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This is the season of death. Here in the Northland the dry fallen leaves cover the town. They crunch under my feet as I rush around making my errands girded up against cold winds. The last flower petals crumble and all turn a dull brown yet there still remains some gold and the trees and even a patch of green. The unseasonable warm weather in October has left nature in confusion. Today it is cold. I look out upon a blue cloudy sky. There are no birds no sounds of life. Cars and trucks roll by. A car alarm sounds then stops. It is quiet.
Next week it will have been four months since the awful flood that racked this small city and a good deal of this state. It it a slow recovery. Efforts to reopen and revive the downtown have been met with financial difficulties and mixed enthusiasm. The last weekend of October and first week of November saw two large fires causing damage and destruction to recently reopened businesses. The first one occurred two hours after I left the area out to catch some music at Charlie O's, some great surf rock! They are closed again now and I wish them the best! A blaze at the restaurant next door caused damage to them as well as the bead and crystal shop. The second fire hit very close to home as my sister lives across from the scene of it and I very relieved she and no one else was harmed! This along with other factors such as those within the homeless population and those struggling to rebuild their homes have made things here quite a big mess! Despite all of these things people continue to press on in the face of these setbacks. That is what we do and we can show such amazing resilience! How are you showing resilience in your life now? What must must be left to die to prepare you for the freeze of Winter? What must decay and fall away so that after the snows melt the Spring will see new birth? With climate chaos, war, poverty, overwhelming technical dominance and so many other things in the news, in our heads, in our daily lives what can we learn amidst the Malstrom? How will all of this affect us as a species and how can we adapt and cope? We all have different ways of finding peace. I have of late been using EFT Tapping once or twice a day and find it very helpful! I really recommend it! It works through presence, acceptance and allowing changes. I was very skeptical at first. I figured it was some kind of newage gimmick. It is not rather more akin to acupressure in a way. The tapping points wake you up and bring your mind, body and spirit into alignment with each other. Of course it may not work for you but hey try it. Why not? There are lots of free sessions on youtube and elsewhere on the internet. There is a new moon next week on the 13th in Scorpio. I may return to this blog for that. I am working on getting my youtube channel set up again! It's been a awhile! I also may be doing more frequent blog posts. We'll see ;) until then my friends may your days be filled with the wisdom of the ancestors, may that which needs to fall away fall from you and new blessings take their place. Peace and love allways Anni
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There are two full moons this month
The one that just passed on the first; The Sturgeon moon was said to be a super moon meaning it was pretty close to the earth and wow what a beauty it was! The second on the 30th will be a blue moon which is said to be the closest of the year! So what does it all mean? Traditionally despite the romantic associations it has become attached to in modern times, the full moon marks a time of release when things have come full circle and it is time to let go of that which no longer serves and make way for new growth as the waning moon draws these things away. This month we will have a double the opportunity for this and boy do we need it! Personally as some of you know following my story this Summer has been a nightmare! I know I am hardly alone in this as not only here in this state but in so many places we are seeing climate disasters on a level we have never seen before! It is my belief that our determination to press on against all odds as a species is both admirable and too often misguided. It seems the model has been people and the things of our making first and the environment takes a back seat once again. How many times have we been warned? Yes I know certain measures are being taken but they are not enough. The Earth has a voice, the elements..Are we listening or have we become too distracted with our own pleasures to even care? Where is the love? Maui is burning today. Wildfires have become so widespread and so common that we just check our air reports and move along. Maybe we should be screaming...crying...mourning for the devastation around us. Maybe these floods are rivers of tears. I wish I had more hopeful and cheerful words to share with you but for now I only have these. Many by the next moon I will have better things on my mind. I will be back then. For now enjoy these photos I took and if you can enjoy these sunny days "https://youtu.be/PAgtdFDGrYM" It's now been a week since the Winooski River swelled over due to endless torrential rain storms here in Vermont.
One of the hardest hit cities was this one; Montpelier One of the hardest hit streets was the street I live on as it lies on the banks of that river the North Branch. Last week I shared a poem with you about that river. You can read it below. As this week begins I like so many am just trying to pick up the pieces... The efforts of volunteers both residents and those who come after hearing of our plight on the news have been amazing! The level of destruction to our downtown though...this is no small task! From a personal perspective I would say that efforts are centered in downtown. The reality of daily life on this lonely ravaged street is not encouraging. There are piles of trash and debris all over, everywhere I look and it's all toxic. Having some health issues that make me a high risk I can not pitch in to the cleanup efforts. I know that some may look down on me for this but we all do what we can. I am doing my bit by checking on neighbors when I can and sharing safe resources on social media. This is my third natural disaster not including some tremors out on the West and North West Coast and a frack quake that all thankfully were pretty benign. At this time I have decided this signals a time for me to move on. This is all I can say for now until the next chapter begins. Where is all of this going? Well it's time to talk about a very important thing; community. We live in a time where rivers, lakes and seas are rising, where wildfires make our air unbreathable for days on end, where mud slides and earthquakes have become of far greater magnitude, where temperatures are rising so high in even colder regions. So how are we to survive in such times? Scientists have some ideas and it's time we started listening to them! Then there is the question...What can I do? In such terrible times as we are now facing the will to survive kicks in strong. People rush to repair buildings and ensure their livelihoods and see that their families are safe but what happens to our spirits and where does that leave those who are on the fringes? Community, that spirit that ties us together has been declining for quite some time. This is so sad. I remember a time where the first thing people would do in a catastrophic event would be to gather together sharing stories and hugs and home cooked food....Will these circumstances bring such ways back? I don't see that yet but I certainly hope it will. It's a new moon today in Cancer. As I have said many times astrology is not a subject I am that well versed in however I understand that Cancer is a sign very tied to traditions and home . Ok what have our traditions shown us over time and how does that effect our home? Isn't it time we all took the time to listen to nature and realize that all around us is sentient and soulful? I live by this river
I have known her many years Her murmuring sounds have calmed me and lulled me to sleep on some of my hardest days She has refreshed me in her currents I have watched fish and turtles swim in her ripples I have gathered stones from her banks I have walked beside her and seen flocks of birds and animals drinking from her depths. But now I see another side I haven't seen in a long while...then caused by ice now rain Fed by an incessant deluge she rises angry and relentless She slams beneath bridges Beats at doors and windows rips into all we hold dear with rage beyond anything we can quell! I hear you I hear the rain and thunder and see the lightning flash in our darkness Please have mercy upon us and all the creatures touched by your wrath What have they done certainly not what we have Watching trash drift by... Cry me a river cry me a river... I'll cry a river for you A Merry May to you all!
It's about birth... And death that precedes that birth as our tender shoots of new awakening consciousness and lusty desire are met with stars that demand transformation! This is not an easy dance round the maypole It will though be rewarded profoundly This is a month for Mummers, Mothers, Memorials, and May The 4th be with you! ( which is incidentally my birthday!) Usually I would be leaping around some fire literally or metaphorically but this year Spring is hopping back and forth in a fit of confusion and celebrations are still in the brewing Today is the 2nd and as I write this Luna grows brighter and awaits a full eclipse in Scorpio this weekend. For more information on that look up folks like Yasmin Boland, Michele Knight and Rasa Lila as they can tell you much more than I can. My understanding though is that a moon cycle beginning and ending in an eclipse is a very big deal! I watched the New Moon eclipse live from Australia in honor of Pink Floyd's 50th anniversary of Dark Side Of The Moon synced up with the album. It was amazingly eerie and breathtakingly beautiful to see those gathered on the beach around a giant pyramid fade into darkness so deep not even shadows could be seen and then watch as the moon's light returned. How will it look this time as Luna is covered by the Earth's shadow? Will we see anything? How will we feel it? On Sunday the Eve of Beltane I attended All Species Day at our State House and joined in a circle dance, kneeling down after to bless the still cold ground. It was a rainy day , overcast and a bit tense I felt. This weekend I am going to a celebration for Lunar Beltane and the weather looks sunny so far. Moving from the stillness and solitude of Winter after all we have known in these years is something that may require a good mix of patience and passion! All the same, new adventures do await those who at least have a nicely strange sense of humor yes? Be wise to the soles of your feet and crown of your head dear ones. Take the journey Those of you who follow my blog might have wondered where I was all month.
Well it's been a hard month filled with emergencies and grieving My husband's Mother left us on the 7th. She was an amazing woman, powerful and soulful in so many ways. She left behind a legacy of writing that we are now in this process of compiling into an anthology so that this body of work will continue to inspire and move generations to come. We mourn her loss though we know she is at peace and free from the troubles of this life. Not soon after she passed I received a message from my childhood best friend. She told me that she is dying of cancer. The odds were low for treatment. She chose quality of life. I support her decision though my heart cries. Although we had not been close in recent years we had spent most of our formative years from childhood to the tumultuous teens having adventures and living life as best friends do...Here I am at a loss for words at the moment to describe such a connection as we shared. All of this brings me to the subject of this post; passages. Spring is a time of budding and new growth. To look at loss in such a time feels so wrong yet here we are. I know that many of you who may be reading this have faced losses or are going through this. This pandemic has cost so many lives and in it's magnitude has put so much focus on the fragility of human life itself. Soon more and more of us are getting vaccinated and will be able to reconnect with loved ones and go out cautiously into the world. This is amazing and wonderful! There will be in time celebrations as we reach a place of higher immunity. Still there will also be times of profound sorrow for all of the lives lost. At this times we see only numbers, facts and figures...Human life is indeed a gift we should cherish and be thankful for everyday we are here in this world. This month saw these holidays pass and here I will list those to come in it's waning days. As always I apologize for omitting any that you observe as there are so many festivals in this big beautiful world we share Passover concluded April 1st-4th with Good Friday on the 2nd and Easter on the 4th Ramadan began on the 13 and will conclude May 12th and on the 22nd we celebrate Earth Day In honor of Earth Day and our dear Phyllis Larrabee I am sharing this poem by her May we all be well and be blessed Our Mother The Earth Is Grieving Our Mother the earth is grieving Her tears are the rain Melting the ice The breast of her daughters which feed desire Love and milk for her children are wounded We can be so ill and still love the sirens of technology Which do not need to be our enemy But... The fossil fuels whipping earth and air and The earth so wounded... Yet every spring so far The living earth Even in her hospice Rises to feed us To delight us The rivers-where do they get their song? Racing past our grief And the flowers, how they rise up and open And we hear the cries of newborn lambs And our own And wonder to see the innocent youth rise up to save this mother from Usagi 'Poems of Changing Seasons ~Phyllis Larrabee~ 2018 I tend to think that these blog entries should always be on time. They should just arrive promptly with the start of each month. Sometimes they do but more often it seems these days they take time to happen.
Every thing has a season and a time. Nature has it's own clock and of course clocks and calendars are the inventions of human kind. There are sun and moon calendars and time depends upon what zone you live in. What would happen if there were no clocks or digital time keepers? Well we would have to look to the movements of the heavens as our ancestors did. Would we only know the passages of night and day and the seasons or would we learn to measure the shadows from sunlight rising and fading or mark the positions of the stars? This month on the 20th we will have the Vernal equinox. The sun will rise and set directly in the East. The Winter ends and gives way to Spring! Winter the season of Death, when cold winds blow and light is scarce, when animals and humans take refuge in their shelters and some depart for warmer climes has wearied our spirits and taxed our bodies. In times past many would not make it through the season due to famine, lack of shelter and disease. In these times we have seen a terrible blight where many have not survived. We have seen the effects of climate change and how much we need to reevaluate and work hard to build sustainability. We see what cracks there are in not only our infrastructure but in our communities as arguments arise over matters of race, gender and morality. Popular icons are challenged and even removed. We need to have these conversations to move forward but how can they be done in a respectful and fair way? At last there are vaccines being administered to many and the promise of gathering with friends and family seems ever more real! It will not be a sudden or easy emergence but with the warmer months we will see a return to some of the comforts we have been longing for. I dream of seeing the ones I have missed sharing hugs, smiles and tears. I imagine walking through town and visiting the places that I've been so removed from and realizing fully how much all of this truly means to me. On the 8th we celebrated International Women's Day The 12th saw the ringing in of the Mexican New Year Tomorrow the 14th will be daylight savings time unless you are in Japan, India or China and do not set your clocks forward The 17th will be Saint Patrick's Day so get out your green and dance with the leprechauns! The 20th marks the Vernal Equinox hello Spring! The 28th will be Palm Sunday and Passover begins May your holy days be blessed and all of your days "To everything turn turn turn turn a time to every purpose under heaven" "https://youtu.be/W4ga_M5Zdn4" It took me a while to write this one...
February is full of holidays. This past week we had depending on what traditions you follow Imbolc the day of Bridget or for those who watch the slumbering rodent Ground Hog's day. Both of these are associated with the coming of Spring in their own way. On the 11th we have the Chinese New Year the year of The Metal Ox. On the 14th of course there's Valentine's Day. On the 17th Ash Wednesday. On the 25th Purim. I'm sure there are many special days I am missing here. Whatever and however you observe them I hope your holidays are wonderful As I write this we are now in the week of the 8th which ends on Sunday; Valentine's Day There is a lot of confusion over why this day was named for it's patron saint. He was it seems a martyr. This we know. There is also a bit of confusion as to why the 14th was chosen. Some say it has to do with the Roman Goddess Juno a symbol of fidelity. Some say it has to do with the returning birds who will nest and mate though it seems way too early for that here in the frozen North. Whatever the reason it is a day known for romantic love. This can be a terrible thing for those who find themselves alone. The media and all commercial areas bombard us with images of lovers and expectations of hearts and flowers. This is fine for those in relationships and speaking as one who is I wish you all the best but what of the lonely? When I was a child like many of you may have done in school I exchanged random cards with classmates as a token of affection. It was a way to reach out and kind of silly yet...kind of sweet. We also were given boxes of candy hearts with those little sayings on them. How can we bring sweetness into people's lives in this difficult and often sad time? Here in Montpelier there is an anonymous occurrence every year in our downtown of paper hearts being posted up on almost every window and door. Whoever this "phantom" is they have become a local legend and no one has ever caught this person or their imitators in the act. It is a cheerful sight to see especially the colorful ones made by children. They remain for some time and bring warmth to cold days. Yes we so enjoy these reminders of beauty and joy yet... Love is not always pretty We must love all we are and all the broken ones around us. How can we do this? Jesus said to "Love thy neighbor as thyself" This is far from easy. How can we love those who hate us? How can we love those who are in this world of isolation invisible to us? Before all of this how can we love ourselves as the one who made us loved us? Such love requires acceptance and forgiveness. Without love for ourselves given without condition, embracing all the ugly places as well as the beautiful ones we can not know such a greater love for human kind. I say human kind because I am referring here to only that. There is so much I could also say about loving our fellow creatures who are also our neighbors. Here on this Earth plane we are given a remarkable opportunity to grow and to learn. Each day I pray that there will come a time where we will truly know the meaning of universal love and that we will know how to share it. I wish you all a blessed month So here we are in 2021! It's going to take some time for that to sink in right? Winter here in Vermont has been rather mild til now. As I write this passage there is lovely thick blanket coating the landscape outside my window and I believe more white stuff on the way soon. I am thinking...what could be sleeping beneath it? What will be revealed when the frost melts off and the Spring shoots break through from the soil preparing for the ripening of new life? Will we feel the difference then?
As the world continues to suffer through this terrible pandemic, political upheaval, climate crisis, racial and gender issues, economic disparity, struggles for religious freedoms, wars...Ball of confusion! In this new time how can we work together to create changes? What new discoveries will we see? How do we bring renewal to a tired and ragged world? So many questions with yet no answers yet I believe they will come in time for all things change! In all areas of our live all spheres of influences we are seeing incredible diversity represented! With so many voices being acknowledged we know the old molds will be broken and as time goes on nothing will be the same! Many speak of a desire to return to the way things were before this virus. Is that what we really want? No it is high time to leave behind the ruins of a broken world and rise to meet the birth of a new unknown one As we slip into Winter
As we dig out our layers to keep out the cold As we prepare for the holy days of our traditions We are painfully aware that this time is like no other Maybe you are doing ok in this terrible time taking the days as an opportunity to rest and catch up on family time or neglected projects... Maybe you are feeling as I do exhausted and riding out an emotional rollercoaster praying the ride will end soon! However these days find you I hope that you can see a light to touch your heart and kindle a fire that will carry you through the season From my heart to yours Peace |
Hi folks this is Anni
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