Spirit Animal - Rooster

                       

                                Picture from www.nashvillescene.com

I often dream about animals and many times, the animals talk to me in the dreams.  The Shaman believes that all animals speak and that animals bring us messages.  These spirit animals may also act as guides or as guardians for us both in the dream world and in this world.  As a side note, one of the meanings of the word - Shaman - is to identify the person as one who walks between worlds or walks between the daylight world and the night time world.

My dream the other night was about several things although the prominent figure in the dream was a Rooster.  Rooster had a lot to say.

A rooster is a symbol of male domination, not only of the chickens, but of the farmyard.  Several sports teams have Rooster as an emblem or totem, on their team sweaters.  Roosters have been used in betting circles to stage “cock fights” and to proclaim mastery at fighting.

Rooster, however, is not happy with Man, and Man’s attempt to subvert Rooster’s natural protective  tendencies to become a fighter without any other job and therefore be a source of entertainment and profit.  Rooster has this to say about life.

• I like to work with farmers and keep the barnyard safe by alerting the farmer to potential threats from predators.  I do not like that Man has made me a predator in the ring.  I tell everyone that being made to do something against your will is a form of slavery. Fight against it.
• I crow as a warning to other roosters, and to foxes and wolves, and other eaters of chickens, that I am on the job.  I tell them to beware.  I see people move through life without doing any crowing.  You need to have the confidence to say, “I am great at what I do.”  Moving through life with your head up and in an alert state will protect you.
• Roosters scratch in the dirt for food.  In this way, we stay grounded, and stay in touch with Mother Earth.  More people should ground themselves in the here and now instead of allowing their lives to drift away by fantasizing about what will not be because they have not taken action.

Many blessings,

Judy

The Challenge Of The Anonymous Troll

 

How do you find it in your heart to have compassion for someone who has just spouted vile words at you, for no apparent reason?  How do you find compassion for the person who sits behind Anonymous and writes bullying words and makes threats?  Do we need to find compassion for them?

This was my question for my meditation.  I was finding it hard to understand why someone would want to yell at someone else for no reason.  Or, if you want to be really mean to someone, why not use your name?

I sat and waited for the knowing.  Nothing happened.  I waited some more.  Nothing happened. I waited and sank into a deeper state.  And I had the knowing that frustration and anger at life is a driving emotion that causes Anonymous to post the blogs or for someone you might not even know to shout out at you. 

The interesting part of the meditation was that when this situation happens to you or touches you, the Universe (Spirit) is holding up a mirror that shows an aspect of you.  

I looked inside for peace.  I looked inside for healing.  I offered gratitude that I was not writing anonymous angry words or going around shouting at people. The Shaman in the legends talk about the angry, crazy person having some hidden wisdom in the meaningless rambling.  

I could not find any words of wisdom.  I did find compassion.  How horrible it must be to feel that much pain and to take it out on random people.  I offer blessings to them.

Many blessings to you,

Judy

Do Not Make Life About Stuff

                      

                         Poster is from an email from a friend.  It is a great saying!

Each year, starting in November, we are pushed to buy the biggest, the brightest, the most expensive presents for family and friends.  We are pushed to consume…. Stuff!  We fill our homes and work places and even our places of entertainment and relaxation with stuff.

The poster above says it all.  Do not collect stuff that will only serve your ego.  Collect friends, good meals together, go on outings, feed homeless or provide some sort of shelter and food  for animals. Make what you spend your money on, count for “something” that makes life better for you and for others.  Become mindful about how you are spending your time and your coin.  Mindfulness will help you see things that are inconsequential to life.

Many blessings,

Judy

The Purpose of Life

                                 

“Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.” ― Mother Teresa

A client said to me the other day that they were wondering what the purpose of life was.  The person felt that they were on the correct path…school, university, degree, job, significant other… but that they felt not fulfilled.  

My response is that you do not feel fulfilled because you are not yet self actualized.  In self actualization, you feed your soul because you are doing the one thing that feels like joy, like you are doing what you are on earth to do, and you know that you are meant to be doing it right at that place and time. For many, self actualization means that they have reached a spiritual level that brings them peace and light and joy.  Not everyone finds that actualization on this life journey. And many give up looking for that special thing that makes their heart feel light. 

If you want to know more about self actualization, look up Maslow and the Hierarchy of Needs.  This helps to explain how one gets to self actualization based on tasks and needs.  

Many blessings on your journey,

Judy

What Makes You Tremble?

 

       A violent hail storm in July of 2021 with lots of thunder, lightning, and wind. Picture by J. Hirst

            

I had a conversation with some friends about what makes a person tremble, and in particular, what made each of us in the group tremble.

The words that first came up were:

• cold 
• fear
• anger
• grief
• excitement
• exhaustion
• a hard run (which to me seems like exhaustion but which my friends agreed was different)
• awe

We moved on to the physical things that make us tremble like:

• earthquakes
• thunderstorms
• storms
• hurricanes
• typhoons

And then we moved to the intrinsic things that make us tremble.

• the sound of certain music that raises you outside yourself
• seeing an animal being born
• seeing the majesty of the sky at certain times of the year
• something deeply spiritual 
• sudden kindness from a stranger
• the trust of a baby – human or animal

We had so much fun with this.  What I needed to remember was that each of these items seemed to be a force of Nature interacting with us.

What would you add to this list?

Blessings,

Judy

Do You Have A Quest?

  

The idea of questing, or of searching, goes back to ancient times.  Our Ancestors understood that some people had a need to find out new information and to find new things.  Today, when we quest, we often have a map to guide us, or perhaps GPS.

Think about how difficult it must have been to be a man or a woman (think Joan of Arc) to leave what you knew, and to follow the spiritual guidance of your soul to be in service to the Greater Good.  Picture yourself being guided by the stars and planets to go someplace that was only a name to you.

Through out time, people have travelled or quested to sacred shrines to ask for healing for themselves or for another.  People have quested to see the other side of the mountain or the other side of the ocean.  The common theme is the deep hunger to learn something new or to do something different.  Now, the quest is to take settlers to the Moon or to Mars.

Today, do you have a quest that is calling you?

Many Blessings,

Judy

Excerpt From Earth Wisdom Meditations - Meditation 24 - Going Up

 

Picture is of Meditation 24 from Earth Wisdom Meditations: 111 Meditations for People Who Love the Earth by Judith Hirst

People - readers - tell me that they love this meditation from my book.  Some talk about the vision that they see of themselves going up a steep hill and people are throwing stuff - rocks, vegetables, books - at them.  There is no help.  Others talk about seeing a straight up cliff that they must climb and that it has several trails marked with ropes and spikes already in place as well as other climbers shouting encouragement.  The two visions are so different.

I hope that as you read the page that you find some wisdom in it and that you remember to ask for help as you move through life.  You do not need to do it all yourself.

Blessings 

Judy