animals
The Year Of The Snake
Happy New Year! Today heralds the beginning of the Chinese Year of the Snake. Each year in the Chinese Zodiac New Year’s day falls on a different date, and this year’s date is February 10, 2013.
The Snake Year comes sixth in the cycle of the zodiac and reoccurs every 12th year. This means that you are a Snake if you were born in 1941, 1953, 1965, 1989 or 2001. Ancient Chinese wisdom states that if you have a snake in your house your family will never go hungry, because a snake is said to be sage, wise and a good protector of his or her family’s belongings and home.
The Chinese Zodiac is a lunar-based calendar and the Chinese New Year is sometimes referred to as The Lunar New Year. The cycle flows as follows: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Hare, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Boar. Continue reading
Magical Thinking
Magical thinking is a common trait found among all children all over the world, between the ages of approximately two until seven years of age. This time frame is also known as the ‘pre-operational stage’ of child development and it is the period in our early life when we increasingly explore our environment, and gradually learn to distinguish between ‘fantasy’ and ‘reality’.
Children at this age initially have all kinds of imaginative ideas and magical interpretations of the world, in order to make sense of their external and internal reality. At this age we still believe that we can grow wings and learn to fly; or that animals can talk and sing; or that our shadow is a magical person following us around; or that the Sun goes to sleep in the ocean; that there is a man living in the Moon; or that the wind, the clouds and the trees notice us and obey our instructions. We often also have ‘imaginary friends’ at this age. Continue reading
The Mass Extinction of Man
There are those who believe we may be facing extinction as a species – if we don’t change our ways. This idea is not as far-fetched as it may seem. The mass extinction of entire plant or animal families is something that has happened on several specific occasions in history.
The most well-known of these extinction events is the end of the ‘golden age of the reptiles’, when most of the dinosaur species disappeared. The small percentage that survived ultimately became the bird species that today still roam our planet. I have often wondered about the fascination children all over the world seem to have with dinosaurs. It is a subject that is a source of great enthusiasm for both boys and girls. Could it be that they intuitively remember the past, that the traumatic events of that time remains ingrained in our DNA to this very day? Continue reading
The Animal Psychic Connection
As any pet owner knows, we work to make sure our ‘babies’ are safely housed with a warm blanket and plenty of food. At least, this is how it is for me. My animals are my children and provide me with the most unconditional love and support I could ever ask for.
Pets are little people with fur. My Tinkerbell will be the first to tell you, in her ‘Auntie Mame’ sort of way, that she is only here because she loves her mommy so much. My boy Cricket would say that he likes to lie next to me when I am not feeling so good and he tries to take the pain away. And my Polly Pocket gets sick when I get sick. I have to muster up and climb myself out of bed so that my tiny Chihuahua won’t slip into a major depression! Continue reading
Searching For Beauty Under A Knife
I am often amazed by the amounts of money people spend on their appearance. Many people want so desperately to be beautiful. Some even go as far as cosmetic surgery, in order to be what they would deem attractive. I’m sorry, but nobody will ever be able to convince me to have surgery unless my life truly depended on it.
If only more people would realize that true beauty does not depend solely in your appearance. From what I have seen some of these so-called ‘beautiful’ people certainly are not very kind to the elderly or to children, neither are they gentle with animals. I’m not saying that taking care of yourself is a bad thing. But what is truly taking care of ourselves? In my life it means taking vitamins, getting adequate rest, meditating or praying, eating healthy and doing some exercise. Continue reading
Ol’ Boogeyman Still Comin’ To Getcha?
In my line of work there is often an unhealthy obsession with the concept of evil. It appears we are simply not able to rid ourselves of this ‘thing’ we seem to have for the boogeyman (here in my country known as the tokoloshe).
Just the other day I was listening to a radio psychic scaring the living daylights out of his unsuspecting caller. She just wanted some career advice, but instead he was hell-bent on convincing her that her home was infested with evil entities. His charming co-host also jumped in to offer some old-wives’ cures for getting rid of all the demonic forces. Truth be told, the only disturbance I was picking up on was the fact that the poor, freaked out woman would not be getting much sleep for weeks!
Now, don’t get me wrong. The struggle between good and evil is very, very real. It is a fundamental component of the human condition. It is also the basis of all Creation. It stems from the duality found in every important aspect of our expanding Universe: dark versus light, life versus death, night versus day. Light needs the presence of darkness to be truly visible and meaningful. Continue reading
Just Imagine The Possibilities
John Lennon asked us to “imagine all the people living life in peace”. Now imagine the possibilities if each person learned to express that same peace within themselves. Sooner or later, all people would enjoy true peace. It would spread like wildfire!
Possibilities are something that each being hopes for. Each human, each animal and each tree that is growing. All of living creatures and entities somehow imagine possibilities. But, do they imagine the worst or the best outcome?
Animals expect love. They also crave affection and hope, but always to be loved. Trees hope to grow high, up into the sky, spreading their branches wherever they can, much to the chagrin of some homeowners! But when it comes to humans, it seems we have a different inclination. Do we imagine the best outcome, the best possibility? Or do we tend to envision the worst of the ‘what if’ scenario? Continue reading