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Wetiko Inside and Outside: A Remarkable Teaching Moment, By Carolyn Baker

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As we awaken to the horrors of industrial civilization, we must carefully examine the ways in which we have been colonized by it in a manner similar to the ways in which native peoples have been colonized by it. Derrick Jensen has written extensively about de-colonizing ourselves, and I have written a great deal about it as well because I have experienced that it is foolish to rail against industrial civilization if we are not committed to healing within ourselves the traumatic marks that it has left in the personal shadow of our psyches.


This thing of darkness, I acknowledge mine.

“The Tempest,” William Shakespeare

In this time of extinction—whatever that means and whenever it may occur, we owe a huge debt to Paul Levy for giving us Dispelling Wetiko. In that extraordinary book, Levy writes that wetiko isn’t just a Native American term for evil, it is, in fact, malignant egophrenia (M.E.), or as Levy cleverly names it, the “ME disease.”

I challenge anyone reading these words to state that they are ME-disease-free. No one raised in an industrial growth society is free of malignant egophrenia. Now let’s be clear. Everyone needs an ego. To those who tout the New Age nausea of being “free of my ego,” I would only ask: Who’s got the car keys, and how did you last find your way to the bathroom? Every human being needs an ego, and children should be supported in developing one, but at a certain juncture in our development, ego diminishment needs to begin and ego development wane so that our inner wisdom or what I call the Sacred Self, can surpass the limits and distortions of our ego development. A pivotal aspect of developing our inner wisdom is becoming aware of and creating a relationship with the shadow.

No, the shadow is not yet another aspect of New Age psychobabble. Drawing from millennia of wisdom traditions, as well as his own experience, Carl Jung inserted the term into modern psychology and in my opinion, literally changed everything by doing so. Quite simply, the shadow is any aspect of oneself that does not fit into one’s ego image of oneself, and ME disease is literally the shadow gone nuclear. Unless we know that we have a shadow and have employed specific tools to develop a relationship with it, it will run our lives. Need I also mention that as well as the personal shadow, nations, cultures, and communities have a collective shadow? And—none of us is immune. In fact, the shadow is now running the world—not Donald Trump, not Kim Jong Un, not the military industrial complex or the deep state.

Whether we like it or not, the ME disease, made even more virulent by the shadow, is not only running the world but threatens to run our individual lives. How not, since we cannot escape the toxicity of this culture? How easy it is to rant about wetiko—out there, and how difficult it is to encounter, explore, examine, struggle with, and heal the wetiko inside ourselves. To clarify, there is no permanent healing of wetiko or the personal or cultural shadow, but owning that it exists and committing to shadow work markedly diminishes its influence whereas ignoring or denying it guarantees that it will consume our lives, compel us to hurt other living beings, and drive us unconsciously to manufacture horrific messes that in most cases, other people will have to clean up.

When shadow behavior erupts or is exposed in the life of someone we highly regard, we have choices about how to respond. We can immediately engage in our own malignant egophrenia and point the finger, as if we have no shadow and are not capable of exactly the same thing. Or because we regard the person so highly, we can discount or minimize the seriousness of their behavior and ignore the shadow. Or, we can own our own shadow, and in so doing, recognize that we are capable of the same or worse behavior. Invariably, this causes us to feel compassion as well as perhaps experience a chilling shudder as we realize the capacity we all have to harm others and ourselves. None of the latter means that we turn a blind eye or continue relating to the person if that does not feel safe or comfortable. But most importantly, when we see the shadow writ large in our midst—whether it is being written by Donald Trump, climate science deniers, human traffickers, trophy hunters, or fossil fuel tycoons, we must stop, take many deep breaths, and humbly acknowledge the event(s) as a teaching moment. The most important question we can ask at that time is: What does this tell me about the personal and collective shadow? And most importantly, what does this tell me about my own shadow?

As we awaken to the horrors of industrial civilization, we must carefully examine the ways in which we have been colonized by it in a manner similar to the ways in which native peoples have been colonized by it. Derrick Jensen has written extensively about de-colonizing ourselves, and I have written a great deal about it as well because I have experienced that it is foolish to rail against industrial civilization if we are not committed to healing within ourselves the traumatic marks that it has left in the personal shadow of our psyches.

When someone we highly regard—a leader in our community or a respected thought leader betrays us by betraying other human beings, the most obtuse response we can employ is to begin arguing about who is right and who is wrong or whether that person’s betrayal means that we should disregard their research or body of work. Such a response engenders an orgy of ME disease, completely overlooks shadow awareness and shadow healing, and misses the stellar teaching moment that that person’s betrayal has presented us with.

I unashamedly submit that if we are not doing deep, intentional shadow work, our activist/resistance efforts are essentially useless because we are not actively de-colonizing ourselves and in fact are opening ourselves to the possibility of damaging, rather than protecting or healing the Earth community.

I do not these write words lightly with disregard of my own shadow. I have been deceived, and I have defended betrayers in the name of “having faith in humanity” or “wanting to believe the best about a person.” To anyone who has been harmed by my shadow denial, I sincerely apologize. What I choose to do in the present moment is dis-associate myself with the betrayer forever and go back into my spiritual cave to do more work on my own shadow.

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Source: http://carolynbaker.net/2017/08/26/wetiko-inside-and-outside-a-remarkable-teaching-moment-by-carolyn-baker/


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    • goastdale

      2Thess 2:10..because they received not THE LOVE (Agape)of the truth, that they might be saved. 11. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

      123’s of true Christianity v popular & damnable heresies

      #1 “ONE” not triune: ……PART 4 & 5 HOW MANY GODS ARE THERE FOR THE ONE GOD TO TALK TO?? Who was Jesus praying to??!?…. The real question should be … How does having multiple different persons keep this one God/being/entity from praying to himself?! (The trinitarian “schizophrenic” “god-head”) The Trinitarians want to have their cake and eat it too as the saying goes. On the one hand they need to say they only worship one indivisible God being/ entity but on the other hand they feel the need for some reason to keep Jesus or God from praying and talking to himself by dividing him up into different persons!?! It never occurs to them that that since there is only one indivisible God to pray too and Jesus is that indivisible God come in the flesh that he would need to talk to himself as to show us how to live, suffer, pray and die for our/ flesh) benefit not his!?!….. So while Trinitarians are quick to complain that God was not talking to himself at Christ baptism or in Gen “let us” they ignore the logical demands of their own theology! If Jesus is the ONE GOD in flesh and the Father is the SAME ONE GOD in heaven then Trinitarianism demands THE ONE GOD is talking to HIMSELF the same “being”! Claiming that God is multiple different persons as the reason for why God is not talking to himself (because God is three different “selfs”) only demonstrates that what they really worship is in fact not a ONE GOD who talks to himself but three different god “selfs”/ and they all talk to each other! When they speak about who God was talking and praying to, they are quick to say “the other person, NOT HIMSELF!” But if you ask them how many gods do they pray to then they will say “ONLY ONE”!?! They expect you to believe that those three different persons are THE ONE GOD-BEING” which is like calling three different cars “THE ONE VEHICLE” (they are text book examples of prov 26:12)
      Mark 12:28…Which is the first commandment of all? 29. …Hear, O Israel; THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD: 30. And ………..this is the first commandment….. 31. And the second is….. IF YOU CAN’T GET THIS “FIRST OF ALL COMMANDMENTS” RIGHT, ALL THE REST OF YOUR “FAITH” AND PREACHING ON LOVE & SIN IS MOOT

      PART 6: THE ANTI CHRIST….WHERE? WHERE?….EVERYWHERE!!! …..IT”S YOU O TRINITARIAN!
      “WHO” it was (what person) that came “IN THE FLESH”, IS THE DETERMINING FACTOR IN WHAT IT MEANS TO BE “ANT-CHRIST”! Even Islam claims Jesus was the Jewish messiah/Christ who was to come in the flesh) they all deny “WHO” it was (what person) that came (to be the Christ) in the flesh!?!…….To deny the father is to deny the son because they are one and the same person that came in the flesh!
      JOHN 14: 8-20 ….Note Isaiah 9:6. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: …: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, … the everlasting Father ….The son, father/Holy Spirit are all the same person, NOT like two different persons working together even as “one flesh” ….The “oneness” between Christ and the father is not comparable to a man & his wife, for only a fool would say “When you have seen me you have seen my wife, how sayest thou then, Shew us your wife?” Notice they asked to see THE FATHER and the response was Jn 14:9 ..“HAVE I BEEN SO LONG time with you, and yet hast THOU NOT KNOW ME, Philip…..Now image some fool trying to claim that statement if you asked to see his wife!?!!? You want to see the FATHER but have I been with you but you don’t know me!?!?!
      Jn 14 continued….…………..17. Even THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH; (Jn 14:6 I AM the way, THE TRUTH,) whom the world cannot receive, .. for HE DEWLLETH WITH YOU, (present tense/standing next to them in the flesh) and SHALL BE IN YOU… (future tense “In them”) 18. I will not leave you comfortless: I WILL COME TO YOU (future tense “In them”) Note: The spirit of Christ is the sprit of God and the holy spirit that is why Christ said “I will come to you” (to comfort them, because Christ is the comforter). The spirit was standing next to them in flesh… ….latter it would come to them to be inside of them (inside of their flesh as the spirit we are given)…..that is why. he would send the spirit…… However, Jesus himself here makes the point that the same person who was the HOLY SPIRIT that would come was standing next to them but lets them know “I will come to you again to be Inside of you”
      The whole point to Gal 3:20.a mediator is NOT A MEDIATOR OF ONE, (HEIS) but GOD IS ONE. (HEIS) again, point blank, identifies the number of persons of God! The “but” points out the contrast between multiple persons in a mediation party v the “one” of God. God is not like a mediation party with multiple different persons. …..”the express image of his person” ( the person of God; singular not plural).Any attempt to lay claim otherwise is willful ignorance and delusional nonsense
      TRINITARIANS CONFESS JESUS /THEY ARE NOT POLYTHEIST BUT ARE MONOTHEIST LIKE A LIAR & THIEF WHO “CONFESS” THEY DO NOT LIE OR STEAL The simple fact is that just because you confess or deny that you are in an adulterous relationship and denounce all forms of adultery has nothing to do with whether or not it is in fact adulterous! .. …A rose by any other name is still just a rose AND calling it a water lily does not change the definition of what a water Lilly or a rose is either!…No, Trinitarians confess & preach literally …”ANOTHER JESUS” 2 Cor 11:4
      - Like a thief in your house caught stealing your things insisting he was not there stealing “I CONFESS I am NOT stealing”. You just do not “properly understand” what he is doing/saying. Further, since you never had a “proper understanding” of what he is doing/saying you have no business accusing him since you do not even know what you are talking about in the first place. It is with and in your own ignorance that you base your “false accusations” & “ad homonym attacks” against him…… Ridiculous of course it is ……2Thess 2:11; Titus 1:16; 2Tim 3:5;
      …… should have given you a hint, harking back to Satan in The garden…God said you will die…Satan comes along and states no you will be more WISE……today .God said He is one; but Satan’s children come along and say no three is more WISE and humble in the face of God’s grandeur only “a mystery” that can be understood “in faith”. God uses head and right arm to explain the distinctions between father and son.. However, the Trinitarian heretics say to the effect: “NO, that is just a figure of speech, or that is not what God really means. What God is really saying is that God is three different persons”. Fools, hypocrites and blind guides, God said he was One and by your traditions and vain imaginations have taken the words of God and made them of no effect, refashioning God into your image!
      You can download the complete FREE book from
      https://www.scribd.com/doc/305367608/The-Trinity-Heresy
      OR
      https://www.academia.edu/23463667/THE_TRINITY_HERESY
      or
      http://www.globethics.net/gtl/10920799 THE TRINITY HERESY

      #2 SECOND COMING Thou Fool! “I come quickly” so “Hold fast
      till i come”… NOT …“in another 2000 yrs I might be coming soon any time now, so hold fast”!?! …those that deny the second coming of Christ in the war of AD70 are practicing a damnable heresy in denying the lord that bought them ( 2Peter 2:1-2 ;2Tim 4:8/ you cant love an appearing you deny& the context is the 2nd coming not the first)… Mat 7:23..”I NEVER KNEW YOU” …..Mat 10:33. But whosoever shall deny me before men……..sound familiar?…. If I said I am coming to your house in this generation when these things happen but no one knows the day or hour what fool would think I might be coming in 2000 years latter!?!? ..2 Tim 4: 4. And
      they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be TURNED UNTO FABLES.
      2Thess 2: 11. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12. That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
      DOWNLOAD FREE THE ENTIRE 480PG BOOK AT SEVERAL LOCATIONS
      https://www.scribd.com/doc/305366745/Revelation-the-First-Gospel-of-the-Kingdom
      or
      http://www.globethics.net/gtl/5455069 Revelation The First Gospel of The Kingdom
      or
      https://www.academia.edu/23464127/REVELATION_THE_FIRST_GOSPEL_OF_THE_KINGDOM

      #3 There is a sharp contrast between THREE groups :
      (1) “PREDESTINED DAMNED” who were NEVER written in the book of life ………..Rev 17: 8 WHOSE NAMES WERE NOT WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF LIFE FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD, …as contrasted …EPH 1: 4. According as he hath CHOSEN US in him BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD
      (2) “MANY CALLED”= ONLY and ALL SAINTS (those who come to Christ) are written in the book of life … Philippians 4:3… ……Rev 21:27; (Only saints are Called and elect; Rom 1:6-7 et al) This is THE CHRUCH and ONLY these can have their names blotted out of the book of life ….….Heb 12:23 to the general assembly and CHURCH of the firstborn … WHICH ………are WRITTEN in heaven,
      (3) THE FEW CHOSEN: Those saints who were alive in group #2 who are now physically dead. They died “faithful” these are the FEW that were chosen faithful…….Rev 3:5. ……; and I
      will not BLOT OUT HIS NAME OUT OF THE BOOK OF LIFE, (Ps 69:28) …. These are the FEW that are CHOSEN and now that they have died and are saved then “once saved THEY CAN NEVER BE LOST”
      Predestination….its true..its all true…download here
      https://www.scribd.com/doc/306868420/Most-True-Christians-Go-to-Hell
      http://www.globethics.net/gtl/10920800 Most true Christians go to hell
      https://www.academia.edu/25217564/Most_True_Christains_Go_to_Hell

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