Eerie Glow…

There are so many fires burning in northern California right now that the sky has been filled with an eerie glow, a brighter than usually ethereal light – and smelling of distant smoke. The sunrise and sunsets have been beautiful and intense, but the light is disconcerting throughout the day – it feels like sunrise all day long. When clouds cover the sun you see the gray haze in the air not noticeable when the sun is shining unencumbered. I feel like I’m living in LA., or, worse, San Bernardino. (No offense…) When the sun isn’t covered by clouds, when it is ‘shining’, it looks toxic in its glow – nuclear, crazy unnatural neon colors of red and orange and pink…the phrase ‘Madmax’ has been used by my clients more than once. People are actually walking around with those white paper painters masks on, not many, but I’ve seen a few. My favorite was on a seemingly homeless woman with her paper mask down at her chin while she smoked a cigarette. Stephen mentioned that the whole thing made him uneasy – it took some time for him to put his finger on it, he thought he was anxious about a dental appointment he had (my baby now proudly sports ‘Invisaligns!’), but he realized that wasn’t it at all. It was the air, the smell, the smoke – the energy of it all. He was right. That was 6 days ago. At first it got stronger each day, now today seems a little clearer. Maybe. Wishful thinking? (My poor black car.) It makes me realize, again, that we (us humans) are really just animals. Animals sensing danger afar… like woodland creatures sensing a fire in the distance so do we, even if we don’t acknowledge it. A couple of night’s ago, in the middle of the night, I woke with a start – sniffing madly like an animal. This woke Stephen who asked what was wrong. Panicked, I said, “I smell smoke, don’t you smell smoke?” “No… no, I don’t smell smoke…” and he drifted off back to sleep. I guess I did as well, but my dream had me believing that I was still awake, and Stephen was also. In my dream Stephen did smell smoke and he was as worried as I was and in the pitch black of the middle of the night he went outside to investigate, leaving me alone, in bed, waiting, frightened. So this is generally the feeling I woke up with, and to be honest it isn’t too different from how I usually feel when I wake up (I say I have ‘post-sleep depression’), it was slightly more off-putting.

Anyway – since I think this (so-called) life is just another layer of The Dream, that there is nothing Out There (that everything is in my mind), and that everything I perceive as outside of myself are really just symbols for what I have (I being the I that is All Of Us) deep within my Mind, I looked into interpreting these symbols…

• Seeing smoke in your dream can mean that some trouble will be entering your life. You could be suffering from confusion and anxiety, or you are not seeing things clearly.
• Smoke within a dream may symbolize ritual, tradition, purification or spirituality.
• Smoke can mean an unsavory situation or warning of imminent danger; where there’s smoke, there’s fire…Or it can mean a shattered dream, going up in smoke …
• Smoke in a dream may suggest an intuition of danger, or intuitions about something – something in the wind. It can also suggest passions that are ready to burst into flame.
• To dream of smoke, foretells that you will be perplexed with doubts and fears.
• Smoke represents imminent danger or fear of danger. Because of smoke’s connection to fire, the smoke may also indicate the fire’s potential for destruction. You should also consider the dual nature of fire – while it is destructive, it also leads to new beginnings and purifications.

Not really digging the standard interpretations of smoke, I went and looked for Native American interpretations specifically…

• For most Tribes, fire symbolizes the heart of The People. It is present at all ceremonies in one form or another, from smoke in a smudge bowl or pipe carrying prayers to Great Mystery, to the blazing fire at a Sun Dance or Potlatch. Fire cleanses the spirit, it is used to heat the Grandfathers (rocks) before placing them in the pit of a sweatlodge; the smoke from the fire is used to send prayers to the Great Mystery; fire cleanses sacred items before ceremonial use (drums, shakers, pipes). Fire represents cleansing and renewal, for out of the ashes comes new growth, new thoughts, rebirth of ideas and new ways of being; the plant world regenerates itself in a healthy way from the ashes of the old. Fire acts as a Messenger and is a gift from the Great Mystery. A ceremonial fire should never be extinguished manually, but allowed to dance until it decides it is time to go to its sleep.

That all felt much better… a cleansing to open / activate the Heart of the People. (Like a land colonic of epic proportions!) A large activation is apparently taking place in Northern California right now. Maybe all of our peoples will be as if the Phoenix, rising from what is blazing through their lands, their homes, their lungs – renewed, cleansed, open hearted, for and with each other. Seeing where they / we all land after being danced by this force that rose as a call for something: change. Something needed to happen, something had to give – I wish us all well.

Speaking of Open Heart…. Thank you to SukiSukiSuki for yet another great Turn ON: Etherium Blends by Harmonic Innerprizes… Yowza! Go Pink, Go Gold, Go Red!

(PS. Stephen isn’t here to edit my post, and I don’t really want to – so, sorry ’bout the errors! HEE!)

SheaShayShā

Suki modeling the t-shirt she designed for me – i love it!