Bluebell
I am sorry for your loss and hope this helps.
Obama's grandmother died the day before he was elected. I knew she died then to help him win.
Your mother died during that week to let you know she went to the other side to help all of us and especially the children. There is so much power coming from the other side and she joined it. The stronger they are over there, the stronger it makes us over here. Even death is not in vain.
Natalie -
Here are my thoughts. I believe that the US is cursed. I believe that it was built upon a foundation of evil beginning with the genocides of the people indigenous to this continent in the 1400s and continuing right through our [First?] Civil War. Yes the Founders were men of the Enlightenment, they were intelligent and I do think that they were as well intentioned as it was possible for them to be given the world they were living in. They were more evolved, yes, but apparently not enough. I really believe that the actual land itself can be cursed and I think that some of the Native Americans may have cursed the lands they were driven off of (and I also think some of that boomeranged back on them, and that is why they never succeeded in taking anything back). I think slaves cursed the lands they had to work, and the slave owner, traders, trackers, etc., and all their descendants. If you want another example of a country that I think is similarly cursed, look at Haiti.
The Founding generations could have done things differently, but they clung to old Christian beliefs that are rooted in other evils like the Crusades and the Spanish Inquisition. The Puritans who came here viewed the natives as animals, incapable of "receiving the salvation of Christ". So while we in the US are taught in grade school that the Puritans came here seeking "religious freedom", that's not the entire truth. They felt compelled not only to escape their own persecution, but to "bring the Kingdom of God throughout the Earth", by any means necessary. This twisted form of Christianity is what is prevailing today. The Evangelical Right is truly evil, but to their minds they are doing God's work. A lot of what they are reacting to are the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act of the 1960s. They crave revenge. They are also a cult of death, much like ISIS. They WANT to bring the apocalypse because they think that God will come down and rapture them up to a "better place". They think more of their afterlife than their current life. This is why they are so callous and bigoted. While I can say that yes, we should all send them light, I doubt it will matter. This kind of evil is like a cancer - left untreated it kills the host.
A book I recommend reading is "The Wordy Shipmates" by Sarah Vowell. It really is thought provoking and informative and gives good context to what was going on back around the time of the founding of the colonies while dispelling common myths. To modern evangelicals, they want "the shining city on the hill", which is an oft-used quote that dates back to the colonial period but originated in the Bible.
Today I am at my wit's end with all this. I am arguing with my husband (whose ancestors escaped both Cossacks and Nazis). He says he will know when to run, and I want that to be sooner rather than later. After today's SCOTUS decisions I am thinking that the Trump lawsuit against California is going to end up decided for Trump. I don't want to live in a country like that. We're middle aged, so it will be tough, but I'm trying to convince my husband to look at the entrepreneur/investor route for Canadian residency (maybe you have a sofabed, Natalie? lol). I also keep feeling I will need to defend myself in a big way in the next couple of years, so I'm looking for a gun shop/range to learn how to shoot properly and get a large gun that I can handle safely, in case. And to those who advised me previously - I have re-stocked and repacked emergency items, and the majority are in a large "go box" tub right in my dining room (no space by the front door).
It's only 11am here... and I need a cocktail already...
Wow..... thank you Laura. You've said in so many words what I have believed for a long time. There are places I've been to that I would describe as being either cursed or having a very negative vibe. There are people like that too. You are right about America, but it is not only America. Every colonial country from Canada to Australia has to varying degrees of brutality done similar things. It may be true that America has done the most harm, but are all the other colonial countries off the hook or are they cursed too? I don't see Canada devolving into tyranny, but I can easily see a peaceful de federalization happening. Whatever happens I think up there life is safe and I would like to return very very much.
I am not middle aged but I married an American man two years ago and I feel that he is in deep denial about what's going on. Inside I'm screaming at the situation and he's still convinced things will work out, the institutions will save us. It's a character weakness I have a hard time dealing with. He won't leave and it's tearing me apart inside. As a Canadian citizen I can leave whenever I want, so can all my blood relatives in this country for the same reason. But my husband won't leave and I won't leave him so I'm stuck. At least we live in liberal Cambridge Massachusetts where most people think like us, but I just really wonder about the long term.
If I had a foreign couch I'd give it to you, unfortunately I only have an American couch at the moment.
Thanks, Natalie, I accept your imaginary Canadian couch with gratitude. ?
Yes, many Americans are in denial, my husband included (although he admits to feeling ashamed when he travels abroad on business). People are counting on "institutions" to save the system, they refuse to see that those institutions are being destroyed one by one.
I agree that other countries are cursed as well, but I think that sometimes amends can be made and wrongs undone and perhaps ameliorate the bad historical karma, if that makes sense. I don't see that ever happening here. We're only 5 generations past slavery, and there is still oppression and no reparations.
❤️ ? ❤️ ? ❤️
Canada has committed many crimes against the indigenous peoples, and reparations are beginning to be made. Official apologies have been made by the federal government and an inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women has been started. All this is good, but nowhere near enough to what needs to be done for true healing. Hopefully one day the effort will be made to really heal, at the moment I can only pray.
America however is in deep denial, I think that may end up being it's undoing - the curse of denial.
The current state of the educational system in the US is the result of a half century plus of whittling away at it from the far right. It started with desegregation. This is all for spite.
I tried to read the Midterms today using the Tarot. There are 19 weeks to go. I closed my eyes and counted 19 weeks ahead to the Wednesday after the Midterms, to see what card would appear. I did it twice, randomly pulling cards from the Thoth deck. Both times I got the same card for Nov 7 -- the Devil card (15th Trump). In the Thoth deck the devil is Pan the goat god staring hard at you deadpan, with a wry half smile. He seems to be saying to all soft hearted progressives, "You think you are going to win? Think again. You have no idea what you are dealing with." The card also shows an erect phallus in the background, as if to say this is patriarchal male power at its toughest.
Also Putin is involved. I feel he has the means to hack key races. The races will be fierce. Without interference, there would be a blue wave in both house. But with all the voter suppression and election hacking, I continue to sense a Red majority in the Senate and a close outcome in the House.
As for the coming fascist wave that Zoron describes, I do not yet feel threatened in New England, nor would I feel worried in New York, California or any of the blue or purple states.
As for the cruelty towards immigrants. Scanning Trump and Homeland Security, I see he is now demanding absolute secrecy above all else. They won't let people see what is going on. He was furious that a tape was smuggled out. I fear for the children because Trump wants them to disappear. He doesn't want the children to tell their stories. That's why he doesn't want to release the children. The atrocity keeps getting worse because Trump wants no witnesses. These detention centers are also lucrative military contracts. So there will be pressure to keep them going.
I feel that the money people are donating to help defend parents and reunite them with their children is a big help. The funds will put pressure on the authorities to get these children back to their parents. I don't think that donating clothes will help them, but legal defense funds are a huge help.
If the GOP wins the House at midterms, I can’t imagine my being able to deal with that. Trump already said how the Dems
think they are going to win but will get a surprise. Obviously Putin is involved and we are screwed.
Anita
There will be tremendous feelings of hopelessness but also anger and fortitude if this election result comes to pass. The timeline is still gelling. But remember what jeanne and zoron and others are saying: there is a purpose to all this and light at the end.
Think of what we are going through as childbirth: painful and agonizing but something beautiful awaits us all.
I agree with you, Francie that if the Right holds onto one or both houses, people will be discouraged. But there will be many people, myself included, who will see this as a challenge to keep the faith and push forward. Yes, the process is like childbirth, which is the most painful and longest marathon I ever pushed through. We should all work hard to get a blue wave this November. No one knows the future for certain. I thought Moore would win in Alabama, until the very last few days when my cards showed the dems would be celebrating.
When we read the future, we feel forces at work, but we don't know for sure how it will turn out. It gives us a good sense of what is going on, but we rarely know for sure how it will turn out. Zoron is also reading the intentions and directions that the dark forces are headed, but they may not succeed.
To me, the Devil card means there is going to be a tough battle, and the Right is going to use every conceivable means to win - including a foreign power, and the usual lying and voter suppression. The Devil card represents Trump at his meanest and toughest. But when the time is right, the light will prevail. Life always asserts itself. I just don't know if it will happen in November.
Also, for every awful thing that has happened, some real good has occurred. The compassion people feel for those Central Americans who were put in detention has melted the hearts of millions of people all over the world. Donations to the ACLU and to reuniting families are rising. The support for a compassionate immigration system is much greater than for the cruel one.
Yes! As the saying goes, no pain, no gain :-) Transformation does not come without uncomfortable moments.
And in these moments of strife, if we pay attention, we can better learn who we are.
In my studies of Spirituality, most teachings hold the tenets of know yourself ( because Divinity is within you) and do not judge others ( because Divinity is also within them).
So, listen to yourself in the uncomfortable, transformative times we are all living through. Listen truly to your heart and soul, and do what you feel is best for you, and in that moment, you will know yourself better.
And in all this noise and pain, do your best not to judge others for their decisions, because they are trying to know themselves better - just as you are.
And yes, that's all fine and dandy until I try to apply that non- judgement to the Treasonous coup director currently occupying the White House who is destroying the lives of thousands of children.
(That was a Big contraction - am I in Transition yet?
Breathe - he he he he Whoo Whoo Whoo. Remember those Lamaze/ Meditation classes.)
And I learned I'm only compassionate to a point. Looks like I still have some things to learn, and by God, I'm so glad to be in the company of all of you while I'm learning it.
Hang in there everyone. We'll come out the other side knowing ourselves better at the very least.
Love to all!
Breaking News from San Diego: Court has ruled that feds have 30 days to reunite families and cease and desist separations in the meantime. This is huge, but hopefully will come to pass, because no one was keeping track of who the kids really are or where they ended up, or where the parents ended up. thanks to ACLU!!
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/courts/sd-me-judge-ruling-20180626-story.html
Laura, this is huge news. The ACLU is one reason that Trump is having a hard time going full fascist. Time for me to donate again to them.
Luminata -you have described my own process exactly and eloquently. Breathe - he he he he Whoo Whoo Whoo. Remember those Lamaze/ Meditation classes.). I then feel solid and calm. Then later I read something or think about this children and I succumb to rage and pain and fantasies of Trump being devastated (and Pruitt, and Ryan, etc.) Then I get back up and breathe. It is the process, but recovery is coming more often. We grow in a spiralic journey where we seem to be moving in a circle, but the circle is advancing.
I hear the words of poet/priest John O'Donahue, "Unless you see a thing through the eye of love, you don't really see it." I was able to see Trump et al. once through the eye of love but that was in a workshop with the loving kindness guru Sharon Saltzberg. Sharon and the group energy and a week of meditation helped me. When I did, I saw him and his minions as truncated little people about 3 feet tall rushing around in circles like emotionally.
Since I can't be in a meditation retreat every day, I find now that it's better for me not to focus on Trump at all, but on the heroes who have risen throughout this time.
Yesterday I watched a news cast for the third time of Congressman Ted Lieu standing strong and unwavering in front of the Republican Congress playing the famous audio tape of two children wailing for their parents. He had the tape hidden in a device in his left lapel pocket. He got up and played it before the Congress, while the GOP member in charge, Karen Handel repeatedly pounded the gavel and demanded he step down. But Lieu stood stalwart risking being disciplined. The event is now old news (happened last Friday) but it's an historic event forever recorded in Congressional record. At one point, the GOP aides were scrambling around looking up the rules to figure out how to stop him. The Speaker in charge stopped interrupting during that pause and you could hear the wailings of a little boy, clear in any language, pleading over and over again in the most mournful tone I've ever heard in a child, "Papa, Papa," Yes, I sobbed hearing it, but it was consolation to know that all the world and the GOP Congress were also hearing it.
These and others are acts of heroism are how I push through. Lieu's action was non violent. He was respectful in his speech. He spoke in moderated tones and stood dignified repeating that the American people deserve to hear the cries of these children. He was unwavering and rose above the GOP Speaker. This is heart warriorship. Along with Emma Gonzales' "I call B.S." speech, and Kamala Harris' detention center speech that Laura posted, I feel uplifted.
Using the process of savoring: When I focus on savoring these acts of bravery and generosity rather than focusing on powerlessness, I feel empowered and hopeful.
Natalie -
Here are my thoughts. I believe that the US is cursed. I believe that it was built upon a foundation of evil beginning with the genocides of the people indigenous to this continent in the 1400s and continuing right through our [First?] Civil War. Yes the Founders were men of the Enlightenment, they were intelligent and I do think that they were as well intentioned as it was possible for them to be given the world they were living in. They were more evolved, yes, but apparently not enough. I really believe that the actual land itself can be cursed and I think that some of the Native Americans may have cursed the lands they were driven off of (and I also think some of that boomeranged back on them, and that is why they never succeeded in taking anything back). I think slaves cursed the lands they had to work, and the slave owner, traders, trackers, etc., and all their descendants. If you want another example of a country that I think is similarly cursed, look at Haiti.
The Founding generations could have done things differently, but they clung to old Christian beliefs that are rooted in other evils like the Crusades and the Spanish Inquisition. The Puritans who came here viewed the natives as animals, incapable of "receiving the salvation of Christ". So while we in the US are taught in grade school that the Puritans came here seeking "religious freedom", that's not the entire truth. They felt compelled not only to escape their own persecution, but to "bring the Kingdom of God throughout the Earth", by any means necessary. This twisted form of Christianity is what is prevailing today. The Evangelical Right is truly evil, but to their minds they are doing God's work. A lot of what they are reacting to are the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act of the 1960s. They crave revenge. They are also a cult of death, much like ISIS. They WANT to bring the apocalypse because they think that God will come down and rapture them up to a "better place". They think more of their afterlife than their current life. This is why they are so callous and bigoted. While I can say that yes, we should all send them light, I doubt it will matter. This kind of evil is like a cancer - left untreated it kills the host.
A book I recommend reading is "The Wordy Shipmates" by Sarah Vowell. It really is thought provoking and informative and gives good context to what was going on back around the time of the founding of the colonies while dispelling common myths. To modern evangelicals, they want "the shining city on the hill", which is an oft-used quote that dates back to the colonial period but originated in the Bible.
Today I am at my wit's end with all this. I am arguing with my husband (whose ancestors escaped both Cossacks and Nazis). He says he will know when to run, and I want that to be sooner rather than later. After today's SCOTUS decisions I am thinking that the Trump lawsuit against California is going to end up decided for Trump. I don't want to live in a country like that. We're middle aged, so it will be tough, but I'm trying to convince my husband to look at the entrepreneur/investor route for Canadian residency (maybe you have a sofabed, Natalie? lol). I also keep feeling I will need to defend myself in a big way in the next couple of years, so I'm looking for a gun shop/range to learn how to shoot properly and get a large gun that I can handle safely, in case. And to those who advised me previously - I have re-stocked and repacked emergency items, and the majority are in a large "go box" tub right in my dining room (no space by the front door).
It's only 11am here... and I need a cocktail already...
Laura F, you are right up my alley!
How does one start getting prepped? What are you doing for preparations?
I'm with you on having to possibly defend yourself within the next few years. It bothers me to say it but I truly do believe that those Trumpsters are just going to do something catastrophic and I refuse to lie down and take it.
I think I have too much fire in me sometimes, lol. ?
Carmen - prep depends on where/how you live. For me it's making sure my car is in good working order, and I have some emergency supplies in my car (first aid, water, snacks, tools).Then I have a "Go Box" which is just a big plastic storage tup with: more food, water, change of clothes, blankets, small tent, toiletries, walkie talkies, candles, flashlights, lighters, etc. And for the first time in my life I'm considering buying and learning how to safely handle a gun ( a strictly personal choice).
Jeanne - you're welcome.
Despite my above-mentioned thoughts on becoming a gun owner, I have always advocated non-violence first and foremost. BUT non-violence does not always work (despite online graphics to the contrary). If it works, it works, but when it doesn't it's catastrophic. The US is a violent society at its core, so unlikely it will work here. I believe it's worth putting all energy into non-violent civil disobedience FOR NOW, but I'm preparing for a time that may come where violence will be visited on those of us who are non-violent. Non-violence in this country is seen as weakness, much as it was in 1930s Germany. Violence is a last resort, for sure, but folks need to remember that there have been many cases over the last 100 years where a non-violent approach did not work, e.g., Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Castro, Allende, Mao, Kim (Sr. & Jr.), Rwanda, Tiananmen Square, Yugoslavia, Iran. In all these cases, non-violent protest was effectively crushed because the protestors chose to remain non-violent. And I would remind everyone that while Gandhi and MLK were "doing their thing", riots and violence were happening on their behalf at the same time.
And as for civility, it is dead anyway. I'm with Sen. Maxine Waters, who told supporters at an Abolish ICE rally in LA - not to be violent, but to stop whatever they are doing if they see an administration member and harass them to leave where they are, and let them know (verbally) that they are not appreciated nor welcome. You dance with Satan, you pay the fiddler.
I don't have a link to it, but Sen Warren visited an ICE center yesterday and posted her thoughts in a video online, very moving.
Tomorrow (June 28) at 3 pm EST, Sharon Saltzberg (a wonderful meditation teacher I studied with) is holding a brief meditation for people to send loving energy to the children in ICE detention.
If you click on https://twitter.com/SharonSalzberg?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor I think (hope) it will come up. #mettaminute or Sharon Saltzberg’s website, you will be able to join in. “Thanks for the idea @MonicaLewinsky to host a #mettaminute for people to send Lovingkindness to the innocent children in the ICE detention centers. Will you join us tomorrow at 3pm EST? #SpreadTheLove”
If you can't find it, just pause at 3 pm tomorrow and send the children your love. Hold them in your heart and see them feeling loved and cared for and finally see them brought home to their parents.
Done! love this thoughtful, positive act of support for the children. They need all the love we can offer up...thank you Jeanne??
I love this and will definitely be participating. Thank you so much for sharing this, Jeanne.
Natalie, glad to hear about the indigenous reparations in Canada, and the murder inquiries. Long overdue. Thousands missing.