As usual, let's start off with a few definitions:
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Philosophy: |
A philosophy is a way of thinking. The emphasis, here, is
on the mind and how it processes information and in training the self
to react in specific ways to different influences. |
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Religion: |
...is a philosophy (a mode of thinking) that relies upon
organization and documentation of established traditions to maintain order
within a culture. The emphasis here is upon preservation of culture against
whatever challenges it. |
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Politics: |
...is a philosophy that states that establishment of
legislature and bureaucracy (rather than traditions) is necessary to maintain
order within a society. The emphasis here is on maintaining order against
whatever outside influences might take us by surprise. |
Looking at religion in this way, as a contrast to politics in its use of
traditions rather than laws, we see that religion and politics both serve the
same purpose: Maintaining order within a culture or community. It's just that
one (politics) says that you must select your leaders and keep your paperwork
up to date and the other (religion) says that you must embrace your heritage
and traditions.
Philosophy therefore becomes a sort of a blueprint for organizing and
maintaining order and a Philosopher (who takes the role of either Minister (for
religions) or Politician (for politics)) becomes the individual within that
culture that is responsible for drawing up that blueprint, showing it to other
people and convincing them as to it's validity.
It could be said, then, that Democracy, Communism, Anarchism, Socialism (etc.)
are all Ministries of different Political Philosophies and that the
dominance of politics is a result of their popularity:
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Democracy: |
...is a philosophy that states that the governance of the
majority should be responsible for the happiness, health and well being of a
society. That majority rule should be taken at face value as an example for
what is best for everyone within a specific geographic realm. |
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Anarchism: |
...is a philosophy which states that self-governance,
self-responsibility and self-accountability are necessary for the happiness,
health and well-being of the individual and that by having happy, healthy
individuals we will have a happy, healthy society. |
Looking at it this way, we see that politics is a relatively new
philosophy--one that has only existed for about 2000 years. Since, before the
invention of politics we were reliant upon traditions in order to maintain
order within our culture--i.e., religion precedes politics as a way to maintain
order.
It is the belief of this minister that we need to start utilizing tradition
instead of laws in order to continue maintaining order so that by establishing
new religions and re-emphasizing the importance of traditions we give people
the freedom to become a part of a self-governing, self-sustaining community.
Just as politics can be broken down into different philosophies (Democracy,
Communism, Anarchism, etc...) so to can religions:
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Spirituality: |
...is a philosophy that relies upon the traditions
established by spirits or gods as intangible or ethereal (sometimes even
superior) presences on this planet. |
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Atheism and Agnosticism: |
...are examples of philosophies that rely upon traditions
established by ancestors or living beings--other humans that have existed
before us and can be verified as having existed. |
Mithraism
allows ministers to use mythology in the same way that politicians use laws in
order to find examples of how their tribe or culture reacted to different
outside influences.
In order to prove this, I have sought to revive an old religion (Arcadianism)
which was the first and earliest example of Anarchic (Anti-societal)
Philosophy. i.e., I am using Arcadianism (and Arcadian Mythology) as a
blueprint for the formation of this Ministry.
The Arcadians were a tribe (often referred to as an Entourage) established by a
Pre-Olympian God, Dionysus--remembering that according to Arcadianism gods were
human:
This was either symbolic of having a very close relationship with their gods
(ie, a living faith) or of god-hood being a
social title. This is what I call a difference of theology and leave it up to
anyone to decide on their own. I, myself, can only tell you what I've
experienced--but even then, it still comes down to your perception and your
interpretation. (This is what I mean by self-accountability)
However, the difference between Arcadianism and Olympianism comes down to the
need for hierarchies. The Olympians believed in the use of hierarchies in order
to establish societies for the purpose of controlling the flow of information,
substance and population.
Dionysus (founder of Arcadian thought) believed that hierarchies, laws and
societies forced people into accepting a dangerously singular view of reality.
He did not embrace the idea of hierarchies, insisting that humans and gods were
equal, that no being should have control over any other being and
whatever substances or information they should be allowed access to.
He believed in unconditional sharing of knowledge and substance--this is how he
became the god of wine. Unlike the Olympians who would've decided to bless
certain 'deserving' beings with the knowledge of wine and how to make it,
Dionysus shared his knowledge with everyone. This is why he was so loved
and embraced by the lower classes.
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Music, Art, Theatre and Wine were integral to the
functioning of the Entourage--since these are things that people love doing
and love sharing. |
Anyone that was willing to learn
from them or somehow contribute to them was invited along, anyone else was left
behind.
By leading in this way, Dionysus did not judge and he did not rule--he simply moved
the Entourage on to a new place whenever supplies ran out or he suddenly found
himself unwelcome (which is why you find so much of his influence in
Machiavelli).
In some cultures, Dionysus is known as the god (master) of Bulls, therefore the
Entourage was sometimes referred to as an Agelai (herd) and Dionysus the
Agelakhes (herd master). Those within the Entourage who proved
themselves adept at different tasks were known as Eispnelas (inspirers)
and thus encouraged to share their knowledge with everyone that was willing to
learn, and those who learned from them were called Aitas (listeners).
Teachers and Students were also allowed to have relationships outside of
learning, sometimes choosing one teacher that would stay with them for their
entire lives--this was easy to manage since everyone in the Entourage was
considered part of one big family.
Some people came to fear the Entourage since there was no discernable order
among them--this scared people (like the Olympians) who loved the idea of
control. Others (like the lower classes and mortals), however, embraced them.
Everywhere the Entourage went, they were loud and drunk and entertaining. And
when they showed up in cities, they were showered with wealth as a result of
their ability to entertain others.
Over time, Dionysus and his priests and priestesses (Satyrs and Maenads) would
end up seducing anyone that wanted to live such a free and unfettered
lifestyle. This is where they ended up getting a reputation for child stealing
and kidnapping--when in reality all they really did was lure people away from
society through leisure time and unconditional sharing.
People would end up writing folk tales and myths about vampires, werewolves,
pied pipers and other half-humans and shape shifters in order to inspire fear
in their children so that they could keep them from being seduced by the 'dark
side' of Dionysus and those that followed him--the artists and musicians and
dramatists.
Until eventually, in today's society, those that wish to make their career
through creativity are seen as useless and perhaps even dangerous to society.
To learn more about the mythology and folklore upon which this ministry is
based, please visit my discussion forum.
Two Faces: Aristotle's Teaching Model:
Aristotle is well known for forming a Peripatetic (wandering) School known as
the Lyceum. Most people refer to this as the first and only Lyceum, whereas
there is evidence that the Lyceum existed before Aristotle as part of a
chain of schools scattered throughout the islands of Asia Minor and the Aegean
Sea and that he is simply credited for bringing it to Athens during the rising
popularity of Plato's Academy--creating a clash over how people should
be taught.
Plato believed firmly in the use of hierarchies, an upper class and in distance
between the teacher and student; Aristotle believed in equality between teacher
and student and the absence of hierarchal control.
The islands of the Aegean were a confederacy of City-States that each had their
own form of government with a central authority whose primary focus was
distribution of population and resources. They functioned a lot like a
real-life version of the internet--the central authority took note of what each
city-state needed and distributed resources (sometimes forcibly) by telling
people where to live and where it was best to place certain early industries
such as farming and fishing. The Lyceum worked very much like this, with a
chain of schools across the league and groups of teachers and students that
would travel from one school to the other as they learned.
Plato believed that schools should only be an outlet for the rich and powerful
and that they should be used as a tool for societal control. He created one big
school (the Academy) to serve as a center of learning, putting an end to the
wandering nature of education and keeping all the information in one place to
be controlled by the government. He then made education in his Academy
mandatory by advocating the ritual kidnapping children as young as 9 from
'troublesome' parents so they could be re-educated in the ways of the Republic.
Later on, this became the tradition we refer to today as Mandatory Schooling.
Aristotle allowed anyone of any age or social class to take part in his school.
Students were able to electively join the Lyceum as young as 6 and everyone
that took part in the Lyceum was both student and teacher since it was believed
that everyone brings their own unique talents into the Learning Group and was encouraged
to share that talent with everyone else.
Integral to the functioning of the Lyceum was Aristotle's friendship with a
Cult of Dionysus--an entourage of musicians, artists and craftsmen. It is
theorized that the Cult operated behind the scenes as sort of an underground
network of teachers for the Lyceum--when in reality it may have been Aristotle
that was the public face for the Entourage--allowing them to share their
knowledge and skills with people during the day while maintaining their
lifestyle at night.
During the day, lessons would take place in the park or on the streets through
Aristotle and any Dionysian Priest or Priestess that decided to help him out.
While at night, there would be parties used to bring in and 'recruit'
perspective teachers and students.
This nightly presence allowed the teachers (and parents) to relieve stress
by expressing themselves and uniting themselves as a community of teachers and
learners. This was the 'secret' and communal part of the functioning of the
school that made teaching and learning less of a job and more of a lifestyle.
As is typical, the school lost popularity with the establishment of society,
laws and order. Aristotle was accused of Impiety (the equivalent of today's
'Corruption of a Minor') and then with the rise and fall of Alexander's Empire,
the Anti-Macedonian Movement and etc...the ways of the Peripatetic School were
pretty much lost.
What made the Cults of Dionysus unique (and somewhat troubling to the
authorities of the time) was the unconditional sharing of their sacrament, wine. For a short time we saw St. Francis
revive this philosophy only to be canonized and acclimated into the Catholic
Church, further to be used as a method of societal control and conformity.
But the philosophy maintained itself through traveling artists and
musicians that continued to pursue the lifestyle
that was established by Dionysus: "Art is for the sharing...".
People like Bob Marley, Jack Keroac, Quentin Crisp and Jerry Garcia...who would
maintain a wandering lifestyle or an open home in order to share their
knowledge, talents and pleasure.
Class Cutters: A Modern Peripatetic School
In the documents section of my Yahoo!Group
you will find a document detailing a lesson plan based on this teaching model.
It is to serve not only as a revival of Aristotle's school, but a revival of
Anarchic Philosophy--the Two Faces of Arcadianism:
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Public Face |
Private Face |
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We teach during the day: |
We party at night: |
If you would like to help finance these projects we can send you a gift in exchange for your donation or you can join our Merchant Showcase.