Saturday, November 21, 2009
Alto Paraiso
Hello dear friends and loved ones.
I’m not sure if I’ve ever mentioned in detail anything about David Icke, a British researcher who once gained fame as a public sports figure before becoming a reporter and being ridiculed because of his outspokenness on issues considered taboo and therefore delegated to the outlandish and outrageous, not to be believed subjects. Later these topics all became relegated to the realms of conspiracy theories. All new wisdom throughout time, whether represented as art or science which has broken new ground was first dismissed as ludicrous and ridiculed, leaving the deliverer of the new information “hung out to dry”, completely discredited. Paul and I think he is a brilliant researcher with a mind which can dissemble and present new information in such a cohesive comprehensive way, even to the uninitiated person with no background of this knowledge. And he comes at it from a perspective we share, that of infinite consciousness in the process of expanding. He brings a message that can alter the future of humanity if enough people listen. And they are. Please be among the people who are listening and considering what he says. It is so well done and he is magnificent in his ability to convey such an important message. Please take the time….
David Icke's interview in Phoenix
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
I’ve been reconsidering some of what I just wrote while I was away from my computer for a while and I want to add a note or two of clarification. If you are interested in some fascinating reading, read Leonard Schlain’s book, “Art and Physics” for a great historical analysis of how art has always preceded science, a little off the topic but still worth mentioning. More importantly, if you happen to be a person who likes to see documented evidence; theories backed up by names and dates before deciding if the information is credible, do read David Icke’s written works, for example “The Global Conspiracy” or if you prefer to watch video taped interviews, go back through the last few years and watch some of his older and more in depth interviews and presentations to fill in the gaps where the new information you are hearing has no context to fit inside of. His web site is also a great source of information on very relevant topics: www.daividicke.com
I once saw a bumper sticker that really summed up my attitude and approach to life. It said, “Disturb the comfortable. Comfort the disturbed.” I think I’ve been doing this most of my life and now seems to be no exception. I want to stand and scream, “Wake up! Look around. Think deeply.” …Think about what makes something credible. Who is providing your information? What do they stand to gain from you knowing this thing, whatever it is? Do they stand to make a profit? Will they gain more control in some way? If there is money involved, by all means, question it. If the deliverer has nothing to gain, there’s a real good chance you can trust the information.
I am here in Brazil for so many reasons which I won’t go into in this letter, but one of them is because I do not want to be there in the US. What’s happened and is happening is too apparent to me now and I find it unconscionable. It’s being used as a prototype to create a society of enslaved consumers. But most people don’t realize this because this culture is all they’ve ever known and most have not stopped to question it, or consider that there is anything that can be done to change it. But it is not the people, for I leave there, so far away from me so many loved ones, children, parents, brother, friends. It’s a big price to pay for freedom and a life I can get behind with total consciousness. It’s so strange, even today, I met more people who are still coming here form Switzerland, Wales and Germany in the last 3 days to two weeks. Each is completely conscious of the unfolding events in the world, behind the scenes. From each of our different cultures and geographic locations, we are thinking about and talking about the same things as we are all open to a reality that is vibrating at a slightly different frequency than the general mass of people on the planet. Mostly these new people who are coming here are quite a bit younger than us. Why are they coming here? Why are we here?
At the Saturday market this morning, I ran into my young friend. “I really want to come see you,” he said, “and see this thing you made for me.” I had printed up an astrological birth chart for him to help him understand some of the more powerful cosmic forces that are at play with his life right now as he goes through the break up of his marriage at 28 years old. So early this afternoon after the market he came to the door, “I am visiting Brazilian style,” he said, “I brought some new friends I want to meet you. Is that okay? Am I interrupting anything?” Paul and I had been sitting at the table interpreting a book together, both learning Portuguese at the same time learning more about Umbanda.
“Lovely, please invite them all in,” we said as he and 5 friends came in to join us. Three were from Switzerland, one from Wales and the other a Brasiliera. In a group of 8 people the conversation takes many twists and turns and it’s not possible to be involved in each or enter fully with as much depth as I for one would like, as the topic veers off into tangent and soon becomes another altogether, even though still related. However, as I followed and participated as much as I could, each intrigued and held my interest in a way I’ve never before experienced. I am amazed at how this place continues to be calling to people from around the world, all of whom hold similar worldviews and appear to be as awake to the unseen forces guiding the direction of the planet as we are. We have been discussing this and questioning some of our new acquaintances and friends about how they came by their knowledge of these things which we are completely aware of but so many others in our life remain unaware.
Later the next day- Sunday November 22, 2009
It’s difficult to maintain a cohesive train of thought in the course of writing when so many other things come in and replace the activity, pulling my thoughts to other considerations. For instance not only friends dropping by to visit while translating, but stopping to catch up on the latest news from internet sources, hunger calling for a meal, sunshine beckoning for a walk, among other diversions which presently do not come readily to mind. But I started yesterday with a few points I actually wanted to cover in the midst of my more usual flow of consciousness babble. One of which was the variations of interpretations of the term “hippie.” Now for me, the word hippie brings only a positive context, summoning up memories of being a teenager in the sixties, a worldview that encompassed the pursuit and demand for personal freedom and self expression, a desire for love to prevail over other destructive emotions, a fervent cause of ending war….. I could go on, but I think, I hope you get the drift. I have repeatedly heard the term hippie associated with laziness, an inability or lack of desire to work, ineptness in normal functioning, uncleanliness….again, I can go on, but one hopes the point is taken. This distresses me. Why do I bring this up?
I suppose this place reminds me of hippies. I feel like a hippie again. I dress like a hippie again. Many of the people I meet remind me of hippies. But MY interpretation of “hippie” in a totally positive light, not the others! Paul and I were walking down the street the other day when he asked me what I thought so and so would think of this place. I can’t remember who came to mind in that conversation, but I could easily think of a few others I could replace in that question. He proceeded to answer that they would think this place was filled with a bunch of hippies. That’s when I stopped to consider the question I was just debating. “So if ‘work’ or not working or not wanting to work was a quality that defined one as a hippie,” he asked me, “why is that so bad? What is the big deal about working ‘hard’? Why ‘hard’ as opposed to soft?” Is it that ‘work’ as a concept is in effect the equivalent of difficult as opposed to easy, I wonder? Or is it that we have been so ingrained and inculturated to believe that to be a good citizen, a good person, you should work hard? Maybe, I wonder, ‘hippies’ simply have freed themselves from these indoctrinated notions? Something for you to ponder if you feel so inclined…
This is a good time to introduce you to some further information to explore. Over the last couple days we came across 2 video interviews and an article, which came at the most appropriate time in an email just as we were watching Alex Jones interview Kevin Trudeau. The title of the video on You Tube is: Kevin Trudeau {In-Studio} on Alex Jones TV 1/5:Big Pharma's Secret is Out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Just as a side note, we do not actually admire the man being interviewed or share his approach to life but he knows what he is talking about and delivers some important and relevant information.
When we watch videos over the internet, because the speed is so slow, we generally start downloading and go off on another project, coming back later, so I was checking to see if I had any new mail when my dear friend in Colorado sent me a link to the following article which I can not recommend more highly: Blueprint for a Prison Planet by Nick Sandberg http://www.nick2211.yage.net/
If you’ve taken the time to watch David Icke’s fantastic interview, you’ll enjoy the last two links as they continue to fill in the gaps of the same areas for consideration. These things have been on our minds over the last couple days as we’ve watched and read them while we’ve been about the business of life in Brazil.
So more about hippies, if I may…. As we sat around the end of our living room on what substitutes here for furniture, two mattresses on the floor, exchanging stories, I couldn’t help being reminded of our previous conversation about hippies. What constitutes this way of being? Is it relegated to an age, as in an era, or to the youth that we were (and some of us who never “grew up,”) continue to be? One often does hear the term “old hippie” used as well and never in a positive, complementary way. There are those who might argue this point. Likely it is more a state of being, a worldview. Certainly that wouldn’t be limited to youth although I can see that certain times in the course of history have influenced this worldview. Another thought to wrap your mind around if you like, though why you would, I can’t imagine. I suppose it is only something I’ve been thinking about, being in this place in this time….
Perhaps you are bored with my line of questioning so I’ll return to regale you with tales and adventures of life in Brazil, such as they are. Friday night we were invited to attend a dance “spectacular” at the polo (Open University.) It was part of a festival celebrating Afro- Brazilian culture and there were several events, performances and demonstrations around town during the week. As we sat informally among the audience that nearly filled the small auditorium we watched the introduction of a conga drummer who came solo to the stage and sat himself in the corner while he then began to play a hauntingly beautiful tune which he occasionally accompanied by song. Fantastic music! Shortly after the music began, a beautiful Afro-Brazilian man entered the stage dressed in costume, which had him bare chested, draped in Indian style tunic type below the knee pants, wrapped in a corded rope with flesh colored ball shaped gourds dangling from various places on his belt around his body. It created a really cool effect as he moved in the dance, changing rhythm unexpectedly but delightfully with the music. It was quite short and only one act, but the quality of the performance was better than Broadway and once again we marveled that only in Brazil could one go to the local school auditorium and be entertained by highly professional and talented artists.
Before the performance we stopped for a bite to eat at the restaurant which I must describe as it is unique in its character. Very un Brazilian, the feeling more one of California in Brazil, by day the place serves a vegetarian buffet covering two long tables. Off to one side a shop showcasing local artists and artisans including highlighted indigenous art, all of which is quite remarkably beautiful! To the other side one ascends a set of stone steps outside but inside under a huge tent to a raised terrace populated with hand carved wooden tables and chairs, under tall trees which poke their heads through the tent. Outside but inside! Two nights a week the place becomes a pizzeria and serves pizza from a ceramic wood fired oven built into the side of the terrace. I noticed Friday it is also a hot spot making it an internet café as well as a performance space since one side is home to a large stage which is well lit by an overhead beam of spotlights. In the evening there is also a large raised fire pit creating a lovely camp/bon fire for even more of a relaxing ambiance. We drank vanilla Absolute, which though hardly seems worthy of reporting on, I do because of the way drinks are served in Brazil, or perhaps here in Alto Paraiso. On all of the 3 occasions we’ve stopped out to have a drink, they have brought the bottle to the table and poured drinks 2 to 3 times the size of any I’ve ever been served elsewhere. One place actually left the bottle at the table for self service! I suppose they charged accordingly but you know, how much to charge seems to be the least of their concerns, the 1st being to make their customers happy. Imagine that!
The next morning was the Saturday marketplace, an event I’ve already reported on, followed by internet research interspersed with the visit from our friends, old and new. What I haven’t mentioned is the fact that we have been staying close to home by day for the last several days because Paul has been undergoing a special treatment to bring the pre-cancer skin cells to the surface, eradicating them naturally with the use of this special cream. It is a 15 day process prescribed by the same dermatologist who removed the small spot from his nose that appeared shortly after arriving in Brazil. He’d postponed beginning the process until we retrieved the luggage we’d left behind on our initial trip, so that he could get to his shaving things and remove his beard. Now 12 days into the ordeal, his face is unpleasantly and painfully raw having him seek the darker cooler solitude of the house until the end, when we both anticipate the return of his clear beautiful skin without any further concerns of skin cancer. Too bad the weather has been perfect for waterfalls as the rains have been coming only at night and the sun is showing its full glory. But we were home later that day, instead of accompanying our friends to the waterfall when I heard Nico calling from the gate.
Here in this part of the world, everyone has dogs inside the gate to keep away unwanted intruders who might want to steal your shit. Because of this when a visitor comes to call they must stand outside your gate and yell in to see if you are there, so they can pass safely through the dogs. I see it (and hear it) everywhere. For the longest time, I simply ignored the calls outside the window, assuming it was a neighbor getting a visitor. But lately we’ve had as many visitors as the neighbors, if you include the mailman who’s come twice and the woman who comes by on her bicycle to sell home made bread. Sunday we had such a visit. Frederico knows the big black dogs and Rocket are harmless so he doesn’t have to bother with calling in from the gate. One’s old and blind in one eye, though he does have a ferocious bark and an even better howl and the other, though enormous, is only a three month old baby who trips over his own feet constantly! But Nico is not familiar with the territory and had to begin his initial approach as the others, calling from outside the gate.
Hard to believe that we (for those of you who know us well) received so many visitors in one day, but none the less we did. We spent several hours talking to Nico during the course of which we wanted to know how it was he came by the same information that we know, information that is called esoteric because it is hidden from view from the general public and seemingly only known by those few who actively search for it. Was he getting his info from the same sources, primarily from the internet, was he reading the same books? If any of you have watched the interviews or read the article I referred to earlier in this letter, you’ll have some point of reference for what I’m referring to. Perhaps you already know that much of the truth and stuff that is kept secret is hidden in plain view, disguised as science fiction or absurd comedy in movies, talked about in song lyrics or stand up comedy, written as fiction in progressive novels. Here are a few examples: Woody Allen’s “Sleeper” George Orwell’s “1984,” Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”…. How about the movie, “Network” or a more recent one “Idiocracy” I could go on with more…
Nico described himself as a seeker from an early age. Living in Alto Paraiso for the last ten years, he’s participated in Ayahuasca rituals, an indigenous source of shamanic information, to name just a couple things but not as we have necessarily gained our information, through the internet. It’s interesting to explore how and why this place seems to be attracting seekers as if, as one person speculated, the crystal under the earth’s surface is acting like a pulsing heart, bringing people home to the core of the planet, appealing to them to follow their hearts. Like many of our other new friends and acquaintances who are actually native to Brazil, there came a point in the conversation where he noticed the guitar in the corner and asked if he could play, as Frederico had earlier. Three friends joined Frederico in song as he played earlier in the day. Now we were flabbergasted when the sounds of jazz guitar filled the room as I sat wishing I had a good tape recorder to capture it for listening again later. And then the beautiful sound of his voice in song accompanied it. Most often when a person picks up a guitar to play, standard chord rotations and popular songs are usually what you’d hear, not finger picking jazz licks or personally composed complicated compositions. I hated to interrupt him as the night grew dark and we began to think about dinner.
Yesterday we ran into two friends who wanted us to know that the Lotus Space just up the street from us, where a couple friends and acquaintances lived and where yoga classes are held, was opening a restaurant. Not legally, but just for friends and special acquaintances. This was a cool concept, we thought and something we’d never expect to see anywhere but here where to earn a few reais people show up at the Saturday market with home made pizza or bread to display for sale. So why not dinner in an open room of a really cool house? Not so unlike the Thai restaurant across from Walgreens in Brattleboro. After two invitations, we knew where we were planning to dine that night and we invited Nico to join us.
Before I tell you more about the rest of the evening though, I’d like to describe our friend in a little more detail as he is one of the most special people we’ve ever met. The child of an indigenous Indian father and a mother who he refers to as a gypsy who is a medium that can incorporate spirits, he grew up with 5 sisters in the big city. Most of his family is employed in the performing arts and media, radio television, magazines…. His father renounced his Indian heritage and culture and never shared that with his children, perhaps we might guess from shame? Why? We recently watched a documentary about the people of Brazil in which they depicted the original Indian settlers as cannibals, completely disregarding any mention of their spiritual connection to the divine or to the earth or any other positive aspects. Our friend is a beautiful person both spiritually and physically, with a vigor and youthfulness reminiscent of a young man in his twenties though he is nearly forty. He has the compassion of an ascended master and a deep connection to the natural wonders of the earth and a knowledge that transcends the indoctrinated norms. Leaving behind a highly paid career as a camera man in Sao Paulo, to live close to the land, he is as I mentioned a highly skilled musician who has worked with the Ayahuascaros playing music for rituals and is a practicing Buddhist, it would seem.
So after 8 pm we walked up the street to the Lotus Space, where we could see through the open gate that the walls to one of the small houses had been opened to reveal a softly lit room full of tables. A group of people were standing inside and as we approached we recognized the yoga teacher. I think I mentioned that the lotus Space has two large dome shaped buildings used to teach yoga classes as well as hosting drumming and other events as well as being living space to a few people. Nina, the yoga teacher introduced us to the other people she had brought who were visitors from France. They had just come from a Satsom around the corner where they had spent a few hours listening to the music of rare instruments inside a building shaped like a teardrop. I’ve yet to attend myself, but look forward to the experience. These folks were visiting town on the way to Abadiania where they will spend two weeks with John of God before returning to France. This was the very thing that 1st brought us to Alto Paraiso!
Dinner was still being prepared so we walked outside to a large camp fire circle and continued our conversation for a while until we heard the call to commence. As is common to this place, a ceremonial ritual initiated the first dinner being served in the newly created restaurant as we all joined hands in a circle and Nina said words of honor and blessing. I’d have loved to understand exactly what she said, but knowing the general gist sufficed. Not content to sit apart from one another, a process began to move all the tables to form one long one and people took their places while the hosts served vegetarian sushi and yakisoba along with fresh squeezed juice to each of us. Afterwards everyone made their way to the campfire and I suppose for them the night was yet young, but we returned home to relax and continue the process of healing Paul’s face, which hurt too much to be near the fire.
It’s an interesting metaphor to contemplate, this situation of bringing potential skin cancer cells to the surface of his face. So many different metaphors spring to mind, for example, “saving face,” killing off the old so the new can be reborn, dealing with the external side you show to the world, to cleanse and purify and renew who the world sees you as, the skin being the largest organ and the only thing that separates the internal from the external. There’s no mistake this process is taking place here and now.
So Saturday night we returned home while the others stayed on. When I awoke the next morning Paul asked if I’d heard the drumming, which had begun near 3 am and continued for hours, while likely someone held a ritual nearby, but I was fast and sound asleep and unaware.
I would like to wrap up this newsletter today by thanking you for reading, for joining us in our adventure and considering the things I write about. This time I mentioned several sources for you to see to broaden your perspectives by reading and listening to information you may not have been acquainted with. I think this is so important, whether you agree or believe what you hear is not important, just that you take the time to find out for yourselves what is taking place around us all. There is another man who is worth listening to. He is an Australian who hosts a radio talk show called Surviving the Matrix, on the internet and his videos can be found on You Tube. Although we were not able to download all parts successfully we are very familiar with his work, which is all quite good and we appreciate the perspective he takes on most matters. So when you are interested, take some time to find Max Igan’s “The Calling.”