Which is the Dream?

I am fascinated by dreaming!  I have now taken several courses on dreaming and I have read about forty books on dreaming.  Shaman and medicine men/women believe that this world that we walk in is the dream, and that what we see in dream time is the reality.  Some of them base this belief on the fact that when several of us are in the same situation, for example, a conversation or argument, each of us will have a different view and memory of the incident.  However, if two of us have the same dream, and if we are both in it, our memories of the dream are usually the same.

The following story is quite thought provoking.  What do you think this story says?

 

This beautiful picture of dreaming is from creoleindc.typepad.com

Dreaming

The great Taoist master Chuang Tzu once dreamt that he was a butterfly fluttering here and there. In the dream he had no awareness of his individuality as a person. He was only a butterfly. Suddenly, he awoke and found himself laying there, a person once again. But then he thought to himself, "Was I before a man who dreamt about being a butterfly, or am I now a butterfly who dreams about being a man?"

Happy dreaming!

Many blessings,

Judy

A Story About Prosperity

  Picture of prosperity from www.deplicque.net

We all have different ideas of what prosperity is.  The www.thefreedictionary.com defines prosperity as “the condition of prospering; having good fortune”.  You see, I was writing a workshop on healing with different energies from trees, and several trees are associated with prosperity. Given that some of these powers were attributed to the trees by our Ancestors, I wanted to make sure that the definition of the word was the same.

I then came across a Zen Buddhism story that put everything that I know about prosperity, wealth, riches, and abundance into perspective.

I hope that you enjoy this story!

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A rich man asked a Zen master to write something down that could encourage the prosperity of his family for years to come. It would be something that the family could cherish for generations. On a large piece of paper, the master wrote, "Father dies, son dies, grandson dies."

The rich man became angry when he saw the master's work. "I asked you to write something down that could bring happiness and prosperity to my family. Why do you give me something depressing like this?"  

"If your son should die before you," the master answered, "this would bring unbearable grief to your family. If your grandson should die before your son, this also would bring great sorrow. If your family, generation after generation, disappears in the order I have described, it will be the natural course of life. This is true happiness and prosperity."

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Many blessings,

Judy 

Word of the Day is “Primal”

  Sea or Sky?

Picture from www.windows2universe.org

 

Today, in my meditation, the word “primal” kept coming up in the images that I saw and the words that I heard.  The images moved from pictures of forests and animals to caves and mountains, and then to oceans and skies, with a mix of people and birds and fish.  The movie in my meditation would have made Disney proud!  And, I heard the word “primal” in different voices, tones, and chants.

When I completed my meditation, I went and looked up the word at www.thefreedictionary.com because I wondered if I really understood what the word meant after the visions that I saw.  Here is the second meaning of the word.

primal - having existed from the beginning; in an earliest or original stage or state; "aboriginal forests"; "primal eras before the appearance of life on earth"; "the forest primeval"; "primordial matter"; "primordial forms of life"

I realized that the message that was in the meditation was that I needed to understand all that was primal – in me, around me, and that I really need to allow it to be part of me.  I realized too, that what we see as primal or not primal is simply a judgement, and that perhaps two primal things – like the clouds and the ocean in the picture above look exactly the same from a distance.  I think that sometimes we are too close to an object to see it as it really is.  I am learning that I am all that is primal.  The closer that I get to that feeling, the more alive (the more life) I seem to have, and my energy abounds.

I am sure that I do not understand everything that I saw in my vision.  I am still working with the idea that there are three primal colours, and all the rest of the colours are shades.  I have many images that I need to work with.

I am so grateful, however, that “primal” entered my life right now because I am looking at everything in its aspect of newness.

Have a primal week!

Many Blessings,

Judy

Great Horned Owl - Spirit ANimal

  Image from http://wdfw.wa.gov 

I was driving out of the parking lot at Fish Creek Park after teaching an evening workshop, when a big Great Horned Owl flew out of the tall grasses beside the road and across the hood of my vehicle.  I had already slowed to almost a stop so the big bird was safe.  It flew up into a tree close by the road and looked down at me.  It then hooted.  I started driving again.

As I drove home, I wondered about the message that Owl was sending me.  As I filtered through what I know of Owl, I realized that she has some unusual capabilities.  First, her eyes face forward while most birds and animals have eyes on the side of their head.  So, to allow her full range of vision, she is capable of turning her head ninety degrees either way which gives her the appearance of being able to do the impossible – to turn her head completely around.  

Second, she can fly silently because of the setting of the feathers on her wings.  Most birds fly with a flapping noise.  This silence gives her the mysterious ability of seemingly to appear out of thin air.  Owl is also associated with Athena, the goddess of wisdom.  And, because of their unusual characteristics, Owl is also considered wise.

Third, Owl has very keen hearing and can hunt a mouse by sound alone, simply by listening for squeaks and for scampering sounds.  Owl’s ability to hear so well has created a mythology around its ability to hear humans and to hear human thoughts.  Some say that Owl hears one’s cry for assistance and brings down wisdom to help the person in need.

Owl is a loner bird. After she raises her young, and trains them in the hunt, she and her mate go their separate ways until the next mating season.  Being solitary, much like a monk or wizard, also gives the Owl the air of being wise and contemplative.  Our Ancestors believed that Owl could fly into the heavens and talk with the Gods and Goddesses so that Owl had no need of other company.

What Owl’s message is, then, is that it is okay to be alone and by one’s self.  Contemplation is okay.  Simply following one’s own needs and harming no one is a way to be in service.  As well, learning to use one’s gifts in the quiet times is a good way to determine if the gifts are to be used in service to mankind in a direct way or in the indirect way.  

Owl does bring a touch of magic to our lives.  Enjoy her visits.

Many blessings,

Judy

Message From Archangel Uriel

   Archangel Uriel – often called “the Angel of Healing”
Legend states that Archangel Uriel is the Angel that heals the Earth, and is keeper of the knowledge of medicinal properties of all plants and trees and minerals.
Healers may call upon Archangel Uriel for guidance in their healing practices.

The following message is a channeled message from Archangel Uriel.

Dearest beings of light!  I call you that because all of you on Earth at this time are indeed beings of light – it is your wish to be here – to be part of the changes that are happening for this only happens once in a cycle of what you call “Nibiru”.  We call it “normal”.  It seems many are predicting disaster on the Earth.  Dearest Ones, I tell you that disasters happen every day on Earth, and many you remain unaware of!,

A disaster is so called because it creates a large area of destruction and causes distress to people and to the Earth.  Many of the disasters that I work to heal are caused by mankind.  The Earth generated volcanoes, tsunamis, forest fires, plate shifts, and great storms, are all natural house cleaning tools that allow the planet to move and shift.  There are places that humans should not be living to avoid some of these natural phenomena.  

Are you living where you are called to be?  Check in to your heart and see if where you are living feels right to you.  If it does not feel right, do you have the courage to quit what you are doing and move to that place that does feel right?  Dearest Ones, everyday I see people doing just that – making life changing decisions and quitting jobs and communities to go and be where they are called to be.  Believe that you will be taken care of. The shifting call is helping us hold the alignment of the planet so that it may evolve and change just as each of you are evolving and changing..

Are you happy doing what you are doing?  The way to heal is to change what it is you are doing.  Call to me in mediation and I will help you to understand the need to change.
Many blessings, Dear Ones.

Blessings,

Judy

Staying in Synch

Today, I was trying to figure out why the podcasts on my iPad were not updating the way that I expected them to.  I started checking every setting.  What I found was that the “Synch” check box on my settings has some how become unchecked.  Now, since I never go in and change my settings, this seemed to be quite a “weird” thing for me.  I felt that maybe there was a lesson waiting to be learned.

I went to my podcasts and I listened to a Zen Buddhist lesson on “Being Present”.  There were several things that inspired me about this lesson.  One was that the emphasis through sutras and through stories was around being in the present moment.  If you cannot be in the present moment, and need to dwell on the past or the future, then what in the present moment is causing you so much pain?  

The second item in the teachings was that each act of living is about being in the present moment.  If we cannot be in that moment, then we are missing most of our life.  That too makes sense to me because I see so many people wasting happy and fun moments by texting or being on the phone, or trying to get away from themselves in some way.  

The third item I enjoyed in the teaching was around recognizing that each person is living perfectly in their present moment, and that we do not need to impose our ideas of what is going on.  I start to laugh as I read this because back in my second item, I realized that I was imposing judgement on those who choose to text in the present moment.  (I still wish they would not text while they are driving!)

I realized that Spirit was giving me a “hands on” lesson about staying in balance and harmony with my passions and my path.  When all is going well, then little thought is required because a person simply rolls with the flow of what is going on.  We are living in the present moment.  However, when we start to over think our actions and try to second guess all the people around us, then we are “out of synch” with our purpose.  Our harmony is compromised, and therefore life seems choppy and full of obstacles.  The serenity is gone. 

 I am truly grateful for the lesson.

Many Blessings,

Judy

Coyote’s Warning

 

Picture of Coyote taken by Judy Hirst in 2008

 

Today, a coyote paced Merlin and me as we walked along the river.  He was on one side of the channel, and we were on the other.  He started to “yip” and to make a wailing noise.  Merlin stopped and listened with ears picked up, and with his body very alert.  He was not nervous or afraid.  Instead, we listened intently.  Here is what I heard.

               Coyote’s Warning

We are the free people that roam the land.

We walk in the forests and the cities.

We know how to walk in two worlds.

We walk too between this world and the next.

 

The Mother of Us All asked the coyotes to be guardians of the prairies.

She asked the Wolves to be guardians of the mountains.

She worried about the frail two legged ones who struggled 

With the weather and the land.

 

Two leggeds are not like the trees that bend with the weather.

Man tries always to control and be master of all things.

He rejected the overtures of the Coyotes and the Wolves – 

For we all offered help to find food and good places to den.

 

Instead, Man saw us as ferocious and feared us.

He chased us away with pitchforks and swords and guns.

Who chases away a helping hand?

One who is steeped in fear and sees only the threat.

 

Over time, we have watched the humans and learned from them.

Not only did Man chase us, he chases away anyone that is different from him.

We wood land animals get on much better than do humans.

We do not hunt needlessly or threaten needlessly.

 

We four leggeds remember how to play – by ourselves, with each other.

We see you and smell your anger and frustration and underlying fear.

Why is that fear so ever present? 

How does it serve you?

 

We see your attachment to the animals that you control. 

They are all wild, like we are.

They work with you because of the deep love many have for you.

We too have that love – we watch you with love and affection.

 

Yet you hunt us and chase us because we will not be slaves to you.

And, as you take our land, we grow bolder in confronting you.

A deep fear of all things wild has seeped through humans.

We see you try to dig and cut and temper the land.

 

We say – go with Nature, for that is as was intended.

We say – greet us as old friends and see what you may learn from us.

We have survived for forty million years with all our stories passed down.

We watched you being born seven million years ago. 

 

We see you struggle and try to adapt Mother Earth to your ways.

We tell you, She is bigger!

We say that you need to learn from her and use her gifts as we do.

We say – begin now!

Many Blessings,

Judy