Roadrunner
Roadrunner scurried across our adobe wall to get a closer look at me. As I leaned in toward her, she did not flinch, but rather stood still and stared. When creatures, or people, look at us with deliberateness, they evoke … Read More
Sage
A parliament of owls and a fiery Appaloosa: I didn’t know whether to name what was before me and assign it symbolic meaning or hope that all this intelligence in nature would draw out the wise old sage in me. … Read More
Shaman
Shaman: Chant a song and shake a rattle. Let the drumbeat take you into non-ordinary reality. *While the Western world crafts laws, perceive wholeness into being. Bear dropped his hide and Raven, her wing. Owl scattered feathers marking a trail … Read More
Bat
Realizing the dream of a better world lies in both our self-care and rebirth. Through death’s initiation, Bat inducts those who are willing, into a group known as the wounded healers. Nature deems bats as good. Still, we do not … Read More
Spider
She walked out on stage, lip synced, I don’t like Spiders and Snakes, and brought the house down. For weeks, tension had been building at our small college. This group pitting itself against that one, in hopes that their contestant … Read More
Butterfly
I looked at the flower paintings, and gasped. Observing more closely I could not find one butterfly flirting with the blooms, only plodding caterpillars. The younger caterpillars happily inched forward. The older ones looked weary of slogging along. In a … Read More
Nature
I can still pull up a twinge of the anger I felt on that summer day, back in the 60’s. I had not worshipped nature, but rather connected with Great Mystery there. In one brutal act, the tangible was gone. … Read More
Favorite Songs
What are some of your favorite songs? A babbling brook, wind rustling through tree leaves. Yes, but your favorite songs or musical artists? No really, I need to hear a bird sing before I reach for my morning coffee. Later, … Read More
Keeping Confidences
Shhh! Wait and see which way the cat jumps. In positions such as Spiritual Director, Psychotherapist or Clergy, keeping confidences, is fundamental. Similarly, people who are gifted in discernment or one of the four clairs: seeing, hearing, sensing and knowing, … Read More
Bison
The ranger warned us about getting too close. In spite of our intention to heed his words, we rounded a turn on the path and found ourselves within a few yards of Bison. The thing that impressed me was how … Read More
Soul Parts
Once saved, always saved, was a common theme of my childhood faith tradition. There is another kind of lost-ness, here and now. Every time we face maltreatment or deny our True Selves, soul parts leave us. Are we saved, if … Read More
Skinny Buffalo
Skinny Buffalo or Bison’s abundance, it was my choice. She was fixated on convincing me to wear the wintery house shoes without socks. What difference did it make? I decided to forego buying the footwear, because wearing socks had become such … Read More