Two years later, I can now write about the significance of that incident, ‘the ants incident’. Because it’s only now in the unfolding of our current experiences that this disconnect between the understanding of energy consciousness and the view that all life is sacred, is fast becoming our most painful undoing.

When I wrote Hope for Humanity, I used to think that the global elitists likened us common folk to animals; enslaved and monitored, abused and imposed upon. But it was worse, we are viewed with the coldest disregard of the most unsophisticated and unnecessary nuisance of little more than an insect.  What ever it is we’re thinking (or not thinking) about our fellow multi-legged beasties, some big rich guy with a ‘superiority complex’ is thinking about us. But can really we blame the global elitists for feeling superior when it is merely our human societal conditioning that teaches us to view ourselves as separate? Would a society that considered life as sacred go to war over land? Would we keep animals in factory farms, would we use pesticide or herbicide on our lands? We have all been taught to view our place on this planet within an intellectual order and the disconnect of modern society from its source can be experienced all around.

A few years ago it was revealed in a numerology reading that my life’s path number was five – the path of freedom.

The truth will set you free

To live a life in truth isn’t always as straightforward as it sounds. It’s a bit like getting off the express super highway and stumbling out barefoot onto the hard and stoney, 'road less travelled' and there are far too few of us here for comfort.

It’s been a while since I left my job and the security that laid a beautiful roof over my head. After eight years, life in London and all that it had to offer a young girl had dulled, but in a chance encounter, my luck had come in and I happened upon the ancient teachings of yoga vedanta (the ancient philosophy behind the practice of yoga). A beacon of light had set my soul ablaze and all my instinct spoke out – here I had found my truth.

To recognise your truth is perhaps one of the most blessed and cursed experiences of this life. In this time old pursuit many have anguished over the quest to find meaning and purpose, however when meaning and purpose do finally fall into place, to live in accordance with those understandings can be an entirely different matter. After separating the lie from the truth and the material from the immortal you might start to experience an uncontrollable desire to change a fair few things... and of course, as with most change, not all folk will understand. Sadly much of this hardship will come from your closest friends and family. This is the lonely road where many walk in the pain of separation, outcast and estranged, ridiculed and hated but when you believe in pulling yourself out of the mire, every sacrifice is sacred and there becomes no other way of being.

Thankfully, for as much pain there is as much promise and there will be many newfound discoveries in which to delight in along the way. In my time as living ‘homeless’, I had come to realise that without an address there were now a fair few societal restrictions that could no longer apply (a top bonus if like me you’re interested in dicing along the thin blue line of the law).

When you cease to see the sense in society, in a world where basic human rights have become increasingly distorted, even something as simple as going outside can become a bewildering experience... perhaps even inciting a volatile protest! Imagine being denied entry to board a costly train because you arrived moments too late, only to watch it sit stationary on the platform for a further two minutes, dumbfounded to the heights at which ‘health and safety’ have reached.

When you’re on the other side, to think deeply about life can become an ever evolving experience and you might start to wonder why it is that others do not. One of the hardest things to contemplate is the plight of consumer culture, something which can bring about all manner of feeling ranging from disbelief to sadness to even outrage. For example, knowing that the existence and growth of major corporations such as the food, beauty, and pharmaceutical industries are driven through global demand and that these corporations seldom served to overcome suffering but exist for the proliferation of profit in sickness and addiction, simply because we continue to allow it. Is amongst the absurdities of modern society in which we now live.

Manipulation and control through institutional governance and it’s rebellion have gone hand in hand throughout the ages. But as we quickly move from one scandal to the next, frustration lies in the forgetting. Through art and film, lyric and literature despite every warning history has foretold, apathy has continued to prevail and can anyone really be blamed for that? In a centralised government, continuity of life as we know it and our attachment to the safety of the system is now so deeply rooted in survival, that there is so much at stake. And there are some pretty serious topics to contemplate… How would we cope with food shortages, a serious banking crash or a housing shortage? Self reliance no longer exists on our farms and we are so disconnected from the natural world, to whom would we turn¹?

While there is nothing that can really be said to someone who isn’t yet ready nor wants to hear, the wisest discipline is often the hardest thing to endure, allowing others their own rates of progression and growth and to stand patiently aside while much damage continues to be done. Could it really be that despairingly simple, to do nothing while government continue their steady march forward threatening our abilities to legitimately and successfully protest, removing every right while we contemplate our lot?

Yes and no and perhaps so, but my advice is not to do nothing. Every scripture has taught us that the most powerful impressions we can leave this world are simply to live from truth because we can not choose freedom for anyone but ourselves. In my experience, the road less travelled is the beginning of the ultimate path to freedom. It is arduous by nature and not everyone will understand, you may lose friends, family, respect and livelihood, perhaps it will be the hardest and most difficult choice you will ever make. But know this – there is a deep satisfaction in every step and this will be many times worth your effort. Because what could be grander than the grandest vision, than in the creation of our new earth together.

1. Since leaving behind major aspects of the system six years ago, I have spent this time supporting and being supported by a rich diversity of natural and urban communities here in the UK. If you would like to know more, please leave me a message in the comments and I will be happy to share more of my experiences with you.

IMAGINE WHAT COULD HAPPEN IF WE PRIVATISED THE NHS..

There is in truth no battle nor defence when it comes to the great debate involving East vs West, because in reality, with it’s major artillery fire of global finance and mass media monopoly, the western agenda is the only agenda. Dominating and lording its intention over all other. Fully and absolutely complete.

Sadly, there is no difference to this arrangement when we speak of our great modern day medical achievements, because ever since the rise of the insatiable multi-billion dollar spinning, ‘Big Pharma’ eastern credibility over a rich variety of holistic approaches to medical care have steadily been stamped out and ignored.

Welcome the NHS, a national treasure proudly proclaimed by the many as the crème of British utopian society. Surely such a system allowing every citizen the right to free medical care, despite status or wealth should be heralded in virtuous, righteousness, purist and sacrifice for the greatest good? It’s likely yes, that there had once been such an intention and yes, all the while, the philanthropists probably really did care. But what has now arisen through an allopathic approach to sickness and ‘cure’ is an inordinate disproportion of folk surrendered to a toxic lifestyle, mislead into the belief that our medical needs will one day be taken care of. A falsity that can no longer be ignored. 

In our understanding of modern day medical science, ‘the most superior of all’. We live and love safe in the knowledge that for the most, the ailments that we are likely to suffer in our lifetime will be treated or even cured over at the GP or pharmacy. This is the promise to an end of suffering, a course of capsules restoring the body back to balance and harmony. So with that taken care of, there is nothing that one needs to do and nowhere that one needs to go. A falling in mass unison, invoking a culture lacking in the will and knowledge needed to effectively look after our own bodies.

The principle following ‘our health is our authority’, is a premise for living by prevention rather than cure. A practice better known by the eastern approach to medical care. Here exists a wonderous myriad of ancient techniques, therapies and even modern alternatives, reaching far beyond the repetitive mundane adage of ‘5-a-day with 20 minutes of exercise’. Instead we are discouraged from eastern therapies and warned against such ‘supernatural’ ideas. With western research institutions funded to condemn eastern medicines by discrediting their merits. And all the while, dictating that animal testing and adverse side affects are the better alternative; when in reality they are chemically synthesised, artificially lab made medicines, that only mimic the natural compounds that were traditionally used for millennia anyway.

As allopathic medicine dominates the market and alternative therapies remain a niche, they have become a luxury that most can not afford. The problem with a pre-paid medical care system is that it holds a monopoly, driving down the price of its own allopathic drugs and pricing out that of the holistic market. So even if you wanted to choose an alternative, be sure to know you’d be paying through the nose for it.. twice! If allopathic medicine became a choice and not an imposition, this would certainly give rise to a growth in all other medicinal markets evening out the vast disparity of cost and making these mighty marvels more available to all.

Holistic approaches encourage a lifestyle not a reliance, for the power and responsibility of our health first lies with us. So please let us be honest and let us be done! Lets privatise the NHS and take health care back into our own hands, because the real 'farmacy' is an incredible thing.

Nine months in the making and my ‘big day in court’, had finally arrived. I had been forced into spending these last crucial weeks without a working phone, and with no access to XR legal advice, the stress had begun to mount. As I counted down the hours until 'show time', I had an all important decision still to make. Would I chance self-representation in court, or accept the legal help from solicitors that I was entitled?

I knew that my novice legal skills were not up to running much of a S14 (Section 14) defence. But the reality was, that I had heard there was no successful defence against this charge. Part of me delighted at the thought of self-representation. Single handedly, bravely battling the system, standing alone in righteousness. I had earned this ticket to my day in court and like other XR defendants before me, this was my moment to finally be heard. Oh how I would put the courts to shame, throwing every moral and ethical argument out there in defence of my selfless actions. How the judge and officials would weep in realisation of the ills of society and throw down their hats in condemnation, to stand with me in solidarity. I would declare my position regarding environmental and ecological collapse, and in full glory, I would proclaim the innocence of my name! This was going to be the day that went down in history.

It can be a very dark and bumpy ride, questioning the many thoughts and ideas in the mind of Black Cat... and as I delved deeper into the inner workings of my fancies, I started to ponder the ethical arguments of accepting assistance from the very government establishments and institutions that I was opposed! But finally, after seeking some last minute common-sensical advice, I decided that I would afterall take up my lawyers on their offer of legal assistance. Maybe I would win on a technicality? Or If all else failed, at the end of the day, I could always sack my lawyer and give the courts a fine piece of my mind anyway.

That night I prepared my statement with vigour. Eco this and shame on you perpetrators that. But in the end, it didn’t end up quite the courtroom showdown that I had expected. The law came to judge me in a way that I never could have imagined.

I first met my lawyer on the morning of my trial. With no time to spare, we headed straight to a private room to catch a quick twenty minutes on how we were going to proceed. As I read to her my statement that I had prepared the night before, the enormity of the situation struck for the first time, causing an intense feeling of overwhelming sadness. The court house, despite appearing quite stark and unassuming, carried within it’s walls a foreboding and looming presence. This was a presence that had absorbed countless impressions and stories throughout the ages and it suddenly drew from me the incomprehensible frustration, that the law that I’d always believed in, to protect the great and the good, could instead take those very people and destroy their lives, holding them to criminal account forever. Then I started to cry (just a little bit), at the injustice of it all.

After a quick briefing to prepare for the witness box, we hastily made our way into court.

‘COURT RISE’. I was captivated…. who was my judge going to be? and then out came not one but three lay magistrates! I studied each of their faces closely. I could not have expected to see a crowd of more serious and stern looking expressions. Each of them bearing a tight-lipped frown with furrowed and knitted brows. They sure looked like they meant business and I was quite taken by them, captivated and fascinated in some way. I turned to my friend, “wow they look so serious”, I said. “I think they look a bit like me when I get upset”, “That’s how I’m going to look in ten years time,” I foolishly joked.

Throughout my trial, I was in complete awe of my Lawyer. What an incredible person she was. I had nothing but admiration and gratitude for her as she spoke for me with such strength and eloquence. Despite fearing I had messed up a bit in the witness box, I was quietly confident that I had made a good impression upon the magistrates. I had explained my motivations, my lifestyle, my passions and service to the community. Heck, we were even hopeful that we would win out on a technicality after all.

I actually felt quite uplifted during the deliberation. Because of my lifestyle choices, a conviction would not prove so impactful upon my life, and I felt comforted in the knowledge that of all the court testimonials I had read, they resonated to the same effect. Judges speaking highly of environmental activism and XR defendants merely acting out of necessity and in line with their conscience. I had also heard heart warming stories where activists had been told they were being found guilty with much regret, in the eyes of the law there being no way out, and ordered the most minimal of fines in full praise and goodwill.

I was excited when my three lay magistrates returned. I was fully expecting to hear the same praise for my actions, why wouldn’t I? An exemplary citizen to all outward respects. But to my surprise, I mercilessly began to hear…. Because you said this, and this, and this, ‘GUILTY’. I was ordered to pay full costs of £640 and given nine month unconditional discharge. I was speechless. I couldn’t even bring myself to read out my mega amazing, ‘I’m such a great person’ speech I had prepared.

I left the court room in disbelief, frustrated at not being fully heard, I was disappointed that no sympathies had been aroused in my judgement, nor any good seen in my deeds, none at all. I thought back to my three lay magistrates and how fearsome they looked. How they had failed to accept the reason and logic of the facts. The evidence the police had presented against me had been so unclear that a conviction should never have been possible. But in judgement of what they had wanted to understand, they had discounted it all, failing to see the person behind it.

In the days that followed, as I tried to understand and make sense of my experience, I happened across a text and in those words I found my answer, appearing in the ‘law of three’.

*“Ever mind the law of three, What You Send Out Comes Back to Thee.” and I started to see a part of myself though the eyes of those who sat in judgement and I too began to see a person guilty. Guilty of being quick to judge others, harsh in my words, unsympathetic, cutting and direct in my approach.

I have come to accept that this wasn’t the day I was going to be a hero. This was the day I was judged by my three lay magistrates in accordance with the “law of three”, judging me as I have judged others. My lawyer asked me to go for a retrial…but I feel that until I have learned this lesson there can be no salvation. It’s a hard road, and I know I am still learning from my mistakes. I am not there yet and for me this will probably be a life long practice, to cultivate compassion, forgiveness, and understanding in every moment and to all.

*The law of three states, everything you do comes back to you threefold! So please be wise and think about your actions and how they will effect others and even yourself.

There is no hope for humanity until the animals are free, because while we continue to accept the enslavement and exploitation of others, we are allowing the enslavement and exploitation of ourselves. 

From deep inside my underground city cave, amidst the eerily empty streets and suffocating close confinement, months have passed by... Waiting with increasing unease, for the outcomes of the global Covid-19 pandemic to unfold.

In the weeks following the announcement of the UK state of emergency 'lock-up’, the Covid-19 survival guide arrived, Its contents, detailing an ‘all you need to know, in overting a mass contagion crisis’, which was in reality, little more than second rate garb, notably lacking in any key substance and generating nation wide confusion.

In full blanket blow to democracy, this document proceeded to shamelessly exploit the common rhetoric, ‘in the interest of public safety’, to further tighten legislations over arrest and surveillance, without review or repeal for years to come. Alarmingly, these attacks on civil rights and basic freedoms have increasingly become the status quo. Gaining ground by assimilating into our daily lives, further altering our boundaries of normality. Sending us to that place of quiet forgetting, a realm whence few dare return.

Five months into the crisis and the curtain is slowly rising. As the first signs in the unveiling of this new world start to emerge, we hold witness to untold damage, set to change the future of humanity forever. From enforced suppression of immune system response, threats of compulsory vaccinations and an entire generation of children bearing the psychological scars of social isolation. The direction the world has moved in such little time is astonishing, and this is only the beginning.

Throughout our lives we have been lead to believe that we live and rejoice in the great and glorious freedoms of our civilised lands. But far from this notion, it is those who have been born into the furthest reaches of the last remaining indigenous tribes, who have truly come close to the experience of inherent freedom. Because at that moment our parents unwittingly sign away our lives to the state, we begin a life of social programming. Throughout institution and establishment, affiliation and arrangement. The end result, to have moulded our minds into submission, making money for the man. Objective complete.

The human race is fast entering into an age of great captivity. As the grip of control continues to tighten, and the last of our remaining freedoms are lost to the state, I am horrified. I am horrified at the prospect that there is no escape. For how long in our history have we sang songs and shared stories, dreaming of the day we took the power back? We were calling for social change centuries ago, and we are still not winning. In fact, we are losing really badly. So now there is only one thing left to do. To live in truth. 

For many years I have admired the thought of going vegan. Well aware of the suffering food animals endure, yet never finding the right time to remove the dairy dependence from my diet. But this goes beyond health and even far beyond compassion and kindness, this is the restoration of a fundamental sacred law that we have forgotton and are now paying the ultimate price. As a global community, we have ruthlessly exploited our power, over all other life forms on this planet. 100 billion sentient beings will end their lives in captivity every year. The vast majority of them food animals, reared in factory farms and forced to live under submission of their will, every right taken from them. But this is more than just a pitiful tale this is our collective story, the fate that humankind is facing today.

Because our outer world is only a manifestation of our inner thoughts and actions, so what we deem as acceptable for others, will in turn one day reflect back upon ourselves. I can not accept or allow the enslavement of myself, nor can I fight a force so great as our ruling government bodies. But I can join a force much greater than that. To live a life in the power of respect, and in honour of the freedom of all living beings. Because we live in the collective consciousness, where the experience of true freedom is to set all others free.

Do unto others as what you would have others do unto you. ~ Jesus Christ, Luke 6.31.