From: "Dan Skunk" <_...@rogers.com>
Newsgroups: alt.lifestyle.furry
Subject: Dan Skunks Vision
Date: Thu, 2 Dec 2004 17:22:38 -0500
Message-ID: <coo4k8$8fj$1@velox.critter.net>
This particular one came to me early one morning, just upon waking while still in that semi-conscious state between sleep and wakefullness. That place where we have the most vivid dreams.
This one, there was no vision or sound, no sensory component other than a sense of space and presence, of earth and spirit. It came not so much as a message, but as a memory. As and experience. I felt the emotion, the knowledge, and the understanding, but there were no words, it was like a memory of a thought long ago that was triggered. Something repressed and hidden untill it was awakened by the correct circumstances. As I think of it now, it is almost like it was planted there on purpose
I've reviewed some previous post of this story to help refresh my memory of it. I'll change the description again though and explain it in terms of what I know now.
Perhaps in this case I will first try to explain some of the background as well, for the message itself requires some previous understanding of previous events.
The earth has a spirit that connects all living things together. This spirit is a consciousness, but it's also a reflection of the spirits of all living things. Like the combined consciousness of all of us together. It contains all our wisdom and experience, but it also, in a way, has it's own wisdom and experience, for the combination of all spirits is greater than and one particular spirit. It does have it's own will and intention though it is not seperate from us.
This spirit has existed as long anyone as I can remember. From the beginnings of life. I think it must have existed even before life, but I think before that, it was formless and had not consciousness. I think it was life that eventually breathed consciousness into it, teaching it love and compassion, and giving it it's will. I can't know for sure though, because no memory exists from that time. I just know that it has been there as long as anyone can know.
I don't have name for this entity, but I have called it the great spirit in the past. Not so much in that it is great in size and scope, but that it includes everthing. As it's consciousness, as far as I can tell, is centered only on the earth on life here on this planet--perhaps the earth is only a part of something greater, but I can't tell--I've also called it mother nature, or the spirit of life, or the spirit of the earth. It's origins and and the compete explanation of it's existence remain a mystery though. How can we know something that is before knowlege or remember something before there was memory?
In any case, it's not really important where it came from or what it is, so much that we understand how it affects us now. What it means to us now. These questions can remain a mystery.
This great spirit is also where out spirits come from when we are born, and where they return when we die, and it is possible for us to return to the physical world again after being in the spirit world, so many choose to do that. Life is a wonderful thing to experience, I suppose. Other's come back to try and do things in the physical world, motivated by some mission the wish to accomplish in the physical world.
Both the spirit world, and the physical world are connected to each other. They are inseperable. I think they depend on each other to exist. I think if all life on the planet were to be destroyed, the consciousness of the great spirit might also be destroyed, but I don't know, for like I said, it has always been there and no one can remember where it came from.
Before we are born that spirit enters into us and joins with the physical world through our minds. It then becomes somewhat seperated from the spirit world and it's memories of it's existence in the spirit world become difficult to connect to. We can learn to connect to these memories somewhat, and were can also connect to the spirit world itself, for our spirit has never seperated from it. While we still have that connection, though, it is not as complete as being in the spirit world. Our physical minds operate on their own and don't connect completely.
Mostly our own connection with the spirit world and the past lives and memories of our spirit is through emotion. We might feel some familiarity with something or feel a certain way about something and not know why. Sometimes things will come to us in our dreams in that time when our bodies are asleep. Sometimes we forget these when we wake.
We can learn to connect better with the spirit world. Usually it's just a matter of learning to listen to it. To open your mind to it. Sometimes we need to practice quieting our conscious thoughts in order to hear the spirits better. The spirit world is connected to us through our subconscious, not our consciousness.
From the beginning humans were aware of their place in the world. The understood that they were only one animal among many. They were in touch with their hearts, with their feelings and emotions, and therefore, more in touch with the spirit as well.
They understood that they were only a small piece of the greater, interconnected web of life on the planet. Not so much in knowledge of this idea, that came later, but that they were not seperated from it.
In the beginning all animals spoke the same language, and all communicated with each other in the same way. A simple language only expressing emotion and intent. Different animals speaking different dialects, but more or less the same. It is not hard to learn to speak to another animal in this way, you just need to pay attention.
[The rest here is just what I think happened from what I saw in the vision. I was going to erase it because I don't know how accurate it is, but I decided to just leave it instead, in case it helps.]
Later humans created their own languages that expressed more complex ideas than one could be expressed with the original language, allowing them to pass knowlege and stories from one person to the next.
In the beginning humans lived close to nature, like the other animals. That is how they knew there were the same as them. All animals could see that each other were the same, only different.
Later on, humans began learning more about the world, developing more complex ideas, their language becomming more complex as well. Their technology, their ability to control the world around them increased as well.
Instead of being a part of nature anymore, some started to see themselves as being seperated from it, for in their new lifestyle they controled nature instead of being controled by it.
They started to forget their true nature as animals, creating all kinds of fancy ideas about who they were that seperated them from animals, convinced them that they were different. Ironically, though, even with these ideas, the ideas still came from their animal side, they just didn't recognize it as such.
They also started to forget that they could still talk to animals. Because they couldn't talk to other animals in their own languages, and communicate their ideas, they felt than animals didn't have any ideas of their own.
Forgetting their place in the world, forgetting their original nature, they became lost, searching for answers, using their minds to come up with the wrong ones instead of listening to their feelings to see the truth. Not listening to the spirits or putting their own interpretations on them. They wander the earth searching for their place in it, searching for peace of mind, to satisfy the emotions that haunt and torment them. Some believing their own mistruths and pursuing things that never make them happy.
Here's the original account of the vision posted to alt.lifestyle.furry as Turtle0 on August 23, 2003 in article: news:BaO1b.3680$_V.3322@news04.bloor.is.net.cable.rogers.com . I think this looks like the purest account, even though it's brief. It was recorded the same day of the vision. I just found this on Google Groups now. It's helped me remember a part of the story I forgot. Google is cool. :)
Nature(1) sees that humans have lost their way. They have forgotten who fthey are.
They no longer hear her voice. She speaks to them, but they do not listen. They refuse to listen.
The instead stumble through the darkenss and dispair, trying to find their own way.
They are unaware that what they seek, the happiness they seek, is not from without, but from within; from the relationship with nature that they have lost.
They now travel on a misguided path, destroying the earth in their search of happiness, threatening their brothers and sisters(2).
Nature has asked her other children for help. Some have volunteered to be born as humans, that they act as emmisaries, to teach the humans of their true nature and bring them back to her.
But being reborn causes one to forget, they do not remember their mission, many are lost, haunted by dreams of their other lives, wandering through humanity, lost and alienated, longing to return to their true form, sad and confused about why they have been forced to live a life that is not their own.
(1)"Nature"-- a universal consciousness that all life is a part of. A spiritual realm connecting all life.
(2)"Brothers and sisters" -- All the different species.
I'm still going to try to re-interpret this in the context of what I just wrote though:
The great spirit of mother earth sees that humans have lost their way. They have forgotten their true path, the way of life that was given to them in the beginning. They have forgotten their place in the world. Forgotten their connection the the earth, to life, to all the other animals.
The spirit still speaks to them. Tries to talk to them, but they don't listen to her. They have forgotten how to listen. They have false beliefs that they think are true and refuse to listen to her. Reject her. They repress the feelings they have that try to lead them back to the truth.
They feel lost, alone, and frustrated. They try to find who out who they are on their own but find only emptiness. They don't realise that the truths they seek are lying within them trying to speak to them. They instead search for those truths from outside of themselves in the world instead of inside from the spirit.
They are desprate for answers and for fulfillment and grasp onto false beliefs that promise them the happiness they seek, but these beliefs are wrong and do not lead to happiness. They find that they are never able to satisfy themselves, but don't know any other way so they continue anyway down that misguided path hopeing that it will eventually come to them, always looking for more.
They are destroying the earth because they are not following the right path and don't understand their place on the earth and don't respect her. They threatening themselves and all the other animals on the planet. They are also threatening the spirit herself.
The great spirit asked the other animals to help her, because they still knew their place in the world and knew the great spirit. She asked them teach the humans who the are, to listen to the spirit within them and to connect with the great spirit, to learn their true place in the world and return to the way of life that they were meant to life; one that is in harmony with the earth and with life and with themselves. To help them to know the great spirit again. To be messengers from the animal word and to teach the humans about the animal world so that they could understand it again and know that the animals were really the brothers and sisters that share the world with and to respect them and all other living things.
Many animals volunteered for this important mission. Knowing how serious the problem has become. Knowing that the all life on the planet was in danger, that the great spirit was in danger and that they themselves were also in danger.
Being reborn into the physical world causes one to forget one's past life and one's time in the spirit world.
They found themselves trapped in a world that wasn't their own and that they had difficulty coping with. Trapped in bodies that didn't fit right. The wander the earth, lost, alone, alienate; different from everyone around them and being unable to connect with them. Haunted by dreams of their past lives and longing to return to their true forms. Not knowing why this happened to them, why they feel the way they do. They live in dispair, not knowing why they are here and what they are meant to do. Only knowing that they do not belong.