Ask Dr. Druid . day 35 . M.E.O.W. .. Moral Equivalent Of War

//

//

Ask Dr. Druid . Day 35

M.E.O.W. .. the Moral Equivalent Of War

image

This piece will read best for you

if you read it with your mouth as if out loud

[Ask Dr. Druid is designed to begin at the beginning. Click here.]

<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> 

 

    I daresay we’ve illuminated enough more of our enchanting consciousness now to assay a foray druidesquely into a wider context, beyond the strictly personal. This may be a shock. After the unassailable trust we’ve been revealing & forging between you and the whole wide AllElse worlds, to, with that opened mind, leap d’artagnan-like into understanding our druid duty toward W.A.R. is a shock. Pero c’est la vie verdad. But that is actual life and its juggling. Why you’re learning to be an expert clown. Why we take so much Vitamin I.

  What we have to figure out each of us is Meow MEOW, meow – meow is the mnemonic device for the Moral Equivalent Of War. An antidote to what A.Einstein in 1932 calls “the war menace”; “the dark places of human will and feeling”; to taking the “latent” hatred and destructive passion and raising it to “the power of a collective psychosis.” S.Freud replies to A.Einstein that we cannot suppress “man’s aggressive tendencies . . . — what we may try is to divert [‘the war impulse’] into a channel other than that of warfare.” (My emphases.)

    In 1906 William James called this kind of transmogrification “the moral equivalent of war.” “War is the strong life,” how men can exercise their “hardihood.”

    I can understand this dyspepsia against what James calls the “mawkish and dishwatery,” a desire for life’s more “bitter” and salty flavors.

    What can we druids bring to the war on war? A quotidian discipline so exacting and eclectic and exciting that its very delicacy, its deftness becomes robust.

    As a droll but instructive example of the interface between the empath’s private necessity (Mutilated children are never collateral damage) and the batterings and buffetings of a frequently psychotic society, I had made up for me a teeshirt that says militant pacifist. Why? Because so many dear folk in the peace movement are so annoyingly ‘mawkish & dishwatery.’ I’d, say, swear like a sailor when describing our lunatic leaders. (If you make $50,000 a year, it’s gone in four seconds in the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />Iraq debacle. That’s nuts.) One of the treacly souls with whom I was sharing a lucid and pungent rant would give me the kicked-spaniel look and say, “Why can’t you be nicer?” “Because I care zero about nice. What I care about is not-mutilated. Not-mutilated. In mind, heart, or body.”

   Meow/moral equivalent of war is a mnemonic device, a memory trick, a memory meme. Because juxtaposing meow & moral equivalent of war is absurd, it reminds our mentality to hone the tools and weapons of fierce mind rather than the weapons of mutilation.

    Don’t mistake me. Ungrounded ‘intelligence’ and cleverness are no per se protection against the war psychosis whatever. “War hath no fury like a noncombatant.”

    Marianne Moore speaks of poetry as being “imaginary gardens with real toads in them.” Every fierce poetry-act of electric perception you construct, inhabit, perform, engage in is the meow, the moral equivalent of war. The equivalent of war which is, instead, moral. When you seize seeing, you tyger your life. You do the alchemy, you replace the reigning madly contagious psychosis with electric sanity.

    You have to be able to be alone with your fullness with AllElse or they(family, churches, nations, pals) will be able to bribe or bludgeon you with temptations, demands, commands whereby you submit or succumb to the psychosis(warism, racism, sexism, theism etc.)to keep approval, to keep belonging. (No, no, I’m not suggesting some strange isolation. Just a startled awareness of what we will sacrifice in order to belong. We will allow mutilated children to be called collateral damage and gaze, if regretfully, the Other Way.)

    Understanding that your hero’s journey is the daily meow, the exact and devoted and constant curiosity consistent with the marvel & magic of being alive. The war on war, the m.e.o.w, the moral equivalent of war, can not be won with their mutilating weapons, but in another quantum. Neither the right brain nor the left brain, but the rhapsodic center, the zone where Vulcan & Venus join fierce & tender forces of shocking, startled appreciation. Honor paid not in some fantastically sentimentally recalled war-struck past where you trapped juice, mystery, and mischief, but remembrance of things present, honed, honeyed, by all the earlier insights and outsights, angles. Jabbing skillfully at your day with a brush full of shocking color, wheat, sky, crows, like Van Gogh painting the ordinary scene as if it were illuminated suddenly and unbearably with lightning. Seize seeing.

   When daily life is shocking, terrifying, absurd, delicious, our poetry-eyes ablaze, war will seem as wasteful, coarse, revolting as it, in gruesome fact, is.

   Meow is a handy meme, a portable talisman to remind us that each act of attention, each breath, each heartbeat is an act of tyger peace, of fierce peace. Violent perception for peace. The joak’s on the boring warring. Sooner than you think too.

    Some scoffing is allowed. War? Piffle. Dreary. Dull. Loud. Leaden. Mainly vastly stupid. Impaling his entrails on your bayonet. Again? Really? Ho hum. War loses because it isn’t as savage as a violet.

    You are a Prometheus of perception. When you burn your hand on your cat’s fur, you know you’re beginning to wake up. Meow.

…!…

Notes:

. shock .. The war on war will be a shock if you’ve pried open your consciousness to put the pearls inside. If you do the exercises and keep a log, your openness will make you more vulnerable. Empathy actually increases the neural pathways. You get used to it.

 .d’artagnan .. (dar tan yaw[n]) d’Artagnan was the captain of the Three Musketeers, a swashbuckling hero;

. pero is 'but' and verdad is 'truly' in Spanish;

. mnemonic device .. roygbiv for the colors of the spectrum & rainbow is a classic mnemonic device. Roy. G. Biv – red orange yellow green blue indigo violet;

 . dyspepsia .. deranged, impaired digestion, grumpy guts, heartburn, nausea;

 . mawkish means sickly sentimental; from 1702; mawk = maggot;

. I got the Einstein, Freud, James & Montague quoted tidbits from Laptham's Quarterly Vo1 1.

 . quotidian (quoh-tidian)is the amusingly $20 word for ‘everyday’ or ‘daily’;

. militant pacifist .. a pacifist is not a passive-ist, but like the mighty western ocean on an halcyon day, a pacific-ist. To me, it’s about using resources for ingenious & determined construction.

 . treacly .. (tree-clee) treacle (tree-cull) implies excessive sweetness; think of too much molasses;

. “War hath no fury like a non-combatant.” ..  C.E.Montague 1922;

. Van Gogh ripped his ear off because it was so clear to him, the complete glory of wheat. Now, self-mutilation ain’t wise but it speaks to the passion inherent.

. savage violet .. a dandelion puff is rough stuff;

. Vulcan & Venus .. Vulcan is the Roman god of fire, a lame blacksmith, therefore forger, crafter; husband of the goddess of Love, Venus;

. Prometheus . Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to humankind.

…………<^>…………

Ask Dr. Druid, 66 Days from Lead to Gold, Secrets of  Alchemy You Can Use, a druid shaman’s playbook .. Intro; Prologue; Day 1; Days 2 & 3; Day 4; Day 5; Day 6; Day 7; Day 8; Day 9; Day 10; Day 11; Day 12; Day 13; Day 14; day 15 Review 2; Day 16; Day 17; Day 18; Day 19; Day 20; Day 21; Day 22; Day 23; Day 24; Day 25; Day 26; Day 27; Day 28; Day 29; Day 30; Day 31; Day 32; Day 33; Day 34; Day 35;

……..……<^>………..…..

If you know or are an agent, aspiring agent, editor, or publisher person who would handle this kind of druid material, please let me know at .. askdrdruid@gmail.com. Please put ‘agent’ in the subject line.

………….<^>……………..

It’s an honor to have you visit pogblog. Do comment.

You may comment anonymously.

…………….<^>……………..

Check pogblog’s Glossary for brave & nefarious words.

copyright pogblog 2007 all rights reserved

copyright ask dr. druid 2007 all rights reserved

blog title image is a piece of andy goldsworthy

excerpt image franz marc 1912 

article title image franz marc 1912

I’d be very grateful if you’d send pogblog’s link to a friend:
http://pogblog.blogharbor.com  

email: askdrdruid@gmail.com

.. keep your heart bright. beauty is rising.

.for bombadilobo & diablobo.

<^>..

the education-obsessed world begins today with you ..

.. let’s spend the $820,000 per minute Military-Corporate Budget on education instead ..

………….<^>…………….

Ask Dr. Druid . Day 34 . Rats, Ice Cream, Pigs, Granny, & Gandhi

 

Ask Dr. Druid . Day 34

Rats, Ice Cream, Pigs, Granny, & Gandhi

image

This piece will read best for you

if you read it with your mouth as if out loud

[Ask Dr. Druid is designed to begin at the beginning. Click here.]

<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> 

x

 

    Ah, mnemonic devices .. When you need a restorative spate of recreation, play with mnemonic(knee-mahn-ik)devices. A mnemonic device is some nifty trick so you can remember something. A lifetime later I still remember A Rat In Tom’s House Might Eat Tom’s Ice Cream as the mnemonic device whose first letters spell arithmetic. George Eaton’s Old Grandmother Rode A Pig Home Yesterday spells geography. Muy yum (the only palindrome I ever invented – a palindrome meaning that it reads the same backwards as forward, the most famous probably being ‘Madam, I’m Adam.’)

   The enduring quality of a mnemonic device speaks in miniature to the astonishing power of story to the human brain – we really prefer stories to crack or even chocolate. The rat sentence is a tiny story in which we rather gleefully & shiverally fear that a Rat might be stalking Tom’s ice cream.  Then there’s George Eaton, Granny, & the pig. It is this bardic, storyness that makes us rich – those who spend their time accumulating paltry bottomlines wear emperor’s clothes. Stories don’t rust or get stolen or shame your lucred soul.  

     My doggèd pal who wanders the Earth with her Teach Peace sign sent me the following mnemonic device for remembering Gandhi’s 9 steps for decreasing violence, increasing non-violence or conducting cooperation. Gandhi was very practical, not mystical. In this case, the first letters highlight a key word in the practical steps or seeds that increase cooperation on our sure if zigzagging path to peace.

   

 Dancing Penguins Should Have Long Nights Doing Fancy Polkas

1. (D) Define the conflict.

2. (P) It isn’t you against me .. it’s you and me against the problem .. the problem is the problem.

3. (S)  List the things we do share. Need for food, shelter, water, safety, & art, for instance. Need cats too.

4. (H) Don’t ask antagonists for the self-justifying ‘What happened?’ Ask for a factual list of ‘What did you do?’

5. (L) Practice active Listening Skills..not passive brooding sullen hearing.

6. (N) Resolve conflict in a neutral  place. Treaties are not made on the battlefield. Too toxic & hot there.

7. (D) Proceed with doable steps. Don’t try to swallow the pumpkin whole..Have a single piece of pie to start.

8. (F) Practice forgiveness skills, not vengeance skills. Go quickly to neutral..on the way to eventual forgiveness.

9. (P) Purify my heart. Purify my own heart. Easy to see stubborn flaws, lousy attitude, & blindness of others…  

[10. Practice active Laughing skills. Sweet sweet irony cools the melon. This is a bonus step.]  

..adapted from pp.40-41 Colman McCarthy I’d Rather Teach Peace

….!!…

These steps unfurled show you can teach peace indeed! I hope you'll copy the little piece & send it along to people. Some folks put it on their websites. I’ll gloss this more or meringue this more soon. Am too sleepy at the mo. Whatever time of the 1440/86400 (minutes or seconds of your daynight) this finds you deliciously in, don’ let the 12-ft-tall lizards getcha down. The poets and the poetry-eyed do win. Because we’re more fun, & the multi-verse or many-poem place finds calculating success in money bizarre. Eat lots of buttered toast.

……..!…

Notes:

. muy yum .. muy is very in Spanish (pron mmmwhee); yum for yummy;

. lucred . verb coin from lucre, ill-gotten gain; In the 16th century, Tyndale translated a slur re money in the Christian bible as ‘filthy lucre,’ giving it the cast we feel today.

. 12-ft-tall lizards .. There is a group on an island somewhere that is convinced that those greedy leaders of today who extol the corporate over the person are really 12-ft-tall lizards in disguise. The notion has an undoubted resonance and is divinely droll at the very least.

.   

…………<^>…………

Ask Dr. Druid, 66 Days from Lead to Gold, Secrets of  Alchemy You Can Use, a druid shaman’s playbook .. Intro; Prologue; Day 1; Days 2 & 3; Day 4; Day 5; Day 6; Day 7; Day 8; Day 9; Day 10; Day 11; Day 12; Day 13; Day 14; day 15 Review 2; Day 16; Day 17; Day 18; Day 19; Day 20; Day 21; Day 22; Day 23; Day 24; Day 25; Day 26; Day 27; Day 28; Day 29; Day 30; Day 31; Day 32; Day 33; Day 34;

……..……<^>………..…..

If you know or are an agent, aspiring agent, editor, or publisher person who would handle this kind of druid material, please let me know at .. askdrdruid@gmail.com. Please put ‘agent’ in the subject line.

………….<^>……………..

It’s an honor to have you visit pogblog. Do comment.

You may comment anonymously.

…………….<^>……………..

Check pogblog’s Glossary for brave & nefarious words.

copyright pogblog 2007 all rights reserved

copyright ask dr. druid 2007 all rights reserved

blog title image is a piece of andy goldsworthy

excerpt image flat earth unknown artist

article title image wayne thiebaud 

I’d be very grateful if you’d send pogblog’s link to a friend:
http://pogblog.blogharbor.com  

email: askdrdruid@gmail.com

.. keep your heart bright. beauty is rising.

.for bombadilobo & diablobo.

<^>..

the education-obsessed world begins today with you ..

.. let’s spend the $820,000 per minute Military-Corporate Budget on education instead ..

………….<^>…………….

Cool presents 2007: immersion blender, finch sock, 3% milk

Friends —

 
IF you're looking to give yourself or an other a darn nifty & handy present, consider the KitchenAid Immersion Blender KHB100. I was surfing and saw America's Test Kitchen rating immersion blenders and they said the $50 KitchenAid with the metal wand had it all compared to any at twice the price. (This is not the one with fifty attachments. This one immerses and blends. It doesn't whisk.) It has 9 speeds or somesuch tho.
 
I got one listed at $69 for $49 in Los Altos at Cooks Junction. They come in white, red, & black. I need one so I don't have to puree batches of soup in the Cuisinart. I can do the pureeing right in the pan all at once. Its wand is much easier to wash than all the Cuisinart apparatus. (It's true I do a lot of puree soup because I don't chew so well these false-teeth days . . .  .) The metal wand is crucial so you can do still-hot soup, gravy etc. It does smoothies & all that kind of stuff too. I haven't thought of doing super bittersweet cocoa til this instant but it comes with a mixing beaker — which I now see is obviously designed to let you start with organic 100% unsweetened cocoa powder & make a delectable drink. It's always hard to get the cocoa to really mix in. [aHA!! I just went & tried the cocoa trick and it's the best easiest cocoa I've ever made or had. (Control of the sugar is the key. 3 tables spoons of 100% (therefore sugarless) cocoa powder to 1 flat tablespoon of organic fair trade alter eco sugar is about right for 16 0z cup of milk. If you do cocoa, let me know & I'll go thru the triumphantly easy tho not intuitive steps. Yippee!]   
 
/// The Kaytee Super Finch Sock is daggone adorable. It's about 10 bucks at Orchard Supply Hardware. Only finches & not squirrels or bluejays like it. May take a week or ten days for them to find it if you haven't been feeding birds previously. You re-fill it with the nyger seed. I now have 5-8 finches nibbling at any given time. The super finch sock comes in a 3″ diameter plastic tube about a foot high. The white tough net tube sock within is filled with nyger seed which finches obviously dig. You hang it from a hook or somesuch. The additional Kaytee nyger seed sack is about 16 dollars I think, & looks like it would last about 2 months if they eat at this rate & have to refill once a week?  I'll know more in a month.
 
cheers + milk + honey + a little nutmeg + . . . some cheap brandy?
.. pogblog 
ps. re cocoa, fer gawds' sakes use whole milk. Milk comes out of the cow at 3%!! [three percent] The greatest marketing scam of ALL time is the idea that if you drink 2% milk, you're losing 98% of some imagined fat. Ha double Ha. A basic Holstein cow gives 3% milk. So your gain (or loss) is minuscule & you can't absorb the calcium without the modest natural amount of fat. (I just happen to know this insider's stuff because I grew up on a dairy farm & the “Milk Tester” came & stayed at your farm every 6 months and tested the milk of each cow in a centrifuge to get its butterfat amount. Typically 3 to 3.2%. Your herd got paid a bonus or not depending on the butterfat average. Anyhow, the raw milk we drank straight from dear ole Bossy was 3% milk. Adding lowfat milk to your coffee is a Joke.  chortle guffaw)
………….
questions — comment or email askdrdruid@yahoo.com