Happy Inter-Dependence Day!

July 6, 2007 at 8:50 am · Filed under culture, Life, myth, Seattle

As usual, I’m a bit late on the sentiment, but the whole notion of inter-dependence just finally gelled over the past few days, especially after seeing “Sicko.” But the sad state of the United States on this Independence Day is too broad, so I’m focusing here specifically on my corner of it, and how

Tribe follows tribe, nations follow nations like the tides of the sea. It is the order of nature, and regret is useless.

attributed to Chief Seattle

Yes, we know that Chief Seattle (Sealth, pronounced See-ahlt) probably did not speak in 19th century rhetoric, but the sentiment here is useful: it speaks to the usefulness and the problems of America at the same time. The usefulness is that America tried a republic, where every person is an individual, free of tribal limitations and responsibilities. The problem, of course, is just that: that there is no tribe, no looking out for one another. And nowhere does that lonely tribelessnes feel more palpable, perhaps, than here in Seattle.

However, that independent streak is strong. As in the case of this man, the Man Who Did Not Like Curves. The Manifest Destiny in the photo is breathtaking:

R.H.Thomas was the Seattle City Engineer who designed the Denny Regrade, among other things. The Denny Regrade used to be Denny Hill, but it was in an inconvenient place downtown. So R.H. Thomas decided to remove it, so boulevards could run straighter, without hinderance. I wonder: was he Capricorn?

During the regrading of Earth’s sensuous curves, native graveyard remains were disinterred (“DAMN THE TORPEDOES! Why does that always happen? ” R.H would have cried, if this were Sink the Bismarck, which it isn’t, but doesn’t he look like he could play a part in it?) Anyway…in order to avoid a sticky political situation, the work of dumping dirt into the bay was moved to night time. Hence, that term for night shift, the “Graveyard Shift” was born, right here in Seattle. (My source is the Seattle Ghost Tour Guide.)

I like to think of R.H. and his odd, Earth-moving habits, and I wonder: what was he really trying to prove by changing the shape of Earth itself? And what kind of example is that for your children? To build a damn street. Straight. (It’s no wonder we got people like Richard Nixon, who believed that a for-profit health management organization, which made a profit by limiting health care, was a good idea. But I digress. For the full irony, go see “Sicko.”)

Of course, all of this could all go away in ten seconds. Since much of downtown is built on fill. Also, the Alaskan Way Viaduct, and much of the waterfront, are supported by a seawall. If the Earth ever decided to let off some serious stress through the shallow Seattle Fault, much of R.H. Thomas’ legacy would slide right into the bay.

Which is why I’m on Earth’s team. When the Nisqually quake of 2001 hit, I was in my bathroom. (Really, greeting the energies of Mother Earth is a naked affair. I don’t think R.H. got naked much, by the looks of it.) The house shook, and I was scared, but ecstatic: it was like witnessing the entrance of a grand lady into a party that’s gone stagnant. She was here, and she was moving the sidewalks.

I am not sure if others share in my celebration of catastrophic, seismic events. For an Earth Event fan, I do seem to be living in the right place: there are at least three active volcanoes in the Cascade Range, and there’s that Seattle Fault line. If Earth is going to let loose, we’re sitting on a major vent. Scary. But then I didn’t sign up for the book group version of Earth.

So, R.H. Thomas’s regrade was a success, and it’s now “Belltown” is one of the trendier neighborhoods. But I’m happy to report that the regrade mentality hasn’t much caught on. No one has thought to level the pesky volcanoes or patch up that bothersome fault. It seems Seattlites have adapted to the energies here. Not nearly as elegantly as the Salish or the Duwamish, of course — this is still an American city, trying to look and act modern, while it sits on a gateway to an ancient, organic world. In the end, Seattle has this weird way of “regrading” its ghosts and encounters with Mother Earth in very pragmatic, R.H. Thomas kind of way. For example, UW geologists got stymied in trying to sort through the mountains of geographical data, and turned to Salish stories in order to pinpoint major seismic events Before The White Guy Era.

In the geologists’ case, a few Salish myths were a prudent thought-laxative, resulting in 8 tidy seismic events, complete with physical locations. Because no one in a linear society likes holding an inchoate sense of data. No sirree.

However, when myths get in the way of progress, we have no problem regrading. As in the case of the Sunken Forests off Mercer Island, which were caused by earthquakes. The tribes knew that the Earth had moved the forests, and associated them with her powerful energy. The tribal leaders told tribe members that the forests were dangerous, and to stay away and not strip bark from the exposed tree tops. It was a pragmatic myth, saving the canoes from damage, but it also honored the power of Earth.

The White Guys, however, noticing that the trees snagged their boat hulls, took to dynamiting them out of the way.

Which means the Seattle approach is truly inter-dependent within the ancient and modern worlds we simultaneously inhabit, so that our lives and heads are spinning. Organic? Manifest Destiny! Earth Energies! Jet Planes? Seattle is thoughtful enough to nod to the myths, even used them when we need to, but calloused enough not to let them get in the way too much, which leaves a general sense of irony and complete loopiness in the air.

However, the Independent Spirit is free to innovate, outside of tribe. But, why does it seem that everything that comes out of Seattle is tied down by the Prostitute, the need to sell one’s soul for security? Microsoft brought us the PC, and opened a dimension in our consciousness, but Microsoft comes with a sense of burdensome ownership and marketing. Where do you want to go today? Anywhere, as long as you sell us your soul. Starbucks, of course ties us directly to the earth, the senses, the enjoyment of the here and now. With a dose of World Domination. Great innovations from Seattle carry a distinctive Seattle terroir: mythic, creative, with a heavy emphasis on Independence, Manifest Destiny and the right to Protect Self-Interests.

As it stands, Seattle is spiritual enough to have let a few curves back downtown, but in an ironic way, of course. The Lusty Lady had this to say, right after the February quake:

The State of Washington was admitted to the union in 1889, under the conditions of naming itself after the first American President. In an attempt to make its mark upon a wild place, the United States Government stamped its most ancient, most venerable ancestor upon the new western state. The name “Washington” is there, but it doesn’t really take. I wonder if it is because there are trees in the woods having centuries of precedence over George Washington.

In spite of Seattle’s sometimes all-embracing, sometimes laissez faire attitude toward mythology, the palpable spirit of Earth and shamanistic cultures is depicted in Pike Place artist John Strongbow’s “Secret City” series. John’s drawings show myth in stark, uncanny color, contrasting with a monochrome urban background. John writes,

In a modern milieu, these colorful dancers, priests, mythological beings, and shamans are healers of contemporary man, who, through his own lack of spiritual insight, has been reduced to a walking ghost.

So…what would it be like if the Invisible Histories became the most palpable ones on our city streets today? What if the shamans who silently row amidst rush hour traffic in Strongbow’s work were visible to us? What if Microsoft were shareware, and Starbucks covered the globe in order to share the wonder of enjoying our senses? What if we let Rapunzel out of her tower on the Fremont Bridge, and stopped trying to play Prostituted, Modern American City? Because really, where else can you put one hand on a Geoduck, and the other on a PC? If we have a chance to reconnect to our lost sense of inter-dependence, it’s here.

I think it’s time for an Aquarian manifesto and yet another Seattle innovation: true inter-dependence, not just between ancient and modern, but between selves. Let’s get beyond the pragmatic nod to the past, and really embrace what it means to be part of a tribe of individuals, with respect for one another and our environment. Unsuspicious, caring, and damn it…LOVING OUR NEIGHBORS.

Comments