animal allies

Meditating with E.T. and the Animals

Posted by Barbara Techel
Photo Credit – Anne Wertheim

During two guided meditations in the past few weeks, I’ve experienced E.T. presenting itself – yes, that E.T. – from the wonderful movie released in 1984. This took me by delightful surprise! Though if I were to share this with some people they may think I’ve lost my marbles. But the encounter touched me and so I felt called to share despite feeling a bit vulnerable.

The first time I saw E.T. during a recent meditation was just like in the movie when E.T. with its spindly finger points to the Cosmos and says that famous line, “E.T. phone home.” I was nineteen years old when that movie came out and I still recall how palpable that moment felt.

In my mind I said, “Okay, of course, ‘phone home’ but what do you mean? Is there something more you wish for me to understand?”

“Dial in to your heart,” E.T. said.

I understood this as truly and deeply dialing inward – that this is the way – the only way – to more love and peace in this troubled world.

Then yesterday during another guided meditation calling in my Spirit Ally Team, E.T. was there again. We were deep in the forest and surrounded by a plethora of animals. I felt very much at home. I reflected on how at times it is painful to live in this world much like E.T. must have felt having coming to Earth and so far from its true home.

This time, E.T. slowly bent forward toward me and placed his loving alien hand on my heart and it instantly lit bright red surrounded by a white glow. I sensed this as reiterating its recent message of dialing in to my heart. As my heart pulsed this bright red I noticed all around me the heart of each animal was also beaming bright red.

Leaned up against the trunk of a large tree, E.T. sitting beside me, another scene from the film played out in my mind. The one where E.T. is sitting among all the stuffed animals as a way to disguise itself and from being found out by the mother in the movie.

This is how I’ve felt for as long as I can remember – how I feel at home among the animals – how safe they’ve always made me feel – how I can be just who I am with them.

Just before the meditation came to a close darkness began to fall upon the forest. I watched as a red squirrel climbed the tree trunk, out onto a branch, and hung upside while holding a lantern in its tiny paws to help light the way. It was such a comforting meditation and assured me that when love leads the way the world fills with light and all will be okay.

XO

Barb

    

Our Wise Self Knows How to Move through Chaos and Conflict – Animal Wisdom and Oracle Guidance

Posted by Barbara Techel

Here we are in the last week of April. We’ve certainly all gone through changes we’d not anticipated along with what I hope you’ve gained which is a new way of seeing the world and also hope for what is yet to come.

For this week’s reading, I pulled both cards in reverse which means protection in these two particular decks. This is a message from Spirit/Divine/God really wanting us to understand this teaching while at the same time giving us a hug and gentling nudging us to get on with it.

Chaos and Conflict: No doubt just hearing these words you may be finding yourself cringe. I know I sometimes do when I pull this card for myself. It can conjure up a negative thought and perhaps you are feeling a tightness somewhere in your body just reading the words. This a beautiful clue to explore further.

The fact it is in reverse means we have to ask ourselves the question of where aren’t we opening our minds and hearts to finding the gifts in what appears to be a time of chaos or conflict?  It’s during these times we may have to ‘work’ a little harder to understand, but this is where the true reward lies. This is what will advance us forward in a much quicker, fulfilling, and lasting way if we can ‘see’ past what appears to be a disruption or may feel like things are falling apart.

We humans don’t like change. I’m just as guilty of this at times. Especially when it feels like things are going smoothly and life feels like it is all roses. In the middle of chaos and conflict, we may yearn for the good times of the past or pine for what we hope the future will bring.

But it’s in the middle of turbulent times that we can glean the greatest teaching that can change us in a profound way. I can’t help but think about my own life and what felt like a tornado that moved through me in the winter of 2018. How that chaos and conflict of wrestling with all those feelings I knew had to be dealt with regarding a childhood wounding felt like the pain would never end. Times of chaos and conflict doesn’t always go in a straight line, nor does it exactly outright share how everything will turn out. But what’s important to remember is that it is only temporary.

The Chaos and Conflict card is the exact one to help us deepen our faith and expand our trust in a way we’ve never done before. As we continue through these times of uncertainty and while hints of what may all come from this is beginning to appear in different ways, we still have unanswered questions too. Lean into what you know is certain, like the fact that Zebra do indeed have stripes, even though the card shows only partial stripes. But they are there. Trust that.

Owl Spirit: When we are in times of confusion and worry we can often lose sight of our own wise inner compass. Did you notice the owl on the card has a crown on her head? This is a message for us to tap into that energy center within ourselves to gain insight and understanding. When we open that chakra – our crown – and connect with not only our higher self but also with the Divine, we find that in time we can gain the clarity we are seeking. 

Times of chaos and conflict can have us getting stuck in our minds where we go round and round with what are just thoughts of what could or should be and this just keeps us spinning our wheels. 

As I shared at the beginning of this reading when we find ourselves in what feels like chaos and conflict it’s a beautiful clue to explore further. So take time to drop into your heart space. Do something that feels grounding to you – such as meditation, walking, getting out in nature, painting, journaling —whatever it may be—because this is what will help that monkey mind to rest.

And as your mind begins to quiet, your wise self will feel more comfortable in coming forward and you’ll be surprised at how the answers you seek will more easily float right on up to the surface. 

Wishing you much love and peace this last week of April!

xo,

Barbara

One-to-one intuitive guidance and oracle readings available here.

Cards: Wisdom of the Oracle and The Spirit Animal Oracle by Colette Baron-Reid

The Dance of Delight and the Gift of Flexibility – Animal and Oracle Wisdom and Guidance

Posted by Barbara Techel

What do we need to know for the highest good as we move through this week?

The cards I pulled for us are from The Soul Coaching Oracle by Denise Linn and The Ark Animal Tarot and Oracle by Bernadette King

DELIGHT

Such a happy card! It feels like an extension of how I felt this weekend and an invitation for us to bring that into this week. As I turned up the wood chips and soil in the gardens around my home the last two days, I relished in how good it felt to connect with Mother Earth. 

I’d grown a bit weary of hearing about what a “new normal” will be and tired of the conversation each evening circling back around to the coronavirus. I’m not trying to sound as if I’m making light of it, because I’m most definitely not.  But I’d just reached a point of not wanting to take in any more information about it and what the future may hold or the theories that are all being investigated, not to mention the fear, bickering, and hostility that comes with this too.

As I puttered around outside and within my home which I’ve always enjoyed, it just really hit me how much I love and delight in the simple things of life. If that will be the “new normal,” I’m all for it.

I also caught a post by a life coach where she said that her nervous system is beginning to acclimate. And even though she stated it as acclimating to a “new normal” I heard it in my mind as a new way of being.

What the heck is “normal” anyway? What is normal for me, may not be normal for you. But where is it you really take delight in life? This is the time we get to seriously explore this if we choose. I believe so many became numb to what that is because of getting caught up in the adrenaline of “busy.” 

When I think of the word acclimate I feel that in my body as more peaceful and fluid which brings me into this space of being. It feels so much more satisfying than when caught up in the energy of what busy feels like.

So as we all continue to acclimate to this time of evolution looking at the two birds on the card which I see as doves and symbolize peace, I see this as an invitation to dance with the exploration of our hearts and what is it that makes us feel light, free, and delightful?

EEL

Our animal ally as we explore what delights us is Eel. I immediately saw the eel as smiling, not to mention the color purple which is so soothing and calming.

I then heard in my mind, electric eel. How electrifying it feels and all our senses light up from the inside, out when we are living from the place of what it is that brings us true joy.

The word flexibility on the card also jumped out at me. This is a time we are all being asked to be more flexible in how we move within the outside world. While that can feel constricting at times because it’s what we’ve become used to, the Eel so fluid as it moves through water invites us to find delight and joy in this new way of being not only in the physical spaces of our homes but also within our own inner world.

As we each participate in this expedition of how we each need to individually evolve, I see this more fluid, peaceful, and way of being as the gift that has the potential to positively affect the world at large around us. And being a part of that movement, well, I take great delight in being a part of that.

Much love and peace to you.

xo,

Barbara