Back to Babylon.

     It's 2013!   The awakening!   Wooo Hoooo!!! ....uuuugh.  The awakening doesn't look like I wanted it to.   You might have heard that before.    Well, it's never going to look exactly like I want it to because an awakening isn't always just this nice awesome realization that comes out of nowhere.   It might be that way sometimes but for many it's seeing the worst to realize how bad it is and then knowing exactly the direction you do and don't want to go in.
     I would like to connect that last idea to the idea of the Shamen who must go crazy and return from it to help those in his tribe.   He's been there and now he knows for sure.    Maybe that is happening on a large scale right now.   When things get bad enough, often then a person realizes, then he or she is wiser and changes and like the shamen has transformed and can help people after they finish their healing process.   Things in society are crazy go nuts.   We are on the brink of ecological collapse.   If we realize in time, we will all be wise shamen on this planet.   ...After we finish the healing process.
     All this is an experience that I just had on the personal level.   This has been the most difficult, painful, and wonderful return to Gringoland.   I've now come out the other side and have a stronger ability to see sooooo much more of what is going on.    I can see the toxic parts of myself and heal from them and so it is also now easier to see what is toxic in others and help them heal.   Or avoid them.
     Many are saying this is a very Narcissistic society.   That's true.  Narcissism isn't just being selfish or something.   It's serious and deadly.   Use the word interchangeably with psychopath and sociopath.   There are ton's of youtube videos and things to read about it on the internet.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDIKrYputmg  That one is good.  This one too.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1glNdSjxWo  They say now something like 1 in 6 has it and it's on the rise.  But so is this great information to expose it and heal from it.  1 in 6.  Chances are you know someone with it, or someone who has suffered the extreme abuse of someone from it.  Eveyone has a little Narcissism in them.  Recognize that shit and get rid of it.  Read the book   "Emotional Literacy"  and learn to heal yourself and others.    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotional_literacy   If you're in a relationship with a toxic abuser it's hard to leave.  Your brain gets chemically addicted to the abuse.   One heroin addict said the withdrawals are worse then heroin.   They are very hard core.
             I am more confident then ever in our ability to heal and change the world.

I'm thankful for the past - It made me who I am
I'm thankful for the bad experiences I've had - They made me stronger and made me learn
I'm thankful for the good experience I've had -  Duh, who isn't?  :)
I'm thankful for the present - It's the only thing really happening
I'm thankful for the future - And excited about it!   The best is yet to come and cool cool shit is happening!

   

December 21, 2012. Palenque.

           The bottom fell out of the sky on the last day of time.   Torrential rain didn´t stop the native people from doing ceremonies all night long.   Dancing, thanking the 4 directions and the sky and the earth, blowing conch horns, and inviting the change for maybe 14 hours.    Despite anticipating this day for 8 years I needed some rest.   Whatever was supposed to go down was supposed to happen around 4 in the morning anyway.   I went for a nap in my tent.  I love sleeping in a tent in the rain.  Rainforest rain is like nothing else.   It would make the news back home if it ever dumped out like this but here it´s business as usual.    The proceeding days had been sunny and nice with clear nights and the eerie sound of howler monkeys all around.
           I awoke while it was still dark.   It was easy to get up so early.  Even with the sleepiness and the rain, thoughts raced through my head of the past years of traveling around the planet, of love won and lost, psychedelic experiences, talks on this with native people and holy men,  of the speeches by shamen the proceeding day, of the tons of documentaries on this day and the books and the ideas that I read of Terrance Mckenna and Daniel Pinchbeck and by so many others that I´ve met through the years on the road.
         My Mayan calendar sign is White Planetary World Bridger.  I'm suppose to bridge the gap between the freaky people and the normals and show you the world.   I do feel like I live in both of those worlds with all the coming and going that I do.
        At 4 am I heard the hooting and hollering of the people camped near me. Woooohhhh.  Here we go!  Next dimension!   Ideas that instantly materialize!   End of the dark age!   All the good stuff!
        So I hike in the dark and in the rain up near the ruins.  The natives are still in ceremony.   I join in for a time and then hike up to the ruins that should be just about open.  They sell coconuts there.  I want one.   I chill and have my own experience in the ruins and meditate for a while and explore before going to find the native people again.    I find them doing ceremony in the open ruins.   The cold waves of thick rain never stop dumping on the dancing people.    This is supposed to be the first time in 500 years that there is a ritual at all the sacred Mayan sites.   Knowing that this magnificent event is going on in so many other beautiful and ancient locations stirs my heart.
          When they finally finish their dance I head back to the main pyramids.   They are totally inundated with hippies.   and the rain has stopped.    They are all singing and then we all join hands for a giant Ohm.   OOOOOhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmm  reverberates through ruins and forest and my whole body.   I think even the howler monkyes joined in.    I am more then satisfied with this.  This is what I envisioned when I came down.   Then we all did a group hug.   It might have been the biggest group hug I've ever been in.  A massive, circling, soggy, throng of us huddling in and giggling with the deep feeling of contentment.

          The natives continued with a different ceremony.   When it got late the security tried to kick them out but the freaky people all joined hands in a circle around the ceremony to protect it and the security couldn't do anything.   The native people confirmed to us that we are the new tribe of light that is prophesied about.

            I ended up spending another week in the woods camped out with what looked like several thousand from around the world before heading off to the beach where I am now camping.  It was a magical and healing experience with loads of great people, inspiration, and things to learn.   I'm on my way south for a while longer now with lots of exciting plans and people to meet up with.

       It must have been something like 8 years ago when I told myself that I would have fun and travel and go nuts until now and then get serious about life.   But since then I´ve gotten quite good at this going around and not jobbing stuff and found out that life is not something to be taken too seriously.   So maybe there has been a shift in consciousness.   Its just been a slow one that has been going on for a long time.    Or maybe not.   Maybe its just me and the circles of people that I surround myself with.    One things for sure, if there isn't a change in consciousness then greed and destruction and the boring life that comes with it will continue to swallow everything up and there won´t be any large mammals (that includes us) in 100 years.   But I'm an optimist still.   I think we can do it, and again, it might just be the circles of people I hang out with but I have been getting a lot of messages from people that want to live different and more meaningful lives.    That's great news.

     
      Those are as close as your going get to photos of it. You can't take photos at sacred ceremonies or at the gathering.   The last one is of me at my favorite jungle restaurant.  I loved making those girls laugh with my poor silly Spanish.  I'm getting better at Spanish but this is a really fun and funny phase of it.   I will post more photos on the facespace soon and I will try to type more soonish too.

      Love!!!

Other New blog

I originally made this blog to write some travel stories for my family.   Then some artist friends told me I should put up caricature work on it.   I want to use it for travel stories again and for other art and things that maybe kids shouldn't read or see.   So go here instead if you want to look at caricatures and give me a job or something.  http://caricaturebyjason.blogspot.com/

sketch of me

Jarods Guitar

My friend Jarod let me draw all over his guitar. I felt lucky to have my doodles on the instrument of such a rock star. ..which reminds me of this Terence McKenna quote
“Ego is a structure that is erected by a neurotic individual who is a member of a neurotic culture against the facts of the matter. And culture, which we put on like an overcoat, is the collectivized consensus about what sort of neurotic behaviors are acceptable.”
If you know the guy you might see the association there.

Caricature advertising

Here are some quick live caricatures. Maybe somebody will see this and want to give me some money for a drawing and then I can travel more!

My studio

In the late summer my brother and brother in law helped me build a studio in the woods. A lot of the materials used are recycled and reused. They are in construction so they could help with that a lot. It makes it a little more earth friendly. It will be easier to work on arts and crafts and projects before heading out to trips now. There is a sleeping loft above, it's on 4 blocks with no foundation, 2 desks and room to read and chill all for the fraction of the price one would pay for such a structure.

landscape painting

I have been spending some time here in the country visiting my family. I hike out and paint with my mother when I need a lesson.

Ishmael

Ishmael.. I don't even know if i spelled that right. who cares.
If you don't know whats wrong with society and your life or if you don't even know there is something wrong, reading anything by Daniel Quinn is a good start.
Go out and get one of his books. Read it from cover to cover. Just starting it and putting it on a shelf is not being literate. Neither is just being able to read a menu. You need to be able to read whole books, and the right ones. Not just fluff.
No go out and prove to yourself that your not another shallow vacuous moron and read and enjoy it.

Mexico!!!

It's amazing here. Everything is comfortable. Soft ground, warm water, warm temperature, I sleep and eat and hike and draw at the beach all day and night. There are natural virgin beaches. I eat fresh fruit, fish, and veggies. Life is soooo beautiful here. Here is a photo of me spinning fire.

Baba Ram Dass

Be Here Now.
This is Baba Ram Dass. He was Dr. Richard Alpert. He's the other guy who got fired from Harvard with Timothy Leary. He went to India after that and tripped with monks, gurus, and holy men and got famous when he wrote "Be Here Now". It's really good and strange story with lots of drawings in it. So check it out.
Here's a quote, but he said lots of really good stuff.

"My life is a creative act--like a painting, or a concerto"

Mexico and Central America it is!!!

Geronimo when he's old.
That's what this drawing is suppose to be. So I will spend the winter traveling and hanging out with the first americans. Adventure and lessons from shamen in the rainforest and the dessert, and more adventure in mountains and beaches. I'm excited for what mysteries I may find out and for more experiments and freedom.

......and here's a drawing of a naked girl for some reason. I guess because thats fun to draw to. And figure drawing is important practice always.

dali lama and geronimo

Time for adventure. Asia or Mexico and Central America? Buddhists and Sadhu's or Native Tribes? I'll chill here for awhile and the answers will come and then I'll go see who I need to see.

native american drawings

I've been liking to draw native americans lately. I will do more and better ones. They have so cool faces to draw. I like Sitting Bulls face a lot. He was one of the few to win a war with the whites. Then he went east and saw how many cracker ass whities there were in the big cities there and realized he wouldn't win another war with them. Then he started making peace treaties. I think you can see the fierceness in his face. A tough dude but a defeated one. Its a strong and disturbing look that stirs you deep to see it. Look forward to seeing that same look on the face of environmentalists if the world can't come to some serious decision on Oct. 24 in Copenhagen.


been figure drawing to. at William and Mary on thursdays. this girl said she liked the drawing so much that she wanted to put it on her fridge or maybe in her living room even! super cool.
caricature season is almost up and it will be time to hit that dusty trail! Im so excited. ..downunder has been calling for a long time. . ..or back to the native in mexico and central america.. or asia.. or africa.. ???? not realy sure. hope there is time for all of it in the years to come.

native american in pastel

after leaving the beach I had a great trip back to VA with my very good friend Kaity. We stopped in New Orleans and the Smokies among many other places on the way.


I draw pictures of KD alot. Sometimes shes not so happy about it but still poses like in this drawing. Usually she is happy and doesn't mind. I'm having a good time here. I'm drawing live caricature and pastel portrait. I will try to post something soon of that.

i got new juggle clubs with all this drawing money and heres some quick drawings from work and me drawing the girls ugly!