FORCES OF NATURE

There is a new feature on our TV weather channel here. It is called FORCE OF NATURE. They show the worst  and most recent storms, floods, droughts, avalanches, tornadoes,hurricanes, earthquakes, etc. It is awe inspiring, heartbreaking and unnerving at the same time. 

Mother Earth is speaking to us loudly through these "unfortunate" events. Yet, we have known for decades that this was coming. Our Aboriginal Ancestors predicted these times hundreds of years ago. So why should we be surprised. The question is... are we ready for what is to come when everything is so uncertain and unpredictable?

What can we do?

Well, all we can do is be prepared for the worst and pray for the best. In our tradition, we are taught to do our own personal work and pay attention to signs and messages from the Dreaming, the Earth and Spirit... and to trust!

We do our personal work by being aware of our own unresolved issues. Everyone has their own way of doing this. In our tradition, we don't do years of psychotherapy, we use the Medicine Wheel as a guide to learn and heal. It is the most effective and has the longest lasting effects of any method I have ever tried. And believe me, I have tried everything else in my life. 

To look for signs and messages from the collective themes and lessons that we are all living -  we observe repetitions. For example -  the past little while I have noticed that people are reaping the consequences of not being responsible for their words and actions, for not following through on their original intentions.

A friend of mine cut his thumb when he was going to do one thing and suddenly changed his mind and went another direction. Then yesterday at a restaurant, a waitress confided that one of their cooks walked out in mid-shift, leaving them in chaos at a busy time.  He broke his contract, didn't follow through to the end. 

Another friend made plans to go back to work on a certain day, then called in to postpone. From then on, things began to go wrong. 

Someone was supposed to do my business cards for me by a certain date but never came through. If I had been told that they were too busy and couldn't do them, I could have made other plans. As it was, I waited and had none to distribute at the busiest time of year when people were asking for them.She didn't keep our agreement.

The universe speaks to us in so many ways if we really pay attention. I have been very aware of my thoughts and intentions and following through, doing a full wheel with them. It is so easy to say one thing and do another, but are we aware of how we affect everyone and everything around us when we do this? It is a challenge to be mindful, but very rewarding to discipline ourselves on these seemingly insignificant matters in our daily lives. From a dreaming perspective, you need to do a full wheel with what you start or you break the dream. We are breaking dreams all the time. 

The other day, I interrupted someone who was sharing a story and broke the dream he was sharing. It was humbling but it was good to be made aware of this behavior so I can change it. Thoughts and words do have an impact on our world as much as our actions do. We may not be able to change the world, but we can change OUR WORLD with consciousness and effort. 

In New Age philosophy, they say to think positive thoughts and do positive affirmations. That is not a bad thing, but when we ignore the reality around us and think that being positive is enough, we are fooling ourselves. Darkness does exist in Nature and in us. We need to acknowledge our own darkness and do the work to bring the light of consciousness to these dark places. We need to take action, not just think happy thoughts.

The Forces of Nature exist in and all around us. We are not separate from the trees, the animals or Mother Earth.  Demons, devils and monsters lurk in the shadow realms and live in us. We all have the potential to do good or do harm. Carl Jung, the Swiss psychologist who studied Shamanism, said that the most important thing we can do is to examine our own shadow. He predicted the Nazi invasion at this time and was trying to tell the world to be more conscious. But most people prefer to live in denial until it is too late. 

The forces of Nature are getting more intense. Our inner lives are also reflecting the intense changes of nature. We can do our part by working with our Indigenous natures and bringing ourselves into balance. We can look at where we are unresolved, unconscious and unbalanced. We can not do this alone, we need like-minded people that see us and are willing and able to be truthful about where we need to change, learn, heal and grow. We need to allow our ego defenses to settle down before we can listen to what they are telling us. Then we can take steps to change our ways. 

The Medicine Wheel shows us the steps to take to bring change, beauty and abundance to our lives by working on our Moons, Ancestral stories and our Totemic natures.