8:00 a.m.
A big ole weather front is passing through Washington DC even as I type this. It's a huge storm with "embedded areas of heavy rain." Lightning, thunder, even the possibility of an isolated tornado or two are in the forecast. By 10:00 a.m. it'll all be over, or so the meteorologists say.
I pay attention to the weather. There are practical reasons for this (not that most folks in modern society acknowledge the power of the weather over we puny humans). I grew up in the American midwest; I tilt, whenever possible, towards common sense - so - when a big storm passes through, I take shelter. Duh.
As a shaman, I'm also very interested in the esoteric, symbolic ways in which weather can be interpreted. According to the cosmology of Reya, the world is an ongoing, 24/7, three-dimensional divination. If I dance in alignment with (for instance) the rain, sunshine, clouds, clear skies, Brother Wind and so forth, there's a possibility I can glean wisdom, maybe even grace, from that alignment. Weather is the emotional body of the earth. As a citizen of this beautiful planet, it seems respectful to pay attention. Ya know?
Hence, instead of heading out to the Holocaust Museum library (as I had planned to do), I'm going to stay in this morning, make a pear coffee cake, drink tea, read blogs. I will watch and listen to the rain, thunder. I will give thanks for the sweet shelter of the chateau, I will marvel at the power of the weather to bring me to my knees, or lift me up into moments of transcendence.
The timing of this storm is significant. Even though I have a passion for the ancestors who passed away during the Holocaust, it is perhaps best to re-enter this enthusiasm slowly, a little bit at a time. I don't have to throw myself head-first into the picture archives at the Holocaust Museum, an experience that will no doubt be wrenching. It certainly was last time I was there. So do I need to straightaway toss myself into the deep end emotionally? Do I? No, I do not.
Go gently, Reya, says the fierce storm. Go gently. Thanks, Mr. Fierce Storm! I'm listening.
17 comments:
I do envy your freedom to change your plans with the weather. We're having one of those great snowy days; not too cold, not too deep on the streets, just pretty and unexpected for so early in the year. A great day for taking a walk (which I'll do later, but not until after dark).
Enjoy your storm!
Those ancestors will patiently wait for you. I`m sure they love the idea of you meeting them in their shtetl, but no hurry.
When you go, can you please send them a message from me?
Angela you can send them a message right now. Send me an email; I will pass it along.
Nancy if this was a work day, I would no doubt trudge through the storm - since it's my day off, I can be more flexible. I know people who wouldn't change their plans even on a day off no matter what. Don't you?
Dr. M & I are famous for changing our plans (or, in fact, for not even making them until the last minute).
As predicted, we're getting snow here in Ohio. So far it's just pretty & showing up on the mulch in the landscaping here at work. Unlike your storm, I think it will draw me out at lunch to take a picture of a silly pig in its santa costume. Seems appropriate in the snow :)
Bug, sounds like the perfect response to the first snow of the season. When it snows here, you can't keep me inside! I love snow.
Oh yes, the weather dictates me too.
"Weather is the emotional body of the earth."
No wonder it always makes me feel a certain way! That's a great description.
I live in Phoenix and the only real weather we get is the blistering summer when I hardly leave the house. I do however, get a headache right before it rains, every time and all my life. My mother and daughter are the same, good thing I live in Phoenix and can't imagine how my daughter thought Seattle was a good choice, ha. Enjoy your hunker down Reya.
What an awesome sky photo! I too am hunkered down in the house while we are experiencing blowing, driving rain. My neighbor wanted to go to a craft show today and I told her no way was I going out in this!
On hubby's way to work he said a small tree limb came crashing down right in front of the car and he had no recourse but to drive over it. Which just affirms my decision!!
Lynn - you are smart. So glad your husband is safe!
"Seems respectful to pay attention" indeed...And wise!
reya! several hundred miles north of you the snow is falling. wet, soft, thick on the branches. marshmallowy. good to look at, superb to throw, hard to shovel, bad for bicycles. this morning it rained heavily. soft on the skin, warm almost, very soaky. very very soaky. i smiled the whole way there. the rain and i described each other to a "t".
i like that you know the weather as the emotional body of this place. i can feel that in the same way as i can feel how emotions dance inside my body and then also outside me. such good clouds! steven
Yesterday we had torrential rain, and my daughter spent hours in the air, on the ground in an airplane and in airports before finally arriving home hours and hours after she was scheduled. Today we've had sleet, wind and now snow. I love the weather and that it keeps my perspective clear.
Going gently into that experience seems to me to be as impossible as going gently into a flood. How can one NOT be overcome?
Rather, I would say to approach it deliberately, in readiness for the alluviom.
Or maybe you should wait and go with a friend. :-)
There are so many layers in this post - the dancing in alignment with weather, the idea of earth's emotional presence, the pull of your ancestors, the storm of emotions in your own being. As you so often say, WOW!
Thanks Pauline and Jo. I didn't even know there were layers ... but of course there were.
Jo, in my dream with my rabbinical ancestors, it was clear that I need to prepare for the journey, if indeed it comes to pass. That will require time spent in the photo archives at the very least. And I WILL go with my friend Renee, the Polish woman with whom I will go to Krakow, if I go.
She's excited to spend time in Poland without being shuttled from one auntie's house to another. Poland is always about family for her. She wants to have some fun. She is grounded, powerful and deliberate. yeah, she'll come with me to the library, I promise.
Maybe I should have said slowly instead of gently.
Doucement is a better word.
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