Ishmael Community Guestbook

My favorite cousin strongly recommended I read Ishmael, so I picked it up from the bookstore a few weeks ago and started into it. I absolutely cannot believe I hadn't done this earlier. Ishmael is a masterpiece and has redefined the way that I view the world. Thank you, Daniel Quinn.

CHANGINGMINDS.ORG

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Gwagwagwe and D.I.A.L International.

Here we go children, follow the trail of bread crumb sins. Thanks Bob. When that Obama-man collected his Nobel Prize a small butterfly fluttered his wings in Madagascar and I was blessed with a series of visions. Yes the signs, omens, and irony given to us by the gods of this place have been an essential part of our new perception of reality. I had masked-up (an omen) and destroyed my idiot box. My time was free to fill with a new spirit of spectacle. One of my own choosing. With a burgeoning small business I had some extra cash to spend. With a help of Christmas-future I had jahbless of many varieties and many wonderful holiday bakery items full of trainwreck to focus my dreams and visions. The spectacle of choice was the Fantasy Island. It is what it seems, but the depths of my adventures were far from carnal. I had recently read a book (maybe my last) that opened up a part of my mosaic that had been hidden. The Great Cosmic Mother. Goddess? The gods? Is this my answer for that uneasy feeling when I credit the gods of this place for the signs and omens that dictated our paths? Has my male nature denied me a special communion with the community of life? She may feel the tides and earth at moon time, she can nurture the young of all species, and she can give life. Can I-Male only take it, eat it, and fuck it? If we are to recreate a culture that cherishes humanity, that reconnects us with the community of life on a spiritual basis (this is my vision, for my tribe), then maybe I should worship the goddess. I do need worship, ritual, creation myth. Why not give it to the mother? Back to the strippers! So if I was going to create a new cult/spectacle, then I need a creation myth. That’s simple, as it should be. The Goddess created the sun, earth, moon, and the community of life. Twelve words, divisible by three, the number of the goddess. Yes numerology is a lovely facet of our faith. 9/9/9 was its birthdate. I have been on this mortal coil for 39 years. Enough! So with our creation myth we need a world view, a philosophy. Again, keep it simple. Make Happy, Make Pretty, Make Whoopee. That’s all. Again back to the strippers! I love pretty; the pretty that I like is maybe different than the pretty you like. The female body is my new church. Don’t Laugh! So I began calling Fantasy Island my office. I learned the alias’s of the girls, I supplied them with the happiness that trainwreck can bring, and they showed me their craft. I perfected the worst pick-up line on the planet; “I wanna spend a couple hours worshiping the goddess downtown, wanna cum?” Yes I know. Ouch! During this communion, I was deeply engrossed in Dylan and Seeger; I was exploring the connections between my new trade and the trade of these women. The goddess brought me a little joy with which much of my future adventures will be driven.

Sex Trade Workers IU 690 & Hotel, Restaurant, and Building Service Workers IU 640. (Damn if were not in the One Big Union.) Public Service Union IU 600. Solidarity Forever. International Workers of the World. (The Wobblies).

So it is with great joy that I come out. I have joined the union, and I am a bi-sexual. Wow. The goddess is spinning circles around my soul; she is bringing me closer to the vision of a completed mosaic. Special thanks to my lovely Beyond Light Aglow In Rapture, your servant forever. Window Cleaners and Strippers retake the capitol building. The grandest spectacle you have never seen! Yes as I create my little tribe of window cleaners I will be organizing the Window Cleaning industry of OK, and when that’s complete Ill be joining my fellow sex trade workers at the barricades. Joe Hill is squatting with Woody on the sandstone hills of NE Oklahoma county, here in Indian Country.

At the winter solstice. I awoke to a sunrise that spoke only poetry. So that’s what I did. I spoke in rhyme for the next eight hours, and decided that it doesn’t matter what you say, it’s how it sounds that matters. Chomsky Chatter. So language, or at least the spoken word, the storytelling evolutionary expectation must be a sign from the goddess. I was not aware that I was forming a cult/spectacle, I just knew that my creativity and sensuality was at a crescendo. I started dancing. I was dancing in the morning, dancing on the rooftops, dancing at sunset, dancing between the sheets. So dance or the art of movement must have a role to play in our new faith. My Bison Brother was encouraging me to concentrate on these little prayers he calls stories, but I was thinking of a time before I was Gwagwagwe, a time before Echo, before Cotton of the R.C.Y.B., a time belonging to this place, a time when I was U.P.W. Few of you know that moniker. The Ultimate Peace Warrior was given to me buy one of my first and most powerful muses in 1989. She showed me how to dance on rooftops and held my hand during my first tattoo. I love her still. She comforted me after the death of ROXI, and she recaptured my imagination for the female sex. Most of all she performed with me. Yes before the academic mafia seduced me with science I loved acting, and if I say so myself, I was pretty good at it. Make happy remember? So performance must play a role in our new faith. So what to name this monstrosity? The name game is something I will fight against all my days, so I had to think of something ridiculous. Words, Zerzan maybe had something, maybe he was channeling Chomsky? It came to me when I was working on the above wordplay Beyond Light Aglow In Rapture. I had just reread After Dachau and I was playing with being the reincarnation of Woody Guthrie and Emma Goldman and the goddess brought me the answer.

Doppelgangers In Another Life “ D.I.A.L. International”.

This is my new religion, I will defend it to the death, I will teach it to my children, and they will teach it to seven generations. You’re welcome to believe what you wish. For I&I have found the truth.

Beware of our evil arch-enemy D.I.A.L. Incorporated. They control mother culture and they will trick you into treating others badly, and they suck happiness with a huge sky vacuum.

Until next time. Make Happy, Make Pretty, and Make Whoopee Gwagwagwe (a member of the bison band), a small part of the new tribal revolution.

I love Daniel Quinn & the book's i have read of his.

Did you read Ishmael, and like it, and want to DO MORE, but not know how?

Have you read multiple Quinn works, and feel sort of LEFT HANGING?

Do you want to know how to change YOUR life?

Do you want some personalized advice from a dedicated Quinn-reader, who's been struggling with these issues for TEN YEARS?

Do you want to go BEYOND ISMAEL?

www.beyondishmael.blogspot.com

Hey, y'all. This story from today's All Things Considered on National Public Radio should provoke some interesting discussion.

"For Cave Women, Farmers Had Extra Sex Appeal"

I have been feeling confused and helpless about a lot of things for a while, and 'Ishmael' began to quench those feelings.
Repeatedly throughout the book, I wanted to punch the air and shout 'Yes! That's it!'
Thank you, Daniel Quinn, for beginning my real spiritual journey, and justifying my concern for the state of things.

All my life I have tried this and that, seeking to make sense of the world around me, but now, after two years of reading and re-reading Ishmael and B, and researching independently, I no longer feel confused, or overwhelmed, or hopeless about the future. Thank you, Mr Quinn, for writing your books. Thank you on behalf of my children, who are on this journey with me. Together, we are changing the way that we live and approach the world, and it is making us happier than I ever thought possible.

I was given this book by a friend. Its funny how certain books find you!

Like most of you, Ishmael seriously changed a lot of things about the way I think. Since I was a child, I'd had a good hunch about the truths illustrated in Ishmael but the book tied them together for me. I don't really feel that Ishmael contradicts or dispels the Bible at all. The Bible is filled with examples of taker culture gone horribly awry ultimately ending with revelations and the culmination of taker culture's war on the rest of creation. I'm not a really religious person, but I've come to understand that the Bible warns of the same things Ishmael does. It may be viewed from a different perspective but the results are eerily similar. I think Jesus himself would support the ideas in Ishmael.

I'm trying, but can't find my vision. Was hoping some outside input could focus my own.

Thank you for your comments, Rachel. Bon Voyage, Sam

Sam, I was relieved to hear that I did not misunderstand the text. I realize that this story is not, by the author's intention, a work of Christian apologetics. That's why I started my final statement with "I feel..." It is clear the author disdains religion (based on many parts of the book, including his discussion of the point when the Takers leave the timeline and his discussion of man's "need" for prophets to tell him what to do). I think it ironic, therefore, that the ideas presented indirectly raise up the Christian God as separate and distinct from the other gods--as I outlined yesterday. I realize that this venue may not be the place for me to discuss these ideas (though appreciate your saying I am free to think what I want). I hope you know that God loves you, Sam, and He died for the Takers and the Leavers, who, by the way, do know who He is. With that, I wish you all the best in your quest for knowledge. I have found the Bible to be the best source of wisdom around.

Sincerely, Rachel

Hello Rachel- Your statement " I feel this book is a strong argument for the validity of scripture and for the idea of a young earth. " indicates that you do not understand ISHMAEL. The THINGS TO READ section of this website might interest you, specifically: ESSAYS, Our Religions: Are they the Religions of Humanity Itself? Best Regards, Sam

Dear Sam, Your note was a little cryptic. What fact did I not understand about Ishmael? I'd love a brief overview of my main areas of not understanding it (meaning, was it the message, the premises, the main characters, etc)

sincerely, Rachel