The Scared Well

We recently made a video of our local sacred well, Coventy Well, on the Torrington Commons.

Torrington Cavaliers set the castle on fire!

The Green Man

The Green Man story represents a return to nature. I have created my own version of the story based on one told to me by a storyteller, as is normal in the oral story telling community. Feel free to take the main points of this tale and use them to create your own Green Man story. 

It was a long an arduous journey across very difficult terrain. On horseback I travelled many miles in the searing heat of the summer sun and to cut my journey short decided to travel through the great forest. There were many myths about this forest and most people avoid it, fearing that they may become lost or pixie led. It was however the quickest route and would cut down my travel time by a whole day. So it was with some trepidation and some excitement I drew into the forest along a small track.

The track seemed to be well travelled at first, but quickly became quite overgrown. I began to doubt whether or not to proceed, but decided not to turn back. It was nearing noon and the sun was radiating with its full midsummer heat. I had travelled a long way and was thirsty and hot. My clothes clung to me with sweat and even my horse was beginning to flag. After some time to my delight I found a river. This river was flowing with fresh water and had luscious vegetation growing along its banks. I guided my horse downstream until I found a wonderful pool of water next to a cascading waterfall. At last I could rest!

I tied my horse to a tree by the river and we both drank greedily from the fresh water we had so fortuitously found. It was the middle of nowhere, so I decided to strip off completely, peeling off my sticky clothes and putting them on the riverbank to dry off in the sun. With joy I jumped in the pool and swam, rejoicing in the cool water. I decided to explore a little and swam over to the waterfall, which was very loud and beautiful. I stood under the falls loosing myself in the moment, feeling the joy of the crystal clear water cascading over my tired body. Wandering by the green bank I foraged for some edible mushrooms, wild and tasty. I sat and watched the river, resting my weary body on the grassy bank. The sun was not so high in the sky, so I thought it was time to return to my journey and thanked the river for its refreshment.

As I returned to the pool I was shocked to see no sign of my horse or my clothes. I searched around for a while, thinking I must be lost. Frantically I ran through the forest searching, but to no avail. All I managed to achieve was to get lost, totally. It was now late afternoon and I was in the middle of the great forest, I was tired and frightened and lay naked against a tree.

I must have dozed for a good while, because when I came too it was dusk. The forest became eerie and I was aware of the seriousness of my predicament. I foraged around finding some wild berries to snack on and a few edible mushrooms. I found shelter in a small cave and after the initial shock became resigned to my fate. Perhaps someone would find me.

The next day was beautiful, I felt rejuvenated after spending a night in the forest. There was a slight mist in the trees and my belly told me it was time to find food and water. I spent that morning finding my bearings and by the afternoon could hear the rushing of the river. I ran towards it and jumped in, greedily drinking the fresh water. I also found plenty of food to forage on the banks and sighed in relief, I could survive.

 

For the next few weeks I stayed close to the river and made a shelter out of branches and leaves. It was simple, but joyful. I found as time went on that the wildlife approached me and accepted me into their home. My friends became the hawk and the deer and I even managed to communicate with them in a primitive way.

Summer did not last long. It was getting colder and colder by the day, the water almost too cold to swim in. My shelter did not seem up to the task of keeping me warm, so I ventured to the cave I found all those weeks ago. Life became more difficult, most of my time was spent foraging for food or walking to and from the river. The days became shorter and colder. The food became scarcer and I began to worry about the onset of winter.

To keep warm I took one last swim in the river and then rolled in the mud, caking my entire body. I found some fallen leaves, as it was now well into autumn, and rolled in them. The sun had enough heat left in it to dry me. I became clothed in the forest and it kept me a little warmer. I gathered leaves for my bed and lived like a wild man.

As food became even more scarce I began to get hungry, eating only a handful of berries each day. I was cold and weak and could not manage my trips backward and forward to the river. I collapsed outside the cave and waited for nature to take me. Then something miraculous happened. A wolf bitch and her cubs had taken residence in a nearby cave and the wolf had become an uneasy friend as we co-existed. The wolf took it on to herself not only to feed her cubs, but to feed me too. I stayed in the cave with the small family for warmth and was brought rabbit, birds, rodents and other small creatures. I slowly regained my strength and watched as the forest became white with snow.

The snow provided me with a source of water and the wolf continued to feed me throughout the winter. I learned to communicate with her using growls and grunts and when the snow had cleared ventured out into the forest again. It was now spring and the sun was beginning to have warmth. I could find mushrooms and as time went on, berries and fruit. Having spent three seasons in this forest I decided I now had my best chance of finding my way back to civilisation.

I journeyed further and further into the forest until one day found a settlement at the edge. I did not want to approach, as I was still clothed in mud and leaves. I feared that they would imprison me. Then, one day, I heard the crying of a little girl, many miles into the forest. I recognised her as one of the people from the settlement and approached her carefully. She was frightened at first, but I won her trust by offering her some wild berries. I led her out of the forest and to the settlement. I often wonder if those people developed a myth about a wild man living in the forest that rescued their child, as from then on they left food offerings at the forest edge. I took them gratefully, cooked food once again was wonderful!

I lived close to the settlement for some time and it drew into summer. The sun was hot again. I decided to venture back to the river and bath in the magical pool by the waterfall. To my amazement there was somebody else swimming. A naked man, a weary traveller. As I got closer I found that he had left his horse tied to a tree and his clothes out to dry, just as I had, all that time ago. I silently put on his clothes and stealthily untied his horse and led it onto the path. When I was clear I rode off, the next green man had arrived to take my place!

 

Galaxy Merger

Here is a picture of one of my favorite galaxies that I have classifed as a Galaxy Zoo user. It looks like a merger of two spiral galaxies. Galaxy Zoo is a way for members of the public to contribute to science by helping to classify galaxies.

SDSS 587748929235452103

Bridge over troubled water

Astoria Scum River Bridge from Jason Eppink on Vimeo.

Sacred Transsexuals embraced in enlightened tribal cultures.

Tribal cultures are much more enlightened with their approach to bigender and transgendered individuals. In Lakota culture the two-souled shaman, or Winyanktehca, is highly revered and occupies a special place in tribal society. In native Aboriginal Australian culture, the Sistergirls or yimpininni are accepted by the tribe and take a more traditional female role.

The Winkte of Lakota Culture- 

revered as a transsexual shamanka

“Sistergirls have specific roles and responsibilities in communities, mainly to do with the raising of children, looking after the home and the elderly, and at feasts and celebrations they’re usually in the thick of it with cooking and decorating.

“It’s usually considered women’s work, but sistergirls are usually valued in these roles for their flair and expertise.”

In the Tiwi Islands Sistergirls make up 4% of the population. From the Berdache people of the Native American culture to the Fa’afafine of Polynesia, transsexual and bigendered individuals often have a special place in tribal cultures.

Transsexuals are embraced by tribal cultures

In western Judeo-christian society, no such status exists and trans individuals are treated as at best mentally ill or at worst an abomination. How much better would life be if we all returned to our tribal roots- sacred nudity, total body acceptance, living in harmony with nature and a society based on mutual respect and integrity. It sounds to me that we have not been making ‘progress’ but have been the unwitting stooges of global control through the illusionary person.

Farming Humans

A maggot like race of beings is farming human kind, indeed the whole planet, for their preferred food source- negative emotions. These beings are naturally occurring ‘decomposers’ and their actual role is to recycle negative emotions and energy, a little like maggots recycle dead flesh.

These beings work through deception and conditioning. They may be no more than maggots, but when a human is disconnected from their soul, using the veil, they appear to be very powerful. These beings are known by many terms, demons, illuminate, etc, and work primarily on a rational level. They are present on the astral plane, but can control individual people totally. They have infiltrated the media and governments, and exert control over people and keep them in a state of hopeless negativity.

 

The veil mentioned above, is the artificially created veil between the worlds. It was created using alchemy. We are not supposed to live such short lives, searching for meaning, addicted to materialism. We are powerful, almost immortal spiritual beings, who have been fenced in by the veil. This device cuts us off from the spiritual reality, our true selves and our power. It makes it appear that there is no more to life than the physical and that once someone has passed over, that they are lost. Enlightenment is a natural state reached when an individual punches a hole through the veil and connects with their real power and spirit. In the coming years the entire veil will be destroyed and people will suddenly realise their true nature.

Just got a new PC

Just got a new PC, so have been a bit quiet on the posting front while all the usual teething problems are sorted out!  Things we liked on Windows Media Player




Also check out this video Crane Country

Scoof and Goose

Return to the Trees

The Naked Priestess: A Vision of the Future

A woman approaches a blue extraterrestrial craft. She is a priestess of the Tribe of the Phoenix and is about to meet an etheric being from across the galaxy. This being is one of her spirit guides and brings much love and wisdom to the new Earth.

Over the years she has developed her subtle senses enough to perceive this craft and the being inside. These craft have been with humanity since their genesis and always watch over. In dense times, such as we are currently living, such craft are only seen as brief glimpses by those momentarily sensitive to subtle energies. They are discounted by scientists and are regarded as a fringe phenomenon. They are described as UFOs, flying saucers, balls of light, fairies, spirits and ghosts. They exist on a level of reality that few can experience during our current order, but all will experience after the elevation of consciousness.

In the time of the priestess, people will be able to see these subtle phenomena as easily as we see physical structures. They will interact on a level of love at a day to day level with these beings. Some will develop their senses enough to board the craft and be taken on magnificent journeys across the universe. They will be able to elevate their cellular and thought vibrations to such a level as to become transparent to people of our current time, as if ghosts. They will then see these beings and craft as solid and interact with them accordingly.

They will use their minds to control the craft and travel in time and space in the subtle dimensions. They may be visiting us here even now, but only a few will have the subtle sight to see them. Most will perceive only a flicker or a hint of colour out of the corners of their eyes, or perhaps the feeling of a slight breath, or the gentlest of touches. Such beings are regarded as angels in our time, but are really just our descendants. Some people alive today may be able to exist at this level.

The woman was naked, and this is a key to her subtle existence. She is in harmony with nature and connects fully to the natural forces. Clothing binds us to a dense existence, it blocks our subtle energy bodies and it places a barrier between us and the world, and each other. We live in dense times, obsessed with time and rules and desensitisation. We eat heavy food, listen to loud music, are bombarded by images and bright colours, and at the same time are insulated from feeling the sun on our skin or the moss beneath our feet. She is naked to be in total union with her surroundings. She is an advanced being of great intelligence and wisdom. Her tribal living is not retrograde, but the height of subtlety.

Technology for our priestess is based on thought and direct manifestation. She lives a life of simple pleasures and as such is extremely sensitive. She can sense the pain of a daisy being picked, she can feel every blade of grass beneath her feet, every droplet of dew on her skin. For her to be clothed would be for us to wear full body armour. Everything in her world would seem like soap bubbles to us, but is more resilient than the strongest of our buildings.

This meeting is one met with joy. Under a blanket of stars she greets her guide and friend. After a brief meditation calling down the subtle powers of the nebulae and galaxies, she is ready to board the blue craft. As she does so she feels a rush of air and a sense of peace. Being in the craft is like being in a bubble bath or luxuriating on soft silk sheets. Taking her time to meditate with the crystalline energies, she holds the key to her third eye. The craft responds by gently lifting-off, like a feather on the breeze. It rises into space and she looks down upon Gaia, her home. The sunlight shines through the craft, it is like being in a giant bubble. Her energies are too subtle to be harmed by radiation or solar winds, but she does feel the gentle caress of the particle stream.

The craft moves swiftly on, past the Moon and deep into space. The energies rise in vibration until the craft seems to disappear totally. It has entered a higher state, that of the etheric realm. Together with her guide, she pilots the craft through a sea of energy. Travelling across time and space until she reaches the shores of a beautiful planet. This planet is in orbit around a giant blue sun.

She lands the craft on a beach and slowly it crystallises into more solid form. Together they leave the craft and use energy techniques to ground themselves and to solidify their forms. This is not astral travel, but the next level beyond. It is travel in mind, body and spirit. She is totally present and her physical body can solidify as much as our own.

She walks along the sandy beach and reaches a settlement. There she meets others like herself, that is physical beings. They take many forms and are from across the galaxy. This is the galactic council and she is the Gaia representative. This may sound fantastical, but it has been done before. In Lemurian times beings travelled from the Pleiades to Earth in such a fashion. By Atlantean times they had begun to loose this ability and by our time it seems like pure fantasy. But these abilities are becoming manifest. There has always been a few who could do this. The difference is that in the time of our priestess, everybody can.

The council meet to help steer Earth towards the ascension of consciousness. They are meeting in the future, but their decisions will affect us now. We will only know their guidance through meditation and think of them as angels or guides. The council will meet and act as evidenced by their presence now. The time is right for humanity to ascend.

Do your clothes control your mind?

In a sense they do control our minds.  Clothes are more than just items that protect and keep us warm- they are also symbolic. They are symbolic of the society we live in and the social constraints that we accept. Clothes reflect status, wealth and creed, in addition to carrying out their protective functions. They vary from culture to culture and from climate to climate.

 It is easy to see the social constraints provided by some clothes, uniforms for example. There are many different types of uniform; military uniform, school uniform, the wider uniform of the suit worn by so many and even the ‘uniforms’ or ‘colours’ worn by gangs. All these uniforms, even if it is the uniform of scruffiness, carry with them identification with a group and an acceptance of common ideals. Thus our clothes symbolically constrain us. They rob us of our individuality and they become masks to our true identity, just as our persona changes with particular situations.

There are many specific ‘clothing constraints’ which are worth exploring. If we use clothes in the broadest meaning, we can see how many items symbolically bind us within social rules. A wristwatch is a good example. This is a means to constrain us within our obsession with exact time. We feel obliged to run to a well-scheduled timetable and portion up our time between tasks. The rise of the mobile phone as a fashion accessory constrains us to be in contact with social rules at all times, even if we are out in the country taking time for ourselves. Technology in all shapes and forms, as a fashion accessory, constrains us to our technological culture.

Watches bind us to time

There are plenty of non-technological restraints. The neck tie, for example, worn round the throat- the centre of communication. This has been used for years as a symbol in the ’suit uniform’ and also as a symbolic restraint of expressing our true selves. Many of these constraints are related to particular areas of the body. In Eastern thought, there exist mystical energy centres called chakras. Each chakra has a particular function and is related to a particular area of the body. It will be of no surprise to find that the throat chakra is concerned with communication.

 

Chakra literally means ‘wheel’ or ‘vortex’. In oriental countries and increasingly in the West, chakras are recognised as centres for our vital life-force energy called ‘Chi.’ These centres are joined by meridians that run all over our bodies. Acupuncture and Shiatsu both work on these meridians and there is much written about meridians and chakras. A trip to your local bookshop will provide you with a plethora of books on the subject. Not all people agree with the positions and functions of each chakra and I have provided a general outline that may vary in small respects from one opinion to another.

If we explore the chakras, we will see how each is constrained and also make some interesting discoveries. There are seven main chakras. Each has a particular colour associated with it and they form a continuous energy flow through the body. In Chinese medicine, if these centres are out of balance, illness is the result. One of the best ways to upset the balance is to constrain a chakra and this can be done symbolically through clothes. Let us explore each chakra in turn.

First we have the base chakra, which is deep red in colour. It is situated at the base of the spine and is our connection with the earth. It is our centre of security and it is vital that it is unconstrained so that we can connect with nature. The two energy sources, the earth and heaven (or the sun) are connected through the chakra system, the earth by the base chakra and heaven by the crown chakra.

An important point about this chakra is its proximity to the second, or gonadal chakra, which is the centre of our sensuality, sexuality and reproduction. In most societies this chakra is the most closely guarded and constrained. Even if we reveal all our other chakras- we must not reveal our second chakra. Unfortunately, due to the proximity to the base chakra, it is also constrained. If we wear swim-shorts or underwear, these chakras are both blocked.

This brings us to another subtle observation, the confusion of nudity with sexual desire. Being truly Naked is the act of being totally unconstrained by symbolic clothing and being at one with heaven and earth. One of the most important chakras needed to accomplish this is the base chakra. If we cover this up then there is no connection with the earth.

Being truly Naked is the act of being totally unconstrained by symbolic clothing and being at one with heaven and earth.
 

The next chakra is the Solar Plexus chakra, the centre of our being. It is yellow in colour and is symbolically restrained in western society most of the time. This chakra represents our ego and self-interest. Money belts are worn round the waist. In more open and relaxed (and warmer) cultures it is acceptable to show this chakra.

Above the Solar Plexus chakra lies the Heart chakra, which is bright green in colour. It is the centre of love and emotions ‘the heart ruling the head’. It is also constrained in western society, and societies that value the intellect. It is less so in warmer climates and in places where intuition is favoured over intellect. Think of the Buddha sitting under the Bodhi tree with a bare chest.

Buddha with open heart

The Throat chakra is next, it is sky blue in colour and is the centre of communication and self expression. It is constrained in certain situations, such as when using a tie, but in more relaxed situations is uncovered. When we are expected to tow a party line, or act within a company policy, ties are often used. You can almost sense people trying to escape from well-tightened ties.

Do ties stifle communication?

The next chakra lies in the space between the eyes, diametrically opposite the pituitary gland. It is the centre of the intellect and is prized in western culture. It is nearly always uncovered, apart from in situations where one is not encouraged to think for oneself (uniformed services, etc.)

Why do monks shave their heads?

Finally, we have the crown chakra, our connection with heaven. This is also prized and left uncovered in western society, as we prefer connection with heaven to our connection with earth. It is interesting to note that some monks shave their head. Perhaps this allows the crown chakra to open fully, thus allowing a deeper connection with heaven? As we can see, each chakra has a particular function and most cultures constrain them to varying degrees. Those covered and those uncovered give us a clue to the culture, whether it is ruled by emotions, or the intellect and whether it allows freedom to communicate.  In societies that frown upon nudity, we see a society that does not like the idea of free thinking, fully open individuals. It is your birth-rite to allow the full opening of the chakras and to be your true self.

Be free! Burn your clothes!

Is Religion the Greatest Protection Racket?

Is religion a protection racket, or does it provide a genuine service to mankind?  I, like many, have had a very negative view of religion, preferring instead to be ‘spiritual’. Religion, I thought, was all about control, causing wars, creating division. It may cause wars and create division, it may also exert control, but religion does have a purpose.

I recently had a dream in which I was in a large meadow. At the top of this meadow was a church and the pastor was busy making a white picket fence. I went over and asked about the fence, he said it was to ‘keep the badness out’.

This is what religion is really all about, protection. It protects us from malevolence, whether it be in the form of other humans, supernatural beings like daemons and vampires, or our own inner darkness. That is why religions have so many rules, they form a psychic defence system, they are the spiritual police.

Religions primary purpose is protection, it is not about finding out spiritual truths. Walking a spiritual path is about finding out these truths, like who am I? What, if anything, can I do about it? What is the nature of the universe? The spiritual path can be perilous and some chose to work within the framework of a religion in order to walk a spiritual path. Thus they are protected and can explore the deeper philosophical questions.

This was illustrated during the same dream. I arrived at a country road and a large group of Zen monks were on a pilgrimage. Walking along the road was not safe, as they could get run over by a car, but in the large group they were safer. Finding out spiritual truths is always inherently risky, but can be made safer if you do so in a group.

The safety of religion and the freedom of spirituality represent a compromise. If you want total safety, you sacrifice your freedom, effectively imprisoning yourself. On the other hand, if you want total spiritual freedom, you become open to possible attack by compromising safety.

It is a little like the anti virus and firewall applications on your computer. They slow it down, filter what you can access, and even cause it to crash. We still use them because of the fear of a possible threat and the knowledge that such a threat could destroy all our data and steal all our personal information. In the end we come to some sort of compromise, security versus usefulness.

Religion is very paternal and likes its rules and regulations. It is the policeman of the psyche and as such is a protector, but is often not wanted as many find the structure too constrictive and opt to go it alone. Most religion is largely based on fear, but this fear is not always unfounded. Most of the time there is no need for its protection, but when at times it is needed, then you will be glad its there.

If you decide to go it alone, beware, as the Universe is full of beings; some powerful, some benevolant, some just playing tricks and others that will eat you for breakfast. Whatever you decide to do, it is worth finding out what is really out there.

as Hamlet said
“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

 

The Great Crane Project is an attempt to reintroduce this majestic bird back into the UK.  To find out more visit:

 The Great Crane Project

 The Great Crane Project on Flickr  

Cranes and people

from RSPB

Cranes have enchanted human beings for millennia

• They figure in prehistoric cave paintings 
• Homer wrote of their exhilarating sound in the Iliad (first bird mentioned in western literature -  4000 BP) 
• Roman folklore explains that the god Hermes invented writing when he saw the letter shapes made by flying cranes 
• Cranes were once believed to carry other bids on their back during their long migrations 

Their names are heard in everyday language:

• the word 'geranium' is from 'geranos', the Greek for crane, as the plant's seedpods resemble the birds' heads 
• the word 'pedigree' derives from the French phrase pied de grue, 'foot of a crane', as family trees look like the birds' feet
• Cranberries are thought to be named after cranes

Cranes appear almost human

• They stand upright and are tall, elegant and beautiful 
• They are very sociable animals, and once paired, are loyal and attentive partners and parents
• Cranes have well-developed communication systems including over 90 physical gestures and sounds
• Cranes dance: they use elaborate choreography to develop social skills when young, and for courtship when older. In a flock, if one bird begins to dance, all the others join in: leaping and bowing and kicking, often tossing skyward small objects they pick off the ground
• There is evidence of imitative human crane dances from as long as 9,000 years ago, from Australia and many countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and North America.

Cranes are record breaking birds

• They are one of the the longest surviving bird species (they have been on earth for around 9 million years)
• They are the tallest (sarus cranes reach over 6 feet; our species stands at between 4-4.5 feet and are Britais's tallest bird species)
• They are the loudest (their calls travel over distances of three miles)
• They are the highest flying of all birds (they reach altitudes of 32,000 feet)

The emergence of the global conservation movement has invested cranes with added symbolic value as emblems of humanity's changing relationship with nature and wetlands in particular.

Emergency Cake!

Got home from work and disaster! No chocolate or pudding in the house!  Time for a rummage through the cupboards and some emergency planning.

The answer- the emergency sponge cake!

Ingredients
175g  Self raising flour
175g  Soft brown sugar
175g  Margarine
2 tbs  Cocoa
3 medium Free range eggs

Method
Preheat oven to 190 deg C
Cream together the sugar and margarine
Beat the three eggs
SLOWLY add the eggs to the mixture, stirring constatntly
Add the flour and cocoa and fold in
Grease two 20cm (8 in) cake tins
Spoon the mixture equally between the cake tins
Cook for 20 mins
Turn out and leave to cool

Emergency Icing (use buttercream icing if you can)
Ingredients
1 tbs brown sugar
1 tbs margarine
2 tsp Cocoa

Method
Mix all the ingredients together until it looks something like mud or icing!
Spread thinly on the cooled down cake and sandwich together

Tasted quite good for an emergency!!!

Politically Correct Puddings

ODD!!!

I don’t really have much time for political correctness at the best of times, but when I learned that they were renaming Spotted Dick to Spotted Richard, I almost fell off my chair laughing. What is going to be next?

Dick Turpin becomes Richard Turpin
Moby Dick becomes Moby Richard
What is going to happen to Fanny by Gaslight?
Football will become Footsphere

It has gone a bit insane. Perhaps there is something more sinister going on, as we are having our vocabularies dumbed down and reduced. Most individuals think in words and if you have less of them, then there is less you can think.

Spotted Dick Recipe- (For the rebellious!)

285g (10oz) Self-Raising Flour
150g (5oz) Shredded Suet
150ml (¼ pint) Milk
110-160g (4-6oz) Currants or Raisins
85g (3oz) Castor Sugar
1 Lemon, zest only, finely grated
Pinch Salt

Mix all of the dry ingredients, including the grated lemon zest, together thoroughly
Add enough milk to produce a soft dough.
Turn out onto a floured surface.
Roll out the mixture to produce a roll approximately 15cm (6 in) long and 5cm (2 in) in diameter.
Prepare either a tea towel lightly dusted with flour, or sheet of kitchen foil or a double thickness of greaseproof paper, brushed with melted butter.
Wrap loosely but securely, leaving enough space for it to rise.
Tie or seal the ends.
Place in the steamer and cover tightly.
Steam for 1½ to 2 hours.
Serve cut into thck slices with hot custard.

The great banking scam

Here is a very interesting post on the origins of money-

Origianl post here, on the www.fmotl.com forum

We never really think about money. I mean, where it came from and why we have it.

Our schooling will teach us how to count it and how to spend it and how to save it. But it doesnt explain the history of it, who thought of it, who created it’s concept and why.

What we call money, is simply a commodity we use in exchange for goods and services. Before ‘money’ we exchanged goods and services for goods and services. So what happenned to that?

A contract, you might say, was created between consenting individuals. One perhaps, could repair a roof while the other, who needed a roof repair was an excellent wheelright and could straighten diformed wheels. An agreement was created that gave equal weight in value to eachothers commodities and eachothers needs and henceforth were exchanged.

Nothing by way of new knowledge there of course. But a change from that simple system to what we see today must have occured at some point.

In an emergent economy, forever renewing itself with new ideas new beliefs new craves and desires, someone, considered that instead of offering a service or goods it might be an idea to offer something of, perhaps emotional value instead. Something of beauty perhaps, like gold or silver. An ideal material for making beautiful things, of value. Something precious and hard to find.

So instead of goods and services, tiny pieces of gold and silver were used. But these pieces of valued metal were rather bulky and often difficult to carry around. Perhaps, and I’m guessing here, that the blacksmiths and farriers became goldsmiths when someone had the good idea to uniform the pieces and give them different values depending on size. Coins of gold were much more convenient.

However the same problem existed, that too many gold pieces became very heavy indeed. And storing them meant that they could be stolen. So the goldsmith had another great idea. He would offer shelf space in his safe for the safe keeping of his friends gold in return for a small fee. A few pieces of gold per month perhaps. In return he wrote out a promise on a piece of paper noting the value of gold stored which could at any time be exchanged back for the gold.

As more and more people became aware of this service the goldsmith became swamped with people wanting shelf space. Thus the goldsmith made even more small fee’s and became rather wealthy. In return as usual, a promissory note was issued to the value of gold stored by the goldsmith on behalf of the owner. However the goldsmith began to notice that, instead of exchanging their gold in the markets, the people were now exchanging the promissory notes believing them to be ‘as good as gold’ as they were afterall a promise to the holder or, bearer that at any time they could be exchanged back for the gold kept by the goldsmith.

The goldsmith made an observation. It appeared that hardly anybody ever wanted their gold back. At least not all at once and not all the people wanted all their gold back at the same time. So the goldsmith took a risk. He began lending some of the gold out, and would charge a small amount of gold on top for his trouble. But people knew that the gold was equal in value to the promisorry notes and began asking for those instead of the gold. The goldsmith very quickly realised that quite literally he could create a promissory note out of thin air based upon his gold reserves and chances are he’d be perfectly safe in the knowledge that all the people never wanted all their gold back at the same time.

So debts, owed to the goldsmith were quite simply just written on a piece of paper and given to the people in return for a small fee, interest. A small profit for the goldsmiths kind offer to lend and more importantly to quietly make profits while lending out nothing but a piece of paper. The goldsmith became very rich very quickly and the townsfolk began to worry about where their gold was. All at once, all together they queued at the goldsmiths wanting to see their gold. He showed them, still there in the vault because of course by now he was lending promissory notes not gold. However to give the people some comfort he let them in on the deal and offered them some interest on their ’savings’. As a thank you for allowing him to look after their gold.

This was the beginning of banking.

Today, we see the same principle in operation. Deposits are subsiquently lent out to borrowers in the form of a debt, owed back with interest. And since ALL the ‘money’ created is debt, it follows that all the repayments must be made with ‘money’ or promissory notes which, in turn were created in the same way and so on. ALL out of thin air based upon the holdings kept within the banks vaults. ALL money without exception is debt and is created by the borrower by their signature, or promise, to pay it back.

by Free

Reclaim the Night Sky

Light pollution is a sorry fact for most people.  Gone are the days where you could look up into the star-filled sky and gaze at the wonder of the Milky Way.  Now you can just about make out the Moon in a sea of orange haze.  Who knows what effect this is having on our minds.

Governments like to talk the talk about carbon footprints and saving energy- but why do they waste billions on lighting up miles of deserted roads?  Light pollution not only costs the Earth, but cuts us off from the heavens.

For more information visit The International Dark-Sky Association
or www.need-less.org.uk

Introducing Electra

Electra is a sandhill crane chick who is often baffled by the world. She is named after one of the stars in the Pleiades and will post mainly about things being ODD! She is quite indignant at times and often shakes her head in exasperation!  She has six siblings, all named after stars in the Pleiades:  Taygeta, Sterope, Merope,
Maia, Caleano and Alcyone.