PHOENIXFIRE 9

THE FOUR COWBOYS OF APOCALYPSE 2.0

PART 1, CAPITALISM

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Everyone is familiar with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, though not all know their pedigree. It’s the name given to the revelation of the future granted to St John on the Isle of Patmos. The horsemen themselves are Pestilence, War, Famine and Death (not necessarily in that order, depending upon which reference is consulted.) Their names (which might disincline people from wanting to bet on them in the Kentucky Derby) have made the word ‘apocalypse’ almost synonymous with Doomsday, which is, strictly speaking, incorrect. It derives from a Greek word meaning to ‘reveal’ or ‘disclose’ and by extension , it means a prophesy or vision of the future, not necessarily an ominous one.

Doomsday is quite another matter, more appropriately linked to another familiar word from Revelation, Armageddon, the site of the final decisive battle on the Day of Judgment, in which the Lamb bests the Whore of Babylon … and throngs of otherwise certifiable people are whisked off to heaven. It’s not easy to make rational sense out of Revelation (which doesn’t mean it can’t make sense on some other level) but it does read like it’s been written on something at least as potent as ayahuasca, though there’s no record of John visiting the Brazilian rainforest. On the other hand, who knows what they had growing on Patmos?

In any event, The Four Horsemen are pretty obvious. They ‘ve been around and universally active since long before St. John’s time and still are; no surprises there, and no need for further elaboration beyond perhaps noting that of the four, only War is directly attributable to errant, defiant, violent humanity. Unless, of course, it is argued (and so it is by some) that the other three horsemen are set loose in divine retribution; for a variety of human abominations –homosexuality, pre-marital sex, smoking or ingesting illegal substances, not wearing a seat belt, and so on.

The Four Cowboys of Apocalypse 2.0 are much less obvious, yet in one way or another they aid and abet the original Four. In the Walt Disney 3D, HD Western/Action-Thriller/Horror/Farce called Western Civilization, they are the self-appointed posse, riding white geldings; wearing white Stetsons, galloping roughshod over the globe and spreading ‘tidings of comfort and joy’.

When examined closely, The Four Cowboys are no less destructive than the original Four Horsemen, maybe ultimately more so since they come in disguise. All of them are played, with characteristic ineptitude, by John Wayne. They differ from the Four Horsemen in that they are all, each one, directly and unmistakably human generated.

They are: Capitalism, Patriotism, Democracy and Technology

In PhoenixFire 9 (and 10, and maybe 11) we deal with them in turn.

The role of Capitalism is easiest to understand, almost obvious in fact, except to the leaders and economists of almost every country in the world. This Cowboy occupies the whole of PF9, which may sound excessive, but is nevertheless appropriate, since it is this Cowboy that is largely responsible for the financial debacle now unfolding globally, and from which there is no foreseeable release or return.

The other three Cowboys will be discussed in subsequent PhoenixFires.

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Featured music track "Shake" by Stepford Wives

Links:
The Emperor's new clothes (Con't.) a short story by JAW
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Omni magazine

COMING SOON! PHOENIXFIRE 9!

THE FOUR COWBOYS OF APOCALYPSE 2.0

PHOENIXFIRE 8

CONSIDER THE KALI YUGA

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History is not what we’re taught in our schools – a linear March of Progress, from primitive beginning to our enlightened selves with our hydrogen bombs and our bobblehead dolls. What we are taught is effectively a 19th Century fabrication; a White Supremacist, Eurocentric con job.

History is actually a cycle, a very long cycle. This was understood by Plato, who talked about a Golden Age, a Silver Age, a Bronze Age and an Iron (or Dark) Age. This is paralleled, but in more detail in the Vedic/Hindu and its doctrine of the ‘Yugas’. Other ancient civilizations and the myths and legends of other peoples around the world project a similar understanding. The much-discussed Mayan 2012 prophecy is another expression of history as a cycle.

In PF8 we look long and hard at this concept, demonstrate it’s validity and contrast it point by point with the central dogma of what I like to call our Church of Progress.
The C of P may assure us we are the most evolved beings ever to inhabit the planet, but anyone aware of our actual global state (both inner and outer) might question this conviction. And there is evidence galore to support such a contrary view.
Where are we within the cycle? Which ‘Yuga’ are we actually ‘in’ ? And what (if anything) is there that we can do to act upon our understanding and extricate ourselves from the dilemma we’re in?
I am author of the month on Graham Hancock's website, there you can find an essay relating to the Yugas and the cyclical view of history.

Some useful links: Richard Heinberg Sri Yukteswar

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TO ALL WHO ARE PISSED OFF ABOUT THE FREQUENCY OF PHOENIXFIRE SHOWS

'I can appreciate your impatience, and sympathize with your apparent frustration, but in the midst of my chronic personal chaos and no-less-chronic but presently acute financial pickle, my definition of 'soon' must be 'when I somehow find time to get around to it'.

You, in turn will, I hope, appreciate that you're getting my PhoenixFire shows gratis, and when you get for nothing something you (evidently) consider valuable, you're not really in a position to demand a schedule. (That's a Cosmic Law.)

If you want a more satisfactory definition of 'soon' all you and others tuning in and enjoying PhoenixFire have to do is provide me with the necessary Wolf Repellent to make that a priority for me, in which case you can even exact in return a commitment to a deadline.

That said, I don't blame you for being pissed off!

jaw

COMING SOON! PHOENIXFIRE 8! CONSIDER THE KALI YUGA

A NOTE ABOUT iTUNES

Just to let all Phoenixfire's listeners know, we have had some problems with our iTunes links, and are currently not available on that service. We hope to remedy this situation soon.

PHOENIXFIRE 7

ATLANTIS HERE, ATLANTIS THERE, ATLANTIS DAMN NEAR EVERYWHERE!

Apologies for the audio on this one, we were seriously let down in terms of bandwidth from Skype on the night of the recording. It's cleaned up as much as we could and we feel it is quite listenable.

In orthodox academic circles, Atlantis is the ‘A’ word. If that terrifying word is uttered, academic ears fill instantly with academic wax and the offending utterer is summarily laughed and/or escorted out of the room.

Nevertheless, Atlantis hunters are legion, and Atlantis believers exponentially legioner.

In PhoenixFire 7 I take a long look at the entire complicated phenomenon. I present an overview of Atlantological history; it’s modern beginnings with Ignatius Donnelly’s ATLANTIS: The Antediluvian World, a vast volume of scholarship first printed in 1888, an instant best-seller, and in print ever since. I then look mainly at the astonishing number of claimants to Atlantis. These, among others, range from the Atlantic Ocean of course, to both the poles, Cypress, Spain, the Altiplano of Peru/Bolivia (believe it or not), and the Caribbean Sea. .

I look closely at Plato’s story, detailed in his Dialogues. For this is the tale that sent Donnelly on his initial search and a scholarly cottage industry was born. With immense advances in all sorts of underwater exploring techniques and excavating equipment besides, it shows no signs of abating.

However, despite the widespread locations trumpeted by adherents as THE Atlantis, all geographical candidates share one premise in common: a strictly literal acceptance of the complex and extraordinarily detailed physical description Plato provides for the huge, rich, aggressive and ultimately decadent civilization that sank to the bottom of the ocean in a single catastrophic day.

At the same time all Atlantologists practice one scholarly dodge in common: when the favored site diverges in some major way (size of site, place of site, age of site, etc) from Plato’s account –and without exception, all do- those divergences are fudged away and/or ignored. Nothing found and loudly proclaimed so far really matches Plato’s tale with anything resembling precision. In other words none of the candidates auditioning for the role actually qualify for it.

So is Plato’s account merely a fabrication? And if so, to what end? Why should he go to all that trouble? Just to confound researchers who will not show up for another two thousand years? It doesn’t make sense. And, along the same lines, are all those avid Atlantologists therefore deluding themselves, and their audiences while they’re at it; not so much barking up the wrong tree, as paddling aimlessly around the wrong ocean?

Definitive answer: yes and no, but it’s complicated. What isn’t?

There is an extraordinary, little-known and erudite book written and published some thirty years ago that, if heeded, without exactly nullifying the Atlantological premise could change the direction of inquiry in radical but fruitful ways.

Musicologist Ernest G. McClain's THE PYTHAGOREAN PLATO decodes the 'A' word as an elaborate musical allegory.

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