Month: January 2020

Backlash – Day 445

Posted on by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment
Photo: Wired.com

Backlash

Let’s hope there is one.

Let’s hope a vast majority of our fellow Americans look within, soon, and say, “Hey. This just isn’t right. The Senate is saying it’s ok for one branch of government to stonewall another. It’s ok for one branch of government do whatever it wants and thumb its nose at another branch of government that was given specific authority of oversight.”

I wanted to write about something other than the expected decision by Senate Republicans tomorrow to actually vote against allowing testimony and the production of documents in the impeachment trial of DT. But what is unfolding before our eyes is compelling. It is every bit as irresistible as passing a terrible car accident – but I guarantee more people will be hurt or killed as a result of this abdication of responsibility than by any car accident, no matter how huge a pileup.

If you do not see a problem with what is unfolding in Washington D.C. right now, I guarantee you are going to be shocked when you see the depths to which we’re going to be dragged, as a country, over the next several days, weeks, months, and I shudder to think how much further. And I do mean depths will be plumbed so fast and so blatantly our heads will spin.

Dark Days Ahead

I saw a clip of DT tonight performing at a rally in Iowa. It was chilling. He is visibly giddy with power. Drunk with the possibilities unfolding before him.

When everything starts to crumble – literally (because those tax breaks have to be paid for by somebody, and we just don’t have the money in our budget anymore to fix roads and bridges) and figuratively (power unchecked is going to get ugly unbelievably quickly and will inflict horrors on our communities, our neighbors, ourselves in ways I guarantee people have said “can never happen here”) – where are we going to turn?

To the courts? Sorry. They’ve been packed by McConnell with young, extremely conservative people who actually believe in an executive branch that holds unchecked power. They believe in the judiciary being less powerful than the executive branch! They are not going to save you, me, or themselves.

To our representatives? Sorry. You can kiss your deeply held belief in the power of your vote to elect people who will write laws that will correct this miscarriage of justice. Because those very representatives have (or will within the next day or so – you know, before the Super Bowl, because that’s the centerpiece around which our Senate now makes decisions that make or break our Constitution) voted to abdicate their own authority.

Genie’s Out

Sorry, within the next few days the genie will have effectively escaped its bottle and all the safeguards our founders put into place to keep it from escaping in the first place will be worthless. No one in the history of our country has experienced such an abdication of power by our legislative branch, and thus, because there is a lack of imagination and maturity in those whom we rely upon as our elected representatives, we are going to face consequences I guarantee we will hear people say, “But I never imagined it would get this bad so quickly.”

How many times do we have to hear and see and witness firsthand the propaganda and manipulation that’s bombarding us daily before we realize this shit is real?

Backlash

Yes, I hope there is a massive one. But sorry; the chances of our elections in November being anything even remotely fair and free are slim.

Why?

You know why. We were warned.

And we thought it could never happen here.

(T-666)

Heart Strike – Day 444

Posted on by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment
Photo: L. Weikel

Heart Strike

I was unable to watch any specifics of the impeachment trial today. But based upon my somewhat cursory catching up on what I missed, I’m finding myself approaching despair.

The argument currently being put forth by the president’s counsel essentially posits that the president can do anything – ANYTHING – that he believes is in the ‘national interest,’ including doing whatever he can to get himself elected (because, of course, what president would not think their re-election would be in the national interest?), and it’s ok. “If the president does it, it’s ok.”

We were stunned at the hubris (and obvious disregard for the existence of the other two equal branches of government and the concept of separation of powers) when Nixon said it some 46 years ago, and we should be even more troubled by that concept now.

This argument strikes at the heart of our country, at the heart of what has made us unique in the world – and a beacon of hope and moral authority in the world.

Snatching at Hope

At this point it seems all we can do is watch in horror.

So I’m going to post a photo of the setting new moon that I took a few days ago. It’s lovely. And new moons give me hope.

And quite frankly, I need to snatch at hope. I need to allow myself the luxury of going to sleep this evening hoping that enough Senators will put common sense and the future of our country over their political expediency.

If they don’t, we will be ceding our sovereignty to a bully. This bully, and any other bully who wants to use gobs of money to buy the presidency. Because with no check on their power once they’re in? Who knows what they’ll change to retain that power. Term limits? Scratch. Not if it’s in the national interest. Polling intimidation? Gotta get the job done ‘for the country.’

No.

I have to look at the new moon. And hope our Senators come to their senses before it’s too late.

(T-667)

Coyote and Salmon – Day 443

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Coyote – Photo: City of Lubbock, TX

My Cards Say It All

I’ve been keeping pretty quiet about the Medicine Cards®* I’ve been choosing lately, mostly because they’ve been cosmic pokes in my side. Either that or they’ve been hard to figure out.

For instance, I picked Coyote reversed twice in the past five days. Coyote reversed is tough, because by its very nature, it is inscrutable and hard to figure out. It also comes with the explicit admonition:

“Contrary Coyote may signal a time when everything you touch backfires.”

Trust me, when I choose Coyote reversed, I do my best to lay low and refrain from engaging in anything too sensitive.

When Coyote reversed shows up in my life, I make a point of choosing activities in which I have as little contact with the outside world as possible. That’s not always possible, but it’s generally a good rule of thumb. Let me hasten to add, though: I don’t go traveling into other worlds, either. No, a Coyote reversed day usually calls for channeling my energy into mundane, tangible activities such as clearing away clutter, vacuuming, and doing my best to gain internal awareness of what’s going on within myself, so I can bounce back into the game the next day with greater clarity.

Salmon Reversed

So after not choosing Coyote for a very long time – quite possibly since before I even began my 1111 Devotion – I find it fascinating to have chosen it twice in the past five days (and technically, it was twice in four days, since I chose it last Friday and then again this past Monday).

But today? Today I chose Salmon reversed with Butterfly underneath. And I have to tell you, it so accurately captures my feelings of late, particularly this morning as I struggled to swim to the surface of my consciousness as I woke from a deep sleep.

Salmon, which has as its key words “Wisdom/Inner Knowing” is not, as one might be tempted to assume, about struggling upstream. It’s not about struggle at all (in the upright position, anyway). Indeed, I love the first paragraph of Salmon:

“Salmon is the sacred keeper of wisdom and inner knowing who, despite strong river currents, will always return to the place of its creation. Its determination is driven by the wisdom of instinct and inner knowing, which yields a sense of purpose that cannot be thwarted by external forces. Coming full circle, Salmon medicine people finish what they begin, bringing life’s events and cycles to closure.”

Salmon – Photo: BBC.com

At First Glance

Superficially, I’ll admit, I may have felt as though I was struggling to “return to the place of (my) creation” today. Everything sort of felt like a hassle, and I wasn’t sure if it was my own frustrations with certain situations in my life or if I might just be sensitive to and reflecting the energies ‘out there.’

That might seem counter-intuitive, but sometimes direct action mitigates a sense of overwhelm. I care about what’s going on in Washington D.C., and yet I feel stymied by just how little I’m able to actually do to contribute to a solution to that situation. I envy those attorneys, representatives, and their staffs that are involved in the process because they know they are fighting the good fight. They’re actively engaging in work that makes a difference.

For myself, I know that my greatest joy comes from being of service to others, whether it’s by direct one-on-one work or engaging in efforts that benefit many at once.

My sense of self resonated today with these words contained within Salmon reversed:

“If you have been seeking the approval of others by being a follower instead of listening to your personal knowing, it may be time to reclaim you own authority. (…)  If so, get out of your head and get back to the wisdom found in your heart and feelings. Like Salmon, people sometimes need to backtrack upstream to see where life’s meandering tributaries flowed away from the original headwaters of their certainty, wisdom, instinct, and inner knowing.”

Yes, these words struck a chord. And underneath that Salmon reversed? Butterfly. CHANGE.

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(T-668)

Night Visitors – Day 442

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Night Visitors

Just as I was settling in to write my post for the evening, Sheila asked to go out. Both Karl and I hop to it when she meanders toward the door. We’ve learned our lesson.

Tonight was no different.

But letting Sheila out to go to the bathroom is no longer a rote exercise. No. We need to remain vigilant during these excursions because the poor old girl can easily wander off into the darkest corners of the world or become discombobulated and forget how to come back up the steps without stumbling over roots or getting lost in the weeds. It’s painful to watch her walk into the slender, wrought iron bird feeder poles – and amazing, actually, that she manages to find them to bonk herself on.

Tonight, though, went without a hitch. Until I was guiding her back into the house.

That’s when I felt my stomach clench.

Across the scrabble of rocky soil and haphazard collection of ash, maple, oak, and walnut trees separating our land from our neighbors’, I heard a distinctly chilling scream. There was the tiniest hint of a bark within the eerie exclamation, but it was mostly an unsettling cry that involuntarily raised the hackles at the back of my neck.

Sheila, being quite deaf, was unfazed. The cries continued.

Chicken Alert

I should mention that even further beyond that collection of deciduous trees is a hill-and-dale expanse of lawn and a couple of outbuildings. And then, in plain sight to us during the day, but not so obvious at night, is our neighbor’s chicken coop. (You might recall this to be the old stomping grounds of the late lamented Duckhead.)

I cocked my head to one side, trying to locate the origin of the cries. I tried to discern whether that yelping and those unsettling screams were coming from near our neighbors’ chicken coop or perhaps from across the way, in the borderlands between the neighbors and the pasture where my beloved donkeys reside and bray vociferously – especially at night.

I’m pretty sure the fox (or foxes, for all I know, since January is mating season and they may be frisky) was further away than hanging out near ‘my girls.’ Had I sensed the chickens were in true danger, I probably would’ve texted our neighbors to alert them that there might be trouble. Either that or walked over there myself, armed with a flashlight. But I could see that all the lights were out so my neighbors were presumably tucked in bed for the night.

Meanwhile, Sheila had found her way back up the stone steps and onto our porch. She stood patiently at my feet, nose up against the the metal screen door, having yet again successfully negotiated the obstacle course that is part of the challenge of relieving oneself when you’re 15 ½ years old, mostly blind and even more deaf.

I marveled at how close the foxes were this evening and how their calls give me goose bumps when carried on the wind.  I wonder if those calls wake the chickens – or just feature scarily in their dreams.

Do chickens dream, I wonder?

Ah, Duckhead. He was a beauty; Photo: A.Kowal

(T-669)

Binge-Eating – Day 441

Posted on by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment
The evidence – Photo: L. Weikel

Binge-Eating

You caught me.

I don’t know what’s come over me as I sit here trying to think of something to write this evening. But yikes, it’s not pretty.

I’ve been sitting here on my couch, contemplating the thoughts parading through my head, writing a sentence here and a paragraph there. Then deleting them, one after another.

I’ve written about Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna. I’ve written about a crucial fact that we all live with, but barely any of us acknowledge truthfully and head on: in spite of our best laid plans, it can all be over in the blink of an eye.

I’ve been sitting here thinking about Kobe’s wife and other daughters. How when they woke up this morning, none of them knew their lives would be changed irrevocably, forever.

True For All of Us

But let’s face it: that’s true for all of us. At any moment, everything could change for any one of us – or for all of us, for that matter.

And yes, many of us have already experienced nightmarish events in which everything has changed in the blink of an eye. But that fact doesn’t make it any easier to witness it happening to someone else. Just because I’ve felt the horror of receiving the phone call we all dread doesn’t mean I’d wish it on anyone else.

Indeed, it makes me grieve all the more for the survivors. It makes me think of the families of the people who were killed on that Ukrainian airliner that was shot down a few weeks ago. Those people have to deal with the utter senselessness of that tragedy.

It makes me wonder what we’re going to witness when our greatest hopes are challenged by our worst fears later this week, when weak-willed people potentially fail to heed the call of our future ancestors to do what’s right instead of what’s politically expedient for their own selfish ends.

So I Binge

I hold out hope that those representing us in Washington will seize this time of the new moon and think beyond themselves, beyond their fears of getting primaried, beyond their fear of being bullied and ridiculed by the least among us (who also happen to hold the most power at the moment).

And since I can only hold fast to my hope that the people who’ve been elected to the Senate have a deep and abiding love for our system and for the solemn responsibility they hold to all of us, I embody that hope by imagining them digging deep and holding strong to our collective core values.

I hold that vision. That, and binge-eat peanuts.

I don’t know about you, but I consider peanuts in the shell to be terribly addictive. Worse than potato chips.

And so I pound them down. (I should never succumb to that first one. Therein lies the key.)

Eating. It’s such an essential aspect of life and living; an affirmation that we’re still here. And as long as we’re here, we must hold fast to our hope. For ourselves and for each other.

New Moon and Venus – Photo: L. Weikel

(T-670)

One of Those Days – Day 440

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A small portion of the lineup – Photo: L. Weikel

One of Those Days

I knew they’d happen. You knew they’d happen. It was inevitable, really. And today is one of those days.

Perhaps it’s the number? 440? I can’t say it holds any special meaning for me one way or another. But it seems like a nice round number to get stuck on.

Or maybe the pelting sheets of rain that pummeled our area today left me, at least, feeling waterlogged? Yes, maybe all my inspiration got swept up into the streams overflowing their banks and barreling down the roads in muddy rages.

Detours were in place.

It could’ve been snow.

Sheep – Paused

We had to stop the car and turn around. Neither one of us felt the scene could be real. Stealthily maneuvering our Prius so that it was facing the meadow from a little used connector road, we stared at the long line of sheep coming and going – or at least frozen in motion while doing so.

Karl and I looked at the sight before us and felt a sense of unreality around us. There had to be 50 or so sheep in a row appearing to tread out to pasture. About half were headed one way on the muddy path and the other half, headed in, toward the barn, were on a collision course with them.

But the weird thing was that, in fact, none of them were moving at all.

It was as if the ‘pause’ button on the sheeps’ shared consciousness had been pressed and all of their movements ceased, leaving them hanging mid-step.

It was almost as if we accidentally witnessed a behind-the-scenes moment in the shared movie of our life.

(T-671)

Welcome, Year of the Rat – Day 439

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Photo: Livescience.com

Welcome, Year of the Rat!

Happy New Year!

Late this afternoon, Friday, January 24, 2020, the new moon occurred at 4:42 p.m. EST.  Because it was the first new moon to occur after the first full moon (which means it must be occurring between 21 January and 20 February of any given year), that means today is the start of the Chinese New Year.

As you may recall, last year I waxed rhapsodic about the Chinese New Year because I was born in the Year of the Boar (Pig), and thus felt a particular affinity for the year that was arriving.

Year of the Rat

In Chinese astrology, the Year of the Rat is the first sign of a 12 year cycle. I must confess to knowing very little about the qualities of people born during a Rat year, and thus found this link quite interesting. (Thank you, Marie!)

Given that the Year of the Rat is the first sign of the Chinese Zodiacal Calendar, it just seems to add momentum to the energetic heft of the times we’re experiencing right now: new year, new decade, and new 12 year Chinese astrological cycle. Combining all these new beginnings with the Saturn-Pluto conjunction that was exact last week (but because both planets are so slow moving, the influence of this conjunction will last longer than most), as well as a couple other challenging aspects thrown in and you can see how everything we’re experiencing not only in our personal lives, but also as a country and, indeed, on a planetary scale, is so momentous.

There are a lot of old paradigms, institutions, ways of thinking and being that are being challenged and, in fact, appear to be crumbling under their own weight.

Photo: bbc.com

New Moon in Aquarius

Aside from this new moon being the harbinger of the Chinese New Year, it’s also sounding like it’s bringing in a lot of energy that’s shaking things up. I find Chani’s take on it interesting.

It’s fascinating to me when I read these various interpretations of the planetary influences and cycles and I watch events unfold in our nation’s capital. These are most definitely incendiary times. The decisions our Senators will be making in the coming days will impact our lives in extraordinary ways – for good or for ill.

While it boggles my mind to contemplate it, we are actually on the brink of entering a time in our country’s life when everything we’ve stood for: the rule of law, our system of checks and balances, the concept that no one is above the law, the sanctity of our elections and peaceful transfer of power (just to name a few) may crumble because a majority of Senators are not willing to stand up for these fundamental principles.

Worries and Hopes

My worry, I guess, is that we’re going to have to go through the pain and agony of losing it all before realizing just how much we’ve relinquished. And then? I guess we’ll have to wait and see if or how we ever reclaim what we’ve so willingly allowed to slip through our fingers.

My hope is that enough Senators will dig deep and find the moral courage to keep us from teetering over that brink. So very much pain can be avoided if they choose to set aside those ugly whispers of greed and fear and stand united against corruption.

Whatever happens over the next several days is going to be momentous. I’m pretty sure we can all feel it percolating just under the surface. So much is written in the stars – except our choices. Ultimately, those always remain ours and ours alone.

Happy New Year.

(T-672)

Because Right Matters – Day 438

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Another Hawk – today – Photo: L. Weikel

Because Right Matters

Watching Rep. Adam Schiff and the other House Managers present their case before the Senate over the past few days has been, at least for this legal and political nerd, riveting.

Their preparation’s been impeccable; their presentation masterful. I could only wish to be even half as persuasive and compelling an orator as Mr. Schiff.

I’m feeling that sense of yearning to be more than I am particularly this evening. As a citizen of the United States, listening to Schiff’s final entreaty to the Senate earlier tonight, I felt a tidal wave of patriotism welling up in my heart. YES. These are the ideals on which our country was founded. These are the fundamental values that I was raised on – and that I believed I would be upholding when I began my legal studies 40 years ago.

I doubt there are many people who listened to that closing argument this evening who could deny feeling a stirring within their hearts for a time when we felt it was our right to demand a higher standard of behavior from ourselves and our leaders.

How many of us yearn, right this very moment, for behavior from our leaders that renews our faith in the fundamental truth that what we do – how we behave when no one is watching – matters? That there are people who aspire to represent us in our government who actually do have a sense of serving a greater good than their own selfish, personal motives?

I’m Idealistic

Yes, I know. I’m idealistic. It’s true: in spite of everything I see unfolding before our eyes, I do not want to lose faith in our form of government. I do not want to lose faith in our elected representatives to do whatever they must to prevent our country from becoming a shell of its former self.

I want to believe that Mr. Schiff’s appeal to the idealist in all of us will compel those who’ve chosen a life of public service to put the fundamental values our country represents to our selves and to the world ahead of all other concerns.

Because right matters. If it doesn’t, we are lost.

If only we lived in Mr. Smith’s Washington*.

Maybe – just maybe – we do. Call your Senators.

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(T-673)

Hammering It Home – Day 437

Posted on by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment
Photo: Audubon.org

Hammering It Home

I had to laugh earlier today. A couple different friends of mine shared a quiz on Facebook propounded by The Cornell Lab Publishing Group. As a rule, I don’t take quizzes on Facebook because a technologically savvy friend of mine warned me that quizzes are just insidious means of harvesting our personal data.

But I trust The Cornell Lab of Ornithology organization (they have a wonderful Raptor ID app I use on my phone), and since the quiz takes you to the site of this reputable non-profit (as opposed to the usual anonymous or sketchy sites that are usually associated with ‘quizzes’ on FB), I figured I would give it a try.

WHO Are You?

Basically, you’re asked a variety of questions about your own personality traits, which are then sorted and categorized and result in you being ‘matched’ to the bird that most closely exhibits your constellation of traits.

After taking the quiz and reading my result, I have to admit I was quite impressed to realize that there are a total of 22 different birds this quiz could have identified me as sharing characteristics. That’s quite an assortment!

I could see the thought and care that went into developing this quiz and how the pairings with our bird ‘sisters’ (or brothers) makes sense.

You Guessed It

Naturally, given my posts the last two nights, it will come as no surprise that I was identified as sharing the most characteristics with the Red-Tailed Hawk.

No, this wasn’t a fait accompli. Not in the least. (Remember, I wrote a book called Owl Medicine*, my website is owlmedicine.com, and my healing practice is Owl Medicine Shamanic Healing.) Yeah – no. It wouldn’t have surprised me one bit if owl had shown up.

But let’s be honest. There’s a message being sent to me at the moment, and Spirit is knocking on all the doors (and maybe even some windows) to get my attention.

From a Shamanic Perspective

On a shamanic note, I want to make it clear that this little quiz, while fun and great for the way it matches characteristics and the cool way it gets us to think and care about the birds in our environment, actually has nothing to do with determining your ‘power animal.’ That’s a whole different kettle of fish. (Not to deliberately mix metaphors, but there you go.)

That said, taking a quiz like this can be an opportunity for your power animal to show up and say hi to you. (For instance, if you’ve journeyed on your own and retrieved a power animal for yourself – or if I or someone else has journeyed on your behalf and brought a power animal back for you that happens to be of the feathered variety – this could be a way for it to show up in your life and serve as a reminder that it wants to be in deeper relationship with you. Or it could just be showing up to remind you that it’s always there for you – and not to forget it.)

Or taking a quiz like this could be a way for an ally who wants to make a point of getting through your thick skull that it wants to work with you, or that you need to pay attention to it, to make yet another appearance in your life. You know, hammering it home so you can stop denying that you’re getting a message.

Yep. I suppose it could be that, too.

Hawk feather – Photo: L. Weikel

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(T-674)

Hawk’s Message (cont) – Day 436

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Sitting Hawk – Photo: L.Weikel

Hawk’s Message (Part 2)

Yesterday I chose Hawk reversed with Dog underneath, and as I wrote in my post, my usual ease in interpretation just wasn’t cutting it. And I grant you: there are definitely days that I remain in the dark on why I chose the Medicine Card I did for that day. But after decades of practice, I’m fairly decent at discerning the messages conveyed by the wide variety of creatures represented in the Medicine Cards®*.

Which makes my difficult yesterday all the more amusing – since Hawk is traditionally the ‘message carrier.’

And as I stated toward the end of last night’s post, with Dog underneath my Hawk reversed yesterday, I felt I could not escape the fact that somehow, in some way, loyalty – either in delivering a message for others or in being loyal to myself enough to receive a message I need to hear – was underlying this message from Hawk.

As the Day Unfolds

As I’ve mentioned before, sometimes we’re quite sure what our ‘pick’ on the day means – we know exactly the issue it relates to and how we should best address it. Other times we have an inkling, but have found it best to keep an open mind. And then there are the days when we have no clue. Those are the days when we reflect on our pick throughout the day, to see what is revealed as the day unfolds.

Yesterday was such a day.

Before I’d even picked yesterday morning, I’d remarked to Karl that my post on Silence seemed to erupt from deep within. The words came to me sort of like slow moving magma – they may not have erupted from me in an explosive torrent of hastily scribbled words, but they did feel as though they were originating from a very pensive place deep within – and their flow was not easily stanched.

The post had a different feel to it, and I wondered how – or if – it landed with anyone.

Unexpected Appreciation

Imagine my surprise, then, when a neighbor (who I didn’t even realize reads my posts) approached me from across her yard to specifically thank me for writing my Silence Abounds post. She said it was “just what she needed to read this morning.”

I was delighted. But I have to admit: if Karl hadn’t pointed it out, I probably wouldn’t have recognized my neighbor as the messenger she was, and in particular, one bearing a message to be loyal to the posts (and not second guess their value).

Yet Another Messenger

Finally, later last night, I received an email from a person I worked beside nearly twenty years ago. (Is it possible it’s really been that long?! I kept trying to make it only ten years ago, but alas…). Receiving this email was a wonderful surprise, for as relationships are wont to come and go when people’s paths no longer cross, we rarely correspond anymore.

But the best part about receiving this email was my friend’s relaying of two brief stories that interconnect in their shared power to provide inspiration and hope to others – and his specific and pointed message to me that these stories matter. Our stories matter.

The light went on.

In spite of all the exhortations I make to others about the value of our thoughts, feelings, and experiences, and especially the value of writing them down, I’m not always loyal to the value of my own writing, my own stories.

It just might behoove me to bring loyalty to both the messages and the act (and privilege) of being a messenger.

I’m listening.

You listening? I’m lookin’ at you. – Photo: L. Weikel

*affiliate link

(T-675)