Whales…

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Animals Divine Tarot

As many of you have already noticed, whales are in the news today, but not on account of anything good that has happened. On the contrary, a tragedy has happened at Sea World Orlando in the unfortunate death of one of their top trainers, Dawn Brancheau. For a more detailed accounting, please visit HERE to familiarize yourself with this sad story.

Sad. Sad in many ways. Sad because the whale is being blamed and talk of his euthanasia is being volleyed about, when it is clear that this whale was clearly not at fault. In fact, as I type these words with the news on I have just heard that Dawn had actually laid down in the water with this whale when it was common knowledge within this park and among the employees/trainers that this whale was not safe to be laying in the water with and that such a practice was clearly forbidden. What was Dawn thinking? I can understand that her love of the animal may have caused her to toss caution out the window, but had she thought ahead, she might have realized that sometimes we cannot let our love for animals put them or ourselves in danger. Common sense has to be at the forefront of animal welfare, especially where wild animals in captivity are concerned.

Just this morning, Patricia Cori started a news feed thread on Face book about working to get wild animals – especially whales – out of captivity and back where they belong…in the wild. I like her ideas and feel we should follow her lead and work at trying to get all wild animals back into their natural habitat. I ask and encourage you to visit her page and get involved in any way that you can. You can sign a petition HERE.

Tillikum

Tillikum

Bill Hemmer on FOX News this morning made a profound observation: that Tillikum = $$$. He is a breeder that has given Sea World 13 offspring since his captivity at their facility. And isn’t that the way most of these things go? Dollar signs always hold sway over everything else.  They are saying that Tilly may not survive in the wild and that a supported release might be the answer, but excuses are already being made. Again, money may be at the root of this mindset, as I feel there really is no excuse to keep wild animals in captivity, except for maybe to try and save an endangered species, and then it is questionable.

If you take a peek back in history, captive animals were a form of entertainment in an era of no other sensations, such as TV or movies. Captive animals were a cash cow back then as people lead boring lives and craved entertainment. Dancing bears, freak show oddities, circus animals were a big draw and meant big bucks for their owners/trainers/handlers. In this day and age, I don’t see why we need to retain this attitude. What with computer graphics, documentaries and such, the circus-like venue is not needed and is in fact outdated. Isn’t it time to move on?

I guess what really bothers me the most is that whenever a captive wild animal lashes out after having reached their limit of patience is that people always blame the animal. A kid gains entry into a tiger’s enclosure and teases and tortures a tiger and is consequently maimed and/or killed and they lash out at the tiger and kill it. An elderly chimpanzee attacks a neighbor, ripping off her face and hands, and they blame the chimp and kill him. Now this. Makes me ill that these animals – the original victims – are used as scapegoats to avoid any sort of culpability, especially when faced with changing established protocols that hit the wallet first and foremost. To heck with the safety of the public. And to heck with the torture and unhappiness of the poor animals. The dollar rules and nothing has changed. Man put these animals into captivity and it is man that is to blame.

My heart goes out to Dawn’s family, friends and loved ones. I pray for their comfort and healing.

Please do what you can…sign petitions, write letters, join online groups, call your representative or speak out. But don’t just blow this issue off and ignore it. Until we put wild animals back into the wild, this sort of thing will happen again and again. And believe me…you don’t have to be a psychic to see that this is true.

To see the Whale on the Ten of Cups in the Animals Divine tarot by Llewellyn really warms my heart and the irony is not lost on me. The Ten of Cups is the epitome of love, caring and the family dynamic. A happily ever after card. As a totem animal, the whale begs one to find their soul’s purpose and to remain true to one’s life path.

To find out more about animal totems and shamanism, click HERE.

Namaste…

Synchronicities…

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The Shaman ~ Tarot of Origins

It’s funny how more and more synchronicity shows itself and makes itself known in one’s life the more aware one is of it’s existence. After studying and reading works of C.G.Jung over the past few years, I have found myself noticing more how things are really all related.

For instance, because of a location move that I will be making soon, I have been very busy lately making arrangements to get from here to there. If any of you have ever relocated across the country (this is my second time, the first being from California to Michigan), you know how timing and planning is tantamount to a successful move. True, it’s very hard to cover all of the bases, but by golly! we sure do try!  Anyway, while on the phone with a friend discussing which moving van company to go with – Budget or Penske – a Budget van goes cruising by my front window! (I subsequently went with Penske…heheh 😉

Or one day last week I was driving around on a particularly beautiful and rare sunny day, the bright white new snow that lay everywhere practically blinded me, so I donned my sunglasses which are prescription. They are somewhat out of style,  their shape is quite thin, letting in a lot of unwanted light from the top of the lenses. I say to myself, “…I need to think about getting a new pair. I should save up these next few weeks and get some before spring gets here.” Got home. Got the mail. And there in the mail was a $100 off coupon for Rx sunglasses! This kind of stuff happens to me all the time.

Recently I have discovered some interesting reading material in the form of books written by Jim Pathfinder Ewing. They delve into shamanism, journeying  and healing in the Native American tradition. This is extremely interesting to me and  hits close to the heart, as I have Chocktaw blood running through my veins from my mother’s side of the family. It is suspected that this branch of my family  is where my intuitive nature  is passed down through to me and my two children. So, discovering Jim’s work is like finding a long lost cousin.

Last night before bed I was checking out the news on CNN and the sweat lodge story really caught my eye.  As the details unfolded as to what actually happened in that sweat lodge the day those three people died & others became very ill because of someones negligence, I felt great sorrow for that whole situation. How could such a thing happen and at such a cost. I thought to myself, “Oh boy…this is gonna give Sedona a black eye for sure.” Add to that how people who scoff at New Age beliefs and ideas or alternative ways of thinking, believing and healing, are going to tear into this like a mad dog &\and rip it to shreds. Oh brother.

Every morning I have what I call my quiet time, with whatever book I am reading in one hand and a hot cup of coffee in the other. I open the book at the bookmark that I set yesterday about this same time and what are the first words I read at the top of the page?

…”The Sweat Lodge.”

😉