Tragic

There is a lot of darkness. I wake up to signs of evil every morning - if couched in the neutral tones of the BBC World Service. There is a prophecy that this evil will increase. We can all predict how it must get worse, but what are we, who want to make it better, able to do in the meantime?

Goethepl. 2, Bad Kreuznach, Germany by Scottie Scheid

Screaming doesn't help

Nor does cutting

There is a rise in the amount of children slashing themselves. The cuts seem to grow larger and more violent – less explorative, if you like, more determined to escape the prison of a lifetime, more indifferent towards our “special sap”, as Goethe (and, thereafter, Rudolf Steiner) called it. We have not honed the intelligence of plants, yet, to know our job is to etherise this blood with a saintedness of knowing. Our children are prophesising for us that we are not ready to be the I am we need to be to survive the next round.

We are parked in a machine world

New York-New York Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas by NeONBRAND

We are living out the last of the Greek Tragedies our philosophy of life has to offer us. I am very optimistic that this will afford some of us a new passage (and that they will come back for the rest of us with faster ambulances).

We all know we are walking through the valley of death and that fearing evil is of no help to us. It is not our time to act, either. It is served at our table, before our foes, at which we best sit courteously and not wobble. (Get in a furniture repair person to make that one thing less to contend with.) We have to sit it out. We have to stay on the path and be very Tao.

Milwaukee, United States by Caleb Rogers

What We Can Do

A dear friend of mine, asked recently, if I could explain what “being Tao” might entail; and I must confess, that I fear a Daoist/Taoist expert (for can one really “be a Taoist”?) would lament my promotion. The Path (the meaning of the word “Tao”) has plenty of “ways of being” that are to be favoured for a life of equanimity without conflict, detached from suffering, yet undergoing it – for fact is not to be denied in this “Finished World” (cf. Elisabeth Vreede, in her Astrosophical work, where our current abode is called the “Werk Welt” and thus translated). But this way of life does not come with guarantees of bliss or progress; it just tries to make it "doable".

Perhaps, seated, in ease (effortless; for in essence Tao is non-doing), consolidated - as we are of flesh and bone- , our brains concentrated on the heart of our being, and dedicated to a better world we will come to understand why we live here on Earth as man:-

The world would be as it is, through its deeper forces, but these deeper forces would themselves remain cloaked by what they bring about. Within man's spirit they are delivered from their enchantment. Man is not there in order merely to make a picture for himself of a completed world; no, he himself works along with the coming into being of this world. Steiner

Austin, United States by Chris Cagle

Where to park the self?

It seems girls are more prone to self harm; and I am not sure buying your little princess a pony is going to prevent the increase in this trend. Rather I suggest we heed the brave affirmations of the trapped souls who have come in a great sacrifice to redeem evil. (I mean: let's face it, how much fun is incarnation these days?) How that works? Watch “The Killing of a Sacred Deer”. It doesn’t much. But what else (but sit in contemplation - eat in order to sit firmly - and keep love as deflated as possible, as pragmatic as possible, as workable and makeable to be of the co-created stuff that can heal our willing wounds) can we do since the gods stopped accepting offers on their altars?

I ask you

What function do you think Steemit can play in the light of these considerations? Inform of the evil that assails us in the most inconspicuous ways, or avoid mentioning it? When advised one is better equipped to save a stitch in time, no? But being reminded constantly to be very careful and not to knock over any of the displayed glass figurines is bound to create a domino effect sooner or later. The alternative cannot be to avoid the issue. Distraction works well on children and dogs - but come on now! How old are we? Are we doomed if we do or we don't?

I personally return to my earlier suggestion of taking a Taoist approach. State the facts and smile at our childlike self and chastise our childish insolence, impatience and indignation.

Christmas Tree Idea

Think about making your Christmas Tree reflect this light-filled and above all silent intent.
This tree adorns my Anthroposophical library.

The Ethereal Kiosk: Symbols |

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For some BBC World references and information on Self-Harm:

• 'Alarming rise in self-harm - but only half get care'
• Hurting
• Instagram: Girl tells how she was 'hooked' on self-harm images
  
• Self-harm: Girls 'more likely to end up in hospital'