Matthew Fox on Benedict’s Papal Legacy and why it makes Next History relevant

Recently, NPR’s Amy Goodman interviewed excommunicated priest and author Matthew Fox on the legacy of Pope Benedict for the Catholic Church. Some of Fox’s remarks go to the heart of why I wrote Next History: The Girl Who Hacked Tomorrow, why I saw an important flaw in the history and mythology around womankind, and the archetypal Lilith, the first female created by God in Babylonian and Hebrew mythology.

Here’s Fox on why he was excommunicated:

“Number one was that I was a feminist theologian, he said. I didn’t know that was a heresy. Number two, I called God ‘Mother.’ Well, I proved that all kinds of medieval mystics called God ‘Mother,’ and so does the Bible, although not often enough.

“Number three, I prefer ‘original blessing’ to ‘original sin.’ Jesus never heard of it; no Jews ever heard of it. And they accused me of not condemning homosexuals, which of course I do not.

“They’re really Rorschach tests about what really freaks out the Vatican. And, of course, above all, it’s women and sex. And that is the agenda. Whenever there’s fundamentalism and fascism, it’s about control. That’s why the Vatican, the Taliban and Pat Robertson have this in common: They’re all freaked out by the possibility of bringing the divine feminine back, and with it, of course, the equal rights of women.”

Fox’s ‘divine feminine’ remark resonated with me, because the construction of Next History: The Girl Who Hacked Tomorrow originated with a single question: What would it be like if we discovered a crystal clear record of our creation times, historically accurate and not mythologized or distorted by politics? I discovered that the Akashic Record could fill that need. How could humans find out about the Record in large numbers? The whales could deliver it.

The Whales? Oh yes, I forgot, it’s science fiction.

OK suppose all that stuff. What would we find out? Among other things, we might discover that the goddess feminine in the form of the mythical Lilith has been smeared and degraded since about 2300 BCE, beginning with the stories the Levite priests told about her.

Prior to that Lilith was revered for hundreds of thousands of years as the source of abundance, the font of human life, health, healing and wisdom. My pet theory is that some males cannot live with the jealousy.

Next History in the end is the story of how Lilith comes to be alive on Earth again, how women the world over rise in waking consciousness of the feminine divine and come to be seen as the equals of men in every way. Equals, not superiors, it’s how women roll. Too bad it has to be science fiction, but this is a small seed I wanted to plant for whoever reads the book.

Baldwin-Books.Com Website Released

Baldwin-Books.Com, Lee Baldwin’s central book marketing site, is now available, featuring a slideshow and plot synopsis of his adventure mystery novel, Angle of Attack.

From this site, readers can find all the published forms of Baldwn’s writing, including Amazon, Smashwords, iTunes, Google Play, and Barnes and Noble.

Popular Cal State Professor Brian McKenzie Kicks Off Marketing Plan Study for Lee Baldwin’s Adventure Novel

Dr. McKenzie is an Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship at Cal State East Bay (Hayward, CA). He teaches an undergrad class in Integrated Marketing Management. Students learn techniques of business marketing and promotion in an applied sense.

In this course, students are assigned consulting projects with local small businesses. McKenzie invited Lee Baldwin to work with a student consulting team, which will develop a marketing plan for Angle of Attack, available on Amazon.com for the Kindle reader.

Lee will meet with the team between late January through mid-March. First meeting will be to describe marketing plan goals and issues to the team. At the final meeting mid-March Baldwin will receive their final report, and put the marketing plan immediately into action.

Since posting the book on Amazon, it’s become clear to Baldwin that writing a novel is one thing, but promoting and making it visible requires ten times the cost and effort. It is valuable to have a marketing plan, especially as this will be developed by individuals in demographics the novel must reach to succeed.

Baldwin is happy to say that Angle of Attack is approaching 1,000 downloads, and that there are six reader reviews, all of which are 5-star. There has been strong support for the plot, characters, and dialogue. Baldwin sends big thanks to all who have taken an interest in his work!

Clicking this LIKE button will promote the Angle of Attack Facebook page!

Mystery adventure novel, Angle of Attack, now available on Amazon Books for Kindle.

REVIEWS WELCOME. This title is FREE for download
this weekend Jan 7 & 8

Adventure and intrigue in a world of extreme flying, quirky women, and the power they covet.

Cicero Clay is a researcher of vintage WWII warbirds, a glider flight instructor, and an accidental convict.

While Clay pursues proof that he was framed, an old girlfriend becomes his Parole Officer.

Now in league with a jailed gangsta boss, the girlfriend has corrupted the County parole system, and wants Clay dead, to protect the gang leader.

While trying to stay alive, Clay’s fights to complete his mission: flying a stolen vintage fighter across three states to a secretive buyer. Clay has never flown powered aircraft.

Clay must deduce the motivations of shadowy characters to survive, and face challenges that push him beyond his comfort zone. In action typical of the story’s unique action scenes, Clay finds out the hard way that a glider can become a murder weapon. And how to fix it before he hits the ground.

Angle of Attack immerses the reader in scenes of extreme flying, rapid plot shifts, and quirky, colorful characters pressed to their limits. The story is set in Santa Cruz, Hollister, San Jose, and other California locales.

Amid the action, a charming love story emerges, as Clay discovers a love he would never have imagined.

Angle of Attack lives up to its title, as a new ally in Clay’s battle appears to attack his remaining enemy with a mortal blow.

This scene from a strangely quiet beachside restaurant is quite evocative of French paintings of the Impressionist period, in that the sight lines between the groups of people form a certain geometry that I find interesting.

My exhibit of CaliBoy repainted photographs at Leedo Gallery ran through May and June – at the opening we sold 7 pieces.

Have reworked my Lee Baldwin portfolio site to focus more on the repainted photographs, although the glass and the hard-edge impressionist canvases are well represented.

My glass work is now on the planet Etsy, shop name is ModernArtGlass, have a taste.

Click image for larger view!

Often I use multiple photographs together to achieve a certain composition in my repainted photos. This one was pure magic – the bird was in the shot as I took it, I found out only after I looked at a print later.

This image is one of a series of the mission at San Juan Bautista, the largest of the Spanish missions in California. Built in 1797, the mission was used in the 1958 Hitchcock film Vertigo. A bar in San Juan Bautista uses the name ‘Vertigo’.

My exhibit at Leedo Gallery is up! It will hang through the month of May. It’s at 7436 Monterey St. in Old Gilroy, California.

Everyone shoots sunset photos of this place – Huntington Beach pier – but here’s an unusual sunrise shot, calm, small swell, sun just sitting on the Eastern horizon. You might recognize Ruby’s restaurant at the end of the pier.

Paintrop is seeking an art agent on the West Coast! If you know of such who handles artwork, please put them in touch.

Click image for a larger view…