How Can You Know Another?

How often has someone told you how you feel or think?  It happens to me all the time. People tell me that I am a healer when typically I think of myself as a Shaman.  

I am reminded of the story I read about an artist.  She said that she always introduced herself as an artist.  One day one of her friends said to her, “You can’t introduce yourself as an artist.  You are an art teacher.  You need to introduce yourself as an art teacher.”  The artist’s response was along the lines of, “what right do you have to tell me who I am or how I should introduce myself.  No one has the right to determine another’s life!”

Again, the Universe working in her mysterious manner, gave me the teaching to go with the story that I read.  I would like to share that story with you because it is so profound.

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Picture of a trout jumping for flies 

 

 

 

 

             

Knowing Fish – A Zen Teaching

One day Chuang Tzu and a friend were walking by a river. "Look at the fish swimming about," said Chuang Tzu, "They are really enjoying themselves."

"You are not a fish," replied the friend, "So you can't truly know that they are enjoying themselves."

"You are not me," said Chuang Tzu. "So how do you know that I do not know that the fish are enjoying themselves?"

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Blessings,

Judy 

A Dream About Aquarium Fish

This post is from a dream that I wrote up in my journal back many years ago.  I find the old dreams interesting and I look for repeating archetypes and themes in my dreams.  

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This picture comes from commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Home_aquarium.jpg  (My aquarium does not look nearly this good, nor is it this big!)

The other night, in my dreams, a big aquarium popped up, out of no where, and both my fish swam to the side of the tank and looked at me.  They then made everything go dark, and little by little, cleared the blackness so that the tank, and the water, and the scene were filled with clear light.

When I woke up, I knew that the fish wanted me to clean the tank. As I carried out the task, I thought how interesting it was that I was spending an hour cleaning out the tank, and the castle and rocks and filter.  It was very much like sifting through my emotional body, and pulling out the gunk that was sitting in there. 

Fish have been a symbol of spirituality and abundance going back to the time of cave drawings.  Fish, like us, come in a variety of colours with a huge range of dispositions.  The most beautiful are sometimes the most deadly.  Scientists agree that all life originated in the oceans/seas/rivers.  Therefore, water on our planet is like a big womb.  And, yes, we all require it to live.  We need to breath air, and assimilate the oxygen in the water.  Fish, then, are symbolic of the fruits of the womb, of motherhood.  They inspire creativity and bring good luck, as the Chinese believe.  

Water is always transforming – it evaporates, becomes mist, may fall as rain, and then returns to the Earth to rise up again as water.  Fish, then, represent change.  If they are coming into your life, perhaps they are saying, like they did to me, “It is time to clean up your act and get your house in order for the new things that are coming.”

Blessings,

Judy

Beaver Shares Its Traits

We have several beavers in the Bow River in Fish Creek Park.  They can be very entertaining.  And, yes, they can bring down a lot of trees.  Beaver does, however, seem to be a caretaker of waterways and works to keep the area from drying out.

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Beaver was sitting across the channel, on the bank, looking for some tender young trees and, keeping an eye on my dog and on me.  Beaver has been in this channel for about four years.  She has created several good dams, and she has helped change the eco system of the channel and the river.  The channel now has young trout in it.

Beaver has some traits that humans can use.  They are:

• when you see water that is stagnant and mucky, find a way to clean it up.  You may have to get dirty to do it; it will be worth it. 
• being industrious leads you to discover new ways of doing things.  So, be busy when it is required – as when you need to fix your den, the dam, or gather food for winter.  When you are not busy, play and socialize. 
• when somebody says that “it can’t be done”, go ahead and do it anyway.  See the picture below of the world’s biggest beaver dam.

  

  

The dam is located on the southern edge of Wood Buffalo National Park in Northern Alberta, Canada Photo: BNPS 

 

• understand that there is a shortage of fresh water.  Beavers know how to maximize fresh water and aerate it to create a healthy environment for fish and wildlife.

Celebrate if beavers are in your area. 

Blessings,

Judy

Trout Splashes Around

Picture from Wikipedia

I am fortunate because I live close to a provincial park and close to the Bow River.  The Bow is world wide known as a great place to catch trout.   The other day, I was out walking with a friend and we watched for trout in the shallows.  We did not see any.  Later, when I was doing my meditation, the following came up.

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Rainbow trout swims into your life if you are feeling over run by emotions.  Right now, with all of the Earth energy moving around and realigning, we are feeling emotional and often slightly depressed.  

Trout tells us that life is good, and it is about swimming against the current to stay alive and keep the species going.  Trout goes on to say:

• Do something that allows you to come up into the sunlight every day.  Trout catches flies.
• Jumping loosens all of the tension in your body.  This is why you often see Trout jump at the end of the day.  When tension leaves your body, sleep happens more easily.
• When you are looking for food, find a place that you can find your food (prey), easily!  Trout will sink to the mud in water that is calmer, and wait for the current to carry food to Trout.  You do not need to hunt and make food gathering hard work that burns your energy.  Look at what you can do to make this process easier.
• Highs and lows are normal in life.  Everyone is looking for balance – the balance is to allow both, and not stay in one place or the other.  Two highs balance out two lows.  The warmth balances the coolness.  We all need both.

Many blessings,

Judy

Sea Gull is a Spirit Animal

Sea gulls live in seaports and around big water.  There are many gulls in Calgary as they follow the river system.

What do we know about gulls?  Well, many of us are fans of the book “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” because it was about following your heart and achieving as much as you could achieve.  It was inspirational and a heart warming story at the same time.  Yet, Sea Gull is often chased away and regarded as a nuisance bird.  Why is that? 

                                                           Picture is from unsplash.com

  

Sea gulls live in seaports and around big water.  There are many gulls in Calgary as they follow the river system.

What do we know about Sea Gull?  Sea Gull eats rubbish, pulls apart garbage bags if they smell good, eats dead fish as well as live ones, eats dead meat that washes onto shore or is road kill, eats vegetation, and makes messy nests out of whatever garbage it can find.  Sea Gull is noisy – she talks all the time to all those in the flock around her. There is a very loose social structure in the flock, and yet it is honoured.

So, if Sea Gull shows up in your life, what message is she bringing you?  It may be several messages or one message that will resonate with you.  Sea Gull shows up because:

1. She finds garbage around your house/yard and she is telling you to start recycling, reusing, and rethinking what you are eating and buying and throwing away.
2. She says you are eating out too much or eating too many packaged foods.  She eats what is immediately around her – the original 100 mile diet.  Are you eating healthily?  Sea Gull does – even if we consider it garbage.
3. Sea Gull flies around and soars and wheels and has fun.  She asks you to lighten up and go out and try new things – yell a little.  Making noise is good for your primal self.
4. Are you too quiet?  Do you need to find some friends?  Sea Gull has a lot of friends and is quite comfortable expressing herself.  Perhaps you need to take lessons about communicating and about relationship building from Sea Gull.
5. Sea Gull treats her flock members with fairness and respect. Situations like first come, first served are common and the others wait.  Are you too pushy?  Do you respect others, or do you consider yourself above the common Gull?

Enjoy the teachings of Sea Gull.  She does not usually show up often.

Blessings,

Judy

A Visit From Mink

 

Mink picture from Wikipedia

From time to time, animals pop into my dreams because they want humans to know about them.  The animals have messages.  Mink recently showed up.

Mink is an animal that we know of from all the fur coats that we see.  Man is one of the worst predators for Mink.  Other predators include Great Horned Owls, bobcat, and fox. Never-the-less, Mink thrives on fish and other aquatic life, small mammals (rabbits especially), and birds, particularly water fowl. (Predator and food info from Wikipedia.)  Mink is very territorial, and maps out its territory around a river, stream or lake.  

Mink has these thoughts to share with you.

1. It is hard to retake your territory.  Mark your boundaries well, and allow no encroachment on your space, values or projects.
2. We all have predators who want something from us.  Learn who has you in their sites, and what their agenda is.  Figure out what you can do to move out of their range of attention.  Sometimes making noise is not a good thing.
3. Mink do nap, with one eye open.  Take short breaks to renew your energy, and always know where your “safe” place is.
4. Pay attention to your diet.  Eat only what agrees with you, and eat only what you need.

Blessings,

Judy