jeremy lepage

frog, miniature pumpkins

2011-10-12T07:46:00.000-07:00

sold

sold

callum - portrait study (monochrome)

2011-08-18T08:03:00.000-07:00

quill box (number two)

2011-06-27T08:26:00.000-07:00

older design work....

2011-06-24T10:56:00.000-07:00

Red Birch

Inuksuk Panel

*sold

"samantha -version 1"

2011-06-09T11:08:00.000-07:00

cal, turtle...

2011-06-03T09:06:00.000-07:00

*sold

quill box....

2011-05-29T14:11:00.000-07:00

*sold

new and new-ish...

2011-05-10T14:17:00.000-07:00

2011-03-31T11:20:00.000-07:00

* sold

frog and bee

2011-02-18T07:45:00.000-08:00

new work

2011-02-04T10:56:00.000-08:00

untitled....

2010-12-06T09:24:00.000-08:00

sold

this one actually is erin....

2010-11-26T09:05:00.000-08:00

more bees....

2010-10-15T07:34:00.001-07:00

sold

corporate merger....

2010-10-04T10:56:00.000-07:00

sold

More new....

2010-09-11T09:23:00.001-07:00

sold

new works posted....

2010-09-03T09:12:00.000-07:00

sold

1) The Basket, 10.5 X 13", (acrylic on board)

2) Front Porch, 11.25 X 14", (acrylic on board)

3) Birch (Vision), 16 X 20 ", (canvas)

work-in-progress....

2010-08-02T08:01:00.000-07:00

It's Still Life

2010-05-30T10:37:00.000-07:00

This one is mine.

William Brymner

2010-05-26T10:47:00.000-07:00

another distant light--or nearly forgotten canadian master/teacher--from the late 1800s to early 1900s. this paining is huge and called the Wreath of Flowers.

edwin holgate

2010-05-15T09:18:00.000-07:00

canadian painter edwin holgate.... this one lives in ottawa at the National Gallery and I visit it sometimes.....

Arthur Shilling

2010-05-10T08:47:00.001-07:00

a quick homage to the late Arthur Shilling..... master painter from near Orillia, Ontario......

2010-04-28T09:55:00.000-07:00

i'm not always big on cropping frames out....

2010-04-12T08:42:00.000-07:00

oroborous? cosmic moon-egg-princess-assassin?

2010-04-11T13:46:00.000-07:00

oh dear, what could the matter be... a question of quantum physics....

2010-03-26T09:13:00.000-07:00

green scrap paper....

2010-03-13T12:32:00.000-08:00

i still find myself meditating underwater lately....

Spring Studio Tour

2010-03-05T10:45:00.000-08:00

Here's my info. for the Scugog Studio Tour:
http://www.scugogstudiotour.ca/jeremy-lepage.php

2010-03-05T08:22:00.001-08:00

st. eulia - j.w. waterhouse

John William Waterhouse Show in Montreal

Bryan figured he should buy his boss something nice in Montreal. He gave her just a 45-minute notice that he intended to join me early the next morning on a road trip to see the Waterhouse exhibit at the Musee des Beaux Arts in Montreal.
It was the last week of the show and the only time these works have ever been shown all together—some 80 pieces—in one spot in North America. It was an epic event for me, a painter, and Bryan, a writer and student of mythology.
I decided late in the afternoon on Monday that I’d hop in the car and drive the four-and-a-half hours from Port Perry (near Toronto) to Ottawa. I’d then stay overnight at my wife’s parents house, driving the two hours in the morning with Bryan to Montreal. Oh, and then drive all the way home that same day as I needed to be at work the following morning. It would be a good twelve hours on the road in exchange for about two hours in Montreal. But well worth it.
So I’ll now fast forward through the hours behind the wheel, the cups of coffee, the loud stereo and the dull scenery of Highway 401.
Let’s talk art.
The first piece I noticed--in the first room of the show--was St. Eulalia. A long-time favourite of mine. I knew right at this moment the drive was worth it. The painting was big. In fact, all the works were bigger than I had imagined. And so good. After all, one often worries when seeing a piece live that it isn’t going to be as good as it appears in a book. Of course, I had seen Waterhouse’s work at the Art Gallery of Ontario, but still, my expectations were more than met.
One of my favourite moments, and to put this whole exhibit into perspective, is when we looked around a large room filled with canvases from the Greek Homeric tales. Bryan, who spends more than a bit of time reading these old myths, meets me after spanning the half the dimly-lit room, looking both wide-eyed and a bit stunned.
“My legs are shaking,” he whispers, and the he disappears again, presumably repeating his loop around the place.
Well said. The entire exhibit proved to be this way, and my many hour drive home was filled with contemplation of the work I had just taken in.

Oh, and more coffee, loud music, and dull 401 scenery....

2010-03-04T06:37:00.000-08:00

sketch page - black ink

2010-02-22T09:45:00.000-08:00

Buddha's stone head sits on the ocean floor where Salome cannot find it.

2009-08-28T13:00:00.000-07:00

I placed your image in my mind
Next to the wise pine trees
And the curious sparrows

2009-04-26T09:18:00.000-07:00

You think that the wolves are predators until they lead you home in a dream.

huh?

2008-11-21T13:18:00.000-08:00

the mornings are getting so cold and i keep wondering about fireflies and whether or not other insects think they're ufos...

The Pow-wow

2008-04-25T09:39:00.000-07:00

By Jeremy Le Page
Written for Lakeridge Kids

The heartbeat sound of the drum transports me to the world of my childhood. To a place where, high up on my father’s shoulders, I would watch the dancers move in a great circle. All things are formed of circles, my dad would say--all things follow the pattern of nature.
This past summer, holding my three-month-old son in my arms at the local Pow-wow, the concept of the circle emerged once again in my life. His new eyes watched the dancers go past in celebration. His new ears took in the ancient songs of the First Nations people. I held him tightly and smiled. I knew for him the world was wondrous and alive.
My first Pow-wow memories begin in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Along with various events throughout Ontario and northern New York State, my family often went to ceremonies at Six Nations on the Grand River, near Brantford. My dad, who is non-native, met many friends on this reserve while photographing models for his work as a fine artist. He was quickly welcomed by those he met, and was promptly taught that the ancestry and legacy of spirit belongs to all people of all backgrounds. As a result, I too was steeped in First Nations spirituality, along with my family’s own traditions and beliefs. I learned about the similarities, not the differences. I learned how life is rooted in spirit, and how the understanding of this fact is essential to the inner development of every individual.
In fact, the word Pow-wow derives from a term describing a spiritual leader. It is a celebration of First Nations dance and song; a rejoicing in a culture that embraces the sacredness of the natural world and its people. Based on a circle, as mentioned before, the drummers gather around the dancers, who move in a clockwise pattern around the arbor. Facing the east is the entrance to this circle, where at the beginning of the Pow-wow dancers and dignitaries perform what is called the Grand Entry. During this ceremony, spectators are asked to stand as flags and staffs (representing nations, families and communities) are brought forward. Elders, veterans, youth and dancers of every type are each announced upon entering the circle until the area is filled with the participants and honourees of the Pow-wow.
The experience of watching a Grand Entry is incomparable--for adult and child alike--as the pride and honour expressed by each participant to each other is unmistakable. I know this ethic rubbed off on me as a youngster and I carry it with me to this day. Likewise, I am hoping to instill this value in my son as well.
A shy child, my favourite thing to do at a Pow-wow was just watch. Take in the movements and sounds. I would see windblown hair with feathers dangling from braids; dresses adorned with jingling tin spinning dreamlike around me. The arms of drummers flailing and dance-worn moccasins pivoting gently on the ground. I remember my dad snapping photos of all these things--but asking permission prior to doing so, as during several dances picture-taking is not permitted. Usually the MC of the event will tell the crowd when to put the cameras away, my father taught me, adding it is always best to ask before any pictures are taken of individuals outside the circle.
I learned that many of the songs and dances are based on histories, hunting techniques, healing rituals and even the movements of animals. There are traditional dances where the regalia (ceremonial wardrobe) is rooted in the Nation’s ancestry; there is the fast-moving and brightly coloured “fancy dances;” a grass dance; a jingle dance for the women and girls in which the dancers have attached hundreds of tin “jingles” to their dresses; and there is also a shawl dance for the female dancers. This last dance is inspired by the butterfly who withdraws into a cocoon before beginning life anew.
Along with the music and dance, and along with the beautiful dancing, what is immediately noticeable at a Pow-wow is the openness of the people. Adults and children alike take part in the celebration, all seemingly uninhibited by the crowds of onlookers and fellow dancers. The children, albeit playful and carefree, also possess maturity. They are treated as equals, and respond in kind to their elder peers. Even the toddlers are encouraged to dance, referred to as tiny tots, of which many move around the circle holding the hand of either their mom or dad.
Nourishment for the inner self knows no age. And the lit-up expressions of the youngest dancers prove this fact.
Outside of the circle at a Pow-Wow there is usually a space set aside for craft and food vendors, many of which make their living during the summer by attending multiple events. In fact, I still have a leather bracelet my father bought for me from an artisan in 1979--I consider it a keepsake and a wonderful reminder of a childhood adventure.
My son, it seemed, enjoyed the sound of the drums and singing the best. Although too young to grasp the meaning of what he experienced, the atmosphere of the event just felt good to have him take part in. There were so many new faces to look at; there was a nice breeze coming across the water. Our only concern was to keep him well shaded as the summer sun burned overhead. Thankfully, there is usually a covered area where spectators can get out of the heat to sit for awhile. This area also comes in handy for the inevitable hour of rain that hits our local Pow-wow--to the minute--each year.
Ultimately, though, what feels best about being at a Pow-wow with my son is knowing I am giving him an experience of substance. I am letting him be part of a timeless gesture that honours creation. It is also a gift of insight. It seems too often that our present culture--especially in North America-- strives to detach itself from its past. But when one sees the strength many First Nations people are regaining from a better understanding of their ancestry it is inspirational to us all. There are deep resevoirs of history and spirituality feeding the souls of young and old alike; there are individuals finding meaning where before they found none.
And Pow-wows have been largely responsible for the education of non-aboriginals regarding First Nations tradition as well. The education about something real and alive, not just the subject of outdated textbooks and museums.
As for locating Pow-wows, there is an abundance of information on the Internet. A search for ‘Ontario Pow-wows’ will provide many listings, as will searching specific band Web sites. For example, if you live near Alderville First Nation (on the west side of Rice Lake, Ontario), and wished to attend its annual Pow-Wow, the dates are posted at aldervillefirstnation.ca under the heading of tourism. And while most other bands also post their Pow-wow dates online, a quick call to any band office will provide the same information. The Aboriginal Tourism Association of Southern Ontario (ATASO) might also be useful, and can be found at ataso.ca.

More Birds in my Mind

2008-03-23T10:00:00.000-07:00

Looking over my shoulder I notice a scattered group of birds--all black--blending in and out of the background.
They have been trailing me for days. Each time I laugh I hear their wings rustle in the dry leaves of the oak trees. I don’t talk to them and I pretend not notice them either. They don’t even bother me, most times, although they stay around like an unanswered question.
Or like they are a reminder of something.
But I believe, deep down, that when you walk across the Fields of Light, the footprints you leave behind are dark as pitch.
That’s what my birds are:
Footprints.

Owl On My Arm

2008-02-04T09:11:00.000-08:00

Owl... He won’t stay out of my dreams.
Last night, for example, he kept flying up to me--out of dark and damp nowhere--and landing just above my wrist. The first few times he did this I cracked my arm like a whip trying to get him to fly away. To no avail. So I blew in his face and ruffled up his feathers. Still no moving him.
It was then that I started to appreciate his tenacity.
When finally I acquiesced, Owl led me through the dark to where there were wondrous things to see. Wondrous experiences and images of people I remembered from a long time ago. And if I asked Owl a question, he’d never answer in words or hoots; he’d just pull me--as if my arm were a leash--to where he thought the answer might be. The only problem was if the Truth were too hard to bear, or if I was slow getting a message, his eagerness would leave deep scrapes in my arm.
“Owl,” I’d say, attempting to get his attention. But he’d look the other way--his head cranking at least 200 degrees--and pretend he didn’t hear me.
The Truth of things, I gathered from Owl, cannot be taught in just one night or in one dream. It is ongoing. And when not on my arm, Owl, too, is searching the trees high and low for new things and new scraps of knowledge. Sometimes, though, he is just looking to catch a mouse. But then he reappears on my arm; sometimes when I don’t even want him to. I think he gets pleasure out of this.
Once he arrived late at night, unannounced, when there was no moon above or no sounds anywhere for miles. I was deep in sleep. He came up so quickly I must have jumped as high the treetops he often likes to sit in. Owl had something special to show me that night and wouldn’t take no for an answer.
He sunk his claws deeper into my skin.
After some flying we arrived at the spot Owl had chosen to take me. I asked him if I wasn’t still too sleepy for lessons, because I didn’t understand why we were there. It was like the High Desert, but it was granite and juniper rather than sand and scrub. It might as well have been some far away planet. Barren and desolate as it was.
But Owl was full of bliss. His eyes held tiny sparks below their lids.
“This is one of my favourite places,” he said. “I come here to think.”
“About what?” We both turned our heads to look around, but I was limited by my neck muscles and saw much less of the panorama than my nocturnal friend.
“Anything,” answered Owl. “Everything.”
I took a few steps forward and nearly tripped on a jagged piece of rock. Owl intervened and pulled me from harm, leaving yet another set of claw marks on my arm.
“You see,” he continued, oblivious of what had just happened. “If I could teach you one thing it would be this...”
But Owl was interrupted by the appearance of a field mouse. Immediately I could see Owl wanted to dart after the rodent but held back as it might interfere with the significance of his lesson. The mouse looked at him knowingly; mockingly.
“Owl. Owl. Owl,” said the small creature tauntingly. But the bird sat stoically as if passing a test of some sort. Perhaps temptation. Perhaps humility.
“Anyway,” continued Owl. “If I could teach you one thing it would be this: I would teach you that there is life everywhere. But you often need to be able to see in the dark.”
And as he spoke, the bleak landscape came to life with other animals and foliage of every kind. The barren landscape became lush; a small stream of water sounded in my ears. The moon, on cue, shone brighter--until sun-like--above our heads.
It seemed like the darkness was being rinsed out of the scene, or wringed from a towel, with Owl’s sharp grip holding strong.
“I would teach you that life is layer upon layer of transparencies,” said Owl.

The Art of Creation

2008-01-15T12:54:00.000-08:00

By Jeremy LePage

“Art’s task is to save the soul of mankind and anything else is a dithering while Rome burns. Because it is the artists who are self-selected for being able to journey into The Other. If the artist cannot find the way then the way cannot be found.”
- Terence McKenna (scientist/guru)

This is how we fight back. By utilizing the creative instincts with which we are each born. This is how we can reclaim a runaway culture that, as McKenna suggests, insults and disempowers us all. A culture he claims, “Invites people to diminish themselves and dehumanize themselves by becoming like machines.”
Merely toiling in “the mud” of planet Earth is not the destiny of our species, he adds, suggesting our current social structures are designed to limit human potential and are held in place to serve the convenience of institutions. An artist’s job, McKenna explains, is to go beyond this base arena and reach for something much more profound.
“By putting the art petal to the metal, we really, I think, maximize our humanness and become much more necessary and incomprehensible to the machines,” he reflects.
This transformation of the soul through creative means was also championed hundreds of years ago by St. Francis of Assisi.
“He who works with his hands is a labourer,” he said. “He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman. He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist.”
Michelangelo agreed.
“A man paints with his brains and not his hands,” the master said.
In this sense, the creative human becomes a mystic. The artist strives to live in the likeness of the Universal Creator, and while invariably falling short with each attempt, hopes to elevate his or her very soul by the process.
American painter Albert Pinkham Ryder hinted at this when he asked:
“Have you ever seen an inch worm crawl up a leaf or twig, and then clinging to the very end, revolve in the air, feeling for something to reach something? That’s like me. I am trying to find something out there beyond the place on which I have a footing.”
The process becomes one of catharsis; one of learning and adventure.
“My poetry...” explained the Welsh bard Dylan Thomas, “...Is the record of my individual struggle from darkness towards some measure of light...”
It makes little difference that while seeking the mysteries and hidden chambers of nature, the creative mind hunts the prize of Truth all the while knowing it is beyond reach of brush or pencil.
This is what Russian-born Marc Chagall meant when he said, “Art is the unceasing effort to compete with nature--and never succeeding.”
He no doubt realized the artist must return to the source of his creative nature, the innocent play and exploration that is the door through which true art is discovered. He must have realized the benefit to approaching creation as simply and knowingly as a toddler with a new set crayons.
But although all children love to draw and delve into their imagination, by the midway point of grade school the urge is, in many, thoroughly stifled by those who educate in a linear and critical manner. The practical mind throws its shadow over that of the contemplative, and the rewards and praise for fitting this rigid mold become more numerous by the year. This is the case when, in the lyrics of a popular 1970s song by Harry Chapin, a little boy is reprimanded for painting gardens of flowers in a multicoloured, yet perhaps, illogical manner.
“It's not the time for art young man,” the teacher tells the young student. “And anyway flowers are green and red... There's ways that things should be.”
Soon enough, after being isolated and repeatedly told how to interpret the world around him, the boy submits to the lesson of his teacher. Later, when he changes schools and is asked by a more creative instructor why he paints in such a rigid manner, he repeats the words of his former teacher:
“Flowers are red, green leaves are green. There's no need to see flowers any other way than the way they always have been seen.”
And so the machine is born.
In this way, art becomes a representation of how we are taught to view all aspects of our life. How we are vulnerable to media and minds who thrive upon our dulled down creative nature. How our reality can be constructed for us, and how the depths and wonders of our own nature held in check by the mundane and practical. How the beauty and majesty of existence can be distorted by the so-called complexities of our modern lives. Yet returning to this state of awe is as easy as letting one’s imagination trickle back into the colours and hues at one’s fingertips.
And surely, all aspects of our lives can be infused with the gift of creativity. One need not paint, write or play music. In this, a student of art becomes synonymous with a student of life itself.
Vincent Van Gogh was one such student.
“If we study Japanese art,” he once said. “We see a man who is undoubtedly wise, philosophic and intelligent, who spends his time doing what? In studying the distance between the earth and the moon? No. In studying Bismarck’s policy? No.
“He studies a single blade of grass.”

Climbing Inward

2007-12-14T09:08:00.000-08:00

“I wanted only to try to live in accord with the promptings which came from my true self. Why was that so very difficult?” - Hermann Hesse

Spiritual writings, scripture and philosophy abound with one notion: the way to Truth is discovered through the inner world rather than the external. For millennia this has been taught, and for millennia it has been but partially realized by most.
For an example of this Truth, one need only scan The Gospel of Thomas, the Gnostic text buried for centuries in Egypt, recovered the same year allied bombers brought atomic devastation to the population of Japan. While the world was in external chaos, quiet words were unearthed by shovel, echoing sentiments designed to heal all who would listen.
“When you understand yourselves you will be understood... If you do not know yourselves, then you exist in poverty and you are that poverty."
The message is a clear one. And it reoccurs throughout the text.
“Jesus said: If your leaders say to you, ‘Look! The Kingdom is in the sky!’ Then the birds will be there before you are. If they say that the Kingdom is in the sea, then the fish will be there before you are. Rather, the Kingdom is within you and it is outside of you.”
Again, the words are not difficult to understand. Yet, tuning the frequency of our mind to this Truth can be far from easy. In myth, only one of King Arthur’s knights could do it, the rest fumbled around forest and field hoping to find a physical Grail to bring home. Instead, the chalice was a symbol. It suggests that each of us is a vessel that contains the light of Creation.
But just as the moon eclipses the sun, so the earth and its trappings can block our light. Once again, we come to Jung’s shadow self. We come to the darkness, and our unwillingness to acknowledge its existence. We come to the imbalance of spiritual desire with the passions of the material. Look no further than fashion, where people voluntarily adorn their bodies--their temples of spirit and flesh--with corporate logos and advertisements. People are literally covering their hearts with symbols of the material world. This shows the mindset of our era.
Perhaps it is this cultural emphasis on the external that makes the inner path so much like an uphill climb. An individual must swim against the metaphoric stream of cell phone signals and car exhaust. The journey can be one of alienation, fatigue, and even pain. But what mass controlling institutions from all ages neglect to teach, is that the path can also be joyous, fulfilling and full of sacred mystery.
Mythological scholar Joseph Campbell calls this journey diving “down into your abyss.” He says it represents a descent into the “domains of the psyche.” The domains being ignored by the individual living on the surface of life. He uses the biblical Jonah as an example.
“He is swallowed by the whale, which is the personification of the powers of the abyss,“ Campbell says. “Now, the journey always includes going past a pair of opposites... the rocks that clash together... It’s as though you can see in that moment a deeper truth, as if the opposites open and you can see into the unknown. Well the two jaws of the whale are exactly the pair of opposites. One goes through the jaws into the abyss. And you will notice, by the way, that Jonah came out of the whale an improved character.”
In this case, the journey is as significant as the arrival. And one may travel far to find, as ancient thinker Lao Tsu would say, that which can be seen from one’s own window.
A novelist who sought the self his whole life was the German born Hermann Hesse. His work is fused with the unity of opposites, and repeatedly comes back to the conclusion that truth may be discovered by the inner traveller alone.
“Each man’s life represents a road toward himself, an attempt at such a road, the intimation of a path. No man has ever been entirely and completely himself. Yet each one strives to become that... Each the best he can..." says Hesse. “...Each of us--experiments of the depths--strives toward his own destiny. We can understand one another; but each of us is able to interpret himself to himself alone.”
Once more, says Christ: "Blessed is one who has laboured and has found life."

Works cited: Hermann Hesse, Demian; The Gospel of Thomas; Joseph Campbell, This Business of the Gods.

Earth's Shadow

2007-12-01T07:12:00.000-08:00

The Human Psyche and the Global Crisis

By Jeremy Le Page 2007

“...Our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow: our life is the creation of the mind... If a man speaks or acts with an impure mind, suffering follows him as the wheel of the cart follows the beast that draws the cart... If a man speaks or acts with a pure mind, joy follows him as his own shadow.” --The Dhammapada

The current global crisis--social and ecological--is a mirror of the projected suffering deep within humankind’s collective unconscious.
Just as individuals externalize their own subconscious problems onto relationships and situations around them--sabotaging work, friendships, health--so does society as a whole project immense anxiety and stress onto the very world in which they live. For if one believes the planet to be a living organism, physically and psychically linked to the individual, it only makes sense that this same world is impacted by the deeper nature of the mass psyche. In turn, with an overwhelming amount of strain placed upon the deeper mind of the human species, the Earth itself becomes the stage in which we act out the conflicts of the mind.
During the Cold War, Dr. C G Jung noted that the division of the Soviet Union and the West was merely an externalized symbol of society’s self and shadow self. He said of the Iron Curtain: “This boundary line bristling with barbed wire runs through the psyche of modern man, no matter on which side he lives... It has even become a political and social duty to apostrophize the capitalism of the one and the communism of the other as the very devil, so as to fascinate the outward eye and prevent it from looking at the individual life within.”
And now that the Berlin Wall has fallen, and the emphasis of economy and culture has been placed upon the global village as a single, rather than divided entity, our shadow side has merely transformed itself. However, the symptoms of conflict remain. Our leaders, perhaps encouraging their global citizens to pursue such outward enemies for their own profit and political advantage, give us several options: The War On Terror; The War On Drugs; The War Against Poverty, and so on. And the media, too, has produced many more cultural struggles to engage the masses. Some of these include conflicts regarding self-identity, gender roles, material excess and, of course, the environment. But what we miss, based on Jung’s theories, is that these are actually internal battles with external consequences.
“The consciousness of modern man still clings so much to outward objects that he makes them exclusively responsible,” says Jung. “...If even the smallest and most personal stirrings of the individual soul--so insignificant in themselves--remain as unconscious and unrecognized as they have hitherto, they will all go on accumulating and produce mass groupings and mass movements which cannot be subjected to reasonable control or manipulated to a good end. The deciding factor lies in the individual man, who knows no answer to his dualism.”
Only recognition of this shadow, he adds, will lead the human race to the “modesty” it requires to accept its own imperfection. "Political systems won’t lead us there, nor will idealism or lack of understanding.”
Writing at the height of the Cold War, external fears about nuclear destruction were rampant. Yet Jung still held to his beliefs of a deeper reason behind the terror than politics and economy. Likewise, he knew the problem was far from being resolved.
“The fear of universal destruction may spare us the worst, yet the possibility of it will nevertheless hang over us like a dark cloud so long as no bridge is found across the worldwide psychic and political split,” he says.
Michael Tsarion, researcher of metaphysics and occult history, agrees humans are responding to a “shadow self,” and has incorporated Jungian thought into his own interpretation of the history and future of a “traumatized” human species. He claims we buy into the “designer chaos” created by our politicians and media, suggesting it is “designed to chip away and erode at one’s inner security.” Tsarion says such terms as “Atomic War” or “War on Terror” can be seen as inner conflicts rather than external.
“The shadows we fear are cast by our own hand, our minds,” says Tsarion. “Your anger and stress, your hypertension, your fear...these are aspects of ourselves. We’ve been conditioned to believe and observe them negatively. So we’re in inner conflict... Then how are you going to fix an external situation?”
A psychic awakening must occur within individuals, says Tsarion.
“We’ve established there (are) deep connections with what is in the world of politics and what’s happening in the inner republic,” he adds.
Deepak Chopra, who has brought metaphysics to the mainstream, shares this insight regarding internal harmony.
“The outside environment is an excuse. The real existence is inside, but you have to train for it. It's like training for anything - you have to learn to ride a bike, you have to learn how to deal with people and circumstances around you and not be victimized by them,” he says.
These thoughts are not new. In fact, they take their root in ancient wisdom. It is no coincidence Chopra’s newest work is about the Buddha. However, the marriage taking place today within the collective mind of modern, “rational” society and the philosophy of the ancients is a relatively recent phenomenon.
“In many cases, it's the simple fact that science and technology have dismantled our traditional beliefs,” says Chopra. “...If you look at Vedantic tradition, there are only five reasons why people suffer: they don't know who they are; they're attached to that which is impermanent and insubstantial; they are afraid of that which is impermanent and insubstantial; they have a false sense of identity through their ego; and they're afraid of death. Period. Those are the five causes of suffering. The Vedanta also goes on to say that all these causes of suffering are contained in the first one: people don't realize who they are. If they did, they'd be free.”
In this sense, it is the group of individuals--each possessing self-knowledge--that can influence the external world.
“Happiness and contentment, equability of soul and meaningfulness of life--these can be experienced only by the individual and not by a State,” says Jung.

sources: The Undiscovered Self, by Dr. C.G. Jung; The Future of Mankind, a seminar by Michael Tsarion; Deepak Chopra, author interview by David Welch, Powells.com

camo craze

2007-11-29T15:03:00.000-08:00

Camo Craze

BY JEREMY LEPAGE (Now Magazine)

The bright pink camouflage bikini on sale at Old Navy would likely do little to help Canadian soldiers blend into the dusty surroundings of Afghanistan, but on the beaches in and around Toronto it's an entirely different matter. "Camo," once the fashion fave of hippies, anti-Vietnam War protestors and punks, is now a mainstream uniform in Canadian and U.S. cities.
We're not talking about old-style clothes from army surplus stores (those are far too authentic to fit well), but fashion-machine spinoffs like Old Navy mini-skirts, Sportchek pants and shirts, Bluenote hats and accessories, Gap Kids shorts and schoolbags and so on. The soundtrack for all this is provided by MTV and MuchMusic, where camo-clad celebs like Justin Timberlake and Beyoncé Knowles set the tone.
So why, in a culture where young people are so hostile to armed intervention, has the military look caught on? Is this another case of mass irony, a conscious form of peace protest, or just another mindless fashion recycling operation?
At Ryerson's school of fashion, technologist Lana Storto tells me it's no accident that camo's on the runways again. "Fashion is really closely related to what's going on in the world. It's definitely all about collective consciousness," she says, pointing out that the current trend gained momentum as the U.S. mounted its "war against terror."
Jay Barrigar, designer and buyer for her own Toronto fashion company, Quip, remembers that during the first Gulf War, over a decade ago, international couturiers such as Ralph Lauren showed complete lines of military-style clothing.
"It was just – boom! – military!" she says. Now the big companies have picked up that camo is cool. The fact that camouflage is in so many mainstream stores now suggests it's considered a solid style, not a flash fad.
But if it's a zeitgeist thing, a reflection of CNN war obsessions and far too many images of soldiers in the line of duty, is there any chance the trend owes some of its pull to the residual peace movement? Not likely, says Marcel Danesi, professor of anthropology at the University of Toronto and author of My Son Is An Alien: A Cultural Portrait Of Today's Youth. He sees faux soldier fashion as an example of youth mocking the prevailing order rather than protesting it. Camouflage is "just a style," he says, similar to the hiphop trend of wearing big, baggy pants without a belt, a fad that originated in the prison system, where belts aren't allowed. Lou Schreiber, marketing rep for Bluenotes, says the gear is still sitting pretty on shelves after more than three seasons (two is considered good), a sign that it may be in a "slow" fashion cycle as opposed to a "fast" one.
"It's a trend we forecast from what we saw in Europe and the U.S. But it's changing in the colouration now. It's not so literal, like khaki, olives and browns. We did pinks for girls."
Rebecca Nixon, owner of Girl Friday, a Queen West women's clothing store, and a former designer for large fashion firms like Le Chateau, touts the endless adaptability of military garb.
"Camouflage is all about how it has been twisted," she says. Aside from colourful swimsuits, Girl Friday is now "bringing in camo superimposed on tweed. It's a little dressed up," she says.
Of course, there are limits on where companies manufacturing military-style gear can go with their creations. Strict camouflage copyrights can cramp styling. Take the Canadian armed services. According to the Canadian Department of Defence's Heather Brunner, "Major items of clothing and equipment are not authorized for reproduction without prior DND approval." So don't look for Canuck peacekeeper apparel at a mall near you.

2007-11-29T14:42:00.000-08:00

Earth’s Shadow

The Human Psyche and the Global Crisis

By Jeremy Le Page
2007

“...Our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow: our life is the creation of the mind... If a man speaks or acts with an impure mind, suffering follows him as the wheel of the cart follows the beast that draws the cart... If a man speaks or acts with a pure mind, joy follows him as his own shadow.” --The Dhammapada

The current global crisis--social and ecological--is a mirror of the projected suffering deep within humankind’s collective unconscious.
Just as individuals externalize their own subconscious problems onto relationships and situations around them--sabotaging work, friendships, health--so does society as a whole project immense anxiety and stress onto the very world in which they live.
For if one believes the planet to be a living organism, physically and psychically linked to the individual, it only makes sense that this same world is impacted by the deeper nature of the mass psyche. In turn, with an overwhelming amount of strain placed upon the deeper mind of the human species, the Earth itself becomes the stage in which we act out the conflicts of the mind.
During the Cold War, Jung noted that the division of the Soviet Union and the West was merely an externalized symbol of society’s self and shadow self.
He said of the Iron Curtain:
“This boundary line bristling with barbed wire runs through the psyche of modern man, no matter on which side he lives...It has even become a political and social duty to apostrophize the capitalism of the one and the communism of the other as the very devil, so as to fascinate the outward eye and prevent it from looking at the individual life within.”
And now that the Berlin Wall has fallen, and the emphasis of economy and culture has been placed upon the global village as a single, rather than divided entity, our shadow side has merely transformed itself. However, the symptoms of conflict remain. Our leaders, perhaps encouraging their global citizens to pursue such outward enemies for their own profit and political advantage, give us several options: The War On Terror; The War On Drugs; The War Against Poverty, and so on. And the media, too, has produced many more cultural struggles to engage the masses. Some of these include conflicts regarding self-identity, gender roles, material excess and, of course, the environment.
But what we miss, based on Jung’s theories, is that these are actually internal battles with external consequences.
“The consciousness of modern man still clings so much to outward objects that he makes them exclusively responsible,” says Jung. “...If even the smallest and most personal stirrings of the individual soul--so insignificant in themselves--remain as unconscious and unrecognized as they have hitherto, they will all go on accumulating and produce mass groupings and mass movements which cannot be subjected to reasonable control or manipulated to a good end. The deciding factor lies in the individual man, who knows no answer to his dualism.”
Only recognition of this shadow, he adds, will lead the human race to the “modesty” it requires to accept its own imperfection. Political systems won’t lead us there, nor will idealism or lack of understanding.”
Writing at the height of the Cold War, external fears about nuclear destruction were rampant. Yet Jung still held to his beliefs of a deeper reason behind the terror than politics and economy. Likewise, he knew the problem was far from being resolved.
“The fear of universal destruction may spare us the worst, yet the possibility of it will nevertheless hang over us like a dark cloud so long as no bridge is found across the worldwide psychic and political split,” he says.
Michael Tsarion, researcher of metaphysics and occult history, also says humans are responding to a “shadow self,” and has incorporated Jungian thought into his own interpretation of the history and future of a “traumatized” human species. He claims we buy into the “designer chaos” created by our politicians and media, suggesting it is “designed to chip away and erode at one’s inner security.” But Tsarion says such terms as “Atomic War” or “War on Terror” can be seen as inner conflicts rather than external.
“The shadows we fear are cast by our own hand, our minds,” says Tsarion. “Your anger and stress, your hypertension, your fear...these are aspects of ourselves. We’ve been conditioned to believe and observe them negatively. So we’re in inner conflict... Then how are you going to fix an external situation?”
A psychic awakening must occur within individuals, says Tsarion.
“We’ve established there (are) deep connections with what is in the world of politics and what’s happening in the inner republic,” he adds.
Deepak Chopra, who has brought metaphysics to the mainstream, shares this insight regarding internal harmony.
“The outside environment is an excuse. The real existence is inside, but you have to train for it. It's like training for anything - you have to learn to ride a bike, you have to learn how to deal with people and circumstances around you and not be victimized by them,” he says.
These thoughts are not new. In fact, they take their root in ancient wisdom. It is no coincidence Chopra’s newest work is about the Buddha. However, the marriage taking place today within the collective mind of modern, “rational” society and the philosophy of the ancients is a relatively recent phenomenon.
“In many cases, it's the simple fact that science and technology have dismantled our traditional beliefs,” says Chopra. “...If you look at Vedantic tradition, there are only five reasons why people suffer: they don't know who they are; they're attached to that which is impermanent and insubstantial; they are afraid of that which is impermanent and insubstantial; they have a false sense of identity through their ego; and they're afraid of death. Period. Those are the five causes of suffering. The Vedanta also goes on to say that all these causes of suffering are contained in the first one: people don't realize who they are. If they did, they'd be free.”
In this sense, it is the group of individuals--each possessing self-knowledge--that can influence the external world.
“Happiness and contentment, equability of soul and meaningfulness of life--these can be experienced only by the individual and not by a State,” says Jung.

sources: The Undiscovered Self, by Dr. C.G. Jung; The Future of Mankind, a seminar by Michael Tsarion; Deepak Chopra, author interview by David Welch, Powells.com