[[File:Eric.jpg]]
2012-03-31 21:05 EDST Ottawa, Ontario
I finished reading Parable of the Sower and I am waiting for Parable of the Talents. It was a chillingly dark book. I am surprised that a tribe as happy and positive as SolSeed could be inspired by it. The philosophy/religion in the book seems pretty thin. The idea of TheDestiny is hardly explored at all. Does that come more in the second book? I will wait and see. An interesting coincidence though; my last name is a corruption of the name my ancestors came over with from France twelve generations ago. Their name was Semeur which is French for Sower.
2012-03-17 21:56 EDST Ottawa, Ontario
Hourah! My hold on the Octavia Butler book, Parable of the Sower just came through at the library today. I've started reading it. Dark but still, I am very excited about finally reading it.
2012-02-26 17:57 EST Ottawa, Ontario
I just joined [[SolSeed]]! What an interesting day. I have been reading four books by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeman_Dyson Freeman Dyson] (the man for which the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_Tree Dyson Tree] was named) over the last few weeks. I got up the courage to email him to tell him how much I loved his books and to ask him whether he thought a new religion was required to achieve the goal of creating Dyson Trees. He replied that he once spent a day with [[Octavia Butler]] talking with kids in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago Chicago] public schools and that her books described such a religion called [[Earthseed]]. A [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google google] search for Earthseed and two clicks later and I was on your site. I have been looking for you for a decade without knowing the right key word.
I created a religion called [http://sites.google.com/site/biosphericcommu/ Biospheric Communionism]. Its goal is to create Dyson Trees and release them in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Neptunian_object outer solar system]. This will eventually allow [[life]] to spread from the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oort_cloud Oort cloud] to other solar systems as Oort cloud objects are ejected from the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_System solar system] by close passes with other [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star stars] and by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperbolic_trajectory hyperbolic passes] through the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inner_solar_system#Inner_Solar_System central solar system]. As life spreads out from our solar system we have [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith faith] that so too it will be spreading out from other star systems. When life from various biospheres meet it will unite into one more complex super-biosphere of greater diversity than its component parts. To me [[Diversity]] is the goal of [[TheDestiny]].
Biospheric Communionists celebrate [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solstice Solstices] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equinox Equinoxes] with special [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banquet feasts] and activities. The celebrations are based on dividing the year into four quarters which map onto the four major periods of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epic_of_Evolution Great Story]: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter Winter]= pre-[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ediacaran Ediacaran] time, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_(season) Spring] = the Ediacaran to the advent of human civilization, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer Summer] = the brief candle of human civilization and the development of the ideas necessary to [[TheDestiny]] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autumn Fall] = the future and the reaching of [[TheDestiny]].
1) Half way between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox (about [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_Hog_Day Ground Hog Day]) we go [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_skating skating] and remember [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowball_earth Snowball Earth] about 600 million years ago when the Ediacarans (the first complex [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multicellular_organism multicellular life forms]) formed, hidden below the frozen ice, probably near [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrothermal_vent oceanic volcanic vents] and began the diversification of life on Earth. After skating we eat things that combine hot and cold like [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_chocolate hot chocolate] with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whip_cream whip cream] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fried_ice_cream deep fried ice cream].
2) At the Spring Equinox we eat [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sushi sushi] especially the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nori Nori] (dried algae paper) in order to celebrate, one last time, the single celled creatures who toiled through the aeons before the Ediacarans to create the conditions necessary for complex life, especially [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Oxygenation_Event free-oxygen] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photosynthesis photosynthesis]. After eating we turn our attention to the multicelular life of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phanerozoic Phanerozoic] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Story_telling tell stories] about life forms of the Phanerozoic. Each member tells a story, often which they have written. They may have written it in [http://evolutionarychristianity.com/blog/day-night-language-public-private-revelation/ realistic Day Language] or in [http://evolutionarychristianity.com/blog/day-night-language-public-private-revelation/ symbolic Night Language]. Often they have written the same story in both styles.
3) At the Summer Solstice we hold a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triathlon triathlon]: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_swimming Swimming], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Running Running], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycling Bicycling]. The move from Swimming to Running symbolises the earlier Destiny when life [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embryophyte#Phylogeny_and_classification moved onto land] from the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean sea]. The move from Running to Bicycling symbolises the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology#Paleolithic_.282.5_million_.E2.80.93_10.2C000_BC.29 invention of technology]. Before we run we will eat plain [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruit fruits] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetable vegetables] to symbolize food before technology. After running we have fresh fruit dipped in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fondue#Chocolate chocolate fondue] because having a chocolate fondue on the table is symbolic of 'high tech food'.
4) At mid summer we go [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camping camping] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversation discuss] which minds have contributed the most to the development of our religion. For instance [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._Goddard Goddard], the father of modern [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket rocketry] is usually mentioned because rocketry is our current road into [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_space space].
5) At the Fall Equinox we have a zero-G themed dinner in which we have [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placemat placemats] with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velcro velcro] tabs on them and all of our [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutlery cutlery] and food also has velcro tabs on them so that during the whole meal we can keep our food velcroed to the placemats to keep them from 'floating away'. After we are done we give presentations about cultural contributions to Biospheric Communionism.
6) At the Winter Solstice we launch rockets and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fireworks fireworks] to celebrate the launch of life into space.