GLOSSARY
Abrahamic Tradition
Addressing
Attend
Beloved
Big Story
Bodywandering
Comforting
Crowning
Deep Sleep Dreaming
Dominion
Earthfolk
Earthpeople
Emotion
Forever Family
Heartfelt Action
Intend and Intending
Interiority
Intimacy
Intimate Enemy
Inviting
Memory and Remembering
Nurturing Embrace
Obliterated Womb
Peering
Precious and Preciousness
Presence
Religious Big Story
Ritual
Sensual
preciousness
Sensual
Immersion
Scientism
Big Story
Secular Big Story
Sitting in Silence
Sojourning Aliens
Stirring
Vision
Vital Zest
Wand
Warrior Quest
Womb
Worship
Abrahamic Tradition
A tradition of those who consider the Biblical Abraham to be their
cultural and spiritual Father. This includes people of the Jewish,
Christian, Islamic and Mormon faiths. The Abrahamics consider themselves
a Chosen People. They are monotheists. Earthfolk cites the Abrahamic
Tradition as
the
source for the dominance of the values and rituals of the Warrior's
Quest vision and creative imaginings. Top
Addressing
Addressing is a ritual which opens the four directions of the Earth:
North, South, East and West. It is a way of orienting yourself and
your
Beloved so that each of you make present the Living Earth. Top
Attend and Attending
Attending is becoming aware of and engaging your Other through every
sense to finally evoke a coupled presence of spiritual intimacy.
Top
Beloved and Belovedness
The Beloved is the Precious Other. You become Beloved when you both
recognize and receive a Precious Other as they recognize and receive
your Precious Otherness. The state of being Beloved is a state of ecstatic
communion wherein two manifest a new oneness, a new Presence, that
of
Belovedness. Beloveds experience a birthing which is a new borning
of two, already alive in time and space, as one. And as they uncouple,
as never the same again. Sensual preciousness blossoms as a wholing
and healing of the Beloveds, and its ritual act is the Embrace of
the Beloveds.
Top
Big Story
Big Story is a people’s source for answering all their questions,
large and small. Knowing these Big Stories and their answers form part
of the group’s identity. Acting out these Big Stories through
ceremonial ritual acts initiates the individual into the group. Big
Stories do not readily sit next to one another, nor do their initiates.
Knowing a Big Story is a serious matter, and, not infrequently, of
life
and death.Top
A Big Story has a set of Big Answers to shared key
Big Questions. These Big Answers are expressed in words, images and
ritual acts.
Every group
has a Big Story, although while the basic questions about the origin,
purpose and meaning of life are shared, each group’s Big Answers
differ in respect to images, words and ritual acts.
Big Stories are vast and complex. The carry fabulous
accounts, histories, images, rituals, songs, etc., which often overwhelm
the individual’s
imagination. Individuals live out their Big Story in particular ways.
Each selects and arranges certain aspects of the Big Story which becomes
their “personal Story.” Their selection is based upon those
parts of their Big Story which speak to the individual’s strongly
held heartfelt beliefs and convictions. These are heartfelt because
they concern matters over which the individual is willing to surrender
many things, including her worldly possessions, family and friends,
even life, itself. Though it is fairly easy to get people to agree
about
the commonalities of their Big Story, it is very difficult to get them
to change their personal Story.
Bodywandering
Bodywandering is a playful approach to your Beloved’s body. It
starts when you peer at your Beloved’s body and perceive that
it is a map of mobius pathways. When you bodywander you Attend to the
flesh of your Beloved with every sense: sight, smell, taste, hearing
and on every level and on every level: physical, mental, spiritually,
astrally. Top
Comforting
This is the act of consciously Intending to evoke the sensual presence
of comforting and of being comforted. It is letting rise from within
your heart the ecstatic joy of just being here, today, right now, this
instant. Top
Crowning
Crowning is a ritual where the body of your Beloved is reverenced and
worshipped at the points of Reed and Womb. It is a charka
melding exercise. Top
Deep Sleep Dreaming
Collectively and communally, every night when you go to sleep, you
become a deep sleeper. You re-dream the Biblical stories. You are
commonly
told that sleeping is a state of unconsciousness or non-consciousness,
meaning that nothing happens. Earthfolk hold that there is a tremendously
significant “more” to this “deep sleep” imagery.
In Genesis, the woman, the female, the feminine and the presence of
the Goddess is found from within
a deep sleep. Top
Dominion
The power of Dominion, of total control over the Earth and all creatures
is how the Abrahamic tradition has interpreted certain passages in
Genesis. Chapter 1:26, “Let us make man, in our image, after our
likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over
the fowl
of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every
creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” Chapter 1:28, “And
God blessed them … and have dominion over ….” Chapter
2:19, “And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast
of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam
to
see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living
creature, that was the name thereof.” Top
Earthfolk
Earthfolk became aware of themselves—Awoke!—when they
first saw the snapshot of Earth from outer space taken by the Apollo
8 astronauts in 1968, called Earthrise.
Their vision is that every human is a parent and
child in the Forever-Family which is immortal. They praise and worship
the Other as Precious Other. They hold that the spiritually intimate
erotic presence which is made manifest when two couple and express
a newborn Precious Otherness unleashes an nuclear intimate energy, called vital
zest, which heals and whole humans and the Earth. This intimate vital zest
is more powerful than atomic nuclear energy. Consequently, Earthfolk ritualize
every aspect of their living, for ritual is the way they Invite the
Other into their Embrace. Top
Earthpeople
Many of those in the Manhattan Project who spearheaded the
creation of the atomic bomb, after it was dropped, were awed by its
power of absolute reduction. They saw the elemental unity of all energy,
and so of all living entities. They began to creatively imagine holistically
and foster integrative creative imagining. Many joined the social reform/social
justice movements. They readily described themselves as Green, feministic,
egalitarian, holistic, organic, international, planetary, etc. Yet,
they continued to faithfully live according to the vision of the Warrior's
Quest, most notably, making present Lone Male energy and obliterating
the Goddess. At heart they see an Intimate Enemy—a someone or something
(corporation, government, The Market, etc.) that must be destroyed
before the Earth can be made whole and healed. Dreadful fear
distrubs their sleep. Top
Emotion
Earthfolk use “emotion” to define and describe that which
individuals share as they experience themselves as a group, whether
a pair or a nation. Emotion is that something which no individual can
describe in terms of its origins for it is evoked by another rather
than generated by an idea. Humans are born from within emotion and have
meaning only as they experience emotion, which is a relationship with
an Other. What makes humans human is that which they describe in relational
terms, for example, love, honor, respect, being free, beauty, harmony,
warring, hating, murdering and so forth. Top
Forever-Family
With just a slight bit of peering it becomes clear that all human experiences
are emotionally relational and familial. Everyone comes from the human
family which has always been and will always be, that is, Forever. Top
Heartfelt Action
A heartfelt action is a defining action of a Big Story. It is how the
Big Story is made manifest through the actions of an individual. A heartfelt
action describes an act or group of acts which believers in a Big Story
must do. A heartfelt action is not optional, it is required. It is the
testimonial act which endows the believer with personal and group identity
as a proponent or confessor of the truths of the Big Story. Top
Intend and Intending
This is a consciously chosen way to approach an Other through inviting
him/her into your intimacy. Intending is a conscious act but it
is not
simply one of thinking. It is a bit more like perpetual meditation
about your Beloved. Top
Interiority
Interiority is an individual’s self-awareness, her/his self-identity.
Your concept of interiority, e.g., of your self or ego or person, determines
how you understand and value your intimacy. Your intimacy is discovered,
notably, only when you are in relationship, and as you become aware
of your intimacy, so does your grasp on the character of your interiority
become clearer. Top
Intimacy
Intimacy can only occur when two share their interiorities in such a
way that each experiences their own Preciousness as they are embraced
as a Beloved. Earthfolk use the imagery of two candles merging their
flames to form a third which is a oneness of a couple who then become,
as they move apart, separate identities, again. For Earthfolk, intimacy
cannot be experienced alone. It is a communal presence. Top
Intimate Enemy
Based upon the effect of the Atomic
Bomb, that is, the vaporizing of humans, Earthfolk realized that
the Warrior's Quest saw "intimacy"
as its enemy. Meaning, it wants you to see the Other not just as
an external (social, cultural, political) enemy but as a threat
to your very existence, your soul. They, therefore, strive to obliterate
this Intimate Enemy. Reviewing their Big Stories, especially in
the Abrahamic tradition's story of origin, clearly reveals that
this Intimate Enemy is the Goddess, the feminine, and females.
The War between the Sexes is a deeply mythic battle for dominion
and domination. Top
Inviting
To Invite is to open oneself, sensually, so that your Preciousness is
made present. When two humans are Inviting, they open for a Nurturing
Embrace. It is a giving through receiving. It is an act of vulnerability,
of open-heartedness, and fearless surrender to your Beloved. Top
Memory and Remembering
Remembering is not just a wistful act of sentimentality. Rather, it
is a centering sensual act of sensual immersion wherein your whole body,
every sense, is tuned to your presence in the Now with you feeling yourself
as one with all who have proceeded you and all who shall yet come. Remembering
is a relational act, wherein you open yourself to relate to the Past
and the Future in a robust Now. Remembering is the act of making yourself,
through relationship with your Beloved, present as Forever-Family. Top
Nurturing Embrace
Sensual preciousness peers and grasps that your body is only fully
present when coupled, that is, embraced. When in a Nurturing Embrace,
your body
changes. All of your skin becomes your mouth. You speak to your Beloved
with and through every fleshly aspect and Memory. Your whole body
becomes
tongue. You taste each other as you lie upon each other. Every fiber
of your being reaches out and grasps your Beloved. Through the
Nurturing
Embrace you and your Beloved remember what the Lone Male wants
you to forget: Her coupled with Him. Top
Obliterated Womb
Biblical Genesis is the story of the Obliterated Womb. There, Adam’s
body is substituted for the female womb. From his body a Rib is taken and
with that the Lone Male god creates a woman. Earthfolk understand the
Rib as the penis, and see the act of female creation as one of masturbation.
In Genesis the visual icon is Adam’s penis, and the hidden icon
is the Obliterated Womb. The concept of the Obliterated Womb stands
as the primary Lone Male sensual preciousness concept. It is what the
Lone
Male God proclaims, namely, that there is no Womb! Earthfolk ritualize
to makes present this Obliterated Womb so as to heal this Shadow act
through the presence evoked by the Nurturing Embrace. Top
Peering
Peering is not just staring or a visual act. It is also an act of acceptance
of the Shadow, of the dark which accompanies light.
It involves quieting the senses to open them to fuller input, from
a trickle to a flood, of information and/or insight. This is a
sensual
discipline in that Earthfolk seek to evoke the full range and subtlety
of emotion which accompanies peering and sitting in silence. They
hold
that until the emotion of a word, sound, image or insight is grasped
in its robustness, the depth of information and truth is not properly
tapped. Top
Precious and Preciousness
The iconic Starship Earth image (1968) stunned the gathering Earthfolk
as they sensed that other human bodies were their own. That every
Other is a
Precious Other, and that through Embracing is how everyone's Precious
Otherness is evoked. The Embrace of the Precious Other makes present
each as Beloved. The discovery of the Precious Other as Beloved is
a sensing which redefines and re-images who we are as individuals
and
who we can become in group identity, namely, a Forever-Family of Beloveds. Top
Presence
Presence describes that moment when the Womb is no longer Obliterated.
It is the realization of the Nurturing Embrace. Presence evokes
the
Memory of Forever-Family. It is a moment of being in the Now with all
Memory, which Memory is also anticipation of the Future. Top
Religious Big Story
The Religious Big Story is robust. It defining characteristic is that
it seeks to answer all of the Big Questions, once and for all. It has
well defined doctrines and required dogmas, and a profusion of ceremonial
rituals. While there are quite a few Religious Big Stories, the dominant
one which reflects the values of the others, is that which sources the
West’s quest for global Dominion. This is the Abrahamic Big Story
which encompasses the Jewish, Christian, Moslem and Mormon traditions. Top
Ritual
A ritual is a performance which normally employs all five senses to
make present a new presence. It is a repeated performance which builds
upon Memory. For Earthfolk ritual is the way two Others approach one
another as they seek each other’s Preciousness. Ritual is the
defining of a safe, special wholing and healing space and time in which
two seek the Other as Beloved. Top
Sensual Preciousness
Sensual preciousness reflects the vision which sees that the life force
is, itself, and arises from, a preciously intimate Nurturing Embrace.
The preciously intimate Nurturing Embrace of Beloveds releases the
creative Precious Otherness from which all life flows. Sensual preciousness’ vital
zest expressed by Beloveds through a Nurturing Embrace is the only
intimate energy which can counteract atomic nuclear energy. Top
Sensual Immersion
This describes the immersion of information gathered from the five
senses in the emotions of the present experience. From this moment
of sensual immersion
do humans form their thoughts, unleash their intuitions, and free their
imaginations. Top
Scientism Big Story
Scientismists apply the scientific method to obtain an understanding
of what something is or what is happening. Since the scientific
method
properly works with exploring and ascertaining empirical data, there
is no necessary theory or Story which emerges from its application.
Scientism is the peering at and sitting in silence with empirical data
and telling a Big Story which makes a whole narrative out of discrete
parts. Top
Secular Big Story
The Secular Big Story's defining characteristic is that it develops its
Big Answers primarily as a negative reaction to claims of the Religious
Big Story. In contrast to the Religious Big Story the Secular has not
evolved a tradition with well defined doctrines and required dogmas,
nor a profusion of ceremonial rituals, nor authoritative institutions.
While individuals will claim to be secular, and scholars will cite
a “secularizing” influence or trend, there is no indisputable
definition of “secular” or “secularizing.” Earthfolk
see this Big Story as a movement within and not outside of the Religious
Big Story. Secularism describes the transfer of spiritually erotic
power
from traditional religious language, imagery, laws and institutions
to secular language, imagery, laws and institutions. Top
Sitting in Silence
To initiate sensual immersion, Earthfolk peer as they sit in silence.
Sitting in silence is the practice of opening one’s self to what
is not apparent or obvious. It is a way of tuning one’s senses
to pick up information which lingers around, within and surrounds a
commonplace image, word or insight. Top
Sojourning Aliens
The unintentional impact of the military expedition which took the
snapshot of Starship Earth is that it awoke the Earthfolk. All
at once they were
present on Earth but as if aliens from outer space. They felt themselves
as sojourners who were present among others who did not and could
not
see them. They realized that they began to see Others in a profoundly
new way, namely, as Precious Others. They realized that, while
many
Earth people were living in misery and found the planet to be just
a ball of dirt, they were comfortable and at-home on Earth, which,
for
Earthfolk, is a Living presence. Top
Stirring
A ritual which is a preparation for Dreaming. The Beloveds grapple and
lock, hinge and enfold each other in Nurturing Embrace so that everything
physical and emotional and mental and astral has been stirred. Top
Vision
Vision is seeing. Every people has a vision, that is, a way of looking
at what is around them and interpreting it in a certain way, that
is, they creatively imagine reality. This is
a way which is particular and often peculiar to them and not to other
people. For Earthfolk, a vision of a people includes what they
claim
to see and what others who do not share their vision see that they
do not see. Top
Vital Zest
A key Earthfolk discovery is that the only power which can counter Endless
Warring and atomic nuclear power is the intimate nuclear energy called
vital zest that is made present when humans intimately embrace as Beloveds.
Earthfolk—as
they contemplated the dreadful fear which peering at the image of the Atomic
Bomb’s
Mushroom Cloud chillingly evoked—were paralyzed by the terror
of impending nuclear self-annihilation. Astoundingly, at this moment
they broke-through to an experience of the power of intimacy. They
discovered the Other—you—as precious. They discovered
that embracing you—the Other—as precious released an
intimate nuclear energy as physical, quantitative and powerful as
the Atomic Bomb’s nuclear
energy. Earthfolk named this intimate energy, vital zest.
As this vital
zest is shared within an intimate embrace it makes manifest the
presence
of the Other’s preciousness. This is the presence of the Other
as known only as each share their preciousness. It is a presence
evoked
in a moment of transformation, that is, as intimacy opens to Belovedness.
For Earthfolk, the only transforming and controllable power which
can
counter nuclear power’s obliteration of intimacy—Poof!— is
the vital zest made manifest through and evoked by your rituals of
intimacy, your practice of sensual preciousness.Top
Wand (and Reed)
Earthfolk’s words for the penis when understood as a ritual instrument
of a sensual preciousness ritual. Wand carries a sense of magicalness and
the
power to make something appear which was not there. It also carries a sense of
trickiness. Earthfolk saw the Wand in Genesis, but there in its character as
trick. For the trick of Genesis is to assert that the penis is only a penis and
not a Wand. Top
Warrior's Quest
The Warrior's Quest is to vanquish the Intimate Enemy. In the Abrahamic Tradition,
the Warrior's Quest is the singular way a male experiences and understands
his masculinity—as a Lone Male. There are no other manly options except
to find both initiation and redemption through the warrior act of slaying
an
enemy.
In other traditions the warrior is simply one among many masculine
expressions. In them the male has a broad-range of possible heartfelt
acts which
can define him, including acts of healing, compassion, etc., or what
the Abrahamic would, condescendingly, call feminine traits. The
Abrahamic
Warrior's Quester is hard as steel, and his penis is both Adam’s
Rib and Aaron’s Rod.
As Earthfolk see it, the Warrior's Quest is sourced
in Genesis’
Obliteration of the Womb. Consequently, the Abrahamic warrior’s
prime Intimate Enemy is Her, the Mother Goddess, and every female.
Warrior sex
is termed the War of the Sexes. Endless Warring is the Abrahamic Warrior’s
idea of “peace.” The Mushroom Cloud and Starship Earth
are fitting icons of the Abrahamic Warrior's Quest tradition. Top
Womb
Womb is Earthfolk’s word denoting all of a woman’s private
parts. Just about every Warrior word for a female body part is a denigrating
one, part of a vocabulary of sexual abuse. Earthfolk use Womb because
it carries many notions, such as the sensually precious ground where
semen seeds and life begins to grow, the cave in which all human life resides
in preparation for the transformation into a independent living being,
and the power which a male has when he couples as Beloved and is Invited
to the Crowning ritual. While the Warrior's Quester will endow no word referencing
the female with honor and respect, when Earthfolk say Womb they are
making present a moment of worship. Top
Worship
The ultimate comforted presence to be evoked through all rituals is
that of the worshipping moment. This is the instant of breakthrough
to the sense of thirdness, of the two Beloveds as freshly One. The worshipping
Flash! for sensual preciousness is that breakdown/breakthrough
experience and event when two couple and become one. This is not an “egoism
of two.” Rather, it is a marrying and parenting moment. Marrying
in that it is the unleashing of the dynamic precious eroticism which
vitalizes the personal relationship of the two who are intimate foci,
each for the other. Top
