shared reality Archives - Owl Medicine: Shamanic Healing

29 – Nautilus – The Ocean Oracle by Susan Marte

A Way Forward

In last night’s post, after expressing worry over both the state of our country and our overall morale, I wrote: “There is precious little overlap between realities anymore. And without common ground? How do we salvage what’s left of our country’s future?” Holding the energy of those questions in my heart, I consulted The Ocean Oracle to “seek a way forward. What do we need to know? How can we help ourselves?”

The answer I received? Nautilus on a foundation of Sea Urchin.

Nope, this isn’t an order of sushi. Rather, it stands for New Beginnings – on a foundation of Truth.

29 Nautilus – New Beginnings

The story behind this card is lovely and bears repeating:

“He wore the shell around his neck, on a cord long enough so that the nautilus rested just over his heart. A reminder to him of his past which had led him to the present, hopeful about the future. He had been going through some personal issues, issues which weighed him down. He felt stuck – stuck in the middle of something he could not see clear of. He took himself away to the beach, to clear his head and hopefully gain insight into how to move forward. It was on a long walk during this that he found the nautilus. There had been a huge storm the night before and this treasure had been left behind in its wake. He had seen shells like this before but had never realized their intricate and intrinsic beauty; how they were formed into a perfect spiral – that nature had the instinct and intelligence to allow a grain of sand to grow into this perfection. He opened himself to the sacredness of the design realizing it offered a new beginning – a new way of being in the world. That everything was an opportunity for growth and change and beginning anew. This awareness released him from his past, allowing him to be fully aware in the present moment.

The Messages

What needs to end? What needs to finish so something new can enter? Open your heart to divine perfect timing. Let go that which keeps you stuck. If you free the energy around holding onto something which no longer works for you, you will have more energy to put into a new beginning. Enjoy the newness of your latest endeavor. Be awed by the perfection of nature and the new beginnings she offers.”

22 Sea Urchin – The Ocean Oracle by Susan Marte

The Foundation

The foundation, or card on the bottom of the deck, when I pulled the main card (above), was 22 Sea Urchin – Truth. The ‘story’ accompanying this card is as follows:

“These creatures had not been seen in these waters for years. They had left long ago, driven out by the pollutants that people had left behind. They needed clean water to thrive and the waters here became too murky and infested for them to live in a healthy way. So they chose to leave, find a place where they were part of a balanced ecosystem. They flourished for years but grew too may for their home to sustain them. Some migrated into new waters and some eventually ended up back in the place they had left long ago. But it was not the same place. Something had shifted. The things that had polluted the water were no longer there. There was more awareness of the way the oceans and ponds and tides worked. There was a place now for the urchins to thrive. They were able to expand and contribute to the ecosystem in a life enhancing way.

The Messages

Your truth is your truth. Are you in a situation toxic to your truth? Do you need to reassess your truth? Has a situation changed in which your truth can come forward again? Is your environment supporting you in your truth? To live in our truth and integrity, it may be that we have to move, and something that means physically. Stand strong in your truth and respect your limits. Set your boundaries but know rigidity may not be the answer. An urchin’s spines protect it but if pushed too hard, or in the wrong way, the spines break.”

My Take

The way forward for our country very well may be via a new beginning. I don’t mean ripping asunder everything we’ve built over the past 245 years. But I do mean that we are stuck – road-blocked in so many ways from accomplishing anything productive. Thwarted from listening to the needs, hopes, and dreams of a majority of people who comprise this nation.

The story of the young man is almost transparently applicable to us as a nation. We’ve surely been ‘going through some personal issues’ – and, indeed, we’ve recently endured a huge storm. Sadly, I sense the storm has yet to abate. Precious little has been accomplished as a result of that maelstrom – neither change nor accountability. But the fact that it occurred at all is, perhaps, the sand that will result in an even more ‘perfect’ creation than was created two centuries ago.

We tend to think our system of government is the be-all and end-all. And as an idealistic person who believes in democracy, I’m pretty fond of it. However, I do believe it can be better. I believe money has corrupted the fundamental tenets of our system – and if we stand any chance of keeping our great experiment, we must get the money out of it.

Idealism

Yes, I’m idealistic. But I also believe that our country was founded on idealism. It makes sense to me that the foundational card underneath Nautilus’s vision of a New Beginning for us as a nation was Sea Urchin – Truth. But I can’t say that I entirely agree with ‘The Messages.’

Yes, when it comes right down to it, we all have our own unique perspective on the world, on life, and on the way things ‘should’ be. We have our opinions about the way things should be. Need to be. Must be, if a system is going to work. And our firmly held beliefs can be called our ‘truth.’

But for our country to move forward as a democracy, we have to at least be able to agree on what is ‘truth.’ We have to be able to start from a foundation of shared understanding of what is true and what is fear or paranoia or deliberate disinformation meant to rip us apart.

Back to Letting Go

In order to get back to at least some modicum of a shared reality, I think we’re going to have to let go of some of our beliefs about how our country is currently set up. That includes changing at least a handful of (and possibly a lot more) ‘ways we’ve always done things.’

This post is becoming long and unwieldy. I wanted to quote the full text from the two cards, though, even though the simplicity of a New Beginning built on Truth is a hopeful outcome.

And I do believe it’s possible. But I don’t think we’re going to achieve it in the next few months.

No, we’re going to have to work for it over the next few years. We’re going to have to figure out a way to discern truth and be willing to let go of ‘the way things have always been done’ in order to create an even more perfect union of people and cultures and belief systems from all over the world.

You know: e pluribus unum.

(T-11)

Photo: L. Weikel

A Day of Moment

If I didn’t write about what happened in the House of Representatives this evening, it would be obvious that I am tiptoeing around the elephant slumbering at my feet.

While I don’t think there’s anything I can say that can provide additional insight into the process we just witnessed, I do feel it is a day of moment that deserves acknowledgment.

Sitting here, I’ve just written and then deleted several variations on paragraphs decrying what I perceive as a perilous path our nation is treading on right now, which is the refusal to have an understanding of a shared reality.

How do you have a reasonable debate with anyone if you cannot agree on something as fundamental as what is fact?

It is seriously mind-bending, for instance, to watch and listen to Republican Congresspeople argue that the impeachment articles were based upon ‘hearsay’ evidence and rail upon the fact that ‘no first-hand evidence was produced’ when the second article of impeachment, Obstruction of Congress, is specifically based upon the President’s outright refusal to allow the White House to comply with the nine subpoenas that were issued demanding documentary evidence as well as compelling testimony from all the people who had direct evidence of the President’s conduct and intentions.

This is utterly insane. And it’s offensive, really, to any logical approach to living in a civilized society.

Can’t Have It Both Ways

To allow a person who is accused of a crime to (a) refuse to comply with a subpoena themselves; and (b) direct all the people who were directly involved (or potentially involved) and who worked directly for that person not to comply with subpoenas is bad enough. Right there, that simple act should speak for itself and give rise to the obvious inferences.

But then to have that person’s defenders use the lack of witnesses, which was the direct result of that refusal to provide witnesses, as evidence that no crime was committed is absolute lunacy. It’s insulting to the rule of law. It’s insulting to our intelligence. And it’s insulting to our ability to engage in actual discourse and debate.

And yet, an entire party in our government right now is making that argument with a straight face. And yelling in rage and faux outrage at anyone who will listen.

I ask you: where do we go from here? How do we create any hope of resolving issues together? Reaching compromises? How do we get to a middle ground if acceding even the existence of shared facts, of a shared reality, is perceived as yielding to the ‘enemy?’

No Shame

It’s also terribly disconcerting to me that it would appear that people don’t care how they appear anymore. I’m not talking about superficial looks or appearances. I mean people no longer seem to care if they are spouting allegations that are blatantly creating double standards.

There appears to be no shame in A accusing B of doing X, all the while A and A’s children, are doing X all the time, in many venues, and in plain sight and broad daylight. What are we teaching our kids about hypocrisy when this blatant example of it is taking place all the time – in our highest institutions?

Sense of Fairness and Justice

As an attorney, I have to admit I’ve always had an affection and respect for, and been a nerd about, our mode of government, our court system, and the sanctity of impartiality. Even when I was a lowly member of our township’s Zoning Hearing Board, I took my oath as a member of the board extremely seriously. I made a point of being impartial, of taking my responsibility to listen to all of the facts and examine all of the evidence from a completely neutral place.

Why? Because that’s the fundamental basis of our society. If we can’t believe in and rely upon the integrity of those we elect or who are appointed to serve us, then we have nothing. We invite anarchy. We end up hopelessly divided and suspicious and cynical.

Day of Moment

Today was a day of moment. Impeachment occurred, and the president was held accountable for abusing his power and obstructing Congress in its job of providing oversight of the executive branch. But this is no reason to celebrate. When not one single Republican put aside their abject refusal to see the hypocrisy of claiming a lack of evidence supporting the first article, and the obvious blocking of provision of that evidence (proof positive of the second article), we are faced with the fact that our country is in deep, deep trouble.

The insanity continues when McConnell states unequivocally that he will not be impartial in a Senate trial on the articles of impeachment – when the very oath he is required to take states: “I solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that in all things appertaining to the trial of the impeachment of the (person being impeached) now pending, I will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws: so help me God.”

It should be noted that the oath quoted above is one that every Senator must take in order to participate in an impeachment trial. This oath is over and above – and different from – the oath they take as Senators.

Not a Day for Revelry

It’s because of this fundamental breakdown of our ability to agree on simple facts and adhere to logic and reason and a sense of fairness and truth that I find the state of our country terribly distressing – and depressing. If we can’t agree on what is up and what is down, if we can’t agree on what is truth and what is a lie, we cannot expect to have a functioning society, much less a government that is sustainable and respected.

This is a day – and an era – of moment.

(T-709)