What Did Dialogue Sound Like Back Then?

We will never know how Handel's music sounded when conducted by Handel himself. Similarly we will never know how the soldiers in both armies talked to each other on the day before the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Or, what two senators sounded like as they walked together through Rome in 44 BCE; or indeed, what Latin sounded like in any regions of the Roman Empire. Same is true for the Picts, who halted the Roman invasion into what became Scotland. Same is true for Troy. What did Helen sound like when she spoke to Paris?

And going back ... and back ... and back ... into the little 'history' we really have. Buddha. And back ...

What if ... Well ...

"By the 19th century, linguists knew that all modern Indo-European languages descended from a single tongue. Called Proto-Indo-European, or PIE, it was spoken by a people who lived from roughly 4500 to 2500 B.C., and left no written texts. The question became, what did PIE sound like?"

There are two brief recordings of Proto-Indo-European, just published. Reconstructed by Dr. Andrew Bird, and for all to listen to at Archaeology magazine.

Here is one, a fable called 'The Sheep and the Horses' -

Both this fable and one called 'King and God' are described and can be heard at Archeaology magazine.

We write and read stories set 'back then' - before we have recordings. I write stories in the English language - it's what I know. I make my characters, 'back then', talk in a kindaEnglish. I do some technical stuff around dialogue. Change the names of concepts that we know and use. Introduce new psychological concepts. Play with spelling. Make dialogue more like the way we speak - breaks and repitations and non-semantic sounds and pauses ... and so on. It is still basically English. I can declare that the psychology, the very mind, of my characters is radically different. Which I believe to be both true and inevitable. I try and change the music of the language and dialogue in my stories so that it does not sound like what I hear around me in everyday life; so that it expresses more of what I believe minds were like 'back' then' in my stories.

And then the same is true for music that 'they' played 'back then'. What did the music of those who built Stonehenge sound like? I would love, just love, to hear it. Of course, for telling stories it only matters that we get to a sense of it imaginally, a sense that we can tell into the fabric of our story.

I'm writing a story about Stonehenge right now. And I am listening, amongst others, to Meredith Monk. She makes music with voices that is not of our everyday here-and-now time. And then I take off imaginally from herThere.

Namaste! I bw to and honor the Light within you!

Wheat Belly – Let Us Together Gut the Belly of the Beast of Hypercapitalism

I write fantasy and magical realism. Right now I’m reading a fantastical and terrifying science fiction story of the destruction of the human race. Except it is a true story. And that is even more frightening …

Yesterday I bought Wheat Belly by Dr. William Davis. My chiropractor and healer (strongly) recommended it to me.

Wheat Belly is full of stories. The story of the author’s journey as an overweight and diabetic physician is inspiring. He is a physician who did heal himself. The stories of people he has cured, many with multiple and drastic symptoms, are impressive. There is a story telling of one of the many threads of hypercapitalism’s history - the quest for more of this stuff called ‘money’ regardless of the costs to peoples and planet. And then there is the story of the creation of frankenfood modern ‘wheat’ itself, put together, just as Frankenstein was, from bits and pieces of wheat and plant this-and-that.

And so … once upon a time … long before hypercapitalism … there was wheat. And it was good … And then scientists – and this is such a common motif in our hypercapitalst society – as is their wont (of ignorance) decided to make wheat ‘better’, and at the same time make LOTS of this stuff called ‘money’ for a small number of people. Who in turn became privileged and … but that is another story.

On page 25 Dr. Davis tells us – “… these products of agricultural research were released into the food supply without human safety concerns being part of the equation.” And the rest is history. “… over the past fifty years thousands of new strains (of wheat) have made it to the human commercial food supply without a single effort at safety testing.”

I personally believe all the stories in Wheat Belly are true. Including the one that modern ‘wheat’ is bad. I’ve been trending away from it for a long time – I am not very tolerant of gluten. But now I am done with it.

Of course ‘wheat’ is only one component of the American food lobby’s package that they bribe and bully the rest of the world into consuming. Their top-tier package is – wheat, cheese, tomatoes, beef, corn syrup, potatoes, sugar, milk. Just think of the last time you saw an advert for a pizza or burger. ‘Wheat’ holds or wraps it all together, of course.

In passing let me say … We are also doing the same to our archetypes. Exactly the same. Modifying them. Creating hybrids. Changing them … partly, I think, because we are scared of their purity and the purity of their balance, and the fact that purity is Guiding. And the consequences of that modification program, by writers for studios and games, causes much of the paralleled frenzy and deadness in modern culture. There are no effect-less causes. But all that is another story … to be told at another time …

Repeat: there are no effect-less causes. Feed a population a diet of ‘wheat’, and … Feed a population a diet of frenzied, flattened and mayhemic ‘archetypes’, and …

To be a true revolutionary one has to (at least partly, but most definitely) elect and actively choose to live outside some of the currents of the society that we live in. Quite honestly, there is no point wanting a ‘better’ society while financially supporting the entities and processes that create and sustain the factors in society that we want to change. So it is with the American food lobby – which, in sad fact, is the de facto food lobby for the whole world. We, collectively, do need many of us (we don’t need all of us) to fight hypercapitalism by using one of the most potent capitocidal (that which destroys capitalism) remedies that we have – Money. Or ‘Money’. By surgical withdrawal from one part of the hypercapitalist body and application to areas outside hypercapitalism. Funny huh? It's kind of like a fractalled homeopathy, where we take a diluted small dose of what the 1% love, and use it against them.

“Wheat’ is one good way to begin with the American food lobby. Which in itself is part of the larger Industrial-Military-Financial-Spying Complex.

And … but wait there’s more! Not buying the story of ‘wheat’, and plain not buying it, breaks what I call the White Rabbit conspiracy – “One pill makes you larger, And one pill makes you small”. And the White Rabbit conspiracy is … one part sells you stuff that makes you fat, and another part sells you stuff, they say, that makes you thin. One part sells you stuff that makes you look bad, and another part sells you stuff, they say, makes you look pretty and beautiful. And so on … What an elegant and perfectly balanced conspiracy, that is so easy to maintain, so elastic and cohesive, and so well-hidden because it is in plain view, lauded by terabytes of advertising per day.

The oppression of forced ill-health is BAD. As a writer it is good to fight. You may quote me on that. These stories from our ‘real world’ do impact me as an artist. It is time, I feel, to re-read 1984 and Brave new World.

Namaste! I bow to and honor the Light within you!

and below ... I still love this song, and their 'energy', after all these years ...

High Craft: Wonderful Stories of Yearning ... and More

I have just finished a wonderful collection of stories that have engaged me in all kinds of enjoyments of reading - "At the Mouth of the River of Bees" by Kij Johnson. I engage with stories - long or short - that resonate with that energetic space within me where lies the yearning and desire to Unfold and Become ... all that I Am and can Be. There are a couple of stories that I love, due to these terms of engagement, and all of them I enjoyed engaging with. Additionally, for writers and aspiring writers, there is much here to learn about 'craft' and 'techniques'.

In a nutshell, there are 18 tales, originally published across the span 1993 - 2012 (one published here for the first time) and their collective scope, taken together, is 'broad'. I like 'broad' in a story collection. That does mean that there are some stories that I may not 'like'. Which is true here. Even those ones I don't feel resonant with or enjoy as story I do engage with as writing, quality writing, and can learn from.

The standout story for me is "The Cat Who Walked a Thousand Miles". This story is a true treasure; and it would make a most wonderful (short) animated film. The central character is Small Cat, whose home (ideal for the tribe of cats who commune and dwell together) is destroyed by earthquake and fire. And so Small Cat embarks on a journey and a quest ... to find. Always yearning, and never giving up the heroic goal, through both danger and support, Small Cat does find what she journeyed a thousand miles for. My Spirit danced as I read. I cried a little. I can't and don't ask for more.

Similarly, the story "The Man Who Bridged the Mist" also enticed me to dance within and with it. It is set in "Empire", where all the people seem to me to be of goodness (this is not an explicit declaration of the story), and all communities are ones of goodness. Kit is the architect of the bridge that is essential for Empire and Rasali is a ferrywoman who ferries across the river of mist, inhabited by fish and "Big Ones" - very dangerous work. It begins 'quietly'. Then, it stays 'quietly'. It is long, and so I had time to wonder; "how will it end?". And the story progresses - quietly - and I wonder again the same question. Which intrigues me greatly. And so I let myself be drawn into the story. At the end of the story (which is told across five years or so) Rasali makes a commitment to her yearning - to further, And Kit also. Very beautiful. Plangent, with the wistfulness that sometimes accompanies our relationship to our own yearning.

Other stories are very different. Some edgier. Some 'experimental'. "Wolf Trapping", another high, is 'about' our understanding of other sentience. The morality of the scientist, Richard, conflicts with the yearning of Addie, who is developing a relationship with a pack of wolves way beyond the experience and comfort of science. The opening story is wonderfully Ray Bradbury-esque, and is its own trueness. I mean this as a compliment of lineage. "Ponies" scared me in the same feeling way that reading the classic "Mimsy were the Borogoves" did all these years ago. And more good reading besides all these named. I have focused on 'yearning'. I read it in other stories here too. But then, yearning calls to me. You may equally love and like these stories and not experience them as ones of yearning.

Finally ... to return to writers and aspiring writers. There is lots of craft and techniques here. I distinguish the two. One of the highest of the high, for me, is when a story is written such to tell itself and it seems like it is not through the intermediation of these things called words, but rather, it just flows into the imaginal mind. Frictionless. Telling. That is high craft. Both "The Cat Who Walked ..." and "The Man Who Bridged ..." were that for me. Straight telling into. Let me repeat. That such telling is high craft.

Be quiet and patient with these stories. And ... "The Cat Who Walked ..." is a treasure.

Namaste! I bow to and honour the Light within you!

Prayer, Art and Service are a Unity

Michele Théberge is a local artist that I admire greatly. I've seen her work - in di Rosa in Napa. But even more ... I truly appreciate how she understands what 'art' 'is'. Michele writes about art very deeply and inspirationally. You can visit her thoughts here - and I encourage you to follow her on twitter and commune with her on Facebook.

Michele recently blogged on 'Your art is your service'. I was inspired to write a 'brief' comment. And then ... the comment became longer ... and a bit longer again. I still posted it. And then ... after I re-read it I realized that I really liked what I had written. And so ... I copy it here below.

"Absolutely agree. Art is Service. Love is all there is ... across eternity and infinity ... or ... all there is is Love. (whichever one prefers.)

Myself and my 'environment' are a Unity ... since the Allness of All-There-Is is a Unity. Every manifestation (and all are temporal), from a galaxy none of us has seen to a blade of grass, is a manifestation of this Divine Unity. Thus ... when I interact with a manifestation of 'art', or it interacts with me, several things can happen - transmission, awakening something latent through resonance, and so on. Music, poetry, stories, art and more still me, uplift me, inspire me ... and more ... and always have since an early age.

True art is sacred service because ... we 'listen' (change our consciousness) to the Divine to create. And, in fact, it is really the Divine that is creating through us. The true artist is the flute, not the Breath that blows through it. And where does that Breath come from and what 'is' It? Our duties then - in the sense that 'duty' is used in the Bhagavad Gita - are to record what we are 'given', to 'polish the diamond' (using our techniques and skills), and to give this art on. (Getting paid is still Giving.) And, optionally, to become more and more what we are when we do 'listen'. Ultimately, prayer, art and Service are a Unity also.

Many artists these days, particularly in secular swathes of the West, 'disagree' with this understanding of the Universe. I honor each their understanding. The only point I will make is this - regardless of any conceptualization of the Universe that any one has, the true nature of the Universe is the way it is. Regardless. Thus, one can choose to 'understand' the Universe, or, one can choose not to. Both are paths. But almost certainly not equal."

Namaste! I bow to and Honor the Light within you!

Rennie

What if ... True Wisdom Does Exist ... Stories are Food for Thought

Activism has seven times seventy times seven hundred faces - there are so many ways to make this world 'of ours' (in fact, it's not 'our' world at all) a better place for all. For all tribes and groups, all ceatures and bodies of water, all souls and for Mother EAerth Herself. Activist artists, in all modes, are everywhere contributing to this collective endeavour.

My contribution as an activist artist, as a story finder and story teller, is to invite my readers to change their consciousness. Change your consciousness and the world around you will change. It can be no other way. This is the way it is. We are all individual expressions of an infinite and eternal Unity that is Existence itself. Thus when I change my consciousness, my environment, which is the set of all the closest-to-me individualized expressions of the Divine, also changes. Thoughts are things. Change thoughts and consciousness changes. Change consciousness and ... see the above ...

How do I do this? Let me count the ways ... Here is one ...

The novel Alba: The Great Dance of Leaving and Returning is 'A Mystic and Shamanic Fantasy of the Dawning of Scotland'. Alba is written on many levels. One of the Highest is that Alba, through its story, declares that true wisdom exists. 'True Wisdom' is the clear comprehension and understanding that a human consciousness can have of the universe and all its ways. Historical fantasy, where worlds are created, is a straightforward way to express this Highest.

If Alba declares that true wisdom exists then, there are only a small number of ways to react to this. One, 'I don't believe that this state of true wisdom exists!' Two, I believe that this state can exist in people, but I am going to do nothing about it in my life (right now). Three, I believe this and I am going to do something about it in my life (I may in the here-and-now know or not know what).

This story is an invitation to change. Not a demand. If you are in the third group then be reassured that all the ways in all traditions are explicitly available. That is good to know.

Stories of a particular kind can be our teachers. This has been known for a very long time. Since the beginning (oh when and oh where was that?) of this race of women and men. Food for thought. Stories are food for thought.

Namaste! I bow to and honour the Light within you.

Nook of Names - A Name for Every Story

This is the most wonderful resource - full of wonders, and traceries of wonders and webs that are resonant with RichAndTrue histories of this our race of women and men (and indeed, creatures). What is in a name, indeed? What is of a name? What is a name 'made' of? This nook is a realm of whispers and touches leading ... leading ... leading ... Well, it depends who you are and what you want (to know).

What a wonderful place to wander in if you are a poet, or poetically-hearted, a storyteller - particularly of fantasy and historical fantasy and wiccan tales ... In fact, it is a treasure!

Visit it. And bide a while. And still. And surrender to the journey.

Namaste! I bow to and honour the Light within you.

Activist Artists Don't Cross Picket Lines (and other ways to walk the walk)

I'm an activist artist. As an artist my focus is to invite people to consider changing their consciousness. I have changed my own consciousness "so much" since my upbringing in early 60s Scotland. Many boundaries expanded. Many concepts, understandings and ignorances discarded. Changing consciousness is the true revolution.

The Scotland of my childhood was a union country. There was still large-scale shipbuilding, large-scale coal mining. Even then, I noticed that our communities were intra-supportive.

And so to an entwined story about me and two of the local grocery stores I shop at.

I've been shopping at my local Nob Hill store for more than eight years. A short while back (November 2012) management decided they wanted to, essentially, get rid of the union. Short story version - There was a strike that lasted nine days ... the union won and the kinda clumsy management lost. The saturday (grocery shopping day for this family) in the middle of the strike I went to Nob Hill ... to shop. Pickets were out. My friends who serve me there were on the pickeet lines. We talked. I didn't cross the picket line. No way, for more than one reason. Including ... activist artists don't cross picket lines.

So on to January 2013 ... John Mackey, co CEO of Whole Foods Market, a corporation that espouses radical and very good ideas around shop local, fair trade, organic food and so on, denounces Obamacare as "fascist". Well ... I was horrified. I've been shopping at my local Whole Foods store for more than eight years.

I wrote to my local Wholefoods Market store denouncing this. And, received an acknowledging reply. Here is an extract -

"Thank you for contacting Whole Foods Market to share your thoughts on John Mackey’s recent comments in the media. We understand and are concerned about your feelings of disappointment. We are hearing from many of our customers about this, and we are sharing all of the feedback we’re receiving with our leadership team, that includes both co-CEOs. I want to acknowledge that we may not be able to provide a response that satisfies your comments ...Thank you for your feedback. Again, I understand this message may not win back your support, but I do hope you'll reconsider and please know that we are listening and working to make our stores (and our company) a positive part of your life."

I'm boycotting them now. It is sad and awakening, both, to realise that some people who claim to actively be for a "better" human civilization are actually one-percenter elitists at heart. The several large goods that Obamacare brings to the healthcare chaos in this country are huge.

Activist artists don't give their business to elitist one-percenter wolves in sheep clothing. No way.

And ... by the way ... my new current work (short stories) goes well. More on that and these another time.

Namaste! I bow to and honour the Light within You ...