Last weekend I had a trip scheduled to go back to Cairo because one of my friends was getting engaged to an Egyptian woman. Another development also came up which for me was a wonderful opportunity. Egypt was the host nation of the under-20 year old World Cup Football tournament. It just so happened that the championship game and the third and fourth place game were going to be held at the Cairo stadium the day before the engagement party, and one of my friends could get fairly cheap tickets. So I decided to make the trek up to Cairo a day early to watch the game. Neither of the games were very exciting at all, which was disappointing. But it was a great experience being a part of the crowd. The stadium was packed, obviously, and when we had gone 75 minutes into the game (Brazil was playing Ghana in the finals) and neither team had really even had any good chances at scoring, much less actually scored a goal, the entire stadium decided to start cheering for Egypt. So that was probably the most exciting part of the game was 65,000 people doing their standard Egypt cheers. It made me wish that Egypt was actually in the finals. Ghana ended up winning in penalty kicks by the way … after 120 minutes with nothing remarkable happening in the game.

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If the connection between language and culture interests any of you, then you may enjoy reading this. I decided to write it down just so I would have it, but then thought that I should share it with everyone too in case any of you may find it interesting as well.

If anyone is interested in the interconnectedness between language and culture, it is readily apparent in Middle Eastern cultures. In the time that I have been here in Egypt, I have come across the usage of two phrases in particular that are used with, what to me is, astonishing frequency. The two phrases which I speak of are insha’Allah and hamdulaley (I have no idea if that is the right transliteration or not, but that is what they sound like to me.) For those that don’t know, the phrase insha’Allah is probably best translated as “God willing” and the phrase hamdulaley is probably along the lines of “praise God.” Both these phrases are used by everybody in Egypt that I’ve met, whether the person is Egyptian or a foreigner, a Muslim or a Christian, probably even the Buddhists and atheists here use the phrases. It is not the fact that the phrases are used, however, which is so unique, but the circumstances to which the phrases are applied.

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Last year I started reading The Lost Language of Plants by Stephen Harrod Buhner right around this time of year. I enjoyed it so much that I had to save the rest of it for later, which ended up getting put of for a full year. So, now that I have finally finished it I am eager to start it all over again. This book allows our interaction with plants to become richer and deeper. The end of the book included essays by Carol McGrath, Sparrow, Rosemary Gladstar and John Seed.

I found this particular description in John Seed’s essay about The Bradley Method to be a beautiful and very helpful way to also develop your own inner flora while helping the Earth heal.

From I Call on the Spirit of Herbs by John Seed.

In Australia, two sisters by name of Bradley came up with an exciting technique by which we may slowly invite back the original biotic community from denuded and scarred landscapes.

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A Language Older Than Words by Derrick Jensen (2000) Chelsea Green Publishing

This was a GREAT book (size-wise and content-wise), but every word was worth it. It is written from the heart and shows a different way to look at our world. A book from someone who has looked deep into his own soul and in doing so, into the dark soul of our civilization.

It brings back to the forefront of consciousness the ancient perspective of community and communication with our surroundings. It gently forces us to question our unconscious assumptions.

It is definitely worth reading especially if you are questioning what you are doing in your life and would like to speed your transition. His writing is deep and thoughtful. It is best to read it for yourself.

A Few Favorite Passages to Get You Started Tools of Silence

Is there a connection between the silencing of women, to use one example, and the silencing of the natural world?

Religion, science, philosophy, politics, education, psychology, medicine, literature, linguistics and art have all been pressed into service as tools to rationalize the silencing and degradation of women, children, other races, other cultures, the natural world and its members, our emotions, our consciences, our experiences, and our cultural and personal histories. -p3

I no longer see Descartes’ statement (I think therefore I am) as arbitrary. It is representative of our culture’s narcissism. This narcissism leads to a disturbing disrespect for direct experience and a negation of the body. -p8

Sex and Violence

I would say that the predator-prey relationship is even more fundamental, and in a sense even more intimate, than a sexual relationship. But by deafening ourselves to the emotional consequences of violence we have become confused by its relationship to sex. We have come to believe that violence equals aggression, and we have come to base our model of sexuality on our model of violence. -p35

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