Thank you Jean for sharing this! I appreciate the poetic way of explaining what is going on now, and the timely reminder that indeed it is darkest before the dawn. Just like running a race, that last bit before the finish line is often the very hardest thing you feel like you have ever done-you have to reach deep inside yourself for the strength to keep pushing past pain and exhaustion just to keep going. The home stretch is definitely not the place to give up, or give in to the pull of negative emotions!

I love alligators and I love this post! I don’t get out to “real nature” nearly as often as I would prefer, but I love that living in Florida I can see something as amazing as an alligator in my own neighborhood. We had one swimming around the Bayou for a few months, then it took up residence in a neighbors very green pool for a bit. I miss snow and autumn a lot, but what a tradeoff!;-)

Serenity Spell

In honor of the New Year, and of the most wonderful and beautiful alligators, here’s a bit of history and symbolism associated with these critters.

In Ancient Egypt, alligators were identified with fury and ferocity. In medieval Europe and earlier, they were the symbol of the dragon; sometimes this association was positive, sometimes negative. The dragon could be the fierce guardian of treasure, or the keeper of great wisdom. But to encounter an alligator signified an opportunity to develop new wisdom — wisdom that must be used carefully.

[Below is a glimpse of the inhabitant alligators encountered on a hike in the Grassy Waters Preserve— specifically the SWA Trails within the Preserve, the Rookery Loop, and the outer Owahee Trail.]

As I like to constantly observe in my wanderings, alligators are excellent mothers. They will fiercely defend their nests, and when the young are ready…

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A beautiful new post at Serenity Spell!

Serenity Spell

With Florida’s abundant all-year blooms, flurried butterfly activity is a welcome sight on hikes. The most common encounter is the Zebra Longwing (Heliconius charitonius), designated as the official state butterfly of Florida in 1996. No wonder it’s the state butterfly; it’s found throughout Florida in hardwood hammocks, swamps, wetlands, meadows, and in the Everglades. And if you’re keen to plant native, butterfly-friendly plants in your garden, you’ll quickly be visited by these lovelies.

While Longwings can be seen throughout Florida, they’re most abundant in the southern half of the state.

Despite its common presence, it’s always a wonderful sight — bright and bold in our swamps and marshes. As the name suggests, Zebra Longwings sport long, narrow wings, with light yellow and black stripes.

Adults can mate immediately upon emerging from the chrysalis — I once witnessed a few Zebra Longwings crowding a poor lone Longwing, and feared…

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I originally posted the below as a reply to another reader’s comment, but realized just after that my own readers might also want to read Jean’s wonderful rant-so I am sharing it here with my comment, since it is nearly impossible for me to just write anything and post it on my blog these days. (apologies to Jean if this posts twice to the comments there)If you don’t understand anything Jean is referring to, all the articles to get up to speed on these things are easy to find on her blog!

I think that your comment gets to the heart of the problem-which is Our Hearts! When we each act from Love we will make things better, fear and greed never fix things.

All the info and disinfo out there, all the projects and funds and legal maneuvers-all of it may be good for learning more of how things are set up currently, it may good for learning discernment and not being hoodwinked by our own desires any more than we allow ourselves to be hoodwinked by our fears-it’s all emotional chain yanking for someone’s benefit, usually not our own.

That is why I have always suspected all the free money stuff, and all the stuff aimed at certain sectors promising their pie-in-the-sky perfect imposed government full of their favourite (usually right wing) politicos.

When they promised a military coup of my (US) govt this past year I was appalled and horrified.

So many promises, so much floating pie! But what very few seem to be talking about is that in the end not only do we have to do the work inside ourselves, we have to do the work outside too.

Even if Mr Keenan is successful (and as aboveboard and for real as he appears to be in Jean’s estimation from dealing with him) the work that groups like Occupy and #IdleNoMore are doing is still going to have to be done! (and more)

As a life long activist as well a scholar of globalization, environmental issues(and thru those, obviously, the cabal and their methods of control) I am saddened and disgusted by the level of misdirection the cabal have been capable of-people would much rather read the internet and wait for free money and alien imposed government changes than sweat or freeze in the street with signs possibly getting tear gassed and beaten-OF COURSE they would!

But history, inner intuition and common sense tell me that until enough of us get out in those streets, until enough of us make it absolutely plain that the bad old days are not going to fly with us any more-the bad guys are going to maintain the power they currently have.

No matter how valid anyone’s lawsuit may be I have two words for everyone “Black Hills”
look up the lawsuit about them-every judge agreed the Black Hills belong to the Native people, they always have, NEVER were they ceded, no treaty, no law supports their theft, or forced purchase against the will of those who hold them sacred but still, no matter how many judges correctly interpret the law and say the Black Hills do NOT belong to the US government or any purchasers from them-STILL the Black Hills are not given back to their rightful owners.

Why? Because the thieves HAVE BIGGER WEAPONS! And more importantly the thieves have the consent of the majority for their thievery.

Until the people of America and the rest of the world stand up in public against the thieves and monsters running this planet, they will continue to do so because they have the biggest weapons AND the implied consent of all the fear driven masses who sit in front of their computers and whine about their money that will be coming any minute now.

Ghandi did the work on himself as did MLK, they were arguably at least enlightened beings. But their inner work alone did not change THIS world. Their ACTIONS did.

The British military was still quite formidable when Ghandi chose to resist them with nonviolence but he won. The US used all sorts of violence including killing MLK-but still HE WON.

Neither of these enlightened beings won alone however-no matter how enlightened Jean, or you or I may make ourselves, until the people being led around by fear, greed and other unpleasant but all too human emotions wake up and remove the rings from their noses, we cannot save their planet FOR them. Neither can Keenan, or Wilcock, (or Boehner if by any stretch of anyone’s imagination they think he would want to;-)

I very much appreciate Jean’s heartfelt rant, and all of the replies with their unique perspectives because it is true-we are all One and all our perspectives matter and make up the tapestry. I just hope that we can start weaving together soon and make this cloth as beautiful as we know it can be.

I am keeping an open mind about everything and rooting for everyone who is genuinely trying to make this a world that works for everyone-but after decades of research and work of my own, I am fairly sure that not only are there no white knights and saviors coming-it isn’t even POSSIBLE for them to do so.

I meant to be one;-) but short of literally blowing up an enormous amount of asshats using a fast (space)ship with superior weaponry, which would still leave a huge mess and contribute to mass suffering-there is no quick easy and clean way to remove the cabal. and just removing them would not stop others who think like them from taking their place-As we saw in Animal Farm-some Pigs are MORE equal than others;-)

The only way out is thru as I read somewhere else today-we have to rise globally as one people and say no more-no more oppression, colonization, ecological destruction, greed based power over control structures-and mean it.

The good news is, lots of people are already doing so;-) the trick is how to make 2013 the Global version of the summer of love when the “60’s” took off and went viral in the US. How do we bring the people out to stand up for themselves peacefully? (instead of passively waiting(or violently revolting and holding military coups!!)