Braiding and making the Rounds of Appreciation

"...It’s possible we go too far, talk too much, think too fast – we sense everything. It’s also possible to braid that all down into a powerful force for good. We can compress, destroy, or shed whatever doesn’t suit the plan...- Satori

The big snows are mostly melted here on Whidbey Island but pockets of the crystallized rain remain along the roadsides and on land that rarely gets the heat of the sun. Before, between and after the events of the week that challenges us to take a stand and activate that internal fire to be a force for good I've begun doing what can be called the Rounds of Appreciation. There are so many People to thank for all the gifts they have shared with Pete and me while living on this prairie.

Cedar Who Smells Like Herself is the person who has given us permission to be on this Prairie Front. It is this Cedar who does not have the same sharp tangy smell who is the one the Golden Wagon rubs against day in, night out. I thank this stout and protective cousin often, and as we experience our final moon rises here, I noticed how the Jays have come to call Cedar Who Smells Like Herself home, or playground.

My days on the Prairie Front include many walks on pathways and grassy meadows in snow times and not. On my way on one of those snow times quickly melting, I stopped to make note and give thanks for the reminder: Remember to remember. They are here, these People. They, these People do not come and go from this land. They are intimates of this land these People. I learn from them. How lucky I am. How lucky are we, Pete and me.

Cedar with the Long Limbs Hanging Down is someone I visit often when I walk the trails that Coyote and Deer travel as well. She, Cedar with the Long Limbs Hanging Down once cared for me when I was sure my heart would not survive a loss of such deep sorrow. Many, many times since I have wandered away from her and for a time I could not tolerate her clear, sharp tang. To reconnect with that power, I needed to find the lock that had so hidden itself from me.

This winter, I walked to Cedar with the Long Limbs Hanging Down, and remember it was she who brought me Pete. The lock opened for this man ... amazing Ancestor of the Stone Islands.

Chiron has just begun his transit through the astrological sign of Aries. It will be a long haul; 8-9 years long.

"... Chiron moves to Aries, onto the Aries point – the first degree of the zodiac. A fresh chapter in growth is opened. It’s no longer spiritual and hidden. This time our focus is tangible and visible, physical as well as theoretical or in metaphor. 

 Authenticity is a concept that has been buzzing. It’s about to go mainstream and bug the crap out of everyone. Chiron in Aries will direct focus toward simplifying our interface with others. Who am I? How do I make who I am agree with who I appear to be… and not be hurt in the process? The process will be painful, but oh so productive and beneficial.

It’s a new season in our development. We are budding." - Satori, continued

I sit to write this post to process how I feel about the reality of my relationships with others. Can I continue to be the person who lives in a vardo for two seeking community open and willing to share space with me and Pete? Who do I appear to be? Is this the right place to be? If this is just the beginning of this 'Authenticity transit' of Chiron the Wounded Healer making his way through Aries -- the me first house of the zodiac -- this is going to be long, hard work.

To make sense of the process that is too much to deal with only in the head, this exercise of blogging and setting down the Rounds of Appreciation turns my attention to my Elders, the Plant and Animal People who have been on Earth so much longer than I. Are they affected by the transiting bodies in the sky as well? Perhaps. And more than likely they have had more experience feeling those transits and adapting to the connection.


Are you feeling the transit of Chiron and the focus on authenticity in your life? What's it like for you?

And just because it's possible to attract luck (and authenticity) when you notice it singing to you. Pete brought this home this week, and I was reintroduced to Harry Dean Santon. From  his last movie LUCKY, at 90, Harry Dean Stanton singing "Volver, Volver."