All posts by Bardo-Training

Kurt Vonnegut’s letter

Pencil Magic Art Classes moved to gorebaggtv on livestream on August 6, 2014. You can do art with us there Fridays at 1030 am. Bring a sharp soft pencil and paper.

In 2006, a group of students at Xavier High School in New York City were given an assignment by their English teacher, Ms. Lockwood, that was to test their persuasive writing skills: the task was:  write to your favorite author and ask him or her to visit the school. Some of the students chose
Kurt Vonnegut (he died  April 11, 2007, only a few months later).  He was the only one to reply – with this inspiring letter.

With much gratitude to all involved, there is the text of the letter:

November 5, 2006

Dear Xavier High School, and Ms. Lockwood, and Messrs Perin, McFeely, Batten, Maurer and Congiusta:

I thank you for your friendly letters. You sure know how to cheer up a really old geezer (84) in his sunset years. I don’t make public appearances any more because I now resemble nothing so much as an iguana.

What I had to say to you, moreover, would not take long, to wit: Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what’s inside you, to make your soul grow.

Seriously! I mean starting right now, do art and do it for the rest of your lives. Draw a funny or nice picture of Ms. Lockwood, and give it to her. Dance home after school, and sing in the shower and on and on. Make a face in your mashed potatoes. Pretend you’re Count Dracula.

Here’s an assignment for tonight, and I hope Ms. Lockwood will flunk you if you don’t do it: Write a six line poem, about anything, but rhymed. No fair tennis without a net. Make it as good as you possibly can. But don’t tell anybody what you’re doing. Don’t show it or recite it to anybody, not even your girlfriend or parents or whatever, or Ms. Lockwood. OK?

Tear it up into teeny-weeny pieces, and discard them into widely separated trash recepticals. You will find that you have already been gloriously rewarded for your poem. You have experienced becoming, learned a lot more about what’s inside you, and you have made your soul grow.

God bless you all!

Kurt Vonnegut

Now do some art !

Greeting card entrepreneur and fundraising practice

During what is supposed to be a morning meditation – some ideas started coming in – after I asked myself: where did I Ever do any of the entrepreneur type things that are recommended as a practice?

So selling my ear rings at work back when I still had a real life job comes to mind. I made about $80 – spent $ 240. Being on the phone for hours building up the video gaming as bardo-training program back in 204/2005 – because what happened to me when i started video gaming was out of this world …. I was manning a booth at a fair …but not for real … and I missed all the other IDHHB and work group things of that sort such as: selling chocolate bars door to door. However, if i “had” it to make a business, I would have had an alternative medical practice….I don’t.

Along come these greeting cards – and I LOVE THEM. They look and feel amazing to me …and, if I lived in town …could totally see going door to door or selling at a fair, but really, it is targeted marketing that comes to mind. For example: tarot greeting card: I would look into all the store that are “new age” wiccan or pychic oriented and take those there to see if they’d want to carry them …and which ones ….

Bookstores too, but really, various businesses and restaurants …especially for the  historically relevant cards. restaurants: Cards with photos of their place – today or historic –  for sale at the table – along with stamps – write while you wait …and the proceeds go to: the local soup kitchen, orphanage or battered women shelter? All pet stores and grooming services – carry the artistic unspecified pet cards – sales to benefit the local animal shelters.

  • Libraries: the old postcards – to benefit: something book related …
  • Hair salons: Hot for hair antique cards
  • Fashion stores: old fashion model greeting cards

and so on and so on –

Could be very successful – and you’ll learn a lot – about yourself, them, this world all the while helping some cause.

Art Classes – to Grow your Soul

drawing-shadingArt Classes – ” Grow your Soul with Pencil Magic” are currently happening online every Friday morning at 10:30 am pt here – http://www.justin.tv/gorebaggtv

How is this bardo training? That varies who it participating. In a way, doing Art is a sneaky way to get someone meditating, and to speak with Kurt Vonnegut (please see posted letter at the end) – we are growing our soul. Meditation does have a profound effect on your brain and states of consciousness.

Working deeply with animals and Nature can awaken a part of your soul. Doing art awakens another. Almost anything can work as a tool for transformation, a tool for awakening – we just happen to be doing this one at the moment.

In all honesty, the “class” part tends to happen at the beginning of the segments, then it is practicing together – shading, scribbles, figure and ground to start with. This practicing together, the participation and willingness to engage and stay with the process – also is bardo training – building essential qualities and habits.

Lately I have come to this: the only real purpose is to wake up and live life from that place. Having become a harmonious human being is a good thing to be able to actually live life according to your highest knowing, but not a prerequisite to awakening. To even begin to intuit for real, to start to see that is IS a dream – to really get the oneness of it all – leaves one speechless.

In any case , you are invited to join, to participate -and to grow your soul a little more. We would love to see you and  the classes are free.

 

Here is a link to the series which is the foundation for this class: Draw Good Now

A Fun video from the house and tree class

In 2006, a group of students at Xavier High School in New York City were given an assignment by their English teacher, Ms. Lockwood, that was to test their persuasive writing skills: they were asked to write to their favorite author and ask him or her to visit the school. Some of the students chose

Kurt Vonnegut. He was the only one to reply – and it is an inspiring letter. He died  April 11, 2007. With much gratitude to all involved, there is the text:

November 5, 2006

“Dear Xavier High School, and Ms. Lockwood, and Messrs Perin, McFeely, Batten, Maurer and Congiusta:

I thank you for your friendly letters. You sure know how to cheer up a really old geezer (84) in his sunset years. I don’t make public appearances any more because I now resemble nothing so much as an iguana.

What I had to say to you, moreover, would not take long, to wit: Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what’s inside you, to make your soul grow.

Seriously! I mean starting right now, do art and do it for the rest of your lives. Draw a funny or nice picture of Ms. Lockwood, and give it to her. Dance home after school, and sing in the shower and on and on. Make a face in your mashed potatoes. Pretend you’re Count Dracula.

Here’s an assignment for tonight, and I hope Ms. Lockwood will flunk you if you don’t do it: Write a six line poem, about anything, but rhymed. No fair tennis without a net. Make it as good as you possibly can. But don’t tell anybody what you’re doing. Don’t show it or recite it to anybody, not even your girlfriend or parents or whatever, or Ms. Lockwood. OK?

Tear it up into teeny-weeny pieces, and discard them into widely separated trash recepticals. You will find that you have already been gloriously rewarded for your poem. You have experienced becoming, learned a lot more about what’s inside you, and you have made your soul grow.

God bless you all!”

Kurt Vonnegut

 

 

 

 

 

Siltent Night with Guitar E A and D chords

OK, so the practice chords from the Guitar class on Saturdays are  E and A  and B7  –  but Silent night does not have a B7  but a D … so we’ll try that.

And may your night be holy.

Silent Night Tab (lyrics/chords)

A
Silent night! holy night!
E                    A
All is calm all is bright
D                                 A
round yon virgin mother and child
D                            A
Holy infant so tender and mild
E                                  A
sleep in heavenly peace!
E                 A
sleep in heavenly peace!Silent night! holy night!
E                                  A
Shepherds quake at the sight
D                                       A
glories stream from heaven afar
D                                      A
heavenly hosts sing Hallelujah
E                                        A
Christ the Saviour is born!
E                  A
Christ the Saviour is born!Silent night! holy night!
E                     A
Son of God love’s pure light
D                            A
radiant beams from thy holy face
D                          A
with the dawn of redeeming grace
E                                   A
Jesus, Lord at thy birth
E                     A
Jesus, Lord at thy birth

Silent Night, Stille Nacht – Guitar chords

Looking up the chords for the Silent Night x-mas  song, I find that it just isn’t all the same. I don’t actually know which is the original, but for our Guitars and Voices on Tuesday, but  start with the versions below.  Lyrics and chords underneath the video –  I just thought maybe you’d like to sing a Christmas song.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS – to all of you, & may all your days be holy 🙂

Here is a video I did a couple of years ago with flute and guitar.

Lyrics Josef Mohr, music Franz Gruber.

C
Silent night! Holy night!
G7                C
All is calm, all is bright
F                              C
round yon Virgin Mother and Child,
F                           C
Holy infant so tender and mild,
G7                            C
sleep in Heavenly peace!
G7                           C
sleep in Heavenly peace!

C
Silent night! Holy night!
G7 C
Shepherds quake at the sight;
F C
glories stream from Heaven afar,
F C
Heavenly hosts sing “Alleluia!”,
G7 C
Christ, the Savior, is born!
G7 C
Christ, the Savior, is born!

C
Silent night! Holy night!
G7 C
Son of God, Love’s pure light
F C
radiant, beams from Thy Holy face,
F C
with the dawn of redeeming grace,
G7 C
Jesus, Lord at Thy birth,
G7 C
Jesus, Lord at Thy birth.

in G http://tabs.ultimate-
guitar.com/j/joseph_mohr/stille_nacht_heilige_nacht_crd.htm

Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht

G
Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht!
D7 G
Alles schläft, einsam wacht
C G
Nur das traute hochheilige Paar.
C G
Holder Knabe im lockigen Haar,
D7 G
Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh!
G D7 G
Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh.

G
Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht!
D7 G
Hirten erst kundgemacht
C G
Durch der Engel Halleluja,
C G
Tönt es laut von fern und nah:
D7 G
Christ, der Retter ist da!
G D7 G
Christ, der Retter ist da!

G
Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht!
D7 G
Gottes Sohn, oh, wie lacht
C G
Lieb’ aus deinem göttlichen Mund,
C G
Da uns schlägt die rettende Stund,
D7 G
Christ, in deiner Geburt!
G D7 G
Christ, in deiner Geburt!

G
Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht!
D7 G
Die der Welt Heil gebracht
C G
Aus des Himmels goldenen Höh’n
C G
Uns der Gnade Fülle läßt seh’n:
D7 G
Jesus in Menschengestalt.
G D7 G
Jesus in Menschengestalt.

G
Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht!
D7 G
Wo sich heut alle Macht
C G
Jener Liebe huldvoll ergoß,
C G
Die uns arme Menschen umschloß:
D7 G
Jesus, der Heiland der Welt.
G D7 G
Jesus, der Heiland der Welt.

G
Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht!
D7 G
Lange schon uns bedacht,
C G
Als der Herr, vom Zorne befreit,
C G
In der Väter urgrauen Zeit
D7 G
Aller Welt Schonung verhieß.
G D7 G
Aller Welt Schonung verhieß.


different chords (slightly different)
also in C

C
Silent night, holy night
G C
All is calm, All is bright
F C
Round yon Virgin, Mother and Child
F C
Holy Infant so Tender and mild,
G C
Sleep in heavenly peace,
C G C
Sleep in heavenly peace.

Silent night, holy night
Shepherds quake at the sight,
Glories stream from heaven afar,
Heavenly hosts sing Alleleulia
Christ the Saviour is born!
Christ the saviour is born.

Silent night, holy night
Son of God, love’s pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
with the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus Lord at thy birth,
Jesus Lord at thy birth.

Waltzing Mathilda – easy chords

C  G C F
C G
C G C F
C G
  • Once a jolly   swagman  camped by a  billabong
  • Under the  shad of a coolabah tree,
  • and he  sang as he  watched and  waited ’til his  billy boiled
  • “Who’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with  me”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chorus
C                                F
Waltzing Matilda,  Waltzing Matilda
C                                           G
“Who’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with  me”


              C                      G                C                        F
And he  sang as he  watched and  waited ’til his  billy boiled,
C                                               G
“Who’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with   me”.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  • Down came a jumbuck to drink at that billabong,
  • Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee,
  • And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker bag,
  • “You’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me”.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chorus
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
“Who’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me”
And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker bag,
“Who’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me”.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  • Up rode the squatter, mounted on his thoroughbred,
  • Down came the troopers, one, two, three,
  • “Where’s that jolly jumbuck you’ve got in your tucker bag?”
  • “You’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me”.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chorus
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
“You’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me”
“Where’s that jolly jumbuck you’ve got in your tucker bag?”,
“You’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me”.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  • Up jumped the swagman and sprang into the billabong,
  • “You’ll never take me alive”, said he,
  • And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong,
  • “You’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me”.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chorus
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
“You’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me”
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong,
“You’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me.”

“Oh, You’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me.”

Why I love coinology

For weeks, and maybe it has been months, I have been following presentations online about coinology – collection coins, specifically US pennies – and its many different levels and applications, including spiritual – and yes, it is a form of Bardo Training.

I have not searched much recently – but I did search 5000 pennies for someone a couple of years ago and started on my own bankers box then – and I am itching to pick it up again …why?

… because it is fun, because it makes sense, because it trains attention – because I want to find that 1970 s small date too 🙂 – but that is not really hitting it …

 

It is a feeling – I can feel an inner-central excitement – a tremble, a quivering. I keep thinking that my dad would have done this – E.J. Gold makes coin collecting so incredibly accessible and gives it a meaning that is way beyond “just” coin collecting. It is not really coin collecting at all – but it LOOKS like it. It has such widely ranging attributes and areas of application and relevance – be it community building, placing time capsules, discovering the pennies as souls, finding mint errors that are valuable, completing a collection for your grand-kids, delighting in the sheer beauty of the coins, time travel through psychometric readings, giving little “special date” gift coins in cute and handy slabs, training attention in a particular way, the treasure hunting aspect, magic finding, the joy of learning something new – with a whole bunch of people who are now not only on this path but all collecting coins ….& more.

As a kid I paid attention to pocket change enough to have a small collection of unusual looking coins -maybe that means there is a natural tendency to doing something like this, mean to say: maybe I am just predisposed to respond to this?

IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE – and I keep thinking and saying: my dad would have done this with us. ..  so maybe that is why the “love” – because it stirs something else – including the memory of a being that was deeply kind and responsible and did the best he could to teach us kids? He did give us  stamp albums to collect stamps and sometimes brought some home from when he traveled. … again, I have a few that are quite old now …. if only I knew where they are … somewhere in Germany?

The way E.J Gold presents coinology makes it so incredibly accessible for anyone to start doing. Ideal not just for a dad and his kids 🙂

But still it does not really explain why I want to get back into it – be part of this journey ….. it feels important, it feels right. It looked like so much fun when I saw folks doing it together at the coinology workshop at Thanksgiving.

Speaking about dads and kids, this report will warm your heart. This is my all time favorite report & I think you’ll love it too.

Posted by Kyle Fite in Prosperity Path Forum on facebook

Kyle Fite    11:22pm Dec 3
As I continue to post on the PP & Coinology Forums, I’ll continue to talk about my youngest son, Alex. He’s 7 and I really believe this little boy is a Junior Coinologist. He doesn’t miss a beat with information and he thinks around corners with it (He even asked me to ask E.J. if he could send us a 44 Steel Wheat!!!). This kid has Magic Find which far surpasses my own. He asked if he could “crack a roll” (I had just acquired a few rolls of pennies from the grocery store). “Sure,” I say-and within a few minutes he comes running back: “Dad! I found a Wheat that’s Bright and Shiny…or at least RED!!!” Sure enough, he hands me the brightest Wheat I’ve seen to date! (and what 7 year old in this town knows that certain Pennies are graded as “RED?”)

Last night (during his BATH) we talked about how making a SUIT of Prosperity Amulets would result in one being able to “crack a roll” and find 50 Bright and Shiny Wheats!

TONIGHT, he announced that a Prosperity Amulet alone just sits there. But when a Human puts it on, it forms a Force Field around the Body of Protection and Luck.

“If a Tree falls in the Forest…” (“If a Crystal picks up Transplutonian FM…”)

This kid is sharp and I love him. I am also blessed to have him as my Traveling Companion on this Path.

Alchemy has historically been the Transmutation of Lead into Gold. For some this was quite literal and for others it has been a Metaphor for Metaphysical Work. But the bottom line is taking some Base Material and, via a Process, bringing into the Highest Value. Leave it to E.J. to focus on the American Penny (a unit of currency which-in our present economy-is almost worthless) and to turn it into one of the most Profound of Magical Machines.

I hope we’ll eventually sell some of our finds and have a “YAHOO!” to share. But for the time being, I feel so grateful to have been introduced to this spiritual path, a path full of learning and fun which I can share with my son!

I anticipate that I’ll be sharing more “Anecdotes and Aphorisms from Alexander!” I hope you all find them fun and worth a smile. I have a Vision that the two of us will become the “Lone Wolf & Cub” of Coinology!

H2U All-!

-Kyle

And I think coins make great stocking stuffers and x-mas ornaments

Love this
🙂

And now for another aspect of coinology: (found this feedback on coinology.org)

“Hello, Thought I’d share an impression from this afternoon’s coin sorting.

It went something like this:

After lighting candles and incense, putting the music player on random, and cleaning up in and around the coin table/alter, I sat down to continue my opening rituals, which is simply opening the blue velvet Norton Street pennies and placing my magic find ring on my finger. As I slipped the ring on my finger, a mood descended. I felt a tiny bit priestly. I don’t like to categorize moods, but that phrase will have to suffice.

More importantly, I saw the penny sorting from a new perspective. The rolls of coins passing across my table and through my attention were being radiated. This was their contact with a higher purpose. Previously, I perceived the sorting/searching as part of my process, my learning…in this moment, I saw the sorting/searching for the benefit of the coins.

There’s more, but I’ll save it rather than contain it with words.”

F.S. Chicago

Just because it is the season, I’ll end this post with this:

Music as a transformational tool – What happened to that guitar?

Or – The Creation of Necessity

Music and making music is one of the most transformational as well as invocational tools. Intentional bardo voyaging often uses sounds and music for transport. Music gives access to some spaces that have no other opening keys.

…ya, so – what happened to that guitar we got 3 years ago? (yes, I looked it up – it was 2009)

Remember – when we were getting the Lessons for DumDums for the Guitar?

How is YOUR practice going? Are you playing – alone or with others?

Good News: Keep an eye out on gorebaggtv for announcements if you are interested in reviving your guitar playing – or tell someone who is totally new.

Myself, I have played off and on, mostly off, but ever since the added task of taking care of the dogs, starting October 2010, then chickens and the garden and now more dogs – there is even less time. But really, that is an excuse – I am lacking a certain kind of discipline, & I don’t have the talent or passion to continue “just because” & for no obvious reason, even though it can be such fun. So what does one do?

I occasionally still practice some cords and have been “planning” to get back into it regularly and learn to actually play  …..  alas ….

But then TODAY – someone asked: what happened to the guitar classes you were gonna give. Are you going to start them?  I said: What guitar classes?????? …and then it came back …ah, yes, those … reviews for all us guitar newbies. Regular practice – in a group – online. Last year, in 2011, the plan had been for 2 of us to have a gorebaggtv show for others – to get us all back into it – the guitar playing. Just simple folk songs. But then, my friend moved away – and it never happened.

Ok, …when will you start …ok, next week, I had to fit it in between the chickens and the dogs and dinner and the dogs again …. so we found a time for the winter months at least :).

You are invited to check in and join, bring friends http://www.justin.tv/gorebaggtv Tuesdays at 7 to 730 pm Pacific time – “Our guitars and Voices” – Guitar for newbies and those who can help and those who wish to engage together in making music.

I find myself having thoughts like: I am not photogenic, my stage presence sux and my guitar playing is rudimentary – what the hell I am I doing? I don’t know how that will go – it is an experiment born of desire to include and integrating music making into our lives.

Again, E.J. Gold has poured a lot of time to show us a way that makes it possible for ANYONE to get started in this ….to use the tools he offers, you DON’T have to be an expert, you can be a beginner. Later on, when someone has joined some expertise, other doors open, but to start – all you need is willingness to learn – and an action step. I LOVE that about all these tools.

On some level – for me – this is an application of:

NECESSITY – if you don’t have the discipline, accept to do something for others and thus create enough necessity to do what needs to be done.

Actually, I have had this guitar for almost 40 years – it has been VERY patient and forgiving.

Kinda like: do for others which you could not do for yourself.

I must be crazy to commit to another thing to do ….

…. on the other hand, I am committed to serve as best I can, to learn to love, to help awakening hearts and consciousness on this planet – for the relief of suffering of sentient beings – The Absolute.

And: being able to make music is a good bardo skill to have. Keep an eye out on gorebaggtv  & letz do this.

Invitation for all, especially newbies.

In any case, there is a guitar that has been patiently waiting to sing ….

… or maybe has been waiting to make you sing or  me sing or us sing together … hm

…  and maybe your voice has too. And maybe you won’t need a guitar to sing along?

 

 

 

Refresher from the youtube vids made back then.:

Bardo training you tube videos

Did you know Bardotraining has a you tube channel? Most of the vids are from a time I was making a LOT  more videos, but you might find some of them with a message you just needed to hear.

 

This however is one of my faves (hm …won’t let me use the imbed function, so trying just the link) it is totally worth it !!!!!

A Brief History of Money

I wrote this years ago and found it saved in my documents. While most of this is about the origin of how we used money, let me just say that I try to stay away from today’s banking system money-making greed mentality as far as I can. Not sure, it was ever different in human history. Still, it is interesting to explore what has been before.

If you really just want to get to the core of collecting coins, check here 🙂

Brief History of Money

No matter what form money takes, its defining elements are that it is a medium of exchange, and as such is a measure of the value of assets, i.e. a unit of account, and it can be used as a store of value. Any asset can be used as money, provided it is accepted as such by the power of convention or general agreement and positive experience and provided that people have trust in its value and its stability. In brief: money is something generally accepted as a medium of exchange, a measure of value, or a means of payment.

Since the domestication of animals ca. 9000 BC and the cultivation of crops, both livestock, particularly cattle, and plant products such as grain, came to be used as money in many different societies at different periods. Cattle and grain were probably the oldest of all forms of money and were still used for that purpose in parts of Africa in the middle of the 20th century. Practical or ornamental items such as shells, weapons, tools, salt, tea and jewelry also served as mankind’s early monies. The use of commodities as means of exchange persisted in some societies for hundreds of years after the invention of coinage.
Cowrie shells have been the most common shell media and are probably the oldest in usage for exchange. They have circulated as currency in more places in the world than any coin.

From an economic growth point of view the importance of the coin is that it reduces transaction costs by eliminating or reducing the costs resulting from tests of metal quality and weighing. There is evidence that the transactional gains from guaranteed money, whether in the form of coins, loaf-shaped ingots, or tied sacks, were being reaped in the ancient Near East as early as the third or second millennium BC.

Cappadocian (in modern-day Turkey) rulers around 2250- ca. 2150 BC guaranteed quality of silver ingots. The state guarantee, probably of both the weight and the purity of silver ingots, helped their wider acceptance as money.

Development of Mesopotamia Banking originated in Babylonia ca. 3000 – ca. 2000 BC out of the activities of temples and palaces which provided safe places for the storage of valuables. Initially deposits of grain were accepted and cattle, agricultural implements, precious metals and other goods. One of the main uses of writing, invented in Mesopotamia around 3100 BC, was for keeping accounts.
In China ca. 1000-500 BC, tool currencies were metal models of valuable implements that had previously been accepted in commercial exchanges, e.g. spades, hoes and knives.
With respect to the origins of coinage, most scholars believe that it begins in Lydia (current-day Turkey) in Asia Minor in the second half of the seventh century, ca. 600 BC. The first true coin was probably the Lydian Lion. It consisted of electrum, a naturally occurring amalgam of gold and silver. Lydia was in close proximity to both the civilizations of Mesopotamia, from which ideas about money and much else originated, and the Greek colonies in Asia Minor, through which ideas about coinage spread. The Lydians are not only the first people to coin money but also the first to open permanent retail shops. There are, of course, Greek traditions placing coinage much earlier.

Use of coins spread rapidly from Lydia to Greece. Aegina (ca. 595 BC), Athens (ca. 575 BC), and Corinth (ca. 570 BC) started to mint their own coins. Prior to the introduction of coinage, the Athenians had used iron spits or elongated nails as money. Pythius, around 600 BC, operated throughout western Asia Minor and became the first banker in the area of Greece and Asia Minor of whom we have records. Many of the early bankers in Greek city states were foreign residents.

In China, round, base metal coins were invented ca. 600-300 BC. The date is uncertain but these were probably at least roughly contemporary with the development of coinage in the West, and possibly much earlier. Being made of base metal, the Chinese coins were of relatively low value.

During the reign of Croesus, the Lydians started producing coins of pure gold and silver instead of electrum, ca. 550 BC. This was the world’s first bimetallic coinage.
After Croesus, the King of Lydia, was captured by the Persians in 546 BC, the use of coins spread to Persia. Unlike the Greeks, the Persians preferred gold coins over silver.
Athenian Owls were first produced 546 BC by the tyrant Peisistratus, using silver from the Laurion mines 25 miles south of Athens. Discovery of a rich seam of Silver in the Laurion Mines lead Themistocles to persuade the Athenians to use some of the proceeds to build a fleet of warships. Greek civilization was saved by the victory of the Athenian fleet over the Persians in the Battle of Salamis 480 BC.
In 407 BC, Sparta captured the Laurion Mines and released 20,000 slaves from the mines. Silver supply to Athens was cut off, which then, 406 – 405 BC, issued bronze coins with a silver coating.
This lead to hoarding of silver coins by the Athenians. Silver coins quickly disappeared from circulation, leaving only the inferior bronze ones. This is referred to in the comedy The Frogs by Aristophanes 405 BC, who refers to how the new, inferior coins having displaced the old superior ones from circulation. It’s probably the world’s first statement of Gresham’s law, that bad money drives out good.
Greek banking transactions were carried out primarily in cash. Pasion, a slave, became the wealthiest and most famous Greek banker 394 – 371 BC and gained his freedom and Athenian citizenship in the process.
Rome was attacked by the Gauls in 390 BC. The cackling of geese in the capitol, where the city’s reserves of money were kept, alerted the defenders. The grateful Romans build a shrine to Moneta, the goddess of warning, and from Moneta the words money and mint were derived.
Greece and Macedonia were united during the 360 – 336 BC reign of Philip II of Macedonia, 360 – 336 BC. During his reign, he deliberately minted far more coins than required for the immediate needs of his kingdom, probably to support the campaign against Persia that he was planning before his assassination. Among these coins was the golden stater celebrating his triumph in the chariot race in the Olympics in 356 BC – an early example of the use of coins as propaganda. The earliest coins widely circulated among the Celts of central and northern Europe are copies of Philip’s stater.

According to Demosthenes, normal interest rate in Greece ca. 350 BC was 10%. For risky business, such as lending for shipping, rates of between 20% and 30% were considered normal.

Alexander the Great reigned from 336 – 323 BC. During the conquest of Asia Minor, the cost of maintaining Alexander’s army reached about half a ton of silver a day. Later enormous quantities of Persian bullion were captured. The coining of the previously stagnant Persian gold stocks and payments to Alexander’s soldiers, many of whom settled in new towns founded by him, gave an enormous stimulus to trade throughout his empire.
Alexander also simplified the exchange rate between silver and gold by fixing it at 10 units of silver equals one of gold.

Long before Egypt came under Greek control, grain had been used as a form of money in addition to precious metals, and state granaries functioned as banks. During the Empire of the Ptolemies in Egypt, 323 – 30 BC, the local warehouse deposit system was transformed into a fully integrated giro system with a central bank in Alexandria. Payments were made by transfer from one account to another without money passing.

Romans were relatively late in adopting coinage. Cumbersome bronze bars were still commonly used as currency ca. 275 BC. Regular issues of silver coins are minted by the Romans ca. 269 BC and widely circulated.

Because of the enormous demand for coins to pay troops during the 2nd Punic War between Rome and Carthage, 218 – 201 BC, the Roman rulers caused inflation by debasing their coinage in purity and weight.

Carthage was defeated by the Romans, which aided the rise of Delos, a barren Greek island, as a prominent banking center. Transactions were carried out by giro or credit transfer. Delos capitalized on its magnificent harbor and famous temple of Apollo to become a financial center.

Leather money was issued in China ca. 118 BC. It consisted of pieces of white deerskin, about one foot square, with a value of 40,000 cash. (The cash was the name of a base metal coin).

In his account of his two raids in Britain, 55 & 54 BC, Julius Caesar noted that the Britons still used sword blades as currency. However, a number of Celtic tribes had begun to mint their own coins of gold, silver, bronze and potin (alloys of copper and tin).

The Roman monetary and taxation systems were reformed by Augustus Caesar during his reign 30 BC – 14 AD. He issued new, almost pure gold and silver coins, and new brass and copper ones. He also introduced three new taxes: a general sales tax, a land tax, and a flat-rate poll tax.

So at the latest by the time of the Roman Empire, humans went from livestock and grains and things like shells to using coins as money and even developed giro transfer. However, the use of commodities as means of exchange persisted in some societies for hundreds of years after the invention of coinage.

Experience has shown that the value of coins vouched for by the inscription of the ruler’s name was not always identical with the actual value of the coin, which was the result of its weight and metal fineness. In the case of paper currency, the difference between the material and monetary value became even more striking and the link between the nominal value of banknotes and the substance of money became even more tenuous. Finally, the link to substance has been abandoned completely in the case of electronic money – only the symbol remains.

And cowrie shells, the most widely used “coin” of humankind, are now pretty shells to be admired, being used in jewelry and, in some places, still as fertility symbols.

This summary was composed from a wide variety of sources. It was intended to give a broad, general overview over the early development of what we call money.

Cowrie Shells

Cowries, particularly the Money Cowrie (C. moneta) and Ring Cowrie (C. annulus) have circulated as currency in more places in the world than any coin. Cowries belong to the family Cypraeidae, a family of marine snails found in the tropics.

Of all the shells used as ancient currency, cowrie shells have been the most common shell media and are probably the oldest in usage for exchange.

Although widely distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific, the Maldive and Laccadive islands supplied Cypraea moneta for most of the world’s trade until the 18th Century.

The Maldivians had developed a simple and highly efficient means of collecting the shells: Bundles of coconut palm leaves are laid out in shallow lagoons. The cowries aggregate on them, probably because they like to feed on the layers of detritus that accumulate on the leaves. After some time, the bundles are pulled out onto the beach. The cowries die in the hot sun and get shaken off onto the sand. They are then buried in a pit until the flesh rots away, leaving clean empty shells to be retrieved.

The Maldives were noted as the center of the cowry trade over a period of 4000 years, from the earliest records of Arab merchants to the accounts of adventurers and later European visitors.

The shells were carried from the Maldives to the Mediterranean by Arab traders. They were transported across the Sahara and further to Europe by competing Portuguese, Dutch, English and French traders for onward transport to the West African coast. They served to purchase the slaves exported to the New World. The Europeans were surprised that the natives preferred cowrie shells over gold coins.
Cowries probably arrived in Africa by the 10th century and possibly earlier, preceding European colonization by hundreds of years.

Cowries have been found in tombs of predynastic Egypt, c.5000 BC, likewise in those of Shang China, c.1500 BC. They also circulated throughout India, Afghanistan, Iran, Southeast Asia, China, and Melanesia. Cowries were placed in graves as unlikely as prehistoric Latvia and Anglo-Saxon England, and were known and sought by Native Americans before the European Invasion. In China, from 1200-800 BC, cowrie shells were important valuables and in India cowries have been found in association with coins from sites dating from the first century AD.

Cowries were highly prized as a means of exchange for several of the same reasons that modern cowries are valued: they are durable, difficult to forge and have a limited source of supply. They have also been used as jewelry, dowry and fertility symbols.

The value of the cowrie varied widely with time, place, demand, and supply.
A few examples can indicate the range: Togo, l896: 4000 = 1 German mark Inland Tanzania, 1880s: 4-5000= 1 Maria Theresia thale Congo, c. 1900: 30-60,000 = a male slave New Guinea highlands, 1924 5 = 1 small pig

Though single cowries have served as small change and gambling, most trade was conducted in bulk.

They were imitated or at times substituted by cheaper shells causing inflation.

Bone cowries are not uncommon antiquities in China, and it is generally assumed that the “ant and nose” coins are cowrie derivatives. There is a school of thought that sees a cowrie model for the original lumpy Greek coinage. Gold cowries have been found in Ancient Cypriot graves, bronze specimens in Etruscan tombs. Nowadays, cowries are simply beautiful shells.

This brief summary about cowrie shells was compiled from a wide variety of sources.