Excerpts from ENCOUNTERING THE EARTHFOLK MOVEMENT by
Frank Kroncke
"Can I ask you to reflect for
a moment upon the fact that although there are philosophies, religions
and spiritualities which value compassion, gentleness, mindfulness,
self-sacrifice, and like virtues, that they
are aberrations in a world dominated for millennia
by endless warring?
I admit that I once thought
that I could find a way
within one of these more pacifistic spiritualities
to claim that you are not my intimate enemy.
But I have to then admit that I tried and found them
all wanting.
I will talk more about my attempt to
practice a pacifistic spirituality, but I honestly must state that,
despite my best efforts, none led me to value you as sensually
precious."
"The first insight that the Earthfolk
vision presents is that you—the Other—are precious.
What is of paramount importance is that you as the Other are not an
intimate enemy to be feared. Rather, you are someone whose embrace makes
present a coupled sense of preciousness. More, Earthfolk hold that “you”
cannot be you unless and until you are embraced. One simple conclusion
from this approach is that if I slay you then I slay myself.
Another is that if I am to understand myself then it is imperative and
necessary that I preserve your life. If either of us dies, then each
of us dies. As we grow together, so is our self-insight deepened."
"I have asked, “Are you my Beloved?”
at various junctures of my life, and have suffered
for simply asking the question. In this light in 1972, I was sent “Inside,”
into society’s House of Terror, into a world of darkness, of pain
and suffering, into a caged world. They told me that
I was no longer Francis X. Kroncke, rather, I was (and remain) 8867-147.
I have to be brutally honest and tell you that just
asking this question can have dire consequences.
You will inevitably confront the darker side of your own mind and soul,
as you will that of society’s and your spiritual tradition(s).
As I did, you might even wake up one morning and realize that you are
an outlaw or a heretic, someone no longer acceptable
to everyday society. Yet, you also might realize, as I did, your own
sensual preciousness as you hear that you are Beloved."
"In most spiritual traditions there is a discussion
of the “positive way” (via positiva) and
the “negative way” (via negativa). The
former is known to most. It is the celebratory aspect of spiritual insight,
e.g., when one is moved to ecstasy by a sunrise or at the baptism of
an infant innocent. The latter is not as well known. The “negative
way” is often called “The Dark Night of the Soul.”
"I first found Earthfolk realities during my stay
in prison. The Earthfolk call is often heard in moments
of soulful darkness. While I refer to prison as my Dark Night, you might
be called to explore other soulful places and experiences. When I was
released from prison and first spoke in public, I was almost always
approached by someone who confirmed the character of my Dark Night by
referring to a stay in a mental institution, or through recalling a
battleground experience or discussing the descent into a liquid or purple
haze hell of booze and addiction. The lesson I want to share with you
from all this is that if you don’t “own your Shadow”
or your Dark Night, then it will own you. One of the early
insights the Earthfolk vision provided was that the dominant warring
spirituality (Abrahamic) is one which denies its Dark Side. This is
a critical insight."
"I sat in prison and had to accept the fact that
I was a criminal, one who was living outside the law,
an outlaw. I had to accept the fact that the Church was never going
to be my home, ever again. I was, obviously, very depressed, somewhat
paralyzed. It is simply ironic and darkly humorous
to relate that I watched America’s top cop, President Richard
Nixon's Attorney General John N. Mitchell, get indicted as I sat in
the prison TV room. My felonious ears also heard Nixon say what everyone
knew was his own indictment, “I am not a crook!” You might
think that I felt some joy at all of this. Or that I laughed heartily.
I did not. I simply went out and played lots and lots of basketball."
"As I continued to search, I saw that more and
more people were parts of some Movement or Movements.
The anti-war, the men’s, the feminist, the Green, the Native American,
the gay, the Chicano, the animal liberation, the organic … movements.
A thread began to appear. These movements all valued
the Earth. They were Earth-centered, some even honored the
Earth as Mother and as precious. Everyone could hum John Lennon’s
“Imagine”!"
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