Unbound

The unwinding has begun.  Ancient chains unbound.

Globalization and Culture - Are there eggs?

Assignment from my Globalization 420 class.

I timidly walked up to the counter and asked, “Tiene huevos”?  The man I spoke to looked horrified and I immediately felt sick and wondered what I had said to so offend him.  It was my first week in Barquisimeto, Venezuela where I lived in the early 80s. As it turns out, when you want to buy eggs, you don’t ask, “Do you have eggs”?  You should say, “Are there eggs”? I had just asked this man if he had ovaries.

Living in Venezuela in my early twenties was my first real experience with cultural differences. Even though the people I met there were wonderful (some are still friends to this day), it was a shocking realization for me to see how very different that culture was from mine. In the article, "Culture and Globalization" by the Suny Levin Institute it states, "The fundamental source of conflict in this new world will not be primarily ideological or primarily economic. The great divisions among human kind and the dominating source of conflict will be cultural."

From the language they spoke, to the clothes they wore, everything seemed different. It was so easy for me to dislike what I saw and hence by default, the people themselves. But as I gradually learned to speak the Spanish they spoke - and not the version I had learned in school - I became acclimated to their way of life. To this day I am enamored by their language, music, food, and customs. I wonder what it will take to ease this world into the ever growing blending of boundaries, and the differences we face as we connect in ways that have never happened in the history of mankind. From my limited experience, I know it will take time and a desire to see past those differences. Then, and only then, can we appreciate and even love those who are different from us.

Weaving

Arepas

Plaza

My Relationship with Moss

I frequently listen to recorded books.  Last week I was browsing for a new book to “read” when Spirit lead me to Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses by Robin Wall Kimmerer.  I had just listened to another book of hers called, Braiding Sweetgrass. This is an excellent book that I recommend. I particularly like the concept of the Honorable Harvest.  

Kimmerer speaking on the Honorable Harvest

I’ll admit that I was confused when Spirit dropped the Gathering Moss book in my lap and said, “This is next.”  Kimmerer’s first book was a no-brainer as I have a long and loving connection with sweetgrass which I use for prayer and ceremony, but moss?  Frankly, I’d never really thought about moss other than, “Don’t slip on it when you’re hiking.” Yep, that was the extent of my relationship with moss.  

Kimmmerer, who is a scientist, has an amazing way of bringing science and Spirit together. She reveals that nature is not the concept of a resource to be used (and abused) but rather, a Being with whom we can communicate and commune in balanced harmony.  In Gathering Moss, she uses the languages of science, indigenous environmental philosophies, and personal stories to show how mosses live and how their lives are intertwined with countless other beings from salmon to humans.  It revealed to me a universe that I never knew existed.

And then came the moss meditation!  Every first Friday I participate in a monthly global water healing.  If you are paying attention, you will know that the water of this planet needs help.  I realize that we can feel overwhelmed and helpless in this endeavor. I know I do. But I also know that intention is everything.  And I intend to heal the waters. This beautiful group gathers Light Workers (which are all humans with good intentions!) to come together and focus our intention and love to clear the oceans and waters of toxicity, pollution, and radiation.  We intend to perfect balance in the waters so life can flourish there. All life depends on the ocean - it’s that important. Once a month we can call into a free meditation lead by a wide variety of capable healers. It is a meaningful experience and I recommend you check it out.  They have podcasted the last four and a half years of meditations.

Global Water Healing

So, yesterday I’m all settled at my alter with a candle burning and with focus on my breathing to shift my energy and prepare for the meditation.  This month’s facilitator begins by saying, “Today’s meditation is on moss.” WHAT?  Who does that?  I would have thought it was a joke, but of course I had been listening to the moss book.  What is going on here? All I can say is that the moss meditation was amazing.  If you want, you can experience it yourself at the link above.  Bliss out and be introduced to Moss. (January 4, 2019 podcast)

And by the way, if you want to listen to recorded books for free and you have a library card, you can do so with the phone app, OverDrive.  Hallelujah for libraries!

Outcomes

As words come tumbling out of my mouth with rote and certainty, I ask myself, “Whose words are those?”  Whose voice is in my head that demands absolute obedience to that statement? Horrified, I realized that sure enough, the voice is not my own.  Rather, it belongs to various authority figures of my past. “Horrified” because those people were abusers or those with belief systems I can no longer abide.  How to combat such a conundrum? I question and examine and investigate. What is truth? Who says so and why? If I’m listening to a voice (new or old) I scrutinize the speaker.  Are they kind? Are they knowledgeable on the subject on which they speak? Have they given me advice in the past, and how did that turn out? I look back and I look at outcome. It so clearly tells me who to listen to and who to trust.