Feline Friday

"Today, the trellis. Tomorrow, the roof."

Bentley Blockade and Social License

I learned the term "social license" today. It's the idea that people are more powerful than corporations. (Corporations will, no doubt, learn to use the term for their own benefit, but for now, let's be optimists.)

from http://www.ecocitizenaustralia.com.au

Last year, a friend in Australia mentioned meetings in her local community that she was attending to learn about fracking. At that time, all I knew about fracking was that it had created a boom (figuratively speaking) in North Dakota.

I'd read that long-term residents near the North Dakota oil fields weren't happy with the damage to the community and the environment, but…  Jobs! One woman, found work transporting gas, after both she and her husband had been out of work for nearly two years. She was one of only two female truckers working in a place with virtually no law and order, so she carried an iron bar with her at all times in case she needed to defend herself. There were health risks, too, but she was able to send money (lots of money) home to her husband and daughter.

That and other articles I'd read about fracking in the U.S. barely mentioned environmental damage and I didn't look any further than those articles. Because… Jobs!

Susan's posts about fracking and her links to documentaries and to websites opened my eyes. But protesting?

"Good luck with that, folks," was the thought that I kept to myself.

The Australian gas company, Metgasco, ignored the opposition of local people, but that wasn't the end of the story. All the talkers stood up! Since early March, the Bentley Blockade has been gaining more attention and more support. Susan passes the blockade on her way to work so I've seen pictures and videos of the campsite as it has grown and visitors have increased.

I am filled with hope.

How will the gas company and the politicians respond? Other protests in Australia have had some success. If these blockaders prevail, will it make a difference elsewhere?

At the very least, it will make all the difference there.

And imagine how children at the Bentley Blockade will view their role in the world.

by Susan McGeever

by Susan McGeever

I Don't Always Pull A Daily Card...

… so for this Tarot Tuesday, I am re-blogging Carolyn Cushing's  cards from her "Week of April 21st Practices." (Read Carolyn's interpretations of these cards on her blog.)

Nurture the small actions that bring structure and meaning to your life

Embrace every moment and every person you encounter with celebration.

Behold the world through the eyes of a child, filled with wonder and discovery.

I love hearing back from my readers so please

leave a comment. I read each and every one. 
Be well!

Chag Pesach Sameach

This year's charoset, made with apples, kiwis, pears, oranges, dates, yellow raisins, almonds, pistachios, dried cherries, and ginger; sprinkled with cayenne, cloves, cardamom, and black pepper; and marinated in pomegranate juice, Manischewitz, and apple cider vinegar.

May your Passover be warm, inspiring, and only as kosher as you want it to be.

I Will Be Offering Tarot Readings on May 17

I was recently admitted into the ranks of the Mile High Mystics and will be participating in their spring show. The next show will be held on May 17th. (Our website amusingly describes the response to the first show in 1994: "there was a line of people running out the door and down the block!")

At the last show, I had a dozen customers and each one was pleased with his or her reading. I enjoy reading cards for other people so I'm hoping to develop a client base of people who will request more readings and also refer their friends.

This was my table at the February show.

I use two decks in my readings. I find that this style of reading engages clients and helps them remember what they learned during a reading. 

After discussing the client's question with him or her, I do a ten card reading using the Robin Wood Tarot deck. This part of the reading is to satisfy the client's expectation that I'll be doing all the work. It also helps get the client into a relaxed and receptive state of mind, willing to explore his situation frankly. 

The next part of the reading is what I consider the most important. I ask the client to select two cards that he or she wants to explore further. Then I pull the corresponding cards from the Gaian Tarot and have the client describe the card and free associate. Together, we discover its meaning and the advice it has for her.

Although I give accurate and helpful readings, I believe that everyone has her own answers. By asking a client to interpret some of the cards, I am helping her hear and recognize her own intuition. The more a person listens to her intuition, the more it will speak to her. I want people to learn to rely on soul's guidance in all matters. 

Tarot Tuesday - Draw upon the energy of springtime

Spring began at the beginning of February, on Imbolc. Equinox was weeks ago, but in some places, people are desperately longing for the end of winter weather and for signs of spring.

Here, we had a very mild winter, but now people are not coming out of their homes to watch the returning birds, to plant gardens, or even to walk outside. Perhaps, before we can rise up to embrace the warm brightness of spring and summer, we need to sink into the cold and darkness of winter.

So how can we release our urge to hibernate and begin to blossom? To answer that question, I did a reading based on a spread created by Joanna Powell Colbert.

How do we leave winter behind? The Explorer of Air (Knight of Swords) often represents a person who is prepared and adaptable. He climbs high to get perspective. Nature is his highest ideal and he can leave winter behind as he makes the effort to see and feel what nature is offering us now.

What is the heart's desire? Temperance usually indicates balance and healing or the need for those things. To me, it seems that the Gaian Tarot's tempering angel of balance and healing is standing in polluted and poisoned factory run-off; she shows us what we've done to our world and reminds us that we are part of nature. We've forgotten the balance between ourselves and nature; we've forgotten how dependent we are on nature. In this reading, Temperance represents our desire for our psyches to reflect the season.

How do we enter the joy and growth of spring? The Child of Air (Page of Swords) is naive and inexperienced, but sees the world with eyes full of wonder. She tells us to pay attention to the signs of spring and to let our spirits be lifted by them.

I love hearing back from my readers so please

leave a comment. I read each and every one!

Seamus Heaney

Irish poet, Seamus Heaney, passed away on August 30, last year.

The Railway Children

When we climbed the slopes of the cutting

We were eye-level with the white cups

Of the telegraph poles and the sizzling wires.

Like lovely freehand they curved for miles

East and miles west beyond us, sagging

Under their burden of swallows.

We were small and thought we knew nothing 

Worth knowing. We thought words travelled the wires

In the shiny pouches of raindrops,

Each one seeded full with the light

Of the sky, the gleam of the lines, and ourselves

So infinitesimally scaled

We could stream through the eye of a needle.

Since I first read this poem in college, it has been a favorite of mine, but I didn't know why.

He says that as children we thought we knew nothing / worth knowing. Perhaps he was suggesting that those things are more important than the supposedly worthwhile things that adults "know."

Feline Friday

"I didn't think she'd really do it. She made the bed right on top of me."

Saving for a Rainy Day?

If you happen to live in an area that does not observe DST, you may have wondered why people in other areas change their clocks. A quick perusal of Wikipedia will show you that there is no good reason.

Have you also wondered when people in those crazy places change their clocks? The mnemonic is, "Spring forward, fall back." However, this year, they did not adjust their clocks when spring began in early February. They waited until the end of March, after the equinox, the middle of spring. So remember, clocks are changed... sometime during spring and fall.

No matter when people futz with their clocks, the procedure is absurd. It is true that there is more sunlight in the summer than in winter, but no one gets to save it for a rainy day.

There are, it seems, only three "benefits" to Daylight Savings Time:

• stores make more money if the sky is light after people finish work each day 
• people watch less prime time television during Daylight Savings Time 
• there's an "extra" hour in the fall

Here are just a few of the problems caused by changing the clocks:

Health

• changing the clocks disrupts circadian rhythms; the effects on a number of biological systems can be severe and last for weeks 
• it disrupts sleep and reduces the quality of sleep 
• it increases the incidence of heart attacks by 10% (studies in several countries support this) 
• for several weeks after changing the clocks in the spring, the number of male suicides increases (however, male suicides are at their lowest rate in the summer, which, some argue, is a benefit of changing the clocks)

Environment

• in the summer, energy use increases in the morning, but there is no corresponding decrease in the evening; no power is saved during DST

Work

• DST causes problems for farmers and other people whose work depends on the sun (e.g., grain can only be harvested after dew evaporates, so the work day "officially" starts before work can be done and ends when work could continue) 
• cows need to be milked at the same time every day; their systems are disrupted when dairy farmers need to make milk deliveries earlier than usual

Safety

• major industrial accidents have occurred because of DST (molten steel should be cooled for all the time it needs, not one hour less) 
• when the clocks are changed, medical devices can "generate adverse events" (I don't want to know what that means)

Economy

• changing the clocks makes a mess of meetings, travel, billing systems, and record keeping, resulting in much unnecessary expense 
• different regions have different DST rules; this adds more complications to an already confused system 
• work efficiency decreases, leading to financial losses 
• U.S. stock markets experience a significant one-day loss each time the clocks change

Ruining Our Fun 

• Fourth of July fireworks occur long after the kids' usual bedtimes 
• because some people announce the times of teleconferences as PT, MT, and ET rather than the accurate PST or PDT, MST or MDT, and EST or EDT, other people may miss a teleconference. People who don't change their clocks have no reason to be aware that Daylight Savings Time has started or ended. For them, it's always Standard Time.

In conclusion, changing the clocks has no benefits. More importantly annoys those of us in numerous saner regions where we do not change our clocks—

so just stop it!