I remember when an old co-worker friend gave me a handful of bumper stickers that collectively found a home on my old guitar case. If pressed, my favorite one sports the lyrics, Who Would Jesus Bomb? However, Sorry I haven’t been to church lately, but I’ve been busy practicing Witchcraft and becoming a Lesbian, arrives in a distant second. And then I thought of the powerful You Tube video that responds to the Trayvon Martin tragedy in a way that left a roomful of Sweathogs speechless in class the other day. In fact, one of The Sweathogs poignantly commented that before I showed the video, my student thought the story about Trayvon was something straight out of the 1900s. I’m so proud of Horshack for connecting the dots of American History X, as revealed on an episode of PBS’s Liberty’s Kids that we featured during one of our Social Studies classes. And then I think of Starbuck’s taking a stand against bigotry against folks whom are sexually oriented differently than I–though many so-called followers of Christianity and “Disciples of Christ” seem threatened by Starbuck’s desire to pour coffee equally to everyone, regardless of their sexuality. I don’t know why, but perhaps having choices like drinking Our coffee black, with cream and/or sugar leaves a bad taste in their mouth?
“Eagle . . . Fly high, touch Great Spirit. Share your medicine, touch me, honor me, so that I may know you too.” Feathering Our ripple with Eagle’s spirited guidance teaches Us how to balance Our co-creative connection to Heaven and Earth so that We may know balance by walking with “one foot in spirit, one foot in ground”, as Abenaki storyteller, poet and novelist Joseph Bruchac muses in his classic Native American book Dawn Land. Similarly, Bruce Springsteen recently reminded Us in his keynote speech at South by Southwest, that Our tensions of opposites relax as We become more effective in holding two seemingly contradictory views in Our psyches at the same time. Perhaps my own Nervous Woodland Creature energy might have been driven less nuts back in elementary school while singing the apparently contradictory folk lyrics, “it rained all night, the day I left, the weather it was dry . . . the sun’s so hot, I froze to death, Susanna don’t you cry.” In the spirit of that, one of the reasons I stick to my daily meditation puree is because it allows me to gently watch two seemingly polar opposite ideas pass through my field of awareness with compassion, while releasing judgments that May Spring up. In saying “peace out” to budding judgments, We say “what up, G” to giving inner peace a chance by transmuting internal conflict into Love and Light. And it can’t hurt to remember Brother Buffett’s Infinite wisdom that jests “if we couldn’t laugh, we’d all go insane.” Isn’t the definition of insanity to keep doing the same thing over and over, but expecting different results in the process? I don’t know about You, but I’d rather take a step into the realm of Infinity than stay stuck in quicksand of insanity!
During this forthcoming week, please consider allowing Eagle to fly into Your life in a way that teaches you how to view Your current situation from a perspective that includes all directions. Given its strong talons, Eagle has the potential to help You stay grounded and remember that with great power, comes great responsibility. From a karmic perspective, Eagle helps Us understand that Our actions have consequences that will arrive more instantly if We choose to invoke Eagle’s power. Please be mindful of what you think, do and/or say and what you do not think, do and/or say. Also, meditation on the figure 8 sign of Infinity, the water element and paying attention to Life’s opportunities will help get your creative juices flowing like an eternal spring, within the depths of You soul. And gaze onto Your fears with chimes free of repression, suppression and/or going Straight Outta Woodland, Ma’ Chucka.
Stay True,
Ari
Thanks for this Eagle reminder Brother Ari! Flying high gives us a perspective we cannot have when holding our “stuff” so close. And as tempting as it is to leave it all behind, it may be easier to chop off an arm or a leg. The areial view of the eagle is helpful for me to think about directions I want to go in many areas of my life. And this view also helps with acceptance.
“You’ve got to learn to live with what you can’t rise above” Bruce is always right!
Tom