RCG-I Seasonal Salon Fall Equinox 2009

Kill The Messenger

Funny thing about Spirit Guides: They come in all guises and bring messages to us that we may not be ready to hear.

It is fashionable to have Spirit Guides or Power Animals like Wolf, Bear, Eagle, Dolphin, Elephant or Snake. It is easy to love their majestic beingness because we rarely see them up close and in person, except living under protection of zoos. At best, we can watch them in documentaries or see pictures in a book.

Heck, I even have a number of stuffies and porcelain representations of various Power Animals whose energy I admire and work with. In most cases, that’s the best we, as Urban Dwellers, can do. Some of us will be partial to more domesticated versions like Dog, Cat or Ferret and share our living spaces with them.

Ted Andrews published some darn good books on how to contact and work with Spirit Guides*. He meant us to contact them through meditation, not necessarily up close and personal.

However, there are those Spirit Guides who will not be denied access to us just because they are wild creatures. This nation of creatures come out of nowhere, provoking screams and flights of terror, sometimes even inflicting bodily pain to get our attention.

These are the Spirit Guides we exterminate or sweep out of our way. The ones I mean are related to or in the Insect Nation. Every region in the country has its own species and every season brings out new beasties from cracks in the floor or those who can jump inside the door or window. By the time Fall Equinox appears, the Insects are fully grown and preparing for colder temps by storing food supplies and nesting.

And honestly? My first response if I find them in the house is to kill them...kill them dead. If I am able, and I do try, I will attempt to sweep them onto a dustpan and toss them outside. I fail to hear their message because I am such a grrrly-grrl scaredy-kat and just want them gone.

Last year, I discovered a Preying Mantis in my roses. The story is sweet. She mates and kills the male immediately and yet lays hundreds of eggs. What I didn’t know is that as the eggs hatch, the first-borns eat the next to hatch and later go on to eat other insects, and wait...wait a minute! They will even eat hummingbird eggs & young birds. Ok, so much for my illusions of a positive strong feminist message.

And Black Widow Spiders...the really pregnant with many babies and very BLACK spider with a red hourglass. OMGoddess! Not in my garden where I walk barefoot and often work without gloves. No. Her power is great and too dangerous. Her silk is one of the strongest natural substances on Earth. Those webs she weaves are clear in the center and sticky on the outside. She weaves new fates for those who cross her path. And I, I want her out of my garden, off my path, even though she was on this land before I came to it.

Now Yellow Jackets are nesting on my arbor. Many years ago, I was stung by a Yellow Jacket on my belly. The pain paralyzed me for a couple of hours & I’ve never forgotten the current it sent into my whole body. I have work to do under that arbor and yet, know better than to disturb that little nest to get it done.

This conflict between the Insect Nation & me is not unique. A lot of people have similar uncomfortable relationships with them, and it’s the only life form that many humans seem to agree is ok to exterminate. I am not becoming an Insect Rights Activist, though perhaps some do understand their value and may even love them. I am, however, taking Chief Dan George’s quote to heart where he says, "What one fears, one destroys."

They scare me like little else in life does. Strange how when I am outdoors and see them, it feels different than when they come into my home. I’ve done the magick in setting a sacred space and "tell" them that if they come inside, all peaceful negotiations are off.

Today is going to be different. Today, rather than kill the messenger, I simply want to challenge myself and raise my spiritual consciousness and vibration. Today, I am listening for the collective message, not just from the individual scouts or emissaries from one or two of their kind, but from the majority of the Insect Nation. What ARE you saying when you appear?

First of all, we can look at our relationships, not only human-to-insect; all our relationships from those that are working smoothly because of our spoken/unspoken contracts to those people who literally "bug" us. We can look at areas of misunderstanding between each other.

Secondly, we can look at our fears and responses to our fears. Something in life is causing us to react with fear and respond out of fear rather than love. It takes time to go within our hearts and examine our subconscious minds. It takes courage. Again, we examine what "bugs" us about our choices, our behavior, our unresolved conflicts.

And, while there may be other lessons to learn, the Third I think important, is one of Life, Death & Rebirth. Sometimes I forget that we all participate in this cycle and run from it just like I do when I see any Spirit Guide from the Insect Nation appear.

Fall Equinox leads us into a consciousness of Life, Death & Rebirth and by Hallows we are deeper into it. I love the mysteries of our faith when they are poetic and beautiful. I love the pageantry of our seasonal rituals. What "bugs" us about our faith, is what we do not or cannot understand about either of these parts of the cycle. We ask: Why does Life throw poverty and illness our way? Why doesn’t Death come swiftly and without pain?

What the Insect Nation DOES say, loud and clear, is that no matter how they get smashed, poisoned, rejected, thrown out of their homes and are hated for who they are, they are Reborn and return to their life purpose without taking it personally. Every day is a new day. And that IS a lesson worth learning.

*Ted Andrews: Animal-Speak, Llewellyn Publications, St. Paul, MN, 1994
 Ted Andrews: Animal-Wise, Dragonhawk Publications, Jackson, TN, 1999