Weaving the Canadian Mosaic: Living the dream

Kat sensed the environment as if she was a feral beast. In the stillness she heard her heartbeat, then the leaves rustling. They sounded the drum roll for a chorus of crickets chirping. The chorus adjusted their rhythm as the echoes of an occasional car or airplane passed in the distance. The chant of nature recreated the history of the land. She was a part of nature. She stood as an outsider, on the mast of the ship of Theseus who asked if a ship that is restored, with all the wooden parts replaced, is the same ship. Heraclitus asked if a river, whose water is replenished, is the same river. Plutarch stated you never step twice into the same river.

Kat could not help but be amazed at the grandeur of the human evolutionary experience. She was but a speck existing in a timeline, where a few thousand years makes little difference. But at this moment, environmental change was fueling fires that had toxic secondary effects. The evening brought relief from the heat, but the smoke had begun to settle. The dangerous, persistent, unpaired free radicals, that form the basis of fire and are known to cause stress, were spreading over the earth.

Now literally fires were burning from Australia to the Arctic and throughout the Americas, along the borders of the western provinces and red and blue states, and the northwestern territories and northern parts of the provinces. Some argue that Nature has a way of directing the path of the past and future. Nature’s capriciousness can do great harm with a random meteor strike, a volcanic eruption, floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, fires, pests, and viruses.

Others argue that this could not be considered unexpected news. In 1851 Melville, in the book Moby Dick, described how the practice of removing oil from the blubber of whales, to provide illumination, had led to exploitation that cost everyone in the book their life, except for the narrator. The exploitation of the land for oil was still occurring.

The spirit of the volatile oils from the microscopic dead diatoms, that once made up the earth, was released from shale and wreaking havoc with the environment. Globally, climate change and land-use change were creating uncontrollable, and extreme conditions devastating to people, biodiversity and ecosystems and the environment. Pleas made to slow down, act cautiously, and find alternatives, were often ignored, or suppressed and the environment was reflecting imbalance.

Her mind was chattering. Kat had prepared herself for this evening, by dedicating her lifestyle to favor a waking dream incubation during this dark night of the soul, Semper eadem, always the same. She was eager to see what her soul had to say on this rare super blue moon in perigee with Saturn, in Pisces.

She trusted the most recent information, about how a diet of resistant starches and omega three short chain fatty acids, along with a walk-in nature and seeing the morning sun, could get negative ions moving, reset serotonin and melatonin levels and resync her body's dipole battery with the diurnal rhythm. She depended on the age-old tools of meditation and relaxation breathing to let her mind be free to accept communication between the visible and invisible realms, when thoughts, myths and wisdom of the ages conflate and morph.

There are many ways to see the world. Her best visions came when she felt safe. Scientific data supports that feeling safe is wired to rational thinking. Feeling safe keeps the pathway open, to the frontal cortex, where rational decisions are made. She knew how to convince her DNA that everything was okay. Kat began her box breathing, thinking to herself, “Breath in for the count of four, hold for four, out for four, hold for four.” She extended the intervals going up to a seven count. She savoured the exhalation and felt herself calm down. As she breathed deeply and consciously, she focussed on feeling safe, loved, and loving.

The zero-one-infinity rule of states there should by either nothing, one or an infinity of additions that can affect programming, not only of computers, but of physiology. Predetermined codes program neurological alterations that disconnect the harmony of other systems and cause a decrease in her heart rate variability. Anxiety shifts the path. Anxiety controls the automaton function, that shunts information to the hard-wired reptilian survival brain, that deals with stress and survival.

Stress responses are caused, in part by generationally transmitted behaviours caused by epigenetics, that regulate how information in the DNA is accessed and expressed. Without thought, she let herself respond to and interact with the sensory environmental signals. The rains left the smell of wet earth and worms in the air. The iron-reducing microbes from the guts of small, medium, and large worms, found on the surface, soil or the deep interior, communicated with the microbes deep in her gut.

She closed her eyes and saw phosphenes, fractals images of light. They opened a portal through a multidimensional neuroanatomy. She sensed the mysterious element of being part of the knowledge and experiences of lives from the long-forgotten past. Thoughts, emotions, and many behaviours control and are controlled by the primal inhabitants that make up the gut microbiome. Her cellular memories tuned with her own memories, instinct and the genetics that had evolved over the years, and then with a greater force.

In a spontaneously generated moment,automatic sub-symbolic messages from the photons of the electromagnetic spectrum, and those from nonvisual deep brain photoreception, transferred to the biochemical level. She was offered closed eye hallucinations, with multiple perspectives that have more than one consequence and hold more than one meaning.

The varying shadows stimulated the pineal gland, called the third eye, that is referred to as the seat of the soul, the eye of intuition and intellect. It is associated with the epiphysis of the cerebellum and the choroid plexus, that lets the brain optimally function. It is the hub that connects the external environment to the internal via that habenula that joins the forebrain with the mid and hindbrain structures, and the vagus nerve, that connects the mind, heart, and gut.

The pineal filters the cacophony of sensory inputs and puts them into context by releasing the messages onto the walls of Plato’s cave. Kat got a bird’s eye view. Bird’s eyes work independently of each other and interact with the primitive eyespot located in the epithalamus of the brain.

Kat remembered feeling that she was born a stranger in a strange land. Her family was a minority. She was a first-generation immigrant who had become imbedded into the Canadian cultural mosaic. Finding her way had taken work. Her mother had been widowed, yet she always been resourceful. She had forged a strong community with support that did not come from the government. Yaya had been there to cook, clean, pay the bills and raise the kids. Yaya had naturally become a role model. As a member of the diaspora, she taught morals and values by example, through actions that were her interpretation of traditional beliefs.

Kat remembered how she had been inspired to go on a hero’s journey. Her passions led her to study animal behaviour. When she met people, she accepted them, as if she was reading about them in a book. Their signals were not so different than what can be observed in the behaviours of a seagull, a dog, cat, horse or even a cricket. Some people were like a goose that had imprinted with the first individual who had assumed its care. Some were easy to get along with, to listen to and understand, others not so much.

Kat saw mankind floating in their bubbles along the nouvelle vague. Kat was one of the bubbles that had become part of the Canadian mosaic. She was part of a new structure, that has even been found in water.First predicted by Viktor Schauberger, who noted the anomalous behaviour of water, Dr. Gerald Pollack recently elucidated that hexagonal crystalline structured water is different than bulk water.

Matrix bound structured water, is a 4th phase beyond the solid, liquid and gas form. It has liquid hexagonal crystals that holds charge. Structured water is found within cells, outside cells, in springs from underground sources, in glacial melt, in vortexes formed in streams and waterfalls and the juice of vegetables and fruits.

Claims about the uses of H3O2 are currently under scrutiny. Structured water holds antioxidants that maintain a negative charge in body. In nature, structured water can flow and let charge go, neutralizing free radicals. Structured water is thought to recharge the body's dipole battery so that it can connect to be part of a bigger picture.

Kat understood the complexity of forming relationships that were in harmony with nature, and could offer healing. Her approach to creating relationships was an art that required experimenting with the interaction of mediums and tools. She looked at what inspired other, what ideas percolated, how they prepared to create, and how they reflected upon their work to obtain what they wanted and needed.

Some went after a good deal like a hunter who proudly returns from a day with their prize. Some took pride in doing things with their own two hands and others were proud to have the means to hire someone to think and do for them. There were those who resisted change, honouring the humble possessions they had accumulated or inherited, and those who needed to have the newest craze. There were the minimalists and those seeking abundance. There were those who follow the trends and the bohemians who reject current trends. There were those who believe in holding on to the past, and those who believe the past needs to be tossed out, to make room for the new thing and ideas. Kat knew the categories were artificial; individuals’ tendencies seldom led to extremes that bred compulsive disorder fanaticism. Yet, it was the rare extremes that concerned her.

Kat had a successful career, but now she was asked to be part of a volunteer immigration advisory committee, a national voice that was to provide informed evidence-based communications with the department of immigration and naturalization. Their goal was to design and implement policies and procedures to promote diversity, equity, and impact inclusivity in international education. She had been asked to join a team to develop curriculum to train the trainers. Canada was preparing to add 500, 000 immigrants per year, with a three-year settlement period of integration then naturalization.

She was honored to be invited to sit at the hub of the wheel that travels along many roads of government. Her position as a communications officer depended on ensuring the hub bearings would slide quickly and easily to ensure proper gear changes. If the wheel was balanced, small differences of energy could make it turn efficiently, if not balanced, the machinery could fall apart.

Her role was to identify the tiny details and present the small, subtle, weak forces as suggestions, that form a lucid dream. Though not always conscious, they would create the corrections needed to form the mosaic. There is a fine line between propaganda to sway public opinion commonly used in marketing and social conditioning to establish generally approved behaviour in a society. She realized that she was as likely as anyone, to be swept along a path, moved by the waves of what is known, unaware of the movement, as predicted by relativity. Kat felt herself being swept by the nouvelle vague, described by physics, that says that identifying the speed and position of the wave and particle, reduces what you know of it.

She was not sure if she was prepared to heed the call to play a part on the world stage. She had set aside tonight to find out what was right or wrong for her, and to make her decision. She needed to honor the way of life she had learned and respected and accept what worked. Facing the challenges required resilience, not being too stubborn, lazy, afraid, or blind to change or demand behaviours that were unreasonable expectations. Ideology and practice are not the same.

In her mind’s eye, Kat could see Yaya tisking. She would say, “We can be like ostriches with our head in the sand, unable to breath, or we can confront the past, address issues of concern of the present, and make an effort to reconcile the possibility of history repeating in the future.”

Kat recognized that dealing with money was a given, it was the quid pro quo. She had to pay homage to the old Babylonian god honoured by most of the civilized world. Some say it was first identified as the god Set, who was spit from Nut’s womb, and led to chaos, storms, pestilence, and war and became a symbol of evil. It evolved into the Roman God Pluto was cast into the underworld and became master of ores, metals and precious stones that brought wealth.

The Chinese god, Caisen, the Indian god, the Yellow Jamballa, the African god Tiuruk, were examples of honoured powerful Gods of Wealth. However, from around 3BC, the Chinese god Taotie was identified as an evil monster, an ever-devouring greedy glutton used as a totemic symbol on masks used by shaman to aid communication between the living and dead.

The Greeks feared the notorious deity Hades, the dark merciless unseen god, who was associated with greed. Christians associated Hades with the abode of departed spirits in the underworld, the devil, and the god Mammon, who offers a path to happiness associated wealth acquired by greed and injustice that leads to disorder and chaos.

Money was at the focus of a material, global, unity consciousness. However, Kat believed that the real treasure of a Quid is measured with more than money. It is ‘that certain something’ that is undefinable how, why, and what that is used to obtain the quo, a favor or advantage of goods or services, in return for something, by negotiations and bartering, without exploiting or harming others.

Individuals are driven to survive and become members of an invisible movement that operates the machinery of the world. Mankind has set up a system of power based on money that generally exploits the poor, whose dream, is often, to get rich. The god mammon has become bigger and fiercer and could not be conquered in a contest of force. It would require working with the strength of the opponent.

Kat remembered hearing Yaya tell her stories about how the World Wars had caused the biggest changes in the world. “I was 9 when I learned about World War II. I wondered why we were learning about something that happened so long ago. We learned the poem Flanders Fields by John McCrae. The line 'Take up our battle with the foe' stuck with me. It is hard to fight the enemy you do not know.

" I am not good at history. I could not understand all of the details. To me the foe emerges when people feel desperate, and income, and socio-economic inequality causes tensions that threaten material or spiritual survival. People driven by the foe do strange things."

Kat remembered Yaya's views. "Women entering the workforce were just two of the effects of the war. The role of women turned from bread maker to bread winner. Women assumed independence, not so much as a choice but as the only possible alternative to survive. It did not take nerve, or bravery. There was no other option. The role of a being generous mother earth figure, had to adapt to become the mother of invention who could create a sense of hope to outweigh the futility and misery caused by the devastation of world wars, economic recessions and depressions, and natural disasters. Religion was traditionally the tangible means of being part of a community intended to help each other.

“In 1693, in the U.S., Roger Williams, a Puritan dissident, banned from Massachusetts moved to Rhode Island and granted religious freedom to everyone. About 100 years later, James Madison drafted the First Amendment as part of the Bill of Rights that provided constitutional protection for freedom of religion, speech, assembly, and the press. Canada enacted the Freedom of Worship Act in 1851.”

Yaya had explained “I cannot put my finger on exactly one thing that made me stop finding comfort in the religious community. There were the challenges of the scandals, but really, these were not uncommon throughout the history of my life. Religion has often been used to control others in many cultures. Missionaries of all denominations go around the world trying to sway others to the merits of their faith. Sadly, the days of forcibly imposing religious views are not over.

“ However, the second world war also led to the exponential increase of advanced technology. Technology offered an alternative way to find spiritual meaning and connection that replaced religion.

"We got a TV when I was about 10. The introduction of television into homes, presented ideas that drew the younger generation away from the limited myths and traditions of the old country. Music diversified. As Dylan said, the times, they were a changing. The baby boomers were the younger generation who had the critical mass to swing the tides. They were radical, and confident in the power of love, ready to change the world.”

Kat looked at the facts. The Baby boomers were raised with religion. As young adults in 1971, 99% of Canadians were associated with religions. By their retirement age in 2011, 78%. As the next generations replaced the aging population, slightly less than 50%, have a religious affiliation.

Data suggests that religious faith is foremost in the hearts of new immigrants that make up 23% of the Canadian population, the majority, around 60% being non-Christians, specifically Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, and Sikh. Buddhist and Hindu do not consider themselves as members of a religion, but followers of a way of life. Sikh means learner or seeker of truth. They are advocates of equality and social justice. Even though they have a caste system, they are tolerant of other religions. From what Kat understood, Muslims do not tolerate individuals wanting to change from the Muslim faith. This issue was complicated.

Yaya had encouraged Kat to find and examine the facts, and establish for herself if they were valid, saying, “Mankind is always looking to do things better, faster and to use shortcuts. What is typically missing is a sense of humility and respect of what works. Resisting change might be that results called indecision and nonaction, but it is a proactive reaction to the unknown.”

Kat wanted to understand what was said and written, and direct her focus to discern if the letter of the law reflected the spirit of the law. Prevailing Hanafi jurisprudence prescribes the death penalty for the crime of apostasy, that is, of individuals who consider to or renounce their religion. The Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa with a bounty of over 3 million for the death of Salman Rushdie for writing the alleged blasphemous Satanic Verse. Rushdie survived a stabbing by a militant in 2022. Charlie Hebdo and 17 others were killed in 2015 by two Muslim terrorists, allegedly for using their sense of humour that offended Muslims.

Yet violence was occurring against innocent Muslims. There was a consistent anti-Muslim bias that was leading to xenophobia, racism and Islamophobia, the branding all Muslims as terrorists. Transient settlements were growing worldwide. Globally, governments intended to help individuals affected by natural disasters and economic changes, on their journey to find peace and security. European countries were accepting Ukrainian refugees but not Muslims who have found asylum in the Ukraine or who came from Syria and North Africa. Fear was evident.

Kat tried to find the cause of the concern. Canada had a policy of inclusivity. She could not help by wonder how many generations it would take to establish a new critical mass. Islam was the fastest growing religions. She was left with rhetorical questions. Could Muslim religious convictions eventually overpower section 2 of the Charter, specifically, that Canadians are free to follow the religion of their choice and guaranteed freedom of thought, belief, and expression. In Belgium, the Islamic party wants to replace the existing legal system for Sharia law.

Kat remembered when Yaya told her about the Red Scare of the 1950’s. “McCarthyism had generated fear mongering and suspicion of Communist penetration and subversion that affected many lives. The 1960’s had been a blur. We had school drills during the Cold War in 1962. Even an 8-year-old could figure out that putting your head on your knees under your desk would not help if a nuclear bomb dropped, and God forgive what it would be like living in the fallout shelters. Young smiling JFK brightly held the light on a path of change, wanting democracy and freedom for the whole world. The vibrant tremulous voice of Martin Luther King moved the masses to deal with the issue of racial discrimination. And then their flames were extinguished. Poof. Perhaps they could have started a controlled fire.” No one would ever know.

Kat remembered when Yaya explained how her generation was moved by the transcendental power of love. “Love was the theme of the 1960’s. In the New Testament been published in 1966 under the title ‘Good News for Modern Man’ there was a focus of love as a virtue that was supported the views of love by John, Timothy, Corinthians, and Romans. It was written to counteract proclamations of free love that was traditionally deemed sinful. Some people say that the love movement is doomed. If it remains undefined, it will morph and disappear when it is tested to its limits.”

Kat would have to navigate the unknown fluctuations of what is to come, with the tools she had been given. She was ready to stand her ground and defend a well-defined attitude of love that meant respectful attachment without exploitation. Kat realized that her transcendentalist ideal was to envision love as dynamic, rekindled each moment, flowing a way as mysterious as in structured water. Tightly bound intracellular water matrix is a plasticizer, that mitigates the stiffness. As the matrix becomes loose, strength is lost as stiffness increases. This would respect the uncertainty principle, and avoid her being a slave to an undefined concept of love or to limited stringent definitions.

It was a lofty dream that required that individuals not change like a chameleon, and camouflage themselves to stay safe, or hide to avoid getting hurt and becoming mean.

There were many a crisis to be averted. In Canada the health care system was failing, unemployment insurance, baby bonuses, the costs of maternity and paternity leave, the homeless, impoverished, addicted, disabled and immigrants some persecuted, escaping wars, with no asylum, all needed care. The growing stresses were causing destabilization and individuals were looking for someone to blame. The rumours had already started. Immigrants were falsely accused and arrested for causing fires that were caused by dry lightning- and pyro cumulus clouds.

Kat wondered if the spirit of living in Canada, with the wild, harsh winters and bounties of harvest, could turn the tides of radical extremism, or was Canada was a young, naive country going through transformation. She was not sure if she had the clarity to help clear the air. Customs in Canada were different that in other countries. She remembered when she has first seen a pull string used to flush the toilet in England. She did not know how it worked. Understanding such challenges of cultural norms, parks and universities put up signs to teach toilet etiquette in 2019. Many other countries use bidets and squat toilets.

Kat felt the pull of the super blue moon. It affected the tides. Her eyes were leaking. She was glad that the air purifier was on. The air was stinging her eyes. She respected the myths that say that fires are needed for the phoenix to transform. Kat started humming, A ‘ tisket a tasket, a brown and yellow basket, sent a letter to my love and on the way, I dropped it. A little girlie picked it up and put it in her pocket.”

Her immigrant experience had made her sensitive to the challenges of becoming part of the Canadian mosaic. She had been drawn to many immigrants, who had left their homes with intellect and the willingness to work, as collateral. She was welcomed as an Auntie, in the Indian community and had made several contacts within the Asian communities.

Kat caught the smell of worms again. The ormr of Norse myth, the Ouroboros, connects internal and external environmental stimuli. The smell resonated within the seat of the soul, the pineal gland, that was once considered the worm. Like the lowly earthworm, it creates tunnels by burrowing, allowing water, air, and nutrients to reach deep within the soil. The legless dragon depends on symbiosis, with mutualistic dependence that has coevolved as indigenous and transplanted communities create the conditions that induce the intricate mechanisms to synergistically promote differentiation. Through co-evolution, they increase productivity. The earthworm forms castings, from what was, to create a culture that transforms and regenerates the soil to become fertile.

Kat realized that she was the lowly worm. She would dig deep to create conditions required to maintain the flow within the intracellular tightly bound structured state of the matrix. She would follow the path of least resistance when there was no choice. She would also find ways to use surface tension and capillary action, that required the cohesive and adherence for individuals, to dissolve what was required, to move through tight channels. She was ready to become part of a microevolution that would naturally blend the brown and gold threads within the fabric of the Canadian mosaic, so that would remain resilient, strong and flexible.