Hudson Valley Astrologer

“We are all gods and creators, because the energy of God is within us and all life is creation.”

~ Vivekananda

The most amazing news, news we hear each and every waking day, is the sound of the morning birds, who know enough to sing at sun rise, precisely because it is a new day; the light greets them, warms their feathers and crown, they sing.

I use to sing! But lately I find myself barely listening to music. Everything has become so serious and urgent. Missing a headline has become almost sacrilege. Nevertheless, I have successfully weaned myself from mainlining the news, resorting to little sound bites, snacks really, instead. I am learning portion control.

Getting news is not the same thing as making news. This may be the essential difference between a news junky and an “influencer,” the newsmaker, or disruptor who is intent on being a change agent. A bird’s song in the morning doesn’t sound intentional to me. Their melody doesn’t feel persuasive, as if they think I need convincing of something. If their song is to get me to change anything it may be as simple as inviting me to change the way I look at things. When I do, what I hear is simply “good morning”. A lovers first “call” to their lover. There is no grievance in a bird call at sunrise.

When a big storm system moves in the harmonious gratitudes are gone, the song becomes syncopated, erratic and desperate, flight patterns become skewed, and natures survival instinct piques feeding frenzies, something like the mad rush to the grocery store ahead of a blizzard. Cues from the environmental put birds on high alert, things like the barometric pressure dropping, or shifts in wind speed and direction, and low frequency sounds that avian perceptions seem to realize and understand, that it is time to change the tune.

Maybe it’s only after the storm, when the noise and turbulence from the upheaval have settled down, that we can pause, take heart and express our gratitude for being alive. Like the birds, who without skipping a beat, get back to their pattern of greeting the morning sun, and me back to the guitar and writing songs.

In life’s biggest storms, people show up for each other when the news isn’t good. When a terminal illness has taken a turn and the person suffering enters a transition period between this life and the end of life. Friends and family enter a period of anticipatory grief, preparing for the inevitable. A storm is coming, or is already here. Cues from the environment put loved ones on high alert. Mourners notice micro movements in breathing patterns, eye movements, twitching of muscle, perhaps erratic at times, and askew, like the birds who when temporarily distracted, try to reorient their flight pattern.

After the storm a cardinal appears on a snowy branch. The experience of this beautiful red bird dusted in white powder is distinctly different from the morning ritual on any other given sunrise. He brings a message that she is found. That she has made safe passage and arrived having surrendered to the storm, and her survival is in Spirit now. The red bird is not just a cardinal but a harbinger of good tidings and days to come. Nothing is lost save discovery of a new dawn. Her parting gift? Acceptance, that each succeeding day be appreciated as an infinitely Divine gift.

The news is good! There is nothing to do but to be grateful, for the time you had together.

HVA

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