Wild Fire Climate and Change

In the past several weeks, there have been tremendous wildfires in various parts of the world. We've become used to them in the Rocky Mountain West, and sometimes it's easy to forget that wildfires aren't a "normal" thing in other places. They weren't a "normal" thing here either until recent years.

There has been a lot of attention in shamanic circles paid to weather and climate change and how to heal the planet. I've recounted innumerable times a story of a group of shamanic practitioners who gathered once to turn a storm away from a coastal village, how that storm did indeed turn away, and caused a tidal wave elsewhere. I think all of us can benefit from occasionally remembering that we are not and do not have ultimate power over others in the world, including if not especially The Elements.

But this is not an entry meant to shake a finger at anyone, so when we look to heal the world from climate change, or wildfires, or some other occurrence we designate as dastardly or harmful, what can we do other than attempt to control or change that phenomenon?

Our actions of change or impact always begin with our own selves. The adage that you can't help someone else unless you've first helped yourself (put that oxygen mask over your own face before helping someone else with theirs!) is universal and timeless. In various circles, we talk about what we can do as individuals to make our lives better and therefore contribute better to the wider world, whether it's finding inner peace, seeking information or taking a specific action like eating more nutritious- and less processed- foods so our bodies and minds function better, and at the same time we don't contribute to processing factories that may pollute the air or pay hard workers less than a living wage.

Specific to wildfires, we can be careful in our daily actions, heeding fire bans and restrictions, making sure our homes are protected against fuel loads that could cause a fire to spread, simple measures like that, and depositing wishes for the compassionate helping spirits to send power where most needed. The Elements are not compassionate. Nature is not compassionate. And we are not in a position to control.

On a larger climate change scale, we can learn more about how climate change happens, and how it manifests in different parts of the world. We can be prepared to help during events, whether donating a little extra to a charity or NGO that helps people or animals affected by natural disasters, and we can activate politically, urging our Congresspeople to "do the right thing" when confirming officials in agencies like Department of Homeland Security and FEMA (if here in the US) and appropriating our tax dollars.

The most important thing to remember is that while we can call upon help in both Ordinary and Non-Ordinary Reality, we do not have all the answers, and our opinions are not necessarily the facts of how a situation should be. I was reminded of this in a recent journey. I had journeyed on a specific question for a friend, and after that question had been answered, I received some more information I had not asked for, specific to wildfires. We are at a point in human history, I was told, in which the world is so far out of balance that The Elements are speaking to us as loudly as possible to get us to open our eyes.

When the world is quite literally burning, what will we humans do in ordinary reality to help those operating in NOR to bring some balance back? We may not have all the answers or the immense power to control an Element, but we do have our own personal power, and we are urged to use it.