Fly By Shooting

This afternoon I went out for a coffee run for my coworkers. On the way back, I stopped at a stop sign. Both the driver and passenger windows were down, thank goodness, because (and this is strange, even for me) a pigeon flew right through my car!

That's right. It just shot right through. I had looked to my left and this, I believe, is what made enough room for it to get past my face. I saw it headed for me and thought, "That bird is gonna..." and it did! This was truly a fly by shooting!

Yup. I might be stranger than most, but I am no longer a stranger to this sort of event!

Blessed Be

Trent
www.deerhornshamanic.com

Some Like it Hot

When I saw this photo, I had to have it for the Blog. To me it resonates with all the colors of my passion and creativity. I may even do a print of it for my wall. Have you noticed how the clouds do actually have a silver lining? Totally cool.

There are some things, other than the weather, that I like hot. Barbecued hamburgers, soup, coffee, just to name a few. I also like hot passion and hot tubs. Sometimes these two things can be combined, but it really does depend upon the company you keep.

I don't, however, like to have it hot when I am trying to sleep. That drives me crazy. I like a cool breeze and tend to sleep with only a sheet at most covering me. I often wake up in the morning with nothing covering me at all. That is when I know that I have truly rested. It feels great to just let the air blow over my naked body and when it does I go into very deep and meditative sleeps. This is, of course, only possible when the mosquitoes are not all about, in which case I am cocooned into a tight little shell to protect me from them. When that happens, I don't sleep well at all.

I am curious about sleep and what helps folks to sleep and get really good rest while doing so? Is it an environment, a temperature, a position? What do you experience?

Blessed Be

Trent
www.deerhornshamanic.com

Idiosyncrasies

We all have them. Little quirks that make us who we are, be the quirks good or bad. These idiosyncrasies express our characters. We may look one way and be another way. We may feel one way and present a different persona altogether.

My youngest daughter the other day called them "idiotsyncrasies". I did my best not to laugh. I asked her what my "idiotsyncrasies" were and she told me, in a matter of fact way, that I have a habit of talking to other drivers. I realized that she was right. Over the last year and a half I have gotten vocal once again. I am working on it, as I cannot really drive anyone else's vehicle other than my own. So I am practicing breathing instead of venting. Really, my daughter was right. If I am yabbering on to another driver who can't even hear me, I am actually practicing "idiotsyncrasy". I am the one who looks like an idiot to those who are with me in the vehicle, and I sound like one too. So I am practicing silence and only voicing what is necessary while I drive. In the meantime, I am chuckling at how much wisdom comes out of the mouths of babes. I did correct her on how to pronounce the word, but totally embraced the message.

Blessed Be

Trent
www.deerhornshamanic.com

The Capacity to Doubt

The capacity to doubt is one of the greatest gifts that humanity has been granted. What the heck are you talking about, Shaman?? I can hear it now. Well, let me explain this a little bit.

In shamanic teachings it is very important to recognize the difference between supposed reality and supposed illusion. To be able to discern the difference, one must be able to incorporate doubt. This is not like the self-doubt that comes with a lack of worthiness. It is the ability to look critically at something and then draw conclusions from what is observed. Science uses this method all the time. So do mystics, healers and shamans.

When we get too committed to things being one way or another, we risk losing the perspective that there could be other possibilities. Religions around the world are very caught up in their way being the only way. This leads to Holy wars (as though there ever could be a war that was Holy!). They demand that their followers only allow themselves to think and act a certain way, and no other way. They lack the ability to entertain doubt, thus discernment.

It is completely okay to doubt just about anything but yourself. That way you are able to access clarity on your path and find your way to Spirit with more ease. This will lead to enlightenment and illumination. So go ahead and ask the unasked questions. You will receive many opinions. Trust which one resonates with your core and then know that this is not necessarily something that must resonate with everyone else's core.

Blessed Be

Trent
www.deerhornshamanic.com

The Drones

The other day I was at the grocery store with my daughter. She was mentioning how she noticed that this particular grocery store has self-checkouts like so many other department stores in the city are installing. She could tell from my response of "Ya, they do" that I wasn't delighted about it. So she asked me why.

I explained that the self-checkout system takes jobs away from people. We live in a society where everything is not just becoming automated, but in so doing is becoming dependent upon technology, which I don't think is such a good thing. I would rather employ a person to do that job and have human interaction at the checkout than have a drone robot do it and in so doing turning ourselves into drones as well.

Technology can serve us as a convenience. But when it comes to taking jobs away from humans, I am so not into it. What also bothers me is that if I step into the 10 items or less checkout someone often lets me know that the self-checkout has less of a line and that I can go there if I like. I always decline and let them know that I would rather employ a real person than a machine. They look at me, stunned.

I think that the offer is also an implication that the public needs to be "trained" to just go for what is supposedly faster and more convenient. I am not a drone that needs to be trained. I will not simply do what I am told to do. I will do what I know in my heart is the right thing to do and make sure that the store knows that I am insisting that a person be employed. If there comes a time when a person is not employed to do this job, no matter how long I have to wait in line, I will not be shopping there anymore.

Go ahead, be a rebel.

Blessed Be

Trent
www.deerhornshamanic.com

Commonalities

It is not necessarily our uniqueness that connects us to those around us. This is what makes us stand out. This is what gives us the gifts that help us to be recognized as the important links between the mundane and the profound.

When we take away the uniqueness, including all the fancy things we wear and own, what we are left with is the ordinary. This ordinariness is what connects us all as one. And this ordinariness is something that needs to balance out the uniqueness, otherwise we are left with feelings of being isolated from the rest of humanity.

I love to putter in my yard and garden. I also like to sit in my lounge chair and just appreciate the yard and garden without having to pressure myself to pull a weed or to trim a tree. Just enjoying the beauty of what I have created is enough. Some people are surprised when they see me digging in the dirt. What the heck is a shaman doing digging in the dirt? That is such a mundane task! Well, it is what keeps folks like me grounded and connected. It is through the menial tasks that we create humility, that ability to stay grounded and centred. It is what then connects us to all humanity. We are unique, just like everybody else in the world. And with this we are also common. We are then able to relate to others. The more basic this awareness, the better we are able to connect with our brothers and sisters of the earth. Allowing ourselves to see not always the minute details, but the rainbow blur of oneness gives us opportunity to weave that web of ordinary commonality consciousness. This is truly a gift. We are then never alone.

Blessed Be
Trent
www.deerhornshamanic.com

The Vast Unknown

From the Void we came and to the Void we will return. So why is it that so many people try to avoid the Void? It is because it is the unkown. In fact, it is the unknowable. We have all sorts of human theories about what lies ahead once we leave this realm, and what it was that brought us here to begin with. Truth be known, it is all unknown. Personally, I find that to be quite comforting. I like the comfort of adventure. I have never been one who has enjoyed the rules in life, nor have I found much comfort in them. I am more of a Free Radical. That is exactly the sort of person that the rules were designed to control and manipulate. That way the dreary masses can have a sense of security. They don't have to deal with unusual things or unusual people.

Really, it has been the unusual ones among us that have dragged the world, kicking and screaming, into the 21st Century! It is the unusual ones who have brought to the world the realization that the entire Universe does not revolve around us, but that we are a part of the Universal flow and as such revolve around something greater than ourselves. An interesting concept that got some folks imprisoned and even executed, but it was, nonetheless, truth.

It is the unusual ones among us that bring to the public attention that there is more to this world than just what is physically apparent. There is an essential energy that is flowing in between all the neutrons and electrons and that flows within, through and around us constantly. This, too, has led to many being imprisoned, tortured and executed over the centuries. All this oppression is only because the awareness that has been communicated is something that challenges the authorities that be.

I have always been one of those unusual people. One would think that, living in this wonderful country and in the 21st Century, one would be safe to disclose information such as this. But when I was a teenager, and a young one at that, local people who did not like the fact that I viewed things in a non-fundamentalist fashion, took it upon themselves to try to burn our family farm down every year for 3 years running. They were scared. And they were a mob. So instead of allowing things to escalate beyond control I chose to move away from my family and finish my schooling elsewhere.

I always knew that I was meant to do things to help humanity shake off the cloudy illusions that they held so near to their hearts. I continue to do this. Every day this is a part of what I do. I create a safe environment in which someone can explore some of the "unknown" and be okay with that and know that they are not crazy for thinking outside the box. This helps humanity, one person at a time, to increase consciousness. I write this blog because I have a mass of readers who need to be inspired and know that they are also okay for thinking and feeling the way that they do. For me, this is a service to humanity, to the world, and thus to the Universe. I, like many others among us, have been brought here for that purpose. I invite all my readers to boldly step into their power and into their expanded consciousness and, one person at a time, share what they know and what they have learned. It is not all just up to me. We are all in this together. Bring humanity back into the Heart consciousness. Help humanity to embrace the Divine Feminine into their consciousness, not as a replacement for the Divine Masculine, but as a partner to the Divine Masculine. Both are needed, not just one or the other. That is what the entire shift is all about. It does not need to be a pendulum that swings from one extreme to the next. It can rest in the centre, in perfect harmony, in perfect love, as expressed through each and every one of us.

Blessed Be
Trent
www.deerhornshamanic.com