The Ojai Post

Can't read the words to the right of the picture!

i'm going to hope in a very urgent and genuine way that there are people who can understand any of this. if so, i am not (yet?) among them.

it looks like maybe i'm being invited to a movie. i think i'll go.

good on ya, mate, Evan, as we say down under!

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, playing at the Ojai Playhouse, Friday, 13 July 2007, 7:30pm.

looking forward to your review!

it may not be sacred gnosticism, animism, shamanism in the broader context of magic -- yet seems it IS part of a global rebirth of the sacred, out of the compost of religion's hardened arteries.

the divine magick of life, returning to each and every one of us, most 'evidentially' through the medium of the lost souls, consumerism.

As for Mt's style, I think I understand it quite well; with my heart, not my mind; my heart resonates with the beauty and the anger, a radiating and raging sun/flower like the magnificent picture above. That's my interpretation and it could be entirely different than the author's.

Dennis, your's/our interpretation could be entirely different than the author's, but just as valid. Poetry/Prose is what it is to the individual. Sometimes we connect to what the author's is attempting to convey, other times it leads us to another interpretation of an enlightenment.

My interpretation, or what I get from the above is how do we know what are the true carriers of truth and how we distinguish it from those that are not and a recognition of how it may be that when we or others reach to one of these paths to truth, that we may be naively grasping something un-cleansed, deceptive.

I won't be making it to the movie btw.

I believe in magic. Like yesterday. I wrote this long piece which some would call a diatribe and tried to post it but it would not post. I was irritated but then thought to myself, there must be a reason in the greater scheme of things. I went to Little House but the computer lab was closed. I went to the library but the comuters were down, but I did learn there about the backhoe incident. I read magazines. Then the computers came up, so I signed in for my hour, and tried to post what I wanted to but the energy just wasn't there, so I read my emails and other web sites. Back to the magic. I see in retrospect that I was blocked from posting by a higher source; I assume my message was not acceptable to publish at that stage of its development. I believe that now it is and so I will proceed with my original intent. The computer at home now seems to work just fine, so I guess that the backhoe was the cause of the blockage, at least on this level. I may join you on Harry's phoenix day, but then it is Friday the 13th, and it will be so crowded, so will have to check with my "magic" barometer at that time. My son will surely want to see it so it may become a father-son thing; although fathers are somewhere out on the fringes of his interests these days, and he would probably prefer to be with one of his peers.

Anyway, back to more serious matters. Independence Day. I just read about it in the OVN. I attended it last year; worked on the signs with evan and crew; rode in the parade on my bicycle, etc. At that time I was debating about whether to get involved in politics. O-Hi Frostie was a hot issue; Mallory Way was (and still is, at least in my mind). I grew a lot by running for council, reading about national politics on political web sites, etc. I educated myself during this last year. My "magic" guides are telling me to take yet another radical step. My "oh no, please not that" self fights it every inch of the way, but magic is magic, and how can you argue with Harry the Potter (btw, that image is used for God in the bible)? So, as a political statement, I am not going to participate in Independence Day this year. Why? Why risk angering the good citizens of Ojai and further marginalizing myself? The same reason I assume Harry the Potter is attracted to magic--because it's there. This year I am going to make a statement of Idependence. I was going to call it Interdependence but this morning shortly after I woke up, I had the thought of Idependence; I often brush such thoughts off but sometimes they are like burrs which stick. Further, if there's anyting my "I of an Ego" needs, it is dependence. Yesterday, I was going to send my Declaration of Interdependence out to the world, here, the local papers and to other blogging sites, but as explained above, I was blocked from doing so by a backhoe. Divine intervention? Who knows? Anyway, it didn't happen. Is it because the idea of Idependence had not yet been lined up in the higher ethers? Who knows? Harry knows but he's not telling. Just prior to the thought of idependence I had the idea not to post this information but to just do it myself, which at this point I think I will do. I think Harry's message to me is to do it myself. Interdependence starts with i-dependence. I love the idea of inner and interdependence but there's something even more fundamental than that, as I am discovering. Incidentally, idependence rhymes with iphone, the new ipod of the day which is just coming out, to the tune of much controversy. So, now I'm finally getting to the point of this post. The following is my statement of Idependence which includes the idea of independence, innerdependence and interdependence. It has been retitled accordingly. I also have changed the "We" words to "I/We" words, which synchs nicely with I dependence. When I read (read "will read") the Declaration on 7/7, I expect that I will be the only one there which will be fine, and the "I" will fit; and in case there is another person there, the "We" will fit; so the bases are covered. I don't think I will send this out to the local papers because I don't want to unnecessarily irritate people, and it would probably be just be a waste of my time and energy. I post it here because it is pretty safe since I doubt more than a handful is reading this far. I thus have the satisfaction of "going public" at not too much risk. I have to chuckle now at how this is all working out, like magic (Thanks, Hermione). I hope 07/07/07/07:07 really turns out to be a magic and lucky number. If it doesn't post now, though, after all this work (and if I send it to other web sites, I have to type it again and again), I will be pissed. For the record, therefore, and the greater good, I am posting the following (which is subject to change between now and July 7):

DECLARATION OF IDEPENDENCE
(by Dennis Leary)

On 07/07/07 @ 0707 the Red Brown and Blue Party TM hereby inaugurates The Love Government TM aka The Lover Government TM at this fountain in Ojai, California.

The Love Government counterposes its own Declaration Day to the July 4 Independence Day in protest to the United States Government's betrayal of the American ideals of "liberty and justice for all." July 7 is henceforth The Love Government's Day of Idependence and Founding Day, dedicated to the purpose of reforming the United States Government.

On 7/7/07 @ 0707 the following Declaration is proclaimed at the Ojai Fountain:

"When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary to form associations to repair corruptions of government, it is fitting that the causes of such actions be explained.

"I/We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all womem, men, sentient beings and the earth have inalienable rights; that governments derive their powers from People; that when governments become corrupt, it is the right of People to change governments; and furthermore, it is now a necessity to alter former Systems of Government. In witness thereof, let these allegations be submitted to the world:

"The government of the United States of America is being eaten away with corruption; is riddled with conflicts of interest; favors the rich at the expense of the poor; robs the poor to pay the rich; refuses to follow the will of the People; pursues economic policies that endanger and enslave the People; has given over the People's power to print and circulate its own money to private and secret cabals; has been hijacked by a plutocracy; has authorized torture; has weakened habeas corpus; has waged over 200 military attacks on sovereign Peoples in its 200+ year history, including devastation of American natives; is now fighting an unjust and undeclared war on the Peoples of Iraq and Afghanistan, and threatens Iran; is flooding the world with weapons, thereby making most of its citizens complicit in war crimes; ignores President Eisenhower's warning about the rise of the military-industrial complex; has wasted trillions of the taxpayers' money; steals trillions of dollars by allowing bankers to manufacture inflation; obstructs truth and justice about 911 and JFK; has engaged in and promoted a culture of lying; pushes a foolhardy and dangerous policy of empire, with over 700 military bases worldwide; has militarized a civil and peaceful society with a culture of fear and terror; has instigated a fraudulent war on terror with no serious threat to its borders; has conducted false flag operations, the most notable being 911 which the evidence shows was an inside government job; has failed to protect and help the poorest classes as evidenced by Hurricane Katrina; has allowed the mainstream press to be turned into an instrument of government propaganda; subscribes to a cruel patriarchal value system which harms womem and children; is little more than a shill and front for private, corporate profiteers; subverts the pursuit of Life, Liberty and Happiness; and has been deaf to the interests of Truth, Justice and Love.

"I/We, therefore, one/some of the People of the United States of America, and of the world, meeting here in lawful assembly, by the authority invested in me/us, do solemnly publish and declare this Declaration of Idependence, and with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, mutually pledge to myself/each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred honor.

"I/We further herewith establish The Love Government, aka The Lover Government and its Founding Day, July 7, under the sponsorship of the Red Brown and Blue Party TM, previously inaugurated on October 4, 2006 in the town of Ojai, California.

"In witness thereof, on this Day of July 7, 2007 at Ojai, California, United States of America, find the following true signature (s):..."

Did you see the big yellow moon last night? According to my calendar, full moon is tomorrow. Since it is occurring near the summer "high noon," does that make it a "high moon"? I get high thinking about her. How lucky that Ojai means "moon" in American Indian and sounds like O-High. Uncle Timothy was wrong; I don't need drugs to get high. Love is all the drug I need. That's high enough; higher than the sky. The moon rules; Ojai rules; love rules. Break all the rules with the rule of Love.

not "is LITTLE more than a shill and front for private, corporate profiteers", brother Dennis,

is NOTHING more than a shill ... as every student of law, politics, business, media, science or history knows. the SOLE purpose of government is to carry out the covert rule of the Security State, upon the heads of the serf population.

Mt, thanks for the correction regarding "little" vs. "nothing." I have noted it and will correct accordingly. I was trying to be kind and give the system a break, but why do that? I'm too much of a nice guy and a pleaser. Old habits change slowly.

Dennis,

what time will you be reading your Declaration (if you do)?

i'm intrigued that you'll be non-participating in the I-Day events as a personal political protest. perhaps i inserted the word "personal", but i do so quite intentionally, because i'm pretty certain that nobody's going to suddenly look around and say "hey, where's Dennis Leary?" in other words, nobody notices who's NOT there, or for what reasons. so don't do it for them/us...if you're doing it for yourself, however (which i think you are), then that's another thing. for the record, i sympathize with your reasons for avoiding the whole scene...there's certainly plenty to be upset about with the easily soulless and mindless ways in which we sometimes "celebrate".

there are also other ways to protest, and i'm not offering this as a judgment on your chosen action this year nor to create a hierarchy of valuable actions. i just feel impressed to share that my original intentions for joining the Ojai Independence Day parade in the first place (three years ago), and thereby creating the Ojai Peace Coalition, was out of a sense of protest. i didnt like the mindless flag-waving and meaningless slogan-shouting that marks that day, and i was tired of peaceful values being rendered "unpatriotic" by the warpowers-that-be. so, i decided to jump right in and be the change i wanted to see by reasserting peace as a patriotic value and reframing progressive politics as perfectly valid things to celebrate on our nation's birthday. so far, i think it a refreshing, validating, and valuable use of my time and energy. change is slow and often hard to measure at the cultural level, but i'd like to think that having that peace-culture element in the parade at all is a tiny ripple, a gentle nudge in the direction of interdependence (perhaps with idependence right around the corner).

Dana, Evan, Dennis, all ,,,

magic? ... or p'hraps Summer Sun,
global warming heat wave, 'tis ...

rising, raising, us (different) all,
in billowy sweat together acknowledging?

else, how do we traverse,
(these notes of prose, verse?)

and how this flitting,
do we flit?

.1 I read that: "how do we fit?" Then I see it is "flit." What's the difference between fit and flit? Flit is perhaps more free so I'll fly with that. .2 evan, you bring up a good point. To protest, do I participate or not? Suppose I was living in the Colonies prior to the Revolutionary War and there was a parade to honor some aspect of the British Empire? Would I march or stay away? Does the comparison hold? .3 My non participation is personal; it's an act of idependence: I depend on and follow my personal conscience. I subscribe to the notion that there is no real separation so I cannot be truly independent. My protest is the highest kind of inner and inter dependence. .4 Yes, I will be reading the Declaration at the fountain on 7/7 at 07:07. I have worded it as an "I/We" statement so that if I am the only one there the wording will be technically correct. I am a party of one; if someone else is there, she or he will also be a party of one. One + one = one. In part, the Red Brown and Blue Party is built on that idea. I am idependent and innerdependent. .5 I have started my own blogs at http://redbrownandblueparty.blogstream.com and also at http://thelovergovernment.blogstream.com. I intend to use those blogs to build an information and self education base. .6 I will refer back and forth between the OjaiPost.com and Blogstream.com. Get a play going and see what happens. I have big ideas which I will share as they develop; sort of like riding a stream of consciousness; not sure of where I'll end up but the ride could be fun. .7 Ojai is my base of operations for a lot of reasons, one of which is its locality to ground the non locality of the virtual and global spheres; got to keep my feet on the ground so to speak. I'll continue to use the OP because I really like the conversations and issues here and it is important, I feel, in the greater scheme of things. .8 This particular thread is one I really like; beautiful, in fact magnificent picture to lead it along with the title "Magick Summer in Mother Moon." Exactly. That's how I feel. .9 I woke up at 3 AM this morning which is unusual for me. I went outside and saw that beautiful moon shining in all her glory. Today, July 1, may be the first full moon day of the beginning summer moon. I feel the magick in the air. .10 These are very dark and dangerous times but also a time of magic and opportunity. I think that's what the moon was telling me this morning. This thread reminds me to listen to her. .11 Numbering my thoughts is a new idea I'm trying out; sort of helps to break up the streaming of consciousness. 12. Well, better get going, first to Farmer's Market and then for a walk on Shelf Road. Wonder what magick is in store for me today. .13 Magic moon number. Wow. I was previewing this and saw that this automatically linked to my blogstream addresses. Now that is magic; the magic of the modern world; I can be talking to someone in Timbuctoo; it's a small world after all. Thanks, all you moon lovers.

I just tested the linking system. The first link worked like magic but the second one did not. At blogstream I got the message that the page does not exist. I know it exists because I just posted to it. Seems the problem is with blogstream. 50% is not bad, though.

Whoops. My fault. The link is http://thelovegovernment.blogstream.com. I forgot that I used lovegovernment rather than lovergovernment because some company had used lovergovernment in connection with one of their products, T-shirts or something, and the product was military; isn't that ironic?; and I wanted to trademark the idea of love government, not to prevent others from using it but to prevent anyone from preventing me from using it. Anyway, I'll retest the system, and assume it works. What gets me about this new fangled digital world is how exact it has to be; I like things a little fuzzy and mystical; but perhaps there is an important lesson here, like karmic "every hair is numbered and no bird falls but that you mother in heaven takes note of it; oh you of little faith." I'll subscribe to that. Imagine, just one little letter spells connection or misconnection. Teaches me a lesson about blaming others; 99% of the time it turns out I made the mistake; another example of Idependence. -- I just tested it and it works like magic. What a magic world! To hedge my bets, I retitled my book from "The Lover Government" to "The Love Government AKA The Lover Government." It's a magic world of words where the pen is mightier than the sword; although nowadays it's not a pen but a keyboard; and not even that but the mind itself; and not even that but the heart herself; I think the doe stops there but I could be wrong; in fact there's a 99% chance I am; but I'm betting on that 1%, a party of one where one + one = one.

I like this thread, especially the beautiful picture which fits with the hot, sunny days we're having now. At high noon today, I will walk on the Shelf. I can take the heat and am usually all by myself up there at that time of day. I sit in the shade and eat oranges. One day a couple of red tailed hawks came by and sat on a telephone pole nearby. One flew off but the female, I believe, stayed for the longest time talking to me. She had this sqeak, squeak rhythm to her voice, rhyming in patterns of 4-5-6. I was wondering what she was trying to say, and later it hit me about the party of boys taking place far below; in fact, right next door to where I live; there were about a dozen of them, most in the age range of 4 to 6. The hawk was telling me to see things like a child, and have fun like at a party, and that the party I was starting on 7/7 would be just fine. I've seen two rattlesnakes up on Shelf. The first time I detoured off the main road and was about to go up this narrow path when I heard her vigorously shaking her rattle. It's really quite loud. It was very nice of her to warn me; I was lost in thought and could have been bitten for my intrusion. The second time a rattlesnake was right on the path but heard me coming and slithered off into the brush. No need to rattle I guess. The moral is to look where I'm walking which applies to more places than Shelf. One day I saw a lizard with a bright blue tail. I only got a glimpse but I saw her twice and I couldn't believe it but I think it's true. The C.R.E.W. was cleaning up the trail; kind of sad I think but I guess they have to reduce fire danger. They cut down entirely or cut back drastically some beautiful mansineta (?) bushes. I looked up one day from across where I like to sit and two big bushes were gone. I didn't see why they had to be cut because they were across from orange trees which in other places the C.R.E.W. left. Some hill sides are more barren now and I fear more subject to erosion but I suppose some like it because it's cleaner and safer; I think it looks sterile. A lizard was in my room the other night. Nice to pay me a visit. The city is authorizing some 62 grand for road work up on Shelf. Wonder what they're up to? A man was up there with a clipboard. I hope they don't screw it up too badly, and I hope it isn't a way to pave the way for more development. From Shelf the valley is seen in all her naked glory. I saw Lost Horizon a couple of nights ago. It was pretty far fetched and boring but the idea is attractive. I didn't see anything of Ojai in it which is why I rented it. It was supposed to have been made in Ojai. There is something mystical about Ojai, starting with the name. Developers would destroy it all if they could for money. The city government goes along for the ride. We are so blind and so addicted. At 67, I'm beginning to come awake. I wonder what I'll be when I grow up. I wonder what it will look like when I wake up from this dream. Maybe just like the Ojai I feel up on Self Road (there's a Freudian slif which I'll leave in; slif, there's a new word awaiting a meaning). Streaming consciousness is fun; sort of like that picture above; all those stream of life and love flowing out from and back to that point. What is the point? I call it love. Has to do with womam. Reading this book about the goddess culture before the patriarchal age. What a difference in consciousness. I call her Godus, to heal this split between God and us. The patriarchs were mad fools, mad with power. They still rule and may end up wiping out civilization. Blind with arrogance and pride. Another fall of Lucifer; rather, the same one. Womam is our salvation, not that we have to go back to the Ice Age but those womam centered values can be restored. Womam is primary; we have to accept that. Womam and children. It's so obvious to me. Boys with their trucks and nuclear bombs; love starved; mother alienated; lost souls. Up on Shelf I can see the Lover's body; the hills her breasts; the valley her vulva. Ojai the Moon Godus. The gravel trucks are just a symptom of a battle of cultures; shifting tectonic plates of consciousness; battling spirits of the air Paul said. Who knows? The Shadow knows; our shadow side; the developer devils; the new Babel builders and bible writers. Love will rule; that's my belief system. Like that picture of the sun: all roads leading to Ojai, the New Rome. Internet roads now; the virtual world where everything is virtually possible. One big net. A network of love (or love reversed). Magick in Mother Moon. The moon is closer to us, sort of steps down the energy of the sun. Moon brings us to womam and to blood, the first color of the Red Brown and Blue Party. It's a party all right, a celebration of US, the New U.S. of US. A party of one, one at a time, who fall into the love sign above. It all comes together in love, one way or another. Let's see, where was I? Oh yes, on Self Road (another slif?). The moon is crazy, you know; strange things happen at full moon. A lunar sea can be lunacy. Things are not what they seem. I'm having a midsummer night's dream, except it's not midsummer yet. I have a dream; a dream of love; a dream Lover. Who am I? Who is she? Who is Ojai? Self inquiry. The mind wants to co-opt and package it but that gets tiresome. Retain the magick. Listen to the moon. No need to go off the deep end; just rest in the center. Feels like reality to me. Just being in love. Nothing more required. Everything falls into place, assumes its proper proportions, just is what it is. The power of love. Well, I think I'll talk (slif) my walk; meant to say take my walk, with my feet on the road, not my fingers on these keys. I like this thread; think I'll tie an invisible thread to it so I can find it in the archives; sort of like Gretel with the bread crumbs in the dark forest; manna in the desert which it turns out were mushrooms, no wonder the priests were called high priests. I get high on these posts; no need for drugs; love is drug enough; Uncle Tim missed the true high path but I'll find his ass in the ethers and invite him home, for family's sake. Time out of mind: that's from Shakespeare and Dylan. When I get out of my mind there is no time. I don't mind; I could go on here forever; maybe I'll do a marathon and type for x hours straight. Maybe the administrator police will come for me. Time out. Love, Dennis.