SILENT WARRIORS

I had a recurring dream.

In it I could see and hear children happily playing with the earth,

connecting to it …

writing in it with sticks, 

working it with their hands, even tasting it at times.

We were created to connect with the earth. And yet, in recent times, man has ripped up the earth and carelessly built and paved … destroying the life-giving nutrients the earth has to offer. Man has filled the earth and water and sky with their poisons, man-made chemicals that were never meant to be a part of the natural world. And from the disunity and the segregation between man and earth , our children are sick, even dying. We have poisoned ourselves and our children, and our childrens’ children. Man has even gone so far as poisoning with harmful additives in food, and even worse, mercury and other harmful preservatives found in many household cleaners, soaps and immunizations. The rise in the  number of children on the autistic spectrum (or rainbow as I prefer to call it) has risen to epidemic proportions. The more poison we pump into our young ones with every generation,

the more adversely the children are affected.

Silent warriors … 

you so bravely face your world,

a world that has been less than generous to you.

Often in silence, trapped deep within yourselves …

wanting to speak …

wanting to communicate …

wanting to participate in life …

and yet unable.

Silent warriors … you so sweetly carry on, teaching a lost world, enduring the physical pain and emotional torment of what a decaying society has done to you.

 

Silent warriors … you are not alone.

Creator has not forgotten you.

Creator has not turned His face the other way

while your little bodies struggle to function.

 You are a wake up call to the world ..

To show them just how far they have fallen …

to show them how disconnected from the earth  they have come …

to show them the consequences of walking

in a way not in harmony with the earth, sky and water.

 

You, my little ones, are sadly the by-products of the poison man has made. My heart will beat for you when yours is too weary to bear this world. I will be for you a safe place when your senses are on overload. I will be the quiet voice who will encourage you because I believe in you. I will be the arms in which you can hide … to vent your frustrations and pain that comes with not being able to communicate like you would like to ... the pain associated with knowing you are different and not knowing why. I will be for you a shield where no one will point the finger at you … no one will speak ignorantly of you …

for you are very intelligent, though silent.

 You are very inquisitive, though silent.

You are very perceptive, though silent.

Your silence speaks louder than any spoken words can, and you , my sweet ones, are amongst the greatest teachers this world will ever know.

You are amongst the bravest warriors this world will ever know.

And I will pray without ceasing for you …

sending up smoke for you …

asking Creator to send forth His healing rain upon you …

and thanking Him daily for the privilege of knowing you and the gift of you that He has given me … and the joy it brings my heart to see the gift of each of you being unwrapped one bow at a time, with each babystep forward you make … each a marvelous achievement in my eyes … filling my heart with hope, that this thing called autism will soon pass … and the silent warriors of the autism rainbow will come forth and blossom, bringing forth the healing and wisdom the earth and those that inhabit her are so in need of today.

 

 

WINGS OF CHANGE

 

The owl is a magnificent bird and one I am very familiar with.

 

I know there are many teachings on the owl and many different people and cultures view them differently. A lot of people fear them and associate them with unpleasant things. I have NEVER feared an owl and I have NEVER associated them with unpleasant things. I was taught the owl is one of the sacred few who stayed awake for the creation of the world. For this reason, Creator gifted it with wisdom and a special ability to see into the night and see things hidden, and an acute hearing to hear things unheard. 

 

The owl is a sacred messenger. I have heard many teachings from other people of how the owl is associated with death and for that reason it is much feared. That is not my experience or the way I was taught. When the owl presents itself, it comes as a blessing and a sacred helper. It comes to take dead things away … not people per se, but the things in our lives that are dead or no longer needed that can cause us to become unbalanced if they are not removed. And many times things creep into our lives so gradually and set up camp that we do not recognize them for what they are and the negative effect they can have upon us … until the owl shows up.

 

The owl can peer into the night of our circumstances and see things for what they really are. The owl can look into the shadows of the heart and peer into the darkness to the depths of the soul and see what is there, and how it is effecting us now and how it will effect us later. On silent feathers it comes quickly, and quietly begins its work of cleansing and removal of the dead things within us and in our circumstances. That is what the owl does. It carries these things away so that we may restore our balance.

 

It is equipped with amazing hearing and is easily alerted to the silent agony of the heart, and it responds. I love the owl. I have great honor and respect for it and the sacred work it does. With owl, comes the removal of dead things and the promise of change.

 

My grandmother used to send owls to me. She somehow knew I needed them to follow me and watch over me. She would never interfere in my decisions or the things that happened in my life, but she always sent an owl to follow me by day and watch over me by night. And as a person who has lived through some horrific things that would have destroyed a lot of people who have experienced far less, I have remained for the most part, incredibly balanced. The Creator and my grandmother blessed me with the owl’s gifts, and even now, owl will show itself, when it is time to let go of something that will cause me harm and become terribly unbalanced in my spirit, mind, body and emotions.

 

But these are my personal experiences and beliefs about the owl. They are wonderful teachers as well. And each type of owl carries a unique medicine. Creator equipped them in a wonderful way. I have been taught that the reason the owl moves its head rather than its eyes to see, is to teach us to remain focused in the way we need to go so we are not distracted by things that do not concern us or that would lead us astray. 

 

Their vision is so powerful and acute that it is believed to have the power to see into the future. In this way, Creator often sends this winged messenger to us to help us on our life journey, to help us get to the places we are meant to go, so we can do the things that we are meant to do.

 

The owl comes to us on wings of change and if we receive its message willingly, it can lead us to a better place of balance, through the night, into a bright new day.

 

WHERE WATER MEETS ICE

 I have always found great comfort in bears. Ever since I was a small child, I have been especially drawn to the polar bear. Every documentary, every book, every picture and every zoo visit,  I always found myself drawn to the polar bear's eyes. It was the bear's eyes that spoke the loudest to me. I was a child who knew much fear, and in the depths of the polar bear's eyes, fear was not present. It was the absence of fear that drew me to it. I found a great comfort in this magnificent creature who possessed a quality I so much desired. And it was in this bear's presence, my fearful heart was still. I would get lost in its eyes, as the bear's spirit recognized my own and its coal black eyes could see right through me, and could see with crystal clarity the fear that was within. It knew it had a medicine I was so very much in need of.

I learned early on in the teachings of the medicine wheel how our emotions are fluid like the water. This particular bear can be found in places where the water meets the ice and it possesses a powerful medicine to those who have struggled emotionally and have been frozen by fear. It gives a voice to the ones whose words have been swallowed by it.

The polar bear has an acute sense of smell and uses it to hunt. One of its hunting methods is what is termed "still hunting" where the bear lies in wait near a seal's breathing hole in the ice. When the seal exhales, the bear is able to smell its breath and reach in with a mighty paw and sweep a seal out of the water. It is able to smell fear as well. And if we allow this powerful bear to teach us, it will show us how to smell fear and sweep it away by following its example.

The polar bear's feet are highly adapted to walking on ice. The padding on the bottom serves as an anti-skid device making it easier for it to maneuver over snow and ice without slipping. It teaches us the importance of developing sure footing, and a confidence to stand, without slipping and sliding across the ice we know as frozen emotion. These magnificent and exceptionally large feet also help the bear to swim, making it move easily through emotional waters where fear often hides.

Polar Bears are exceptionally insulated with blubber and 2 very thick layers of fur - a thick, dense under layer and an outer layer of guard hair that is actually hollow and transparent. This special physical trait of the bear serves to protect it from the freezing temperatures and teaches us the importance of protecting and insulating ourselves from the paralyzing effects of fear and frozen emotion. It helps us to see fears for what so many of them are ... hollow and transparent, empty and void of power once we are able to recognize them and see through their source of deception.

I have great respect for the strength and power of the polar bear.

It is a great teacher and an incredible healer ...

and shows us just how to say PHHFFFFFT in the face of fear. :)

 

TRUE COLORS

 

This is my favorite time of year. The colors and aromatic scents of autumn are exhilerating to me. I know when I begin to see the great bear's blood upon the leaves, that they will soon be making their departure from the branches that hold and support them.

It is the fallen leaves that touch my heart so.

Each has a story.

Each has a truth.

Each has a sacred purpose.

The trees do not drop these leaves because they are worthless and no longer useful.

These leaves provided nourishment and shelter;

they were homes and resting places.

Each leaf touched another life somehow.

As the leaves begin to fall, the trees do not cast them away as

yesterday's glory, but rather they freely release the leaves to dance

upon the wind so they may add to their story, and touch even more

with their truth and sweet purpose, in their return to the earth mother.

 

They are not severed from the branches that once held and

supported them, but rather, free to fly, allowing the tree time

to rest for the bringing forth of new leaves who will have divine

destinies of their own. It is a beautiful and delicate cycle.

 

The leaves themselves may be dead,

but never their truth and never their purpose.

They simply live on in other ways.

 

For what is a story, if it is not shared?

And what is a truth if it is selfishly held on to?

The trees release the leaves to be a continued blessing.

Every leaf I see touches my heart in its own way as I remember its story

and recognize the blessing of its present reality

as it journeys on its sacred mission to winter places.

 For as the earth nods off in winter slumber,

within the fallen leaves,

there rests sweetly the plants and animals

which will emerge again in the spring.

The leaves tell us in their own colorful way ...

if you have a story, tell it;

if you have a truth, share it;

if you have a purpose, do it ...

 for these are the things that endure and live on.