Past lives and living in the present

This morning on The Monroe Institute's website I read an article that "renowned British psychologist Roger Woolger, Ph.D" has been researching past lives and the present life phobias attached to same: http://www.monroeinstitute.org/thehub/are-past-lives-real-could-they-be-important-for-our-health-and-well-being-today/. So it got me thinking about two of my phobias: heights and drowning.

I've been swimming since before I can remember. My mother was a beach babe, and I was born and spent the first 6 years of my life in Coronado, California. My earliest memory of swimming was in the Hotel Del pool, diving off the board and hearing someone remark, "Oh my god! That toddler is diving! How old is she? Only two?" I can remember my stepfather telling me after he took me to the deepest part of the pool to hold my breath, he was going to take me to the bottom of the pool, and when he released me, for me to just float to the top. He told me that we always float back up as long as we don't panic. So we went to the bottom of the pool, he released me, I floated to the top, and I learned my first water safety lesson.

We moved to Jackson, MS when I was six, and we had a backyard pool in which we swam constantly. Then when I was seven we moved to Montgomery, AL, and built a backyard pool two years after that. In Montgomery we all took advanced swimming and diving lessons at the YMCA, and all four of us children attended summer camp every year for the next seven years. At the Y, the only dive I never performed was one off the high dive - I was terrified of heights with no reasonable explanation. My siblings weren't afraid, my parents weren't afraid, my friends dived with impunity off the high dive. I couldn't do it.

We went to Lake Jordan and Panama City Beach every summer too, often for a week or so every time. I was water skiing by the time I was in third grade and snorkeling in the Gulf of Mexico at that age. At Auburn when I took the required swimming class for credit, the instructors chose me to be the demonstrator of the various strokes and treading water. I could tread water for hours - it's as natural to me as breathing.

But I'm terrified of the water, specifically being stranded in the ocean or the boat flipping over in the lake. I've been on several deep sea fishing expeditions and all that water skiing required that I ride in the boat, but the unreasonable fear of drowning was constant until my anxiety level amped up to where it is now as an older adult: it gives me the willies to have to even ride on a ferry. When my mother died, we had her cremated and spread her ashes in the Gulf, which meant riding about two miles out into the sea. Luckily it was a beautiful day, beautiful ceremony - we each took a handful of her ashes and threw them into the wind, then threw in red roses afterwards - and my thoughts were firmly centered on the loss of my mama; and yet there was that nagging feeling in the back of mind of somehow drowning because we were so far from shore.

When Jeff and I lived in Seattle, he wanted to take the ferry to Victoria BC, and I refused. I desperately wanted to go to Victoria, but the rough waves, foul weather and certainty of drowning kept me from going. Jeff and I spent several days in Burlington VT a few years ago, and we had to cross Lake Champlain in the ferry so that we could go home by a scenic route. I stayed in the car the entire time while Jeff walked all over the ferry and took pictures. Of course it didn't help that I just knew the sea monster was going to rear his awesome head and crush me if I fell into the Lake!

As an adult I've often wondered why I suffer from these two phobias. I've had several nightmares in which I'm pushed off a cliff and drown in the sea below. I don't know if I'm reliving a past life experience or not, but since my visions always have some basis of reality in them, I would think that's probably the most plausible explanation. For the last ten years I've suffered from crippling vertigo in addition to the fear of heights; it's now so prevalent that I can no longer ride escalators (I feel as if I'm going to tumble backward, and getting on and off of them presents its own problem with dizziness and loss of balance). 

So once again I'm earth-bound. Solidly earthbound. Circle of life, y'all

Activism from This Shaman's Point of View (and earthquake vision)

Before I get into the activism portion, just wanted to say I had another earthquake vision at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 31. This particular vision awakened me from sleep, and I thought it was much more a plain ol' dream as opposed to a true vision. But I posted it on Facebook anyway with the disclaimer that I wasn't sure whether it was real or not. It was real it turns out: in quick succession there was an earthquake in Alabama, California and Alaska. Interesting :D. And during the hurricane, I placed a huge bubble of protection - much like a figurative dome - around my neighborhood. Although this area had over a million customers who lost electricity and had numerous trees that fell and flooding, we never lost our electricity and the storm damage was negligible. So I'm giving a shout-out to my always present protective peeps who are part of my whole!

I've never spoken about political issues on my blog before but ain't no two ways about it, I'm an ardent activist. I attend protests and routinely write and call State and U.S. legislative leaders on various issues - most notably pertaining to environmental issues, human and animal rights, workers' rights, war, defense spending, religious freedom, social services and so on. It's not only my right and duty as an American to support or to protest so freely but as a sentient being and Shaman.

I know that all these issues on which I speak about so loudly may seem separate. But if you look at the core values of each, you'll realize they're all connected just as everything else is connected in our slice of the Universe. So I'm going to take each issue that I'm so passionate about, briefly explain each issue (I know I'm leaving out many, many atrocities that happen but anyone who's curious about following up can start his or her own journey of research) and hopefully you'll understand why it's the only stance to take, not only for someone like me who is so very connected to our Earth but for all of us.

1) Environmental issues: We have one Earth. One. There ain't any others floatin' nearby that we can use and abuse at our whim and leave to go to the next. Fact: drilling, whether it's for gas, coal or oil, causes groundwater contamination, poisoning of the surrounding plant life, and is toxic in the extreme. Yes, because of our present dependence for all three energy sources, drilling is thought of as an acceptable known contamination. But what's happening now goes way beyond acceptable (if it ever truly was): gas fracking causes earthquakes and extreme water contamination; coal mining not only mutilates the land ala mountaintop removal, but the coal ash is highly toxic and contaminates not only water sources but the land abutting those sources; oil drilling - let's just point to lack of adhering to safety standards with oil (and coal!) drilling, including continuing leaks from all the oil platforms in the Gulf and the recent discovery of a huge oil flow from the supposedly sealed Macondo well. The Gulf is DEAD y'all. There have been scores of dolphin and aborted dolphin fetuses washing up on shore in the last year, not to mention the turtle, fish and bird carcasses. The oysters are not spawning, the shrimp are still covered in black goo, the fish contain all sorts of toxins stored in their meats. I dreamed about this in May right after the oil spill, and I'm sorry that my vision was correct (see blogpost of May 27, 2010). Although I didn't mention this in the post (because I was still new to blogging and hesitant in posting how I really felt about what I "see"), I did write on Facebook that the feeling of dread and death was just as overwhelming as the oil smell itself.  In December 2009 I had a profound vision of a leukemia clinic (see blogpost of December 3, 2009); oil and dispersant toxicity often leads to leukemia or any of a number of other cancers, as does gas and coal. So how can I not be an advocate of funding for wind, solar or other non-invasive, green solutions to our energy needs? When you literally see the entire world dead and dying, it's not a choice. And since I'm connected to all beings, whether they're animal, plant or mineral, I feel their pain and hear their anguished cries for help. So I say that no life is expendable; it's unacceptable to consider harming one for the greed of another.

2) Animal and human rights: I have three dogs - The Girls. They are without a doubt my family and companions and guardians of my soul. But there are rabbits and chipmunks and squirrels and foxes, not to mention the birds and all other living beings, who are part of my neighborhood family. I would no more think of poisoning any of them than I would my own family - unacceptable. The plant life in my immediate vicinity are also my family: my veggie garden provides my food, my herb garden provides food and medicine and teas and perfume, the trees provide shade and shelter and the grass provides a safe place for all to wander. Helping to eat the veggies and herbs are the wildlife, the insects and the birds (not that I'm especially fond of them helping themselves, but hey! it happens lol); the earthworms feed below the surface, recycling decaying matter; the bees, butterflies and hummingbirds gather the pollen and nectar from the blossoms; the trees and bushes offer their own food and benefits. So you could say my neighborhood is its own rather complete ecosystem. All beings are connected; each activity of one goes to the benefit of the next, including me! So I see and feel this connection on a daily basis, and I see and feel this connection when I go out of my ecosystem and enter the larger system. The people and animals that many in our country feel are unworthy of our compassion or aid or even time are part of our larger ecosystem. Each is connected to us, each becomes a part of us. I would no more refuse them than I would the beings in my personal ecosystem. To refuse to acknowledge and accept someone because they are gay or a different color or a different religion or a different gender than you are is absurd. "Gay", "Colored", "Different Religion" are just labels - I see none of that but instead a human being who is part of me, part of my ecosystem, part of my whole. I've heard time and again the fear expressed by those who are frightened of Islam extremism. I agree - I too find any religion that elevates one class while subjugating another unfathomable. This applies to Christian fundamentalism/extremism and every other religion that goes strictly by words and not by inner-connectivity. Until those people realize that all those people they are excluding are actually part of their whole, they will keep exclusion in the forefront and thereby deny that they, themselves, are in an ecosystem. Hate of any kind is just plain contrary to our natural ecosystem. When you exclude one group, you upset the balance of the whole - a balance that may be very delicate to begin with - and catastrophe always follows, which may be a large reason why our country and world is so very fragile right now.

3) War: completely, utterly senseless. Who profits from a war? Those who manufacture and sell weapons and those who seek to take over a country's resources. The act of killing another human being for any reason is an abomination. Yes, I admit it - if someone tried to kill me personally, I would defend myself, but I'm pretty certain that's a natural instinct of self-preservation, and I have no doubt that my act of defensiveness would haunt me for the rest of my life in this existence. But our present-day wars have nothing to do with self-defense. The 9/11 terrorists were all from Saudi Arabia, so we reward Saudi Arabia and invade Iraq. We need oil and minerals and poppy from Afghanistan and proclaim that terrorists are training and plotting in that country when in fact Pakistan is a haven for anyone with a hate-filled mind. So we reward Pakistan and kill as many living beings in Afghanistan as we can. And it goes on and on and on: the fear, the hatred, the killing, the maiming, the raping of a country's natural resources, not to mention the killing and maiming of our own country's precious children who are now soldiers. There is nothing glorious about being a U.S. soldier today - nothing. They are NOT protecting our freedom - they are protecting U.S. Business' interests in a foreign land with the complicity of the U.S. government. The are dying for BUSINESS. And here's the deal: again, when one side excludes another, the entire ecosystem is unbalanced. What these wars are accomplishing, besides putting huge riches in the pockets of Business, are bankruptcy for our country, lack of aid for those who need it, hatred by other countries for the U.S., and a vicious cycle of never-ending war. Our personal freedoms, of which we were once so proud, are almost nil - invasive body searches, once-illegal wiretapping, lists lists and more lists of ordinary Americans now considered "homegrown" terrorists for speaking out, voter suppression, etc.

4) Social services: in Christianity, Jesus taught that even the lowliest of the low was worthy of His love and compassion and help. In Buddhism, the Buddha teaches that since we are all one, it is our duty to ensure that our less-prosperous brothers and sisters do not suffer needlessly. In Shamanism, we Shamans know that sharing is as natural as breathing. The present climate in our country toward privatizing and/or doing away with Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, emergency services, etc. is abhorrent y'all! The purpose of a government is to protect its people; the purpose of the people is to thrive within their chosen community. We cannot be whole until we are all whole. Yes, some people who receive government assistance are scammers, but so what? They're in the minority, and the majority of people who are desperate for help are really, truly needy. How can anyone turn away even one hungry soul? How can anyone turn his or her back on those less fortunate in their greatest time of need? What you do each time you turn away from those less fortunate is to turn away from yourself. You are denying a part of your existence which is vital to your own well-being. All those needy people are a part of you - you cannot thrive while they starve. The whole ecosystem is out of balance when one group lives while the other group dies.

5) Business and workers' rights: Contrary to what most may think, I'm not at all against making a profit nor do I think having a comfortable existence is wrong. What I am against is making a profit from others' misery. There are so many industries that can be eco-friendly and worker-friendly at the same time. To pay workers a living wage and provide decent benefits is not only fair, but with the record-breaking profits from the big businesses lately, it's more than justified and do-able. How far could those businesses have gotten without the workers? I'm not seein' the CEO on the assembly line, nor in the sales office, nor in the accounting department, legal department, etc. Yep, it's the CEO's responsibility for the whole, but the business is not producing anything without all the other workers involved. So we're back to the whole yet again: take away the workers, and the balance is upset. Giving only some all the profits and benefits while the majority suffer equals a less than thriving ecosystem, an ecosystem whose balance is broken; it's only a matter of time before the entire ecosystem dies. I go further with this thinking by claiming that our stock market and banking systems are tearing down our ecosystem as well: the outrageous profits while everyone else suffers are often a direct result of shareholders' and stock market projections and greed. I think the stock market is just one big legal bookie system - place your bets! With present day regulations (and now Republican Congressmen are calling for further deregulation), it's a giant insider Ponzi scheme of whom can out-bet and undermine whom. Same thing for the gold and silver markets - remember the crashes of the 1970s? Meanwhile the workers suffer and the balance is upset. For those businesses who have pulled out of the U.S. and now employ slave labor in underdeveloped nations and are therefore making even more record profits, I find this particularly loathsome. To treat others so disdainfully is to treat yourself as less than.

Obviously I could continue for hours ad nauseum but I think you get my point: each issue is connected to the next. We are all One; we each live in a small ecosystem enclosed within a larger ecosystem. When One suffers, we ALL suffer. To deny even one bee the right to pollinate our flowers is to deny our entire ecosystem of the right to thrive (yeppers, that's an allegory :D).