The Struggle to Survive

As the fires rage across the Western States, I am moved to write some thoughts that connect stories from the past to the present. Unfortunately, this is not the first time I have been in a situation that is so destructive. People often turn to faith to get them through such times. This is, in fact, the safest path, but my reason for writing is to suggest that when we pray or petition a higher force that we ask for the highest good.

In this particular situation, the highest good may be rain, as much as possible as soon as possible, but there was a slightly similar event in New Mexico shortly before I moved here. It was potentially very high risk since the fires were close to Los Alamos Laboratories which had been storing nuclear waste in 55 gallon drums outdoors, not quite a solution for radioactive materials with half lives sometimes measured in the billions of years. If the fires reached the waste, the scale of the disaster would have been beyond imagination. Los Alamos is sometimes regarded as the place where brilliant minds deviated from service to the Creator and His Works to unleash the greatest danger the Earth has ever known, but Santa Fe has been a sort of polar opposite where creativity has often been inspired and deeply uplifting. Most people in my circle were praying for rain, but if the rains had been torrential, there would have been a possibility of mud slides in which thousands of barrels might have rolled down into the Rio Grande and thence to the Gulf of Mexico.

A visitor from Australia and I were talking near a window at the La Fonda Hotel and discussing environmental issues. Ammachi was due to arrive in Santa Fe within hours and just as I mentioned this, it started to drizzle, about ten minutes of drizzle. Then, it stopped. Then, it drizzled again. This kept repeating: drizzle, stop, drizzle again, and simultaneously, Elgin and I burst out laughing because Ammachi was obviously in control and realized that the ground needed to absorb the moisture so as to avert a mud slide.

The Fires in California, Oregon, and Washington

Obviously, those of us who live in the Western States are not merely following the news closely but we are no doubt each of us expressing our fears, grief, anger, and ingenuity differently. Of course, I am praying for the highest good and suggesting that others consider this strategy in addition to whatever contingency plans and relief efforts they are supporting.

Now is not the time for a blame game nor political statements about climate change. Now is a time for pulling together for the benefit of the whole area and ultimately the Planet. When fires. a totally different fire, surrounded our home in Cundiyo, we were invited to visit the areas that were under control to see how the firefighters handled the challenges. It was stated that no one knew better how to manage fires than the First Nation People and people had come from all over the country to fight the fires. Yes, there were helicopters with buckets of water, but when you look at the size of the buckets and scope of the fire, it does not really promote confidence in the efficiency of the strategy.

This said, some people have a relationship with the elements that allows them to influence outcome. I have seen this many times in my life, two of which involved Morrnah Simeona. They are worth recounting because we are not helpless.

In 1979, I think, I was caught holding the bag for a retreat near Na’alehu, the southernmost point of the U.S. We received a tidal wave alert and evacuation notice. Some years earlier, there had been a tidal wave that washed the dining room furniture out to sea. Morrnah walked out of the room. She had told me she was the reincarnation of Lot so I knew that if I followed her, ever so quietly, we would not make eye contact, because she was not going to turn around and turn me to a pillar of salt. I am not suggesting I was Lot’s hapless wife, merely that Morrnah had learned from that experience so I was not at any risk. She went out to a promontory and held her hands out in front of her, palms down, more less a little below shoulder height. She motioned for the waves to be calm and they obeyed instantly.

Some nights later, Will Kyselka, lecturer at the Bishop Museum Planetarium was giving a talk on Hawaiian astronomy after which we were to go outside to see the stars, but there was a heavy cloud cover. This time, I was sitting up in the bleachers on Morrnah’s left and she closed her eyes and seemed to drift off, something I had seen many times. At some point, Prof. Kyselka said, “and at ten minutes to nine, Morrnah will move the clouds and we will go outside to observe . . .” Morrnah then opened her eyes and asked, “Did he say it?” I said, “Yes, ten minutes to nine.” There is a funny back story here because famous as he was for lecturing on Hawaiiana, he didn’t really believe in the spiritual powers of the kahunas nor the myths. I told him what he said and he vehemently denied saying this, but we had it on tape. He was really mortified, but the clouds were moved at exactly ten minutes to nine. The point in mentioning this is that it is quite all right to pray, petition, dance, chant, and beat drums because the requests will be heard. However, you might like to address the elementals, not the Creator.

At this time, I do not want to discuss the fires much less the new spokeswoman for the Earth Mother. I would prefer right now to concentrate on what each of us can do as individuals and as communities. If I succeed, we will span the practical to the divine: cross your fingers as I am crossing mine.

The Elements

Being a fire type, I can perhaps speak to this element more than to air, water, and earth. Fire, in its highest expression, is perhaps the messenger of the future. It paves the way for new ideas and processes to manifest and removes the obstacles through clarity, conviction, and courage. In its lowest form, fire can be angry, reckless, and often violent. It can also be selfish and intolerant . . . because passion can be very persuasive. This can lead to certainty that “my way” is the only way; and this, of course, tends to lead to alienation and rejection by those who have had “enough” and wish to become sovereign in their own right.

It is not hard to understand why many people hate fire, but, truth be told, fire has self-confidence so it not easily persuaded that it is wrong. The other great secret about fire is its vulnerability and we can start with the blazes we now see on the news to see how this vulnerability is expressed at the most rudimentary level. We can, as the First Nation People often do, fight fire with earth: make trenches and shovel the dirt on the tinder boxes of twigs and leaves on the ground. We can also, of course, use water and try to dowse the fire. We can even go to war with fire and use flame retardants. In saying this, I am suggesting that just as people will defend themselves, their families, their communities, their faith, and their countries against outsiders — fighting against the threat or opposition — flame retardant is a kind of chemical concoction that can be fatal to fire. Most retardants are highly toxic — so fire opposing fire is confrontational, combative, and sometimes juxtaposes one risk for another. Finally, we have air. As we all know, starting a fire requires a little stimulation with air but not too much. In short, fire has a symbiotic relationship with a small amount of air, but there might be a disaster if air is used to promote excess burning. However, if there is a ferocious amount of air . . . or wind, the fire might be extinguished, blown out.

The point here is that while fire is courageous, it is not invincible so while hesitant to reveal the vulnerability, the fact of the matter is that fire can be provoked if challenged but subdued by the other elements. Fire therefore feels safest when teamed up with those who share the same perspectives and goals, and this can be exciting or lead to conflagrations.

Skill in Action

Over the last several months, I have written extensively on skill in action, but those posts were among the least read. However, they really were messages for our time so now I want to take this essay to another level and show the absence of skill in everything from our riots to our foreign policy. I would also like us to keep in mind that this is not an American issue. It is a widespread planetary issue.

I have nothing whatsoever against peaceful demonstrations. They provide an avenue for expressing views that the demonstrators feel require public attention. We can go back to the days of the Flower Children and Vietnam War — which, for the record, coincided with many marches to promote civil rights — and see that people went to great lengths to express their dissatisfaction in a public manner since their positions and interests were not being addressed through what we call democracy or democratic action.

Each movement tends to have a charismatic leader with clear objectives, and this probably also shows us both how dictatorships come into being and how they can be crushed when outrage reaches a certain point. However, no movement will succeed without very skillful framing of the issues, planning, and good organization. Generally speaking, grassroots movements lack the kind of administrative skills required to reach the goals, but the waves that are created often keep rippling until more people embrace the cause.

What many are hoping for in the present scenario is a unifying issue that will heal the divide. I believe that global warming was intended to provide that kind of unification, but it failed to convince certain people, myself included, because frankly, I have been numb with cold nearly every summer in recent years. The pandemic could have been a unifying crisis but it is failing, essentially for the same reasons as climate change: the story is false. Most people in high positions lack creativity; however, they have the funds to buy — or steal — the intellectual gifts of others, but they are motivated by their agenda and use manipulation to reach their goals. This strategy worked well for centuries but appears to be faltering now.

Being unimaginative, the fallback solution has seemed to be war. This entails demonizing someone or something so that people will make immense sacrifices. This is one reason that I am a pacifist. I doubt there ever was a war worth fighting. I have been challenged on this point by many, most of whom use Hitler as an example, but the worst monsters in history still depended on support from their bases so whether a person of power is a Caligula or Nero or Hitler or Mussolini, it took millions of people to consent before they could wield power over others.

Choice: The Power of the One Percent

This is the point so I would like to note a few world events before going into the power of the one percent. Divisiveness is sustained by polarization but it will result in fragmentation, weakening, and destruction. This is the nature of what passes for reality: it is held together by harmony and dissolved by discord. If we forget this and allow ourselves to be swayed by anger instead of correctness, the consequences will be unfortunate.

If we look now at China, it is clear that its global approval rating is hitting bottom. This, of course, was orchestrated as various key players jockeyed for positions. It is having the effect of pushing nationalism over globalism so while weakening the oligarchs, there will probably be more competition between countries. Neither option looks spectacular. The great unifier would be either an outside influence greater than national interests, i.e., an alien threat or an alien rescue. In my estimation, the threat would be fake and the rescue genuine.

Those in my inner circle have recently seen what they feel as a much stronger and clearer uplifting energy. I have myself felt it but I also see the resistance. The threats that individuals feel keep many people in survival mode. I am not now referring exclusively to the fires. These are very serious in my neck of the woods as well as elsewhere. However, China has immensely challenging water issues. There are fires in the Amazon, floods and fires in India, and on and on it goes. What is revealed in these crises is that failure to think sufficiently long-term and to invest in honest research has resulted in oversights and construction defects and crises that could have been anticipated had the emphasis been on safety and environmental impact rather than prestige projects. In addition, the failure of oversight has resulted in premature implementation of technologies that are unsafe, including genetic engineering, W-Fi, chemtrails, weather modification, and directed energy weapons. In my opinion, no one has to right to subject others to any technology, no matter how innovative, if that technology is not compatible with Nature.

Self Help

As usual, I was doing some Internet surfing. The air quality here is rated as dangerous, level 5. Over the weekend, I checked numerous web sites for information and found they were almost verbatim the same. This had an alarming effect on me because I am very sensitive to both thought control and plagiary. All the top sites had precisely the same suggestions in the same order. I am afraid my patience with copy and paste gets thin at time. It is one thing to toe the line and another to have actual clinical experience that may be of value to others.

With the fires, we have to think of many factors simultaneously. There are layers and levels of risk. Smoke inhalation can be very dangerous and require emergency intervention so my comments will pertain to secondary and tertiary issues.

Avoidance is the first strategy. In my case, I closed all the windows, have stayed indoors except when opening and closing the door for deliveries. I am running filtration 24/7, and despite all this, there have been some serious bouts of coughing. These were eased by hot baths with essential oils that penetrated deep into the lungs. I used clary sage, cinnamon, cloves, rosemary, black pepper, and a small amount of lavender. In a normal size bath tub, 7-10 drops is sufficient.

The second big help is spices. It is important to reduce mucus so that airborne particulates do not stick to the mucus. Mucus has a consistency that varies from quite fluidic to almost solid. Well, it can be very solid, but it is liquefied by warmth, fluids, and spices. I had been craving cinnamon for days and indulging in the craving, often with ginger added. I think it helps, but spicy teas and soups also help a lot and there will be expectoration of mucus and perhaps even some visible tiny particulates if successful. I doubled up on hot sauces, adding habanero chili, Sriracha sauce, and/or other spices to everything I ate. In the evenings, I only have had soup, gluten-free and as spicy as possible. You can also mix cinnamon powder with honey, until it is very stiff, and ingest this to keep passages open. I can breathe easily, but the air quality is ghastly.

This brings me to the next point. We have to think about what is burning. It is not just vegetation. That would be sad enough. It is also all kinds of man-made structures and vehicles containing synthetic materials, some of which are very toxic. I see this as a long-term issue, meaning that short-term, we have to keep breathing whereas longer-term, we will need to detoxify in a systemic manner.

Depending on the level of exposure and what has been inhaled, some people will need immune enhancers and/or blood builders. In the food realm, darker colored fruits and vegetables will be helpful, especially beets. With herbs, I am relying on my Ayur Blood Elixir which contains manjistha, the number one herb for blood in the Ayurvedic pharmacopeia. I will develop protocols for detoxification when there are more chemical analyses of what exposed people have inhaled. Keep in mind, there are millons of people who have been exposed and who are both at short-term and long-term risk. Many have lost family and friends as well as possessions. This is a tragedy of great magnitude and is therefore a national emergency.

On a Personal Note

I would like to thank those of you who have sent greetings, prayers, and donations. They are deeply appreciated, and I am sharing with others. If it does not rain (as predicted), I will try to figure out how to escape with my dog, birds, and hard drives.

In the meantime, the IT woes have diminished a little, but we are victims of thousands and thousands of attacks so I am looking at options for hosting on another server. If you have suggestions, I am all ears. We are “protected” in the sense that most attacks fail, but the blacklisting is nightmare, truly a nightmare.

I have some visions I want to share. I wrote them over the weekend but want to think about a few details a little longer so will post again in a few day.

Blessings,

Ingrid

The Fires in California, Oregon, and Washington