Showing posts with label tales. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tales. Show all posts

Carlos Castaneda wrote many Great Books about the Brujo Don Juan Mateus, a Yaqui Indian. He taught a different view of the world using medicinal plants and reality-stretching exercises.

The first book is called "The Teachings of Don Juan:  A Yaqui Way of Knowledge". It's a Classic anthropological study of Mexican Indians. Required reading in freshman cultural-anthropology at Chico State in 1973... The people in the book used the teachings to learn how to run thru the desert at full speed it total darkness using power from an "ally" that looked like a moth... Hence the images of men running... and Moths.  They were also able to travel instantly from one place to another... 
Often in these books, Carlos and Juan do things that are absolutely impossible... If you believe the traditional view of reality... However, the first set 
on the path of knowledge is to "question reality".

The book "Tales of Power" has many images in it that I used to make this animation... Like "finding your hands while dreaming": a way to take control of your dreams and use them to learn. 

Carlos Castaneda wrote of "seeing" people as luminous eggs... with bolts of power connecting their midsections to the world around them.
I'm re-reading all those books again... a worthwhile use of my time... The Teachings of Don Juan starts the series... A Separate Reality, Journey to Ixtlan, The Eagle's Gift, Tales of Power and The Second Ring of Power... These books document a cultural anthropologist 's study of Mexican Indians, psychedelics and Toltec Warriors.  The first book is about psylocibin, datura and peyote experiences but the author quickly outgrows these and embarks on a magical journey learning the ancient arts of "stalking" and "dreaming".
A complementary author is Don Miguel Ruiz... The Four Agreements... They work well together.

and I remember doing a POWER WALK after a Grateful Dead Concert... I took ONE STEP and Grocked Everything there was to know about That Location... and then I took Another Step... and Grocked THAT Location... and Many Silly Deadheads Mocked Me For Walking SO FAST! "Watch Out Everybody! This Guy is Speeding TOO FAST! Danger Danger!" and I walked that way 
all the way to my car in the parking lot...

~~~~~~ (~);-} ~~~~~~

Great Book: "The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz, a Toltec Brujo from Mexico. (Doctor/Priest/Teacher.)


1. Be impeccable with your word.
2. Don't take anything personally.
3. Don't make assumptions.
4. Always do your best.
READ MORE:

~~~~~~ (~);-} ~~~~~~


Tripping 

(1999 Ken Kesey / Merry Pranksters documentary)



Inca Sun God - Free Coloring Book Art by gvan42


ALL MY CATS. Photographs and Tall Tales of the Eight (8) Cats I Lived With over the Last 20 Years... I'm Not Really Into Cats BUT...

Victoria Loved Cats and She Kept of Bringing them Home and... I Was Tolerant But... I Never Cleaned the Litter Box or Fed Them... I DID Chase them Down and Wrestle Them, Stuff Them Into the Cat Carrier Bag So They Could Go Visit the VET.

Amelia, Meadow, Shasta, Max, Eck, Sherbet, Emma, Pongo and The Black Cat that Lived Next Door. 

Amelia - Giant Cat and Barn - Double Exposure with a Film Camera in Chico and Eureka
Amelia - Giant Cat and Barn.
Double Exposure with a Film Camera in Chico and Cutten

Meadow and Shasta two cats watching from a position of power - gregvanderlaan
Meadow and Shasta in Cutten

Max - Digital Visual Echo
Max - Digital Visual Echo

Eck Looking at You - and Psychedelic Art - Mister Blinky
Eck Looking at You
and Psychedelic Art - Mister Blinky

Emma - with that Trippy Graphic Explosion Effect
Emma - with that Trippy Graphic Explosion Effect

Pongo and Emma at Home in Eureka, CA
Pongo and Emma at Home in Eureka, CA

Black Cat from Next Door - Cutten, CA
Black Cat from Next Door - Cutten, CA

CAT - Connect the Dots - Free Coloring Book Art by gvan42 - Based on the Famous Sculptures In Los Gatos, CA
CAT - Connect the Dots - Free Coloring Book Art by gvan42
Based on the Famous Sculptures In Los Gatos, CA

Cat Sculpture Los Gatos - Free Coloring Book by gvan42
Cat Sculpture Los Gatos - Free Coloring Book by gvan42

Gregory Vanderlaan Sleeping with Max the Cat
Gregory Vanderlaan Sleeping with Max the Cat

Meadow and the Magic Mirror - Not a Reflection but a Time Trip!
Meadow and the Magic Mirror 
Not a Reflection but a Time Trip
Potatoshop Trick!

Meadow Helping Me Play Farmville on the Computer
Meadow Helping Me Play Farmville on the Computer

ECK sleeping on the warm TV
ECK sleeping on the warm TV

Emma on my Piano Bench
Emma on my Piano Bench

Fat Freddy's Cat Cartoon by Gilbert Shelton
Fat Freddy's Cat Cartoon by Gilbert Shelton

Cat in the Hat Meets Miro - Dr Seuss Parody
Cat in the Hat Meets Miro - Dr. Seuss Parody

drawing of a black cat with pattern fill by greg vanderlaan
Drawing of a Black Cat with Pattern Fill
by Gregory Vanderlaan

Shasta the Cat Surveying his Empire
Shasta the Cat Surveying his Empire

Pongo in the Window
and then Victoria Posted on Faceborg... 
There are some circumstances that are beyond the scope of my rationalization, and I was privy to one yesterday. Pongo was sitting in the window pictured below, as he is wont to do, and one of the hummingbirds flew right in front of his face. He didn't flinch, begin tapping his tail, or start making creaky door noises. They just stared at each other in companionable silence, until a second hummer showed up and the quiet conversation continued. All was calm, all was bright. Then they zoomed around the corner to the feeder for lunch. He didn't follow them with his gaze or interest.
Pongo is 6 years old and I've had him for 3. He was picked up by the Sheriff's Dept. (ie: on the street) and later brought to Sequoia Humane Society where he spent 8 months before coming home with Emma and me. While at the shelter in the cat room, I was talking to the volunteer and he came and sat in front of me, so I bent down to say hi and give him a pat, but he wasn't having it. That's ok, Little One, that's ok. Later, getting ready to leave the cat room and make preparations to bring Emma home, I realized he was sitting on my feet! I'd been so tied up in watching the other kitkats playing and conversing with the tech, I hadn't noticed! Well, whattya know! We're bringing home two kitties today! His ears were torn up, his back had a long, healed scar with no hair, as did one shoulder, and he would flinch if I tried to touch him for a year. Now he sleeps on my lap, plays Calvin and Hobbes with Emma, and is the Earnest Guardian of the Household, particularly for Meadow, our 18 year old. The scars have hair, though solid black, sad reminders. And, he's never purred or meowed, but that's ok, Little One, that's ok. It reminds me much of the boy in Jeremiah Johnson who also did not speak. So it brings me to yesterday when there was so obviously a communion between Pongo and the teeny birds. Being a natural predator, he didn't have the need or desire to hunt them, and I found that remarkable from someone who, possibly, was once hunted.

My Dad - Justin Vanderlaan - at the Cats Sculptures in Los Gatos, CA
My Dad - Justin Vanderlaan -
at the Cats Sculptures in Los Gatos, CA


Copies of the Cats Sculptures in a Shopping Center in Los Gatos
Copies of the Cats Sculptures
in a Shopping Center in Los Gatos


Me - Gregory Vanderlaan on the Road to Mount Shasta
Me - Gregory Vanderlaan
on the Road to Mount Shasta


Sign at Panther Meadow on Mount Shasta - Sacred Spring
Sign at Panther Meadow on Mount Shasta, a Sacred Spring

The Origin of the Names Shasta and Meadow... My Second Ex-Wife was working as a Data Entry Clerk in Chico and One of the Other Employees Had a Litter and We Took Two Grey and White Kittens. I Was Given the Task of Naming The Kittens and I Called them Panther and Meadow. Well, I was Overruled because She Said: "No House Cats Will Be Named Lion or Tiger or Panther."

In General, Shasta Was My Favorite Because He Was A Disobedient Large Male Cat. JUST LIKE ME! 

When We Moved from Chico to Eureka We Almost Lost Shasta. We Were Staying at A Cheap Motel in Fortuna and When It Became Time to Leave We Couldn't Find Shasta. LOOKED EVERYWHERE... I Was Ready to Give Up But My Second Ex-Wife Crawled On the Floor and Found Him Inside the Box Spring... 

Whenever it Was Time to Go To The Vet, I Was Given the Task of Capturing the Cat and Stuffing It Into The Travel Bag. OFTEN That Was An EPIC Struggle... With Shasta the Cat I Had to Wrestle Him and There WAS DOUBT as to Who Would Win The Wrestling Match. 

When Shasta was Very Near Death, He Would Walk Around the House in a Straight Line Until He Bumped Into a Wall or a Piece of Furniture... Then He Would Randomly Turn Right or Left and Continue Walking. That Worked Unless He Walked into a Corner of the Room When Neither a Right or Left Turn Worked. SO... In That Case I Picked Him Up at Pointed Him in a New Direction. One Night After I Had Retired He Walked Around Like That For Hours. I ALSO Walked Around Picking Up Trash and Putting It In The Dumpster... Eventually He just Lay Down in One Spot and I Sat Down in a Spot Where I Could Look at Him and I Contemplated The Meaning of Life For Hours... That Was A Meaningful Night... and Then He Got Up and Survived a Few More Days... Then He Stuck His Head into a Pile of Stuff in the "Junk Room" and Did Not Move for Days... I Told My Second Ex-Wife That It Seems Like Shasta Has Died but She Said... "We'll Just Wait a While." At That Point I Took a Vacation to Chico to Visit Friends For a Couple of Weeks and When I Got Back, Shasta Had Been Cremated and Was in a Wooden Box.  

I Buried Amelia in the Redwood Forest Behind our Apartment in Cutten. That Was Difficult Because Roots Criss-Cross Everywhere and I Had to Chop Them With the Shovel. 
When She Was Very Old She Was Deaf and Blind but Still Knew Her Way Around the Yard. I Guess That She Had Memorized the Location of Everything and Could Travel Without and Trouble to Go Visit Her Favorite Places... 

During My College Years I Read the Book "A Language Older Than Words" by Derrick Jensen. A Deep Ecology Story About Inter Species Communication. (and Environmentalism) - Amelia Walked on the Computer Keyboard While I Was Writing a Term Paper About That Book... and I Left those Random Letters in The Report. With an Explanation of What they Were..

I Have No Pictures of Sherbet. He Lived With Us On Highway #99 North of Chico and Walked Across the Road. Got Run Over by a Truck.

As The Cats Die We Replaced Them With Others. Emma and Pongo Came from the Humboldt County Animal Shelter and They Already Had Their Names. https://sequoiahumane.org/
I Have Never Been Inside the Shelter. Volunteers Walk The Dogs Past Our House Every Day... We Live a Few Blocks Up The Hill... and We Wave at The Dog Walkers... 

VIDEO: Shasta The Cat Running Across The Yard in Cutten, California: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQUHWAVDTv0


Great Book: "The Boy Who Cried FREEBIRD" by Mitch Myers. Science fiction tales based on classic rock.

Many very short tales... like: "Back to the Fillmore" in which a boy receives a time travel ticket as a birthday present and returns to a Grateful Dead concert only to be abducted by the leader of the Hell's Angels, Sonny Barger and taken to a party at a commune... and many many others...
http://www.harpercollins.com/browseinside/index.aspx?isbn13=9780061632747

http://www.amazon.com/The-Boy-Who-Cried-Freebird/dp/0061139025 

Artist: Lynyrd Skynyrd
Song: Free bird

G    D             Em       
If I leave here tomorrow 
F         C              D     
Would you still remember me? 
G          D               Em       
For I must be travelling on, now, 
F                       C                  D         
'Cause there's too many places I've got to see. 
G         D                Em           
But, if I stayed here with you, girl, 
F           C               D       
Things just couldn't be the same. 
G             D            Em         
'Cause I'm as free as a bird now, 
F        C                D       
And this bird you can not change. 
F        C                D         
And this bird you can not change 
F        C                D         
And this bird you can not change 
F    C              D             
Lord knows, I can't change. 
 
G D Em F C D (2x)   
 
G    D                 Em                 
Bye, bye, its been a sweet love. 
F           C               D         
though this feeling I can't change. 
G                D            Em               
But please don't take it so badly, 
F           C            D        G   
'Cause Lord knows I'm to blame. 
G         D                   Em           
But, if I stayed here with you girl, 
F           C               D           
Things just couldn't be the same. 
G            D              Em         
Cause I'm as free as a bird now, 
F        C                 D         
And this bird you can not change. 
F        C                D         
And this bird you can not change. 
F        C                 D         
And this bird you'll never change 
F    C              D         
Lord knows, I can't change. 
F    C                D           
Lord help me, I can't change. 
Bb           C           
Lord I can't change 
          G   Bb   C             
Won't you fly high free bird 
 

Bear Tales: Our family loved to go camping in the woods... and so, we met bears. Walk away backwards slowly and let them eat your Lunch.

We lived in Eureka on the edge of a forest that was about 5 miles to the next house. Many animals lived in those woods including bears, a fox, deer, raccoons and skunks. The only time I saw a bear was when I was standing in my kitchen looking out the window at the parking lot. The bear just walked slowly past and I was really glad to be indoors. That bear killed the neighbor's dog. I assume that the dog was annoying and barking at the bear... that's a mistake you don't do twice.

We enjoyed the deer so much that we bought a salt lick at the feed store. The deer really loved it as not only did it have salt but it also had seeds to eat. We put it in the meadow next door to the house and that's how we got to see the fox... In general, animals are afraid of humans but if you buy them Lunch... that's a different story.

Once a skunk came into the house thru the cat door and hid behind the record player cabinet. I took a roll of Christmas Wrapping paper and poked the skunk and it left without spraying. LUCKY!

We had three cats and they were free to go outdoors at will. I became especially fond of Shasta the cat. He was a disobedient large male cat. I am a disobedient large male human so we got along great. When it came time to go to the VET he and I would wrestle and when I won I put him in the cat carrier. It was not obvious that I would win the fight.

When he got really old he became blind and during the last week of his life he would walk forward until he hit a wall then turn right or left and walk forward until he hit another wall. He repeated this blind walk for hours... I had to clean my room so that there were not any corners because in a corner he became stuck... turning right or left did no good in a corner. So I walked around the house throwing away trash and straightening us the clothes on the floor etc FOR HOURS! It was as if Shasta the Cat was doing his "Forever walk" and I too was on the same wavelength... Sometimes he would lie down and not move and so I sat down and looked at him and I did not move. I was retired from work at this time so I had all the time in the world to meditate with my friend.

Eventually he walked into a storage room and hid under a pile of clothes and did not move. I assumed that he was dead but I wasn't so rude as to POKE him to find out for sure. A couple of days later he walked out of that room and continued his blind "Forever walk"... I figured that he had regained his health and so I went on a driving vacation to Chico. He died a couple of days later.

BUT, we had a very meaningful week together.

Shasta had a sister named Meadow that we got at work in Chico. Miss Vicki was working at United Healthcare as a Data Entry Operator and another employee had a litter. I was assigned the task of Naming the cats and I wanted to name them after the Native American Sacred Spring on Mount Shasta at Panther Meadow... Miss Vicki overruled the name Panther because one simply does not name a housecat - lion, panther, lynx, tiger - so they became Shasta and Meadow... Meadow is still alive.

I made a Youtube film of Shasta... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQUHWAVDTv0

A family of raccoons lived under our house. Evidently the bathtub leaked and it was a good source of drinking water. They really freaked out Miss Vicki as they made a scary scratching sound whenever someone would go into the bathroom.

Read more of my autobiography at: http://gvan42.blogspot.com/2018/03/growing-up-in-los-gatos-california-in.html

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