Medieval Egalitarian Movements: Some Communal History (Part Two)

from Commune Life

In the last community that I lived in, one of the members turned me on to a book about history called The End of the Megamachine by Fabian Scheider. It’s a complex book that tries to document how we got into the mess that we’re in today.  One of the things that I found fascinating in the book was the author’s description of what he terms “egalitarian movements” in the Middle Ages.  Apparently there were a number of them in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, fueled by new biblical interpretations and the desire to be free of feudal yokes.  These were called heresies by the church and rebellions by outraged (and scared) governments.  I will quote extensively from Fabian Scheider’s book.

One of the earliest of the medieval egalitarian efforts may have been the “Bohemian Hussites” who (as the book says) “set out to create an egalitarian community.  They founded the town of Tabor in 1420 and assumed control over large parts of Bohemia and Silesia for more than 10 years.  The state and the church needed five crusades to suppress this uprising.”

There were many of these movements in the Middle Ages and they were almost always dealt with ruthlessly by the authorities when they managed to regain control and were crushed with extreme violence.  I won’t repeat the gruesome details that are shared in the book but obviously they were trying to make sure these “experiments” weren’t repeated–but they were, for over a century.

One of the last of these “heresies”, was the Anabaptist movement which “spread out over large parts of Central Europe. … it called for the principles of non-violence, community of goods and self-determination… the Anabaptists… sought to build their own communities beyond the state and the church.  In Münster the conflicts came to a dramatic climax… the Anabaptists declared property to be communal as it had been in the first Christian community in Jerusalem, then they burned the debt register in the city archives… the city was overpowered by troops in 1535.  The leaders of the movement were publicly tortured and executed.”

Anabaptists in Münster

“Egalitarian community”, communal property, self-determination.  No wonder leaders were terrified.  The book talks a lot about the effects of this.

“Shocked by the force of egalitarian movements, they [the feudal elites] frantically sought ways to hold on to privileged positions.  Their desperation must be taken into account in order to understand the emergence of the modern world-system… It was an endeavor by elites to stifle emerging egalitarian aspirations.”

Fabian Scheidler quotes Italian-American teacher, activist, and author Silvia Federici, from her book, Caliban and the Witch: “Capitalism is the response of the feudal lords, the patrician merchants, the bishops and popes, to a centuries-long social conflict… Capitalism was the counter-revolution that destroyed the possibilities that had emerged from the anti-feudal struggle.”

Fabian Scheidler goes on to say, “With the stimulation of the money-war complex, European elites could gradually shift the balance of power in their favor and crush egalitarian movements.”  He concludes by saying, “Alongside colonial expansion, the second triumph of the monsters of modernity was to smash the internal resistance and egalitarian dreams across Europe.”

Or, as Silvia Federici puts it in Taliban and the Witch, “The social struggles of the Middle Ages must also be remembered because they wrote a new chapter in the history of liberation.  At their best, they called for an egalitarian social order based on the sharing of wealth and the refusal of hierarchies and authoritarian rule.”

Although egalitarian dreams may have been smashed in continental Europe, they re-emerged in England in the seventeenth century.  It seems that there is a human aspiration toward sharing and equality.  I will write more about this in the future.

Sharing, Freedom, and Egalitarian Living: Some Communal History (Part One)

from Commune Life

Living collectively and sharing most things has a long, long history.  Scholars are still debating how prehistoric and other tribes lived.

Friedrich Engles (Marx’s collaborator) wrote about what he called “primitive communism”, much of it based on the observations of Lewis Henry Morgan, who studied the Haudensaunee (also known as the Five–and then Six–Nations or the Iroquois).  Some of what Morgan reported has been disputed.

Two anarchist academics (an anthropologist and an archeologist–David Graeber and David Wengrow) in their book, The Dawn of Everything, claim that “primitive communism” and “egalitarian societies” are myths and that the societies that have occurred throughout ancient history and non-Western society are both more complex and more creative than those labels would suggest.

The Davids claimed that “... the world of hunter-gatherers as it existed before the coming of agriculture was one of bold social experiments…” and “Agriculture, in turn, did not mean the inception of private property, nor did it mark an irreversible step toward inequality.  In fact, many of the first farming communities were relatively free of ranks and hierarchies.”

On the other hand, they don’t like the term “egalitarian societies” stating that “no one seems to agree on what the term [equality] actually refers to.”  They go on to look at liberty and the various form of freedom (to move or relocate where you want, to ignore or disobey orders, and to actually change society), but they do point out that “Mutual aid–what many contemporary European observers often referred to as ‘communism’--was seen as the necessary condition for individual autonomy.”

What interests me is the notion of sharing and the question of private property.  Some writers have pointed out that there was a difference for some tribal folks between personal property and private property and some things (such as land) could not be owned.  Further, how did hierarchies emerge?  The Davids point out that “Carole Crumley [an anthropologist now at the Swedish Biodiversity Center] has been pointing this out for years: complex systems don’t have to be organized top-down, either in the natural or in the social world.”

Whether egalitarianism existed in early societies or not, it is something that humans have fought to have for thousands of years.  I will write more on this in Part Two of this survey of history, looking at egalitarian living in the Middle Ages.

Find Your Niche

 I didn't write this, it was given to me by a woman who was in a group that I was in.  I think that it's amazing and wanted to share it.  And, of course, I want to add to it: Gardeners/Farmers/Growers, Networkers, Mediators, Teachers, etc.

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FIND YOUR NICHE IN THE REVOLUTIONARY ECOSYSTEM

HANDS ON A NEW WORLD

• PROTECTORS - PEOPLE WHO ARE WILLING AND ABLE TO BE ARRESTED, DETAINED, AND PERSECUTED

• DEFENDERS - PEOPLE WHO ARE ABLE TO MOVE THROUGH DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES TO DE-ESCALATE VIOLENCE

• PRETENDERS - PEOPLE WHO ARE ABLE TO QUIETLY ACCESS MAINSTREAM SOCIETY TO GATHER INFORMATION, SAFEGUARD PEOPLE, AND DISTRIBUTE RESOURCES

• CONNECTORS - PEOPLE WHO ARE ABLE TO CREATE AND UTILIZE SYSTEMS TO VERIFY AND SPREAD CRITICAL INFORMATION

• MENTORS - PEOPLE WHO ARE ABLE TO GUIDE YOUTH, FACILITATE DECISION MAKING, AND PROVIDE TRAININGS IN INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION, GROUP PROCESS, AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

• AWAKENERS - PEOPLE WHO ARE ABLE TO BRING HEIGHTENED AWARENESS TO RELATIONSHIPS IN NEED OF REPAIR AND PROVIDE CONFLICT RESOLUTION

• MENDERS - PEOPLE WHO ARE ABLE TO SEW, FIX, AND REPAIR THE TOOLS AND INSTRUMENTS NEEDED FOR DAILY LIVING

• ADAPTERS - PEOPLE WHO ARE ABLE TO GUIDE US TO A LIFE SUSTAINING SOCIETY THROUGH LOCAL FOOD, NATURAL BUILDING, AND APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY

• CARETAKERS - PEOPLE WHO ARE ABLE TO PROVIDE CHILDCARE, GRIEF SUPPORT, ELDERCARE, HEALING, AND COUNSELING

• NURTURERS - PEOPLE WHO ARE ABLE TO COOK, CLEAN, AND OVERSEE THE DAILY FUNCTIONING OF SPACES

• UPENDERS - PEOPLE WHO ARE ABLE TO HELP US SEE IN NEW WAYS, SUCH AS WRITERS, ARTISTS, AND MUSICIANS

• SUSTAINERS - PEOPLE WHO ARE ABLE TO BRING HOPE, VISION, AND CONNECTION THROUGH SPIRITUAL PRACTICES, ANIMISTIC PERSPECTIVES, MEDITATION, AND PRAYER

• DREAMERS - PEOPLE WHO ARE ABLE TO IMAGINE AND ENVISION NEW WAYS OF BEING

• PONDERERS - PEOPLE WHO ARE ABLE TO STUDY, LISTEN, OBSERVE, EVALUATE, AND ADVISE

Returning--Slowly

 It's been over four years since I posted here and the few posts that I wrote in 2021 (4), 2020 (1), and 2019 (1) often talked about the fact that I had pretty much abandoned this blog--and it was pretty much true.  It has been truer over the last four years.

What I have been doing is shepherding another blog, Commune Life, all about income-sharing communities.  If you want to know what I've been doing over the last five or six years, check it out.  I've written a lot there.

But I haven't given up my interest in social change and now, even more than 2020 when I wrote that satire about how bad the year was, we desperately need social alchemy.  We've always needed a new society, we just need one now more than ever.  (And my interest in intentional communities, as I have said often, is as laboratories for social change.)

I realized recently that I have some stuff more directly about social change that I'd like to publish somewhere--and, of course, here is appropriate.  I also have some stuff that I've been publishing on Commune Life that I think would be very appropriate here.  So I'm returning to this blog.

One thing that I've learned from Commune Life is the idea that putting pictures on a post makes it more attractive.

So I'm going to start adding images to these posts.

I don't know how many posts I will do and I don't guarantee I will keep posting but I plan on putting out at least a few posts that I want to put out into the world, and we will see where it goes from there.

I am returning, but slowly, at least for now.

The Mother of Darkness (Part Two)

 (This is the second of two parts.  Please read Part One, published yesterday, before reading this.)

Her smile widens.

“I understand,” She says. “Perhaps some more stories will help. Since you are from the United States, I will start there.” Her smile becomes sad. “In Billings, Montana, many years ago, a young Jewish boy put a paper menorah in his window. There were people in the town that didn't like that Jewish folks had moved to the neighborhood and threw a stone through the window and the menorah. The boy's father talked to the police who suggested that he put bars on the window. Then he talked with his neighbors who were outraged that this happened. Soon there were paper menorahs in the windows of hundreds of Christians in Billings, as well as in the windows of churches and the windows of the Catholic school. In a small town in Nova Scotia, more than a decade ago, a ninth grade boy wore a pink shirt to school on the first day of classes and got bullied for it. A couple of twelfth grade boys found out and bought as many pink shirts as they could and by the end of the week most of the senior boys were wearing pink shirts. In a Massachusetts suburb, a lesbian couple put a rainbow flag outside their home. They woke one day to find that someone tore it down. When the neighbors found out, there were soon dozens of rainbow flags flying in the neighborhood, most in front of homes where the occupants were heterosexuals.”

“But...” you start to say, when She makes a gesture that beckons you to wait.

“Not long after the Twin Towers fell, there were two bricks thrown through the windows of an Islamic bookstore in Virginia, with some very nasty notes attached. The store owner was looking at the mess when a local rabbi stopped by to see what he could do to help. Several Christian ministers also came by to help and an anonymous businessman paid for a new window to be installed. Five years after that, in Pennsylvania, a milk truck driver shot and killed five young Amish schoolgirls before killing himself. At his funeral, several of the Amish showed up to comfort the killer's widow and mother. They also donated money to help the widow with her three young children.” She pauses for just a moment.

“And long ago, in Nebraska, a rabbi from New York City moved to a small synagogue to become the spiritual leader there. He soon started getting threatening anti-Semitic hate messages. He discovered that they were coming from the head of the Ku Klux Klan in Nebraska, who happened to be a disabled man. The rabbi responded by leaving loving messages for the Klan leader and offering him rides if he needed to go anywhere. It took quite a while, but eventually the KKK leader said that he wanted to give it up and started talking to groups about the perils of hatred. When he became ill, the rabbi and his wife took him in and nursed the man who had threatened them until he died.”

“Those are nice stories,” you say, “but what do you want me to do?”

“The word that you are looking for,” She says, “is kindness.” She is beaming now and a glow shines through her dark skin. “Be kind.”

You wake up and the sun is rising. It's dawn and the day is clear.

Dedicated to and in acknowledgment of the influence of four Black women:

Audre Lorde

Luisah Teish

Octavia Butler

and adrienne maree brown

The Mother of Darkness (Part One)

 by Raven Moonwood

It's night and you're dreaming when before you stands an open door. You step forward and fall into it. You land on a very small island in the midst of a restless sea.

The sky is black but full of stars which shine so brightly that everything appears sharp and clear. The sea around you is like ink with a sprinkling of foam on the churning waves.

There is only room for two people on the island and sharing it with you is a dark skinned woman wearing magnificent robes of pale blue with bits of pink and white. She is wearing scarves on Her head in an almost Islamic style, that cover Her hair. You realize that you are naked, and it's fine, but all that you can see of Her is Her face and hands and bare feet.

“Who are you?” you ask Her.

“Let me tell you a story,” She says. Her English is flawless but it might be a bit too perfect. You think that maybe She is from some African nation. “Slavery existed in many nations, many times around the world. It existed in Africa long before the Europeans came, but the Europeans took people from western Africa, brought them far from their homes, and sent them to work in the New World. Among other indignities, these folks who became enslaved were told that their old beliefs were primitive and savage and that they were to become Christians and worship a new God, who was the Son and the Father and the Spirit that was Holy. They were told that they could pray to the Mother who was named Mary. Mary was known not only as Virgin Mother, but as the Star of the Sea. In Her statues those who were enslaved saw Yemonja, Yemaya, Imanje, their ocean diety. So they began praying aloud to Mary, knowing that they were praying to the great Ocean Mother.”

“Are you Yemaya?” you ask.

“You don't see, do you?” She says. “Perhaps another tale.” She smiles and appears amused.

“On the islands of Japan, many centuries ago, Catholic missionaries came to preach and converted many folk. The emperor of Japan was furious and forbade Christian worship on pain of death. But many converts took statues of Kannon, the Japanese name for the bodhisattva Kuan Yin, and put tiny crosses on the back to remind them that they were praying to Mary, though the statue was of Kuan Yin.”

“So, are you Yemaya and Kuan Yin and Mary?” you ask.

“And Tara and Gaia and Pachamama and Sophia and Shakti and Shekinah. I am the Mother of Darkness, the nurturing mother of all that is chaotic, creative, dark, rejected, messy, sinister, smelly, erotic, confused, and upsetting. The Black Madonna, if you will.” Her smile widens. If there was such a thing as compassionate mirth, that might well describe the warmth that radiated from Her. “Perhaps a better question you could ask is where you are.”

“Perhaps I should,” you say. “Where am I?”

“This is the Interstitium, the liminal threshold that lies between.”

“Between what?” you ask.

“Between the known and the numinous, between the potential and the improbable, between what is and what might be, between almost and not yet. The waters that surround us hold all that is possible, yet all that is possible is change. And you must change, for I am change.”

And you see that the Mother is a doorway, a portal to the possible, and you're not sure that you want to go there.

(To be continued tomorrow...)

Prelude to The Mother of Darkness

 I had all but abandoned this blog.  I am spending lots of time these days posting stuff on the Commune Life Blog and the Commune Life Facebook page.

But recently I have been doing a bunch of writing of other types of stuff--fictional mostly.  I have decided to publish some of it here.  I just published a fictional 'book review' that I thought was funny (describing the past year as a "Bad Dystopian Novel").

I recently wrote a very short story (someone I shared it with described it as a 'treatise') that I called "The Mother of Darkness".  The story is a good description of my current spiritual beliefs.  It's also written in the second person, something that I don't recommend except for the briefest of stories (which I think that this is).  I intend to publish it in two parts, beginning tomorrow.