Renewal and Crocus

 

On Monday morning, I walked with my dog Merlin and my friend Judy in Fish Creek Provincial Park..  It was early.  And the slope was dotted with purple and yellow.  The crocuses were out!  It was the perfect time for them to grace the hill top.  The colours of the crocus, and the surrounding landscape are a vivid reminder of the colours of the chakras.  As the crocus plant gathers strength to shoot out of the Earth, so does our kundalini rise up in us.  

Check out the Osho site for a great kundalini meditation—— https://www.osho.com/meditation/osho-active-meditations/osho-kundalini-meditation 

See more on nature through pictures  at this blog  “This is A Nature Blog” at https://woodendreams.tumblr.com/.

Blessings,

Judy

Rabbit Runs Around

 

Over the last while, when I am out with my dog in the park or the neighbourhood, we see a jack rabbit, running through the grass.  Rabbit bounds around us, and my dog wants to run with Rabbit.

Rabbit shares these thoughts with us:

• Run, leap and jump!  Keeping active will help keep anxiety at bay, and you will feel good.
• Scout out your area and know where there are trouble spots.  Spread light there.   Watch out for predators however, because they will try to stop you.
• Abundance happens with movement.  If you do not move, you stagnate and so does the flow of money, chi, and all things that keep you going in the physical.
• Movement helps keep the change in perspective.  Life is constant change.  Day becomes night, and then the reverse.  It is change, but very familiar.  Keep looking to see what change is constant in your life and then expand the feeling of acceptance.
• Dance for the Goddess!  Rabbits are the chosen animal of the Goddess, Eostare.  Celebrate the feminine.
• Dance for the Ancestors.  Rabbits dance for those that have moved on.  We celebrate them.
• When the Moon is bright, dance under the Moon.  Moon energy is different from Sun energy, and gives you vision.

I thanked Rabbit for sharing her thoughts.

Many blessings,

Judy

Garter Snake Tells Us to be Grounded

 

This picture is from www.reptilerange.com, and is not the snake that I saw.

I was walking in Fish Creek park and enjoying the trees and the breeze, when my dog stopped.  His ears went up and he backed up.  Before us on the path was a coiled Garter Snake.  He had not seen one before and was very wary.  Where I grew up, garter snakes were common and did a great job of keeping the mice and rat population under control.  This guy, coiled up on the path, obviously wanted to talk.  Here is the condensed version of the message.

*********************

The Garter Snake (GS) inhabits Fish Creek park and the surrounding park areas that angle off the rivers.  It works to be invisible so that it does not frighten people, and so that Hawk or Crow does not find it, and eat it.

GS lives close to the ground, and that, it says, helps it to stay grounded and in the now moment.  GS is known for its gentleness, and for the affection and attachment it may form with some people or some animals.

GS recommends following these guidelines for grounding.

• Pick a warm spot to ground in.  Cold makes you slow down and makes grounding more difficult.
• Make sure that the spot you pick is safe.  Perhaps travel around the area that you will be using and sprinkle musk, like we do, and keep out other animals.  Or, you may  create sacred space in your own way.
• Get comfortable in your space.  Close your eyes.  Coil inward.  Let your energy drop down into the ground. 
• Plan to bask for at least fifteen minutes in the warmth and grounding.  You will feel so refreshed!

May you be grounded each day!

Blessings,

Judy

Toad Plays “Who Do You Love?”

Picture from medium.com

Last night, as my dog and I walked out in the park at dusk, I could hear all the different frogs singing their songs.  And then it got quiet.  My dog and I heard this boom, boom, boom.  It sounded like a drum.  Then, there was a steady rock’n roll beat, and an image appeared.  It looked like “Toad” – the toad from Toad Hall – was going to sing.  He was standing over the water, and looked about six feet tall.

The words that he sang were “who do you love”, over and over in a deep, bass voice.  I know the song, so I was expecting to hear him begin to sing the whole version.  However, the words changed to “do you love you”, in the key of G, with a deep, 4/4 drum beat.  I was startled!  It seemed like all the animals (deer, dogs, ducks, geese) paused and looked up.

I thought I did love me.  Yet, when he sang those words, I felt this guilt flow through me as though I did not love myself enough.  Wow! That was something that I am going to work on.  I realized that Toad was singing about “angel love” or unconditional love, and that I had not gone far enough with me.

Then, Toad began to sing again, “who do you love?”, and the visions I saw were of all the important people in my life.  These were the people that I love.  My big surprise is that there were several people missing.  The missing people were in a screen called – “Like, don’t love even though you thought you did”.  Another surprise!

Toad now started singing, “Gotta work it out, baby!” And, he sang that over and over as his voice faded away.

Why did a cartoon or movie type image appear to me?  Well, at that moment, Spirit decided that this image was something that I would relate to, and therefore, understand the message more clearly.  The images that appear to us, or the words or smells or “knowings” that we get, are symbolic to us as individuals, and sometimes as archetypes of groups or tribes.  The symbols convey a message.

I got my message, loud and clear!

Blessings,

Judy

 

Contemplating the Wild

                                               Picture of stream running in spring at the park

When you look at pictures of parks, forests, and wild rivers and streams, it seems that these wonderful places are getting quite beat up by the numbers of people using them, especially places close to highly populated areas like cities.  

When I say “beat up”, I am talking about the garbage left behind, the beaten down grass and bushes where people are walking even though the big sign says, “Area under conservation.  Please do not leave the path.”  It seems that many people have no respect for the wild - the grasses, trees, animals, birds, etc.  

It seems to me that people have forgotten how to walk softly on the Earth. People leave large footprints including garbage, trampled spots, and angry animals.  

Walk softly upon the earth.

May its beauty forever surround you,

its wonders forever astound you.

May its wisdom delight you,

its music invite you

to dance and to play and to sing.

May you love and be loved by all that you meet;

may you know and practice compassion.

Rejoice in the earth and in all of creation.

Rejoice in life.

a parting blessing - alfred v. fedak - 2008

Written in memory of a departed friend. 

Choral anthem published by Selah Publishing Company, Pittsburgh, PA.

Many blessings,

Judy
 

April 1 2024 - Walk In Nature

April Fool's day – a day for playing jokes.  This blog is not about joking.  It is about waking up and realizing that we need Nature in our lives.  It is about remembering that we come from Nature – from the Earth.  Our blood flows red with iron richness and lots of mineral and gases that are part of the Earth's structure.

We need to be out in Nature to restore our calm and to remind ourselves that we must care for the plants, animals, birds, etc. because they are our cousins.  They carry the same ingredients in their bodies. 

It is sad that we want to destroy the parks and rivers and lakes to "develop" them.  And, yes, in some places, wild lands are being reclaimed so that new life can flourish in those spots.

Today, decide to be out in Nature for one hour a week.  Then slowly increase the time.  

Many blessings,

Judy

Chipmunk Shivers

The Chipmunk looked cold.  In fact, I wondered if it was frozen, it seemed so still.  I didn’t know we had any chipmunks in the park.  I thought we had only squirrels, gophers, and voles.  I saw it shiver.  I saw it hold up one paw to keep the cold off it for a moment.  I wondered if the Eagle would see it, and eat it.  I saw it shiver again.  And then I seemed hear it’s teeth chatter, and the thought, “I wish I could go back to where I was”.  Then suddenly, the Chipmunk was gone!  There was a little dent in the snow where its body had been.  I looked around to see where the tracks led to, without success.  Chipmunk shivered away.

Blessings,

Judy

Happy Thanksgiving To The United States - November 23 2023

I wish Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends in the United States!  This has been a difficult year for many, and my hope for the next year is:

• good food for all
• great housing for all
• great jobs with great pay in a great company
• time for walks in the park or out in the country
• time to read a good book, or play with your kids
• friends that love you and support
• family that respects you and cherishes you
• warm houses for those that live in the snowy climates
• healing for all that are ill
• peace as you go about your day

I wish you all abundance this Thanksgiving Day.

Many blessings,

Judy

Doe In the Snow

This morning as my dog and I walked in the small off leash dog park, we were startled by a Doe (Deer) plunging uphill through the snow.  It seemed she was running to us. Then she was about fifteen feet away when she veered away.  She made intense eye contact with us and in her huffing, seemed to be sounding out a message.  I thought that it was for me, however, it does seem to be for all of us.

She says:

“Even though it may seem at the moment, that all of your movement is uphill, the feeling is momentary.  When one lives in rolling landscapes, one can expect “rolling” times – both uphill and downhill.  Uphill builds one’s strength at a core level, and makes one healthier and able to bear all things.  Being strong is a positive.  Anyone who simply travels downhill all the time does not have the endurance for life, and will eventually get to the bottom, and lay down and die.

Sometimes the choicest twigs are on the bushes on the side of the hill.  Because the bushes are spread out, they get more sun, and they are tastier!  One must work harder to get there and one does not need to compete with others for the bushes in the valley.  

Breaking a path in the snow is hard work.  All new trails, however, are started by one being.  I am a trail blazer.  Are you?”

Many Blessings,

Judy

Fox Play

 

Source of picture – unknown

Fox is now seen in towns and cities.  She has decided that since man is moving into her territory, she will use man’s space as a hunting ground.  She now births her pups in the wooded parks, and keeps them safe during their growing time.

Fox says:

• Fox knows how to adapt quickly to new environments. Humans, it seems, want to keep everything the same.  I say to you that change is now here and it will be rapid.  Look at the changing Nature around you.  Figure out how to adapt and enjoy the change.  Fighting against it will cause you to be ill.
• Going into another’s area or territory will give you a new perspective on life.  Simply sitting in your chair, in your territory, and criticizing what others do is not useful.  Go! Explore! And perhaps you will learn compassion along the way.  
• My pups are most precious and I will do anything to keep them safe. I teach them to read the land, and to listen to the animals.  I teach them to know what is good food and bad food.  I teach them to dig and to build a den.  I watch and listen to how your pups are treated.  You stick them in territories with fences around them and unnatural play things.  They do not know how to be in the woods or the grasslands.  They do not know how to fend for themselves and to be aware.  Are your children not precious to you?

Many blessings,

Judy

Prairie Chicken Visits - Spirit Animal

 

Picture from pixels.com

Yesterday, when I took recycling out to the bin, there were three prairie chickens in the middle of the cove, pecking away at seeds.  They scurried away when I walked over to the bin.  Then, today, when my dog and I were walking in the park, at the exit where a small flock of six prairie chickens.  This time, they flew away instead of scurrying, I think, because of the dog.

It is apparent to me, that Prairie Chicken has a message for me because it is appearing two days in a row, and the number of critters is multiplied by two.  This really illustrates how message totem animals work.  

“A Message Animal Totem usually is bringing you a self growth, spiritual message, or a cautionary warning. It is often a wake up call or slap in the face. It will usually be a very unusual experience making it very powerful at that time and very impartial. A Message Totem is a brief period of time, a day, a week, and occasionally as much as a couple of months but can be immediate for just a few hours.”

Now, it is up to me to figure out what the message is because the animals did not stay around to give the message to me directly.  Prairie Chickens, and many chickens and quail, and even grouse, are about community, about feeding or nourishment, and about protection – especially fleeing at the first sign of danger.  This means that chicken is also about being ultra aware of one’s surroundings.

The message that resonated for me as I meditated on Prairie Chicken and the chickens’ actions is:

• When the unknown approaches and it feels threatening, simply flee and then observe it from a distance.  Warriors are careful.
• Finding the best place to eat and creating the best food will keep your group very strong.  Nourishment is part of spirituality for the body must be kept healthy.
• Feeding people is a small sacrifice that shows that you are in service