horror Archives - Owl Medicine: Shamanic Healing

Beauty

The beauty of this rhododendron today begged to be shared. I can’t imagine any of us are immune to the horror we’ve all witnessed over the last several days. How awful is it that the Buffalo massacre on 14 May 2022 was followed merely one day later by two more shootings (in Houston, Texas and Laguna Woods, California). And the horror of yesterday’s massacre at an elementary school is more than many of us can take.

There’s a part of me that’s holding out hope that the outrageousness of so many recent assaults on our fundamental values of freedom, equality, and the sanctity of keeping our little kids alive and safe at school will galvanize us as a nation.

My skin crawls when I hear these talking heads of Authoritarianism chide and deride Democrats for ‘politicizing’ the gun issue when 21 people were just murdered in a 4^th grade classroom. Or when I listen to them tell us all we need to do is ‘harden our schools’ to make them safe.

What utter bullshit.

Grief

I can only barely register the grief being felt by the families in Uvalde, Texas tonight. I say ‘tonight’ as if it will subside within a few days or weeks. Surely we all know in our hearts that their lives will never be the same. Just like the Sandy Hook parents. The families of Uvalde will live with this forever. But the thing is, so will we.

We’re all traumatized. We’re all reeling from the senselessness. We’re all horrified by the knowledge that our government is stocked with at least 50 Senators who place more value on lining their pockets and furthering their careers than they do on protecting their fellow citizens and constituents.

There’s the trauma. And there’s the grief.

Hope

I wanted to write tonight and lead with some beauty because we must not give up on each other – or ourselves.

Our country is falling apart at the seams. But we’re the ones who can and must mend it or create a new one.

Look at these photos and drink deeply of the beauty. Take heart. Gather your courage. We must act on behalf of all our babies.

Petal – Photo: L. Weikel

(T+133)

Photo: L. Weikel

Unsettled

I don’t know what’s been going on with me lately. I’m feeling profoundly unsettled, and I’m pondering what to do about it – if there’s even anything I can do.

By my reckoning, tonight’s post is my 1,231^st. The initial 1111 were consecutive – not a day (or perhaps more accurately – not a 24 hour period) went by without me writing something to share with my readers. When I reached my professed goal, I indulged in a 12-day hiatus. And since then, I’ve written another 120 short posts, mostly observations of nature and contemplations on life, with a heavy emphasis on walking, puppies, clouds, and cats and a smattering of political and social observations.

Most of the time, even though I almost always think, “Ugh; I’ve nothing to write about tonight,” I’ll look at the photos I took with my iPhone and some small tale will ask to be told. Or a cloud formation will vie for my attention. Or some celestial event will either beg to be witnessed and reported on or its energetic influence on our lives offer to be contemplated.

Occasionally, tarot cards or a selection from an oracle deck might lend a perspective for us to reflect upon.

Dial Tone

Recently, however, I’ve been experiencing what I can best describe as a creative dial tone when I sit here with my fingertips poised above my keyboard.

Perhaps it’s knowing what’s going on in Ukraine that’s making me feel…mute. Or maybe it’s reading the headlines or hearing about the abhorrent attitudes and beliefs being spewed by so very many people who should know better. Or if they don’t know better, should not be in a position of leadership, power, or influence.

But I have to say, the images from Ukraine and the inner depths of darkness that must be within the soldiers who committed these acts seem to render me…bereft. The ability to perpetrate such acts upon another person has to stem from hopelessness.

What Has Happened?

It all seems to be related. And surely it must be – why else would we be seeing such harshness and cruelty toward ‘others’ all over the world? Is humanity bored? Has our species become so stagnant that, instead of joining together to care for the future of the Earth and the animals and our fellow humans, we’ve collectively just decided to say, “Screw it; let’s burn it all down?”

Again, it feels like hopelessness is the culprit. Which is interesting to me. Because I think so many of us think love is the answer. But love, while I do believe it is fundamentally the most powerful force in the Universe (all Universes), has – as a concept – become watered down and misunderstood.

No. I think hope is what we yearn for in our hearts right now.

The question is, where can we find it and how can each of us cultivate it in our lives?