What is superstition? How did it evolve? What were the beliefs, methods, understandings, now known as superstition, originally? Think of Some’s story – is his understanding of life all superstition? How did he get a doctoral degree and three masters through a superstitious method of reading people’s energy fields?
Or, is it possible that “superstition” is a label like “weeds” which of course are the rich diversity of plants that restore the nutrients to the soil? Could superstition be to science as weeds are to crops?

The musical is a wonderful adaptation of the traditional opera to what Jade and I are calling Hip-HOpera! It is entirely rapped or sung – truly a feat of ingenious writing, performance, and staging.

It’s not very accurate historically – as it uses a lot of “legends” or “myths” about the founders. And, even though it’s almost entirely casted by people of color, there are no characters in the play being represented that were any color but white. So to have POC represent white slaveholders or to investigate the human condition through the specifics of white culture is to deny the humanity of the people playing the part. How can we see Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton, and others as slave holders if they are black? How can we appreciate the oppressive role of POC in society during that time – or even celebrate those who were white and in power who were fighting for the emancipation of the slaves? Aaron Burr comes to mind as he had slaves – but also fought for their emancipation at the state and federal level. So a conundrum that cannot be embraced as a part of his journey when played by a black actor.

As you know, the songs are so catchy they really stick in the mind. The actor who plays King George, Jonathan Groff, kills it – and why? To a certain extent it’s because he’s white. A Black king George wouldn’t have had the same effect. He is truly my favorite character – mostly because he plays the mythology to a T! No pretense, just humor and fun about the American myth of the British monarchy. I’m not attempting to  

Always seeking to fill the need – that emptiness our culture’s material existence feeds on like it feeds on us overeating poor food so we need medicine and hospitals. If we can just find the right pill, the right car, the right job, have enough money in our bank accounts and investments, the right partner, the best kids, be smart enough, tall enough, cool enough, in good enough shape, always emotionally stable, the best partner, neighbor, family member, friend…..the idea that there is a scarcity of stuff and that we’ll never be good enough keeps us always seeking the next best thing that’s out. We treat life like somehow it’s technology that must be improved upon all the time. As things age they must be discarded, like Hollywood wives or husbands, like fashion is a real thing other than a way to perpetuate the consumer culture.

But what is at the root? Our economy is an expression of how we understand our reality – like all other behaviors right? So what is at the core? And how can we be the only animal on the planet that thinks it’s superior to all others and yet continues to live in ways that no other animal would subject itself to? What other animal has been convinced that it has to pay for it’s food, shelter and water?

“Alienation is one of the many faces of modernity. The cure is communication and community–a new sense of togetherness.”

Yielbonguara – the closest translation is, “The thing that knowledge can’t eat.”

“This word suggests that the life and power of certain things depend upon their resistance to the kind of categorizing knowledge that human beings apply to everything. ” – p. 8

“Because the world is becoming smaller, people from different realities can benefit from learning about and accepting each other. The challenge of modernity is to bring the world together into a unified whole in the middle of which diversity can exist. The respect for difference works only if connected with this vision.” -p. 10

“The world of the Dagara also does not distinguish between reality and imagination. To us, there is a close connection between thought and reality. To imagine something, to closely focus one’s thoughts upon it, has the potential to bring that something into being. Thus, people who take a tragic view of life and are always expecting the worst usually manifest that reality. Those who expect that things will work together for the good usually experience just that. In the realm of the sacred, this concept is take it even further, for what is magic but the ability to focus thought and energy to get results on a human plane? The Dagara view of reality is large. If one can imagine some thing, then it has at least the potential to exist.”

–Of Water and the Spirit, Some, p. 8

What does your mind do with this? What feelings arise?

In our culture we are very good at cultivating our minds in a particular fashion. We develop a few of the many intelligences that people have, such as linguistic, logic and perhaps interpersonal or spatial depending upon engagement or major. Which intelligences embrace emotional development? Interpersonal and Intrapersonal lean in this direction, but tend to be left to the individual to engage and develop these aspects for themselves as modeled by their parents, teachers, pastors, etc.
If we’re willing to sit quietly and watch what happens inside our minds and hearts, our thoughts and feelings, we can begin to not be overwhelmed by them and so start to make new choices not programmed by past experience.

Perhaps this is what is meant by being “born again” or “reincarnated”?

In class we discovered that “our belief is what defines our own path and the reality we experience.” How can we unpack this individually? How does it apply to religion? How does it apply to any aspect of how we live? If I believe that eating sorcerers is critical to keep them in-check and because they are all reborn as wild pigs, then my belief defines my path and describes the reality I experience. How does it apply in your life?

Head & Gut connection: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/gut-feelings-the-second-brain-in-our-gastrointestinal-systems-excerpt/

Head-heart-gut communication via neural networks: https://owlcation.com/stem/your-second-brain-is-in-your-heart

A little easier read: Cephalic, Cardiac & Enteric Brains: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2019/03/04/change-leadership-why-your-head-heart-and-gut-are-critical-to-listen-to/#d708ec44a965