Experiences that changed your awareness

[tigerfeet]

I thought it might be interesting for us all to share experiences we have had that changed our awareness of the power of the universe, or the power that we ourselves possess.
This kind of follows on from the Ki thread, but with a more personal, experiential angle. The experience could be anything, from something your read, or something you saw, or something you did or that happened to you.

For example, I have been thinking a lot recently about an experience I had about 9 or 10 years ago...

I was living in England at the time, and my daughter, then 4, was nearing the end of her treatment for leukaemia. It was summertime, and I thought it would be nice to go on an outing to Colchester Zoo, which we had visited a couple of times previously (and which, btw, is one of the most thoughtfully planned zoos I have ever visited, both from the visitors' and, I hope, the animals' point of view).
We were walking up the path that leads to some of the big cat enclosures - the tigers on our left and the lions on our right. As we approached the glass-fronted lion enclosure, the male lion looked up from his nap in the farthest visible corner of the enclosure, looked right at my daughter, and got up and walked towards us. He came right up to the front of the enclosure and just stood there calmly, looking at my daughter. It was not frightening at all, it was more that he was interested in her. As she walked a little ways along the front of the enclosure, he walked with her, all the while just looking at her. She stopped, and he stopped with her. Wherever she moved, he went too. Then they both stopped, and he turned so that he was facing her directly. Then, looking right at her, he began to roar.
It was the most amazing, powerful sound, and it reverberated right through my core. I glanced behind me at the tiger enclosure, and saw the majestic tiger coming to stand right opposite the lion. As the lion finished his roar, the tiger also began to roar. This sound too, filled my whole being with an extraordinary vibration. I can only imagine how powerful it must have felt to my small girl, standing right in between these two beautiful, powerful, beings. For a few minutes, or maybe an eternity, as one finished their roar, the other began, so that the very air was filled with their sound and their power. Although there were other visitors to the zoo that day, during those moments nothing existed but my daughter, the lion, the tiger, and me.
To this day, I believe that the lion and the tiger were sending powerful healing energies to my daughter. There is so much power and energy in the universe, that we have forgotten how to access, but that the animals still possess. We can learn much from them.

 

[Sue]

This is a very interesting thread you have started tigerfeet. I can't think of any amazing experiences like that, perhaps I have forgotten or all my steps have been little ones.

I am glad you found that to be an amazing healing experience. A lioness looked at me in a zoo last month and I scarpered out of there! I don't think I would have stood there while such powerful creatures were roaring but I guess they felt 'right' while you and your daughter were there.

 

[Jules]

Life change

The greatest experience is when I asked Jesus Christ into my heart and life. I have never looked back. He has been my Rock. His greatest promise...to NEVER leave us or forsake us. His love is never ending.

Love,
Jules
John 3:16&17

 

[tigerfeet]

This is a very interesting thread you have started tigerfeet. I can't think of any amazing experiences like that, perhaps I have forgotten or all my steps have been little ones.

I am glad you found that to be an amazing healing experience. A lioness looked at me in a zoo last month and I scarpered out of there! I don't think I would have stood there while such powerful creatures were roaring but I guess they felt 'right' while you and your daughter were there.

It's a funny thing, but it never occurred to either of us to be frightened or to run away. It was like a kind of magic, so yes, it really did feel right.

 

[CountryEagle]

Hi Michelle!

Hi Michelle! I am Jewish CHRISTian and I believe healing only comes from one source and that is YESHUA CHRIST JESUS the MESSIAH. BUT I believe ADONAI YAHWEH ELOHEM GOD made things in the earth to help with our healing, but HIM as the source of power for that healing Through YESHUA and Through the things in the earth HE made for us. HE can use different ways to help with our healing, including reaching out to us through things in nature we can relate to.(different areas of our personage need healing;like spiritually,physically,mentally-our whole personage) Hard for me to explain... For example, When my mother married an man in another town 45 minutes away from our home town, we moved to an area in the Kasatache Forest by Indian Creek, where our neighbors lived 5 and 10 miles apart...It was a new area, at the beginning of summer (no School till September) and I didn't know anyone; my dad had just divorced my mom a few months earlier after being seperated from her for 3 years(from when I was 9 to age 12), and the man she married was abusive to my brother & me who aslo tried making passes at me touching me where he shouldn't and even almost shot me after I told my mom(a retiered Marine who could put together & take apart a gun blindfolded-NO ACCIDENT)! My mom didn't believe me or my Step Aunt or 2 of my step cousins related to the man my mom married, who tried to tell her the same thing.She didn't listen to us... After that I felt all alone, so I would just take LONG nature trail hikes through the woods and sit by the Creek and Pray). I sang songs to ADONAI and it attracked the wild animals. This Is the TRUTH!!!! That summer I became friends with 2 baby raccoons, a lot of the birds who would land beside or close to me, several deer who came close to me and a Huge White Wolf with silver streaks and Blue eyes that stood 3 1/2 feet tall-almost 4ft, who would let me pet and feed her. She was the only one in the pack who would do that. ADONAI let the animals be there for me, when no one else was able to or know exactly what I was going through...IN addition to that The LORD ADONAI inspired me throught the Beautiful nature around me and gave me words of encouragement in pomes I wrote down and have written through the years. There is such a comfort & inner healing that takes place in natrue that happens no where else and although it's in nature it comes from the LORD Via the vessels of nature.
We live out in the country now 20 to 25 minutes from town depending on the weather, on 5 acers of land where 2 of it is woods with a creek, and I still have birds that will answer me back and land by me on the steps.... Dragonflys and lizzards and tree frogs/am. toad frogs too.... since I can sound like a red tail hawk, I have a red tail hawk that has been around here for years since I first moved here,and if she is around and sees me she automatically lets me know she is there instead of me calling out with a halk sound to see if she is in the area close by. She has even flown down close to me on a number of occasions.... I guess because I love animals so much, I have a gift from ADONAI to sound JUST LIKE a LOT of Different animals and birds.... I can even get the pecoocks to come over to me at the Zoo, at times, when ever I call them.... I can sound just like the Laughing Gulls out at Ship Island & at the beach in Gulfport Mississippi.... I could go on and on... Some of them will come to me/others will just look at me and answer back when ready..... Well my point is, there is healing in Nature-through Nature, but the Power Source of it Is The LORD ADONAI! I understand your experience in more ways than you could ever know. It is certainly Awesome when the LORD uses an animal to reach out to us and help with our healing in some way.... Looks like we have SOOOOOOOOOOO Much in common.
There was anoter time, I was up at Granad Lake, in Granada, MS and I called out to a Wild Eagle flying over the lake... I called out to it and it flew down and looked at me, and was about 3 feet from my face before flying back up! That was an Awesome experinece, especially since I stand on a verse from the Bible that has helped me so much (They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles...run and not be weary...walk and not faint...Isaiah 40:28-31) Eagles have the ability to Rise Above the Storms and Strom clouds and use the power of the wind to soar throught the air without any effort of flapping their wings.... Wise to conserve energy...Able to Rise Above the storm yet still be with the storm and even use it to its advantage in a positive way... A lot to learn from observing an Eagle and animals in wildlife!!! I do that alot... Hope you have a Blessed Day, My Sister!!! Love Your Sister, Eagle/Stacey

 

[CountryEagle]

Hi Again,Michelle.More to add/continue...

There was another time, a few yrs. ago, I had an awesome nature experience that still occurs every summer. (Technically I have SO Many experiences I could litterally write a Book or BOOKS...).My middle child just turned 5 this month. (Oh How Beautiful! I just saw a white crane looking at me, sitting on the branch of a willow tree here in our back yard, while writing this down for you-to type up when I go back inside)...Anyway, When my middle child was only about 2 months old, I went walking with her in our rural country neighborhood, around the looped road across the street from our house. From our house-around the loop-and back to our front door equals about 3 1/2 to 4 miles. while walking-when we got to the end of the looped road down the street from our house, I saw a beautiful Ruby Red Throated Humming Bird by a pine tree branch above our head. I stopped to show my 2 daughters and chatter with it. After a few minutes we proceeded walking back to the house. The Humming Bird followed us back home. After that, when ever I would sit outside, the humming bird would would fly up to my face-1ft. away- chatter at me for a few minutes and then fly away. He came back every year after that and did the same thing (2003, 2004, 2005,2006, & 2007). This spring/summer-year I have not seen him yet. The same thing happened in 2003, with a Bunting Wren, I would whistle at, whenever she would fly from under the house. She began landing on the steps by my feet, would look up at me for a few minutes and then fly away. She still does that every Spring/Summer-every year. I just saw her last month, but haven't seen her this month and I don't know where she is, now, either. I hope she is alright!!!
We also have a Mocking Bird that builds a nest in the tree outside our back door, every Spring. She always answers me back when I whistle at her with some of the exact same sounds she makes, but she has never landed on the steps beside me. Although, last year & this year, she has finally started landing close to me on the ground, while I am sitting on the back steps whistling at her. She lands about 5 feet away and will tilt her head several times just looking at me for a few minutes at a time, and then she flys away. 5ft. is the closest she will come to me but at least she does that and answers me back when I whistle at her.
I also whistle at other birds in our yard with the exact same sounds they make or close to it, that will come anywhere from 4 or 5 feet to 5 or 10 yard sticks away from me. They include Common Sparrows, House Sparrows, a Screech Owl-at night, Cardinals, Starlings, Blue Tit Mouses, A Blue Heron-just new to our area this year, a Blue Bird-that nest every year in a bird house I put in the Centavo Tree in our front yard, Fish Crows, A White Crane, and Martins.
I have also had an experience with a Black Wolf in March & April of this year-new to the area-due to all the trees a land developer has started cutting down 3 & 4 miles away from our house- for building a new subdivision off the highway close to our house and street-while sitting on the back steps at night...., and an experience with a skunk-a few times in July/August of last year-due to the same reason-while sitting on the back steps at night...But no time to share those experiences... that is for another time, when I have the time.... I do need to go now, check a few more things online and then go to the grocery store. More later. Love Your Sister, Eagle/Stacey

 

[Sue]

You certainly walk with nature Stacey. It sounds like you live in an area rich in wildlife, I am glad you enjoy it so much.

 

[CountryEagle]

Hi Sue!

Yes, I am very Blessed in that respect, to be able to enjoy nature in such rewarding ways. I do live in an area full of wildlife but I also find it almost everywhere I go; even to the tiniest of creatures. It's just in my nature. LOL! Funny, but very true. It's hard to miss the beauty in life if you have a true love for all life! Love Your Sister, Eagle/Stacey

 

[OBs butterfly]

I grew up in a house full of secrets, I was being sexually abused, and I did learn from that experience that I could escape from the torment by somehow going other places in my mind -I can't explain it very good but I did learn to block out the pain and hurt .I focused on being somewhere else,sometimes it worked /sometimes I couldn't get there . but I also learned that no matter what happened to my physcial body no one could touch my soul or spirit -I am what is inside me, not the physical shell on the outside that can feel the pain and hurt - there is much more to who I am.

 

[CountryEagle]

Butterfly

I know exactly what you mean! I was verbally & physically abused, growing up.... And at the age of 12, I had my Virginity STOLEN from me by a nephew of the man my mother married when I was 12.... Then that wicked man my mother married, used to try and touch me where he shouldn't...... Then he tried to shoot me, barley missing me, just for telling my mom what he had been doing. He was intentionally cleaning his gun INSIDE The house Across from where we were eating lunch at the dinning room table...and the gun went off... He pretended it was an accidet BUT I know better because He was a retired Marine who could take apart & put back together a gun blind folded!!! My mother never would believe me..or that mans sister & 2 nieces.... I have experienced a lot of mental & physical pain Most Of MY Life, in MANY MANY WAYs, growing up.... but the one place I could always escape to - of great comfort to me, was the outdoors in nature....I experienced way more SUFFERING, Growing up and throughout my life, that I'm not really ready to expound upon, at this time. I have shared as much as I can, for now.... My point is, I can relate to you , my Sister, and I Truly Do Understand!!! I Truly Truly Do UNDERSTAND and Have been exactly where you have been.... I am still here, by the Grace and help of ADONAI and have overcome MANY MANY Things..........! It may seem weird to others But I truly believe that the LORD has used the animals to help me and I believe that is why the animals were so sensative to me, during times of hardship.... I am NOT crazy or making anything up; all these things I have spoke of above, really have happened to me....Sometimes things happen to us, beyond the natural minds comprehension, but that doesn't mean they didn't happen, when they did.... Weither others understand or not, is not important. What is important is that it did happen to us and for a reason, the way the animals have responded to me throughout my life and have been like friends to me. I will pray for you, my Sister; and pray that your wounds will heal and not hinder you from overcoming and being who you were menat to be... A Precious Sister with a specific purpose in life.... I Love you and if you ever need to talk, you can send me a personal PM. I promise what we discuss, I will keep between us. I respect you and would NEVER Ever try to hurt you. I have a lot to deal with now but I AM here for you, if you need me; I will try to be here for you as much as I can possibly be! Hope you have a Blessed Night. Please don't let the scars from the past, hide your beauty from within! Love Your Sister, Eagle/Stacey

 

[OBs butterfly]

thank you for your kind words -as far as the animals I do understand some of what you are saying. one of the best friends I had growing up was my dog, they give unconditional love and they keep all your secrets.Funny thing all the dogs my husband and I have had, always gravitate toward me. I don't know if it's because they are offering me protection or if It's because I feed them, but they are always right there.My dog Jake acts differently when I'm home, more aggressive to strangers than when I'm not home and someone knocks at the door.And my old dog Max (god bless his soul) would follow me around the house even after he went completely blind.For some reason they do know when you need some cheering up or just a companion. I think nature built something kind of special bond between humans and animals-we just have to open our eyes and see it.

 

[halkush]

I have found pets, my cat and dog , have been a great source of distraction, comfort and love , unconditional love for me when i have gone through troubled times in the past.
Other times i just found talking to Jesus and His mother Mary so comforting, when i drive, or when I just sit after a prayer, It is a beautiful feeling to imagine that you are a small child and Jesus takes you up ind hugs you, you rest your weary head on His shoulder and he dries your tears with His love.I sometimes see myself also resting my head on Mother mary's lap a she strokes my head and whispers loving words to me.
Praying in faith, that your requests will be granted , 9 times, every hour on the hour for a day, for 9 hours, helps, also once a day for 9 days is so comforting.
Halkush

 

[tigerfeet]

I have found pets, my cat and dog , have been a great source of distraction, comfort and love , unconditional love for me when i have gone through troubled times in the past.
Other times i just found talking to Jesus and His mother Mary so comforting, when i drive, or when I just sit after a prayer, It is a beautiful feeling to imagine that you are a small child and Jesus takes you up ind hugs you, you rest your weary head on His shoulder and he dries your tears with His love.I sometimes see myself also resting my head on Mother mary's lap a she strokes my head and whispers loving words to me.
Praying in faith, that your requests will be granted , 9 times, every hour on the hour for a day, for 9 hours, helps, also once a day for 9 days is so comforting.
Halkush

I have always thought that our pets come to us for reasons, and when wild animals let us see them and be near them, it is a real gift from them to us.

Why 9??

 

[CountryEagle]

Hi Michelle

That is so true. It is a gift and a blessing. I find that when I am in severe physical pain, That I refuse to take traditional pain medication for that I often experience AND when my husband says unkind-hateful-words for NO Justifiable reason, I Do Find comfort in our wildlife-rich rural-country-ecosystem in our back yard! I have a Best Friend of 23 years, that works for the Louisiana Secretary of State I went to High Shcool with; It helps talking to her BUT it helps even more to just go outside into our back yard to meditate and Pray and be with my wildlife!
My Precious Grandmother Burton is also like my Dearest Best Friend whom mostly raised me and has been like a mother & mentor to me growing up, but She lives so far away, now. She lives way up in North Louisiana and I live way down here, in South Louisiana. And My Uncle who is a Judge for Two parishes up north, was like a Big Brother to me growing up.. Now that he is so Busy with a Family and Two Parishes as A Judge, I am not able to talk to him as much, either. So whenever I am unable to talk to either of my Dearest best friends & Big Brother who is my fathers youngest brother, the animals And nature-outdoors during prayer & meditation time, is my greatest comfort from the LORD!!!!

Love Your Sister, Eagle/Stacey

 

[halkush]

The mind is a wonderful thing, to be able to distract oneself and throw oneself into prayer, nature, using the mind and imagination, nowonder Christ said "If you had a grain of faith , you could move mountians."
there is always a back door to sanity and peace, just use the tools of the mind.
whether it's religion, mantras, prayer, pets, or nature, focus on the beautiful in life and say "Cancel Cancel, -back to you" when people are hurtful, and you don't have the means to escape them.
love!!!
halkush

 

[Mystery Mom]

I am almost embarrassed to reply to this thread, but...

Self-awareness is something that comes slowly to the human animal - yes in the beginning we are all little self-centered animals and as time goes by, we grow and we learn...

This is tale telling well centered in that beginning world of my life.

I must have been 7 - 8 years old, maybe even a bit younger, but certainly at a stage of development that was reaching the self-awareness of myself and the world around me...

I do wonder it anyone ever had an epiphany such as this that registered in their mind. When the thought struck me it had a pondering significance that faded after a few hours. It was years later when the experience came back to me whilst sitting in a grassy field staring at the blue sky that I realized what an arrogant little creature I had been- through no fault of my own for no one ever thought or took the time to explain otherwise.

Well now that you are curious, I shall relate the event.

As I said I was somewhere between 7 - 8 years old. What I was doing in a school hallway at the time I do not remember. I was in the hallway walking back to class, There was a glass display case filled with a collection of items. What they were, I don't remember, they are of no significance. I noted some neatly propped cards describing some of the items and they had these strange dates attached.

"Hmm," my tiny mind pondered. "How could that be?"

"I was born in 19xx (you really don't want to know the exact year), how could there be anything before that?" I told you this was arrogant. "There was nothing before I was born. Didn't the world come into being on that day?"

"That is when time began," I continued to think. "Wait, maybe there was something before me. After all Mommy and Daddy had to come from somewhere."

So you see, all of creation appeared and evolved because I was born. Aren't you glad?

I have since disabused myself of that notion and I am sure those of you older than I are very glad. Those of you younger, aren't you glad I was born, so that you could be as well?

Ah the arrogance of innocent youth!

Myst

 

[CountryEagle]

Thanks Myst

Thanks, Myst, for bringing back childhood memories from elementary school. I remember when I was in 3rd grade, at 9 years of age, being introduced to the microscope in science class, for the first time. That day, instead of going down the hill on a sunny day to paly with all my friends at recess, I ask Mrs. Jefferson if I could saty in the class room and look at things under the microscope. She said yes, since she had to saty in the class and grade papers.
Mrs. Jefferson kept the door open to the playground, so I wondered just outside the door to see what I could find, to look at under the microscope. I found an old bone that was broken in half. I picked it up, brought in back into class an looked at it under the microscope. To my surprise, I saw tiny worm like creatures craweling around, that had a burnt-black-look to them, like what skin cancer looks like... So I thought, since it was open and exposed to the sun and the worms looked the color of skin cancer, I wondered if the worms were some form of cancer casued by the sun! I wondered if the sun was the cause of cancer in people sick with such a diesease.
I know I was a silly little girl, but I had always wondered about different types of sickness and wondered what all casued different types of sickness... I guess I thought like this, because I was Always visiting elderly in our neighborhood and helping them when they were sick....I have done that type of volunteer work Most of my life, including volunteering working with Deaf & Special Needs children. I am actually fluent in American Sign Language & PSE Sign Language. Anyway, I guess I have always been curious about sickness like that from a young age, since it affected so many people I Loved and cared about, and still does to this day.... Maybe that is why I have so many medical books and magazines, and look up info on special medical web sites "Like Microbe World", when I have time or need to look something up....

I use to do like you, too, at that age. I would lay down on the ground and look up at the clouds... wondering how our world was turning, wondering where the clouds came from and looking to see how many different shapes of things I could see in the clouds, while listening to a beautiful cardinal sing from our pear tree, in our back yard in the summer time. It was a cardinal I learned to sound like... It was my first real bird sound, I learned to make. I do believe that is the experience that started my awareness of beautiful animals existance in our world and wanted to learn how to sound like more real birds and animals.... I even started learning the names of different plants from my Grandmother Burton, and would say the names of plants I had learned, out loud, everytime I would see one I knew. Use to drive my mother crazy, with that....LOL!
Later.... Bed time for my children. Love Your Sister, Eagle/Stacey

 

[CountryEagle]

Hi Halkush!

Opps, Sorry Halkush, I ment to respond to you too!!! That is too cute and funny and true... where you said "Cancel-cancel, back to you" when someone says hurtful things to us. I promise you the next time my husband is ugly to me, I will think of that and just LAUGH... and completely ignor what he said! GOOD one, my sister!!! Love Your Sister, Eagle/Stacey

 

[OBs butterfly]

Have you ever had a day when ,you knew things were going to be stressful at work, and you had a million things to do, and all of the sudden while there is a minute of quiet time while you are driving into the "storm of the day" you get this undeniable surge of pure happiness for no reason and a smile comes across your face?

 

[CountryEagle]

Hi Butterfly

During stressful or overwhelming times, smile, YES; but for no reason, NO! If I smile, there is Always a reason... During stressful times it is good to stop a moment, breath a little and think of pleasent things, to Keep going until all the task are completed (as much as humanly possible) for the day..... Good Question! A waste of time, if for no reason, LOL!!!
Love Your Sister, Eagle/Stacey