Tag Archives: Nature

Praying with Mantis and Gentle Meditations with Deer

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I remember an encounter I had recently, when I observed a teacher carrying a jar with a praying mantis to share with her students in their classroom.  I love when teachers use the natural world to tap into their students organic curiosity about the world around them and connect that to what they are learning in school.  Although resources in public education are limited, I just love witnessing some evidence of positive momentum in nurturing a sense of community and harmony in our schools.  In an urban Chicago school, a powerful mantra is built into their culture that says, “it’s OK to walk away.”  When meditating on praying mantis medicine, we hear the ring tone of stillness speaking to us.  I wonder how many internal martial arts and meditation students consume the energy of this curious insect?  When we allow ourselves to venture deeply into our souls through dreaming, positive thinking, being present and remembering to just breathe consciously, we allow ourselves to elevate our consciousness and move into to realms and open up to new possibilities.  This happens when we choose to see the silver lining and make only positive interpretations.  Easier said than done.  But deer can help us tap into a sense of wonder and curiosity, while gently luring us into new adventures.  Moreover, when chewing on deer’s spirited power, we become less jerky and more aware of our bodies informing us and listening to our gut, the seat of our instinctual selves.  Can’t you hear the earworm of Master Jedi Obi Wan Kenobi saying, you must feel the Force (Chi) around you?  There is an energy, a Kingdom of Heaven that is there for all of us to see, if only we take a moment to notice. 

Did anyone out there catch the wind blowing smoke of the Democratic National Convention recently?  In our business run society, does anyone notice that the political party that fronts itself a party that welcomes everyone, is bribed by the same largesses that it’s so-called villain on the other side of the aisle?  But the truth is that there are no enemies.  We are all part of the web of life, though we are diverse strands in the living web.  What we do to that web, we do to ourselves.  Is Coke or Pepsi Democrat or Republican?  If we are to move beyond political rhetoric and our attachments to our beliefs, then we will actualize a new vision of our nation, our Mother and the Universe throughout.  In this sphere, we will co-create a New World of Unity Consciousness and celebrate the good times of our diversity.  Until we disarm our internal weapons of mass destruction and let go of our attachments to feeling inferior and/or superior to another person, tribe, community, country, etc., we will remain caught up in the collective nightmare we have woven for ourselves.  Isn’t it obvious that the corporate media thrives off the blame game drama that unfolds in front of our eyes on the tele, while distracting us from the truth with their smokescreen?  What would happen if we took the profit out of campaigns and politicians had access to free air time–would they be as tempted lie, be fake and on the take?  I can’t think a more delicious feast that advocates for everyone in a new American Dream that offers a safety net for all Earth’s citizens.  One of the key points from the book entitled, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People talks about co-creating win-win solutions by finding a third and different way.  The dinosaurs in charge do not really want to scale back their old ways that are no longer working.  The Country Club on Capitol Hill that includes both Democrats and Republicans is a club that seeks to protect the opulent minority against the overwhelming majority.  Yes, the master illusionism cleverly use the dark side of social science to pull the wool over their audience.  But if you listen carefully to the eloquent speeches of moderate Republican, candidates of Wall Street like Bill Clinton and President Obama, you will clearly hear in their position a band-aid approach to maintain the status quo of our current global economy and tweaking of the current system.  All these guys are offering us are some cheap umbrellas for protection and shelter from the storm, if you will.  Regardless of which candidate wins, we all lose until we do something different that getting too swayed from the Middle Way and over-indulging in the dog and pony shows.  Indeed, membership has its privileges and many of the top dawgs simply don’t want to share those privileges with the rest of us.  

Here in the USA, most of our tax dollars go toward the Pentagon and fuel the military-industrial complex.  In our commercial driven culture, much of our economy is fueled by marketing.  What would happen if those resources were leveled and more equally spent on delivering quality education to nurture all our children’s creativity in the classroom of life?  I remember an old saying that goes something like, “fair is that everyone gets what they need, not what they want.”  Isn’t equal access to resources a fair shake?  Now I have heard some folks, particularly the educated business class, frown at leveling movements like Occupy Wall Street and criticize the sense of entitlement of youth culture, the poor and oppressed and those of us that fall through the cracks.  However, here in America, we like to point fingers and criticize without realizing that a mirror is being held up for us to see reflections of ourselves.  Is humanity evolving into our Higher Selves when we adopt devolution as a personal mantra to justify our economic success?  Instead of God Bless America, we adopt in our hearts God Bless humanity and all sentient beings.  Each one of us walks in the center of the Universe, while none of us are special, Chosen or saved.  We are all cut from the same cloth.  When we pray with Mantis and meditate on deer, we gently allow ourselves to remember stillness speaking to us and welcome new adventures.  This is merely one way to effectively transition into a New Age and Paradigm.

Stay True,

Ari

Union of the Snake

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I remember puttering around the garage recently, stepping into the backyard for a spell and sharing an unexpected intimate moment with a snake gazing my way from his vantage point in the grass.  Given that I was about to embark on an adventure to my 20 year High School reunion, I took my encounter with snake as an omen to shed our old skin, while allowing for a smooth transmutation process into becoming something new.  Given the changing tides, this summer is an especially hot time for reunions and gatherings.  When we face the music and participate in the theater of life, it is not always an easy buffet of feelings to consume and digest.  We are all mirrors for one another, albeit diverse expressions of Great Spirit (God, Universe, etc.).  As mirrors, we do not always like seeing the snakes reflected back our way.  However, when we tap into the fire of snake medicine, it invokes within us the process of alchemy that facilitates healing.  By embracing our own power, we wake up to our authentic selves.  In releasing our own suffering, we open up to compassion and love.  Remember that the Buddha arrived at this Earth plane to show us compassion, while the Christ arrived to show us Love.  When we heed their wisdom and walk in this Light, we facilitate the healing of ourselves, the planet and Universal Consciousness throughout by co-creating Heaven on Earth one moment, one slither and one breath at a time.

Has anyone else out there had a tendency to play with fire and get burned in the process?  In the theater of life, facing the music and taking it to the edge sometimes is an experiential learning opportunity for growth, here in Classroom Mothership Earth.  Sometimes, ingesting the poison of the bite stokes the inner flame of alchemy to wake up to our own immortality.  Perhaps our dying selves and dying world will be the death of us, but with every funeral comes a new birth.  Regardless of one’s belief systems, those of us that know the power of prayer and meditation know a direct experience with Divine Energies that are available as powerful resources to us, if only we ask.  At this junction of Nature’s cycle, it was so nice to celebrate good times with old friends and breathe in new life, while exhaling dead air.  While many folks avoided directly participating in our celebratory ritual, I know the good vibrations will be felt by even those that did not show up.  When we effectively integrate our masculine and feminine energy and heal polarity in our consciousness, we light the torch of fire medicine.  In the spirit of that, we create passion, desire, procreation and physical vitality on the material plane; ambition, creation, resolution and dreams on the emotional plane; intellect, power, charisma and leadership on the mental plane; and wisdom, understanding, wholeness and connection to Great Spirit on the spiritual plane.  Does anyone remember the scene from The Matrix when Neo visits the Oracle and the little boy in the waiting room says to him something like, try not to bend the spoon . . . that’s impossible . . . instead, imagine that the spoon isn’t there.  Readers, do you see that magic is no more than a perceptual shift in consciousness?

Snake’s energy has potential to awaken our Divine Life Force within (Chi).  If you would like to tap into this power, please consider keeping yourself energetically clean by psychically bathing yourself in white light and flushing whatever toxic debris remains down your spine, through the soles of your feet and into Mother Earth for her to receive and compost.  By embracing our power with respect to our relationships, we wake up authentically to our True Selves.  Shamans of the Americas have shared stories of a dying, snake-like god named Quetzalcoatl that would someday return.  In this Light, we will explore fantastic mythical stories like this in future blog conversations.  If anyone out there has a poignant story to share, I would excitedly welcome that.

Stay True,

Ari

Barefoot In The Woods

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While flying solo in the woods recently, I considered whether or not I’d bring my Aboriginal didgeridoo (bought in USA made in Indonesia) to blow in the wind. However, I shifted gears and opted for a standard low tech experience and ‘invested in loss’ by passing on carrying a big stick.  After finding a favorite hiding spot, I settled into a somewhat ‘Lotus’ meditation position and enjoyed significant encounters with Turtle and brother Frog and Frog (remember T.V. classic Newhart and characters Larry, Darryl and Darryl?).  Although Turtle was alive and well, I couldn’t detect any movement in the hour or so I watched Her–even with my Grandmother’s trusted field glasses.  In the spirit of the Art of Persuasion, I invite folks to bow to the wisdom of Turtle and Her knowledge of patience and longevity and Frog’s beat boxing of forthcoming changes in weather patterns.  Wood You Bee Leave that I heard many Ma’ Chuckin’ Nervous Woodland Creature (NWC) peeping their version of The Boss, “when I’m out in the trails, tweet, tweet, tweet . . . I stick where I want to stick.”

Coincidentally, my shared encounters with Frog and Turtle represent linkages to the Moon and Tides and portals into the Faerie Realm.  With my trusted faggot of Tibetan incense sticks to burn, I put a little Fairy Creme on my face to set the mood.  As I listened to Frog and Turtle, I heard the lyrics, “I miss the rains down in Africa . . . can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder, you better run, you better take cover . . .  rock me mama like the wind and the rain . . . (and) here comes the story of the hurricane.”  And while I may no longer be physically residing in Australia or Africa, I am protected by Mother’s shell, inspired to create life anew, welcoming the tears and rains as cleansing rituals to clear space for the shifting tides and changing seasons–hopefully without getting too washed out in the process, given tumultuous weather patterns (come on Irene) and a splitting Comet Elenin.  By calling on Frog, we invoke its medicine to breathe in new life, live joyfully and harmoniously . . . cleansing ourselves of “any person, place, or thing that does not contribute to your new state of serenity and replenishment.” Soaking in a bathtub with a little sea salt and perhaps a few drops of lavender has a relaxing, cleansing and detoxifying effect.  Got a frog in your throat?  Please consider gargling with warm sea salt water to open up the capillaries. Spraying liquid from your mouth into a fire in the spirit of manifestation and/or letting go and more importantly gratitude has a powerful Shamanic cleansing effect as well, a la ‘out with the old, in with the new’.

Finally, please consider Turtle’s patient and kind reminders for Us to stay slow and low in the tempo of life.  Given how nuts things can get in the transition from Summer to Fall, Turtle inspires Us to allow the river to flow to Us, rather than trying to levy its waters.  By staying grounded and honoring Our Mother, We co-creatively build the New Earth together. In this process, “Turtle medicine can teach new perceptions about time and our relationship with it.”  I’ve also seen that it stimulates clairvoyance and heard it amplifies clairaudience, as well as improving Our capacity to smell the scents of Life in more discriminate ways.  It’s as if Turtle and Frog are beckoning Us to stop and smell the roses–even if it means hoppily standing in the rain once in a while.  And while noticing the flowers in your garden, please remember to soak in the magical Full Moon on Monday into your sea of consciousness.  I’m glowing already merely envisioning it in my Third Eye!

I Hopi You are well,

Ari