“Some people appear to give up on love, and you see the lifelessness in their faces. The soul craves love, and if you give up on love because it is so difficult, the life will seep out of you like air out of a punctured tire. You will go flat. You may wonder why life has no meaning. You may not realize that meaning is love that gives life its shape and purpose.
Clearly love is not about making you happy. It is a form of initation that may radically transform you, making you more of you who are but less of who you have been.”
-Thomas Moore, Dark Nights of the Soul: A Guide to Finding Your Way Through Life’s Ordeals
”it hurts Jack
to think
Our power of delusion runs so deep we want to believe it actually matters if the Groundhog sees his shadow or not.
There is no such thing as an early spring. We here in Pennsylvania, at least, are looking at six more weeks of winter no matter what Phil “forecasts.” It ain’t getting any better until mid-March no matter how much we resent the cold temperatures and snow-covered commutes.
Most people are grounded enough to acknowledge this in their rational minds, but there’s still a little twinge inside of us that pouts or smiles depending on whether we hear “six more weeks of winter” or “early spring.” We know in our logical bones there is not going to be an early spring, yet, on the Groundhog Days we are told to “expect” an early spring, our spirits are lifted.
More tragic, perhaps, is that people have allowed themselves to be convinced that watching commercials during the Super Bowl is an enjoyable activity in which they want to engage.
The ads, we are told, are “entertaining.” OK. Some of the commercials do reach this goal. But entertainment is always the secondary goal of any advertisement. The first goal of any ad is to win us over in order to collect our money. The ad makers use entertainment as a tool to achieve the first goal. When we watch commercials we are volunteering to be manipulated into buying things we don’t need or services at a more expensive rate (who do you think pays for those ads – the expense is passed off to the consumer?) than necessary. How much of the “brand name” that you find attractive is the expense of making sure everyone knows just how prestigious it is to own X, y or z as opposed to the generic non-advertised alternatives.
If I want to be entertained, I’m going to choose entertainment that’s not a thin veil for the ulterior motive of making me want to buy things I didn’t need or want yesterday. The things we really want and need require no advertisement. We will find them without the help of a television commercial.
Americans have agreed to the delusion that watching commercials together is a fun, social activity. They like to think they are smarter than capitalist science. They think they are not vulnerable to the sales pitch and that they are making their own decisions independent of advertisements. What good business person would spend millions of dollars on commercials that don’t work? Obviously, the investment is sound. The ads must work. Millions of people are going to spend millions of dollars on the goods and services that were advertised in Super Bowl commercials we have let “them” convince us we want to see. These companies are going to make their money back or they wouldn’t be able to justify the expense to their stockholders.
The human animal is such a socially dependent creature (s)he would rather be part of this mass manipulation than opt out and risk being called a conspiracy theorist or communist, etc. Most of us know that we are being played and we’re OK with it. There’s just something that feels so good about being part of the machine, we are willing to look the other way, deny logic and truth, and squash the precious gift of our individuality, in order to participate.
-ag
Put some licorice root, lemon balm, and chamomile in olive oil in mason jars inside a crockpot of water overnight. Anxious to see the results!
We had a lovely evening at last week’s Potions group in which I taught about how to make your own herbal infused oils.
We made a soothing calendula oil and some salve with comfrey infused oil.
Here are some of the group straining, pouring and bottling their oils.
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Here are the notes I wrote for the class for those of you who are new to herbal infused oils, including two simple methods and some basic recipes.
Herbal Infused Oils
Oils infused with herbs are a lovely way to utilise the healing properties of plants which contain volatile oils and fats. Unlike essential oils they are easy to make at home and usually very gentle on the skin. You can use them to make massage oils, to heal skin problems, or to make lovely subtly scented balms and creams.
Plants containing volatile oils are generally those commonly used in aromatherapy…
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Enlightening New York Magazine with French GQ sex columnist Maia Mazaurette. In case you weren’t feeling down enough on Americans today. 😉 -ag
“In France we share a lot of things, but in the end, well, you die alone. It’s not a betrayal because sex doesn’t have consequences. Why worry about a crime without a victim?
I’m fine with monogamy, as long as there are some holes.
It’s about time. I hope men like it, too. That way it will be financially viable and will continue to exist. -ag 😉
“Put more simply: feminist porn is inclusive, and it’s not made exclusively for men, like most mainstream porn. That doesn’t mean that it’s softcore Cinemax or light erotica a la the cheesy, bodice-ripping Harelquin.”
This makes so much sense, I’m going to have to read Parker’s book.
-ag
Robert Parker, in his recent authoritative survey, “On Greek Religion,” emphasizes the role of what the Greeks saw as experiences of divine actions in their lives. ”The greatest evidence for the existence of gods is that piety works . . . the converse is that impiety leads to disaster,” with by far the most emphasis given to the perils of ignoring the gods. There were also rituals, associated with the many cults of specific gods, that for some worshippers “created a sense of contact with the divine. One knows that the gods exist because one feels their presence during the drama of the mysteries or the elation of the choral dance.”
really big moth; the breakfast of ants
Washburn Street,
West Scranton
July 30, 2013
Gregarious Expressions 