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The World is on Fire and It’s OK to NOT be Ok

The World is on Fire and It’s OK to NOT be Ok

Last updated on: August 28, 2019 at 4:27 pm by Heron Michelle

The World is on Fire and It’s OK to NOT be Ok 2019-08-28T16:27:56-04:00 Heron Michelle

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Hello. Long time; No post. Sorry about that. How have you been holding up out there in the middle world lately? I’m feeling quite overwhelmed, actually. Perhaps a touch depressed about the state of things. Anxieties scream around my head like a juggernaut, smashing all the good that is also happening around me…because there are many glimmers of happy things that prevail within the storm. Still, the World is literally on fire, and I am NOT okay.

I’m in the midst of some personal struggles I’m not allowed to talk about yet. Then there are the national and global struggles we should ALL be talking about, but I’m having a hard time putting my feelings into words about that, too. Such heinous things are afoot. Insane things erupt daily to quickly be subsumed by the tsunami of the next global tragedy. As a Piscean witch, my perceptions leave me feeling tossed around like a leaf caught on the surface of that emotional wave.

Life on Planet Earth right now is NOT ok, and I think it’s ok to talk about how difficult it is to bear witness to these times, especially as a sensitive and perceptive witch. I’m left gasping in this miasma of suffering and anxiety we’re generating. The collective human feeling is a shitstorm. If I tap into the Spirit of Nature I call the God/dess? …well… deep mourning is what I perceive lately. I weep for the Rain Forest of the Amazon, and every creature that called her home. Not to mention what will happen to the atmosphere without all those trees. This sadness wells up in my throat, chakra pinching; that choking sensation becomes a paralysis.

This becomes writers block, which is really more of an overwhelm from too much to say all at once. Does that ever happen to you? This blog is my spell of undoing that blockage. There seems no good place to start. There are too many things we should not have to say out loud. Like, “Nuking a hurricane off the coast of Africa, will not make America Great Again.” That’s just not how any of that works.

What witching insights could I possibly bring to these complex social and environmental subjects? Except that I’m just so sorry. I’ve been waiting until I had something constructive or hopeful to offer, but I’ve got nothing but grief and rage. For a witch that teaches a praxis of Divine Love for the conquering of fear, I’m losing the battle and would be a hypocrite to pose as if I were otherwise. I am honestly afraid of what is to come.

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My family, my coven, my state, my country, my planet…are in varying states of crises. I’m fighting a battle on all fronts, but mostly inside my own mind. This month I might have written about my recent adventures in New Mexico. But then how many mass shootings happened the day that we arrived? Two? Three? I think we lost count. The next week, I did try to start a comedy piece about my studies in Alchemy, then the Amazon Rain Forest was intentionally set ablaze, and now nothing is funny. The articles I’ve written in my head , but will never publish, are titled:

What the Actual Fuck is Wrong with You People?
Why do we Educate our Geniuses, If you Refuse to Heed their Scientific Warnings?
Rage-quitting Humanity; We Don’t Deserve Paradise

Talking about Depression and Anxiety Helps Everyone

I have noticed recently a trend of creative, beautiful people using what spot-lights they command, to share their own struggles with anxiety and depression. By publicly discussing how Not Okay they are, we can all find comfort, right? If admirable people affirm how genuinely unsafe, sad and scary life on Planet Earth has become, then the rest of us might not feel like the lone, sad weirdo. I’ve had a few folks come to me for advice on how to handle their struggles, and all I could do was commiserate. I hope that helped them a little bit; I know it helped me.

For what this Witch on Fire spot-light is worth, here is what I have to offer: If you are struggling, I totally feel you right now. I’m struggling, too. If you aren’t upset by what’s going on, you should probably pay closer attention. OR maybe you are the source of the problem because you profit from this madness in some way. Yeah, I said it, and I’m not even sorry. Sane, intelligent, non-sociopathic people SHOULD be outraged and heart-broken over what is happening here.

“Here” where? Earth. <gestures broadly> Our problems are global. Nothing alive in the three kingdoms gets a pass from dealing with the consequences that humans have willfully created. No plant, mineral or animal is exempt from the coming death sentences we earned fair and square. We are all interconnected, and what happens to one aspect of our global organism, happens to us all.

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The World is On Fire, and There is Good Reason not to be OK about that

The Amazonian trees are burning on purpose so we’ll have enough hamburgers.
The Polar Bears on the disappearing arctic ice are starving, so we can keep burning up that gasoline.
Our waterways are polluted with agricultural chemicals which kill fish, and scientists link to toxic blue-green algae blooms.
In the south, dogs that play in Blue-Green Algae-Infested lakes have dropped dead within hours.
Same for the Gulf of Mexico, where warmer ocean waters harbor flesh-eating bacteria which keeps killing Florida beach-goers.
Plastic-stuffed whale carcasses heap upon all the world’s beaches, because single-use plastic grocery bags are just too cheap and convenient to ban.
Not to mention all the social insecurities and injustices that I don’t even have the heart to list. FFS, the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan have paraded twice this week in NC cities in full regalia, as if that is OK, and that is definitely not OK with me.

These consequences of our shortsightedness and greed, are very, very BAD. But they only indicate how bad it will become, and that should be alarming. So for us decent folks, feelings of despondency mean we are reasonable, rational people, in my humble opinion.

Thanks to witchcraft, I have no fear of death whatsoever. Thanks to Witchcraft, I know that there are no endings, only cycles of change, where death and destruction transmutes into new life. Sadness must be held in balance with happiness, lest we take both for granted. I know that Nature always prevails, just ask the dinosaurs.

I also know the point of human incarnation is to enjoy the delights of life on Earth, which was once a pristine paradise. This cycle is coming to a fiery transmutation into something…else. If humans end up eradicating themselves, something better will no doubt emerge to dominance here on Earth. Our Spirits will evolve into those beings, and I do hope we do a better job with preserving that new world than we did with this one.

My death doesn’t scare me. What scares me is trying to survive on a willfully poisoned planet, with monstrous, idiotic people, in a corrupt and greedy society. Yeah, this upsets me. I’m anxious and a touch depressed about it, and if you aren’t feeling these pains at least a little bit, I’d be asking what is wrong with you? It doesn’t take a psychic to see what is coming.

Sure, Heron. Thanks for all the Cheer. But what should we do about it?

I’ll start be heeding the recommendations made by environmental experts. And voting for the intelligent, educated people who plan to radically implement those same recommendations. I’m listening to see which candidates pledge to join in cooperation with other global leaders at all the summits, then sign and uphold all the accords they come up with. I’ll keep getting out of bed every day, and taking care of myself and my family, fighting the good fight against apathy, and tending the boundaries between benefit and bane, as any decent witch is sent here to do.

For additional help on Witchcraft practices intended to help re-balance us during dark times, join me in doing the exercises and spiritual practices I outline in the following articles:

The Pentacle Approach to Wellness Through Dark Times

The Pentacle Approach to Wellness: Balancing The Physical Body

The Pentacle Approach to Wellness: Balancing The Mental Body

The Pentacle Approach to Wellness: Balancing The Body of Will

The Pentacle Approach to Wellness: Balancing The Emotional Body.

The Pentacle Approach to Wellness: Balancing The Spiritual Body

Peace,
~Heron

About Heron Michelle

Heron Michelle is a witch, priestess, mom, artist and shopkeeper living in Greenville, North Carolina. Connect with her on Facebook: Witch on Fire: Heron Rising Services and follow her on Twitter @HeronMichelle13. You can read more about the author here.

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