Reverser of Destiny

So they say judgement day is near. The rapture approaches. We've known many apocalyptic prophecies, some Christian based, some Mayan; they come from many cultures. Only time will reveal what is in store for us, but one thing is clear - it's a tumultuous time here on Earth. Scores of social problems from homelessness, mental dis-ease, unemployment, obesity, etc etc combined with a planet in revolt, hurricanes and tornados where there never were before and floods covering our cities while people simultaneously die of thirst for lack of access to clean drinking water.... yes, these are turbulent times. Many of us cry out for help. We pray for the answers, for solutions.

Solutions are all around us. As permaculture principles point out, the only limit to the number of solutions is our imagination. We are not lacking solutions, what we lack is the willpower to carry them out. You call out for peace, say you want harmony on Earth, but are you ready to embrace those ideals, to become them? Are you ready to accept all the terrifying beauty and ugliness of humanity into your heart? To love your enemies? To love fearlessly? Are you able to acknowledge and accept that your worldview is not TRUTH?

You fall into despair because all around you, you see the destruction of our world but are you ready to trade your car in for a bicycle? Are you ready to give up your cell phone in order to save the bees? Can you honor a promise not to purchase any virgin plastic? The questions go on...

I ask these questions of you not because I have the answers but because they are questions that I ask myself everyday. Am I ready to become this new vision I claim to believe in? Can I embody my own values? My passion and vision is a great start but it takes work to change the world.

In a tarot reading this morning I pulled the "Reversal" card, in other decks known as the Hanged Man.

"Reversal is a voluntary surrender or letting go of ways of being that are no longer useful... Negative thoughts and previous patterns are dissolving in the waters of consciousness to make way for positive affirmations of life. This card indicates a willingness to listen to your inner self and validate your changes. You then begin to see yourself as a changer, a reverser of your destiny instead of a victim of events. You become illuminated in the ecstatic light of these insights. Reversal can also be painful, as giving up old comfortable ways can be jarring and emotionally traumatic".

Become the reverser of your own destiny. Do whatever you can to listen deeply to yourself, to your fears and desires. Begin to recognize and release negative patterns. No one is going to hand you the key to happiness or to revolution, it is exists in the willingness of all of us to do the work, to make the changes necessary to restore balance in ourselves so that we may restore balance to our world.

"Reversal is an initiation process, a growth in spiritual awareness and a passage. We are stopped in time, "out on a limb" and entirely vulnerable. Our water reflection smiles back at us, guiding us on our way down a new path"

Out of Grief, A Rising

The closer I get to the Earth, the louder I hear her scream. Her cries wake me in the night. I sit up, sobbing into the darkness. Why can't you see? Why can't you see what you are doing to her?

In my dreams, the Earth shakes in rebellion against countless atrocities committed against her. Buildings tremor and topple, dust clouds saturate the air. Once paved streets run thick with mud, slick with oil, littered with toxic by-products of our chemical warfare. And in the chaos, screaming people run around with fists full of dollars, panic in their eyes and fear in their hearts as they try to buy their way to safety. But there isn't any safety to buy. Your money is useless now, don't you see? I scream at them, Forget about money and help each other. Are these words in vain, does anybody hear me?

You see, the Earth, she is my Mother, she gifts me with Life. She is my sister, we're born of the same bone. We are bathed and nourished by the same rain. And when she aches, I cry out. When she suffers, it tortures me inside. Her pain enters my own body; manifests as confusion and frustration in my mind; tightness in my heart; distance in my relationships. When I look around I see people with gaping wounds, so raw they bleed. We are all interconnected. We do not exist separately. When one of us suffers, we all suffer.

The Earth, she cries and cries and cries. And so do I. But I want you to know Mother, I hear your call for help. I hear your screams. And I won't ignore you. I'll let my voice be a channel. I'll sing proudly in your honor, make art with your name all over it, bake cupcakes for you, dance for hours on end with my brothers and sisters so that we may Remember where we came from, where we will return to. I'll keep showing up to do the work. And the work will be joyous, because when all my allies align, together we make magic. I'll kneel at the shores of your great ocean time and again, offering you my tears and being cleansed by your vast depths. I will listen. I'm not afraid to break my heart open even further to allow your healing love to fill the cracks. I will take care of my physical body and my energetic body so I may be an even clearer channel for you to speak through. I'll keep listening. And if I can't hear you anymore, I'll dig my fingers deeper into your soil until I feel you, until I feel your heartbeat. And I'll arise.