Wednesday, 01 September 2010 12:58 Written by Steven Farmer

I’m blessed to have a MacBook Pro that’s been my faithful laptop for about three years now. It has a 500-gigabyte hard drive, but now is loaded up with all sorts of stuff so there’s only 77.9 gigabits of space left—and I’m concerned about that. I’ve relegated most of my musical recordings and a lot of my photographs to a couple of external hard drives, so those are tucked away and safe now.

Only problem is that when I see that I only have that much space left, sometimes I feel like there’s a Chicken Little running around inside my brain repeating the phrase, “There’s no more space! There’s no more space!” all the while realizing that I’m being quite irrational in my thinking, yet quietly feeling the internal distress and slight panic that can be a consequence of this kind of thinking.

I think there’s a metaphor in here somewhere. Maybe because I’m getting older it subconsciously becomes a statement about how many more years I have before I have to—well, go on a long, long vacation, one where I don’t take any baggage at all, not even my body.

Maybe it’s one branch of the culturally sanctioned obsession that I have with things technological, and this laptop has become the heart of the operation. After all, I’ve written books, articles, and found anything I might be interested in via the Internet. Perhaps there’s some fear that as the space on my hard drive dissipates, I’ll be left without any means of doing these things.

Then there’s the phenomenon of Facebook, which has pilfered and diluted the meaning of “friend.” FB lets me know when Eldon has brushed his teeth, provided daily updates on Judith’s pregnancy, and what Thomas had for lunch, plus many other things I wouldn’t necessarily want to know about friends that exist mainly in a virtual reality community.

My relationship with my friends cannot possibly be encapsulated in this kind of format but is best nurtured through regular contact via phone, email, or when the opportunity presents itself, face to face. Yet maybe I’m lying to myself and I’ve grown accustomed to both the mundane announcements and the occasional gems I find posted on my wall and don’t want to see that disappear. Hmm. Interesting that it’s called a wall, which can be taken a couple different ways.

Maybe it’s a metaphor for my connection to the world, with the ability to know what’s going on anywhere on the planet via the various newscasts that portray all of the scary things that are going on in the world. What if I didn’t know about all these calamities that are taking place? Would I lose touch completely and go into some forbidden zone of isolation? All because I ran out of space on my hard drive?

The external hard drives I use to store the overflow are perhaps a way of saying that it’s best to clear out my life from time to time. Store my stories in memory, but don’t let them crowd out the more current moment, where the heart of the matter is, aka my laptop.

And maybe there are no metaphors in this but just something to ponder and write a blog on. No matter, I’m going to play my guitar, have a glass of wine, and write some more.

Wednesday, 04 August 2010 22:17 Written by Steven Farmer

As most of you know by now I’m newly married to Jesseca, and we’re winding our way through the evolving purposes of our relationship. I’m continually amazed at the depth and textures of our love, and a great balance in the masculine-feminine department. We’re also blending our extended families and not only am I grandfather to my nearly six year old grandson, Jaden and uncle to my nieces, Jordan, Sydney, and Paris and their mother, Debbie, but am now stepfather to Jesseca’s two daughters, Serena and Arianna. It’s gotten very clear to me in the last year and a half that I have a very distinct role with these children and ultimately many others.

I’ve also gotten to know Jesseca’s father, Richard, and he and I have struck up a friendship. We’re both the same age—sixty-two—so we immediately have that in common. In actual fact, he’s a few months younger than me, so when he and his two daughters, Victoria and Sarah, joined us while we were on vacation at our friend’s cabin in Lake Arrowhead, I greeted him with, “Hello young man!” During the three days they were there, Richard and I had a couple of opportunities to share a cigar and some stimulating conversation in the evenings.

Richard has had a colorful and rich life, very adventurous, with stories that make my life seem boringly tame. Currently in the process of a divorce, he’s also been physically limited due to a couple of accidents a few months back. He gets around with a cane and has had one successful operation, but is facing further surgery for his back. He’s traversed the territories of several careers in his sixty-two year life span, including a ten-year stint as a minister for his church.

Although Richard is very bright and has a strong spiritual core, he’s also a human being and is going through a fair amount of genuine suffering. He’s particularly chagrined that not only has he had limited activity the past eight months, but after this next operation, he’s likely to be laid up for a few more months. He’s a very physical man, so like others who have had to contend with physical limitations, he just gets frustrated with his body.

In one of our conversations he opened his heart and spoke of his struggle surrendering to the fact that he is now sixty-two years old, which often is considered sort of a doorstep to one’s mortality. I’ve heard some people say there are three times in our life that are “crossover” points, where we can choose at a soul level to leave. In other words, check out, die, pass over, walk off into the sunset, or take a very long vacation from a body. At age sixty-two, you can see that door is getting a little closer, but as in the quiz show, is it behind door number one, two or three?

“Well,” I said, “This past couple of years I’ve had to contend with the fact that I am in fact older than I might delude myself into thinking.” At times, I still hold this self-image of being 35 or so. Then I look in the mirror or feel some of the old football or rugby injuries and I’m reminded of my age. I also look at the children who God has put into my life and know that now as an elder, I have something to offer them.

At this stage in my life, paying attention in all you do as much as you possibly can while considering the generations to come is the lesson at hand, that feeling of offering something of your wisdom, street smarts, and a good story. Not only do I have a close relationship with my daughters, grandson, stepdaughters, and nieces, but have also been asked to do some children’s projects (more on that later).

As Richard and I were talking, and I told him a bit of my story and how I’ve been allowing that what I do for the children that I’m involved with is a big part of my assignment now. I also shared my thoughts of choosing to be either an elder or an old man, and that I choose to consider myself an elder. In fact, from here I’ll be an elder for the rest of my life. Reframing it that way allows me to surrender to my age. And I certainly don’t feel like an old man inside. I touch moments where I feel ageless.

Richard’s comment in response was to say, “Geez! I really don’t want to be an elder!” Yet at the same time I can see that he was contemplating this. What weighs on him the most is the prospect of remaining inactive for several more months, and how challenging it has been since the accident that compromised his ability to walk. I watched one day as he sat in the sunlight, murmuring prayers as he looked out at the trees, the clouds, and the sky. He would also repeat, as if it were a mantra, “God give me the strength,” or when anyone would do something for him, even the smallest action, he would always say, “God bless you.” And he meant it.

He’s a man who is what he is. What you see is what you get with no apologies. I always admire that in a person. He also seems to have recently recaptured that sort of innocent yet wise faith that can only come from years of just living on this planet. I like my new friend and pray for him to remain strong throughout the trials he’s going through.

Thanks, Richard. For being cool.

Thursday, 22 July 2010 11:16 Written by Steven Farmer

So I’m getting ready to get on an airplane. I had gone to the ticket counter to get my seat as I hadn’t yet been assigned one. It was a last minute booking, so I had to go the boarding gate counter to find where I would be sitting. I approached the attendant, who wore a practiced scowl driven into the lines of her face from years of accumulated stress and inquired about my seat. She printed up a boarding pass and I noted the scrolling words on the information board directly behind her. It said, “There will be no change of seats as the flight is full.”

Being somewhat subversive, in spite of the sign, I asked if it would be possible to change seats because I was in a middle seat and I much prefer an aisle seat. Okay, I know, why not just go with what the sign said. Well, I generally figure that there’s no harm in asking. Although some rules make sense, others do not. What if it’s very late at night, little or no traffic, and you’re stuck at a red stoplight that seems to be stuck? Would you go? Or would you wait another two or three minutes? I confess that I would be patient for only so long and then would go.

So I asked if I could change seats anyway, and she of course said that it would not be possible. She even mentioned that she had just assigned a very large man a middle seat, as there were no others left. I started to ask another question, but she had moved on to the next customer. I muttered under my breath, “you don’t care,” then stepped back, slowly surrendering to my fate of being in a middle seat.

She really was just doing her job and I was being petulant.

Then it struck me that I really don’t know anything about this woman whose name I’ll never know. She looked burned out and unhappy, but who am I to judge her in anyway without having some idea of how much suffering she may have gone through in her life. In my narcissistic version, she was being inattentive to me, and how could she? Doesn’t she know that I’m an important person?

I had to silently laugh at myself for so subtly blaming and judging her. I looked at her again for a few moments as she continued dealing with a full flight of passengers. A wave of compassion swept over me, not only for her but for others who seemed to feel stuck in their jobs, hanging in there for the security or money, but piling up the cumulative stress of the demands of the job while filling the chalice of discontent and unhappiness.

But everybody’s got to make a living.

Tuesday, 13 July 2010 11:39 Written by Steven Farmer

Well, I’m officially a married man. Feels great! Jesseca and I tied the knot on June 19th, 2010, in our back yard. It was a beautiful ceremony and Jesseca took my breath away when she came out and joined her father for the walk down the aisle carpeted with grass and rose petals scattered by her two daughters. Felt good to have the Earth beneath our feet.

Some would dismiss this deep internal happiness I feel with the proverbial “glow of the honeymoon,” yet this feels much more profound than something temporary. I think the soulmate concept is oversold. We can meet a lot of soulmates throughout our lifetime, yet I know that Jesseca is a deep soulmate and that we’ve come together to not only work out those shadows that can inhibit the fullest expression possible of who we truly are in relationship, but to learn how to love and just as importantly how to let love in.

It’s sometimes scary too! Jesseca and I have had our conflicts, and of course she’s right much of the time, but most of the time these conflicts are her fault. Okay, okay. More to the truth of the matter, I allow myself to temporarily believe that it’s her fault and usually try to convince her, but eventually I relent and let go of trying to find fault in her, or in myself. Each time we resolve the conflict—and we tend to do so rather quickly—it deepens our respect for one another and emphasizes the critical task of allowing Spirit to direct us individually and in our relationship.

The most significant conflicts took place within the first year or so after we started our relationship. We even broke up twice during the courtship phase. A therapist friend told me that most couples break up at least a couple times before they get married. True in this case! And it’s nice to get the vast majority of the b.s. out of the way so we can do what we came here to do in our partnership.

We’ve realized most of the time from the beginning that there was clearly a bigger purpose in our being together. We both got our butts kicked that first year, but it’s sort of like going to the dentist. Well, to tell the truth it sometimes felt more like being dragged to the dentist kicking and screaming and really feeling the pain when your teeth are being worked on but being grateful afterwards because now you can eat crunchy foods and stuff that you weren’t able to eat before. Something like that anyway.

We support each other and have a clarity about our roles as husband and wife. Jesseca is a gifted and grounded intuitive and in her readings for clients, has a wisdom beyond her years. In addition, she takes care of the administrative tasks for my work. And she is an excellent writer. She also takes care of the home front, and is a good mother to her two daughters, Serena, 7, and Ari, 5, both of whom I love as my own.

Can you tell I like and admire her? And appreciate her? I’m sure you can. It’s a great adventure, one that I look forward to continue sharing with her.

Ti Amo la mia bella moglie

 

Saturday, 17 April 2010 17:41 Written by Steven Farmer

About a year and a half ago, I had the good fortune to start seeing a wonderful woman named Jesseca Camacho, a friend I had known for several years. When we started dating we discovered we had a considerable amount in common and both felt that Spirit very clearly had brought us together. We regularly checked in with various divination tools and some highly intuitive friends, and continually got the clear message that we were meant to be together. Truth is, it was soon after we started dating that I found my love and appreciation for her deepening. She’s my spiritual counterpart in many ways, and I found myself drawing closer to her rather quickly.

Amidst the intensities related to finalizing everything with my divorce, Jesseca became my girlfriend and eventually my Personal Assistant. We broke up a couple times—regarding some personal matters—but reunited with a clearer understanding of what we expected from each other and have continued on since. We faced some difficult challenges along the way and in the process learned some powerful lessons. I’m happy to say we’ve managed to successfully navigate through them. I even named January 11^th of this year, my actual birthday, as my Rebirth day. It felt that several cycles of my life were completed right around that time, and I felt a welcome sense of relief and renewal at how this new life was emerging.

Jesseca and I moved in together just before Christmas. It took awhile to adjust to that, but we moved through some of the early issues very fluidly. She started working for me as my assistant once again as well. She has a wealth of administrative experience and is a natural to help with my work and my business. In addition, she’s a gifted intuitive with a very gentle yet direct approach with her clients and also an excellent writer. You may have seen some of her columns in Awakenings magazine, distributed locally here in Southern California, for which she is also the publisher and editor. Her articles are very personal, insightful, and easy-to-read, which is the mark of an exceptional writer. She also has two delightful children, Serena and Ari that I have become quite attached to.

So a couple of months ago I proposed to her and she said yes. I even had planned to say, “Take your time, take a day, a week, a month. Just let me know when you’re ready.” But before I got the words out of my mouth she said, “Yes!” Phew! We’re to be wed in June of this year. I absolutely love and adore her, and am totally committed to her and our partnership. We have helped one another heal at a very deep soul level, and now we’re continuing to support each other in being the best human beings we can be. Since a relationship cannot exist without a community, we’re fortunate that many of our friends and family have given their blessings and support to our relationship.

Our getting together is yet one example of how the Creator is shaping and forming who we should be with and what each of us need to shed into order to come into alignment with Spirit. And we always have a choice in that. Perhaps the choice is simply whether to heed the messages we get, or ignore or deny them and take a chance on our own, pretending that we can somehow be out of God’s present and loving eyes.

Anyway, that’s a little bit about Jesseca and me. I’m sure you’ll get to know her better, as we’re now a big part of each other’s story. I am so grateful for all the healing that took place throughout 2009, and grateful to all who have supported this transition with their love and prayers.

To Jesseca: “Ti amo eterno la mia bella signora!”

 

Monday, 05 April 2010 09:33 Written by Steven Farmer

I came across this quote recently. It caused me to pause and reflect on the layers of meaning in this advice:

“Never allow anyone to rain on your parade and thus cast a pall of gloom and defeat on the entire day. Remember that no talent, no self-denial, no brains, no character, are required to set up in the fault-finding business. Nothing external can have any power over you unless you permit it. Your time is too precious to be sacrificed in wasted days combating the menial forces of hate, jealousy, and envy. Guard your fragile life carefully. Only God can shape a flower, but any foolish child can pull it to pieces.” —Og Mandino

How much time do we actually spend “combating the menial forces of hate, jealousy, and envy”—or any human emotions that are of a lower vibration? As Mr. Mandino stated, no need to fight the menial forces, yet we may all too easily react to others who are expressing these or even find ourselves in our own self-created negativity. So what do we do?

First thing is to recognize that we are in reaction, to own it and do so without self-blame or judgment. From there it’s a matter of shifting our focus to aim for a different attitude and thus a different vibration. Here are three attitudes that will often lift us to a different place in our minds and hearts.

1) COMPASSION—Others can serve as mirrors and teachers for you. Once you look past and through your judgments you can become aware of what is being mirrored back to you. Then you have the opportunity to transform your own negativity to compassion. Not pity, but a genuine sense of heart-felt recognition that what you see in the other does exist in you as well, though may not be so openly expressed by yourself.

2) GRATITUDE—It’s easy to get stuck in either complacency or complaining, so when you spot yourself in these states, look for what you have to be thankful for. Start with the fact that you’re breathing and alive, then move to those things you don’t ordinarily think of to be grateful about. Make a list every night of ten things you’re grateful for that day. Do it for a week and see what happens.

3) FORGIVENESS-It sometimes takes work to get to a place of letting go of any “charge” on memories of past events, whether it’s your damnation of yourself or someone else. It requires you to continue to take the high road and not get bogged down in rigid judgments and to release them as soon as you can. Forgiveness can naturally evolve from compassion and gratitude, but it can’t be forced. You may not be quite ready to let go completely, but ask yourself how it serves you to hang onto these judgments.

Okay, simple but as noted, not always easy. Only God can make a flower, and since you are an exquisite creation and expression of the Creator, you can make flowers too!

Wednesday, 24 March 2010 14:30 Written by Steven Farmer

For a period of time, my daughter, Catherine and grandson, Jaden stayed with me at a house I used to live in. There were a number of steps to climb to get to the driveway where her car was parked, and sometimes she would be in a hurry because she was late. I’d be in my office, where I could see them when they came through the gate from the downstairs apartment.

Catherine would get frustrated with Jaden because he would suddenly become fascinated with a tiny bug or entranced with the shape and color of a particular leaf on a plant. She’d have to hurry him along, sometimes patiently and sometimes with an edge to her voice.

Whenever I’d take a walk with him I’d also have to “dial down” because of the entirely different pace he was on and his tendency to become quickly focused on something that I would ordinarily miss. Good teachers, aren’t they? There is such an innocence to a child’s way of being, something we adults may long to recapture but typically view as something best left for the youngsters.

Sometimes we may wonder how to regain that mysterious sense of awe with which children approach the world. We’re drawn to it yet it may seem foreign to us, buried like a distant memory of a simpler time when life seemed easier. Then, when we could literally “take” our time in moving about life.

So how do we recapture this innocence? For some insight into this, I turn to the Osho Zen Tarot. It’s the only Tarot deck that I’ve become familiar with, and the “Innocence” card from the Major Arcana speaks to this issue.

“The innocence that comes from a deep experience of life is childlike, but not childish. The innocence of children is beautiful, but ignorant. It will be replaced by mistrust and doubt as the child grows and learns that the world can be a dangerous and threatening place. But the innocence of a life lived fully has a quality of wisdom and acceptance of the ever-changing wonder of life.”

I particularly appreciate this astute comment because it accounts for the trials and tribulations that we human beings face as we age, yet with these comes the wisdom that allows the return to childlike innocence perhaps reframed as “forgiveness” as adults. Yes, we can get caught up in the suffering, but with awareness and attention to what’s truly important. We can heal these wounds of the past and capture that state of grace that is available to us as we align our egoic self with our Higher Self.

Thursday, 11 February 2010 13:35 Written by Steven Farmer

The Story of Roger and Elaine

By Dave Barry

Let's say a guy named Roger is attracted to a woman named Elaine. He asks her out to a movie; she accepts; they have a pretty good time. A few nights later he asks her out to dinner, and they enjoy themselves again. They continue seeing each other regularly, and after a while neither one of them is seeing anybody else.

And then, one evening when they're driving home, a thought occurs to Elaine, and, without really thinking, she says it aloud: "Do you realize that, as of tonight, we've been seeing each other for exactly six months?"

And then there is silence in the car.

To Elaine, it seems like a very loud silence. She thinks to herself: Geez, I wonder if it bothers him that I said that. Maybe he's been feeling confined by our relationship; maybe he thinks I'm trying to push him into some kind of commitment that he's not ready for.

And Roger is thinking: Gosh. Six months.

And Elaine is thinking: Hey, I'm not so sure I want this kind of relationship, either. Sometimes I wish I had a little more space, so I'd have time to think about whether I really want us to keep going the way we are, moving steadily toward... I mean, where are we going? Are we just going to keep seeing each other at this level of intimacy? Are we heading toward marriage? Children? A lifetime together? Am I ready for that level of commitment? Do I really even know this person?

And Roger is thinking: ...so that means it was... let's see...February when we started going out, which was right after I had the car at the dealer's, which means... lemme check the odometer... Whoa! I am way overdue for an oil change here.

And Elaine is thinking: He's upset. I can see it on his face. Maybe I'm reading this completely wrong. Maybe he really wants more from our relationship, more intimacy, more commitment; maybe he has sensed-even before I sensed it-that I was feeling some reservations. Yes, I bet that's it. That's why he's so reluctant to say anything about his own feelings. He's afraid of being rejected.

And Roger is thinking: And I'm gonna have them take another look at the transmission. I don't care what those morons say, it's still not shifting right. And they better not try to blame it on the cold weather this time. What cold weather? It's 87 degrees out, and this thing is shifting like a garbage truck, and I paid those incompetent thieves $600.

And Elaine is thinking: He's angry. And I don't blame him. I'd be angry, too. I feel so guilty about putting him through all this, but I can't help the way I feel. I'm so unsure.

And Roger is thinking: They'll probably try to say it's only a 90-day warranty...scumballs.

And Elaine is thinking: Maybe I'm just too idealistic, waiting for a knight to come riding up on his white horse, when I'm sitting right next to a perfectly good person, a person I enjoy being with, a person I truly do care about, a person who seems to truly care about me. A person who is in pain because of my self-centered, schoolgirl romantic fantasy.

And Roger is thinking: Warranty? They want a warranty? I'll give them a warranty. I'll take their warranty and stick it right up their...

Roger," Elaine says aloud.

"What?" says Roger, startled.

"Please don't torture yourself like this," she says, her eyes beginning to brim with tears. "Maybe I should never have... Oh God, I feel so..."(She breaks down, sobbing.)

"What?" says Roger.

"I'm such a fool," Elaine sobs. "I mean, I know there's no knight. I really know that. It's silly. There's no knight, and there's no horse."

"There's no horse?" says Roger.

"You think I'm a fool, don't you?" Elaine says.

"No!" says Roger, glad to finally know the correct answer.

"It's just that... it's that I... I need some time," Elaine says.

(There is a 15 second pause while Roger, thinking as fast as he can, tries to come up with a safe response. Finally he comes up with one that he thinks might work.) "Yes," he says.

(Elaine, deeply moved, touches his hand.) "Oh, Roger, do you really feel that way?" she says.

"What way?" says Roger.

"That way about time," says Elaine.

"Oh," says Roger. "Yes."

(Elaine turns to face him and gazes deeply into his eyes, causing him to become very nervous about what she might say next, especially if it involves a horse. At last she speaks.)

"Thank you, Roger," she says.

"Thank you," says Roger.

Then he takes her home, and she lies on her bed, a conflicted, tortured soul, and weeps until dawn, whereas when Roger gets back to his place, he opens a bag of Doritos, turns on the TV, and immediately becomes deeply involved in a rerun of a tennis match between 2 Czechoslovakians he had never heard of. A tiny voice in the far recesses of his mind tells him that something major was going on back there in the car, but he is pretty sure there is no way he would ever understand what, and so he figures it's better if he doesn't think about it.

The next day Elaine will call her closest friend, or perhaps two of them, and they will talk about this situation for six straight hours. In painstaking detail, they will analyze everything she said and everything he said, going over it time and time again, exploring every word, expression, and gesture for nuances of meaning, considering every possible ramification. They will continue to discuss this subject, off and on, for weeks, maybe months, never reaching any definite conclusions, but never getting bored with it, either.

Meanwhile, Roger, while playing racquetball one day with a mutual friend of his and Elaine's, will pause just before serving, frown, and say: "Norm, did Elaine ever own a horse?"

And that, my friends, is the difference between men and women. 

Saturday, 16 January 2010 11:30 Written by Steven Farmer

I’ve seen the hit movie Avatar twice now and expect to see it at least once more, particularly in 3D and ideally on the big IMAX screen. I highly recommend it. It’s more than a movie; it’s an event. In spite of the magnitude of the cinematography, it was also a very personal and intimate experience, particularly around the relationship of the two main characters.

I’m fond of good sci-fi movies. There have been some of these that are reflective of whatever’s going on in the society and culture at large. Some of you may remember Them! about the giant ants that had been created as a result of the nuclear bombs that were being test. Then there was the first Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Excellent and scary movie which still holds up today, a metaphor for the massive fears of lifeless, atheistic communists taking over our country and the populace. The first remake of the same movie that occurred in the 70’s was reflective of the alienation many felt following the disillusionment of the promise of the 60’s.

There are certainly other examples in this genre, and now we have Avatar, expressing through this story a respect and reverence for indigenous communities and how they are so intimately associated with their world and all the inhabitants. The insatiable drive for power and domination of this world is represented by the corporate/military attempts to control the inhabitants of this world called Pandora. No accident that the planet carries such a name. I recall the story of Pandora’s box and how once it was opened all sorts of evil was unleashed on the Earth.

Go see the movie if you haven’t. I’d love to hear your comments as it relates to what we see happening in our world.

Monday, 31 August 2009 12:14 Written by Steven Farmer

CONVERSATIONS TO ENLIGHTEN & HEAL ~

KG talks with Dr. Steven D. Farmer - Earth Magic

Dr. Farmer shares some of the magical rituals and ceremonies introduced in his book Earth Magic. We also talk about Soul Recovery and Soul Fragmentation; what it is, and symptoms of soul loss. Steven also talks about animal spirit guides, totem animals, and power animals, and the difference between each of them. You'll learn about first hand experiences of animal spirit guides, and how to interpret messages from your animal spirit guides. Dr. Farmer concludes the show with his thoughts about the major global changes we're presently experiencing on our planet.

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Monday, 06 April 2009 13:59 Written by Steven Farmer

Malidoma Patrice Somé is a healer, teacher, and elder of the Dagara peoples in the small West African nation of Burkina Faso in West Africa. He travels extensively giving classes and workshops, and in one of his teachings, he describes how the Dagara believe there are three levels of intelligence on Earth. Plants are considered to be the most intelligent beings, animals second, while humans capture the ribbon for third place. It’s a different way of looking at life and our relationship with plants and animals, one that contradicts the more typical and subtle arrogance ingrained within many of us in the more “civilized” societies.

Whether we agree that we’re somehow less intelligent than plants or animals, most indigenous peoples, who are more intimately connected to the natural world, know that we are intrinsically related to all life on this fair planet. Chief Seattle, of the Suqwamish and Duwamish tribes of British Columbia said it best:  “Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.”

So how is it that those of us who have been raised in the more “civilized” parts of the world have forgotten this connection? How did we forget how to talk with the animals, to listen to their language, to connect with their spirit, and to show them compassion and gratitude for all they give us? How did we come to live in this illusion that we’re somehow separate from all other beings and nature herself?

Of course there’s no single cause for this dissociation from the natural world and specifically from animals, yet we can point to a couple of powerful influences. One of these was the beginning of the scientific revolution, heralded by Sir Francis Bacon in the early 16th century. Considered the founder of modern science, Bacon claimed that goal seeking was a specifically human activity, and attributing goals to nature misrepresents it as human-like. It became science’s job to objectify nature, and to think otherwise became a cardinal sin. Then in 1637, along came Descartes, famous for his quote, “I think, therefore I am” (although it’s more accurate to say, “I am, therefore I think!”). Descartes maintained that only humans have souls, so animals can’t really feel pain, and thus pioneered the practice of vivisection, further objectifying the animal world.

In the 20th century many others would openly disagree with this way of thinking. Darwin was one who challenged this view and demonstrated that animals had their own unique intelligence. Yet paradoxically, in the past century and even to today, animals have continued to be treated like objects, as having no soul or spirit, here mainly to serve humankind’s needs and purposes. Yet these attitudes are slowly changing.

With the spark of ancient memory awakening in many of us comes a deep longing to experience the intimacy with the natural world that was a way of life for our ancestors, who expressed their gratitude for the gifts of the earth through continuous prayer, ceremony, and ritual. They appreciated that whatever you took from nature, you always gave something back, and you used every part of what you’ve taken. They knew that every aspect of life was infused with Spirit and consistently honored that fact. Animals were seen as kin, as brothers and sisters, and even when hunted for sustenance, they were honored and treated with the utmost respect and gratitude for sacrificing their lives.

Another aspect was the relationship to the spirit of these various animals. Typically a clan, tribe, or community would have a spirit animal in common, called a totem animal, one that everyone in the clan could call on for protection and guidance. Shamans in these communities typically had one or more spirit animals that they used in their work on behalf of the people, called power animals. An animal spirit guide was any animal that showed itself in an unusual way or repeatedly. The animal was believed to be bringing a message from the spirit of that animal.

The purpose of my books and cards (Animal Spirit Guides, Power Animals, and Power Animal Oracle Cards) is not only to help people discover how our animal brothers and sisters and their spirits can help us in our lives with guidance and healing, but also to encourage the re-awakening of that inherent connection we have to animals. As they did for our ancestors, the spirit of an animal will attempt to reach us through unusual or repetitive visitations, whether the physical animal or a symbolic representation. If a crow lands three feet away and looks at you, or a crow shows up repeatedly throughout the day, Crow spirit is trying to pass along a message. Crow may also show up symbolically, such as in dreams, on a TV show, or a ceramic figure in a bookshop. Regardless, Crow spirit is trying to pass along a message.

I always suggest to pause and ask Crow (or whatever animal) what the message is before referring to any of these books or cards that contain possible meanings of any such sighting. Once you ask the animal, pay attention to any impressions that comes to you, whether visual, auditory, thoughts, or sensations in your body. Ifthe message isn’t clear right away, often through the coming days you’ll pick up other signs or omens that clarify the message from the animal spirit.

Our animal brothers and sisters want to reach us, teach us, and heal us. It’s simply a matter of being open and receptive to Spirit’s communication through the specific animal spirit, and doing whatever we can to maintain the awareness of our relationship our brothers and sisters.