A New Year for White Lion Wisdon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three and half years ago I started White Lion Wisdom upon my leaving for Africa to meet the White Lions of Timbavati and Linda Tucker.  My life was changed, my mind was changed and my heart decided to leap out of my life and start down the path less traveled.  In those three and a half years I have been allowing the Universe to be in the navigational seat of my life.  So I am going to keep White Lion Wisdom and continue to send updates on the lions of Africa, the lions in cages, in zoo’s and put in print their message to all of us.

And I will be adding new writing to this blog that has to do with my life as a Gypsy, see www.the-gypsy-life.com, and about my work as a story teller which you can learn more about at www.mythotherapy.org.

The story of the White Lions should wake up all our lives.  Please send this link to friends and send any comments, ideas, new articles or just words of wisdom to this site.  Happy Newest of Years.  Maya

 

 

Listen to What I Hear

 

 

 

 

 

“Being a writer means taking the leap from listening to saying, “’Listen to me.’”
—Jhumpa Lahiri

 

I think the part of Christmas that has stayed with me since childhood, are the Christmas Carols that seem to live in me at a cellular level. All the music from oldies with Bing Crosby and White Christmas to Mannheim Steamroller can conjure place, people and moments that I have no need of a camera to instantly recall.

 

Each song has a story attached to it from my life. And whether is was a Christmas meltdown at the dinner table over some disappointment regarding presents, or the first Christmas with my daughters bright eyes wide open as they tip-toed down the stairs of our farmhouse in Maine to see what Santa had brought and whether the Reindeer had been well fed, I can recall the Technicolor of the moment as soon as Nate King Cole starts in with “chestnuts roasting by an open fire”.

 

I listened to these songs over and over, year after year. And in the listening I hear new things each time. Songs are story. Songs are assembled with tune, voice and words to transport. And for a writer, the story on the page is no different. Every amazing book we read or write and every extraordinary story we tell has a magic ingredient which makes the magic stand out: That magic ingredient lies in our capacity to listen.

 

I know that most of what I talk to writers about is how to tell the story, about great characters, tension, payoff and honesty. But none of this happens at the level that is possible for a writer without the deep capacity to listen. Listening takes pausing. Breathing. Waiting for the muse.

 

First and foremost, as a writer, I need to listen to my own intuition if I stumble on the direction of my story. I need to pause to listen to my characters whisper in my ear how they want to be developed. I need to listen to my own desire for what I want to say and what I don’t want to say. Every day. I need to be willing to listen to everything.

 

But, listening comes in layers. We can hear ourselves say “Oh that won’t be interesting”, or “I cannot share that much, be that vulnerable in my writing”. When this ultimately happens, oh pretty much every day, we have a goldmine moment to listen at a deeper level. Our unconscious selves long to be given a stage on which to express itself and when any one of us decides to write a story all the voices that we have silenced will try spill out onto the page.

 

If we can stay with what we are resisting and get to the bottom of why we are saying “no”, “I cannot do that”, “I am afraid”, then we can unearth parts of our stories, our characters and ourselves that become the magic and the real juice of our writing. Many of us as writers struggle to stay ruthlessly honest with ourselves and truly listen beyond our fears of being literarily naked.

The other part of listening as a writer is to make sure you have someone read your writing out loud and you listen to the story you are writing unfold. Hearing your words, the words of your characters and absorbing the writing as if you are the reader is a powerful way to tune up your writing style and to hear the places you need to improve.

 

And at the end of the day whether you are a writer or not, listening and hearing from a deep heartfelt level of awareness and presence is what we need in all our relationships, friendships, marriages, workplaces and schools. The gift of listening is transformative.

 

The Tao of Dog Part One

THE TAO OF DOG

APR 13, 2013

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On Monday I woke up to a new awareness. It was very physical. My body was stiff and hurting.  I had been happily living an inspired life and “working” on taking a vision for my life’s work, for AOMusic and for children who need love and care and grounding it in reality:  The reality of manifesting my passion into a tangible form.  Manifesting my dream in concrete ways like people, money, space, investors and commitments of a substantial kind.  Manifestation somehow had stopped feeling fun and had become my work

So, once I had made my regular cup of Roobios tea, cut strawberries, bananas and oranges and then switched on my computer, the first thing that came up on the screen was my “Notes” program, which is my revolving to-do list.  The list had nearly two hundred items on it.  My eyes got instantly blurry and couldn’t focus.  I thought to myself, “low blood sugar, that’s it!”  Then I made an egg-protein drink and went back to my computer.  Still blurry.  The rest of the room was fine, the view from my window crisp and clear.  It was simply the screen of my computer, more precisely; it was simply my to-do list that I couldn’t get into focus.

It was apparent that I was ‘not seeing something’, literally.  So, off I went to meditate and tune into the metaphor. I posed the question, “What had become blurry for me in my work and what was I not seeing?”

Once I am willing to ask a hard question like this and then be open to an answer, I get the answer, instantly.  The voice I trust with my own life said, “Are you feeling inspired about your to-do list?”  “No, I’m feeling inspired by the vision, the dream and the creativity!” I said.  “So then, is the feeling you have about your inspired vision the same feeling you have when you look at your to-do list?”   Right then and there I knew that something was off since my answer was, “No.”  I was not in alignment within myself.

I had lost ‘sight’ of the miraculous feeling that comes when I am aligned with a vision that perfectly matches my heart, my mind and my purpose.  So, how was I supposed to feel those same feelings when I face a to-do list that needs a staff of twelve to get done in a timely way?  I knew enough about the laws of manifestation to understand that there can be no “vibrational gap” between the excitement and feeling of awe I have when I am living inside my own dream and the feelings I have when I face twenty emails waiting to be answered, or endless research to be done. Closing this gap is my spiritual practice.

I feel the high frequency emotions of love, gratitude, enthusiasm, joy and inspiration the minute I hear an AOMusic song, see the face of one child we work toward helping, talk to a producer about the endless possibilities for film or start seeing money coming into our AO Foundation International.  But, when I pick up the phone, start to plow through the avalanche of emails, Skype for the sixth hour in a row or just try to get the bills paid and then feel exhausted, resentful, stressed, anxious or fearful, well you see what the problem is?  The two energies cancel each other out, they are not in alignment.  Houston, we have a problem.

Who in their right mind finds joy in the mundane steps up to the top of the mountain?  That is not entirely the question.  The question is more of how to in fact do what feels nearly impossible to sustain the joy and creative edge even when facing more no’s in a day than yeses, more hours at the computer than playing outside, more money going out than coming in?

So, I set out to learn how to close the gap in my vibrational reality and start to put things into focus.  I set out to make sure that how I was be-ing and what I was do-ing were entirely congruent.

Just when I realized I had some quantum ‘waking up’ to do, I was invited to house sit for a friend going to Bali.  She had a house that screams Tuscany overlooking the water here in the Pacific Northwest.  The spacious rural bungalow is also the home of three amazing dogs: Logan, Rex and Angel Baby, a white Pit Bull.  I said yes, and for one week had the sanctuary and quiet I needed to sink into these questions.

Then I did dog therapy (or more accurately, the dogs did me), which in fact became the source of my coming to the answers I needed.  In short, a dog lives in the moment and there is not one incongruity, just being present fully, joyfully, expectantly present, with no expectations except that when you throw the ball, they get to retrieve it.  They do not toil to fill their dog bowl but they know with all certainty that the bowl will be filled right at 4pm.  They never doubt it for a second.

The other blessing being here in the Washington, which made my time unbelievably rich and clear, was that it rained every single day when I was on my Tuscan retreat.  I could not distract myself from the question of ‘alignment’ at hand.  And, at the end of five days of inquiry, there was one remarkable answer to the question of how to align my deepest most soulful vision with the mundane work that I believed I needed to do to manifest it.  The surprising answer was: Be Lazy.

Lazy is a word that carries terrible connotations with it.  And mostly because we are a culture that prizes productivity and over-responsibility as we are constantly comparing one person to another on those standards.  Being a ‘slacker’ is how most people regard being lazy.  Yet, the heart of being lazy is simply not to be inclined to work or exert energy.  Bingo.  Exerting energy was what I was all about when I approached my responsibilities and endless tasks that I had deemed necessary for achieving success.  And of course if I did not “exert” myself how would they get done and where would my dream be then?

Exertion and work are the opposite of allowing and flow.  My dream of helping children around the world who need love and care at the most fundamental level and creating new vehicles for AOMusic to touch the hearts of people is never anything but flow for me.  Allowing the dream to unfold like a flower should be easy.  You would never put energy into forcing a flower to bloom at any other speed than its own natural rhythm and flow.

It was clear that when I approached my list of mundane tasks I was not allowing for the same energy to permeate the process and bring both joy and excitement to every phone call.  I was not allowing the process of “Do-ing” to become “Be-ing in the flow with each task”.  Allowing the task to present a fun aspect, an unexpected outcome and a great satisfaction, even if I did not accomplish my goal that day.

I watched my three canine companions make no effort at all in a day except to simply be happy and in their own true nature.  They slept when they felt like it and if they were needed for something they brought their own happy selves to the project.  They knew the nature of being happy, they rested in between exercise, they greeted me every morning as if it was the happiest moment of their lives and the very first time they had seen my face or watched the sun come up.  I had something to learn watching them and Be-ing with them.

I learned that it is essential to take care of myself first and foremost.  That if I deeply care about the wellbeing of others or mass consciousness I must tend to the wellbeing of my “self” in order to advocate for anyone else.  You cannot assist anything you are not already feeling in yourself.  If you want to be advantage to others you need to be an advantage to yourself.  I am never an advantage to myself or anyone else when I allow the feelings of over work, stress, anxiety or fear to be part of any moment.

So, being lazy means to relax and feel into my life at that moment, create a process of pleasure with my “work” and to not exert energy to make any one thing happen.  Exertion suggests that I believe that I am the only one to do what is needed.  Now that flies in the face of our American work ethic doesn’t it?  Especially when we have such a flawed premise in our society which says “the more you DO the more you are WORTH.”  What this new perspective says is “the better you feel, the more you allow” and the more you allow the better the outcome.  This is a powerful and clear intent:  Allowing instead of efforting.

Being lazy means to give myself permission to allow the law of manifestation to fill in the grid of my dream and vision with all the things that my over-efforting can squeeze out, like coincidence, serendipity, spirit, destiny, new people wanting to help, opportunities and simply, the unknown.  Then to make room for the Universal truth of manifestation to take root.  To have a high vibrational frequency that, like a magnet, will attract what you desire.

So, here is what I learned and I am passing it on with delight.  I call these the Six Steps to Being Lazy.  You might do these every day, to start your day or end your day before you go to sleep or better yet, both.

1.  Remember the vibrational alignment you want to achieve between your dream and your daily work. If you are clear that joy, love, adventure or being on your creative edge is what your dream is truly about then be clear that these are the experiences and ultimately the feelings and emotions you desire and deserve in the work you do toward achieving your vision

2.  Meditate at least 15 minutes a day to empty your busy mind and invite these feelings of joy and love to fill you.  Meditation opens the door to allowing.

3.  Go outside no matter the weather, pay attention and find things to acknowledge with gratitude.  AND do this out loud.  On your walk, in your garden or as the wind is howling and rain is on it’s way, notice what is all around you and acknowledge everything that touches you:  “You are my favorite flower, you are the most beautiful bird, you are the most exciting sky, and you are my favorite tree, my most treasured vegetable in the garden, the most beautiful chicken, frog, dragonfly or next door neighbor.”  If you are walking your dog, speak with him or her about how you love and appreciate them, their beauty and their sacrifice in life to love you and only you.  As you speak this gratitude and appreciation out loud you are completely rebooting your energy and raising both the vibrational frequency of you and everything around you.  You are making your own heart-music in the world.

4.  Buy a notebook for your “Positive Attributes”.  Make five different subjects and write all the positive aspects of them:  Relationships, my dream, my children, my body, my friends, my love life, my talents and gifts.  Find five themes or subjects in your life that are very meaningful to you and then list all the positive attributesyou can think of to say about your love life, your body or your talents.  Fill the page.  And then re-read and add to it daily.  This Self-Appreciation and Self Love will completely rewire your cells.

5.  Look upward and outward.  Go outside or stand at a window and acknowledge that there are “universal forces” that are focused right at you.  Consciously acknowledge that you are the object of their positive attention.  Say out loud:   “I am grateful and I will be in conscious awareness that you too are right here with me, assisting, inspiring, guiding, having fun with me, supporting me, helping me, loving me, showing me, caring for me, surprising me and say it over and over again.  Get into an endless loop of this Universal acknowledgement.

6.  Hug the world.  A friend of mine pointed out that it is important to hug for thirty seconds or more, with eight or more people every day.  Now this is a challenge in our touch phobic society.  But, the heart as the largest electromagnetic field in the body can entrain with another heart when hugging, which then can create greater health, a more vibrant immune system, the feelings of love and the feeling of safety  and belonging.

What we forget in our lives, on this one planet, is that all that we want for others and for ourselves already exists.  The only thing we truly have to DO is allow for it all to manifest and to relax all of our efforting, our reactivity, our fear and our contraction and simply let all our desires flow to us, at a rate that will astonish you.  So let’s all get really, really lazy.   Woof!

And stay tune for part two on the Tao of Dog.

 

White Lions and all the Big Cats

Community-Based Conservation Saves Big Cats in Iconic African Park

Posted by Brian Clark Howard of National Geographic News on February 8, 2012

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Playful lion cubs

The Masai Mara in Kenya supports a spectacular array of African wildlife, although conflicts between predators and villagers have caused losses on both sides.

Text and photos by Kate and Marcus Westberg

The Masai Mara is a place of great beauty and drama where people and wildlife live side by side. While having a savannah full of wildlife on your doorstep seems amazing to us, living with lions is never easy.

With the generous support of the National Geographic Big Cats Initiative, the Anne K. Taylor Fund (AKTF) team is helping to reduce the growing conflict between humans and wild animals by fortifying Maasai livestock enclosures, or bomas, with wire fencing.

Anne and her team encourage and assist the local Maasai to be actively involved in conservation, building a sense of trust through community work that includes building schools, feeding children and introducing solar power.

Building better bomas

Cattle, along with shoats (sheep and goats), are the primary livelihood of the Maasai, who value livestock above all else. The risk of retaliatory killings of marauding lions and other big predators is high when there is so much to lose.

A traditional boma made of thorn trees is a frail defence against attack from predators who are hungry for their next meal or need to feed their family. Herders tell us that they are often forced to keep watch all night with the threat of wild animals lurking just outside the firelight.

Fencing livestock enclosures with wire barriers keeps predators at bay and livestock safe from harm. Wire fencing provided by AKTF is used to fortify the boma, with two-feet underground and six to ten-feet above. This prevents lions from pushing through, leopards climbing over and honey badgers and hyenas digging underneath.

Herders tell us that they can now sleep peacefully knowing that their livestock is being protected. At this time, over two hundred bomas have been fortified and the wire fencing continues to be 100% successful in preventing predation when it has been installed properly.

A leopard recently broke into an unprotected boma where it decimated a herd of shoats. In revenge, Maasai warriors from the local village hunted down the leopard and shot it with a bow and arrow. Sadly, this terrible loss on both sides could have been prevented if the boma had been fortified.

The demand for chainlink fencing is growing by the day, with an increasing amount of requests flooding in from Maasai livestock owners who have seen with their own eyes the effectiveness of building better bomas.

Protection against poachers

The anti-poaching team are passionate about protecting the rich and diverse wildlife of the Masai Mara, working against all odds to track down poachers, remove snares and rescue trapped or injured wildlife from a slow and horrible death.

While on patrol with Elias Kamande and his team, we discovered a poacher camp filled with old bones and a recently slaughtered buffalo. The poor animal had been driven into a dry riverbed and speared to death. We quickly went in pursuit of the poachers, but unfortunately they escaped into a nearby forest.

Secured bomas provide better protection to wildlife.

Elias tells us that poachers have been taking advantage of the heavy rains to hunt on foot, while the anti-poaching team has been battling against terrible road conditions and knee-deep mud to help save wild animals from terrible injuries caused by snares, arrows, or spears.

Walking back to the car we met a pair of big male lions prowling through the tall grass. With beating hearts we stood our ground, but they soon moved off at the sight of us. It was breathtaking to be so close to these magnificent creatures in the wild, an animal whose very existence is being threatened.

A brighter future

It was a joy to visit the Oloomongi school and see all of the happy, smiling faces of the Maasai children. Everyone wanted to be photographed and a crowd of eager students quickly surrounded us.

The teachers tell us that the children are staying in school longer and getting better grades with the school lunch program, as they are now able to focus on their study without feeling tired or hungry. The Insta porridge provides the energy and sustenance they need to make it through the day.

The new classroom, after much hard work and a few delays due to the heavy rain, has been completed in time for the first term, opening its doors to many more children who will have a brighter future through education.

Power to the people

After sunset the Masai Mara is covered in a blanket of darkness except for the glowing of firelight from the inside of huts. Together with Solar Aid, AKTF is bringing renewable energy to the Maasai, using the power of the sun.

So far, solar systems have been installed in two schools, allowing for longer hours, evening classes and after-school study sessions. Solar power is also being used to set up income-generating activities to go towards textbooks, classroom furniture, and improving school buildings.

There is a high demand for clean and affordable light in the homes of the surrounding Maasai villages, with part of the profit from household solar going back into the feeding program at the school.

Clean cooking

Biofuel made out of cow dung is another energy-producing project that has everyone in the village talking. Rather than chopping down firewood, the Maasai can produce biogas from the manure from their cows. This keeps the village, or manyatta, cleaner by recycling waste and is much more eco-friendly.

The Maasai women tell us that using a gas cooker to prepare food and boil water saves them from having to walk long distances in search of firewood, giving them more time to do other chores and look after their children.

Getting a green thumb

The women’s horticulture project involves sack gardens that are low cost, easy to put together and simple to maintain with a little care. The vegetables grown this way add much-needed nutrition to the traditional Maasai diet of blood, milk, and meat.

Planting in a sack prevents wildlife such as eland, buffalo, and impala from raiding the garden, thereby decreasing the risk of revenge killings by poisoning or spearing. The Maasai women tell us that they can now feed their children without worrying that all their hard work will be destroyed.

Conservation strategies also seek to educate and improve the lives of local children. Ultimately, local people must benefit from healthy ecosystems.

Cultural craftwork

The women’s beading project, led by Joseph Mpatiany and his wife Regina, provides much-needed work and community support while following a tradition that has lasted for generations passed on from mother to daughter. Maasai women from different villages come together to make brightly coloured hand-beaded bracelets in intricate patterns.

This beautiful beadwork is then sold to individuals and FEED projects, which in turn feeds millions of children in Kenya and elsewhere through the UN World Food Programme.

Yearn to learn

AKTF also conducts adult education classes, including English, mathematics and Kiswahili, along with lessons on how to run a small business. Enoch Mobisa, who runs the classes, tells us that the teaching embraces the Maasai way of life while encouraging the community to adapt to modern-day Kenya.

Care for the community

At the heart of all the wonderful work done by Anne and her team lies the importance of saving wildlife. The local lion pride has just welcomed a new litter of cubs that is heart-warming to see. Protecting livestock enclosures to prevent predation and the resultant retaliatory killings, gives these lions a better chance of survival.

Community support is essential for the success of the boma project, which is why AKTF is so active in the local community. Working together with the Maasai is the only way to bring about real and lasting change and, in doing so, protect the big cats.

Kate and Marcus Westberg work with the Anne K. Taylor Fund. For more photographs and stories from Marcus & Kate, please visit www.lifethroughalens.org. 

White Lions Homeland: New Site from Global White Lions Protection Trust

Please visit this amazing new site from Linda and Jason Tucker on their work with the White Lions.  This is the most important website to continually get updated information on the White Lions.  Please make this a priority and visit often.

http://www.whitelionshomeland.org

WHITE LIONS ON THE BRINK OF EXTINCTION :

• HOME
• ABOUT WHITE LIONS
• LINDA’S STORY
• CANNED HUNTING
• MEET THE PRIDES
• DONATE
• CONTACT

MARAH, THE ROYAL, AKERU PRIDES

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• MARAHThe first White Lion back to the wild. Born Christmas day 2000 in a hunting farm, died free on Easter 2007.
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• ZIHRA Daughter of Marah, matriarch of the Royal pride
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• MANDLA  Named after Nelson Mandela, Zihra’s mate and patriarch of the Royal pride
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• ZUKHARA Son of Zihra and Mandla – named in honor of magnificent male who was trophy hunted
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• MATSIENG Son of Zihra and Mandla. African name equivalent to Hercules or “star Hunter”
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• NEBU Daughter of Zhira and Mandla – Name derives from the word for Egyptian Gold from which Ankh was made
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• LETABA Son of Marah, Akeru Pride with brother Regeus. Not allowed to reproduce because of land constrictions
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• REGEUSSon of Marah, Akeru Pride with brother Letaba not allowed to reproduce because of land constrictions

Exhibit Honoring Our Deep Connection with Animals and Nature

These videos are from the amazing exibit of Ashes and Snow. The art exibit migrates all around the world to show the dynamics of the animal species to the public through the eyes of Gregory Colbert. This  has been the most visited exibit in history of any living artist.  It is a nomadic museum which travels to different parts of the globe. This is simply one of the YouTube videos that you can find.  Please also visit the website for Ashes and Snow.

Fabulous New Video on White Lions

This is a 6 min. YouTube video submitted to a photographic contest on the White Lions.  A Must to see.  Maya

News on White Lion Pride

May 5th 2011: Royal Pride thriving in the Wild and ready for next steps!

The Royal Pride is doing fantastically in their natural habitat, and they are ready for the exciting next steps as the white lion conservancy expands!

With Zihra leading the way, the Royal Pride has honed the necessary skills to survive and dominate in their natural environment. The pride has hunted prey as large as adult male kudu, waterbuck, zebra and eland. A few months back the Royal trio – Nebu, Matsieng and Zukhara – went on a couple of solo hunting missions and showed that they have what it takes, when they successfully hunted an adult wildebeest in each instance. Mandla held his own when he was confronted face-to- face by the neighbouring Kapama male lion (8 yr old wild born black-maned tawny lion) in a territorial dispute. And this morning Mandla showed his mettle when he led a warthog hunt, excavating a huge warthog boar from its night-time burrow – Zihra having taught Mandla and their 3 offspring the skill of hunting warthog and avoiding their razor sharp tusks that can inflict lethal injury.

In honoring the natural social organization that exists in lion prides, the two subadult males – Matsieng & Zukhara – are ready to leave their natal pride to establish their own territory and pride. A protected territory within their natural habitat awaits them. Meanwhile Mandla and Zihra will have another litter of cubs, ensuring the continuation of their genetic lineage that is of the highest pedigree, and the daughter of the Queen, Princess Nebu will assist Zihra to raise the cubs.

The genetic research to find the unique code for the white lion that is critical to having the white lions protected by law, is now well underway thanks to the incredibly generous donations of Andrew Harvey’s Sacred Warriorship School, and the Corelight Brazilian Group – special thanks go to Brad and Leslie, Jill and Andrew, Paulo and Chris; João and Sueli; Joan Kedziora, Dr Linda Bender, Donalea and Dianne, Paule & her husband, and Debbie Smith Berlin.

With the ongoing support of our inner circle, members, and some extraordinary donors, the WLT is set to further expand its conservancy and the protected area for the white lions. Thus the need to step up our fundraising campaigns for the growing ‘running costs’ of the greater white lion conservancy. But there is no greater reward than seeing a 14 yr old male lion (Mandla) who had a price on his head to be ‘canned hunted’, living free and hunting with his pride. And dosing like a king in the afternoon sun.

Life Turned on End

My daughter referred to me as a Cougar this morning at 8am.  She is not used to her mother being alone in the world without a mate, so we laughed and laughed until call waiting buzzed in at 8:32.  I finished my call and punched in my friend Penny on the other line.  She said, “Can you talk a moment, did you hear about the Cougar (Mountain Lion) in Downtown Tulsa last night?”.  My heart sank and I expected what I had come to feel all too often, that drop in the heart, that catch in the breath, expecting a tale of animal abuse by humans. “No”, I softly replied.  “Well you are going to want to hear this Maya”, and she began to tell me about a female Mountain Lion who had been in a tree in the backyard of a North Tulsa family and had been captured and taken to the Tulsa Zoo last night right about the time that golf ball hail was pummeling my home.  But, that was not the whole of it.  My friend said that as she was waking that morning, you know that twilight time of between sleep and waking, a female Mountain Lion came to her and said, “I am here for Maya.”.  That is why she was calling me….because the Cougar was calling me.  I began to weep.  This was not the first time a big cat had broken into my life right at a time I was heart sick, heart aching and questioning my place in this perilous world or whether I had the strength and the faith to do all I am called to do in this life.  The Universe right on time and unmistakably direct.

Having just returned from Africa where there was no line drawn between nature, animals and humans, where the veil of fear that we are all connected was non existant, and where I found I fully embodied myself for the first time in my 60 years on this planet, I was not stunned by this news about the Mountain Lion and I was grateful and hopeful.  A place I had nearly lost in myself after returning to Tulsa to be met as I got off the plane to news of the deep loss of a friend and the crisis of my mother being rushed to the hospital.  No time for jet lag, no time to take a breath or ponder the inevitable question, “How God do I integrate all that I experienced in Africa with my life in Tulsa.  How do I continue to embody my own certainty of the fabric of life being so much more vast than we ever knew, while I live life a moment at a time?”  There was not time to pose the question. The test began before I could change my shoes and hop in a car.

Now, nearly a month since I arrived home, my grieving over the friend I love and nursing my mother through heart failure has led me to a new adventure I had not anticipated.  My mother coming home to my home…to me…to die.  I moved here three and a half years ago and lived with my mother for a year as she was dying. She did not.  I moved to Tulsa.  And yes it is true what they say, if you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans.

And what does this have to do with a Mountain Lion, a Cougar being found in a backyard of Tulsa and breaking into my life?  This is the miracle of listening to the animals I want to share with you.  Since listening to the animals is the same thing as listening to the heart of your own true nature.  All truth lies there.  Here is where this young Mountain Lion led me this morning. Please take the journey with me.

I hung up the phone with my friend and knew I needed to Channel the young female.  I was nervous since the last time this happened it was a large Male Lion who led me to Africa…somewhere I had never intended to be and that changed the course of my life forever.  I wiped my eyes and made a cup of tea.  Quietly breathing I asked for guidance and then held an image of this Cougar in my minds eye and the eye of my heart.  Here she came bounding into full view.  “What is your name?”  I asked.   Ursa, you can call me Ursula.  This name reveals itself as my story unfolds as to why Ursula.  Then I asked, “Are you here to speak with me?”  “Yes!” she replied.  Here is what she said.

“You have become distracted Maya and it is  understandable with the life you are having that you would be unable to attend to the gifts you discovered in Africa.  But time is of the essence in every way.  We are all here to teach you.  You are here to teach also.   You need to become far more serious with who you are and not run away from the gift you have.  The caretaking you are doing for people who need you is not the problem.  This too is part of your path on this earth but we are needing your voice and we need it now.  I am your guardian here in Tulsa.  Even if I am at the zoo, I am bringing with me the power of my specie to assist you in difficult times and to protect you.  There are no White Lions in Oklahoma, but I am here.  So, you will need to make me a visible part of your life and create the space to come to meet with me in your inner plane, so that I might tell you what you need to know.  When you see me you see you.  Courage, instinct, the ability to shape shift are aspects of yourself you need to cultivate more and more since times will be very difficult physically on your planet in the coming days.

Your mother is part of the process of you listening to yourself.  She will be with you which is as it should be…creating your own extended pride of sorts.  The time will be short as you do the preparation you need for what is coming next in your life.  Be open, vigilant, expectant. I will lead you to understanding about why your mother is coming to live and die with you.  Trust me.

I want you to read about Cougar and Mountain Lion and see what resonates with you.  I am a very maternal Mountain lion, sensual, but very loyal and solitary.  As you see I am here alone, not with a group or a family or even a mate.  Like you.   Use your power of your solitary self to strengthen you inner core of faith in self and in the Divine in each of us.  All of the animals bring a particular gift and ability to the planet.  You will be more involved with us over time.

And Now the Story Unfolds

Q.  What can I do to help you?

You can find me.  Visit and sit outside where I am, ask about me and where I came from.  I am also here to remind the others here at the zoo about their wild nature.  The animals are down hearted and not in themselves here.  They sense what is happening on the planet and are unable to understand or do anything.  They cannot move to safe places either.  They cannot relate to one another.  I am here to talk to them as well.  Go to your Internet and look for the videos or the articles about inter-specie communication in Seattle, about what is happening in Hawaii with the Dolphins, about the miracles of animals in Tsunamis or natural disasters.  The Seattle Connection will lead you to what you need to truly hear.

So I did just that and cast my fate into cyberpace locating a place in Washington called www.interspecies.com who work with music and Whales.  I instantly found an article on “Cougar Existentialism”.  Odd.  But I knew better.  Here is what I found for your consideration.  Please visit the site for the full story of the Cougar in their camp.

“A confrontation with a mountain lion made me recognize that humanity’s longing for serene wilderness is a cultural novelty first popularized two hundred and fifty years ago by a coterie of European intellectuals led by Rousseau. Before Rousseau, the dark forest was regarded not only as a place to be avoided, but as a being to be appeased. Thirty thousand years ago, caves scattered high in the Swiss Alps served as Neanderthal ceremonial sites where a priesthood attempted to placate the spirit of the cave bear, and thus of the entire dark forest. Cabinets full of bear skulls offer us the relics of the earliest known religion. Significantly, the exuberance of this Neanderthal cult may have resulted in the eventual extinction of the cave bear. Joseph Campbell concluded that the demise of the bears not only destroyed the cult of appeasement but, by a leap of imagination, may also be understood as the source of the destruction of the Neanderthal race as well.

How does this same circular pattern relate to our own civilization? We drive predators out of the deep forest by relentless clear cutting and then shoot them in so-called unrelated incidents when, seeking food, they migrate into populated areas. Tragically, the place where lions lie down with lambs exists nowhere else but the minds of idealists like Thoreau. Every instinct and muscle of a cougar is honed for killing. Even the environmentalists who work so hard to save predators do not actually want one living nearby. The truth of the matter is that predators who co-inhabit areas where human beings wish to visit or live must alter their behavior (which is impossible), or risk extermination (which is occurring everywhere).

In her own need to understand, Linda concluded that “our” was killed for “following its bliss”. It simply means that cougars get shot for being cougars and not for any act they do out of character. Those cougars exhibiting any measure of curiosity or outgoing behavior towards humans have always been the first ones shot. Likewise, only the stealthiest and those most fearful of the human species survived. The predators thus become what we make of them: co-evolved into creatures of the shadow world admired for their strength and cunning, but justifiably feared and eventually annihilated for the crime of inhibiting human recreational opportunities. If there had ever been even a few token, friendly, (possibly even ambassador) cougars who sought out human contact as dolphins do today; then no one will ever know about it unless they read between the lines of native mythology.”

And there in the rest of the story was a short sentence referring to a woman I had only heard of, Ursula LeGuin, a famous fantasy writer who wrote a short story entitled, May’s Lion.  My heart got very quiet since, like the lion, I could smell something coming my way.  Again for your consideration.

Summary of “May’s Lion”

May’s Lion is really two stories in one: the first is narrated by a woman who knew May, the story’s protagonist, when the narrator was a child, and she retells the story May told her about the time a sick mountain lion came into her yard. Uncertain of what to do, she called the sheriff’s office. Police officers shot the lion because, according to May, “there was nothing else they knew how to do.”  (Just like the Cougar shot in Washington)

The second story is the narrator’s fictionalized recounting of May’s story. In this version, May  finds the lion in her yard, and in spite of her own fear she believes he has come for a reason. She offers the animal a bowl of milk, and sings softly to soothe her.  She realizes “She had come for company in dying; that was all.” This she offers him, and the lion dies there in her yard.

Commentary by the Editor

While this story does not deal directly with the doctor-patient relationship or the care of dying (human) patients, the two versions of the tale offer a springboard for discussing the nature of caregiving at the end of life. What does it mean to accompany someone in his or her dying? What fears come up, both for the caregiver and the cared-for? How can the physician observer relinquish control, honoring the dignity and spirit of the patient? How can a physician determine a patient’s needs when the patient is unable to articulate them? When might drastic interventions be called for?

Which version offers the lion a more humane end? (Although LeGuin is clearly on the side of version 2, in which the lion dies naturally, an argument might certainly be made for the “putting to sleep” of terminally ill animals–and people?) The last lines of the story alone give readers something to think about: “She came to you. She brought her death to you, a gift; but the men with the guns won’t take gifts, they think they own death already.  And so they took from you the honor she did you, and you felt that loss.”

I was stunned, in awe, my own healing in the words, the doubt of my choices, my losses, my dashed plans, my aloneness, my fear of bringing my dying mother home with me, swept away.  Calm tears roll down my face as I write this and the weather outside is stormy, lightening nearby, thunder crashing.

This is the lesson.  There is an eye to every storm in our personal lives, a place to consciously stand as the storm of change clamors around us. Within a Tornado it is called the Cone of Silence.  This is the still place that all of us have to occupy in the center of our hearts.  From that place all things are possible.   There is a place in the heart to endure our collective reality on the planet and there is a place of calm and serenity in the process of death.  Fear is the only expression of the mind that can change all of that to a lie.

Ursa came for a reason.  It was personal.  It was about our collective fear, it was about accompanying death.  She is now at the Tulsa Zoo.  It was her choice and her sacrifice of freedom to walk into a human back yard.  This one Lion cared about me, about my mother, about me living in my power and about the healing of the planet.  I can do no less than she has.  Sacrifice everything for the exact reasons.

So this story has only begun.  I will be sending you more of the story as I connect with this solitary Cougar.  I will also follow this by sharing a message I received that some of you have already read from the Hathor’s, which has all to do with what you have read so far I believe.  A comfort in times of chaos and inner turmoil.  A map to steer by, like the Big and Little Dipper.

And to add to the serendipitous nature of our universe here is what Ursa and Ursula mean and what Mountain Lion energy is all about.  Please write with comment or questions.

Much love to you all,  Maya Christobel

And a Friend, Joe Garrison, and wonderful writer, reminded me of this poem I have loved.

When the animals come to us,

asking for our help,

will we know what they are saying?

When the plants speak to us

in their delicate, beautiful language

will we be able to answer them?

When the planet herself

sings to us in our dreams,

will we be able to wake ourselves, and act?

– Gary Lawless, Earth Prayers

“Mountain Lion is a take charge totem or energy.  Mountain Lion people are such natural leaders that others tend to take their leadership for granted.  If no one else is leading, Mountain Lion will naturally take over. Mountain Lion is not often allowed to show vulnerability.  Mountain Lion is graceful and balances intention, strength and responsibility.  Others are always safe when Mountain Lion is in charge.  However, Mountain Lion does not think twice about taking on all the work.  Examine whether you are delegating effectively.  When you do everything for others, you train them to depend on you.

It is the female Mountain Lion who is the hunter.  It involves lessons in the use of leadership.  It is the unusual individual who has not abused power the first time in a position of leadership.  Mountain Lion is an energy that cannot be caged.  If you try to manipulate and control a Mountain Lion person, it will backfire. Mountain Lion needs to be free and unfettered.”

The Meaning of Ursula, Ursa

The name reaches toward our heavens and relates to the star constellation the Seven Sisters as well and the Big and Little Dipper, Polaris and our planet Earth. As you may have read about the White Lions they too say they are brought here as Star Children. Your examination of the deep truths is encouraged.

History and mythology

Ursa Minor is commonly visualized as a baby bear with an unusually long tail. The tail was said to have been lengthened from that usually expected for a bear, because of its being held by the tail and spun around the pole.(The center of the sky), also related to Polaris and the North Star.

Previously, Ursa Minor was considered to be just seven close stars, mythologically regarded as sisters. In early Greek mythology, the seven stars of the Little Dipper were considered to be the Hesperides, daughters of Atlas. Together with the nearby constellations of Boötes, Ursa Major, and Draco, it may have formed the origin of the myth of the apples of the Hesperides, which forms part of the Labours of Hercules.

In earliest times, Ursa Minor was named the Dragon’s wing, and was considered a part of Draco. The dragon’s wing as anasterism is now long forgotten.

In other cultures, Ursa Minor was the hole in which the Earth’s axle found its bearing. In Hindu mythology, the Pole Star isDhruva (the word means “pole” today), and there is a story behind him becoming a star”

Ursula is a female given name of Latin origin, meaning “little female bear”.

Ursula (crater), crater on Titania, a moon of Uranus.

Saint Ursula (“little female bear” in Latin) is a group of holy virgins who on some uncertain date were killed at Cologne.Saint Ursula (“little female bear” in Latin) is a British Christian saint. Her feast day in the Catholic Church is October 21. Because of the lack of sure information about the anonymous group of holy virgins who on some uncertain date were killed at Cologne.

The Hathor’s Message

Transition States of Consciousness

Definitions

Chaotic Nodes are clusters of chaotic events.  According to the Hathors, Earth has entered a Chaotic Node and, as a result, we can expect ever-increasing levels of chaos—including but not limited to earthquakes, volcanic activity, aberrant weather patterns, ecological distress, as well as economic, social and political turmoil.

Transition States of Consciousness are what the Hathors call the in-between places when a major loss has occurred and we find ourselves temporarily poised between an old reality that has passed away and a new reality that has not yet fully formed.

Perceptual markers are a term the Hathors use to describe how we make sense of our world and navigate through our lives using our five senses.

The Message

By their very nature Chaotic Nodes tend to generate transition states of consciousness. Transition states of consciousness emerge when perceptual markers disappear. And when this occurs you enter a null zone in which your old reality no longer exists, or has changed radically, while your new reality has not yet come into existence. 

Due to the fact that you have entered an even more intense phase of the Chaotic Node, we wish to share with you our views regarding transition states, in the hopes that you will be able to utilize this knowledge for your own benefit.

For our purposes we can divide transition states into three primary categories: 1) personal transition states, 2) collective transition states and 3) physical death.

Personal Transition States

Let us turn our attention to personal transition states first, for your personal perception is the pivotal point around which your perceived reality operates. 

Your perception of reality is fundamentally a personal creation. It is influenced by the collective perception of your culture, time, place and circumstance, but fundamentally your perception of what is real and not real is a creation—your creation. 

Your perception of reality depends upon habits of perception, if you are like most persons. You are used to experiencing certain realities in your life and these tell you where you are, so to speak. You wake up in the morning and you look to the clock and the collective perception of time is immediately before you. Your choice to engage this illusion, or not, is a personal one. Indeed, one of the signs of spiritual mastery is the ability to navigate cultural illusions successfully while clearly understanding their nature. 

When a situation in your personal life shifts dramatically there is a tendency for the perceptual markers to disappear or re-organize themselves.

Let us present one possible scenario. If you have worked at the same job for many years you have built your life around the demands of this position. You eat lunch at a certain time. You return home at a certain time. You interact with others in specific ways, tailored to fit the demands of your job. 

If that job were suddenly removed, unexpectedly, those perceptual markers would disappear. There would be no need to get up at a certain time, eat at a certain time, return home at a certain time, and the people you interacted with for the bulk of your waking hours would no longer be available to you.  

This situation is inherently disorienting for most people. Again, the perceptual markers have disappeared. 

The same phenomenon occurs when any radical shift in your personal life takes place. If a relationship that is important to you suddenly ends the perceptual markers of that relationship disappear, and you enter the transition state of consciousness. 

If you have a health crisis and your physical life is affected in radical ways the perceptual markers disappear, and this can be disorienting. You have entered a transition state of consciousness.

As the Chaotic Node increases in its intensity more and more persons will experience the shock waves of their old reality crumbling before them. What was certain in their lives is now uncertain. What was solid ground is seen to be no longer solid. We mean this both figuratively and literally. 

There is another wave of transition states that is emerging from this Chaotic Node. It is already affecting many persons, but its affects will spread out in consciousness much like a tsunami. 

This particular transition state has to do with the collapse of the collective lies of your culture. Increasingly more and more of you will see behind the shadow play; you will sense the puppet masters, and although their identities may elude you, you will see with increasing reality that aspects of your culture are a manipulation, a limitation, and in many cases, downright lies. 

The lie that we are speaking to here is not the lie of economics, the lie of wars, or the lie of confining religions, but the lie of your identity—a lie that ensures your imprisonment. This lie is the belief and cultural assertion that you are nothing more than a physical human being and that there are, in fact, no other realms of being beyond your earthy experience. 

The recognition of this lie is a harbinger of personal freedom, but in its beginning stages it can be quite disorienting. This is because multidimensional experiences are so different from your earthly day-to-day experiences.  If you find yourself marooned between your earthly and multidimensional life, you have entered a transition state of consciousness. 

Our purpose in sharing this information is to suggest a practical course of action during transition states of consciousness.

When you personally enter a powerful transition state you might, like many human beings, remain stuck in overwhelm. Many individuals find the shock of realizing that their perceptual markers have disappeared, along with the reality that they assumed to be real, deeply disturbing.  

Due to the fact that time is accelerating—and by this we mean more events taking place in less time—remaining in a state of shock or overwhelm is a psychological indulgence which you cannot afford. The essential point we wish to convey here is that regardless of the nature of the transition state, whether it is personal in nature having to do with changes in your personal life, or due to recognizing your cultural manipulation—you are the creator of your reality. 

You may have stories to explain why suddenly your life is bereft, but these are just stories. You may blame other persons, situations, or institutions for your problem, but this is misplaced responsibility. Your stories may be true and there may be other persons, situations or institutions to blame, but when you have entered a transition state of consciousness, you are at the central vortex of a powerful creative process. There is no reason or need to cry over “spilt milk” as one of your folk sayings goes. What is lost is lost. What is gone is gone. 

Now the central question becomes, “What will you do?”

Will you remain stunned, in shock, in overwhelm, anger and sadness? Or will you step into your identity as a creator of your life?

To those of you who choose to remain in lower states of consciousness, we have no comment. 

Our comments are for those of you courageous enough and bold enough to step into your identity as creators. If you are one of these, here is what we suggest.

When everything disappears, meaning the perceptual markers of your former reality, understand that you have entered into a void point. 

A void point is a critical transition between an old reality and a new one. That which was, has ended. Instead of regretting the loss, you accept the void. This is, for many persons, a challenging undertaking, because in the void point there is nothing that can be done. You must simply be a witness to it, and to yourself, for in this no-man’s land there are no perceptual markers.

Be careful what new markers you put into place, for these ideas and beliefs will be the stars in the new sky of your mind, and you shall navigate your way into these new times by the stars (thoughts and beliefs) that you have placed in the heavens of your own consciousness. So be wise when you go about creating new stars, our fellow navigators of the Mystery.

Collective Transition States of Consciousness

The human collective, from our perspective, is currently like an immense cosmic serpent shedding its old skin, writhing and twisting, scraping off old encumbrances. Some of these take the form of economic turmoil. Some of them are political in nature. Some of them are the collapse and transformation of cultural institutions. And some of these writhings and twistings are related to earthquake and volcanic activity, as well as aberrant weather patterns.

As natural and manmade disasters increase, more and more of you will find yourselves entering transition states of consciousness. Obviously those who experience an earthquake, volcano or destructive weather directly are the most prone to enter transition states, but those of you who are empathic in nature can experience the brunt of a natural or manmade disaster as if you were physically present.

Indeed as the veil that separates human consciousnesses from one another dissolves, more and more of you will experience the changes taking place in the world at a visceral level.

We now wish to address the question of a new creation for those of you who may find yourself in the aftermath of a natural or manmade disaster, such as an earthquake, a volcanic eruption, or destructive weather patterns.

If the destructive force is strong enough, the perceptual markers of your former reality may no longer exist. Your home or place of business may no longer be there. You may find yourself dealing with shortages of food and water, and there are any number of variables that can come together to create a state of shock and overwhelm.

We wish to be very clear in what we are about to say. Shock and overwhelm in the face of disasters are a natural mammalian response, and if you are to transcend and transform the moment you must reach upward to higher dimensions of your own existence, your own being, to those realms of consciousness that are beyond time and space.

To the extent that you are able to incorporate the transcendent aspects of your being as part of the equation for your survival, you will be able to mitigate the shock and overwhelm.

The central feature that needs to be identified in the midst of chaos, any form of chaos, is the portal of opportunity.

This opportunity for survival or for a new life may present itself in ways you do not expect. This is because the perceptual markers are no longer in place and your consciousness may not recognize an opportunity when it presents itself.

There is a deep-seated human habit, or tendency, that wishes to conform new realities to those of the past. This would be an unfortunate habit to engage in these situations.

There is much we could say about the hyper-dimensional realities involved in choice making during chaotic events, but we wish to “cut to the chase” and give that which will be most practical. Perhaps some other time we can share with you our philosophical musings about your infinite nature and the infinite possibilities that reside within you. However, for now, let us be a little simplistic and give you a formula to recognize and create opportunities for new life and a new destiny when they present themselves to you.

Assuming that you have entered a transition state of consciousness and that you have befriended the void point and are more or less comfortable with the great uncertainty of your situation, this is what we suggest.

Be curious and expect miracles.

By entering a state of curiosity you engage an aspect of your mind that is free to move unfettered by expectation. It becomes very much like the mind of a child, and it is this innocence—which is not the same as childishness—that allows you to enter a vibratory state of consciousness, which greatly benefits you.

By holding the expectation of miracles you release the power of creation within you, and to the extent that you accomplish this you will find increasing incidences of serendipity, coincidences of benefit and unexpected treasures, whether they be physical in nature or mental and emotional.

This combination of curiosity about what will happen next joined with an expectation of miracles will move you rapidly from the void point to a new life, a new creation, regardless of what might be happening for those around you.

During collective transition states of consciousness it is helpful to remember that each person is the creator of his or her own reality, and in the midst of chaos people will make different choices and enter different personal realities.

Do not be swayed by those who enter lower vibratory realms. You cannot save them from themselves. Look upward and live upward with curiosity and an expectation of miracles, and even in the gravest of situations miracles can, and will, occur for you.

Physical Death

One of the greatest difficulties for embodied beings is the transition state of consciousness you call death. This is due to the fact that all perceptual markers, including the five senses, disappear. If a person identifies solely with his/her material existence, he or she will find this transition state to be most difficult. This is because what she or he identified with no longer exists.

Although the physical world continues on, there is no input into consciousness from the five senses. It is as if the world has vanished and the body along with it. The great I Am, the central feature of transcendent consciousness, no longer receives information from the body, the five senses, or the external world. This can be deeply disturbing and disorienting for someone who has not directly experienced the other realms of his or her being.

Metaphorically speaking, you are like a vast tree, a Tree of Life, with many branches and many, many leaves and blossoms, and your current physical existence is just one of these leaves and one of these blossoms.

When a person passes through the transition state of consciousness you call death there are several options. If you are in a spiritual tradition the central figure of which is a guru, avatar or savior, you can follow the path of this being into the vibratory realm of his/her consciousness. In some religions this is known as heaven.

If you follow the path of a guru, avatar or savior understand that you are entering into his/her heaven, her/his vibratory attainment, and by necessity you enter also into his/her limitations in consciousness.

From our perspective the universe is infinite in nature, and by this we refer not to external space but to the interdimensional realities of your universe, and there is no single being in existence, from our experience, who understands and embraces all that is.

If, however, you wish to join your guru/avatar/savior in the death realms we have a few suggestions. One is to mentally call upon his/her name. This is an ancient understanding encapsulated in the Egyptian term Ren, meaning name. When you call upon the name of a spiritual being an aspect of him/her is compelled to move toward you.

If, in that moment of encountering your guru/avatar/savior, he or she deems you worthy, you will be taken by him/her into his/her heavenly realm.

For those of you in eastern spiritual traditions there are mantras connected with specified deities. Chanting these mantras mentally during death, or in the death realms, has the same effect.

For those of you who are not part of a spiritual tradition that follows a guru, avatar or savior, then the transition state of consciousness called death offers other possibilities.

As with the other two transition states of consciousness, the death realm has a void point, and its dominant features are stillness (silence) and darkness. All possibilities exist within the Void, but no actuality is in existence. It is like the acorn of an oak tree. The oak, the giant tree itself, is potentially within the acorn, but it does not yet exist.

So when you find yourself in the Void, which you will recognize by the fact that you are utterly alone in darkness and utter stillness, know that you are in the central nexus of your creative powers.

What you choose to create next will determine the course of your destiny and what worlds you will inhabit or realms of existence you will reside in. This is a critical juncture.

Many persons frightened by the darkness move to the light prematurely. And what they do not realize is that in their yearning they create the light. A portal opens before them, like a tunnel, and they can move into this tunnel of light, encountering those they have known before, thereby entering back into embodiment or other vibratory realms of existence without having fully understood the consequences. This is certainly one option open to you, and one that is often taken.

Another option, however, is to remain at the void point, residing in the Void itself, becoming aware of your Self as pure consciousness—transcendent to all phenomena.

If you reside in this state of awareness long enough without the need to create something, you will discover your identity as the great I Am. And from this point of awareness you can choose the circumstances of your embodiment. You can choose the worlds you will inhabit or the realms of consciousness where you will reside.

This latter method gives you the greatest opportunities, though it is the most difficult for most people. And the reason for this difficulty has to do with the fact that most humans find it uncomfortable to not have a body. The yearning for a body and the experience of the material world often draws a person from the Void prematurely.

In summation, due to the intensifying phases of the Chaotic Node many of you will find yourselves in transitional states of consciousness. Regardless of what level you find yourself engaged in, whether it be your personal life, the collective experience, or the transition state you call death, know that you are the creator of your reality.

Living by Voices We Will Never Hear

We need another and a wiser

and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals…

We patronize them for their incompleteness,

for their tragic fate of having taken form so far below ourselves.

And therein we err and err greatly.

For the animal shall not be measured by man.

In a world older and more complete than ours,

they move finished and complete,

gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained,

living by voices we shall never hear.

They are not brethren; they are not underlings;

they are other nations,

caught with ourselves in the net of life and time,

fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth.

Henry Beston 1888-1968