The Pneuma

I look in the mirror and see through the eyes

of the living clay death mask

that holds pieces of all that went before this moment.

Thoughts conjured from memories suspended in a world of the past

or bestowed in dreams and learning

are placed in a roaring bubbling cauldron.

*~*

Free spirits escape.

They are born, naked, cold and they soon grow hungry

for what can be accessed and understood as truth,

that can offer some support, strength and stability

to reduce suffering and pain, destruction and chaos.

The spirits follow roughly mapped out stories of freedom

that are a part of the myth of everyman.

*~*

What mankind can remember and understand of freedom

comes from what is written and spoken of by victors of wars.

We are programmed by stories written

and rewritten on runes etched in bones,

that are read with eyes that are blinded by experiences and fears

and heard with ears that have been deafened

by psychology, sociology, advertising, marketing

and political and personal propaganda.

*~*

Concepts of freedom can satisfy and stupefy people

when the desires of enchanter and enchanted

are willingly agreed upon and hold the promises an end goal

of self-fulfilling prophecies.

Freedom is not black or white- all or none

but is configured according to different definitions

based on what is known and desired.

Freedom finds ways to change.

*~*

The positive and negative aspects of Freedom

reflect what is freely taken or given.

Freedom can protect strength and flexibility or lure a spirit into a trap,

Freedom is easily tempted and succumbs

to arrogance and assumes domination

that then establishes fear that is linked to helplessness and doubt

that threatens to remove freedom.

*~*

Ignorance of the connection between the common ties to the past,

can make individuals feel alone and isolated.

Freedom allows the isolated to connect with others as they wish.

So long as it does not threaten others freedom.

They can worship together, with free speech, and be free of want and fear.

Ignorance of the uniqueness of each being,

can make some individuals persecute those who are different.

Forced to hide, surrender or flee, the spirit imagines freedom

in whispers and visions that are not clearly understood.

*~*

Formless spirits have limited control and meagre means

to moderate limited degrees of freedom.

Our instinct is wired, in ways we cannot always ignore.

Spirits are at best, free slaves, imprisoned with the mortal coils

of flesh and blood, bound by what freedom nature and education provide.

Sometimes we are free to detach and observe

how chemicals affect the biological, social and personal conditions

that control emotions, mood, sleep and appetite

by neurology and physiology.

*~*

Chemicals are often controlled by alien life forms

contained within the mitochondria.

In females, the monoamine oxidase A gene

translates into what is called happiness.

In males, the MAOA activates the warrior genes

that can interact with testosterone causing aggression

and willingness to destroy self and others.

*~*

Many philosophers consider freedom defends love for mankind,

that is the foundation of Moral virtue.

Leonidas, with citizens of Sparta,

used knowledge, training, strength and passion

to uphold freedom of the marginalized and vulnerable.

They fought with love that is said to be unstable.

They determined what freedom is worth fighting for with self-sacrifice .

When familiar home and social institutions were threatened,

they were said to uphold personal liberties

and faced dread, threats and fear under penalty of death.

They won the fight for freedom against all odds .

*~*

Freedom holds a mysterious force

with the awesome invisible natural power

that extends from the least to the greatest cosmological power of order.

It is an internationally mathematically known fact

that when a large number of degrees of freedom coexist

they create the antagonist of order, the capricious nature of chaos.

*~*

Humanity is made of the Hu man.

The god Hu, of ancient Egypt, was considered an authority.

Hu was the deification of the first utterance of the divine breath

that held the perception of balance and the intelligence of eternity.

In Chinese, the name Hu means a vessel.

The faceless God Hundun controlled Chaos in the cosmic egg.

The God Huxian is a clever nine-tailed fox-fairy,

shape-shifting spirit who as a vixen could seduce men by wealth

and fox king who inspired fear.

*~*

Freedom seeks to protect the bond of spirit with the human animal .

The bond can be formed like a horse to its master or a dog to its alpha,

through kindness or fear of a system that does not trust and respect

the individual self, others or the environment.

An individual’s fears, hatreds, biases and cravings

can be used as weapons that compromise freedom.

Or freedom can be used to fulfil desires.

With purpose to prevail over peril, corruption,

and transcend frustrations and illusions

with happiness, prosperity, vitality, honour, trust in humanity,

faith and luck, built on strength, intelligence and skill,

the spirit, can with free thoughts, access the power to oppose a system

or inspire escape from repression for the benefit of all throughout time.

*~*

The universe and earth will continue without the Human.

The human spirit can voluntary champion a cause,

by freely choosing to work together.

Perhaps a critical mass of humans can use freedom

to rise above being simple beast and protect

the fragile balance by finding a way to coexist with the world.

Perhaps the spirit can form sustainable programs to maintain freedom.

By using time, money and energy, they might use freedom to provide

affordable food, water and shelter and educational access, for

increasing populations with decreasing resources, predictable pandemics,

and new environmental issues.

*~*

By integrating rational, spiritual and intellectual skills,

the potential of freedom might be actualized

regardless of gender, race or creed .

It is left to those with strength and forgiveness,

to cultivate the seed of hope, of what freedom can be

in the gut, heart and mind of humanity.

If this seed of hope for freedom grows,

it may blossom, fruit and be harvested

to make the elixir that nourishes what can be

a sustainable climax community.

Freedom may let the unique spirit find self-fulfillment

as part of an inclusive global community

that supports freedom in the present and the future.

*~*