Journey to Ixtlan

As an accidental artist, I am amazed at the frank honesty of other artists. The brave creators bare their souls while they reveal their art. The truly amazing thing is that most people do not recognize these heroic acts. Why? Are the viewers incapable of discerning the messages, unable to see the artist standing naked in front of them? I think not. Instead, I suspect, the audience of the artist chooses to see only the surface, and not be burdened by the raw admittance of the one on the stage.


Human Underneath
Poem for Day 108 – 20150418

See the artist, creative jester therein.
Face up cards on life's table.
Can you really see brave soul
who removes a mask all have placed?
Do you wish to delve down,
explore the well fathoms deep?
A passage beckons beyond,
cold honesty wrapped in art's delights.

Their art stands as testament
to the sum of who they am.
Layers of concealment stripped
in a single creative act.
When put together, all their works,
a picture of the black is viewed,
words of muted madness heard,
the within revealed without.

If you really knew them,
what would you think?
If the veil was removed,
what would be the result?
The choice is made,
look not to the one behind the mask.
Best to see only the glamor,
and not the human underneath.

© 2015. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved

My wife and I have been watching Hellsing Ultimate on the Cartoon Network. During the story Arucard battles Anderson, a human paladin of super human power. Anderson, while he is fanatical, shows his humanity when he reject’s a Cardinal’s attempt to subjugate Britain by armed force. Anderson is not strong enough to defeat Arucard, or so the thinks. He resorts to using a holy relic in order to become a monster strong enough to perhaps slay Arucard. Arucard then has the following dialogue:

“Anderson, stop it! Do you know what that thing will do to you?! You'll become one of God's monsters! Retain your humanity. Don't succumb to power! Either side, it amounts to the same deal: whether in the name of the divine or the demonic, you're still a monster in the end! Do you intend to use that scrap of miracle...to become nothing but a scrap of miracle yourself?! This duel...between us...would you really push it this far - into the realms that lie beyond the realm of mortal life? A monster such as myself...a creature of such weakness that I could not bear the weight of a human life...if I am to be defeated, it must be by a human!”

Powerful stuff! This inspired me to write the poem “It Takes a Human” in recognition of the power of those parts of us that are still human. I see the fanatics, those driven by ideology and zeal for justice, becoming monsters of their own. Once this path is taken, well, there is no return to the fold of the humanity they seek to protect.

It Takes a Human
Poem for Day 78 – 20141210

To kill a monster
is a very difficult affair.
It will not stay dead
if you don't heed my words and show due care.
It takes a human
to find the creature's weakness and end its life.
To the creature's soul,
frailty of humankind is a knife.

To fight fire with fire
will make you as dark as that you resist.
A monster may die
and another will rise to replace it.
Hold fast to your soul
lest you become a creature even more foul.
Victory draws near
when you embrace those things humans find most dear.

May you shed a tear.
The soul finds connection to things most dear.
Hear the children laugh,
young voices speak on the angel's behalf.
The old people dance,
weathered spirits hold spark of life's romance.
Creature of dark night
cannot bear the weight of a human life.

Seek out the monster.
Slay it with the spark of a human soul.
Cry for blood taken
while men slay the monster in sad defense.
No pleasure taken
as weary laughter beckons a new dawn.
The monster is gone.
Humanity's life dance continues on.

© 2014. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved

A spiritual practice can be see as an art form. As with any art form such as writing or painting, spiritual practice does have a structure defined by the intent of the creator, a forum available, and an anticipated audience. The wide open possibilities of the creator must somehow fit into these spaces. A spiritual practice does this fitting. The spiritual practices are then held accountable to the resulting strictures of structure. The adherents of the spiritual practices are both supported and restricted by their creation.

Spiritual pursuits have an incredible creative aspect. People can set up their spiritual practices on any scale they wish. Anything goes. The catch is that the creation takes on an internal logic matching the scope of of the spiritual practice. Compliance to a driving internal logic molds people's actions on so many levels. The logic of a spiritual practice can estrange it from other definitions. The challenge to the cross-group dynamics is that one spiritual practice's internal logic will not be congruent to another's. In fact, it takes a lot of effort to get groups to match. One of the reasons traditions are created is so there will be some congruency of internal logic. This reason by be subconscious, but it is there nonetheless. The most hardened traditions attempt to lock in a set of rules, but these fixed precepts originally came from some creative source. It is terribly practical and human that spiritual practices are seen to be a creative pursuit.

Spiritual practices can and will change. The changes may be very difficult or the changes may be very easy. The relative ease is determined by the existing internal logic and the desired state of the change. the 'explanation' of the change must fit into the existing internal logic of the spiritual practice. A person must be even more creative than the originator of the spiritual practice when a change is especially contrary to existing logic. Especially contrary changes or additions are disapproved by those who cannot explain the extension of the logic. Complete investment in a spiritual practice can put a person in a place where it is difficult to accept or promote any change. Agents of change often must then come from the 'outside'. This outside can be truly on the exterior of the spiritual practice or it can be an internal force that sees looseness in the internal structure. The agents of change provoke changes in internal logic that the vested insiders cannot.

In the end the spiritual practice becomes a helpful tool, too limiting to realize the full scope of the divine or connect all interpretations of the divine together, but it is enough to state, "this is what I believe in all its wonderful and insightful wackiness".

This is an article on the service dynamics of the shamanist. Service and shamanism are intricately bound. There are many aspects to service including non-human service, service to the shamanist (human and non-human) and more. This article is about the general aspects of the group dynamic encountered by the shamanist when they reach out to fellow human beings.

A person taking on the path of the shamanist will find themselves naturally drawn to serve somebody. Let's call this somebody the shamanist's tribe. The tribe can be an organized group of people or the tribe can be a random person needing help. The root of this call to service is that the shamanic path is one that is both personal and global. Deity stands at the side of the shamanist. Deity is both served and discovered by ministering to others. A shamanist's life is enriched and healed by their walk with deity. The tribe of the shamanist benefits from their association.

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The shamanist is a human being embarking on journey of understanding and connection. People will move in and out of the shamanist’s life. The shamanist will reach out and serve these people in some way, seeing the attention to the people, the tribe of the moment, as a touchstone to deity. Some people will not understand the service because the mode – many or few – will not fit their own experiences. This is OK and human. I believe that the shamanist has one best reaction. The shamanist is called to worship the larger expanse of reality, bear witness and service to their fellow human beings, and act from honor when grappling with the human expressions of tribe. It is in this place of balance and humility that the shamanist will persist in the right thing, serving who they will, and reaching out to the world as a true shamanist.