist?

Composite Cape Code images: Spring 2013
CC Jean Stimmell

The interesting thing about the following quote by James Hillman is that it was published in 1989 in a book, bringing together a collection of his earlier writings. So the quote comes from much earlier, perhaps the 1960s or 1970s,  Back then, a terrorist was a word little used, appreciated, or understood by Americans; nevertheless, Mr. Hillman was already on the case. Here's the quote:

"A terrorist is the product of our education that says that fantasy is not real, that says aesthetics is just for artists, that says soul is only for priests, imagination is trivial or dangerous and for crazies, and that reality, what we must adapt to, is the external world, a world that is dead. A terrorist is a result of this whole long process of wiping out the psyche."*

*James Hillman, Blue Fire (1989), page 187

Language is not an avenue to truth but a means to bind us into the world

Moines Tibetains Du Monastere De Schechen
Photograph by Matthieu Ricard*

Oral, storytelling cultures wield words in a very different way. For such folk traditions, language is not primarily a tool for getting at or figuring out the world, but more a way of binding oneself into the world.**

*To see more of Matthieu Ricard's amazing photographs or buy one of  his prints see:  http://en.yellowkorner.com/photos/431/moines-tibetains-du-monastere-de-schechen.aspx

** David Abrams from Jung Journal: Culture & Psyche, 7:1, 104-119

The wheel of life rolls on

Wagon Wheel Farm:* 4/22/13
CC Jean Stimmell

Once upon a time, a young man made a smart decision, staking his future on a sturdy new wagon to help transform his fledgling farm into a paradise. But time marches on.

The farmer and farm are now long gone but the old wagon, weathered and worn (next to what is now the town community parking lot) still stands guard: A living testament to the past when times were simple, things were made to last, and you could make a honest living by hitching your wagon to a dream.

*The property was acquired by the town of Durham in 1989 "to preserve its scenic vistas, provide for future municipal purposes and preserve open space."

Dream: Nun in Shining Armor

Nun in Shining Armor: 4/15/13
CC Jean Stimmell

I dreamed last night that I am wandering in a dark cave without beginning or end.  Empty, feeling neither sorrow or joy, I stumble upon what appears to be a statue bathed in light, perhaps a knight in shining armor. But, coming closer, I see a Buddhist nun, tears streaming down her face, cradling her dead baby.  In her grief, she is majestic: fiercer than any warrior, more authentic than the Buddha. 

During my dream I fully aware that I am receiving an important message but, despite my best efforts, I can not pull together the various threads to interpret what it means. Looking back on it in the light of day, I see the nun as my guide, sent to lead me to the gate of real faith: that flesh-and-blood imperative, that ultimate attachment that lifts us out of void and makes us truly human: passion, resiliency, and love.

In Search of Spring

Looking down at Lake Winnipesaukee from top of Mt Major
Photoshop composition: 4/13/13

Despite the clouds and coolness

 – and yet another snow storm –

we all emerged from hibernation

to climb Mt Major today:

older folks walking dogs;

parents carrying infants

or cajoling their kids;

teenagers flying downhill

their sneakers like skis

through the snow.

When, in a sudden magic moment

 the sun burst through the gloom,

we spread our spirits

until we were sails.

Kim Jong-Un & Coyote marking territory

Garden Present: 4/9/13

While our local coyote asks for trouble,
 shitting on our garden mulch pile
 to mark his territory, 
 Kim Jong-Un rattles nukes.

Back to the Future: Daydreaming with Jung

Photo #1:   CC Jean Stimmell
These photographs taken in Kittery Maine: 4/6/13

Daydreaming at Sea Point Beach at low tide,

watching water draining slowly down a gully,

meandering this way and that

yet flowing inescapably to the sea,

brought this thought to mind:

Indeliably engraved into our western minds,

evolution is depicted by two universal images:

either a fish flopping up on land on flimsy fins

to become the first land animal;

or the image of a series of primates,

each, in turn, standing more erect

until the apex which is us.

Why not a third way, I imagined,

a sacred path to a new stage of evolution,

where we humans turn our back on technology

and start marching back to the sea,

becoming less rigid and erect as we go,

until merging once again with our mother.

Photo #2:   CC Jean Stimmell
Close up of Photo #1

Documenting my vision with  Photo #1 of the gully,

I was amazed to spot two human figures in the distance,

hunched over in their journey, heading toward the sea.

 It turns out, they were First Americans,

iron workers brought east to build the new bridge.

They were in awe at their first glimpse of the sea:

Going back to their beginnings

turning over rocks like little children

in search of exquisite treasure.

 

Photo #3:   CC Jean Stimmell
Iron worker displaying  treasure

In summary: what can I say except Jung was right:

There is no such thing as coincidence!