The Angry Elephant Within: Listening
I have walked with the spirit of the elephant for over 55 years. She is the one who has been with me from the start. By the time I was 4 years old, I had decided I would grow up to be one of her kind. Family history supports the fact that I fully intended to grow up to be an elephant.
People ask how is it possible for a raw clay pot as thin and delicate as this elephant medicine to survive the pit firing process. It is a simple matter of resistance… there is none. The pots are so thin that the fire’s heat moves effortlessly through the clay. This is the voice of the spirit of the clay giving, by example, insight into the process of transformation by fire.
I once found myself held fast, arm wrapped to the arm pit, in the trunk of a very angry elephant. I saw in her eye the desire to kill. It was nothing personal, her rage was old and festering. I did not meet her anger with fear and resistance, for surely she would have killed me if I had. My deep love and respect for elephants was stronger, in that moment, than fear; stronger even than the hatred she carried for what she had experienced at the hands and ignorance of man.
When our eyes met I felt the pain in her heart in my own and my heart flung open wide in love and compassion. My willingness to surrender in love to her will dissolved her rage. In that moment she chose to gently untwine our limbs and step aside.
Transformation by fire often feels like the rage of an angry elephant within…and resistance can sometimes mean death. If transformation by fire is what you seek let the flames burn through you, meet them with courage, love and self- compassion. Some of us have chosen to walk through a certain type of hell on earth: walking through the hell, loosening the death grip of resistance and allowing the fires of transformation to burn away the darkness allows us to step forward into a certain kind of heaven on earth.
My dear friend Shirley Tassencort says, “If one is to become a listener, one has to wait for the sound of permission. Even at 65, I’m not sure I’m old enough to create forms that carry the Buddha nature.” My sentiments exactly. I wait and listen. Only when the spirit of the elephant comes to me do I accept the commission to bring her form into being. She asks me, here and now, to bring her chosen form into being in clay; that she might speak to you and I.
This aspect of Her being is about listening: the grace of listening, making one’s self available to hear the quiet voice of God, dancing to the sound of the universe creating itself. Speaking directly to each and every one of us, the voice of the Gods’ whisper through every form in nature; every stalk of holy corn, every lizard who crosses our path, every beast that is willing to look us in the eyes.

Listen, listen they are calling!

P.S. I love you Annabelle! And will always remember you in gratitude and love.

In The Spirit of Annabelle

–

People ask, how is it possible for a raw clay pot as thin and delicate as The Flower of Continuous Bloom to survive the pit firing process? It is a simple matter of resistance… there is none. The petals are so thin that the fire’s heat moves effortlessly through the clay. This is the voice of Badger giving, by example, insight into the process of transformation by fire.
I once found myself held fast, arm wrapped to the arm pit, in the trunk of a very angry elephant. I saw in her eye the desire to kill. It was nothing personal, her rage was old and festering. I did not meet her anger with fear and resistance, surely she would have killed me if I had. My deep love and respect for elephants was stronger, in that moment, than fear; stronger even than the hatred she carried for what she had experienced at the hands and ignorance of man.
When our eyes met and I felt the pain in her heart in my own…my heart flung open wide in love and compassion. My willingness to surrender in love to her will dissolved her rage. In that moment she chose to gently untwine our limbs and step aside.
Transformation by fire often feels like the rage of an angry elephant within…and resistance can sometimes mean death. If transformation by fire is what you seek let the flames burn through you, meet them with courage, love and self-compassion. Some of us have chosen to walk through a certain type of hell on earth: walking through the hell, loosening the death grip of resistance and allowing the fires of transformation to burn away the darkness allows us to step forward into a certain kind of heaven on earth.

P.S. I love you Annabelle! And will always remember you in gratitude and love.

Ganesha rattle

It is with great joy and anticipation that I announce the long awaited return of Tree Woman. It was in July of 1991 that the spirit of that gracious birch tree spoke to me there in the woods of Quietude. “What about Tree woman?” was her question to me. We have evolved together over these last 21 years; even during the many years of dormancy when she dwelt quietly within my heart. We were born together in the wilderness of Alaska; persisted through trial by fire on the farm in Colorado, and now here in the heart of Tucson we stand together in solidarity. We dwell for now in the land of her great and powerful husband: Grandfather Saguaro. He is a tower of masculine strength, giving courage and hope to all who gaze upon him. The feminine grace and power of Tree Woman springs back to life in the unlikely Sonoran desert. Let us all jump up and live again.

I knew instinctively when spirit asked for my hair many years ago that, in the long run, the tradeoff would go in my favor. It was with a bit of hesitancy that I let go of Tree Woman’s luxurious plait late last month. Reliving the old attachment I thought, “But it’s what makes her so beautiful!” Proceeding in faith… today Tree Woman is blessed with the sprouting of opposable thumbs! I recall Martin saying that our goal here is to become useful human beings. I see that as I am willing to let go of my insecurities, masquerading as vanities, I allow for growth that moves me more and more fully into the position of useful human being. Having each other as alter egos, Tree Woman and I navigate the world more beautifully. The opposable thumb: symbol of the useful human being.

Esperanza Del Arbol

Are we
the only hope
Of the Tree.