Psychic Attunement with a Lion

The animals were very vocal at the zoo today. My toddler and I got to hear close up the lion and sea lions, and from just outside their homes we heard a jaguar and the elephants. The lion roaring was especially cool. He looked right at us and snarled! The sound reverberated through me. Since he was clearly making eye contact, I decided to reach out psychically and see what it felt like to be a lion.

I immediately felt a shift in relationship with the landscape and the air. It's difficult to describe. Everything became a continuum, snow to earth, rock to sky, self/lion a part of it all. He is aware of his female companions as different than landscape, but not in the same way that we think of other human individuals. All is like a jigsaw puzzle with moving pieces. We humans smell different. Kind of like when a boy comes in from playing soccer all afternoon and you can smell his sweat and the air and boyness as he moves through the house - that's how the lions smell us. Only it's perfume and human odor and cooking smells.

The air itself felt different from the lion. Thicker. The temperature of the air carried information about the land, his companions, us humans, and the coming weather.

I don't know what inspired him to growl. It felt like an assertion of selfhood in the midst of the continuum of life. And probably there was a little bit of just being a guy, letting us humans know that he is king of the zoo. Or perhaps he was just telling us about his cushy heated rocks in the middle of Predator Ridge.

Celebrating Imbolc with Blood, Fire, and Milk

Today the northern hemisphere celebrates Imbolc, also called Oimelc, which means Ewe's Milk. We celebrate early spring, when the lambs are born into the cold morning dew. For me this is an impatient time. The holidays have passed but it's not yet time to plant. In a week or so I will start a few brassica seeds indoors - I have purple brussels sprouts to try this year. But gardening in earnest is a while off yet.

Today is also known as Brigid's Day, celebrating the Goddess and saint Brigid. She is the goddess of fire, healing, poetry, and crafts. Today I honor her and my connection with the land with a small ritual. I lit three candles, asking for blessings for my family in the Cree way. Then I prayed for abundance in my life - and balance. I am a lactating mother myself at this time, and know how I can both give and need to be nourished in balance. I am very busy writing, doing book promotion, planning the garden, being a wife and friend, and raising my daughter. It's easy to get overwhelmed and burned out. I pray that I burn strong as my candles' flames, and flow as abundantly as the milk I give my child.

I am also bleeding right now, so I saved some of my moon blood (from my Moon Cup) and mixed it with water. I said a blessing that I and the land might be nourished fully. Then I went outside and poured my own blood onto one of my dormant vegetable beds. By Valentine's Day the red blood will be frosted with white snow. How strangely appropriate!

How will you celebrate this day? This time of year? Please share!