I'm feeling such an intensity of revolutionary passion right now that I really don't want to be sitting in front of a computer. I want to be out in the woods, or out in the streets, or out dancing with all of my best friends, or making love out in the moonlight. But since none of those other options seem possible right now, I'm going to pick up where I left off last time and throw in a bit of Spring exuberance for good measure.

Today, I'm going to talk about magic, power, and revolution. I've said it before, but I'll say it again: if you don't believe in magic, feel free to see all of this as a quaint poetic metaphor for the transformative power of our creativity, ingenuity, and so on. Either way, I have a lot to say, so I'm going to jump right into it.

Planet Earth is under siege. I know, I know... I'm not supposed to come out and say it so bluntly. I'm supposed to cite an infinite number of scientific studies, and then I'm supposed to talk about the possible long-term implications, and then I'm supposed to say that we can kinda-almost-sorta do something about the hypothetical problem by watching an award-winning documentary and maybe writing a few letters.

But I'm tired of all that. I'm tired of talking about matters of global survival in a polite, roundabout, diplomatic way. So I'm going to speak the truth as I see it, and you can feel free to disagree and debate with me.

A few weeks ago, I sang 'Light My Fire' at a karaoke night at Mugsy McGuire's here in Carbondale. I don't know whether the song called in the magic, or the magic called in the song -- but either way, my fire has been blazing ever since.

It's hard to describe... so hard, in fact, that I almost didn't write this entry. Every time I try to put it into words, I find myself drowning in an almost manic burst of inspiration. So much passion, mixed with such strong insight... it takes a minute or two of concentration just to focus it all down into bite-sized chunks that are comprehensible to an outside observer. But I feel that I have a lot to share, so it's well worth the effort.

After spending just a few weeks devoting myself to the pursuit of ecstasy, I'm starting to understand why certain people in our society go to such great lengths to control people's passions.

Passion is POWER! Control the passions of the people, and you control the world. Set those passions free, and a free world will follow.

Life is full of surprises, and I can't say with any certainty what I'll be working on tomorrow, much less a year from now. But as I mentioned in my last entry, I'm filled with an incredible passion for life that exceeds anything I've ever felt before. I want to live, to dance, to sing, to play, to work, to reach all of my aspirations in life, and to dream of wondrous dreams that others would not dare to imagine! All of this inspiration is starting to come into clearer focus now, to the point where I can narrow it down to three major projects that I'll likely be working on in this new year.

I'd like to start this entry with a quote from the Charge of the Goddess:

"If that which you seek, you find not within yourself, you will never find it without. For behold, I have been with you from the beginning, and I am that which is attained at the end of desire."

In other words, if you're not happy inside, then nothing on the outside can make you happy. Some people, I suppose, would take this as an excuse to abandon revolutionary pursuits and just sit around contemplating the inner peace of their navel. But for me, I see it as just the opposite -- a powerful lesson in the most powerful source of all revolutionary action.

A few months ago, I wrote about a tree friend of mine that had been cut down on Oak Street. Alas, another of my favorite trees has fallen -- this time, the one on Campus Lake that I call Leaning Oak.

A lot of people complain about the problems in today’s world. Not a lot of people spend their time articulating their own comprehensive vision for how the world could and should be if we’d live up to the best of our human potential. Since my last entry pretty much raged about how we should do something positive and revolutionary, I’ve decided to re-articulate some of the general principles or practices I have in mind when I talk about revolution.

I watched Children of Dune recently, and I couldn't help but draw a connection between the classic Dune phrase "plans within plans" and my understanding of what's going on in the real world right now.