Hi folks,
It is a blessing to have completed my first public interview recently. Here is the link to access this interview if you feel so moved:
I will be taking a little time off from my weekly postings. However, my weekly writings will continue sometime later this month.
Wishing you all much inner peace!
Ari
Thank you to all of you who have supported the energy of this blog.
It has been a process, and I could not have done it without
your encouragement and co-creation.
In fact, this forum has inspired the recent publication of my first book,
accompanied by my Aunt Barbara’s beautiful animal pictures.
And I would like to thank my wife Kristen, for her Earth. I deeply appreciate her grounding force in my life!
For more information on the arrival of my book, Something to Chew On . . . , here are the links to access a copy if you feel so moved:
http://bookstore.iuniverse.com/Products/SKU-001055991/Something-to-Chew-On.aspx
As such, I have chosen to take a break from this week’s posting to
allow us to sit with and celebrate the arrival of this walking meditation.
In the meantime, I look forward to seeing you up the trail head next week with new material,
Ari
Duck awakens archetypal energies associated with emotional comfort and protection
It’s medicinal power is arriving right now in Spring and will flow into Summer
Summer Solstice sits on the horizon in later June where sunlight reaches its peak –
A fleeting tick only about a month away in clock time
A New World is revealing itself right before our eyes on Planet Earth
Water symbolizes strong feminine power, the astral plane and emotional states
May we drink in the waters of Life
So that we Nurture our Nature
Learn to recognize all stuff as small stuff without sweating it
Just let it roll off your back like a duck
Speak your emotional truth . . . then let go of it
Because getting stuck in the muck of anger can cause a flood of health problems
Or we can transform our anger into positive and constructive action . . .
Do you need to pay more attention to your emotions
and close personal relationships?
Dive beneath your anger . . .
What other emotions are submerged underneath and simmering cautiously?
If you find yourself shackled and drawn in the
gang banging prison of repetitive mental tapes then
marinate on Duck to help you relax and dissolve your attachment
to any fixed perspective you might be stewing on
Letting go and releasing old wounds is a process . . .
It is easier for us to become identified with our creature comforts
and get sucked in to their accompanying dramas while here on Earth
Imagine Duck paddling through the changing emotional tides of
Civil and Human Rights and levying the waters of our
GLBTQ crew of our human family
Do you feel the ripple effect of the sea of change in the air?
Folks are waking up everywhere . . .
Duck’s energies help us remember that
sometimes we need to land on familiar ground
that is safe and familiar to us – like enjoying a favorite pastime or
revisiting old places in our consciousness
This is good medicine to be on the ball during Mercury in Retrograde
Duck symbolizes balance during our journey into
the elemental forces on Earth, Water and air
Do you need to bring more balance into your life?
Picture a Duck guiding you into breathing in a fresh air of passion
into your work and play
Otherwise, that energy has nowhere else to go
but through the turbulent waters of anxiety
Trying to “figure it all out”, get that perfect job, new car,
wait for the perfect moment or family member to be who you want them to be
will leave a foul air in your wake
And you will probably look forward to
inhaling a chronic air of disappointment
Duck inspires our own adaptability –
Try to make the most of the situations you are in
where you might feel uncomfortable
Do you need to become more adaptable?
If only we could accept that there are no guarantees . . .
Meditation on that helps “seal the deal” of an
internal experience of comfort and protection
See you further on up the trails,
Ari
A Full Worm Moon passed us by last week
Like Nature’s outwardly changing seasons
Our energetic tides ebb and flow internally
Herrings help us see the subtleties of communication
So that we become adept at reading what is
flying below the radar in our social environment
Genuine respect is a key ingredient to being a well-versed social animal
Our Divine constitution is awakened in this location
As shoreline birds,
Gull teaches us to see the writing on the wall and read between the lines
In between land and sea, shorelines are of places of great magic and mystery
Ordinary spaces between our busy events are wanting to be seen as extraordinary
Do you hear John Lennon’s voice fly in from the Dreamtime,
“Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.”
Are you willing to sail away from an old hard land
and take a leap of faith onto the shores of a fluid New World?
Seagulls remind us that reality has both surface and depth
Powerful energies are intensifying and arriving through our perceptual pathways
Like when light is let in to brighten up a dark room
We don’t always like what we see
Meditation on allowing the sunlight to illuminate the shadows
is good medicine right now
When navigating elemental forces of land and air . . .
We need to learn to swim and fly
in the multidimensional waters and skies of Life
Body language is the psychology of communication
If we are what we eat and appetite comes with eating
Then may we drink in Herrin’s teachings to stimulate a healthy diet
to clean up the ecology of our daily lives
“The personal is the political”
Whether bleeding from our deepest cuts or flesh wounds
The time is now to release and let go of our old pains
Might as well weather our shifting fronts with transformational grace
Stay alert, stay aware and be present with what is
Try not to get sucked into the control dramas of others
Or your own insidious anxieties and chattering repetitive mental tapes
Be a spiritual watcher of yourself
We are aware that we are aware
A fortress around your heart might appear to serve as protection
from being stoned by others living in glass houses
But do you believe that the sweet surrender of vulnerability
will be held up by Universal pillars of Love and Truth
while holding a firm foundation of personal and cosmic intimacy?
See you further on up the trails,
Ari
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
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
Frog is a powerful animal spirit totem for cleansing your soul during your travels in your spirit-mind-body vessel. Consuming Frog Medicine helps the purification and detoxification process of cleansing your soul. May the energy of Frog help you clean up both your inner and outer world. Doing this proactively helps us weather our experiences with Climate Change and effectively transition into a New Age and Paradigm. Here is a shamanic journey meditation to assist you in this area:
*Light incense/candle.
*Start drumming to a consistent beat that feels natural to you. A simple bongo drum works well. Get into a comfortable position, relax and breathe.
*Picture a frog in your imagination and feel its energy coming into your Being.
*Ask Frog for any guidance that you feel is appropriate for you. Being specific with your question is helpful.
*Continue drumming for 10-20 minutes and gently allow yourself to receive whatever arrives to you in your consciousness.
*Thank Frog for its spiritual medicinal offering.
*Remember your callback by opening your eyes and changing your drumbeat. A callback facilitates the transition back into our material reality. A callback can also be in the form of a word or mantra that you prefer. My callback consists of 3 sets of 8 beats, then 3 sets of 3 beats and then 3 sets of 7 beats.
*Record your notes of whatever messages Frog brought to you. These messages might be in the form of feelings, lyrics, sounds, visuals, smells, etc. Let go and gently allow your soul to inform you as you travel along during your daily walking meditation.
Energy medicine is a healing and proactive approach to wellness. Ideally, we catch our health issues at the energetic level, before they leave their mark on our spirit-mind-bodies. In that light, Chakras are spinning discs that are part of our energetic bodies and are designed in perfect alignment by Great Spirit. As such, remembering to balance our chakras on a daily basis has a powerful cumulative effect on our overall well-being and vitality. If you are into Reiki, you may picture the appropriate symbols to increase the power of this meditation. Some folks see, hear, feel and sense Chakras differently, if not at all. Try not to get hung up on that, as there is ego in powers of perception. It is a colorful world so within, as without and folks tend to perceive differently.
–Focus on your breath and put your hands in the prayer position and open them up like a peacock to open up Sacred Space.
–Visualize your luminous energy field (a white mist around your spirit body in front of you).
–Visualize your spherical Root Chakra that is Red in color and is located around the base of your spine. Take your right hand, placing it in that area, in front of your body and slowly spin your hand around in a counter-clockwise direction 10 times to unwind your Chakra. Release any unwanted energy to Mother Earth to be cleansed and composted. Then spin your Chakra 10 times in a clockwise direction to re-balance it. During this process, just watch and notice whatever comes up for you and gently let it pass without judging and/or labeling it.
–Continue along in this way with the rest of your Chakras.
–Sacral Orange is about 2 1/2 inches below your belly button.
–Personal Will/Self Esteem(Yellow) is at the base of your breastbone.
–Heart Chakra (Green) is in the middle of your chest area.
–Throat Chakra (light blue).
–Third Eye (Indigo) in the middle of your forehead just above your eyebrows.
–Finally Crown Chakra (Violet) at the top of your head.
After feeling comfortable with the above Chakra meditation, perhaps consider trying the next two more advanced forms.
–First, visualize a Golden spinning disk like halo (like we see in renaissance art) a couple of feet above your Crown Chakra. This is the eighth Chakra.
–Finally, the Ninth Chakra, the realm of Spirit is everywhere, but I like to think of it as “the Spirit in the Sky” where We become One with Everything. I perceive my Eighth Chakra taking off like a disc shaped spacecraft and flying to and merging with the Ninth Chakra, Great Spirit, which is everywhere.
When we get shamanic in our meditations, we take a step into the realm of Infinity so that we may bring back spiritual insight into our material reality. This is how we become the change we want to see in the world, in the spirit of if not me, who and if not now, when? When we do this, we wake up to living more consciously and intentionally.
*Light incense/candle.
*Start drumming to a consistent beat that feels natural to you. A simple bongo drum works well. Get into a comfortable position, relax and breathe.
*Picture a pelican in your imagination and feel its energy coming into your Being.
*Ask Pelican for any guidance that you feel is appropriate for you. Being specific with your question is helpful.
*Continue drumming for 10-20 minutes and gently allow yourself to receive whatever arrives to you in your consciousness.
*Thank Pelican for its spiritual medicinal offering.
*Remember your callback by opening your eyes and changing your drumbeat. A callback facilitates the transition back into our material reality. A callback can also be in the form of a word or mantra that you prefer. My callback consists of 3 sets of 8 beats, then 3 sets of 3 beats and then 3 sets of 7 beats.
*Record your notes of whatever messages Pelican brought to you. These messages might be in the form of feelings, lyrics, sounds, visuals, smells etc. Let go and gently allow your soul to inform you as you travel along in your walking meditation.
During my journeying meditations this week, Pelican is helping me glimpse deep within my soul the power in releasing my judgments that I have carried inside myself and with others. When we hold this space in our souls, we take back our projections and experience inner peace. When we all do our part in this area, we co-create win-win realities, a peaceful New Earth and experience harmony on our Planet and multidimensional Classroom throughout.
Photo courtesy of K. Bouse
We journey and meditate to co-create Heaven on Earth, or build a New Earth. When we bring this energy into our Being, we are more likely to manifest what we see in the Dreamtime into our material reality. This is how we become the change we want to see in the world. May the energy of Herring assist you in effectively navigating the winds of change and shifting tides. In the spirit of that, we remember that birds of a feather, flock together.
*Light incense/candle.
*Start drumming to a consistent beat that feels natural to you. A simple bongo drum works well. Get into a comfortable position, relax and breathe.
*Picture a sea-gull in your imagination and feel its energy coming into your Being.
*Ask Herring for any guidance that you feel is appropriate for you. Being specific with your question is helpful.
*Continue drumming for 10-20 minutes and gently allow yourself to receive whatever arrives to you in your consciousness.
*Thank Herring for its spiritual medicinal offering.
*Remember your callback by opening your eyes and changing your drumbeat. A callback facilitates the transition back into our material reality. A callback can also be in the form of a word or mantra that you prefer. My callback consists of 3 sets of 8 beats, then 3 sets of 3 beats and then 3 sets of 7 beats.
*Record your notes of whatever messages Herring brought to you. These messages might be in the form of feelings, lyrics, sounds, visuals, smells etc. Let go and gently allow your soul to inform you as you travel along in your walking meditation.
Classroom Mothership Earth 