HONOURING

HONOURING

     This is not completely thought  out – but just arose out of a letter to Tossie van Tonder, in response to an invitation to her to attend a gathering in Cape Town, when I get back there – it is better to read between the lines:

HONOURED GUESTS.

  Samten:  Just be, as mentioned an honoured guest! 

  Tossie:  I would feel honoured around you anyway. What I mean is : must I bring my dagger saam? .

  Samten:   No, there will be a sign at  the door, saying PLEASE LEAVE YOUR CULTURAL WEAPONS OUTSIDE.

  Which brings me to some pontifications, not necessarily connected to you, but as you are a convenient ear, I will let rip anyway.

There are two words above, which emerge from the sentences in which they are embedded, for subjective reasons:

honour - honoured - and dagger.

  How could we connect them?

  By association, one thinks of the nauseating  violent themes of American cinema, the honour killings of the Mafia. I do not for one moment believe in the honour of killing, in any form.  In classical English literature, we have, for example, the vendetta killings in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which again points to an Italian source.

  Keeping in mind the Italian source material, we have apparently, in Cape Town a New Age magazine called Renaissance. In the email newsletter that they send out, listing New Age activities in Cape Town, I noticed how many of the workshops talk about creating a "safe space" to grow, be cherished and nourished, and so on.  As we know, for the affluent, [of no racial persuasion] safety and security have become of primal importance, while under the Old Regime, it was "Law and Order."  Perhaps the former is defensive, the latter was offensive, in the true sense of the word, to offend. America and Britain in their drive to global hegemony, prey on the sense or lack of sensibility of the masses, through the mass media and its powerful, titanic force, stressing all the time the safety and security  of their respective dominions.

  This brings me, to the word honouring. Over the various years of organising social functions, an activity that I have all but ceased to manifest,   friends have said: "We only see one another when Samten is in town" or words to that effect;  and others have said that Samten is a catalyst, a catalyser.  Certainly these activities, have  been based on what I think is an excess of estrogens in my system, estrogen being the chemical, that according to recent scientific research,  facilitates relationships, connecting, networking, creating patterns, holistic visions, and so on. In fact, the basic qualities of the whole Pluto in Leo generation, born just after WW II, and thus the Sixties generation as well. This subject needs further amplification and I have done so elsewhere.

  But to return to the word honouring.  Pluto in Leo generation are now at a point where they are moving into social power. At the same time they are becoming grandparents, loosing their own parents to death, and having to deal with the advent of old age. I saw an image of TV the other day of this little old man with grey hair singing in front of a mike. It was Leonard Cohen.  I still had this memory of him as a young man. Likewise the Rolling Stones,  and the  culture of the 60's, still alive, that is. And yet we are still listening to their music, and so were our children. 

  And how many other influences from the 60's have entered mainstream culture, from GREENPEACE, to ecological movements,  alternative healing and health,  the interest  in philosophies and knowledge systems outside those of the dominating religions, and so forth.  The influence of our generation is wide and subtle,  from gender issues to resisting GM crops, to new methods of raising and educating children, to biodynamic crops, and yoga and meditation  commonly in our midst,  in the media, [Dharma and Greg].

  These achievements, should be honoured, and the individuals bearing the responsibility of the work ahead [for as we know, the Work has just begun], should be honoured as well.

  We all know that under the effervescent surface of all the action patterns mentioned above, there is a common theme,  and most likely a universal philosophy or a vision of the world we would like to live in.

  But we have not found the manner in which this could all coalesce into a unified whole, and it is perhaps better that is should be so.  Fragmentation, or atomisation has its time and place, in the nature of things, of the things of Nature. But there is a time when  a unified front is necessary, and it is unfortunate that the wealth of human material mentioned above, should not see the urgency of doing so. For example, I believe that the ecological groups, are often fighting against one another,  which is a situation that should be rectified as soon as possible.

  The problem being, that many of us, have no surplus energy, after dealing with the struggle to survive, attending to the process of bringing up a family, and the increasing responsibilities of taking on powerful positions in society. There exists no group identity or structure, in which we can honour one another,  for our contributions to social transformation, whether they are in the arts, in politics,  education, or whatever. Prizes are handed out by Banks and Corporations,  but not by us,  to honour our contributions.

  Remember, the above should be seen within the context of  a collection of personal histories, which intersect and separate. 

  It would be an honour  to share a space with friends who have contributed in the past, who are contributing in the present, and who will contribute in the future.