Woman Hasn’t Used Money Or Credit in 15 Years

Heidemarie Schwermer, a 69-year-old woman from Germany, gave up using money 15 years ago and says she’s been much happier ever since.
Heidemarie’s incredible story began 22 years ago, when she, a middle-aged secondary school teacher emerging from a difficult marriage, took her two children and moved to the city of Dortmund, in Germany’s Ruhr area. One of the first things she noticed was the large number of homeless people, and this shocked her so much that she decided to actually do something about it. She had always believed the homeless didn’t need actual money to be accepted back into society, only a chance to empower themselves by making themselves useful, so she opened a Tauschring (swap shop), called “Gib und Nimm” (Give and Take).
Her small venture was a place where anyone could trade stuff and skills for other things and skills they needed, without a single coin or banknote changing hands. Old clothes could be traded in return for kitchen appliances, and car service rendered in return for plumbing services, and so on. The idea didn’t really attract many of Dortmund’s homeless, because, as some of them told her to her face, they didn’t feel an educated middle-class woman could relate to their situation. Instead, her small shop was assaulted by many of the city’s unemployed and retired folk eager to trade their skills and old stuff for something they needed. Heidemarie Schwermer’s Tauschring eventually became somewhat of a phenomenon in Dortmund and even prompted its creator to ask herself some questions about the life she was living.
She started to realize she was living with a lot of stuff she didn’t really need and initially decided not to buy anything else without giving something away. Then she realized how unhappy she was with her work and made the connection between this feeling and the physical symptoms (backache and constant illness) she was feeling, so she decided to take up other jobs. She began washing dishes for 10 Deutchmarks an hour, and despite many were telling her things like “You went to university, you studied to do this?”, she felt good about herself, and didn’t feel like she should be valued more because of her studies than someone working in a kitchen. By 1995, the Tauschring had changed her life so much that she was spending virtually nothing, as everything she needed seemed to find its way into her life.
So in 1996. she took the biggest decision of her life: to live without money. Her children had moved out so she sold the apartment in Dortmund and decided to live nomadically, trading things and services for everything she needed. It was supposed to be a 12-month experiment, but found herself loving it so much that she just couldn’t give it up. 15 years later, she still lives according to the principles of Gib und Nimm, doing various chores for accommodation in the houses of various members of the Tauschring, and loving every minute of it. Schwermer has written two books about her experience of living without money and asked her publisher to give the money to charity so it can make many people happy instead of just one. She’s just happy being healthier and better off than ever before.
All of her belongings fit into a single-back suitcase and a rucksack, she has emergency savings of €200 and any other money she comes across, she gives away. Heidemarie doesn’t even have health insurance as she didn’t want to be accused of stealing from the state, and says she relies on the power of self-healing whenever she gets a little sick.

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!

 

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.

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.

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 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

Freeman on the Land

The freeman-on-the-land movement started as a way of liberating individuals from the tyranny of imposed rules, regulations and red tape imposed by the state and to take back individuals sovereign identity and fundamental freedom.  It is based on the premise that we have been deceived on a grand scale into accepting domination by outside agencies, most importantly governments, but also other companies, such as banks, local authorities and the legal system.

This deception goes to the core of our identity, fooling us into thinking we are ‘legal entities’ called a person.  The person is a legal fiction, a straw man, which is bound by admiralty law, the law of the sea.  It is created at birth and is the name that appears on our birth certificate (as in the berth of a ship.)  If we think we are the person and not a free, sovereign being, we are bound by the whole legal system derived from admiralty law (and we can literally find ourselves in the dock.)  If we assert our true identity then we are bound only by common law, which only covers criminal activities and is tried by a jury.  Common Law abiding people who do not use deception in their dealings, or breach the peace, should never find themselves in a court.
 
Another important aspect to the freeman movement is taking on the role of an adult and not asking permission to do things that are perfectly lawful (i.e. not harming anybody, breaching the peace or using deception.)  This means anything that is licensed or permissible under special circumstances is basically lawful, and therefore a freeman-on-the-land is free to do without permission, as they are not acting as a child who would need permission.  This carries responsibility, as an adult a freeman is fully responsible for his actions.  He may not lawfully require a driving licence, but if he drives recklessly or has no driving skills, he is accountable under Common Law for any damage caused.  A freeman may also take drugs, such as opiates, cannabis, etc, lawfully, as these drugs are used under license in medicine and are therefore lawful.  If he should misuse them and cause harm he remains liable for his actions under common law.

The implications are huge as it frees individuals from the tyranny of rules and regulations imposed by so called authority.  At the moment this is being played out in minor ways by individuals refusing to pay taxes, fines, etc, that they have not consented to.  This cuts both ways however, as if you choose to opt out of government control, you also choose to opt out of any benefits supplied by that government now or in the future.  So if you do not pay tax then you cannot expect to have free healthcare, or unemployment or any other benefit.
The full ramifications are total freedom and liberty, provided you act in a peaceful and non harmful way.  This carries great responsibility and a true freeman-on-the-land will act with honour and integrity in all their dealings.  To me being a freeman-on-the-land is about being a spiritual adult and not using the freedom for petty gains, as this harms the freeman movement and society in general .

For more information on the Freeman-on-the-Land movement please visit the following sites.

www.fmotl.com
Freeman on the Land by Veronica of the Chapman family
www.wholetruthcoalition.org
The Whole Truth Coalition
www.tpuc.org
The Peoples United Community with John of the Harris family
www.thinkfree.ca
Think Free Canada

This article is from the Tribe of the Phoenix Blog
The Freeman-on-the-Land movement