Ravensongs

Falling In Love With Cats-Spring 2009

2009-11-02T09:19:00.000-08:00

Falling In Love With Cats

By Raven Ariana, Spring 2009

When I reminisce about my passion for felines both wild and domestic I remember a few key influences. My grandfather was passionate about animals and used to bring home critters he would find on the desert construction sites that he superintended. He would show me lizards, snakes, tarantulas, and other small creatures. I’d hold them and admire them for a day. He would then return them to their original home. I always wanted to keep them as pets, but he would always say that they were born, lived, and must remain free. He did get me a pet chipmunk, my first exotic.

I also used to love to watch Wild Kingdom and Daktari. I really enjoyed these shows. Loving Clarence the cross-eyed lion was when I decided that I wanted to have a pet lion. Looking forward to observing Jim Fowler’s adventures inspired me to some day become a naturalist in the field. Right now I don’t own a lion and my naturalist adventures tend to be via the internet or at FCF (Feline Conservation Federation) member facilities. I still keep hope in my heart.

As a young child I often lived with my maternal grandparents. My mom had a turbulent life and I’d end up there, often lonely. I was a curious child and this led me to visit around the neighborhood where I met Agnes, the Cat Lady. Agnes rescued stray, abandoned, neglected, and feral cats. Her husband built her a state of the art series of cat condos and an enclosed garage size structure for the cats she cared for.

I learned my first basic feline husbandry from Agnes. She taught me about cat politics; who got along with whom, which cats had special health issues and the care they needed, how to feed and clean litter boxes, play and love for enrichment, care of the elderly, and which cats just liked to be left alone.

I was a lonely little girl and Agnes always had time for me. We would read “Cats” and “Cat Fancy”. She would make me tea and special crepes. She taught me how to make crepes. She treated me as a person, not a little kid. One of the things that made me feel special is when her elderly grumpy cat that hated most people would come sit in my lap and let me gently pet her.

After I was married to my husband, we went back to my grandparent’s old neighborhood. I knocked on Agnes’s door and her husband answered. I asked about Agnes and he told me that some neighbor had complained a few years back about the cats. The city seized her cats and put them down. Agnes was dead within the year from cancer. I believe that she would still be alive if her cats had been left alone. The cats were not a nuisance, were clean, healthy, taken to the vet, did not stink, or make too much noise. Agnes was not mentally ill; she had a kind heart and loved cats.

I now work to my best ability to protect the right to responsibly own the pets of our choice. I support animal welfare, education, conservation, and research. It was mentioned to me by a fellow FCF member that Jim Sanderson believes the key to small cat survival is “an exotic cat in every home”. We all need to fight together against the massive wave of animal bans and work to reverse these bans in places where they exist. If we love our cats and every animal we owe it to them. I write this out of my love of cats and all animals.

Copyright © 2009 Raven Ariana
Photo Copyright © 2009 Shapeshifting, INC.

www.REXANO.org

Caring For Fluffy and Fido in Their Senior Years-December 2008

2009-11-02T09:16:00.001-08:00

Caring For Fluffy and Fido in Their Senior Years

Editorial By Raven Ariana, December 2008

We all remember fondly when our pets were young and in their prime. Fido, the dog, fetched his Frisbee non-stop while Fluffy, the cat, chased her laser toy until she lay panting and worn out. Fluffy and Fido were energetic, healthy, easy to care for, and did not need extra effort or consideration. All we needed to do to achieve a healthy happy pet was feed, play with and love, take him/her in for annual exams and vaccinations, and provide the proper structure and socialization needed to get along in our family and human community.

What happens as Fido and Fluffy age? We may see a pet that is slowing down, sleeping more, playing less, and possibly developing health issues that are age related. How can we as pet owners help Fluffy and Fido enjoy their retirement?

Becoming educated on the realities of having an elderly pet is a good start. Issues that we might focus on are proper diet, reasonable activity level, and potential health issues. Awareness and observation are also important tools to use in assisting an elderly pet. When we practice awareness and observe our pets in action we can detect when there is a problem or when changes are needed.

A good example of observation and awareness is in the detection of pain. Cats in particular are very stoic when it comes to pain. This is a result of their evolutionary position of being prey as well as predator. A prey animal cannot afford to exhibit any signs of weakness. When we practice awareness and observation we can see that Fluffy flinches when she jumps from her cat tree. We then can take her to her veterinarian who can diagnose the problem and offer an appropriate remedy.

These skills are also critical when Fido begins to gain weight. There comes a time for the aging pet when changes in diet are important. Fido’s quality of life and longevity will decline if he is kept on the food of his youth and allowed to carry extra pounds. Our trusted veterinarian can advise us as to the proper diet and how to change from one diet to another. She/he can also give guidance on an appropriate exercise regimen.

Our veterinarian is our best friend when it comes to elderly pets. I personally have a cat vet, a dog vet, and a herp (reptile) vet. The clinic I go to also has a vet that specializes in surgery. The vets are also skilled in geriatric (elderly) animals. It is very important that aging pets are given annual examinations and appropriate tests, blood-work, and dental procedures. This helps our companion to have a comfortable life and allows our veterinarian to monitor the animals progress and condition.

Areas for pet owners to monitor are weight, pain, stress, changes in personality, breath quality (rotten breath could mean tooth decay), alertness, urination difficulties and frequency, water consumption (can indicate diabetes or other issues), hearing and sight changes, mobility, cognitive (mental) functions, muscle strength and co-ordination, activity levels, and food consumption. All of these areas can be important indicators of problems or needed changes.

When health problems happen we may need to alter our lifestyles or household accommodations. An elderly dog, or cat, with severe arthritis may need a pet ramp installed to help her/him to a couch, bed, or other resting place. A pet that has gone blind may need to have the furniture kept in the same place and all unfamiliar objects put away on a regular basis. Pets with cavities and tooth decay may need dental work. Animals that have certain health issues may need special medications on a regular schedule. Other handicaps caused by age may need a caregiver who resides in the home and can assist the special needs elderly pet.

Diet is a big concern. We may need to change our pet’s food to a formula calculated for the aging pet. Extra nutrients, pro-biotics, and ongoing awareness may become necessary. Pro-biotics are organisms that beneficially inhabit the digestive tracks of animals. Yogurt is an example of a pro-biotic that can help balance the digestive track of elderly animals.

When life threatening health issues occur we may need to evaluate the feasibility of interventive therapies such as insulin when a pet has been diagnosed with diabetes. Can we maintain the regimen of insulin treatment? How can we gauge when an animal has had too much insulin and is experiencing insulin shock? The diabetes questions are just an example of the questions we need to ask ourselves, and our vets, when determining to treat a condition that is ultimately fatal. We may need to administer various medications via a variety of methods to help our companions enjoy a good quality of life in their twilight years.

What happens when our aging pets are suffering and the situation does not improve? This is when we have a talk with our trusted veterinarian about helping our friend across the “Rainbow Bridge”. Compassionate euthanasia is sad for the entire family, yet sometimes the most kind solution. When we face this choice we can choose to be with our pet when the fatal injections are given. We can then have our pet cremated and hold a ceremony that honors our beloved companion.

Being a mom or dad to an aging pet offers the rich heritage of memories and love. Our senior pets are love angels. To those humans willing to learn, our pet senior citizens gift us a fountain of involvement and experience that teach us about the full lives which our companions have led. With love in our hearts, an adaptable and responsive lifestyle, and the understanding that older pets need a bit of patience and extra care, we can successfully offer our companions what we all might wish to have offered to us in our own twilight years.

Dog Photo © Mike Friese 2008

Lion Photo © Zuzana Kukol & REXANO 2008

www.REXANO.org

There Is No Such Thing As A Free Pet-Winter 2007

2009-11-02T09:13:00.000-08:00

There Is No Such Thing As A Free Pet

By Raven Ariana, Winter 2007

Some time ago I was on a yahoo group for exotic cat owners when one of the breeders who listed their kittens via the group posted a picture. The picture was of some kittens sitting with mirrors all around them. Her message was, “Guess how many kittens in this photo and win a prize.” For fun, I looked at the picture and figured out that there were three kittens. I shot her off a response with my guess. A little while later the poster sent me an e-mail asking me if I was a breeder. I answered that I was a simple pet owner.

I received a second e-mail inquiring if I let my pet cats go outside of the house. I wrote back and told her that my pet felines were strictly indoors only. The third message I got was that I was the happy winner of one of the kittens in the picture, as long as I was willing to pay for neuter, shipping, heath certificate, rabies, and willing to sign a contract. At the same time an announcement was placed on the list that I was the happy winner of one of the F-5 Bengal kittens in the photo.

This announcement provoked a flurry of upset and outraged e-mails. There were a few lovely congratulations. The majority of the posts, on and off list, were about how “unfair” the whole “contest” was and why did I get to “win” this kitten. It went on and on. The funny thing about the whole drama was the fact that the breeder was trying to be nice and do this as a promotion and I never in a thousand years, when I responded, expected to win an expensive kitten.

Any prize I might have expected might have been along the lines of a bumper sticker saying, “I love Bengal Cats,” or a mug, or something like that. Did I expect to win a Bengal kitten? “No!” would be my answer. Did I want a new Bengal kitten? Good question, that. Taking on a new pet is a great obligation and something any responsible pet owner takes seriously, despite all the Animal Rights hype you read about in the news or hear on television.

With shipping, neuter, rabies, and health certificate the price was going to be between three and four hundred dollars. Then there was the price of the shipping crate and the price of my veterinarian to do his health check. I always have my own veterinarian do a health check on new animals coming into the homestead. Then there was the matter of considering a quarantine space before introducing the new guy to the rest of the family.

Meanwhile the e-mail attacks on and off list continued. I was shocked that some of the attacks came from other Bengal cat breeders. This little kitten was pet, not breeder, quMeanwhile the e-mail attacks on and off list continued. I was shocked that some of the attacks came from other Bengal cat breeders. This little kitten was pet, not breeder, quality. Why would any reputable breeder be angry over a pet person “winning” a pet quality kitten? Sheesh, there is nothing any one can say about me that could be more true than the fact that I’m a stubborn individual. I might have been teetering on the edge of indecision about whether I wanted to pay (the incidental expenses) to take on a new kitten, but the nastiness pushed my stubborn button. What a bunch of Wahoolabits (drama stirrers)! The fact that they didn’t have quality lives of their own meant that I was going to have to make the decision to have a new little friend in my own far from empty life.

If any of you have read my children have grown up and moved away and that my mate has given me free reign to what and how many pets I can have. I did ask him, though, you’ll already know that all of my children have grown up and moved away and that my mate has given me free reign to what and how many pets I can have. I did ask him, though, about his opinion of the whole situation. His response was at first incredulous. He couldn’t believe the negative fuss and drama that some of the members of the exotic cat list were demonstrating. His next response was that it was obvious that we would probably be a better home for the little guy than some of the “Wahoolabits” on the list. I do want to say here that there were a couple of solid fellow exotic cat list members, who were happy for my good fortune. They couldn’t believe the drama either.

Enter in to my life Mr. X Marks the Spots. Mr. X is a pet quality Bengal considered to be of early generation. This means that he is close in line to his exotic forbearer, the Asian Leopard Cat. Mr. X has a cool coloured coat that is highly spotted and ticked. His head shape is interesting and not characteristic of many Bengals. He actually looks like some of the F-3 and F-4 Savannahs that I have seen. One Savannah breeder who has seen photos of Mr. X said that he is the type of Bengal that Savannah breeders like to use in their breeding programs.

Mr. X’s personality is also non-characteristic of other Bengals. He is silent, never meows (my other Bengal is an opera singer), and has a very sweet and somewhat silly attitude. He loves to play tricks on the other cats, like locking them all in the bathroom. He’ll also swat you with a paw if he doesn’t like something that you do. He gets along with everybody and likes to race around the cat trees like a crazed thing. He is very busy and has lots of energy. We call him “the peeler,” because he likes to peel out in the tradition of the hot-rodder. His theme music would have to be some of the newer works by Jeff Beck.

He’s also different from my other Bengal, Mr. Ozymandias who’s favorite saying is, “Bring me your finest meats and cheeses.” Oz is a gourmand with a spectacular appetite. X is a finicky and iffy eater. He will actually pass up his raw rabbit or cooked chicken thighs in favor of pulling a trick on his fellow felines. His favorite saying is, “Hey, guys, there’s something very interesting to see in the bathroom!” When they all enter, he quickly closes the door. Since he is silent he communicates via telepathic mind control.

There’s no such thing as a free pet. Anytime a person makes the decision to take in that cute little kitten or puppy, they need to understand the expenses that will be incured. Food, toys, beds, cat furniture, leashes and harnesses, veterinarian bills, and more are the price one will pay when taking on a pet and being responsible in the care and feeding of said pet. You might also have to pay for some damage if your puppy or kitten destroys things (natural behaviors of some puppies and kittens). One also needs to consider the nature of the particular pet that one is committing to.

Animal Rights extremists want the general public to believe (especially legislators) that most people are irresponsible, ignorant, and plain cruel AR advocates harp on and on about the huge issue of pet overpopulation, yet they are not honest in their reporting. It is true that some areas of the United States have a problem. What does AR not state openly is that the biggest problem of homeless pets is with feral cats and large dogs that have not been properly socialized. Some shelters are actually importing pets from other countries to fill the needs of their clientele. Some areas of the US have problems while others have a problem with supplying enough pets for the people who want them.

What happens when all pets are sterilized and breeding ends? Will this be the end of pet ownership? Will this open a new industry? How expensive will pets become when they start being produced in corporate puppy and kitten mills? Could this already be happening? These questions enter my mind when I see some of the legislation being passed around the country. I also ask myself this when new animal breed bans are passed. I can’t own an exotic cat, next I can’t own a pit bull mix, then I can’t own a ferret, next I can’t own a gerbil. At the same time the pet industry rakes in billions of dollars in profits. How can they profit if pets are banned? Follow the money. Have you ever seen how much salary is paid to those who run HSUS or PETA? You can easily find out by checking their tax filings with the IRS. Money is the grease that lubes the wheels of legislation.

Why am I going on an on about the AR big money agenda when I started talking about Mr. X who I “won” in a contest? It goes back to the outrage expressed at the supposedly “free” Bengal kitten I now own (money, money, and more money). Breeders were upset because they felt that they lost out at “free” money in the form of a pure bred kitten. Other pet owners were upset because they lost out on a “free” pet kitten. Yet, I have demonstrated that Mr. X has been far from “free.” I paid money for him upfront before I ever picked him up from the airport. Pets always cost money in one way or another. This is a fact of responsible ownership. AR isn’t going to change this fact, they might just boost up the price so that only the upper classes can afford to own a pet.

I love Mr. X and my other animal friends. Money could never come close to purchasing the love and fun that they bring in to my life. I want my great-grandchildren to have this opportunity, too. I am happy for the money I have spent to bring Mr. X, Ozymandias, and others to my homestead. The satisfaction and happiness is worth every penny. I am a person who understands that there is no such thing as a free pet.

Raven Ariana has worked on animal welfare issues for over 20 years, including a 2 year appointment by the County Commissioner to her local Humane Education Advisory Board.

Photo copyright © Shapelifting, Inc.

www.REXANO.org

Boa Love 10/07

2009-11-02T09:10:00.000-08:00

Boa Love
By Raven Ariana, October 2007

Cowboy first came to me as a wee pencil sized snake. My children had all flown the coop and my husband had promised that once that all of our dependents had vacated the premises I could have a snake.

I fell in love with snakes when I read Vonda McIntyre’s “Dreamsnake”. “Of Mist, Grass, and Sand” was an award-winning novella that allowed her to expand the story into a full-length book. This is an out of print title, but well worth the read.

It was a few years later when I found a green snake in a pet store. I purchased him/her and set up a herpetarium. My ex-occupant made it abundantly clear that next to mes’cans, the “N” word, and homos, snakes were worthy of the ultimate elimination from the Earth. Sad to say that he was a self-proclaimed bigot of all things human and animal. He even protested the existence of certain vegetables that he claimed to despise. I think that he would have found kinship in the arms of the extreme Animal Rights/Animal Extinctionists.

I named my green (grass snake) Grass. He dined on crickets and mealworms and would adorn my wrist with obvious pleasure. Grass was named after the Dreamsnake that motivated the plot of Vonda’s book. Sadly most folks thought that “Grass” was named after the herb Cannabis Sativa but I was not a doper seeking solace in a snake name. I was just a reader with an overactive imagination.

Grass was “disappeared” when I divorced the ex-occupant father of my children. I had lingered too long in a violent marriage. Why was I surprised that Grass was gone? The ex had complained every time I handled Grass. He would claim that Grass made lewd and obscene movements on my wrist. Sadly it was to be many years before I would have another snaky pet. By the way, I have to credit my good friend Butch for the term “Occupant”. As writer William S. Burroughs was known to say, “That’s good enough to steal!”

Take a moment to time warp forward to a year (actually 2006) after the children are grown up, gone, and have reproduced. As the nest empties a funny thing happens. Perhaps you have heard the phrase “nature abhors a vacuum”? Well, I can tell you first hand that there is some kind of gravity like truth to this saying. I have cleared space, time and time again, only to see it filled with stuff like junk mail and my untidy way of “organizing” paperwork. When life leaves a space, life likes to return in spades. In place of the two grown boys who left home, a myriad of creatures came to take their portion of the not-so-disposable income.

There is no such thing as a “free pet”. Repeat this phrase at least three times while clicking your sneakers together. The animal I paid the smallest amount of money for was a local “rescue”. Her name is Velvet and she is a black, domestic, medium length hair cat. You can see a photo of her if you look at the REXANO reptile photo section. She is posing with her Boa buddy, Cowboy.

Velvet cost about $100.00 in adoption fees. Of course, this was fine with me as it included shots, spay, and a health check from my trusted veterinarian. Consider the love that would be returned, a real bargain. Velvet could have been a poster child. Her sad life, rescued from a well-publicized fire, and all the rest of the drama, could easily have filled the coffers of those organizations that survive on donations and high profile stories.

I like the rescue/foster group that placed Velvet. They downplayed the media’s BS about the “Fire Cats”. They said that the woman who had Velvet did not fit the “cat hoarder” profile”, even though the woman had many cats (more media BS), and they were honest about Velvet’s not-always-so-nice disposition.

I do not consider myself a “pet philanthropist”. I do not tout the sad stories of the “rescues” that I have purchased. Most of my life I have bought pedigreed purebred animals and have always felt good to do so. I choose my pets for confirmation, temperament, and breed that suites my lifestyle and expectations. I come from a line of farmers, ranchers, and hunters. I was always told that you don’t buy a bird dog to herd stock.

Being a self-confirmed, genuine, home-girl (sheesh, when my mom died I had to find a home for her 23 bowling balls and her trophies for skeet/trap shooting, fishing, bowling, and single ski water skiing), I’ve had a weighty legacy to live up to. I hate to bowl (too many hours spent as a child at the bowling alleys), can’t ski worth a damn (never made it to a single ski), can shoot (but husband hates guns), and only fished with Pop (my maternal granddad). This left me a rogue in my own family.

What to do? Even though my family hunted, they also always enjoyed animals and if I truly examine my roots, I will see that Pop actually planted my love of reptiles and all kinds of creatures considered “oogey” by the masses. Pop was a construction superintendent in a desert climate and delighted in bringing home desert creatures to his favorite granddaughter. Miss Raven always wanted to “keep” these pets. Horny toads, snakes, lizards, scorpions, and tarantulas would have had to endure the endless attentions of a small child, although Pop always taught me that these creatures had their own homes. I could have their company for a day, but then he would return them to the desert.

Back in the present we now consider Cowboy the Red Tail Boa Constrictor. My life was to a point where I was negotiating with my mate to get a new snake. I discovered that “Green/Grass” snakes were no longer an option. The revelation became known that nobody had actually succeeded with helping a Grass Snake survive in captivity. Grass Snakes are native to the US and were a popular seller in pet stores in the late ‘70s. Sadly most of them died. They would not eat and thus starved. I never found anyone besides myself who actually had a Grass Snake survive for as long as a couple of years.

Since I couldn’t have a Grass Snake what kind of snake would fit my lifestyle? After much research I decided that a Rosy Boa might work well. Being a smaller Boa, the Rosy seemed like a logical upgrade to the Grass Snake.

I like to be prepared when I’m bringing new life into the “nest”. Knowing that I am a “snake newbie” I consulted, Jackie, my reptile mentor. I cannot sing the praises of Jackie enough! She is a thorough, conscientious, totally accessible person who loves reptiles. She has been a long-standing herp rescue heroine. I would like to express appreciation to Jackie and the Pacific Northwest Herpetological Society for all of the outreach and information they are and have been willing to share. Thank you, Jackie and PNHS!

Jackie knew of a couple of Rosy Boas that could do with a home where there were only a few reptiles. During negotiations her female Red Tail gave birth to a litter of kittens (snakelets?). She had an absolute favorite, a colourful individual with a perfect horseshoe marking in one of his bands. She could not keep her favorite because she needed the space for rescues.

Jackie has always graced me with trust, as have others. She felt that she would like me to give a home to her special snake. At first, my hubby was not willing to consider a snake that might get to be over the three-foot length of a Rosy Boa. He wondered if the boa might grow large enough to consume a cat the size of a small Pixie-Bob (cat). He reminded me of the expensive nature of the purebred registered cats in our clowder (group of cats). How could I even take the risk?

With a little help from Jackie and her reassurances to my all-patient partner that these snakes only eat already dead and previously frozen mice and rats, his reluctance was overcome. I would get to have three snakes. Next came the wait until it cooled off enough to ship all the boas together. During this time I would get my herpetariums purchased and set up. These habitats were/are several 20-gallon (long) aquariums, reptile lids, heaters, lamps, substrate, water dishes, hide logs, thermometers, and humidity gauge. (Cowboy has since outgrown his 20-gallon). Actually, he’s outgrown his 40 gallon especially designed herpetariaum.

Cowboy arrived a mere pencil sized snake. How cute is that? Everyone wanted to play with him before he grew. Fine, pencil snake…but can’t you love the full grown individual? Isn’t this the problem with many naïve owners? The same issue happens with domestics. “How Cute!” these idiots exclaim until they reach adolescent behavior!
Irresponsible behavior is even more rampant among the “exotic” community.

One of the best markers of my life as an exotic owner was when my mate, in the dark, yelled many a swear word. He had tried to take Cowboy out of his enclosure and Cowboy bit the crap out of him, in the tune of drawing blood. It seems that reptiles are
“Creatures Of Habit”. Maybe snakes bond with their handlers or maybe they don’t’. Cowboy has never struck me. He moves on my body as elegantly as Grass once did, though he’s a bit bigger. I feel boa love.

www.REXANO.org

Samhain 2009 (2)

2009-11-02T09:05:00.000-08:00

DREAMTIME IN OUR BODIES ©
by Lady Raven Ariana

Samhain brings us to the North West quadrant of the Wheel of the year and qualities concerning both these directions become easier to access. This year’s November in my region is seeing mild weather, thunderstorms, and rain. We have been trading sunny days with trees dressed in beautiful fall colours with cooler days/nights of rain and thunder. I live over four thousand feet above ocean level, over the ancient sea floor of what was known as Lake Bonneville. My house resides directly above the Wasatch fault on the first foothills that lead to the Rocky Mountain range. We are also part of the Yellowstone caldera, a geo-thermal hot spot caused by the volcanic activity that takes place when tectonic plates collide.

Earth, Water, Fire, and Air are all very active where I reside. My home is situated next to the natural outlet of a canyon and next to two different riparian corridors, coming from two different canyons. Though this is part of the “big city” the Elements are close at hand. Canyon winds come down my way and thunderstorms are active at different times of the year. We even get the rare tornado or two, and an occasional waterspout in one of the remnants of old Lake Bonneville, the Great Salt Lake. If I desire a spiritually active island spot, I visit Antelope Island. Most of us fear the shift of the Wasatch Fault and what could happen if “The Great Earthquake” tumbles our world.

For me the element North includes land, our physical selves, our homes, the location where we live, and the Spell of Change, “To Be Silent”. West is the realm of the Ancestors, the gate to other realms, dreaming, our emotional bodies, and the Spell of Change, “To Know”. Combined these two Elements bring a perfect opportunity to work with our Ancestors, begin or deepen dream work, and examine our relationships to our families and homes.

Dream work is a process using tools like journaling, or the recording of our dreams. Dream recording is best done right after awakening. It is common to leave a dream journal and pen next to our place of sleep. Further dream work consists of looking at the patterns of our dreams and trying to understand what our dreams are trying to tell us. This happens as a function of dream recording then reviewing our journals over time. Some people even look at symbolic interpretations of their dreams via archetypes and cultural/personal symbols.

Some people don’t remember their dreams and must begin a practice that encourages their abilities to retain dreams after they awaken from sleep. This might mean using meditation practices, setting an active intention before bed to prompt memory, ingesting herbal teas before sleep, or other tools that help the dreamer access and remember their dreams.

Dreams happen in our physical selves and reflect our hopes, fears, aspirations, familial relationships, spiritual promptings, the processing of events, and other information in our sub consciousness. Dreams can also predict a future, issue warnings, and offer instruction from our Spiritual Guides and Ancestors. Dreaming is extremely personal and must be personally recorded and examined to determine patterns and what our dreams are telling each of us. This means that “dream interpretation” only goes so far. What one dream element says to one person might be different for another. There is no substitute for personally working with one’s own dreams. Dreaming, along with her sister, Journey, are very potent tools for any shaman’s ability to positively affect her/his own life and the lives of others.

Here is a recent dream I have had. It won’t mean much to most of you, but it communicates to me.

I am at a cat show in a hotel where our show has been given a tiny space that does not allow set up of our cats and the judging of our cats. I’m there with two cat friends and others that I know from the world of cat shows. Folks are complaining that there is no place to set up their cats’ places, let alone where will all the judges actually examine and compare all of the cats (I am leaving out cat show terminology for you all}. I’m trying to help out and ease peoples’ fear and anger. I suggest that we talk to the hotel management and get this straightened out quickly before more exhibitors arrive. Everyone is extremely anxious. I try and lighten the mood and suggest that since it is close to Halloween we could wear our cats on our heads and call them “fright wigs”. Everyone laughs at this silliness and I awaken when my Savannah Cat starts twitching in his sleep at my feet.

Though this silly dream is beyond many peoples’ ability to interpret, I used it as guidance. I talked to both of the “cat friends” from my dream to share the silliness of the ‘fright wigs”. Friend number 1 has a husband dying from cancer. She had been having a bad week. When I shared this dream she laughed then unburdened herself. Friend number 2 called me this afternoon to update me on an upcoming move that had to do with her own cats. I shared the dream and she also laughed and this lead to more sharing. These interactions provided opportunity for support and potential healing.

Dreams are often surreal, bizarre, evoke extreme emotion, or seem to make no sense at all. This is why it is very important to work with them in a dedicated fashion. Your dreams can be one of the most transformational tools available and can help you work with those parts that you hide from yourself, the parts sometimes known as “the shadow”. Learning about one’s “shadow” is called shadow work and needs an article dedicated all to itself. Perhaps for the next issue of “Earrthsongs”, Bride will shine her light and a “shadow” article might be forthcoming.

In the meantime, start keeping a dream journal. Record your dreams or begin the work to remember them. If you are a “wounded healer” like many of us here, you will find your dreams disturbing but a powerful helper. Check into the geography where you live and compare it with your own spiritual work. If you need inspiration or prompting, journey to your spiritual guides and ask for help. Call on the Ancestors to aid you in navigating this darkening time of the year.

In the more Northern Hemisphere we are moving towards the Longest Night. Mystery cloaks herself in darkness, while our dreams bring us an opportunity for our deepening understanding. As the trees paint, then shed their Autumn leaves, we can look at our hibernating brother/sister plant and animals then take in the lessons shared. Rest, look deep within our dreaming, replenish, and be ready for the next lessons and seasons to come.

Blessed Be!

Samhain 2009 (1)

2009-11-02T09:02:00.000-08:00

Hare and Lynx: The Cycle of Life
c.Lady Raven Ariana

When we look around us we can observe relationships and the patterns of interactions between predator and prey animals. These balances are vital to keeping ecosystems healthy. The predator/prey relationships experience times of change, waxing and waning in order to keep equilibrium over time. Their ebb and flow cycles adapt to seasonal variations that shift because of different climate factors, food availability, other animal/plant species interactions, various other environmental factors and disturbances by humans.

In the North American Rocky Mountain region we can observe the scientific study of the predator/prey cycle in Lynx and Snowshoe Hare. Observation over time has shown that the numbers of Snowshoes and Lynx varies. There are years that there is a population explosion in the Hare, followed by increased births of new Lynx. Then the pattern shifts and the Hare die off, leaving the Lynx to starve and expire from disease. Other years too many Hare and too little Lynx mean starving and diseased Hare.

This relationship is a dance that follows food availability that is affected by precipitation, temperature, specific plant growth, and competition from rivals. What has been discovered is that the amount of food available effects the population of both species. When there is not enough food for Hare, Hare dies. Lynx feeds on Hare. When there are not enough Hare, Lynx dies.

Natural adjustments take consideration of variance over time in climate and other factors affecting food availability for both species. Left intact this allows a dance of ebb and flow where both species survive overall. Some years the Lynx are few, other seasons both Hare and Lynx are scarce, yet during some times we see abundance. In a healthy system the pattern of the dance allows adaptation so that both species and the other plants/animals in co-habitation survive with the maximization of genetic diversity given differences in local climatic variation. Genetic diversity ensures the greatest chance overall of species survival. The more species survive the more everyone survives.

The dance of predator and prey is crucial for all. Balance needs to be achieved in the long term because false unbridled growth of any species for too long can equal disease, starvation, and even the loss of genetic variation.

What does this mean for the Celtic Shaman or other spiritual practitioner? Cycles happen and can be observed over more than a single year and a day. This means that we can be faced with life’s lessons over and over again, seen from different parts of the cycle, even when we think that we have already learned the particular lesson being represented. This also occurs with ancestral issues. We may carry lessons to be worked out that we have inherited from our ancestral lines. These issues might relate to parent/child struggles, creative expression, stress coping patterns, and anything else that has to do with living life in this classroom we call Mother Earth.

What Hare and Lynx can teach us is to use journaling and observation over time to see these larger patterns. We can then read back and see the cycles, how they play out and interact. Perhaps we can apply new tools to create healthy change in our interactions with these patterns. We can even change ourselves, heal, and move on to new lessons.

To learn more about Lynx and Hare read what is known about these animal helpers.
To start go to:

Canadian Lynx:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Lynx

http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Lynx_canadensis.html

http://www.nwf.org/canadalynx

http://ds.dial.pipex.com/agarman/canlynx.htm

Snowshoe Hare:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowshoe_Hare

http://www.museum.state.il.us/exhibits/larson/lepus_americanus.html

http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Lepus_americanus.html

http://www.adfg.state.ak.us/pubs/notebook/smgame/hares.php

Lughnasadh 2009 (2)

2009-11-02T08:59:00.000-08:00

BIRTH OF A BEE ©
by Lady Raven Ariana

I belong to a local group of urban homesteaders that network, host workshops, socials, campouts and gatherings, and generally share knowledge, help, and support with each other. On July 21st one of my long time friends and fellow urbanites hosted an event about beekeeping in the city. She has a place in an older part of the city and has chickens, quail, bees, and a large garden. When we gathered in the afternoon the temperature was scorching over 100 F. A canopy was set up to shade the treat and drinks table. There was no shading the hive, garden, or livestock. The lively children played in the water and on a trampoline. My friend had nicely packaged honey and beeswax with clever labels on display

Danielle Downey, our state’s Bee Inspector, joined us. It is currently legal to have bees, even in the city; yet you must register through the state’s agriculture department and pay a $10.00 yearly fee. Danielle had a wonderful presentation with large colour pictures showing various aspects of bee biology. She is enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and totally supportive of the urban beekeeper. She offered many resources and ways to learn about beekeeping, dispelling myths, and getting started. She talked about all aspects of beekeeping and answered questions. Our hostess chimed in and showed her methods of honey extraction and other experiences she has had. We saw an example of two different styles of hives and heard the pros and cons for each.

Danielle really urged folks to consider beekeeping because of the dangers facing bees in the modern world. Urban beekeepers may prove to be a strong hope for the continued existence of the European Honeybee (the bees that pollinate most of the world’s crops). Disease, parasites, genetic bottlenecking, and a not understood problem called colony collapse disorder is threatening bees. Modern home yard practices geared towards the reduction of food plants for pollinators and the pervasive use of herbicides/pesticides are also a problem.

Following a lengthy Q and A, Danielle said that the conversation and questions could go to the wee hours, now it was time to get down to the meat (or BEE) of the situation; opening the hive. My friend and Danielle explained all the necessaries (leverage tool, bee brush, smoker, and bee helmet/net…mostly to keep bees out of your hair.) In a traditional set up you have “supers” stacked on top of each other. The bottom supers contain the queen, eggs, and developing brood. The top most supers contain the comb honey.

When the top supers were opened there was trepidation with a few of our members. The bees remained calm and docile and soon FRESH honey in the comb was distributed to the ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ of all participants, young and older. Supers can weigh 100 pounds or more and it took both our hostess and bee inspector to move them. After the couple of top supers were removed we got down into the actual functioning of the hive. We saw drones and new grubs, we observed how bees fed and fanned the honey to keep an even temperature. Denise plucked a few drones (non-stinging) for the children to handle. Even the most fearful child braved the experience to handle a buzzing drone.

A memorable moment was when Denise showed us how to see a Drone’s sexual parts and how to extract semen. Wow….not everyone has experienced this! She could deftly extract drones from any part of the hive we visited.

The highlight of the bee-show was the birth of a worker! She eats her way out of her cell, then immediately sets up housekeeping by cleaning up after herself. All bees are girls except the drones. Workers are utilized according to life experience. Young workers have nest duties, while older workers gather honey or guard the nest. Drones are driven out of the nest at the end of the growing season before winter, so not to waste resources. Bees cluster in the winter and maintain critical warmth by fanning their wings, clustering, and moving between layers of the cluster.

Bees can be maintained as far north as Alaska. Special winter techniques must be applied.

I have to say that seeing a worker bee emerging from her cell and tasting wild urban honey from the same nest is quite the harvest experience. Lughnasadh is first grain harvest. What better way to savor the holiday than enjoying local urban honey, quail eggs and the company of local urban homesteaders?

Lughnasadh 2009 (1)

2009-11-02T08:58:00.000-08:00

DRAGONFLY & MONARCH:
SHAPE SHIFTERS & VOYAGERS
BETWEEN REALMS ©
by Lady Raven Ariana

I was sitting in my garden this evening contemplating the wild visitors when I noticed a very regal Dragonfly perusing my small bit of wild. I pointed her/him out to my mate and observed that he/she seemed to be looking for a place to perch. The Dragonfly then moved on. I live in the City with a tiny yard, though I’m close to canyons and streams.

My gardening styles of organic, xeriscaping, naturalizing, and attracting local flora and fauna were definitely seen as unpopular, non-conformist, and “bringing down the local property values” type of behavior from my neighbors. Many years later there are more xeriscaped lawns in our neighborhood while there continues to be a plethora of lawns and the chemical keepers to maintain them. The times are slowly changing.

Later in the evening the gorgeous Dragonfly returned. She/he decided to settle on the main power line that enters our home. It was an electric sight, the cable twined where Dragonfly crouched. The day’s last light haloed the wings to perfection. When I pointed this out to my mate, we were both reminded of the phalanxes of Dragonflies that would patrol our street. Last year they began to return after a hiatus of a number of years.

Dragonfly has an ancient heritage. He or She might be a harbinger of fate, good luck, and/or hope renewed. The Ancestors sometimes use Dragonfly as personal eyes to look over their line and make sure that their magical progeny are being true to the ancestral work. Where Dragonfly flies Ancestors watch. Dragonfly also brings some of Dragon’s archetypal magic and energy, offering protection and transformation. They are shape-shifters; their life cycle is lived in 2 very different elements.

Dragonflies are creatures of water and air. Eggs are deposited in water. The nymphs or naiads (young Dragonflies) feed on mosquito larva during their aqua phase. They continue this predation after their transformation into their adult flying form, feeding on many, many mosquitoes and other insects in the air. They aid in controlling mosquito numbers, thus helping to protect humans from mosquito vectored (carried) disease. Dragonflies and their relative Damselflies species, like frogs, can indicate the health or dis-ease of an environment. Both are sensitive to pollution, toxins, pesticides, herbicides, and environmental poisons of many types. If these creatures vanish from an area, this might indicate an environmental threat to people and other species, especially concerning water.

When Dragonfly comes to us it is important to examine our lives and our relationship to our environment. Do we have clean water to drink? Are we taking precautions to remain healthy when illness might be about? What might we need to change to better protect our spiritual growth? We may also need to consult with the Ancestors on how to best use our magic and transformational energy to further our spiritual work.

To learn more about Dragonflies and Damselflies:

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthropoda/uniramia/odonatoida.html

http://www.discoverlife.org/20/q?search=Odonata

http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/odonata/odonata.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragonfly

Butterflies and moths are viewed in many cultures as a symbol of transformation. Many myths are told incorporating the dramatic changes between the caterpillar, chrysalis, and emergent butterfly. Different species have/had stories that correspond/ed to the peoples and places they live and have lived. Magic is always a strong theme.

I have been carefully cultivating a patch of milkweed over the last few years. Year by year it has grown and I was pleased to see a pair of Monarch Butterflies dancing around it the other day. Milkweed species are the feeding plant for Monarchs. It is where they lay their eggs so that the caterpillars can eat and grow. There is good news and bad news about milkweed. Milkweed can be a victim of modern agriculture. Many herbicides are geared to kill it and pesticide gene-modified pollen can fall on it from corn by roadsides or spread via the wind, poisoning the Monarch caterpillars feeding on the contaminated plants. The good news is that milkweed is becoming more and more popular in butterfly gardens and an increasing number of people are cultivating it.

My milkweed is organic. Some of my neighbors think it is undesirable, though the flowers are beautiful. A special red beetle feeds on it, too. These red beetles were our first regular milkweed visitors.

Monarchs are one of the most popular of butterflies and are called “The Wanderer” in Australia because of their amazing seasonal migrations. North flow migrations begin in the spring in the Northern Hemisphere, while South flow migrations begin in the fall. Migrations generally span the lives of several generations. The last generation of Monarchs experience a phase called diapause causing them to go into a non-reproductive state. At this time they will over-winter in colonies. Monarchs can also survive a trans-Atlantic flight. The largest threat to the survival of the Monarch is habitat destruction and loss of its only food-source, milkweed species.

Monarchs journey across land and the elements. They are sensitive to the seasons. They begin their lives in the land realm and take to the air as adults. They are creatures of Earth and Sky. They are dependent on a particular family of plants for survival. Monarch can herald great change, initiations, journeys, pilgrimages, or a need for these in a person’s life. Monarch can also indicate a need for an examination of one’s system of physical survival. Where are we getting our food? Does this nourish us? Are we keeping our Spirits well fed, too? Are we living in an environment where we can thrive? Are we willing to change to grow and develop? Further Monarch might be telling us that we need to take a time out. How do we know what message Monarch brings? We need to listen carefully with our whole Being.

To learn more about Monarchs:

http://www.monarchbutterflyusa.com/Cycle.htm

http://www.monarch-butterfly.com/

http://www.monarchwatch.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarch_(butterfly)

To learn more about Milkweed:

http://www.geocities.com/bttfly9/growingmilkweed.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milkweed

Red Milkweed Beetle:

http://www.cirrusimage.com/beetles_red_milkweed.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetraopes_tetrophthalmus

Dragonfly and Monarch Butterfly share the qualities of shape shifting, magic, and journeying between realms, elements, and places. They both signify transformation, change and a healthy relationship to the natural environment. A special lesson these two guardians share is their ability to demonstrate the impact of one space or element on another. They both show connection. Wind can carry poisonous modified corn pollen to milkweed plants, which then poisons the earth-bound Monarch caterpillars. Air and earth can bring contamination to waterways where Dragonfly nymphs are poisoned. Habitat destruction will kill both species in all forms.

We learn from Monarch Butterflies and Dragonflies through developing our relationships to the very places we live, observing through the seasons all the creatures and habitat around us. We can apply the many lessons that these guardians brings to us both internally and externally; transforming the way we think, what we desire, what we feel, how we behave, and what we need to change. We might plant a butterfly garden or help clean up a waterway. We might make a sacred pilgrimage or experience an initiation. Gratitude and understanding is important in working with any of our guardians, champions, totems, or Ancestors. When we open our hearts in a sincere and grateful fashion we allow ourselves the space to hear with our spirits the messages they bring.

Beltane 2009 (2)

2009-11-02T08:57:00.000-08:00

NATURE KNOCKING ©
by Lady Raven Ariana

As Spring brings the gifts of the Mother, the Bird People become active in their courtships, territorial disputes, and raising of children. I’ve been blessed this spring with two rival woodpeckers drumming up their mates and marking territory right outside my urban back door. I usually have one woodpecker announcing his presence by going from one wooden telephone pole to the next. This year, though, I’ve been graced to hear two dueling Downey woodpeckers competing from neighboring phone poles.

Woodpecker brings us a call to evaluate what rhythm we are following. Are we doing what our hearts desire? Are we dancing the dance that fits us? Are we following some pied piper that is leading us away from who we really are? When is the last time we took inventory of ourselves and lives to see how much happiness and satisfaction we are experiencing? Are we living with a schedule that optimizes our health?

Having two woodpeckers this year caused me to wonder if I have been experiencing competition on what I should really be doing with my life. Have I been aware of this? What are the competing factors and what will best fit me? How is this affecting my spiritual journey and relationship to all I live with?

It is common when an Animal Guide presents itself to us that it brings us the gift of self- examination. We might be called to take personal inventory and look at issues we may have been previously unaware of. Guides also bring us the gifts and strengths of their kind. By understanding and studying their behavior, researching their biological lives, and taking time out to practice quiet listening, we can learn to understand the messages they bring us.

Woodpeckers eat insects that live in trees, under bark and in plants. Downey woodpeckers are fast and bold when they are seeking food, mates and raising their young. They are territorial and the males display this by tapping on anything that resonates. Dead wood, telephone poles, metal poles, and drain spouts can all be a means of announcing their presence. Different types of woodpeckers have variety in their behavior, looks, range, and size. Some woodpeckers are called “sapsuckers”. This comes from their drilling into trees after insects which can cause sap to flow from the pecked at tree.

Links:

Downey Woodpeckers:

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Downy_Woodpecker/id

http://www.backyardnature.com/cgi-bin/gt/tpl.h,content=292

General Woodpeckers:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodpecker

http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/woodpeckers.php

An important factor when working with Animal Guides is to be open to what they have to teach us. We can also journey to our Animal Guide to ask for further information or wisdom. With quiet observation, dedication, perseverance, proper intentions, humbleness, and work we can learn to communicate with the sacred beings that share our planet.

Beltane 2009 (1)

2009-11-02T08:56:00.000-08:00

AVOIDANCE:
SAYING 'NO', HEALING,
AND REAWAKENING ©
by Lady Raven Ariana

The sun freshly shines on new growth, blossoms, and bird-song. We’ve had a snowy and cold winter here and the sunshine and warmth stirs new life in my soul. I’ve been in a process of illness that has left me redefining my life. I have had a “time out” for over two years and have suffered the tossing and turnings of a soul who needs constant activity and goals. During this process I have endured the grief process of denial, anger, avoidance, depression, and, at brief times, acceptance. Depression and the accompanying anger have been my most constant companions. When acceptance inhabits my being it brings a certain relief.

Being goal oriented, it is very disorienting to find oneself in a circumstance beyond one’s personal control to the point where one loses one’s goals. This situation brings its own struggles. My usual behaviors do not and did not work when faced with a physical inability to employ my patterns to “fix” the situation or put in place an alternate plan of action.

After endless dissection of my situation and many fruitless struggles and appeals to the Gods/Goddesses, Ancestors, and Spirits I went out of my personal behavioral patterns of direct action and began practicing avoidance. Avoidance is different from denial because I learned that when I avoided, I knew and made a choice about what I was going to avoid. I avoided many people, phone calls, declined or left obligations, practiced saying “no”, refused to watch the news, e-lists, e-mail, and became erratic in my behavior. This did not mean I did not feel many emotions of regret, self-blame, and negativity about what I felt of myself as some kind of “failure” set up by my own inner judge. This was a complex result of my own inner promptings that insisted I always needed to be “doing” something to further a goal for some greater “good”.

Denial is a condition where one refuses to see or acknowledge what is going on around one, including one’s own behavior or how it affects others. When I avoid, I acknowledge my behavior leaves a real impact. What I don’t know is how this ultimately affects the outcome of my world, relationships, and goals to be a helper and potential healer. This proves an interesting discipline in the giving up of control.

Control for me has always been a main drive in my existence. Having come from a traumatic past, I became a literal “control freak”. I felt if I could just figure out the right things to say and do, I could keep myself safe and build the life/family/supportive/reciprocal community I had always desired. After many years of struggle, I discovered no matter how well I planned, fulfilled my obligations, reached out, gave service, and tried to be a “good” person, I never came close to achieving any of my goals. In fact, I actually managed to push them ever further away. I did not understand that my plans involved other people and these other people had their own agendas, issues, and needs that did not resonate with my own. A big mistake I made was thinking these other people were like me in their agendas, thoughts, emotions, and desired outcomes. I call this the “ravencentric” view of the universe and it led me to much pain.

When I involved myself in a downside track of becoming a workaholic and tossed more and more of my life force at trying to make things “right” I ended up finally crashing and burning. There is only so much life force one has and only so much our physical bodies can handle. My stubbornness and ignorance led me to my long “time out”.

Did I accept my “time out” without a struggle and in good grace? No. I continued from bed to try and engage my usual patterns. I just tried to do this via plans, the Internet, and telephone. This didn’t work for me. I really needed to let go. Far into my process I finally found avoidance. I couldn’t easily or reliably disengage from my old patterns. What I could do was avoid or walk away from situations and people who engaged them. This only helped when I could actually realize I was engaging in self-damaging patterns. Once I had this kind of realization I could make a choice to avoid.

The art of saying “no” needed, and still needs, much revisiting. I also needed, and still need, to recognize when I punish myself with old negative self-talk, thought patterns, and internal judgments. This is work I imagine will last a lifetime.

Were the Gods/Goddesses, Ancestors, and Spirits silent and are they still? No. I found myself with help throughout this process and still do. I will admit it is difficult to make space to listen to the quiet wisdom our sacred helpers share with us, especially when we may be struggling hard with ourselves. Sometimes our inner distractions make it hard or impossible to journey to the Shining Realms. If we are filled with depression and anger it is hard to see a fallen feather as a powerful token and communication from an animal helper.

It helps to see and acknowledge that life is a pilgrimage with many interesting views along the way. As with any journey there are set backs, triumphs, surprises, beautiful scenery, varying weather, changing companions, and mystery. We may have a goal of arriving somewhere, yet the process of taking the path has its own flow. Pilgrimages usually have a goal of some spiritual transformation for the Pilgrim. Living life, with or without actually leaving our own homes, is a pilgrimage. Many times our pilgrimages, especially with their detours, lead to lessons learned and healing. We learn all kinds of useful knowledge on our trips, abroad and at home.

While I listen to the birds, smell the spring blossoms, enjoy the warm sunshine, I thank the Gods/Goddesses, Ancestors, and Spirits for being with me in the realization that healing is a process itself, a journey. I begin a process of reawakening. I may not know exactly what I need to navigate my life and there are many lessons I will continue to learn during my process. The reawakening Mother Earth in all her glory gives me a moment to pause and revel in my senses.

Blessed Be!

Imbolc 2009 (3)

2009-11-02T08:54:00.001-08:00

KEEPING OUR SENSE OF WONDER ALIVE ©
by Lady Raven Ariana

In Lewis Carroll’s “Through the Looking Glass”, in the 5th chapter, Alice has a chat with the White Queen. She expresses to the White Queen her inability to believe in what she, Alice, feels is the impossible. The Queen schools her on opening her mind and participating in the adventures that Alice is experiencing. This is their exchange:

"... Alice laughed. `There's no use trying,' she said `one can’t believe impossible things.'
`I daresay you haven't had much practice,' said the Queen. `When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast. There goes the shawl again!'" (Through the Looking Glass, Chapter 5: Wool and Water)

Imbolc, also known as Bride, or the Feast of St. Brigid, happens on February 1st or 2nd and celebrates the Irish Celtic Goddess of Healing, Smithcraft, and Poetry. She is known to be patroness to healers, shamans, craftspeople, and artists of all types. For many years a sacred fire was tended by an order of nuns in Kildare when Ireland converted to Celtic Catholicsm. This practice has been revived by a spiritual order of women. Bride is also connected to many healing wells in Ireland.

At this time of the year, when the light increases and the night is still long, Brigit, Bride, Brighid, however you say/spell her name, offers us healing and protects us so that we may connect with our sacred creativity. Creativity is our way of connecting to the sacred Cauldron, the Goddess’s womb. The Cauldron is viewed as a wellspring of life and transformation according to many Celtic myths in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Many believe that the archetype of the Cauldron transformed into the myth of the Holy Grail when the British Isles where converted to Christianity. The Cauldron and Holy Grail are seen as being a source of healing, transformation, and direct connection to Spirit.

In modern industrialized times many if not most of us live disconnected from direct connection to Spirit and are disenfranchised from our creativity. Many of us suffer illnesses, or diseases (dis-ease), and do not feel comfortable with ourselves in body, mind, passion, emotion, and/or Spirit. Many of us are disconnected from the Earth and the basic Web of All Life. We are taught that being a creative person is limited to those sometimes half-crazed and many times wounded individuals labeled by our societies as “artists”.

Further disenfranchisement is the active disempowerment that happens in our daily lives about what our potentials are, what is “real”, what is possible, and how much power we have to change our lives and tap into our creativity. From an early age many of us are discouraged to use our imaginations, be excited about the potential adventures of life, have direct spiritual experiences, feel wonder and awe at the world, and maybe even talk to and hear and understand the voices of the beings that share the world around us.

Instead we are taught fear and disconnection. Sometimes we are reprimanded or even punished for expressing imagination, wonder, joy, engagements with adventure, and creativity. We are encouraged to be “realistic”, “practical”, and make life choices that focus on the stereotypes allowed us in our culture. If we persist in our expressing what we, ourselves, see that others do not, it is possible we might be labeled as having overactive imaginations, hysterical personalities, disordered personalities, being attention seekers, or simply liars. This makes it difficult, or impossible, to remain an actively creative person.

Bride is also called “the Bright Arrow”. She protects and shines light on situations and shows us the way. The way is a path through difficulty, pain, and despair. She is the Goddess of Healing. Candles are often lit on this holiday to honor her and to celebrate the increasing of the light. I find it interesting that the Queen that speaks to Alice in the opening quote for this article from “Through the Looking Glass” is the White Queen who offers Alice enlightenment on how to “believe in impossible things”. These are important words for anyone who has been indoctrinated into a culture of limits, impossibilities, and constricting stereotypes.

If you can’t believe that it is possible to heal, be creative, connect with Spirit, or transform your life, then you won’t even have the space within your own mind and beliefs to begin the process of reigniting the wonder, joy, adventure, imagination, and creativity in engaging the mystery that is part of your life’s experiences. First one must make room to “believe in impossible things”.

If you think about and research the word “inspire” you discover that it comes from the meaning to “breathe in”. When we breathe with intention, awareness, quiet, and focus, the action of breathing allows us to still the mind and make room for new thoughts or “inspiration”. This is also called meditating. It is interesting that the White Queen “practiced” believing impossible things “a half hour a day”. In other words, she meditated with focus and intention, half an hour a day. This “practice” allowed her mind to expand enough to believe "six impossible things before breakfast”. She was also adept enough to tell Alice that, "I daresay you haven't had much practice." The White Queen’s advice to Alice is to “practice”, to spend half an hour a day with the intention of opening her mind to believing in the impossible and to remain open to the adventures that Alice was experiencing.

How can we begin a practice of reversing cultural programming that limits our creativity and potential? We must first give our minds room to allow and imagine alternatives. A daily meditation is a good beginning. We can get a white candle, light it, and just focus on our breathing for 5-10 minutes a day. When we light our candle we can ask St. Brigit (if you are comfortable) to join us and add her protection and inspiration. After our meditation, we can record our experiences in a journal dedicated to this special meditative time. There are also many other ways to meditate and quiet the mind. Feel free to ask Tira or you may forward questions to me through her.

Another powerful transformational tool that I feel works well with Bride’s energy and White Queen meditations is an Art Journal. This would be art quality paper bound in spiral or hard-back form with blank pages you can write on, draw on, collage on, color, paint, and use any other visual media to express yourself (glitter, stickers, etc.). You could use colored pencils, ink, glue photos or magazine pictures or other art that you create, use crayon, pastels, etc. This would be for your own private transformation.

You can ask yourself questions and then answer them using images, creations, and if desired words. “Who am I?” What do I want?” “How do I limit myself?” “I’m happy when…?”, “Who am I connected to?”, etc. are queries to get started. You could do your meditation and focus your intention for a question. You could ask Bride to help provide inspiration for a question. You could open your heart and just create. Add where you want to go, who you hope to be, and the love you want to manifest in your life with no impossibilities and no limits. You do not have to be labeled an “artist” to do your own personal Art Journal. You might consider setting time aside each day to practice.

If you feel afraid to get started, get a big box of new crayolas and make your first title page that indicates that this is “YOUR” art journal. Add some stick-on “stars, moons, earths, and happy faces”, glue on some glitter, draw some pictures with your crayons, and have fun! There is no right or wrong way. Sometimes it helps to scuff up a new journal so that you remove any idea that it has to be pristine or perfect. Read “Through the Looking Glass” and “Alice In Wonderland”. Follow through with visually recording your reactions and questions. Does the White Rabbit make you crazy or the smile of the Cheshire Cat? Would you have liked to join in the Mad Hatter’s tea party? The point here is to reignite or keep alive your sense of wonder, imagination, adventure, and your willingness to participate in the strange experiences life has to offer. Remember to soak in the fun and revel in the play. Blessed be!

Imbolc 2009 (2)

2009-11-02T08:53:00.001-08:00

FROM THE PLANT PEOPLE ©
by Lady Raven Ariana

In the Northern Lands our ground may be covered in snow. Yet, the sap of the Tree People begins to flow. Maple sap gatherers may be tending their trees and harvesting sugary tree blood to be enjoyed by those humans that love maple syrup. Gardening enthusiasts begin to dream about their gardens, while getting seed and plant catalogs in the mail. What will we plant? Where will our plants go? How will we cook these tasty fresh treats?

With these questions in mind, the Plant People and their attending Divas would like me to remind you all of the threat of genetic diversity on our planet. Big business agriculture has caused an extinction of an estimated 96% of our genetic plant heritage. Many of these extinctions are in the class of food for humans. Modern big business agriculture and chemicals has ensured their demise. Many of our food producing plants that are fit for our unique biospheres have become extinct. Small local farmers have literally lost their farms. Livestock diversity has also been compromised. What can we do?

We can spread the word and educate each other. We can buy locally, organically produced, fruits, vegetables, milk, eggs, and meat. We can plant heirloom seeds and seedlings. We can save seeds and plant our seeds so that they become even more suited to our locale. When we buy out of our area we can choose artisan cheeses, meats, and produce that are unique from their places of origin. We can support small farmers everywhere.

We can also take time to appreciate the foods we eat. We can bless our meals and feel grateful for our wonderful food. We can realize that we are lucky to have such abundance. We can savor each rich and refreshing flavor and feel the great Creator in our hearts. We can develop relationships with the plant Divas when we garden.

Develop a blessing/prayer in which to thank Spirit for the food before you eat. Meditate before and while you garden on the plant spirits and their Divas. Search the Internet for issues relating to sustainability, heirloom plants and animals, organic gardening, slow food, and farmer’s markets. Consider becoming a steward for an endangered plant or animal species.

The following is a list that can get you started:

http://www.seedsavers.org/

http://www.nativeseeds.org/

http://www.albc-usa.org/

http://www.nativeland.org/2.html

http://www.slowfoodusa.org/

http://www.slowfood.com/

http://farmersmarket.com/

http://www.localharvest.org/

http://www.realmilk.com/

http://www.eatwild.com/

I know that this list might seem overwhelming to some folks. I tried to cover what the Plant People wanted me to give you links to. They would be sorely disappointed in me if I did not offer the appropriate resources. If you would like or need guidance on developing prayers, contacting the plant Divas or Spirits, or any other concern raised by this article please contact info@faeryshaman.org, header, attn. Raven. I’ll then do my best to answer your question in an upcoming article.

May your candlelight grow!
Lady Raven Ariana

Imbolc 2009 (1)

2009-11-02T08:51:00.001-08:00

SPECIAL NEEDS SPECIAL DEEDS ©
by Lady Raven Ariana

(First published at Rexano Responsible Exotic Animal Ownership, November 2008)

Like “human animals”, our pets can have physical and emotional handicaps. These disabilities can be brought about by birth trauma, genetic defects, accidents, early environmental conditions, neglect, or abuse and injury done by the hand of a few sick and twisted humans.

Some problems cause a potential lifetime of suffering and these animals need to be helped over the Rainbow Bridge in a kind and gentle fashion. Only trained veterinarians should use the procedures needed to help end the life of a suffering pet.

Many people feel that an animal with any disability, what so ever, should be killed. They mistakenly feel that all disabled pets suffer and will only take up living space that could be homing some other needy creature.

Many of these same individuals have an opinion that animals only belong in the wild and that human beings should end all relationship with all animals. What they do not seem to understand is that humans are destroying and encroaching on the habitats of our last remaining “wild” animal brothers and sisters. They also do not recognize the special deeds of companion animals, especially those courageous souls that are considered “special needs” pets.

Consider Dorzie, a handicapped Savannah Cat. Dorzie was in his kitty mom’s birth canal too long and suffers with neurological disabilities. Dorzie’s problems were discovered when he was 6 months old. By this time Dorzie was an award winning show cat, an ambassador of the Savannah breed, a favorite with many of the TICA judges where he was shown, visited hospitals to help handicapped children pull out of severe depressions, and was a reading cat who helped children read out loud to him and his companion Savannah, Motzie. This is how Dorzie gave back to his human friends and society at large.

Then there’s Booboo Bugaloo, a Bearded Dragon with only 3 legs. Booboo had his name before his injury. The veterinary bill to amputate Boob’s injured hind leg was far more than his purchase price. Should he have been killed because it would have been cheaper to buy a replacement? No! When Booboo was at the hospital he charmed everyone. He weighed in at a whopping 9 grams. All the vet techs and other clients laughed at Booboo’s name. When he was retrieved everyone said how well behaved he was. I had to wonder just how much trouble old Boob could have caused in his 9-gram body. Tales are still told about Booboo and he teaches through the stories told about him, demonstrating the responsible care of a pet and responsible pet owner.

Tucker and Velvet are both emotionally handicapped. Tucker is a 12-year-old Shiba Inu dog that was severely neglected then ultimately abused by his owners. He was isolated, lacked proper socialization and enrichment, then abused when his original owners became angry when they decided to remodel their house and Tucker’s shedding inconvenienced them. They contacted a rescue, and then couldn’t wait until a foster home was found. So they shaved him bald, coated him in motor oil, and dumped him at a kill shelter. The rescue was able to retrieve him and he was passed around for a while. Nobody discovered that Tucker hated other animals. When he was adopted and relocated to his permanent home he attacked the other pets. Was he passed on, again? No, the new owners had dog-training experience and put Tucker in an area where he could be with them, but not hurt the other pets. He has been with them for 8 years.

Velvet is another survivor. She was rescued from an apartment fire where she shared a 2- bedroom unit with 37 other cats. They weren’t hoarded in the sense that they were clean, well kept, and had appropriate veterinary care. When the downstairs apartment caught fire, all the surviving cats would be permanently scarred from their experience. I don’t know if any of the cats died. Velvet was the first of the “fire cats” put up for adoption at PetSmart’s super adoption event. Her new owners weren’t aware that the event was that particular weekend. Usually they avoided “super adoption” at PetSmart because they would feel so sad for the animals needing new homes. Fate stepped in on this day when Velvet’s new owners came to shop. They were informed by the agency fostering her that she had emotional “issues”. She didn’t particularly get along with other cats and was a biter. She has now shared her forever home with other pets for the last 4 years. Tucker and Velvet both set positive examples for society of thriving re-homed pets that give love and joy to their forever parents.

There are many true adventures shared by the heroes we consider special needs pets. I will share one more story before I conclude this article. Stella is a therapy special needs Savannah. When Stella was developing the umbilicus was wrapped around the bottom portion of her back legs, thus hindering proper development. When she was born, this became obvious. Before Stella was named, her breeders tried to find her a home. At this time, people felt daunted by her handicap. Stella was scheduled to cross the Rainbow Bridge the day after her forever owners decided to take her. Fortunately the breeders were reminded of a friend who lost a Maine Coon in May of that year. The mutual friend who reminded them was aware that the people who lost the Maine Coon were still grieving. In addition, the wife of the couple had been confined at home by illness and was depressed. Would they consider taking the handicapped kitten whom needed special care? After conversations with the mutual friend and the breeder friend, the choice was made to adopt the cat. They chose the name Stella. The breeder cried when she got the good news. Stella went to her new home where she provides much needed love and therapy to her ill friend.

The stories of the 5 companion animals with special needs are all true. They represent a small fragment of the animals that give so much to their owners and society at large. One of the amazing characteristics shared by Dorzie, Booboo, Tucker, Velvet, and Stella is that they do not know that they are handicapped. To see Stella chasing her friends, jumping off the bed, or playing hard is to see a very happy cat that loves life. Watching Booboo Bugaloo dancing with or waving at his brother, Baby, will teach you that you can still dance and enjoy life with only 3 legs.

Look into Tucker’s soulful eyes, see him protect his people and home, and see the boundless love; while acknowledging that he is content with life and loves his people and home. Velvet shows her owners that she can still love and play after surviving horrific trauma. Dorzie steals everyone’s heart that he meets. Everybody wants to take him home. Imagine Dorzie listening to the children read out loud at the library with his cheerful, non-judgmental heart. What a shining example these pets make of the need for humans to relate to animals as brothers, sisters, friends, and teachers.

Pets with disabilities do take extra care. With the appropriate owners and homes perhaps they will be little ambassadors for their wild cousins. Perhaps they can teach people how important all life and beings are to the health and happiness of the planet and everything that lives here. Special needs animals and their forever owners are heroes and, well, special. They have a right to a happy life free from judgment from ignorant human animals that claim to love animals, yet seem to act in a fashion contrary to their claims. Perhaps the special deeds of our disabled ambassadors will touch come element of awareness and compassion in the souls of those people who do not feel that they should be alive. Special needs can and do lead to special deeds.

Dorzie Photos © 2008 Helmi Flick
Photos © Raven Simons

Samhain 2008 (2)

2009-11-02T08:49:00.000-08:00

TRUE COMMUNITY AND ON BEING AN ANCESTOR ©
by Lady Raven Ariana

Samhain swiftly approaches, as does the second birthday of my second to youngest grandson. My youngest male grandson was born 2 years ago on the 30th of October. My youngest grandchild, Rowan, was born 2 years ago come February. The days grow chill and the leaves are turning while I continue to serve the Spirits/Gods/Goddesses and the Ancestors.

Dear friends visited today to pick up some lawn furniture and other stuff, while helping my husband plant some trees. Reciprocity is a wonderful thing. My friend is also an Elder High Priestess and her mate, another friend of ours, is a wonderful Priest. While our husbands labored planting trees to feed the birds, we spoiled HPs chatted about lost relationships, the true nature of “community”, and leaving legacies for our descendants.

We have both retired from public service and availability and have become quite discerning where relationships are concerned. We, she and I and our mates, had become too familiar with “familiarity breeds disrespect”. We also tired of the endless outpouring of our precious resources to those who complained, “It was never good enough.” Add to this the ruthless competition from frauds seeking power, ego enhancement and glory, using the “sheep” (all agog,): no wonder so many Elders seek refuge.

My Spirituality was trashed by public service. This despite every effort to avoid the “trashing”. The only redeeming quality I had was my unwavering Service to Spirit/Gods/Goddess and the Ancestors. I also kept faith with my path.

I began this engagement with “community” believing that “My Pagan brothers and sisters will all love each other and wish to harm none while honoring the path for betterment!” This is not how events worked out.

I soon learned that there was no one true “local pagan community”, at least where I live. What was proven was a collection of a mish mash mixture of unrelentless rebels, power seekers disguised as “power within” brokers, ego maniacs, con-artists, anti-social personality disorders, and dysfunticional people of all types, add in the “sheep” that like a good show. Movers, shakers, and true witches/shaman were mostly discouraged, challenged by the power brokers, and jeered by sheep (the sad followers of the local glamourists). Those who tried to persevere, for the sake of the Powers, were ultimately defeated. This seems to be the prevailing trend where I live.

I could probably write a book about my observations on the outhouse of human behavior in the so-called local “pagan community”. What I did learn after many hard lessons of trial and error is that there is no one true local “pagan community”. There is no honor are no commonly held mores, morals, structure for behavior, common views of “harm none”, or any desire for most people to use “Craft” for the development of the self to evolve and better serve Earth, our Mother. What seems to be the common denominator is, like many other paths, the need to twist, bend, pervert and restructure the beliefs and behaviors for the benefit of predators and the truly lazy. If one can obtain power, sex, money, or self- importance then that seems to be the goal.

I know I sound jaded and I am, but there is hope. Keep reading and you might also find hope and light at the end of the tunnel if you live in an area like I do. When I left public service it proved to be a gigantic hole in my being. Yet, time truly heals wounds and nature abhors a vacuum. Slowly, but surely, my life filled with relationships that were truly satisfying. I did not have as many as before, but “quality before quantity.” As relationships thinned I became more introspective. My sense of spirituality grew. I no longer had to go around with psychic armor. I could spend quality time with my family and true friends. These were luxuries that I could not afford when I was serving the masses. I realized that I had neglected home and hearth for giving service to others. Those people who trashed my premises did so while bitching that I was not providing services in line with their needs. The “tittty” giveth, the “titty” taketh away (Raven’s quote). Grow up you adult babies!

I thinned and thinned, mourned and mourned. My last, most regretted, loss is a long- standing friendship that started as lovers. I had to let him go. He disrespected my wishes at every turn, never attended an event I lead, yet spoke as an authority about all my doings to anyone wishing to assassinate my character through gossip while disrespecting me and my directly stated boundaries. If I allow this behavior, how can I respect myself? Of course, his response was one of blame and denial of any of his personal accountability.

My goals now are to have the best relations I can have with my family and friends. I also wish to leave a legacy of familial reverence to my children and grandchildren. I find that the best relationships are with all of the Sacred and the best relationship with myself, while trying my best to improve my path.

How does this relate to being a better Ancestor or honoring them? On November 2nd I’ve arranged a Day of the Dead, Dia de Los Muertos, a celebration with my family and long time friend, Jesus. I’m planning on cooking a turkey! This will be the latest in the long- standing celebration of the Feasts of the Ancestors that I have organized for more than two decades. So mote it be! Blessed be to you all in your familial celebrations.

Post Script: I have had many issues with my Ancestors. My first feasts were with those who had passed beyond, I admired, but were not blood kin, Gerald Durrell and others. Many blessings to you in your seeking J May you troubled ones, like myself, make relationships with your Ancestors (flawed as they may be) be rewarding and healing. Love ya!

True community begins at home!

(If you are a “family” member, via friend or blood, and wish inclusion in this Ancestral event give me a jingle. It will be memorable!)

Samhain 2008 (1)

2009-11-02T08:47:00.000-08:00

Kindness In Nebraska ©
by Lady Raven Ariana

I received a phone call from a friend who breeds Pixie-bob cats in Colorado. It was an amazing story about a friend of her husband’s who was driving on a Nebraska interstate. He watched dumbfounded while a short-tailed cat streaked across the busy highway only to bounce off the wheel of an eighteen-wheeled semi truck. The cat was thrown clear back over the road and the man had time to stop and check the body.

The cat appeared to be dead. He loaded it up to take home for a respectful burial. When he got home the cat had, to his surprise, revived. After 3 days of seizures and periods of being comatose, the cat, now identified as female, seemed okay. She had a short tail and very friendly, so the man thought she might be a Pixie-bob or Legend Cat (foundation Pixie-bob). He called my friend for identification and sent her pictures. My friend called me.

When you view the pictures you will have to agree with my Pixie-bob breeding friend and I that this man had a young Bobcat on his hands. She was loving, able to be handled, and seemed to like the man who rescued her. I asked my Pixie-bob friend if perhaps she could have started life as a pet. My friend was adamant that she was wild-born and probably addled by her brain injury. My advice was for the man to contact his local fish and game warden.

Fish and wildlife were notified and this Bobcat girl, rescued by her Nebraska angel, was sent to a local wildlife rehabber. This all unfolded at the end of September in 2008. I’ve asked for updates on this wonderful story of hope and kindness. Will the Bobcat girl go back to the “wild” or will she become a star ambassador for the feline species to the delight and education of all?

Who says that there are no such things as miracles and happy endings? Guess what? It’s not even Christmas yet!

Lughnasadh 2008

2009-11-02T08:46:00.001-08:00

LUGHNASADH: TIME OF MEETINGS AND CELEBRATIONS ©
by Lady Raven Ariana

At this time, we gather and celebrate. We share stories around the fires with much drumming and laughter, In Old Ireland Lughnasadh was celebrated with horse racing, feasts, and tales told…each one taller than the last. The bards told tales of old gods like Finn McCool and others, other stories were embroidered just like modern fish stories. They always claimed to catch the biggest catch of salmon.

Stories and lore are just as important to our culture. Many of us come from a mix of Cultures (perhaps Celt, Creole, Welsh, Norse etc.), which might lead to confusion. Which blood do we follow? At this point we must consult the spirits. What better time than at Lughnasadh when we mix and mate.

What we are left with is the advice of the gods/goddesses. They can tell us who we truly are. How then do we go about obtaining their aid?

Here are some hopefully helpful suggestions:

1 )You must learn how to get into a relaxed state. This could be through breathing. If you use this method you can learn to count your breaths. First you might examine your own breath rhythms. Next you will learn to time your breaths. This may best be studied with the help of a yoga teacher or manual.

2 )The next consideration is proper nutrition. I recommend local and organic but these are decisions that you must research for yourself and come to your own personal conclusions. This takes time and effort to accomplish.

3 )Adopt a healthy lifestyle. Again, this is something which must be determined on an individual basis.

4 )Do something you love to do. This can be nourishing to your soul, just as other things can be nourishing to your body.

5 )Learn how to be still and listen. You cannot properly hear the voices of the spirits if your mind or environment is too busy or distracting.

6 ) Research your cultural traditions to determine which methods your forebears used to contact the spiritual realms.

I wish for each of you an enjoyable and fruitful journey of discovery.

Beltane 2008

2009-11-02T08:44:00.001-08:00

HEALING OUR SPIRITS
WITH PRESENCE ©
by Lady Raven Ariana

This morning I looked out of my window to see snow, followed by rain, more snow, a peek at the sun, more wind, billowing clouds, then patches of bright blue sky. The snow does not stick. It has been a few years since we’ve had such a spring here. This is actually more typical of the usual seasonal changes to our region. A saying we have about the weather in my locale is, “If you don’t like it (the weather), wait a while, it’s sure to change soon.” Snow on Beltane has been a 50/50 proposition, not counting the last 4 to 5 years or so. I live in a mountainous locale and we’ve even had snow in July (though a rare occurrence). The extremely mild winters, overly warm to hot Vernal Equinoxes, followed by blistering summers and super hot autumns are not the norm here, though there is variation from year to year.

Being physically present outdoors, honoring the God/desses, Spirits, Ancestors and, times of the year, brings one home to one’s body. Observing sunrise on the Vernal Equinox in the snow on a hillside while you’re moving yourself to keep warm is a bracing experience. Being outdoors at Beltane, warm or cool, is bound to get the blood flowing, whether you are basking in the spring warmth or weaving the Maypole through the snow. Midsummer, the longest day of the year, often brings some bodily experience of heat. Every holiday brings the opportunity to have a physical dance with the Seasons.

We honor Spirit at these times. We connect to the Sacred, the Earth, the Spirits, the Ancestors, the God/desses, and Ourselves. We connect to the cycles and seek communion, community, and healing of the Spirit, or perhaps we are solitaries and we find our own healing within connection to the Wheel of the Year, the God/desses, the Spirits and all they contain. The common thread is our own personal experiences within our bodies. It is within our bodies that we can dance the dances of transformation.

The body is our sacred vessel to effect change and healing. We are incarnated. We have the abilities to make new pathways within our physical selves. We have the opportunities to have full experiences: intellectual, creative, emotional, physical, and spiritual. These experiences can lead to healing.

I’m face down on the massage table. The healer is pressing down on parts of my back with her hands and forearms. Other pressure is brought to bear from different parts of her body. The experience hurts as she encounters knotted muscles, trigger points, and stored tension in my physical self. My mind tries to stay present. Do I feel and breathe through the pain, or do I disassociate and hover over myself while the painful work proceeds?

Disassociation is the Shaman’s gift and curse. We can separate ourselves from our physical experiences to journey, seek wisdom from the Spirits, or just remove our minds from pain. This pain can be physical, emotional, creative, intellectual, or our experiences of relationships/non-relationships with others of human kind. Disassociation can save us when we are overwhelmed with pain and have no apparent way out. It helps us to stay rational and functional in the face of trauma.

Disassociation can also become a hindrance when one is safe and desiring to work through issues: intellectual, creative, emotional, physical, and spiritual. How can issues be worked through and healing sought if one can only disassociate, that is, separate one’s mind from one’s present incarnated experience? Can we do this work of healing solely outside of our actual physical bodies? I don’t know the answer to this question.

I do know that our physical bodies give us a vehicle to move through our experiences in this lifetime. If given a chance and the appropriate tools, along with safe space to practice and experience, we can make changes in our personal patterns and the way we relate to our lives, the world, and ourselves. We can find deep healing of the spirit.

Some shamans are so physically or emotionally distressed that perhaps it is better for them to remain in a mainly disassociative space. Yet, there still needs to be some in-the-body reference point from which to make choices. This reference point allows the shaman to best use the time spent in the body, feeling pain and other states, to move personal and spiritual healing in a positive direction while doing whatever additional work the shaman feels needs to be accomplished.

How does one find/experience an “in-the-body reference point”?

I remember the first time I actually experienced being within my body since childhood. It was during a Hatha yoga class. I’d been taking this form of yoga with the same teacher, through college classes, for two years. He’d have us breathe through a series of forms (physical positions) then have us lay back and “experience what we feel”. For the first year and more of classes I had no idea what he was talking about. After two years of classes and practice, there came a day when I realized I actually felt an experience of being inside my body.

Wow, that was alien and strange! I was actually under my skin feeling my physical self. This is a very hard-to-describe experience. It felt alien in its calmness and focus. I had been used to living outside my skin, disassociating, in trauma mode for most of my life. At first, I didn’t like this feeling. It was unfamiliar, too slow and calm. It lacked the super hyper response level that I’d lived in for most of my life. Yet, the peace felt good.

This was my introduction to being inside my body, a ‘reference point’. Later I learned about some of the dissasociative states caused by trauma, abuse, and pain. I also learned about diseases that affect the spirit, emotions, and mind and how these also encourage our conscious minds to flee physical experience.

Our culture too often diminishes actual positive physical experience, while pressing living life out of balance and promoting unhealthy, unsustainable practices. We are encouraged to succumb to some type of cultural malaise and/or a myriad of addictions. We are also encouraged to divorce ourselves from our physical bodies and the rest of our experienced reality. This leads to scenarios such as sitting in an office with it’s artificial climate, ignoring the living seasons and how badly that different parts of our bodies hurt from repetitive motion until it becomes overwhelming and some modern doctor decides we need some kind of surgery.

Dis-ease is the inability to feel “at ease”. This disease can happen anywhere in the balance of being. Some people have disease at a spiritual level, others have it in their bodies, and still others with emotional problems, and some have dis-ease through out their entire being. In our culture, it seems that the majority of the people are experiencing multiple levels of disease and unwellness. Sadly this seems to be true for our Mother Earth, as well. We are out of balance within ourselves and in our external existence here on our planet.

Many, if not most, shamans work with helping and healing others. How much does a shaman have to be healed, intellectually, creatively, emotionally, physically, and spiritually, before she/he has the skills to help with the healing of other human creatures or even the planet? This, I believe to be a question that needs to be asked and answered by each shaman for him/herself. Our bodies can provide a reality check for our shamanic aspirations and duties. I also believe that being present in our bodies is a valuable tool for our own multi-faceted healing journey that, in my experience, is ongoing.

There are many ways to practice and gain in the abilities to experience the awareness of presence in our bodies. Yoga, meditation, bodywork, martial arts, dance, and many other disciplines can help us to learn or increase our awareness of physical presence. The Spirits themselves can suggest other diverse ways to gain experiences, practices, and skills. Journeying and other disassociative states can bring us tools for gaining knowledge of physical awareness when used wisely.

As I experience the changing weather, feeling the wind, the precipitation, and sun, as they come and go, I rejoice in my journey to have some ability to dwell within my body. I know that I’m still on my path with much to learn and experience. There is on-going healing to do. I realize that my practices will continue and I will collect new tools, skills, insights, and awarenesses along the way. I also gain in my abilities to physically experience pleasure and gratitude to the Spirits for this life’s incarnation.

While twilight descends around the volatile spring weather, we honor the very Earth that brings us soil, flowers, fruit and seeds. The slumbering night grows shorter as we approach the longest day. The day gets stronger and stronger, longer and longer, while the night shortens. We face ourselves towards the ever-increasing light. At Midsummer the day peaks and we find ourselves experiencing the longest day of the year. May all seekers, shamans, other Earthly dwellers, and our own Mother Earth find the blessings of healing and balance in all the realms of experience, awareness, and incarnation. May you all dance in healing with the Spirits and the Seasons. Blessed Be!

Imbolc 2008

2009-11-02T08:42:00.001-08:00

THE CREATIVE SPARK ©
by Lady Raven Ariana

Lady Bride, Brigette, Brighid, Brigid, Brighde, Bridey, Brigantia, Brigandu, Briggidda, Brig, Brigit brings to us the spark of creativity. Goddess of Smith-craft, Healing, and Poetry our creative Lady teaches us the mysteries of the life forces that flow through us all.

Imbolc is Bride’s holiday and is celebrated on February 2nd. Some folks celebrate this holiday on February 1st. Northern climes this time of year are cold, blanketed in snow, and still in the hands of winter. Yet, underneath the silent soil with its snow, ice, and frost, sap is beginning to rise, roots are reaching to the depths, and seeds are starting to quicken and stir.

In the forest a deep silence is felt, protective of the life mysteries happening out of sight. This same silence is instructive to the students of the Land and teaches us to hold our creative spark near and dear. Germinating ideas culminating in creation are best left to the protective silence of the womb, perhaps only shared with the heart beat of the Lady and the Land and those allies of Spirit that nurture our journey of self-discovery.

Too often someone speaks of their just sprouting idea for a creative project, an intended transformation, or an upcoming pilgrimage in the infant stages of imagination, only to be shut down by negative energy, skepticism, or ridicule. Negativity aside, dissipating one’s creative energy by speaking of it too soon, can derail a project, idea, or change.

In our modern culture, based on competition, escalating consumption, and a belief in the scarcity of resources, creative energy is seen by many to be very threatening. There is a prevailing belief that only “artists are creative” and the rest of the population not wearing the title of “artist” are not. Creativity is often shut down early in childhood through experiences with school systems, family members, other authority figures, or peers. This antagonism towards a creative human being does not end in adulthood.

Yet, we are all born creative beings. I believe that the soul killing/loss of the creative self is what leads to the hostility of so many persons towards the creative individual. This cultural hostility towards real creativity leads to a practical need to protect one’s self and his/her creations.

Sometimes the best offense in keeping our creativity safe is to be silent and just create, leaving our works to speak for themselves. This is especially important during the conception, quickening, birth, and infancy of any creative endeavor. Bride holds safe space. Her nurturing energy is very protective and she helps strengthen our energies and resolve.

As we move through the new wheel, Imbolc to Vernal Equinox (Eostara) and on towards Beltane let us remember the lessons of the Seasons with their cautions. Let us ask Lady Bride to accompany our creative journey and help us hold strong in this modern world so that we might transform ourselves to be the creative, loving, ever learning shamans working for the purposes of healing and bringing balance to/for all creatures, including the human creatures, once again to/for our world. May we live to restore the wild places, the balance of the elemental beings, and the many eco-systems of our planet, Mother Earth/Gaia.

Samhain 2007

2009-11-02T08:39:00.000-08:00

REVERENCE ©
by Lady Raven Ariana

Here we are in the time of the year known as Samhain. In Northern latitudes winter is descending and we see the longer nights reign. It is said at this time of the year that the veil between the worlds grows thin and it becomes appropriate to contemplate the world of the Ancestors and our relationship to them.

Do you have troubled relationships with those who have crossed the veil? Are there familial patterns that are negative? Are you uneasy with or unsure of your place in the world? Do you know why you are here? Are you comfortable with your place in this life and all that shares it? These questions and many others lead us to "The Great Work".

What is "The Great Work"? My answer would be that this is the work of truly getting to know your self and the place and relationship that you hold in this world and to all its beings. One of the wisdoms inscribed at the Oracle of Delphi was to “know thy self”.

Part of the journey to self -knowledge and your balance with all of life is finding connection with the Ancestors. When you develop a real relationship with them you find your place in the Line. “The Line” goes backward and forward and is your place within the culmination of the hopes, dreams, fears, phobias, skills, knowledge, and damages of your genealogical heritage and all that has gone before.

We all carry within ourselves the seed of what has gone before. We also have the ability to tap into the wisdom of our Ancestors. This might sound incredible to modern society. Experiential knowledge has shown me that there is more to Ancestral relations that meets modern sensibilities.

Relationship is the key to working with the Ancestors. An individual needs to develop tools and skills that foster a positive relationship. Reverence is a key in these relationships. If one scorns and hates them, positive relations will fail.

How does one go about developing reverence? I feel that first one must work with an Ancestor that one admires and has positive feeling for. This might even be someone that is not a blood relation. From there a person can work on more difficult issues. One also needs to approach this work with a great deal of respect. If you are confused about the differences between the words “reverence” and “respect”, it might be enlightening for you to look them up in the dictionary. I say this with gravity, because in the world of words it can be helpful to use tools like the dictionary to gain clarity.

Another important skill dealing with Ancestral relations is listening. Many people living in modern societies have lost the skill of listening. You might notice that when individuals have conversations or debates, there is a tendency to speak then formulate the next response while the other is speaking. When you are inside of your head putting words together to convey your next idea, you are no longer listening. There is an old Cherokee saying that goes, “Listen, or your tongue will make you deaf!” The Ancestors had the focus and ability to truly listen. This skill would have been necessary for survival.

If you choose to ask the Gods/Goddesses/Spirits for aid you might gain powerful allies in the work of Ancestral connection. If one have never had a relationship with the Ancestors one might not have a practical clue how the work might go. Your allies can help if you have had a prior relationship with them. If you have yet to work with Spirits, Spirit helpers, Animal Guides, or Deities, you may need to get help from human teachers and peers.

There are things you must keep in mind when you set out in to the world of Ancestral relations. Reverence and humility are paramount. Keeping an open mind is critical. If you come with a mindset that says "I KNOW", you will effectively block all new knowledge. If you walk in a position of superiority and judgment you will also constipate positive relations.

Understanding your own ignorance is an opening into knowledge. Respect for what has gone before is a humble acknowledgement to those who have experienced that which you have not. Without these attitudes you will be unable to listen, let alone learn.

With reverence in your heart, respect in your attitude, diligence, practice, patience, and humility a person can gain entry into the world of the Ancestors and begin to learn. You might begin your journey on the path of "The Great Work". What might be healed within your self and your own familial lines will be up to your own desire, will, and the blessings of the Gods, Goddesses, Spirits, and Ancestors. I wish you great success in your Ancestral workings.

Lughnassadh 2007

2009-11-02T08:38:00.001-08:00

FIONA ©
by Lady Raven Ariana

Horses have been a passion since I was a young girl. My paternal grandmother told me that at the tender age of two I was drawing figures of horses and unicorns. I’m sure these were crude. I always wanted a horse and spent my teenage allowances and babysitting wages paying to rent horses to ride by the hour. I would spend hours and hours drawing pictures of horses and reading stories and books about them, too.

I have yet to have my very own equine companion. During my university years I did have the pleasure of coming close.

I met Fiona, a very sturdy Welsh pony mix, during a university class I was taking for general elective credit held at a local stable. She was chestnut brown with a flowing black mane and tail. She, like myself, was of mixed Celtic blood and larger than a standard pony due to her mixed ancestry. The owner of the stable considered Fiona recalcitrant, but I enjoyed her fire and spirit.

When the class finished out its term, I learned that I could lease Fiona for the summer. The stables were in the foothills and there were plenty of trails and canyons to spend the days exploring. I leased Fiona for the summer and began the adventure of connecting to the Spirits of the Land with an equine friend.

I’d drive out to the stables first thing in the morning and take Fiona out of the corral. I’d bridle her then check her feet before brushing her down. I enjoy riding bareback, so I didn’t have to take the time to put on any tack besides a bridle. I’d then mount from a stump and find myself sitting on her plumpness. I’d take a few moments to collect my attention and focus on the feeling of myself in relationship to Fiona, and then we’d start out.

Sometimes we would head east towards the mountains and sometimes north, south or west to foothills. The hills were covered with scrub oak and other deciduous bushes and trees. Higher up we’d encounter aspen and pine. There were wild sunflowers, mullein, and many other herbs, grasses and plants. There were streams and little waterfalls, boulders and rocks. Many birds and animal life would meet us on our journeys. Fox, deer, rabbits, and even badgers might be some of the mammals that we’d encounter.

Fiona was an excellent guide and companion. Since I rode without a saddle, I was able to get right in and hang out with the deer herds. There were elk and moose, too, though we never met any on our travels. We did meet up with the occasional coyote or bobcat though. Lucky for us we were never stalked by our local cougars.

There is a special connection that a person can experience when riding a horse alone through the mountains. I never felt lonely and liked it best when I didn’t encounter other humans. There is a deep calm still space, much like meditation, that I would find in the company of Fiona and the Spirits of the Land. When I remember those times I wonder if this is part of why our ancestors so valued horses and even had deities, like Epona and Rhiannon, that made sacred our equine friends and our relationship to them.

After two or three hours I’d return to the stable, brush Fiona down, check her feet, unbridle her, give her the apple or carrot I had brought, and return her to her corral with my heartfelt “thank you”. Then I’d drive back to my home in the city and look forward to my next summer adventure.

That was some years ago and sadly urban sprawl has halted any more summertime equine adventures. The city I live in is emulating southern California and is developing every inch of space including farming land and hills. Expensive McMansions sit where the stable used to be. The land was rezoned and the stable and owner forced out.

There will no longer be opportunity for people to have the magical opportunity to meet the Spirits of the Land with a horse friend here. Nor will folks that can’t afford the very expensive luxury of owning their own horse in the city get to feel the incredible bond of horse and rider. I find this heart breaking and tragic. Studies have shown that the human/equine bond helps ease depression and has very real healing effects on many health problems.

My sincere desire is that people can get back to healthy and respectful relationship to the land and the creatures that share it with us. My belief is that we cannot be spiritually whole without it. For those who love, value, and honor horses and other animals similar to how our ancestors did, those individuals will find power, strength, and infinite lessons in the human/animal bond.

Beltane 2007 (2)

2009-11-02T08:37:00.001-08:00

AS ABOVE, SO BELOW ©
by Lady Raven Ariana

In preparing to write this article with the Beltane theme “Healing the Waters” that Tira suggested for this quarter’s issue of “Earthsongs”; my thoughts have been rolling around in my mind. Tira was encouraging a perspective with a theme where we, humans, can begin giving back to our great Mother, Earth, by starting to try and heal the poor polluted and abused waters that make up the life-blood and amniotic fluids of the planet.

One of the ideas that has continued to surface in my reflection and meditation on this assignment is how horribly out of balance most of humanity is with itself, the elements, and all fellow creatures sharing our fragile, yet resilient, web of life. If you look at the element water from a magical and metaphorical perspective, many systems would group ‘emotions’ under the element of ‘water’. The element of water might also include dreaming, conversations with the Ancestors, sunset, and many forms of journeywork.

If you look at human experience and metaphorically assign it to one of four elements corresponding to the cardinal directions, and include Spirit as a fifth (Spirit, non-gender), center, or fifth and sixth (Grandmother Earth and Grandfather Sky), below and above, you can begin to have some tools in which to look at humans and the ways they relate, or fail to relate to themselves and the rest of the world.

In some systems Air is assigned to the East and it relates to the intellect, realm of ideas, and discerning mental states. Fire in the South might be associated with free will, passion, and creativity. Water to the West might be seen as where the emotional body resides, along with dreaming, and the Portals to the Underworld. Earth in the North might be associated with physical manifestation, survival, and where the actual human physical body is experienced. This “Wheel” might also include the Seasons, Quarters, Cross-Quarters, phases of maturity, times of Day and Night, the progression of Lunations, and the Spells of Change, just to name a few.

I like to view it as my metaphorical map. It is not always broken down into these particular categories, universally. I can’t even say it is particularly Celtic.

Another idea I have encountered and found to have some anecdotal truth is stated “As above, so below.” This means what we find within ourselves we find reflected outside of us. If our inner world has a turbulent repressed emotional landscape, how might this effect what we view as outside of us? On an individual level this might filter our perceptions. On a collective level it might skew the entire world.

How do our inner world landscapes and the elemental maps determine the shape of the waters, our planet, or our collective experience? I have been using a metaphorical mapping and elemental system for many years now. It has become so ingrained it almost feels like an internal compass. I often use this compass to try and assess where I am and where I might need to go or do to find myself more in balance. I also use it to look outside myself and see how my external environment is looking.

When I look around me at Modern Western Culture it seems like some parts of the “Wheel” are valued above others. Air and Fire, intellect and free will, seem to have a dominant presence. Water and Earth, emotion and body, seem to be suppressed, repressed, under-valued, and misunderstood. Interestingly, I also learned gender designations for each of the Elements. Air and Fire, I learned to associate with the Masculine. Water and Earth, I learned to associate with the Feminine. Everyone has “Masculine” and “Feminine” qualities.

Further studies in gender dynamics in developmental psychology, encouraged me to conclude the current system of imbalances attempts to be self-perpetuating. I learned that less money is spent on studying the effects of drugs and other life-supporting elements for women. Men were, at least then, studied for how they developed and/or failed to engage age-appropriate tasks. Males were often the focus of new drugs being researched and developed for easing or curing human diseases and discomfort. Females were not included in many of these studies.

Male styles of leadership and communication have been seen as superior while female styles have been viewed as flawed and ineffective in an environment favoring a masculine way of relating. These styles have been coming under increasing scrutiny. Some of the newer ideas are starting to find value in the communal support and feminine styles of relating and communication.

What happens when men and women are denied half of their innate abilities, necessary skills, natural impulses, self-expression in all varieties, and an ability to navigate in the real world with the entire range of the full human experience? How can one learn to embrace parts of the self that are left neglected in a shadowy and denigrated existence?

Further studies in my life journey have also revealed to me that each element-human experience has its own language. An attempt to impose the improper language to an element that does not engage this language causes grave miscommunications and misunderstandings.

An example of this would be when someone is deeply angry and they use their mental language to attempt to dissuade themselves from being angry on an emotional level. They are still upset, but think they have talked themselves to some ‘higher road’ in their intellectual estimation. Usually a person who is attempting this tactic has been taught angry feelings are “bad” or “negative.” They have not learned to speak with their emotional selves and harness their anger to address a problematic situation and use this energy for change. They often sublimate their “bad” or “negative” feelings that frequently lead to the inappropriate and ineffective expression of said feelings.

The language of Air, the mind, is verbal and intellectually driven. The mind loves to categorize and examine, then explain. The language of Fire, creative impulses, might look like a fiery resolve to challenge a perceived unfairness. It might be a passionate impulse to create a dialogue in images, sounds, or physical movement. Watery emotional language might be experienced as a changing landscape of dreamlike images or experiences. When you awake from the dream the images seem to slip away like water through your fingers. The body might speak out in a profound non-verbal silent way, where safe-space is held and the body is contacted directly through touch. You might find tranquil stillness or weep if a body memory is released during direct physical contact in a safe space. Interestingly I have experienced links to a mind/will association and also an emotional/body association.

Where balance is lacking in a culture, you can often see that which lacks value becomes lost. Even the ability to communicate with those elements becomes a dying or rediscovered art. Western Culture is in a great struggle. Inner and outer expressions seem to be in some critical feedback loop. When you speak about “Above and below” being reflective of the inner and outer realities, what happens when you lose the dialogue with much of your inner and outer experience? What happens when many of your languages and expressions are dismissed and devalued? What happens when you have no way to evaluate and communicate about this severe distress, loss of balance, and the feeling you have of being “lost”? Especially when you lack a map and any instructions in basic navigation.

Think about something like a “hall of mirrors,” where the reflections are endless but any flaw is magnified and multiplied. Include in this “hall” an encouragement of delusion. Confusion and lack of true self reflection is discouraged by the image of what you “think” you see. In fact, the harder you look, the more you lose your perspective and sense of place. The very culture where you live may encourage and amplify these flaws.

A “feedback loop” in the auditory world means a certain dissonance becomes amplified and resonates through a sound system in such a way as to cause an extremely unpleasant screaming type of noise. The more it “feeds back” the louder and more destructive to ears and audio gear it becomes. The solution to a feedback loop is to first turn down the knob that is causing the magnification of destructive audio information. The next step one needs to take is to give the issue further evaluation and determine where the problem lies. If you don’t take these measures your audio gear may fail and you might go deaf. In this situation some kind of map and reflective/trouble-shooting skills and information are needed.

Our culture seems to be amplifying and magnifying potentially fatal flaws. We seem to lack balance. We also seem to value parts of the whole to such an extent that, if life on Earth were a coracle in the water, it would have long ago tipped over, at least for human survival. Individually many of us were never given the language or skills to successfully navigate our complete selves, let alone communicate with any of our fellow creatures. We are disconnected from integral parts of human experience. To make matters worse, humans seem to think the Earth was made for domination and other life forms are simply here for our own use or to be exterminated.

This all makes me wonder if there could ever be a collective dream of healing ALL; ourselves, the waters, the planet, relationships, balances, and learning the actual languages of our entire selves, within and without. Going out and doing rituals or cleaning up beaches, streams, lake, waterways, and rivers will help. Helping to change the education and perceptions of human beings and their basic relationship to themselves and the world might do even more. Educating yourself with a sincere desire to learn all of your experiential/elemental languages will probably help the most of all, provided you apply what you have learned. As above, so below!

Beltane 2007 (1)

2009-11-02T08:34:00.000-08:00

CAN WE HEAL OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH WATER? ©
by Lady Raven Ariana
All known life is dependent on water for survival. It nourishes, quenches our thirsts, and makes up the majority of our bodies. Water also plays a dynamic role in the life force of the entire planet. Oceans, lakes, rivers, streams, marshlands, precipitation, and other weather phenomenon also need water to nourish and develop the planet. It has yet to be discovered if life is even possible without the presence of water.

Life is nurtured and born within the amniotic fluids that surround and sustain the life of an embryo. Once a creature is born it must continue its healthy relationship with water by drinking and eating creatures that are also made up of this fluid. Regardless of whether one feeds on leaves or the flesh of live prey, forms of life are composed, for the most part, of water. In addition to the food that must be ingested to survive, one must also drink.

Drinking water and other fluids allows the body to cleanse itself of toxins, regenerate life supporting cells, and allow our bloods to flow. Not getting enough water causes dehydration and eventual death. Toxic wastes build in our systems and begin the process of clogging and disrupting the healthy thriving of an organism.

Not all fluids are created equal. Pure uncontaminated water is the best form of fluid for many land creatures to consume in order to remain healthy. Yet, the Ocean is made up of water mixed with salt and other minerals. Can most land creatures drink this and survive?

The miracles of creation have allowed the adaptation of creatures to live in a variety of environments. Human beings are a mixture of salt and water. The amniotic fluids where babies grow also carry a proper saline and water mixture. I’m oversimplifying for this article because other minerals and elements are also needed for healthy survival. We haven’t even begun to mention those who live in an environment that is basically saline in nature.

Another fluid like material called Mercury is considered a deadly poison and neurotoxin. I don’t think any creature can live or reproduce in Mercury. Mercury is actually a metal. In the 1800’s beaver felt hats were in high fashion. Mercury was one of the ingredients used in their manufacture. Humans were ignorant of the deadly side of Mercury as a neurotoxin and many hat fashioners went crazy as a result of brain damage. Many people have heard the phrase, ‘Mad as a Hatter’ and connect this turn of phrase from Lewis Carroll’s famous book “Alice in Wonderland.” Lewis Carroll merely made a witty observation of the effect of Mercury on those who worked with it on a regular basis. In those times I’m not sure whether or not science had made the connection between Mercury and madness.

Human beings have rapidly expanded on our planet. The complexity and use of barely understood technology has seen an exponential increase as well, with about as much true understanding of the complex inter-relationships the Mercury maddened hatters once faced. We do not truly understand the complete effects of chemicals, poisons, artificial agents, and pollutants we are producing. It is also not caused by a few. Our human numbers, as this story is being typed, is currently 6,585,868,488 with numbers being added by the minute. This does not take into consideration any other plant, insect, or animal being. Even considering this enormous population, some of the industrial nations, such as France and Japan, are encouraging their populations to grow. They try this through monetary incentives, religion, and government propaganda directed at women (in the case of Japan) to do their patriotic duty and have more children.

Other difficulties include the historic use of waters as being giant sewer systems for human convenience. There have been things dumped in oceans and rivers like toxic sludge, daily used urban garbage, human excrement, out-dated arsenals of weapons of mass destruction, chemicals used to extract gold and other precious metals, war toys lost during war games, and just plain old unwanted garbage when someone has to clean out a deceased relative’s residence.

Next, when we consider the life giving properties of water, we should consider wetlands and aquifers. We are just beginning to understand the role of wetlands, swamps, and similar landscapes as filtering systems and buffers from offshore storms. Intact they also filter the waters so the creatures living downstream can thrive. They also provide valuable habitat for crucial water birds and other creatures. Man made concrete jetty’s, levies, and seawalls just do not provide the same benefits. People love to build on the beach. Eroding sands, storms, and plain irregular tides can quickly take away the beach or cliff these multi-million dollar houses are built on.

Aquifers are the dwindling sources of water that have accumulated underground for untold years. Aquifers are being compromised by pollution and over extraction and use. Pollution contaminates aquifers through the drilling of wells. They can also be compromised by leaky and out dated septic systems. Some of the scariest problems come from certain strip-mining practices that use the aquifer water, while claiming to clean it up to put it back. There’s even a scary pharmacological water contamination issue downstream from geriatric communities with their large drug consumption. These drugs go into the waste system, are not properly cleansed, and end up in the waterways where they get into the food chain and water supply.

Regulation and over-site are sadly lacking on many if not all of these problems. Many ranchers/farmers in the Western USA are finding this out the hard way. Many corporate owned mining ventures are required to return the strip-mined land to its previous condition. However, the original plants no longer thrive and the aquifer is so depleted that the ranchers’ and farmers’ wells run dry. Yet, these profit-making companies are rarely held accountable. I won’t even begin to elaborate about the horrors of blowing off the tops of mountains in the Appalachians to gain access to coal and what this does to the people and waters downstream.

Over population of desert climates is also taking a vast toll causing contention between farmers and those developers who what to build retirement communities in the South Western portion of the United States. Especially nice climates where retirees can enjoy swimming pools and year round golf. Everyone wants to have a personal happy home, especially when you are old and feel like you have worked hard for it. Many of these retirees have been encouraged to make sacrifices, scrimp and save, and generally deny many of their needs when they are young, want and feel entitled to privately golf, go swimming, and live in safe, gated communities if they happen to survive to retirement. They may even feel like taking an annual cruise on a ship that dumps their urine and excrement into the ocean.

How do we solve these conundrums when technology and human population are growing beyond the bounds of any sort of way to survive the ‘learning curve’ or any kind of sustainable living? When human beings are no longer bound by the constraints of where they live, the seasons, cycles, and ability to commune with creatures not considered “human,” what do we do? What are the answers to healing anything?

One of human beings’ greatest strengths is the ability to adapt and learn to use technology to gain a survival advantage. This current “advantage” seems now to be a mixed blessing, because we do not understand all the inter-connected truths of LIFE. We also do not understand the full ramifications of our actions or failure to act. The dominant culture seems to devalue relationships in every form.

Relationships are complex. They usually are expressed in a form not easily reducible to simple parts and pieces. In past times and even in the present modern Western scientific models science has tried to reduce everything to the smallest most mechanistic part. Holistic or models that see matters in a larger pattern of relationships, each effecting each other and the whole, were dismissed as ‘hokey’, non-scientific thinking. Our modern understandings are shifting. Old ways are trying to hold out and the birth pains of new ways of thinking and relating seem long, belabored and something humans and many other species on this planet may not survive.

Water will be around, even as we poison it and ourselves by our poor practices, decisions, and inability to have a healthy relationship with water and our Mother/Father Earth. We can hope and pray we have time to heal our relationships with water and the rest of the beings on our planet. Perhaps our current and developing technologies can give us a hand in true healing for all of the elements, fellow creatures, and basic relationships we so desperately need.

Imbolc 2007

2009-11-02T08:31:00.001-08:00

SACRED FIRE OF THE HEARTH ©
by Lady Raven Ariana

Northern climes welcome Imbolc in with cold temperatures and often ice and snow. The Day is waxing but remains under the tutelage of Night. The balance will be reached at the Spring Equinox when both are equal. After the Equinox, the Day’s reign begins.

Our Irish ancestors burned peat in their hearth fires. They warmed themselves, cooked, gathered, and shared stories around this central fire. Peat fires are still within the living memory of some of the immigrants who moved to the North American continent.

Recipes are shared of family soda bread along with the stories about how Grandma made it on her peat fired hearth. I have a few particularly fond memories of a familial soda bread recipe shared with me by an elderly Irish Catholic nun. She knew of my shamanic interests and would tease me with Traditional Gaelic sayings that I did not possess the language skills to understand. She would kindly translate.

One of her wry questions concerned her own name, Sister Bridget Clare. She would ask me if I knew who St. Bridget was? I was delighted to answer her with my own fondness for the Goddess Bride and the knowledge that this Goddess is also St. Bridget! I ‘d share my knowledge of the Tradition of the Sacred Fire-Keepers and Hearth Tenders and my joy that this practice has been revived.

When Sister passed on her familial soda bread recipe to me, she also gifted me with rich memories of growing up in Ireland and time spent with her Grandmother. When Sister was a girl, her Grandmother still kept hearth and home in the Irish Traditional way. The bread was put in a “bastible” pot for cooking on the peat fire. A “bastible” pot is basically what is known as a Dutch oven in modern times. Cast iron, with tripod legs and a lid, the “bastible” pot could be hung directly over the fire.

Many people would be surprised to find out that Traditional Irish soda bread does not have some of the ingredients that they might have been told make up a Traditional recipe. Eggs, orange zest, whisky, honey, raisins, and other dried fruits are not original to the Traditional breads. Instead these ingredients might make a cake for a special celebration such as Easter.

Traditional Irish Soda Bread is made with wheat flour, baking soda, soured milk or buttermilk, salt, and butter. Baking soda came to the Irish in the 1840s and this is when the Traditional Irish Soda Bread got its start. The bread rapidly became a mainstay with Irish meals. It was generally cooked every couple of days, often daily with large families. When raisins were added to the bread the result was called “spotted dog”.

The hearth provided warmth and subsidence to the family. This “Old Celtic Blessing”, demonstrates the connection of light, hearth and fire.

An Old Celtic Blessing
May the blessing of light be on you —
light without and light within.
May the blessed sunlight shine on you
and warm your heart
till it glows like a great peat fire.

You can find this and other blessings at:
http://islandireland.com/Pages/folk/sets/bless.html

Light and warmth sustain life. Partnered together they also repel predators. Fire is a transformative agent that is able to provide life-nurturing environments that nurture people and their companion livestock during inhospitable seasons. Warm weather and increasing daylight bring hope to people living in harmony with the Land and Seasons. The collective hope that is shared is “that all will be well with the Seasons and support all the Life that sustains us”.

Fire is also an alchemical force. Metal is forged in Fire. Tales are told in companionship with Fire. Healing elixirs are distilled with the help of Sunlight and Fire. Sustaining warmth and food are provided with the help of Fire and Sunlight. Fire/Sunlight are catalysts and become allies for those living in more extreme Northern/Southern latitudes.

In climates closer to the Equator, Fire is still an ally! Sunlight is also an element to be considered. Fire provides heat for cooking, forging metal, and distilling healing-potions. Fire also protects us from predators. Fire, linked with sunlight, allows humans to live in many climates. The hearth, where food is prepared and consumed is vital. The Sacred Hearth and Fire are essential and sacred allies to many cultures around the world.

This brings us back to the Sacred Hearth and Bride: Lady Bride, Goddess Brighed, St. Bridget, Lady of the Bright Arrow, Poetess, Smithy, and Healer. Whichever names you or I choose to call her, she is Lady of the Sacred Hearth. She heals, creates, nurtures, stimulates imagination, inspires shining words, and presides over the Hearth, the heart of a home.

To learn more about Bride’s Fire and Sacred Fire Keepers:
http://www.ordbrighideach.org

To learn more about Traditional Irish Soda Bread:

http://www.bookguy.com/cooking/Sodabread.htm

http://www.irishclub.org/soda-appl.htm

http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/2Kitch/1Home.html

A nice article about hearth and peat fires in Irish culture:
http://www.comhaltas.com/education/Treoir/1998Tr4/Fire.htm

Blessings:

http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/Blessings/Bless.html

http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/corpus/Carmina

Group promoting Irish heritage preservation:
http://www.craobhcrua.org

Samhain 2006 (2)

2009-11-02T08:29:00.000-08:00

SOUL FOOD ©
by Lady Raven Ariana
Samhain 2006

Last year we had a long Indian summer. We didn’t have any snow until December and an uncommonly late first frost. This Autumn we are seeing more weather that is similar to Autumns of old. I felt the point where the season shifted. We’d been having a very hot summer and one morning in late August I woke up and felt a change. I had a sense that this was going to be a colder transition and perhaps we’d see more moisture.

It is now October and my early intuition looks to be true. Colder temperatures, rain, and an early first frost are what we have been seeing. The foothills and mountains have snow. The trees are decked out in their bright colours and some of the leaves are beginning to fall.

I have been busy with my preparations for the annual Feast of the Ancestors. This is a tradition that we have practiced for over 20 years. Invitations have gone out, along with directions of what to bring and prepare. Each year portions of the Feast are similar and some might be new. We generally have a bonfire, an Ancestor altar, guided prayers for the Ancestors, and a feast. Those that have passed are spoken of, remembered, and have a plate of select delicacies from the prepared Feast dishes offered up on the Ancestor altar.

This year folks are directed to bring a special dish from a recipe that they learned from an Ancestor or Ancestors. They are directed to prepare to speak about their Ancestor and the connection that they have with the food that they bring. We will also be having a bonfire and Ancestor altar.

I have decided to prepare two special dishes and speak about them. I have chosen to make crepes stuffed with ham, Swiss cheese and sour cream. I will also be making homemade applesauce. I have chosen these because of two special Ancestors and their connection to some of the service that I am currently involved in.

I had an interesting and traumatic childhood. Two very special people were inspirational and crucial to me. One was my maternal grandfather, Pop. He had a great love of animals, nature, and the natural environment. He encouraged my curiosity and natural inclination to love the same. He’d bring home interesting creatures from the desert and allow me to look at them and handle them. He would then return the creatures to the place that they came from. He didn’t allow me to keep them as pets and told me that they had a home, just like me, and needed to go back to their families and environments.

Pop comforted me in many ways and encouraged my intelligence. He always believed that I could achieve great things. He would also cook special meals for me while I kept him company. He loved making homemade applesauce, pancakes and other tasty treats. He loved to tease and he’d make up funny things to say over the applesauce or pancake batter. Like an incantation, he’d wave his spoon around and say, “ Holy monroly and chickenma togys!” or some other bit of nonsense. I learned to make applesauce, can tomatoes, and cook other family food from Pop.

I learned how to cook crepes and stuff them with diced ham, Swiss cheese, and sour cream from Agnes. Agnes lived in my grandparent’s neighborhood. Off and on I would live with my grandparents. Agnes was known as the Cat Lady. I didn’t even know her name until I was a preteen. She rescued cats and had a very nice setup where she lived. She had a lot of cats, but each one was taken care of, had veterinary care, love, attention, and everything they could ever need. When I was little, I saw some of her cats and boldly rang her doorbell. She invited me in and began my education in domestic felines.

Each cat was catered to. I was even allowed to pet some of the less social felines. I learned which cats couldn’t get along with others, which were old and cranky, which ones loved to play, how to groom, take care of, clean up after, and cater to felines. When I was a preteen and teenager my mom married an animal hater. I wanted my own cat so bad that I bought everything I needed. I begged and begged for a kitten. The animal hater would not allow any pets.

Agnes would come pick me up at my unhappy home and take me to play with her cats. She was a good teacher and listener. She spent many long hours listening to a very unhappy young person. She would make us crepes and tea as a special treat and she taught me how to make the crepes. She’d let me look at all her issues of “Cat Fancy” magazine and continue to encourage me. During my teen years, some nasty person turned her into animal control because they felt she had too many cats. It broke her heart to have to give up her animals.

I ended up being sent away when I was 16 years old. Much later, when I was married to a nice person, we visited my birth state and old neighborhoods. My grandparents had passed away, but I wanted to show my husband where I had lived. I went to visit Agnes and was sad to hear from her husband that she had passed away from breast cancer years before. I couldn’t help but wonder if the loss of her cats perhaps weakened her and she became ill and died.

Currently my kids are grown up and raising their own families. I have retired from full time work as a High Priestess of my local community. I have decided that now is the time for me to do some of the work that I never had time to do. I have gotten involved in the issue of the conservation and preservation of the remaining wild felines. I am also involved in the domestic cat fancy and work to help educate and promote responsible ownership of all felines.

I know that my current service was inspired, nurtured, and encouraged by Pop and Agnes. We love what we are exposed to and that we have actual contact with. I have met too many people that have tried to discourage me in my work. They feel that I’m wasting my time and that extinction is inevitable. Some people have even told me that mass extinctions are needed and that humans are a natural and needed tool to bring about the current mass extinction. I disagree. I remember Pop and Agnes always trying their best to do what is right. Humans have many talents and we could preserve biodiversity if we wanted to. Saving species would come at the cost of extinction of human greed and thoughts of human superiority.

We stand at the North West quadrant of the Wheel of the Year. The veil between the worlds is thin. Our Ancestors are waiting for us to acknowledge and honor them. They have left us many legacies and knowledge, just waiting to be discovered. They want us to thrive and carry on the work of our lineages. I can feel Agnes and Pop smiling. They are happy that someone is carrying on with work that is dear to their hearts. The Ancestors include all the creatures that have passed before. My beloved Sage, the Maine Coon, also waits for me. He sees his picture on my message board and purrs with approval. The diverse creatures that have passed are happy that some humans want to work to see their lines survive. We are moving towards the longest night of the year when the feasting begins.

Samhain 2006 (1)

2009-11-02T08:27:00.000-08:00

HOOKING UP WITH THE ANCESTORS ©
by Lady Raven Ariana

Deepening towards the dark of the year, I pause and consider the Ancestors. Where have they been? What skills, accomplishments, and experience have been lost over time? I hear many wild theories about how ancient technological masterpieces might have been created. Did alien life forms make the Pyramids, Stonehenge, Easter Island, and the great Chalk Figures in Britain?

I juxtapose this with modern times as I witness the extinction of many handcrafts and knowledge at the expense of profit and modern technology. Our venerable Ancestors once survived without refrigeration, central heating/air conditioning, and electricity. Stonemasons, carpenters, metal workers, weavers, herbalists, and midwives were extremely skilled in their Arts, made living wages, and had apprentices to learn the experiential tactile nuances that made a true Craftsman/woman. Midwifery and home birthing is one of the fading Arts that are being banned and legislated into extinction by the lobbying of big money.

We are rapidly losing the valuable knowledge that we need to feed and clothe ourselves. Animal husbandry, on the sustainable level, is losing precious and key knowledge, as those who had family or indigenous farms die. Mega corporate interests successfully lobby to skew laws that drive small farmers out of existence. Animal rights activists actively raise money and lobby, often with charismatic celebrities, to work hard to deny people the personal choice of raising, husbandry, and eating/utilizing animals or their products.

Agriculture has become a complete mockery of fostering genetic diversity and gene pools that develop in relation to their biospheres. Gross profits and the lucrative lining of pockets has used human ingenuity to create seeds whose offspring will not produce, thus insuring that the farmer must go back to someone like Monsanto to purchase new seeds. One of the tragedies in the Iraq debacle was the rules imposed by USA politicos giving Monsanto the ability to sue farmers who saved seeds that may have been cross-pollinated by genetically engineered rice, patented by Monsanto. Greed in action!

I say these things because this is what I have witnessed first hand. Documented history includes the artists that created the masterpieces like the Chartes Cathedral or the Sistine Chapel. When modern records are lost, maybe our inheritors will believe that these Works of Art are beyond the technologies of those times, sadly ignorant of their true handcrafting and artisinal heritage.

Why would this be different now? Remember the Greek plays from old that had the descent of Deus ex Machina? This was the artist’s ploy that allowed the Gods to intervene at the last minute and resolve some absurd and irresolvable conflict providing a nice ending. Are alien life forms the Deus ex Machina of the modern dilemma of the lost technologies of yesteryear? Blame the aliens and you don’t have to be accountable for any complicity in the loss of skills and craftsmanship. Why look at the past when you can scan the stars? Maybe alien life forms will save us from climatic disaster, corporate greed, and politicos with pork barrels to fill.

I’m not all doom and gloom here. I actually believe in an experiential connection to the past that can present brilliant insights gained from those who have gone before. I like to call this “Hookup to the Ancestors”! The “Hookup” doesn’t require state of the art technology, though it does pose some challenging dilemmas to the modern dilettante. A person needs an element of patience, belief in practice, and a certain discipline. These skills are rarely valued by the “modern instant gratification generations”. Before you name me an “old foggy”, I ask you to consider that I am using the most cutting edge technology to master this monologue and I have been known to get slightly more than impatient if my hook-up time takes less than a few seconds

The “Hookup of the Ancestors “ that I mention involve time, practice and mindful relationship. It takes time, measurable by the passing of seasons rather than seconds. It ties into the heart of our planet, cosmos, who and what we are, and to the profound pattern found within the helix of our very DNA. So many tragic inevitabilities are the result of lack of knowledge and practice/patience.

“How can I “Hookup?” you might ask. The answer lies in the nature of relationship with Spirit and the Ancestors. “How does an individual have a relationship with people who are no longer alive on Mother Earth?”

“Hooking up” is a matter of practice, persistence, and a desired direction. The skills one might develop would include practices and training in receptivity to our “outside the cultural box” experiences. This might include a mode of meditation, journeywork, or oracular ability and proficiency. An individual pursuing a relationship with the Ancestors might encounter many of their own familial issues. This encounter is a bonus and gift of the Work; we gain the ability to transform, through some Ancestral Alchemy, personal healing, resolution, continuation and furthering of Ancestral Line business, and Ancestral Aid.

Cultivating Ancestor relationships involve honoring the Ancestor relationship and their contributions in an appropriate fashion. Dialogue is imperative. If you lack reflective and communicative tools, how can you understand the Ancestors or even begin to puzzle out the complicated metaphorical language with which they may choose to communicate or you might have a small chance of understanding? Suspending disbelief and cultural programming are an ongoing challenge

We reside in the North West quadrant of the Wheel and I choose at this time not to give more specific direction. If you are curious and need more advice, this publication’s staff will happily provide for your needs, also you can access the archives and locate the Ancestor article posted by this writer happily written last Samhain. The conclusion of my missive is that we do not “know” what are Ancestors have lost via the continuation of capital culture. The conclusions that we might draw fall on the legends of the conquerors. Winners write the history even if it is diminutive and a bunch of lies and propaganda.

In honoring the Feast of the Dead and considering some of the dilemmas of modern times, one thing I imagine is the late Steve Irwin saying, “ What a bunch of Croc!”

Enrichment

2006-08-29T16:37:00.000-07:00

Captive felines have many needs to consider when
providing for their health and well being. Appropriate
nutrition, enclosures, socializing, and veterinary care,
from someone with exotic feline experience, are not
the only considerations to be given when caring for
exotics. Emotional and psychological needs must be
considered as well. There are different schools of
thought and beliefs about what an exotic feline
needs to be emotionally and psychologically healthy
while living in captivity.

Generally differences of opinion are most commonly
found in beliefs about how much hands on interaction
should happen between captive felines and their
keepers. Some keepers, some sanctuary caregivers,
believe that contact should be minimal. I know
another sanctuary owner that feels that depriving
captive exotic felines of loving relationships with
humans is similar to keeping these cats in a
concentration camp. All schools of thought do
agree that captive felines need mental and
emotional stimulation to be happy and healthy.
This is called enrichment.

Enrichment comes in many forms. Many private
owners and some keepers in zoos and sanctuaries
include human interaction and contact between
captive felines and their keepers as enrichment.
Other forms of enrichment are toys, food, scents
(like spices), puzzles, and other unfamiliar objects
put within the feline’s enclosure or living area.
Certain species may favor different enrichment
approaches. An Asian leopard cat may love to fish
in a plastic kiddy pool for live goldfish. A tiger may
enjoy fresh fish frozen in blocks of ice. Cougars
and other great cats may find huge fun playing with
fresh pumpkins and watermelons. Swimming areas
are very popular with tigers. I know a lioness that
loves to toss around those giant wooden cable
spools like they’re nothing. Cooking spices strewn
about a play yard can be very tantalizing and
exciting to a captive cat. They will sniff and
explore with great energy. Felines kept together
can give each other companionship and play.

I personally know of a privately owned and
much spoiled African serval whom will not eat
his dinner without his mop. Yes, you read
correctly, he has a “security mop”! He carries
it with him to his dinner bowl and gains
comfort even as he eats. His human mom
has to replace it from time to time because
he isn’t the neatest of eaters. A couple of other
friends with an African serval and a lynx have
to devote time each evening for “family hour”.
This is when they hang out exclusively with
them, serval and house lynx. I think that they
pile into bed and watch videos. When the cats
miss out on “family hour” you can hear the lynx
screaming her displeasure. The African serval
sits with his paws neatly tucked under his chest
giving you, the cause of the disturbance of “family
hour”, stern looks of reproach.

I know another funny story about a great-hearted
lioness and her enrichment preferences. This feline
lady had a much beloved female keeper that used
to take care of her. For some reason that I didn’t
get the details on her keeper moved elsewhere.
A year later the woman returned to visit the lioness.
When the woman entered the lioness’s enclosure, the
lioness tackled her and removed her shoes. The
woman was not injured. The lioness wanted to
communicate to her former keeper that she wanted
her to stay! She never wanted her keeper friend to
leave her again.

The importance of enrichment for the overall health
and well being of captive felines cannot be stressed
enough. Great and small, all felines (including
domestics) need emotional and psychological
stimulation. Felines raised with out much contact
or socialization with humans might better be given
forms of enrichment that suite their needs for less
human contact. I know of one leopard, even though
bottle raised by humans, does not like people. Once
he became an adult and had a female companion,
he showed that he didn’t want to be bothered by
human/feline relationships. His preferences are
respected.

Felines raised and socialized with humans and
enjoy their relationships truly do need these
relationships, bonds, play, and love with their
human companions to remain emotionally healthy.
Contact is part of the list of enrichment needs to be
fulfilled. There are many stories about felines raised
and bonded with a human that because of
circumstances, ban laws being passed, death of the
keeper, illness, or other changes, the cat can no
longer live with the person that they are bonded with.
Sometimes they are unable to form a relationship
with another human or they are put into some
facility where they are not allowed contact. This
is a great tragedy because many times the animal
has an unhappy emotional life as a result.

All felines need a variety of enrichment considerations.
Novelty, toys, time to be outdoors in a safe enclosure,
new food, new smells, puzzles to figure out, things to
climb on, places to swim if breed appropriate, places to
hide or crawl into, and other types of enrichment all
work together to keep captive felines stimulated and
healthy. If you are an owner or keeper it is important
to have some understanding and knowledge of the
emotional and psychological tendencies of the breed/s
that you keep. This will help you develop the appropriate
enrichments for your cats and avoid inappropriate forms.
Of course, safety must always be taken into consideration.
Cats like babies or toddlers, you don’t want to give your
feline charge anything that they might ingest that could
cause harm. You want to avoid toxic plants or materials
within your enclosures. You want to be sure that toys
can withstand the force and size of the feline you are
seeking to entertain. You want logs, branches and
ledges to be safe for the size and weight of your cat.
With these things in mind you will be better able to
provide the best emotional and psychological habitats
for your beloved felines.

The Feline Mystique

2006-08-29T16:29:00.000-07:00

The man is lying in bed and reading a book
when Velvet jumps up and starts to make sweet rolls.
She kneads the coverlet with her paws alternating left
then right. Her eyes are half closed and she looks serene.
Soon she climbs up on her favorite person, wraps her
paws around his neck, nibbles his chin and drools.
She purrs as he rubs her cheeks and chin.

Her favorite person is a man who was never raised with
pets or companion animals. His parents’ lifestyle, active
in social causes, just didn’t have the time or energy for
pets. As an adult he didn’t believe in sharing his life with
companion animals either. Life as a musician came with
late hours and times when making ends meet for one
person was difficult. It’s not that he didn’t like animals,
he just thought that they were more for other people.
He had even dated a woman that had a cat, but that
relationship has ended years before he ever had a feline
of his own.

The scenario of the cat with her paws wrapped
around this fellow’s neck raises the question, “How
did this man’s heart get captured by this little black
cat with green eyes?” It is a mystery. Actually this
gentleman lives with more than one feline. He has
several and other animal companions, too. If asked
how this has come to be, he might answer that it has
something to do with the woman he is married to.
She doesn’t really back up his story 100 percent
because she doesn’t think that his way with animals
has anything to do with her. It has to be something
innate within his internal being. She will confess to
bringing companion creatures into his life even
when he had grave doubts. This is her way, the
contrary. He married her even thought he swore
he’d always be a bachelor. He raised 2 boys even
though he was not going to have children.

The man likes to tease his wife and say that she’s a
feral. He always says she’s like a great cat, perhaps
a jaguar or a cougar. Even though she can be
personable, she’s rather solitary and strange in her
ways. He can imagine her shape shifting in the night
and prowling the neighborhood looking for the true
wild home of her origin. She tried to deny his claims
and say that she likes all animals. She tried to make
her point be giving the example of her companions.
She usually has canines, felines, birds, reptiles, and
fish. He agreed that she “liked” all the animals, but
in reality she was most like a feline, and not a tame
feline at that.

The man’s wife’s deep interests lie in the fate of
felines the world over. She has always had an interest
in conservation and the preservation of all animals,
especially felines. She really wants to have a lifestyle
that would allow her to live with the wild felines. She
fantasizes about volunteering in the jungle, doing
research and helping the wild cats. The man doesn’t
laugh but reminds her of her age and physical
limitations. Sometimes she threatens to run away
to the circus to help train the big cats. He raises
an eyebrow at this knowing that big cats are being
banned from circuses in many places.

He’d get her a companion exotic cat but this is
illegal in the state they live in. Sadly ban laws
are being passed in many places. This means
that private people cannot have the felines that
they most want in their lives. It also means that
responsible private people cannot help preserve
the diverse gene pools of endangered cats. This
is tragic because wild feline homelands are being
encroached on and destroyed by humans. This is
the biggest threat that animals everywhere face.

The man does encourage his wife to do what
she can. He also helps her have felines close to
what she desires, hybrid felines with some wild
heritage. These felines are legal in their state of
residence. He encourages her to visit her friends
that live in other states with their exotic companions.
He isn’t really interested in getting up close and
personal with a cougar, but he will be her companion
when she visits friends that have one. She asks him
if he minds the strong feline musk that inhabits a
home with great house cats. It is quite a pungent
odor, especially when trying to sleep, but he is
willing.

He’s also willing to get drooled on by the little
black great-at-heart cat that calls him her favorite.
He’s been run over in the middle of the night by
playing cats. He’s taken cats to the vet. He cried
when his wife’s best friend who happened to be
a cat had to be put down because of health
problems. He was the one responsible for
getting more felines when she swore not to have
another cat because her heart was broken.
He understands when she still cries over the
deceased cat years later. He spends lots of
money on the best food, toys, cat furniture,
jaunts to visit friends’ great cats, and vet bills.
Married to a feral woman, surrounded by cats,
hearing about animals, especially felines, day
and night, vacationing in homes filled with the
sounds and aromas of great cats, he realizes
that his life will never be considered boring.
Can it truly be such a mystery that this little black,
green-eyed cat has his devotion? She nibbles his
chin then drools on his chest. He lives immersed
in the feline mystique.

Cougar Time

2006-08-29T16:18:00.000-07:00

We were heading home from the annual
Phoenix Exotic Wildlife Association meeting,
via Reno and a stop over to visit a friend, when
we turned into Tonopah for refueling. We were
running quite a bit behind schedule and it was
looking like we were not going to get to make a
visit that we had been planning on our way into
Reno. The people that we were planning to meet
had an early-to-bed evening, schedule because
of the large amount of work that they do in their
daily routine. I was feeling quite disappointed
at the thought of the missed meeting because
I had heard a lot about these folks and it sounded
like we had a lot of spiritual and philosophical
qualities in common. One never enjoys missing
out in sharing time with kindred spirits.

On our drive I had been thinking about a cougar
that I had heard about. She lived with the people
that we had hoped to meet. This cougar’s sister
was quite the ambassador and had died about a
year ago of kidney failure. These gals were aging
and the beginning of their lives were not of the
best quality. They were true rescues and came
to live with the people that shared some of our
world-views. The cougar I was thinking about
had become an indoor cat as a consequence of
some health problems. For some reason I kept
getting an image in my mind of myself sitting with
her and giving her Reiki. Reiki, for those of you
who are unfamiliar, is a healing method that draws
on techniques that facilitate calling on the Universal
Life Force.

During the drive that proceeded our arrival in
Tonopah we had passed a motor home with an
illustration of a cougar on the side. This was
during some of my Reiki fantasies. I pointed this
out to my husband and mentioned what kept coming
to my mind.

The winds were cold and furious as we pumped gas
into our little Honda Prelude. Our friend called his
friends to let them know how far behind schedule
we were and he expected to be told that there really
was no time for a visit.

As I sat, disappointed, in the Honda, what should
pull in to the gas station? It was the very same motor
home with the cougar painted on the side. My husband
was off talking with our friend. I thought to myself, “
Dang! I think I’m feeling a visitation from a cougar!”
I thought about the unlikely reality of the images I had
in my mind of sharing Reiki with the aging cougar girl.
Somehow, seeing this and feeling the cougar visitation,
I couldn’t quite think that the whole thing meant nothing.
When my husband returned he told me that, surprise,
the people we were hoping to meet were going to stay
up. They wanted to meet us, too!

Wow! It is so hard to have faith in what most of
society thinks of as crazy. I pointed out to my husband
the motor home with the cougar and told him that I
thought that I was having a “visitation”. He’s lived with
me long enough not to really think I’m nuts. He’s seen
some pretty amazing things and even lived to tell about
them. I have to interject here that my husband loves
animals but he was not raised with them. He also is not
the kind of person to seek a close up and personal
relationship with a big cat. He did fall in love with an
ocelot on this trip, though!

When we arrived at our destination we had the honor
of meeting two extraordinary individuals. They truly
felt like kindred spirits that have accomplished many
amazing and wonderful things and continue to do so.
Wow! Loving felines like I do has really brought some
fabulous and courageous people into my life.
Responsible private ownership of exotic felines,
especially big cats, is not politically correct and comes
under attack from extreme animal rights terrorists.
These AR individuals even resort to distortion and lies
to advance their agenda. What is their agenda?
Their bottom line agenda is to end the relationships
between humans and animals. Even if it means the
ultimate extinction of these animals.

My first feline greeting came from an enthusiastic
female cougar. She really wanted my attention! My
friend well versed in feline language, and her
keepers told me that she really liked me and wanted
me to pay attention to her. This was my very first
meeting with big cats. I know that technically
cougars aren’t exactly classified as big cats but she
looked pretty big to me. I wanted to cuddle with her,
but know the limits of my experience and honor the
reality of these limits. This was the very cat that I had
thought about sharing Reiki with.

We sat and chatted, chatted and chatted with our
gracious host and hostess. Other house cats were a
tiger, two bobcats, an African serval, and a lynx.
The serval and lynx were displeased because we had
interrupted their normal schedules. Do you know how
I know this? The lynx screamed her displeasure and the
serval gracefully sat on a kitchen chair, folding his
forelegs under his chest, and gave stern looks of
disapproval!

After a while, during the time when my husband was
chatting with our host and our friend, I became bold
and decided to sit by the cougar and send her Reiki.
I went and sat by her enclosure and quietly asked my
Reiki Guides for permission and guidance. They accepted
my humble request and I began to follow their lead.
This beautiful girl flopped down in front of me and began
the biggest belly-rumbling purr that you could never
imagine in your wildest dreams. Unless you’ve had a
cougar as a friend, that is!

Wow! I think that AR activists are somehow missing
the spiritual boat! If they had ever truly experienced
a spiritual connection to any living being besides the
destitution of modern culture, how could they ever
attempt to form laws that mean the extinction of
some of the most spiritual creatures on the face of
the planet! I can’t express to you the awe and wonder
that my husband shared with me when he saw the ocelot
I mentioned earlier. I’m pretty positive that he’d be
willing to share urine in every corner of the house to
keep this species alive on the face of the planet.

My experiences document only part of a magical
adventure. There were more initiations into the
world that I like to call the “Feline Mystique” and
I wait to share with you all, eager readers, at a future
date. I’ll leave you with a teaser followed by a
conclusion. First I have to say that the reason that I
do not name my friends, furred and otherwise, is
because I do not know, during these dangerous
days, whether it is good to do so. I seek to promote
the survival of exotic felines! The teaser is that I
had even more adventures! I know, this is a kind
of lame teaser. I guess I’ll amend it with these
prospective titles, “Bobcat Songs”, “Chuff”, “The
Proper Serval: Etiquette For Fools”, “A Lioness
Makes a Friend!” I haven’t written these yet, but
perhaps someday I will.

In conclusion, I was recently asked why I was
endangering myself from potential AR attention
to give a care about the cats. My answer: I have
grandchildren! I do not want my progeny to be
denied their relationships with other animals. I
have had the pleasure of circuses, zoos, farms,
private ownership of pets, spiritual connection
to animals in captivity and in the wild. How could
I ever deny that to my decendents? I raised caring
adult humans in an environment rich with other
species. We all stayed healthy and amazingly well
adjusted to the world. This occurred despite
society’s overwhelming drive for power, control,
and money. I also have a deep and abiding passion
for all animals, especially felines. I feel that if
felines and other animals vanish out of our lives
and the world, I really don’t want to live here. I’m
going to amend my last statement, as per my
husband’s request, the world will be a desolate
place with out the other species that share it with
us, human animals. He felt that the way I
expressed my thoughts seemed suicidal. Scary,
don’t you think?

What I have learned about Journeys and Quests

2006-08-29T16:08:00.000-07:00

Quests and journeys take many forms during the
course of a life. There are quests for knowledge,
journeys of discovery, roads to recovery, and
exploring the path less traveled. Many of these
adventures appear to be an event with a beginning,
middle and an end. I think that the perception of
a beginning, middle, and end aids in processing
experience because actually all quests and
journeys are part of the path of life.

Age seems to bring a certain depth of developmental
understanding. Precocious and experienced young
people often mistake their experience and knowledge
for wisdom. When they actually exist for a time on
earth and begin adding decades beyond the age of
20 they sometimes get an “aha”. They experience a
“Wow, this is a different perspective that only time can
lend to my knowledge.” This is the dawning of wisdom.

Quests for youthful persons often embrace some
cause or seeking of treasure or a romantic love
relationship. Perhaps they seek to correct something
they perceive as a social injustice. Maybe they want
to gain a gift that they perceive to be outside of
themselves. They are often looking to partner.
Young people can be very enthusiastic and tend to
see things in black and white. They can really put
their energy into a cause or seeking of a gift because
they often do not see the complexities that exist in
many situations.

Many teachers caution their students, “Be careful
what you ask for”. This is the teacher’s attempt to
pass on the awareness of complexity. Life is a web
of interconnectedness. Sometimes when we pull a
thread, we may not know to what all it is attached.
Sometimes we get our wish only to find out that it
wasn’t what we thought it was or that it doesn’t
bring the happiness that we thought it might.

Crisis quests have a different flow and impetus
than the youthful quests for treasure, social cause,
or partnering. These events and experiences are
common in the shamanic experience and the “call”
to be a “wounded healer”. Generally when one gets
one of these “calls” one has survived or is trying to
survive a near death experience, a potentially fatal
disease, or a life crisis so shattering that one is left
with a devastation that only a seeking of Spirit can
relieve.

The quest then becomes one of connection to Spirit
and healing, or at least a seeking to put back the
pieces of the shattering. The quest of the wounded
healer is one that sometimes feels like following a
trail of breadcrumbs through the forest. One is
looking for signs and synchronicities while scouting
the alien and strange topography. One may be
literally lead to begin a pilgrimage, a physical
journey to some holy place or situation that may
hold the keys to putting one’s life back together.

These quests are literally a matter of life or death.
If one can survive navigating the journey, one may
be reborn to a new life. With this life come the
experiences of the quest and rich gifts that are
brought back to help others. There’s often a
significant deepening of wisdom.

In my experience, “the call” is one of spiritual
transformation. One seeks Spirit, generally in
a form that one is not familiar with. These “calls”
are quite different from the social causes of our
youth. We don’t have control. The “calls” are
often unpleasant (understated), and we have
no idea where we are going. Youth quests have
more of a controlled feeling about them. We
approach them knowing what we want to change
or what we seek. We may have some unrealistic
ideas about how our interaction is going to effect
the outcome. We count on certain ideas of a “fair”
and “just” world. We think that we know.

“The call” usually doesn’t feel very fair! It
certainly doesn’t feel just. It often turns our world
on its nose then adds some kind of “insult to injury”.
Individuals on the path of the “wounded healer”
often feel outrage at the unfairness of it all.
Accommodation to the grieving process is often
resisted. Sometimes this resistance to change and
grief are so profound that the person fights and fights.
They might actually fight to the literal death. We can
list our worthiness and how we have been “done
wrong” by the crisis situation. “It’s not fair!”

Eventually those of us who survive learn the secret
of surrender. We learn that we are not in control
and that we must be ever vigilant scouting the trail.
We learn that what we thought was “fairness” is our
own society’s false constructs. We begin to see the
web and complexities including the gray areas within.
In surrender we drop our resistance. We also discover
the advantages of not knowing.

Is this wisdom? Well, my answer is that wisdom is
more complex than that! What is beyond the wisdom
of surrender? I’d have to say the wisdom of forgiveness.
For Give Ness! Do you know that when you forgive that
you unlock the ball and chain around your own ankle?
This is an oft-neglected concept.

Forgiveness is an art form probably perfected in
actively engaging ancestral work. It really works best
when you give up getting some kind of
acknowledgement or apology. When you truly let
things go; a huge weight is removed. You no longer
have to spend your life force caring about past events
that you cannot change.

The key is Spirit. You are not in control and Spirit is
a vital active force. One of the keys to helping yourself
is learning to have a dialogue with Spirit. How? Great
question! There are no sure cure formulas but lots of
suggestions and ways. Some can be found and sought
from the wise elders of this community. A positive
quality to nurture is the art of listening.

Practices that encourage stillness help allow the space
for dialogues with Spirit. Some people meditate.
Many individuals take time outs in nature. Journey
work and trance states are other tools to use to
establish communication with Spirit. If you have
never worked with establishing a communication
path, you may find yourself needing to practice
the suspensions of your belief systems.

Many people raised in Western culture are taught
that a communication with Deity is an illusory
practice if not down right delusional. Sometimes
dialogue with the Creator feels like you are simply
making it up in your imagination. Encouraging
yourself to suspend disbelief allows you to take
the steps to open up channels of communication.

Quests of youth and “calls”, while being in the
path of life, are different animals. It would seem
that Spirit initiates a “call”. This does not exclude t
he fact that some youthful quests could be “calls”.
Diversity in the world is the natural order. This is
why that knowledge of complexity is part of the
natural foundation of wisdom.

Wisdom has many components. Some of these we
learn from our youthful quests and others only
come with the passage of time and experience.
Not everyone gets the call to practice as a wounded
healer or shaman. Those of us who do also learn
to nurture a deep appreciation for the mystery and
complexities in life and the Spirit/s that are here as
our helpers and allies.

Tending the mender

2006-03-30T16:47:00.000-08:00

Taking care of one’s self is one
of the most important and neglected
aspects of being a healer. It is so
easy to put off or neglect this aspect
of our practice. There are always so
many needs and so little time. Most
skilled healers don’t have a lack of
individuals desiring their services.
Many also do not get paid, work other
jobs to pay the bills, and even have
families. Is it any surprise that a good
majority of healers, practicing outside
of Western medical models, are
female?

Females are noted for their multitasking
and care-taking qualities. Even
practitioners making a living within
Western medical models, doctors, nurses,
nurse practitioners, and nurse midwives,
have difficulty finding time to tend to
themselves. Long shifts, understaffing,
and having families add to their dilemma
in the same ways as their non-traditional
sisters/brothers.

Yet, many of us have heard the saying,
“You can’t get water from a dry well.”
This implies the understanding that if the
resources are not there; they can not be
given. It also implies that if the resources
are not replenished, the resources will not
be available to share. How then do so
many healers continue to give, give then
give some more? They’ll even forget to
drink and eat and neglect sleep especially
if they are caregivers that tend to critically
ill or endangered patients. You often see
this in hospice, trauma units, working with
rape, domestic violence, cancer, and other
critical/crisis fields.

There has been some recent questioning
of the wisdom of the long shifts given
interning nurses and doctors. What kind of
quality can be assured of a critical decision
made by an interning doctor functioning
after 24 hours on the unit? Mistakes, most
certainly, have been made. Sad that the
modern medical model makes this a
prerequisite, at least in the USA, to be a MD.

Non-traditional healers have more leeway.
We really can decide what kind of hours that
we keep and how we care-take ourselves
to support our practices. It does take certain
critical skills and abilities, though. One of the
most important of these skills is the ability to
recognize, set and hold boundaries.

Boundaries function in many ways.
They partition time, energy and other
resources. Some healers have poor or
non-existent boundaries. Many
“wounded healers” fall within
this category.

Wounded healers gain healing
abilities or wisdom from surviving
life-threatening or traumatic
experiences. Often, though, the original
wounding may leave the healer without
a realistic knowledge or ability to enforce
boundaries. Surviving trauma or a life-
threatening experience may gain the
individual wisdom or abilities but these
come at a cost.

Survivor’s guilt can be such a cost. A
person surviving a particular heinous
experience, especially one that involved
others that did not survive, can leave
“survivor’s guilt”. Some of the behaviors
and feelings surrounding survivor’s guilt
can lead the survivor to become a helper
or healer. It can also produce a
tremendous lack of ability to recognize
certain boundaries or need to care for
one’s self.

Many survivors do not feel worthy of the
fact that they and not others survived
the particular experience that they lived
through. This causes a certain loss of
self-esteem. When one loses one’s sense
of self-value this opens the door to
neglecting the self. Survivors can also
suffer from a need to prove to Spirit that they
are worthy of surviving. This can lead to a
tremendous output of service, but also the
neglect of their-own well being. Many of
these service oriented survivors feel that
they must always be serving and that they
are not worthy of the comforts enjoyed by
others, even food and sleep.

Child abuse: physical, emotional, mental
and sexual, incest, and domestic violence
are traumatic life-threatening events that
can produce a wounded healer. The
inability for healers, produced out of this
patterning, to recognize boundaries lie
within the nature of their wounding
experiences.

Authority figures act out. Familial loyalties
are called on for the survivor “not to tell”.
Adults behave inappropriately then confuse
the issues with words and actions. Lies are
told about the victim and believed by
authorities, family members and even
neighbors. The victim is told directly and
indirectly that they are worth “nothing”, that
they brought the abuse on and it’s their fault,
and everyone else’s needs are more
important. Natural boundaries within a
healthy family structure (where humans
learn boundaries) are non-existent.
Where then does this individual learn proper
boundaries?

My personal experiences lead me to believe
that boundaries can be learned with intent and
effort. Just because a healer, wounded or not,
lacks proper boundaries does not mean that
this individual cannot become a student of
what I call “The Fine Art of Boundaries: For
Service and Survival”.

I’m not saying that this is easy or pain free.
Individuals that are part of the wounded
healer’s sphere, so to speak, may intensely
resist any changes in the unspoken
arrangements. You actually have to think
that the most likely scenario is going to involve
unpleasant drama from those that you wish to
draw boundaries with. Of course, boundaries
are great for dealing with drama.

It doesn’t mean that you can’t make changes
to effect your better efforts and monitor your
resources in order to be a more effective,
healthy, and happy healer. Remember
resources mean time, energy, education,
experience, money, life force, knowledge,
practice, ability, expertise, and desire. If you
are wondering, at this point, why I’m adding
“happy” healer you have somehow missed
the concept. Go back to the idea of “the well
is dry”.

Another issue that healers/priestesses need
to consider is the “enabling” factor. Some
healers actually end up enabling poorly
functioning individuals to continue in their
illness or dysfunction. Some people don’t
want to get better. Some adults want others
to care-take their emotional, spiritual, and
even physical needs.

These folks, even given appropriate tools,
do not want to take personal accountability.
They’re eager to be told what to do, but then
lack follow-up, willingness, and/or courage to
actually do the work that is needed to heal
themselves and their living situations. They
want you to do the work for them. There are
also individuals that are plain lazy or don’t
want to grow up to assume adult responsibilities
and life-styles. This is another situation that
calls for boundaries.

Before we go into the mechanics of setting
boundaries, take a minute to monitor your
reaction to what you have already read.
Do these ideas make you uncomfortable?
Do you find yourself in agreement with any
of these ideas from personal experience?
Do you even have a clue about these issues?

I ask you to do this as part of the development
of another useful healer’s tool, self-reflection
and introspection. Well, maybe I mean a
couple of tools.

If you found yourself getting annoyed, you may
want to take note of this. One of the dangers
that can befall a healer or priest/ess is the trap
of getting one’s sense of self worth from others
needing you. There is nothing wrong with
feeling good about the work you do. Finding
your self-worth through another’s need is
dangerous.

The danger can lead to all kinds of problems.
Another ego trap, ultimately to the healer’s
detriment, is the one where the healer feels
that they, as a healer, are special and without
their personal help the patient could not possibly
get well. I hope that the dangers of this trap are
apparent.

If you find that you are personally getting your
self-identity though meeting other people’s
needs then you may resist the idea of
boundaries. If this is the case you might want to
do some serious introspection and self-reflection
about if this is truly taking care of your needs and
ultimately healthy.

Boundaries can be thought of in many ways.
Borderlands, fences, changes in the landscape
such as between forest and meadow. In ritual,
it is when the circle is cast, time between the
worlds. It is a way to separate one thing from
another. For the healer boundaries take the
form of time/energy/resource management.
Boundaries for a healer may also mean
clarifications in roles and expectations, along
with establishing energetic boundaries.

Questions are a wonderful tool in the
establishment of boundaries. What does t
he patient expect? How do they see your role
in their healing process? What do they think
is their part in their personal healing? What
are your current resources and how many of
these are available to the prospective client?
What do they expect that they have to do?
What exchange are they offering for your
services? What do you expect in exchange
for your services? Do these match?

In addition, it is wise to examine your beliefs
about healing. Do you think that you do it?
Spirit does it? The client is responsible? The
process is a co-creation? These are very critical
questions about the very epistemology of you
and your client’s belief systems. I’ll honestly
tell you from experience that these beliefs greatly
effect outcome.

Part of the process in the setting of boundaries
is an honest self-assessment of your resources.
Do you have the time/energy/patience to take on
a prospective client? Another thinking error that
occurs with some healers is that they feel that
have to “save” anyone that asks for their help.
This is a mistake that can lead to severe burn out.

Speaking from experience, the universe or the
spirits do not care about your needs, for the most
part. There is such a huge screaming hole of
human need, and the fact that the spirits are not
currently in human bodies, that they will take ANY
energy/time/resources/etc. that you can spare/or not.
Also I must mention here that your own inner needs
and desires conscious or unconscious may be
full-filled. If you want to be a savior then the
Universe/Goddess will bring it on!

If you have poor boundaries you may need to
start small. You might begin by practicing
observation on how, who, what, where you spend
your resources. Begin a journal tracking these
resource expenditures. Also note in your journal
how you are feeling through your day. How does
your body feel? What are your emotional
responses? Do you feel like there is enough
time to get the things that you need to get done?
Are you feeling rushed or strained in any way?
List your various activities. Include how you
are sleeping and eating. Adding your dreams t
o this inventory can be helpful, too. This may give
you insight into your deep process and hidden self.

After you have kept your journal for a while, do a
complete and honest assessment. This may give
you some idea about where your resources are
going and how that it is affecting you. Are you
finding that you are rushed and anxious? Are
you exhausted at the end of the day? Do you
sleep poorly? Are relationships with certain
individuals problematic? Why? Do you feel
exhausted after working with someone?

How much time are you spending on fun activities
for yourself? Do you feel angry or resentful? If you
were to look at the time spent on taking care of
yourself and taking care of others, how do they
compare? The questions I pose in all of the
sections are merely starting points. Once you
have done this assessment you can work on
strategy.

Good boundary setting begins with the practice of
saying “NO”! Saying “No” effectively can be
helped with a plan. For instance, if you are
too busy you might say, “I’m sorry, I have too
much on my plate right at the moment.
Perhaps you can ask X if they are available.”
If you don’t feel up for the particular needs of
this client you could say, “I’m just not qualified
for this type of healing work here are some
other options.”

Listing other options implies the concept of that
you actually have some kind of list of referrals
that you might feel is competent. Lists of local
resources: alternative counselors, social services,
crisis lines, food pantries, homeless shelters,
low-income medical resources, sliding scale
programs, can be a great tool to help in your
referral abilities.

Other areas that you can set boundaries in are
personal drama. When this happens you need
to first recognize it, choose that you do not want
to participate, followed by changing your
behavior to opt out of it. You can say, “No, I do
not want to continue this conversation any longer.”
You can refuse phone calls, conversations and
visits with those that bring drama to your door.

If you find yourself frequently the center of drama
you may have to do some serious self-reflection,
assessment, and behavioral modification.
Sometimes drama starts with us. On going drama
usually has some point where we engage it,
feed it or initiate it.

I wish there were an easy formula that I could
pass on to you so that you can know who to help
and who to refer. The only true way that I have
found is your ability to be honest with yourself
and your inner motivations, examine your gut
feelings and intuition, listen to your intuition. Be
willing to ask unpopular questions, look at the
answers honestly, follow-up by say “no” when
needed. If one of your clients is not following
through with your suggestions ask “why”. If the
individual does not have a satisfactory answer,
terminate your help.

If someone attempts to involve you in drama,
choose not to engage. If you are drawing, feeding,
or initiating drama, stop. Drama is endless,
repetitive and useless.

In conclusion I’d like to say that taking care of
yourself is critical if you truly want to be a “healer”
of any lasting substance. Your joy matters!
Learning to question yourself and others is a tool
of inestimable value. It’s kind of like a compass.
If you cannot ask and get answers from questions
then you are hobbled with blinders and you can’t
navigate a positive course. Be willing to practice
the art of developing your boundary setting and be
patient with yourself as your skills develop. Take
time to care for yourself and have leisure and
enjoyment in your life that is just for you. If you truly
want to serve then it is important to care of yourself as
sacred. Remember, “You are God/dess!” Healing
begins at home!

Copyright 2006 Lady Raven Ariana
All rights reserved

Celebrating Bride

2006-01-30T12:46:00.000-08:00

Celebrating Bride by Lady Raven Ariana

Tonight is Imbolc, Bride's Feast, the day the Christians
call Candlemass, Feast of the Waxing Light, February 2nd.
We are past the darkest time of the year. The Day is under
tutelage of Night as Day gains strength. Nights are long,
but becoming shorter. The Wheel is turning toward Spring,
new life. We gather together to celebrate with ceremony and
community.

Evergreens stand dark green against the white snow. The
leaves of maple, oak, aspen, rowan, and elder have been
blown to Earth by winter winds. The air is crisp and the night
clear. We gather together to feel the Elements, the Tree Spirits,
Great Goddess Bride, and the Ancestors. We look skyward and
appreciate the stars. We move our feet to feel the sacred Earth
beneath us.

We stand in reverence, preparing for our night's celebration.
We connect with the quickening sap moving up through the trees.
The tree's seem asleep yet, when we connect, we can feel the slow
awakening. We take heart and joy in this quickening. The lifeblood
of the Great Mother flows through the veins of the trees and the
beings who tend them are Her special guardians.

We have brought offerings of herbs, flowers, and mead, gifts for the
Tree Tenders. The Green Folk give us much if we are willing to still
ourselves and listen. The smallest herb is a wise sage. The largest
redwood can be heard if we slow our rhythms and quiet our minds.
We offer our gifts with prayers, blessings and thanks. Our gratitude
helps to open our spirits to the Green Allies. The Plant Folk are
especially connected to Bride in
her healing aspect.

Having honored the tree and herb folk, we are prepared to enter the
sacred space where we will continue our celebration of great Goddess
Bride (pronounced "breed"). Bride's name is also spelled Bridget,
Brighid, Brighet, and she is known to the Irish Christian Traditions
as a Saint. She is the Goddess of smithcraft, healing and poetry.
She is known to be a fierce protector with her fiery arrows. She is
renown for her powers as a healer. She is inspiration and patroness
of the arts and creativity.

When entering, we see a beautiful alter dedicated to Bride and one
dedicated to the Ancestors. The altars are blessed with offerings.
Cleansed by the Elements, Air, Fire, Water, and Earth, we stand in a
circle holding hands and raise our voices together in a prayer to Bride.
The prayer is known as the "Geneology of Bride". Its Christian version
is found in the "Carmina Gadelica". The prayer is a powerful
invocation for protection. This is the version that we speak:

Every day and every night that I say the Geneology of Brighid
I shall not be killed.
I shall not be harried.
I shall not be put into a cell.
I shall not be wounded.
No fire, no sun, no moon shall burn me.
No lake, no water, no sea shall drown me.
For I am the child of Poetry,
Poetry, child of Reflection,
Reflection, child of Meditation,
Meditation, child of Lore,
Lore, child of Research,
Research, child of Great Knowledge,
Great Knowledge, child of Intelligence,
Intelligence, child of Comprehension,
Comprehension, child of Wisdom,
Wisdom, child of Brighid.

A Priestess passes a candle to each person. She then speaks
of Bride's fire aspect, her fire once again tended by Sisters
in Kildare of the order Ord Brighideach, and the strengthening
light. She speaks of the quickening of trees, quickening life,
and the special helpers known as the Green Allies. She instructs
the people to feel the quickening life in their own hearts,
bellies and spirits. She talks of kindling, connection, sacred
creativity and feeling connection to Creatrix.

To symbolize and connect with the waxing light, the Priestess will
light her candle and light the person's candle standing in the
North- East quadrant of the circle. Next clock-wise we will pass
the flame, each person lighting the person's candle standing to their
left until the circle is completed. All lights are extinguished. We are
enveloped in darkness and silence. We stand for what seems forever
then a light sparks and the Priestess begins to tone. She lights the
candle of the person in the North-East and that person adds his voice
to the toning. The light is passed and each voice builds the energy
with the addition of their voice. When the last candle is lit and
the voices strong the Priestess raises her candle and says:

We call to Bride, heart of light, please bring your fire from
the night.We call to Bride, keeper of flame, please heal our
hearts when We call your name.

We call to Bride, heart of light, please bring your fire from the
night.We call to Bride, keeper of flame, please heal our hearts
when We call your name.

She then says, "Blessed be" and we echo with, "Blessed be!"

The Priestess then speaks about the Mighty Dead, the Ancestors.
She speaks of tradition and how we would not be here if not for
those who have gone before. She asks us to touch our hearts and
she raises her voice in a prayer praising the ancestors and giving
thanks.

The original Priestess is joined by two more Priestesses, one bearing
cups and the other with a cauldron of fresh spring water. The cups
are passed and the water blessed. The water is shared with each
person and when everyone's cup is filled we raise our cups to the
sky. The water-bearing Priestess says, "This is the healing waters
of Mother Bride. When we take these blessed waters in to our bodies
our spirits are filled with light and we connect with Creatix. May
you never thirst!" We say, "May you never thirst".

The two serving Priestesses bring special cakes made of honey. The
cakes are blessed and passed around. Together we all raise our cakes
to the sky. The other Priestess says, "These cakes represent our
connection to the Earth, Great Mother and all of the plant, animal and
tree spirits. When you take these cakes into your body feel your
gratitude well up from your hearts for our life that is supported by
these beings. Honor the Green Allies and all the Animal Spirits that
give us life. May you never hunger" We say, "May you never hunger!"

A Priestess asks for a volunteer to send a prayer out for peace and
healing to all people and life on Earth. We join hands and the
volunteer leads us in a prayer. The Priestess tells us to look around
the Circle at the wonderful community shared. She instructs us to
mark this time in our hearts, so that when in need we can return to
this memory for strength, peace and healing. She then invites us
to continue the celebration with feast, song, dance and sharing.

The circle is open, but unbroken. Merry meet, merry part, and
merry meet again!

note: Prayer at culmination of candle lighting adapted from:
"Bridefire" of "The Wheel Turns" copyrights held by Shapeshifting,
Inc. All rights reserved.

Ord Brighideach: http://www.ordbrighideach.org/
"The Wheel Turns" http://www.shapeshifting.com

copyright 2006 all rights reserved

Feasting the Ancestors

2005-10-27T16:52:00.000-07:00

Feasting the Ancestors by Lady Raven Ariana
copyright 2005

We drape the altar table in black and light a myriad
of candles. We carefully place out pictures of our
Ancestors, women, men, pets, and children, with loving
hands. Incense sweetly wafts past the many fragrant flowers
strewn around the pictures and placed in lovely bouquets.
We set out plates of sweets and savory favorite dishes, libations
of spirits and juices, sugar skulls decorated in icings of glowing
colours, with other offerings.

Also on the altar is a book with names, dates and prayers for
those who have passed beyond. Several pens sit by the book
inviting new names and prayers. One inscription begins, "Dear
Pop, I miss you!" Another says, "To my beloved familiar, Sage,
you were my best friend and I hope to meet and be with you again
someday". A poem expressing sadness and loss begins another
entry. Some entries mention forgiveness and a willingness to
release past negativity. All entries are personal expressions of
heartfelt prayers, love, and devotion offered up to the ones who
have crossed over the Rainbow Bridge.

Savory smells fill the kitchen. Our mouths water as we pull from
the oven a golden turkey lovingly basted and a ham dotted with
cloves and pineapple rings. We mash potatoes, stir up the gravy,
add olives to the relish tray, pull out salads, prepare fruit, add
whipped cream to pies, and do the many tasks required to prepare
a luscious feast.

Meanwhile a bonfire is prepared outside. The smoke mixed with
the smell of autumn leaves evokes memories of past feasts. All
guests have prepared prayers, poems, blessings and good wishes
which they have written on paper. Some people have brought
burnable dried offerings, flowers, herbs, incense, and fragrant woods,
to add to the fire. After appropriate prayers and blessings, all guests
offer their gifts to the Dead through the portal of the sacred bonfire.

It's Samhain, the season of the Ancestors and the Mighty Dead. The
Mighty Dead are the great ones who have passed through the Veil of
mortality. Those who were wise in life, who are now dead, and yet
still they use their wisdom to help the living. Sometimes these Mighty
Ones wear a four legged form. They are here to connect to their kith
and kin, to help and heal when they can. They wish remembrance and
relationship given with honor and respect. Through a relationship with
the living they can assist their descendants to prosper and be happy.

When the feast is ready all come to the table. We priestesses prepare
the first plates and these plates are set on the altar and offered with
prayers to the Ancestors. Wine and sweet mead is passed around to all
and several chalices are filled and put on the altar. We raise our cups and
toast the Dead. People are invited to fill their plates and feast. All
conversation is about the departed. We share stories of those who have
passed, recite poems praising the Ancestors, and speak of other topics
honoring all who have crossed the Veil.

When the feast has ended, the Ancestors are thanked and welcomed to
stay as they wish or go as they must. We make our vows to remember
them and to honor them throughout the Wheel. We part with the
understanding that this feast is one event in our ongoing relationship with
the Dead.

How can we cultivate a relationship with the Ancestors? What if we don't
even know who are Ancestors are? What if we had a stormy or troubled
relationship with those who have passed on? What if the Ancestors we
most admire and feel drawn to are not of our direct lineage? How might
we proceed and what might the work look like?

Ancestor work is all about relationship. Many, many cultures around the
world revere their Ancestors by having a permanent altar set up in their
homes. This altar may have pictures of the deceased, a vase for flower
offerings, somewhere to burn candles and incense, and room to offer food
and other favored treats on a regular basis to the departed. Sometimes
their altars are in a special place out in Nature. These places may be visited
regularly and offerings left.

If you have never worked with the Ancestors it's best to start simply. Perhaps
have a picture on the altar with a place to light a stick of incense or a candle
When you light your candle or incense offer up a prayer and spend some time
in meditation. Try and make this a practice at the same time every day. This
is helpful in establishing a relationship.

If you do not know who your Ancestors are, take some time and
find someone that you admire and you feel drawn to that has
passed away. Maybe you can choose someone that you liked,
admired, or who helped you out, but is unrelated, and has now
crossed over. Perhaps your choice is a hero, and one of the Mighty
Dead. You could choose a beloved pet that has crossed the Rainbow
Bridge. The choice must feel right and good to you.

If you have troubled past relationships with your Ancestors you
have a number of choices on how to begin the work. You could pick
someone that you admire. You could ask Spirit to intervene and help
you work through some of your issues surrounding your familial
relationships. If your parents have passed and you have negative
feelings towards them, perhaps there is another deceased relation
that you can begin with and that you have positive feelings for.
Sometimes an Auntie, Grandpa, one of the Mighty Dead, or Spirit can
help with the gradual resolution of old baggage from a troubled past
relationship.

When you begin your practice of fostering a relationship with the
Ancestors or an Ancestor, keep a dream journal. Write down your
dreams as soon as you wake. Dreams often fade fast. Sometimes
your Ancestor will give you information in a dream. Also pay
attention to what is going on around you. Sometimes the Ancestors
will leave a message or a sign. Your presence and awareness will
facilitate communication.

Journey and trance work are very helpful tools for conversing with
those who have passed beyond. You may be amazed at the
information that comes through journeys, trances and dreams.
Sometimes you will discover outside facts that collaborate the
communications heard in the Spirit realm.

Have patience with yourself and the Ancestors during this process.
Relationships take time and presence. I have been delighted to find
wonderful allies in my Ancestors and have felt truly humbled by all
the gifts they bring to me. I love the Feast of the Ancestors, Samhain,
Hallows, Day of the Dead, by whatever names that this holiday is called
throughout the world cultures. Blessings and luck to you all on your
Ancestral relationships. Hail and welcome to the Ancestors and
Mighty Dead.

Dakota's Diary moved

2005-10-20T16:23:00.000-07:00

Dakota's Diary has moved to his new blog
address. Check out previous post.

Days and Nights with me, Dakota, Pixie-Bob (10/18/05)

2005-10-18T09:44:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, Oct. 18th, 2005

I got my own blog today. My mom said that I needed
my own place to keep my diary. You can keep up with
me at http.//www.dakotapixie-bob.blogspot.com.

love,
Dakota, Pixie-Bob

Evil Scrappy Nanna Raven

2005-10-13T09:54:00.000-07:00

My son was married on Sunday, September 18th, of this year.
He married a beautiful woman named Joyful Praise. Joyful
has 2 adorable sons, Ethan, aged 6, and Jordan, aged 4. Can
you say "instant grandma"? Wow!

My close friend and sister high priestess, Lady Dyandra,
hostessed the wedding at her gorgeous home. I was
honored to do the ceremony and we had a very large group.
There were a hundred chairs set up and there were folks
standing. The attendees were from various religions and
spiritual traditions. Some of the religions did not necessarily
get along together in the day-to-day world.

I conducted the ceremony in such a fashion as to honor all
traditions present, while still honoring the Earth-based
beliefs of my Son and his new bride. Joyful, the bride,
was brought up in an evangelical Christian home and at one time
attended Bible college. Her folks are still very active in their faith.
Joy now reveres the Sacred Feminine. My son, Thomas, was raised
in a Pagan home, and is a solitary practitioner.

Everyone was happy with the ceremony, including the bride
and groom. Yayyyyyy!!!! What a relief. It's stressful enough
to be the mother of the groom. Being the attending priestess
for such an event adds another stress level all together.

After the ceremony, during the feast, my grandson, Ethan
took my wand off of the altar and proceeded to take it apart.
He then began to use it to fish around in the pond, trying to fish
out a toy. I was not a happy camper when I caught him at this.
He was very unhappy when I took the wand away and gave him
a stern lecture.

A little while later, sitting with some friends, I noticed Ethan
hiding under one of the banquet tables, pouting. Lady D's puppy,
Lugh, half rat terrier, half Jack Russel's terrier, was trying to
play with Ethan and Ethan was not responding. Observing this,
I wondered if Ethan felt hurt because of my lecture. I asked Joy
to talk to Ethan and have him come over to where we were
sitting.

When Ethan finally came over, I apologized for hurting his feelings
and praised him for being an awesome ring-bearer. This cheered
him up. I then told him how much Lugh liked him and wanted to
play with him. I also told him that Lady D nick named Lugh "Evil
Scrappy Lugh" after the Scooby Do character "Evil Scrappy Do".
Ethan laughed at this.

A minute later Ethan sidles up to me and says, "Well, I think that
you are "Evil Scrappy Nanna Raven"! Just at that moment, my
husband walks up and says, "How did you know?" My friends laughed
their behinds off.

It's become a new tradition that the folks that I circle with and those
who attend our events call me Evil Scrappy Nanna Raven! I'll never
live this one down :)

Connecting To The Seasons: What I've Learned About Harvest

2005-06-16T10:03:00.000-07:00

Practitioners of Earth-centered spirituality use the natural cycles to
learn about themselves and their relationship with the planet and the
living beings that inhabit it. Natural cycles can also be used as a
template to effect change and bring a greater depth of harmony with
all of existence. Yet, many, if not most, modern Shamans and Pagans
live in industrialized locales quite divorced from the natural seasons
and world in which they live.

We buy out of season food grown in other locales. We work at our
jobsand earn money, which we spend on food, clothing, shelter
and our otherneeds. We may not have any relationship, outside
of being a consumer,with the seasons and people that produce
what we consume. We live in artificial light and are not in harmony
with diurnal/nocturnal cycles. Some of us travel for our livelihoods
and our biological clocks never find a steady rhythm. All of this
can leave us feeling estranged from the Earth, our fellow creatures,
and the seasons we inhabit.

Native people, practicing their traditional Earth-centered
spirituality, make it a daily practice to honor the land, the
seasons and all who share our world, seen and unseen. They stay
in harmony with the Earth throughobservation, knowledge,
ceremony, reverence, prayer, expressing gratitude, and ordering
their lives to work within the cycles and seasons. Balance is strived
for in their day to day lives. Depending on the part of the world they
inhabit, these people hold the wisdom of their locale and work within
it, respecting limits and natural consequences.

The Celtic tribes of the British Isles saw (and some individuals still
see) the presence of Spirit in everything. Trees, rocks, wells, streams,
and other natural parts of the landscape each had/have their own
Spirit or Spirit Guardian. Even though much knowledge, wisdom,
and tradition have been lost through industrialization and
Christianization, the Earth wisdom can still be seen in Ireland,
Wales, Scotland and other parts of the Isles, particularly in local
oral folk traditions, prayers and sayings. Some of the older
generation still pass on the wisdom of how to show respect to these
guardians and unseen, or seldom seen, presences. In Ireland the
presences are called "the Shining Ones" and "the Sidhe".Other names
are given in different parts of the British Isles such as "the Fay", "the
Good People", and "the Folk". Furthermore, individuals with the ability
to see the Folk are said to have "the Sight".

It was considered important to show respect and know the appropriate
protocol when living with the Folk. Offerings of food or milk might be
left out, parts of the harvest were left on trees and in fields, and one
did not harvest during a certain time of the year, depending on where
you lived and the Spirits of your area. It was crucial to know what to
do, when to do it, in what proper order and particular time of year,
along with the proper offeringsand/or ceremonies. Each locale had its
own particular Spirits. Disrespect towards these entities and the
Spirits of the Land, also ignoring natural cycles and becoming imbalanced,
could manifest as illness and/or misfortune.

A large body of lore, prayers, and oral tradition, some of which
has been written and published, surround the Fay, natural cycles,
seasons, and life. Much of this information has been Christianized,
but you can still see its Earth-centered roots.

The Celts and other traditional Earth-centered cultures, such as the
Navajo mentioned later in this article, do not recognize a separation
of the Sacred and day to day life. All aspects of living are considered
Sacred, from the preparation of the fields for planting to the baking
of the bread. All beings are viewed as being connected to the web of
life. The concept of the word "mundane" is foreign to the traditional
Earth-centered world view. The sun, moon, elements, weather,
rocks, plants, animals, and everything else in the world all have a
Spirit that connects to the whole and it is important to keep a
balance.

One of the practices of the Traditional Navajo culture in the United
States is to greet the rising sun with praise, prayers and pollen. The
other side of this same practice is to pray and gift pollen to the sun
when it sets. Traditional Navajos live their lives in harmony with the
waxing and waning of the seasons. They rise before sunrise and greet
the day with gratitude and prayers. They also express their gratitude
and thanks at the end of the day when the sun is setting. Their lives
are directed by the seasons, by the plantings of their crops, the life
cycle of their sheep, the daylight available and other seasonal natural
resources.

Traditional Navajo ceremonies reflect the Navajo view of the
individuals' relationships being in harmony with Mother Earth and all
her creatures. When an individual gets ill, the illness is seen as
symptoms demonstrating that the sick individual is out of balance.
Sometimes the imbalance is a sort of infection brought about by
contamination from exposure to forces, or energies, that are
destructive and taboo in traditional culture. Divination and healing
ceremonies are done in order to bring an ill individual back into
balance or to rid the sick individual of contamination and help them
reenter the balance of existence.

Many urbanites have a plethora of illnesses, sickness and dis-ease.
Allergies, seasonal colds, flu, aches, pains and psychological problems
plague those individuals who live divorced from the land and natural
cycles. Overcrowding also takes a harsh toll. Living so closely
together fosters the spread of communicable disease. Anyone who has
had children in public school can probably begin to see the recycling
and mutation of viruses from child to child, then on to the parents,
and back to the child, and on again. In a weird way, this is a type of
harvest.

Harvest time has always brought me a unique opportunity to work with
people around issues of practical harvest, where their food comes from,
and metaphysical/metaphorical harvests, you reap what you sow. When
facilitating public harvest-time ceremonies, I always try to help bring
people into awareness of how the "bread*" they earn buys the bread that
they eat. In addition, a knowing that there is an entire chain of
resources that go into the making of the bread that nourishes them, not
the least of which is Mother Earth. Once I help them become aware, I
then try and help them get in touch with their gratitude.

Metaphorical harvests, you reap what you sow, are the less tangible
harvests that talk about the natural consequences of our thoughts,
words, and deeds. I use the natural cycles and growing seasons to
illustrate developmental concepts/tasks. For instance, if we plant
the idea/seed of developing a certain aspect in our life, bring our
focus, like the sun, to bear on it by giving it needed energy, water
the idea/seed with our efforts, weed out what doesn't foster our
youngplant/aspect, then allow these to ripen, what follows is that
we can enjoy the harvest of the manifestation of the desired aspect
in our lives. To further the metaphor, we can winnow the wheat from
the chaff and store the surplus grain for future nutrition and next
year's planting.

Negative harvests come about in a similar way. A person can sew bitter
words in the spring, fan the flames and heighten the hatred with the
light of selective attention and efforts, water the young hatred with
gossip and character assassination, weed out any positive aspects, grow
the aspect with recycled anger, ripen the aspect with disdain, then
enjoy (or not) the bitter harvest of poisonous grain turned to toxic bread.
Lacking substantial nourishment, the eater of this bitter bread ends up
still feeling hungry and hollow, as does anyone who has shared this
meal with him/her. The best outcome in a negative harvest is that
perhaps the individual will take a personal inventory and see that
growing negativity means they end up feeling unsatisfied and
malnourished.

How can Urban Shamans and Pagans foster a closer relationship with the
natural cycles and seasons? How can we learn the lessons of connection
and harvest? One thing that all of us can do is to become familiar
with what grows in our particular area and at what time of the year it
is available for consumption. The growing movement aimed at developing
local farmers' markets fosters the selling of locally grown seasonal produce
for urbanmarkets. Often this produce is grown by sustainable practices
on small family run farms, rather than with unhealthy practices often
found in corporate agriculture. When we buy and consume our produce
seasonally and from a local source we get the health and connection
benefits while supporting sustainable agricultural practices. Another way
to explore and support sustainable local farming is to research Community
Supported Agriculture or CSA's.

Spending regular time outside in the natural world, whether it be in
your garden, a park, or some local spot that has trees, birds, weather,
sunshine, and other natural life helps to develop a real relationship
with the Earth, fellow creatures, and cycles. Engage all of your
senses: listen, smell, see, taste, and feel. Close your eyes and see
if you can sense the different energies. Visit your spot at different
times of the day, different seasons, and in different weather. Keep a
journal that describes your experiences and chronicles the seasonal
changes over time.

Here are some questions that can help engage your senses and also help
develop a more intimate relationship with the natural world. What
birds are you hearing and seeing? What are they doing? What else do
you hear? What are you smelling? What does that furry plant feel
like? What plants and trees are currently growing? What stage are
they in? Are there shoots, leaves, buds, flower, fruit, or are the
plants/trees spent and dormant? Is there water close by? Is it
flowing? What's in it? What does it smell like? What temperature is
it? What does the dirt/loam smell like? What does it feel like? What
is the weather doing? What does that blade of grass taste like? These
are just a few questions to help spark your curiosity and deepen your
connection.

Develop a relationship with the diurnal/nocturnal cycles. Start a
ceremony where you wake, go outside and greet and give thanks to the
dawn. Follow up your sunrise ceremony with going outside and giving
thanks for your day as the sun sets. Practice your ceremony every day
in every type of weather. As you practice over time, you will find
yourself in relationship with the life giving cycles and seasons of the
dance of Earth and Sun.

Growing a garden is a very good hands on way to get in touch with the
seasons and the Earth. There's nothing more grounding than actually
getting your hands down into the soil. If you have never gardened, it
is best to start small. Do some basic research on gardening. Read
many books and find out about what your area can grow and support.
Find out about first and final frost dates. Look at your available
space and see how much sun it gets. Check into how different
times/phases of the moon best suite a particular garden task. Decide
which type of plants best suit your space, climate, sun availability,
likes and needs (if you hate brussels sprouts, don't grow them). Start
a gardening journal where you can record your experiences, successes,
not-so-successes, the weather, and other information.

There are many positive ways that the urban Shaman and Pagan can get in
closer relationship with the Earth and seasons for health and
self-development. What it takes is knowing that you have a need,
desire, a fearless self-inventory of current personal patterns, a plan,
then action to carry the plan out.

Whether you start by praising the rising and setting sun, grow a
garden, shop at the local farmers' market, become better educated on
using the seasons for self-development, or start a wandering nature
journal, you can ultimately harvest a more intimate, healthy, and
balanced relationship with Mother Earth, the seasons and our fellow
creatures. When harvest time rolls around you will reap what you have
sown and have some understanding of what went into the process. You
can then decide if your seeds are worth saving for future nourishment
and next year's planting.

Fruitful blessings on all your harvests!

To find out more information on farmers' markets and CSA check out:

Canada/Ontario http://www.farmersmarketsontario.com/
http://www.carpfarmersmarket.com/

Canada/BC http://www.eatlocal.org/

Canada/Vancouver http://www.vancouverfarmersmarket.com/

Canada/Alberta http://www.agric.gov.ab.ca/store/farmersmarket/

Canada and USA http://marketplace.chef2chef.net/farmer-markets/

UK http://www.farmersmarkets.net/
http://www.ortonfarmers.co.uk/
http://www.waverley.gov.uk/farmersmarket/index.asp

Scotland http://www.scottishfarmersmarkets.co.uk/

USA http://www.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets/
http://www.localharvest.org/
http://www.fruitstands.com/

World http://www.openair.org/

Online http://www.farmersmarketonline.com/

Farmers' market marketing and business guide: USA
http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/farmmrkt.html

Resouces for farmers' markets http://www.nemw.org/farmersmarkets/

Lady Raven Ariana
copyright 2005 all rights reserved

*"bread" a North American/UK slang term from the 1960s meaning money

Journey To The Temple Of Sekhmet

2005-06-02T14:14:00.000-07:00

Our journey began as we set out in the wee hours, hoping to reach the Temple by noon. The moon rode the sky, waxing toward fullness, as clouds swirled in an accompanying dance. Our drive took us through mountains and high plateau, desert and red rock. The moon kept us company and set just before dawn, gradually deepening from white to yellow to mellow orange. Our journey was a pilgrimage, a spiritual quest to visit the desert Temple dedicated to the Goddess in all her guises and specially consecrated to the powerful Goddess, Sekhmet.

Sekhmet is the Egyptian Goddess of 4,000 names, many of her names lost through time. She is depicted as a woman with the head of a lioness and is known to be a powerful Goddess for protection, fire, and the Sun's transformational energy. Her origins are ancient and she has many attributes.

One of her legends is that she is the daughter of Ra, the Egyptian Sun God. When the Earth became afflicted with demons and evil, Ra sent Sekhmet to slaughter the demons and cleanse the Earth. Sekhmet rose to the challenge and killed these demons and evil doers in a joyous frenzy. When all of the demons had been killed her frenzy did not abate. Sekhmet was tricked into passivity by being offered beer dyed blood-red. She drank this "blood" and become soothed by the alcohol and thus her killing frenzy ended.

The Temple of Sekhmet is located in a sensitive oasis in Nevada bordered by the Nevada Nuclear Test Site, the Indian Springs Air Force Base, and the prison. Once sacred ground to the Shoshoni tribe, the area has been used and exploited for war and the practice of perfecting killing and nuclear holocaust. In fact, during our visit the air force base was engaged in war games.

The Temple was built and dedicated to Sekhmet in 1993 by Genevieve Vaughn and has been served over the years by a succession of priestesses. Full moon rituals, holy days, retreats, protests, and new moon women's mysteries are some of the ongoing activities available at the Temple. The Temple also organizes an annual lament at the gates of the Nevada Nuclear Test Site. The Temple is a work of art. open to the Four Directions, with an open top, graced with a beautiful iron lattice sculpture.

Sekhmet presides in her Temple with other aspects of the Goddess. You will see a gorgeous Earth Mother, the Virgin de Guadalupe, Bast, and many others. A table set up with handouts and a book to add prayers, greets us. A fire pit in the center of the Temple, ringed by an iron sculpture of dancing women, stands under the bright-blue sky. Many people have left offerings. The grounds around the Temple are also an ongoing work of art. Many people have crafted lovely tributes asking for peace and healing for all of Mother Earth and Her creatures.

The land around the Temple is peaceful, despite its proximity to the road and military activity. Beautiful wildflowers and birdsong greeted us in this desert oasis. Views of the surrounding mountains were gorgeous. Even when we were buzzed by an air force helicopter, the feeling of Sekhmet's protection remained. What an appropriate Goddess for such an endangered place. Beautiful Sekhmet and her sister Goddesses hold space against some of the mightiest war machines on Earth.

My pilgrimage to the Temple is an honoring to one of the wonderful Goddesses who have come to me as allies, healers, and teachers over the years. I wanted to come and pay my respects, gift Sekhmet with beautiful flowers, and make a promise to carry out a task in her name. The next part of my journey would allow me the opportunity to carry out my promised task.

After we spent time exploring, meditating, taking pictures, and enjoying the beauty, my mate and I headed out to for the next leg of our journey honoring Sekhmet. Our next stop was Kanab, Utah and a visit to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. I had made a promise to donate money to the special needs kitties at the Sanctuary in Sekhmet's name.

Best Friends is the largest "no kill" animal sanctuary in the United States. Located in gorgeous Angel's canyon, Best Friends houses cats, dogs, horses, sheep, burros, rabbits, birds, wild friends that can no longer fend for themselves, and other animals. They are active in spear heading the "No More Homeless Pets" campaign and facilitate a volunteer network that spans the globe. Best Friends provide a loving home for many special needs animals that will never find a forever family. I knew that Sekhmet would be pleased to have money donated to some of these special friends in her name.

Our visit to Best Friends was wonderful. We were impressed by everything we saw and wished we had more time to stay and volunteer in this beautiful and peaceful place. People come from all over the world to volunteer at Best Friends. Folks walk dogs, clean enclosures, pet and socialize kitties, and engage in the many care taking responsibilities for the Sanctuary. It is a real feel good type of place. The perfect place to honor Sekhmet and other aspects of the Goddess.

After our visit to Best Friends, we finished our pilgrimage by visiting two of our National Parks, Zion and Bryce. We had arranged to meet a couple of our friends, who were up visiting from the San Francisco area, in Zion. The four of us are nature recordists and we were scheduled to do some sound research for the Park Service. We were being joined by another nature recordist and long time champion and advocate for our National Parks.

The research we were engaging involves recording and documenting intrusive man-made sounds in the National Parks. Quiet is considered one of our precious natural resources needing preservation. Air tours, helicopter tours, jets, other air fly overs, and snowmobiles are endangering our natural soundscapes. Nearby St. George, Utah, is looking to expand its airport. This means many more intrusive fly overs for our nearby, Grand Canyon, Zion and Bryce National Parks.

The Nature Sounds Society, which we are members, is working with the Park Service to actively educate people and save the sound environments in the National Parks. This means volunteers to educate, develop recording protocol, and record baseline sounds. Most people are unaware of this important issue. The parks currently the most endangered are the Hawaiian Parks, Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce and Yellowstone, though intrusive man-made noise is an issue all over the globe. Once we lose our natural quiet in the parks and other places we may never get it back.

What a fabulous conclusion to our honoring of Sekhmet. We were able to spend time in both Parks logging man-made sound, recording and working out bugs in our logging/recording protocol. We enjoyed wonderful company, gorgeous scenery, wildflowers, wild weather, and animal/bird friends while we were there. I felt sure that Sekhmet was smiling and protecting us on the rest of our adventures and all the way home.

There are so very many ways that a Pagan Priest/ess can serve the Earth and the Goddesses/Gods/Spirit in a practical way. One doesn't have to work within the organizing of religion to do so. In fact, one doesn't have to be particularly social or enjoy people. The special part, in my opinion, of being a Pagan is being able to have a personal relationship with Spirit. Honoring all of our fellow living beings and the Earth as a living representation of Spirit is what it is all about. Now, more than ever, we need everybody to care, seek education, and get involved.

If you would like to learn more about the Temple of Sekhmet please visit:
http://www.sekhmettemple.com

To learn more about Best Friends Animal Sanctuary please visit:
http://www.bestfriends.org

If you are interested in the issue of preserving natural quiet and the Nature Sounds Society please visit:
http://www.naturesounds.org

Getting To Know The Goddess

2005-06-02T14:10:00.000-07:00

The Goddess reveals herself to me in the changing seasons. The dance of dark and light unfold the interplay of bud, leaf, fruit and seed. The years weave together a spiral of deepening knowledge. As I ascend/descend, my ears attune to Her Voice. I learn Her many languages and what She has to say to me.

Dawn brings the Maiden, budding innocence. She dances in the spring, fresh and lively. In my region, she is accompanied by days of varied weather. Rain, snow, sun and wind are all changing partners. I watch the shift when the female robins return and the male robins begin to defend their territories. When the apples blossom, I wonder if we will have a frost. I notice the cycles from spring to spring. It seems that I have a bountiful crop of apples every other year. I notice that when the apples are scarce other fruits are plentiful.
I ask myself, "What shall I renew this year?" I also ask, "What, in my life, needs the refreshment of innocence?"

Passionate Mother cradles the summer days. Trees in full leaf shade me from high noon heat. I still see changing weather. Sometimes it is a tempest, an afternoon thundershower. Other weather, sometimes know as dog days in July, bring high temperatures and dryness. The robins are paired with their young in the trees. I hear the distinct call of the new ones. I notice that the pair that own my yard leave their babies in the maple, the plum and the apples, just as they have during previous summers. They drink from the tortoise and dogs' bowls and dig for worms, scratching the leaves like chickens. They passionately chase rivals from their space. The fruit is waxing. I ask myself, "What am I passionate about?" and "What needs passion in my life at this time?"

The Queen of autumn brings the harvest. Are there many apples? I feel a shift as the days are now poised, in balance. The evenings bring a different smell, a bit of chill, perhaps some frost. I can feel that change is in the air, heralded by brilliant leaves. The crickets slow and the weather can shift suddenly. The last robin baby is flying well and learning to sing. You can hear the father teaching him the song as the sun fades from the sky, the baby's song incomplete. In this region, each fall brings a different pattern. Sometimes the days and nights stay warm and we have an Indian summer, while at other times a sudden freezing storm can bring down limbs heavily laden with leaves and snow. I ask myself, "What has been fruitful in my life this year?". I also ask, "What am I thankful for?"

Midnight blows in the Winter Crone or she may creep in on stealthy frozen feet. The leaves have fallen and the trees are mostly naked. The remaining robins are young males and they fly in flocks. They visit the withered fruit left on the trees. Sometimes the birds get drunk eating fermenting fruit on the rare warm day. I find their intoxicated antics humorous. Each year I watch them getting drunk on the neighbor's hawthorn berries. Chickadees, juncos, and cedar waxwings join the robins at their party. The seeds sleep underground, blanketed in the cold earth, each holding the promise of precious life. I review my year and evaluate what I have sown, what has flourished and grown, what I have harvested, and what seeds are available for next year. Did I like all of my crops? Do I need to make changes? Have I been happy in my loves and endeavors? The big questions for me at this time, after my evaluation, have to do with leaving space for listening. I ask myself, "What do I need to make space to hear the Goddess?" and "How best can I empty myself, rest, and restore myself so I may end this cycle in a healthy way?"

All the facets of Goddess; Maiden, Mother, Queen and Crone, help me to navigate my path as a developing being on this planet. I am at all times all faces of the Goddess, yet each, in Her Season, help to teach me balance and wisdom. Through the passing years I see new interconnections and learn to more deeply understand and appreciate what she is saying to me. I learn new lessons and get reminded of old ones. I learn how to use my magic to grow, bend, and shape myself into greater happiness and harmony. The Goddess speaks in the language of Love and I taste Her nectar, listening to Her sweet music, while also experiencing the unfolding, beauty and antics of Sacred Life all around me.

What I Have Learned About Gratitude

2005-06-02T14:05:00.000-07:00

Feeling thankful as the Holiday Seasons come up, I have been reflecting
on the nature of gratitude and appreciation. I have not always had the
presence to truly and genuinely feel grateful. As a Sagittarius, I
can't lie when I don't feel thankful and this has caused some less than
entertaining adventures. People tend to like those individuals whom
have the gifts of the socially graceful. LIttle white lies have a
tendency to slip by some of us Sags. Honesty, socially speaking, is
not always the best policy. I won't bore you all with tales of my
social mishaps. Instead, I shall get on with how I learned to get in
touch with my gratitude.

I remember attending a Sweat Lodge many years ago lead by an Apache
Medicine Man. Part of the tradition of the Lodge is to express
appreciation to the Grandmothers, Grandfathers and the Spirits. I was
having a very difficult time during this period and could not honestly
feel connected to any sense of gratitude. When I spoke to the Medicine
Man about my condition and reluctance to participate in the Lodge, he
very gently encouraged me to attend. He counseled that I open myself,
pray, and stay with my honesty. If I did not feel grateful, this was
okay. Spirit could see in my heart and offer healing. Inside the
Lodge I was moved to pray that I come to the ability to feel and
express appreciation.

Looking back at that time, I can honestly say that my prayers were
answered. Spirit stepped forward and presented me with various lessons
and opportunities to learn about gratitude. I can now look at a
beautiful sunset and feel, within my essence, grateful. I honestly
enjoy coming home from my 10:00 A.M to 6:00 P.M. job and feel the
welcome from my fur companions and appreciate them. I can actually
experience all of the wonderful gifts that Spirit brings into my life
with the presence, wonder and gratitude that I have always wanted.

What changed? In contemplating this question I think that I can come
up with a few ideas. Part of the change has to do with my own personal
growth. Awareness, intention, and the willingness to face myself in an
honest fashion and to change my behaviors has allowed the space I need
to experience gratitude. One of the things that I have had to change
is my relationship with my past. Like many folks, I grew up in a
dysfunctional family and I experienced a lot of pain and damage. I had
to learn to reframe my past and see it through the eyes of the wounded
healer. This allowed me to view my past experiences as a fertile
learning ground for helping others. Not that this made my past fun,
instead it allowed me to glean the lessons and make sense out of
something that I could not change, my past.

I also learned to change some of my personal expectations of the world
in terms of reality. I have always had some idea of what "fair" is and
when "fair" didn't happen, as it often doesn't in the real world, I
would become angry and this anger would taint my entire experience.
Letting go of the mental construct of expecting a "fair" world allowed
me to release some of this anger. Releasing a tainting anger leaves
more space for feeling appreciation. This is still a work in process
as I occasionally catch myself falling back into projections of "fair".

Another very valuable lesson was learning how to appreciate myself, the
gifts that I offer, and to set boundaries. With out these lessons I
would give my gifts to those unable to appreciate them. "What's the
problem with that?" one might ask. The problem I found with giving to
those whom are unable or unwilling to appreciate is that the situation
often generates anger. This can happen when folks are demanding, rude,
take you for granted, learn to expect you to do for them, or just
generally resent you because you are able to give and they have some
sense of feeling beholden. Anger, once again, tends to get in the way
of feeling gratitude. I can't feel appreciation when I am upset
because someone is acting out with me after I have given them service.
All the logic in the world cannot help someone be grateful for the
services you provide if they do not feel this gratitude within their
own heart. Learning these valuable lessons allows me to set boundaries
and move away from frustrating relationships that are not respectful
and reciprocal, thus freeing time, space, and energy for relationships
that I can appreciate. More reasons to feel thankful.

Getting in touch with my ability to feel appreciation has been a
process within and without. Reframing the past, letting go of
unrealistic expectations, learning to appreciate myself and my talents,
taking ongoing personal inventory, changing behaviors, setting
boundaries, and moving away from relationships with those individuals
or organizations whom can not or will not respect and appreciate have
all been essential in my journey towards thankfulness.
Spirit/God/Goddess has also graced my life in this endeavor. I have
had the good fortune to have opportunities in my life to learn, grow
and change. I view my Craft as a developmental path that brings me
closer to the Earth and the Divine. I am a Yuletide baby and I can
honestly say that my life is a precious gift and I give thanks to
Spirit and to all whom share it with me. I wish you all the very best
in your personal journey towards a grateful life.

The Other PPDs: satirical and fictitious correspondence

2005-06-02T13:43:00.000-07:00

After participating in helping out for a local Pagan Pride Day and finding out just how large some of the egos that were involved are, the following spoofs were posted to an e-group that is no longer in existence.

Panty Pride Day Update

Planning is underway for our next year's Panty Pride Day. It looks to
be an exciting day of events all focused on promoting the importance of
underwear. The following is a FAQ sheet to help all of you answer the
most frequently asked questions about Panty Pride day.

Panty Pride Day FAQ

Q. Why do you have Panty Pride Day?

A. Our mothers taught us that it always important to wear clean and
nice-looking underwear just in case we happen to get into a car
accident and have to go to the hospital only to feel embarrassed when
the doctor and nurses see the holes in less than pristine panties. We
have taken this attitude to heart and feel that it is a critical
mission to educate others in the importance of nice undies. Comfort
and confidence go hand in hand. When one has the proper foundation
garments one can sit in any situation and project complete competence
and continence. Cleanliness and personal hygiene are also important
and stressed at our events.

Q. When and Where are Panty Pride Day?

A. Depends.

Q. Is Panty Pride Day only about boxers and butthuggers?

A. Absolutely not! Panty Pride Day celebrates all styles of underwear.
We do not discriminate. Bras, teddies, g-strings, long johns, slips,
corsets, and various lingerie, are celebrated along with the more
traditional boxers, briefs, bikini, sport cut, etc. style panty.

Q. What types of workshops do you offer for Panty Pride Day?

A. Whatever our volunteers are qualified and willing to teach. Past
Panty Pride Day events have seen workshops covering such topics as:
Cotton vs. Synthetic Material, How to Find a Fit For the Proper
Brassier, Name Brands, Get the Most Comfortable Panty and Still Look
Great, Girdles: Are They Only a Foundation Form of the Past?, Corsets
and Assets, Protecting Your Undergarments: Choosing Panty-liners,
Douches, and Deodorants, How To Get the Racing Stripes Out of Your
Shorts So You Can Pick Up Girls, On the Rag: Facts about Menstruation
and Your Undies

Q. What can I expect from the main Panty Pride Day Ceremony?

A. Each ceremony is a bit different depending on who is host/essing.
The theme is always one of celebrating underwear. There is usually a
procession featuring folks modeling various styles of undergarments.
One year our host/esses were a colorful drag queen team, called Busting
Out All Over, whom did a spectacular job of involving the participants.
Always a blast for all.

Q. What other events do you have at Panty Pride Day?

A. We have various performing artists showcasing their talents while
wearing underwear. We have the Foundation Garment Museum. We have
vendors selling all sorts of undergarments of all kinds. Non-profit
organizations for the advancement of related issues share information
at their booths. We have a special Panty and Lingerie Shrine. We
feature a fashion show were designers share their latest. Jugglers,
dancers, buskers, mimes, card sharks, scam artists, and others baffle
the masses with their roving talents. We have our special Panty/Bra
Hall of Horrors and much more!

Q, Can anyone attend?

A. Absolutely! Something for everyone.

Hope this little FAQ sheet will help all of you in answering the many
questions asked of those of us whom help out with Panty Pride Day.

Blessings all!

Naughty Zoot
High Priestess of the Great Goddess YoMama
Grand Poobess of the Order of the Yelks (Yapping Elks)
Most Wise and Senior Advisor to His Holiness the Grand Wiper of Other
People's Bottoms
Founding High Priestess of Aardvarkian Wicca
Holy Holder of Coyote's Tricky Testicles
Bearer of the Grail of the Holy Elderberry
Regional Coordinator of Panty Pride Day

Furthermore.....

Greetings, Oh Naughty Zoot,

I want to once again extend my appreciation for all of your support in
helping us get Pooh-bah Pride Day together. Panty Pride Day has been
such a wonderful inspiration for us all and I am thrilled that you have
so generously shared yourself so that we can have a successful
inauguration for Pooh-bah Pride Day . The following is a tentative
schedule for the Pooh-bah Pride Day events, keeping in mind that we do
not have everything set in stone.

10:00 A.M. - Opening ceremonies: Our M.C. will open the event by
announcing the Parade of Pooh-bahs. The Pooh-bahs will promenade down
through the site to the front stage in all of their finery. Our M.C.
will then introduce each important personage with all appropriate
titles.

11:00 A.M.-sign up for the Pooh-bahlympics (games and competitions)

1:00 P.M.-Pooh-bahlympics begin. We will offer the following:

*Distance Air Kissing
*Soap-box Derby (a stationary event)
*As Far As You Can Throw Them (similar to the caber toss)
*Doctor's Spin Off
*Rants and Raves (a debate competition)
*The Salad Toss ( competitive event for the best brown nosing)
*Sumo Wrestling in Green Jello
*Gas-a-thon (wagers will be accepted on whom can pontificate non-stop
the longest
before taking a breath or passing out. Participants and observers
will be cautioned
to close one hole before opening the other.)
*Best Fez Contest (different categories based on types of officious
head gear)
*Wild Bull-shit Riding (hip waders optional)
*Toot-Your-Own-Horn Karaoke (trot out your titles while we provide the
tunes)
*Celebrity Boast

Ongoing events:
Hot Air Balloon Rides (in our custom Fez shaped hot air balloon)
workshops
booths
author book signing
live music

***author book signing will feature Dr. X. Crement, famed author of the
self-help book, "Asshole No More", promoting his new book "Parades,
Charades, and Tirades: Pooh-bah Politics and Platforms".

***our headlining band will be The Blowhards singing their hit, "Our
Shit Doesn't Stink", and other acts to be announced

***we are currently putting together a workshop lineup so stay tuned
for further details

Thank you again for all of your support in helping our inaugural
Pooh-bah Pride Day be a rousing success.

With much appreciation,

Lord Lickety Split
Chief Conniver and Controller for the Church of the Self-Important
The Honorable Mr. Moneybags and Pursewarden for the High Order of the
Humblest That Can Be Got
69th Degree High Priest of The One RIght And True Tradition
Grand Patootie of the Most Fraternal Order of Correct and Male Members
Ordained Successor to our Head Honcho, Hung Long, of the Most Fraternal
Order of Correct and Male Members
Appointed Secret Shopper for Fruit of the Loom (Hail and Welcome Panty
Priders)
Your Local Co-ordinator for Pooh-bah Pride Day

Re: Empathy and Sympathy

2005-05-27T17:06:00.000-07:00

This post originates as a response to a post on a pagan clergy e-group.

Nice points, (name left out),

I think that in some ways, when I am working with people, especially as a healer, I work with neither empathy nor sympathy. Not that this is ALWAYS the case. Empathy and sympathy can tell us a lot about ourselves, and sometimes gives us information about another. Usually learning occurs when you can tell the difference between the two (empathy or sympathy), weed out your feelings and distinguish them from another's feelings, then clear yourself enough to do the necessary work.

I often avoid both empathy and sympathy in pastoral counseling situations. Instead, I like to work with presence and holding a safe space or container. These methods are a little different, because they involve setting aside myself and my agenda, in order to facilitate for another.

The first prerequisite in "setting aside myself and my agenda" means that I have been working and have tools to work with knowing myself and my agenda. It also utilizes skills developed to monitor myself and flags to alert me when "I" or "my agenda" am/is becoming involved.

Some practices that help in learning presence and holding a safe space are meditational practices where you develop parts of yourself called "The Observer". This Observer is a part of you that seems to stand aside and view your emotions, thoughts, processes, etc., while you are meditating.

To clarify the term "meditation", I am not talking about simply sitting around in the lotus position chanting "Ohm" (though the lotus position and chants may work well for some).
Meditation can happen through movement, stillness, during sacred housecleaning, singing and in many other ways.

When I set aside myself/agenda, become fully present, then hold safe space, I am able to fully be with the person and their feelings and issues. Safe space always means confidentiality, then whatever else is necessary for the individual to feel safe. Sometimes it involves ritual cleansing and boundary setting. It also requires self-monitoring and monitoring the energy of the space.

A note on the idea of setting aside one's personal agenda: Personal agendas arise from within our own personal needs/ideas/epistimology/experiences/etc. For instance, some of us have a need to "fix". An individual may approach us and ask us to "fix" their problem. I've found that "fixing" something or someone in a pastoral counseling setting is, at best, an extremely short termed solution and, at worst, encourages codependency and/or a mommy like dependence from those we are "fixing". The student/covener begins to look toward us to "fix" them whenever there is a problem. The individuals who have been "fixed" by us rarely develop abilities, skills and enough self-knowledge to "fix" anything for themselves so, they often need help.

An even bigger downside to this "fixing" happens when we step away from the "fixing", try to change the boundaries of the relationship, or we attempt to get the person to work on their own issues. This happens after we have developed a relationship and subsequent expectation from the individual that we will "fix" them/their problems. My experience has been that when I have engaged this particular dynamic in a relationship, I have seen adolescent type acting out and huge shadow plays of authority issues from the "fixed" towards the "fixer".

If you happen to be a person with "fixing" urges, I strongly recommend meditating on the concept that Spirit is All and nothing is really "broken". We are all perfect in Spirit.

That said, a better balanced method is to guide the person through processing and exploration of their own issues in safe space. The person processes emotions, then is asked what they think the issue is. After processing emotions and issue identification, they can then be asked what they think their options are. Our job, here, is to encourage them to look within and come up with some of their own options. Reflective/active listening and appropriate questions are the key here.

What most people generally need is a place to process. Presence and holding safe space facilitates this. When reflective/active listening is used, a person can process and sort through their own emotions. If further steps are needed, besides the processing, questions can reveal what the person feels like are his/her options and potential outcomes. If a person is really lost after exploring their own ideas, feelings, central issue and outcomes, they can be given additional possible options and ideas and allowed to explore these verbally/emotionally.

I'm a great believer in teaching folks to fish. Catch a person a fish, feed him for a meal. Teach a person to fish, she feeds herself and her family for her lifetime. This comes in handy when/if you find yourself busy and on call from coveners/students. A few sessions of this type of guidance/pastoral counseling sets a template of self-empowerment.

Usually folks know, somewhere inside themselves, what the best options are for them and what they really want. A lot of people are taught to avoid this knowledge for all kinds of reasons. When we can facilitate with/for them in such a way as to help them draw this out and strengthen/acknowledge them, then they become more confident in their own processing and decision making skills and abilities.

Control Freak

2005-05-26T09:43:00.000-07:00

Okay, I’ll be the first to admit that I am a total control freak. In fact, I’m such a control freak that I often get into control drama with myself. If that’s not having control issues I don’t know what is. I think that my problems arise from issues of childhood wounding. I lost trust in everything, except animals and the natural, non-human world, very early in my life.

That said, how do I work with my problem. Well, all I can say is that this is a work in progress and I still feel far from any satisfactory answers. The First Spell of Change is awareness, also known as realizing that there is a problem. The example kind of goes something like, “Houston, we have a problem! We are out of control! That person, situation, relationship, myself, what have you, is not responding to my attempts at navigation!”

Now it might seem to be common sense to understand the complexities of knowing that we are NOT in control and that just figuring out the “right” way to do something will not necessarily lead to the outcome we desire. I can only say that this seems to be the “common sense” of those who have had the luxury of a healthy childhood. Even then, I have my doubts because it seems that this culture, itself, soul kills at an early age.

My own childhood experiences led me to assume that if I am NOT in total control I may be in some serious doodoo! In fact, given that I am a multiply aspected Sag with Virgo rising (Google the web to learn more about astrology or find the nearest trust worthy astrologist near you), my experiences have also led me to believe that I need to be beyond reproach! (If I could have given the term "beyond reproach" squiggly lines like Edward Moench’s “The Scream”, I would have.) Beyond reproach is a burden that no one, even my most hated enemy, should have to live with.

If you couple a desire for perfection with fear arousing survival, and a need to control, you have a response that is very difficult to become aware of and then, if you want, feel, and have the ability, to change.

Guerilla Wicca

2005-05-25T12:15:00.000-07:00

Having instructed you all on being voluntold, I will now share the "mysteries" of Guerilla Wicca. Guerilla Wicca is a specialty of mine authored by myself and Lady Phoenix to slip by slacking Pagans for our entertainment and the slacker's enlightenment. Guerilla Wicca is not to be confused with Aardvarkian Wicca, another Trad I started 20 years ago with a fellow High Priest, named Pryddth ap Don. Aardvarkian Wicca is a system inspired by Eris and those of her followers who like to roll out the golden apple. If you want to know more about Eris and Discordian magic find a copy of "The Principia Discordia".

Before I go on, I'd like to give credit where credit is due, and post an e-mail received today, from my sister priestess in Guerilla Wicca fun, Lady Phoenix. She sent me this after reading my previous posts.

"KICK ASS.... NOW you can go finally get all that shit down so it can be put
into book form... I got blogs too.. .
i thought Bor was going to shit when we talked about Guerilla Wicca... omg...
you gotta write about that one next...lol..."

All right, now that the proper credit has been given, we begin our Guerilla Wicca tutorial. As I mentioned in the post on voluntold, I have an extremely irritating way of teaching. I call it the "art of the question". So what do you think that Guerilla Wicca might be? Take some time to think about this before reading further.

If you think that Guerilla Wicca is subversive, covert, underground and sneaky, I think that you are probably on the right track! I'll again instruct you, a la Lady Raven, and ask you another question. Why in the world is there a need for a magical system that is covert, subversive, underground and sneaky? Take your time, here, and really think of an anwer before reading further.

For those of you who read my previous post on voluntelling, you'll probably get the idea that many folks are slackers, plain and simple. Now the Craft of the Wise, or Witchcraft, is ALL about change. If you have a bunch of slacking individuals who refuse to work on themselves to change for the better (for their own health and happiness and that of the Planet) then sneak, subversion, and covert techniques can be very helpful. Guerilla Wicca is simply the act of slipping in transformational magic without the knowledge of the student. I'm not talking about "manipulative spell work". In my book or BOS* manipulative spell work is considered "black magic".

Guerilla Wicca is Art in its highest form. It's sneaking in the Spells of Change in such a way that the person does all of the work and gets all of the benefit without ever knowing that I'm slipping them anything. Pretty cool, don't you think? You don't have to be a Poohbah to practice Guerilla Wicca. In fact, being a Poohbah actually gets in the way of working this type of Craft. The point is to remain "unseen".

Some of you may be wondering what the Spells of Change are. I'm going to do my thing again and ask you, "What do you think the Spells of Change are?" I'll be posting about them at a later date and expecting you all to have considered the question, unless you already "know" the answer. Once again, you've been voluntold!

*BOS means Book of Shadows

Voluntold

2005-05-25T11:50:00.000-07:00

Scratching my head, I'm remembering the origins of the term "voluntold". I'm thinking that Phoenix is actually the person who coined the term in the last coven I HPSed (that's High Priestessed for those folks not in the know). I have a way of looking at a person when I'm asking for volunteers to do a coven duty, or other assignment, and then that person feels motivated to step up to the plate. This became known as "voluntold".

I don't mean to be bossy. It's just that 20 years of priestessing, often times in public service, has left its mark. Raising 2 boys to adulthood and having a background in dog training, along with teaching dog training classes, can't be lightly put aside, either. The dog training classes took place before the days of clicker training, rewards and The Monks of New Skete. This was in the day of corrections and the alpha male roll over for agressive dogs. As a teacher, I learned to be a real alpha bitch.

Voluntelling, FYI, for those other priestesses out there, does have its advantages. Despite cowan (this means non-witch) claims to the contrary, I have found that folks relish being told what to do. I have been at my most disappointing, to my students, that is, when I tell them to figure it out for themselves. They HATE some of my teaching methods, especially my specialty of asking questions then actually expecting them to do the work of coming up with the answers, themselves. They'd much rather I tell them what to do, give them a formula, lay it out for them....you get the picture.

I've been told by some of my sister priestesses that I'd be much more effective if I'd do a Drawing Down of the Poohbah. Drawing Down is a particular type of ceremony where a priest or priestess channels Deity. I know, there are plenty of sceptics in the world and I include myself in the sceptic camp. I'm not asking for believers or converts here. What's a Poohbah, one might ask? This is a variety of individual who puffs up in public, knows it ALL, and lets everyone know that they know it ALL, in no uncertain terms.

Many folks don't want a peer, they want a boss. They want a Mistress type priestess who takes charge and has them bowing and scraping. They want you to see all, know all, hold the mysteries and dangle the mysteries/knowledge like a carrot on a stick. When they misbehave they'd like the, just mentioned, stick applied to their slacking behinds. Well, crap, I should have figured this stuff out 20 years ago. I could have been a petty tyrant and had my students kissing my behind instead of bitching.

Figure that one out, you've been voluntold!

McWicca

2005-05-25T09:55:00.000-07:00

As a priestess I am continually amazed that when individuals discover I'm a witch they seem to think that spell work is something that they can order up at the window, then have delivered like fast food. They'll ask me something like "Hey, can you do a love spell and get me my forever mate?" Sometimes I'm tempted to ask "And would you like a side of thighs with that?"

Really! These folks are quite serious about their "orders". The sad thing that they don't understand is that magic means "work". "The Gods help those who help themselves" is actually an explanation of one of the "Craft Laws". You can burn candles and do spell work to get a job until the cows come home, but if you never move your behind off of the couch and fill out some applications and go to some interviews, you're not going to see a paycheck.

"Love spells" are another sticky wicket all together. Every time I get asked to do a "love spell" I have to trot out my tired old "black magic" 101 lecture. Black magic??? You might ask. Isn't "black magic" about harming others. Nope, not in my book. "Black magic" is all about nonconsensual magic. Doing magic unto others that they have not consented to. Does this mean that healing work can, at times, be considered "black magic". Yes, siree, Bob. If my fundamentalist Bible thumping brother does not ask me to do healing work for him and his, then I'd better not be lighting a candle in his name when he is ill.

The other down side of "love spells" is that folks will doubt any "love" that may happen after said spell has been done. There is always a taint of manipulation that surrounds ANY relationship that ensues following a manipulative spell. Even if the person in question is your one and true soul mate, you'll always wonder if the person loves you for you, or is simply a victim of the spell.

So what's my point? Magic is work! You can't order up lasting change at the "window". Change is like the seasons, it takes time. It also takes effort and work. You might have to plant some seeds, water some sprouts, nurture the growth, harvest your fruit, then know how to store if for future consumption. Short cuts might supply you some kind of instant gratification, but it is seldom lasting or nutritious.

Boastradamus

2005-05-24T16:08:00.000-07:00

I know someone who I like to call "Boastradamus". Have you ever heard of Nostradamus, the person who made predictions about the future? Well, Boastradamus predicts the past. This person does so with the special superpower "hindsight" and their hindsight is always 20/20. Sometimes I laugh and think that 20/20 hindsight comes from peering out of the "other eye" or orifice, the one my honey calls the winkin and stinkin little brown eye.

Do you know any Boastradamus type individuals? They have the hallmark of saying things like....."I told you so." "Well, I said..." "If only you would have listened to me back...." "I already knew that!" "Been there, seen it, done it and all before you did." and my favorite "I know ALL about you".

Boastradamus is a type of Poobah. Many Boastradamus predictions act like a weather vane. They let you know that the fez is about to expand. When the predictions start, be careful and stand back. You don't want to be covered with anything should that fez explode. The fez gets extremely volatile when there is an audience. An audience will bring out other superpowers in a Boastradamus. Superpowers like his/her "fickle finger of credit and blame", the ability to "shame in a single sentence", the supermagical ability of "increasing in size in relation to putting others down" or ranking (of course with Boastradamus at the top of the heirarchy), "magical cloak of invisibility when responsible", and many others.

What I always need to remind myself when dealing with a Boastradamus is that usually the superpowers and expanding fez create a distraction from the "little man behind the curtain". Smoke and mirrors keep hidden the wounded, insecure "God/lowest creature on the face of the planet" real person. They sadly believe that they truly create all of the universe, even you, when things are going well, and everyone else is to blame, when things are going wrong. When I remember this it is much easier to retain my equilibrium and not take Boastradamus so personally.

Velvet's Rescue

2005-05-24T12:49:00.000-07:00

On the weekend of Beltane, Saturday April 30th, my honey and I had to go in to work. We had just returned from a pilgrimage to the Temple of Sekhmet in Indian Springs, Nevada (http://www.sekhmettemple.com). For an in-depth account of our journey check out: http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usut&c=words&id=9240. After work we needed to go to PetSmart for supplies. Interestingly enough, our youngest son (19 years) was telling us about a fire that had taken place while we were out of town. Some person had 38 cats and these cats had been rescued by the fire department and put out to foster with a local animal welfare group called CAWS (http://www.caws.org). While in Petsmart we saw this little black cat with medium length fur and bright green eyes. On her cage was her name, Velvet, and a paper telling the story about how she was one of the "fire" kitties and the first to be placed up for adoption.

What a total sweetheart. She clearly loved to be petted and I knew she wanted to come home with us. When we talked to the volunteer we asked how she got along with other cats and animals, as we had 2 other cats and additional pets. The volunteer told us that she really didn't like other cats but she had lived with 37. The volunteer did not know if she would get along with dogs. The volunteer felt that if we gave Velvet a home she would adjust to the other cats and animal folk. She assured us that if Velvet did not work out she could go back to her foster home.

We were convinced and Velvet came home with us upon completion of the adoption application. When we brought her home, we set her up in the guest bedroom along with cat-box, food, water and toys. This was going to be for the gentle introduction period of time. We had to see if she and the other fur folk got along.

It took about a week, but Velvet began to get settled and integrated into Chez Lapin (our home). She's the tiniest of the cats but rules with an iron ruler held in the velvet glove of a school marm. She gets along famously with 2 of the dogs, one of the dogs doesn't get along with anyone. She hates disputes and when anyone fights she screams, and runs in to break up the problem. She loves my honey. You should see her climb up on his chest, wrap her paws around his neck, nibble his chin and drool. Our big Maine Coon tom, Nimbus, follows her around looking love struck. She drives him away when he gets too close! Phoebe, our other Maine Coon, growls and keeps her distance. I kind of think that Phoebe is happy to have Nimbus fixated on Velvet. Nimbus's interest in Velvet gives Phoebe some breathing room.

Another new adventure

2005-05-24T12:02:00.000-07:00

Today is the beginning of another new adventure. Blogging! I've never blogged before but have read a few here and there. I am hoping that this will help me develop new web skills, improve my writing, give me a regular venue to express myself, and lead to unknown territory. I haven't exactly figured out how to manipulate my blog site so that it will look like I want it to.

Sia, another priestess, inspired me to create my blog. You can find her's at: http://fullcirclenews.blogspot.com. Thanks, Sia! My long time mate and husband thought of the name "Ravensongs". Good one, Hon!