For a long time now, I’ve been checking in with the weather spirits with whom I have developed a relationship over the decades. But this year, they’ve been wanting me to deliver a message to humanity. And if we are to restore the balance to this planet, I really hope the message is heard.
Right now, there is a mega global “climate crisis.” But in Wyld Shamanism, we understand that the Earth is alive. And so are the spirits of Air, Earth, Fire, and Water.
In my classes, I teach students the importance of reciprocity, of asking and giving instead of just taking. Our world has become very human-centric and ego-based. Everything is here for the human. According to the old ways, this is not true at all.
Right now here in Australia we are suffering from an appalling drought. There are people everywhere praying for rain. But if we are all connected, how can there be rain when humans have forgotten they are part of nature? Part of the natural world? How can the rain spirits answer that call, when they are disrespected, often cursed, and humans see themselves as outside of nature?
In the old wyse ways, we pray rain. We ask permission. We check within for where we might need to do our own work. We remain humble. We chat with the rain spirits who we have formed a relationship with. We ask what they need. We don’t just take or ask for granted wishes.
It doesn’t work that way.
The rain spirits are feminine. They are nurturing and kind and need to be appreciated. There is much to working with the weather spirits, and it takes maturity and heart. That work has to take a high view of the bigger picture, the whole ecological system. But it must also come from individuals who have done their personal work. It’s been noted that when compassionate masters like Thich Nhat Hanh. has visited an area in drought, the rains were with him.
If we are out of balance, so is the world. And right now, the world is very out of balance. Because humanity lost its way.
Last year, in the middle of this drought, our little area got quite a lot of rain. Not enough to make the creek flow, but enough to make the grass grow some. A huge relief.
But when I asked whether some relief might be given out west, I was told that if the drought broke now, humans would go back to the same Earth raping, plundering, and animal-killing mindset as they had before the drought.
Change had to happen.
And if some of the people could hear these whispers for change, it would ripple outward.
Our job is to see it ripple
Keep holding the vision of green grass, clean running waters and peaceful settings. And humans who respect and live in harmony with the natural world they remember they are part of.
Holding a vision of beauty can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Much better than the worst case scenario we are currently being bombarded with. So please hold the vision of beauty, balance, harmony and love for all.
We can no longer walk as beings seperate form the world we live with. This is our wake up call.
Killing the sacred dreamers of Country, the kangaroo, has to stop. Killing farm animals has to stop. As does killing every other animal in all the foul ways that humans do it, from slaughtering to 1080 poisoning, to aerial culling. Mother Earth is Mother to all of us. She is the Mother who never leaves us. She is also Mother to everything from the stone people to the rivers, mountains, trees and all non-human life forms, She is our Mother too. That means we are all kin.
Mothers don’t want their children murdered. They want their children nurtured, loved and appreciated. Mothers want the world to be a safe place for their children.
Like the rain spirits, the environment is feminine. But the current paradigm has cut humans off from understanding that when we love, we heal. The current paradigm is afraid of any wildness it can’t control. It’s a big issue and conversation. But suffice to say, when violence happens, violence ripples outward.
In the Wyld Shamanistic viewpoint, everything is connected. When we hurt others, we hurt ourselves. This is also a very ahimsan way to walk in the world. It’s about doing no injury at all, in thought, word or deed, because of our entanglement with all of life, including the higher realms.
Bernadette, a student of mine, got the same message as me about the drought when we did a class event around this. But the rain spirits told her that if humans made the first move to grow veggies and so on, (even if it still in the planning/changed consciousness stage) instead of hurting animal-kind and hence the land, the rains would come.
So it becomes a question of faith. (Build it and they will come!)
We need to help our farmers make a change. There are ways of working with the land that is regenerative and respectful of the animals as contributors to soil health. If we can help farmers transition away from killing animals and toward organic, plant-based farming, then if will reverberate outwards.
And it will help the rain spirits understand that humans have heard the message. We are the land, the trees, the animals .. and the elementals. And we need to be kind to every part of us.
There is also a bigger message here. If humans start lovingly tending the Earth in the old feminine, respectful way, and start growing more of their own food, there wouldn’t be the same need for large scale farming, which also strips the Earth. There also wouldn’t be the same monolithic control of our food supply.
It’s time to give back, and take our power back
Imagine every community, town, village, hamlet , city and farmhouse, growing food forests, community gardens, turning lawns into food gardens, practising vegan permaculture, and even growing veggies in pots. Imagine if everyone shared food so that there was plenty for all. Imagine a world where every species realised we were in this stewardship of the Earth together.
Imagine farms of real peace, because the animals had been freed from slavery.
Imagine the world based on loving kindness, not fear. And beautifully in balance. This is the New Earth so many people have been wanting. We are at a tipping point.
This is the ultimate message of the weather spirits. They want us to hold the vision and act on it with actions from simply appreciation and gratitude for everyone, from insects and trees, to cows, sheep and horses, to the larger steps of implementing a different narrative, conversation and culture.
They want humans to stop with their sense of entitlement and thinking every other being on the planet is below them.
The weather spirits are part of the force towards creating a New Earth where humans remember the old ways of respect and communication, of reciprocity and living in harmony and balance with everything.
No Trees
Decades ago when I was nine or 10, we had a big drought and some children wanted to take the branches and leaves from a Mother Tree and use it to make a cubby house. I was horrified. I could hear the tree protesting. And no one else could. I fought for that tree. But I lost because no one else could hear her. She told me she needed her leaves and branches to survive the drought. Losing that battle was devastating to me because I could feel her sorrow. And it went deep into the land.
Today, current farming practise is all about land clearing so farm animals can graze on as much land as possible. This creates an enormous imbalance. On so many levels. We need the trees for so many reasons, including the esoteric ones where trees and animals form a symbiotic relationship to create abundance, where trees are wisdom keepers and record keepers and so much more. On a physical level they are natural shelters, medicine and food.
We need to plant trees. Lots of them.
The Fires
Every being wants to feel safe. But in a world of violence, killing, and carelessly disregarding the preciousness of life, safety is rare feeling. The fire spirits are like protective dragons and they are angry with humanity.
But when I tuned into the fire spirits this time, they were also hurting.
In the past, they’ve been angry and disregarded me.
This time they wanted to be held and hugged and they were just plain miserable. The anger changed when they were reached out to with love.
I gathered some advanced students together and we asked the fire spirits what they wanted and needed.
It was the same as the rain spirits. This was a major wake up call. What was it going to take for humans to wake up? They needed appreciation and respect and for humans to get back into balance and steward the land and work with the animals and natural world, realising they were connected.
They wanted people to remember the old ways. And for all the industries that hurt the land to stop — the logging and mining and slaughtering .
They were angry and sad that people weren’t listening.
We all got the same message.
Once the fire spirits had been heard, we all felt calmer, which meant they were calmer. The fires weren’t out, and the rain spirits wouldn’t come –yet but we did notice the fires had been downgraded on the news report. The rain spirits are now needed badly. So send them some love!
The devastation of these times is truly frightening. But we can all make a difference by choosing to make a difference. To choose cruelty-free diets (vegan), to start a new narrative about the way we work with the land, to plant trees, to steward the indigenous way of giving back first and then asking for something in return, always asking permission out of respect, for working on ourselves and becoming more into balance, harmony and alignment with the natural world we are a part of.
Meanwhile, we’re holding everyone and everything facing fires in a shield of divine love and deep peace. We’re doing the work of getting the message out. We’re appreciating all the elementals. We’re being the change.
Everyone can do this.
Everyone can make a promise out loud to change and act on it. Everyone can sing a soothing lullaby to the natural world and ask for forgiveness. It’s time humans stopped treating the natural world like a wild beast which needs to be tamed, controlled and enslaved, and realise that the entire ecosystem needs us to step up respect, take a step back, listen, learn, and give back. We can all take steps to honour what the natural world and the unseen are yearning for.
Looking to our indigenous earth and wisdom keepers at this time of transition is also something we can do. Shamanism is the same foundation all the planet over and different people have different strengths to share as we go forward at this time of transition. For me personally, everything comes down to communication and listening and honouring.
Here’s an article showing the difference between Aboriginal cultural burns and the western way of just burning to clear.
Calling the Water
There are many different ways of calling to the rain spirits.
Being in good relationship to the water spirits is vital. Being .a compassionate, balanced high-frequency being in harmony with the natural world is also really good.
Impassioned pleas from youth. Communicating with musical sounds with a calling in your heart. Calling rain by feeling it already falling on your skin, feeling the mud between your toes, smelling the ozone and tasting water in your mouth.
Communicating with the spirits. Singing to them.
And here’s an Aboriginal way of calling water via Kate from Nature Philosophy on Facebook.
YOLNGU ELDER FIRE MESSAGE
Hey tribe, we have had a crazy few days here with the local fires!
A few of our friend’s houses in the North Coast region have been burnt down and many more have had to evacuate.
We’re really mindful of how shocking and impossibly difficult it is when massive fires rip through National Parks and then the wind brings those fires into our communities.
I spoke to my adopted family in North-East Arnhem Land yesterday to share what has been happening.
They were so concerned about us all. Roslyn Malngumba, my adopted mother and Yolngu elder/law keeper, was confused as to why we wouldn’t burn the land in the cold time – so it didn’t flare up in the hot times.
Such a simple solution!
One which is difficult for us to action when considering our current relationship to fire and the complex governance structures around native bush land.
I have seen the female Yolngu elders sing rain ?
So, I also asked what could we do collectively to bring the rain?
Roslyn advised me to go to our closest body of fresh water (rivers, creeks, tanks, dams, taps). Put the water in my mouth and then many times spit it/spray it across the land, while calling to the water to come. Almost like placing seeds of water onto the land and calling out to the ancestor of water to join us on the land.
She said, “Do this and the gapu (water) will come.”
She asked that I share this message with my friends – so I thought I would let you know in the hope we can caretake the land together.
It’s easy to dismiss this sort of simple, body-based practise when we are full to the brim just trying to save our properties and in a peak action state. And yet this was the advise I was given from a woman who has the power to be in such deep connection with the ancestor of rain that is flows when she sings.
If enough of us do this with all of our hearts then I believe we can bring the rain.
Indigenous people across the world have been masterfully looking after the land through physical and spiritual action for thousands of years.
Maybe in learning a different relationship to these powerful elements we can become masterful caretakers of country too?
Maybe this is the lesson the earth is asking us to learn?
I would love to hear your thoughts and your experience of calling in gapu (water)…
Feel free to share this advice to your community if you feel to.
In Connection, Kate
Humans can be very resistant to change and whether you believe in the aliveness of all things or not, it is certainly a better and higher way to walk in the world, as a respectful steward. So let’s make some changes. The world will be better off, and we can all feel good about taking some action towards repairing the mess we’ve made. It’s time to walk forward into the light of a more enlightened age. An age of peace for all beings.
Sending this message out with love in my heart. May all beings be happy and safe. May the new earth now rise.
In deep peace and divine love
Billie xxx
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Billie Dean is the founder of the social change charity Deep Peace Trust and the Billie Dean School of Wyld Shamanism. She is an innate interspecies telepath, lives with hundreds of animals, is a writer, vegan, and an advocate for a vision of peace and safety for all. Her award winning book about animal telepathy and shamanism Secret Animal Business, changes lives. www.deeppeacetrust.com www.billiedean.com www.wildpureheart.com
Billie, I too have asked for rain, and received a similar message that, if the rain came now, no one would change. People need to change their view of their place in the world. We are creative beings, but instead of creating a world in harmony with All That Is, we have created disharmony. People need to learn to “snuggle into the Earth”, as I once learned from a conversation with a chicken. When we connect with the Earth, we begin to understand our connection, not only with our Mother Earth, but with the rest of creation. Let’s pray that the lesson is learned quickly.
Hey Lorelle
Yes.. it makes so much sense to me. I love the chicken’s concept of snuggling in to the Earth! When I contacted the fire dragons last night they did the same to me. They were so grateful people had Seen them and were willing to communicate. Wildfires aren’t exactly appreciated or loved and the dragons did’t want to cause all that pain and destruction. But we need to change and change now. Thanks for sharing that you got the same message. Huge love, Billie x
There are two thoughts that arose for me reading this as we all struggle through the mess mankind has made of our earth home.
This summer we have had almost an equal balance of really hot days and torrential rain days. Nature has gone mad with growth but my tomatoes didn’t grow and my roses bloomed to rot. So what’s the rain saying to us in England as it continues to pour? If it continues like this when the temperature drops, then the snow will be feet deep!
I’m vegetarian because I believe in no harm to animals. My rented farmhouse and few acres are in the midst of a 100+ dairy farm. I get that cows, sheep, chickens, ducks and goats provide resources without the need for killing or harming but I wonder where would be a place for pigs in this vision of farming? How many species would no longer exist? Why would farmers feed and care for a creature that doesn’t provide some use when there are bills to pay? Where does the balance between preserving and losing come into play? I really want to understand this. Claire
Hi Claire
Thanks for your great questions. I think we need to change the notion that animals have to provide humans with “use”. As it turns out, pigs are very helpful in regeneration of the land and are employed to be their natural selves. My family actually spends thousands every week feeding and caring for animals who live with us on our land because we feel it’s the right thing to do to take care of them. They provide us with joy ( and a lot of hard work!) — but there is meaning in deep connections, and they do provide a muse for our writing and social change work. In our town there are lots of artists who also “use” animals as their muse for their self-expression. We too live in a farming community where lots of people keep farm animals as companion animals because they love them. So in redefining the current social culture for a new kind of earth, it means dismantling a lot of old concepts. I’m also writing about this in my new book What the Animals Want You to Know. Animals dont want to be seen as second class citizens anymore.
To your question “how many species would no longer exist”.. because of animal agriculture and its land clearing, mining, logging and all the other things we do to our Earth, we are wiping out species at the rate of knots. So the question of a farm animal existing in a plant-based society, comes back to them not wanting to be second class citizens. They want to exist like they once used to.. in their family herds and flocks with their own social systems and lores. We humans are the stewards only, not the slave-keepers. They will also live as family and friend in many homes and farms.
I haven’t spoken with the rain spirits in England but I would guess they would be saying the same thing. We need more respect. Overall the unseen want to get your attention, so we put more attention on our relationship with Mother Earth and the natural world. Only when we learn how to live with everybody else here, and play nice.. can we create the kind of peaceful and plentiful Eden we yearn for.
You will probably get a fuller understanding when you read my book What the Animals Want You to Know.. out soon!! In the meantime, I hope this helps!! love Billie x
Hi, here in Sweden are no news about the fires in Australia!! But I will share this with all my friends, and ask them for help, sending prayers to the spirits of water . Tonight its fullmoon, and I will have a small ceremoni and listen to the waterspirits about what I can do.
With lots of love/Anna