Moving Pictures

As I was packing to move, I found a package of pictures my Dad took about 6 or 7 years ago when he came out to visit. There were some fine pictures of nature, a really wonderful one of my Dad, some of his sister Wanda, and one lovely one of Misty.

Each of these were precious. Wanda was close to death at the time, so these last pictures of her are special. The picture of my Dad reveals his soul in a way I had never seen before. And the picture of Misty is cherished because she died some years ago, and I have few pictures of her. She didn't like posing.

All of my animal friends are dear to me, yet Misty was the closest to my heart. She had a Pisces moon quite close to my own, for one thing. For another, she had been hit by a car and her right hind leg was smashed. She hobbled the length of a football field to get to me. Luckily, my housemate was a night owl and went out the door and found her. The vet was able to piece the leg back together, but it wasn't until years later when she was attuned to Reiki that she healed her leg. At the end she was running flat out, something she had not been able to do for most of her life.

Misty did everything flat out. She didn't know the meaning of moderation, except in her diet. She ate only what she needed, and stayed slender her whole life. At the end, she was truly thin because of a hyperthyroid condition. She did love her mice and the raw food diet I discovered in her last years.

Misty died the way she lived - on her own terms. She called in a raccoon, or maybe several. I know that partly because Misty told me and partly because she was so fiercely glad that her body provided food for another creature.

For almost two years after she died I cried every evening. Misty would come and lick my face when she was alive. After she died, she would come and ask why I was crying. She certainly wasn't traumatized by death. It was another grand adventure. She seldom comes to visit anymore. I am occupied and I suspect she is too.

However, Misty, Samantha (the cat who taught me to listen to animals) and Coco (an Aussie/Blue Heeler mix who spent her last years with me) asked to come back to me. It might just be soon!

The Bee

As I said last week, I am looking for a home for my Dad and I. I was out looking for a specific home for sale - didn't find it. Frustrated, I stopped at a gas station to get directions. I reached for my bag and saw a lone bee wandering around on top of it.

Once upon a time I kept bees, and got some marvelous honey out of the deal. So I know that a lone bee is lost without its hive. I didn't know when or where this particular bee got into my car. A bee can fly at least a mile, but not a lot more than that. With no way to tell this one's home, I decided to put it out on the grass. Unfortunately, it probably died an early death (even though their lives are pretty short anyway).

Then I got to thinking. Was this another signpost for me from Nature? Bees are about community above all. They are industrious, and create sweetness. At this point I am so tired and frustrated in the search for a property my Dad and I could love that is also within our means and we can move into at the end of this month. The industrious I have already been doing, so bring on the sweetness!

Community is not foreign to me. I have lived in several intentional communities, and currently am one of the leaders in a spiritual community. My community is supporting me in a number of different ways already. Is there something more, something specific?

Perhaps I will be living in community again. Who knows? Stay tuned for the rest of the story.

Beauty of the Vulture

My Dad and I are buying a house. Dad is vigorous for 82 years on the planet. He plans on fishing and maybe getting a part-time job. I am nearly finished writing a book, and will be working on getting it published.

The process of buying a house is new to me, and yesterday I was down in the dumps. A dear friend took me for a drive in the country, which was lovely. We went some places in the county where I had never been. I learned that Lake Whatcom is HUGE! We stopped on the way at a country store - lots of different things for sale. I bought some baby brussel sprout plants. We shared some espresso chip ice cream.

And the icing on the cake was watching a gorgeous turkey vulture swooping back and forth over the large mowed grassy area across the road. It was really quite stunning and beautiful. And then the vulture flew off.

Now many people think vultures are not beautiful. Some people think they are dirty. What is real is these scavengers play an extremely valuable and necessary function, preventing the spread of disease and keeping the environment clean.

So when I got home, I checked out Ted Andrews view of vultures in “Animal Speak.”

In alchemy, the vulture was a symbol of sublimation, particularly because of its resemblance to the eagle. The vulture was considered a sign of confirmation of a new relationship between the volatile aspects of life and the fixed, the psychic energies and the cosmic forces. It was a promise that the suffering of the immediate was temporary and necessary for a higher purpose was at work, even if not understood at the time. It reflects that no matter how difficult the life conditions, rescue is as imminent in your life as was the rescue of Prometheus by Hercules.

This fit so well - I had been stressed and the beauty of the vulture in flight was restorative. Today, I spoke with the realtor, who is doing her job perfectly. I know that very soon we will have a wonderful place to live.

Essence of 2010

Tonight there is a Blue Moon - as in "once in a blue moon". Of course the moon will not appear to be blue. However, it is rare - and gave rise to the saying. This one is even more rare because it comes with a partial eclipse of the moon. The blue moon together with an eclipse occurs only about every 91 years.

Today, on the Eve of 2010, I was directed to create an essence for this year. From the astrology of this New Year, I know we will all need to stay grounded and clear. As I asked for the specific essences to go into the combination for 2010, I was aware that the astrology tells a story of increasing energetic urgency. We, the children of the Earth, must transform ourselves and the way we live and the way we connect with each other, with the Earth we live on, and with Spirit. We can use all the help we can get. This essence will support us in doing exactly that, each in our own ways.

The essences in the Essence of 2010 are: Ayahuasca Essence; Herkimer Diamond Essence; Borage Flower Essence; Coast Redwood Essence; and Mother Water from around the world.

For a detailed description of each component essence, or if you are interested in purchasing the essence, go to http://www.dragonflyessence.com/Essence-of-2010.html

A TALE OF TWO CATS

There have always been animal companions in my life. However, there were two cats who grabbed my heart in their claws and refused to let go. Samantha taught me to communicate, and Misty taught me to go at life flat out, with gusto. Both of these cats had all the freedom I could give them. Both made their own choices about many things, including their manner and time of death.

Sam came to live with me in 1979, when I was going through big transitions. Sam accompanied me on my first shamanic journey, and brought me through kundalini awakening (which was very tough for me). She was a soul mate, and we had an ongoing conversation, heard only by the two of us most of the time. When she was 12 we moved out of the city to a place with 14 acres of gardens, pasture, meadow and woods. She was sure she was in heaven.

Less than a year after we moved I was helping a friend at her bookstore at a time she was giving away kittens. All of the kittens found homes except one, who told me emphatically that I was her person. Just as emphatically I said no – my housemate and I had too many cats already. However, after hearing her yell at me all night long I decided I would get more peace if I just brought her home.

She confidently walked right up to Sam, who was the senior cat in the house (how do they always know who that is?) and tried to make friends. Sam looked down her nose and told Misty that she was a good for nothing upstart and she had better mind her manners. Though they never fought, they were almost yet never exactly friends.

I hadn't done either Sam's or Misty's birth chart until recently. Astrologically speaking, the connections to my own chart are uncanny. I have been looking at astrological charts for 28 years and could have guessed the astrological connections were as strong as the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual connections.

Sam was a Leo (proud, easily hurt) with Gemini rising (two very different facets in one) and a Cancer moon (homebody), closely conjunct her Mars. What does that mean? We moved 8 times in her life and she was the star of the household – always! The Cancer moon gave Sam a loving heart.

Her Mercury was sextile (ease) to mine, so it was easy for us to hold the continuing conversation as we did for eighteen years.

Her Moon-Mars was at the same place as my Uranus (change). Plus, Sam's Cancer Mars was semi-square (confrontation) my own Mars-Pluto in Leo, which made for intense interactions and sometimes anger. Part of her work with me was to help me heal. And a very important piece of the healing was for me to realize how much anger (Mars) I had suppressed, yet still carried around with me. Sam was instrumental in that realization and healing.

Sam helped me through many big changes. For example, as I said earlier, she assisted me as I went about removing blocks and allowing kundalini to flow. This is a very Uranian process, and Uranus is all about change.

Her South Node was exactly conjunct my moon. She taught me how to feel deeply.

Now Misty was an Aries cat – she was born on the Spring Equinox. She was all about fire and change. At the same time, she was incredibly loving. The truth is that Misty and I were on an emotional wavelength I have seldom found, with human or animal. Her Pisces moon was only two degrees away from my own, while her Mercury was just 2 degrees on the other side of my moon. Our communication was less about words than it was about feelings.

Misty's Mars was 30 degrees from my Mars-Pluto conjunction (a volcano), with her Chiron (healing) right on top of my Mars. By the time Misty came to me, I had done a lot of work and releasing. Misty and I didn’t have to work through anger the way Sam and I did, though Misty could get fairly aggressive, especially when she was young.

Sam's moon was exactly trine (flow and ease) Misty's at 6 degrees Pisces, and just 8 degrees from Misty's Mars. All this was quite closely trine my moon. The flow of emotions among the three of us was quite remarkable.

Sam's Saturn was conjunct my own; her Pluto (death/transformation) was conjunct my South Node (karmic releasing). Sam spent about 6 months preparing for death, and the last night she curled up with me and sent a dream in which she poured out her feelings about her life with me. The next night she struggled through a cat door that was too high for her comfort (usually I opened the people door to let her out). Twice I brought her back in, and the third time I honored her choice (the truth of 3) and wished her ease in the dying. And then I cried myself to sleep.

Misty chose her death as well. Her Pluto was just 3 degrees from my Venus (beauty/love). She was an exquisitely skilled hunter, eating her daily mouse with gusto (except for the gall bladders). For the last 5 years of her life I lived in an apartment in town for the first time since she began living with me. She couldn't go out whenever she wanted - she needed me to let her out through two doors, and the management had been putting pressure on me to not let her out except on a leash. Can you imagine!

She had been sick and was tired of taking pills twice a day, just tired in general. We were staying for a few days in a friend's cottage, on a double lot backing on a green belt. We stayed there as often as possible, so Misty was familiar with the territory. There are deer, mice, rabbits, squirrels and birds in abundance. Misty had free access. Late at night she was still out and refused to come when I called and asked her to come in. About 1 a.m. I heard her cry just outside the bedroom window - short and cut off, and then a moment later a low growl. I ran outside and could not see or find anything. I went back to bed, somewhere deep knowing she was gone. In the morning I found her fur scattered in a wide circle about ten yards across. Though I searched, I did not find her (or her body). I did sit down and get quiet, and then I knew she was dead. I also knew she needed help to get out of limbo to the other side. Two of her friends who were on the other side of the veil, Sam and Shama, the dog, came when I asked and took her with them. She kissed my cheek as she left. I cried. With a Pisces moon how could I not?

Though it took a while, I have realized that Misty cooperated with the coyote (I think) who took her and ate her. A friend and I asked her what she felt about being eaten, and we felt her fierce joy in participating in the cycle of life. As native, earth-based people know, prey and predator are linked and communicate their willingness and needs.

For six months I cried every time I was alone and somewhat quiet. Misty always came to me, licking my face, trying to dry the tears. I could actually see her, feel her weight. She wanted to know why I was crying. Didn't I know she was all right? Of course I did – and I missed her.

These two amazing beings want to come back to me. I am working to make a wonderful place for them so we can continue to love and learn from each other.

Climate Change Affects Everything!

Just over 60 years ago I was born in Anchorage, Alaska. My parents and I left when I was two, so I have no memory of my birthplace. Most of all I would like to see where I was born. I know it is a beautiful place on the Earth.

I would love to see moose walking through the streets of my birth city. If I could see the mountains my mother saw through her kitchen window, I would be thrilled. Even the bears are a sight I hope to see. It would be awesome to see the glaciers.

The thing is, I am not sure it will be there in the future. The glaciers are receding at an alarming rate. Polar bears and other Alaskan animal species are endangered. And as the temperatures rise, there is a cascading effect.

Time is running out.

I have repeatedly called my Representative and Senators. I am lucky they often share my own views. I have emailed the President. He is more aware and active about this issue than his predecessors, and still it isn't enough.

The American Native teachers have told me that we owe EVERYTHING to Mother Earth. The only thing we have to give back is the way we live our lives. To the native tribes of Turtle Island, the Earth is sacred ground, and we must honor and care for her.

If we love the Earth, we will do what is necessary, and do it now! The clock is ticking.

Blog Action Day

This is Blog Action Day - we are going to pay attention to what is going on in our environment, and notice that the climate is changing. In my corner of the world we had unprecedented eighty degree weather in mid-October!

I have read that organic gardening alone would be a big help in solving the climate crisis. Apparently producing chemicals for non-organic fertilizers has a major impact on climate.

Then there is guerilla gardening: the act of cultivating someone’s land without permission. It has been going on for several hundred years! The home page is at http://guerrillagardening.org/

Finally, a while back, I watched a video about urban gardening in Cuba. It was necessity that drove this movement, when Russia collapsed and no longer sent food and other supplies to Cuba. So the gardens are all organic - no chemicals were coming into the small island country. They are near the people who consume the food so transport has less impact than in the U.S. What a wonderful thing. I think we could learn from their necessities before food becomes quite so dire an issue here in the States.

Thus, pushed by the recession and the high price of quality food and gas to get to the stores, two friends and I planted an organic garden this spring. A wonderful woman gave us almost all the seeds we needed and wanted, saying this is her way of being the change she wants. She saves seeds. Someone in our agricultural surroundings gave us goat manure for free as well. I have done some gardening before this, but it was mostly flowers and herbs.

I remember my roots: My dad's family always had a garden (and Dad still does); and my mom's dad was a dairy farmer. In his day the way to keep the fields fertile was to rotate crops and put manure on the fields. Did you know that chemical fertilizer wasn't available until the World War I era? It was a new way to fix nitrogen, and it was developed for bombs. Michael Pollan talks about it in The Omnivore's Dilemma ( a wonderful book to read if your are interested in how we get our food these days).

Fortunately for me, I have an autoimmune disease that gets worse when I eat processed food, sugar and grains. When I realized the medical model would have me taking immune suppressant drugs, I decided to look at my food very carefully. Now I eat LOTS of vegetables, some fruit, some chicken and fish, occasional turkey, eggs, nuts and seeds. I do NOT eat corn syrup - high fructose or otherwise.

Having an organic garden felt like going back to my roots.

So I planted a variety of seeds: basil dill chives, cilantro, lettuce, wax beans zucchini, tomatoes, snow peas and lots of flowers. All summer long I ate greens of several kinds, wax beans, onions, zucchini, tomaotes, and, of course basil. Basil vinagrette, fresh pesto, and just basil in what I made - from soup to salad.

When I went to my garden to water, weed or glean for dinner, I felt at peace. What an amazing thing - to grow my own food! It really is empowering. If you haven't ever planted your own garden, do it now!