Gigs at Temples

This fall, performing at Temples seemed to be the theme... Alex Grey's Chapel of Sacred Mirrors in New York city, and then this amazing event at a Shrine called Kanda Myojin in Tokyo. A fashion show at a Shinto Shrine - filled with Taiko Drummers, Ninja fight performances, and the AURA video artist that appear in the WORLDSPIRIT DVD ... it was such a magical experience. Check out myphoto gallery!

Snake Beheaded by Shinto Circus

Now, here's a head scratcher. I went to a Shinto Shrine in Shinjuku the other day with my girlfriend. It was a very big festival, where people would buy large ornamentations to bring home for good luck. The temple grounds were filled with hundreds, thousands of people, small food stands, ornament shops, and ... a "freak magic circus" show... But this one was a special 'snake' show... the only one of its kind in Japan. ( I guess video game culture is killing off this tradition).

So, we went in to check it out, and almost immediately, they had this older woman with incredibly horrid makeup,... handling a live snake (like a garter snake or something). Wondering what she was going to do with it, she immediately took the snake by the neck, stuck the neck in between her teeth, and PULLED really hard! Like elastic snapping, the head came off the snake - the entire audience started freaking out... and she lay the head on the table, and held up the rest of the body. (see photo - sorry its blurry, it was shot with my mobile phone camera)

She then stuck the top of the headless body into her mouth, and started drinking (sucking) the blood out of the snake. I think the worst part, was I looked down on the table, and saw the head of the snake, still moving, trying to move, but not quite realizing it didn't have a body. Its tongue slurping in and out, confused.

But, I don't think anyone was expecting such a shocking thing... certainly I wasn't, at a Shinto Shrine! OK, so I know Snakes are close to dragons, which are powerful symbols in Japanese Shinto spirituality,... and supposedly drinking the blood of snakes (dragons) is incredibly good for your body (Mojo charge). But, to do such a sacrifice for entertainment in a sacred space was a bit of a shock. I was scratching my head, trying to get my head around it (no pun intended). Animal gods playing around? Yin Yang entertainment...? hmmm... You won't see this in "Lost in Translation' ! (crap film)

This was Nov2nd (in Japan), November 1st in the USA. Alas, it was an ominous metaphor for what was about to happen to democracy the very next day, Election day.

Shocked by the circus.

The hollow democrats need a soul

OK, so, like many others, I was totally depressed by the outcome of the election. After some reflection and studying some of the reasons why the evangelicals came out in droves, I am floating the idea of developing a more spiritual side of the left wing in American Politics. A more "integral" democratic system,... democratic party.

I feel there needs to be more soul in the left wing. As the democratic party picks up the pieces, there is a gold mine of a spiritual well that the mainstream may call "new age", or on this IN site, "Green meme". yeah, its first tier, but there needs to be a bridge with the right wing republicans. I honestly don't think second tier candidates/politics will happen in our lifetimes, but at least green is somewhat remotely possible... and this is what needs to be translated in "all american" talk... and make it attractive to even right wing republicans. Why can't we frame ruining the environment as immoral? Lets look at what our visionary forefathers said:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
(Maybe we can add "for all beings" at the end of that... )

If this is marketed as the base of morality of the democrats, with an underlying green - yellow political agenda in the background, it might resonate and reach out to some of those in the red and blue memes?

Although the idea of "equality" is one for debate, especially on this site (I personally feel we are BOTH created equally AND unequally), I think we can all agree that if skillfully framed with simple Bush language, Healthcare IS life, this is our unalienable right. Choice IS Liberty, and integral approaches and practice IS happiness. The left needs a stronger soulful vision that holds the true spirit of the new democrats - a spirituality beyond ethnocentrism of fundamentalist christians. This spirituality is one that points to the core of all spiritual traditions around the world, the very intention I had in creating the WORLDSPIRIT DVD with Alex Grey (See the last post). I wonder if its a bit dangerous to send Worldspirit to the bible belt, but I just feel there needs to be some kind of bridge built to middle America if this country has any hope of being a beacon for the world. Any thoughts?