[Sdpg] Hopedance Magazine Issue on Activist is out

[sdpg-admin at arashi.com]

Hello everybody-

The new edition of Hopedance magazine is out and available for pick up at
all of the regular sites.

Despite agonizing problems with the printers that still left some visible
flaws, the current issue on Activism is very special.  On the cover is a
beautiful photo of a young woman carrying a sign in Santa Barbara's People's
March for Economic Justice May 12 2001, proclaiming DON'T BE AFRAID TO CARE.

In the aftermath of Tuesday's tragedy it will be important to remember these
words.  We may wonder what all of our efforts are for when the world keeps
presenting us with such images of chaos, craziness, insanity and hurt.

This Hopedance issue contains many articles of people who through their
activism usually step beyond the hurts and insanity to help create a new
vision for humanity. www.hopedance.org

We had also hoped as a part of this issue to have an article by Caroline
Casey on Visionary Activism.  But because of lack of space due to so much
good material being submitted, including a late submission by Starhawk and
her experiences in Genoa, were unable to include this time.  Caroline
Casey's article speaks so eloquently of a broader picture of activism, how
to move past fear and paralytic dread, how to shift and retell our stories,
until culture can move past what appears to be an abundance of tyranny, in
whatever form it takes.  And because of this, we include it in this message
for you to enjoy.

Margie Bushman, Santa Barbara & South Coast Section Hopedance Editor

	Visionary Activism
	                                                        by Caroline
Casey

	(excerpts from the book Making the Gods Work for You, printed with
permission from the author; "..." indicates omissions)
	
	<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
	"Think of your life as a spiritual detective novel.  Each aspect of
your life, especially the really quirky, maverick parts, are clues to your
task, your destiny, and your gift to the world.  Invite yourself to see life
as a web of myriad meaningful patterns.  Those moments when we apprehend and
perceive patterns give rise in us to feelings of reverence and awe
(ah!)---two very healthy attitudes that have been the central foundation of
great civilizations, but are what are sadly lacking presently in our own.
Gandhi spoke to this point when asked what he thought of Western
civilization, by replying that he thought it was a good idea.
	
	        Entertain the possibility that you are an undercover agent
parachuting down to this beautiful planet in its time of need.  What
catalyzes your memory of your mission?  Each of us has some crucial task to
perform in the Grand Intrigue, a task that will not only transform us
personally, but will also transform the entire climate of culture.  By
responding to the invitation to participate consciously in evolution, we
cultivate the infinite capacities of being fully human.  Our affinities,
those things to which we are strongly attracted, lead us to our gift, and
hence to our way of serving the larger community.  We can then give a gift
to the world that could be given by no other; we can do a work or work a
magic that could be effected by no other.   "..."
	
	        The Lakota saying O Matake Oyasin, "for all my relations"
defines community in the largest sense, to include all of creation.  Through
this saying the Lakota remind us that all our actions want to honor the
spirit in all things--bugs, microbes, rocks, animals, plants, planets.
Magical kinship should be encouraged at all times, for it is what makes life
bearable.
	
	        Some styles of spiritual practice arise from the premise
that the world is merely a seductive illusion to be transcended through
detachment.  There is not a lot of room for humor in this approach, for this
is serious business, a kind of goal-oriented, solo, M.B.A. approach to
enlightenment.  "Down to Gehenna, or up to the throne, he travels the
fastest who travels alone," says Rudyard Kipling, speaking for those who
value speed and expediency.  But is it the most fun?  "..."
	Life is to be embraced as an ally---to be transformed rather than
transcended.  We want to become completely involved in the responsibility of
shaping reality for the greater good of all of our relations. "..."
	
	        There are two primary Buddhist paths toward enlightenment.
Hinayana meaning "lesser vehicle," is the path of (strictly) personal
salvation, whereas Mahayana, "the greater vehicle," is devoted to the
salvation of all creation.  This book aspires to the Mahayana path--of full
self-cultivation, participation, reverent curiosity and concern for the
well-being of other creatures--and thus encourages us to become increasingly
conscious players on the team of creation.
	
	        We aspire to wed spiritual magic and compassionate social
activism, because one without the other does not work.  Vision and
spirituality by themselves can be too ungrounded, detached, narcissistic, or
oblivious.  For example, there was a great blooming of interest in
metaphysics and Eastern spiritual practices in Germany in the 1930's, but
without sufficient sense of compassionate social responsibility.
	
	        Yet activism by itself is too dreary and overworked to be
effective.  We all know people who are doing noble, hard-working good, yet
who have a gray pallor of infighting fatigue, symptomatic of "magic
deficiency."  They are tyrannized by "realism", alienated from their innate
capacity to draw upon larger resources to heal and revitalize themselves.
	
	        Visionary Activism invites us to participate actively in
shaping and creating our personal and collective reality by embarking on an
adventure of joyful maximum self-cultivation.  The third Webster's
dictionary definition of  maximum is "an astronomical term for the moment of
greatest brilliance of a variable star."
	
	        Astrology describes us as living in a Kairos, or
"fulcrum"moment.  The future is not fixed (but it's not broken, either).
Our actions can tip the fulcrum either way, toward the life or death of
innumerable communities of creatures living on this planet.  By voting with
our imaginations, we determine the outcome.
	
	        The all-too-visible forces of greed are stupidly lumbering
along, dragging everything in their net toward the abyss of planetary
systems collapse.  But the forces of human ingenuity and artful compassion,
allied with the world of the invisibles, are sprightlier, sleeker, and
smarter, and they know how to dance away from the chasm. If imaginative
people can use their powers to release creation from the net, then the
forces of greed can hurtle themselves into the abyss (to be transformed at a
later time) without taking the rest of us.
	
	        Therefore the cultivation of imaginative capacity is the
primary, specific, and detailed act of magic to which we are dedicated.  We
do not need more power, magic, or wealth but, rather, to use the abundance
we already possess in conscious, imaginative ways.  When we suffer from
magic deficiency, we do so not because of an absence of magic, but because
of our inattention to its presence.  We are constantly performing acts of
magic, summoning and invoking our reality---personal and collective.  "..."

		
		
		Caroline Casey may be heard on the Visionary Activist Show,
Thursdays at 2 pm on KPFA Berkeley.  She will also be appearing at this
years Bioneers conference.


	Hopedance Magazine
	Santa Barbara & South Coast Edition
	www.hopedance.org <http://www.hopedance.org/>
	805/962-2571
	sbpcnet at silcom.com
	






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