3.0 Ancient Galilee’s Eco-fields

3.0:A Loose String In Ancient Galilee’s Eco-fields

Soon, I will launch an exploration of Carl Jung and propose that he, too, has been basically misunderstood. But first I attend to a loose string, an anomaly in the Jesus narrative. The string from the ball of yarn keeps getting longer and longer the more I delve into the story. The dangling string seems to issue not from a theological perspective but from both a pre-biblical and post quantum physics perspective. If I follow this string a bit further, perhaps I can let go of this portion of the discussion. Something keeps niggling at me.

In this blog series I have explored Pieter Craffert’s hypothesis that to understand Jesus you have to immerse yourself in the Galilean culture and language, not Greek, Jewish, or Roman culture. Especially, not modern Western Civilization’s culture. If you dive deeply into Galilean culture and language, he argues, you will soon see that Jesus fits the shamanic framework. True enough.

But, here is that pesky loose string: after a few weeks of contemplation, I see that Craffert too has missed a most basic key. As I looked at beautiful, virtual images of the Sea of Galilee, it dawned on me that the most powerful epiphany in Galilee was not Jesus as an avatar individual but rather the Galilean eco-scape seeking to express itself through a favorite son, Jesus.

The major revelation given is through Jesus not from Jesus. The Sermon on the Mount is field-centric not human-centric. Startling truths emerge not from an individual inspired from a distant god but rather from the rich intertwining of relationships within a particular eco-field as that system of fields relates to the Whole.

There. That’s the string I mention in a nutshell. To me, the string leads us to The Great Return. To get my point here, you have to return, if just for a moment, to an immersion into the fields.

I don’t expect many of us to grasp this approach suggested by the dangling string easily. Such a grasping is not a simple thing: to overturn the thousands of years of Western Civilization’s conditioning which has lead us humans to think we are the center of all things. It staggers us to consider that Jesus—in some ways the apex of humans-first thinking—really is at rock bottom a beautiful expression of an ecology.

But is the string dangling enough for us to re-think thinking?Even allow a new form of thinking to emerge? Let’s proceed, briefly, to consider that possibility.

Eco-fields Express Themselves In Different Ways

In a recent book I examine the new science of eco-fields. In the science of fields, an eco-field is defined as a space configuration/meaning carrier, under the epistemological umbrella, of an individually-based landscape. In other words an eco-field transmits information and meaning between its various parts through the medium of fields, including gravity and electro-magnetics(See The Mother Tongue, part II). The specific field links to a matrix of field that is a Whole.

Am I saying that the Whole(God, as it were) is the sum of the parts? No, in my view, a Whole is greater than but not equal to the sum of the parts. Let’s go on.

For example, I live on a tract of acreage. No, that’s not quite it. I live IN an acreage, which consists of an overlapping and intricate system of eco-fields. My deck is one eco-field. Ten yards away is a wild eco-field. Different eco-fields have different patterns of energy, intensity, and information. There is a large difference between the Teotihuacan Pyramids and your local freeway, yet both consist of eco-field systems with different patterns of communication. I am not an “I” apart from the locale where I live. Boundaries between me and all around me are convenient, especially in Western Civilization, but certainly not definitive of me. I experience myself as more an expression of the eco-fields of my life than vice-versa. In short, my identity is defined by an intricate set of relationships. The same, I advocate, is true of Jesus.

Galilee’s Gospel

Here is my proposal: the Galilean system of eco-fields sprouted a favorite son in Jesus of Nazareth. Yes, the culture was important. Yes, the Aramaic language was crucial. But these human features were bubbles on top of the waves of the eco-fields. Consider that this little tract of land—the Sea of Galilee is only about five miles long and two miles wide—gave birth to where the Torah was written and, later, to the Nazarene and his first students. Note: the New Testament was not written in Galilee but mostly in more urban and civilized eco-fields such as Jerusalem, Corinth, and Rome, 35-100 years after Jesus’ death. Such a fact might explain why much of the New Testament, especially Paul’s letters, seem so disconnected from the natural order and, thus, from Jesus himself.

Friend Rocks

Igneous intrusive and extrusive rocks also are near my sweat lodge where I live, and I find that Jesus held rocks like these in his hands since he lived on a seismic rift created by the African and Arabian tectonic plates. What did the rocks express through him? What prompted these rocks to send forth the Sermon on the Mount? Is it possible that by holding these rocks, a profound intelligence was transmitted and mixed with Jesus’ inner life to offer guidance to the ages? If so, to what purpose?

Local Juniper Trees

As I write in my eco-scape, local junipers are mating with the males sending out an orange powder and the females dropping beautiful blue berries. Most people where I live fight these trees, even hate them. My wise grandmothers—Louiza and Talitha—passed down the healing practice of eating two or three berries from November through January. It works for me. No allergies. The berries can be poisonous if you aren’t in harmony with them. They can heal if you know them as your relatives. As I gently touch the berries and ask permission to suck on them for a minute or so, I wonder what intelligence their juices impart. I wonder what the local junipers said to Jesus, prominent as they were in his ecology. Were their roots, the roots of consciousness? Were they a source of wisdom and healing? Could Jesus have given sight to the blind without them? Do even the questions shock our sensibilities?

Rolling Hills Into the Sea

The mount in the title, Sermon on the Mount, was really not a mountain but a gentle hill that descended into the Sea. As I view images from Galilee, the hills look familiar, beautifully familiar with limestone breaks and prickly juniper adorning them. I can see 5000 or so people gathered on the slopes listening. Listening to a man? Or to the gentle breeze wafting through the juniper needles? Or to the crunch of rock as the folk shift their posteriors to gain comfort? Or to the rich tones of a Bedouin tribesman from nearby Nazareth? Are these hills alive as the scientist James Lovelock claims? And do the sounds of music roll across the hills, alive as Rodgers and Hammerstein imagined in another time and place?

Fresh Water And Miracles

The fresh water Lake of Galilee and its surrounding area are special. The first century historian, Flavius Josephus, was so touched by his first sighting that he wrote,”One may call this place the ambition of Nature.” It is fed by natural springs and a system of streams, including the fount of the River Jordan. Though surrounded by mountains, it is 686ft below sea level. It is the lowest fresh water lake in the world,and currently, it is the principal source of drinking water for Israel and parts of Palestine. As he walked down the hill into the depths of Earth, did Jesus learn the importance of descent before ascent?

In Jesus’ era fish usually abounded, especially one of my favorites, tilapia filli. In 2005 270 tons of Tilapia alone were caught by local fishermen. Pause for a moment and contemplate. Jesus seems to have had a strong link with the tilapia. He knew where they were. He knew their behaviors. He could sense when they were on one side of the boat or the other. They “knew” him. He was of them. And, I propose that it was this intricate linkage that made possible the feeding of the 5000.Not just Jesus himself but the linkage. They may have “told” him how provide for the hungry. See what I mean: the eco-field hypothesis is difficult for us to wrap ourselves around. We just end to getting lost in our abstract reasoning.

One final feature of this beautiful lake: during a routine sonar scan in 2003 scientists discovered an enormous conical stone structure. Though assessment is not complete, it is likely 13,000 years old. It is only 33 ft below the surface. Is it somehow a transmitting device that can send information throughout the eco-fields in the area? Is it possible that such an ancient architecture, like the pyramids, linked in some way with humans who were available to perceive? Why had it been missed over these thousands of years? Does wisdom mean the capacity to widen bandwidth to consider tuning into such possibilities inherent in the structure?

No Firm Conclusions

I almost lost myself on that last point. Really? An ancient conical transmitter? If we are to be part of The Great Return, we will have to transcend our critical thinking. Include Western thinking, yes. But reach beyond. We will have to put all possibilities on the table. The one I find most viable is this: within the system of fields we– and the sensual world– are invested in the transmission of intelligence throughout the universe with a movement toward intimacy. Humans can be part of that cycle, but only if we rethink our stinking thinking.

Next, I will turn this lens on Carl G. Jung.

3.0: Ancient Galilee’s Eco-fields

But, here is that pesky loose string: after a few weeks of contemplation, I see that Craffert too has missed the most basic key. As I looked at beautiful images of the Sea of Galilee, it dawned on me that the most powerful epiphany in Galilee was not Jesus as an avatar individual but rather the Galilean eco-scape seeking to express itself through a favorite son, Jesus.

There. That’s the string I mention in a nutshell. To me, it speaks to The Great Return. To get my point here, you have to return, if just for a moment, to an immersion into the fields.

I don’t expect many of us to grasp this approach suggested by the dangling string easily. Such a grasping is not a simple thing—to overturn the thousands of years of Western Civilization’s conditioning—which has lead us humans to think we are the center of all things. It staggers us to consider that Jesus—in some ways the apex of humans-first thinking—really is at rock bottom a beautiful expression of an ecology.

But is the string dangling enough for us to re-think thinking?Even allow a new form of thinking to emerge? Let’s proceed, briefly.

Eco-fields Express Themselves In Different Ways

Am I saying that the Whole(God, as it were) is the sum of the parts? No, in my view, a Whole is greater than but not equal to the sum of the parts. Let’s go on.

Galilee’s Gospel

Friend Rocks

As I mentioned earlier, I have not been to Galilee. I have to consult eco-fields where I live in hopes that they connect with Galilee. Limestone rocks are all around me everyday, and I have a sense they link to Galilee. Google confirms my intuition—limestone is a central feature of the Galilean eco-scape. I hold my close friends– these 260 million year old rocks– and invite them to introduce me to their friends across the oceans. I trust them more than I do European and Ivy League scholars. Certainly more than Paul, or even Luke or John, though my lack of fluency in rock language limits me. Igneous intrusive and extrusive rocks also are near my sweat lodge where I live, and I find that Jesus held rocks like these in his hands since he lived on a seismic rift created by the African and Arabian tectonic plates. What did the rocks express through him? What prompted these rocks to send forth the Sermon on the Mount? Is it possible that by holding these rocks, a profound intelligence was transmitted and mixed with Jesus’ inner life to offer guidance to the ages? If so, to what purpose?

Local Juniper Trees

As I write, local junipers are mating with the males sending out an orange powder and the females dropping beautiful blue berries. Most people where I live fight these trees, even hate them. My wise grandmothers—Louiza and Talitha—passed down the healing practice of eating two or three berries from November through January. It works for me. No allergies. The berries can be poisonous if you aren’t in harmony with them. They can heal if you know them as your relatives. As I gently touch the berries and ask permission to suck on them for a minute or so, I wonder what intelligence their juices impart. I wonder what the local junipers said to Jesus, prominent as they were in his ecology. Were their roots, the roots of consciousness? Were they a source of wisdom and healing? Could Jesus have given sight to the blind without them? Do even the questions shock our sensibilities?

Rolling Hills Into the Sea

Fresh Water And Miracles

The fresh water Lake of Galilee and its surrounding area are special. The first century historian, Flavius Josephus, was so touched by his first sighting that he wrote,”One may call this place the ambition of Nature.” It is fed by natural springs and a system of streams, including the fount of the River Jordan. Though surrounded by mountains, it is 686ft below sea level. It is the lowest fresh water lake in the world, currently, it is the principal source of drinking water for Israel and parts of Palestine. As he walked down the hill into the depths of Earth, did Jesus learn the importance of descent before ascent?

One final feature of this fertile eco-field: during a routine sonar scan in 2003 scientists discovered an enormous conical stone structure. Though assessment is not complete, it is likely 13,000 years old. It is only 33 ft below the surface. Is it somehow a transmitting device that can send information throughout the eco-fields in the area? Is it possible that such an ancient architecture, like the pyramids, linked in some way with humans who were available? Why had it been missed over thiese thousands of years? Does wisdom mean the capacity to widen bandwidth to consider tune into such possibilities inherent in the structure?

No Firm Conclusions

I almost lost myself on that last point. Really? An ancient conical transmitter? If we are to be part of The Great Return, we will have to transcend our critical thinking. Include Western thinking, yes. But reach beyond. We will have to put all possibilities on the table. The one I find most viable is this: within the system of fields we– and the sensual world– are invested in the transmission of intelligence throughout the universe. Humans can be part of that cycle, but only if we rethink our stinking thinking.