Hello

[Carol Massey]

hi hoopoe,

last evening, at dusk, i had an experience of 'a sudden gift of fate', or perhaps it might also be recognized as a syncronistic experience wherein my way of perceiving the inner and outer, subject and object, are unified, duality and opposition overcome by complementarity, extraordinarily... if only briefly.

by whatever name it is understood, it is knowing (gnosis) that comes unexpectedly, and alters one's perceptions in meaningful ways.  it may be a small thing to some, but small is very beautiful to me.

so to continue with the telling,

last night i sat and watched my blacksnake for almost an hour... until darkness came.  he, or though it 'appeared' it was him, was trying to figure out just how he needed to maneuver to reach the birdhouse (now hanging beneath the eave of the house/porch) to get the bird/and or eggs inside.  he was continually trying this way and that climbing on every thing that would elevate him.  he would climb to the top of the wooden chairs, and from there to the window sills, and many times he would extend his body in mid-air (he could only do this within outer limits of about 2 and a half feet... then he would have to retreat.  while snake seemed to be sizing up the situation, the strangest thing happened.  a male cardinal flew in and landed on the porch only a few feet from the snake and then began making strange low pitched chirping sounds.  this was very strange behavior for a cardinal.  he did this for several minutes, ten or more.  the thought came to me that he was making an effort to distract the snake.... to entice him to come after him instead.  but the snake would not be baited, or so it appeared, and after a time the cardinal seemed to give up and soon afterward, left.  the snake, continuing to end up in 'blind alleys', then turned his attention to the porch post...  and tried to wrap himself around it, but the bottom 4 feet (approx) of the post is square, and he was not able to get a sufficient grasp around it's square corners.  had he been able to do that, it would only have required a short extension of his body to reach the birdhouse. 

myself, being another slowly vibrating part of this same consciousness, well... i could envision the answer to the dilema, and it was simply that sneaky snake would have to retreat and climb a tree beside the porch, and crawl out on a limb that would allow him to get on top of the roof.  were he to do that... then it would be possible for him to reach the birdhouse with minimal risk of falling onto the concrete porch below.  by this time though, darkness had descended, and i was unable to visually observe his nocturnal ways.   

after coming inside, i reflected on what is really happening 'in consciousness' in this situation....  and it included the computation of asserting (by the consciousness within the snake), with consideration of backpressures , and the consequences, in other words,  the movement of snake (due to fully integrated consciousness) was accomodated, or disaccomodated, by the hostspace in which a singular activity of consciousness was unfolding.  every subtle influence was factored into the outcome...

so when push comes to pull, it is an energetic field which is conscious, including mutually evolving forms (objects) through an ongoing process of interactive biocommunication.  a sacred and mysterious holey encounter that is not beyond our grasp to understand once we 'feel' our universal inclusion in a living, biocommunicative system that is supporting and caring.   

consciousness... that is not an object capable of independent action ....is. 

that's all hoopoe.... hope you have a fine day. 

carol 

[Carol Massey]

hoopee, what you say here is,

"I've been collecting the pieces to that picture ever since, turning the bits this way and that, until they clicked together...  Epiphanies that gave me weeks of high, until they settled in, and it was time to move on to the next bundle of pieces that needed to be fit in. 

I am convinced that everything has its own proper place in The Big Picture, even things we hate and abhor:  If it's here, it has a place."

is as 'scientific' as it gets! ...as i understand the way things fit together, but is not apparent when i hold strictly to any preconceived notions of what 'things' do.  it will never come 'round right from this dominant logical view.

to continue, and share another epiphany that parallels what i observed regarding the blacksnake....

i went to bed thinking about these events that i witnessed (outwardly, but understood inwardly) regarding the snake and the hostspace that i was included in, and the realization that it was all 'conscious', so when i awoke the next morning, i saw a very unusual 'picture', like an image plucked from a dream (but when something is outside of the ordinary... i tell myself to remember it, even if it is puzzling, there will be a place that it 'fits'.  well, such was this image in mind that appeared.  propped against the wall, there was a section of the blacksnake (as if it had been cut from the middle) and i could faintly sees the shape of a bird inside.  that was it.... nothing more. 

yesterday morning i had errands to run, and when i neared the corner of my street and one that interects it, there was a robin in the middle of the street.... right in the path of my car.  i came to a complete stop, and though i didn't see the robin fly, i waited at least 10 seconds to make sure it was out of danger. then i looked to the right and saw a robin in the neighbors lawn, so thinking that it had to be/must be the bird in the street (a logical conclusion derived exclusively from visual perception): robins fly when vehicles approach, and trusting that alone, i drove on. 

an hour later i returned, and when i rounded the corner i saw the robin lying in the street, dead.  i was overcome by sadness because of what i (thought) i had done.  then ever so gently the image i had seen returned, and i heard this.... consciousness is one.  everything had accomodated, or disaccomodated, everything else in perfect attunement to my assertion mentally that "robins fly when cars approach".

just wanted to share that epipany with you hoopoe.
 

 

[hoopoe]

Hi,  Carol!  I have been away at my daughter's for several days, but the server there is not serving... So I have run home for a few hours to catch up on things, then have to run back (1-2 hour drive) to walk the dog, and will stay another few days.  I will be back here again next Monday night.

What a great weekend of eye-openings! 

I wonder if your image of the sectioned blacksnake with the bird in it had something to say about taking part of the observation to focus on,  the intellect's portion, possibly? 

It is difficult to distinguish one robin from another...  or to pin down causes and effects.  But the emotional is another portion of observation that plays a role-- whether too much or too little-- in seeking understanding. 

Which all raises another idea-- that perhaps the bird's shape within the snake represents emotional observation, while the snake itself is the intellectual observation. 

I find that when I am in the mood, or mode, all things noticed have rich metaphoric possibilities!

When you refer to 'hostspace,' this is a term I'm not familiar with.  Does it mean the space in which the observation of an event, and the event, occurs?

[Carol Massey]

hi hoopoe,

now you are the fifth person i've talked to who is experiencing internet server or email problems, myself being one of those.  mine shut down on wednesday morning for several hours...  nothing, of course too out of the ordinary in that, but enough to significantly rivet my attention, and turn turn my focus inward, inquiring of the universe "what is going on with this 'incommunicado' display?"

other things as well, unrelated, or seemingly so, that are notable include the spontaneous unfolding events that by themselves appear to be discrete movements by independent objects.  these include almost daily visits from owl that are meaningful, bluebirds that have taken up residence, and snake's peculiar actions (as i mentioned earlier) as if he is obeying my silent command to leave off his attempts to reduce the bluebird population.  i've wondered about just how thought, or as you suggest, perhaps emotions,  are interwoven into these very real observations that are connected.  jung's 'syncronicity' is valid enough i think, and maybe that's it, at least a part of it... but it now seems to me that it was only the tip of the iceberg, pointing to acausal relationships that are present in everything.... once we have learned to 'squint' just so to bring them into focus.  looking squarely at them it is hard to discern the deeper layer of significance because, i think, our vision is clouded by our unconscious framing assumptions, such as visual perception that habitually, but unconsciously, informs us that movement is an attribute of objects which are acting, moving, doing things, from their own center, iow, choosing of their own freewill; therefore, we see what we think we see, rather than seeing 'what is'.  it might be said this way also, "everything i see bears witness to what i think is true." ---ACIM

the process of 'squinting, focusing' for me is always connected with these thoughts:  'i want to see rightly.  i don't know the meaning of what i see'... so with the admission that i'm trapped within a consensus paradigm which is, at best, the result of interpretation of partial knowledge, i am affectively asserting a basic truth, and allowing myself to be moved into a state of surrendering my own confused perceptions to the activity of inner intelligence, transcendent function.       

oh, regarding 'hostspace', and your question, ************ "When you refer to 'hostspace,' this is a term I'm not familiar with.  Does it mean the space in which the observation of an event, and the event, occurs?" ************

(suddenly the name 'charles tart' came into my mind... i think he wrote, 'Waking Up'.  why that thought walked in right now i don't know, but i'll share it here.  sort of came upon me like a commercial interupting a fine tv movie!!!)

now back to 'hostspace', 

what a fine word it is!  i caught it from emile!    thank you for asking.  i had to think deeply about what it meant,  and invite the universe to share with me words that would resonante with the meaning embedded in the word.

hear!  hear!... i heard.... then this, "no!  i mean here!  here!  and now!"  "the sacred space of here and now, ever evolving, and each part being mutually defined by every other part" 

so, 'hostspace'  an energetic and living field where yin and yang are dancing, and as a part-icipant in a resonant way, i am included.  cool.   

[Carol Massey]

g'day to you hoopoe! 

when you said this,:  "It is difficult to distinguish one robin from another...  or to pin down causes and effects.  But the emotional is another portion of observation that plays a role-- whether too much or too little-- in seeking understanding. 

Which all raises another idea-- that perhaps the bird's shape within the snake represents emotional observation, while the snake itself is the intellectual observation. 

I find that when I am in the mood, or mode, all things noticed have rich metaphoric possibilities!"

i came up blank until now; however, this morning as i was walking,  i felt a 'click' of something significant (as if whispering to me, "pay attention"), and then i felt gentle waves of understanding being deposited in my mind like ocean waves leaving their bounty on the shore.  (i literally feel these waves of energy coursing through my body (brain/heart/gut/womb) so it is an easy thing for me to open myself to them, accommodating whatever insights, or 'flashes' of understanding may come.

i don't have a sense of a disconnection regarding what the snake represents, but i do think it may be easier to communicate what i mean by sharing a dream that i had several years ago.  i'll put it here:

"I was sitting on the edge of a circle painted on the floor, and I was observing a snake in the middle of the circle.  There were five baby kittens in the circle with the snake, and very methodically, and with intention, the snake began to devour the kittens, one by one.  I was aware of feelings of fear within me, and as I stood up to turn away from this distressing sight, the snake became aware of my presence, and instantly lunged toward me and sank his fangs into my stomach.  I took hold of the snake, yanked him out of my belly and held him dangling in front of me.  An amazing thing happened then; the snake underwent a metamorphosis, and instantly changed into another me.  So there I stood looking at myself, the real source of my fear"

i learned a lot about emotions, and how unacknowledged emotions block the flow of energy in my body, but perhaps most meaningful was to understand that the dream had the capability of doing something wonderful that i could not do for myself.  ronnie laing might call it untying knots.

and this is my understanding just how that might work:  i learned something valuable about dreaming.  it is evolutionary in nature.  a natural process,  making it easy for me to understand the fluid, flowing information exchange that occurs across semi-permeable boundaries, iow, dreaming was taking place at an energetic, intercommunicative boundary of conscious and unconscious, and as an as a courier of information between the unconscious and the conscious mind, a bridge of understanding was being constructed, or a gap being bridged, that facilitated communication flowing between these two states of mind.  i suspect the only difference is one of vibrational frequency. 

yesterday, i took a book down from the shelf, and opening a page at random, i stood there and read from einstein's "my credo".  the last two paragraphs touched me deeply, so i'll share them with you here:

    "although i am a typical loner in daily life, my consciousness of belonging to the invisible community of those who strive for truth, beauty, and justice keeps me from feeling isolated.
      the most beautiful and deepest experience a man can have is the sense of the mysterious.  it is the underlying principle of religion as well as of all serious endeavor in art and science.  he who never had this experience seems to me, if not dead, then at least blind.  to sense that behind anything that can be experienced there is a something that our minds cannot grasp, whose beauty and sublimity reaches us only indirectly:  this is religiousness.  in this sense i am religious.  to me it suffices to wonder at these secrets and to attempt humbly to grasp with my mind a mere image of the lofty structure of all there is."

my thoughts have meandered in this space, hoopoe.  i simply allow them to come as they are wont to do.

btw, the bluebirds are fine, tending the nest.  yesterday morning, taking turns, mamma and papa bluebird both flew to the deck where i was having my morning coffee and hovered there, wings flapping gently, just to say hello.  snake has gone from sight...the cool nights may be slowing him a little.  owl has returned to the woodland space, and all is well.  balance is restored, and we're all enjoying peace and  tranquility in our backyard hostspace.

life is beautiful.  have a safe journey home.  love. 

[Carol Massey]

good morning hoopoe,

back to whales, dolphins and communication:

something to share with you hoopoe, and others who might have an interest: 

http://www.oceancontact.com/research/research.html

i cannot say that i understand much of it, but something in it 'sparks'.  in my experience, such sparks come before, perhaps bringing  understanding in their wakes....like tails of a comet.

[hoopoe]

Hi, Carol-- It's good to be home again, back at my own keyboard, and everything is working-- so far!

The cetacean link does indeed lead t an interesting place-- I've given it a brief look, and a bookmark.  I also feel a bit at sea with it-- but having long had an interest in whales and dolphins-- the 'mind in the waters'--I will be giving it some closer attention!  I've heard and seen that there is a particular awareness orcas have for how humans feel, evident in behavioral responses to human presence. 

For instance, in the wild, they don't approach observers who are upset or agitated emotionally, and do approach observers who are calm in spirit. 

One of the first orcas in captivity demonstrated a powerful awareness of her human companion's deep-seated anxiety that she would inadvertantly hurt him, though on the whole he trusted her, and knew she would not hurt him deliberately.  As he sat by her tank, with his feet in the water, she came up to him and suddenly raked her teeth across his feet: he felt it on the tops and soles of his feet. Alarmed, he pulled out, fast...  thought about it, then put his feet in the water again.  She did it again.  She kept on doing it until he quit even flinching: message delivered-- she was in minute control of her size and power, and their friendship did not need that barrier.  (The incident is detailed by Paul Spong in the book "Mind In The Waters" which I had 30 years ago, and have not seen since.)

Carol, your messages here demonstrate that you have a wonderfully aware and sensitive relationship with the Universe-- that you've established a very personal communication that sounds like it reaches in many directions not explored by most folks.  I want to tip my hat to you! 

Another thought about your snake-- I notice it is a scary and very predatory creature!  I wonder, who gave you your first notions of approaching the world from an intellectual, perhaps an intellectualizing perspective?  I'm wondering if the snake was your sense of that individual's personality. someone with an interest in making you over in their image?

[Carol Massey]

hi hoopoe, 

it's very nice to hear from you again.  thank you for sharing the story of the orca.  although it appears 'mind in the waters' is currently out of print, it does look like there are many used copies available.  i'm going to try to get one, and after reading it, i'll to pass it along to a friend.  she and her husband like to travel, and last year they spent a couple of weeks in alaska.  they both enjoy fishing, and one beautiful day while there, they rented a boat and went out fishing.  they were sitting there quietly, when suddenly they noticed bubbles appearing in the water just off the bow of the boat.  neither of them had ever seen anything like it before, and then in the middle of the bubbles a humpback whale started to rise out of the water, very slowly.  it was only a few feet from them, and as my friend described it, this beautiful whale looked straight at them, with it's mouth open wide and filled with fish.  it seemed to freeze there for a few moments, staring at them as they stared back, and then slowly it began to sink back into the water.  she commented on their feelings about it, saying that neither she nor her husband had time to register any sense of feeling fearful about such a close encounter, that moreso, it seemed to both of them that they were briefly 'shocked' into stillness and utter quiet, and an over-riding sense of gentleness pervading a calm day, the calm water and the gentle whale.  soon after she shared the experience with me, i learned that when whales are hungry, they cast bubble nets to catch their dinner.  this must have been what they felt privileged to have witnessed.

****** "Carol, your messages here demonstrate that you have a wonderfully aware and sensitive relationship with the Universe-- that you've established a very personal communication that sounds like it reaches in many directions not explored by most folks.  I want to tip my hat to you!" *******

for sure, hoopoe, i know the universe to be wonderfully, mysteriously, aware and responsive.  it has taught me everything that i know about it.  as far as the hat-tipping goes, i'll join you in the tipping... but not for me, instead, together, i suggest we do it for the vast intelligence that we are included in and that (from every indication that i know) is conscious of it's holodynamical and inclusional nature in all.

******  " Another thought about your snake-- I notice it is a scary and very predatory creature! *******

this is a very good point.  (i don't have words to adequately explain this yet, but i will when they show up!)  ahh!  just a whiff in the air about it.  i believe it has to do with there being a real me, and an ego me, a real snake, and an ego snake.  the shape-shifter: ego me and ego snake. 

but here is the real me and the real snake relationship....thinking on it, yes, initially, up until then i had a healthy instinctual fear of snakes, having grown up on a farm, swimming in streams that were also home to water moccasins, and blacksnakes that would sun themselves in the blackberry patches... i still catch my breath when i see a snake underfoot.  one day a couple of years ago, i opened the patio door and there lay blacksnake sunning on the step, and stepping over him, i looked to the right and there's a small garter snake... by this time i'm asking spirit/space what the snakes are up to....  and  as i continue down the brick pathway that leads to the back gate, which is also the entrance to the woods behind my house, i hear the phone ringing, and immediately my foot stops in mid-air (as i'm turning to run back inside to catch the phone), and looking down, i see that had my foot landed on the path, i would have stepped on a copperhead...  the point of relating this story is to say that i've learned that a healthy sense of instinctual 'fear' has a way of keeping me acutely aware of the here and now space that i'm included in, .  i am a respecter of snakes and the place in nature that we share.  i trust that spirit/space will care for  both me and the snakes in complementary ways, so that our relationship does not have to be dualistic in nature.  this is also a good example of how i have come to understand that it is not me that is moving my feet down the path, i simply assert.... it is space/spirit that rings the phone, that stops my foot in mid-air, that synchronizes all movement in a way that is naturally beneficial to the whole of life.  if we allow it to accommodate us and nature without over-riding it with our purely logical, rational, assertions.  i've come to this realization:  1)trusting space, knowing the fullness of it, and that it is conscious, living and constantly evolving , and that it guides, shapes, and nurtures all life by harmonizing and balancing when 2) i surrender thinking of myself as an object capable of acting independently.

******  "I wonder, who gave you your first notions of approaching the world from an intellectual, perhaps an intellectualizing perspective?  I'm wondering if the snake was your sense of that individual's personality. someone with an interest in making you over in their image?" *******

why yes... ego.  now i don't know for certain whether egos just dry up and fade away when we stop feeding them, but certainly they lose their illusory power. 

i heard a beautiful story today i'll share with you.  a true experience of a friend of mine.  he's a retired presbyterian minister.  a few years ago, one of the members of his congregation, and also the church secretary, was a lady who was  cherokee indian.  her husband had never attended church with her, in fact, my friend had never met him.  then one day, he needed to get some papers to her, and decided to drop them off at her home.  her husband met him at the door, and invited him in, saying that his wife was away for the day.  they began to talk.  my friend has always been very interested in native american traditions, and as they talked, he asked him how it was that different nations, tribes all over north america made arrowheads that were basically the same.. the lady's husband, also cherokee said, "we didn't make the arrowheads.  i'll tell you a story how it happened"...and he proceeded to tell a story about rabbit, who one day was sitting on a rock, and thinking about how smart, and fast he was, and all the things that he could do, when a cloud appeared overhead, and a storm came up.  a lightning bolt came from the cloud, struck the rabbit on the lip, cleaving it in two, and the lightning bolt, continuing on past rabbit, struck the rock he was seated on, exploding it into millions of small pieces.... and that's how arrowheads were created."  later, my friend learned that he was also shaman of his tribe.

  i liked that story too...  g'night hoopoe.