- Ode to an Ancient Land – By Julian Rose That is maybe a rhetorical question, so I will not so much ask as state ‘England is going under’. And while that may be taken metaphorically, I mean it more actually. Great swathes of the Country are slowly drowning under a relentless rainfall that is part and parcel of an almost continuous barrage of winter storms moving in off the Atlantic Ocean. England sticks out into the Atlantic as if asking to be the recipient of an oceanic battering. The Country leans into the South Westerly’s as a sailor pits himself against driving wind and spray. She is an island in an Ocean, and one that is close to going under. There are powerful karmic forces weaving their historical tentacles into this unfolding saga. England once stood boldly out of this same Atlantic Ocean sending her great ships tacking across the high seas, seeking out new Continents and exploiting whatever treasures fell upon the way. Building empire across the globe in an ever expanding push for power and glory, wealth and prestige. From this small island on the Western flank of Continental Europe, the sailing ships and crews set forth and those that returned, came with their holds crammed with the trophies of their plunder. Kings and Queens applauded their exploits, planning and funding ever greater incursions into the territories they so indulgently sought to lay claim upon. Invasion was followed by conquest. Conquest by slavery. Slavery by the rule of Westminster and the Palace. Rule imposed for the ever greater enrichment of the coffers of the State, its barons and hierarchical elite. Soon England no longer depended for nourishment upon her own fertile lands and artisan skills. The peasant farmers were pushed unceremoniously off the land as Empire became the new provider and the landless British worker was yoked to the production line, becoming a tool for mass produced exports to newly conquered The demise of the British Isles was well underway even as its industrial revolution ground down the last native skills and seasonal rituals of a once bucolic countryside. Now the barley barons and kings of industry reigned over our colonial wealth- bolstered island. While, almost unnoticed, the newly instated merchant banker moved deftly into the wheel house so as to decisively lay his hand upon the course of history and build a money empire to match, and eventually overtake, the acquisitions of the colonies. The City of London soon stood solid and arrogant - the power house of this vast Empire. And while the British initiated slave trade was finally banned by an act of parliament, the British people took on the mantle of slavery, bowing to the new citadel whose tentacles reached out into great swathes of colonial wealth - and steadily drank it dry. Oh England, my England, so where is your soul today? Two World wars then tore the last of your subtle spirit from its sanctuary of rolling hills and valleys where once King Arthur ventured on his mystic journey and Druid tribals camped among the ancient oaks and standing stones. Where to now old island? Now that the foolish men in dark suits shout their pathetic schoolboy jibes to and fro across the floor of what was once a shrine to an idea called democracy. Now that the macadam motorway and sterile hypermarket have vanquished the ox cart’s winding track and breezy market stall – where to now? Now that the spirits and devas are driven from the edge of once pristine tinkling streams, and enchanted copses have met their fate at the hand of the brutal chain-saw. Where to now? Now it is your turn to be on the receiving end. The crimes of your past are catching-up with you, dear England. The arrogance and greed of your masters could not go unnoticed – could not pass-by unattoned for. Nor could the pacifistic stance taken by the greater populous when confronted with such frequent acts of national and international vandalism. The karmic retribution could not be stalled forever. Prepare your arks all those who can read the signs. Prepare yourselves for the deluge –whose first ferocious swathes are already upon the land. Head for the hills and higher climbs and take simple tools to prepare the ground. A great cleansing is upon this island; a cleansing that will jolt befuddled minds into memories of great stories of other eras, when lands were swallowed by mighty acts of nature. And yes, nature it is that once again rises up in defiance of all attempts to bring her under the control of those who would use and abuse her for their private wealth and make of her a platform for staging their profit driven foreign wars. This oh so British ‘civilization’, once so proud to lead the way in matters of conquest, was always bound at some point to receive its retribution. So proud to turn away from nature and forge its industrial steel into the wheels of the brave new world of mass consumerism. A world that left behind it all gentle arts that nature had so diligently taught. But such is She that no man can turn his back for long upon her simmering powers. No man can lay claim to having pacified and sold her soul – because passivity was not on her agenda, and her soul was never for sale. And those who sought to profit from her bounty will soon leave empty handed; for that time, prophesied of old, has finally come. Not even the vicious technologically engineered destruction of our climate can suppress the rising winds of change that are upon this scarred and battered jewel called Earth. It can only increase their velocity. So look now upon the rising waters and know what they are. Few Countries will escape the fever that’s upon this World. A fever for which the only cure is the unconditional metamorphosis of man himself, washed through and through, cleansed of that reckless hubris which has brought us to this tipping point. The tide is turning upon mankind – and this England which juts out into the rising stormy ocean to her West, will shoulder a heavy price for its blinkered, stubborn occupants, who for so long turned a blind eye on deeper truths and refused to look upon the blood encrusted pages of colonial history. Go under then. But when the great healing is finally done and the storms abate .. recede; rise again oh beautiful island, greet the coming dawn in vivid celebration of all that’s sacred, true, profound. Set forth your green and glorious valleys once more, so the animals may step out once again, two by two, to greet the unmasked glory which calls to be reborn. Meet Julian at Watkins Bookshop, London! February 20th 2014 – see link http://www.watkinsbooks.com/review/author-talks-in-january-february-2014 About the Author Julian is a committed international activist, writer, farmer and actor. He is an early pioneer of UK organic farming methods and is currently involved in the front line of efforts to keep Poland free from genetically modified organisms. Julian is President of The International Coalition to Protect the Polish Countryside. His book Changing Course for Life can be purchased on www.changingcourseforlife.info. His latest book In Defence of Life – a Radical Reworking of Green Wisdom is available at Amazon.com or can be requested onhttp://www.julianrose.info/
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by Julian Rose Like others fortunate enough to have time to read, reflect and absorb the information put out on sites like this, you have no doubt acquired a pretty reasonable grasp of what's going on in the World. Yet this knowledge comes with a certain proviso – it gives you a greater responsibility 'to be' and to give direction to the change that you now know is needed. Greater than the responsibility of those who have not had such an opportunity. You have experienced for yourself how manipulated and socially engineered is the society in which we live; how despotic is the cabal that pulls the strings; how effective is the methodology employed in keeping the majority in a dumbed down state of creative impotence. You have seen for yourself just how cold are the hearts of those who seek the tantalizing prize of absolute power; be it in banking, the hegemony of war, control of the food chain, the weather, the constitution and even the genetic pool of life itself. You have seen all this and have duly wished for an end to the top down incestuous heirarchical control freaks who relish holding the reins of power and exercising relentless repression over all who struggle to keep body and soul together. But, somehow or other, in spite of all this, you haven't seen yourself as someone to do something about it. This for you - has always been someone else's task. Someone else's concern. You have preferred to absolve yourself from confronting and grappling with the true reality. Then, one night, you are confronted by a remarkable series of events that set off a domino affect whose momentum is so strong that it becomes unstoppable. The foundations of the military industrial consortium begin to crack open; the main perpetrators start heading out of town; the grid sputters and then comes down and the government fails to get the support of the military in enforcing an emergency shut down of civil society. A great void opens up where just a few days before the imposition of a police state looked inevitable. In the tumultuous events that follow the centralised control is lost and 'the people' surge onto the streets. There is an attempt by an ad hoc forum to set in motion some form of mutual support groups so as to mitigate the chaos that rages all around. You yourself are now out on the street too. A young woman suddenly calls out your name - drawing you aside she says “I know you are capable, take charge of this community and give them leadership, show them the new way you know must transcend this worn out criminal regime – start now!” Then suddenly you snap awake. It was just a dream.. But was it? Sitting up in bed in a state of shock, you try to get your bearings. It feels all so real, so possible – and yet the clock points to 7 a.m. And you hear the familiar sound of your neighbour's car heading off down the road - and take in the aroma of toast wafting up the bedroom stairway. A news reader on the kitchen radio is giving the economic prognosis for the day – 'the index is expected to rise strongly on the announcement of a new military engagement in Central Africa...' Sitting down to breakfast, you dimly realize something of singular importance: if this had been real life you would have had absolutely no idea what to do. No concept of how to respond when asked to take charge of the life situation experienced in the dream. The young woman's words echo through your head “I know you are capable – take charge of this community and give them leadership.” Yet somehow you feel impotent to take such an action. All the knowledge gained through reading and participating in alternative blog sites; watching awareness raising documentary films; joining spiritual support groups – all this, and yet you still feel unequal to the task at hand - in turning these experiences into positive actions. Consider this carefully, for it may actually be at your door tomorrow – and not in the form of a dream but in the bright light of a real day. What is missing that renders us so enfeebled when faced by the reality of taking purposeful action to ameliorate our bruised planet and help our fellow human beings in times of distress? I will offer a clue. It is a lack of imagination. Imagination of a better way of life. Imagination that has been deliberately cultivated and etched into the mind, though years of purposeful intent to set in motion a new template for daily living that goes way beyond today's dysfunctional dystopia. We have quite simply failed ourselves if we have not cultivated such a vision – and we have failed our Creator; for Source equipped us with all the tools to foster this vision and to bring it into reality, no matter what the odds or how chaotic the circumstances. At any one moment we are called upon to bring into the foreground of our intent a picture of the community, landscape, village or city we would like to live in and to share with our companions. Having no such picture renders us pretty much useless – slaves to the moribund, vision-less status quo which feeds on our compliant passivity. But when one is left in charge; in charge of the future; one immediately knows that one needs a vision – and a realistic, realisable one – for how else is one going to decide what to attempt to put in place to ensure that things move in a better direction than that which superseded them? How else can the creative change that we dream of be shared and manifest? How else can we avoid stumbling into a makeshift, panic driven answer – thus making the same mistakes all over again? When I started organic farming on my land in the UK, I had a mental picture of what I wanted it to look and be like – then I set about bringing that picture into reality. It took around 15 years and led me through many variations of the original theme in the process. But that's fine – because the vision is quite simply a passion to give form to something. To give it beauty, humanity, community. To include all life forms – soil, trees, animals, people. It's a life enhancing holistic expression. There is no manual or instruction book, to be followed with joyless precision, that gets us to this goal. Life is our teacher. She will produce the vision if we let her flow through our veins. But we have to hold onto it and turn it into reality. So there you are – there we are – the one's who have been able to acquire 'awareness'. Faced by a deeply uncertain future – and yet in charge of our and others' destinies - by dint of being in possession of this 'awareness' when others are not. The control system, while preparing itself to clamp down ever more heavily, may actually be trembling at its roots. Beyond its long endured template of inverted and sterilised truth lies the opportunity to build a totally 'other society', based on humanitarian and creative values that have been longing for expression and integration for centuries. Are you readying yourself to lead your community towards that promised land? Or are you still hoping someone else will take on the mantle of that responsibility? You need to give yourself that answer today – and face its consequences. About the Author Julian is a committed international activist, writer, farmer and actor. He is an early pioneer of UK organic farming methods and is currently involved in the front line of efforts to keep Poland free from genetically modified organisms. Julian is President of The International Coalition to Protect the Polish Countryside. His book Changing Course for Life can be purchased on www.changingcourseforlife.info. His latest book In Defence of Life – a Radical Reworking of Green Wisdom is available at Amazon.com or can be requested on http://www.julianrose.info/ |