by John Madsen

We heard from Cash earlier this week urging us to support the Sanctuary - I want to get my oar in the water.

I had to close my little store in Cooper-Young in the spring of '06. It was abundantly clear that I was not going to be able to survive on the level of support received from the folks in the area. To say I was depressed is a huge understatement. I didn't know if I was ever going to want to do art again.

A couple of months after that, I got a call from Mary Ellen. After commiserating with me, she offered me a chance to move forward by placing some work in her new store. Since then, when I have been discouraged, she kept me thinking forward. When I've felt rejected, she helped me feel included. Above all, she has taught me  to believe that I can form a life around my personal and spiritual values.

At the Sanctuary, I feel I have become one in a string of kindred hearts.

And, I know for a fact that I am not the only person to benefit from her work. People have come to The Sanctuary and recieved healing, information, fellowship, delight or tranquility, each as they need it.

I keep hearing people grouse about Memphis. I like it. But I do know that every place that supports alternative living also needs, in turn, to be supported.

I've never seen a liquor store, wing shop or bail bondsman close in Memphis. I've yet to see a metaphysical  store last for very long. I'd like to be part of helping one survive.

So I'll meet y'all halfway. From now to the 15th of October, stop by and select a piece of my jewelry. Pay whatever amount you think is fair for it. I'll donate 100% of the price you select to The Sanctuary.

Anybody need to do a little karma work?

Namaste, john madsen

Health Care - Frontline of the Culture Wars

Earlier this week, my daughter took my grandson to the doctor - he had a croupy cough and a fever - the diagnosis was walking pneumonia. Typically of her, my daughter was horrified that her darling child  had contracted such a dire-sounding malady. In an attempt to reassure her, the doctor told her that, with so many young mothers not having health coverage, many young children contract walking pneumonia, and it goes untreated, with no permanent damage. Appropriately, my daughter was then horrified that so many young women are unable to provide their children with the same health care that she has access to.

There is currently before Congress a piece of legislation that will require insurance companies to provide 48 hours of hospital care for female patients who have had mastectomies. It's hard to believe that this is necessary, but a series of women testified that their insurance providers offered coverage for mastectomies only on an outpatient basis. A drive-through mastectomy.

In ratings of health care in Western nations, the infant mortality rate in the United States was better only than Latvia.

The US leads the world in weapons sales, and leads Latvia in infant mortality.

What is up with this?

It's simple, folks. Large insurance companies have one major goal, and it is the same as all corporations - to generate wealth for stockholders. This single goal motivates auto manufacturers, telecommunications companies, the financial services segment, oil and mining companies, agribusiness, and pharmaceuticals manufacturers. 

If you review the history of corporate behavior in the days before government regulation, you will  find an astonishing pantheon of appaling behavior. Children chained to their workstations. Tainted meat knowingly sold to the public. Outright lies in advertising.

How do these corporate entities become powerful? They participate in the political system.

Where is our redress? In the political system. Yes, we are spiritual beings. Yes, we are on personal journeys of discovery. We are also citizens.

If you don't vote, you decline to participate in the political system. And, you accede to the status quo, and accept as your lot what Thomas Paine referred to as "the depredations of the corporations."

 If you choose not to exercise your political birthright on your own behalf, I genuinely respect that.   

But you might want to think about the moms who can't take their kids to the doctor when the kid has walking pneumonia. You can cast one vote for one candidate who cares about those kids and their moms.

Just fire one shot in the culture war - or at least think about it.

By John Madsen AKA Commander Zero

Since March,  I've had a day job that requires me to drive between several communities in Tunica and DeSoto counties. As the spring emerged, became vigorous, and transitioned into summer, I took the opportunity to observe the different forms of wild and cultivated plant growth, and almost welcomed each new stage of growth as if it were all my offspring. Early on, I noticed tiny thistle plants that set almost microscopic blossoms. Later,  the mimosas set out their blooms, sensually pink and white, ethereally wispy. White cranes fed in some of the flat fields of seedling rice which extended to the horizon, white parabolic shapes sparse against deep brilliant green.

Also - I've been wearing a pendant I made - the Celtic triple crescent form. In its' deepest meaning, it symbolizes the Celtic belief in the physical world as a triune form - sky, earth and water existing separately, yet as one and within one.

So, one morning, humming along, it dawns on me that this triune form is also an excellent analogy for the process of photosynthesis. Simply put, this is a chemical reaction in plant tissues whereby light, water, and mineral content are conjoined and catalyzed to produce oxygen and a plant-useable carbohydrate. By this means, plants feed themselves and create, as a by-product,  30 tons of harvestable carbohydrate for each person on the earth annually, as well as all the oxygen in the atmosphere. Without this animated tryptich, all life on the planet comes to an inglorious end.

What elegant wisdom for the ancient of us to have known this intuitively, and to have expressed it artistically in so many wondrous tri-forms.

And, in case you need any more proof that the Source is a loving entity, consider that a key player in photosynthesis is chlorophyll, the chemical that gives leaves and grasses their  coloration.

How about that? This elegantly calibrated, cheerfully mute, endlessly generous process, going on all around us, independent of us, nourishing us, and giving us all the beautiful variations on the color green.

Blessed be - no foolin'.  

by John Madsen, aka "Commander Zero"

  When I was 13, we lived in Washington State, and could go to the banks of the Yakima River, and watch Native Americans harvest salmon as it had been done for thousands of years.  Many years since, the Corps of Engineers erected a series of dams in the Columbia River watershed, so agribusiness could prosper. The salmon, once a landmark indigenous species on the continent, are now virtually extinct in that watershed, and the Native Americans no longer have the option ro live as their ancestors did. This was a battle in the Culture Wars, and one side won; the other lost.

     An article on today's AP wireservice site reports that current Federal law governing employee benefits contains a loophole that allows employers to choose to refund premiums rather than pay the benefit. That is correct - if you die, and have life insurance through an employer ERISA plan, your employer may elect to refund your premiums, if they are a lesser amount than paying the benefit. I doubt this is simply a legislative oversight. Someone wins, and someone loses.

    My perspective is that corporate values are gaining ascendancy over human values. Simplification? Maybe.

    A few weeks ago, I was at the Sanctuary one Saturday while it was raining fairly heavily. A small group of teenagers who had been in the store went out into the rain. A couple of the girls danced; a couple of the boys sat in Yoga postures. It won't bring back the salmon, but it felt like a victory, and my heart celebrated them.

    To see some cultural diversity in performance art, cut and paste this link into your browser - it is a 200-year-old British song being performed by a group of musicians that reflects current British population mix:   

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QC2av7-_Ik&feature=related

  Think globally, act courageously; courage is very cool.

by John Madsen, aka "Commander Zero" 

This past  Saturday, I sat in on a drum circle at a home in Bartlett. The facilitator/leader was a lady I've been in previous circles with, but with whom I have not drummed in several years. She's very good at leading circles, and it was a wonderful experience. Several of the drummers were skilled and experience, and folks who wished to play a simpler percussion piece (bells, sticks, etc.) were provide with them. I came away with a couple of observations:

As sometimes  happens in well-led circles, the sound became almost orchestral. The root beats were maintained and  steady; the rythm patterns were authoritatively improvised upon and embellished, and a thicket of auxiliary sounds provided a richly textured background. The lesson for me? I find real freedom in submission to a discipline. The jazz player endlessly rehearses scales, the dancer refines small but articulate body movements over a period of years, the artist develops a folio of preparatory sketches before a beginning a new work, and all find their expressive abilities enhanced by practicing structured learning.

Additionally, I spent some time contemplating the drum I took to the circle. I own a half-dozen drums, but have had this one since 1993. It has a wonderful, rich bass tone, and a crisp, ringing high note. Although it is nicked and scratched, I think it has, over time, become more resonant and responsive. The lesson here? Your song gets better with repeated singing. By adhering to consistent thoughts and actions, you will find your own best voice.

So - having just turned 55, I will try not to fear the passage of time - but to use as many moments for good as I can. Time is the growing medium we are rooted in.

Sometimes people ask me about "The Secret" and the Law of Attraction.  Those that aren't experienced with the basics of energy work don't understand about The Law of Attraction.  They ask if we think we can manifest whatever we want or need ourselves, where does prayer fit in?  I can tell by the look on their face if they think I don't pray or am not in touch with my Creator on a regular basis that they simply will have to end our conversation.  (And—what's with that?  Do they think Jesus stopped talking to anyone who didn't agree with things he said???)..:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Anyway, here's what I tell them:  I tell them that practicing the Law of Attraction, or going by the principle that like attracts like actually ALLOWS for prayer to work.  Like, we're helping God.  I explain that when we ask God for something, often times we get in our own way which actually makes it harder for God to answer our prayers.  I tell them that if we would just believe we'll have what we want or need then believe– not just believe but FEEL as if our prayers have already been answered, that He'll be able to fulfill our prayers faster.

That's hard to grasp sometimes, especially when we've been raised to believe we may not deserve certain things.  A good book on this subject is "The Isaiah Effect" by Gregg Braden.  It talks about certain scriptures in the bible that reinforce the science of prayer.

Every miracle has a scientific explanation.  The timing and circumstances of the event make it no less miraculous even  if we delve into what actually caused the miracle.  For instance, the Red Sea could have been parted by a freak straight line wind, laser beam, or undersea volcano.  That doesn't mean that it wasn't manifested by God, angels, or any other component of our Universe and it was still a great miracle.  The details are just HOW they did it.

The great star that shown upon Jesus' birth was probably a super nova or alignment of several planets.  Astrologers of that day may have foreseen the  birth of a great teacher upon that alignment.  Or, it may have been purely prophesied.  Regardless, it led the wise men to him.  Isn't that a cool miracle?  Does it matter that the star may have been lined up for eons to shine brightly at that time, or that it may not have been lit by angels with lots and lots of shiny halos?  No, not really.  It was still a miracle and a miraculous event.

So quit getting in your own way and practice the Law of Attraction every day.  Be grateful for what you have now.  Tune not just your thoughts but the very vibration of your being towards feeling as if you have what you want or need at this very second.  Pray as if you've already received what you're asking for.  Don't say "God, I need some money" because you're apt to start needing some money.  Don't say "God, cure me from this disease" because it only reinforces you have disease.  Thank God for how great you feel and your continued good health, and the many miracles that you receive on a daily basis that you don't recognize as miracles because you see them every day.

Every day is a miracle.  I don't care if it's been going on a million times over, it's still a miracle.

Until next time ~  Grace to you, and Peace ~ Mary Ellen

To Thine Own Self Be True-..:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

As I've written before in this column many times,  being "stuck" here in Memphis seems to be a theme at The Sanctuary.  People feel like they can't move away, or if they do they end up coming back.

At our metaphysical class a while back, we discussed the creativity that many people who live in this area have come up with that's' unique.  Elvis, the blues, the food… to name a few.  Elvis never seemed to think this area was keeping him down, despite being a poor kid in the 50's, and look what he achieved.   This area does seem to force a bloom on the plants that have the will to flourish in this climate.

Some of the tenets I've come up with in order to flourish here:

To Thine Own Self Be True.  Don't act a certain way because you think others expect it.  There's a different between flagrantly waving your differences in front of someone's face and living true to your self.  We're here for a reason, our own individual selves.  If God had intended for us to act like zombies he'd have made us zombies and set us square in midtown.  Let your true colors shine and be proud of them.

Make decisions as if money were not an issue.  If money affects a decision we make, it may not be the best for us and it may delay us getting where we  need to be.  We've seen The Secret.  You make the best decision for you and everything else will fall into place.

Get used to having abundance and never being in need.  "We are at the very, very tail end of existing in an old reality of just making enough money, or manifesting enough to get by. Up until now in our lives, we have been receiving what we may have thought was quite enough, or perhaps maybe what we thought was not nearly enough. Either way, that old reality is about to end. We have been manifesting at a certain level with certain beliefs and limitations, and this way of being is nearly done." (this comes from "What's  Upon Planet Earth, March 16 archive).

Create Your Own Reality.  The phrase "creating our own reality" is now more true than ever before. What we choose to believe and perceive becomes what we will find ourselves in. If we can focus our thoughts and attentions on positive things of a higher order, we will immediately be placed in a new dream and reality. In this way, we can rise above the mass consciousness and have a very different experience.  So in effect, we are the ones who are currently creating our own prisons. (this comes from "What's  Upon Planet Earth, March 24 archive, paraphrased).

These things I've passed along to you based on experiences I've had at The Sanctuary and talking with folks who keep relating similar experiences.  I could not make this stuff up, that would be too weird.  LOL

Until next time ~  Grace to you, and Peace ~ Mary Ellen