Commonweal

Commonweal
2.5 miles
1.75 hours
Start: Commonweal entrance
End: Commonweal entrance
Includes: Commonweal grounds in Bolinas, CA

Hike 43
October 22, 2013
Four of Pentacles
Savings

I didn't know exactly what I was looking for when I set-out on this hike. I was surprised to find the trailhead was inside the Commonweal entrance.

I opened the gate and entered a cow pasture. The fog was eerie. I waited at a safe distance (remember I'm kind of afraid of cows) as a herd of black cows crossed the trail.

The last two stopped to stare me down. I approached, hoping to persuade them off. They were obstinate. I receded. Finally, they lumbered off.

The eeriness was augmented by inexplicable artifacts strewn around the pasture. This seemed a good alien landing site. There was also something weird about the energy.

Passing some remnants of Industrial Stonehenge, I began to hear the ocean in front of me. I made it to the cliffs and saw the cold, gray sea below.

The trail was not conforming to the contours of my map. I became confused. I spotted a weathered 2 x 4 crossing the muddy ravine and decided to take it.

Visibility improved. I could see a jetty of sorts jutting into the ocean below.

Graceful forms of cypress emerged from the fog as I made my way along the cliff road.

In the distance I spotted intriguing architecture: battered cream walls with a red roof. I could only guess this was part of the Commonweal facility.

White steps led to a retreat house set on the cliff; the sound of the sea enveloped everything.

I found buildings very similar to those at the Historic RCA Building and walked around front to see this, also, had been an RCA facility. It now houses Commonweal- an education and retreat center.

Remnants of the RCA facility littered the surrounding fields.

The four of pentacles shows a guy sitting in front of a city skyline, pentacles on his head, in his arms and under his feet.

He is actively engaged in holding on to money (a.k.a. saving). Saving is an activity. We consciously employ our life-energy to keep the money we have with us.

As we move away from the city and back to nature, saving money makes less sense. Money holds no value in the forest. In the forest, livelihood is contingent upon a healthy energy exchange with the environment. This means we put in honest effort to build shelter and procure enough food and water to stay alive. None of this takes money.

In the law of nature there is no real estate. Every creature existing in nature has equal right to have a place. A given area will host creatures to its carrying capacity. If we are alive it's because there are resources enough for us to be alive.

Our environment suffers once we begin making decision within a human system without reference to underlying nature. When we conduct activities for the sole purpose of making money, we lose connection with our origins. It is this separation that allows us to act in ways that harm nature.

To act in this way is a sickness. It is a sickness because when we undermine the health of nature, we undermine our own health. We act in ways which make us sick.

In researching Commonweal and RCA, I came across a statement about RCA choosing the site in Bolinas because, for some reason, the physical and energetic qualities of the site allowed them to better transmit and receive radio signals. There was also a note that the native Miwok, long before RCA was ever dreamed of, considered this a sacred site for their own energetic/spiritual reasons.

This is a case-in-point of divergent perspectives and the resulting use of land: one autochthonous wisdom preserving and honoring the other interloping imprudence destroying and desecrating.

When wealth undermines health, it is not wealth. Health is wealth. Health cannot be stockpiled; it is our natural state. We must tend and cherish it to continue existing on this magnificent planet where we belong.