France on Thursday announced the long-awaited nationwide reopening of bars, restaurants and cafes from June 2, albeit with restrictions, and lifted limitations on domestic travel in time for the summer holidays.
In the capital Paris, where the risk of coronavirus spread remains higher than in the rest of the mainland, only the outside terraces of eating and drinking establishments can reopen to clients, said Prime Minister Edouard Philippe.
Announcing details of the second phase in a gradual lifting of France’s strict coronavirus lockdown, he said people would no longer be confined to within 100 kilometres (60 miles) of their homes.
“Freedom will be the rule and restriction the exception,” said Philippe, adding the country was “in a better place than where we expected to be” after the first two weeks post-lockdown.
FRANCE 24’s Perelman: ‘Liberty is now the rule’’
After a meeting of top cabinet members to agree on the next phase, the premier said more schools would reopen.
Museums and monuments are to reopen to visitors nationwide from June 2, though face masks must be worn.
Holiday resorts will reopen too, from June 22, and parks and gardens from next week.
Cinemas can open from June 22 while theatres can also open from June 2, although social distancing rules will have to be observed, he said.
Caution remains
But Philippe reiterated that the virus, which has claimed more than 28,500 lives in the country to date, “continues to circulate” with hundreds of people still being treated in intensive care.
He urged people to continue respecting social-distancing measures and maintain a strict hand-washing regime, and said gatherings of more than 10 people in public places would remain prohibited.
It is already mandatory to wear a face mask on public transport.
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As for dining out, a mainstay of French culture, Philippe specified people can meet in restaurants and cafes in groups of no more than 10, and with a minimum of one metre (3.3 feet) between tables.
In Paris, only outside tables can be occupied.
Servers and cooks will have to wear masks at all times, and customers upon entering and leaving, said the premier.
As for bars, there will be no drinking at the counter, which carries a higher risk of people contaminating one another.
Book: The Perennial Philosophy by Aldous Huxley
Art: Sunset on the Hudson by Charles H Chapin
Reading time: 5 mins
In the Christian religion, speaking in a way that is unrestrained and indiscriminate is considered morally evil. According to the bible, for “every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment”. But Christianity is just one of the many religions that have a bleak assessment of those who speak haphazardly. In his book The Perennial Philosophy, Aldous Huxley highlights the fact that in various religious traditions, this type of talk is viewed as an impediment in the way of finding any kind of spiritual or profound knowledge about existence. Huxley notes also that across a diverse array of faiths, silence is a requisite if one is to discover this knowledge.
“The spiritual life is nothing else but the working of the Spirit of God within us, and therefore our own silence must be a great part of our preparation for it, and much speaking or delight in it will be often no small hindrance of that good which we can only have from hearing what the Spirit and voice of God speaketh within us.”
William Law
“My dear Mother, heed well the precepts of the saints, who have all warned those who would become holy to speak little of themselves and their own affairs.”
St. Francis de Sales, from a letter to St. Jeanne de Chantal
If we look at our conversations with others over a day, what we find is that a great number of our words can be put into three categories: uncharitable words towards others that are inspired by malice; words inspired by greed and self-absorption; and aimless words that have no purpose except that they are a distracting noise. These are conceivably the ‘idle’ words which the Bible refers to. When we add to this the words of our minds inner monologues, idleness is overwhelmingly large.
Various religions identify idle talk as a barrier that stops people from attaining spiritual enlightenment and sacred rewards. They advise that seekers of religious wisdom must first practice silence. The Christian mystic Miguel de Molinos distinguished three types of silence practices, which are also encouraged to some degree in religions such as Buddhism and Taoism. Molinos, who popularised a set of Christian beliefs called Quietism, stated that silence affects the mouth, the mind and the will. The silence of the mouth refers to refraining from idle talk; the silence of the mind refers to being conscious of and quieting our thoughts; the silence of the will refers to avoiding the influence of physical cravings.
“When the hen has laid, she must needs cackle. And what does she get by it? Straightaway comes the chough and robs her of her eggs, and devours all that of which she should have brought forth her live birds. And just so that wicked chough, the devil, beareth away from the cackling anchoresses, and swalloweth up all the goods they have brought forth, and which ought, as birds, to bear them up towards heaven, if it had not been cackled.”
From the Ancrene Wisse
“A dog is not considered a good dog because he is a good barker. A man is not considered a good man because he is a good talker.”
Chuang Tzu
The unrelenting technological advancements of the 21st century make it nearly impossible for most people to achieve these types of silence. Inventions like the television and social media, and the assault of information that comes with them, make it a challenging task for anyone to practice silence. Such inventions make it difficult to practice the three types of silence identified by Molinos as they are known to distract people with trivial information; embolden those who want to communicate maliciously; contribute to anxiety; and through advertising, create unsatisfiable cravings. The 21st century is, therefore, the age of noise. For this reason, it is easy to understand why even secular people adopt practices with conceivably spiritual origins that promote a quiet life, such as meditation and minimalism.
“For whereas speaking distracts, silence and work collect the thoughts and strengthen the spirit. As soon therefore as a person understands what has been said to him for his good, there is no further need to hear or to discuss; but to set himself in earnest to practice what he has learnt with silence and attention, in humility, charity and contempt of self.”
St. John of the Cross
Silence promotes reflection, about both ourselves and the world. The ability to reflect enables us to have a better understanding of the way reality works. Just as we need fuel in the form of food to stoke our bodies, we also need fuel in the form of reflection to gain a better perception of the world and the way to live in it. When reflection is directed towards existence and God, it becomes contemplation. Indeed, in many religions like Buddhism, Vedanta and some forms of Christianity, contemplation is the end goal of human life. In Buddhism for example, those who want to realise Nirvana must first contemplate on knowledge surrounding love, suffering and the nature of reality.
Along with being the age of noise, the 21st century is also the age of action. In our current society, the end of human life is action, not reflection. In an attempt to aid technological and economic progress, one must work and always be working. Huxley proposes that there is nothing in nature that is as perpetual as human creations like the revolving wheel and society. Everything, he says, including the bodies of humans and animals are reciprocating engines that fluctuate between tension and relaxation. Similarly, as established by multiple religions and philosophies, profound knowledge is found only by those who allow silence into their loud lives.
“He who knows does not speak;
He who speaks does not know.”
Lao Tzu
“The moral virtues belong to the contemplative life as a predisposition. For the act of contemplation, in which the contemplative life essentially consists, is hindered both by the impetuosity of the passions and by outward disturbances. Now the moral virues curb the impetuosity of the passions and quell the disturbance of outward occupations. Hence moral virtues belong to the contemplative life as a predisposition.”
St. Thomas Aquinas
Editor’s note: Translation (a technique of rational ontology taught by The Prosperos) is also a good way to practice silencing the chattering monkeys within.
Received this email from a long-time Prospero and student of ontology:
Mike, been doing more contemplating about alternative viewpoint. There is a lot to consider in the astrology piece you sent 1-2 weeks ago from astrobutterfly. com. Pointing toward great renewal ahead in the world economy and overall organization of culture. Not “top-down” imposed from outside, but “as above, so below” emerging from within. Rather than a furious churning of producers and consumers, a new urge to SHARE because it is incentivized by the structure of the system itself. It would not be Capitalism and it would not be Socialism per se; it might be Social Capital. This would be a new state of mind, expressing as a new United States of the World. Anyway … just some thoughts. Please keep posting a wide range of viewpoints on the BB, because it makes the mix so much richer.
In the Platonic, Neopythagorean, Middle Platonic, and Neoplatonic schools of philosophy, the demiurge (/ˈdɛmi.ɜːrdʒ/) is an artisan-like figure responsible for fashioning and maintaining the physical universe. The Gnostics adopted the term “demiurge”. Although a fashioner, the demiurge is not necessarily the same as the creator figure in the monotheistic sense, because the demiurge itself and the material from which the demiurge fashions the universe are both considered to be consequences of something else. Depending on the system, they may be considered to be either uncreated and eternal or the product of some other entity.
The word “demiurge” is an English word derived from demiurgus, a Latinised form of the Greek δημιουργός or dēmiurgós. It was originally a common noun meaning “craftsman” or “artisan”, but gradually came to mean “producer”, and eventually “creator”. The philosophical usage and the proper noun derive from Plato’s Timaeus, written c. 360 BC, where the demiurge is presented as the creator of the universe. The demiurge is also described as a creator in the Platonic (c. 310–90 BC) and Middle Platonic (c. 90 BC – AD 300) philosophical traditions. In the various branches of the Neoplatonic school (third century onwards), the demiurge is the fashioner of the real, perceptible world after the model of the Ideas, but (in most Neoplatonic systems) is still not itself “the One“. In the arch-dualist ideology of the various Gnostic systems, the material universe is evil, while the non-material world is good. According to some strains of Gnosticism, the demiurge is malevolent, as it is linked to the material world. In others, including the teaching of Valentinus, the demiurge is simply ignorant or misguided.
The Ghost Dance (Caddo: Nanissáanah,[1] also called the Ghost Dance of 1890) was a new religious movement incorporated into numerous Native American belief systems. According to the teachings of the Northern Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka (renamed Jack Wilson), proper practice of the dance would reunite the living with spirits of the dead, bring the spirits to fight on their behalf, make the white colonists leave, and bring peace, prosperity, and unity to Native American peoples throughout the region.[2]
The basis for the Ghost Dance is the circle dance, a traditional dance done by many Native Americans. The Ghost Dance was first practiced by the NevadaNorthern Paiute in 1889. The practice swept throughout much of the Western United States, quickly reaching areas of California and Oklahoma. As the Ghost Dance spread from its original source, different tribes synthesized selective aspects of the ritual with their own beliefs.
The Ghost Dance was associated with Wovoka’s prophecy of an end to white expansion while preaching goals of clean living, an honest life, and cross-cultural cooperation by Indians. Practice of the Ghost Dance movement was believed to have contributed to Lakota resistance to assimilation under the Dawes Act. In the Wounded Knee Massacre in December 1890, United States Army forces killed at least 153 Miniconjou and Hunkpapa from the Lakota people.[3] The Lakota variation on the Ghost Dance tended towards millenarianism, an innovation that distinguished the Lakota interpretation from Jack Wilson’s original teachings. The Caddo still practice the Ghost Dance today.[4]
The Northern Pautes living in Mason Valley, in what is now the U.S. state of Nevada, were known collectively as the Tövusi-dökadö (Tövusi-: “Cyperus bulb” and dökadö: “eaters”) at the time of European contact. The Northern Pa community at this time was thriving upon a subsistence pattern of fishing, hunting wild game, and foraging for pine nuts and roots such as Cyperus esculentus.
The Tövusi-dökadö during this period lacked any permanent political organisation or officials, and tended to follow various spiritual leaders and community organizers. Community events centered on the observance of seasonal ceremonies such as harvests or hunting. In 1869, Hawthorne Wodziwob, a Paiute man, organized a series of community dances to announce a vision. He spoke of a journey to the land of the dead and of promises made to him by the souls of the recently deceased. They promised to return to their loved ones within a period of three to four years.[5]
Wodziwob’s peers accepted this vision, likely due to his reputable status as a healer. He urged the populace to dance the common circle dance as was customary during a time of celebration. He continued preaching this message for three years with the help of a local “weather doctor” named Tavibo, father of Jack Wilson.[5]
Prior to Wodziwob’s religious movement, a devastating typhoid fever epidemic struck in 1867. This and other European diseases killed approximately one-tenth of the total population,[6] resulting in widespread psychological and emotional trauma. The disruption brought disorder to the economic system and society. Many families were prevented from continuing their nomadic lifestyle.
Round Dance influence
A round dance is a circular community dance held, usually around an individual who leads the ceremony. Round dances may be ceremonial or purely social. Usually the dancers are accompanied by a group of singers who may also play hand drums in unison. The dancers join hands to form a large circle. The dancers move to their left (or right, depending on nation or territory) with a side-shuffle step to reflect the long-short pattern of the drum beat, bending their knees to emphasize the pattern.
During his studies of the Pacific Northwest tribes the anthropologistLeslie Spier used the term “prophet dances” to describe ceremonial round dances where the participants seek trance, exhortations and prophecy. Spier studied peoples of the Columbia plateau (a region including Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and parts of western Montana). By the time of his studies the only dances he was allowed to witness were social dances or ones that had already incorporated Christian elements, making investigation of the round dance’s origin complicated.
The “Prophet”
Wovoka–Northern Paiute spiritual leader and creator of the Ghost Dance
Jack Wilson, the “prophet” otherwise known as Wovoka, was believed to have had a vision during a solar eclipse on January 1, 1889. It was reportedly not his first time experiencing a vision; but as a young adult, he claimed that he was then better equipped, spiritually, to handle this message. Jack had received training from an experienced holy man under his parents’ guidance after they realized that he was having difficulty interpreting his previous visions. Jack was also training to be a “weather doctor”, following in his father’s footsteps. He was known throughout Mason Valley as a gifted and blessed young leader. Preaching a message of universal love, he often presided over circle dances, which symbolized the sun’s heavenly path across the sky.[citation needed]
AnthropologistJames Mooney conducted an interview with Wilson prior to 1892. Mooney confirmed that his message matched that given to his fellow Indians.[2] This study compared letters between tribes. According to Mooney, Wilson’s letter said he stood before God in heaven and had seen many of his ancestors engaged in their favorite pastimes, and that God showed Wilson a beautiful land filled with wild game and instructed him to return home to tell his people that they must love each other and not fight. He also stated that Jesus was being reincarnated on earth in 1892, that the people must work, not steal or lie, and that they must not engage in the old practices of war or the traditional self-mutilation practices connected with mourning the dead. He said that if his people abided by these rules, they would be united with their friends and family in the other world, and in God’s presence, there would be no sickness, disease, or old age.[7]
Mooney writes that Wilson was given the Ghost Dance and commanded to take it back to his people. He preached that if the five-day dance was performed in the proper intervals, the performers would secure their happiness and hasten the reunion of the living and deceased. Wilson said that the Creator gave him powers over the weather and that he would be the deputy in charge of affairs in the western United States, leaving current President Harrison as God’s deputy in the East. Jack claims that he was then told to return home and preach God’s message.[2]
Jack Wilson claimed to have left the presence of God convinced that if every Indian in the West danced the new dance to “hasten the event”, all evil in the world would be swept away, leaving a renewed Earth filled with food, love, and faith. Quickly accepted by his Paiute brethren, the new religion was termed “Dance In A Circle”. Because the first European contact with the practice came by way of the Lakota, their expression “Spirit Dance” was adopted as a descriptive title for all such practices. This was subsequently translated as “Ghost Dance”.[2]
This worldwide lockdown has taught us all many things. Some of the best experiences have been our wonder at unpolluted nature, recovering birdsong and clear skies, as well as the rediscovery of ourselves and our families and neighbours.
But also, let’s not forget the often infuriating and fearful moments around loss of power, and not having a clear idea about what we have been told to do, which has in itself created much division.
Please watch this documentary and make your own minds up! It is important to follow your heart and work out what feels true for you. You are the most important person to listen to.
So, the good news is that I am going back to work in London in June. If you are interested in making contact about a treatment, please reply via this link and I hope to be able to accommodate some new patients. If not, I will be able to recommend Robin or some of the other practitioners I work with to help you. At the moment Henry is working in Denmark for the summer, so he is unavailable for the time being.
My time in lockdown has meant that I’ve been able to work with many people remotely, which has been a very surprising experience, but I can’t wait to be with people again. I have also decided that after considering all the options, I’ll be self-publishing my book I’ve been writing. This decision comes from truly feeling we need new platforms on every level for a new era of “small is beautiful “ and freedom.
Existence is a dream of our own making all together, and I would love us all to wake up from the illusion of fear, and be free as we were meant to be.
China has laid out an ultra-ambitious timeline to construct its “Heavenly Palace” space station — a plan that involves launch 11 missions before 2023, SpaceNews reports, to construct an orbital three-module lab.
The first piece to be launched into space is a massive, 20-ton core module that will eventually serve as astronaut quarters. China is hoping to launch the module as early as 2021, according to SpaceNews.
Long March
The Long March 5B is capable of lugging hundreds of kilos of cargo into orbit. It, along with a number of future variants, will be responsible for carrying up various components of the space station over the coming years.
The news comes after China successfully launched its Long March 5B rocket earlier this month, a vehicle designed to carry larger payloads to low-Earth orbit. Its predecessor, the heavy lift vehicle Long March 5, launched in December after an engine failure during a July 2017 test delayed the program.
China’s ISS
As part of the 11 launches, China is also looking to launch a total of two experiment modules, four crewed spacecraft and four cargo spacecraft.
All together, the Chinese space station will serve as a test bed for a number of international scientific endeavors, from biotechnology to astronomy.
Chinese authorities will also be selecting up to 18 new astronauts from the People’s Liberation Army Air Force, SpaceNews reports. Training is already underway.
