Tag Archives: Spirituality

Embracing the Darkness of Night with Panther as our Guide

Posted on by under Consciousness, Native American, Uncategorized

Barely a cat’s pounce from a New Moon yesterday, we are reminded of how Fridays and New Moons carry “such promise”. Panthers are big cats and their energies reflect an authentic expression of our souls. Spring, New moons and Eclipse Seasons are a time to let go and release old toxicities and breathe in new air and cleaner intentions. It is a time to manifest, get in alignment with Nature and welcome the spirited energies streaming in right now. It is a time to allow the shadowy attachments to doom and gloom gently pass with care, while at the same time allowing the light to illuminate those dark caverns and flower into the light of day. Meditation on Panther aids us in acquiring and accessing the skills to flex our physical, mental, spiritual and psychic muscles and silently pursue our goals. While it is true our World needs more openness and transparency, sometimes being too public about our goals undermines their power and decreases the likelihood for manifestation. Use the rising intensity of this time in Nature’s cycle as mage wind at your back to welcome your goals into fruition. Nature spirits abound right now, so getting outdoors and heeding their wisdom, even in the backyard is good medicine. Boarder and edge areas at dawn and dusk are especially active times to perceive their energies. Consuming Panther medicine invokes clairaudience, sensitivity to touch and sensuality. Given they are members of the Cat family, their energy reminds us of the mystery and magic of everyday life and knowing how to effectively navigate the dark. While there is a reality to a darkness on the edge of town, we also hold into our Being the light of consciousness. In every breath we take, we are mindful of the twilight of night and the breaking dawn of day.

In the paper today, there are tales of our war and wasteful ways. But in this crowded house, there is room to clear and expand. The intensity is rising, giving us a sobering reminder to radically shift gears into the present moment. What would happen if we, in our politics of living, curbed our appetite for destruction and shifted instead to the key of inner peace and unity as a way of life? We have much Karma to clear, particularly in America. In our spring cleaning, we need to dust away our weapons of mass destruction in peaceful and non-violent ways. The “tinder-boxes” of the Middle East and North Korea are brush fires waiting to happen and some are licking their chops at igniting that possibility. But we all have our part to do by clearing our inner pollution by visualizing and holding the feeling inside of our Being that an alternative scenario is preferred and real. Perhaps we are an endangered species. However, we have amazing powers, adaptability and survival instincts at our disposal. Our family system is quite capable of moving mountains together as one. Honoring our Mother on Mother’s Day and celebrate the sacred garden that nourishes our capacity to play with form while we are incarnated here facilitates this process. May we look forward to being fed by the next Full Moon on the 25th of this month. Soon we see the peak of light on the Summer Solstice later on in June.

In our daily ascension onward, may we allow Panther to help us dig our claws into our Mother Earth by reclaiming our forgotten power during our slumber. Waking up to our divinity makes us purr on the inside and radiate that outward for the whole Planet and Universe to receive. True, you can clean your room when you are angry. But you might want to compost the anger into an organic mulch first, otherwise you are likely to pollute the same room that you just cleaned! Panther wakes up our Kundalini ( a.k.a. Libido, Life Force, Chi) so that we transmute our pain and suffering into healing. Connecting with and tuning into the positive mystical vibrations amplifies and resonates our collective souls. Staying in alignment with this energetic pattern will help us wake up our right brains and move further into the intuitive realm of our consciousness. In this space, we envision and co-create realities not otherwise imagined as possible. As the power of the old grid fades, new crystalline grids are rising. There is a primal free energy from the Chakras of our Planet and Universe throughout that we can tap into that flows like an eternal spring. Do not be afraid of the dark. Meditaton on Panther will help you light your way.

See you further on down the trails,

Ari

Cleansing Frog Meditation

Posted on by under Meditation, Shamanism

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.

With Frog, April Showers Bring May Flowers

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Frogs help us remember how to evoke changing weather patterns by singing harmonically with Mother Nature. Perhaps these vocalizations are more raw and less polished than the popular voice. And yet, their melody is powerful and music to the clairaudient ear that resonates deeply within our souls. In the beginning, there was sound. In that vibration, our spirited songs of freedom were born. This reverberation asserts that we are all diverse expressions of Great Spirit. It is true that we are a rainbow of different orientations, but we are all cut from the same cloth. There is no us and them. We are one human family. If corporations are people too, then we wake up to the awareness that we all benefit from a spring cleaning in our souls. Developing tolerance for our diversity is a “step-up” for many folks. A step further is to integrate acceptance of what is into our Being. Frog helps us purify and detoxify blockages in our souls, so that we are equipped to move more gracefully with the changing tides during our experience with Climate Change. As more of us become hip to this vibe, we witness a proliferation of this Oneness reflecting in our material realm. In this process, we help clear the way for spirit to weave its way into our world. Ingesting Frog medicine is good food for the soul and amplifies our power by becoming clearer channels, serving as conduits for radiating cleaner energy. This internal purification and detoxification facilitates the internal experience of inner peace, which decreases pollution so within as without.

While we are one human family, we see that we have been raised with much dysfunction and toxicity. We have been programmed by our societies and parents to follow certain rules and rituals, often unconsciously and without review. In Maine, there’s an old saying, “that’s just the way we’ve always done it.” But part of our healing, especially in Spring, is “out with the old, in with the new.” We can learn from Frog and shamanic network of animal friends how to get back into alignment with Nature. Do you remember the scene in Rocky 3 when Apollo tells Rocky that he has lost the “eye of the Tiger”, but that he is going to help him get it back? Given where we are at in human history, the timing of the spiritual wisdom, “if not now, when” is critically important. When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. The corollary is also true. In much the same way as the Buddha, even children raised in ideal situations have an underlying yearning to wake up to the emotional sensitivity that there is more to life that creature comforts and pampered privilege. Through our dirty waters of suffering, Frog breathes in a renewed sense of harmony into our lives and rekindles the notion that there is great peace and joy in taking time for yourself. With its connection to the water element and the lunar cycle, we look back to the waning Wesak Full Moon and are inspired by clearing out our muddy waters and drinking in crystal clear fresh water. Whether you are an atheist, agnostic or a devout believer, Frog is here to remind us to do whatever we can to get closer to Great Spirit. Some ways we can bring in this energy into our lives are going for a walk in the woods, taking in a deep and cleansing deep breath, asserting “stop”, unplugging from technology, staying away from the news for a while, taking a long, relaxing bath, going for a swim or just getting near the water for a spell. We all need to give ourselves a break from information and choice overload. In our modern world, tapping into Frog’s energy might even make you a bit of a rebel. How do you like to weave Frog’s cleansing energy into your life?

Frog is the rainmaker and is a true weather person that is capable of weather control. Its medicine encourages us to wash away the dirt in our lives. As such, meditation on Frog reflects metamorphosis and creativity into our waking lives. Given their amphibian nature, consuming Frog’s spirited energy links us to water and land and helps us stay grounded and emotionally sensitive with respect to the boundaries of self and relationships. Meditation on Frog can assist us in vocalizing our truths powerfully and respectfully. Given that Spring and Summer are its power times, we need to use its energy effectively so that we do not blow things out of proportion. Frog is good spirited soul food to consume while digesting Climate Change.

See you further on down the trails,

Ari

Grooving on a rhythmic drumming Circle with Woodpecker

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Woodpecker’s drumming conjures up images and visions of our Mother’s changing heartbeat, energetic pulsing and weather forecast. Moreover, their spirited teachings aid us in loosening up our souls for exploration in other realms, dimensions, new vistas and novel experiences. Consuming a spiritual diet of Woodpecker reminds us to “march to the beat of your own drum”. When stillness speaks, we experience an internal rapture that resonates within our souls that sparks a fire in our right brains that lights up an awakening in our consciousness. Staying in the flow of expecting synchronicity, stepping into, accepting the present moment as it is and embracing the unfolding mystery is good medicine for that. This is easier when we feel secure and at peace on the inside or if our surroundings reinforce a sense of comfort. It is more difficult to sustain that place when the outer world looks anything but. The trick in this true wizardry is to sustain this state of consciousness, especially when fear and terror kick in. Woodpecker reminds us that we influence one another’s energy fields with relation to what is going on in the inside of our Being.

Spending time out in Nature and getting in alignment with Nature’s rhythm sometimes feels like an inconvenient truth. What happened to that clear blue sky? Is it too cold, hot or wet? Has globalization, dying trees, poor air quality index or stock market got your hue feeling manic and blue? Of course, it is always most difficult to stay in alignment in a domestic partnership, particularly when we are oriented very differently or coming from different planets. I remember walking on the trails with a student some years ago and he was afraid of venturing further down the trail because he was deathly afraid of ticks. In a space of trust, we empathized with his fear and then recognized that it was actually scarier to avoid our fears than actually face them head on.

In that light, folks in our neck of the woods have felt the experience of terror in Boston hit close to home. It is challenging to remember that terrorism seeks to disrupt the status quo and instill fear and panic in the masses, like the boy’s fear of ticks blocked him from staying connected. Yes, we feel rage and a deep hurt in our soul wherever tyranny exists. But Woodpecker reminds us that even in the wild, there is a drumming that lifts our spirits. Rather than consuming the terror within the terrorists, we need to heed the drum beat that reminds us there are no enemies. Rather than reacting to the spirited energies pouring in right now, may we consciously move with these energies to wake up and know inner peace. In this powerful forthcoming Wesak Full Moon, may we allow ourselves to wake up to the Love and Light that Buddha and Christ illuminate for us to see.

When enough of us sustain this internal martial arts practice, we shall overcome and see the New World being revealed, so within as without. The old world and old ways are hanging by a thread. For many, that reality is alarming. Who will keep us safe and protected? It is becoming clearer we all must stand in our own personal authority by being secure within our own Being and summoning protection accordingly. In the spirit of that, may the energy of Woodpecker offer you powerful protection and guidance as you embark on drumming up a new dream for yourself. There is so much help from the spirit realm waiting for us, if only we allow ourselves to receive. Perhaps it might feel uncomfortable creating space out in Nature. But in that place, we afford ourselves the opportunity to know ourselves on a deeper level by letting the distractions gently pass us by with care.

See you further on down on the trails,

Ari

Heavenly Umbilical Chord Meditation

Posted on by under Meditation, Shamanism

Here is a meditation I would like to give you that I carry with me in my walking meditation tool-kit. It is a helpful resource in staying connected and in alignment with the Universal flow.

–Picture a luminous Divine thread from the Heavens connecting to the top of your head where your Crown Chakra is.
–Feel yourself being nourished by this Divine Light flowing in through the top of your head, pulsating down your spine, Chakras, body and exiting through the balls of your feet, or bubbling wells if you are into tai chi and qigong.
–Gently allow the residual energy to exit three feet into the Earth for organic compost. This process is free mulching for the soul.
–If you are into Reiki, you may also picture the appropriate symbols to enhance this powerful meditation.
–Repeat as needed.

Bonus material:
–Feel your heart open up and connect with other energies around you, allowing yourself to give and receive this Divine energy. Imagine yourself elevating your own consciousness and the consciousness of others.

When out on the trails of Life, this is one way we step into the realm of Infinity and co-create Heaven on Earth.

Black Like Crow

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Soaring further with Spring energies, we catch wind of an out with the old and in with the new Crow Medicine show. Coming soon in the theater of Life, we will bear witness to a fiery astrological light show of consecutive eclipses streaming in. We will consume a powerful Full Moon on April 25th, a New Moon on May 9th and another Full Moon on May 25th to celebrate the grand eclipse finale. I don’t know if there will be a supernatural war between werewolves or vampires, but we have some bloody serious conflicts going on our Planet today. Things are particularly heating up in the Middle East and North Korea. Our Armageddon friends are licking their Doubting Thomas chops just waiting to pound their cynical chests by arrogantly asserting their self-fulfilling prophecy of doom and gloom. But there is a darkness on the edge of town. In that light, it is a challenge to become your own boss, rather than auctioning off your power to some charlatan. Crow is a powerful clairvoyant that peers into our forecast, while becoming a detached observer into a co-creative and fluid future. Crow is a powerful omen of change. Relaxing your gaze, so that your eyes feel a bit cross-eyed and slightly blurred vision will help you tap into Crow’s medicine, while paradoxically seeing more clearly. This is somewhat akin to Mayan legend of cross-eyed folks peering into the future. Is there a natural connection between Autists and Shamanism? Forget about those silly parlor tricks. Crow’s depth helps us acquire and access communication skills, wariness and intelligence. Their energy reminds us of the magic in everyday Life. In the spirit of protecting sensitive information, Crow will help you know magical knowledge and hold a secret, when silence is the higher form of honesty.

As we have discussed, Black is the color of creation, night and maternal feminine energy. With Crow, the darkness of night literally walks in sunlight. In a sense, Crow personifies the Taoist yin and the yang at play, weaving magically before our eyes. Why is it that black has conjured up fear in the collective consciousness of our modern world? America was built off the backs of free labor, predominantly by African-Americans during slavery forced unwillingly to work on command. When slavery was officially abolished, we witnessed an increase in incarceration among blacks, shackled and drawn. Have blacks received their fair share of their slice of the pie they brought to the table? Some statistics might hint at that, but we know that dollar for dollar, blacks are still earning less than their white counterparts and carry double the unemployment rate. While W.E.B Dubois might cite a rise among the “talented tenth”, can’t you hear Booker T. Washington still singing a “Dissatisfied” blues song among working folks? With Crow, we see that there are still systemic barriers in place serving as roadblocks to a more level egalitarian playing field. Part of my passion and sensitivity in serving the population I work with in my profession, is to help prevent our students from falling through the cracks and end up in institutions like jails and mental hospitals. Still predominantly white men, our friends in Congress seem to carry an air of the very sense of entitlement they complain about. While crafting the Rule of Law the rest of us are expected to follow, these pillars of the community appear to feel above the limits they are setting with the rest of us. But there is a movement for a proposed 28th Amendment to the US Constitution that says, “Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not equally apply to the senators and/or representatives; and, Congress shall make no law that applies to the senators and/or representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States.” If only our friends in Congress and the rest of those at the top of the food chain would allow maturation to kick in and realize that we all win by heeding the political will of the people. This is homeland security for the entire population of our Planet.

Are you beginning a new course of study? Are you being alert enough? Mediation on Crow may assist you in gaining clarity to those questions, own your own magical powers and bend the laws of the material plane. Today, skeptics will often say “show me the science!” In that vein, the Quantum world reveals what the spiritual reality already understands–that it is possible to be two places at once. This is somewhat akin to the practice of spiritual shape-shifting, or becoming the fly on the wall, so to speak. In a Karmic sense, ingesting Crow Medicine assists us in balancing the past, present and future right now. In this light, we transcend the Law of Cause and Effect and become the inner peace we want to see reflected in the World.

See you further on down the trails,

Ari

Stand in the Place that You Are

Posted on by under Meditation

When we respectfully stand in the position of our own authority, we keep our power. Out on the trails, there are many charlatans willing to take our power from us and be fed by that. This process frequently elicits unintended consequences of the ego’s tricks. We all have the freedom and responsibility to access our wizard-healer-sage within our Being. There is nothing wrong with seeking guidance, consultation, therapy, etc. Energy is energy–it is what we do with it that counts. I can hear the Robin in me tweeting, alternative energy starts with I AM. In the spirit of that, please consider the following standing Qigong meditation.

–Stand rooted in your Being with your feet approximately shoulder width.
–Relax your body, keep an assertive posture and slightly activate your hands and slightly bend your knees. This is somewhat akin to a running back in a two point stance in American football.
–Primarily focusing on the balls of your feet, imagine your energy sinking three feet into the ground, growing deep roots into the earth like a wise old tree.
–Picture a luminous, white light figure 8 sign of Infinity enveloping your ankles.
–Envision the figure 8 slowly rising up through your body. As you do this, release each body part along the way. For example, say to yourself, “release my ankles . . . release my calves, release my shins, release my knees, release my quads, release my hamstrings, release my groin, release my hips, release my stomach, release my back, release my chest, release my neck, release my eyes and release my head.”
–Remember to start at your ankles and slowly ascend to your knees and pause there for a few moments. Then ascend some more to your hips and pause again. Then ascend up your spine and pause again at the top of your head, where your crown chakra is and pause briefly. Then reverse the order and descend. Feel free to give extra attention to wherever you feel called by your body. Your body is a powerful portal to consciousness.

See how you feel. I welcome your feedback.

Singing With Robin

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I remember us receiving tweets last week from Chickadee reminding us to gently sing truthful songs of freedom. Perhaps not coincidentally, while out on the trails, I caught wind of a harmonic convergence between Robin and Chickadee. In their diversity, I noticed their unity when competing for food both peacefully and cooperatively. I don’t know if they particularly liked each other, but they didn’t seem to carry an air of judging one another as either inferior or superior. Don’t you love feeling your consciousness take flight when seeing birds of a feather respectfully flocking together? Robin feathers our ripple by belting out a melodious song that Spring has arrived. Robin encourages us to sing spirited songs and get into alignment with our Mother’s budding spring energy. Although robins don’t always leave us behind when the food supply is plentiful, they are among the first of their kind to return. Robin medicine affords us an opportunity to see that something new might want to move into our lives. Their energy facilitates growth during the birth of a novel and creative experience. Developmentally, their lesson plan aids us in acquiring and accessing traits in the spheres of being daring, communication skills and musical appreciation. The rusty-red coloring of their belly hints at the kundalini rising. Potential conflicts over territory are resolved through song, thus their blue eggs are symbolic of our throat chakras. How many great blues singers had Robin totems? As a singer-songwriter and a musician, I am a late bloomer. But it is never too late and there is so much help waiting for us in the spirit realm. Spirited energies are wanting to manifest now more than ever. They are free access to resources for all of us to share and they are channeling through our powerful animal friends as preferred mediums.

We know that during our experience with Climate Change, there is dark and stormy weather inside that reflects in our outer world. Many folks find security in their consciousness by becoming identified with something to anchor themselves. But at the end of the day, we can only really stand in our own personal authority and become secure with that. Some folks say that we are doomed and that we have passed the so-called tipping point of no return. Tempting as it is to have a cow about that, did anyone out there catch wind of the news that if we start grazing large herds of livestock on 1/2 of the earth’s barren or semi-barren lands–we could take enough carbon from the atmosphere to return to pre-industrial levels, according to an ecologist, “carbon ranchers”, organic consumers and climate activists? From a brain-program developmental perspective, we humans have the capacity to move from the primitive reptilian part of our brain to the pre-frontal cortex. This is how we evolve into what some folks call Homo Luminous, or from our more demonic selves into our more angelic selves, if you will. From a soulful place, this is what our awakening process reveals to us in our walking meditation. In Maine, a Healthy Kids Act is being considered to protect kids and the environment from chemicals of “high concern.” We are what we eat, in our spirits, our minds and our bodies. Consuming the energies of a New Moon on this Wednesday, Earth Day on April 22 and a Full Moon on the 25th can help facilitate the digestion process during our shifting tides. Becoming secure within our own personal authority by staying rooted is powerful medicine to ingest right now. When we stand in this space in our Being, we reduce pollution and sow the seeds of Love and Truth that will light our way into co-creating a Heavenly New Earth, Golden like our eighth Chakras.

I am reminded by the wisdom that our “intentions from the heart do have the power to change the world.” In that light, a most satisfying mind-soul dance step happens when we open up to allowing our heart’s sun and venus to shine out and amplify our heartfelt connections with one another. Growing up with a parent with clinical depression, I felt suffocated and needed to build a protective fortress around my heart. But with a super-sized energy field, extreme empathic sensitivity to the feelings of others and a security in my intellect, a part of my heart leaked blood for psychic vampires to feed on. Given that I indulged in their indulgences, coupled with my built-in anger, I became comfortable with my familiarity of victim consciousness. This Spring, may we allow the light to illuminate the shadows by all of us manifesting an internal spring cleaning, a la out with the old, in with the new. Imagine if the movers and shakers of the world collectively concentrated their energy on building green classrooms, where music classes took place in green-house like facilities, where robins were teacher’s aids in carrying out music lessons. Forget about band and chorus. Now isn’t that sound of music a harmonic convergence to our ears?

See you further on down the trails,

Ari

Chakra Balancing Meditation

Posted on by under Meditation, Shamanism

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.

Singing Gleefully and Truthfully With Chickadee

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While tweeting with my peeps in the woods recently, a chickadee joined in while singing harmonically. As we look back on the Spring Equinox, waning Moon, Fireball that gleamed the Eastern Seaboard of the Americas, Chickadee’s energy welcomes the budding Spring growth yangward. Light-masculine energy is gaining momentum and spirited energies are intensifying. The black head cap sitting atop chickadee’s head represents the intellect, higher level thinking and levitation of our perceptual fields of vision. Black is a beautiful color and it symbolizes mystery, dark feminine energies and creative womb of life waiting to give birth. Perhaps this is why Aboriginal Australian and African shamans are remembered as powerful medicine makers of the Dreamtime. Ever since I was a boy, the idea of mind over matter resonated deeply within my soul. Consumption of Chickadee medicine aids us in unearthing the mysteries of the mind and effectively navigate the dark. Although small in stature, Chickadees are fearless social creatures and tend to flit about in groups. Given that there are seven kinds of chickadees, they symbolize an individual’s consciousness rising above the material plane, or a triangle (3) rising above a square (4). There are seven rays of power, seven major planets and seven chakra centers. When our chakras are balanced, we know a deeper awareness and connection to the Universal pillar of Truth.

We know the tweet sounds true that the empire is addicted to its wars and lustful relationship with violence. We can’t get enough of it in the corporate media. As such, this negativity is dancing on the minds of the masses, in many cases unconsciously. But the violence is waking us up, as Great Spirit works in mysterious ways. When we are paying careful attention, we see concrete evidence that peace is being considered a seed worth watering. For example, a Federal Court ruled against the state of Alaska’s challenge to the National “Roadless Rule” that would have nullified it and allowed for deforestation on Nationally protected land. Some of our friends that advocate for federalism are glad to switch gears by crying a river of crocodile tears for state rights. Sometimes, this delayed process strategically undermines environmentally friendly, win-win business that sees through the fog of a maximum economic profit paradigm. Moreover, one of our conservative friends in Congress has asserted, “a more restrained foreign policy is the true conservative policy.” Will actions speak louder than words by rolling back 700 American empire bases around our Planet? As things heat up in the Middle East, more folks are waking up to the need for a cease-fire in Syria, ending the war in Afghanistan, sanctions against Iran and the blockade by Israel of the Palestine. Isn’t is possible for the Phoenix Rising to be a radical shift in our collective consciousness, rather than a pocket full of terrorism disrupting the status quo? If only our birds sitting atop their hight perch would heed Chickadee’s peaceful chimes of freedom, as the truth shall set us free.

Some will assert that the truth stinks like dung. While dung is necessary for compost, the truth does not have to hurt in the sense of feeling blocked. Rather, truth may drip gently, like water gradually building momentum. This process is akin to an internal martial arts practice in that true power builds gradually. In that light, April showers bring May flowers. Chickadee reminds us to sing our truth in a cheerful way that reverberates within our flowering individual and collective souls. Has anyone felt lighter than when listening to a singing chickadee, while basking in our Sun’s vitamin D and breathing in crocuses fragrantly?

See you further on down the trails,

Ari