REINDEER

Keywords:
Journey, Safe Travels, Wandering, Strength, Endurance, ‘Going the Distance’

‘When Reindeer crosses your path:
~ The long journey you’ve been on, be it spiritual or emotional, is coming to an end and you will soon reap the rewards
~ If your journey seems long and arduous, the emotional support you seek from others will assist you in succeeding
~ While the road ahead of you may seem dark, you have a great ability to go long distances

Think about Reindeer:
They wander and have the strength and endurance to travel long distances. They retain their personal power while remaining confident in allowing social group support.

Call on Reindeer energy when:

– You need strength and endurance in moving forward and ‘going the distance’
~ You feel the need to wander, and want protection in doing so
~ You want to keep your social ties strong while retaining your personal power

Reindeer medicine teaches us:

~ That we have the strength and endurance to make great strides both spiritually and emotionally
~ That we can be mobile, adapt to new surroundings, yet retain our personal power

Tarot Card Correspondence:
The Chariot

——
References:
– Animal Spirit Guides by Steven D. Farmer
– Animal-Speak by Ted Andrews

HOW TO INTRODUCE A NEW CAT INTO A HOUSEHOLD WITH ANOTHER CAT

Many people come to me with the question of how to introduce a new cat into the household where there is an existing cat. It’s a time that can determine, from the outset, how your cats will perceive each other and get along for the rest of their lives, so it’s critical that you understand how to do it before you ever bring your new little one into the house.

PLAN ON TWO WEEKS OF SEPARATION
First of all, many people think they can bring them in and keep them separated for a day, and all will be well. This is NOT the case. 1 day, 2 days, even 3 days is way too short of a time. The last time we did it, I think the vet recommendation was a good two weeks. That’s hard, but you need to do it way longer than a day. For one thing, you need to make sure that the kitten has no hidden communicable diseases that might show up.

GIVE THEM FREQUENT ‘SNIFF TIME’
You need to give them plenty of time, day after day, and night after night, to sniff each other under the door and get accustomed to each other’s smells and the idea that this is not temporary, but this is someone they’re going to smell every day, every day. This is especially important for the established cat.

LET THEM SEE EACH OTHER FROM A DISTANCE
Once you’ve given them a few days to do that, start bringing the kitten out by hand, one person holding the kitten on the floor, the other the cat and let them look at each other from a distance. Do this several times throughout the day. After that when you do it, let them get a little closer and closer, still holding them, until you can let them get close enough without hissing to smell each other. (Again, this is more for the cat than the kitten.) (If you live alone, either bring in a friend to help you, or just hold the new cat and let the established cat take his or her time coming up to sniff.)

GIVE NEW CAT SHORT PERIODS OF ‘INVESTIGATION’
Once that has been accomplished, start letting the kitten out to run around, for very short periods of time, when you are home and can watch over things. Let the kitten investigate, by this time, hopefully, the cat will look at it with curiosity, rather than jealousy and animosity. Again, do this several times throughout the day, extending the number of times/day every day, and the length of time out as you go. Doing it this way, you are increasing the chances of their getting along. The transition has been gradual and monitored.

GIVE EACH PLENTY OF INDIVIDUAL TIME
Make sure during that time that you spend plenty of time in the bathroom (or a spare bedroom if you have one — that’s even better) with the kitten giving it plenty of love and attention, as well as giving extra attention to the established cat. If there are two of you, don’t both go in to spend time with the kitten together. Each needs to feel loved, not excluded.

USE YOUR INTUITION TO DETERMINE WHEN THE NEXT STEP IS
Remember that there is no “set time limit” to do this. It will depend on how quickly the cats (or cat) adjust. You don’t want to rush it. You need to use your intuition and be highly conscious of their emotions and reactions and let those guide the time apart or together, rather than having any kind of set time limit. For instance, if you feel in a shorter time that they are doing well and can take more time or more contact, move closer or to the next step. But if the cat is still hissing and such, you need to move more slowly.

I think our last two it was a week and a half before the kitten was out and about a large amount of the time, maybe two weeks by the time he started sleeping with us, maybe a little less. But it’s really important to take as much time as it takes so they have a good relationship.

I remember it being really hard to try to take so long, the kitten really wanted out of the bedroom, but our cats are *great* friends now, so it was worth it.

Introducing cats takes a lot of effort, care and being in tune with how the animals are reacting and feeling. Make sure you plan out, in advance, how you will introduce them and you can foster a long and loving relationship between them. Congrats on your new addition. May you all live together in peace, harmony and happiness for many, many years to come.

CREATING THE VISION, AND KNOWING IT WON’T BE PERFECT

Perhaps this is a little late in the process, but as I sit here in my bedroom, hunkered down with my cats, loud power tools – very loud power tools – buzzing and vibrating right outside of the door .. I thought this would be the appropriate time to start some blog posts on ‘The Spiritual Lessons of Remodeling.”

Okay, I know you must be saying, “There is nothing spiritual about remodeling.” This is especially true if you’ve ever been through one. But if you have been through one, you also know what a challenging experience it is, and if we are not learning our spiritual lessons from the challenges in our lives, where are we learning them?

I only wish that I had some insight before I started this journey, to know what to expect. If there’s one thing I’m understanding today, now that I am seeing the pantry is way bigger than I envisioned, and the counter way smaller, is that we tend to fall into the idea that since we are making the decisions and doing it ‘our way’, it will be perfect. Remodeling tip #1. It will not.

The spiritual lesson here is acceptance. The entirety of your remodel is not going to be perfect, just as the entirety of your life is not perfect. You designed your new kitchen (or bathroom, or living room or whatever) just as you designed your life.

But as we look at our lives we can choose to focus on the points that aren’t perfect, and obsess about how this little thing about our job or our spouse or our social life is not perfect, or we can choose to look at the things that are.

We make mistakes. We make decisions we regret that can’t be changed …. windows and doors can’t be returned once ordered, cabinets can’t be made smaller once the doors are ordered (unless you have a heck of a lot of money and don’t care how many more weeks your refrigerator will be sitting in the living room…), just like we can’t go back to a relationship we left or a house we sold. You can never go back. And even if you did, it would never be the same. The best we can do is visualize how we see the remodel of our lives, and know that not everything is going to be perfect, no matter how hard we try. Some things we catch in time, other things we don’t.

For those things we don’t, we learn lessons. In shamanic terms, if I were to look at my pantry as a symbol, I can look at it as it’s taking up too much space and looks odd. OTOH, if I look at food as a symbol of knowledge, then there is just that much more capacity to store all of the things that I’ve yet to learn in my life, and a place where I can store all of the blessings that I know I have in my life, so that when the noise gets a little too loud,and the walls shake a little too much, I know right where to go to open the pantry and count my blessings.

Remodeling Tip:
– You may have designed it, it doesn’t mean it will be perfect. Don’t expect it to be.
Lesson:
– Accept the things that can no longer be changed. Focus on the things that did turn out right. Look at the beauty in the ‘right’ decisions.

GECKO

Keywords:
Dreams, Detachment, Sensitivity, Psychic Perception

‘When Gecko crosses your path:
~ Speak up! Don’t be intimidated by others, what you say matters!
~ Take note of your dreams. Write them down and contemplate on them in the morning
~ When a problem is unsolvable, detach yourself from it. There is no need trying to control something beyond your control.

Think about Gecko:
When they get into a bind, their tails detach so they can save themselves. They then go onto regrow their tail which gives them their balance back following the experience. They are sensitive and perceptive to subtle movements and aware of all that surrounds them.

Call on Gecko energy when:

– You want a different perspective on a situation
~ You’re in a conflict, situation or have made a decision over which nothing more can be changed or resolved
~ You are intimidated by a situation and need to speak up.

Gecko medicine teaches us:

~ To be aware of the subtle messages in our lives
~ To be perceptive to the changes around us
~ To detach ourselves, by letting go of things over which we have no control

Tarot Card Correspondence:
The Hanged Man

——
References:
– Animal Spirit Guides by Steven D. Farmer
– Animal-Speak by Ted Andrews

Okay, I’m not sure where else to put this, so here it goes: Last night I had a dream about Rush Limbaugh. I don’t remember all that surrounded it, it was one of those things where I woke up in the morning, laid there and thought, “What was that dream I had last night???” Thank goodness I remembered….

My husband and I were with our two cats. The perspective was from us standing up looking down at the floor. And on the floor was a miniature Rush Limbaugh. He was dressed all in red and he was walking on all fours. If you can get the image, it put me in the mind of the little space invader who tormented Agnes Moorhead in that famous episode of the Twilight Zone.

Just as one of us took a closer look and said, “Wow, that’s Rush Limbaugh” we realized that the cats were fascinated with him. And unlike what we would do to save a bird or a mouse if we saw that our cats might go after something and attack, we stood there watching the two of them pounce on him as he tried to scurry away.

It was only when I saw Rush’s head disappear within the whole of Makana’s mouth that we thought, “Awww, maybe we shouldn’t let this happen” but we were laughing too hard to care. They weren’t really hurting him or being aggressive or anything, they were just playing and tormenting him. (Much like he torments the world, I suppose.)

Right around the second time Makana started to go for his head, a policeman came in. Evidentially a right wing soldier had walked by, saw the happening of events and thought that our cats using Rush as a playtoy seemed to be causing him some sort of severe mental distress (not quite sure he’s capable of that much emotion, but I digress…)

So, the policeman rushed in, rescued Rush, the cats looked at us in wonder and I went onto other fascinating places in my etheric body which I am now unable to recall. If only we could find a wind-up version of Rush like that for the fun and amusement of our cats in waking life. Now that, would be a dream.

With the death of Osama bin Laden this past week, I thought it a time for reflection on the events that inalterably changed our nation almost a decade ago.

Mr. Caat had a childhood friend perish on that day, a Port Authority Officer by the name of “Bruce Reynolds“, who gave his life trying to save others.

I have been fortunate enough to connect with him and his mother, who is now also in spirit, on a couple of different occasions, while doing mediumship readings.

This poem is for him and all those like him.

IN MEMORY OF HEROS

I didn’t know him,
But I know his name.
Like the thousands of other names on the list,
He had a story.

He cared, he loved,
He laughed, he cried.
He was the innocent child,
Who grew up to be a man;
A man respected, a man admired,
Who didn’t have to go, but did.

In the smoke and haze,
One by one,
He helped them out of disaster,
Back to safety in the arms of their families,
Then turned around to do it all over again.

His father planted flowers in a garden for him,
He hopes they will bloom by spring.
It would be appropriate for this child,
Turned into a man,
And that man, who turned into a hero.

For us, who never knew him,
But heard the stories of his youth,
Our hearts cry, for this man turned hero,
And all those like him,
Who died in the line of duty,
On one September day…
One very dark September day…

In the year so many are relieved to have passed,
The year that changed the world…
The year that changed our lives…
The year that took so many heros…
Next spring, a flower will bloom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In Memory of Bruce Reynolds,
Port Authority Police Officer, NY, NJ. —
And all those who also perished on that fateful day.

Lisa Larson © 2002

HAWK

Keywords:
Messenger, Visionary, Protector:
Perspective, Focus, Priorities, Inner Visions, Wisdom

When Hawk crosses your path:

~ Step back and gain a greater perspective on a difficult situation
~ Eliminate distractions and stay focused on your goal or task
~ Be acutely aware of your surroundings for any messages that Hawk or Spirit brings
~ Be prepared to protect yourself from personal or psychic drains
~ Stop trying to control others or the situation, work on accepting and appreciating all that is in the present

Think about Hawk:
They are exemplary fliers with extraordinary strength and speed. They go so fast, they need to pick a direction (priorities) and take it They have the best eyesight of all the animal world. Their visual acuity (ability to see clearly) is 8x’s greater than ours. They are keen hunters, staying focused on their prey. Hawks mate for life, have home ‘territories’, and furiously defend their homes and families.

Call on Hawk energy when:

– You have gotten caught up in the minutia of a situation and need to gain perspective
~ You’re having trouble accepting that a situation is not going the way in which you ‘planned.’
~ You’re feeling depressed and need to ‘lift your spirits’
~ You’re working on a project or task that needs intense focus
~ You’re being verbally or psychically attacked and need to defend yourself
~ You know there are messages being given and you need to figure out what they are

Hawk medicine teaches us:

~ How gain perspective on a situation which we’ve become mired in
~ How to stay focused on priorities
~ How to study a situation and take decisive action
~ How to look at a situation ‘more clearly’

——
References:
– Animal Spirit Guides by Steven D. Farmer
– Shamanism, Vol. III, Animal Medicine Powers, by Dolfyn. ©1992 Earthspirit Inc.
– The Raptor Trust
– Animal-Speak by Ted Andrews

RACCOON

Keywords:
Resourcefulness, Trust, Curiosity, Playful Energy, Inquisitiveness, Dexterity
When Raccoon crosses your path:
– Set aside any doubts you have and know that the resources you need will be there for you (analogous to the Magician card in the tarot.)
– Adopt a more relaxed attitude; open yourself up to the joy of curiosity and ‘open-ended’ exploration* of life.
– Be aware of any signs or omens you may be getting from those close to you on the other side.

Think about Raccoon:
They are adaptable to many types of living situations. They are extraordinarily clever, curious & resourceful. They have dexterous paws which help them get things they want, such as opening lids and latches to things, which might not be available to other animals. They are adventurous and courageously love to explore new things, yet they can be quite ferocious in defending themselves or their babies. They highly intelligent and have keen night vision.

Call on Raccoon energy when:

- You need manual dexterity for a task
- You are in a situation which calls for you to be more adaptable
- You need to find more joy and excitement in life, through exploration and adventure
- You need to feel comfortable with yourself despite what others think of you

Raccoon medicine teaches us:

- To remain flexible and adaptable in the face of challenging situations
- That we have the resources we need for challenging situations
- How to choose which public face (or ‘mask’) is most appropriate for a specific situation

——
References:
– Animal Spirit Guides by Steven D. Farmer
– Shamanism, Vol. III, Animal Medicine Powers, by Dolfyn. ©1992 Earthspirit Inc.
– Raccoon Facts
– Animal-Speak by Ted Andrews

1. My life is likely to last 10-20 years… Any separation from you is likely to be painful.

2. Give me time to understand what you want of me.

3. Place your trust in me. It is crucial for my well-being.

4. Don’t be angry with me for long and don’t lock me up as punishment. You have your work, your friends, your entertainment, but I have only you.

5. Talk to me. Even if I don’t understand your words, I do understand your voice when speaking to me.

6. Be aware that however you treat me, I will never forget it.

7. Before you hit me, before you strike me, remember that I could hurt you, and yet, I choose not to bite you.

8. Before you scold me for being lazy or uncooperative, ask yourself if something might be bothering me. Perhaps I’m not getting the right food, I have been in the sun too long, or my heart might be getting old or weak.

9. Please take care of me when I grow old – remember, you too, will grow old.

10. On the ultimate difficult journey, go with me, please Never say you can’t bear to watch. Don’t make me face this alone. Everything is easier for me if you are there, because I love you so.

~Anonymous

Pelican as an Animal Spirit Guide

Keywords:
Forgiveness, Cooperation, Release, Adaptability

When Pelican crosses your path:
– Forgive yourself
– Let go of resentment towards others
– Let go of that which ‘weighs you down’, be it material, emotional or mental

Think about Pelican:
They have that large sack with which to fish. They can fish abundantly with it, but know that it needs to be empty to have the freedom of effortless flight. They swallow the fish and empty the water out of the pouch. They know when to let go.
Pelicans know how to adapt to the conditions in which they live. Despite their large size, they are deceptively light. This makes them buoyant and they float effortlessly on the water. And although, they may, at times, have trouble taking off from the water’s surface, they persevere, not allowing themselves to get bogged down in the water. (symbolically, water = emotions)

Pelicans are very social beings. They live in cooperative colonies, teaming up to fish, and they nest away from species with whom they may have conflict.

Call on Pelican energy when:
– You feel the need to ‘lighten up’
– You feel the need to let go of resentment or anger towards another
– You feel overwhelmed and want to rise above your heavy emotional state
– You feel the need to keep your head held high, despite your trials and tribulations

Pelican medicine teaches us:
–That no matter how heavy our burdens, we will always rise to the top
– How to forgive ourselves, by releasing ourselves from that which bogs us down
– How to ‘team up’ with others in harmony and cooperation

——
References:
– Animal Spirit Guides by Steven D. Farmer
– Shamanism, Vol. III, Animal Medicine Powers, by Dolfyn. ©1992 Earthspirit Inc.
– Pelican Facts
– Animal-Speak by Ted Andrews