By Judith Gayle | Political Waves
I tried to avoid politics this week, looking for a break from the havoc that seems inherent in this season’s news cycles, currently amped by all this chatty Gemini energy. I’d planned to ignore all but the headlines, while getting the tomatoes out of their containers and into the ground. It never happened. Days of deluge and thunderstorms brought requisite lightning and hail accompanied by on-again, off-again tornado watches to the Pea Patch. That’s kept the action inside, forcing me to wrestle four restless dogs and an insistent Miss Kitty, who prefers to hold court with her motley crew of suitors rather than stay clean and dry inside.
To complicate things, let’s not forget the sweat-inducing heat signature that is moving toward the East coast even as I write. I’ve never made the leap to tolerate mind-dulling mid-western humidity, which leaves me wrung out like an old dish-rag and moving like a sloth.
Still, I’ve taken some comfort that it arrives mid-summer, leaving me a spring in which I feel energized, and not as though I’m breathing underwater. But not this year; this year “hot” came early, bringing “wet” with it, proving that whatever you thought you knew about weather is moot now that ‘extreme’ is the new normal. Remember when Katrina was an anomaly? Now CNN spends as much time trailing behind storm trackers and reporting weather disasters as dogging recalcitrant politicians.
So the tomatoes won’t make it into the ground until June, putting harvest farther into the future, but who knows how that will look when we get there! The baby lettuce survived that late snow a few weeks ago, and a layer of chicken-wire has protected them from the hail, but now they’re being hard pressed to survive wilting heat. I keep my wings crossed that they will make it to the salad bowl, but who knows. We are firmly in the “who knows” era, otherwise known as “transition.”
Life is confusing by any standard, but now it’s like turning Rubik’s Cube by Braille, 5D version. We have to “feel” the colors, we have to “be” the colors. It used to be simpler when we could follow the bouncing balls of logic and good sense — now we have to try to spot our ping-pong ball before, during and after it joins the others in the room full of mouse traps. Just the snap and clatter are a distraction, leaving us tense, grumpy and thoroughly mystified. What we thought we knew is up for grabs, and what couldn’t be refuted (like science, for instance) is. We’ve talked about the need for change, discussed its dynamic for so long, we often forget how disorienting it is. Like embracing unwanted humidity, it’s a challenge to find a way to be comfortable with the loss of certainty that comes with shifting perspective.
Yes, I avoided the news and tried to stay out of the political zone, but I kept my eye on things. In the course of the week, I took some pleasure in Michele Bachmann’s announced retirement, although like Glenn Beck I suspect she’ll find a new incarnation that will keep her bat-shit crazy constituents fed with the latest conspiracy theories. Michele insists two terms are enough for anybody, but she might be singing a different song if her campaign had not come under intense scrutiny for unethical activity.
I can live with some kind of Palenesque background noise from Michele as long as she is no longer a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. I mean, seriously, intelligence? Whose scatterbrained idea was that? Surely her absence will improve the intelligence of the committee, so long as they don’t appoint Ted Cruz or some similar side-show radical to replace her. Except for the small group of fundamentalist supporters who showed no disappointment that in two terms Michelle was unable to produce or pass a single bill while being the biggest senatorial mouth to flap in recent history, the nation cheered her decision.
I had a moment’s hand-wringing when I heard about the rogue patch of wheat found growing in Oregon that proved resistant to Roundup, later identified as an illegal GMO wheat that was never approved for commercial planting. If we’d just fallen off a turnip truck, we might take comfort in the FDA’s assertion that such wheat — field tested in several states from 1998 to 2005 — was harmless and safe to ingest.
Tell that to the Japanese, who promptly canceled their order for U.S. grain. Other Asian countries — China, the Philippines, South Korea — are considering similar action until a test kit for GMOs can prove the product unmodified. The U.S. has no such kit, having successfully blindsided the public on this side of the pond for years, which shows the Asians to be better informed by leaps and bounds than their American contemporaries. As Asia imports more than 20 million tons of wheat annually, perhaps the loss of billions will get the attention of our profit-hungry plutocracy, as well as further inform a worried public.
And speaking of profit, the sea change in marijuana laws in Washington and Colorado, along with the success of medical dispensaries in California, have prompted a group of investors to come together to be first to launch a national brand of herbal smokes. The group is forming to become the “big marijuana” prototype, although running the gauntlet of state and federal laws may prove trickier than expected, especially when the Justice Department remains hostile to big growers. Legal in 18 states, medical marijuana has also come in for careful scrutiny from the IRS, which is harassing landlords and business owners with drug trafficking rules that make commerce perilous, even dangerous. That’s a greater scandal, in my book, than scouring Karl Rove’s books for (bogus) signs of community service.
Still, support for marijuana legalization has grown by almost 20 percentage points in less than a decade. 52 percent of Americans favor outright legalization, including recreational use, while 77 percent approve medicinal use. Recent attempts by the DoJ to tie marijuana use with crime has been poo-pooed by analysts who think of pot as the diet soda of stimulants. There’s more crime linked to it, they say, because everybody and their dog — you know it’s true — use it. Surprisingly, both Democrats and Republicans, not to mention Libertarians, agree that the Fed should mind its own business and let the states take care of this problem.
In terms of transition, the ante on political maneuvering has been raised a bit by the relentless obstruction marking Obama’s second term. Sequestration is beginning to bite into reality by noticeably slowing economic recovery, and although proposed austerity has been trashed by its faulty ideology as well as the example of a diminished European economy, economic theory is the Mason-Dixon line of American politics.
Free market fundamentalism must never be questioned by those who have taken voodoo economics to their bosom and fight tooth and toenail against any who seek to moderate that mythical golden goose. The fact that free market theories hang together with spit and Scotch tape, greased by cronyism and bribery while failing to measure up in practical terms, does not impact the true believers, which includes almost all dedicated capitalists. Anything else, so they’d have us believe, is downright un-American.
As an aside, I would simply like to say, as one who considers a world-wide conspiracy to keep the working class in old paradigm indenture/slavery forevermore as entering its decline, that achieving prosperity by taking food out of the mouths of children and old folks is the kind of barbarism the world is quickly coming to despise. It’s the reason Republicanism has become an endangered political movement. Our current muddle of ideology vs public relations, however, keeps us from knowing exactly whom to blame for all this, but that time is quickly fading.
As Evan Soltas wrote for Bloomberg:
For the last few years, politicians have enjoyed a curious luxury: They’ve been able to talk about making “hard choices” without actually making any. All the big changes to the budget since 2010 have been at least partly automatic. Sequestration was, as it were, remotely triggered, which absolved lawmakers of responsibility. This changes in 2014: Next year, Congress will own the consequences of its actions.
By next year, sequester will no longer be about indiscriminate, across the board cuts. They will be targeted and selected from the small slice of GDP set aside for the welfare of citizens. Republicans will no longer be able to hide behind the rhetoric of false equivalency, and cowardly Democrats will have to fess up if they are protecting their own behinds rather than those of their constituents. These budget cuts, by the way, will be concentrated in the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education — a full quarter of their yearly funding on the block — which will jeopardize not only Obamacare and Pell Grants, but also continued operation of the Environmental Protection Agency, period.
By the time 2014 rolls around, how many of us will be up off our fannies and making some noise about this, I wonder? Things are changing. Those who are continually frustrated by the lack of movement should be heartened by new fire in Harry Reid’s belly to go with the so-called “nuclear option” that turns filibuster on its head and returns a half-plus-one strategy to congressional voting. There’s Democratic method to this madness, smacking just a bit of “hold yer nose” politics, although if we think back to the pounding that progressives AND citizens took during Dubby’s turn at bat, it goes down easier.
The Republicans have been stonewalling Obama’s court candidates for years, leaving literally hundreds of important positions unfilled, the judicial system limping, and justice denied. They filibuster candidates across the board, delaying even those they approve in order to keep this president judicially gelded.
Currently there are three openings in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the court that is responsible for reviewing federal laws, regulations, and agencies that come into question on the Hill. Think, during these troubling times, what that might look like! Probably easier to make a list of what ISN’T being challenged than what is.
As we speak, there are four (Pub-appointed) conservative judges and three (Dem-appointed) liberals serving on this court. Obama has now nominated three replacements to flesh out the ten slots for the D.C. Court. Did I mention that this is the court from which a majority of Supreme Court candidates have been selected over the years? Four of our current nine Supremes served there.
As the possibility of a SCOTUS opening arises, probably that of game but cancer-stricken Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Obama will want to pull out of a pool of his own. He has given us two moderate women in the past, and has hardly turned the court into a lefty flagship, but that’s not what you’ll hear on FOX News, so get ready for a rumble.
The only way to get these three appointments on the table, and the process started, is to pull the lever on the “nuclear option” and change the way congressional votes are used. The 60/40 split was a recent agreement anyhow, which makes you wonder, once again, how these things get by the voting public. Still, as Robert Reich recently pointed out, “A president’s court picks shouldn’t require 60 Senate votes. The Constitution is quite specific about when “super-majorities” are needed, and makes no mention of super-majorities for court appointments.”
Harry Reid made a gentleman’s agreement with Mitch McConnell in January to mend some of the obstruction of irresponsible filibuster, an agreement quickly broken. Reid does not want the option, but I think he’ll take it this time. We can’t do more years of watching time pass as the public stews, while nothing is accomplished. And Supreme Court placement is a big damned deal, down the line impacting economic, political and sociological issues for the future of the entire nation.
Imagine the kind of shock we’d all feel if there was suddenly movement in the halls of congress, new laws and regulations not just passed but fully funded and staffed, as Dodd-Frank never was, for instance, continuing to put big business ahead of economic safety. Imagine doing some actual business for the people, as opposed to Darryl Issa running investigation after tone-deaf investigation, using up congressional funds the way Ken Starr did in Whitewater, trying for a presidential “gotcha” in a time-honored Republican panorama of mud-raking.
Who knows? It could happen. We can’t remain at impasse forever. The first step to metamorphosis is to change the way we think about things, and sometimes that happens because the way ahead is blocked. Sometimes change comes when there’s too much pain to continue as is. We think outside the box when the box gets too tight.
Unable to see the forest for the trees, it’s good to remember that we’re in transition, that the public expectation is far beyond that of the political process. And such a transition, often starting with confusion, shakes out over time, in not just a change of mind but of heart. As we stand in the trees, looking around us, it may seem like everything is same old, same old, nothing much changed. It’s not. What is old and archaic is being left behind by those who can’t stand still another minute.
This is serious transition, not like we’ve done it before. It’s tech and hip, it’s young and bold, it’s old and wise. It’s an amalgam of all those things that we learned over an era, freshly applied to this time of awakening. In a new paradigm, politics and government must be a reflection of us, not the outgrown energy that has held us in service to the few. We’re going to have to put our trust not in government or politics, but in ourselves AS government and politics.
Pick a position and get involved. Here’s a promise: what we knew about the world is fast being replaced by what we’re learning about ourselves, reassessing our needs and tuning out the voices that only serve self. We’re going to have to develop ourselves as the instruments of public peace and safety. We have to care for one another, because there is no one else to do it, and as we “do unto the least of these,” we do unto ourselves. The Dalai Lama tells us that helping one another is what life is about, why we came to this incarnation. All the wise ones say the same.
It’s a time of transition from doing what we are told by the masters who still believe they own us, to doing what we came to do: fulfill our destiny as star people. It’s the era of “who knows” how it will look down the line, who knows what we can accomplish together, who knows what might happen if we try? We know how it will look if we don’t, sinking into the mire of cynical politics and a dying paradigm, but you know that’s not how this will end. This is our time to step up and do what we came for, believing that what is right and Light-filled is stronger and more powerful than all that darkness can throw at us. This is transition.
Hey Judith,
Here is one for you, Fishin’ Jim and Oscar!
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=video+of+fox+playing+with+a+dog&mid=8CF07992C2A51E8C7B4C8CF07992C2A51E8C7B4C&view=detail&FORM=VIRE1
Haven’t read “Animal Speak,” Mia — I’ll look for it, and mark down your (and Len’s) speaking dates, as well.
Moose are the largest of the deer family and those babies were just adorable! The white-tails around here bring their babies out around dusk. There are things that make you stop (your walk, your car) and just stare, sorry when the moment is over. Deer of any kind do that for me — lovely creatures. Surely anything that makes us go Awwwww! is actually a moment to appreciate the Awe that God/dess provides on a daily basis.
My dear Fishin’ Jim’s dog, Oscar, has made friend’s with a red fox down the road. They chase one another, good-natured play, and sometimes have barking contests. Inter-species appreciation! Nature teaches us all we need to know — everything else, IMHO, is a day late and a dollar short. It’s in the word, as so many things are: there is what is natural and what is artifice. We’ve lost balance or we’d remember the inherent wisdom of the first.
Those Medicine cards are my favourite, Jude. Here’s the link to a lovely website, that I’ve posted here before,
http://www.shamanicjourney.com/
Yes, I love this thread, and your piece too, Jude. No one writes about their home, garden and animals quite like you do.
Thank you, Judith!
Happy to hear about the lettuce. The video was baby moose, by the way.
Ted Andrews’ classic book, “Animal Speak,” is another great resource for totems. He made an amazing contribution. Clearly, this is an issue I feel passionately about.
Be well!
Mia
I don’t know if you’re aware of animal totems, Xtica, but if not, you might find some relief from your sorrow about “road kill” there. I live in a place where people swerve purposely to hit animals, makes me nuts! But once you make the connections to your own internal ‘animal’ stuff it becomes easier to let it go. I was born empathic and Sagittarius: there simply wasn’t an underdog cause I didn’t throw myself against, absorbing the pain of it. It’s taken a lifetime to let go of other peoples pain, deal with my own and find my balance — but that’s a good journey to take, allowing death to take its rightful place as a natural part of the process. Understanding the (re)cycle of life allows everything to go down easier.
There’s a lot of totem info out there. I prefer Medicine Cards by Jamie Sams and David Carson as an emotionally impacting oracular delivery but I suspect the others are good as well, to reawaken our connection to our brothers and sisters, four-legged or more, furry or not, winged or without. Be has said it well, as has Mia.
Thanks, by the way, for the deer … uh … dear clip, Mia. Made me smile inside and out! And thanks for the advice, GaryB, I’ll tuck it away for later. Since the tail end of the OK tornados kicked our butts, we’re going to have to reach for 70 today, and the whole week ahead appears to have cooled to chilly. The baby lettuce will be very happy!
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this conversation, dearhearts — thanks, all of you, for playing this weekend!
dearest Mia, BE
thx for all the insight and wisdom i really appreciate it -i’m about to write it down in my journal for constant reference since i keep all my sketch/notebooks.
i looked and my Ceres is at 28 taurus as is Hades at 10 taurus. I can’t seem to see Orcus anywhere, i will try to generate the chart again and see what comes up.
many thanks and blessings to all
x
And Xtica,
Len continually brings up Orcus in my own chart regarding interspecies communication. I suspect there is a strong placement for Orcus in your own.
Mia
xtica,
Like Judith says, “things are changing” and a big part of that change must be acknowledging what we, as part of our societies, consider worthwhile. Our values. In other societies at other times throughout the ages, logic and mental processing were not worshipped the way they have been in our lifetime. Our senses (ie. smell, touch, etc.), emotions and inspiration all guided our decision making and were not considered lesser gifts than thinking. The animal world never stopped valuing those attributes that we humans viewed as, well, more about our animal (meaning lesser) instinctive nature. Generally, we as a society haven’t encourage the fine-tuning of these lesser gifts, and I suspect that over the centuries, they have shriveled. At least in consciousness.
However, other species have continued to develop these traits and, as we humans have come to appreciate, can pick up on many things overlooked by the race of man. If animals sense your respect and emotional connection to them, they will seek you out, even and maybe especially, when they sense they (or you) are leaving the earth plane. This could be a big part of the role you are to play in this time of transition.
We all (I hope!) retain our less-valued gifts such as feeling and attunement to nature, which are associated with the feminine or yin energies. The masculine (yang) qualities of thought and prowess have become prized over the feminine qualities to the point where the feminine gifts are considered inferior, but now, this is rapidly changing.
Those of us most in touch with our “animal” instincts must guide our race back to becoming conscious of these priceless gifts of Nature within us. Not only that, these feminine qualities must become equal to the quality of those masculine attributes of thinking and physical prowess. Fifty years ago a man was considered weak if he was seen crying. Only women and children were allowed that natural expression and it was only considered appropriate in certain situations under certain conditions. Now we have been born in this lifetime (many of us as women) to pave the way for achieving balance between the yin and yang energies, without which we are a crippled and dysfunctional race.
Through your gifts as an artist and lover of wild life, you are in a position to express the value of these feminine energies. You must become (as I must become and most of us reading the work of these gifted writers at PW) a way-show-er (show the way to harmony between Earth and Cosmos) and that includes the understanding of the cycle of life and death. Breaking through the fear that is associated with death must be part of it. First you must understand yourself that, on earth, nothing is wasted, you know, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. The carcasses you find in your yard you return to the earth, knowing that the spirit which once lived within the carcass has been set free and will return again in the course of time. Ceres is the symbol of this knowledge and many feel she is at least a co-ruler of the sign of Virgo. Learn about Ceres in your own chart and see what aspects she makes, what house she is in and you will better understand yourself and the role you play in these transitioning times.
be
I wanted to add one more clip about the reunion between the gorilla Kwibi and Damien Aspinall who raised him in England and released him into the wild in Africa. They had not seen each other in five years and Kwibi had shown aggression during recent interactions with humans.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZ-bJFVJ2P0
There are many others, like Christian the Lion, or the death of Lawrence Anthony, the “elephant whisperer” and two herds of elephants walked for miles and miles to his home to mourn his death.
“For 12 hours, two herds of wild South African elephants slowly made their way through the Zululand bush until they reached the house of late author Lawrence Anthony, the conservationist who saved their lives. The formerly violent, rogue elephants, destined to be shot a few years ago as pests, were rescued and rehabilitated by Anthony, who had grown up in the bush and was known as the “Elephant Whisperer.”
For two days the herds loitered at Anthony’s rural compound on the vast Thula Thula game reserve in the South African KwaZulu – to say good-bye to the man they loved. But how did they know he had died? Known for his unique ability to calm traumatized elephants, Anthony had become a legend. He is the author of three books, Babylon Ark, detailing his efforts to rescue the animals at Baghdad Zoo during the Iraqi war, the forthcoming The Last Rhinos, and his bestselling The Elephant Whisperer.
“There are two elephant herds at Thula Thula. According to his son Dylan, both arrived at the Anthony family compound shortly after Anthony’s death. “They had not visited the house for a year and a half and it must have taken them about 12 hours to make the journey,” Dylan is quoted in various local news accounts. “The first herd arrived on Sunday and the second herd, a day later. They all hung around for about two days before making their way back into the bush.” Elephants have long been known to mourn their dead. In India, baby elephants often are raised with a boy who will be their lifelong “mahout.” The pair develop legendary bonds – and it is not uncommon for one to waste away without a will to live after the death of the other.”
We are all connected. What could be more amazing than that?
Dear Xtica,
The sight of road kill is upsetting and jarring and gets me to the core, still. When you are connected to animals in the way that you are it is upsetting. A shaman told me that the bodies left by the side of the road are there because the animal was aware of their own sickness and chose to end their life. Not everyone will embrace that line of thinking but it does have some merit.
My 13 1/2 year old Jasper was winding down last summer and disappeared one afternoon. I was devastated and part of me felt he had gone off to die. This was in northern Vermont where there is plenty that could have eaten him for dinner. I searched and searched and cried my eyes out that night. But before I fell asleep I said aloud to Jasper, “Please do not leaving me wondering what happened to you. Please come home and leave from here.” I then called on Michael and all the angels to protect him through the night. I was laying in bed the next morning and Fergie was looking out the bedroom window, intent but not barking. I looked down the hill and there was a big, black dog standing in the middle of the road. It was Jasper. He had bad arthritis and was wobbling but I got him home. He slept through till the next day. He had a big adventure I am sure he enjoyed and was completely exhausted. So was I.
Thanksgiving week he began having seizures and went into renal failure. He had an amazing life, a truly good life and he began the dog family I was blessed to share. He was a father to all the other dogs and was deeply loved.
I think it is the juxtaposition of civilization and highways that creates this ghastly disconnect between death and the earth. If we were walking in the woods and came upon a body in transition there would be more of a sense of continuation and transformation. There is beauty in death as in life. It can provide food for the making of art.
The animals know what to do. We need to pay attention.
Wanting to end on a lighter, brighter note I will share my experience with this wonderful robin who nested behind one of the light fixtures on my front porch. She had two sets of babies the first spring in my house and for the first several weeks she was a very dirty boarder. Every time I walked out the front door I would find bird doo doo on the front porch. Finally fed up, I went out to her and said, “I am delighted you are here and want you to stay but please stop pooping on the front porch!” Well, that was the last time I found any poo on the porch and in telling friends about her, they were inspired to go back to their homes and communicate with the robins and sparrows nesting in various spots and asked them to stop making a mess. To a one, every report back was to say that the pooping had stopped!
Can we ask our fellow men to stop pooping around the world, please, now?
Mia
from the laughter!
thanks miaferoleto for your kind words and advice-
i will try to remember to say a prayer and send the dead animals on their way in light if i can. sometimes i’m driving down a road and i spy the carcass and then i’m shook- usually i get a violent or trauma vibe that feels like a slap with the sighting that leaves me a little weak- so i do appreciate your wisdom and counsel and i will take it to heart.
i haven’t yet made any art from animal remains. i usually take what i find if its on my hill, wrap it in paper and bury it so that it can rest and be taken back to the earth.
and judith, thanks so much for the sad dog diary link! i had tears in my eyes from that one!
blessings to all
x
Speaking of sprinklers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNy9jTeolUk
Joy really is encoded in the DNA of all life.
Sprinklers Judith! That is how you handle the oppressive summer swelter. It will bring out the kid in you and the dogs will love it too. The cat, oh well.
Very Funny clip, Judith!!
They are a sad bunch, however. Bored, too. Probably just not interested in being used for a video. Years ago I organized an auction at Christie’s for the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards and asked William Wegman to bring his dogs to the event and he did. As soon as they saw a camera, the two dogs would pose in the exact same manner, they were great. A photo of them was included in the Christie’s International Magazine and it went global, all around the world. They were engaged and having fun.
In terms of taste buds and dogs, I can tell you that I could yell, “Com-mon and get a biscuit,” to my six dogs and not get a response but if I yelled, “Want some yummy pound cake?” they would be there in a flash. Joy of Cooking. Great recipe.
Mia
Not nearly so high-minded as the last exchange, still I’m passing this along for those who need a giggle:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/01/sad-dog-diary-ze-frank_n_3371865.html
Dear Xtica,
Thank you for your interest! Do I understand you correctly in that you make art that incorporates animal remains, as in animal medicine? I would love to hear more. If that is the case it is not ‘dead animal karma’ but a healing practice of your own creation. Be is the astrologer but with a Taurus rising, the earth is your personality so to speak and animals are closer to the earth than many of us.
The animals who come into our lives are those we are meant to have. They teach us and support us energetically. The take on our illnesses when they are too much for us to carry. Western medical literature is full of cases of people and their animals developing the same illness at the same time. The animal transitions and the person continues in life.
They provide us with the closest thing to unconditional love that we will experience in this lifetime. I have seen my animals do extraordinary things, show extraordinary generosity to each other and display humor and grace.
The other day I was headed into town for errands when I spotted a paint turtle trying to cross a busy/55 mph road. I found a place to turn around and went back to carry him across to the Battenkill River, his clear destination. In Chinese, the turtle is the symbol for heaven on earth and has always been an important totem for me.
In the summer of 2006 my animals and I were living in a beautiful house in the Hudson River Valley that was the center of the local eco-system. Beavers, heron, bears, and countless other animals came to the pond and interacted with my six dogs and I. This one particular day, I was talking on the phone when I heard my dog Sammy giving the youngster of the group, Fergie, a correction. It was going on for far too long so I ran out the door to find that Fergie had a paint turtle he was about to eat and Sammy had him pinned down in alpha mode, clearly telling him not to hurt the turtle. What happened next was amazing: Fergie picked up the turtle and ran several acres away, down to the pond. He placed the turtle by the side of the water and ran back up the hill to the house. We share consciousness with our animals and I’m sure you notice that when you are centered they are centered, too.
When I was 19 I was tested at Columbia University for right/left brain hemisphere activity and was told at the end of the day that out of anyone they tested, my brain was the most balanced. It is a factor in my intuitive psychic abilities for sure and the information I receive from my gang, whether they are in this dimension or not! They all come back and visit and they are all advancing on their own spiritual paths.
Something that has been helpful for me is that when I see a dead animal by the side of the road or anywhere for that matter, I always say a prayer. It has changed the way I see their death and framed it more as their return to the earth. That may be useful for you, too.
Mia
i’m super excited that you shared that link with us miaferoleto, i need to write that time down to try to listen to what you have to share. i’m also surrounded by rescues and in between administering to felines and canines, make art to send out around the world and just try to hold a balance for the forces around me (i always flash back to the scene in the movie “mists of avalon” where morgana is centered between the wolf and the bear with her arms extended out- especially since my animals are nicknamed wolfie (the husky mix) and bear (the gsd mix). speaking of learning from animal brothers and sisters-
i’ve often wondered why i’ve such ‘dead animal karma’ as me and those around me call it-
i know i live on the edge of the wilds but if anyone is going to have things drop in their yard or find carcasses, its me! its horribly upsetting to find and it often happens in cycles…
be…any thoughts? virgo sun, libra moon, taurus asc…..
Thanks, Judith.
So happy to hear Spanky is happy and well even if you and yours are dealing with weather in a serious way. I read a couple of articles about the tornados in your area being HAARP induced. If we could only learn to meddle in areas we can do some good and leave nature alone we would be so much better off.
As it turns out, I will be interviewed about my work with animals in two weeks on the Roxy Lopez Show. Here is the link:
http://www.thetruthdenied.com/c2010/showschedules.php
AND, this coming Tuesday, June 4th at 8 EST, Roxy will be interviewing Len Wallick. The link posts to Len’s interview as well.
Stay safe, Judith!
Mia
What a joyful clip, Mia, and such a lovely wolf-person. HOW do people kill them, I just don’t understand it. Spanky is doing well, although he’s reluctant to be around cars now, which is understandable. You can still see the big swatch of hair ripped out by the tire tread as it rolled over his little frame, reminding me daily that he’s my miracle boy.
Thank you for your stewardship on the behalf of animals, which, as you say, is badly needed — and will be — by human-critters, as well. It is best to remember that it is not our power that defines our humanity; it’s our tenderness.
And oh, Miss be, how MANY words over the years. I think it was about five years ago that Eric suggested I’d already written more than one book, post-wise. The one I actually wrote AS a book never did find a publisher — and since technology caught up with that, I’ve not pursued it. I toy with the idea that I will, one of these days, when I find the time (HA! As if …)
Yesterday afternoon until well into this morning, it’s been white-knuckled around here. Tornados touched down several places but didn’t kill anybody, at least not as yet reported. The Patch is directly in the path of whatever hits in Tornado Alley (OK) and we get the tail end; this time, it didn’t lose force until it was past us, touching down here and there for hours. After that, most folks were up all night with thunder and lightning cracks, the smell of ozone and general unease. I see the storms are headed to you, I’m covering you with Light and protection as we speak.
This weather is crazy-making, though not bat-shit crazy. The Urban Dictionary sez this is a riff on “bats in the belfry” and sites Tom Cruise jumping on Oprah’s couch as an example. An excellent one, I thought, not being a Cruise fan. Whatever drops yer jaw in total disbelief = b.s.c.
Update in the news includes a Monsanto response to European reluctance to accept GMO seed:
“We’re going to sell the GM seeds only where they enjoy broad farmer support, broad political support and a functioning regulatory system,” Helscher told Reuters. “As far as we’re convinced this only applies to a few countries in Europe today, primarily Spain and Portugal.”
Given the push to take advantage of those still asleep to food dangers, it’s definitely time to write a letter to the State Department and suggest they stop shilling for Monsanto.
And on the topic of pot, an excellent McClatchy article begins:
Under federal law, banks can’t accept money from retail shops that sell marijuana, even if they’re regulated by a state… That’s because, in the eyes of the U.S. government, all pot sales are illegal, with marijuana classified as a Schedule 1 controlled substance, in the same category as heroin and LSD.
Heroin! Just absurd! I’m not a pot smoker but I don’t see how we can celebrate booze as an American institution (think St. Paddy’s, Cinco de Mayo and any tail-gate occasion) and demonize mj in the same breath. What a joke! The Fed is going to have to give on this eventually, but in order to do so the whole prison industrial-complex will shake and shift. One more time, it’s a matter of following the money.
Write a book Jude. Actually, you have already written one (or six), but it needs to be assembled and bound (for old timers like me who just love books). Nobody has a better perspective on what’s happening in the world, esp. here in the USA. When I first heard the expression “sausage making”, I really didn’t know how nasty that work was. But with cable news loving to expose the daily vitriol provided by our elected officials (for the benefit of their constituents), it has become clear. I’ve never completely understood the “nuclear option” either, as before astrology became my prime pastime, I only loved the romance of politics, and never dug into the actual sausage making part. Stuff(ing) like that you could tell in a way that would not be such a turn-off to many others like myself.
Anyway, the thing about astrological symbols that must be remembered is that each symbol can apply to both positive and negative manifestations. Also, it is hardly ever just one thing that is symbolized by a planet or its aspects. I remember, back at the turn of the century, how we worried and wondered about the meanings of the Pluto-Uranus square. It was always discussed in generalities; the uprisings and revolutions were speculated about but nobody knew for sure which ones would manifest. Now that it’s so in-our-face and in our gut we get the picture. Until you used the words “relentless obstruction”, I’d never associated the insane hatred (fear) of Obama solely and directly with Pluto, and shame on me for being so unconscious. That is one example of one symbol for which there are many more examples.
The positive side is that at least it isn’t hidden as it has been for 200+ years. We can deal with it more completely out in the open, even if we’d rather not. Uranus gives us the fire in the belly strength and the courage we need to tackle it. It’s the worst of the worst of sausage making.
Another confession, I don’t actually know the original meaning of “bat-shit crazy” (although it always makes me LOL to read or hear), not that it has to have a meaning of course, it’s funny enough to stand on its own. Please think about including that info in your book!
I do hope the baby lettuce makes it to the salad bowl and sympathize with you on the wilting heat and a head-strong Miss Kitty. It ain’t easy here in the Ohio Valley either, but like you tell us, we are star people and this is transition time, and it’s why we are here. So BE it.
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Like you, Judith,
I have tried to avoid politics this week. Not that I haven’t paid attention but I am going through a transition of my own, making plans to return to Vermont.
Your words about helping and caring for each other brought me back to your post about Spanky and his injury in early April. By now he must be completely recovered and back to his old self. A friend emailed this video that reminded me of the energy work you did with him after is injury and the healing energy that is available to each of us as we become conscious of our true selves:
http://exopermaculture.com/2013/05/31/earthfire-institute-for-forty-minutes-this-shy-skittish-wolf-lay-there-taking-in-healing-energy/
My sense is we have not yet started to see crazy as our current structure continues to implode and more and more people wake up and understand what is and has been going on around them. During that time it is important for us to remember who we are and why we came here. I have been working with animals in this capacity for many years and like Apricot, the wolf, I have seen time and again the animals I work with acknowledge and understand the energy that is coming in instantly and accept and receive it whole-heartedly. My chow/shepherd Sammy was completely feral when I rescued him the day he was to be euthanized in West Virginia. He was stressed it took him an entire year to relax enough to smile. When anxiety would take hold, he would come and ask me for energy to calm him down.
We have so much to learn from our animal brothers and sisters.
Mia