Cultural Contrasts and the Value of Life + Rune of the Day

The Many-Layered Reality

On Friday I talked about how my personal situation changed dramatically and almost overnight last week. That very day I went to visit a group of people who specialize in knife combat and Venezuelan Stick (garrote or palo), a form of combat and also a traditional dance whose weapons are elegant sticks made of specific kinds of very durable wood. I was looking forward to this meeting, so I picked up one of the bottles of gin that my brother had left here and a chunk of the cannabis that I'd recently bought, to take them as tribute for this new space. Then I walked to my destination.

Everything was fine when I arrived. At their home, the garroteros hold events every Friday to showcase their habit of tasting tobacco in pipes, so there were about fifteen people there. The leader hailed me and I introduced myself to everyone as I usually do. In my view, all was flowing OK at this point. The leader showed me a blade that's used in prisons to settle scores, a beautiful yet cruel-looking thing used in a particular kind of knife fighting developed at the core of criminal circles in the country and elsewhere in Latin America. My fencing teacher arrived shortly afterwards and we toured the place, which I found filled with wonderful items, many of them handcrafted by group members. I was grateful for being able to access this, so I bowed and thanked frequently. Sadly, these people live in a different level of society and their vibration isn't at all like my own, they're reclusive and don't mix well with other practitioners of the same forms of combat because they have strong rivalries even internally (they're constantly carrying knives in their belts and I doubt they'd hesitate to use them against each other if a serious disagreement arose.) Due to their attitude toward life, they didn't take my usual laughter kindly, nor did they appreciate my engagement in their combat styles. However, I was none the wiser about this, my own combat team has another path and we freely explore and share information, that's part of the pleasure of practicing these things, after all.

As the meeting progressed, the mood rapidly became less inviting. My comments were mostly ignored and ultimately, I was dismissed, couldn't even say goodbye to anyone but the pal who opened the door for me to leave. Then I began the journey home in the night of Caracas and started reviewing the experience. I realized I'd overstepped some tacit rules a few times, especially with my laughter, so when I arrived home, I wrote to their leader to apologize for my ignorance and stupidity, not because I'd done anything wrong or genuinely thought that I'd behaved stupidly, but because I knew that each house has its rules and I must abide by them whether I agree with them or not. Since then, I've deepened my understanding of this event and confirmed many of the processes that I'd been working on for the past year or so. For instance, I felt that they'd put up a show to express some sort of superiority and make me feel threatened, but I cared so little that I didn't mark their intentions until after I'd left. I don't live in fear and I don't respond to hostility, but that's all they know.

In stark contrast to this experience, on Saturday I attended the wedding of a dear friend who's also one of my fencing brothers, and the vibe was the opposite, full of Light, Joy, Abundance. Everyone had so much fun! That made me thing about the layers of reality, the choices that structure our environment. Those garroteros know a lot more than I about violence and terror, they're extremely sad and damaged, they know nothing about Gratitude and Happiness; the people at the wedding were connected with a much higher frequency, expansive and noble. Both events took place here in the same city, and were separated by mere hours, but they revealed opposite worldviews, and I know exactly which one I want to foster. I blocked the other guys off my social media and won't return to their place again.

Cultural distinctions are determined by so many elements in constant interplay, but they're all just narratives; they may be very complex but beneath all that complexity there's always a simple human truth. Kindness, beauty, dignity and sincerity go beyond the stories we tell ourselves about the world we live in, they're essential principles of communion, connected with Love, not Fear. Life is to enjoyed and I certainly did that during both my visit to that place and the wedding, but regardless of what I might learn in any circumstance, I know which reality I want to empower, which culture I want to support. The rest is merely noise.

Take what you deserve and pay what you owe, balance the loads. Show your mastery and establish your authority in topics that are familiar to you, but be careful with excessive pride or condescension, others around you are also masters in areas that you know nothing of. Overcome your own demand, what motivates you may also constrict you. Your actions are the only proof that you need to offer, do not fabricate masks to demonstrate dominion. A large part of the work of self-discovery is accepting our own ignorance, boasting about your presumed knowledge will not serve you and may in fact impair you. Learning requires the acknowledgement of the attributes of others and how they are reflected in you. Do not focus on human visions of justice, connect with the Original Principle, the Truth admits all perspectives.