Wil's Testament

The Herbal Medicine tribe

wil — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:01:44 GMT

The Herbal Medicine tribe is under new management. Girlmark is our fearless moderator and leading that good tribe out of the morass of paranoia that befell it. If you have interest in this subject, consider joining or re-joining. Let's make this tribe and Tribe in general a place for sharing and mutual supportive study like the old days. Sometimes a purge is good, but glad that one is over. http://tribes.tribe.net/herbalmedicine

I have a grandson

wil — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 13:26:18 GMT

No name yet. I'll add it when he has one. Nice chart. Star Spica right on ascendent.

Magic Marimbas

wil — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:36:51 GMT

Afro Basque percussion magic. I'm fascinated by the expressions on these people's faces, and the way they use the entire piece to raise energy, having a visible effect on the audience. World class, in my opinion. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8YgZels13U

The Promise of Biochar

wil — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 18:11:01 GMT

This 10 minute youtube presentation is a very good introduction to the amazing history of biochar, and astounding potential it has for creating intelligent, elegant and efficient integration of our agriculture and energy systems. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-hSl59ET2A Part II is shorter and more concerned with agriculture: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiIbxaW6NdE&feature=PlayList&p=25BDF0FB87892A87&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=22

Basque Music

wil — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:33:11 GMT

I first heard the basque group kepa junkera back in napster haydays and it was love at first listen. Looked them up recently in youtube era and they sure look good too. Check this tune called bok espok played with montage tribute to basque culture. The singing women are bulgarians, and i think they sound good together. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vrnia3S5dpE I like this one a lot too! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF_X6EYzIjw This one is from oreka, a group produced by kepa junkera that features the guys who did nomadak. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fU4UsfM2IxE I think this one is stunningly beautiful, It is by anne etchegoyen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-1Mg6C_n_4&feature=related I love this one too. It's kepa junkera's newest. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7cN_TVK3uU Like celtic music, basque music is a huge genra with the commonality being a high degree of creativity and sensitivity to nuance. These are cultural treasures, not because they are valuables put up in a chest in the attic, but because the talent and spirit of the peoples is alive and growing people who have the artistic integrity and courage to carry it on rather than rest on the laurels of tradition and history.

Nomadak

wil — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 03:02:29 GMT

I love this video. It was made by two basque musicians, and they made a full length video about going around the world getting the various sounds. There is a lot of excellent basque music. The wooden sticks and planks the guys are playing are a basque instrument called a txalaparta which i think is really cool and i wonder why more peoples around the world have not done this. It evolved from workers crushing apples with big sticks and keeping rhythm with each other for amusement as they got a little drunk on hard cider. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YV9GaWwfDY&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.worldvillagemusic.com%2Fanglais%2Falbum.php%3Falbum_id%3D122&feature=player_embedded

Terra Preta and Biochar

wil — Thu, 07 May 2009 19:49:43 GMT

Terra preta, dark earth, is the term for deep deposits of black and intensely fertile soil in the amazon rainforest where the rest of the soil is extremely poor quality. Deposits are located along rivers and sometimes in areas raised above the floodplain, comprising in total an area about the size of france. Archeological digs have discovered that these areas were created by a thriving and populous culture who raised fish and turtles in ponds and used efficient forest farming techniques. They burned wood and biomass in big airless piles creating charcoal, which they incorporated into the soil feeding a vast number of fungus and microbial species and creating the fertility that brought the process to the attention of scientists. The soil actually is self creating once established, with the colonies of microbes continuing to produce fertile soil at a very surprising rate long after the addition of charcoal has ceased. This culture was destroyed by disease carried by gold seeking spaniards. Their few descendants use slash and burn farming techniques, moving from area to area as the soil depletes. This process sequesters significant amounts of carbon while creating an edenic garden. James lovelock, planetary superhero, is excited about this! He says: “There is one way we could save ourselves and that is through the massive burial of charcoal. It would mean farmers turning all their agricultural waste - which contains carbon that the plants have spent the summer sequestering - into non-biodegradable charcoal, and burying it in the soil. Then you can start shifting really hefty quantities of carbon out of the system and pull the CO2 down quite fast.” Check this out! I think it is a fascinating an very encouraging development! http://www.biochar.org/joomla/ http://henandharvest.com/?p=118 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_preta http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94104997 http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=lost-amazon-cities image is "Life in the Llanos". An artist’s conception of a settlement in the Llanos de Mojos, some 2 millennia ago. (painting by Dan Brinkmeier)

Reptilian Conspiracy

wil — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 18:11:31 GMT

The Reptilians It is perfectly true that we are in the grips of a vast conspiracy of an ancient reptilian power which has the power to take over our minds and feed on our emotions. They have enslaved us in the past and forced us to dig for gold to satisfy their greed. Their power structures have invaded all governments on Earth. I’m speaking, of course, about the reptilian brainstem or R-complex, which is an ancient part of the brain concerned with fear, rage and other fight or flight emotions. Our continued evolution is in part concerned with overcoming this influence. This is a true myth; a deep truth expressed through fable. The message is for us to rally our forces in the neo cortex, calm down, and cooperate for the good everyone concerned. Think about it.

Team records 'music' from stars

wil — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 10:33:31 GMT

Here is a link to a BBC article about a team of scientists who have recorded the sounds of stars. The article has very cool embedded players that play wonderful samples of some of the sounds. Try playing them at the same time. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7687286.stm

B flat Universe

wil — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 15:41:19 GMT

In the 1970’s, scientists discovered the background radiation left from the big bang, and calculated it’s frequency. The universe, it seems, still reverberates with a note that, when put into our standard system, is between a B and a B flat. In 2003, scientists working with the Chandra x-ray observatory detected the deepest note ever found in the cosmos. It is a B-flat that is 57 or so octaves below piano tuning. I read online that the gyuto monks chant on this note, and a quick trip to youtube confirmed this for me. All this came to my attention after an online discussion about the high pitched humming that many people, including mycellf, hear in our heads pretty much all the time. Some folks think it is part of a government program of mind control, which i think extremely(!) unlikely, some folks think it’s god talking to them, some folks think it is the essential sound that informs the universe, and some folks say “it’s tinnitis you idiots, seek professional help”. Anyway, i was in this discussion about this, and decided to see what note it is, and the one in my head is clearly between a B and a B flat. I remembered a recent story about the universe hum being in that key so googled “B flat universe” and found all of this info and more. Not a new agey site amongst them, all scientific observations. I like that, and am surprised by it. Cool huh? I sure think so. If you have a hum in your head, check the frequency. This reminds me of the Quan Yin Method of meditation, or "contemplation of the sound vibration.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quan_Yin_Method Here is a good NPR story on B-flat that doesn't even mention the fact that it is the background note left from the big bang, which is a biggie. . http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7442915 This one was written before some of the newer scientific findings were found, and is still very interesting: http://www.beautyinmusic.com/misc_pages/the_big_note.htm On the acoustics of black holes: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/universe/black_hole_sound.html

Yoga Poem - a work in progress

wil — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:09:11 GMT

Yoga (a work in progress) Headstand, cat, and downward dog Bridge and cobra; fish and frog Shoulderstand and head to knee Lion and camel, bow and tree Spinal twist, hero and mountain Lotus, eagle, crow and fountain Stretching shoulders, stretching spine Stretching heart and stretching mind Yoga’s priceless, Yoga’s free Yoga’s sacred circuiTree From wisdom ground, this ancient seed Grows out into the Galaxy We are bright light inside the Stone Through Yoga’s network We phone Home. Magic carpet yoga mat Taking me Away. Taking Me away. Taking me a Way Assuming the assana of the Powerful assumption And holding And letting go Breathing into it Breathing into it Breathing Into It Take yoga’s Light harness Hitching our wagon to the Stars We pull for peace, pulling for goodness sake Pulling for the joy of The Work Pulling ourcellves up On this evolutionary beachhead Shakti troopers, We move Through these kriyas Gasping in this refined AtmoSphere Thankful for this body, thankful for this Opportunity thankful for this good Life

Elephant Paints Self Portrait

wil — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 19:37:39 GMT

I think this is amazing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LHoyB81LnE&feature=related

Peepers!

wil — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 11:24:00 GMT

I heard the spring peepers for the first time a couple of days ago. They are a chorus now. I love the sound. http://www.naturesound.com/frogs/audio/peeper.ram from: http://www.naturesound.com/frogs/pages/peeper.html

Tests of the use of psychedelics in warfare.

wil — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:41:20 GMT

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6923485507156361772&q=lsd+british+troops&total=221&start=0&num=100&so=0&type=search&plindex=0

I still love this song, 40 years later.

wil — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 21:36:03 GMT

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2678466794021433487&q=love+forever+changes+concert&total=13&start=0&num=100&so=0&type=search&plindex=0

Bush's Favorite Painting

wil — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 15:04:42 GMT

In Bush's mind, this is a painting of a daring christian missionary. It is his favorite painting, and he actually named his (ghost written) autobiography after it. In reality, it is an illustration of a posse about to catch a horse thief. This is from Harpers: http://harpers.org/archive/2008/01/hbc-90002237 The Illustrated President BY Scott Horton PUBLISHED January 24, 2008 George W. Bush is famous for his attachment to a painting which he acquired after becoming a “born again Christian.” It’s by W.H.D. Koerner and is entitled “A Charge to Keep.” Bush was so taken by it, that he took the painting’s name for his own official autobiography. And here’s what he says about it: I thought I would share with you a recent bit of Texas history which epitomizes our mission. When you come into my office, please take a look at the beautiful painting of a horseman determinedly charging up what appears to be a steep and rough trail. This is us. What adds complete life to the painting for me is the message of Charles Wesley that we serve One greater than ourselves. So in Bush’s view (or perhaps I should say, faith) the key figure, with whom he personally identifies, is a missionary spreading the word of the Methodist Christianity in the American West in the late nineteenth century. Wilhelm Heinrich Dethlef Körner (you see why he used initials, though he later Anglicized this as William Henry Dethlef Koerner) was born in Germany and immigrated to a small town in Iowa as a young tot. He made his way over time to Chicago and worked as an illustrator for the Chicago Tribune. He married Lillian Lusk, a well-know graphic artist in her own right, and moved to Battle Creek, Michigan, where he worked for Pilgrim Magazine. He and his wife scrimped and saved to finance a move to New York City. They were after more formal art training and to establish a position as artists in the heart of the publishing industry. They made it to New York in 1907, and they were very successful. In fact, Koerner’s principal employer through the core of his career was Harper’s Magazine. Koerner published 55 feature illustrations in Harper’s, the first in 1910 and the last in 1925. You can view them here. Koerner was not exclusive to Harper’s, however, he also did important works for the Saturday Evening Post, McCall’s and Collier’s among other publications, and he did a brisk business for the book trade, again very heavily for Harpers Brothers, and he pioneered commercial illustration (Koerner did the first box artwork for C.W. Post’s Grapenuts, for instance). His serious work after 1907 focused heavily on the American West, and he clearly was one of the key “Golden Age” illustrators. His work is famous for dramatic images which for me are consonant with the age of Teddy Roosevelt—they suggest ruggedness, love for the outdoors, a strong sense of adventure and risk-taking. His paintings are packed with motion, and at times rather dramatic motion. I was not able to find much about Koerner and his sense of religion, through it is very clear that he did not engage in public displays of religious fervor and religious themes are absent entirely from his work. So Bush’s description of “A Charge to Keep” struck me as very strange. In fact, I’d say highly improbable. Now, however, Jacob Weisberg has solved the mystery. He invested the time to track down the commission behind the art work and he gives us the full story in his forthcoming book on Bush, The Bush Tragedy: [Bush] came to believe that the picture depicted the circuit-riders who spread Methodism across the Alleghenies in the nineteenth century. In other words, the cowboy who looked like Bush was a missionary of his own denomination. Only that is not the title, message, or meaning of the painting. The artist, W.H.D. Koerner, executed it to illustrate a Western short story entitled “The Slipper Tongue,” published in The Saturday Evening Post in 1916. The story is about a smooth-talking horse thief who is caught, and then escapes a lynch mob in the Sand Hills of Nebraska. The illustration depicts the thief fleeing his captors. In the magazine, the illustration bears the caption: “Had His Start Been Fifteen Minutes Longer He Would Not Have Been Caught.” So Bush’s inspiring, prosyletizing Methodist is in fact a silver-tongued horse thief fleeing from a lynch mob. It seems a fitting marker for the Bush presidency. Bush has consistently exhibited what psychologists call the “Tolstoy syndrome.” That is, he is completely convinced he knows what things are, so he shuts down all avenues of inquiry about them and disregards the information that is offered to him. This is the hallmark of a tragically bad executive. But in this case, it couldn’t be more precious. The president of the United States has identified closely with a man he sees as a mythic, heroic figure. But in fact he’s a wily criminal one step out in front of justice. It perfectly reflects Bush the man. . . and Bush the president. Update Though I haven’t exaimed Jacob Weisberg’s sourcing for his book, an alert reader points out to me that the story of the Koerner picture “A Charge to Keep” (though we should note that this is the name Bush gives to the picture, not Koerner’s name) was first explored and revealed by Sidney Blumenthal in April 2007 in a column published at Salon.

Pressure cookers save energy, time and money!!!

wil — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 18:27:43 GMT

I think a stainless steel pressure cooker is a necessary item for a kitchen. Food cooks in about a third the time, 70% faster, according to one source. That makes a lot of difference!! Think about it. Over the course of a year, the time energy and money saved is really impressive!They pay for themselves very quickly if you use them. There are a lot of advantages that are less obvious than the time, energy and money savings. They make it so much quicker and easier to eat things like sweet potatoes, winter squash, brown rice, dried beans, quinoa, and other unprocessed foods, that they become a larger part of your diet, and this saves a whole lot. There is a distressing tendency for beans and brown rice to be served undercooked because of people being in a hurry, and using a pressure cooker means an end to that. They really help keep the house cool if used in the summer in place of conventional cooking methods. There are nutritional benefits to steaming vegetables in a pressure cooker. They take a little getting used to, but it is way worth it. The energy savings alone should convince folks to give them a try. Khrysso' s comment has me thinking to add reviews. I like aeturnum, a brand made in italy, but they are a little pricey and harder to find gaskets for. Here is a neutral looking review of a couple of reasonable ones. They have the added advantage of being easy to find replacement parts for too: Value/Budget Pressure Cooker: There are a lot of pressure cookers under $100 that got great reviews, but one that stood out amongst the others is the Presto 01341 4-Quart Stainless Steel Pressure Cooker ($44). The heavy duty 4 quart stainless steel pressure cooker from Presto has a strong-lock lid with steam vent, a pressure indicator, and an overpressure plug. You even get a rack for steaming food or canning purposes. Owners say this cooker creates great brown rice, beans, pastas. Although much smaller than the 6 or 8 quart models, this one still performs well for singles or couples with no kids. Another great value pressure cooker is the Fagor Splendid 6-Quart Pressure Cooker ($60). Larger than the Presto 4-quart model listed above, the Fagor is great for producing stews and chili. Easily makes meals that feed up to 6 adults and cleanup is no problem say most reviewers. If you plan on making meals for more than 2-3 people, go with the Fagor for it's added capacity. http://www.galttech.com/research/household-DIY-tools/best-pressure-cooker.php The piece that jiggles around and lets the steam out is called a petcock. Here is a poem using that word. Nervous laughter letting off steam like the petcock of a pressure cooker

The jewel in the lotus

wil — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 12:48:45 GMT

the world is a prayer wheel swinging the moon around and around and around om mani padme hum blue white jewel in the lotus of our Sun's golden light the world is a rock tumbler tumbling around and around and around we knock up against each other rubbing off sharp edges polishing and shining jewels in the lotus of our Sun's golden light

Change on the Living Earth: James Lovelock

wil — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 14:22:50 GMT

Sir James Lovelock to the Royal Society Oct 29th, 2007. The speech of an era. 56 MB, 1 hour This is required listening. It is available at : http://www.ecoshock.org/ Which is a wonderful resource. Thanks go to Russ, the fearless moderator of the mighty Gaia Tribe. Lovelock is a hero! http://www.ecolo.org/lovelock/

Happy Birthday Albert!

wil — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 11:00:56 GMT

The world's first acid head, Albert Hoffman, turns 102 today! "I share the belief of many of my contemporaries that the spiritual crisis pervading all spheres of Western industrial society can be remedied only by a change in our world view. We shall have to shift from the materialistic, dualistic belief that people and their environment are separate, toward a new conciousness of an all-encompassing reality, which embraces the experiencing ego, a reality in which people feel their oneness with animate nature and all of creation." - Albert Hoffman

Harvest the Day

wil — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 16:31:23 GMT

During extensive research for the poem on my previous blog, i came across this: Carpe diem is a phrase from a Latin poem by Horace. It is popularly translated as "seize the day", although a more literal translation of carpe would be "harvest" ("harvest the day"), as in the harvesting of fruit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpe_diem The painting is called "Gathering the Day" by Susan Spar http://susanmartinspar.blogspot.com/2007/10/oil-painting-of-native-american-woman.html

Seizing the Day

wil — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 11:15:28 GMT

I seized the day. Then the day seized me! We both let go, And sat down for tea

The Power Elite Who Control Earth

wil — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 11:42:32 GMT

We are the power elite who control the fate of Earth. Real power belongs to people who can think their way through the dark labyrinth of arcane fears, shadows and confusion into the clear light of this new day. The pyramid is a symbol of yang power and has been appropriate for the long age of power and action that we have been going through, Before this age, there was an age where Yin predominated, when we were receptive to Gaia's signals. During the coming Yin age, we will be receptive to Galactic signals as well as Gaian information. I do not believe that current events are being orchestrated by a power elite who control the world or anything even vaguely resembling this scenario. I think a lot of the coincidences people use as evidence of various theories are not so much an indication of the truth of the theory , but of the truth of the principle that reality tends to clump. Like likes Like! I think that patriarchal patterns of thinking still predominate, and that this is predicated on the principle that somebody is at the head, in charge. It takes intellectual, emotional and spiritual courage to come to grips with the fact that nobody is in charge. We are the charge. We are hooked together into a giant biocomputer, taking Seti at Home to another level, and taking in information very fast and getting faster. We are a global brain, though we are not thinking very clearly yet. And the reason we are not thinking clearly yet, is that we are still applying old, patriarchal, top down ways of thinking about things that should now be thought of in opposite terms. Not in terms of imposing our will, but in terms of matching our wills to harmonize with incoming information. Not in terms of competition, but in terms of cooperation. Breathe in, breathe out. You are part of the conspiracy. We only need to realize We are the power

My life lately.

wil — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 00:48:49 GMT

Has been a lot better. I moved to a local community called Abundant Dawn in midsummer. http://www.abundantdawn.org/ I knew most everyone there, and it is a great place. I lived out of my motor home there for a few months. I was working on a framing crew in august and september, and have mycellf in a better financial situation. I could have stayed there, but instead i moved a couple of months ago to another Floyd community called High Flowing...... the central figure here is starroot, who i've known for many years. http://people.tribe.net/6be777dc-fb42-497e-a397-723065f26ec4 http://www.starroot.com/ The place has a long history and lots of trashed out converted school buses, and an assortment of cottages and lots of old mobile homes, one of which i moved into. It is situated in a big U with two other mobile homes and a big porch and courtyard all round. It is heated by a behemoth wood stove out back, and a water and radiator system. I have free rent for doing some gardening, and so have very low overhead. Very good high speed internet i share with neighbor for $10 a month. My cat likes it here much better than the last few places we've been. She spent one very cold night in a tree, though, having been chased there by a dog. I finally tied up this wicker basket with some rope, tied a wrench to one end and threw it over a branch near her, put some food in the basket, hoisted it up to her, she got in and was lowered down. ( i read about this method online after searching for solution) So we like it here just fine, and fit in well with the other guys and their cats. I'll try to take some pictures tomorrow. The place is a mixture of beautiful and squalid. There is a large beautiful pond, and another smaller and more secluded pond, and lots of woods, though they are mostly scrubby. There are also the aforementioned trashed out buses and other junk, and the place needs a lot of energy, but this useless if not self sustaining. It is a good place for me to winter for sure, and i am thankful for the space.

Observations

wil — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 16:12:37 GMT

Religion is a compass, not a map. We can also navigate by the stars. Now is what matters now. Some ancient scribe left an “o” out of the word “good” in order to save a little papyrus, and look at all the confusion that’s followed. I think our lesson here is that details matter. Sometimes society seems to me to be a system of gas giant egos with pretty moons dancing around them. We live on different worlds together. We are smarter and better informed than any of us. Bush is not the problem. He re presents the problem. Stupidity is the problem. We’re working on it. We unfold the plan. The plan unfolds us.