Sunday 30 December 2007

Post No. 032 - Response to the assassination of Benazir Bhutto [Content Warning: political violence, anger, emotions, interpersonal interactions, judging others, life lessons, lifestyles, stress, control]

There are places on this earth which have the misfortune to be critical to what is happening in this world. These are places, as opposed to people, experiencing the old (apparently Chinese) curse "may you live in interesting times"...

As a digression, if you're young, you may find that sentiment strange, as excitement and stimulation are a part of the culture of the young (and young at heart), and ALWAYS have been. That's one form of "interesting": there are others, with a sense of understatement and/or irony.

As an example, I have spent most of my life with the threat of a nuclear war coming out of the tension between the USA and the USSR. During that time, Cuba had a time when it was the centre of the world's political focus(see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_missile_crisis); later on, the tensions in the Middle East (still ongoing - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_conflicts_in_the_Middle_East) have threatened, at times, to trigger conflicts which could escalate into larger conflicts. On that point, don't forget that World One, and hence World War Two, were effectively triggered (not caused - the causes include empire aspirations, secret treaties, etc) by an assassination in the Balkans, which we knew until recently as Yugoslavia, and now has split, after a vicious war, into a number of nations.

Now, at the risk of boring those of you who have little or no interest in politics, I have a bit of background to present before I get into the spells and magical response to the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Stick with it: you may actually find that what happens overseas is actually quite relevant to wherever you live (I'm in Australia).

Since 2001, one of the major sources of international political concern has been terrorism - and that concern has led to the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq (let me say I consider the invasion of Iraq to be "flawed", but the invasion of Afghanistan to remove the Taliban was, in my opinion, justifiable - just also a bit flawed in its execution), and the placing of considerable international (political) pressure on nations such as Pakistan and Indonesia.

Pakistan, obviously, is the country I wish to touch on in this post (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan for some general information). Politically speaking, it is probably fair to say that Pakistan is a flawed ally in the so-called "war on terror": the desire to be - or to be seen as - an ally of Western powers such as the USA and Britain is fairly prominent at higher social levels; at lower levels of social power, I have the impression that there is a fair amount of support for resisting what is seen as Western cultural imperialism, or simply for maintaining the old, tribal ways - hence, the trouble stamping out support for terrorism (such as the cross-border support for the insurgency in Iraq). Consequently, there is a fair bit of internal conflict/tension, and the current military dictatorship (what's that? you didn't know Pakistan wasn't a democracy? Oh, OK - maybe have a look at the comments about suspension of the constitution at https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pk.html [yes folks, that IS at the CIA's website) is a bit stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Elections are scheduled for early January (the 8th, I think), and these would be significant step towards reestablishing a democracy, hopefully a stable one, which would hopefully be inherently fair for all it's people and thus resistant to terrorist influences. With the assassination of Benazir Bhutto a few days ago, those elections are looking decidedly unlikely - Bhutto's party has pulled out, as has the other opposition party.

Worse than that, there have been riots and more people have died.

This situation is dire - not only for those who live in Pakistan, but also other nations in the world. If the nation slips into civil war, or otherwise fails as a nation, I could see the USA trying to become directly involved, which will further alienate other Muslim nations (SERIOUSLY alienate). At the least, this will harm actions against terrorism (although I think a change of President of the USA will improve actions against terrorism, and other aspects of that dominant global power on the world - incidentally, have a look at Jeff Lily's post http://druidjournal.net/2007/12/18/vaster-than-empires-and-more-slow/); at the worst, it could stress the existing tensions in the Middle East and lead to a larger conflict. (It may also increase oil prices, but I sincerely hope you are not motivated by such selfishness.)

Hence, apart from the direct suffering of those in Pakistan, I consider there are other, pragmatic reasons we should be concerned about what is happening in Pakistan.

I personally have commenced (psychic) work to try to calm the area - to channel the outrage into constructive actions, to stop the presumptions that certain parties are involved (either directly or through not taking inaction), and to stimulate whatever will lead to a healthier society there. I'm mainly using runic energies (Isa for calm, Peorth for truth and Dagaz for transformation), but you could also use Goddess energies (such as Durga to reinforce healthy boundaries, Ceridwen for wisdom, etc).

There is something else you can do: be the change you wish to see (which is, I understand, a Mohandas K. Gandhi [also known as the Mahatma, or Great Soul] quote).

In what areas of your life are you presuming blame should be attributed, or reacting with rage and/or anger (see my post http://gnwmythr.blogspot.com/2007/10/anger-is-noit-emotion.html), or contributing to a situation which is not beneficial to those in it?

If you genuinely wish to work in the best interests of the people of Pakistan, fix yourself so you remove those energies from the world in general and the current troubles in Pakistan in particular (it doesn't matter that the energies are distant: they are available to be drawn on by those - physical and nonphysical - who wish to foment trouble in Pakistan.

If you are prepared to attempt that change in yourself, which would involve consulting with your Higher Self/guides by meditation, and taking whatever action comes from that (such as affirmations to change long set habits of thought or reaction), you are the sort of person I would be interested in for my future internet based group, the Grove of Ghyldeptis.

Anyway, it is late, and I must get some sleep, so I will leave this at that,

Love, light, hugs and blessings
Gnwmythr

I will add a photo to this post later.

Tags: anger, emotions, energy work, Grove of Gyhldeptis, interpersonal interactions, judging others, leadership, life lessons, lifestyles, stress, control,
First published: Sunday 30th December, 2007
Last edited: Sunday 30th December, 2007