On The Farm
As I write this edition of the newsletter, we are enjoying Indian Summer—that magical, beautiful time with full leaf colors, unseasonable warmth and clear skies for just a little while until the temperatures drop. The animals and plants seem to know it’s time to settle. I’ve prepared the garden for winter and cleared out the plants that succumbed to the killing frost of last week.
It’s a good time of year to do clearing and go into transition from summer to winter, for the garden, for myself. For me, this means doing the deep inner work to clear anything from the past that might be determining the quality of my present time. Shamanically, I have to die the shaman’s death, dying to ego, self importance, resentments of the past, traumas.
In shamanism, death figures prominently, but not in the way you might expect. A role of traditional shamans was to help people die a good death by helping them to live a good life. If a person reconciles their life as they go, they can have a good death, knowing all the loose ends are tied up. Doing the deep inner work with ourselves is one aspect of the reconciliation needed. Different cultures have certain times of year this is consciously done—Lent, Rosh Hoshana, Ramadan, and others.
Having a personal relationship with death, understanding that it could happen at any time, ..”allows one to see the beauty in every vision, every action, and every moment of one’s life,” says Maggie Wahls, shamanic elder. That understanding leads the shamanic practitioner …”to live impeccably, a life that is filled with joy, with wonder and satisfaction that every action, thought and word was the very best effort one could make. This is the core of loving yourself in the highest and truest form.”
What choices would you make if you knew today was your last day? Play with that.
How Can I Help?
So much devastation with the last two hurricanes. So many animals displaced, injured or killed. The animal chaplains are available to assist families in grief and despair at https://findanimalchaplain.com. Listed below are organizations who are working hard to help the animals. In Asheville, Furry Friends Ranch was actually destroyed and needs funding immediately to be able to regroup and respond to the enormous need of that area. Any donations are appreciated. All groups listed are 501c3 nonprofits and most have branches in both North Carolina, Asheville area, Florida and other southeast areas that were hit hardest.
Greater Good Charities https://www.greatergood.org
International Fund for Animal Welfare https://www.ifaw.org
Full Circle Farm Sanctuary https://www.fullcirclefarmsanctuary.org
Ziggy’s Refuge https://www.ziggysrefuge.org
Red Feather Equine Sanctuary https://www.redfeatherfarmnc.org
Fairy Tale Farm Sanctuary https://www.fairytalefarm.org
Carolina Waterfowl Rescue https://www.cwrescue.org
Forsythe Humane https://www.forsythehumane.org
Asheville Humane https://www.ashevillehumane.org
Red Dog Farm Rescue https://www.reddogfarm.com
Furry Friends Ranch & Furry Friends Adoption https://www.furryfriendsadoption.org
Brother Wolf Animal Rescue https://www.BWAR.org
Just in case you might ever be in a catastrophic emergency area, it is important to be prepared, not only for your human family, but also for your animals. Go to https://www.ready.gov/pets for information on how to put together an emergency kit so you are prepared.
The Souls Of Animals
Have you ever been curious about the souls of animals? Recently, Dr. Genie Joseph and I discussed this subject for one of her podcasts. Genie is a recently ordained animal chaplain and founder/director of the Human Animal Connection, an organization that was reviewed earlier this year. She also wrote Wholesome Canine Cuisine.
Genie interviewed me on what I have learned over the years about animal souls from my shamanic experience. It is primarily through the shamanic communication and healing with animals that client animals have shown me their own journeys with people and the effect of trauma on their spirits. From a shamanic point of view, we explored how loss of soul essence results in different behavior patterns and affects how the animal views the world and their person.
You can find Interview 50 at https://www.petliferadio.com/hacep50.html. While you’re there, check out the other podcasts—I think you’ll be hooked!
The Bookshelf
Amy Tan is one of my favorite authors. If you read The Joy Luck Club, then you know the quality of her work. In 2016, Amy Tan grew overwhelmed by the state of the world. In search of peace, she turned toward the natural world—specifically, the birds visiting her yard. While her desire to find calm brought her to nature, her experience became an opportunity to savor quiet moments during a volatile time, connect to nature in a meaningful way, and imagine the intricate lives of the birds she admired.
Describing and painting the natural beauty that surrounded her, The Backyard Bird Chronicles shows the passage of time through daily entries, thoughtful questions, and beautiful original sketches. The sketches alone will help you to center yourself and connect with the nature around you.
This book has not yet been released, but can be pre-ordered on Amazon.com. I pre-ordered the audible book, which will include a pdf of downloadable images and resources from the book. I also pre-ordered the set of 50 beautiful postcards (2 each of 25 designs) of illustrations from the book. I can hardly wait for it!
Upcoming Classes
Find full descriptions and costs of the classes and events on the website - https://JudyRamsey.net. Registrations are on the website. Once registered, a Zoom invitation will be sent to register to receive the meeting i.d. and passcode. If you want to attend a journey circle, please contact Judy at info@judyramsey.net. Journey circles are held the first and third Thursday of each month. All classes and journey circles are recorded for your convenience.
November 23-24, 2024
Basic Journeying: The Art of Shamanism for Practical and Visionary Purposes in Daily Life—The shamanic journey is an easy and powerful tool we can use to access spiritual information. In this class you will meet and begin to develop a relationship with a compassionate spirit or power animal who is coming forward to help you at this time in your life. You will learn techniques to help you develop a self-directed practice of empowerment, allowing you to move safely, intentionally through the world in a balanced way.This class is a prerequisite to ongoing and more advanced shamanic studies.
The class will be taught online via ZOOM.
$160 per person, $80 for repeating students. 9am-3pm EDT each day