From the newsletter, "The Crone Works":
October 2005
From THE CRONE WORKS
When the Grandmothers Speak, the Earth Will be Healed - Hopi Prayer
Crone is the bridge between old and new world views. It is she who "watches
over our dreams and visions, whispers secrets to our inner ears. Her function
is to assist people who are no longer where they were and are not yet where
they hope to go." Vicki Noble
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* Our Democracy Is Broken *
In Washington D.C., at the Peace Alliance conference in September, fifty-three
Californians lobbied Congresswomen and men in behalf of establishing a
Department of Peace (DoP) at the federal level. It will be equal with the
Department of Defense and other cabinet departments, and will develop programs
to deal with domestic and elder abuse, gang violence, local and international
conflict resolution, and a training academy similar to the war colleges, among other responsibilities.
Two San Diego representatives, Susan Davis and Bob Filner, have
signed on as co-sponsors of the bill, HR3760, along with Dennis Kucinich and
fifty-eight other legislators--eleven more than signed on during the last session of
Congress. While the legislation requires a simple majority (of 217) of representatives
to bring it to the floor for debate, the number who have signed on is building thanks to determined citizens who are continuing to lobby senators and representatives, as
well as informing ourselves, our families and friends.
A companion measure has been
introduced in the Senate by Senator Mark Dayland since the Peace Alliance
Conference.At the conference Barbara Marx Hubbard delivered a brilliant speech
as recipient of the first Peacebuilder Award. We were further inspired by a
conversation between Walter Cronkite and Dennis Kucinich, in which Cronkite
said:"Get that word 'peace'--Department of Peace--out there as constantly as you
can...This organization and you people are on the leading edge of that campaign...trying
to lead us to this promised land of peace."
There is truly a grass roots movement
emerging. The conference was packed full of inspiring speakers, music and art.
Marianne Williamson was her magnificent self, a civics teacher without peer; Dot
Maver brought a profound sense of peace by holding a calm, peaceful center in a
conference chock full of activity. There were so many inspiring and challenging
presenters that memory blurs them into a whole, hopeful experience.
These were all very positive activities; however, there were others not so uplifting
and form the basis for my belief that this democracy is broken, that only we, the
people, can fix it.
In every government building, we were scanned by machines, presumably to see if
we were terrorists. We even had to take off our shoes to enter one building. To tour
the Capitol Rotunda, we were required to give up our water bottles and snacks that
we'd brought along to save time while we hurried to watch Kucinich present the bill
to the House.
Those were minor annoyances, however. Sitting in the gallery were
about fifty of us; we far outnumbered the House members. Though not unexpected,
it was still stunning to actually see only three or four people on the Democrat's side
of the aisle, including Dennis. who presented the bill in his eloquent manner. But
even more dismaying was seeing fewer than ten Republicans talking among
themselves, paying no attention to Kucinich's eloquence, just waiting their turn
at the microphone.
That was bad enough, but then we went to the Senate
International Relations Committee hearing on the Downing Street memo, the memo
that was leaked in Great Britain last spring in which President Bush implied that
facts could be fixed to support going to war in Iraq. The hearing was chaired by
Republican Henry Hyde. Almost all the Democrats were present; eventually enough Republicans came in to vote down any investigation. An exhausted-looking Barbara
Lee said in the hall afterward, "This is the way it always goes. Senators are
scheduled to attend two or three meetings at the same time. We rush from one to
another, but have no influence in any. There is no debate."
My friend, Pat, was horrified. "They don't listen to each other at all!" she kept
repeating. "How can that be?" I had no answer: it simply was, and provided its own eloquence.
Now, when I hear that Congress is "debating" or having a hearing on a
matter of national significance, these two experiences come to mind: the nearly
empty chamber, the already-made-up minds--and I remember what I saw there.
This representative democracy does not represent the people in our great diversity.
In my opinion, both parties are corrupt.
How, then, can citizens participate
meaningfully in our own governance? I am reminded of Einstein's statement:
Problems cannot be solved at the level at which they were created.
I believe that democracy itself must evolve to a higher level of awareness of our
connection to the Earth--that we are its stewards, and without our conscious
commitment to Earth's protection, none of us will survive, including the earth.
More than anything else, this is the source of my devotion to conscious evolution
as a life path, and my work for an evolving democracy that can cocreate a world
that works for everyone:
every human, every plant, every animal living in harmony, at peace at last.
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Bumper Sticker: I love my country.
I fear my government.
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* A Changing World View *
Recently I went to a local gathering of passionately progressive activists and came
away renewed.Some of us had been to Washington, DC for the above conference;
others had been to a peace demonstration in Washington a week later. While the
media reported 100,000 had gathered, it was explained that that was as many as the organizers' permit allowed them to have. A more accurate estimate by these San
Diegans was that closer to half a million people were there to protest the war.
There was no police presence until the demonstrators refused to leave--at which point,
several were arrested, including a local woman who had traveled to Texas to spend
a week assisting war protestor Cindy Sheehan and then went on to Washington with
her."She's just like us--genuine, sincere and determined," she reported. "We were not mistreated," she added. "They let us out of jail after fifteen hours."
Other activities the group was involved in ranged from a special election to elect
a new mayor to protesting the use of highly flawed Diebold voting machines.
"There'll be no more Democrats, Greens or others elected if these machines are used,"
said one demonstrator who attends city council meetings, speaks to a mostly
disinterested council. Passion ran high for these and many other causes, including
poll watchers for the mayoral election.
One woman is even running for Congress against a powerful, entrenched far-right
Republican. At this gathering of men and women activists, I was struck by several
references to women in their 70s, 80s, even one 90 year old, who had gone to
Washington and Texas to participate in these demonstrations.
Our voices were heard, our presence as Crones mattered.Many people across the
country have been preparing to challenge the "system", helping to break it down. Like
the Three Little Pigs, we are blowing the house down, for it was made of straw: false
assumptions about women, men & children and what they need to recreate a world
that works for everyone.
There is no longer one "right way" as we teeter on the edge of an evolutionary leap
so vast that my mind cannot comprehend it. Like Chicken Little, while we may feel
that the sky is falling, it is actually expanding--and so is our consciousness. This is
the time to step forward with our highest and best dreams for ourselves, and for
the human race itself.
The Crone sees what this ordinary woman can't quite believe. I wish I'd known
much earlier that anger, responsibly expressed, clears the air. The flip side of anger
and rage is passion. Tremendous energy is now arising as we change our world view.
Fulfilling human potential has become a real possibility, perhaps even a probability.
We can cocreate a world that really does work for everyone. As said by Hopi elders
long ago: When the Grandmothers speak, the Earth will be healed.
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For a personal consultation contact me at
lovelycrone@sbcglobal.net or (619) 276-6569
Conscious Counseling--A New World View
Listen to Your Inner Wisdom
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Wrap....
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