Jaguar Medicine Can Be Good For Cat People

I read an essay from Toward 2012, Perspectives on the Next Age the other night called Jaguar Medicine.

It mentions how shaman, don Ramom would often,"sing the patients jaguar down from the tree", because he said like many people, the patient lived in constant fear, and that the patient's fear was the result of a trauma experienced early in life that had not healed. 
He said,"This patient's soul is like a terrified cat who escaped danger and quickly clambered up a tree, where it remains, hissing at anyone who comes near. 
The cat must come down, relax, and resume walking on the terra firma of the rainforest, or there will be no healing of the illness this fear has engendered in him." 

The author Alberto Villoldo told him that in the west, we call the primitive, fearful response to trauma the "fight-or-flight" response, because it causes a creature to run away from danger or lash out in self-protection. 
The old shaman nodded, and said,"Yes, but when the danger has gone, an animal no longer holds on to its fear, while people will often remain in this state for many years." 

The danger is that our physiological response to chronic stress is the same as during instances of danger. 
Our fight-or-flight hormones continue to wash through our system, and we soon have an oversupply of cortisol and adrenaline. 
Excess levels of cortisol break down tissues in virtually every corner of the body, accelerating the aging process. 
High cortisol levels weaken ligaments, muscle, blood vessels, and bone and can cause elevated blood sugar levels and high blood pressure, eventually leading to easy bruising and thin, nearly transparent skin that we associate with the elderly. 
Abnormal function of the fight-or-flight system has also been correlated with inflammatory diseases and deficient immune function. 
While in this state, the body suppresses the healing hormones we need to recover from stress. And while most animals have systems that allow them to shake off the fight-or-flight response as soon as danger has passed, we humans seem to have lost that ability.

You can read  the rest of the essay at the above link, and it's worth reading it all. 

I like the mental image of the stressed cat up the tree, and the solution to sing the cat down from the tree to sooth it and stop it hissing and lashing out in fear.

My 28 year-old panther/cat tattoo (or cattoo?-)

I've had this tattoo on my right arm for 28 years and now and I think that it's found it's purpose in my life, rather than being a just a drawing I wanted to put on my arm as a teenager, to be like the other teenagers who had them.
It will now be a reminder to practice meditation and pursue the study of shamanism, so I won't have to sing the jaguar  
(panther in my case) down from it's tree that often.

Goldfish Racing? WTF?

I don't race fish or watch
 these races, BTW

I saw this ad in my local "Time Off" street press newspaper and thought is this some kind of message for me to become more of a participant in life instead of "Just Watching the Wheels Go Round"? 

Since the 'goldfish in the bowl' is the mascot of this blog.
Or is it the universe's way of telling me that I'm about to win some big cash prizes?
Or is it just the universe's way of telling me that there are goldfish races every Sunday at 2 pm at the Surfer's Beer Garden?- )

http://www.surfersbeergarden.com.au/whats_on.html

And I thought I had too much time on my hands?!!

Twisted?

Ever since I started writing about Woody Allen's movie Deconstructing Harry as a response to this post at Synchrosecrets,

Midnight in Paris

on his new movie Midnight in Paris the synchros surrounding this movie and my present life experiences just won't stop coming.

When I was re-watching it the other day, I kept thinking, what an annoying beginning with Judy Davis getting out of the cab over and over and over again to the song Twisted, sung by Annie Ross.

I wondered why Woody would open the movie with this sequence and this annoying song that I had never heard of before.
I didn't give it much more thought until I started playing my new CD 

Theme Time Radio Hour Season 3, with your host Bob Dylan

(See all my Dylan syncs in my previous posts.).

I had disc one playing in the background while I was working on the computer and I heard the song from the opening credits of  Deconstructing Harry. 
A song I didn't know the name of at the time ... or who sang it.
So, I looked up track 15 on the CD cover and found out the song was called Twisted sung by Annie Ross.

Twisted

My analyst told me that I was right out of my head
The way he described it he said I'd be better dead than live
I didn't listen to his jive
I knew all along that he was all wrong
And I knew that he thought I was crazy
But I'm not, oh no

My analyst told me that I was right out of my head
He said I need treatment but I'm not that easily led
He said I was the type that was most inclined
When out of his sight to be out of my mind
And he thought I was nuts
No more ifs or ands or buts

They say as I child I appeared a little bit wild
With all my crazy ideas, but I knew what was happening
I knew I was a genius 
What's so strange
When you know that you're a wizard at three
I knew that this was meant to be

Now I heard little children were supposed to sleep tight
That's why I got into the vodka one night
My parents got frantic didn't know what to do
But I saw some crazy scenes before I came to
Now do you think I was crazy
I may have been only three, but I was swinging

They all laughed at A. Graham Bell, they all laughed at Edison
And also at Einstein, so why should I feel sorry
If they just couldn't understand the idiomatic logic
That went on in my head, I had a brain, it was insane
Oh they used to laugh at me when I'd refuse to ride
On all those double-decker buses
All because there was no driver on the top What, no driver on the top?
Man the chick is twisted, crazy, moogie-shoogie, idiot flip city!

My analyst told me that I was right out of my head
But I said dear doctor I think that it's you instead
Because I've got a thing that's unique and new
To prove that I'll have the last laugh on you
'Cause instead of one head I've got two
And you know two heads are better than one

According to Wikipedia,"Ross is one of the early practitioners of a singing style known as vocalese, which involves the setting of original lyrics to an instrumental jazz solo. 

Her 1952 treatment of saxophonist Wardell Gray's Twisted is a classic example of vocalese. 
Twisted has been recorded by Joni Mitchell, Bette Midler,  
Maria Friedman, and many others."

Then I came upon the excellent YouTube with the crayon figure animation, when I was looking for a clip of it, which lead me to the YouTube of her singing I Love Paris, which brings me right back to Woody's new movie Midnight in Paris.

How twisted can you get?!

Communion

I bought this book a while ago from Amazon (that name seems appropriate) and I've just started reading it, because I wanted to finish it before the expiry date ran out;-)

It's a book of short essays on transformation from one of my favourite websites Reality Sandwich, edited by Daniel Pinchbeck and Ken Jordon.

I put off reading this book, because at first I thought it was written by Daniel Pinchbeck, and it wasn't until I received it in the post that I realized that it was only a bunch of short stories, only edited by Daniel Pinchbeck, not written by him.
I have to say that this book is like a personal key for me, in some way, that has unlocked an avalanche of syncs as I have been reading it ... and I'm only up to page 77, which just happens to be a short story by Daniel Pinchbeck called 'Psyching out the Cosmos'.

It's like my mind is a cosmic egg and it is starting to crack, with some deeper more conscious understanding of the universe emerging from within (and NO! I haven't taken any drugs ... legal or illegal while reading it ... in case you were wondering:-).

Now, I'm not going to recommend that you rush out and buy the book, because maybe the gems that I've found within its pages may only be rocks to you ... and you might be inclined to throw them at me;-) 
But I will be coming back to this book in future posts to dissect my flood of synchros. 
One thing it has given me, is a strong sense of Communion and interconnection with the world and the universe.
Probably why I have always been drawn to the Christian symbolism of a spiritual (not dogmatic) communion, where we are all sharing and being communicated to from the source of all being.  

We are all from the one source and we will ALL return to the one source ... no matter what exclusive club you imagine that you belong to.

In my exclusive club, which is open to all, there is only one dogmatic rule - NO DOGMA ALLOWED.
Let's approach the altar with that one rule in mind, and see how that works.

What is it About Paris?

I Heart Paris painting by Starr

What is it about Paris?

Straight after reading this post Midnight In Paris about Woody Allen's new film, two of my favourite artists have started doing paintings and sketches of Parisian themes almost simultaneously.

Starr whose painting I Heart Paris features above, is currently working on new Paris works and David Lloyd who I regularly buy prints off, has just put up this sketch called  
Rainy Day at Cafe France.

Rainy Day at Cafe France by David Lloyd

So what is it all of a sudden about Paris ???

Synchro weirdness, I say.

You can see the trailer for Midnight in Paris below by clicking on the YouTube screen.

Thinking about Thinking

Musings on Terence McKenna's Theory of Language  
(worth watching ... something to think about;-) 
Click on link below to view this video.
http://www.realitysandwich.com/video/terence_mckenna_theory_of_language
From Reality Sandwich,
"In this video, Jason Silva discusses Terence McKenna's

Stoned Ape theory of language as an emergence of the first telepathic technology.  
He incorporates  cinematic moments from films such as Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey as he portrays the possibilities for the next stage of the communicative evolution.
Jason Silva is a Venezuelan-American television personality and filmmaker currently working as a Host and Producer on

Current TV, the television channel co-founded by Al Gore and now the fastest growing cable network in TV history ."

Farewell Big Man :-(

                          Clarence Clemons

(January 11, 1942 – June 18, 2011)

Just like you, your music will live on forever.
Your music will always play a big part in the soundtrack of my life.

Years may come and go, but there's one thing I know, all my life you're a friend of mine.

I'll miss you Big Man.
Thank you, Clarence, for bringing joy to millions with your music ... including me.

A fan always/Darren

After Death Communication? Part 2 (COINcidences?)

I'm not one for collecting coins, but if I come across a strange one when given change, I usually put it in a drawer and forget about it until a later date.
At the moment I have an American five cent piece,

an American quarter and a Singaporean ten cent piece.
The last one I received was the quarter.
It was given out in the guise of an Australian ten cent piece, because they are roughly the same size and look similar to each other.

The quarter flanked by
two Aussie 10c pieces (dimes)

American currency is extremely  rare to receive as change in Australia, so to get one is like a lottery win ... in a way.
The main way you get them as change in Australia is like I did, as a substitute for an Aussie ten cent piece (which would be the closest thing to a dime that we would have here).
Now, when I came across this coin (even though it is a quarter and not a dime), I thought how lucky I was and what the odds where of coming across a coin like this in Australia.
But after reading this next story form Hello from Heaven
(I promise Bill and Judy that this is the last one that I will quote form the book for this blog ... consider it a plug for the book;-)

 I will keep the coin as a token as remembrance, since I too have a son named Sean and it will remind me that everyday together alive is a gift we should not take lightly.
"Sunny is a homemaker in Texas.
An amazing series of events began 3 weeks after 9 year-old son, Sean died in an accident at his school: I was crying one day and talking to Sean, begging him to please send a sign that he was still with us. 
After sitting for a while, I had a feeling to get up and go into his room.
I just wanted to open a drawer and touch his clothes, to hopefully feel a little bit better.
But I felt compelled to pull the drawer all the way out and to look underneath it.
There was a dime!
Then it hit me,"This is a message from you, Sean!
This is you coming through!"
When I saw that dime, I thought back  to a little joke that we had between us.
I used to give Sean $2.00 a week allowance if he kept his room clean and did what he was told.
As I gave him the $2.00, I would say,"This is for being a good son."
Then Sean would go to the little frozen juice can he had decorated where he used to put all of his change.
He would get a dime and give it to me,saying ,"This is for you,Mom.
This is your allowance for being a good mother!" 
So when I saw that dime, I felt very good because I realized this was Sean's message to me.
I had never found a dime in my life before.
As it happened, I started finding a lot of dimes after that, mostly at work.
Then I started finding them on special days - on Valentine's Day and Mother's Day.
I would find dimes when I really needed them - at a restaurant, in a parking lot, in front of a pet store, walking our dogs in the evening, in a hospital when my husband had surgery, at the museum, in a pizza restaurant, and getting off a train.
One day I even found two dimes!
My family wanted to know that Sean was with them too, so I asked him to please give them a sign. 
And soon they also started finding dimes!
Ever since Sunny received her first ADC sign nine years ago, she and her husband have continued to find "dimes from Sean" everywhere.
Their current total is 640 dimes!" 
Interesting 6+4+0 =10. 

A dime is 10 x cents ... or reduce that figure by 10 times and it becomes 64 (the year of my birth), so there's a message to me right there.

Plus, as I' m typing this, a song on my "Bluefest 2011" CD, which I'm playing for the first time since buying it yesterday, by  The Bamboos called On the Sly is singing these lyrics;
"You've got to put it on the line, not just a nickle, or a dime, you better hear the words I say, you know that I'm not here to play"

and I've never heard this song before ... spooky!!

What's that saying? 
Life changes on a dime?
Maybe?
But this story shows that life can be confirmed on a dime, also.
I'll be keeping my eye out for my first dime ... but what are the odds of finding one in Oz?

After Death Communication? Part 1 (Birds, Butterflies and Bows)

Rainbow Lorikeets on my Mother-In-Law's back Veranda

Can birds, butterflies, or even such things as rainbows be sent as a message of comfort from above, to give a grieving mourner a sign that the person they cared for in this life is alive in some way, still?
In a dimension that we can not perceive of as yet?

My own story about what I strongly believe to be an "After Death Communication" involving  Rainbow Lorikeets is told here -
John and the Wild Parrots
(for those of you who don't want to read about it once more in this post).

In my ignorance on bird species at the time I referred to them as parrots. 
Although they are called Rainbow Lorikeets here, they are still a species of parrot.
You can find out more about them here, if you would like to;

Rainbow Lorikeet

A Rainbow Lorikeet Boomarang?-)

I've been reading an excellent little book called Hello From Heaven by Bill & Judy Guggenheim.
It is literally just case after case of people who have claimed some form of communication with a friend, relative or loved one, after that friend, relative or loved one have passed on.

It is a great book for people who may be questioning their own sanity, or feel they are in a unique situation when something like this happens to them.

 

I would like to include one such story from the book ... at the risk of being sued;- )/: - ( 

From pages 221-222 of Hello From Heaven
" Mary Kate is a bookkeeper for a business in Washington.
Her husband, Stewart, died of leukemia at age 48.
Stewart's dream from childhood was to have his own airplane, and after we found he had leukemia, we bought one.
Those five years we had with that plane were the happiest he had ever been.
Stewart loved flying and the freedom he had in the air, and he loved the book Jonathan Livingston Seagull.
Around three weeks after his death, I was planning to go back to work for the first time - and I was dreading it! 
I was sitting at my dining room table just crying and crying.
Then I looked out at our deck.
The biggest seagull I have ever seen in my life was perched right on the corner of the railing, looking in at me as if to say,"You can make it!"
I live about 350 miles inland from the coast, and I had never seen a seagull in my yard or on my deck - ever! 
So I got in the car, and the seagull followed me all the way to work!
Time after time after that, while going to work, I would look up and see this seagull following me.
It was so clear to me  that this bird was sent from heaven to uplift my spirits and give me courage to go on.
I feel that Stewart was there with me at the time looking over me.
It made me realize that he is okay, that he's not suffering anymore, and that he's free to fly through the heavens like he did when he was here."
Richard Bach's Jonathan Livingston Seagull has inspired millions of readers to consider the possibility that life is eternal.
After Jonathan dies and enters a new world, he encounters a teacher who encourages him to work on his lessons of kindness and love. 

 I know others who have similar stories to Mary's and mine to tell about bird visitations, like Jeni, who sometimes comments here.

Memories to Cherish

Jeni sees the Cardinal as her messenger and you can read all about those experiences at her blog by clicking on the above link.

Other people see other birds, butterflies, rainbows and all sorts of objects as,"After Death Communications" from loved ones.
If you're interested in these sorts of experiences, then I would recommend you read this book, or visit the website for further information on the subject matter.

After-Death Communication

 I was trying to find a story on YouTube where singer Pete Murray talks about the appearance of a butterfly at a friend's funeral, to illustrate a butterfly ADC.
I'm yet to find it ... but I came across a film-clip to a song of his called 
-Saving Grace  which "coincidentally" is the chapter I'm up to in Hello From Heaven.
And if you view the clip you'll see that the lyrics and visuals are probably about being reunited with a loved one who has passed on.

It's a great little clip and if you've not heard of Pete Murray, I would urge you to listen to his other songs as well.
Coincidentally again, he grew up in a small town in Queensland called Miles, where my Nan (from my dad's side of the family) grew up.
I remember going to my Great Grandmother's funeral in Miles at about the age of ten and thinking,"who would want to live out here?" 
To me it was like the end of the world, it's as far west as I have ever traveled in Australia, and I have lived here all of my 46 years. 
I really need to do some traveling;-)  
In fact, that above clip reminds me of the long boring drive that I embarked on with my Nan and Father as we drove through the wheat fields from Brisbane to Miles on the way to my Great Gran-mother's funeral.
I could have used some lyrics in the sky to break the monotony of the drive and all of those wheat fields.

Well, the coincidences just won't stop coming, I found a clip of Pete singing this song, which I never before today knew he had sung.

It relates to an earlier post about my synchro with the Neil Young song Comes a Time (click on link below to read that post)
Comes a Time??? 
What a web is being woven here?

(This clip below I put in for Jeni. I think the lyrics will mean a lot to you Jeni)

I finally found a clip where Pete talks about the Butterfly ADC.
Here it is below in Pete's own words (with a little help from an audience member, too)

And here is a Rainbow story from Hello from Heaven to round the set off.

What's that knocking I can hear coming from my front door?
An ADC, or the Guggenheim's lawyer's?-)

"Victoria is a homemaker in Manitoba, Canada.
Her husband and she shared this wonderful symbolic ADC 15 years after their daughter, Gail, died in an automobile accident at age 19: 
Last year we went to The Compassionate Friends picnic.
It was a bright, sunny day without a cloud in the sky.
At the end of the picnic, we all released helium balloons, and to ours I attached a note to Gail from all of us.
The last line said,"Wishing you lots of rainbows, Sweetheart."
Then off it went into the atmosphere.
As we were leaving the park, we looked at the clear blue sky, and there was a rainbow from horizon to horizon! 
My husband and I looked at each other and I said, "Gail got our message and is sending one back to us!"
The park is about twenty-two miles from our home, and that rainbow followed us all the way! 
As we got back into town, my husband said, "Take a look, honey!"
It had become a gorgeous double rainbow!
We stood beside the car holding hands, just looking at the sky."

So maybe a Rainbow Lorikeet can be considered the animal version of a double rainbow message? 

Don't Bite the Hook

A CD that I bought the other day by Pema Chodron called  
Don't Bite the Hook, is well worth a listen to ... or several.
Putting it into practice though will be the hard part for me, but I'm willing to give it a try.
You can get it here through the Shambhala website or through Amazon, as well.

I'll probably keep a copy in the car, where it is most needed.

Don't Bite the Hook

Finding Freedom from Anger, Resentment, and Other Destructive Emotions

By Pema Chodron

Life has a way of provoking us with traffic jams and computer malfunctions, with emotionally distant partners and crying children—and before we know it, we're upset. 
We feel terrible, and then we end up saying and doing things that only make matters worse. 
But it doesn't have to be that way, says Pema Chödrön. 
It is possible to relate constructively to the inevitable shocks, losses, and frustrations of life so that we can find true happiness. 
The key, Pema explains, is not biting the "hook" of our habitual responses. 
In this recorded weekend retreat, Pema draws on Buddhist teachings from The Way of the Bodhisattvato reveal how we can:

• stay centered in the midst of difficulty
• improve stressful relationships
• step out of the downward spiral of self-hatred
• awaken compassion for ourselves and others

3 CDs, 3 hours

Paulo Coelho on Luck, Coincidence, and Faith

1998:
The year I met Paulo at the BWF.
 Coincidence?

Here's a YouTube of Paulo talking about Luck, Coincidence, and Faith. 

I often wonder if it was luck, coincidence, or synchronicity that we crossed each other's paths (more for me, than for him, obviously) for a little chat in 1998.

Since I went to see and hear Malachy McCourt, and didn't really know of any of Paulo's books back then.

The grand old man himself, Malachy McCourt

It was great to hear the reason Paulo got the butterfly tattoo on his forearm and all about his writing experiences, up to that point in time.
It's amazing what an impact he has made on the world since that day.

What do they say about the power of the pen?

Paulo's butterfly tattoo

His novel The Alchemist  has spent 179 weeks in  
NY Times Best Seller list, as of this week, but more than that, his books have touched the lives of millions all over this planet, for the better.

It was an honour and a pleasure to meet Paulo back in 1998 and I hope luck, coincidence or synchronicity plays a part again sometime in the future, and we run into each other again.

Worth a read I think

For those who haven't heard of Paulo (there would probably be as many as the number that read this blog;-) then I recommend you look for his books in your local bookstore, or on line.

Or visit his blog,

Paulo Coelho's Blog

to hear some of his thoughts.

Now, was it luck, coincidence, or synchronicity that you came across this post?

... OK ... who said bad luck?-)

Reality Sandwich ... Take a Bite ... and Chew it Over

Reality Sandwich: "A web magazine divided into sections with titles like PSYCHE, ECO, LIFE, TECH, and COMMONS. 
It has been described by one of its editors like so: It brings together Burning Man, the radical edge of the environmental movement, the techno-utopians, the new commons movement, and the avant pop arts... in a single, colorful, unpredictable, and of course political package."

Daniel Pinchbeck

"If the website sounds to you like the kind of New-New Age enterprise that Daniel Pinchbeck (described by James Parker as "a thirtysomething former journalist who has transformed himself -- with the help of mind-ripping pharmaceuticals and organic hallucinogens like iboga and ayahuasca -- into a multi-disciplinary critic of the "design problems" in Western civilization) might be into, pat yourself on the back! 
Pinchbeck is the editorial director of Reality Sandwich."

 Agreed upon and quoted from ;
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/brainiac/2007/05/robots_monsters.html

And a book I can't recommend highly (no pun intended) enough is Daniel Pinchbeck's Breaking Open The Head.

A book I really enjoyed reading, although I don't endorse psychedelic drugs to reader's of this blog, but I do endorse Inner space exploration ... it's not for everyone, that's for sure.
But it is definitely worth reading about. 

 

The Reality Sandwich website is a great site to place in your Favorites folder, in my opinion.