Numinous, Masculine Sexuality, part 2 – Awakening my sacred masculine

Today's post is part 2 of my post on Numinous, Masculine Sexuality. These two posts share my journey through the 6th metaphor from the book The Hidden Spirituality of Men - Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine by Matthew Fox. In my last post I talked about how ancient religions ( and some non-western religions ) worshipped sexuality as sacred. I also discussed how western religions have brought shame into the forefront of sexuality in an attempt to control the sacred. Finally, the last post discussed the fact that sacred sexuality is not just about intercourse - but rather intercourse is just one aspect. In revisiting this chapter I found myself starting to learn to play the guitar and it has given me access to a sexual spirit that has been suppressed for some time now. The topics of today's journey through numinous, masculine sexuality are sperm, male infertility, sexual diversity learning from the gifts of homosexuality and wrapping it all up in sexuality as sacred.

Sperm

In the book, the author had asked a group of mostly men to write down an answer to the question, "What is Sperm?" He shared many of the responses he got and many of them were at or nearing poetic. As someone who had always been uncomfortable with anything sexual in nature it had been very easy for me to never even think about it. Well, in the honor of sharing my journey I am going to attempt to answer that question right here in this blog from my perspective. I only hope I can do it justice.

Why is it so hard to honor sperm? Is it because it has so many names that make us giggle or turn red? Is it because we are afraid of the awesome power that lies within? Sperm is a metaphor for possibility. Each sperm is the possibility of life, and not just any life. The possibility of a new life that we love more than we have ever loved before. I have 2 sons because of sperm. 1 came from planning and one came from a moment of passionate love but they are both a part of my life because of sperm. Of all the fluids that are worshipped in this world - blood, wine, holy water - this seems left out of the sacred mix. So even if it is only a moment before my shame rises again, I take this moment to honor distilled masculine sexuality in sperm.

[ad#Google Adsense] That was tough to write because I felt myself pulled separately by both my reverence and shame that I felt. This chapter, and specifically this section on sperm bring to mind one individual who seems to exude sacred masculine sexual energy more than anyone I can think of - Prince. He has many songs that are clearly about sexuality, including one called Cream. At the end of the movie Purple Rain he has a concert and the finale is him doing an obvious ejaculation from his guitar. Finally, at one point he changed his name to around a legal dispute with Warner Brothers and this is what he had to say about it:

I was born Prince and did not want to adopt another conventional name. The only acceptable replacement for my name, and my identity, was the Love Symbol, a symbol with no pronunciation, that is a representation of me and what my music is about. This symbol is present in my work over the years; it is a concept that has evolved from my frustration; it is who I am. It is my name.

To many the symbol seemed random, but to Prince it was the Love Symbol. Love is central to sacred sexuality and he has embodied it in his art.

Male Infertility

With all this admiration for sperm and its reproductive power the author was confronted by a member of the group that wrote about sperm. For this man the question brought pain because he was infertile. While I have been blessed with two beautiful boys he was unable to have any by his sperm due to that fact. But if you read his story you find out more. You find out about the way he was initially dismissed when having trouble getting his wife pregnant. You find out the research the two of them did to find out about their options. Their journey led them to choosing to have children by using a sperm donor. The mental and emotional power of sperm is strong in this story. Though this man's sperm were incapable of fulfilling their reproductive duty the spiritual aspect of them still led him to having children to whom he is a father. In fact the story goes deeper and it is worth the read.

It was interesting to notice how male infertility is so casually dismissed as if it takes no psychological or spiritual toll. When you compare this to our current (in)ability to honor sperm as we do the ovum it isn't hard to see why this is. Men want to be parents as well and any inability in this area forces a very rocky mental and spiritual path to be walked.

Continue reading... [ad#Books Banner]

Sexual Diversity and The Lover

I hate to copy too much from the book, so I will try to paraphrase the first paragraph of this section in the book. Scientifically speaking, sexual reproduction was the genesis of greater diversity of life on earth. After species started reproducing sexually you started to see different traits come out at a much greater rate. In present day we see this through not only physical attributes but also in the types of personalities we all have. If sex was an explosion of diversity why do we act like it should only look one way?

From style to position, from gender roles to gender preference, diversity is a part of sexuality and sexuality is a part of the sacred. One thing that this chapter mentions is that the sacred can not be held back and nature is proof of this in regards to libido. The animal kingdom ( this includes humans ) is pretty consistent in this diversity. I read an article a few weeks ago that talked about the mating rituals of bats that includes oral sex. In regards to homosexuality 464 other species have been observed with homosexual populations. Nature has so much to teach us about many sacred things, so what does it have to teach us about sexuality?

In regards to our acceptance of homosexuality as natural, humankind still has a ways to go but we are on the path. Some countries and states allow same sex marriages. While some recent votes in some states have disheartened me this chapter made me realize something. The very fact that there are votes to vote down means we are on the path right now. If you compare the current movement for gay and lesbian rights to the movements for the rights of women or of different races you'll see a similarity. It's not as if Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "I have a dream..." and everyone said ,"you know, you're right. I'm sorry. I've been treating you different all this time." No, instead they had to keep working to change people's minds through education. Just like today's relationship between religion and homophobia there are examples of people using their religion to support their racism. So for those warriors who are fighting this fight, be heartened. The path may be murky but we are moving forward along it. [ad#Google Adsense]

Honoring, and Learning from, the Gifts of Homosexuality

This section of the chapter was mind blowing and, to be honest, a lot easier to be present to than other sections. In a society that has had news stories about metrosexuals, guys who have typically homosexual traits ( style, tastes, a sense of culture ), it can be hard for some to admit that we have anything to learn from homosexuality. I find this is especially true with gay men who actually have quite a lot to offer their hetero-masculine brethren and neither side may realize it. Because out gay men have already had to do the work to feel comfortable with their own sexuality they can access more of their sacred energies.

For instance:

• Creativity. The style and tastes of gay men are not limited by anything that might seem feminine. In fact the divine feminine is an equal part of creativity as the sacred masculine.
• Being a bridge between men and women. The very fact that gay men can access both energies without shame allows them the ability see outside of normal gender roles that can get in the way of individuals being truly powerful.
• Humor. What is it about gay men that makes hetero men uncomfortable? It might be that they have so much fun with their sexuality. If they are out, they have gotten past the shame and can truly enjoy role playing with their partners.
• Spirituality. Before reading this section I didn't realize that homosexual men used to be the spiritual directors for the great chiefs of Native Americans. They were called berdache or winkte.

The whole concept of winkte makes me wonder if the scandals of homosexuality (with under age boys) in the catholic church comes out of this spiritual connection that has been warped by an attempt to control the sacred (sexuality). My tangent aside there was another statement about winkte that I found interesting. One native woman whose Uncle is homosexual talked about how it is unfortunate that native youth don't know their history and criticize gays. Not only because they don't know their own cultures true history but it also has young winkte not fulfilling their spiritual role in the community.

One last thing hetero men can learn from gay men is how to love other men. I've talked about sex a lot and people often collapse sex and love but they are distinct ( though love is a part of the sacred sexual ). The best definition of love I have ever heard is,"accepting someone for who they are and for who they are not." There are some great examples of non-romantic man to man love, sometimes referred to as a bromance. The example that best comes to mind for me is Turk and JD on the TV show Scrubs. The great thing about their love for each other is that the writers just have fun with it. Along the way a hetero guy like myself starts to feel jealous if he doesn't have a best friend like that in his life.

Sexuality as Sacred

Between last week's post and this I hope that you saw as I did that sexuality is more than just intercourse and erogenous zones. It is a sacred energy that we can tap into for great pleasure and joy in life. Sexuality can not be confined to a single thing because as a mystical energy it can not be confined. It will find a way out but could be distorted in the process. By embracing the sacred sensual we have an opportunity to enjoy life and that which is truly alive. By suppressing it we end up a little dead inside and dead sexual energy= necrophilia. [ad#Books Banner]

Next week's Wednesday Warrior post is a great follow up to sacred sexuality. The next metaphor is titled,"Our Cosmic And Animal Bodies." More posting without the net of comfort there. If you liked this post please subscribe to my RSS Feed and/or follow me on Twitter. If you only want to read my Wednesday Warrior posts subscribe to the Wednesday Warrior feed. Until next time, thanks for reading.

Fooler Dooler Daryl - Just Another Magic Monday

It's about time I finally did a JAMM post on the man that makes me cringe every time my magic club introduces me as Daryl. I don't cringe because he is bad. Daryl is one of the best closeup magicians performing ( and teaching ) today. I cringe because I don't want anybody expecting his level of experience and showmanship from a mere novice. Daryl is called the Magician's Magician and lives up to that moniker. Just the other day the About.com magic newsletter had a list of the top 10 close-up magicians. Daryl came in at number 4.

Of course, when I started magic I had to take a look at some of Daryl's work. I love his sense of humor. It reminds me a lot of wrestlers who are great on mic. Often they will speak to the smarks ( smart marks ) who know something about wrestling but probably don't know as much as they think they do. Daryl follows in this tradition and speaks to the people who might know some possible ways who is performing his tricks. In this way he keeps people who know magic and people who've never seen magic engaged.

If you read his wikipedia entry you'll learn that he is famous for his Ambitious Card Routine. I found his routine on youTube and thought it would be a great way to show off his abilitites. The finale to this routine is tremendous. [ad#Ellusionist] [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4iu5FMaR2o&w=500&h=405]

All in all, Daryl makes me glad I have a nickname to use in magic. He has the Daryl market locked up pretty well :)

Do have a magician you think I should look at for one of my JAMM posts? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

For more information visit his website foolerdoolers.com.

Cult of MacGyver?

One of my favorite shows from when I was a kid was MacGyver. I know many people are a fan of the show. Even people who only watched an episode or two ( maybe they never watched it ) understand what a MacGyverism is. I am sure the show led some people into a life of science, or at least ingenuity.

The site There, I Fixed It shows the lower end of people's ingenuity. Some stuff is a total win, but most stuff is fodder for failblog.org. For instance, the item in the picture that starts this post is a neat solution to someone needing a bottle opener. At the lower end of the spectrum ingenuity usually collides with procrastination, laziness and budgetary concerns.

An example of one of these lower end "solutions" is the following example. When your bathroom sink is broken or missing what's your first thought? Is it,"If only I had a plastic bin and some duct tape I could take care of this problem." Probably not, but some people do think this. [ad#Google Adsense]

In the world of programming, non-elegant solutions that get the job done ( and usually make the code less stable ) are called kludges. There, I Fixed It! is a wonderful kludge collection. Some kludges, make you smile and others make you laugh. There are some, though, that make you cringe. You cringe because you are scared for your and other people's safety.

For example, some people insist on fixing their own cars.

So for a laugh and a cringe check out thereifixedit.com or subscribe to its RSS feed. Enjoy.

Embedding Fonts in Flex Builder Using the Flash IDE

[ad#Adobe Banner] Flex is great for building rich internet applications quickly. Building an application quickly is nice, but to give your application that truly professional touch you need to customize the look and feel of your app. In order to fully customize the look and the feel you will need to use a font that's different than the default serif font that is used everywhere.

The flash player affords you the opportunity to embed many non standard fonts into your app, something that sets it apart from AJAX applications that need to rely on web safe fonts. In the flash IDE this is as easy as setting the font in the properties panel and selecting which character from that font which you want to embed. In a Flex app, things get a little trickier - especially if you want to use a non True Type font, which is the only type it can import natively. However, if you have the Flash IDE you can use its simplicity to get any font you can use in Flash into your Flex app.

The process is broken up into two steps.

1. Create a SWF with the font(s) you need embedded in it
2. Add Style (CSS) info to your Flex project that imports the font into your Flex project

Step one starts with the simplest of FLA files and can be created with earlier versions of the Flash IDE  (so you can use Flash 8 or MX2004 if that's all you have). I recommend using a separate FLA for each font you want to embed, that way it is easier to catalog, store and reuse in other projects. Create 4 dynamic text fields. Each text field is for the different versions of the font so you should have:

• normal
• italic
• bold
• bold italic

You need to make sure you set up all 4 text fields to embed all the glyphs from the font you will need.  For most western languages Numerals, Punctuation and Basic Latin should cover all the glyphs you will need. Once again, make sure to set up the character embedding for all 4 text fields. If you notice certain parts of your flex document using the default font you may not have set up character embedding. You can of course leave out any of the 4 ( ie italic and italic bold ) that you aren't going to use but if you are going to reuse the SWF I would do all 4.

Once you are done setting the character embedding for all 4 text fields, publish the file to a SWF. [ad#Google Adsense] The second step of this process is to add Style to your Flex project that imports the font into the project. That's as simple as adding an @font-face entry to your CSS file or <mx:Style> block. At first you simply give it the path to your font SWF and the name of the font ( ie Futura Book, Calibri ).

@font-face

{

src:url( "path/to/yourFont.swf" );

fontFamily:"Exact Name of Font"

}

You also need to add an @font-face entry for each version of the font you want to use. So if you also wanted to use the bold version you would add the following:

@font-face

{

    src: url( "path/to/yourFont.swf");

    fontWeight:"bold";

    fontFamily:"Exact Name of Font";

}

After you are done adding the appropriate @font-face entries you can style any component you need to or you can style the entire application with your font.

Application

{

    fontFamily:"Exact Name of Font";

}

There are a couple other ways to embed fonts, and if you don't have a version of the flash IDE those are the only way to go. If there is enough interest I can cover those in comments or another post. However this is by far the simplest, it allows you the ability to embed non True Type fonts and you can reuse a font more quickly in the future. [ad#Adobe Banner] If you liked this post please subscribe to my RSS feed and/or follow me on Twitter. If you only want to see my Flash Friday posts you can follow the subscribe to the Flash Friday feed. How's that for alliteration :) Until next time keep on coding.

Numinous, Masculine Sexuality, part 1 - Awakening my sacred masculine

Welcome the first part of metaphor 6 on my journey through the book "The Hidden Spirituality of Men - Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine" by Matthew Fox. If this is your first time reading my blog you might want to at least read the initial post on the book. You can also check out other posts in the series. Beyond that, read on. Here it is, the metaphor on sexuality. This metaphor was the most confronting to start reading. I put it off both subconsciously and consciously for about 2 weeks. At the same time, masculine sexual energy is a major reason I started looking into the men's studies movement. As a father of two boys, I kept questioning whether or not I would know how to speak powerfully to them about sex when the time comes.

Being raised in an all (powerful) female household I really never had a male figure I trusted to discuss these things with and I was already ashamed about how other men treated women. Initially, the question of masculine sexuality pulled me on this journey through the sacred masculine and I was afraid of this metaphor the most ( my ego was definitely shaking in its boots ). [ad#Google Adsense] When I finally read the chapter, I breezed through it and got a lot of information. I felt much more comfortable and saw the bigger picture of the sacredness of sexuality. When I reread it before writing this article I noticed how much I missed. Realizing that my subconscious probably zoned out on the first pass, I made an effort to take in the information inside this book.

I feel I must say one thing before moving on. This article is about sexuality as it concerns the sacred masculine. It is meant as a serious spiritual discussion. Watch where you find yourself giggling as that is where you are probably missing out sacrament of sex. Read on if you are ready.

Masculine Sexuality, Numinous Sexuality

In order to best stay true to what I got from this metaphor I will be following the sections of the chapter and use those headings. One distinction is very important for this metaphor - the distinction between spirituality and religion in regards to sexuality. Long before the religions of today, people treated sex as a spiritual experience. Many current religions treat sex as a sin.

"Our Western institutional religious tradition has essentially repressed and distorted the sexual instinct and thereby created a variety of personal and social pathologies. In doing so it has also effectively removed sexuality from its religious foundations."

Also keep in mind that

"...for most people the experience of sex is more powerful than their experience of religion."

This must be because during sex we are making a strong connection to the sacred and during religious ceremonies we may be holding some of the spiritual energies back. [ad#Books Banner]

Ancient Sacred Metaphors of Sexuality

There are ancient temples that still exist that obviously worship the male phallus. Because they still exist people get a sense of the awe. In this space of awe one has the ability to experience joy and pleasure through intercourse and other forms of sex. What must it be like to worship masculine sexual energy without shame?

Sexuality and Shame:A Western Inheritance

I've written before how much of being a man can be summed up in one word, shame. When it comes to sex it is felt by the truckload. I've grown up in the Western world where sex is considered dirty ( and that being dirty is a bad thing ). While it is generally considered okay for men to want sex, only the hunt is really accepted. The act itself, the connection to ones partner and to the universe are not given their due. As such men's stories about sex are about quantity and/or domination rather than quality and connectedness. If a man does talk about the spirituality of sex people often don't listen or if they do they believe the man to be boasting about prowess. [ad#Google Adsense] Yes, having fun with sex, enjoying it is even worse in Western culture. Which brings up another issue, roleplaying. In western culture there is some of this that occurs, but even it gets perverted to the point that the roleplaying is not used for connectedness but to create more separation. A separation between the people involved and a separation from the full experience of it. Roleplaying isn't just about wearing costumes, though that can be part of it. Its about having fun with your partner and looking for new experiences together. Its important to switch roles occasionally. Switch who's on top and who's on bottom ( both physically and metaphorically ) to make sure both people get the full experience. Passion equals play, so to keep the spark going have some fun together.

The Many Names of Sexuality

I've used the word sexuality so many times that you may have thought I was only talking about sex. There are many other names used in the book and I would like to share a few that you may not be thinking of.

• Union
• Laughter
• Joy
• Surrender
• Healing
• The Sacred Masculine
• The Divine Feminine
• Hope
• Creativity
• Music

This list is less extensive than what is in the book. In the book they also add the point that you can most likely add more of your own. So as we discuss sexuality realize that we are discussing so much more than intercourse. [ad#Books Banner]

The Lover's Revelation

Did you know that the Bible devotes and entire book to praising sexual love as divine? I didn't but the author mentioned time and again that Song of Songs does just that. Despite my less than biblical path to spirituality, I'm intrigued to see what it says.

Religions around the world have spent some if not a lot of time discussing divinity of sexual love. Why? What do we get from it? As you look closely you see that we get more than we thought. There is the connected to another person, the connectedness to the universe. I've heard a comic describe how sex is weird because a man (who usually focuses on one thing) has to focus on many things at once and a woman (who usually splits focus between many things ) has to focus on one thing. This is funny because of the truth in it ( and he had much better delivery than my writing ). It shows that through sexual love we also gain perspective.

As one studies the power of numinous sexuality one also sees the importance of mutuality. Sexual energy is shared when used positively. This also lets us see a little of the shadow energies most often associated with (masculine) sexuality. The shadow energy of sexuality comes out as domination instead of mutual physical love. Some of this shadow energy comes because of the repression of sexuality in our culture. It is such a powerful part of our spirits that it will come out. That is why it is important to embrace what it truly is so that it can flow powerfully.

Intermission

These sacred masculine posts are growing quite long, and in order to give this one enough time I am breaking it up into two parts. Part two of Numinous Masculine Sexuality will cover sperm, male infertility, sexual diversity, what heterosexuals can learn from homesexuals and how to approach sexuality as sacred. Until next week, what sorts of thoughts did this article spark for you in the realm of sacred sexuality? Does any of this ring true for you or do you think I'm barking up the wrong tree? Please leave your comments below or send a private message through this blog's contact page. [ad#Google Adsense] If you liked this post please subscribe to my RSS Feed and/or follow me on Twitter. If you only want to read my Wednesday Warrior posts subscribe to the Wednesday Warrior feed. Until next time, thanks for reading.

Scam School - Just Another Magic Monday

I have been watching Scam School ( with Brian Brushwood ) for a while now. I found the show while looking for video podcasts that I might find enjoying before I even decided to become a magician. This show is one of the reasons I thought I might be able to do magic. Why? It tipped some magical, and not so magical, methods in a very professional way. I started to see that it was possible to do magic and, if I went to bars often, get free drinks using some of the methods that lie within.

Before I go too much further, Scam School is not a show teaching you how to do magic.  According to the intro it is, "The only show dedicated to social engineering at the bar and on the street." However, Brian Brushwood is a magician and a great entertainer. The following clip is an episode of Scam School that deviated from its normal format to show Brian's performance at SXSW. [ad#Ellusionist]

Scam school is great for magician's to watch because of its perspective. There is a movement of bizarre magic out there and Brian Brushwood is one of the people at the forefront. For non-magician's it is great to watch for its edutainment value. It is very entertaining, and you get to see a cool thing to do at a bar or just hanging out with your friends. For instance, check out this episode on "The Static Shot." [ad#Google Adsense]

In the end though, the show is called Scam School and it presents itself as thus. Even though the homework is usually to watch movies like "The Sting" or buy domain names and do a domain smack on someone. All in all I recommend this show to all lovers of magic ( and bar scams :) ).

For more information:

• Scam School Website
• Brian Brushwood's website
• Follow Brian Brushwood on Twitter
• Check out one of Brian's other shows
  • BB Live Show
  • NSFW

[ad#Books Banner] If you liked this post please follow me on twitter and/or subscribe to my RSS feed. If you only want to see my JAMM posts you can subscribe to the Just Another Magic Monday Feed.

You (Auto) Complete Me

Auto-completing text input fields have made all sorts of applications much easier to use. For search engines, it really helps because we often aren't alone in our quests for knowledge. Auto-completion lets us see very popular searches.[ad#Google Search] A few weeks ago I read a post that said,"Go to Google and start typing is there." Having a sense that there was something interesting to see I did just that. I typed in is there and the autocomplete field showed me some interesting possible ways to complete my search.

At first you might be thinking to yourself,"Why does anyone care about Transformers 3" but you are probably really thinking,"Oh My God! Is that really a popular enough search to be first?" That was my first thought, but my second thought was

"What other things can I type in to find ridiculous autocomplete results?"

I searched for a bit and found some funny stuff and I shared some of them with my co-workers. The next day someone pointed me to AutoCompleteMe.com. A new site had already sprung up to catalog this phenomena.

There are some great ones, such as when you start by typing in,"I like to t"

Not only did someone want to share their dinosaur role playing habits, but some others have an interest in Jesus that isn't what I'm used to.
[ad#Books Banner]
I've seen these results myself, and they are surprisingly real. Are people really typing these things in or is this just a little bit of Google employee humor? I'm guessing its a little of both. Have you seen any interesting results come up in an auto-complete field? If so please share in the comments, maybe you could even take a screen capture and submit it to AutoCompleteMe.com.

The Open Source Media Framework

I first heard about the Open Source Media Framework (OSMF) while watching one of the Adobe Max 2009 keynote speeches online. As a person who has built a lot of video players, galleries and mp3 players for my work I was very excited that this was being built. I have wanted to work on something like this myself for a long time. Now here was an open source project I could contribute to while building off of best practices others have contributed. Building robust custom players was going to be much quicker and easier.[ad#Adobe Banner]While watching the keynote I looked OSMF up, but it was still in early development. So I just added it too my ever growing research and development document. Recently I found a free ezine called Flash & Flex Developers Magazine and the most recent issue was focused around OSMF. I decided to take the framework for a test drive and while I was at it I would give the API docs a skimming read. Here is what I found.

Testing out the sample code

The first thing I did was try out the examples straight from the magazine. This was straightforward. The samples didn't build anything too advanced but I noticed something. It didn't take very many lines of code to get the video playing. Most of the code was for adding buttons and making them call a single function in the OSMF API. As usual when doing samples from an article I decide to tweak it to see has intuitive it was to do things. Adding and customizing simple playback controls and capabilities was a breeze. I only needed to check the documentation to make sure my assumptions were true, which they were in most cases. For a basic custom player, this thing is extremely easy to use.

Looking under the hood

The second thing I did is something I like to do with a framework I'm looking at, skim over the documentation. This consists of going through each package and seeing what classes are where. For the most part I will click into each classes documentation to find out what the class is meant for. Sure, this has me look at a lot of helper classes that I may never use ( which is a good learning exercise ), but it also has me find obscure classes that might be quite useful in a pinch. [ad#Google Adsense] One class that interested me both for educational and practical reasons was the ListenerProxyElement class. It is actually quite beautiful in its simple use. It is a class that is meant to be extended. The class itself sets up all the listeners for a MediaElement and has them trigger hook functions that you override to handle these events with custom code. I foresee using this in many projects. There are quite a few other things taken care of in this framework, such as handling of a video player that is sized differently from the video content.

Overall, Adobe ( who is in charge of this open source project ) has put together a very useful, intuitive and extensible framework that is still in the early stages. I'm looking forward to see what types of media players I can build now that so much is already handled for me. Is there anything you want to know about OSMF? Have you already used it on a project? If you have can we see your work (and hopefully code)?[ad#Adobe Banner]

For more information check out:

• The Open Source Media Framework main page
• The OSMF documentation
• The OSMF forums

Spiritual Warriors - Awakening my hidden masculine

This was by far the most exciting metaphor for me to read in The Hidden Spirituality of Men, before I even read it. As someone who has struggled with aggression in the past and learned to be passive instead this was something I needed to read. My image of a warrior was not a good one. I have repressed many of my warrior traits and here was a metaphor that spoke about it powerfully. There was some talk of the difference between a soldier and a warrior that intrigued me. [ad#Google Adsense]

The Spiritual Warrior

When talking about a spiritual warrior you need to keep in mind the context of the "Great Work." The work is not something that we have chosen but a task that we must take. It is the task of moving modern industrial civilization from its present devestating influence on the Earth to a more benign mode of presence. This work can take many forms, but one must keep it in mind when learning about true warrior energy.

What is a spiritual warrior and why is it important?

The spiritual warrior is the metaphor that helps to answer 2 questions that have come up so far on our journey - what to do with male aggression and what to do with competition. The spiritual warrior teaches us how to steer both into healthy directions. So how does aggression usually show up in our world? It shows up in war, conquest ( including business or sex ), passivity, selfish competition and more negative outlets of aggression. Competition was part of that list and too often it shows up as selfish competition in our world. Competition where I have to win and you must lose. Though these traits and actions are often associated with warriors they should not. The problem arises from the fact that too many people have collapsed the term warrior with that of a soldier.

[ad#Google Adsense]

Warrior, soldier - what's the difference?

A soldier takes orders from other people while a warrior takes orders from the soul. You can see this represented in movies such as Dances With Wolves where at first he is a soldier following orders but he becomes a warrior fighting for what his soul knows is right. The same thing happens in real life when veterans go to war and come back home and march with their brothers against the war the themselves had fought in. The spiritual warrior also doesn't take orders from society when there is a "Great Work" that needs to be accomplished. Martin Luther King, Jr., Gandhi and Ralph Nader are examples of warrior spirits that take orders from their own souls instead of from society.

The warrior is in touch with his heart - the joy, the sadness, the expansiveness of it. The warrior, unlike the soldier, is a lover. The warrior is so much in touch with his heart that he can give it to the world. The warrior loves not only his nearest kin and mate but also the world and God. The warrior relates to God as a lover. This is different than the soldier who relates to God as Judge. This difference brings to mind a quote from the movie, The Man in The Iron Mask. In it D'Artagnan (Gabriel Byrne) tells King Louis XIV (Leonardo DiCaprio) about how Athos (John Malkovich) had taught him "Each time I draw my sword I should consider, not what I was killing but what I was allowing to live". I love that statement. In that statement lives the distinction between a soldier and a warrior.

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Sounds great, how does one become a warrior?

The warrior fight begins with first overcoming yourself and your own demons. Some demons seems small, like the limitations we put on ourselves when we say "I can't." Other demons are larger, such as pride that has us go to battle over namecalling or someone stepping on your shoe. Martial Arts and meditations are two great was to begin to overcome yourself and your own demons. These disciplines are great places to study the 8 principles of a warrior: inner peace, tranquility, love, power, strength, honor, majesty, respect. Turn each of these 8 principles both inward as well as outward. Some principles such as power, strength and majesty often get perverted when they are turned inward only. If you want power, strength and majesty for yourself but you don't give it to others it leads you down a spiral away from the true warrior and into its shadow energy.

This doesn't mean you won't slip on your warrior journey. A warrior is human after all and it is important for a warrior to be humble. It is this humility that is part of another important aspect of a warrior - being non-judgmental. A warrior knows that others don't win every internal battle because they themselves do not win every battle. Judgment comes from inexperience, not having experienced losses against personal demons. A warrior has experienced losses, because he has fought battles, and thus does not judge others. These experiences make the warrior humble.

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How do spiritual warriors relate to fear?

"In our tradition, we believe that fear is the door in the heart that lets evil spirits in. Thus all prayer is a strengthening of the heart to keep fear at bay."

-Buck Ghosthorse

Fear is built into our brains in order to keep us alive. Stay away from that ledge you might fall and die. That lion sounds hungry, it's best to stay away. These make sense on the level of physical survival. As our brains have developed fear has morphed beyond the death of our physical bodies and now shows up when our egos are threatened. It is the fear that comes up when our egos are threatened that gets in the way of our true selves. Our ego must die in order for our true selves to come out. Our ego is the biggest, baddest inner demon there is. It is always there and will never go away. For example, listening is a warriors art. In order to listen we must let go of the fear that our ego "who knows everything" will be destroyed if we listen to someone else (or to our true self). In order to truly listen we must give up the notion that we know everything and our ego fights us on that, but it is a battle we can easily win. The Kennedy quote on fear is an adaptation of the Buddha quote that sums it all up,

"There is nothing to fear. If there is anything at all to fear, fear only yourself!"

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How to become a warrior redux.

Warriorhood is a journey, not a destination. It is a journey that takes us on four different and intertwining paths. The positive path, the negative path, the creative path and the transformative path.

The positive path the celebration of life. The world is beautiful and the warrior is open to this beauty. Cynics focus on the lack of grace and generosity in the world, the warrior is thankful for all the examples in the world that he sees.

The negative path takes the warrior into the darkness so that he may see the light. He does this through solitude, facing internal demons and letting go of those demons. The warrior learns from this process who he is, is helps him be humble. the darkness also helps he on the positive path. After being through whatever hells the darkness may bring, the positive path can be enjoyed even more passionately.

The creative path, or rather creativity is the true weapon of a spiritual warrior. The very nature of the Great Work requires him to do something new, something he must create. Samurai warriors studied ikebana, a specialized form of flower arrangement as a practice to keep their weapon honed. A warrior is an artist who works for the people that they might live.

The transformative path is the path of self reflection. A true spiritual warrior is humble after all. The warrior is always checking to make sure what they are creating includes justice and compassion. Without this test, a warrior could easily tap into his shadow energy. The shadow energy could create something that looks like justice without compassion or compassion that gets nothing done. With both justice and compassion, real momentum can be made in the Great work. The way to the transformative path is linked closely with the creative and the negative paths. The warrior comes up with his great work, but then he must test it.  Inside these tests he ensures that it is truly a Great Work of justice and compassion. He must look and see if there is a darkness to his work and revisit the creative path as he hones the idea further.

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What is the shadow form of warrior energy?

Unfortunately there are many false prophets out there ( and inside ourselves ). They worry more about the destination and so they do not fully take the 4 paths of a warrior. Some give in to fear and let it guide them. Ultimately, what is missing is the Great Work - the TRUE Great Work. Remember, a Great Work is the task of moving modern industrial civilization from its present devastating influence on the Earth to a more benign mode of presence. Some works are big and seem grand but have they passed the test of justice and compassion? For instance, recently California's proposition 8 made it so that marriage in California is only between a man and a woman instead of between a man and a man or woman and a woman. In the most recent elections this big work to ensure marriage between is only between a man and a woman continued in other states with similar propositions. If we test this against justice, some might think it passes. However, when tested against compassion it fails miserably and thus is not a great work. If we look closer we can see that this work is guided by fear and fear is, as Buck Ghosthorse said, the door in the heart that lets evil spirits in. Despite this works religious core, it is not spiritual. But, warriors are out there making a difference using their creative energy. Just today I read an article about a man who is working on an initiative in California to ban divorce. He isn't doing it because he truly believes it should be banned, but rather as satire of the importance of government protecting the sanctity of marriage.

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Conclusion

So the warrior is an important part of the male psyche. I would say it isn't actually a metaphor but a true part of being a man ( and most likely of being human - though feminine energy might show up slightly differently ). Can you see the difference between the warrior and a soldier? Do you see the importance? I have mentioned a few well known warriors in this post, Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi and Ralph Nader. But there are many more out there. Who are the warriors you thought of as you read this? You might have thought of someone but discounted them because they won't be found in history books - if their work passes the test of compassion and justice is follows the description of a Great Work they most likely are a warrior. I'd love to hear who you see as a warrior or better yet when have you seen yourself as a warrior.

For myself, while rereading this chapter for the post I have seen the warrior show up internally, as it should at first. In my running I used it to finish a long run where mental blocks were keeping me from finishing. My creative side started playing music again. The positive path has had me enjoy music passionately for the first time in a long time. I like the warrior, it is good and powerful energy. It is for that reason that I have decided to make my men's studies posts on Wednesdays and call them my Wednesday Warrior posts. ( I also laughed at the idea of making a shirt that says ,"I'm a warrior" on the front and "...on Wednesdays" on the back )

Next we will take a look at the most difficult chapter/metaphor for me to be with the chapter on numinous sexuality.  That is the chapter that I made up all sorts of reasons, both consciously and unconsciously, to put off reading for a few weeks. But I read it, and I'm glad I did. Now is the time to reread it for next weeks Wednesday Warrior post. Until then I wish you a powerful journey.

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That's Magic - Just Another Magic Monday

This week's JAMM post is a little different than posts we have done in the past. In the past I've shown magician performing magic that amazed me and I wanted to share. This week I got a link from the magician I respect the most, Jeff McBride, on facebook. His message said,

"Just came across this remarkable video: find 15 minutes and watch this short-length movie, I think it's worth it"

As I watched it, especially near the end I kept thinking of words I have heard Jeff say time and again.

I believe magic is all around us.

He is so right. As a magician myself, this is the energy I love tapping into as I perform. I hope I can continue to see the magic all around me as I delve more into my own magical journeys.

Please take 15 minutes and watch this, whether you are into magic or not.  It is a beautiful short film with high production values. It is a powerful piece that has tapped into the magic it is trying to portray.

That's Magic! from Brandon McCormick on Vimeo.

The music from this short film is available at: http://www.whitestonemotionpictures.com/2009/01/thats-magic-soundtrack/