The answer your guest didn't seem to articulate clearly is that DOMINATION can be brought to an end. It can crumble. The unfortunate part is that this process can lead to suffering and loss of life for many of us.
Howard Zinn, the American historian, likely meant that even enormous and seemingly strong systems, like authoritarian regimes or oppressive governments, can fall apart or break down relatively quickly. He wasn't specifically calling out certain regimes such as Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union, but he was making a broader point about how these kinds of systems can be surprisingly fragile.
What Zinn was getting at is that throughout history, various oppressive systems and authoritarian governments have eventually faced resistance, internal disagreements, or pressure from external sources that led to their collapse. These systems might seem stable and powerful, but they can unravel or crumble when they're challenged by factors like mass movements, public outcry, international pressure, economic issues, or changes in popular opinion.
In simpler terms, Zinn's perspective emphasizes that political and social systems are dynamic. It suggests that even the most deeply rooted powers can be susceptible to change and eventual collapse under the right circumstances.
"being flexible in times of need is what has helped us to survive" - Tara Williamson
Of Dogma and Ceremony
August 16, 2013
tags: Anishinaabeg, ceremony, Cree, media, technology, Turtle Island
by Tara Williamson
This article is about dogma. Not Christian dogma or Western political dogma, but North American Indigenous dogma. And, particularly (because that is the tradition I am from), Ojibwe and Cree dogma.
You know what I mean. It starts off as rules. Medicine people aren’t supposed to kill things. You shouldn’t pay for medicine. Women need to wear skirts to ALL ceremony. Women don’t sit at a drum. And, ceremony should definitely, DEFINITELY, not be documented.
I want to start with some stories about my great-grandmother, Kaapiidashiik. My kookoo was a medicine woman. And she was a good medicine woman. One of those women people travelled miles to see. One of my favourite stories is about how, when my mother told her there was a strange man in the yard, Kaapiidashiik locked up the doors and windows and huddled in the corner of the house behind a rocking chair with her granddaughter (my mother) and a loaded shotgun aimed at the door. My kookoo used to sell red willow baskets to make extra money for the family. That same red willow was used for kinnickinick. She harvested her own medicine and used to make a medicine of a hundred roots that would cure TB. Although she was a traditional person, I can’t imagine that she checked her snares in a skirt or that she waited for my grandfather to come home before taking care of her own fire. In fact, the most beautiful thing my mother remembers about Kaapiidashiik and Michael (my great-grandfather) was that they shared their home responsibilities across gender roles. She remembers their partnership as respectful, loving, and kind.
And, so, when I hear people today criticizing something like the filming of segments of a ceremony like the Sundance, part of me hurts because I come from a tradition where surviving (and, indeed, thriving) involved bending rules. The other part of me is conflicted and understands peoples’ concerns.
The dilemma for me is that I cannot understand my history in terms of dogma. Nor can I understand my present in terms of dogma. Every day, I make decisions that my ancestors never had to make (where to buy my food, how to give an offering while I live in a city, etc.), and every day I benefit from decisions that they made. I believe wholeheartedly that the reason I was lucky enough to grow up with tradition is because my relatives were clever enough to bend the rules. I believe my family has the language because they learned to whisper in school. I believe we still know how to give offerings of asemaa because we learned to replace natural tobacco with cigarettes. I believe we still have ceremony because we hid ourselves so well that nobody noticed. I believe we still believe in Gichi-manidoo because we understood how much this spirit looked like GOD. And, so, it is hard for me to condemn those who try to bend the “rules” – even now.
How do we fault people who are doing the best that they can?
Recently, David Blacksmith has come under fire for allowing APTN to come to a Sundance and film parts of this ceremony. I want to be upfront and say that David Blacksmith is my cousin. He is married to Sheryl Blacksmith who is the daughter of Charlotte & (the late) Ernest Daniels who are cousins of my mother. We share a grandmother. They are my family. And, when I heard about this event, I too was conflicted. But I thought about my Uncle Joe Esquash – who passed that Sundance along to David – and my heart softened. Uncle Joe is the most respectful, kind-hearted, traditional person I know. And, I know that David would never have made a decision about this ceremony without Uncle Joe.
And, so, I was forced to contextualize this issue. How could I condemn his actions when I knew the people and intentions involved?
And, I realized I couldn’t. That is the power of our spirituality. Context matters. The potential repercussions of making such a decision were not taken lightly. Nor will they be realized in the short term. Because I know these teachers, I know that a decision was made in the best way that it could be made. It is true that I don’t think there isn’t a definitive right or wrong answer to this situation, but it is also true that being flexible in times of need is what has helped us to survive as Anishinaabeg.
For example, I have learned that people under the influence of drugs or alcohol should not be using the “sacred” medicines (sage, cedar, tobacco, sweetgrass). Yet, in my work as a social worker, and truly in my own life, it is sometimes those times that I need the help of medicine most. Who am I to say that the drunk man on the street cannot breathe the sweet smell of wiingashk? Where does this teaching come from? Furthermore, if everything we put into our body is medicine, does this mean that this same man should not eat? Should not drink water? The most sacred thing of all? I cannot believe our teachings allow this.
Similarly, when we find many of our people living in urban areas or struggling with addiction and the effects of residential school, who are we to say that they should not hear something of the Sundance, even from somebody on tv?
Yes, you should have your own opinions, based on your own teachings and understandings. I have mine (and, you might be surprised to learn them, given this particular piece of writing). But, do not forget that the reason you have an opinion is because our relatives before us created space for us to learn and think. And this is the most generous gift. Our teachings aren’t ten commandments etched in stone. Our ceremonies aren’t confined to Sundances and Sweats. Our teachings are gifts. And, our ceremonies are manifested in our everyday lives.
So, before we condemn others’ actions, I hope we can see:
the re-evaluation of women’s teachings in the context of colonialism, misogyny, and Christianity;
the dilemma of paying for medicine in the context of oil prices, limited harvests, and remoteness;
the documentation of ceremony given the stats of residential school and addiction we all preach about.
Because, without context our practice as Indigenous peoples becomes a dogmatic religion that can no longer adapt and survive the way we have so far through the onslaught of colonialism, nation-statehood, Christianity, and so much more. By making judgments based on dogma and insinuating that one person’s actions are opening a proverbial floodgate, we are assuming the worst of someone’s actions and we rob those people of the most important ceremony and gifts of all – our ability to think critically and exercise free will.
Tara Williamson is an Anishinaabekwe/Nehayowak who was raised in Gaabishkigamaag, Swan Lake, Manitoba and is a member of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation. She has degrees in social work, law, and Indigenous governance and is currently a Professor at Fleming College in Nogojiwanong (Peterborough, Ontario). She is a musician, aunty, sister, daughter, and poet.
Have you seen the movie (2006) Apocalypto? Irealize it is a fictionalized story & I am woefully ignorant about such things. If it is even half true, it gives me pause.
Where does the tribalism of the Native American peoples come into play here. What political right of domination was in play among the tribes of the Americas? I really wonder what Mr. Newcomb thinks about this? I think the Conquistidors and their ilk were awful people, but.......
It is October 13, 2023 and a much has come to pass since this video was originally posted. I am a Christian-I was baptized and raised in a Christian tradition. But, I never wished to dominate anyone, their religions, or their culture. I am not alone in this. There were many injustices forced by my ancestors, I suppose. I now see this being practiced in real time, all over the world. I am nonplussed, to put it mildly. The scales have fallen from my eyes, especially, where my country's efforts at world domination, and not just world domination, but the domination of humanity. The useful idiots in the government think they are immune to being thrown out with the other "riff raff". Howvever, they will eventually be discarded. They are just playing for time, and they don't even know it. I am very frightened by the future, if these demonic people reach their goals. The drums of WW3 are getting very loud and there is a stampede of humanity headed for a cliff. Evil is on display and flaunted. I have no sollution for this.
A eugenicist God?! You are confusing the Truth Claims of the Ruler of this World, the Father of Lies, with the Truth Claims of God found in scripture. Satan has used his version of these claims to lead the world down his rabbit holes designed to discredit God and all of His creation, and to kill us, God’s most prized creation. He has used many formal church settings and “religions” to do this, including the RCC and its “Vicars”. I just ask you to watch 2 videos, the first only about the first 1/2 and the second all of it.
Dear Tessa Lena, I haven't a clue as to how contact Steven Newcomb directly (apart from old ICT pages), but would like to forward to him another remarkable edition of Reiner Fuellmich's ICIC (& vice versa, your three interviews with Steve plus his documentary). This ICIC edition - among many well-known and lesser known things - an episode on a Maori judge (1) plus other first nations' resistance to "Mr. Global's Robocop." Starring among others Vera Sharav.
Some interesting news on this topic reported by Benjamin Fulford on April 3rd 2023
On March 30th, the Vatican renounced the Doctrine of Discovery. It was a once in 500-year news event that went almost completely unreported in either the corporate or alternative media.
This doctrine -first put forth by Popes in 1452- allowed Christians to murder, enslave and steal the land of non-Christians around the world. It led to over 500 years of relentless wars of conquest and pillage by the West against the rest of the world. That is why Spanish conquistadors would pull out a bible, ask Aztecs and Incas to obey its teachings and then start slaughtering them when they refused. It is what Americans used to justify the genocide of first nations. More recently, it was used by George Bush (Pecce) Jr. to justify a massive invasion of the Middle East.
Now, the Roman Empire is saying “We are sorry we tried to subjugate the entire planet to the obedience of a Caesar.” Pope Francis says: “Never again can the Christian community allow itself to be infected by the idea that one culture is superior to others, or that it is legitimate to employ ways of coercing others.”
I am writing to you before finishing the conversation with another beautiful soul but I have something I wanted to share. This conversation and the one with Thomas Harrington have been pivotal for me in an understanding that has been growing in me. In some ways I thank the Pandemonium insanity because it has caused me to realise that even as I have challenged authority in my own way, I can still be operating from a certain narrative. Which comes from my environment and all the influences in my part of the matrix. And the importance of language in this system of dominance into which I was born is central to creating the narrative and hijacking the Sacred. I truly understand now in my body why you use the name, Make Language Great Again. I don't really feel like I have anyone I can properly share this with so thank you for this space where I feel safe to express myself. The Pandemonium started a shift but then more recently I have started to look into the trans gender agenda and can now see the connection to the trans humanist movement which I had not looked at deeply so far. I keep thinking about Leonard Cohen in "Everybody Knows"
"And everybody knows that the plague is coming
Everybody knows that it's moving fast
Everybody knows that the naked man and woman
Are just a shining artifact of the past"
He was a prophet for sure, a beautiful man.
Understanding the abuse that is occurring in the name of trans gender rights somehow cracked me open a bit more and I am seeing yet another narrative. This one also in my opinion is also about covering up vaccine injuries from the last 30 odd years, gender dysphoria is a vaccine injury. Toby Rogers wrote an article that opened my mind. It's a horrible theory but sadly very plausible. https://tobyrogers.substack.com/p/trans-messaging-is-too-sophisticated
I finally understand how the climate change movement is another narrative that doesn't support true sustainability. What they want to sustain is their power and control.
Then I started watching Sasha Latypova and was introduced to your work through the conversation you had with Meryl Nass and Vera Sharav. Many factors have led to this but your work on examining the use of language and how it is used to create what we believe to be reality is really helping me along in this journey. I am starting to feel that I have the capacity to step back from all the narratives I can perceive that I do not agree with. Not all narratives are bad, we are story telling creatures and the stories we tell can lift us up and help us to do better. I am very grateful for what you are being in the world, a very positive influence. I can share bits of this with my husband who is a professional word smith, poet, writer and embodying mindfulness facilitator. Very creative but also with a lot of trauma (depression and anxiety) so I have to be careful with references to the domination system. He works hard to deal with his trauma so there are times when I need to turn somewhere else to share my excitement. That to me is respect and allowing for our differences. Thank you again and I look forward to listening to the rest of the conversation with Steven Newcombe. (-:
My Dad was Bar Mitzvah'd in 2004. He loved our reform Temple for the community, and they loved him and his singing voice. I remember being struck by the English translation of his Torah portion. It seemed to be saying, basically, I, God, give you these lands, and kick out the people who are already there - they belong to you, I will help you destroy the current inhabitants. (Something like that). I had a deeper understanding of the struggles of Palestine after that.
Continuing to listen, about 1/3 of the way through. Sometimes I find myself wishing for implantable tech that could help me digest all the most special conversations and substacks within the amount of time that actually exists.
But, no, as helpful as that may be on one level, no, I do not want that.
Brilliant interview, Tessa Lena. Your guest conflates the Jewish faith in the old testament with the life of Jesus in the new which informs the Christian faith.
I have always seen this artificial merging of two conflicting views as ridiculous.
The god of the old t bears no resemblance to the Father in the new t.
You nailed it, Tessa. Hence, the Transhumanist agenda is unpersonhood. Strip away the veneer of conscience, empathy , commitment and the power of love… the natural force so deep we would sacrifice ourselves to protect the ones we love.
The most stunning display of how removed society has become from what once would have sparked outrage was the complete non-reaction when Fauci’s beagle torture was exposed. No matter whether childless by choice ,misanthropic or not pet enthusiasts, torturing darling, helpless puppies in a normal , civilized society , has always been a line in the sand. That was the moment I realized we’d reached the point of no return. The Fauci adulation actually increased
SPIRITS OF THE EARTH: A Guide to Native American Nature Symbols, Stories, and Ceremonies, Bobby Lake-Thom. penguinrandomhouse.com.
MOTHER EARTH SPIRITUALITY: Native American Paths To Healing Ourselves And Our World, by Ed McGaa, (Eagle Man).
Winner of the 2015 American Book Award:
AN INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATE, by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz. Breacon Press. www.beacon.org.
AMERICAN HOLOCAUST: The Conquest Of The New World, by David E. Stannard, Ph.D. Oxford Press, Copyright 1992.
“A devastating portrait of the death, disease, misery, and apocalyptic destruction
experienced by American Indians during the centuries after 1492."
The answer your guest didn't seem to articulate clearly is that DOMINATION can be brought to an end. It can crumble. The unfortunate part is that this process can lead to suffering and loss of life for many of us.
Howard Zinn, the American historian, likely meant that even enormous and seemingly strong systems, like authoritarian regimes or oppressive governments, can fall apart or break down relatively quickly. He wasn't specifically calling out certain regimes such as Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union, but he was making a broader point about how these kinds of systems can be surprisingly fragile.
What Zinn was getting at is that throughout history, various oppressive systems and authoritarian governments have eventually faced resistance, internal disagreements, or pressure from external sources that led to their collapse. These systems might seem stable and powerful, but they can unravel or crumble when they're challenged by factors like mass movements, public outcry, international pressure, economic issues, or changes in popular opinion.
In simpler terms, Zinn's perspective emphasizes that political and social systems are dynamic. It suggests that even the most deeply rooted powers can be susceptible to change and eventual collapse under the right circumstances.
- Luc
Encl.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/epochtv/police-state-documentary-5504121
"being flexible in times of need is what has helped us to survive" - Tara Williamson
Of Dogma and Ceremony
August 16, 2013
tags: Anishinaabeg, ceremony, Cree, media, technology, Turtle Island
by Tara Williamson
This article is about dogma. Not Christian dogma or Western political dogma, but North American Indigenous dogma. And, particularly (because that is the tradition I am from), Ojibwe and Cree dogma.
You know what I mean. It starts off as rules. Medicine people aren’t supposed to kill things. You shouldn’t pay for medicine. Women need to wear skirts to ALL ceremony. Women don’t sit at a drum. And, ceremony should definitely, DEFINITELY, not be documented.
I want to start with some stories about my great-grandmother, Kaapiidashiik. My kookoo was a medicine woman. And she was a good medicine woman. One of those women people travelled miles to see. One of my favourite stories is about how, when my mother told her there was a strange man in the yard, Kaapiidashiik locked up the doors and windows and huddled in the corner of the house behind a rocking chair with her granddaughter (my mother) and a loaded shotgun aimed at the door. My kookoo used to sell red willow baskets to make extra money for the family. That same red willow was used for kinnickinick. She harvested her own medicine and used to make a medicine of a hundred roots that would cure TB. Although she was a traditional person, I can’t imagine that she checked her snares in a skirt or that she waited for my grandfather to come home before taking care of her own fire. In fact, the most beautiful thing my mother remembers about Kaapiidashiik and Michael (my great-grandfather) was that they shared their home responsibilities across gender roles. She remembers their partnership as respectful, loving, and kind.
And, so, when I hear people today criticizing something like the filming of segments of a ceremony like the Sundance, part of me hurts because I come from a tradition where surviving (and, indeed, thriving) involved bending rules. The other part of me is conflicted and understands peoples’ concerns.
The dilemma for me is that I cannot understand my history in terms of dogma. Nor can I understand my present in terms of dogma. Every day, I make decisions that my ancestors never had to make (where to buy my food, how to give an offering while I live in a city, etc.), and every day I benefit from decisions that they made. I believe wholeheartedly that the reason I was lucky enough to grow up with tradition is because my relatives were clever enough to bend the rules. I believe my family has the language because they learned to whisper in school. I believe we still know how to give offerings of asemaa because we learned to replace natural tobacco with cigarettes. I believe we still have ceremony because we hid ourselves so well that nobody noticed. I believe we still believe in Gichi-manidoo because we understood how much this spirit looked like GOD. And, so, it is hard for me to condemn those who try to bend the “rules” – even now.
How do we fault people who are doing the best that they can?
Recently, David Blacksmith has come under fire for allowing APTN to come to a Sundance and film parts of this ceremony. I want to be upfront and say that David Blacksmith is my cousin. He is married to Sheryl Blacksmith who is the daughter of Charlotte & (the late) Ernest Daniels who are cousins of my mother. We share a grandmother. They are my family. And, when I heard about this event, I too was conflicted. But I thought about my Uncle Joe Esquash – who passed that Sundance along to David – and my heart softened. Uncle Joe is the most respectful, kind-hearted, traditional person I know. And, I know that David would never have made a decision about this ceremony without Uncle Joe.
And, so, I was forced to contextualize this issue. How could I condemn his actions when I knew the people and intentions involved?
And, I realized I couldn’t. That is the power of our spirituality. Context matters. The potential repercussions of making such a decision were not taken lightly. Nor will they be realized in the short term. Because I know these teachers, I know that a decision was made in the best way that it could be made. It is true that I don’t think there isn’t a definitive right or wrong answer to this situation, but it is also true that being flexible in times of need is what has helped us to survive as Anishinaabeg.
For example, I have learned that people under the influence of drugs or alcohol should not be using the “sacred” medicines (sage, cedar, tobacco, sweetgrass). Yet, in my work as a social worker, and truly in my own life, it is sometimes those times that I need the help of medicine most. Who am I to say that the drunk man on the street cannot breathe the sweet smell of wiingashk? Where does this teaching come from? Furthermore, if everything we put into our body is medicine, does this mean that this same man should not eat? Should not drink water? The most sacred thing of all? I cannot believe our teachings allow this.
Similarly, when we find many of our people living in urban areas or struggling with addiction and the effects of residential school, who are we to say that they should not hear something of the Sundance, even from somebody on tv?
Yes, you should have your own opinions, based on your own teachings and understandings. I have mine (and, you might be surprised to learn them, given this particular piece of writing). But, do not forget that the reason you have an opinion is because our relatives before us created space for us to learn and think. And this is the most generous gift. Our teachings aren’t ten commandments etched in stone. Our ceremonies aren’t confined to Sundances and Sweats. Our teachings are gifts. And, our ceremonies are manifested in our everyday lives.
So, before we condemn others’ actions, I hope we can see:
the re-evaluation of women’s teachings in the context of colonialism, misogyny, and Christianity;
the dilemma of paying for medicine in the context of oil prices, limited harvests, and remoteness;
the documentation of ceremony given the stats of residential school and addiction we all preach about.
Because, without context our practice as Indigenous peoples becomes a dogmatic religion that can no longer adapt and survive the way we have so far through the onslaught of colonialism, nation-statehood, Christianity, and so much more. By making judgments based on dogma and insinuating that one person’s actions are opening a proverbial floodgate, we are assuming the worst of someone’s actions and we rob those people of the most important ceremony and gifts of all – our ability to think critically and exercise free will.
Hold up your relatives.
We are all doing the best that we can.
__________________________________________________________
Tara Williamson is an Anishinaabekwe/Nehayowak who was raised in Gaabishkigamaag, Swan Lake, Manitoba and is a member of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation. She has degrees in social work, law, and Indigenous governance and is currently a Professor at Fleming College in Nogojiwanong (Peterborough, Ontario). She is a musician, aunty, sister, daughter, and poet.
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Have you seen the movie (2006) Apocalypto? Irealize it is a fictionalized story & I am woefully ignorant about such things. If it is even half true, it gives me pause.
Where does the tribalism of the Native American peoples come into play here. What political right of domination was in play among the tribes of the Americas? I really wonder what Mr. Newcomb thinks about this? I think the Conquistidors and their ilk were awful people, but.......
It is October 13, 2023 and a much has come to pass since this video was originally posted. I am a Christian-I was baptized and raised in a Christian tradition. But, I never wished to dominate anyone, their religions, or their culture. I am not alone in this. There were many injustices forced by my ancestors, I suppose. I now see this being practiced in real time, all over the world. I am nonplussed, to put it mildly. The scales have fallen from my eyes, especially, where my country's efforts at world domination, and not just world domination, but the domination of humanity. The useful idiots in the government think they are immune to being thrown out with the other "riff raff". Howvever, they will eventually be discarded. They are just playing for time, and they don't even know it. I am very frightened by the future, if these demonic people reach their goals. The drums of WW3 are getting very loud and there is a stampede of humanity headed for a cliff. Evil is on display and flaunted. I have no sollution for this.
A eugenicist God?! You are confusing the Truth Claims of the Ruler of this World, the Father of Lies, with the Truth Claims of God found in scripture. Satan has used his version of these claims to lead the world down his rabbit holes designed to discredit God and all of His creation, and to kill us, God’s most prized creation. He has used many formal church settings and “religions” to do this, including the RCC and its “Vicars”. I just ask you to watch 2 videos, the first only about the first 1/2 and the second all of it.
1) https://www.prageru.com/video/ep-307-what-does-god-care-about-most
2) https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2hhs6t
Creating dogma is as simple as placing testosterones in fancy garbs decorated with rows of bright colors.
Dear Tessa Lena, I haven't a clue as to how contact Steven Newcomb directly (apart from old ICT pages), but would like to forward to him another remarkable edition of Reiner Fuellmich's ICIC (& vice versa, your three interviews with Steve plus his documentary). This ICIC edition - among many well-known and lesser known things - an episode on a Maori judge (1) plus other first nations' resistance to "Mr. Global's Robocop." Starring among others Vera Sharav.
(1) Watch minute plm. 98,5 - 105.
https://icic.law/2023/05/08/%f0%9f%87%a9%f0%9f%87%aa%f0%9f%87%ba%f0%9f%87%b8-der-alptraum-der-nie-endete-the-nightmare-that-never-ended/ Scroll down to the undubbed English version)
Some interesting news on this topic reported by Benjamin Fulford on April 3rd 2023
On March 30th, the Vatican renounced the Doctrine of Discovery. It was a once in 500-year news event that went almost completely unreported in either the corporate or alternative media.
https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2023/03/30/230330b.html
This doctrine -first put forth by Popes in 1452- allowed Christians to murder, enslave and steal the land of non-Christians around the world. It led to over 500 years of relentless wars of conquest and pillage by the West against the rest of the world. That is why Spanish conquistadors would pull out a bible, ask Aztecs and Incas to obey its teachings and then start slaughtering them when they refused. It is what Americans used to justify the genocide of first nations. More recently, it was used by George Bush (Pecce) Jr. to justify a massive invasion of the Middle East.
Now, the Roman Empire is saying “We are sorry we tried to subjugate the entire planet to the obedience of a Caesar.” Pope Francis says: “Never again can the Christian community allow itself to be infected by the idea that one culture is superior to others, or that it is legitimate to employ ways of coercing others.”
Source https://benjaminfulford.net/2023/04/03/new-world-order-ends-500-year-plan-to-conquer-the-planet/
I am writing to you before finishing the conversation with another beautiful soul but I have something I wanted to share. This conversation and the one with Thomas Harrington have been pivotal for me in an understanding that has been growing in me. In some ways I thank the Pandemonium insanity because it has caused me to realise that even as I have challenged authority in my own way, I can still be operating from a certain narrative. Which comes from my environment and all the influences in my part of the matrix. And the importance of language in this system of dominance into which I was born is central to creating the narrative and hijacking the Sacred. I truly understand now in my body why you use the name, Make Language Great Again. I don't really feel like I have anyone I can properly share this with so thank you for this space where I feel safe to express myself. The Pandemonium started a shift but then more recently I have started to look into the trans gender agenda and can now see the connection to the trans humanist movement which I had not looked at deeply so far. I keep thinking about Leonard Cohen in "Everybody Knows"
"And everybody knows that the plague is coming
Everybody knows that it's moving fast
Everybody knows that the naked man and woman
Are just a shining artifact of the past"
He was a prophet for sure, a beautiful man.
Understanding the abuse that is occurring in the name of trans gender rights somehow cracked me open a bit more and I am seeing yet another narrative. This one also in my opinion is also about covering up vaccine injuries from the last 30 odd years, gender dysphoria is a vaccine injury. Toby Rogers wrote an article that opened my mind. It's a horrible theory but sadly very plausible. https://tobyrogers.substack.com/p/trans-messaging-is-too-sophisticated
I finally understand how the climate change movement is another narrative that doesn't support true sustainability. What they want to sustain is their power and control.
Then I started watching Sasha Latypova and was introduced to your work through the conversation you had with Meryl Nass and Vera Sharav. Many factors have led to this but your work on examining the use of language and how it is used to create what we believe to be reality is really helping me along in this journey. I am starting to feel that I have the capacity to step back from all the narratives I can perceive that I do not agree with. Not all narratives are bad, we are story telling creatures and the stories we tell can lift us up and help us to do better. I am very grateful for what you are being in the world, a very positive influence. I can share bits of this with my husband who is a professional word smith, poet, writer and embodying mindfulness facilitator. Very creative but also with a lot of trauma (depression and anxiety) so I have to be careful with references to the domination system. He works hard to deal with his trauma so there are times when I need to turn somewhere else to share my excitement. That to me is respect and allowing for our differences. Thank you again and I look forward to listening to the rest of the conversation with Steven Newcombe. (-:
My Dad was Bar Mitzvah'd in 2004. He loved our reform Temple for the community, and they loved him and his singing voice. I remember being struck by the English translation of his Torah portion. It seemed to be saying, basically, I, God, give you these lands, and kick out the people who are already there - they belong to you, I will help you destroy the current inhabitants. (Something like that). I had a deeper understanding of the struggles of Palestine after that.
Continuing to listen, about 1/3 of the way through. Sometimes I find myself wishing for implantable tech that could help me digest all the most special conversations and substacks within the amount of time that actually exists.
But, no, as helpful as that may be on one level, no, I do not want that.
Brilliant interview, Tessa Lena. Your guest conflates the Jewish faith in the old testament with the life of Jesus in the new which informs the Christian faith.
I have always seen this artificial merging of two conflicting views as ridiculous.
The god of the old t bears no resemblance to the Father in the new t.
From Steshu with Love
You nailed it, Tessa. Hence, the Transhumanist agenda is unpersonhood. Strip away the veneer of conscience, empathy , commitment and the power of love… the natural force so deep we would sacrifice ourselves to protect the ones we love.
The most stunning display of how removed society has become from what once would have sparked outrage was the complete non-reaction when Fauci’s beagle torture was exposed. No matter whether childless by choice ,misanthropic or not pet enthusiasts, torturing darling, helpless puppies in a normal , civilized society , has always been a line in the sand. That was the moment I realized we’d reached the point of no return. The Fauci adulation actually increased