It's Elemental

Author: Seth

  • transformation exercise

    The following exercise was proposed:

    Take the following list, culled from a critique of Ken Wilber’s work by philosopher William Irwin Thompson, Coming Into Being and write the opposites.

    simplistic 
    how to fix 
    compulsive mappings 
    textbook categorizations 
    control the universe through mapping 
    dominant masculinist purposefulness 
    shift power from the described to the describer 
    psychic inflation and self-magnification 
    a grand pyramid with the advocate on top 
    lacking poetic insights 
    lacking a feeling for the concrete 
    lacking embodiment of an aesthetic  

     

    My response:

    simplistic —> complex 
    how to fix —> how to engage 
    compulsive mappings —> flexible relations 
    textbook categorizations —> situational phenomenologies 
    control the universe through mapping —> participate in the universe through walking its territory 
    dominant masculinist purposefulness —> creatively shifting between feminine/masculine 
    shift power from the described to the describer —> described and describer abdicate power to each other 
    psychic inflation and self-magnification —> psychic robustness and continuous self-recontextualization 
    a grand pyramid with the advocate on top  —> a complex web with the advocate teleporting between nodes 
    lacking poetic insights —> poetry as rhythmic healing 
    lacking a feeling for the concrete —> able to connect without abstraction through action 
    lacking embodiment of an aesthetic  —> able to create and shift between evolving aesthetics

  • Why every line is a circle… and vice versa: a projective geometric exercise.

    I’d like to make a contribution with regards to circularity/linearity, from a geometrical standpoint.  If you don’t like geometry, stop reading, or better yet, read with increased intensity.

    The polarity between circle/line is one that is fundamental to many geometries – they are taken to be quite different logical entities.  Primarily this arises because of (in a move parallel to Russel’s need to introduce the Theory of Types to avoid paradox) a limited way of dealing with infinity.  Cybernetics shows us, by providing a wider view (attention to relations, recursions, and thus relations of relations, etc.) that the Theory of Types is unnecessary and points towards a more flexible and mysterious understanding of paradox.  In the same way, projective geometry provides a way of dealing with infinity that encompasses, expands, and re-frames the conventional geometric view. (more…)

  • How to form a relationship with your book

    A professor of mine, Bradford Keeney, offers the following advice:

    EVERY TIME YOU READ <insert your book here>, INTERACT WITH THE BOOK IN A WAY THAT YOU HAVE NEVER INTERACTED WITH A BOOK: 

    Some possibilities: 

    *drill a hole through it
    *drill other holes 
    *underline spaces rather than words 
    *talk to the book 
    *place book under pillow or bed or tv or stereo speaker 
    *place book on serving plate and place on dining table 
    *play catch with the book 
    *add wheels to the book 
    *create a more aesthetic cover for the book 
    *cover author’s name with your name… after all in a constructivist universe, the reader is an active participant in the interaction called “reading” 
    *add your name to the author’s book, making it a collaborative writing/reading 
    *glue a mirror to the front of the book (more…)

  • SA Updates

    I updated the main page to load much faster, and created a page of alchemical images:

    https://spiritalchemy.com/alchemyimages.htm

    Please beware that the page is LOADED with images, in order that they can be easily browsed, so it may take a minute to load.

  • Poems

    Today I put up most of my poems on the site: http://elements.spiritalchemy.com/poetry.html

    Poetry isn’t good for much if it never gets read, so despite the fact that many of these poems are embarrassing for one reason or another, I thought I’d post them as a kind of experiment/record of my own transformation, since transformation is what the site is about anyway – hence the chronological ordering.

    This is also a chance for me to challenge my perfectionistic side and my tendency to keep parts of myself hidden – so there.

    20081221-CIMG1970

  • The Museum of Lost Wonders

    Wow – wandering through Powell’s books just turned up this gem – perfect for me!  It’s a book with an alchemical basis (the chapters are organized by the seven basic alchemical processes), exploring philosophy, science, history, and consciousness… 

    but what’s even better is that the book is very visual and creative.  It includes seven paper models that can be cut out and constructed into 3D artefacts with philosophic, scientific, and alchemical meanings.  It’s kind of like if Nick Bantock was a scientist/philosopher and wrote non-fiction.

    How did I not know about this book?  Oh well, at least now it was only $18 instead of the $50 list price!

    Plus it has an amazing website that anyone can visit to get the flavor:

    http://www.lostwonder.org

  • new Flickr photos

    Finally got around to weeding through recent photos and posting some to Flickr.

    Most notably, these include a trip to Palm Springs and some amazing flowers at a bed and breakfast (Elements, I believe it’s called) on Whidbey Island.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/spiritself

    Here’s a sample:

    20080727-IMG_6124