Tag Archives: Nature

Surrendering to the Sweetness of What Is – Bitter as it might taste

Posted on by under Consciousness, Energy Medicine, Native American, Original Prose, Shamanism, Uncategorized

Might we look at our experiences of yesteryear as past lives? Aren’t we humans supposed to evolve – in that we venture into and move through common developmental stages in Life? Yet our growth does not always feel graceful and is often not without pain. Yes we are shaped by our past. But we need not be defined by it. Have any of your past selves been good at reacting to what is? It can be such a challenge to sit with the present moment and deal with unwanted and uncomfortable feelings, such as guilt and shame. Do you try to bypass these feelings by exiting with aggression or denial? Tempting as avoidance is, taking an authentic look at our souls with a reflective lens and sitting with that is empowering. Getting out in Nature helps rekindle the fire within. When I noticed the rabbit tracks in the snow the other day, I wondered how far the rabbit hole do I want to go? I can’t help but remember our ancestral connection to the lunar cycle and the ebbs and flows of the tides. Can you feel the crocuses wanting to wake up and show us that Spring is just around the corner to the light of day? A Full Moon on March 16th symbolizes completion and celebration. Are we building a global community in the spirit of honoring one another’s gifts by sharing resources? These politics of living help us move into a New Age and Paradigm more gracefully. In our husbandry, we experience labor pains. It’s how we move with our Mother’s labor pains that matters most.

During this Pisces time of year, we are leaving behind Winter and welcoming Spring. It is a good time of year to let go of the ghosts of yesterday. Our relationships with others give us opportunities to get to know ourselves, in rank and beauty, on a deeper level. Like seasons, relationships come and go. But their energy remains with us until we learn the lessons we need to learn. In that, we experience both literal and figurative deaths, divorces and separations. Sometimes it’s like two planets come together in orbit for a while and then change their trajectory and drift apart. We have relationships with everything – habits, food, drink, substances, our developmental stages in life, a psychological trait, a significant other, the stock exchange, class, a pet, books, etc. When a relationship shows us something we do not want to see, it is easier to have the wool pulled over us and get caught up in the illusion of separation.  But we are not separate.  Even that homeless person on the street, in a mental institution or on death row is part of our being. And they are worthy of a silent blessing. When we remember to have compassion for the triggers and defenses of others, we help them lower their guard to have meaningful exchanges. Seek first to understand, then be understood. Water is a powerful elemental force that builds its momentum gradually. It has a cleansing effect on our consciousness. This is a good time of year to meditate on water. In that process, try to go with the flow rather than swim upstream.

See you further on down the trails,

Ari

A Plea to our Planetary movers and shakers . . .

Posted on by under Consciousness, Energy Medicine, Native American, Original Prose, Shamanism, Uncategorized

A good old boy fraternal order cleverly breathes coal into the souls of its new initiates. As such, a chaotic choir sings a nightmarish karmic hypnotic trance-like opera of reward and punishment. In this refrain, it is hard not to get boxed into tick y-tacky packages of winners and losers, heroes and villains and angels and demons.

The old ways of maximum incentive for greed blinded by arrogance is way past crossing the line. Effectively playing the fox and the lion game of when to be assertive and when to be ingratiating has taken us to the edge of a cliff. Disillusionment abounds. Mister, there is a darkness on the edge of town.

We have a system that foments talk show pundits that profit off of the ignorance of their audience. Let us take for example the same talk show host that both criticizes Obamacare that he then parrots advertisements for accessing Obamacare in commercials that handsomely pay his salary. Without skipping a beat, this charlatan manipulation pulls the wool over the public at large – particularly the educated business class to unconsciously buy into polarizing arguments of us and them. Stop the insanity.

But with an infusion of spirituality into our humanity – we understand our survival is not a game. There are no enemies. We are One. The time is now for the paradigm to change. Powerful energies are moving in this Spring. Can you feel them budding?

It is easy to take a swing at the present moment . . . rat a tat tat . . . Russian toy soldier’s in the Ukraine . . . Now that’s gangsta.

Now is the time to shake-up and move on up into a co-creative system that is designed to nurture our natural luminosity. We can live in harmony with our Mother and all her sentient beings!

Imagine a conversation between Spider, Porcupine and Turkey . . .

Spider embodies a figure 8 shape that symbolizes our infinite and creative nature. We are empowered to clear Cosmic Karma by consciously weaving our dreams into our waking experience with reality. The more willing we are to choose to see the silver lining and make positive interpretations, the more potential we have to heal ourselves and our planet. What good is gold if our consciousness is weighed down by heavy metal?

Porcupine stimulates our chi by making the point that faith and trust in Great Spirit reveals that a Divine Plan that is unfolding in our lives. Through the wonder of childlike innocence, we are discovering Life’s mystery through portals of fantasy and imagination. Can you see these chimes of freedom flashing?

Turkey chimes in by leveling the playing field by reinforcing the wisdom that in the giving, there is receiving – illustrating a message board of shared blessings. Give it back . . . Take it back. It is time to ward off the evil spirits of pessimistic cynicism.

We have a need to feed our souls with an essential spiritual, physical and intellectual diet. Are you exhausted? How is your energy level? Manic, elevated, unhappy or low? Can you sit with loneliness? Are you afraid to get to know yourself on a deeper level? Why is that?

An internal Fountain of Youth springs eternal inside of each of us. However, it is useless if we do not tap into it.

Movement into a more equitable society requires a more buoyant, equilateral triangle. The movers and shakers are in positions of power to embody leadership by investing in equal access to resources. Their collective intention has been in the extreme opposite. Enough is enough!

An empire that is only interested in sustaining itself is not sustainable. Therefore, a vested interest in all of us winning, awakens an impetus to co-create Heaven on Earth instead of depleting Her resources to extinction.

Congratulations guys . . . maturation is kicking in.

See you further down the trails,

Ari

Into The Deep

Posted on by under Consciousness, Energy Medicine, Native American, Original Prose, Shamanism, Uncategorized

We are Building a foundation of intimacy
by speaking frankly in the language of love unconditionally

Pisces is water under the bridge between
Winter and Spring transition
Permission to grieve yin’s dirge
While awakening to new beginnings
Darkness fades as light rises in intensity . . .

Sister chaos flows into brother order
Leveling the playing field
Holding peaceful prayers and meditations
for graceful transitional equanimity

A sense of freedom arises in
the sweet surrender to the illusion of control

Let your soul power shine on
by coming out of the closet of psychologically defended modesty

When feeling uncomfortably bugged . . .
Try heeding the ear-worm – Love is all you need
Might that unearth a private and victorious conversational metamorphosis within?

Noticing judgments without judging them
and then letting them go without clinging on to fixed ideas

Sitting with what is empowers us to focus on self

Is it the other person that should change
or could you adjust your own internal dialogue?

When abuses arrive – empower yourself by taking refuge

Imagine if we all dive into a killing with kindness mantra?
With recognition and appreciation of divergent perspectives
Energetically clearing space for welcoming like-minded birds of a feather

Whistleblowers are akin to canaries in coal mines . . .
Please heed their call!
Their messages manifest sustainable Life!
Born out of the Dreamtime . . .

A balanced Life diet of resting, eating well and physically exercising
moves emotions around –
Nourishing harmony in our daily walking meditative footsteps
With a minimally processed Carbon Footprint

Got boredom?
Remember to hold an eagle-eye vision of the valley ahead
Setting goals, while paradoxically letting go of outcome
Cleansing inner pollution by holding a clean vision for Mother Earth
The Golden Age is an unfolding process of possibilities . . .

Venturing out in Nature affords a doorstep into a portal of
open-hearted receptive listening . . .
Stoking the embers of sensuous and magical feelings by honoring our
mysterious and primal orientation

See you further down the trails,

Ari

Coming Full Circle

Posted on by under Original Poetry

My gaze is alive with Qi
Scintillating reflections in my Third Eye
Tingling pulsations energetically

Chi washing away regally pushed candy on my
Tell-Me-What-I-See (coke v. pepsi)
Chattering away, “nay, nay, nay”
Repulsing the monkey –
Internal martial artists might say

Mirroring mind-sets shifting and bending
Perspectives transcending
Close to falling, close to flight
Chi washing away my stage fright
In the darkness tonight

That was zen my friend
And this is right Tao
Warding off fixed ideas
In the Power of Now

Crystals sparkling off the Color of Water
Unplugging from intra-noise and outer fodder
Animal totems and tracks
Conversational consciousness reverberating within elemental forces,
Trickling downward crevasses and cracks

Mister, I’ve fought the powerful currents of
An old river in Egypt
Realizing my choice is to sink or swim
Tired of treading water (and)
Dramatic pendulum oscillations therein
Does the situation at hand got your expression grim?
Or is your feeling state merely a transitory a whim?

And though market forces take stock in my Qi
Re-working energetic yielding and rooting with Manifest Destiny
This too shall pass
Remembering gratitude in my heart for my teachers
While walking the center of the circle
Slumbering seeds underground
Dreaming with Groundhog in full synergy

Personal Power

Posted on by under Original Poetry, Uncategorized

Personal power versus force (sensitivity) . . .
Dreams and desires manifesting . . .
Picture a bright golden sun in your solar plexus cuz it helps shed light on the darkness on the edge of town . . .

Doc Oz’s wizardry reveals we are what we eat in a Fast Food Nation . . .

Mercury in retrograde revisits past relationship dramas and sometimes Twilight Zoned out realities . . . But remember Spider’s medicine to walk the center of the circle without getting too tangled up in the web . . .

There is narcissism in becoming too self-absorbed in our emotions . . .
Green Heart-centered empathy helps us place others in the center and walk along their strands for a spell . . .

Making friends with our pain dissolves our suffering . . . On the cushion, we feel a new wave of energy come in rather than exiting with anger and denial . . .

Are you going to be a rock or water in this eternal moment? Remember to breathe and allow the waters of your soul smooth out the edgy areas.

An Andean shaman’s pipe dream high on the mountain . . . A few moments later a trigger happy ghost revisits my consciousness . . . it’s not raining out but I’m sleeping in a puddle . . . This collective old world nightmare is the death of us (the lunatic and Emperor’s New Clothes are in my head) . . .

An elderly woman behind the rearview mirror of privilege foolishly asserts to a younger filly a “conceal rather than reveal” mantra while oblivious to swinging the door wide open to the protective fortress (what lies beneath your unexamined self?) . . .

Past memories and future projections kill the living moment . . . Entanglements within the web of form blocks intimate pathways of internal communication systems that venture out along leaves of trees and fiber optic highways . . .

Re-working success by giving back Karmic baggage that is dumped on us from previous generations is the Phoenix Rising out of the ashes . . .

Being like water helps us navigate the rocks more gracefully . . .

I dig on seeing the birds flying into the portals of energetic imprints of fallen leaves . . . My ears to the ground with the aid of Bat echolocation . . . Did that angry red squirrel let go of a past turkey’s thievery?

Was Wonder Woman’s invisible jet a metaphor for the possibility of inner space Merkaba travels through cleansed doors of perception?

Being positive and choosing to focus on the silver lining enhances the soul self and everything else in a sweetly satisfying soulful harmonic convergence . . .
Like a Divine John Lennon watching the wheels of his Chakras going round and round cuz life is what happens when we are busy making other plans . . .

Waning light soon outta sight as darkness fades into night . . . Thinning veils awaken spirited conversations and close encounters that liven up dead zones of dark matter and illuminate the shadows coming out into the light during this Samhain.

Colorful Blessings

Posted on by under Original Poetry, Uncategorized

Fall is upon us

Giving permission to grieve Yang’s dirge
Football and soccer games help keep us on the ball
Squirrels driven nuts by forgotten acorns
Mental health returns with a keen sense of smell

Leaving behind egalitarian Autumnal dance-steps
Perfect harmony with masculine and feminine synergy
Nature reflects our inner shifts n’ energetic rifts

Turning yin-ward
Waning Light
Soon outta sight
Tunneling toward our darkest hour
But not before many spirited blessings

Eagle In Flight

Posted on by under Original Songs, Uncategorized

Eagle in Flight

A step from the light
A step from the dark
Close to fallin’
Close to flight

And I’ve got stage fright . . . In the dark tonight
A Soarin’ Eagle in Flight . . . In the skies tonight
A sunlit moon twilight . . . On A Starry Night

A leap of faith
Into an ocean’s abyss
Close to drownin’
Close to fate I’d miss

And I’ve got stage fright . . . In the dark tonight
A Soarin’ Eagle in Flight . . . In the skies tonight
A sunlit moon twilight . . . On A Starry Night

Here I’m standing still
Life’s pulse I can feel
This moment surreal
This experience is real

And I’ve got stage fright . . . In the dark tonight
A Soarin’ Eagle in Flight . . . In the skies tonight
A sunlit moon twilight . . . On A Starry Night

Now my Heart beats alive
My emotions I drive
Your perspective I see
In my own arms I am me

And I’ve got stage fright . . . In the dark tonight
A Soarin’ Eagle in Flight . . . In the skies tonight
A sunlit moon twilight . . . On A Starry Night

Weaving Webs with Spider Co-creatively

Posted on by under Consciousness, Native American, Shamanism, Uncategorized

Does anyone notice the abundance of spider webs out on the trails? Although small in stature, Spider’s medicinal powers weave creation into our daily lives. The energy of Spider inspires us to walk in the center of a circle, but without getting too swayed in any one direction. Maintaining a balanced perspective is a key ingredient to Spider’s teachings. Waking up to the spider within informs us of “instant Karma” and the power of our actions. Sometimes, our actions have unintended consequences. This is why we want to weave an intention of a pure heart and clean mind into our spirited travels, so that our souls will manifest into our material realm in that light. “So it was that Spider wove the first primordial alphabet, as she had woven the dream of the world that had become manifest.” Spider is shaped like a figure 8, symbolic of the sign of infinity. In this space, we open to the kaleidoscopic portal of the Quantum world. Three is a magical number. As such, Spider expresses magic in the form of creative expression, effectively asserting that communication and a convergence of its web’s spiraling energies at a central location. We all have a primordial desire to freely express ourselves with authenticity. And when we do not heed this prompting, we feel held back.

There is still much secrecy woven into the Imperial matrix of our Planet today. We see the veils thinning when the surveillance practices of the NSA were revealed by whistleblowers recently. The light of consciousness wants to illuminate the shadows. Don’t the pundits realize that comparing President Obama to a Nazi is akin to “calling the kettle black”? What is so romantic and sensuous about fascism in the first place? Like a perceived utopia, the idea is that the “ends justify the means”. But Life isn’t like that. Let us remember that the dominant majority likes to go unexamined. Who is authorizing the attack of the drones, the endless wars and escalating violence on Earth? Humans that get caught up in an illusionary web struggle with seeing the writing on the wall and beyond the “world of 10,000 things.” Our fears and limitations will entangle us unless we find creative ways to express ourselves authentically and respectfully. The arrogance of getting too ensconced inside a self-woven web blinds us from what lies along the intra-galactic outer rim. Spider shows us that “time is God”, in that there is a Divine Plan, while providing linkages to the past and the future. But not at the expense of the living moment. Self-awareness is a key that unlocks the padlocks of unconsciousness, spiritually speaking. An effective transition into a New Age is a process and it starts with your unfolding. As a matter of fact, we are all of spirit, thus spirit matters.

Nature reveals an unfolding process of changing weather fronts that sometimes shows us uncomfortable forecasts. However, we can move gracefully in our spiritual growth. There is a sense of security in a New Age and Paradigm, in that if one way doesn’t work, another way will. Recognizing that there is predictability in unpredictability can be liberating to the psyche. It is natural to want to feel a sense of security, order and control. But within any healthy structure, there needs to be novelty. I hardly think any child diagnosed with AD/HD wouldn’t get too bored with the status quo and act out to show the system that it’s being too rigid. At the same time, too much permeability and permissiveness is out of balance and dangerous as well. By spinning with the dark night within, Spider helps us weave our primordial creations so that our creativity walks in the sunlight and wakes up to the light of day. Are you weaving your dreams and imaginings into reality? Are you using your creative opportunities? Do you need to write? Are you feeling closed in or stuck? Do you know where you are on the map? Are you or those in your orbit walking in balance? Are you moving toward a central goal or scattered in multiple directions? Are you staying focused? Are you over-involved with others or too self-absorbed? Are you becoming resentful of yourself by not focusing on your own accomplishments, or resentful of others by focusing too much on their accomplishments?

See you further on down the trails,

Ari

Spreading multi-dimensional love with Hummingbird

Posted on by under Consciousness, Native American, Shamanism, Uncategorized

When encountering Hummingbird out on the trials, we remember that humming to ourselves creates an internal massage that changes our vibration. In turn, we stay light on our feet by becoming more equipped to appreciate Life’s beauty. Hummingbird medicine helps us invoke the internal spiritual master within. Although being disciplined is the scholarly thing to do on our spiritual path, we also remember that laughter and having a good time is healthy food for the soul. Hummingbird dazzles us with its ability to fly in all directions, stop on a dime and hover in place. I wonder how many aviation engineers had Hummingbird totems when designing advanced aircraft that creates an air of light-hearted joy when taking flight?   Meditation on Hummingbird might help you co-create a powerful spiritual vessel for effective navigation.

Perhaps visualizing Hummingbird will help you venture into the Dreamtime and bring back what you need to adequately function in this reality. Given “everything is so ephemeral,” why not lighten up and let go our attachments to our fleeting and transient small stuff? Hummingbird reminds us to fly away from becoming too serious or sweating the small stuff. I hardly think Hummingbird gets too hung up or stressed about being such a small aircraft when called to making a seemingly impossible 2500 mile journey. It’s as if Hummingbird is hip to Crab’s crustaceanal wit that recommends picturing water to return to the Dreamtime and our primordial memories. In this space, we remember to balance sensitivity and reclusiveness. Being on guard with and overprotective of our emotions (re-playing mental tapes that say,”conceal rather than reveal”) blocks trust and allowing for authentic exchanges with other human beings. If a hummingbird can tackle such an apparently daunting obstacle with such grace, then why can’t we?

This sounds all well and good until we remember that tragedy and loss are typically unwelcome aspects of Life. As such, it is important to give ourselves permission to grieve. Many of us sit with the tension of opposites in our Being. On the one hand, humanity is embarking on a radical spiritual evolution. However, we also are doing very stupid things with our intelligence. Whether imperial military welfare in the Middle East, miserly domestic social programs, restoration of our rainforests via ecosensitive business practice or the proliferation of meditation in the modern world–we sit with the tension that we are all doomed as well as “life is good”. But it is also true power to realize “you can’t feel good when you’re feeling bad about feeling bad.”  “Hummingbird can give us the medicine to solve the riddle of the contradiction of duality.” Instead of debating, arguing and making judgements about opposite sides of the same coin, we learn to accept and embrace All That Is. Having an open, loving heart allows us to taste the sweetness of Life’s nectar. Embodiment of this internal space brings out the best in folks. Staying away from ugliness, harshness, discord and disharmony is what the levity of Hummingbird conjures up within our Being. Flowers and plants love that Hummingbird allows them to cross-pollinate through their sucking. How many practitioners in the healing arts using flower essences have distilled their wisdom from Hummingbird’s spirited medicinal knowledge?

While venturing with Hummingbird, we walk in the sunlight with a restored sense of health and balance. Life, like sugar, is sweet when we drink in its nectar. Are you getting too much or too little sugar in your diet? Do you put up a front of being sweet, but without indulging in sweetness? Is this an intimacy issue that surfaces as a need for control?

 

See you further along on the trails,

Ari

Leave it to Beaver

Posted on by under Consciousness, Native American, Shamanism, Uncategorized

Beaver represents productiveness and the construction of dreams. With Beaver, we are reminded of the power of community as captured by the old African proverb “it takes a village.” As industrious as they are, beavers help us remember that the dams of life are built “one twig at a time”. Building a dream of home and family is one of the more popular dreams, thus the expression “American Dream”. But manifesting this dream takes action and it is a process. Beavers reflect to us the experience of residing in a close-knit family network and mating with a partner for life. Manifesting our dreams is a co-creative group process that breathes life into a harmonic convergence of the highest fraternal order. In this sorority, everyone contributes by harnessing everyone’s strengths. Although we are a diverse group of sentient beings, we are all Universal children of Great Spirit. We all share a primal knowing in our spirits to freely express our souls to compete and cooperate for mutual aid. Beavers work and play together, reflecting to us the possibility of mixing business and pleasure. While one beaver gnaws, another keeps watch. Have you ever felt a chord struck in your soul from a beaver’s playful thump on a river bend?

Legend tells us that Beaver was a totem for the mystical order of Freemasons. As such, beavers reveal effective navigation of land and water worlds with secret tunnels and alternative escape routes within their home environment. “If we eliminate our alternatives, we dam the flow of experience into our lives.” How many industrious workers in landscape architecture, design and masonry have Beaver totems? Perhaps it’s pie in the sky to entertain the possibility of humans living like beavers in harmony with our environment. As intelligent as we are, if a Beaver can do it, then why can’t we? Beaver politics feature selective tree-cutting, providing us a glimpse into eco-sensitive development and farming in that they allow for growing brush that feeds deer and moose. Moreover, residual dams wash out and leave organically rich soil for human farming. Accessing the Beaver within will help us stay in alignment with Nature in an organic way that moves more gracefully with Climate Change. If only our World’s movers and shakers would emulate this awareness and bring more Beaver energy into our global geo-politics. When we are in alignment with Nature, we don’t need to kill with polluting pesticides and insecticides. Business can thrive, but businesses of chemical dust are allowed to rust in peace and maybe become compost for a New Age. Given that we are living in a consumer-driven world, labeling our foods simply empowers consumers to make more conscious choices. Many folks will make healthier choices when it is convenient and self-evident. Awareness is key. In that light, there is a Full “Buck” Moon on Monday, July 22.

Good works are good for the goose and good for the gander, as Beavers know. Even construction engineers are inundated by Beaver’s productivity. Have you ever wondered how many dentists would like to sink their teeth into Beaver’s knowledge of proper dental hygiene? Just imagine what those razor-sharp teeth could do to a predator. But beavers don’t abuse their power when standing their ground. Humanity could stand to learn from Beaver in this area. Violence is big business in our modern world, especially in America with the escalation of dangerous weapons on the street. When will we wake up to the awareness that more folks packing heat increases the likelihood of violence and tragedy? Shooting from the hip first and asking questions second is a receipt for disaster. I know many are hurting about the outcome of the Trayvon Martin court decision and of course his grieving family by his life cut short. We have much Karma to clear when it comes to issues of class and race. We also see the accumulation of negative Karma with respect to George Zimmerman. What kind of life does he now have to live? Even if he had been convicted, would a Higher spiritual form of justice been served?

Have you been neglecting your most basic dreams? Are your dreams in need of some repair work? Are you or others around you becoming too lost in their dreams-always dreaming and never acting on those dreams? Is your home in need of repair? Meditation on Beaver helps us take action in bringing our dreams into the material realm by tapping into their traits of accomplishment, practicality and creativity.

See you further on down the trails,

Ari