And Now it Begins: Hurricane Season in the Florida Branch of the Earthways Shamanic Path

Yesterday marked the 11th  anniversary of Hurricane Charley hitting Southwest Florida.  This weekend is the start of Hurricane Season, as celebrated by the Florida Branch of the Earthways Shamanic Path.  [The Good Folks at NOAA define the Hurricane Season as starting June 1, and going until November.  But that’s for the entire Atlantic Ocean.  In this Blog, and throughout the Earthways Shamanic Path documentation, we are talking about what is experienced in focused locations.]  Our Shamanic Path Hurricane Season runs from mid-August to mid-October.  It is mercifully short.

During June and July, the air temperature heated up, the water temperatures heated up and everything is warm-to-hot.  This heat stimulates storm activity.  Over the years, I have noticed that the intensity and frequency of Hurricanes
“increases” after the middle of August.  And here we are.

When we presented the Wheel of the Year for the Florida Branch of the Earthways Shamanic Path at our recent Monthly meeting, someone asked, “why would we celebrate Hurricane Season?”  Like her, several people attending our meeting had lived through the Hurricane Season of 2004, and still have vivid memories of that time.

Hurricane Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne hit Florida in 2004.   Photo from NOAA.

So, I asked her, what is the Spiritual Meaning of Hurricane Season?

The themes of Hurricane  Season, are about planning and flexibility.  Here in Southwest Florida, in early June, the Hurricane Planners and Media folks do a great job to remind people that Hurricane Season is coming, and to make sure people know what to stockpile at home, what to keep in their car, and what to do when a Hurricane is approaching.  Due to the hard work of a lot of really good people, Florida has good roads in place, to help people evacuate.  There are wayfinding signs to help people evacuate.   It has hurricane shelters available.  The media print awesome Hurricane Guides.

Our job is to heed that advice.  We should make sure we have fresh batteries, stockpiles of water, and get our important documents in order.

And then we wait and wait and see what happens.  Most people do not like Hurricanes, because they do bring damage to man-made property.  However, some people really like the approaching storms, and get kind of excited about it.  The interesting thing about Hurricanes, is that they are a vital part of the Earth’s weather system.  It is how the Mother moves heat around and moves water around.

So the spiritual aspect has to do with planning ahead, and being ready to take correct action, but not letting that constant state of readiness exhaust you, or make you anxious.  During the 2004 Hurricane Season, there were Four major Named Storms in six weeks, and there were also  several tropical storms that we thought would come through, so we were in a state of constant readiness for weeks.

So as Hurricane Season approaches, in our Celebration, we will ask that we not be complacent.   We will ask that we learn to read the weather signs.  We will ask that our preparations will ensure us safe passage through the storm(s) that may come.  We will ask for Strength.

Another aspect of Hurricane Season, is learning how and when to ask for help.  After a hurricane blows through your house and your town, you will need help.  Recovery doesn’t happen all by itself.   Yes, we are strong and independent people.  We are grown ups, we are adults.  But after a Hurricane, it is ok to ask for help.  And it is certainly ok, to provide help to other people.

Although the Earthways Shamanic Path is based in Florida, it can be celebrated anywhere.  You just need to explore the magic of your land.  What is it saying to you?   What are the seasons, where you live?  What do they mean to you?  How are they celebrated? 

And Honorable Shamans, as we observe our holidays, “Let’s Share Peace With Our Earth.”

(c) 2015, Whale Maiden.  All Rights Reserved.

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Florida Earthways Shamanic Path is EVOLVING to the Earthways Shamanic Path!

I’m so excited!  The Florida Earthways Shamanic Path, is EVOLVING!  There is a group of people in my own back yard, here in Southwest Florida who have been implementing the concepts inherent in the Earthways Shamanic Path, and we’ve decided to join forces.

First, the “Florida Earthways Shamanic Path,” will become, the “Earthways Shamanic Path,” because the idea of practicing your Earth-based spirituality while honoring  the plants and animals that are indigenous to your local area, is not unique to Florida.

The group is called the Ghost Orchid Grove.  They are the first recognized Grove of the Earthways Shamanic Path.

More news on this exciting development, soon.

Worlds Away In One Day

It takes two airplanes to get from where I live, to where my Father lives.  We are both in the continental United States, I’m located in Southwest Florida, and he’s north of me in a place I call, “Up North.”

A few weeks ago, the day before I got on the airplanes, it was 85 degrees and humid, here in Southwest Florida.  That was the high for the afternoon; I think it started about 65 or so.  I love late March-early April here in Florida.  It is the best time of the year.  It is seconded only by mid-October to late-November, when things finally cool off a bit, after our adventures with rampant Heat and Humidity in the Summer months.

So on a Thursday the week before Spring, I got on the first of 2 airplanes to go north, and the air is immediately drier on airplanes, and that’s an adjustment.   When we arrived at our location, it was something like 20 degrees outside, and there was a stiff wind blowing.  And that was the HIGH temperature that day.  I bravely put on my winter coat and hat and gloves and scarf in the airport baggage area and made whimpering noises as I picked up my rental car.  I figured out how to make the heat work, but never did master the high beams.

I was thankful that my Father has great shelter and heat, so I was warm and toasty during my visit, unless I went outside.  Oddly enough, this trip I went outside a whole lot more than I normally do when I go visit this time of year.  And it was bone-chilling, let me tell you!

On Monday, the day I was supposed to fly back to Southwest Florida, I woke up at 4:00 AM.  I was thirsty.  I got a cup of water and looked out the window.  I saw a light dusting of snow!  “Oh no!”  I thought, I don’t want to drive in snow!”  I went back to my warm bed and fell asleep in spite of considering how my driving would be impacted by snow.

I woke up to the 7AM alarm clock and looked out the window.  The snow was gone!  I was so happy!!  (I believe the Snow Fairies came and took the snow away for me!)

I drove to the Airport, turned in my rental car, put my coat in my baggage and checked it.  Boarded the first airplane.  We flew through clouds and turbulence and landed at Charlotte, North Carolina where it was raining.  (But not snowing.)

This is what it looks like, just before Spring, up north

Continuing on south from Charlotte to RSW, the airport for Southwest Florida.

Got off the plane, and noticed it was about 65 degrees, windy, but humid.  I can take that weather.  I love humidity.  I have never been so happy to return to Southwest Florida!!

 

 

 

 

Oil Spill…Climate…2012…and shopping…and Shamanism

So there I was shopping at an upscale ladies store in an outlet mall in Southwest Florida and all of a sudden I found myself engaged in a conversation with another shopper and one of the very helpful store clerks.  One of the ladies had just told the other that someone they knew had just accepted a job cleaning up the Oil Spill in Louisiana.  The other lady said that BP could hire all those unemployed fishers, to help clean up the Oil.  I agreed, but noted it is very toxic, the oil.  By this time they had included me in their conversation, which now had migrated to how HOT it has been.  [It has been over 90 degrees every day for WEEKS.]  We all agreed that it was so much HOTTER than we remember it being in previous years.  We agreed to each other that we are concerned about how big the Hurricane Season will be.  Hurricanes like hot water and the water temperature in the Gulf of Mexico is nice and warm right now.  Then we all looked at each other and simultaneously started wondering if the Oil spill, is what bible prophecy means by ‘blood on the water,’  and the next thing I knew, the one lady said to the other lady, “My Husband thinks it is all leading up to 2012!”  The other Lady and I nodded to her, because we knew she was testing our water, so to speak.  Once we agreed with her about 2012, then she nodded, too.

What impressed me is that these ladies looked like what I call, “muggles,”  [people who  do not believe in metaphysical things, like magic] and yet they both are wondering about 2012.

I wonder about it too.  I have been thinking about “Earth Changes,” and “End Times,” since at least 1987, when people started talking about the Harmonic Convergence.  I believe there will be a change of consciousness among people on this planet.   I believe I am here to assist people in adjusting to that change in consciousness, or in making that change, when they ask for that assistance.  That’s the work of a Shaman.

Why write about Mulch?

Mulch! by WhaleMaiden April 2010

 

Mulch is the marker between the end of Fire Season, and the beginning of Rainy Season.  Mulch is the last of the ‘red’ things that you will see in Southwest Florida.   Although it is fake-fake-fake, it looks pretty good on green suburbia yards.  And this is the time of year when people get out in the cool time of day and do some gardening.  (Almost everybody does this; we haven’t done any gardening lately.)  Once you get the “flower beds” weeded, and put down a thick layer of Mulch, you can kiss the weeds good-by for a couple of months. 

That’s gardening in Suburbia.

WhaleMaiden’s Suburban Shaman Blog

I’m Whale Maiden.  I explore the mundane and the magical in Southwest Florida, from a Florida Earthways Path perspective.   Some of the Posts on this Blog were originally published at:

http://whimsywoman.wordpress.com/

and, a few also were previously published at:

http://whalemaidensblog.blogspot.com/