Permaculture is Revolutionary.

Posted on September 23, 2014 by malpagaia

“A permaculture way of life empowers us to take responsibility for our own welfare, provides endless opportunities for creativity and innovation, and connects us to nature and community in ways that makes sense of the world around us.

We generally don’t articulate permaculture as a political strategy or movement but reflecting the principle of multiple functions, permaculture strategies have powerful political impacts that have several advantages over conventional political action that focuses on getting those in power to pull the right levers.”

(David Holmgren 2013)

While I have known about the concept of permaculture and have been positively influenced by some of its practitioners for several decades, it is not until now that I have come to more fully appreciate its value to our planet in general and to us humans in particular.

From my PaGaian perspective, permaculture is a very significant Spiritical – spiritual and political, activity that is already providing a growing number of people with daily improvement to the quality of their lives. I find the three ethics at the centre of permacultures twelve design principles namely ‘earth care’, ‘people care’ and ‘fair share’, to be spiritually, politically and ecologically compatible.

While the number of practitioners is still relatively small and growing, if and when the twelve principles of permaculture are practiced by a large enough critical mass of humanity, then we could eventually find ourselves enjoying an ecologically sound and socially just global economy. Permaculture really is a social revolutionary struggle worth participating in.

No matter where one is placed on the socio-economic ladder, no matter what religious or political persuasion one is currently being influenced by, we can and should seriously consider joining the permaculture community, learning its twelve design principles and applying them daily to the best of our ability.

Permaculture is clearly already one of very few viable, sensible livelihood options remaining open to us during what is shaping up to be a geopolitically dangerous, ecologically devastating and socio-economically difficult period for most if not all working families.

Take a few minutes to visit permacultureprinciples.com and see for yourself what it might do for you and your relationship with all-that-is.

As with our spiritual vision, so too with our ecological and social visions, they are planetary by nature and PaGaian by name.

(Livingstone & Seaborne – Southern Spring 2014)

Spiritical Revolution.

Posted on September 12, 2014 by malpagaia

Spiritical is my new PaGaian word for expressing a revolution that is simultaneously spiritual, political, personal, planetary and permanent. Following is why and how I conjured the word up.

And so, we can make no separation between “spirituality” and “politics.” We are this world, we cannot leave it. We can only work to transform it as we transform ourselves, in acts of evolution and revolution.

(Barbara Mor 1987)

… wherein we humans no longer primarily engage in more talk and analysis, but we dare to attend sincerely and primarily to the complexity of actual relationship with, and comprehension of, our embodied engagement with our Earth-Universe-Gaian context.

(Glenys Livingstone 2005)

The criticism of religion disillusions man, so that he will think, act, and fashion his reality like a man who has discarded his illusions and regained his senses, so that he will move around himself as his own true Sun. Religion is only the illusory Sun which revolves around man as long as he does not revolve around himself.

(Karl Marx 1844)

Pondering on these quotes I am much inspired by the authors insight and poetic expression of spiritual and political revolution. From my PaGaian perspective there is only one revolution that I regard as literally permanent, namely that of planet Earth around its Sun. If for no other reason than that I can literally observe and feel the effect of this phenomenal relationship as the Sun appears to rise and set each day and as my place on planet Earth – whenever and wherever that may be, responds seasonally to their movement to and from our PaGaian Winter and Summer solstice celebrations – our Planetary holy moments. For me the Earth Sun relationship is a religious phenomenon that is fundamental to our very existence – as in a binding, connecting, definition and sense of the word religion. This fundamental Earth, Sun relationship enables me to experience a connectedness and belonging to what I occasionally refer to as my Self Place, a place where I can be anywhere and at anytime. As a PaGaian who regularly participates in ritual seasonal celebration, I include the apparent coming and going or waxing and waning, of the Moon – not just for good monthly measure.

With this fundamental Earth, Sun and Moon relationship in mind, how might I interpret Karl Marx saying that “Religion is only the illusory Sun which revolves around man as long as he does not revolve around himself”? Again from my PaGaian perspective this quote provides me with a very convincing source of inspiration for spiritual and political revolutionary change. Karl Marx was evidently very objective and scientific about his understanding of the socio- economic circumstances of his epoch and he clearly wanted society to be under no illusion as to the true nature of these circumstances and the negative impact it was having on the livelihood of working families.

In the context of Marx’s symbolic expression it is worth remembering the illusion that the Sun rotated around the Earth was the result of long-held religious dogma not seriously questioned until Copernicus produced his heliocentric model of the universe late in the 15^thcentury. Consequently, thanks to such radical science we humans are no longer captivated by the illusion that the Sun rotates around the Earth, now knowing that it is in fact the Earth that rotates around the Sun. The same can be said about Marx’s “…illusory Sun which revolves around man as long as he does not revolve around himself.” It too is the consequence of a religious illusion resulting from long-term fear inducing dogma, principles, laws and teachings used by the ruling classes to maintain their power, wealth and control over the rest of us.

Unfortunately most of us continue to be deluded by an all-pervasive ruling class that uses its religious, political, economic and military dominance to induce fear, divide, conquer and thereby control almost everything we learn about and do. To resist and overcome this perverse control over our lives requires the kind of spiritual and political revolution that first and foremost is capable of Self empowering one’s own mind so that eventually we might come to help radically change our collective consciousness and the socio economic circumstances of most if not all humankind. This level of change requires nothing less than a simultaneously permanent, personal, planetary, spiritual and political revolution.

Such an ongoing revolutionary struggle is a necessary pre-requisite to doing as Mor, Livingstone and Marx suggest, that is learning how to transform ourselves in acts of evolution and revolution, attend to our relationship with other and thereby revolving around our own true Sun – our own true Self. How might we do this? Especially during adverse socio-economic circumstances…

Humans are not objects to be manipulated or enslaved by some external force or influence. We are all unique, individual subjects with a mind of our own. We need to pay careful attention to the stories going on between our ears because it is our primary story has the greatest influence on our personal values and behaviour. We need to think of our mind as the foundation of our most precious attributes, our imagination, our world-view, our faith and our passion. We should be very particular about who and or what we exercise our precious faith in and maybe even become passionate about.

Given the all-pervasive divide and conquer strategies used by the ruling classes of imperialist warfare states, a growing number of us now – more than ever, need to avail ourselves of information that will enable us to protect ourselves from these ruling class induced illusions and fear. More of us may then unite within a growing community of like-minded individuals already participating in and preparing for a broader planetary, spiritual, political and non-violent, revolution, a revolution that could eventually change our planetary habitat and its human community for the better.

Be it religious, political, economic or ecological information, the guiding principle for determining whether or not information is useful to us and our spiritual and political revolution is whether or not it advocates or at least recognizes that we are in relationship with Self, Other – including the other than human, and all-that-is? This is not difficult to determine, most information will speak for itself in this regard.

Thankfully as it happens, we are in the midst of a technological information sharing revolution, swimming in what could be described as an environment of information overload. Consequently it is very useful to know that some sources of information are considerably better than others and that we must be very careful about what information we take in, retain and allow to influence our Self place. There is one primary story and source of information that we are all entitled to learn from, rely on and be influenced by, namely the evolutionary story of the Universe. Particularly as it has been given to us by the late Thomas Berry, a truly Spiritical, revolutionary Passionist priest.

The newly energizing Earth community needs a mystique that will provide the high exaltation appropriate to the existence of such a stupendous universe and such a glorious planet as that on which we live. This can be found in celebrating not simply the seasonal sequence but also the irreversible transformational sequence, as this has taken place in the evolutionary story of the universe.

(Thomas Berry 2006)

As with our spiritual vision, so too with our ecological and social visions, they are planetary by nature and PaGaian by name.

(Livingstone & Seaborne 2014)

Southern Spring 2014.

Socialism from my PaGaian perspective.

Posted on September 4, 2014 by malpagaia

Several decades before I did any serious thinking about politics, I had already well and truly made up my mind about religion in general and my chosen spiritual practice in particular. Prior to meeting each other, my beloved GlenYs Livingstone and I were greatly influenced by the late Thomas Berry – a self-described ‘geologian’, and his ‘Twelve principles of a functional cosmology’. Principle number two is particularly relevant to how and why I now regard politics in general and socialism in particular from my PaGaian perspective.

“The universe is a unity, an interacting and genetically related community of beings bound together in an inseparable relationship in space and time. The unity of the planet Earth is especially clear; each being of the planet is profoundly implicated in the existence and functioning of every other being of the planet”.

Evening Thoughts, Thomas Berry (SF: Sierra Club Books, 2006)

Thanks to the so-called IT – information technology, revolution and our ability to know what is happening throughout the planet more or less as and when it happens, the influence of major international financial institutions and their subordinate political leaders on the quality of life for all of humanity has increased proportionately. While this rapidly developing technological advantage is benefitting a very small minority – probably less than 0.01%, of the planet’s total population, the vast majority of humanity is experiencing a rapidly diminishing quality of life. It is this increasingly oppressive socio-economic burden often being violently imposed on ordinary working families that eventually had me searching for a political story that might be compatible with Berry’s unifying second principle in general and my spiritual practice – PaGaian Cosmology, in particular.

Here I should let the author of PaGaian Cosmology, my beloved GlenYs Livingstone PhD, explain why she chose the name ‘PaGaian’ –

“The term “PaGaian”… expresses a reclaiming of the term “Pagan” as meaning a person who dwells in “country”, yet with “Gaian” spliced in, it expresses a renewed and contemporary understanding of that “country”. “Gaia” is a name for humanity’s Habitat, an ancient yet new name, which I understand to include whole Earth and Cosmos – there is no seam separating Earth from Her context. And Pagan religious tradition offers a spiritual practice of celebrating Earth-Sun Creativity manifest in this Habitat.”

Preface | PaGaian Cosmology.webloc

As indicated in the above quotes, PaGaian Cosmology could well be described as a philosophical and or ecological spiritual practice. Moreover, it is a practice based on a sense of place that is at the same time personal, cosmic and indigenous – or native, to planet Earth. PaGaian Cosmology is by design and intention an organic – as distinct from theocratic, spiritual practice. Given the rapidly deteriorating economic and social circumstances being experienced by most of my fellow human beings this was a very important distinction for me to keep in mind when considering what if any political story might be compatible with my world view and spiritual practice.

Within the last decade the GFC – Global Financial Crash, of 2008, the subsequent austerity measures imposed on working families, the numerous occupy movements, imperialist invasions and a plethora of insurrections, I came to regard politics in general and our Australian Westminster system of governance in particular as being totally incapable of improving the economic and social circumstances of most and therefore probably any of humanity. My lack of confidence in politics in general and in Australian political parties in particular did bother me from time to time. I could probably have lived indefinitely with my political indifference but I chose not to. I eventually decided to look deeper into the story of politics after one of many whinges to my partner and subsequently being encouraged by her to read some of Barbara Mor’s work on the subject – Mor is a modern-day feminist scholar who’s political story I found to be very thought-provoking and inspiring, particularly this paragraph –

“In this world, at this point, no political revolution is sustainable if it is not also a spiritual revolution – a complete ontological birth of new beings out of old. Equally, no spiritual activity deserves respect if it is not at the same time a politically responsible, i.e; responsive, activity… The only meaningful political direction left now is synonymous with the only meaningful spiritual direction left now: towards the conscious re-fusion of the spirit and the flesh… This time it will be a global consciousness of our global oneness, and it will realize itself on a very sophisticated technological stage; with perhaps a total merger of psychic and electronic activity.”

‘The Great Cosmic Mother’ – Barbara Mor 1987).

So my search for a political story began by taking the hint from Mor that the merging of a political and spiritual revolution could take place on ‘a very sophisticated technological stage’… It wasn’t long before the World Wide Web and the likes of Google and Wikipedia led me to what I regarded as a plausible political story, a story that was also compatible with my world view and spiritual practice. It was at WSWS.org – the ‘World Socialist Web Site’ where I came across two key words ie; ‘internationalism’ and ‘equality’. If a political story was going to be both compatible with my spiritual practice and plausible in the context of changing the economic and social circumstances for most if not all of humanity, it had to at least meet these two essential criteria.

WSWS.org led me deeper into the political thinking and leadership of those who I now regard as our foremost political thinkers and leaders namely, Marx, Engels, Lenin, Trotsky and Luxemburg. It is their individual political rigour that impresses me most, but underpinning their scholarly approach to politics is a very evident sense of caring for their fellow beings. What I found within the WSWS.org political story as it relates to Leon Trotsky in particular is well expressed by David North, chairperson of the International Editorial Board of WSWS.org –

“A study of Trotsky’s writings is essential not only for an understanding of the politics of the twentieth century, but also for the purpose of orienting oneself politically in the very complex world of the twenty-first century… Trotsky provided a timeless demonstration of the power of ideas and ideals that correspond to and articulate the progressive strivings of humanity.”

(‘In Defence of Leon Trotsky’ – David North, Mehring Books 2013 p7)

The political rigour and discipline of Marx and Trotsky et al; appears to be an ongoing tradition among the journalists working for WSWS.org. For me, their political story telling is among the bravest, most honest and caring that I have ever read. Take the story of Yuri Primakov for example, he is the 87-year-old son of Markovitch Primakov a hero of the 1917 October Revolution, Yuri among other grandchildren of the revolution was recently interviewed by a WSWS.org journalist –

“They didn’t care about money and they truly believed in communism. They were convinced that they had to fight for the betterment of humankind, not just for the improvement of their own material position. If you compare that to the elites today, who don’t give a damn about the people and are interested only in the market rates of their companies on the stock exchange, then you can see what degradation has taken place.”

Were it not for this underlying sense of caring for the well-being of humanity and their strong commitment toward replacing the current profit driven systems of governance with an international socialism to meet the needs of most if not all humanity, I would find the often brutal honesty of WSWS.org political reporting to be depressing. Thankfully I don’t, on the contrary, nowadays the ICFI/SEP/WSWS.org is my chosen source of political information.

As indicated above, my world view and spiritual practice draws on a contemporary philosophical understanding of our place in the cosmos, as well as our newly emerging scientific understanding of how ‘each being of the planet is profoundly implicated in the existence and functioning of every other being of the planet’. As such I am now also confident that PaGaian Cosmology is a spiritual practice that does what Trotsky recommended we do in that it takes ‘the best possible tools of the latest technology’ –

“Spiritual culture is just as contradictory as material culture. And just as from the arsenals and warehouses of material culture we put into circulation not the bow and arrow, not stone tools or bronze age tools, but we take the best possible tools of the latest technology, – we must approach spiritual culture in just the same way”.

(‘Socialism & Culture’ – LeonTrotsky 1927)

Trotsky’s conception of Marxism as the ‘science of perspective’ also gives me confidence in arguing that my world view and spiritual practice is compatible with a classical Marxist international revolutionary Socialism –

As philosophy finds its material weapon in the proletariat, so the proletariat finds its spiritual weapon in philosophy… It is, therefore, the task of history, once the other-world of truth has vanished, to establish the truth of this world. It is the immediate task of philosophy, which is in the service of history, to unmask self-estrangement in its unholy forms once the holy form of human self-estrangement has been unmasked. Thus, the criticism of Heaven turns into the criticism of Earth, the criticism of religion into the criticism of law, and the criticism of theology into the criticism of politics.

(Karl Marx 1844)

This is how Marx perceives and reveals to us a careful and most valuable understanding of spirituality, philosophy, history and politics. This is the kind of scientific rigour that has enabled me to build on and make progress from Thomas Berry’s Unifying principle, then to GlenYs Livingstone’s PaGaian Cosmology and eventually to Leon Trotsky’s concept of an international revolutionary socialism.

As with our spiritual vision, so too with our ecological and social visions, they are planetary by nature and PaGaian by name.

(Livingstone & Seaborne 2014)

Southern Spring 2014.

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