I remember alligator vividly swimming into my dreams this week.  Alligator symbolizes primal energies of birth, motherhood and initiation and reminds us that we cannot experience death without life, nor life without death.  Alligator navigates water and land, symbolizing birth and creation.  Breathing fire into mythical connections to dragon, alligator reminds us to dig in our own Beings to unearth the treasures hidden within our own Secret Garden.  Alligator is good medicine to consume for cultivating new wisdom.  Its power moves swiftly, but if we do not harness its creative flood by staying buoyant, then we will sink like a stone.  Alligator powerfully helps us swim with the energies of the New Moon on Tuesday, November 13th.  Like a master T’ai Chi martial artist, alligator maintains a wide open angle gaze, while remaining submerged in water.  Energetically, its medicine hints at higher vision and clairvoyance.  In alligator’s wake, we notice the trickster coyote trotting into our consciousness, reminding us to carry a sense of humor and not take ourselves too seriously.  Coyote gets caught up in his own tricks, which do not always work.  Paradoxically, the tricks reveal treats in the form of laughter and joking that elevates consciousness and energetically lighten things up by stoking new and different viewpoints.  Coyote helps us balance the delicate dance of wisdom and folly.  Pouncing forward, cats remind us of the magical and mysterious elements of Life, provided that we are willing to navigate the darkness effectively.  Following election day, our cat revealed a penny to me from 1968, just before the light of day.  Somewhat akin to that era, present day Maine leveled the playing field by opening up marriage to all folks, regardless of how they are oriented in their sexuality.  Today, the line that was drawn and the curse that was cast evaporated before our eyes, but not without formidable resistance from a mountain of opposition.  Cats help us tap into the magic and mystery of Life, even when we feel that we are on the ropes, so to speak.  Their energy helps us wake up and see more clearly, even if we are hypnotically sleepwalking in the dark. 

On the surface, our planet is a hot mess, while the belly of our Mother is cooking up Climate Change as She re-births Herself.  In our Nation’s changing demographics, we nearly had our first orange president, chameleon that he is.  Has anyone out there noticed that many Caucasians, particularly those with economical means and positions of power are turning orange these days?  Thankfully, coyote helps us get comfortable in our own skin and embrace ourselves in the way we are naturally oriented. But the orange brother was defeated, as Barack Obama was re-elected to a second term, with high hopes from many that he will lead more gracefully during our transition into Aquarian Unity.  However, we need to remember that he is a business candidate of Wall Street and a crafty politician.  Movements like Occupy Wall Street are not going away, just as resistance from our friends in Congress, Supreme Court and High Command will continue to intensify.  The era of the wealthy viewing our Mother as a playground for the privileged is dying, just as the appetite for equal access to resources growing.  But spirited wisdom teaches that there are no enemies, separations or us and them.  We are all cut from the same cloth in the eyes of Creator.  Here in Maine, the will of the people recognized that the valued tradition of marriage will expand to all human orientations.  Gay folks will no longer be legally closeted and viewed as separate but equal from their heterosexual friends, whom until now, have exclusively enjoyed the privileges of marital membership.  Many folks have opened up their minds and hearts to the understanding that holding back our gay brothers and sisters from playing on a level field is the same form of discrimination as the color-gender line from an era ago.  What a long, strange trip it has been, but with clean energy, we keep on truckin’.

Are you feeling invested in and identifying with the robotic doings of everyday life?  Do you feel identified with any particular role that you play in your life?  Are you invested in the realm of outcomes and expectations?  Perhaps the energies of alligator, coyote and cat will help you dissolve and disarm those pesky entanglements with form and help your spirit express itself more freely and responsibly in this world of 10, 000 things.  During the week ahead, may we consider ingesting the energies of alligator, coyote and cat in our consciousness.  In this process, we gently allow ourselves to re-create ourselves anew by tapping into our primal depth, keeping our wits about us when balancing our wisdom and follies and remembering the magic and mystery of our daily routine.  Together, we watch the movie of our lives unfold before our eyes wide open.

Stay True,

Ari