In Praise of Hemp

Hemp is the common name for cannabis, the first plant cultivated by humanity as we crept from being Neolithic to becoming Agrarian. Likely this was due to a few reasons. First, hemp is an extremely versatile plant, with leaves, seeds and stalks all capable of creating useful products. Second, it’s particularly easy to grow, needing little in the way of fertilizer or pest control. And finally, hemp is native to many parts of the world, particularly The Fertile Crescent, where some of the first agriculture happened early in our civilization.

Hemp use predates the Agrarian Age, as hemp fibers have been found in pottery in China and Taiwan dating to 7,000 years ago. The classical Greek historian Herodotus (ca. 480 BC) reported that the inhabitants of Scythia would often inhale the vapours of hemp smoke, both as ritual and for their own pleasurable recreation. So presumably the Scythians were the first recorded stoners.

In Europe, hemp growing and production became quite popular during the Medieval Age, having disseminated in that direction along with much of the technology of the Arabic Golden Age in Northern Africa. In Europe hemp seeds were used for food and oils, the leaves for teas and the stalks for fibres, including rope, clothes, sails and paper. Estimates put the number of Europeans actively involved in hemp growing and production in the 15th and 16th century at well over 50%.

Hemp has a strong historical influence on every continent, with varied cultural and religious traditions. Many African spiritual practices involve consuming hemp smoke to enhance awareness and generate visions like the Dagga ‘cults’.

The Spaniards brought hemp to the Western Hemisphere and cultivated it in Chile starting about 1545. However, in May 1607, "hempe" was among the crops Gabriel Archer observed being cultivated by the natives at the main Powhatan village, where Richmond, Virginia is now situated; and in 1613, Samuell Argall reported wild hemp "better than that in England" growing along the shores of the upper Potomac. As early as 1619, the first Virginia House of Burgesses passed an Act requiring all planters in Virginia to sow "both English and Indian" hemp on their plantations. The Puritans are first known to have cultivated hemp in New England in 1645.

In more modern times, hemp was a popular crop in antibellum Kentucky and other southern states. It was commonly used for a variety of products, most notably the paper on which the U.S. Constitution was written. Several of our founding fathers were hemp farmers.

All this changed with William Randoph Hearst, who began demonizing hemp in order to leverage his great tracks of forest for paper production instead of needing to buy hemp from other farmers. His effort to demonize the plant was also instigated by his racism, as many hispanics and blacks used hemp for recreation. The word, marijuana, is the hispanic term for that form of hemp which has psychoactive ingredients.

There are several varieties of hemp, most of which have very little THC [tetra-hydro-cannabanoid], the mind-effecting component. For most of U.S. history, the distinction was well-understood and laws reflected that awareness. Like so many with the power of media, however, Mr. Hearst did his best to cloud that distinction, as he was against hemp in any form. Indeed, industrial hemp was referred to as ‘ditchweed’, while hemp for medicinal or recreations purposes has come to be known as marijuana.

An analogy would be poppies, where you have the breadseed poppy seeds that can be found on bread or rolls, in contrast to the opium poppies grown to create morphine and heroin.

As reference, the timber and lumber industries, textile and petro-chemical industries are the most influential in keeping hemp illegal. As usual, we can follow the money. Then for pot there’s the pharmaceutical industry, the alcohol lobby and all those anti-drug agencies with self-preservation interests. We learn much from understanding these connections.

With this background, let’s consider how hemp might again play a pivotal role in our culture.

Assuming access to air and water, our most regular needs are for food and energy. In the World4 culture, these needs, at least for the industrialized world, are met through global corporations like ADM, Monsanto, BP and Exxon. And of course, hemp is illegal to grow in much of the industrialized world and particularly the United States.

But as noted above, hemp is easily grown with little required in the way of fertilizer or pesticides. As such, hemp typifies a sustainably-oriented plant. Corn, by comparison, requires heavy doses of fertilizer, especially nitrogen, and requires a good deal of pesticide use, with Roundup often used to kill weeds, and genetically modified corn seed that is resistant to the effects of Roundup. With the vast expanses of corn grown in this country, it should be no surprise that the runoff from these chemicals has created a huge dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. And let us not forget that our tax dollars subsidize these efforts through farm and energy subsidies.

With hemp, we have a low-impact, high-yield crop that can be used for a variety of uses. The stalks and fiber can used for composites that can be a wood substitute in an array of products. They can also be processed to create ethanol. They can be burned as a carbon-neutral resource, since the carbon they release is but the carbon the plant ingested during it’s life. Durable, light-weight, and strong, it’s difficult to imagine all the uses for industrial hemp were we to focus on designing and building hemp-based products.

With hemp oil we have another energy-rich resource, which can be used in cooking, as lamp oil and as a medicinal, as its high concentration of essential fatty acids is great for the skin and overall health.

Hemp seed can be used as a food as well. The roasted seeds are crunchy, they can be used in soups and casseroles, mixed with cereals or other foods. They’re highly nutritious, have a good deal of protein and again, are positive-impact environmentally.

Hemp has remediation properties too. It absorbs heavy metals in the soil, reducing their toxicity and harmful environment effects. There are vast expanses of hemp in the area of the Chernobyl nuclear accident for just that reason.

Hemp can be grown successfully in nearly every state in these United States. One can imagine a culture where locally produced hemp provides a good portion of the energy, food and product needs for our communities. This methodology would provide employment in both production and processing of the plant. It would reduce the environmental damage caused by our overused, subsidized corn. [Corn syrup is a cheap, low grade sugar that’s in a ton of processed foods.] Re-integrating hemp into our culture is just good, common sense.

And then there’s marijuana. The heathen devil-weed [a term coined by Heart’s yellow press] was blamed for all sorts of bad behavior as part of the demonization process. But as usual, someone who smokes pot and acts badly likely acts badly anyway, with marijuana as the straw man. Marijuana reduces aggressive behavior, unlike alcohol. This slander against the singular most influential plant in human history is but one example of the dysfunctionality of our culture.

Weed does indeed have psychotropic properties of note. Being stoned has a curious effect on the mind. Most say it tends to enhance whatever we feeling or experiencing at the time, offering a heightened experience of music or games or food [the proverbial munchies]. It is often used as a mind-quieting agent as well, as the stream of thoughts so constant to most of us becomes less pressing in a marijuana state of mind. In our fear-ridden, highly-stressed culture that alone could be of great value.

It’s worth noting that marijuana has not been placed as the medical cause in a single death in this country. Compare that with alcohol, tobacco, or the host of concoctions the pharmaceutical industry markets to us constantly. Mary Jane is decidedly benign.

As a medicinal, hemp oil has the afore mentioned essential fatty acids that are very effective for skin issues like excema and when ingested enhances body health. Medical marijuana is much in the news these days, being legal in California and a handful of other states. It’s value in alleviating the worst effect of cancer treatments, chronic back ache and other issues is well-documented. Imagine if our culture actually encouraged research on medical marijuana. Not likely when the legal drug cartel we call the pharmaceutical industry has so much influence in government.

Proposition 19 is a measure on the ballot in California this fall that makes hemp legal. It merits our support for all the reasons indicated in this writing. Perhaps with this ballot measure passing we can begin to reverse the foolishness that has withheld leveraging this marvelous plant for the last 100 years.

Perhaps one of the most beneficial characteristics of this renewable resource is that the hemp plant can be used in its entirety, and that a streamlined life-cycle assessment yields positive impacts on the environment throughout the growth, harvest, and production stages. The industrial hemp plant offers a wide variety of high performance applications through the many aspects of community design, and will help strengthen our local economy, return power back to our local agricultural industry, and restore the environment as it grows. – Scott Blossom

Well said, Mister Blossom. Perhaps this fall [in California Ballot Measure Prop 19] we’ll begin to see a return to sanity in our policies toward this marvelous and versatile plant. And wouldn’t it be just swell to see this happen in the wider context of a return to localism. Very World Five – dude.

12.21.12 – The Birth of World 5.0

The Winter Solstice of this year, 12.21.12, is the most auspicious occasion in modern memory. No other date resonates with such ancient warnings and curious attention. No other date has offered so much speculation. And our actual science-based information on this topic is close to nil. Wow.

What we are told is that this is to be a time of great transition, perhaps bringing an end to our civilization and even our lives. If so, what happens afterward is of no concern. Others think we face a ‘Y2K’ like experience, a barely noticeable blip on the radar, if there is anything noticeable at all. A third group imagines we face a great awakening, a new ‘Age of Aquarius’ with a suddenly enlightened culture full of peace and love, with rich and rewarding relationships for us all.

In less than two weeks we’ll know much more clearly. As the founder of World 5.0, I’m especially curious of what is to come. The notion of World 5.0 came to me some eight years ago, and I’ve been enchanted with the idea ever since. I’ve written a book on the topic [free download from world5.org], produced a Declaration video, and posted any number of articles and musings on the topic. After this auspicious date of 12.21.12, World 5.0 may well become the recognized ‘operating system’ for our culture as we move forward.

Why? Because it brings truth. It recognizes that Life Is This Moment, there is no reality outside of here and now. This is the first truth. Such an obvious recognition should be the central pillar of science and religion. That Now is not recognized as the singular point of reality is a clear sign of our confused culture.

Next is the recognition of the central role of our intent in determining the quality and flow of our lives. Indeed, it is how we use our intent here and now that determines our view of the world, and from that view we create our perceptions and those perceptions dictate our level of happiness. Most simply, the constant choice we face is between love and fear, and only one is grounded in peace. This is the second truth. “The problem is never what the fear says it is. The problem is always fear itself.”

The third truth is quite simple – only Love makes us happy.

It is only when we find our common ground here in Life, and appreciate the power of our intent that we begin to find our true selves. And it is only when we find our true selves that we can be effective change agents in creating a culture of peace and love. Otherwise our lack of clarity will infuse the process with fundamental flaws such as we have in the globalized system today.

It does not seem an accident that this auspicious date finds humanity in the throes of crisis. Global warming, desertification, species annihilation, food and water shortages, dysfunctional government and generally a world gone awry. Such is the outcome one would expect if studying the effects of globalization on culture. We need a new model, where money is not the ultimate arbiter of success and power – which many of us see this death and birth as being about.

World 5.0 sees that our culture must rebalance toward feminine ideals. We need cooperation more than competition. We need nurturing more than authority. We need curiosity instead of judgment. We need togetherness instead of winners and losers. We need to be citizens, not consumers.

How does this play out in our culture? For starters we refuse the goal of ‘getting ahead’ as that necessarily leaves others behind. We refuse war as we stand for peace. We engage with everyone we meet, seeing a reflection of ourselves in each sister and brother. We enliven our local communities with our love, and apply pressure to government to effect positive change. We support local food and energy production. In short, we live honest, meaningful [and surprisingly happy] lives.

So, while we cannot yet see whether galactic alignments, solar storms, a polar shift or some other unrecognized force will wreak havoc on our planet, the truth is we have already done just that, and treated our sisters and brothers poorly in the process. Scapegoating corporations and governments, deserving though they may be, does nothing to heal our tragic situation. We must awaken and claim our personal power, leaving corruptive influences behind.

What we can see is that the same truth holds regardless of what happens on December 21st, 2012. In our personal lives it is our intent that empowers us or causes us to continue in illusions. It is our engagement in our neighborhood and local communities that creates substantive change. It is in holding the space of peace, in holding the warmth of love, that we align with the great Tao we call Life.

The truth, the lovely thing about the decay and rebirth we’re undergoing, is that this marker of 12.21.12 is the culminating point of a long and unsteady process of growing up for our species. We are finally putting away adolescent behavior and finding each other. We are finally resetting our priorities to align with relationship, community and ecology. We are awakening.

Imagine a world without war, a world where hunger is eliminated and there’s plenty of clean water for all. A world where relationships and communities are the priority – not corporatism. Imagine growing and eating healthy food, growing weed and industrial hemp, stopping the pollution and GMO risks from the agribiz food model. Imagine a functional, responsive government. Imagine millions of us working to heal the planet – planting trees, mitigating pollution, reducing carbon use, restoring our oceans. Imagine us becoming deeply attuned to Mother Earth.

The process? First we align with The Three Truths to ground ourselves Here in Life and to master our intent. We can’t repair the world when we’re distracted, wounded and otherwise enslaved by the old system. We must each find our true self and allow it to emerge.

Next we must connect. We must immerse ourselves in being the connective tissue of a new, holistic culture based on peace and love. We must let our integrity shine forth, as it lights the path to peace. And we must engage, as this very process of engaging IS Love.

One by one we leave the madness of the old broken world behind, choosing instead to make our home Here in Life. Already there are millions of us sharing this quest of healing, and sharing this passion to restore our lives and our Earth. As we learn to find our ground, connect and build a system of ethics, we awaken World 5.0. Perhaps we’re on the edge of a reckoning with the system of globalization. And the old system has no chance against the power of Life.

Join Us. Life Is. Onward.

The Three Truths

World4 has an underlying axiom that time is a continuum, with past, present and future as the three components, all having similar validity in our lives. But this is blatantly false. Our experience of reality points in different direction. Our experience suggests that we live in This Moment, a place in time we cannot leave [care to try?].

And yet this false, world4 mindset dominates our culture. Who has not heard some pundit proclaim: “The reality is if we don’t do stop terrorists, they will blow up our country.” “If-thens” are not reality, they are if-thens. Reality is Here, this moment. In a reality where so many options exist, there are bound to be any number of possibilites and probabilities. And yet the if-then assumptiveness runs rampant in world4 culture, creating as stated above, a severe level of bullshit.

The first truth is stated thus: Life Is This Moment. It consists of Eternal Awareness and this constant flux of Energy. We Live Here. Together.

Eternal Awareness is but another name for God, Life, Love, Peace, Truth, etc. They are the same. This constant flux of energy is an obvious scientific fact. As energy patterns, we share the same Earth, the same air, families and communities and of course, this lovely never-ending Life.

Energy as we know is never still.

The second truth is this: Here, of prime concern is our intent, fear or Love.

Once we get ourselves acclimated to our Hereness, we more easily recognize the power of our intent in determining our experience. We know about attitude and its effects. World5 offers the understanding that we create the quality of our experiences through our intent. We cannot keep another from anger or hate, but we can well choose our response to such unpleasantness.

The second part of this truth is that the simple choice for our intent is between fear and Love. This simplicity is lost in the world4 culture, with its distraction and manipulation. But our reality is not lessened one bit for lack of awareness. The anguish of fear, or the power of Love. Thoughts and feelings of compassion, peace, love, beauty, contentment, communion – all align with Love. Thoughts and feelings of self-importance, wretchedness, anger, hate, depression, boredom, meanness – all the result of fearfulness.

It’s worth recognizing, too, our levels of being. We are body, mind and Spirit, and while our bodies are distinct, our Spirit is One, as the term but describes Life. So while we must train ourselves to be fearless in our minds, our Spirit is already without fear. Being of Eternal Awareness, it is impossible for Spirit to experience fear.

The third truth is the most simple of all: Only Love makes us happy.

Now while some of our less aware brothers and sisters believe they are finding happiness in taking advantage or abusing another, in having more control or more possessions, in obtaining status and fame, etc. These experiences might mirror happiness, even as lust might mirror Love, but something inside us knows better. Indeed, studies show that those folks who are helpful and compassionate are far happier than those who only think of themselves. Imagine that.

Real happiness stems from finding our place Here in Life. Our Source. It is the joy found only in This Moment, the joy of being Immersed Together. The truest happiness remains near constant in spite of the dramas that this life entails. Real happiness comes from our Soul. In connecting with our true selves, we connect with all. Now that’s nice.Even enchanting!

Of course from the world4 perspective such ideas are threatening, their merits ridiculed and demonized as world4 pundits and apologists are wont to do. But it’s clear in this new age that world4 is ridiculous, and if we do not find a better path for ourselves and our peeps, we leave this Earth a far poorer place, and ourselves as well. So let’s not do that.

Forever We Are Here

The first truth is that reality is only now and we are all here together. In living our lives, it is a constant flow of events, thoughts, feelings and beliefs that impact us, but we are always Here.

The constancy of Now is our home, our grounding. This is a crucial understanding as we can then focus on how we want to be, and think, and feel and do, Now. The totality of Now is the singular fact of our existence together.

It is my sense that we go on forever, and at times look back on our time in bodies from a place of having had thousands of lives, perhaps an infinite number. We are in the vast cosmic playground of consciousness called Life.

The next question then entwines with the second truth. Knowing that we’re always Here in the unfailing Now, what is the power of our intent in effecting our experience of this Life?

But such a question veers from our topic. The truth is if we are infinite, God like, then we need not fear the end of biological existence, nor temporary issues, most of which are avoided when we hold the Eternal perspective.

Life is Tao _ the stillness of eternal peace | the constant flow of love. Here we are forever.

In Fearful Times

In times like these, it is easy to succumb to the darkness around us. The seeming endless struggle, the constant strife, war, illness, dark mood, and hopelessness so apparent in our culture today – it can leave one in pieces.

Fortunately, there is an alternative. There is another way of thinking, feeling, believing and being that the old culture will not recognize. It is a recognition many of us already know. It is the simple recognition of us all here together in Life.

This is our Home. Our place of rest. Our hope for constant contact with Life, and/or God or insert name here. In a culture utterly reliant on bullshit, understanding our common ground is vital.

The answer is always within. And it is always Here. The answer is awareness. While it may be confused with consciousness or intent, awareness does not rely on our recognition. Awareness Is. Eternally. As children of Awareness, such is our truth as well.

What need we fear if our condition is eternal, and we shed bodies as so many clothes or acts in a play. We are ever swimming through the constant flow of events, demarcating our eternal play.

Awareness has no need of words. Indeed, we too often use words to hide, our minds filled with chatter of little value. Of value beyond measure is our relationship, together, right Now among this incredible vastness of Awareness we call Life.

Even Now we are Awakening to the truth of ourselves and our lives together. Even Now we are recognizing the utter savagery and corruption of the elite controlled world we grew up in. Even Now we are finding Peace and Love. This eternal peace of Awareness. This constant energy of Love.

The Greatest Truth of All

In the confused, corrupt and dysfunctional culture we live in, it’s difficult to know anything as ‘true’. This general confusion is of course intentional, with the global elites [overlords] using their power to keep us impotent and frankly, stupid.

Still, even the global elites cannot keep from us the greatest truth of all. It is easily discerned once we open ourselves to its truth. It is the central fact of our existence. It is the singular truth with the power to awaken us and help us survive, and even thrive, in a broken system.

So enough of the tease. If you haven’t guessed, the greatest truth of all is our shared existence in Life – sweet Life, which exists only Now, and yet somehow continues eternally.

Indeed, we are all Here, Now, and we are Here Now forever. Indeed, we are capable of being nowhere else, because there is nowhere else. As the old adage goes, “Yesterday’s gone and tomorrow never comes.” Indeed, even beyond our biological death we continue in this parade forever.

How is something so clear and so obvious so lost in these times? The simple answer is that it has served the interests of Empire to keep us disempowered, as mentioned above.

The way forward? It starts with the clear recognition of where we are. Regardless of our thoughts, feelings and beliefs, we remain here. Together.

With this as the case, what matters is what we think, feel and believe right now. What do we want to hold in our minds? In our hearts? What beliefs do we hold that do not stand up to this new light? Religious beliefs, tribal beliefs, personal beliefs that we refuse to examine, as we did not understand the ground [LIFE] on which we stand.