Advances

Dear Y'all,

Many years ago, when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in a country with
two seasons (rainy, not rainy), I realized that for me and many of my
fellow Volunteers, the time we associated with new beginnings was
autumn, not spring. That seemed true again on Tuesday, when
millions of us took a giant step out of a particularly dark part of
our national history and elected a Black American as our
president. I have always felt that the great flaw of our nation
was that we began with a lie: "All men are created equal," we said,
but it was not true. Not true for slaves or Native Americans or for
many of the immigrant groups that followed. President-elect Obama
does not carry, either in his genes or his psyche, the residue of
"slave" or "slave-holder" yet in some mysterious way, the very FACT
of his election helps all of us to see ourselves and each other in a
kinder light and, I hope, grope our way toward forgiveness and
reconciliation.

It would be naive to think we have instantly erased the ugliness of
racism and bigotry from our collective psyche. After years of an EX-
clusive way of going about the world --- especially with our current
administration, whose largesse is distributed to a very narrow
category of "people like us" --- we must now each embrace and embody
an IN-clusive way of being if we are to create a real
transformation and become who we always thought we were. It is a
great work that culminates in the truth that indeed, all men ARE
created equal in these United States. I rejoice that we have come
this far. For the first time in what seems like ages, it feels good
to be an American. Congratulation to us all!

Congratulations also to the Swiss. A recent article in THE WALL
STREET JOURNAL described that country's requirement that the dignity
of plants as well at of animals must now be safeguarded. A panel of
philosophers, lawyers, geneticists and theologians was charged by the
Swiss parliament to establish the meaning of flora's dignity. (Laws
regarding treatment of animals are already stringent.) Part of their
22-page treatise stated that vegetation has an inherent value and
that it is immoral to arbitrarily harm plants. They also said that
the dignity of plants could be safeguarded "as long as their
independence, i.e., reproductive ability and adaptive ability, are
ensured." While there is much derision, hand-wringing and
complaints from crop geneticists and sticky questions from nearly
everybody (What about microbes and viruses? e.g.), the basic point is
to keep a tight rein on plant genetics so that some mutant strain
doesn't run amok and harm the environment. It reminds me that Gaia
said scientists must ask permission of those life forms it
experiments on, even ask them for advice and if they can't
communicate themselves, they need someone with them who can.
Switzerland's requirements don't go that far, but they seem to be
thinking ahead of nearly everyone's curve and I applaud them for that.

In the same article, there was a paragraph saying that the people of
Ecuador had voted for a new constitution that recognizes ecosystem
rights, which are enforceable in the courts. The nation's rivers,
forests and air have "the right to exist, persist and . . .
regenerate." They are no longer merely "property." Wow.
Congratulations to the Ecuadoreans too!

What the hay, congratulations to everyone everywhere for choosing to
be alive in this fascinating, accelerated, demanding time! Truly we
are blessed.

Love to you all, Fran

Fran Gatins
www.satolahsingularities.com
www.polkadotbanner.com
http://awakemotherearth.blogspot.com/

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.

Mary Oliver

Puzzles

A recent conversation brought home to me yet again that when people
think of "climate change," they think largely in terms of "energy,"
whatever that means to them. Pollution of air, water and soil is
apparently a distant second, if it is thought of at all, and the
disappearance of species no more than a passing thought except for
those who are animal lovers. The reality is both more simple and
more complex.

Think of the planet as a giant jigsaw puzzle: each piece is unique in
its combination of flora and fauna, each fits only into its allotted
space. If the plants and animals, large or small, that make up this
piece are removed, the surrounding pieces have nothing to connect
to. The web is interrupted. This happens every time land is
logged, for example, or cleared for development or flooded for a
dam. When human beings were less numerous, it was not a big
problem. Mother Earth could compensate without undue stress, as she
does when she herself makes changes. As the human population has
grown, however, we have taken out ever more and ever larger pieces of
the puzzle, with little or no regard for the effects on the planet.

The problem is that we do not know how to re-recreate an ecosystem.
A forest clear-cut is gone forever. Oil pumped changes the
substrate. We do not know what all the interlocking pieces of any
given part of the puzzle are, much less how they all function
together. Coupled with the changes Gaia herself makes, this has
created an unprecedented crisis on planet Earth.

The events of the past few weeks on Wall Street demonstrated to me
that the systems we create for ourselves are much the same. One
piece of the interlocking corporations puzzle failing creates
problems but can be dealt with. More than one, or a particularly
large piece, and there are vibrations throughout the system. The
effects are felt around the world, from executives to street
sweepers, investors and non-investors.

Many people are feeling fearful and helpless right now. Do not join
them. In AWAKENING WITH MOTHER EARTH, Our Mother was quite forceful
in saying, "Do not give in to fear" and to practice intention. I've
been surveying the words of other Voices, old and new, and, while the
terminology may differ slightly, the same basic advice is given in
all of them: Clean your own house of all old fears, untruths,
angers, judgments and resentments (and don't judge yourself as you do
it); and daily, consciously intend what you want, for yourself, your
family, your community, your country and our planet. Don't say, "I
want" but "I INTEND" -- to be radiantly healthy in every part of my
being. I INTEND the oceans to be clear of all plastic garbage. Be
specific. Be consistent. It does not matter how long your list
is. Just do it daily -- and with energy.

Many have pointed out that in chaos opportunity also resides. Now
is the time to "make it real." Alone or in a group or both,
visualize the world you want, a world you may never have experienced,
and intend for it to manifest. We are living within that old Chinese
curse of "interesting times" but, I would say, they are also very
exciting times. In concert with Gaia, Our Mother Earth, we have much
to do with how our world will be.

Happy Equinox! Keep dancing. Love,

Fran Gatins
www.satolahsingularities.com
www.polkadotbanner.com
http://awakemotherearth.blogspot.com/

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.

Mary Oliver

The Call to the Soul

Dear Y'all,

It's been a long time since I've written and I can only say what I am
sure is as true for you as for me: This is a very busy time. I
went to Tucson and other parts west for my annual trip for new art
supplies and am now working on more ceremonial staffs. (Incidentally,
my husband tells me I was remiss to not tell you to just hit the
satolahsingularites.com button under my name). I was in South Africa
for a brief trip and two copies of AWAKENING WITH MOTHER EARTH now
reside in that country. Another went to an Israeli eco-kibbutz.
It makes me inordinately happy that my book is traveling to such far-
flung places. And finally, it seems like time to write again.

After she read AWAKENING, a friend gave me a copy of a book called
THE CALL TO THE SOUL by Marjory Zoet Bankson, in which the author
posits that, although usually spiritual in nature, a call need not be
limited to religious matters nor to professional religious persons;
call "engages our feelings and intellect toward some larger end"
which may be work or a stage of life or a particular project. She
goes on to describe the six stages of a calI. I was astonished to
realize I had gone through them all in the writing of AWAKENING.

I was telling someone about this the other day and she found it
intriguing, as she feels called to run for public office. Since she
hasn't the time to read the entire book, I offered to send her a
quick synopsis of those six stages. In the doing of it, it occurred
to me that many of you might also find it interesting inasmuch as
Bankson says that one is likely to experience several specific calls
in a lifetime. Here's my synopsis:

1 -- RESIST A call requires that you move in a new direction,
perhaps even change your life completely. You doubt what you are
getting is real and/or that you have the courage to take it on, are
"worthy" and capable of what is being asked of you.

2 -- RECLAIM This stage requires looking for a larger context
for our lives as well as for reconnecting to old relationships,
recovering put-aside gifts, reclaiming the sacred. While it is
relational and communal, it is also a kind of testing of whether the
call is real. You might ask for signs or clarification.

3 -- REVELATION Here you begin to get a bit more clarity. You
may have a vision, catch a glimpse of future possibilites, a larger
purpose in what you are being called to do. There is ambivalence,
uncertainty and potential danger in that unknown. Thus there is a
struggle between the safe and "known" and something larger than oneself.

POISON RIVER This is Bankson's term for the barrier that must be
crossed over to another way of being in the world. You may go
forward with the call but still have surges of fear, doubt and
indecision. It is the dividing line between inspiration and
application, to molding our inner personal life with outer public
expression. If you do not cross the Poison River, you go back to
the doubts and discomforts of stage l.

4 -- RISK Begin to trust the previously undeveloped parts of
yourself to bring the vision into reality. Follow the
"instructions" from your intuition and begin to share them with others.

5 -- RELATE Tell about what has happened to you, take public
action to discover, develop and build a new framework of
relationships to support and share in the new sense of purpose.

6 -- RELEASE The stage of integration, endings and release -- of
control of what you have accomplished, of power you may have gained,
of proficiency and prestige, of any organizational structure you may
have built. It is the time of rest and again listening for
guidance, ready for the next cycle of call.

It is no secret that we are living in a time of great change on
planet Earth. Personally, I feel privileged to be alive now. We are
all being challenged to let go of limiting beliefs and ideas and use
the gifts that every one of us has to map out a better way for ALL
life to exist on this planet. While this is not particularly easy,
it is comforting to know that others have trod this path and posted
some signs and directions along the way. So, whatever your call, go
for it! The rest of us are cheering.

Grand abrazos and blessings,

Fran Gatins
www.satolahsingularities.com
www.polkadotbanner.com
http://awakemotherearth.blogspot.com/

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.

Mary Oliver

MORE CHANGE

Dear Y'all,

As I prepare for my annual trek west to the Tucson Gem Show, the
subject of change is still on my mind. No one has officially asked
us (we, the people) to consider how we think about and act upon this
Mother Earth, yet these are the most fundamental changes to
consider. Repeatedly in AWAKENING WITH MOTHER EARTH, we are told to
communicate with all the life around us and with Gaia herself. It
still seems to me the best place to start.

Yet I must confess that I now think I may have been a bit cavalier
with my suggestions in AWAKENING for making those connections. After
spending most of my time for the past year or so on the nuts and
bolts of producing the book, I was woefully out of practice at being
"out in it." I was surprised and humbled when I tried to get back
into that mental/emotional state, the zone or rhythm that
facilitates hearing at a deep level. It's not as easy as I may have
led you to believe but with practice practice practice, it WILL
come. I intend to do a lot of practicing on this trip and I
continue to recommend it. Apart from the information gained, the
experience of communication with Gaia or one of our Relations is
deeply satisfying.

Information you might want to seek -- besides knowing what ideas/
imprints are no longer useful -- are what to do with the islands of
plastic trash in our oceans, what plants will work in your area in a
changing climate (they may not be the traditionally recommended local
varieties), how to awaken your imagination for new realities.
Recent examples of the latter I've heard of are getting energy from
the Humboldt current, putting artwork into solar panels (what fun!)
and, my favorite, a Play Pump, invented in South Africa that looks
like a giant tap handle and is a merry-go-round that children play
on . . . at the same time pumping water for their entire village.

As weather, communications and energy production become more
uncertain, you might want to have a list of people nearby who grow or
raise what you eat, have skills that you use, can do what you
can't. A directory, whether for your personal use or shared with
others, might put you ahead of the curve should a barter system
become temporarily necessary. In her book, ANIMAL, VEGETABLE,
MIRACLE, Barbara Kingsolver makes a solid case for growing your own
food or buying as much of it locally as possible. This simply
extends that idea and has the added benefit that you get to know your
neighbors. I recommend the Kingsolver book as heartily as the
Whitty; it has a wealth or information on a variety of food-related
subjects. And this is the perfect time of year to be mooning over
seed catalogues.

I have more packing to do for a trip that may involve way too many
weather possibilities so I leave you with: Happy February, everyone,
and a thousand blessings.

Fran Gatins
www.satolahsingularities.com
www.polkadotbanner.com
http://awakemotherearth.blogspot.com/

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.

Mary Oliver

Change

Dear Y'all,

We in the United States, in the early throes of a presidential
election, are hearing the word "change" again and again and again,
but what is meant by this gets barely a syllable. There is
virtually no discussion about what we want to change from or to.
The assumption seems to be that we all know what we are talking
about. But do we?

In AWAKENING WITH MOTHER EARTH, Gaia tells us repeatedly that if we
don't want to be aliens on our own planet, we must change and evolve
with her. So what does THAT mean?

1 -- At the most basic level, it means a shift in our thinking so
that we consider the planet in all that we do, from light bulbs to
driving habits to the length of showers to reawakening our
imaginations. A week ago I was at a lunch with a fellow who advised
me that yes, global warming is occurring but it's not our fault: it's
the Sun that is doing it. Proceeding along this line of thought
means that we don't have to do anything since it's not our fault and,
since it's the Sun's fault, we can't do anything anyway. Beyond this
fallacy and that of reducing all earthly problems to global warming
is the underlying attitude that we humans are separate from what goes
on with the Earth. Part of the basic shift is the clear recognition
that we are part of our ecosystems, not simply observers of them.

2 -- The above-mentioned attitude may contain elements of an
imprint, a subject addressed in an earlier blog. I reiterate it
here: keep your mental eyes and ears peeled for those personal,
cultural and global assumptions of how it is and release those that
no longer serve. (And it's probably good to be wary of the ones you
decide to keep!)

3 -- As consumers, we can DEMAND that the cars, appliances, toys,
clothing -- everything -- we buy be energy-efficient, long-lasting
and made to have a minimally harmful impact on the environment.
Recently our dishwasher went kaflooey and we called a repairman. He
told us he could probably replace a part or two and we might get
weeks, months, maybe even years more use, but we'd basically be
better off just buying a new one. "But it's only ten years old," I
protested. That, he told me, was unusual; appliances normally don't
last that long anymore. Let's demand that they do.

4 -- Let's also demand to know what our politicians have in mind
for dealing with this environmental crisis called Earth. It passeth
all understanding, or mine at any rate, that not a single
presidential candidate has spoken seriously about the environment.
My guess is that either they think we don't care that much or that
it's not a sexy enough issue to get them elected. We can let them
know otherwise. While I still believe that change comes from the
bottom up, some strong leadership would be much appreciated.

I have more to say on this subject but I'll save it for another
time. Meanwhile, I heartily recommend Julia Whitty's book, THE
FRAGILE EDGE. Ms Whitty impressed me with her articles in MOTHER
JONES and she is even better in this book. If you love the ocean --
any ocean -- you will find this book fascinating. One part that
caught my attention was her description of being in the water when a
humpback whale was singing and how that felt in her body. It
reminded me of musings about cross-species healing in
AWAKENING . . . and of an idea floated at a party I went to over
the holidays to get a group of people together and just howl.
Soooo . . .

Keep singing!

Fran Gatins
www.satolahsingularities.com
www.polkadotbanner.com
http://awakemotherearth.blogspot.com/

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.

Mary Oliver