For several
weeks before Hurricane Katrina I dreamt of rising flood waters and
saw many people drowning. In these dreams, I would escape just before
the waters reached me. Two years ago, before the tsunami in Asia,
I saw in a vision huge waves rolling onto the shore killing thousands,
destroying tall buildings, hotels, and engulfing everything in its
path. The summer before the attack on the World Trade Center I caught
a glimpse of a huge tragedy and heard the words "nothing will
ever be the same again when this event occurs!"
I have seen,
sensed or felt what is coming ever since I was a child. When I was
12 I dreamt a detailed account of my beloved Grandmother's death,
which occurred a few months later. It took me years to forgive myself;
I believed that I somehow caused her death by seeing it ahead of
time.
Not all
of my visions or dreams have been tragedies. I have also seen positive
things to come. None-the-less, I have often felt powerless and frustrated
about being a seer. I ask myself this question, "What is the
purpose of being able to see into the future if I can't do anything
about it?" Although I don't have the answer to this question,
I know that I cannot sit idly by with our world in such deep distress.
With the
recent tragedy along the Gulf of Mexico, the horrors of the war
in Iraq and the other difficulties occurring around the world, my
questions have continued and I wonder, "What can I do to help
and to make a difference in the world?" Like many I have the
urge to go to the troubled areas and volunteer to help. I make what
small monetary donations I can. I offer prayers in our workshop
circles and at my own altar each morning. I continue to urge our
students to be more of who they truly are in order to make a difference
in the world.
I have wept
deeply, felt intense anger and growing frustration at the seeming
ignorance and indifference of our government and its slow response
to human suffering. I have fluctuated between wanting to stand on
the steps of the White House in protest and wishing to hide with
our dear soul friends and family in our spiritual community here
in our sacred cove in the mountains.
Many times
I have started to write about this issue, but each time I did, I
knew I was still in ego reaction instead of soul response. I intuitively
knew it was best for me to allow myself to feel it all, to not block
out any of my human emotions to what was happening and at the same
time to wait for my reactions to settle into a deeper response.
Today my reaction is shifting into the response that is called for
both by my soul and the soul of the world - a response that is neither
fear based nor based on new age fluff.
The world
needs a truly soulful response that includes and respects both human
and spiritual needs. It is not enough to react or respond to these
tragic events only with food, clothing, shelter and emergency aid.
While this is needed at a very human and basic level, long term
solutions are going to be ever more important in the months and
years to come. It is also not enough to send prayers to the people
and to the troubled areas of our planet. Again, this is greatly
needed and these prayers do on some level offer spiritual support
to those who are suffering as well as solace to our own hearts.
At Venus
Rising Institute for Shamanic Healing Arts, we teach that "We
heal the world by healing ourselves; the outer environment will
change as we change our inner landscapes." I have witnessed
the result in the many individuals who have passed through our healing
/ training programs as well as in my own healing. As more and more
of us heal ourselves and become whole we begin to discover our sacred
purpose for being human at this time on our planet. As we discover
"our part" in this human drama, the reality of this world
will begin to shift. We must make the shift from ego to soul in
our own psyches - this is the only thing that can save the world.
I once sat before the Dali Lama and heard him say that if you want
to see nuclear disarmament and world peace, then you must disarm
your own hearts. The truth of this statement still rings true for
me today. My place in the world at this time is to wake each day
and honestly ask myself if I am doing my part and to seek to know
what that is. I can then take right action in my own life and be
an influence for good in the world around me. As one of my teachers
once said, "we should all stop procrastinating and feeling
like we can't make a difference by becoming a powerful force of
healing and teaching in our own spheres of influence."
This soul
searching has led me to the acceptance that I am both a visionary
and an activist. I personally need to use my visions to direct right
action. By allowing my soul to pilot my life rather than my ego,
I have recently been able to stop procrastinating and finally complete
my book, 30 Shamanic Questions for Humanity. I believe it will be
especially helpful to others at this time. I continue to teach and
train others to facilitate the Shamanic Breathwork ™ Process,
and I facilitate the Shamanic Healing Initiatory Process (SHIP)
- a highly accelerated path to healing ourselves and thereby healing
our world. I pray and do Shamanic Ceremony, I breathe, I cry and
laugh with my friends, I support my children, I play with my sweet
little grandsons, I thank God for my many blessings, and I look
into my visions and ask for soul guidance with all my heart. I do
what I can and encourage others to do the same.
In closing,
I will share a reoccurring dream I've had since I was a very small
child. In this dream there is a huge blue house, much like an ark.
I am running to and fro to gather all the people and animals into
the house. I know that in this sanctuary we will all be safe. On
the horizon there is a huge storm headed our way - the wind is whirling,
the rains are starting, the lightening is blazing. I know there
isn't much time before the storm and the waves of water will be
upon us and we will be in danger of drowning. It is a frustrating
and terrifying dream because very few people listen to me and as
I gather everyone into the house they seem to forget and wander
back outside. I am frantic because I can see what is coming but
have extreme difficulty making myself heard. The dream ends with
the storm bearing down upon us and me still trying to get everyone
inside and the doors closed. I have never seen the end of this dream.
This same dream has morphed over the last decade to seeing huge
waves of water crashing against the shorelines around the world
and changing the geography of our world. In these dreams and in
my shamanic journeys I have seen such devastation and destruction
that it is difficult to speak about. I always know in these dreams
that it did not have to happen and could have been prevented if
human beings would only have listened.
I cannot
say whether this is part of my own psyche working out my own inner
conflicts or if this is a future vision of what is to come. Perhaps
it is both. But today my response is this … I am looking and
listening to my visions and striving to do my part by taking right
action in the world around me and I pray, dear soul friends, that
you do the same.
In Love
and Service,
Star Wolf
