Portland Archives - Owl Medicine: Shamanic Healing

Plausible Explanation

Ever have one of those days when you wake up with a headache? That’s never a good sign – particularly if there’s no ‘good’ reason to do so. Not that imbibing the night before is a good reason. But it’s at least a plausible explanation, albeit one that calls into question your choices.

The only explanation I can come up with for my headache, which sadly has persisted all day and is actually getting worse again now, is the sudden onslaught of excessive heat and humidity.

Really, though? Yeah, it’s unpleasant here in eastern PA at the moment. But it’s nothing like the hell Portland, Oregon is living through. Portland broke its heat record today by reaching 108 degrees. That’s gross no matter where you live. But in the Pacific Northwest. What!?

And tomorrow they’re looking at a predicted high of 115 degrees. We’re not talking Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, folks. This is not good.

Walked Anyway

In spite of my headache I still managed to get a walk in today. I waited longer than usual to set out; so long, in fact, that Spartacus was almost begging me to go himself.

Naturally, as soon as we set out a squall appeared on the horizon. It bore down on us remarkably quickly and I made the executive decision to stay the course.

It poured for approximately a minute. Just enough to cool us both down. We didn’t even get drenched, as we were sheltered enough by some trees to only get hit by about half the drops raining down upon us.

At least we were rewarded with a rainbow. It’s the first one I’ve seen in a couple months.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow’s supposed to be hotter here, too. Not as hot as Portland, but hot for June 27^th.

If we’re paying attention, it sure seems the dominoes are starting to fall. You know, the climate change dominoes that most people in power have been paid by special interests for decades to ignore.

Pretty soon it will be too late. I hope it isn’t already.

(T-153)

Thunderhead and Sunlight – Photo: L. Weikel

What In the World

What in the world is brewing in our country? If we’re honest, I think we all have a good idea – and it is ugly. Ugly and craven and, if we’re not careful, a recipe for injecting a poison into our country that could kill who we are and what we stand for.

I received an earnest reaction to my post last night, my post that encouraged us all to embrace stillness. That reaction was simultaneously one of embracing the power of stillness as well as urging the continued resistance to tyranny. And truth be told, I couldn’t agree more.

While there is wisdom in retreating to the stillness until a dissipation of the current fog of distraction and disinformation occurs, it would behoove us to take one crucial action before our retreat.

One Crucial Action

There is nothing as seminal to the identity of Americans as the concepts of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. The deployment of what is essentially a secret army of unidentified armed forces against American citizens under the guise of keeping the peace, which is actually inciting the exact opposite effect, is the antithesis of our country’s ideals and values.

The behavior we’re seeing in Portland at this very moment, brutalization, tear gassing, rendition (complete with hooding suspects without advising them of their rights or where they are being taken), and the threat of a ‘surge’ of these secret police and their illegal and unconstitutional tactics being inflicted upon Chicago, Albuquerque, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and elsewhere (all cities run by Democrats, naturally) within the coming days, should bring terror to the hearts of all of us.

We are at a crossroads.

So before you retreat into stillness, call or write to your senators. Tell them in no uncertain terms that they must not condone or enable the outrageous behavior being conducted by the DHS at the behest of our rogue president and his enabling Attorney General.

Persistence – The Ocean Oracle by Susan Marte

Persistence

Which could explain the card that just happened to be underneath (meaning on the bottom of the deck) when I chose Fog/Stillness yesterday. The foundational card, the card at the bottom of the deck, was Sandpiper/Persistence.

Make a call. Send an email. Express your outrage.

Then retreat into the STILLNESS.

I feel the sky this afternoon reflects the volatility of our world right now. Huge thunderheads that threaten potential destruction pierced by rays of light and clarity.

We are capable of being persistent in our resistance yet true to our soul’s need to withdraw into a cloak of stillness that rejuvenates our spirit. We are capable of living this paradox. And now is the time when we must.