Volume 3 Issue 1: New Moon | Balance

“Anybody can pull a trigger, even a two year old. 
Bang, bang, we’re both dead.
Show me what else you’ve got.  
This violence is terminally boring.”
— From Cynthia F. Davidson, Facebook post, January 2021


Our nation is convulsing. We almost succumbed to mob rule one week ago on January 6th. Our enemies are gloating over the prospect the USA may self-destruct without them having to fire a shot. On January 20th let’s pray we manage a peaceful transfer of power, or else.

Where would we be today if those rioters had succeeded? They intended to take our elected representatives hostage. And their online oaths were about doing a ‘live stream’ as they ‘put a bullet into Pelosi.’ What did they propose to put in place of our Constitution? Do they have something better to suggest than just more violence with their fellow white supremacists in charge? They’ve proven there is nothing ‘supreme’ about them. Wake up guys. We are sick to death of this regressive crap. 

The seditious events at our Capitol were the whipped up last-ditch efforts of a disgraced scoundrel. A man whose skin is too thin to admit to the fact he was voted out. The most appalling fact is how his followers took down our flag, to replace it with one that had a single man’s name on it. This violates every principle we stand for. They might as well go back to the times of King George III, and the days of one man rule. Is that what they want?

Tonight we are doing something to dispel this. We are going to act as a transition team, by gathering via Zoom to create a transformational circle. We will use the Wheel to ground and center ourselves with Balance, Right Action, Trust, Higher Purpose and Integrity. I am a student of history and understand what it proves. The institution of better Laws is what you focus upon to sustain lasting change. The people who stormed our Capitol were under the spell cast by violence. But what we really need to clean up the corruption is a decent code of conduct, not more death and chaos. 

Remember Ruth Bader Ginsburg. And the way she ‘stormed the Capitol.’ Her example deserves to remain a source of inspiration to us all.  Over her lifetime, she achieved far more for the rest of us, than any guy waving a gun around. One of the first women in law school in her day, she worked to improve our Right Relationships via the legal system. This is how you fight peacefully method to dispel the ignorance, which makes some fight each other. 

That longstanding wisdom is encoded in the Wheel and its 36 Laws. The post insurrection suicide, of 51 year old Capitol police officer Howard Liebengood, reminds me of my doctor’s recent suicide. Too many men have irresolvable, painful conflicts within themselves. This makes them lash out and harm others too. 

Women are proving themselves to be better leaders during this time of severe crisis. During the pandemic, female heads of state have done far better at protecting their populations. For centuries we were prevented from entering universities, law schools, and the chambers of power – where Laws are written and enacted – but those days are over and we must do our parts. We can institute positive changes in our daily lives that strengthen the fabric of our culture and our nation. This work is from the ground up. It must occur at the level of our values and beliefs. We ‘Return to Wisdom’ by refocusing upon the bedrock principles guiding our behavior, and steering our choices. 

If we don’t believe in BALANCE and work toward it, we will never see justice or equality either. Sustainable, evolutionary, improvements are a BALANCE, of Vision, coupled with ground up grassroots movement. That’s why we’re initiating a new Wisdom Wheel virtual circle tonight. Even if you are not already using our 2021 Return to Wisdom journal planners, you can join us. Just email me. We have a few copies left.

We are wedding the two essentials: a Vision of the way forward, with Clarity to achieve what we want more of. We are taking the daily steps required to get the spiral going upwards. Balance: between ‘die nobly for a cause or live humbly for one.’ Balance does not tear something down without a clue of what to put in its’ place. 

Balance tells us to not only crack down on the hot heads but also to lift up those falling into despair over this juvenile display of petulance. The con man driving these divisions cares about our laws only enough for using them to lie, cheat, steal as his many bankruptcies and court cases prove. His incompetence, and bloated ego, have made him the laughing stock of the entire world. Yet some I love have fallen for his poison. 

Mere anger sickens the soul. I’ve been rightfully livid too, about the injustices in our world, for YEARS. But I worked hard to heal myself, to harness that energy, rather than blow up in a single eruption of orgasmic anger. My patriarchal inheritance was a Remington .22 rifle on my 12th birthday but I put the gun down. My dad was a lifelong NRA member. But it did little to heal his wounds. I watched him drink himself to death at 71. None of his beloved guns kept my sister from getting shot in Beirut, nor keep him from getting kidnapped there. 

It takes REAL GUTS to put down the damn guns. But we can do better. There are other ways to address the legitimate issues but they require hard work on ourselves. Picking up a pen saved my life. Even Napoleon, the French emperor general knew ‘the pen is mightier than the sword.’ And he got 60,000 of his men killed in a single battle, Borodino fought in September 1812. We must progress from this mindset, or we’ll perish. On the same day as the Capitol siege, we lost nearly 4,000 American lives to Covid-19, the worst death toll in a single day so far. And the siege was a super spreader event. To those who aren’t there yet, let me say it plainly, grow the f*ck up. Grab on to something more life affirming than a gun. Don’t weaponize the fight against your own potential. 

Anyone who wants ‘to take the law into their own hands’ had better be able to recite by heart what those Laws are. I’ve got 36 of them, all spelled out in a Wheel. Show me yours. Start connecting the damn dots. 


Ceremonies

Since the coronavirus prevents us from doing public ceremonies, or in person study circles, we are offering our twice monthly Return to Wisdom Zoom story circles, for those using the journal planners. We will convene on new and full moon times, starting with this Jan. 13th New Moon. Next Zoom meeting will be on January 27, Full Moon.This theme of the month shared Journey and story circle can help us all to synchronize our inner hopes with our outer actions. Contact Me for the link.

On January 20th we will conduct a private sweat lodge Purification ceremony, to pray for those suffering from the coronavirus, and to support the swearing in ceremony of our next American president Joe Biden. Your prayers can join ours from afar. 

Several have asked me about the 2021 group Bear Fast, leading up the Spring Equinox March 20th. The dates would be from the night of March 17 to 21st. We hope to be able to gather for that annual four day event, but it depends upon the pandemic numbers then. During this season of hibernation, I’ll be going deep into dark, rich, fertile loam of the mythic imagination and unplugging from social media. Check HOPE HOUSE Facebook page for any ceremony news and updates.


“Moving along the upward spiral requires us to learn, commit, and do on increasingly higher planes. We deceive ourselves if we think that any one of these is sufficient. To keep progressing, we must learn, commit, and do — learn, commit, and do — and learn, commit, and do again.”

— Bethan Bishop