presents a free newsletter for friends of generosity incorporated

Welcome
Feature from Flint Hill, Virginia
Dreams of Regeneration
Why the Breasts?
Film and Book Recommendations
Regeneration in the News?
Who’s Who in Regeneration
The Child's Garden
Poetry

From the Editors

Regeneration, number 6 in the Ascending Principles (numbered 0-9), calls us to be aware of the universe’s power of coming into flower and going to seed – so appropriate at this season of the year, when buds and flowers appear throughout the northern hemisphere.  (One also discovers how many weeds went to seed last season!)  Spiritually, we are reminded that while many seeds are scattered, not all will sprout, because the soil may not be good -- and, on the other hand, every effort to begin anew will later bear fruit. 

Tamar Frankiel, Editor

Thanks to Cammie Doty, Carol Bucklew, and Cady Soukup for their help on this issue of our newsletter!

Report from Flint Hill, Virginia

This month's principle is Regeneration. Here is a teaching from one of our dream sisters:

In Connie’s book The Invisible Garment, available from the Generosity Incorporated website (http://generosityincorporated.com/), we can read about Regeneration:

“The Regeneration process has to do with recreating the self identically. . . Regeneration means participating with this great unfolding drive from within but at the same time holding an essential core that is inviolate. . . [There is an] amplified ability to perceive subtle information, to regenerate the body quickly and efficiently, and to telepathically send and receive messages to other people”

I have Regeneration in Sun (Fire / 10th house) and in the Ascendant (Air). There is nothing quite like embodying explosive Regeneration! Regeneration is both a challenge and a comfort, as it holds the seeds of deconstruction and regeneration.

Regeneration is an Ascending principle. Connie likes to use nature-based metaphors for Ascending principles, likening them to the roots of a tree. I like to think of them as based on this earth, in this life, this body, this mind. As humans on this earth, we stand in need of Regeneration's action within our stories of how we relate to the earth and to each other before we run over ourselves.

Regeneration’s Outer focus is the Plant Beings.  Do plants sound boring? Time to rethink that! The Plant Devas (5 Extension) and Plant Beings (6 Regeneration) decided that Earth could and should be an oxygen-based environment. They began changing the atmosphere from predominantly anaerobic (without free oxygen) a billion years ago. Prior to that, anaerobic respiration was the primary means of converting solar and chemical energy into life. After the atmospheric conversion and the presence of free oxygen in the atmosphere, the Earth experienced the Cambrian expansion of life forms, and about a half-a-billion years later, the human population explosion.

We depend for our very breath on the health of the plant beings. We share DNA, energy, and pathologies with our plant cousins. We share our cells with proto-plant beings (mitochondria, related to chloroplasts and chromoplasts, all with similar structures, their own DNA, and evolutionary changes independent of their host). Mitochondrial evolution is related to maternal lineage in humans, as mitochondria are passed on via the body of the egg (somatic inheritance). [See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrial_Eve]

Moreover, although eating plants as food is familiar, taming the energetic fire of sunlight energy into digestible sugars is important as the basis for our food. There's fire and transformation at the heart of each photosynthetic cell. Without plants, our respiration and digestion could not occur. Our cells’ mitochondria convert plant sugars to energy for our bodies. Basic, daily, fiery transformation!

Looking back at my life, sometimes I can almost feel Regeneration at work. It is possible to be a Regenerative catalyst by being present, by paying attention, by refraining from acting out fear, by choosing life. Regeneration feels the most activated during crises, but there is a gentler form of Regeneration that acts in daily life, in eating, in sleeping, in dreaming. As we watch financial and political systems crumble to dust, having Regeneration means that there is a deep anchor, and a profound sense of possibilities yet to awaken.

--Cady Soukup

Dreams of Regeneration

We can learn about the principles by examining our dreams. Here are three dreams of Regeneration:

I’m in a field of corn, wheat and green grass. The corn stalks and wheat are growing thickly and I can lean against them. I’m surprised the wheat is as tall as the corn, I think the corn should be shooting up above the rest. Then I am shown a huge amount of fruit and I know it all came from one seed.

Then I am with my old Latino friend in a restaurant booth. He’s laughing because I can’t roll my r’s to pronounce Spanish correctly. I keep trying to say ‘resurrection’ so that it sounds Spanish. Finally he kisses me on the forehead and says, “Okay, it’s time for us to get out of here."

Regeneration announces itself in the plant beings, tall and thick, and many fruits all from one seed. The second scene is more allusive: the “rolling r’s” suggesting reincarnations (the word for reincarnation in kabbalah means “rolling”) as well as resurrections. Even the word “restaurant” suggests restoration. The message seems to be that we, like seeds, regenerate in other lives, in different forms.

I am rollerblading with my new love on the strand. We stop to see a female vendor who knows us well. She is glad to finally see us together but points out 3 crazy, cackling witches who are hunting him down. I recognize the redhead as the lying, manipulating drunk from the reality show “Rock Of Love.” I remember that she loses the rock star in the end. As they not very adept on their rollerblades, I guide my love pass them to a resting place on the sand. We sit down and I breastfeed his 7 yr old son. He sucks hard on my nipples but no milk comes out. I remove the plastic caps on the tip of my nipples which is preventing the flow of my milk. The boy attaches himself to my breasts and sucks and sucks. The milk from my breasts is now overflowing. I had no idea my breasts could produce such milk. The more he sucks, the more milk comes. My love takes out a stick and starts stirring the breast milk which is very thick and rich. I look at it and think I see a streak of blood in the milk. He stirs it so it blends in with the milk.

Another dream with significant “r” words.  In particular, the dreamer helps her lover escape, on rollerblades, from the redhead of the “reality” show full of manipulation and lies.  The dreamworld is defined by the ability to “roll,” and by love, rest, and Regeneration in the form of an overflowing breast – her milk mixed with the red of blood.

The Service aspect of the following dream is flagged by the reference to knees:

I'm driving through fields in a golf cart. There are only little dirt roads with various types of plants, grasses and trees, some of which I gather. I come to a little community. I go door to door, to see if they would like to grow any of the plants at their homes. I am aware of some energy being exchanged and a feeling of happiness.

I go with my last plant, a tomato-type plant, to the last house on this street and find the people who live there already outside working with other plants at a work table. Would they like this plant?  I brush off the dirt on its leaves to spiff it up a little - it was a little scraggly.. The husband, wife and teenage son all agreed and started working with the plant immediately. They demonstrated how they roll the leaves up on the plant and explained that it protected the plant from any disease or challenges. The boy had bigger leaves from some other plant that he was rolling on his jeans-covered thigh, and then would put back on the main plant.

I am amazed and say I have never seen any plants treated in this manner. The man says, “Let me show you the benefits of doing this” A little workshop is just a few steps away; the door is open and inside is a very healthy, radiant shiny plant about 3feet tall. “Wow, I see what you mean!” He also shows me an interesting bicycle-cleaning wash basin. He lifts a bicycle up into this a double-basin sink with flowing water. He says it washes both tires, frame, pedals and spokes all at the same time after any journey that you've been on. He says it's important to have a clean bike for each journey. . .

A journey starts with a golf cart (a rolling vehicle) and finds people who roll leaves to make healthy plants. They also clean bicycles thoroughly after each journey.  Is this dream again suggesting something like reincarnation?  Is the bicycle an allusion to twice-recycled or twice-born lives?  Going “door to door” might also suggest movement from one life to the next (“dor” in Hebrew means “generation”).

Look in your dreams for references to the breasts ... to plants and seeds... to the colors red or magenta– and, perhaps, for dreams with lots of “r” words!

Why the Breasts?

Breasts are the source of new-born mammal nutrition and the "heart energy of feminine consciousness." However new-born mammal nutrition does not have to be packaged in breasts. Our closest primate relatives have a simpler setup with nipples.

Even that was an amazing development – a new system that had to convert other body fluids into milk that then had to be imbibed externally, so that mother and offspring had to stay together for nursing.  This shift to a “less efficient” method (compared to offspring that could immediately take care of themselves and eat already-evolved foods) created the possibility for new intraspecies relationships.
 
With humans, this went even further as nipples developed into breasts. Why? A baby-oriented theory posits that human breasts evolved as human infant facial structure flattened related to the larger brain in humans. A sexuality-oriented theory posits that the development of the shape and position of breasts in human females changed human sexual behavior and human interaction dramatically, possibly even leading to increasingly 'civilized' or human behaviors (moving from front-to-back sexual behaviors & female signs of fertility, to front-to-front sexual behaviors with little warning of when a female is fertile).

-Cady Soukup & Tamar Frankiel

Film and Book Recommendations

The Seven Daughters of Eve, by Brian Sykes
Mitochondrial DNA, living within us all, can help scientists and archeologists piece together the history of the human race. Present in every cell in the body, it remains virtually unchanged (aside from random mutations) as it passes from mother to daughter. By quantifying and analyzing the mutations of this relatively stable circle of DNA, Sykes has solved some of the hottest debates about human origins. (Adapted from Publishers Weekly).

from the 'oldies' film files:
Resurrection, directed by Daniel Petrie

A woman survives a car accident that killed her husband, then discovers she has the power to heal others.  However, her talents are not always welcomed (as women can appreciate if they have sometimes found their spiritual talents are regarded as “witchy”). Ellen Burstyn was nominated for Best Actress and Eva La Gallienne for Best Supporting Actress for their roles in this 1980 film.

Regeneration in the News

Regeneration shows up in the world quite often these days – plants, trees, energy resources, and mothers’ milk. Let's hope the seeds are being planted for better ways of life in the natural and social worlds.

• Headlines on Renewable Energy:
  The development of renewable energy - particularly energy from wind, water, solar power and biomass - is a central aim of the European Commission's energy policy. . . .
  Industry figures show Germany, having decided to phase out nuclear power, now has more than 11,000 wind turbines. . . . .
  Taking architecture, and wind power, to new heights, developers of the Bahrain World Trade Center in Manama, Bahrain, flipped the switch to start three huge turbines set between two towers — a first glimpse of technology that they hope will power up to 15 percent of the center. (Neat photo on this one! – Ed.)
  http://ec.europa.eu/energy/res/index_en.htm; http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1765054.stmhttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24029616/
  
  
• Headline: ReGenerating Our Planet One Forest at a Time
  Sean Donahue, Jan 29, 2008, Austin Texas: Earlier today, the ReGeneration Team joined The Conservation Fund, Travelocity, NBC Universal and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) in dedicating 158 acres of forestland. Over their lifetime, the newly planted trees (bald cypress, oak and pecan) will trap more than 63,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the Earth’s atmosphere.   www.regeneration.org.  ReGeneration itself is a new socially responsible commercial venture – sponsored by Dell, the website encourages ideas and provides links to many nonprofit “regenerative” organizations. – Ed.
  
  
• Headline: 2008 International Training Program on Natural Products: Botanicals, Nutraceuticals and Medicinal and Aromatic Plants
  The New Use Agriculture and Natural Plant Products Department at Rutgers University (New Jersey) is supporting scientific studies that assist a wide range of people and groups, from herbalists and aromatherapists to sub-Saharan farmers, in development and quality control of plant products for holistic health.  http://www.aesop.rutgers.edu/~newuseag/itp2008.htm
  
  
• Headline: Earth’s Mothers (www.oprah.com)
  The International Breast Milk Project is the first organization in the world to provide donor breast milk from the United States to babies orphaned by disease and poverty. The first batch of donor milk arrived to the iThemba Lethu orphan home in April 2006 and contained the milk of one mom, Jill Youse. She then went on to develop the project into a successful non-profit organization with the help of her brother Will Harlan. Since the first shipment, just a year ago, nearly 3,000 moms have applied to donate to the Breast Milk Project and the organization is raising thousands of dollars to improve the access to health care and nutrition for infants in impoverished areas.  To donate or for more info, go to www.breastmilkproject.org..

6. Who's Who in Regeneration

A wide variety of famous people have Sun in Regeneration.  Ask yourself how each of these manifests this principle in their public lives:

• Arnold Schwartzenegger, 1947-
  Governor of California; previously a bodybuilder and film star. He won the Mr. Olympia (“World’s Strongest Man”) award 6 consecutive times. In 1970 his second career began. He was best known for action films, especially the Terminator films, but also for comedy in Twins. Again re-making himself n 2003, he ran for governor in a recall election and was re-elected in 2006.

• John McCain, 1936-
  U.S. Senator from Arizona; presumed Republican nominee for President. Nearly killed, then captured, imprisoned, and tortured in the Vietnam war, he was freed and rehabilitated. He became the Navy’s liaison to the Senate, which inspired him later to seek a political career. He lost the Republican nomination to George W. Bush in 2000 but, despite a reputation as a maverick on some issues, won it in the primaries in 2008.

• Warren Edward Buffett, 1930-
  One of the world’s greatest stock market investors, known for his frugal personal lifestyle. In 2006, he announced his plan to give away his fortune, 83% of it to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In 2008 Forbes magazine named him the richest man in the world.
  
  
• Paul Newman, 1925-
  Academy Award winning actor, one of the few who successfully transitioned from the 1950s film era to the ‘60s and ‘70s, largely by virtue of his portrayal of rebellious personalities. Retired from acting in 2007, he is also known for his auto racing, major philanthropic endeavors, and his long marriage (50 years) to Joanne Woodward.
  
  
• Johnny Cash, 1932-2003
  Award-winning country singer and songwriter, known for his songs of sorrow, tribulation, and redemption. He cultivated a romantic outlaw image and had great sympathy for prisoners, but did not serve a prison sentence himself. He did battle with (and conquer for years at a time) drug addiction. His life was memorialized in a film, Walk the Line (2005).
  
  
• Woodrow Wilson, 1856-1924
  28th President of the United States (1912-1920), Wilson was known for his idealistic internationalism. After World War I, he helped create the League of Nations and shape the Treaty of Versailles, with special attention to creating new nations out of defunct empires. The Treaty was never ratified by the U.S. Congress; Wilson’s approach to foreign policy has been highly controversial.
  
  
• Lewis Carroll, 1832-1898
  British author, mathematician, clergyman, and logician, known for Alice in Wonderland, his real name was Charles Ludwidge Dodson. Besides writing and another hobby, photography, he invented numerous games including the precursor of “Scrabble.”
  

7. The Child's Garden

The spiritual parenting of our children – through studying their principles – teaches us as well as them.  We at Generosity Incorporated believe that bringing this work to the next generation can be one of the most powerful forces to heal humanity.  Here’s an example of learning from our children:

 Our second oldest child delivers the gift of his sun principle, Harmony, with the assistance of Regeneration in his mental and physical bodies (Mercury and Mars).  My guess is that Regeneration has helped him a lot to deal with the “unseen” dimensions in which Harmony specializes.

Indeed, as a young child, he danced with the “unseen” quite a bit: he had a habit of getting himself lost from his parents.  Each time that he became “unseen,” however, he managed to put himself in a place where he could get the nourishment and comfort he needed.  When he was about three years old he lost sight of me – and I of him – in a city park where he had been swinging on the kiddie swings.  After a too-long time of fruitless searching and frantic calling, we expanded the search, my husband going one direction and I another.  I stepped out of the park onto a busy street, asking everyone if they had seen a little boy.  Almost immediately someone came up to me and said, “You’re looking for a little child? He’s in the bank!”  The bank?  Sure enough, someone had seen him wandering near the street and taken him to the nearby bank building, where he was being cooed over, fed ice cream and candy, and reassured that his mommy was coming back.  He had apparently remembered exactly where we entered the park and gone there.

Another time he detached himself from his father and older brother in a clothing store long enough to detour through the toy store a short distance away in the mall. When he realized he didn’t know where they were, he walked to the parking lot, found the car (mercifully unlocked), got in and started praying.  When we were telling these stories recently to his wife, he said, “I always knew where to go.  I just didn’t know when you’d find me -- that was scary!” 

In these cases, it seems almost certain that my son’s body and deep intuition, more than his mind, led him to a safe place. Regeneration was reliable. Perhaps in children, Regeneration tends to the conservative: go to the familiar, remember where you last were on the path.  

As he grew older, Regeneration also could be seen working through his mental processes.  He loved the kind of process where he could think things through very carefully, reviewing the steps, making sure his foundations were strong.  New material didn’t confuse him, because he had a talent of relating it to what he already new.  As a teen, he seemed rigid in his beliefs rather than experimental, and he would rather not argue highly controversial subjects. We knew by then to just let it go. His mind opened as he matured, and he became more interested in developing his creative side.

Perhaps most surprising was the discovery that our son loved flowers.  Gardening was never his thing – he didn’t like to get dirty! – but in his twenties, he started buying and arranging flowers.  His connection to the plant beings was “unseen” for many years, but has become a special part of his self-expression.

--Tamar Frankiel

8. Poetry

A song to wish you a happy month of May!

April Showers (1921)
by Al Jolson

Life is not a highway strewn with flowers,
Still it holds a goodly share of bliss,
When the sun gives way to April showers,
Here's a thought that we should never miss:

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