Tag Archives: CREATION

Okay, So NOW What?…

(The short essay below was originally published on December 23, 2012. Since many have not-so-jokingly suggested that the Maya got their calendar all wrong and actually meant 2020-2022 instead of 2012 for the end of the world, I think the tenor and content of this piece is as topical and relevant as ever.)

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December 21, 2012 has come and gone without the much ballyhooed Apocalypso Dance O’ Death & Destruction. (For the record, the Chiefs NEVER foretold a single cataclysmic extinction event for humanity, the Mother Earth, or Time Itself on this date. All of that nonsensical stew was cooked up in a pot of ignorance and misrepresentation by a kitchen full of cooks better suited to deep-frying Chicken Little fast food nuggets than attempting to serve a nutritious and intelligent meal of meaning and substance. It should be noted that those predictions of doom have done far more harm than good and were the source of no small disservice to the Maya people and Humanity as a whole, Present, Past, and Future.)

Well, now that all the fervor and poppycock has taken its rightful place in the ever-expanding dustbin of bogus prophecies, perhaps the real work of personal and societal transformation can begin in earnest. All this focus on doomsday scenarios is just proof of a continued emphasis on outer and, therefore, erroneous things and thinking. No celestial deity is going to come down from on high to fix us. History has demonstrated with utmost clarity that things just do not work in that way. We fix ourselves or we don’t get fixed at all.

The earth-shattering and Life-altering changes come from within, not without. Don’t spend time worrying needlessly about some coming End-Of-Days. The course of action is simple and direct: you would do well to destroy your delusions, because they are what can truly destroy you.

In this way, Beauty Lives.

©Billy Red Horse

THE METAPHYSICS OF MANNERS

It is my position that the Life of a well-mannered gentleman is the superior Life. I find it most unfortunate that many equate kindness, consideration, patience, tolerance, courtesy, and respectful behavior with weakness.

Understand that the manners of which I speak are not merely a perfunctory etiquette, behavioral mores observed solely to facilitate routine coexistence.  As postulated here, manners go much further and speak more to a genuine and expressed dignity demonstrating a profound appreciation of and respect for Life, Self, and Others.

Metaphysics speaks to first principles.  To my way of thinking, there is nothing more fundamental to the Human Experience than the refinement demonstrated through and by the considered and genuine display of decorum in our interactions one with another.

When drilling down into those first principles at the heart of my affinity for gentlemanly conduct, it might surprise you to learn of the motivation underlying my appreciation for and expression of such propriety.  I don’t live as a well-mannered gentleman for the benefit of others.  I do it solely for mySelf.  I do it because it makes me feel good.  I do it because it engenders a feeling and experience of power unlike any I have ever known.  That others are able to profit from my unvarnished acts of Self-interest is a tangential (and delightful) bonus.

Those Times in my Life when I have comported mySelf as other than a gentleman, whether through ignorance or intentional animus, I have always and without fail been the lesser for it.  AnyTime I have acted in an unmannered way, no matter how justified or righteous such behavior might have been, I inevitably walked away from the encounter feeling somehow soiled, contaminated by an Energy that I, ultimately, found repulsive. An Energy which I created.

Manners do not mean cowardice.  Civility does not mean capitulation.  Kindness does not mean weakness.  Firmness, resolve, and determination are more than capable of sharing the same space as gentility.  Some of the most mannered gentlemen I have ever encountered are capable of expressing great violence should the situation warrant it.  And they can do so without ever losing their dignity or their gentlemanly gravitas.

How people interact with others is telling of how they interact with and think about themSelves.  I speak often and at length about the value I perceive to be found in the process of Self-refinement.  I wish for my actions and my interactions with others to speak volumes about those things which I hold dear.  The joy and satisfaction I find in a mannered Life is reason enough for me to carry on, regardless of possibly being viewed as an ambulatory relic.

Manners maketh man.

©Billy Red Horse

ON CREATION

To the uninformed, the ability to create is something only artists or people possessed of unique talent have.  It is this erroneous mindset which is at the root of a vast number of maladies and miseries experienced by humans the world over and throughout Time.

For human beings, the compulsion to create is both a defining characteristic and an absolute necessity for Emotional, Mental, and Spiritual balance and good health.  This is because the human imperative to create is literally encoded within the matrix of our DNA, its fountainhead residing first and foremost in the primal urge to procreate.

What separates humans from other animals is when we move beyond simply making copies of ourSelves and use creation to express, communicate, and to bring value into the world.  That which we create expands our reach and influence into the world and upon those in it; what we create can make us bigger than we are.  Our creations can be our legacy.

Creation is a form of expression.  Creation is communication.  Our creations are mirrors which at once reflect back on us and refract out into the world.

As children of creation it is only natural that we ourSelves should seek to create.  The imperative to create is nothing less than an acknowledgement of our urge to be like God/Universe/Life ItSelf.

Over the years I have come to recognize the devastating impact that dubious creation can have on our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being.  Unconscious or accidental creation leads regularly to unintended consequences.  This is why conscious creation is so important.

Failure to create is evidence of an ignorance to the withering effects to be found in the absence of Self-expression.  To create is to find a way to express yourSelf, to bring something into existence that would not exist had you not created it.  This is why what YOU create is so important.

The most obvious avenues of creation are the arts: painting, sculpting, writing, playing music, and singing; creation, however, is not limited to the arts.  Think on this; how can you create if you don’t consider yourSelf an artist?

Those who fail to create only consume.  We lose our Self if all we do is consume that which was created by someone else.  Fortunately, our Life does not have to be a binary either/or proposition.  We can (and should) do both.

Certainly much more can (and likely will be) said on this subject.  In preparing the contents of this short post I have noted dozens of avenues of creative possibility regarding this topic and my own work.  Perhaps a longer form consideration to be posted at some point to my blog is in order?

Give the world a gift.  Go and create something.

©Billy Red Horse

ON MAGIC

Real Magic is not make-believe.

The average person expects more of Magic than Magic can possibly deliver, which is why so many discount that Magic can even exist at all. The problem arises when people expect the Hollywood representation to be an accurate depiction of how real Magic functions. Something from nothing is not possible and is not how Magic works. A real and efficacious “spell” or “potion” requires that certain elements be present for the Magic to come to fruition. “Magic” is when all of the required components come together in the proper sequence in the proper amounts at the proper Time and are enlivened by a metaphysical component which no science, no philosophy, and no religion has ever been able to accurately account for. Magic is not now (nor has it ever been) something which operates outside the boundaries of natural, physical, or Energetic Law. Real Magic is the fulfillment of Cause-and-Effect (no magic wand needed.)

Magic requires action. Magic requires effort. And Magic typically requires patience. Owing to its grounding in the Law, Magic will never permit itself to be rushed.

Magic is not infallible, as is no other attribute of Life. Magic is subject to the consequences of random influences as is everything else in Creation.

Magic is not supernatural; in fact, real Magic is the most natural thing in all of Creation.

I have encountered many people over the years who, once exposed to my theories regarding Magic, are quick to assert that I am either playing loose with semantics or attributing to Magic that which is nothing more than the basic processes of Life and Creation.

Guess what, folks?- Life IS Magic and Magic IS Life! The refusal to acknowledge and accept this critical verity is what deprives so many of the benefits and wonder of Magic in their lives.

Forget Hollywood. Step outside and take a good look around you. Wherever your gaze may fall, rest assured that you are seeing with your own eyes Real Magic of the highest order.

©Billy Red Horse