Monday 21 October 2019

CLIMATE CHANGE: A SHAMANIC PERSPECTIVE

When a person isn't well, the shamanic perspective tells us that their soul probably needs some attention :) I would say that this is the main component. Conventional medicine often plays its part, but its approach is generally to 'correct' the symptoms. That can work, and be part of the healing. But really the symptoms need honouring rather than 'correcting', need listening to, because they are telling us the story of the soul dis-ease. In this respect, I am interested by Lewis Mehl-Madrona's approach: he elicits spontaneous images and stories from people around their symptoms, and uses that for healing.

And I think it is the same with our mother, the earth. She is producing symptoms at present in the form of extreme weather patterns. And we can take the approach of conventional medicine and say it is about the extra CO2 which we are producing, and if we address that then we will heal the disease. Or we can listen directly and tune in to what it is like to have 7 billion of your children living with you, who are dominating all the other children, and living in an increasingly frenetic and out-of-balance way. And what is it like on an energetic level to be living with this? From the earth's point of the view, the extreme weather patterns seem like a fairly mild response to this collective human energy, it is a cold from which she will recover.

And as with conventional medicine, CO2 is telling us part of the story, and it is worth paying attention to. But it is not telling us the deeper story, and it is that deeper story which we can all listen to and probably have our own images and narratives present themselves. It is the level that many of us are probably used to working on. How much it is possible to actually do anything energetically on this collective level is another question. It is endless, and we are individuals. We can do something, intention and spirit help make a difference.

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I offer Shamanic consultations, usually by skype, in which we can talk over anything you want to talk over. I may use the Medicine Wheel, Journeying, Astrology, Tarot or anything that works. And it centres around listening to ourselves in a deep way. I work on a donation basis, and I am happy with whatever is easy for you: I love this work. Contact: BWGoddard1@aol.co.uk
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But my main point here is to remember the deeper climate story. Our collective modern humanity has boiled it down to one, superficial story and has divided itself into believers and deniers, like it does with so many things. These human beings with their tiny individual consciousnesses, thinking they know the whole story, or at least a good part of it, when really they know nothing. It makes you want to put your head in your hands and weep! Yes, the CO2 story is OK as far as it goes. But I think the important thing is to get a feel for the energy of collective humanity and how that is for the earth. Thank you to
Palden Jenkins for this perspective.

2 comments:

  1. So many have been taken in by the CO2 is the only or dominant driver of climate change (was there no climate change before the burning of fossil fuels). A few hundred million years ago, when corals first evolved, CO2 levels were ten times higher than now, thousands of parts per million rather than hundreds. Was there runaway warming or climate change then? I do agree that plastic waste, especially micro plastics (which didn’t even mentioned ) look to be a major problem. And honouring the symptoms rather than suppressing them, yep.

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    1. Just come across this extensive article (final paragraph quoted) on the newly discovered [dwarf] planet 'Sedna' and it's possible significance to the current political climate, is there a higher purpose to this kerfuffle? https://prairieschooner.unl.edu/blog/women-and-global-imagination-reimagining-myth-sedna “And there is some consolation in Sedna’s story. One of the most beautiful aspects of Sedna’s role in Inuit tradition is related to the shamanic journey. When hunting was not going well, shamans were sent to appease Sedna. The shaman would go into a trance and “travel” to Sedna’s underwater abode, a harsh and difficult journey. The shaman had to get past her guard dogs and even her father who also lives at the bottom of the sea (where he functions in his new role as greeter of the dead). To calm down the goddess, the shaman would comb her hair, which she couldn’t do for herself, being fingerless. The shaman would pick out crustaceans stuck in her hair and wash her body with fine sand, an image I find to be incredibly tender and moving. There is a sense here that we can pacify the angry goddess, even when the angry goddess is ourselves. We don’t know if it’s too late to fix the greatest damage we’ve inflicted on the Earth in the form of climate change, but some part of humanity will not give up on trying. Sometimes this fight requires active rage; sometimes it calls for a dedicated disentanglement of all those nasty critters that won’t let go of their hold on the Earth. Like Sedna’s shamans, we need precision, unwavering focus, and a sense of delicate care for the Earth entrusted in our hands.”

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