Breaking Free of the Cave May Save Your Life

(NaturalNews) The ancient philosopher Plato (circa 427 - 347 BC), wrote many astounding works. One of his largest, The Republic, contains the oft-referred to Allegory of the Cave. If you are unfamiliar with the work, here is a good artist's rendition of the Cave: ((http://www.meditationsight.com/Document...) .

Explanation of The Cave

Prisoners are chained deep down in a cave, from very early childhood. Their arms, legs, and head are all chained so that they cannot move, only stare at the wall before them.

Behind them is a huge fire. Between them and the fire is a raised path, on which shapes of animals, plants, and other items are carried. This casts shadows on the wall, which transfixes the prisoners; and when one of the carriers speaks, the sound echoes throughout the cave so the prisoners believe that it is coming from the shadows themselves. The captives play a sort of "name game" with one another, giving names to the shadows, which are the only reality they know.

Now picture one of the prisoners is freed from his bonds, and is beckoned to stand and turn around. He would sense pain in his body, and would be blinded by the glare of light. The shapes passing before him would seem less real than the shadows that they cast.

Upon leaving the cave, he is once again blinded by the increase in light. At first he only sees dark silhouettes of things, then he begins to see objects more and more clearly as his eyes adjust.

The last thing he would see is the sun itself, which he learns creates all of the seasons, and shapes and touches all that surrounds him.

Returning to the cave so that he may free his fellow prisoners, his eyes do not adjust well to the darkness. He cannot play their name game as quick, and they believe him to be blinded from his venture away. They think that this will happen to them, and so do not want to be freed, and out of this fear become murderous to anyone intending to do so.

Current Version

A present day version of The Cave could be likened to a movie many of you will remember -- "The Matrix", and Neo's path to enlightenment. In the movie, Neo knows that there is more truth out there than what he sees, and chooses to swallow the pill that will allow him to progress further and learn. He soon awakens to find himself bound in a liquid filled container. Breaking free, he begins a journey, learning about the realities of present life, negating all that he knew before. He begins to see the world for what it really is; learning that his former world was merely created by a computer program, known as "The Matrix". Neo goes on to realize that while he has this knowledge and can accept it and live in what is truly reality, most people are not ready. They are too fragile for the truth, and would resist or even die from the knowledge. Even some of those that learned the truth failed to thrive in the real environment, choosing instead to be placed back within the false reality.

Applying This to the Present Day

This can be applied to each and every one of us. Every day we choose what we believe to be true. Plato referred to this as "eikasia" which he used to refer to a human's way of dealing with appearances. It is the ability to perceive whether a perception is an image of something else; allowing us to see that a dream or memory, or even a reflection in a mirror, is not reality. We all have puppeteers in our lives influencing what we believe to be true, such as Plato's object carriers and Neo's Matrix. Our parents, teachers, governments and media all influence what we think. It is our job to "awaken", and sort through things diligently to see the truth for what it really is. This is our own personal "Path to Enlightenment", our own journeys out of the cave and in search of the sun.

How This Relates to Our Health

Some of us today are seeing the truth of our situation, and luckily our numbers are growing. We are sick, we are suffering, and we are dying. Why? Our meat comes from factories. Our vegetables and fruits are contaminated with pesticides and herbicides. Our seeds are being genetically engineered, and can now be patented.

Our grocery carts are filled with the latest boxes and packages of low-fat, low-carb, eat healthy, lose weight Garbage, yet we scoff at the prices of organic foods. Where once was a bowl of dough rising on the counter to be baked fresh from whole grains for the family dinner table, now sits a box of Bisquick.

Our milk contains pus and antibiotics, our meats contain nitrates, our drinks and many foods are laden with high fructose corn syrup. In an effort to minimize our waist-lines we consume the poisonous wood alcohol methanol, an ingredient in aspartame.

We have stolen from the earth, taken what was natural and healthy for us and made it unnatural and inherently detrimental. Our children are growing up on sugar and refined foods and we stare blankly when someone tells us that we are clogging their arteries even before they hit puberty.

Our doctors prescribe us pharmaceuticals to address our health concerns, which in turn cause us more problems that lead to more prescriptions. We complacently believe that cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and metabolic syndrome are just the side effects of growing old, and that the pharmaceutical companies will keep coming out with more products to "save" us.

Our waists are expanding, our hearts and livers and kidneys are failing. Our arteries are clogging at alarming rates and yet still, what do we do? Supersize that, please.

We must get back to reality. We must get back to nature.

I urge you all, break free of your bonds and walk out of the cave!

References:

"Plato: The Allegory of the Cave". Washington State University. July 14, 2007 ((http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~wldciv/world_c...) .

Possehl, Melissa. "Explanation of the Cave". Critical Thinking March, 2006.

About the author

Mel Possehl is a Holistic Wellness Consultant working towards dual diplomas in Herbalism & Holistic Health, and is studying for the Registered Aromatherapist certification.

She has two blogs on natural health:
http://your-holistic-life.blogspot.com/
http://just-womens-issues.blogspot.com/

around the house

Finally I managed to get some housework caught up! The kitchen has been a motley mess of canning kettles, vegetables, jars, pots and pans. It's August that's why! Today I actually swept the floors and let me tell ya, they needed it in a bad way. Tomorrow I'll do some laundry because when your canning and cooking, well, you use up a whole lot of kitchen towels. Well, at least I do.

When I get some free time, (hahaha!) I have been working on this afghan. The colors and the pattern give it a southwestern look don't you think?

The herb bed is in its August glory. I love when it's full and lush in late summer.

From the front porch...one of the things I love about living in the country...except when they visit my garden.

Hungarian hots and (mostly) Cherokee Purples...

21 jars of hot sauce, 7 pints of pickles and two pints of dried tomatoes.
Not a bad days work!

Uno heard me coming to the door and hurries away from the cat's food.
Bad duck!

a little garden tour

The Brandywines are coming along and just now a few are beginning to ripen. The plant to the right is taller than me. I'm 5'3".

The Amish paste have been coming on gradually and as they are I have been drying them. They are growing in clusters like grapes. Lots coming on for canning!

The Cherokee Purple were the first to ripen so we have been enjoying those a lot. There will most definitely be no shortage of tomatoes around here!

The Hungarian peppers are doing great as usual. However this year my other peppers (sweet and hot) have had problems with the blossoms and leaves falling off and little if any fruit production. Others I have spoken with have had similar problems, so the weather may factor in a lot.

The Marglobe tomatoes are coming along nicely, also.

Bush Queen Acorn squash.
I usually plant Butternut, but Coop likes acorn the best so this year we decided to go with that variety as well as a few unique varieties such as Guatemalan Blue and Potimaron. These Bush Queen really do grow in nice bush like formation.

The volunteer polyheaded sunflowers grew to over 10" this year!

There's definitely a lot more going on than what I've shown here, but wanted to share with you some features from the main garden.

it's a boy!

Actually Timmy is not a boy, but a middle aged gentlemanly fellow. It just so happens he needed a forever home and we had been looking for the right dog. When my daughter called from the humane society last Thursday to tell me they'd found the perfect dog for us, I had to make a decision. You see they had just adopted a rescue dog and while finishing up the paperwork, Timmy's foster mom brought him in to get acquainted with a couple who were considering adopting him. The couple declined the adoption because Timmy was too docile for them. They wanted a dog that was a little more spirited. When Kandice found out Timmy was still available she called me and gave me his details. He sounded like the perfect dog for us; mature, calm, sweet and gets along well with cats. So, the kids adopted him for us and on Friday we went to pick him up.

Timmy is very quiet and unexcitable, somewhat timid but quite friendly. According to the shelter he is a viszla, (pronounced VEEZH-la) which I had never heard of, also known as Hungarian Pointing Dog.
I find him to be an irresistible companion. He is so very well behaved that I sometimes forget he's here. But then he will come to me and nudge my hand (quite persistently) for some attention; a pat on the head or a chin rub. He just needs to feel secure. He will now that he's found a forever home.

two tired boys

being silly after a brushing

I was just thinking...when we moved here we had two cats. Now after being here two years we have somehow expanded our care taking to four cats and a dog, not to mention the ducks. Does anyone see a trend here?

Yum! Sweet Refrigerator Pickles

This recipe came from an old and worn favorite recipe book I bought new when Coop and I first got together. You know the kind. One in which the pages have come loose from the binding and many are stained and worn from repetitive use. It’s been my best loved recipe source for the past twenty eight years.

These pickles are easy to make and require few ingredients. They work wonderfully as a side dish and taste great on a burger as well. They are similar to a bread and butter style pickle. The following recipe will make about 3 pints of pickles. I normally double it and make 3 quarts or put them into a gallon size jar.

Sweet Refrigerator Pickles

7 cup unpeeled cucumbers or young zucchini or a mix of both sliced thin ( Actually usually I make them with young zucchini.)

1 large onion sliced thin

A green or red pepper chopped is optional

1/8 cup salt

Place veggies in large pan or bowl. (I use a dishpan when making a double batch.) Sprinkle salt over sliced veggies and cover with ice water. Let stand 2 hours. Drain.

After placing pickles in jars, make the following syrup and bringing it to a boil. Ladle or pour over the pickles.

1 cup vinegar

2 cup sugar

1 tsp. celery seed

Store in fridge. The recipe says they will keep indefinitely but they won’t really last that long! : )

I have also canned these pickles (shown in photo). The only difference in doing so is that I make the syrup up, bring to a boil and then add the drained pickles to the syrup and return to a boil before putting in jars. If you do can them follow basic canning instructions, (hot jars, hot lids, wipe rims well, etc) be sure to run a small spatula around the inside of jar before sealing to remove air bubbles. Hot water bath them for about 10-15 minutes.

July 2008 Independence Summery

A tad bit late but here's our July Independence summery...

Planting, Harvesting & Preserving – Harvested cherries, raspberries, blackberries. Harvesting garden produce on regular basis for fresh eating.

Preserved 37 jars (1/2 pt) jam (lots of gift giving here!) , 8 pints pie filling, 7 pints pickles, 3 quarts juice, 8 pints beets. Froze 5 quarts cherries, 2 quart blackberries and 9 ½ quarts raspberries. Made 3 quarts refrigerator pickles.

Preparedness & Planning – Added purchased canned goods to reserves.

Managing household & reserves – cleaned freezer of remaining produce from last year to make room for this year’s harvest. Used up the last of 2007’s canned tomatoes by making spaghetti sauce.

Purchased jelly jars on sale, received additional canning jars from friend’s garage sale find, purchased more at auction. I have a surplus of jars at least for now.

Found a good cotton blanket at a garage sale for $1.

Received a supply of candles from our daughter, another garage sale find.

Received an entire wardrobe of clothing from a generous neighbor whose wife had passed away last year. As a result I kept what I could use for myself and gave away the remainder to others who could make good use of them. Sizes were varied so several people benefited nicely.

Keeping it Local – eating from our garden daily, eggs and milk from local Amish. Sharing garden produce with neighbors and family.

Learned New Skill or Tried Something New – made homemade castile soap successfully. Learned to use a pressure canner. Made calendula infused body oil. Now making my own butter. Tried a new zucchini cake recipe.

Misc. & Handcrafting -

Sold a jar of relish and a jar of jam as well as a beaded necklace.

Finished a crocheted shawl and it’s already reserved for purchase!

Crocheted cotton wash cloths.

Tale of Two Tanks conclusion

After learning of the brine spill at the tanks and speaking with the landowner that Saturday, I called the EPA and detailed what I had been made aware of and seen.

I was asked a lot of questions such as dates in question, the name of the company who owned the mineral rights, the tank numbers, etc., which I answered to the best of my ability. I was informed the information would be turned over to the EPA for investigation and f necessary, they would contact me.

Since I am still on dial up I remained off line as much as possible for a couple of days in case they called, but heard nothing from them. On the following Wednesday I noticed the coming and going of several dump truck loads of dirt on our little road as well as a county truck or two. Throughout the day I heard equipment running just up the road in the vicinity of the oil tanks.

That evening when I had time enough I took a stroll up the road to the site again with camera in hand.

This is a "before" photo of the drain off at the back of the tanks and pit.

And below is after.

This is the trench that had been dug for the run off.

And this is after.

Overall the place looked a lot better than how it had the days prior.

It appears everyone did their job and made things right. Let's hope this proves to be the case.

Aside from the actual desecration created by their negligence, the thing that upsets me most is that this company (and how many others?) have done whatever they can get away with to control costs because they are too cheap and/or greedy to do things responsibly. I hope it cost this particular company a lot of money to right their wrongs. I know it did last year when they polluted the well water of a nearby family and had to replace the well. Maybe they'll realize that it would have been cheaper to do things responsibly to begin with.

On my way back to the house I took this photo of the fields to the south and the intensely beautiful sky, thankful that things appeared to have been made right and hoping that this company will realize that environmental responsibility is more cost effective in the long run. In the very least maybe they'll realize that others are watching.

We could have saved the Earth but we were too damned cheap. ~Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. ~Native American Proverb

We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect. ~Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac

There is nothing in which the birds differ more from man than the way in which they can build and yet leave a landscape as it was before. ~Robert Lynd, The Blue Lion and Other Essays