A little over a month ago, this gaia.com community began a practice of observing a daily Gaia minute or "moment" of sending love to our planet - the living system of Gaia, our mother.  Since the initiation of this practice was strongly connected to September 9th - 9/9/09 - folks are encouraged to observe it at 9:09 am (or pm) - and I add for a duration of 9 minutes and 9 seconds.

During that time one night, I began to get the image of connecting to the chakras of the planet, like healers connect to the chakra energy centers of the body.



For a fuller description of the various chakras, check the chart about halfway down this page.


The basic idea is that the red or root chakra is associated with stability and creation,
the orange or sacral chakra is connected with procreation and change, the yellow  with confidence and willpower, the green with love and balance, the light blue with communication and truth, the dark blue (indigo) with intuition and wisdom, and the purple chakra with connection with Divine and inspiration.  Check the chart above to see which color is associated with which part of the body.


So the then came the image of connecting with the energy centers of the earth, like connecting with the energy centers of the body:


Red - the molten center from which comes life, and the change of volcanic eruptions.
Orange - the slightly cooler layers out to the fertile crust that germinates and sustains the food and resources off of which we live. 
Yellow - the bountiful harvest of grains, the beauty of flowers. 
Green - the colors of vegetation and the leafy canopy that sustains the air we breath
Light blue - the sky - home for birds, clouds, precipitation, conveyer of light and radio waves
Indigo - the edges of space
Purple - the greater universe and multiverse.

Each of these images is fluid - please adapt them in ways that work for your style.

With special thanks to KES, here is a graphic representation of these images:

As I've been working on this blog - I've had a sense of connecting with the different areas and sharing love like caressing a beloved's face, hugging a loved one, touching someone on the shoulder compassionately and supportively, or stroking a well-loved animal.

I've also had a sense of the interconnectedness of my own chakras, and those of the earth.  And I feel like connecting with and loving ourselves more deeply is a fundamental and crucial part of doing what we need to heal our planet and deal with the multitude of environmental and social challenges currently facing all of us.


Thank you for being part of this Blog Action Day


blessings -


Sylvia

Of a collective World Wide (Web) Sacred space -


A Praying Place


A place to bring the reverent offerings of our hearts and dreams


A place of singing hope


A place where we can all join in chat -

where we cherish the sacred in one another


A place not formed or bound by religious institutions or business -


but grown through the shared yearning of (Human) Spirit

a place to speak openly of harsh reality - and to brainstorm pragmatically of creative resolutions.


Where we can celebrate preciousness and approaches that are working - and spread the solutions far and wide.


I know various places where folks are speaking *about* spirituality - even on this community.  Where are folks sharing spiritually with each other?  Through song, prayer, silence, candlelighting?


blessings -


Sylvia

Below you'll find an alert from www.avaaz.org about actions that they're coordinating leading up to the world summit on global warming.   This particular alert has to do with fundraising - I included it because the global response is so clear and encouraging.  Please feel free to pass the alert along - and especially to sign up through the main website to be involved in the actions in whatever way(s) work for you.


Thank you!


peace and blessings -


Sylvia




Dear friends,

Over 100,000 of us from 182 countries voted in the Avaaz global poll last week - and the results were nothing short of stunning! 96% of people said, YES, let's go all out on climate this month and commit to a "global wake-up call" to world leaders on September 21st.

With our ambition now sky high, our collective challenge is to fund what could be the largest coordinated global climate event ever -- and in a way that lives up to our global mandate.

We have just days left. If together we can raise $150,000 by Monday, Avaaz can commit to the project big time: building a world map and twitter-like blog that links all the September 21 climate events together; establishing a global phone database so that thousands of us can flood leaders with calls; and hiring top professionals to help us win the media battle with the mighty coal and oil industries.

If 5000 of us donate even a small amount, we'll give our leaders a deafening climate wake-up call they can't ignore:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/fund_the_wake_up_call/98.php?CLICK_TF_TRACK

The climate crisis is a massive challenge, but our global vote has shown that the Avaaz community is up for the fight. Now we have the mandate, let's pull together to organise thousands of wake-up events in public places all over the world in the knowledge that together we have the financial resources to make leaders sit up and listen.

When Presidents and Prime Ministers gather at the UN on September 22, we have to show a massive public demand for them to sign a fair and binding deal in Copenhagen. Thousands of simultaneous events will give us a unique chance to seize the attention of world media and of leaders everywhere - but we need to know we can make it BIG! Donate now to turn our mandate into tangible climate action on the streets all over the world:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/fund_the_wake_up_call/98.php?CLICK_TF_TRACK

World leaders are already hearing our voices - now they need to know that they have no choice but to agree to a global climate treaty in Copenhagen in December. We have the team signed up. Let's pitch in together so we can pull off a global wake-up call that can't be ignored.

With hope,

Brett, Paula, Ricken, Iain, Taren, Ben, Graziela, Luis, Alice J, Pascal, Benjamin, Alice W, Milena, Raluca, Julius, Margaret, Veronique, Chris -- and the whole Avaaz.org team

My parents, particularly my mother, were toxically sarcastic.  I have trained myself to be much gentler in my humor for the most part.  When I am cuttingly sarcastic, that can be a clue that I am tired, angry and/or need to check in emotionally to see what's leading me to be defensive or biting.

Hi, folks - I signed the US MoveOn version of this petition a couple days ago.  Wherever you are in the world - I invite you to copy and paste the link contained below into a new browser window or tab - sign this petition, and share it widely -


THANK YOU -


Sylvia


Dear Friends,

Iranian activists have appealed to the world to oppose the violent crackdown on their protests. Massive new protests are planned, the regime is divided. A united global outcry of 1 million voices could help stop the violence. Call on world leaders to unite against the crackdown:

Sign the petition
Today, the hearts and hopes of people around the world are with protesters facing awful risks on the streets of Iran. Regardless of who won the election, the question now is one of fundamental human rights.

Top Iranian leaders are divided, so every bit of pressure matters. With massive new protests imminent, Iranian activists are urgently appealing for a united international response to oppose the violent crackdown.

Sign the petition below calling on ALL governments to condemn the crackdown and withhold recognition of any Iranian government until election concerns are peacefully addressed. Then forward this email to friends and family -- let's build a massive global outcry of 1 million voices against the crackdown:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/iran_stop_the_crackdown

We'll deliver the petition directly to the leaders of Iran's largest trading partners and the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the UN, and other international groups respected in Iran. A united international response will puncture the regime's spin that the US and UK alone are behind global criticism.

People power is sweeping global politics. But where leaders respond violently to nonviolent protest, from Burma to Zimbabwe to Iran, global solidarity is needed to show governments that repression weakens their rule, rather than strengthening it.

Avaaz means "voice" in Farsi, the Iranian language. Let's show the people of Iran that, whoever they voted for, we support their right to have their voices heard. Copy the link below in a browser window to sign the petition, and spread the word by forwarding this email:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/iran_stop_the_crackdown

With hope and determination,

Ricken, Ben, Milena, Paul, Raluca, Brett, Iain, Pascal, Raj, Graziela, Taren, Paula, Margaret, Veronique and the whole Avaaz team.

image source

Image from:  http://www.proudparenting.com/node/843


 



Today I was present when my sister of the heart L was finally able to adopt the 3 year old who has lived with her and her partner J since K was a couple days old.

According to the laws of the state of Ohio - K can have a mother and a father - but she can't have two mothers.  Interestingly - they are able to jointly foster parent ... but not to jointly adopt.

In state law - it doesn't matter that both of them have gone through hell dealing with K's health and behavior challenges in her first three years.  It doesn't matter that they both mother the various children who have resided in their house - and since they've been foster parents, there have been around 20.  It doesn't matter that they are fundamentally coupled with each other - facing jointly the challenges and blessings of life.

I am profoundly grateful that the magistrate ruling on the case was flexible, resilient and understanding - so he allowed J to be in the courtroom with L through the whole proceeding (the rest of us, including K, waited out in the hall) and K's last name is now a hyphenated combination of both her momma and her mommy's last names [smile]. 

This may be a benefit of what my heartmate Brad called "practical politics".  In November, the Democratic challenger for Probate Court judge in this area won a significant victory over the 18 year Republican incumbent.  The incumbent did *not* have a good reputation in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, questioning community - and I spread the word widely among folks I knew to vote for the challenger - who is very supportive of the lbgtq community.  I was aware that there is only one probate judge per county - who has power of appointment over all the probate magistrates, etc. - and so his victory could have a really significant impact on basic issues such as adoptions, wills, trusts, legal custody, etc.  Without favorable state laws - who sits on the bench can really shift the experience of the process and the outcome.  So today is a smile.  Politics can make a difference.  And K is at home ... officially carrying both her mothers' names.


love and blessings -



Sylvia

Over the years, I've attended a number of rallies, protests, vigils, and other social activism events - and I keep running into people with whom I've shared peace cranes.  They'll say to me - you look really familiar, but I'm not sure where I know you from.  And then I'll fold a crane, and they'll say - "oh, YEAH!  You shared a crane with me when we marched together at X event"  Or when we visited one of the legislator's offices together, or sat at a table together at a lobby day, etc.


Sometimes I'll share butterflies, lilies, flapping birds or other creations - but with activism it's usually peace cranes, because of their symbollism and spiritual significance.  One of my friends is currently writing a children's story, and I will show up in it as the origami woman :-) because of some cranes I shared with her as she was dealing with her mother's death.

Mother's Day this year was especially painful, with my mom and both my grandmothers gone and not having children of my own.  It was really hard with the sense that this will be my last in this house designed by my dad where I've lived off and on since I was nine years old.  So I've questioned my place in the world, and what I've really done with my 44 years, and what I have the ability to do once I leave here.

And in the midst of that - there are various folks in whom I've fostered a passion for the whimsical and wonderful  Japanese art of origami.  There's a trail of paper creations with my finger prints stretching around the globe.  I had the honor of giving my Japanese sister Kimi 1000 cranes when she went back after living with my mother and me on exchange for a year - and of leaving a handful of cranes at Sadako's memorial in Hiroshima when I visited with my sister in 1987.  A friend of my brother and sister in law's took one of my cranes with him when he hiked through Latin America.  And they're scattered all over places I've visited in the US and Canada.

One of my current projects is several hundred flapping birds for participants in a nearby library's summer reading club [smile].

One of the things that's both challenging and most precious about origami is its relative fragility.  It is made of a renewable resource - paper, and can return to the earth without leaving lasting litter.  It can easily be crushed.  And yet, in the midst of that fragility is an amazing way of being a conduit for sharing beauty, whimsy and joy.

One of my favorite crane memories is from one of my periodic visits to Niagara Falls.  A group of folks that I identified as speaking Japanese were taking pictures on the Canadian side of the falls, giggling and dodging water drops from where the mighty current went over the edge of the cliff.  I offered them cranes - and they became very excited.  We shared maybe 10 words total of communication between us.  Even without being able to speak to each other - they made it very clear that they wanted me to be in a couple of their pictures - and so cranes were a bridge beyond the barriers that might have otherwise separated us.



[hands cupped, gently offering a crane]


Namaste!



Sylvia

(Note - I have appreciatively copied the images in this post off the web - please click the links below each picture to go in a separate window to the page where the image can be found).



 

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Spring displays on the land where I live feed my soul for quite some time.  And this year they have been especially bountiful.  Somehow Mother Nature seems to know this is probably my last here.  Daffodils started blooming in the latter part of March - over the years my mother planted fifty bulbs a year, so they spring up in all sorts of nooks and crannies on this hilly woody plot of ground.  For several weeks, they bloomed in relatively solitary splendor - the weather was warm enough for them to flourish but too cool for the trees to leaf or other flowers to pop out.

And then a week ago temperatures went up into the eighties - and the trees, flowers, and birds went *wild*.  From Friday to Sunday the leaves came flooding out - and our feathered friends were tripping over each other in their mating choruses.

Most significant to me are the calls and "drumming sounds" of the pileated woodpecker - once scarce enough to be firmly on the endangered species list - now flourishing in most of the lower forty eight states.  The information I've found suggests they have territories of several hundred acres - and yet, with the windows open, I hear their unmistakable sounds several times every day - leading me to the precious hope that they may be nesting nearby.  If you've ever seen one - they make quite an impression.  Almost as large as crows, with an eye-catching flash of red cap and black and white feathers, they're both powerful and endearingly awkward - great models for Woody the Woodpecker.


love and blessings -


Sylvia



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I've already had friends help with "unstuffing" the house where I live - and I could use a whole lot more help.  I've come to realize that I have a mental ... squiggle ... when it comes to organization and simplifying - and so having people help is critical.  I've internalized, repeated and expanded upon a lot of shame messages over the years.  To shift and reframe those messages. I've learned to image positive outcomes ... to affirm what I've accomplished so far - to do little bits and to comfort and support myself when I hit an emotional wall about stuff.  I've also learned to try to keep areas neat that have been cleared ... to put like stuff together in one area - and to use reuseable bags for shopping :-).  Little by little.  The cat who's with me for a couple weeks is also ... shifting things around [smiling] - in a relatively manageable way.  He's mature but still young enough to zing around the house - and careful enough to have not really wrecked things so far [appreciative look].

bright blessings -


Sylvia

























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