Ancestors Part II

There will be one more part after this, the finish-up. Since November 8, I've met with Du-Wak, a Siberian shaman; Bill and Lois Wilson and Dr. Bob and Ann Smith and three AA's who survived WWII; Shakespeare, Beckett, Chekhov and Fassbinder; four different fellows from four different cultures of my blood ancestry but 100 years before their peoples became assimilated into the Civ-Borg; and Eliane from France, Josiah Cotten, Ben Franklin and John Winthrop. (In that reverse order.)

I met with Eliane, Josiah, Ben and John because I woke up Monday evening too tired to go to the Open Mic. I made a contract with them to look for another opportunity (didn't find one) or to go to the next one. I did find an unusual opportunity which I will avail myself of not this week, but next week. Out of the blue, a fellow I knew from my swing-shift days came up to me and said "Hi, where have you been?" Since I work the graveyard shift, my schedule needs extensive therapy. He told me about another open mic poetry night at the Bowery Poetry Club, which I will attend the Monday before Thxgiving--I'll be off that night!

Tuesday, I met with a Celt, a pre-Roman Italian, an Angle and a Swede. The 5 of us were all rather strange and stiff with one another. Cordial, but decidedly not a thrillsome group were we. The Celt and the Italian were both nude, though. They both proudly basked in their sexuality and I felt a slight undercurrent of jealousy in the Angle and the Swede. I got the impression all four of them were at least bisexual, with the Celt most decidedly more gay than straight.

Wednesday was Playwright night. Shakespeare and I get along really well. Fassbinder feels still a bit cynical and defended. Beckett seemed aloof and Chekhov was reticent--very Capricornian. Shakespeare of the four was the most garrulous and welcoming, and affirming of me as a talent in my own light, though one whose reputation will only be discovered well beyond my time in this form. I think it was at this session that Ben told me that I was a guide to him in his lifetime. He only met me twice, and both times I appeared to him as a 52-year old man. But I gave him valuable help both times. Strange that we would create a feedback loop like that.

Thursday, I met with the AA's and was that interesting! Bill W. said we are basically living in a "distribution camp" as opposed to a concentration camp. The fascist tendencies have osmosed outside of a death-camp model. If we live in certain address-zones it's as if we were in a concentrated fascist camp, but one with permeable boundaries. Interesting metaphor. Dr. Bob and Ann seemed very Al-Anon to me, they didn't say much. It was the 3 AA's who survived WW2 that interested me. And, true-to-AA-form, we got into a rather raucous discussion about something that had zilch to do with alcoholism--the hyping of the Greatest Generation. In the spirit of the 9th Step, the three guys, who identified themselves as Tom Colangelo, Joe Corbett and Frank (Sorry I can't remember his last name), did acknowledge their part in the mythologizing, but they insisted they were innocent about it. They didn't understand its function in the fascist discourse that has since metastasized through the culture. They pretty much fit the Susan Faludi Stiffed bill of things, working-class, no-nonsense, everyday joes who stood up and fought the good fight and succeeded, only to be treated with accolades and disrespect later. I needed to talk with them though, because I need to stay sober/abstinent and start becoming solvent too during these darkening times.

Last, but not least was Du-Wak, the Shaman. Scary looking guy. He carries himself that way on purpose for good reason. I showed no fear, however, and looked directly into his eyes which very much reminded me of doll's eyes. No blinking, straight-ahead stare. He bristled when I sent him the God-energy I do with people more and more these days. I talked with him because I needed to understand the energy behind an idea I had reading Gear & Gear's People of the Wolf of "calling the people" to action. It's not something anyone's been able to do though, because people's voices are very particular, and the still small voice needs to cut through a lot of chatter. Still, I feel there's a way to send out a call... Du-Wak and I promised we'd talk again. He also told me that he has encountered "my kind" before, that we're rare, and that while he was alive, he'd never met anyone like me before. Only since he was parted from his physical body has he met people like me. I need training and I need to find mentors and later, people to train and people to treat. I'm a certain kind of sexual, shamanic healer who needs to work a certain "chalice/blade" energetics.

Last night, I also met my friend Damien who told me some cool things about what's going on. I've been agonizing about the current situation, about what I'm supposed to do. Do I write letters to get Ohio's election (and all the other questionable ballotings) recounted? Do I just start to take actions to create the world I know we can all share in? Do I attempt to reach out to people who have not yet succumbed to the religious-crack-addictions out there? Damien told me that the Ancients are coming, that I've cleared the path for them to enter into my life and that they will surround me with all the inspiration I need. I'll know what to do, when they start to arrive. I think they already have, but I guess more are coming.