Project Mayhem discussion

Hey Guys! I'm taking cues from a site that I used to hang out on for a while...they used to post transformations monthly to try to get everyone's wheels turning.

I hope you don't mind us taking on that tradition! I'm calling this area 'Transmutations' because to transmute means to:
to change from one nature, substance, form, or condition into another; transform.

So let's keep our mental mapping as malleable as possible, ok? To be willing to absorb knowledge and ideas into your own psyche in order to change yourself into a being of higher vibration and resonance is true alchemy! And how lovely is that?!

For this month I was inspired by Molly's first utterance of this statement and by Amanda's comments regarding it. The statement is:

"Everything is Connected"

Three extremely powerful words.

From my last post, I'm sure you know that I believe this inherently.

But what do you think...what does this phrase mean to you, if anything at all?

How does it make you look at your fellow man and the world around you?

Since every action must have a reaction....does this knowledge make you do things differently in your everyday life?

Ah, existentialism; the idea that everything and everyone is connected to each other. We are all the same, and if I hurt you, theoretically, I'm also hurting myself.

The movie I <3 Huckabees covered this quite nicely, but I've always been looking to see if I could find a good book or two on the subject.

Would it be brash if I suggested (if I can find a good book on the subject) that we all read about this, and discuss it from there? Of course, I'll start looking right away.

That said, I do believe that on some level, everyone and everything throughout HISTORY is connected!:

- Rome died and then came the United States. The US is now on a very, very similar path to the one the Romans traversed (you know what they say, history repeats itself... I wonder why? Most people don't seem to learn from the mistakes of their ancestors... And indeed, those in the past are EVERYONE'S ancestors).

- My Viking ancestors used to roam the East Coast of this very continent we've decided to call North America. They (they being Norway, specifically) also invaded Ireland in 900 AD, and managed to successfully colonize, meaning the Irish have Scandinavian blood mixed with theirs. Years later the Irish would make a similar (though less violent) colonization of New York and other parts of the East Coast which the Viking's used to roam about (both of whom, for the most part, ended up mainly in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia).

- Similarities in mythology and Gods in parts of the world that had no access to or contact with each other for hundreds of years. Probably the most prominent of which is that of the Norse Norns and Greek Fates. Each set was three sisters, one of whom would spin or weave our lives, another to measure them, and the third of whom to decide when it would be appropriate to cut the main thread and end it all. Spinner, Measurer, Cutter. In Norse mythology their names are Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld. Their Greek counterparts are, in the same order, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. The stories are almost identical, though the Greeks and the Vikings had little to no contact with each other for quite a long time.

I could go on, but I don't feel the need to. My point is, there are cultures, nations, and individuals who end up following the same paths as people still living, or people in the past of whom they have no prior knowledge... And I can't bring myself, nay, I refuse to believe that its all a coincidence. In some way, those people, living and dead, those nations now and past, those cultures, secluded from one another, yet end up on the same path, believing the same things, telling the same stories... There's a far deeper connection there than most people would be willing to admit.

And being a neo-Pagan, I'd love to believe in the case of mythology, especially Greek and Norse, since I follow a mixture containing both in prominence, I'd like to believe it is because on some level of existence, some unreachable plane of reality, my Gods are sitting there, weaving lives and touching our lives, unseen. Though I know others may disagree.

Er... My "religion" mixes Greek Gods, Norse legends and myths, Qabalah magic practices and views of the afterlife, Discordian and Thelemic philosophies, Celtic and Norse celebrations or holidays, and Druid ritual rites. Its complicated.

I've found a few books on the subject of existentialism...

Basic Writings of Existentialism by Gordon Marino

Worlds of Existentialism: A Critical Reader
by Maurice Friedman (Editor), Delmar Publishers (this is a textbook)

Courage to Be
Paul Tillich, Peter J. Gomes

The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays
Albert Camus, Justin O'Brien, Justin O'Brien

Irrational Man: A Study in Existential Philosophy
William E. Barrett

Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sartre
Walter Kaufman, Walter Arnold Kaufmann, Walter Arnold Kaufmann

I read that atheism, secular humanism and existentialism are all connected, but that the upshot of it was nihilism.

I'm not sure I agree with that last bit but, that's what I heard.

I quite agree with the concept and to me, well, I interpret it as a clarion call to understand HOW it is all connected. To lose myself in the multitude of permutations and to accept, almost on faith, the inherent truth in "Everything is Connceted".

It also is my mantra against not only religion but other lies like Santa Claus. Since everything is connected, these concepts have a detrimental affect on society and, imo, a negative impact on our collective pysche. How truely odd it would be to introduce something plainly false (this fat guy is going to break into your house and leave presents for you, but only if you're good, and he knows...HE KNOWS!) only to reveal later that it was a hoax. What are we teaching our children by this; sometimes it's ok to abuse children's trust?

It's all connected.

Oooooh, good observation about Santa Claus, Rob. I sort of think this way, too, about Santa Claus. But I wonder where we should draw the line? Kids are seriously lacking in imagination these days, and though Santa Claus is pretty vile and all, it does open a door to imagination. I worry that being too serious about seeking truth leaves no time for fun and play.

I think I've stepped away from your post a bit, Rob. Sorry about that one.

Not at all, I've wrestled with that one too - I want my daughter to be imaginative but I try to keep the real world seperate. No one we imagine is going to come into our house and leave things. But, we do pretend that the horse can talk and has feelings and that her baby doll kisses her good night.

I suppose I draw the line at what she is capable of mimicing and producing herself. I keep our imagination play limited to her ability to reproduce. She can pretend that her babydoll went potty; she cannot pretend that someone is always watching her.

If that makes sense.

The moms in my office have been talking about the easter bunny. Oh, the delights! I can feel the sense of entitlement growing around me. Glad the kiddies are learning it young--but what are they gonna do with no more "gimmee" holidays until Halloween???

:::she shudders and puts on headphones to drown out the yuppie drivel:::

I feel you so much Amanda. I used to work for Wachovia and it used to baffle me how much these people mentally abused their children. You guys have to see that new George Carlin special! He's hit the nail on the head over 40 years running, lol.

But not only that...I don't know if it's the same, I haven't worked for anybody in 4 or 5 years, but the only topics of conversation amongst co-workers was:

1) Other Co-Workers
2) Kids
3) American Idol or other TV shows

...that's about it.

ugh.

I can't pretend to be have a real solid college education behind me, so if my idea's are odd, bare with me?

"Everythings connected"

If, we pull our sight out in space everything becomes specks, dots, whirling maybe, but still pin-pricks.

If, you magnify our sight again things become dots, atoms, whirling specks of energy, yet so small we can't grasp the simple fact that even the bodies we inhabit are simply those whirling dots. Like a George Seurat painting. Each dot its own color, but standing back among all the others it becomes something else!

That is how I see it life, god, humans, all of it. One Glorius Masterpiece!!! And, because I am so in love with the beauty of it, I will allow the question of who painted it to remain unanswerd. I don't need to know, I just need to recognze that I am part of it and responsible to it beauty. And deeply connected to all the other specks of color that share the canvas with me.

NdP, that was lovely...

I agree Amanda. I wish I could have summed my thoughts up as gracefully as Nom. I am sooo glad to meet people with similar sort of carefree attitudes about the "almighty".

I felt kind of alone because I am by no means of any religion, but I'm not at all an atheist. But if anyone were to listen to me for 5 minutes they would probably label me as something that I'm not because I totally agree with a lot of points that all parties make.

Thanks you guys :-) So what are we? Mayhemists? lol

I'm reading "Many Lives, Many Masters". On the surface it's a book about a woman's journey into past life regression. Delving deeper, there are universal messages of "everything is connected".

:-)