THE WORLD IS ON YOUR SIDE

BUFFALO - GRATITUDE AND ABUNDANCE

We picked Buffalo for the first time in December last year.  You may want to read that posting to brush up on how BUFFALO calls our attention to our abundance.

This is a perfect time to talk about abundance with many of us learning to live with less and redefine what abundance means as individuals and as a global community.  The first step to allowing abundance into our lives is to bless that which we already have. I am grateful every night to be warm in my bed, in my home, with my sweetie.  I am grateful for the community of neighbors and friends in my life on Alberta Street.  I am grateful for the organic, abundant food available to me here.  I am grateful to have an outlet for my passion for animal guides through my blog and that nice people like you read it!  I am grateful for these immediate things and people around me everyday.  I am also grateful for something a little less tangible. Something that we all imagine and work toward everyday - possibilities.

There is much speculation about our global economic future and the only thing that we do know about our economic future is that nobody knows what is going to happen! Anything is possible.  The possibility that things will get worse is just as possible as things getting better or even better than anything we have imagined.  I have to admit that I am an uber-optimist and I've got my money on the latter.

I believe that we are in the process of creating an abundant, just, peaceful and healthy planet.  I really do.  I believe it is possible to rebuild our economy by investing in sustainable energy sources.  I believe it is possible to live on a planet that embraces diplomacy over war.  I believe that it is possible for everyone to have equal rights everywhere.  I believe that I can look 40 when I am 60 and that Shirley MacLaine and I will become best friends.  You may not agree with me about any or all of this but you do have to admit that it is possible!

On Inauguration Day how many times did you hear someone being interviewed say "I never thought I would see this day" or "I didn't believe that this was possible."  Look what we have accomplished and imagine what else is possible.

This week BUFFALO finds me, the uber-optimist, grateful for possibilities.  The more we open up to magical possibilities for ourselves and our planet, the more room we make for them in our lives.  BUFFALO reminds us to be grateful for the abundance our planet earth provides us and that there is plenty for everyone. There is plenty for you!

SEE YA IN SOUTH CAROLINA!

I'm on vacation!  So keep up your ARMADILLO boundaries this week. Actually, I believe that ARMADILLO is an important animal to keep in mind everyday.  Everyday we can choose what to allow into our experience.

This week I am allowing warmth, sunshine, walking on the earth, animal sounds, the sound of the ocean, and a whole lot of of doing nothing into my experience.  I will be sharing some of my experience on my blog this week so check back!

HOW I USED MY ANIMAL GUIDES THIS WEEK

Each week I pick an animal guide for you, my blog readers, and several cards for myself - usually about 4 cards.  These cards tell me a story and give me a theme for the coming week.  Sometimes I'm not sure what wisdom the animals are imparting on me until the end of the week when I look back at what has unfolded and it all makes perfect sense. Like when I picked the trickster coyote and a couple of days later I was unable to go on a trip that I was looking forward to. I look back and go "uh-huh coyote."

This week I picked dolphin, alligator, crow and raven for myself.  I had some ideas about what raven and crow were telling me but I was still working out how the dolphin and alligator all fit together. To get to the bottom of dolphin and alligator lets get a little background on what's been going on with me.

I have been working consistently all winter, keeping a productive pace until the past couple of weeks.  I've just shut down.  I can't seem to accomplish the many projects on my lists. Just can't, no matter how many lists I make.  My unproductivity is making me feel lazy and uncomfortable.  What happened to my mid-west work ethic?  Where did my inspiration go?  After several weeks of feeling like this, it finally hit me - I require a vacation!  My batteries need recharging and the best way for me to do that is to get outside and commune with our mother earth.

One of my favorite places to connect with the natural world is at my mother and father in-laws in South Carolina. I am inspired by all of the animals there like eagles, sharks, cranes, lizards, frogs, snakes and especially the dolphins and alligators.  My in-laws live on the inter-coastal waters off the coast of Beaufort where the dolphins swim by in pairs several times a day.  You can read more about the alligators in their front yard in my posting on ALLIGATOR from a couple of weeks ago. This is a magical place for me.

So......... once I came to the conclusion that I required a vacation, I started to think about where to go.  Of course I considered South Carolina right away.  When I remembered that I had picked dolphin and alligator for the week I knew that was my guidance to go there. Now.

I called my husband, Adam at work and told him that I had to get out of town fast!  So he put together a flight plan for me using some points he had and called me back with a bit of a quirky flight plan.  It had two stops and had me arriving late and I would normally never agree to the arrangements.  But this was the only way I could do it right away within our budget, otherwise it would be another week.  I also had to decide right that second.  At this point I am walking outside, trying to decide right that second whether to take this flight plan or not - when right that second a crow starts squawking aggressively in the middle of the street like it was trying to tell me something. It was! You may remember that the other animals that I picked for the week were crow and raven. So that was my sign!  I took the flight and I leave in 5 days.

You may think that I am putting a lot of faith in animal guides by using them to make decisions like when and where to travel to.  I am putting my faith in my animal guides and I have been for several years.  The more faith I put in them and the more I act on their guidance the more I am guided.  I have more synchronicities and opportunities that I know when and when not to act on.  The animal guides are a way for spirit to participate in my life.

I do hope you are enjoying our weekly animal picks. If animal medicine is resonating with you, you can explore it further on your own and pick your own animal guides.  I list some of my resources in this blog posting. 

I would like to thank dolphin, alligator, raven and crow for guiding me to South Carolina where I look forward to the sun warming my bones, fresh air and falling asleep to swampy frog sounds.

ARMADILLO - PROTECTION AND BOUNDARIES

     

When I pulled ARMADILLO for this week, I thought "of course!"  It makes perfect sense that we learn about ARMADILLO medicine after DEER taught us about unconditional love and self care last week. ARMADILLO gives us a valuable tool for self care and protection.

You may have already guessed what ARMADILLO is here to teach us because ARMADILLO wears its medicine on it's back as a shield. An ARMADILLO'S back is made up of hard, bony plates and when threatened it will roll up into a ball to protect itself until there is no longer a threat.  ARMADILLO'S underside is where it is vulnerable. ARMADILLO asks us to examine when to assert and protect ourselves and when it serves us to expose our bellies and be vulnerable.

Creating boundaries for ourselves is essential anytime and right now it is important to look at what you are allowing into your energy field.  Are you watching or reading too much "bad" news?  Are you letting other people's fears in?  Are you taking on other people's tasks?  IT IS UP TO YOU TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR WHAT YOU ALLOW INTO YOUR EXPERIENCE.

Anyone who knows me knows that I do not watch violent entertainment.  I can't.  My body physically reacts and rejects it.  I do not allow violence into my experience. Whenever I explain this to someone I use this quote:

"I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet."

-Mahatma Gandhi

That is a powerful statement and one that applies to many circumstances. Are you letting people walk through your mind with gossip, boredom, criticism, fear or negativity?

Another aspect of ARMADILLO is vulnerability.  Are your boundaries so thick that you are keeping out love, support or new experiences?  Is it time to lie on your back, belly up and let some love in?

Here is your ARMADILLO homework for this week.  Make a Medicine Shield by drawing a circle.  Inside the circle write down what you are intending to allow into your experience, like - joy, peace, fun, abundance, love, adventure, health, laughter, cocktail parties and chocolate cake or whatever it is that you are allowing.  Outside of the circle write down experiences that you allow by invitation only, like- volunteering to help clean your church or changing your friends cat litter while they are out of town.  Don't be surprised when the fearful, negative people in your life stop calling and the fun and prosperous ones start!  

Lets all use ARMADILLO  guidance and our Medicine Shield this week to take stock of what we are allowing into our experiences.  This is powerful medicine, people! Take advantage of it, it is here to serve you. We require all us to be healthy and balanced right now so that we can each do our part in creating OUR NEW ECONOMY and our magic earth!

DEER - UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

For the last week of 2008, you may recall, DEER arrived to remind us to be kind and gentle to those around us and ourselves as we transitioned into the new year. So here we are, the first week in March 2009, and DEER is back with perfect timing once again to remind us to unconditionally love each other and ourselves during this challenging time.

Immediately after communing with the spirits and picking our animal guide for the week, my dear friend called and told me what had happened to her the day before. As she was telling me the story I was thinking that this was a perfect example of how we can incorporate DEER medicine into our lives. I retell her story here with her permission and her name changed.

My friend Tessa is a kind woman.  Friends and family have come to call her Saint Tessa because of her never ending supply of love, compassion, generosity and her overall saintly disposition. Tessa is a woman of enduring faith and faithfully serves her spiritual community.  On this particular day Tessa had volunteered to do some cleaning at her church seeing as Easter is approaching and there will be many special services and events. On this day Tessa didn't feel like cleaning. She knew that cleaning would aggravate her strained back.  She thought about calling the volunteer organizer, Vicky, and explaining how cleaning was going to further irritate her back pain but she didn't call.  She didn't think that her back concerns sounded like a convincing enough reason not to go. So she went.................

On the way to her car, Tessa slipped on a patch of ice and fell down hitting her head hard on the unforgiving, icy concrete.  It was scary and it hurt!  After the shock of the fall subsided, she collected herself and went back into her home to ice the bump on her head and to call Vicky. She told her what had happened and that she wouldn't be coming to help clean that day. Tessa said to me when she was telling me the story "Now I had a good enough excuse." 

Tessa never needed an excuse or a bump on her head.  In no way do we require an excuse to take care of ourselves.  Tessa ignored her instinct to stay home and preserve her back out of a sense of duty and obligation I know we all feel sometimes.  Thankfully DEER is here to remind us to be kind to ourselves while we shift and reorganize our economic infrastructure to support "OUR NEW ECONOMY."  This is not an easy time right now. Lets empower ourselves this week by letting go of extra stressors.  We require extra self care so that we can be grounded and focused on what is called for from each of us to create our magic earth.

It ins't necessary to justify yourself to anyone for preserving your mental, physical and spiritual well-being. LOVE YOURSELF!

ALLIGATOR - INTEGRATION

   

My mother and father in-law live on a magical island off the coast of Beaufort, South Carolina.  On either side of their driveway are two ponds which may or may not contain ALLIGATORS at any given time.  I will never forget the first time I visited and saw a big ALLIGATOR with her little one sunning themselves on the edge of the pond.  Are you kidding me? There were no ALLIGATORS growing up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, nor had I ever imagined that one would live in such close proximity to them.  It took some getting used to at first but now I am absolutely fascinated by them and I continually troll the ponds on my visits hoping to make contact with the ancient creatures. 

ALLIGATORS patrol the edges of ponds and are considered guardians of wisdom and primal energies.  ALLIGATORS are associated with water, the feminine, emotions, earth, mothering, fertility, flexibility, patience, timing, dragons, clairvoyance and integration.  When ALLIGATOR attacks it drags it's prey to the bottom of a pond and will leave it there until it becomes tender.  This teaches us to be flexible and go with the flow when life strikes. ALLIGATORS eat only when they are hungry and have slow digestion.  From this we can learn not to bite off more than we can chew and to be patient and slowly digest whatever comes at us this week.

Imagine ALLIGATOR with its eyes and nostrils above water while the rest of its body is below the water.  ALLIGATOR has an awareness of what is happening above and below - it integrates both sides.  Could you benefit from seeing another side to a situation in your life right now?  Are you stuck in the mud and being rigid with your assessments?  Is something escaping your field of perception?

Last week I had a situation where I was taking someone's actions quite personally.  I picked ALLIGATOR for myself that day so I examined the circumstances from another perspective and realized that there were things going on in that person's life that weren't really about me.  By integrating both sides I was able to see the situation clearly - clearly not about me!!

See if you can look at whatever is coming up for you this week from other perspectives.  ALLIGATOR tells us to make decisions by digesting all the available information. What are the potential risks, possibilities, outcomes and rewards?  Then make your move.

For me that means I will stay flexible and not attach to outcomes, leaving room for more possibilites to present themselves.  Remember there is always the potential for something better than you could have imagined to occur...............allow for THAT!

 

Here is a picture of a baby ALLIGATOR by the pond at my in-laws!  So cool!

SWAN - BEAUTY, GRACE & INTUITION

     

I am focusing on a very exciting project this week that I will share with you next week so my writing on SWAN is brief.

Actually this beautiful story explains what I would express about SWAN perfectly. Pay attention to the part DRAGONFLY plays in the story.  Last week DRAGONFLY asked us to examine our disempowering beliefs and behaviors.  This week SWAN is asking us to trust our intuitive abilities and embrace our future and dreamtime. Pretty cool how we picked DRAGONFLY last week and SWAN this week and how this story has them working together.  That is how the animal guides roll you see!

Have a great week my beloved blog readers and remember to go with the flow!

p.s. I finally picked a bird!

DRAGONFLY - ILLUSION

 

What is so fascinating about DRAGONFLY is the iridescent coloring on its wings.  We can catch glimpses of shimmery colors that look otherworldly and magical. When you look at DRAGONFLY from one direction it looks just like a flying bug but when the light catches it and you can see the spectrum of colors it displays on its wings it looks like a magical flying dragon! DRAGONFLY gives us a glimpse of magic and illusion.

DRAGONFLIES early stages of life are spent under water as nymphs until they reach adult stage and become air-born.  They are ferocious, carnivorous predators.  DRAGONFLIES are associated with nature spirits, light, magic,  water, emotions, addictions, habits, dragons, fire, color, chakras, transition, overcoming fears and limits, transitioning and illusion.  Lets look at a macro perspective of illusions at play right now and how we can use DRAGONFLY medicine in our personal lives as well.

There are two events, that in my mind, are the two most horrific things I have ever witnessed.  September 11th and hurricane Katrina.  Think about what kind of energies where amassing and building up to result in such catastrophes.  Think about the dark forces swirling, collecting, brewing like clouds gathering water and energy until it bursts into a tremendous, devastating storm.  Things weren't as they seemed were they?  We didn't expect or could have even imagined September 11th.  We didn't expect that our government would be unable to provide basic human needs to people in our own country after a natural disaster.  We were under the illusion that our government would protect us and keep us safe. 

Like President Obama stated in his inaugural address "What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them —" This is a different time so lets look at where we are collectively fooling ourselves now.  What kind of energies are brewing?  The idea that our collective conscious doesn't hold power is an illusion. As we have just proved with the election of our new president, we are responsibeel for creating our reality. As we amass intentions of peace, justice and prosperity for everyone on our healty planet think about what kind profound events are possible. 

If surreal and unimaginalbe events like September 11th and Katrina are possible then lets shed our disempowering beliefs and start beleiveing that we are capable of manifesting things like peace between Israel and Palestine.  That would be just as profound and surreal as September 11th wouldn't it?  Let DRAGONFLY give you a glimpse into our new world and lets create a fanfuckingtastic place to live!  Like I said in my last posting, its time to expect miracles.

Are you still there?   I will wrap this up and leave you with this.  Where in your own life are you fooling yourself?  Have you convinced yourself that the bottle of wine you drink every night is working for you?  Are you under the illusion that your credit card debt is under control?  Sometimes I have myself believing that watching four consecutive hours of television is the best use of my time! (Love Top Chef! Stefan is gonna win let's face it!)

DRAGONFLY is asking us to look at our dis-empowering behavior and get real and get clear with our higher purpose.  I know - all that from a little dragonfly, rite?

OPOSSUM - APPEARANCES, PERFORMANCE, STRATEGY

When I pick OPOSSUM I either know exactly what situation it applies to or I know something's coming up that OPOSSUM medicine will be perfect for. OPOSSUM is the only marsupial in North America. It is a clever and dramatic animal that has a unique ability that can literately be a life saver.  I think you will find it useful!!

If threatened, OPOSSUM has the ability to "play dead".  To divert attention from itself OPOSSUM will roll onto it's side, drool, eliminate, emit a scent of death and "play dead".  It can appear catatonic for several minutes or hours, as long as there is a threat OPOSSUM checks out. What a brilliant strategy!

For example, I am waiting to hear about a potential business opportunity. I have provided the other party with everything they need.  The next move is theirs, I am just waiting to hear from them.  OPOSSUM tells me to "play dead".  My strategy is no strategy.  I will wait to hear from them and not pursue the other party this week.  Now.......had I picked BADGER this week - which you may recall is about being aggressive and taking action - I would approach the situation differently.  I might make that extra follow up call or email, but OPOSSUM is letting me know that the best course of action is no action. This is a performance because I am quite eager to hear about this potential opportunity, but I will "act" like I'm not. 

You can also apply OPOSSUM medicine to personal matters.  Perhaps you have a conflict with a co-worker who irritates you and you are tempted to react, maybe the best course of action this week is to "play dead", let it pass, don't react.  Even though you may be fuming, "act" like you aren't bothered. Chances are you will experience a desirable outcome.

You can take OPOSSUM a step further and look at how people are appearing to you.  Is someone putting on a performance for you?  Is someone trying to divert your attention? How do you appear to others right now?

Now if you are reading this and can't think of how it applies to anything going on for you right now, my bet is that you will get your acting opportunity this week!

Are you starting to see how using animal guides can assist us not only with our deepest fears like with BLACK PANTHER last week but with our practical day to day tasks?  Our work is to use our instincts to know how to apply the animal guidance to our lives. Our animal guides are always available to us when we meet them with honor and respect.

Use the comment section below this posting to let me know what happens this week and how OPOSSUM medicine worked for you.  Blogging is more fun when I get to hear from you!!

p.s. You can say POSSUM or OPOSSUM.

p.s.s. The GUESS WHAT? blog contest ends this Sunday February 8th!  So there is still time to come up with some zingers!

BLACK PANTHER - DARKNESS AND PERSONAL POWER

BLACK PANTHER is one of my favorite cards to pick.  What a stunningly beautiful and mysterious creature.  I am fascinated by them.  It is easy to understand why indigenous people around the world revere BLACK PANTHER.

BLACK PANTHER is a type of leopard and is often associated with jaguars,although jaguars have larger heads, slightly different markings and are more reclusive.  BLACK PANTHERS are strong, graceful, solitary animals that hunt at night. Mystically they are associated with lunar magic, feminine powers, the darkness, shape-shifting, prophecy, dreams, grace, secrecy, night time, fears, death, rebirth, personal power, shadows, healing...........I could go on......

In the interest of brevity for this posting I will focus on what I have personally learned from BLACK PANTHER.  I think we all can agree that underneath the incredible hope, optimism, and grace that we displayed last week as a country, there is an undercurrent of fear about the economy.  Would you agree?  I can hear it in most people I talk to. Fear. Fear of loss, fear of change, fear of losing our self worth .......this list could go on for a while, let's face it when we look into our fears it can get pretty dark in there!

BLACK PANTHER is the perfect animal to guide us into the darkness. So let's go there.  Trust BLACK PANTHER (and me) and let's go there together..........get comfy and centered, really take a moment here to focus, you deserve a moment to focus on yourself. Relax. Now let your fear come up to the surface, play that loop that goes around and around in your head and when you get to the fear part just stay there................................................sit with it for a while......................let it simmer...............................Now feel the fear gently losing its grip on you, feel it soften and diffuse...........................Feel your personal power start to fill in the spaces that fear was occupying ..............................stay with me now..............Now imagine your are in the darkness, alone in the womb from which you came.  All of your needs are met here.  You are safe and protected. You are nurtured and nourished here.  All that is required of you is that you just BE.  Just BE and  ALLOW.  ALLOW yourself to be supported by Mother Earth, spirit and the universe. You don't have to think about it.  No thinking here just BEING and ALLOWING.  Embrace the unknown.  ALLOW healing to take place here and your let your personal power emerge. 

Heavy huh?  I know.  It would be pretty effective if it were an audio guided meditation. Practice sitting with your fears this week until you become an observer of them instead of becoming them. Remember through death we find rebirth and through darkness we find light.  If we are mired in fear we cannot be holding the light for this planet and we require all of our light to continue creating our MAGIC EARTH.

BLACK PANTHER'S power lies in the darkness.  So be strong and graceful when you head into the unknown and the darkness and reclaim your personal power!!!!!