Is it time to put your nose in the corner? Or face your fears?
Since moving to the country several years ago I pay really sharp attention to nature. Partly, yes, because there's nothing else to do, but the signals and messages are abundant. The lack of distraction and entertainment options makes Nature TV even more fun.
And of course, I read my Animal Medicine cards. If no particular animal has presented itself multiple times (this weekend The Snake, signaling Transformation) many times the Mouse (Scrutiny and losing sight of the Big Picture) and the Noble Turkey (giveaway, and clearing donation) I pull cards from the deck. It usually resonates with where I am or what I notice in conversations with others. Which is always good to remind us that
we're all connected somehow no matter how disjointed everything feels
from time to time.
So my dog, a rat terrier of sorts...(Some folk 'round here call her a Mountain Kerr) is a great hunter and a fun companion and loves everybody. Except for rodents. Which I applaud. Except when they're rabbits, which she has no discrimination for. Furry creatures are to be dug up, chased, killed and eaten. And Saturday, she caught a giant wild Cottontail brought it to me. It screamed like I've never heard. Have I ever heard a rabbit? It was high pitched and terrifying.
It made me kind of nauseous, and I wondered why I cared not when the same fate found Squirrel, Mouse, Rat, Mole, Vole and Baby Opossum. Because they had wronged me somehow. The chicken feed containers mangled, grain stolen, eggs poached and birds lost. Vengeance? I'm not proud of that.
But rabbit? Quiet, grass eating, cucumber stealing, bunny? Neither threat nor thief, they should remain unharmed. But furry things that run and can be caught are fun for dogs. Period. And she paid for it with a belly ache for eating something way too big for her (she is 34#).
Monday, she unearthed presumably the nest left behind. And baby rabbits scream too. And then they scatter. Two weeks old and running hither and yon we had to let her get one so she didn't maim all. She ate it like a popcorn chicken nugget and was satisfied with her skill.
And now, we have two baby rabbits on the porch. I just want to keep them long enough to release. Fernando was mentioning raising and fattening...um, no. If my foray into Duck Husbandry is any indication, I am not going to be able to kill these furries.
They seem in shock. I'm feeding them with a dropper, to no avail. The run to the corner of the box and burrow under hay and fluff we've provided. We're not ready! they seem to be saying. So I'll leave them and just check on them and hope they make it.
Apparently, today's Animal Medicine is Rabbit, and Rabbit is all about fear. And the climate in the nation right now is certainly thus. Fernando says of government: Mexico rules the people by keeping them Ignorant. US rules the people by keeping them Afraid.
But they don't have to succeed, you know. Since Washington has gone Hollywood, a lot more people are paying attention to the chaos and letting it spread like the virus it is. If the popularity of Scandal the series is any indication, it is trumping Hollywood at its own game.
So... looming war. No healthcare. Cuts to education. Beaver glands in your sweet tea. Meth. Shooters in schools. Cops not responding. Inflation. Questionable water supply. Sketchy food sourcing. Corruption in the banking system. Your crashing home value. China.
I'll stop there.
It may be time to burrow in the corner under the straw and just wait it out. Maybe the way you've been attacking a problem is all wrong. Take a break. Reassess. Not hiding necessarily but put your blinders on. Stop watching the news. Stop freaking out over things you can't change right now at this minute. Or figure out a way to spark change. Worry. Does. Nothing.
But blatant Rabbit medicine is The Fear Caller. So afraid can you become of disaster, illness, tragedy and "being taken" that you call your fears TO you to teach you a lesson. What you resist will persist! (source: Sams and Carson)
Uh oh.
So how to change this patterning. Imagine it like this. If you walk one path every day you will eventually dredge a deeper canal. Harder to climb out of. If you go a different direction or experiment with your path, you may arrive at the same destination but with new discovery. I think the mind has pathways as well, which is why I've never been on board with "therapy" in traditional circles for depression. Depression begets depression. Talking about your depression can sometimes be like fermentation. Just keep feeding the sourdough and you can keep it FOREVER.
Boo.
So the opposite could be true, right? You keep repeating a positive mantra (I trust all is well, I am taken care of) maybe you'd dredge a Positive Path. Not easy for the Natural Born Cynic, and other suspicious people (like me) but just as an experiment...just because you have nothing to lose, maybe ignore fear, face a fear and let it go, or if you feel you're fighting a losing battle, retreat and come forth with new energy. Untie the knots in your stomach. Go sit with a tree. Stop commiserating (a false economy in a paper community it feels good but is addicting) and see if you find something else to do. Or not do, which is always the challenge for me. I want to MOVE this barge forward! Sell the Hacienda! Get on with next phase of life! Vamos!
And it doesn't work like that. My friend and advisor Michelle B. says, "Fate and Free Will work together "...part driving the boat and part floating down the river. Give it a try.
