March | 2009 | Journeys and Star Gazing

From an Angle to Angelic Vision

March 29, 2009

Baruch Spinoza (1632 – 1677) : “If triangles could conceive a God it would be eminently triangular.”

Below is something I wrote some time ago. I still agree with most of its sentiments. I was in a kind of reverie when I realized the direction that Pythagoras‘ thought was taking me. According to Iamblichus of Chalcis, Pythagoras once said that “number is the ruler of forms and ideas and the cause of gods and daemons.” His statement that a stone was frozen music resonated with me.

Below is a scan of my original notes. Excuse some of its exuberance.

angelic-vision

2eowlkg

2 Comments | alchemy, consciousness, divination, hermes trismegistus, Iamblichus, philosophy, Pythagoras, symbolism | Tagged: Angelic Vision, Angle, Geometry, Iamblichus, Pythagoras | Permalink
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A Palestinian Belt with Badges

March 29, 2009

Below is a photo of a hand woven belt given to me as a gift when I was in Palestine in 2000. I have attached a number of badges to it. The Hope for Refugees badges were made from images downloaded from my first website for Woomera. The others came from all sorts of experiences.

palestinian-belt-badges

Leave a Comment » | art, asylum seekers, hope caravan, politics, refugees, travel | Tagged: Badges, hope caravan, human rights. refugees, nauru, Palestine, woomera | Permalink
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Kites and Consciousness

March 28, 2009

One the things that I love to do is fly kites. There is something so beautiful, peaceful and meditative when one is flying a kite against a blue sky. When the kite is high up in the sky and the kite string sings its low volumed but high pitched sound, you feel that you hold your quivering soul in your hands.

Sometimes, when the sky is clear and the wind constant, it feels like the reverse, that the soul holds my quivering body in its hands.

At rare moments, the string becomes an analogue of attention and instead of it being just one way, it is seen as being two way, the Kite holding me and “I” holding the Kite, simultaneously … double attention.

At even rarer moments, if I am centred and watching attentively, feeling the breeze on my face and arms, feeling the sensation of my body through the weight on my feet, a Third Attention arises. This Attention is the Attention of the Sky Above enveloping the double attention between Kite and “Me”. At moments like these, one feels the miniscule, tiny microscale of the Holy Trinity of Attention as expressed in one flying a kite under the sky.

One is reminded of a greater Holy Trinity of Attention which holds the World together – the Holy Trinity of Forces as expressed in many different traditions.

Check out the transcript of a talk I gave on “Turning Inwards” https://dodona777.wordpress.com/2010/04/27/turning-inwards/

If you click on the images below you will see a larger version of same.

: Kite flown near home.

: Kite flown near home.

: Kite flown near home.

: Cockatoo design, made and flown by a friend.

: Cockatoo and Goats Head designs, made and flown by friends.

: Egyptian Delta kite, made and flown by a friend.

: My first self made kite, flown at night just after I finished making it.

: Fish design, made and flown by a friend.

: Freedom Banner with giant kite carrying it at Woomera, Easter, 2002.

: Fredom Banner flying above the Woomera Detention Centre, Easter, 2002.

: Goats Head design, made and flown by a friend.

: Teddy Bear Kite designed, made and flown by some friends.

1 Comment | attention, consciousness, Kites, personal, philosophy, photography | Tagged: attention, consciousness, Gurdjieff, Holy Trinity, Kites, meditation, Self Remembering, soul | Permalink
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Honey Bees about to become extinct

March 26, 2009

Honey Bee

Below is an entry from “The Herder Symbol Dictionary” on what the humble honey bee signifies. Then follows an article about the possible extinction of the honey bee.

I believe that events in life may also be symbolic of portending events. OK, I’m talking about omens and signs. Now, if honey bees face extinction, what does it mean for us?

stavros

Bee:

It is an insect that primarily symbolizes diligence, social organization, and cleanliness (since it avoids everything dirty and lives from the fragrance of flowers).

In Chaldea and imperial France, the bee was a regal symbol (for a long time the queen bee was thought to be a king); it is possible that the fleur-de-lis of the House of Bourbon developed from the bee symbol.

In Egypt the bee and the sun were associated, and the bee was considered to be a symbol of the soul.

In Greece it was considered a priestly creature (the priestesses of Eleusis and Ephesus were called bees, probably with reference to the virginity of the worker bees).

The bee, which appears to die in winter and return in spring, is sometimes a symbol of death and rebirth (e.g., of Persephone, Christ).

Because of its untiring work, the bee is a Christian symbol of hope. For Bernard of Clairvaux the bee signifies the Holy Ghost. The bee is a Christ symbol as well. Its HONEY represents Christ’s gentleness and compassion; its stinger symbolizes Christ as judge of the world.

Since according to ancient tradition bees do not hatch their own young but collect them from blossoms, bees were symbols in the Middle Ages of the Immaculate Conception.

The bee is also symbolic of honey-sweet eloquence, intelligence, and poetry.

Honey bees in US facing extinction

The rush and the bee, hieroglyphs from the royal title signifying King of Upper and Lower Egypt.

Albert Einstein once predicted that if bees were to disappear, man would follow only a few years later.

That hypothesis could soon be put to the test, as a mysterious condition that has wiped half of the honey bee population the United States over the last 35 years appears to be repeating itself in Europe.

Experts are at a loss to explain the fall in honey bee populations in America, with fears of that a new disease, the effects of pollution or the increased use of pesticides could be to blame for “colony collapse disorder”. From 1971 to 2006 approximately one half of the US honey bee colonies have vanished.

Now in Spain, hundreds of thousands of colonies have been lost and beekeepers in northern Croatia estimated that five million bees had died in just 48 hours this week. In Poland, the Swietokrzyskie beekeeper association has estimated that up to 40 per cent of bees were wiped out last year. Greece, Switzerland, Italy and Portugal have also reported heavy losses.

The depopulation of bees could have a huge impact on the environment, which is reliant on the insects for pollination. If taken to the extreme, crops, fodder – and therefore livestock – could die off if there are no pollinating insects left.

In France in 2004, the government banned the pesticide Fipronil after beekeepers in the south-west blamed it for huge losses of hives. The manufacturers denied their products were harmful to bees. Polish beekeeper associations claimed that the losses in their country could be connected to cheap sugar substitutes used in mass honey production.

However, experts at the largest honey bee health company in the world, Vita, based in Basingstoke, said the cause was still unknown, and therefore neither was the cure.

The company’s technical director, Dr Max Watkins, said: “If it turns out to be a disease we will probably find a cure. But if it turns out to be something different, like environmental pollution, then I do not know what can be done.

“At the moment, all we know is colonies are dying and we simply don’t know why. It could be a new disease or a combination of factors. And of course it could turn out what we are seeing here in Europe is different to what has been reported in America, although at the moment they look very, very similar.”

Dennis van Engelsdorp, of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, said: “Preliminary work has identified several likely factors that could be causing or contributing to CCD. Among them are mites and associated diseases, some unknown pathogenic disease and pesticide contamination or poisoning.”

Initial studies of dying colonies in America revealed a large number of disease organisms present, with no one disease being identified as the culprit, van Engelsdorp added.

German bee expert Professor Joergen Tautz from Wurzburg University said: “Bees are vital to bio diversity. There are 130,000 plants for example for which bees are essential to pollination, from melons to pumpkins, raspberries and all kind of fruit trees – as well as animal fodder – like clover.

“Bees are more important than poultry in terms of human nutrition. Bees from one hive can visit a million flowers within a 400 square kilometre area in just one day.

“It is not a sudden problem, I has been happening for a few years now. Five years ago in Germany there were a million hives, now there are less than 800,000. If that continues there will eventually be no bees.”

“Bees are not only working for our welfare, they are also perfect indicators of the state of the environment. We should take note.”

By Michael Leidig in Vienna

8 Comments | honey bees, symbolism | Tagged: Albert Einstein, bees, Colony collapse disorder, Honey bee, insect, life, pollution, symbol, whole earth | Permalink
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On the Esoteric

March 23, 2009

To talk about the esoteric is in many ways a blasphemy – the very act of pretending knowledge of the divine is bad faith.

The intuitive finds its place in an inner hierarchy of will. I do feel sometimes that this kind of will should be capitalised – Will. When I think of the intuitive I think of the instinctive intelligence of a new born baby that turns its head and opens its mouth and begins to suckle on the mother’s breast. This is real intuitive intelligence – a balance between what is needed, what is possible, and what is beautiful. Today many in our Western “developed” world have lost the intuitive ability, to use one’s instinctive intelligence to create order in the world. The intuitive, I feel, is the circumference of the essential.

pentagram-astro-man1

Esoteric to me means HIDDEN – nothing more and nothing less. The esoteric partakes of an energy rather than static conceptualisation. The esoteric current flows through all and everything – yes, there is the esoteric side of a stone and the esoteric side of rationality and a smile. The only way to convey the esoteric from one human to another is through presence or the ingestion of energetic – wisdom – texts. These texts are living organic IDEAS that act like yeast in the mind. There are certain Ideas which are larger than mere conceptualisation and these Ideas, I feel, partake of a life, they are angelic life forms. The purpose of these living texts / Ideas is not to stuff one’s mind with extra information but rather to change its constitution so that it can become receptive to the esoteric. This is an aspect of alchemy.

Alchemical Medal

The discernment of the intuitive / esoteric is a function of that same hidden energy. These sacred esoteric texts serve as long koans, and if approached in an appropriate manner may open a mind to the hidden forces. The idea of text must also be enlarged in regard to the esoteric. In this context the Temple of Luxor in Egypt is a text behaving in the above manner (see R A Schwaller de Lubicz ), as are the various revelations of the world’s religions, and various dances, rituals and art. Gurdjieff coined a word for these “texts” – legominisms.

To someone who is imbued with an esoteric vision, the whole of life is one big hieroglyph waiting to be read and understood. Astrology from this perspective, is a form of life “language” and algebra. Dane Rudhyar called Astrology, the algebra of life. I like this, but I also see Astrology as a language with its own syntax and grammar.

I believe that the ability to discern the esoteric from the exoteric has something to do with one’s will. This something cannot arise without assistance from the hidden parts of one’s nature.

I don’t seek the esoteric, the esoteric seeks me.

4 Comments | alchemy, astrology, consciousness, Gurdjieff, philosophy, Schwaller de Lubicsz | Tagged: alchemy, astrology, Dane Rudhyar, esoteric, Gurdjieff, invisible forces, koan, legominism, Luxor, mantic techniques, Schwaller de Lubicz | Permalink
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Some photos from my Greece – Middle East Odyssey!

March 15, 2009

When I took these pictures I used a cheap “instamatic” camera without a zooms lens. My instamatic camera used film and it was very expensive to develop the large number of rolls of film I had when I returned to Australia. I then scanned the photos and used Photoshop to enhance and edit as needed. Today (2022) I use my phone camera, not only is it far cheaper to take and see your photos, but also with the large memory in them you don’t have to worry about carrying rolls of film. If you have even more than the camera phone can carry you can upload them to the cloud.

So, 2000 seems like another age when it comes to photography!

The following pictures are from my old instamatic camera.

By the way, after the series of photos with captions there are lots without captions with some repeats. I figure I haven’t the time to caption them but you know they’re from my trip through Greece & Middle East, so I won’t have to. Sorry!

3collage

I will add more from my odyssey as time allows.

Here’s a few:

Just click on the pictures below to see an enlarged version.

: Bethlehem, Israel – Jesus’ birth spot according to tradition.

: Kalavystra, Greece.

: Temple of Luxor, Egypt

: Temple of Luxor, Egypt

: Meteora, Greece

: Mount Athos, Greece – known as the Holy Mountain by Orthodox Christians.

: Olympia, Greece – birthplace of the Olympic Games.

: Palmyra, Syria – some of the best preserved Roman ruins in the world are here about 200 kms from Baghdad, Iraq.

: Palmyra, Syria – some of the best preserved Roman ruins in the world are here about 200 kms from Baghdad, Iraq.

: Palmyra, Syria – Tomb

: Aroutsas St Athens, just below the Acropolis in Athens.

: Patmos, Greece – entrance to cave where St John wrote the Book of Revelations.

: Patmos, Greece – street scene.

: Patmos, Greece – street scene.

: Petra, Jordan – Indiana Jones country!

: Abu Simbel, Egypt.

: Konya, Turkey – Rumi Mevlana’s (founder of the Whirling Dervishes Sufi Order) Tomb

: Seljuk, Turkey (near Ephasus) engraving close to St John’s grave.

: Palmyra, Syria – Stavros on a camel.

: Valley of the Kings, Egypt

: Valley of the Kings, Egypt

: Bethlelehem, Israel – entrance to where Jesus was born.

: Mount Sinai, Egypt – view from the top of Mt Sinai.

: Yannina, Greece

: Yannina, Greece.

: Goreme, Turkey – entrance to a cave house.

: Diakopto, Greece – a few minutes walk from my father’s house.

: Jerusalem, Israel

: Goreme, Turkey – cave house.

: Goreme, Turkey – “Star Wars” Luke Skywalker land of his birth.

: Goreme, Turkey – tunnel between cave houses.

: Goreme, Turkey – view from inside a cave house.

4 Comments | odyssey, personal, photography, travel | Tagged: odyssey, photography, travel | Permalink
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Recommendatons for Living – G I Gurdjieff

March 15, 2009

George I Gurdjieff (1866? – 1949) was a Greek – Armenian who introduced the Fourth Way to the Western world. His Greek name is Georgiades which has been “Russified” to Gurdjieff by which he is more commonly known. Gurdjieff’s ideas have touched me to the core and I can say that of all the spiritual teachings available to us today, that his resonates in a very deep way with my own needs and search.

G I Gurdjieff

Below are some “Recommendations for Living” from a Spanish site that states these are Gurdjieff’s. Don’t know if this the case but they feel right. Both the original in Spanish and an English translation are here, plus a link to the original source is provided at the end of the quote:

1. Fija tu atención en ti mismo, sé consciente en cada instante de lo que piensas, sientes, deseas y haces.
~ Fix your attention in yourself, be conscious at every instant of what you think, feel, want and do.

2. Termina siempre lo que comenzaste.
~ Always finish what you started.

3. Haz lo que estás haciendo lo mejor posible.
~ Do your best with whatever it is you are doing.

4. No te encadenes a nada que a la larga te destruya.
~ Do not chain yourself to anything that will destroy you on the long haul.

5. Desarrolla tu generosidad sin testigos.
~ Develop your generosity without witnesses.

6. Trata a cada persona como si fuera un pariente cercano.
~ Treat every person as if they were a close relative.

7. Ordena lo que has desordenado.
~ Order what you have messed up.

8. Aprende a recibir, agradece cada don.
~ Learn to receive, thank every gift.

9. Cesa de autodefinirte.
~ Cease to autodefine yourself.

10. No mientas ni robes, si lo haces te mientes y te robas a ti mismo.
~ Do not lie or steal, if you do, you lie to and steal from yourself.

11. Ayuda a tu prójimo sin hacerlo dependiente.
~ Help your neighbor without making him dependent.

12. No desees ser imitado.
~ Do not wish to be imitated.

13. Haz planes de trabajo y cúmplelos.
~ Make work plans and carry them out.

14. No ocupes demasiado espacio.
~ Do not take too much space.

15. No hagas ruidos ni gestos innecesarios.
~ Do not make unnecessary noises or gestures.

16. Si no la tienes, imita la fe.
~ If you don’t have it, imitate faith.

17. No te dejes impresionar por personalidades fuertes.
~ Do not let yourself be impressed by strong personalities.

18. No te apropies de nada ni de nadie.
~ Do not take possession of anything or anyone.

19. Reparte equitativamente.
~ Distribute equitably.

20. No seduzcas.
~ Do not seduce.

21. Come y duerme lo estrictamente necesario.
~ Eat and sleep what’s strictly necessary.

22. No hables de tus problemas personales.
~ Do not speak of your personal problems.

23. No emitas juicios ni críticas cuando desconozcas la mayor parte de los hechos.
~ Do not emit judgments or criticisms when you do not know most of the facts.

24. No establezcas amistades inútiles.
~ Do not establish useless friendships.

25. No sigas modas.
~ Do not follow fashions.

26. No te vendas.
~ Do not sell yourself.

27. Respeta los contratos que has firmado.
~ Respect the contracts you have signed.

28. Sé puntual.
~ Be on time.

29. No envidies los bienes o los éxitos del prójimo.
~ Do not envy the goods or successes of your neighbor.

30. Habla sólo lo necesario.
~ Say only what’s necessary.

31. No pienses en los beneficios que te va a procurar tu obra.
~ Do not think of the benefits that your actions will bring you.

32. Nunca amenaces.
~ Never threaten.

33. Realiza tus promesas.
~ Keep your promises.

34. En una discusión ponte en el lugar del otro.
~ In a discussion put yourself in the place of the other.

35. Admite que alguien te supere.
~ Admit that someone might supersede you.

36. No elimines, sino transforma.
~ Do not eliminate, transform.

37. Vence tus miedos, cada uno de ellos es un deseo que se camufla.
~ Conquer your fears, each one of them is a desire that camouflages itself.

38. Ayuda al otro a ayudarse a si mismo.
~ Help the other help himself.

39. Vence tus antipatías y acércate a las personas que deseas rechazar.
~ Conquer your antipathies and get close to the persons you wish to reject.

40. No actúes por reacción a lo que digan bueno o malo de ti.
~ Do not act out of a reaction to what good or bad they say about you.

41. Transforma tu orgullo en dignidad.
~ Transform your pride in dignity.

42. Transforma tu cólera en creatividad.
~ Transform your anger into creativity.

43. Transforma tu avaricia en respeto por la belleza.
~ Transform your greed into respect for beauty.

44. Transforma tu envidia en admiración por los valores del otro.
~ Transform your envy into admiration for the values of the other.

45. Transforma tu odio en caridad.
~ Transform your hate into charity.

46. No te alabes ni te insultes.
~ Do not praise nor insult yourself.

47. Trata lo que no te pertenece como si te perteneciera.
~ Treat what doesn’t belong to you as if it did.

48. No te quejes.
~ Do not complain.

49. Desarrolla tu imaginación.
~ Develop your imagination.

50. No des órdenes sólo por el placer de ser obedecido.
~ Do not give orders just for the pleasure of being obeyed.

51. Paga los servicios que te dan.
~ Pay for the services that you are given.

52. No hagas propaganda de tus obras o ideas.
~ Do not make propaganda of your doings or ideas.

53. No trates de despertar en los otros emociones hacia ti como piedad, admiración,
simpatía, complicidad.
~ Do not try to awaken in others emotions towards you like compassion, admiration, sympathy or complicity.

54. No trates de distinguirte por tu apariencia.
~ Do not try to distinguish yourself by your appearance.

55. Nunca contradigas, sólo calla.
~ Never contradict, just be silent.

56. No contraigas deudas, adquiere y paga en seguida.
~ Do not contract debts, acquire and pay right away.

57. Si ofendes a alguien, pídele perdón.
~ If you offend someone, ask for forgiveness.

58. Si lo has ofendido públicamente, excúsate en público.
~ If you have offended him publicly, apologize in public.

59. Si te das cuenta de que has dicho algo erróneo, no insistas por orgullo en ese error y
desiste de inmediato de tus propósitos.
~ If you realize you have said something wrong, do not insist out of pride on that mistake, and desist immediately of your intentions.

60. No defiendas tus ideas antiguas sólo por el hecho de que fuiste tú quien las enunció.
~ Do not defend your old ideas just because of the fact that it was you who uttered them.

61. No conserves objetos inútiles.
~ Do not keep useless objects.

62. No te adornes con ideas ajenas.
~ Do not adorn yourself with others’ ideas.

63. No te fotografíes junto a personajes famosos.
~ Do not take Pictures of you next to famous characters.

64. No rindas cuentas a nadie, sé tu propio juez.
~ Do not explain yourself to anyone, be your own Judge.

65. Nunca te definas por lo que posees.
~ Never define yourself by what you posses.

66. Nunca hables de ti sin concederte la posibilidad de cambiar.
~ Never speak of yourself without granting yourself the possibility of changing.

67. Acepta que nada es tuyo.
~ Accept that nothing is yours.

68. Cuando te pregunten tu opinión sobre algo o alguien, di sólo sus cualidades.
~ When asked your opinion about something or someone, only say their qualities.

69. Cuando te enfermes, en lugar de odiar ese mal considéralo tu maestro.
~ When you are sick, instead of hating that illness consider it your teacher.

70. No mires con disimulo, mira fijamente.
~ Do not look hintedly, look straight.

71. No olvides a tus muertos, pero dales un sitio limitado que les impida invadir toda tu vida.
~ Do not forget your dead, but give them a limited place that impedes them from invading all your life.

72. En el lugar en que habites consagra siempre un sitio a lo sagrado.
~ In the place you live consecrate always a place for the sacred.

73. Cuando realices un servicio no resaltes tus esfuerzos.
~ When you perform a service do not highlight your efforts.

74. Si decides trabajar para los otros, hazlo con placer.
~ If you decide to work for others, do it with pleasure.

75. Si dudas entre hacer y no hacer, arriésgate y haz.
~ If you doubt between doing and not doing, take a risk and do.

76. No trates de ser todo para tu pareja; admite que busque en otros lo que tú no puedes darle.
~ Don’t try to be everything for your couple; admit he/she may search for in others what you cannot give him/her.

77.Cuando alguien tenga su público, no acudas para contradecirlo y robarle la audiencia.
~ When someone has their public, do not approach to contradict or steal the audience.

78. Vive de un dinero ganado por ti mismo.
~ Live off of money earned by yourself.

79. No te jactes de aventuras amorosas.
~ Do not boast about love affairs.

80. No te vanaglories de tus debilidades.
~ Do not vainglory yourself of your weaknesses.

81. Nunca visites a alguien sólo por llenar tu tiempo.
~ Never visit someone just to fill your time.

82. Obtén para repartir.
~ Obtain in order to share.

83. Si estás meditando y llega un diablo, pon ese diablo a meditar.
~ If you are meditating and a devil arrives, put that devil to meditate.

http://www.librosdeluz.net/2008/04/mandamientos-de-gurdjieff.html#

Here are some photos of Gurdjieff and some of the key people in the Work:

http://digitalseance.wordpress.com/galerie-dimage/la-galerie-de-gurdjieff/

3 Comments | consciousness, fourth way, Gurdjieff, philosophy, sufi | Tagged: fourth way, Georgiades, Gurdjieff | Permalink
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A Ganma Odyssey

March 11, 2009

This is the title I used for an article published in “Education Australia” way back in 1998. I think it is still relevant in many ways, particularly now that Australia has had a change in goverment. Since it already is online I will just give you the link to it here “A Ganma Odyssey” . If the link should ever become inactive I will upload it to this blog.

I chose this title to connect an Aboriginal word with my Greek heritage – the Odyssey. Ganma is an Aboriginal word from the Northern Territory which is the name for a waterhole that has fresh and salt water mixing together in a rock pool. One of the speakers at the conference (see below “The Ganma Metaphor”), suggested we use the word “ganma” to refer to a “multicultural space” as in a classroom. Anyway, read the article and you will see the full context. By using the word “odyssey” I alluded to my own Greek heritage and the fact that the journey to the Heart of Australia was also a journey to the centre of my own heart because I was retracing a journey I undertook about 25 years earlier as a young man on the road looking for truth . . . . my own naive version of a Dharma Bum.

The coloured text excerpts and photos, beneathe “The Ganma Metaphor” are scanned from the hard copy of “Education Australia” Issue 39, 1998. So, check the article out >> “A Ganma Odyssey”.

The Ganma Metaphor

“This metaphor I had learned during earlier visits to Yirrkala Community School in East Arnhem Land, on the coast of the northeast corner of the Northern Territory. Yirrkala has organised their curriculum and teaching around a metaphor of the contact zone where rivers meet the sea, named ganma in one of the local Aboriginal languages. Literally, ganma is where fresh and salt water meet. Metaphorically, ganma is where cultures meet: fresh water is indigenous Yolngu knowledge and practices; salt water is the white Balanda knowledge and practices; and one place where they meet is in school.

Flying in a small plane from Yirrkala west to Darwin after a visit in 1993, l could see clearly the swirls of different colors in the ganma waters: bluer from the sea, browner from the land. Manduwuy Yunupingu, who was principal of Yirrkala when I first visited in 1991, has also described the role of Yothu Yindi, his internationally known rock group, in the meeting place of popular culture in these same ganma terms (Shoemaker 1994).

At first thought, this ganma metaphor may seem to ignore the important power differential between dominant and nondominant cultures in institutions like schools. But if you think again about literal relationships between fresh water and salt, the potential threat of unequal power is there: salt water tides and typhoons can flood the land, while fresh water cannot seriously harm the ocean. But if the two can be kept in balance in the ganma space, then the rich nutrients that come together from the mix of different waters nourishes richly diverse forms of life-biologically in the literal situation, culturally and intellectually in the metaphorical.”

Courtney B. Cazden

Quote from ‘A Postscript from Alice Springs’, in Multiliteracies: Literacy learning and the design of social futures.

eductn-aust-ganma-odyssey-1

Here is an excerpt from the article :

It has been suggested that the human notion and definition of self has been through major shifts since the beginning of human consciousness (Julian Jaynes, “The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind”, Boston, Houghton Miffen, 1977 ). The closest to us historically, that may demonstrate this shift, is said to have occurred in Homer’s Greece.

According to this view, in Homer’s day, the people did not have the same sense of self as we may have. Their inner psychological organisation was different to what we take for granted. The voice of the mind was somehow perceived as a “god” speaking from outside themselves. It didn’t take too long before people started sussing out that there were a lot of “gods” running around in the temples and in the marketplaces saying contradictory things about how things were, that they saw the untruth of their “godhood”. Gradually this voice of the “gods” became established in the sense of self we call “ego”. What was there before the voice? Who and what was Ulysses’s “sense of self” on his Odyssey?

Have we in the dying years of the Industrial Age, come to a cultural cul-de-sac? Somehow, we have alienated ourselves from not only each other but also the common ground of experience – nature, the Earth. Is it time for another definition and sense of self, another way of knowing, one that acknowledges something other than the sovereign rights of the mechanistic, rational, technocratic and anti – spiritual mindset of the “Western” sense of self?

Edward de Bono in his “I Am Right, You Are Wrong”, thinks that this is the case. He suggests that a renaissance of thought and language patterns is needed so that humanity doesn’t self destruct. He proposes turning away from the “table top logic” of the traditional “Western” mindset in favour of developing a way of knowing that is based on perception. De Bono explains that recent developments in the understanding of self-organising systems and ideas from information theory, have given indications as to how the neural processes of the brain perform the activity of perception. Perception operates in nerve networks like a feature of a self-organising biological system, a living entity. Let’s call information that comes through our senses impressions. These impressions fall on the inner landscape of our mind like rain. The rain on the mind organises itself into tributaries, rivulets and streams of temporarily stable patterns. These patterns can subsequently flow into new sequences and patterns. According to de Bono, the perceptual mode of thinking encourages the mind to form multiple branching flow patterns; the sensory information is not boxed in by fixed linguistic concepts, generalities, and logic. Perceptual thought patterns follow the natural behaviour of neural networks; our present mode only plays back a recording of words and concepts provided by a preestablished cultural mindset.

Courtney Cazden during her paper on Ganma Space spoke of the necessity of getting rid of the margin and centre metaphor. This metaphor was based on the myth of terra nullius of students’ minds and being. Courtney told us that while she and Mary Kalantzis were flying to some school in the Northern Territory they noticed water holes that had fresh and salt water tributaries and other smaller rivulets all feeding the main space of the water hole. This, they found out was known as a ganma. The ganma looks like localised swirling spirals from the air. Courtney said that the mingling of brown, fresh and salt water in this space was analogous to the culturally diverse classroom. And in light of the process of perception is an apt image of the inner subjective world, our mind, our being.

The multicultural classroom as a Ganma Space, this metaphor rather than create separate marginalised groups besides the mainstream, recognises the primacy of all the diverse groups’ backgrounds and experiences. There is no one central dominant culture enforcing a mainstream reality. There is an influx of different cultures, different literacies, different world views, a swirling waterhole, a turning of bracken water whose salt has not lost its savour.

A living Ganma Space.

Let’s go one step further and consider that in the industrially developed world there is the primacy of the head, (some localise it to the left hemisphere of the brain) and all the other ways of being and cognition – feelings, sensations and intuition have been marginalised. What do we have if we apply the ganma metaphor to our own inner world? In this ganma, head, heart, body and spirit all contribute equally, but differently, to our sense of the real. These parts of ourselves may all be cognitive in nature, they may be different tributaries of knowing, different source data. Ganma Space taken as psychological space, the internal world of our experience, would allow for the possibility to connect our known and unknown parts of ourselves. This opens the opportunity to connect with others by being able to include more of the “other” in one’s awareness.
Could the perceptual mode of thinking be a ganma way of knowing?

The taste I seek is a taste of being – not in the philosophical sense – a point of view to be debated, but rather an experience, an immersion through the background/underground of one’s chattering monkey mind – into the moment. We’ve seen that working from only a part of ourselves doesn’t work. The problems confronting all of us in this time of planetary transition are whole systems oriented. Now we see through Chaos theory, that a butterfly fluttering her wings in South Africa has global consequences. And when it comes to the ecological state of the Earth and the widening gap between the rich and poor across the planet, it is obvious that whole, global issues require an effort and a response that is from the whole of ourselves, the ganma of ourselves.

From “A Ganma Odyssey” published in Education Australia, 1998.

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