Beginning  today and every Tuesday morning, a sample from the first book of the Gaia’s Majesty Trilogy (Mission Called, Women in Power) will be posted on cuspofreality.com. Enjoy!

The Myth of Gaia’s Majesty

Our Earth Mother, Gaia, was intrigued by clever creatures evolving on her earth. They held great promise, but also danger for themselves and Earth.

Since women were generative in agriculture, the arts, tended culture and produced the children, she chose a selected population of them and gave them the mission to be stewards of our planet and to guard the future of humankind. To serve them, she provided protected cities in the sea called Tethys. They also could live on the land as needed.

The ones living in the sea were called Progenitors.  The ones who came to land to form families were called Primals and among them was a warrior class called the Andromeda who stood in defense.  Altogether they were called Tethyans.

As earth falls deeper into social and ecological crises, the day of the fulfillment of the Tethyan mission is upon us.  This is the story of our future.

Chapter 1

WE WILL HAVE JUSTICE

The West Coast of Ireland

The woman’s flight across Ireland felt endless.  Only her determination sustained her in escaping the men chasing her.  On the edge of the seaside village of Gaelach she’d concealed her car behind a barn.  From ditch to alley to doorway she ran watching for anything or anyone behind her. Dogs barked from small whitewashed cottages.  Soaked to the skin from the pelting rain, she thanked Gaia for the weather that helped hide her and surely slowed down the men pursuing her.  The information in the waterproof package she carried held the key to the fate of one of the world’s largest trading conglomerates.

The  small shop, located on a side road, had a “Closed” sign in the window.  She paused, appreciating the welcoming roar of the angry ocean nearby.  She listened for hints of danger, then knocked.  Inside an old woman held her waterproof packet as she shed her sodden clothes, leaving her naked except for an arm holster holding a Gerber combat knife.  She tied her long wet hair into a knot, and the old woman strapped the packet tight to her back.  Once outside the back door, she melted into the sheets of rain and raced for the sea.

Just yards away from the waves, the men hunting her closed in.  One man was upon her as she pitched herself into the waves.  She took him down with her, driving her knife deep into his side.

A strong swimmer, she dove deep.  Her strokes strengthened as webbing between her fingers and a fish tail blossomed behind her.  Crisp chips guided her to a series of waterworn pillars far under the sea.  She was joined by another woman who swam next to her.  They exchanged high-pitched greetings, but her focus was on getting her package to the ultimate security of the Tethys.

As they passed through the pillars, the blackness of the ocean dissolved and a glorious city, shimmering in a soft light unfolded in front of them.  All around were plants and marine animals glowing in rich hues.  It was no longer nigh time along the Irish coast.  It was now midday of the day before-a time differential that helped secure the city’s inhabitants.

At last she could relax.  She was home. The precious information she had brought was safe and would soon be transferred into the hands of those who would exact justice.

Retribution for  the conglomerate of predatory commodity traders was swift.  The markets came alive in ways that proved devastating to the avaricious Overlords. Traders and their greedy investors were brought to their knees.  The battle for the world was taking on a new dimension.

See you next week as we meet with VERY SPECIAL WOMEN.

 

 

At last the winter holidays are over. It is now time to resume publication of the Cuspofreality.com

 

Once again, in this post, we see destructive men leading the world into conflict.  In the Gaia’s Majesty Trilogy (available for purchase at amazon.com) we see a story in which our Earth Goddess Gaia supports the development of powerful women in behalf of our future.

The Struggle For Our Future

It seems that the great tragedy of Donald Trump is not just coming to a head but, hopefully to an end.  He presumed the future was to be however he wished and willed it to be.  Such is the case with an egotistical sociopath.  Nothing matters to him but what he wants and because of his narcissism he believes he deserves it.  It is bad enough that he is a sociopath but that he is unstable as well.  And it is stunning that he now wishes to suspend the constitution.  In his own behalf of course.

This potentially highly damaging Trump based trauma leads me back to Horne’s book The Seven Ages of France.  Century after century Europe experienced devastating wars.  They did not affect just Paris but all of Europe. Fortunately, America did not experience the effect of a long line of unstable sociopaths.  That is until we elected Donald Trump.  Fortunately, we had realistic opposition to help insure our future.

After reading Horne’s book it was clear to me that what we call World War  I and World War II were a continuation of centuries long processes.  Many of us had hoped this devastating process had come to an end.

Of course coming to an end is unlikely since the self interested pathological types still exist and it may be that the public may not have the power to stop them or may simply not recognize the damaging pathology.  With what is now happening with Trump it appears we will be able to avoid a travesty such has happened in Europe in the past.

However, we are seeing continuity of tragedy under Vladimir Putin.  And it is not creating a Get Smart type of humorous outcome.  There is nothing conceivably humorous about what is being done to the Ukraine and its people.

It is very difficult to see an enduring and substantial benefit Russia might be gaining from this destructive incursion into the Uktaine.  As I understand it they have seized ten thousand tons of grain but that does not seem enough  to be worthwhile risking World War III. I have been relieved that our politicians are not mentioning such a possibility. Restraint in sprculation demonstrates suitable caution.

But having read that history about war in France and Europe in general I can see that the attack on the Ukraine is an extension of a dark and damaging past.  And from everything I’ve seen and heard, it seems Putin is following in a long history of egotistical sociopathic men and sometimes women.

The Ukrainian people are heroic and there seems to be reason to believe it will end without Russia taking total control of their country.  Many of us had hoped Europe’s history of  war might be fading.  But when unstable narcissistic sociopaths are in charge our hopes are dimmed.  At least America appears to be remaining under the control of our people.

 

Given the intense activity of the holidays we are suspending posting after 11/21/22 through 1/7/23.  Have happy holidays.

Roger Burt

Gaia’s Majesty Trilogy (Available on Amazon) – Unique fantasy trilogy blending mythology with women taking their rightful place in the world. Related to essential world changes.

Older White Men – Facing the Future at last

I’m now an older white man and I’ve been upset with and at odds with my male colleagues for over fifty years.  And now I believe the issues are coming to a head and we are finding and seeing bad alternatives such as with Trump and his demonstration of the behavior of an unstable sociopath. Fortunately, while I’ve had my problems with  older white men they were usually at least manageable.

An Enduring Lesson 

I hadn’t thought about men and power much until I took a job in the inner city of Baltimore in the 1960s.  At the time the Women’s Liberation Movement was beginning and I found myself working with young, bright women among the men.  Our mission in behalf of delivering mental health services to impoverished citizens in the inner city brought it all to a head.

Naturally the heads of the program were older white men and my perception was that they  had little dedication to our mission to serve the people of Baltimore.  They wanted the grant money, preservation of their status and continuation of the type of programs they had been offering. We had a major confrontation when they wanted to bring in medical students to give the people we were serving a week of therapy and drugs.  It was so outrageous to us that there was a major, direct confrontation. Higher class medical student could do nothing in a week for lower class people and medication suddenly offered indicated no utility. To the surprise of the older white men we made our objections prevail.

See It For What It Is

       The fight continues and this fall it seems there my be what is called “a blue wave” in the interim election. I object to the term because it represents politcalization of changes which should not be politicized.Certainly there is politics involved but we are seeing a worldwide movement to empower women at last which should have a major impact.  That is the type of wave that interests me the most.

     The power of older white men shows up on many avenues and I would prefer it be seen for what it is.  Attention to women coming to equality and power interests me much more and should bring much needed changes.Together with attention to our growing minorities would be much more useful as well.

Waves of Change

      There are truly waves of change and I relish these waves we have seen over human history.  There is an ongoing wave within the black community.  Yes, I am referring to them as black because I was part of the reform movement the year Martin Luther King, Jr. was  assassinated. That was the year black was declared to be beautiful.  It has special meaning.

Time For Men to Face the Future

      Now it is time for men to choose a revolution of their own. And I do not mean choosing to fight to retain their hold on power only. Instead I strongly recommend introspection of alternative benefits and devotion to study the male culture and all its flaws.  Surely there are benefits but there have also been marked negatives. But the biggest benefits will come by embracing all our people and empowering women.

      These changes are coming at us and we would do well to tend the benefits and seek understanding.  It will benefit us all in unforeseen ways.  It is time for change and to turn away from the rigid grasp on power to a more diverse and glorious future!

Gaia’s Majesty Trilogy (available on Amazon) – Our Earth goddess Gaia believed the clever creatures developing on her Earth were dangerous but precious.   She recognized that women needed to be empowered.

                                 Transformation: A World to be Imagined

What Lies Ahead?

     America seems to be at a profound choice point.   Will there be something beautiful and inspiring emerging in the end or a transfixing horror in our future? I prefer something glorious.  We may begin to see it unfold shortly or a nightmare may materialize in the mist.  In the end it is my belief that women hold the balance and wIll be the key.  They must be recognized.

My view of Life has Changed

     Earlier events led me to suspend the blog but now events are leading me to reopen the blog and the focus has changed.  We are facing totally unexpected crises that bring us the possibility of transformation.  Whether in the end it will be ruinous or uplifting is yet to become clear.  We will be exploring what might be and there are many emerging alternatives.  I have also found that I have been led to a life review.  As I studied my experiences I found clarity regarding events and avenues that profoundly affect our collective future as well as my personal future.

Returning to the Moment

     For the moment let me return to present reality. And I must make a statement that is not political, but rather clinical.  I am a clinical psychologist with a Ph.D from Duke University and have had decades of experience.  I was stunned and pleased when the book by Donald Trump’s niece came out. She is also a clinical psychologist and we agree on the diagnosis of him as a narcissistic sociopath who is unstable.  His focus on himself leads him away from the needs of our country.

     And even worse, many of our citizenry seem unwilling to face the devastation of our future that might come not just from such a thing as a pandemic but from failures of our government and a leader such as Trump. The problems extend beyond the White House to many of our political leaders. But it is important to remember that we may also be facing a grand fulfilling opportunity that we the people of this country may direct.

Conservatives and Progressives Together

     It is my view that for decades now we have been inadequately attentive to the needs of our country. In addition to the grasp on power by white men, a major contributor to the inattention for our broad needs has been a conservative movement that has become dismissive of their responsibility.

    

     To be clear, I have a high regard for true conservatives.  I consider myself to be a progressive and believe progressives and conservatives working together form an important source of benefit and balance.  It is inappropriate for conservatives to simply hold onto the past as if it were stone and it is inappropriate for progressives to simply hurl themselves into an unproven future. Together we form an essential balance as we consult and negotiate together.

    It is time for us to reach out to each other with respecting openness to diverse views and values. Yes, there may be a dark future but we may also direct it to the benefit of us all.  We must come together with respect and seize a grand vision of transformation that just may lie before us.

My Personal Response to Our Looming Crises

    I’m what is called an intuitive personality and it is intuition rather than pure logic that guides me.  The truth is that when I began to write my Gaia’s Majesty Trilogy I did not understand where it would lead me.  I knew my attention on the future but I didn’t understand the depths of feminism that would guide me.

    My life has led to the full recognition of the centrality of the grasp of older white men on power.  Now that I am an older white man I’m going to demonstrate my objection to their hold on our world.  My  books called Gaia’s  Majesty Trilogy will be one form and this blog will also give the history of my objections among many other themes.  My concerns are deep and my hopes for our future, especially when women are empowered, will be fully displayed.

     It is time to move forward but, in what we call the real world, it is hard to know to what.

We can receive guidance and wisdom from our earth mother Gaia as seen in The Gaia’s Majesty Trilogy (available for purchase on amazon.com).  In this series, powerful women lead the way into a promising future. These women include Mermaids in the sea and the women of the Andromeda on land.

—————

Who Is Coming To Live At your House?

     In most cases when we get married we expect to have children and many people don’t speak honestly of whom they hope is coming. There may be a clear statement regarding a boy or a girl and sometimes it is very specific as in a husband who is a sports fan and wants a son.

     In many cases people rarely express honest specifics.  As to it being a boy or a girl, they often speak about their hopes later, after the birth. The expression may be naive about the sex of the unborn child even to the self. The fact is, regardless of who you want, it is important to accept and love whomever comes.  Such is not a total reality and the effect on the chid may not become apparent for many years. And it is possible at times that either the man or the woman want no children. All of us have heard such honest statements and it deserves approval and support to seek self emotional solutions. The raising of children is not a simple process regardless.

      In my practice as a clinical psychologist I saw some strange examples. A man says, “I want a son.” He gets two sons and then sheds his wife, wanting to keep only the boys. A woman says she will accept who comes and with a second son or second daughter she leaves the marriage. The problems may occur with either parent at unexpected times and part of the problem may be that they may have never even been honest with themselves.

     In my practice I learned there were no common rules or clearly defined outcomes in regard to children. And many times when I saw a depressed child or adult it could often go back to not being wanted but it was not admitted at the time. What gets played out may be totally unexpected.

     Raising children is not easy.  The time needed is lengthy and difficult and they go through marked phases but we cannot define when those times may come. And children may have  a personality with nothing in common with either parent.

     Not wanting a child is often difficult for a parent whether it is a boy or a girl or just any child at all. Parental rejection is often hard to see and the effects may show up at almost any later date.

     Self examination is not generally declared as desirable for a parent, But deep inside it is important for us to declare whether we want a boy or a girl or if we don’t want either or none at all. Self ownership of feelings and perspectives is important and may be declared to the other parent.  Solutions are available but require the issue to be on the table.

                                             

Our  Earth Mother Gaia selected women to preserve our future.  Those living in the sea are called Mermaids and the guardian body on land is called the Andromeda. They come to be before us in the books of the Gaia’s Majesty Trilogy (Available for purchase from Amazon.com)                              

 

Transformation  A World to be Imagined

What Lies Ahead?

   America seems to be at a profound choice point. Will there be something beautiful emerging in the end or a transfixing horror in our future?  I prefer the dream offered by the picture above.  We may begin to see it unfold shortly or a nightmare may materialize in the mist. In the end women will be the key and must be recognized.

Recent Events

For the moment let me return to the present reality.  And I must make a statement that is not political, but rather clinical.  I am a clinical psychologist with a Ph.D. from Duke University and have had decades of experience.  I was stunned and, I must say, pleased when the book by Donald Trump’s niece came out.  She is also a clinical psychologist and we agree on the diagnosis of him as a narcissistic sociopath who is unstable. His focus on himself leads him away from the needs of our country.

And even worse, many of our citizenry seem unwilling to face the devastation of our future that can come not just from such a thing as a pandemic but from failures of our government.  The problems extend beyond the White House to many of our political leaders.  But it is important to remember that we may also be facing a grand fulfilling opportunity that we the people of this country may direct.

Our problems are numerous and include the fact that we have a substantial gig workforce.  We say we have an unemployment rate of a specific kind but true reality is otherwise. A gig workforce includes people who are  without an ongoing and  stable employer.  The gig workers face short term and multiple forms of employment.  At the same time tragic events have mobilized the black and brown communities to make demands that are wholly justified.  This white man is clear that white men have dominated this country from its beginning, often with dire and corrupt consequences.  That needs to change and I will not forget the crucial growth of the empowerment of women.

Conservatives and Progressives Together

It is my view that for decades now we have been inadequately attentive to the needs of our country.  In addition to the grasp on power by white men, a major contributor to the inattention to our broad needs has been a conservative movement that has become dismissive of their responsibility.

To be clear I have a high regard for true conservatives.  I consider myself to be a progressive and believe that progressives and conservatives working together form an important source of benefit and balance.  It is inappropriate for conservatives to simply hold onto the past as if it were stone and it is inappropriate for progressives to simply hurl themselves into the future.  Together we form an essential balance as we consult and negotiate together.

It is time for us to reach out with respect and openness to diverse views and values. Yes, there may be a dark future but we may also direct it to the benefit of us all.  We must come together with respect and seize a grand vision of transformation that just may lie before us.

My Personal Response to Our Looming Crises

I’m what is called an intuitive personality and it is intuition rather than pure logic that guides me.  The truth is that when I began to write my Gaia’s Majesty Trilogy I did not understand where it would lead me.  I knew my attention was on the future but I didn’t understand the depths of feminism that would guide me.

My life has led to the full recognition of the centrality of the grasp of older white men on power. Now that I am an older white man I’m going to demonstrate my objection to their hold on our world.  The Gaia’s Majesty Trilogy will be one form and this blog will also give some of the history of my objections among many other themes.  My concerns are deep and my hopes for our future especially when women are empowered will be fully displayed.

It is time to move forward but, in what we call the real world, it is hard to know to what exactly. But it should be up to us to seek constructive ways to shape it to benefit all of us.

 

Gaia’s Majesty Trilogy (Available on Amazon)  –  Our Earth goddess Gaia believed the clever creatures developing on her Earth were dangerous but precious.

The World of Intelligence Intrigue

Lately there has been a lot of attention regarding Russia and its authoritarian regime given its heinous attack on the Ukraine.  We have seen journalists and opposition leaders murdered.  That process is not characteristic of just recent Russian history.  I have a story  from my past which is germane  to current events and how we view our world.

Being in graduate school at Duke University working on my Ph.D. was fascinating in so many ways. The South was engaged in a civil war, I found myself deep  in Duke  University Medical Center and I was meeting all manner of fascinating people.

One day a new student arrived.  He was older than most of us snd had a heavy Russian accent.  How curious? In time I learned his name was Nicolai Khoklov and he had been head of the KGB operations for Eastern Europe.  One night we fed him ample vodka and he told us about how his life had been as a high level intelligence operative.  Like  so many people, he considered himself to have been a patriot.  But being a patriot of the kind he had been required to be turned out  to be a proposition he could not n the  end, suffer. He decided to defect.

Betrayed!

Of course intelligence was interested and he agreed on a condition. When he went on Radio Free America to announce his defection, his wife and children would be picked up by our people and taken out of Russia.  We didn’t honor our pledge and he lost his family.

Nonetheless he was true to his word partly because he could not accept the moral problems associated with the kind of murderous activities in which he had been involved.  Like other Russians working for reform, he was poisoned with a radioactive substance.  He survive and cane to the United States to study clinicsl pyshology.  Interesting choice.

Honor and Truth

He was a touching individual and I would never  have guessed his past.  He was such a gentle and respectful person with a rich sense of humor.  the stories  he told us that night were immensely troubling.  But his concluding statement about his past in intelligence was one I will never forget.  He said, “You think intelligence work is like James Bond.  It is, in fact, like Get Smart.”

In case you don’t remember Get Smart, it was a television comedy series about international intrigue.  The players on that stage were often inept if not just plain incompetent.  Nicolai was speaking a truth.

It was clear he meant the statement ad the details of his life bore out his conclusion.hat he conveyed was that we often have a view of things which we hold as truth.  But truth is illlusory and Nicolai’s story was yet another confirmation that we do, indeed, live onthe cusp of reality.

What do you think of Nicolai’s conclusion?

 

 

How lovely it would be if, as in the Gaia’s Majesty Trilogy (Available on Amazon), it is our Earth Goddess Gaia who selects gifted women to protect the future of Earth and humankind.

Police Reformation and  Transformation

Unintended Discoveries

When my graduate work was concluding and I was headed out into the world, my innocence was not apparent to me. In looking at the job in the inner city of  Baltimore I had been given a grand tour.  But only later did I come to see and feel the true extent and depth of the problems.

More Than Mental Health

Of course in my training and education I had come to assume that evaluation and psychotherapy were central. As it turned out the only thing that was central was the acceptance of the extent and reality of problems a person may face. In that  impoverished environment one truth was essential.  Poverty is a huge destructor of a person’s mental health.  It leads them into  depression and anxiety and down a steep dark hill from there.

In This Era

My experiences relate well to issues being examined now and it is clear to me that we not only need a truly in depth reevaluation of our society, but it has to be on ever so many fronts.  But for now let me focus on the police.  There  is now a cry in some quarters for the “defunding” of the police. The only definition of defending I could find meant ending all funding for them although it  seemed likely it meant refunding. Defunding would mean we would have no police at all. Defunding can only mean a horror.

Reevaluation

More to the point is a serious look at what we ask our police to do and decades ago I saw them being asked to do things that did not belong on their table.  I will select two. One is dealing with the mentally ill and the second is dealing with the homeless.  Neither of these issues are ever clearly distinct.

In the 1960s our job was to deal with the “mentally ill”. Well. Kind of.  Naively we began with a focus on the people referred to us by community agencies.   They were an extraordinarily diverse lot.  In time we were also told to work with the people who were in the state mental hospital and help them in their return home.  The employees in the state hospital saw us as intrusive.  But they had to accept our coming to see the people who were soon to leave.  Our experience was that we would arrive, go to the relevant nurse’s station and routinely it was empty except for a pile of folders.  Our presence was resented and the staff did not want to talk to us.

The Homeless

In general they were seen as simply unfortunate and we were usually not asked to see them.  One day my close staff friend and I went to a place where homeless gathered.  Their diversity was stunning. And often it is these people the police are directed to handle.  Some of them were mentally ill and many others simply stunningly unfortunate.  The stories were highly variable. Since then matters have gotten worse.  After additional wars there were more and more men coming with all types of post traumatic stress disorders.  Many ended up on the streets. This was hardly an appropriate population for the police.

The Broader Picture

The above are just a very limited sample of issues on the streets of our cities and beyond.  Too often we expect the police to deal with them and see to it that they are taken somewhere appropriate for care or help. Unless, of course, there are no appropriate places available.  It almost seems  that we do not want to deal with all these issues so we dump it in the hands of the police.

The Bottom Line

We do not need to defund the police.  We need  to do an in depth evaluation of what we are often asking them to do. And in doing so we are surely going to come face to face with the failure, not of the police, but of our society and how often we turn away from the problems of our people.  It is now past time for us to face ourselves and the issues we are not dealing with and not providing appropriate resources and systems for,

 

Who is to bring us through the current world crisis?  In the Gaia’s Majesty Trilogy (Available on Amazon) it is our Earth Mother Gaia who selects committed and talented women.

Vladimir Putin and World War III

I have been watching the news every day expecting at least a mention of the possibility of World War III.  I won’t say I’m disappointed. I’m surprised at the lack of speculation.

I watch Vladimir Putin with horror. This man is clearly devoted to his own aggrandizement.  I was young at the end of the Hitler era and in many ways see similar potential.  My maiden aunts took me to Fifth Avenue to watch the parade of celebration at the end of World War II.  As grand as that was, I  don’t want to see another one.

In horror now I watch the decimation of the Ukraine and its people.   Evidently Putin stole tens of thousand of tons of grain and our news programs show the terrible damage done to this country of innocent people.

I think I know why our leaders don’t talk about the possibility of a brutal escalation. They want nothing to do to invite an escalation.  Certain avenues of expression might invite a devastating escalation of terrible proportions because a man like Putin, believe it or not, can be fragile.

Putin stands in marked contrast to another powerful Russian i came to know personally.  It was in the halls of Duke University where we were introduced.

His name was Nicholai Khokhlov. I was a little more than surprised that he had, until recently born the head of Russian Intelligence for Central Europe  This gentle and delightful man had finally decided he wanted no longer to pursue his career in intelligence.  He contacted American Intelligence and made arrangements for his departure and for his wife and children.

We made arrangements for him but  we did not fulfill our promises for his family and the Russians took them.

Vladimir was poisoned but survived.  I have to say I was  so happy to meet this gracious and forthcoming gentleman.  I saw him as dedicated but he was anything but a blooming egotist like Putin. It is Putin who is guiding Russia but not in behalf of the people.  So far we do not have World War III and I hope it is not brought up in the news because it might encourage action on the part of an egotist with no values that would serve his own people.