As we continue with the Spirit of Action/ Medicine/ Sustainability

As we continue with the Spirit of Action/ Medicine/ Sustainability, it is very important to realize that without REAL steps, REAL actions, we can never manifest that which we say we strive for. The foundation of an Individual, Family and a Community is the foundation of Sustainability that they stand upon. If that foundation is only composed of fantasy, or of total involvement in an "economic system" that is designed and implemented to give a foundation only to a relatively small percentage of the population, and to leave the remaining people to be the servants, (slaves), servers, employees, to the ones that benefit, then that foundation will crumble and its casualties will always be the people.  It is a system that for all practical purposes keeps the exploited totally reliant on the corporate system, it systematically has taken the Ancient Strains of Seeds from the People and replaced these with hybrid (infertile- meaning will not produce seeds that can generate a future crop), or even worse genetically altered seeds or even terminator seeds. Even a fool can see that in spite of their best efforts this system is cracking, but again the cracking is occuring at the expense of the People.

Not only do we have to be concerned with pesticides, herbicides and "ready-roundup" being sprayed on the crops and poured into the waters, but we also need to be concerned with the TOXIC sludge which has skillfully been used to place toxic waste from many factories onto AGRICULTURAL FIELDS... and now of course cloned animals are on the brink of hitting the supermarket racks. Recall after recall, salmonella scare after salmonella scare come our way, bird flu, swine flu, all generated from downright bad agricultural and slaughter practices.

All this and the food doesn't even taste good and the prices continue to rise... Bread that is flavorless, juice that is so old all that remains of even 100% fruit juice is sugar, lettuces that are tasteless and overpriced, not to even mention the fact that even in season crops are coming from as close by as CA or further. There is only one word for all this and that is SCAM!

All this, and now let's take it to the Heart and Soul of our Identity as Indigenous People, LOVE AND RESPECT FOR OUR EARTH MOTHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! None of the practices involved in getting the food that we buy from the supermarket is Earth Friendly, that is the bottom line. Even the supermarket "organic" brands are dubious at best, an overpriced choice for those who are attempting to eat healthy. Even those "organic" brands are still benefiting factory farmed agribusiness profits. Even they have their salmonella scares! Being angry and / or frustrated is not enough, complaining about the availablity or price is not enough, feeling helpless and limited is not enough, because remember we say that "WE LOVE AND RESPECT MOTHER EARTH!" We talk about how our Taino Ancestors were wonderful agriculturalists with their conucos, how they fished, how they cared for the Earth and each other... Yet, today we care only enough to hand someone a soda, a twinkie, a battery raised chicken, worm infested pork chops, and then throw the numerous layers of packaging and promotional material concerning these things in the trash. What Hypocrisy!

It is great to educate, it is great to share articles from the internet, it is so wonderful to recommend books regarding Taino to eachother, it is great to have presentations (AS LONG AS THEY ARE GROUNDED IN THE TRUTH and ARE NOT THE EXPRESSION OF A PERSONAL FANTASY or a Personal Psychological Breakdown).

It is also wonderful to "CUT AND PASTE" as so many of us like to do, sometimes not even crediting the original author (which is not so wonderful and can bring the accusation of plagerism to us). But if CUT AND PASTE is all you do, and you are calling that "Being Taino" then you are very, very LOST AND CONFUSED and/or MISGUIDED, or you are simply only interested in whatever agenda of egomania, need for recognition, inferiority complex, that you hold!

We are so far from a utopia at this time, we are so far from the "PARADISE" that Jan Carew describes in "RAPE OF PARADISE" or from the obvious agricultural and botanical genuis of our Ancestors as described by Charles C. Mann in "1491" that it would be laughable or cryable to even attempt to compare! However we have the innate Power of our Spirit and our Ancestral Tree that we can manifest and express to the best of our ability in the here and now. With that thought and with the strong Vision for "how it could and should be" in terms of Love and Respect for the Earth who can provide everything ALL of us need if we apply our Love, Intelligence and Hard Work, we, in our humble and miniscule way continue to empower and expand our Actions towards Sustainability, understanding that LOVE is an ACTION and that RESPECT is an ACTION, not two words to be used to manipulate other people.

Every year, we find ways to take more steps towards sustainability, towards empowering the Family and Community, towards the healing of the small area of Land that we are the Caretakers of! As we take these steps we are simultaneously taking steps away from the abusive relationship of supermarket- consummer, overpriced tasteless unhealthy food, and the resulting frustration and stress that comes from those relationships. We also continue to take steps away from dependence on the so called "medical experts" who are in fact (most, not all) barbaric prostitutes for the pharmacutical industry, and many of whom are greedy and arrogant towards the people they allegedly serve, that they apparently took an oath to serve, that oath having come from Imhotep, African multigenius, inspiring Ancestor! May the Spirit of Imhotep and his Ancestral Tree combined with the Spirits and Ancestral Trees of All Indigenous Medicine People of Integrity hold those barbarians accountable to the OATH that they took in the form that IMHOTEP originally wrote it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The photos below are some of the steps that we have taken this Spring, in the Spirit of ACTION/ MEDICINE/ SUSTAINABILITY! We offer these things in the Spirit of Education, Generosity and Empowerment, that we may all benefit from these Actions in that it may empower others to take ACTIONS in a like Spirit!

These seed boxes are a step up from last years (poor quality, one use only) plastic seed boxes. These boxes are made from old shipping pallets which can usually be found as "trash" from most contractors, shipping companies, etc. They are usually made out of oak, a very strong wood, and sometimes even from exotic hardwoods. They could even be used to make cabinets, flooring and the like. These boxes will last for years and are a wonderful way to "recycle" these pallets, many of which would otherwise be burned or simply tossed out. Last year we experimented with paper egg cartons and paper towel and toilet tissue rolls, which were okay but a little "soft" once they got wet. 

Cucumber seedlings!

Broccoli Seedlings, with Hysop and Valerian (two medicinals) which are very very tiny seedlings at this time!

Flowering tobacco and Huichol tobacco for the Spirit! We grow all the tobacco that we use for the Mysterios!

Zuchini Seedlings, to the left of them Sugar Baby Watermelon Seedlings are just starting to emerge!

Lettuce (Green- Optima and Red Galactic) from seeds that are 3 years old (never believe the "expiration dates") and parsley (on the left). Parsley will flourish well into the frosts of late Fall!  

Seedlings that look like grass are Onions, Red Onions on right side germinated much better than yellow onions on left.  Red onions are very healthy, in part due to compounds that express in red color!

Another view.  We do not have a sunny place indoors for our boxes, and these seedlings are sensitive to frost.  Once we plant the seeds, we leave them inside until they germinate, then they go outside on warm days (over 50 degrees) and come in if there is any chance of frost.  It involves a lot of carrying boxes back and forth but is well worth it.  Health above all things!  Of course all this would be easier if we had some huge sunny windows or a green house!  But there is no reason to make excuses when with a little creative thinking we can find a way to get it done.  

We are very happy with our pallet seed boxes!

Remember the dandelion (leaf, flower and root) from the previous article, here it is being juiced (with apple).  It is a very STRONG, FLAVORFUL spring liver cleanse!  The dandelion is very bitter, especially the root, which is why we cut it with apples!  Even with apples it is still a bitter tonic!  We used about 5 of the plants from the photos in the article. Which amounted to approximately 3 of the bundles they sell for $3.99 at whole foods.  So we drank approximately $12 worth of dandelions that we were given by the Land we caretake!  

Glass of dandelion apple juice!

The Bread above is our homemade wheat bread (NO BREAD MACHINE).  This is not rocket science!  While at first there can be some disappointing results, after a small time, the results are fluffy and flavorful, not to mention that there is no more than 4 cups of flour in this loaf!  A bag of flour gives multiple loafs!  More importantly you know what is going into the bread that you will be serving your family, friends and yourself!  Fresh, warm homemade bread is the BEST!  We have virtually eliminated store bought bread.  

Next step, grow our own wheat and mill our own wheat and other flours!  

By the way for those looking to criticize, this is not our only "job", we also run a business,  are building a house, do spiritual work, and are in the process of publishing several books!  So no excuses about "I don't have time for that", and no validity to the popular accusation direct in this direction of "pontificating from an isolate computer screen".  It is a little more work than cutting and pasting articles on the internet, but it is Good Work, Healthy, Vitalizing, Harmonizing and Exciting!

ENJOY!