Conservation: Nature's Sake or Human Benefit

Remember this: Humans have never stood outside of Nature. Humans contribute equal portions of good and evil.

I read this article called, "The Battle for the Soul of Conservation Science", written by Keith Kloor. Read between the lines, man,read between the lines.

I was aghast at the behavior of papered, intelligent beings living in Ivory Towers. I took a couple of drags off my Capri Sun, straw hanging in my mouth, as I quietly mouthed, What the F*#K?

Is this what people do when they get degrees? Einstein might be rolling in his grave at the thought the science community has now transversed social media with its twitter-like wars in those hallowed halls of academia. The sad thing in this article, two prominent scientists exhibited a poor role-modeling example to young up and coming ecologists.

There are allegations that this debating system has caused a lot of usurping of productive discourse, funding, progress, and not to mention the breakdown of mutual colleagues ability to work on a problem to solution.

My input on this is in regards for Nature's sake or human benefit is this: Humans live in Nature, even if it is inside the buildings of industry. We interact as a part of the biome Earth. We are not floating outside in dark space, watching everything like a God. As a consumer and producer of by-products, humans have to benefit to exist, otherwise we die in less than dignified ways. There is a mutual relationship between Nature and humanity that exists, even if it is imbalanced by human actions and endeavors. Humans are a part of the narrative, even when we write upon Nature's ways. Research is done in parts and not a whole. Research should start taking into consideration all the variables that are reasonable to the problems and solutions.

The first great question was: How useful is science and the results when applied. I wanted them to come down to my woods and go for a boat ride or a walk. Sounds like they need some realism in their lives.

I can concur with Karieiva to include the complete ecosystem of the world in the conservation conversation. There are two many times when science is locked into a location designated as a national park, protected wilderness area, wetlands, or refuge. 

That comes to my point on several readings where I have seen it stated in scientific assumption that some variable was not given appropriate consideration in its role as a variable in the overall scientific study. Sometimes this lack of consideration, determines whether or not a variable should be examined. The problem arises when this variable should have been considered but the outcome of the study falls on its face, temporarily or completely.

Are views on Nature and how to protect it, narrowed from a scientific perspective? 

I interject here another scenario, has the rift between the common man, scientists, hunters, and government become such a vast chasm that in order to work together, there has to be a separation of human and their chosen conservation acts?

Scientist want to save. Hunters want to save. Animal rights activists want to save. Government wants others to do the work while doling out the funds. Yet, no one wants to work together.

No surprise there on why the world is in the state it is in.

Another question was: How do Earthlings best preserve the last vestiges of the natural world on a domesticated planet?

That is right Earthling. You are living on a domesticated planet and someone finally said it.

This one scientist, Soule, wants to save Nature from humanity. In his arc, humanity stands outside as an enemy instead of as an acting part of the circus of Life. I have indicated this thought process in other writings. Humanity is separated from Nature by his count it would seem. This is flawed because of his exclusion clause. In his spec, the things in Nature only have value. Man has no value, much like the Dallas's Safari Club going into Africa to indicate the wildlife has value, not the people so much. Or, so it goes.

The other scientist, Karievia, is tired of the gloom and doom of reported results.

A truth here is: Nature and its contents are under seige by the workings of Man. Yet, humanity is working on correcting that problem. At least, we will go down trying.


Why is it such a problem to call for new approaches in science? That is what science is for; approaching problems from some questionable and unquestionable directions to get to the answers.

Kareiva and Michelle Marvier wrote an article where humanity was included in the conservation dialogue. Finally, humanity is included. Conservation as a nature-centric enterprise has a lot of humans running around in it, once you start considering how hunters and citizens have been saying all that they have contributed. Why not consider that variable in the overall plan?

Why is there a problem when someone states, "Houston, we have a problem?" 

This article is an example of how regular people leave it up to academia to answer the problems of the world, yet scientists are working with latent, outdated ideologies and practices. The world changes. The mentality of the scientists needs to be ever-evolving and open to things that could solve problems, instead of holding onto Linus's blanket with their fingers in their mouths. 

This is why one must be pro-active and read what these people are up to on your dime. It is your world, too.

I thought the picture I provided did the article justice. Many people fighting it out and no one getting the message. Someone should rethink bringing assumptions to a knife fight, that is in dire need of some cold, hard, factual depositions. Bring the science and not the fear.

I have no control over the homo-erotic nature of the painting. You're welcome.


Written by: Angelia Y Larrimore

Here is the article. There is more. Enjoy.

http://issues.org/31-2/kloor/

Bunk Bed Buddies: The Walking Dead



Remember this: Sex is not the center of the Universe.

Last night I was watching The Walking Dead’s episode, “Consumed”. I also watched the Talking Dead with Chris Hardwick.

The content on both shows was interesting and thoughtful.

I was impressed by the input of Yvette Nicole Brown. She is the kind of person you can have deep intellectual conversations with because she pays attention. Life is magic when you have a listener.

I have thoughtful perspectives on this and wanted to share for whoever watches the show. I wondered if anyone shared this particular thought.

If I were the character what would I be thinking, feeling, or remembering from history I didn’t know. I was an archeologist digging into the minds of strangers based on my experiences; making up my own tales.

The online fodder revolves around Daryl being gay or hooking up with Beth or Carol, or both. I don’t particular subscribe to this potential storyline. That is the writer’s path. I do find it fascinating the way in which the writers handled this episode.

When Carol and Daryl are on the bunk bed talking, I did not get the feel of any kind of sexual chemistry. Likewise, I don’t see this with Beth either. I was reading the content writ in online conversations and between Hardwick and his panel. The posture by Daryl is of an overly protective brother.

Fathers and brothers can surrogate for the female in a non-sexual way until the female finds a mate. This is why it is important for the male role not be a violent one. This helps the female determine if the potential mate is an asshole-to-be-avoided. She will compare non-relative men to this example. If it is a poor example, God help you man that you overcome her problems if you so desire to pursue a woman that you feel is worth it.

I wondered. Why it is so important for people to see something that is not necessarily there? The viewer wants the idea to be true because it is lacking in their life or they just want to see it to fulfill some fantasy. You must always ask in the back of your mind, is it true or distorted. Is the viewer happy to see traumatized people have a happy moment; a moment in a sea of dead zombie shells. This scenario only complicates the storyline and suffering of the characters. This is great material for the writer. At the basis of this show is literature, which the visual is built upon.

What I saw on the bunk bed was a platonic surrogacy. The universe is always delivering unto its life forces things they need to get them over the hump, if recognized.

In the Walking Dead Cosmos, surrogate benefactors nurture and move the characters on. The reality they knew before is now replaced by a bastardized version of what life is at present. No one is safe. 

Carol, a domestic abuse survivor, probably has thoughts on life being more secure before the zombie apocalypse. Even if it is with an abuser. 

Was it better to be a relationship victim where escape to a normal life was possible? Or is it worse to be stuck in a hell of zombies and good people turning into less-than-human killers? Or is that humanity at its basis form? Those good people you otherwise wouldn’t kill but now have to.

I could say animals but that’s derogatory because humans are animals. There was reference to Rick’s group now being animals. Why treat humans above reproach when humans are not?

This is how I saw Daryl. Daryl at that moment was the surrogate man Carol probably wanted or needed before the apocalypse; the man that would take care of distasteful things in times of emotional and physical lows without the abuse. He’s the guy you will sleep with but not love, have him fix your car but give no thanks as you ride off into the sunset with someone else, and call to whine about your problems while treating him like an emotional dumping ground. The silver lining in the surrogate’s cosmos is he may be used temporarily, but such good karma he has built could be repaid with some gift from the universe; thus rectifying karmic debt. We all want a person or group to alleviate the begrudged burdens that are forced upon us.

When Daryl tells Carol she doesn’t have to act or make a decision in the building with the child and adult zombie, Daryl realizes Carol’s affliction. At times we don’t want to admit our problems when the closest to us see them clearly. The only way the afflicted can come to terms and acknowledge these problems is self-realization. Being told you have a problem tends to flare up the denial in the person it is issued to.

Up to this point, even though Carol is with Daryl moving through a landscape as part of a unit, Carol seems to be thinking in terms of the individual separate from Daryl; making the decision to follow through with complicated problems, not because someone asked her to but because she takes it upon herself. This could speak to Carol’s inability or lack of education on interacting in relationships and distrust of significant others. She sees herself as being more capable to deal with the situation without realizing how it drains her and that someone more capable is standing right there. Carol carries this idea there is no other option but to carry burden, is implied.

There again, another viewer may not see this because that is what I see. I am internalizing the scene in terms of my past experiences.

Daryl’s character punch comes in short bursts, which is more effective than other characters. To some degree, Daryl is unconsciously applying horse training techniques on Carol. He applies pressure on Carol as she moves away in denial.  This tactic is implied with the conversation of who Carol is from Carol’s standard versus how Daryl knows her when they are looking at a painting. Carol moves away in denial because she claims Daryl doesn’t really know her. Daryl begs to differ. Then there is Noah under the bookcase, Daryl moves away to Carol’s panic. Carol goes in and acts to stop the zombie.

How do you get someone to make the right choices with the right pressure without traumatizing them further into mistrust or detachment?

I began to realize there was this pressure from the masses for Daryl to have sex with someone or something. I became aggravated that the character of Daryl couldn’t just develop at his own pace but now was being poked and prodded by unknown assailants that wanted him to bed the older woman, the younger woman, etc.

Carol is the semi-mature, older woman with what some would consider fading beauty or beauty with age and wisdom. Being close to his age would be more socially appropriate. She appears more of a motherly type.

Beth is the nubile youth growing into a woman through brutal acts and situations. On some level, Beth is mentored by Daryl but some viewers want this dynamic to turn into a sexual relationship. This is seen a lot in movies where older men are connected physically with younger women.

I am dwelling more on Daryl’s character here. He is the center of that particular universe through manipulation. He seems to be making or not making the decisions on his ethic where women, age, and who gives a shit comes into play. His character might feel he doesn’t have time for that or doesn’t need it.  Beth and Carol are fruit on a tree and he just has to decide which one to eat. What if Daryl were picked by someone? Someone he wasn’t particularly enamored with immediately; maybe enamored but in denial or just doesn’t notice because anxiety, deranged people, his standing on a constant ledge of madness and mayhem daily leaves him with the decision to not go there. Should Daryl be suspended in emotional animation or moved along into some fate worse than death, love or hate of a particular nature? Why is this so important?

The reactions of the world made room for puzzling over this. Do people really want happy-endings for favorite characters? Are viewers more concerned with who is hooking up with who? Should this be denied to the public or handed over? When you spend time watching a show to see who hooks up, you don’t get the sublime messages that are more meaningful. It is overshadowed by the potential for sex.

Shifting your mentality to what really matters when dealing with people that is not sex driven is where you truly connect to people and yourself. Emotionally developed characters can exist even while occupying a tragic landscape.

Daryl, Carol, and Beth can separately develop while being together and not in a sexual way. The sexual component lessens the family dynamic being built yet chess pieces can move into positions previously not occupied, but at what cost?

Relationship changes are not always for the best on the board. Connecting on the familial level is more important because sex is not the glue to relationships. If it is, the glue can wear away and the relationship shows the hallow emptiness of what was only a voyeur’s desire to see sex. This sex could be a lowering of the character and the spirit surrounding them. The characters are not barflies, getting drunk, and looking for love in all the wrong places while stabbing zombies in the head. Relationships are important components because even the characters walk along stabbing zombies in the head with no second thought to it. Killing the zombies is white noise to the viewer. This hook-up attitude can indicate a degrading of the character.

Daryl is the male sacrificial virgin. He has wings on his back and people want to see the character that has been elevated to archangel status fall to Earth by the hand of a love interest. This only works when it is the right person. Anything less would not get the same effect. It has to be quietly epic. Maybe people want to vicariously experience a perceived supernatural biblical moment. The fallen angel has to burn or become the thing it was before the fall. Do viewers want to see a sullying of characters to make them more sinful, more human, or average in terms of human nature? Handled right it could be the most beautiful thing but always potentially tragic.

After watching so many shows where sex is carnal and debasing to the character but conveyed or interpreted as empowering, I would just like to see a character find their way without being molested for viewers satisfaction on the character’s terms via the writer; not always the helpless badass blowing in the breeze.  

When you like characters equally in these potential hook-ups there is going to be a loser. People want connection but there isn’t thought put into the type of connection or where it is headed. Making sound decisions towards relationships tell you whether they will work out or not.

On-the-fly relationships could develop into meaningful things but only with work.

I began to think in terms of Carol, Beth, and Daryl as an outsider making decisions on what they needed, not what they wanted. Funny, how the outsider always sees something etched on the outer and inner shell of the person. Sometimes that interference from the outside world puts the character on the path or diverts the character off. It could also be a manifestation of the inner self’s development into the end product.

I wondered what kind of character, if any, would best be applied to the character of Daryl. I didn’t necessarily think it was Beth or Carol long term.

To best torture the character of Daryl the opposing character would have to be a sort of wild animal in the form of a devil combined with an angel, which is what Daryl is so the character would be reflective. The character would have to have the ability to kill, save, love, or hate Daryl, who would mutually be tortured by this dynamic yet not want to live with or without the other.  Again, it could be as in real life; nothing, finding no one ever, and dying all alone wondering why you weren’t good enough or chosen.

I refer back to those famous wings. In the strata of God and the Devil, the ultimate reconciliation would be this particular relationship. God must merge with the Devil, as one. This function would be Daryl with Daryl; Daryl with another person(s). There would be no moving on into other relationships without the malice of disappointing failure.  The common denominator is to be right with one's self before being right for another.

As humans we rush in blindly to complicated, torturous unmaintainable love-hate-sex-empty relationships. We even attach ourselves to people out of security and familiarity but does it ever make us feel the way we should? What exactly is that feeling and will we know it or do outside things distract us such as who Daryl will have sex with. Do we just want another image to add to the sex fantasy reel of Daryl doing it with someone regardless of the female face attached? Viewers can transpose their face onto Carol’s or Beth’s and be the one Daryl is with. What does Daryl represent as the male character?    

I really enjoyed this episode and could talk on it more. I’ll just sit here on my perch and read online fodder which tickles me on occasion; people and their online comments.

People do watch the show loyally so it is not just Daryl getting laid. If that ever came out I am sure people would have Hurricane-type parties where they pile on a couch just to see poor Norman Reedus giving it all he’s got. The expectation has got to be either crushing him or challenging him. I would hide on the Mothership to if everyone was peer pressuring me to death with sex. Maybe he just wants a motorcycle ride and a cold Slurpee?

Sex is never the long-term answer. This little monster wears away and you start seeing the real person you are sleeping with. Some poor souls don’t get to sleep in the bed overnight. They get kicked out where the cat stares from the warm cozy window at them out in the snow.  

Sex is a smaller facet of a bigger jewel. Feeding a voyeuristic need to spy on a character solely for the satisfaction of watching a character’s sex act seems to me a slap in the face to the character, especially when the character is being developed into a person with a life of its own. I asked myself this question: If it were my lover or husband would I want to share them, in that way, with the world? Or would I want to keep some things sacred? Would I want them to feel like I put them on the sacred pedestal, protected from grabbing, unloving hands?

It’s like saying to the character, “I don’t care about you. You are just here for my jollies.” I can warrant this attitude in people’s real lives as viewers.

I am not a prude but when did the happy ending stop at the moment two people have sex? Do people live for that magical moment solely and not the millions of moments thereafter with the person? Why in my mind do I feel this empty space of self-induced amnesia or dementia when I hear people talking about “the moment” and nothing of substance follows?

It’s bad enough when you are a teenager going through puberty that your friends pressure you into sex, your relatives constantly ask you if you’ve found someone, or you avoid going out because you don’t want to feel the rejection. The other side of this seedy coin is finding out the other person fragrantly lied to you thus making you a fool and they, a tart.

The ones you were interested in didn’t like you back, making you feel unsexy. Ergo I say this, but you aren’t psychic and maybe they did but your mind talked you out of it.

God help those unwed, deep in their thirties, forties and beyond. People eyeball and whisper they will never get married then give up on them; like you have to make those people with judgey eyes happy.  

I am laughing at myself for saying that but oh well.

Written by: Angelia Y Larrimore

~Courtesy of the AOFH~



The Arcane of Angelia:s Alchemy: Rattles in the Rice Paddies.

Remember this: Words live on the wind but there is one that amply describes and will eventually lite upon you; gracing you with its wisdom.

 
I found a special word. The word is arcane which means:
 
1. Hard to fathom; difficult or impossible to understand
2. Mysteriously obscure; requiring secret knowledge to be understood.
 
How this word plays into your interpretation of what I am saying to you remains to be seen. Some things you just can't explain; they just are.


I had traveled down the interstate until I came to an intersection that directed me to take a left off this sloping road at a caution light. I began to drive down the road which was littered sporadically with plantations hidden in the trees. The first one was Greenfield which consisted of two separate areas. The first was gated with threatening signs of how they would prosecute you if you were to trespass. I saw a guillotine sitting on a wooden structure with a hooded ax man somewhere on the property out of eyesight. The structures on the other side of the locked and chained wrought iron gates were cinder block houses painted white with black shutters.

The next one would be Black Bank which I just stopped and pulled up at the gate. I had the strange feeling that I was somewhere I had been before but there was this aura of being in love as I sat there at the gate. I could see a vehicle driving around in there because it was a pine plantation. The overwhelming sense of being loved which is fairly odd to me as I was just randomly driving around that day looking at different places but thought it was the sunshine. I shook it off and headed on down the road which became a straight shot of nothing but forest on both sides of the road for miles and miles. I finally came to the sign that directed me to turn right off the highway down this dirt road. I decided to get out of the truck and take a picture of this open place with some pine trees and straw grass. I walked up onto the bank then realized I had stumbled upon a game trail where the animals wore the grass down from walking it so much. I walked back to the truck to drive down the lane where I came out to Samworth Wildlife Management area. There were these two circular structures at the opening to the driveway leading to the house. I thought about circles or even cycles. People refer to the drama of life as a circle that goes on and on but circles are endless or infinite. Life is not infinity but a transition into death where what is left of the physical state is recycled back to feed other things.


People often used circles as a physical representation of arguing the natural and the supernatural in terms of God and the Universe. How can the two coexist? The line is the permeable membrane between the two where they mutually share information. It’s not black and white;  it’s all shades of grey. I drove down the lane and as always it had the ambiance of hundred year old oak trees with a plantation feel. Along the way were fields sectioned off planted with un-harvested corn for dove hunters to enjoy if they didn’t have a place of their own. Each plot had an electrical fence around it I presumed to keep the deer out or maybe even the hogs. If you did not know any better driving up you would not realize that you were on a marsh instead of an inland plantation farm. I drove to the back which was littered with DNR trucks because it was a DNR station. I parked over near the neatly kept boat landing. I got out walking around and taking pictures. This was a good place to hunt ducks. I heard a boat coming up the small waterway. I walked over to the boat house where one of the game wardens was pulling up to park his boat. He got out and started to tie things up when I asked him did he care if I took pictures. He told me yes then started to pull out his camera from a bag to show me the photos he had taken. He then directs me to this barge where I can take some good pictures and give me tips on where to go for the best view. He was exceptionally nice. I thanked him for his time and walked off to the barge which was not far away. It was yellow and rusty.

I walked up on the barge and took some pictures. I jumped off then strolled over to this small pond where a tree swing was dangling. It looked like it was waiting for someone to come enjoy it. I snapped off a couple of pictures of the house which was locked. I made my way back to the boat landing where I had parked my truck. I then decided to go down the nature trail. It led along the bank of the marsh. I followed it when I heard some other people loading a boat into the water. I eventually emerged from this woody area into an open marsh area. There was a raised road covered with dried brown grass that lead in snake like patterns out into some unknown destination. I could imagine that I was walking down this lane and out in the marsh from overhead were a lot of alligators all pointing their mouths at me while they watched me from the grass. I could hear unseen things moving in the beige and cream colored sweet grass.

On my left I could see where there was a lot of something that had wallowed in it until it was laid over like a bed. There was lot of scat everywhere. That side was deep so if something was going to come up at me from that side I would know it. The other side closer to the water was not that way. It wasn’t like a canal ditch. It was more even. I walked up on a hog that was resting in the muck and mire but really didn’t want to be chased because there was nowhere to go. The hog let me know with a bark that he was there so I just strolled on past.

The thought of being chased by a hog then run into the mouth of an alligator was not appealing besides I had no gun but probably should have at least brought a loaded shotgun. How I would explain that to the game warden as a fact of not actually hunting but as protection from wild beast would probably get me a couple of chuckles with a nice ticket accompanied with a fine.

There were a lot of red headed woodpecker drilling holes on twig-like trees. I saw a red bellied moccasin fall from a shrub into the water with a plop. I was on this endless path going nowhere to a place I couldn’t see and the mysterious was all around me. I began to doubt myself, the time, how long it would take me to get back and what if something happened to me out there because the only one that knew I was about was the game warden.

When you go on a journey always tell someone where you are going because no one will know if you are in trouble. I took into consideration that I was literally wondering around this place with no particular direction as that is what my life has turned into. I wonder around worse than a gypsy. I did have intended goals but they got lost along the way or weren’t what I had envisioned them to be compared to my mind or in real life. People were not what I thought they would be. Everything always falls short of what you expect and the unexpected turns out to be more glorious than what you imagined.


I was walking along when I felt like my eyes had changed because I could feel it. I slowed down then closed my eyes to walk along blind. I was aware of myself. I was aware of keeping to the path without straying because I couldn’t see but then I started to listen and sense the things outside of me. I began to hear the wind blowing through the marsh grass. The grass started to sound like a bunch of rattles being shaken at once but different times. It had a certain sequence to it that I heard a song in the sound. I started to hum the sound but it had no words.


I then pondered how rattles were used in ceremonies. I am a homeless person that finds shelter in the wild where there is no man-made structures.


Rattles are used to keep rhythm accompanied by music like sound that resonates to the soul of a person. It can incite in a person the trance of a spiritual experience. Rattles represent independence. Rattles are made of containers such as gourds, turtle shells, or anything you can enclose. The container is usually decorated with feathers and represents the animal or plant kingdom. Inside of the rattle you can put beans, rocks, or anything hard that will strike against the inside of the container. The rattle could have a handle or not.
 
As I walked along listening to the wind blow in the marsh grass I felt like the spiritual energy locked in me was unblock and the trance-like state I was in as I walked along was used to help my body respond to the healing I was searching for. Rattles have been known to break up stagnant energy. People can get stagnant in their lives due to stressors and pressure. Rattles help you focus and open your mind to a different emotional state. 


I was looking for a refocusing on my life.


I considered how much time I had walked the path but didn’t want the sun to beat me down. I still had one more place to go. I decided to turn around. I walked back to the end of the grass marsh road. I took a right which lead me into yet another strange looking place where cypress knees were jutting out in a muddy area. I noticed the hogs had been down by the edge of the muddy places rooting up a storm. I walked back up the hill past this small pond up into these camellia trees. The flowers on the trees were white and another was pink but the flowers were not so hardy. I saw this one huge white flower and pulled it off. It wasn’t diseased but felt cool and soft to the touch. White represented purity. I thought about sticking it in my hair but didn’t want to lose it. I usually do this with the random feather I find. When I use to work I would put pencils in my hair. It seems to be the ideal place to stab things.


Camellias are called the ‘empress of the winter’. They are known for being tokens of devotion. The petals reflect the spirit of a lady, and the holder of the petals represents the man entrusted by the lady as her protector. It’s the everlasting bond between lovers.

I could see just beyond them a large open area that was littered with ancient oaks. I wanted to get to the other side so I crawled through the bushes. I could hear a vehicle but didn’t know if I was trespassing on private property because there were no signs stating I was. Not that it mattered. I have the ability to act and look like a dumb lost female in need of rescuing; add my charm and I’m pretty deadly. Let’s call it survival ability.


I walked out into the open space and just wanted to run straight down it but didn’t. Just because you get a compulsion doesn’t mean you should do it. It was a big open well-manicured space. It kind of reminded me of that opening scene on Little House on the Prairie where Laura Ingles is spinning around in the meadow full of white flowers. Happiness at the most mundane thing and I didn’t own it. I basked in the beauty of turning a corner to find something even more spectacular.


So far I had traveled through three landscapes on that property. The first was a homestead where people use to dwell, a path that lead to open marsh area, and a previous homestead area where the only thing left was the land but no house. I walked back toward the pond then took a right onto another path that was labeled the Nature Trail. I followed it down into a sloping area but in this section the wooded area was humid and everything reeked of decay and composition. The trees lying all over the place with limited light and leaves everywhere made me think of the twilight of human life when old age followed by death occur. I really wasn’t thrilled about being down in that but as I walked along the path I realized I was paying less attention to my surroundings or even the trial itself.

I began to think how life was that way. You’re so preoccupied with your internal concerns that you forget the external. As I was mulling this over I then realized I was unconsciously keeping up with my footfall on the trail. I thought that is how people end up getting hurt. Being distracted by things that don’t matter or not letting things go. It’s also occurred to me how you can walk through life and not even notice what is going on around you until something jogs you out of your mental reverie. That mental reverie is living in the past or the future not the present.


I felt the creature’s presence before I actually saw it. I was two steps away from stepping right on this pit viper that blended with the leaves along the path. It was a rattlesnake. It never shook its tail. I moved back up on a hill thinking ‘Holy Shit’. I am not afraid of snakes but I wasn’t expecting the snake under the leaves. I didn’t even have my snake boots. I decided whether I wanted to try moving the snake or going another direction. Not wanting confrontation when I don’t have to I decided to turn around, cross the wooden bridge and cut through the woods on this path to a dove field. I started to laugh at myself because I had a sense of repulsion walking down into the mess when I should have just went with my intuition but the great unknown threw a pit viper down in my path to warn me away from going in further or deeper into the unknown of it. Even though it was a pit viper I didn’t look at it in a negative way. It was just there minding its business looking for food. I then thought how this was important to the scheme of things. I considered snakes.

Snakes are representative of patience, medicine, healing, transformation, and sexual passion (you could say the same thing for an apple but that might be sin. You couls say a snake is an instigator of sin?)

Down in the South it is an emblem for a tribe of indigenous people.


Keeping it positive; there is no devil worshiping going on here.

This snake was teaching me to hold my ground (it wasn’t moving), threaten/warn, then if the imposer keeps up with agitation then strike.


The rattlesnake has also been representative of the ancient grandfather with the ability to give fair wind or cause a storm. The Mayans believed the snake to represent rebirth.

It can also represent petty vengefulness usually in the form of unannounced and deadly strikes. This would be the more negative side. I would assume this is on the part of other people.....but I am human therefore can foul up too.


There is the infusion of poison to harm or kill but there is the upside of medicine. The poison or medicine could expand the consciousness through divine intoxication which was connected to the afterlife and immortality. It just depends on how one would use the snake in their spiritual journey. Everything is good and evil in equal parts. Medicinal wise you could look at the Aesculpian staff. Medicine and healing has always been a part of my life even though I turned my back on it because I felt rejected because no matter what I did it never seemed to work out otherwise for saving a ton of life, both animal and human. It was painful for me to do that but I did it anyway.


I then thought of the snake laying there in the forest. It is a natural guardian of treasures or sacred sites which cannot be easily moved out of harm’s way. I feel like I am guarding something or someone but stay in harm’s way. How I will ever be in a safe place is unknown to me. I also thought of the ancient oaks. I have read that snakes are around the tree of life that is situated in a divine garden. In the Old Testament the tree of knowledge of good and evil is situated in the Garden of Eden together with the tree of life and the serpent. The Tree of Life was represented by a wooden staff.

After walking down the side of this field without the worry of stepping into trouble I walked across the grass into this patch of clover. I found the largest clover I have ever seen. This being a sign of good fortune I plucked it from the ground to put with my white camellia I had pulled off the tree in the woods.


I had been going in circles and cycles but was never really lost. I got back to my truck, climbed in to head to my next destination.
 
Written by: Angelia Y Larrimore
 
~Courtesy of the AOFH~

The Hunting of Original Sin: Tale A Bite

Find Bosch's Unicorn.

Remember this: A sin was committed in the Garden of Eden. One bite was all it took.

Recently I was watching True Detective and Matthew McConaughey’s character Rust made a comment:

“It’s a form of meditation,” says Rust. “I contemplate the moment in the garden, the idea of allowing your own crucifixion.” (Screenwriter Nic Pizzolatto); Episode 1: Somebody’s Memory of a Town.

Which upon seeing this, the center piece for this little drama is a dead woman strapped to a tree in prayer position with a set of buck horns attached to her head.

Previously I was inspired to mull over the idea of Original Sin because the world is fraught with meat eaters or vegans fighting all the time. Just having this whole cycle of viciousness swirling around my plate at dinner time made me feel there truly was evil in the air. I noticed when you see cooking shows or food photos no one ever comments negatively on those. The food is already on the plate but let someone post something pre-pot and the guacamole flies. It is almost or non-existent on cooking shows. You just don’t see it. Andrew Zimmern can eat all he wants and no one complains. Maybe they write secret caches to these chefs no one knows about. I doubt people write critical letters about food choices in literary cookbooks with meat photos or that section on butchering.

Original Sin could have been "not being able to take instruction or general nosiness". I then thought as I ate my food, it had to be eating itself.

Meditation on topics of interest have always brought a sense of the 360 view of the world but only being able to look at one view at a time with bias seemed relevant. You have to give it the old college try. For all intents  and purposes, we will set aside the fact eating is a biological function where you slice, dice, cook, chew, digested and excrete; moving on.

I have for some time thought about man’s sin in the Garden of Eden. Life for man was pretty much sealed when Eve bit into the mystery fruit of the tree of knowledge. “Just a little bump”, as Wang would say.

I did reference out several sacred texts but for all intents and purposes is sourcing from my Archeological Bible.

Enter nakedness and Veganism.

Meditation: A snake convincing you to eat something you are not supposed to then suffering the consequences.

Genesis 3: 1-7

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, “You must not eat from any tree in the garden?”

2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,

3 but God did say, “You must not eat fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.”

4 "You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman.

5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

6 When the woman saw the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some an ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

Here we have Eve in the Garden conversing with a snake, who cons her into eating the apple from the tabooed tree. Yet after they eat, Adam and Eve do not die, but see they are naked. Up till this point, there was no meat involved but the beginning of a quest for knowledge and hunger ensued. Did I mention the Holy Dictum of Curses? Even in this day and age man has a voracious appetite for knowledge and food.  Human kind quest pass the horizons of Earth, into the depths of space, so we can pretty much know everything that an omnipotent being would know. At the same time, totally eradicating the idea of a higher power. There is the idea no creator exist; just biological and universal hiccups and brain farts. You have haters of creationism and Darwinism. It almost compels a person to believe you have to be on team A or team B, unless you’re taking the job of referee. There is no end to it.

As I read along, the Curse of Veganism was uttered by the All Mighty.

Genesis 4: 17-19

17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, “You must not eat of it,”

“Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.

18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you and you will eat your food until you return to the ground since from it you were taken for dust you are and dust you will return.”

Sounds pretty dire to be cursed then all your offspring be-damned to eating plant life. Not that plants are bad.  I read some in the Qur’an and there were paragraphs where someone complained about eating quail. This is probably where we could assume agriculture began. Someone in time yelled, "I hate quail!"

Along the way, people acting badly came onto the scene. God flooded the world but before he cried all over the lands, directed Noah to build an Ark. Everyone knows the Ark was this big boat and animals of every kind were on board; two by two. When the waters receded, the rainbow hit the sky and those same animals were now on the menu. White dove of peace on top.

Enter those blood thirsty Meat-eaters of every course and kind. If it moves, it dies.

Genesis 9: 3-5

3 Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.

4 But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it.

5 And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man.

Conditions, Conditions.

As always, with being given everything, there are “conditions”. Always read the fine print. It would seem the Devil is not the only one trying to pull a fast one between the lines.  He’ll give humans everything but you can’t eat meat with lifeblood in it. It has to be Kosher. The quicker and humanely you can dispatch an animal, the better off you and the animal are. At the same time, it’s kind of sad when you see an animal hand-raised by a person, the animal trusts them with no idea of the harm that is coming, and they are butchered for the plate. People scarf the food down and move on to the next.

If the belief in curses (as an uttered curse) is intended to cause harm, or a form of judgment with punishment, then a body could deduce:

a) We have to kill something we grow to love to survive.

b) God slipped another instruction into the mix and if we don’t obey will be cursed further, killed or go to Hell and be tortured for all eternity.

c) Humans are constantly hungry and never feel satisfied.

d) No matter how much we eat there will be no end until we go back to dust.

e) The animals are going to report on us at Judgment Day for being overzealous Pac Men on planet Earth and the Holy Ghosts are in hot pursuit.

f) All this mumbo jumbo is wrong and Darwin is right. 

That is how curses work. The punishment usually fits the action that caused it. Take a bite today curse you tomorrow. That bite will follow you through eternity and all your ancestral lines. Snow White bit an apple then fell asleep and the Prince had to kiss her on the lips. That crap is situated around the mouth where all the trouble started, so keep your mouth off of things you know are bad for you. (Mild creepy laughter inserted here).

I guess people might need to start watching out for hairy palms and the symbol of the pentagram.

What does this have to do with hunting? Hunger is the punishment for the original sin of eating mystery fruit and going against God's conditions of anti-nosiness. Don't have dreams of grandeur either because you'll get slapped down eventually. (I am sure the Pope will argue this but he's taking selfies). As people who hunt, we go out into the world and seek sustenance to bring home in the form of dead animal carcasses, plants, root, mushrooms, whatever won’t kill you, is not nailed down, or outside the law. I forgot road-kill.

Eating is a never ending requirement for being human. People get so desperate for food that they put manufactured poisonous garbage in the ole pie hole to make things better. Empty calories stacking up by the minute and an ever expanding waist line compensated by the Fashion World’s stretchy jeans or pictures of unhealthy people being sold as an ideal. That’s a curse because it makes us blind and we just consume more and more till eventually diabetes, cardiovascular disease, renal failure, or some form of cancer gets you. It would be more poetic to choke on a chicken bone, a crust of bread with no corner to weep in, or even die for that matter.

It’s the same thing for people who fish.  Something has to go on the plate at the end of the day, whether we rip it up by the root, pluck it from a tree, or chop it's little head off. God that sounds awful! Once cursed as a vegan then rewarded as a Meat-eater. Don’t forget the Devil is in the details; read carefully. There is still Judgment Day ahead so don't get comfortable. Hail and brimstone await. 

 

Hunting is an activity to combat the toils of hunger. God’s curse on us all along was female menstruation and childbirth but that is another story; a dangerous one.

 

~Courtesy of the AOFH~

 

Written by: W Harley Bloodworth, Gypsy woman selling curses.

 

Cited Sources:

“Somebody’s Memory of a Town.” True Detective. Screenwriter: Nic Pizzolatto. Dir. Cary Joji Fukunaga, HBO, 2014. Series.