Bold Mother Hubbard by Karen Everett
http://www.boldmotherhubbardfilm.com/
The first step towards change is becoming aware of what we have become. This is a massive task. We would have to overcome generations of conditioning, leading us to believe that our primary philosophies, ways of living, technologies and sense of self are righteous and immutable. It is hard to do because our sense of reality needs to be turned upside down.
One of the first questions we need to ask ourselves in this questioning is how have we made our lives better over the past several thousand years.
We have indeed developed a quite sophisticated technology, and perhaps we have increased the age to which many of us survive due to modern medicine (although indigenous people live longer). Yet, we are overcrowded, suffer from alienation, and have had several bouts with totalitarian cultures that in the United States bears the hallmark of corporatism. In the midst of these totalitarian cultures, we have considered ourselves the pinnacle of human evolution. Indeed, we often look back at the ancient ways of describing the creation of the world with humor at the ignorance of the ancients. Yet, the last laugh may be on us. In the findings of early 20th century quantum physics there have been many who have linked the findings of science to ancient creation myths [e.g., Joseph Campbell, (2008), Hall, (2013), Jung (1976)].
According to Deep Ecologist, Daniel Quinn, humanity has not evolved during the past several thousand years. By becoming so skillful at extracting resources, inventing comforts, and reducing physical labor--all ways to adapt the environment to ourselves--we have made it unnecessary to adapt ourselves to a changing environment, thwarting natural evolution in concert with our Earth.
To back his hypothesis, Quinn researched and interpreted the Bible's story of Adam and Eve. Quinn then came to argue that the story points metaphorically towards the stifling of evolution in history through its reflection on the "fall" of humanity. This radical hypothesis calls into question whether our sophisticated technology is a mark of the evolution of our species or its devolution. While our technology may have become more sophisticated, we, ourselves have not evolved, and in many ways have become more sedated in our surrender to the external systems (Adam) that condition the Psyche (Eve). This conditioning has been via the standardized education of youth and the militarization of the cultures that have ruled since well before the beginning of the Roman Empire.
Eve, in the sense that Quinn understands Her, is the human Psyche in a conditioned state, whereas the Psyche in an unconditioned state is the Virgin. Thus the mystic, Meister Eckhart, states the the Virgin is the state of the Psyche that is in the same state as when "She is not." This mirrors the Tao Te Ching's teaching that one should become "new born," which is to say "free of ourselves."
The Virgin, then, is our mind in an unconditioned state....which is a threat the military-industrial complex. It is highly dangerous to the elite who profit from the labor and patriotism of a population that is conditioned to their control.
To be "free of ourselves" is to be open to infinite potential for change. Such freedom is suppressed via the dominant culture's emphasis on ever-increasing growth, standardized education, televised and computerized programming, advertising, assembly line labor and "goods", and consumerism, with its "shop 'til you drop" mentality. If you begin to rattle the cages of these conditioned mindsets, then you become at-risk for suppression of various sorts, including ostracization, verbal and physical abuse, being fired or arrested, and even assassination, execution or--even worse--a secret jail cell God knows where. Judeo-Christian
As Christ was hung on the cross for challenging the Judeo-Roman mindset of His day, then we are at-risk for being crucified by the Corporate backed Christian-American mindset of today. Indeed, I would argue that the Roman empire has never gone away, but has just changed its capital from Rome to Wall Street (unless one subscribes to the theory that the Vatican, under the dictates of the Illuminati, remains the capital of the world).
The purpose of such a mindset is to keep the Ego locked into believing that he is the King of the jungle. The Psyche is marginalized as dangerous, weak, and needing both protection and governance. She is prevented from exploring the deeper aspects of herself. But, oh the dangers inherent in diving into these depths that hide a treasure beyond words! This could be another article.
It is important to realize that the child of the Virgin's labor is often met with scorn and a desire to destroy the infant that is born of that "State of Being." This is simply because that which is Unconditioned is a threat to the conditioned mind that "The Man" has worked so hard at producing. This has all led to controlling labor. This control is mirrored in Genesis 1:2 where God states that Adam, the surface level ego, is is to rule over Eve. This rule of Adam over Eve occurs when Eve entices Adam to eat the Fruit of the tree of Knowledge which makes him self aware or self conscious. The natural result of such self-consciousness is evident in the evolutionary manifestation in the psyche of young children who oftentimes becomes highly judgmental about their bodies as they grow into their self-consciousness. We are all conditioned to hide behind fig leaves. ("Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!") This is reflected in children's sense of shame at being seen nude even by their parents. Thus the "Fall" is the Fall into judgment of self and others, which as the mystic realizes is a less evolved state of mind that ultimately needs to be transcended. Thus Christ says "Judge not that ye be not judged." The Christian mystic Meister Eckhart entices us further into a non judgmental state when he says that we must enter a state within ourselves "in which we are not." In Buddhist tradition, this is the state of "no mind."
Nudity in myth takes on a multidimensional perspective and reflects the exposure of the body as well as the Psyche, or Soul. Indeed, the exposure of the body in its nudity is a metaphor for who we are in our unconditioned essence. Yet, in many ways the exposure of our body is much easier for us than the exposure of our Souls, which has become deeply wounded throughout the centuries via what amounts to Greco-Roman Rule. This rule has become inherent in today's military-industrial complex, which is in control of our political systems.
In modern days, our mystics of all faiths propose moving beyond the rationalism (meaning to ration, limit and divide) and into the deeper more uniting state of the Psyche. This movement is also to that state that is beyond conditioning, beyond the teachings of our upbringing by teachers, parents and other "authority figures." It is interesting that authority points towards being authored, meaning our lives are surrendered to an external source instead of allowing our lives to be authored by our own Soul. Our Soul operates from the outside in more so than the inside out via the conditioning of culture, as reflected in the conditioning of our parents, the corporate school system and ultimately the work environments of the corporate worlds.
While external teachings are important, it is more important that techniques of teaching are utilized to help children and young adults to unfold their potential. In ancient civilizations, such a movement would have been inherent in practices such as vision quests which were often reflected in the myths of the various cultures. Vision quests are meant to challenge the questor into evolving. He may risk death, but evolve he must!
Yet we remain safe behind our computer screen!
There are people in today's world who have been working towards helping us move beyond this conditioning. One such person is visionary, Barbara Max Hubbard, who has headed up the Conscious Evolution and Birth 2012 movements. According to the bio on her website, it is stated of Ms Hubbard:
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