Saturday, November 15, 2014

Tattoo potential

This would be an AWESOME Tattoo

Elder's Meditation of the Day November 15

Elder's Meditation of the Day November 15
*"Our Spiritual belief is that we were created as part of the land - so our identity, our names, and our songs are all tied to the land."*
--Chief Roderick Robinson, NISGA'A
In the traditional way, the names of native people had great meaning. We even had naming ceremonies. The naming of someone was very important and had great significance because it was tied to the Earth. The identity of each member and the teachings of the songs were all tied to Mother Earth. We need to know these teachings from our culture. This knowledge will help us heal the people.

My Maker, today help me find my identity.

Charles Littleleaf Native American Flutes

The cold winter is our fourth blessing of the year and a time of illumination for many. It teaches us the best ways to stay warm. We can envy the sleeping animals, trees and flowers because they are cozy and warm in their little habitats. We know that it won't be long before the hummingbirds, geese and the red wing blackbird will be back to tell us that spring has arrived.

We should smile at our cold and snowy lands because it also helps us draw inner warmth from those, and all that we love.

Love is the greatest warmth that exists.

Charles

Friday, November 14, 2014

The Emperor Wears No Clothes By Jack Herer Chapter 1

Chapter 1 The Emperor Wears No Clothes

By Jack Herer

Overview of the History of Cannabis Hemp

For the Purpose of Clarity in this Book:

Explanations or documentations marked with an asterisk (*) are listed at the end of the related paragraph(s). For brevity, other sources for facts, anecdotes, histories, studies, etc., are cited in the body of the text. Numbered footnotes are at the end of each chapter. Reproductions of selected critical source materials are incorporated into the body of the text or included in the appendices.

The facts cited herein are generally verifiable in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, which was printed primarily on paper produced with cannabis hemp for over 150 years. However, any encyclopedia (no matter how old) or good dictionary will do for general verification purposes.

Cannabis Sativa L.

Also known as: Hemp, cannabis hemp, Indian (India) hemp, true hemp, muggles, weed, pot, spinach, marijuana, reefer, grass, ganja, bhang, the kind, dagga, herb, etc., all names for exactly the same plant!

What’s in a Name?

(U.S. Geography)

HEMPstead, Long Island; HEMPstead County, Arkansas; HEMPstead, Texas; HEMPhill, North Carolina, HEMPfield, Pennsylvania, among others, were named after cannabis growing regions, or after family names derived from hemp growing.

American Historical Notes

In 1619, America’s first marijuana law was enacted at Jamestown Colony, Virginia, “ordering” all farmers to “make tryal of “(grow) Indian hempseed. More mandatory (must-grow) hemp cultivation laws were enacted in Massachusetts in 1631, in Connecticut in 1632 and in the Chesapeake Colonies into the mid-1700s.

Even in England, the much-sought-after prize of full British citizenship was bestowed by a decree of the crown on foreigners who would grow cannabis, and fines were often levied against those who refused.

Cannabis hemp was legal tender (money) in most of the Americas from 1631 until the early 1800s. Why? To encourage American farmers to grow more.1

You could pay your taxes with cannabis hemp throughout America for over 200 years.2

You could even be jailed in America for not growing cannabis during several periods of shortage, e.g., in Virginia between 1763 and 1767.

(Herndon, G.M., Hemp in Colonial Virginia, 1963; The Chesapeake Colonies, 1954; L.A. Times, August 12, 1981; et al.)

George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew cannabis on their plantations. Jefferson,3 while envoy to France, went to great expense, and even considerable risk to himself and his secret agents, to procure particularly good hempseeds smuggled illegally into Turkey from China. The Chinese Mandarins (political rulers) so valued their hemp seed that they made its exportation a capital offense.

The Chinese character “Ma” was the earliest name for hemp. By the 10th century, A.D., Ma had become the generic term for fibers of all kinds, including jute and ramie. By then, the word for hemp had become “Ta-ma” or “Da-ma” meaning “great hemp.”

The United States Census of 1850 counted 8,327 hemp “plantations”* (minimum 2,000-acre farms) growing cannabis hemp for cloth, canvas and even the cordage used for baling cotton. Most of these plantations were located in the South or in the Border States, primarily because of the cheap slave labor available prior to 1865 for the labor-intensive hemp industry.

(U.S. Census, 1850; Allen, James Lane, The Reign of Law, A Tale of the Kentucky Hemp Fields, MacMillan Co., NY, 1900; Roffman, Roger. Ph.D., Marijuana as Medicine, Mendrone Books, WA, 1982.)

*This figure does not include the tens of thousands of smaller farms growing cannabis, nor the hundreds of thousands if not millions of family hemp patches in America; nor does it take into account that well into this century 80% of America’s hemp consumption for 200 years still had to be imported from Russia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Poland, etc..

Benjamin Franklin started one of America’s first paper mills with cannabis. This allowed America to have a free colonial press without having to beg or justify the need for paper and books from England.

In addition, various marijuana and hashish extracts were the first, second or third most-prescribed medicines in the United States from 1842 until the 1890s. Its medicinal use continued legally through the 1930s for humans and figured even more prominently in American and world veterinary medicines during this time.

Cannabis extract medicines were produced by Eli Lilly, Parke-Davis, Tildens, Brothers Smith (Smith Brothers), Squibb and many other American and European companies and apothecaries. During all this time there was not one reported death from cannabis extract medicines, and virtually no abuse or mental disorders reported, except for first-time or novice-users occasionally becoming disoriented or overly introverted.

(Mikuriya, Tod, M.D., Marijuana Medical Papers, Medi-Comp Press, CA, 1973; Cohen, Sidney & Stillman, Richard, Therapeutic Potential of Marijuana, Plenum Press, NY, 1976.)

World Historical Notes

“The earliest known woven fabric was apparently of hemp, which began to be worked in the eighth millennium (8,000-7,000 B.C.).” (The Columbia History of the World, 1981, page 54.)

The body of literature (i.e., archaeology, anthropology, philology, economy, history) pertaining to hemp is in general agreement that, at the very least:

From more than 1,000 years before the time of Christ until 1883 A.D., cannabis hemp, indeed, marijuana was our planet’s largest agricultural crop and most important industry, involving thousands of products and enterprises; producing the overall majority of Earth’s fiber, fabric, lighting oil, paper, incense and medicines. In addition, it was a primary source of essential food oil and protein for humans and animals.

According to virtually every anthropologist and university in the world, marijuana was also used in most of our religions and cults as one of the seven or so most widely used mood-, mind-or pain-altering drugs when taken as psychotropic, psychedelic (mind-manifesting or -expanding) sacraments.

Almost without exception, these sacred (drug) experiences inspired our superstitions, amulets, talismans, religions, prayers, and language codes. (See Chapter10 on “Religions and Magic.”)

(Wasson, R. Gordon, Soma, Divine Mushroom of Immortality; Allegro, J.M., Sacred Mushroom & the Cross, Doubleday, NY, 1969; Pliny; Josephus; Herodotus; Dead Sea Scrolls; Gnostic Gospels; the Bible; Ginsberg Legends Kaballah, c. 1860; Paracelsus; British Museum; Budge; Ency. Britannica, Pharmacological Cults; Schultes & Wasson, Plants of the Gods; Research of: R.E. Schultes, Harvard Botanical Dept.; Wm. EmBoden, Cal State U., Northridge; et al.)

Great Wars were Fought to Ensure

the Availability of Hemp

For example, the primary reason for the War of 1812 (fought by America against Great Britain) was access to Russian cannabis hemp. Russian hemp was also the principal reason that Napoleon (our 1812 ally) and his “Continental Systems” allies invaded Russia in 1812. (See Chapter 11, “The (Hemp) War of 1812 and Napoleon Invades Russia.”)

In 1942, after the Japanese invasion of the Philippines cut off the supply of Manila (Abaca) hemp, the U.S. government distributed 400,000 pounds of cannabis seeds to American farmers from Wisconsin to Kentucky, who produced 42,000 tons of hemp fiber annually until 1946 when the war ended.

Why Has Cannabis Hemp Been

so Important in History?

Because cannabis hemp is, overall, the strongest, most-durable, longest-lasting natural soft-fiber on the planet. Its leaves and flower tops (marijuana) were, depending on the culture, the first, second or third most-important and most-used medicines for two-thirds of the world’s people for at least 3,000 years, until the turn of the 20th century.

Botanically, hemp is a member of the most advanced plant family on Earth. It is a dioecious (having male, female and sometimes hermaphroditic, male and female on same plant), woody, herbaceous annual that uses the sun more efficiently than virtually any other plant on our planet, reaching a robust 12 to 20 feet or more in one short growing season. It can be grown in virtually any climate or soil condition on Earth, even marginal ones.

Hemp is, by far, Earth’s premier, renewable natural resource. This is why hemp is so very important.

Footnotes:

1. Clark, V.S., History of Manufacture in the United States, McGraw Hill, NY 1929, Pg. 34.

2. Ibid.

3. Diaries of George Washington; Writings of George Washington, Letter to Dr. James Anderson, May 26, 1794, vol. 33, p. 433, (U.S. govt. pub., 1931); Letters to his caretaker, William Pearce, 1795 & 1796; Thomas Jefferson, Jefferson’s Farm Books; Abel, Ernest, Marijuana: The First 12,000 Years, Plenum Press, NY, 1980; Dr. Michael Aldrich, et al.

Chapter Two – http://www.jackherer.com/thebook/chapter-two/

General Cultural Beliefs Of Algonquian Speaking Tribes

Published on November 13, 2014 by Amy

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Algonquin Indians

The Algonquin Indians (also spelled Algonkian) are the most populous and widespread North American Native groups, with tribes originally numbering in the hundreds and speaking several related dialects. They inhabited most of the Canadian region south of Hudson Bay between the Rockies and the Atlantic Ocean and, bypassing select territories held by the Sioux and Iroquois, the latter of whom had driven them out of their territory along the St. Lawrence and Ottawa rivers in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Algonquin (or Algonkin) are used in reference to the tribes, but Algonquian either refers to the Algonquin language or to the group of tribes that speak related dialects. The word “Algonquin” means “At the place of spearing fishes and eels”.

Because the Northern climates made agriculture difficult, the Algonquin were a semi-nomadic people, moving their encampments from one place to the next in search of food, which came from hunting, trapping, fishing and the gathering of various plant roots, seeds, wild rice and berries. They travelled on foot and by birchbark canoe in the summer months, and used toboggans and snowshoes in the winter. Their clothes were made from animal skins, as were their tents, also known as wigwams; sometimes also covered with birchbark.

The Algonquin social structure was patriarchal; men were the leaders and the heads of the family and territorial hunting rights were passed from father to son.

The shaman held a powerful place in Algonquin society. He was believed to be able to heal the sick and communicate with the spirit world: A great spirit or supreme being, lesser spirits in control of the elements, evil spirits at the root of illness and misfortune, and benevolent spirits bringing fortune and good health. The shaman was also called upon as an interpreter of dreams, in which the Algonquin found great significance.

The Algonquin included, believed in an afterlife where the spirits of dead men were chasing the spirits of dead animals. They were also firm believers in Witchcraft and were very reluctant reveal their real names in the fear that enemies with spiritual powers would use them with evil intention.

The Algonquin were among the first North American Natives to make alliances with the French who adopted Algonquian methods of travel, and started using terms like “canoe” and “toboggan”.

There are presently about 8,000 Algonquin living in Canada, organized into eleven separate First Nations, ten are in Quebec and one in Ontario.

Source: aaanativearts

Elder's Meditation of the Day November 14

Elder's Meditation of the Day November 14
*"The hearts of little children are pure, and therefore, the Great Spirit may show to them many things which older people miss."*
--Black Elk (Hehaka Sapa) OGLALA LAKOTA
Sometimes adults think they know more than the children. But the children are closer to the truth. Have you ever noticed how quickly they can let go of resentments? Have you ever noticed how free they are of prejudice? Have you ever noticed how well the children listen to their bodies? Maybe adults need to be more like children. They are so innocent. The children pray to the Creator and trust that He will take care of them.

Grandfather, today let the children be my teacher.

Native American Indian Traditional Code Of Ethics

Published on January 29, 2012 by Casey

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Native American Indian Traditional Code Of Ethics

Native American Indian Traditional Code of Ethics

Each morning upon rising, and each evening before sleeping, give thanks for the life within you and for all life, for the good things the Creator has given you and for the opportunity to grow a little more each day. Consider your thoughts and actions of the past day and seek for the courage and strength to be a better person. Seek for the things that will benefit others (everyone).
Respect. Respect means “To feel or show honor or esteem for someone or something; to consider the well being of, or to treat someone or something with deference or courtesy”. Showing respect is a basic law of life.
- Treat every person from the tiniest child to the oldest elder with respect at all times.
- Special respect should be given to Elders, Parents, Teachers, and Community Leaders.
- No person should be made to feel “put down” by you; avoid hurting other hearts as you would avoid a deadly poison.
- Touch nothing that belongs to someone else (especially Sacred Objects) without permission, or an understanding between you.
- Respect the privacy of every person, never intrude on a person’s quiet moment or personal space.
- Never walk between people that are conversing.
- Never interrupt people who are conversing.
- Speak in a soft voice, especially when you are in the presence of Elders, strangers or others to whom special respect is due.
- Do not speak unless invited to do so at gatherings where Elders are present (except to ask what is expected of you, should you be in doubt).
- Never speak about others in a negative way, whether they are present or not.
- Treat the earth and all of her aspects as your mother. Show deep respect for the mineral world, the plant world, and the animal world. Do nothing to pollute our Mother, rise up with wisdom to defend her.
- Show deep respect for the beliefs and religion of others.
- Listen with courtesy to what others say, even if you feel that what they are saying is worthless. Listen with your heart.
- Respect the wisdom of the people in council. Once you give an idea to a council meeting it no longer belongs to you. It belongs to the people. Respect demands that you listen intently to the ideas of others in council and that you do not insist that your idea prevail. Indeed you should freely support the ideas of others if they are true and good, even if those ideas ideas are quite different from the ones you have contributed. The clash of ideas brings forth the Spark of Truth.
Once a council has decided something in unity, respect demands that no one speak secretly against what has been decided. If the council has made an error, that error will become apparent to everyone in its own time.
Be truthful at all times, and under all conditions.
Always treat your guests with honor and consideration. Give of your best food, your best blankets, the best part of your house, and your best service to your guests.
The hurt of one is the hurt of all, the honor of one is the honor of all.
Receive strangers and outsiders with a loving heart and as members of the human family.
All the races and tribes in the world are like the different colored flowers of one meadow. All are beautiful. As children of the Creator they must all be respected.
To serve others, to be of some use to family, community, nation, and the world is one of the main purposes for which human beings have been created. Do not fill yourself with your own affairs and forget your most important talks. True happiness comes only to those who dedicate their lives to the service of others.
Observe moderation and balance in all things.
Know those things that lead to your well-being, and those things that lead to your destruction.
Listen to and follow the guidance given to your heart. Expect guidance to come in many forms; in prayer, in dreams, in times of quiet solitude, and in the words and deeds of wise Elders and friends.

Source: sapphyr