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This Day in Gay History
JÈRÔME DUQUESNOY, was a Belgian sculptor, born on this date (d: 1654); A Flemish artist Jérôme (Hieronymus) Duquesnoy was one of the most renowned sculptors of the 17th century, but for decades after his death he was better known for his conviction and execution on charges of sodomy than for his impish yet polished style of sculpture. Born into a Brussels family of artists at the beginning of the seventeenth century, Jérôme Duquesnoy lived his first twenty years in the shadow of his famous father, Jérôme Duquesnoy the Elder (who re-cast the famous Mannekin Pis [1619], the urinating boy that still stands as Brussels' signature fountain) and his brother François, who showed artistic promise at an early age.
Like his brother he was trained in his father’s studio. After a long stay in the service of Philip IV, he traveled to Florence in 1640 and a year later settled in Rome with his brother. On Francois’s death in 1643, Jérôme returned to Brussels where he carved several statues of the apostles. He was at work on several projects at the cathedral of St. Bavon in Ghent, where his best sculptures were executed, when he was, alas, arrested for sodomy with two acolytes of the church who had served as his models.
The brilliance of his work for the church notwithstanding, he was strangled then burned at the stake, a double death, which, under the circumstances, seems to be a case of clerical overkill and a terrible waste of matches. But you know, the Roman Catholic Church has really strict rules about messing around with children.
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Gay Wisdom for Daily Living from White Crane Institute
"With the increasing commodification of gay news, views, and culture by powerful corporate interests, having a strong independent voice in our community is all the more important. White Crane is one of the last brave standouts in this bland new world... a triumph over the looming mediocrity of the mainstream Gay world." - Mark Thompson
Exploring Gay Wisdom & Culture since 1989!
www.whitecraneinstitute.org
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The technique of the witness is to merely sit with the fear and be aware
of it before it becomes so consuming that there’s no space left. The
image I usually use is that of a picture frame and a painting of a gray
cloud against a blue sky. But the picture frame is a little too small.
So you bend the canvas around to frame it. But in doing so you lost all
the blue sky. So you end up with just a framed gray cloud. It fills the
entire frame.
So when you say, 'I'm afraid' or, 'I'm depressed', if you enlarged the
frame so that just a little blue space shows, you would say ‘Ah, a
cloud.’ That is what the witness is. The witness is that tiny little
blue over in the corner that leads you to say, ‘Ah, fear.’
- Ram Dass -
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We
never really know what’s going on with anyone else, but we know what
it’s like to be human. So in the face of suffering, what appropriate
response is there but compassion?
Taylor Plimpton, “Lessons From a Mostly Good Dog: #3: Be Kind”
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE
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The
best time to meditate, the best place, the best length of practice is
the one that you actually do. Showing up for the practice today, however
long or short, is enough.
Kate Johnson, “Calming the Not Now Mind”
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE
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We
are dependent on others, yet we also contribute to others. Such is the
nature of our existence, which includes our relationships with our
family, our friends, our community, the nation, the international
community, and the natural world.
Rev. Dr. Kenneth Tanaka, “The Land of Many Dharmas”
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE
On this day in 1855, WALT WHITMAN published the first edition of Leaves of Grass. The first edition consisted of twelve poems, and was published anonymously; Whitman set much of the type himself, and paid for its printing. Over his lifetime, he published eight more editions, adding poems each time; there were 122 new poems in the third edition alone (1860-61), and the final "death-bed edition," published in 1891, contained almost 400. The first edition received several glowing — and anonymous — reviews in New York newspapers. Most of them were written by Whitman himself.
The praise was unstinting: "An American bard at last!" One legitimate mention by popular columnist Fanny Fern called the collection daring and fresh. Emerson felt it was "the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom America has yet contributed." This wasn't a universal opinion, however; many called it filth, and poet John Greenleaf Whittier threw his copy into the fire.
Preface to Leaves of Grass
by Walt Whitman
This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul; and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body.
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Gay Wisdom for Daily Living from White Crane Institute
"With the increasing commodification of gay news, views, and culture by powerful corporate interests, having a strong independent voice in our community is all the more important. White Crane is one of the last brave standouts in this bland new world... a triumph over the looming mediocrity of the mainstream Gay world." - Mark Thompson
Exploring Gay Wisdom & Culture since 1989!
www.whitecraneinstitute.org
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CHARLIE MURPHY was an American singer-songwriter who was born on this date (d: 2016); Growing up during the civil rights and anti-war movements, Charlie devoted his life to social change. His conviction was fueled by his experience at Camp Claggett, a summer camp led by a group of extraordinary adult activists who were also involved in the human potential movement. He worked as a camp counselor throughout his college years while studying sociology at Loyola University in Baltimore. He also received training in group facilitation at the Center for mid-Atlantic Trainers, where he became their youngest facilitator.
After college, Charlie chose to work with youth through the Roanoke Virginia mental health services. Charlie soon discovered, however, that he was being asked to help these young people to adjust to a world in turmoil rather than to empower them to take an active role in making things better. So, he left the world of mental health and chose to express his passion for social change through music. From an early age Charlie loved music and played the guitar. This unleashed a passion for writing and composing songs.
In the mid seventies, Charlie toured the country as a folk singer, inspiring audiences with a passion for social change. He was a pioneer of the men’s movement and sang openly about Gay rights, making him one of the few out and proud Gay singer/songwriters of his day. He appeared on the landmark 1979 album “Walls to Roses”, that featured both Gay and straight men who supported the struggle against sexism. In the late ‘80s, Charlie founded the award-winning band, Rumors of the Big Wave, with creative partner and cellist Jami Sieber.
His AIDS anthem, I Choose Life, landed the band a spot as featured artists on a Barbara Walters special commemorating the 20th anniversary of the AIDS crisis. Rumors of the Big Wave played with Ziggy Marley, Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart, and Midnight Oil. They traveled nationally and internationally and produced several award-winning albums.
Murphy's album Catch the Fire (1981), released on the Good Fairy Productions label, contained the original version of 'Burning Times', later covered by Christy Moore and Roy Bailey. The album also contained the LGBT rights anthem 'Gay Spirit'. The album is notable for addressing LGBT issues and pagan spirituality within its lyrics. The song "Burning Times" concerns the persecution of women accused of witchcraft in the Middle Ages and early modern periods. Its chorus mentions several pagan female deities: Isis, Astarte, Diana, Hecate, Demeter, Kali... Inanna. It also memorializes that nine million women died, ...in this holocaust against the nature people. The other key song, "Gay Spirit", expresses the frustration of growing up gay within a prejudiced society: When we were born they tried to put us in a cage, and tell our bodies what to feel, we have chosen to feel all the truth, that our bodies do reveal.... The chorus is a rousing burst of optimism: There's a gay spirit singing in our hearts, leading us through these troubled times, There's a gay spirit moving 'round this land, calling us to a time of open love.
In 1996, Charlie and Langley resident, Peggy Taylor, a journalist and creative development specialist, founded a creativity-based youth development organization called the Power of Hope: Youth Empowerment Through the Arts. Their Creative Community Model for integrating the arts into youth development, quickly caught fire and began to spark a transformation in youth work. In 2005, Charlie, was awarded an Ashoka Fellowship in recognition of his life-long achievements as a change maker and for his groundbreaking work in the youth development field.
In 2006, Charlie and his husband, theater-artist Eric Mulholland, began traveling internationally, leading Creative Community-based youth programs and trainings in Uganda, South Africa, Italy, and the UK. Three years later, with Peggy and UK-based entrepreneur Ian Watson, Charlie formed PYE Global: Partners for Youth Empowerment to further spread the international work. Charlie and Eric spent several years developing an international network of PYE partners and facilitators dedicated to bringing creativity and hope into the lives of young people. With over one million youth impacted to date and thirty partners in fifteen countries, Charlie’s influence continues to grow and promises to flourish in years to come.
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Gay Wisdom for Daily Living from White Crane Institute
"With the increasing commodification of gay news, views, and culture by powerful corporate interests, having a strong independent voice in our community is all the more important. White Crane is one of the last brave standouts in this bland new world... a triumph over the looming mediocrity of the mainstream Gay world." - Mark Thompson
Exploring Gay Wisdom & Culture since 1989!
www.whitecraneinstitute.org
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As long as we realize and admit our mistakes, let them go, and make corrections immediately, that is practice.
Master Sheng-Yen, “How to Be Faultless”
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE
According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac today marks the beginning of the DOG DAYS most commonly experienced in the months of July and August, which typically observe the warmest summer temperatures. In the Southern hemisphere, they typically occur in January and February, in the midst of the austral summer. The Almanac lists the traditional period of the Dog Days as the forty days beginning July 3rd and ending August 11th, coinciding with the ancient heliacal (at sunrise) rising of the Dog Star, Sirius. These are the days of the year with the least rainfall in the Northern Hemisphere.
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Gay Wisdom for Daily Living from White Crane Institute
"With the increasing commodification of gay news, views, and culture by powerful corporate interests, having a strong independent voice in our community is all the more important. White Crane is one of the last brave standouts in this bland new world... a triumph over the looming mediocrity of the mainstream Gay world." - Mark Thompson
Exploring Gay Wisdom & Culture since 1989!
www.whitecraneinstitute.org
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