Re: [ConstellationTalk] A more Systemic global view of Katrina's wake?Dear
Alison,
I hear you and your fear, and I honor both. I am sitting here in New York City,
evening of Sept 10th.
Your question is: is there anything we can do about it- prevent rather than
'just' deal with aftermath of destruction.
"I understand very well that we cannot contrive a constellation-- but at the
same time, at this moment in history, how important is it for me as an American
to devote a lot of time and energy to a modality, that can clean up after
perpetration, but not find a way to stem the tide of ongoing, current
perpetration? And if there is a way, what is it?"
Is there a way to stem the tide of ongoing, current perpetration with this
work?
I have been thinking so much about this and about your mail, and I do not have
answers that are clear enough to send, but I want you to know
I hear you and your fear and sadness about what has been and is going on. I sit
here with my fear and sadness about it and
I wish we could do something to prevent more from happening. I don't know what
to do and it is not easy to sit with that.
take care,
Libby
----- Original Message -----
From: Alison Rose Levy
To: ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Tuesday, September 06, 2005 8:26 AM
Subject: Re: [ConstellationTalk] A more Systemic global view of Katrina's
wake?
Dear Stefan and Gary:
I've been reading your emails and agreeing and resonating with them, as well
as with what Libby wrote and I've personally been in deep grief, fear, and
anger about this.
Thanks, Stefan, for saying you are from New Orleans because now I understand
the greater depth of what you feel. I felt the pain pouring forth in your
emails and was having trouble reading them because part of me couldn't bear it,
but now I understand why.
I'm from New York City and was in the city on 9/11. I saw the puffs of smoke,
heard the sirens and airplanes overhead, watched my cats hide under the bed,
knew many who saw the buildings collapse and ran for their lives, as well as
those who lost loved ones.
And I can tell you that although, as you say, there are those anywhere who
resonate with the event, there is indeed a different level of suffering when
it's you and your home town. You lose the immunity that others can retreat to.
In the aftermath, it felt as though people I knew were anaesthetized and still
living in a bubble. And from their side, no one likes to hear bad news, and
they probably thought I was "over-reacting."
From where I sat, it felt urgent to bring about a different outcome right
before the last presidential election. I was on the phone every night for
hours, phoning voters, and writing newspapers all over the country. I must have
made thousands of such efforts. And you know what I was telling people? I told
them, "We in New York City don't want our suffering used for this war, we're
more afraid now, we want different leadership. We're on the front lines, and we
know we are less safe."
And it felt like it was very hard for people to understand. I had friends and
families in other places in the country who also wanted a different outcome to
the election-- but were they on the phone every night? Most were not, though
all my friends in the city were manning the phone banks. And posters in the
black sections of town prophetically declaimed, "Vote or Die."
Weeks before the election, I wrote into this group about President Bush's
grandfather who ran the American bank that was used by Hitler's financiers to
help finance the rise of Nazism. I got a single response, from someone saying
that nothing could be done without a Bush family member. No further comment. I
felt so discouraged.
In the wake of New Orleans and anticipating the upcoming Congress, I began
writing again and here's my question to this group:
I understand very well that we cannot contrive a constellation-- but at the
same time, at this moment in history, how important is it for me as an American
to devote a lot of time and energy to a modality, that can clean up after
perpetration, but not find a way to stem the tide of ongoing, current
perpetration? And if there is a way, what is it?
Perhaps, it's about facing and accepting the death of democracy, the
destruction of nature, and the loss of human life, including our own and those
of loved ones-- and bowing. Is that where we are? And what about atonement?
So Stefan, though it's probably not much comfort, welcome to the club of
those who have a more direct and personal experience of the tragic destruction
of this government. Sadly, I fear that unless there is strenuous action now
that club may be growing until a time when few, except for Bush's millionaire
friends, hiding out in bunkers, will be able to consider themselves exempt.
Those in the club have had the wake up call: if there is something to be
done, do it now. Don't wait. I hope that this time, there will be more of us
taking action. And I hope that those in this group with their sensitivity to
these issues will also sign on for our club as honorary members, and make this
a priority as I know many of you are doing.
Finally, I was so touched to hear your response to Anne Rice's article. A
close friend of my husband, Ed Levy, was the one who urged her publisher to
have her write something about New Orleans in the Times. We phoned into our
local jazz station and requested Louis Armstrong playing, "Do You Know What It
Means to Miss New Orleans?"
It was comforting to know that a small gesture to help did reverberate out
and comfort someone in the wake of this tragedy. And I hope that this note
helps a little too.
At a Buddhist retreat site Ed and I visited last weekend, I read a Buddhist
teacher saying that to grow spiritually, we have to become "psychologically
homeless." Having lost your city, that is now your condition, Stefan. And it is
all our situations, because we have all lost New Orleans, and the safety of our
world.
Alison
On 9/6/05 5:19 AM, merlin7win@xxxxxxx at merlin7win@xxxxxxx wrote:
Thank you Gary,,,,,,for that very insightful contribution to the forum. I
think I am the only person that is signed up on this forum that is actually
from New Orleans. If anyone else is from there please let me know. Not that
everyone one that has said something is not feeling deeply about it as
me,,,,,as I am sure all of us Healer/Priest/Priestess types register a big
upset in the Greater Soul with all the suffering and angst going on.
I could not weep the first couple of days out of shock, as I am sure it
brought up my own shocks and traumas that I received when I was growing up down
in the big easy. A brother 6 and another one at 12 have been down under the
swamps in their graves for many years. After I read what Anne Rice.....who
some of you may know as the vampire lady writer.. had to say I broke down and
cried. You can read her article @
Do You Know What It Means to Lose New Orleans? - New York Times
<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/04/opinion/04rice.html?incamp=article_popular>
Wherever the blame falls......and what heads roll as a result......there
are four main points I would like everyone to know.......and that is that no
matter what the republican leaders say: 1) warning people to get
out.........two days before it hit. It would take at least 2 days to walk out
of New Orleans to get to Kenner and you would still be in it......2)there were
many people sick and in wheelchairs who could not walk out with no
transportation...3)when I was in a major hurricane living in the big easy in
2001, the major newspaper the Times Picayune reported all summer long that the
Army Corp. of Engineers had petitioned for the money to fix the levees and it
was sanctioned......then 9/11 happened and all the money got relocated to the
war on terror in Iraq or Afg. or whereever.....and when the Colonel complained
about the coming disaster he was fired. 4) The Louisiana National Guard which I
used to be part of and knows how to get people out under water and has all the
equipment to get them out .....are all in Iraq. How is that for Homeland
Security.......all the protectors and rescuers are gone over there to protect
us from "them" and nobody here to protect the people here in New Orleans from
disaster. Anyway that is my two cents worth. May all of Great Spirit's
blessings be upon everyone.
Stefan Bajon
Santa Monica
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS
a.. Visit your group "ConstellationTalk
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ConstellationTalk> " on the web.
b..
c.. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
d.. ConstellationTalk-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:ConstellationTalk-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=Unsubscribe>
e..
f.. Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service
<http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> .
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SPONSORED LINKS Health and wellness Health wellness product Health and
wellness program
Health promotion and wellness Business health wellness Womens health
and wellness
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS
a.. Visit your group "ConstellationTalk" on the web.
b.. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
ConstellationTalk-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
c.. Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
