Rattling the Bones

I live in the country side and every year in October we get two to four days where the house is covered in lady bugs. To make sure they don’t come into the house, we cover the doors with plastic and remove it when the cold has set in. This year, there were no infestation of lady bugs. I don’t even remember seeing any. Not even around Equinox where usually they are numerous and feeding on the autumn flowers of my garden. The missing lady bugs became such an issue this past month that I heard countless neighbours talk about it at the post office and the local food stores. “Isn’t it great: NO LADYBUGS!” cried out this young woman pushing a stroller with twins at the Chambly IGA. “Not really,” responded an older man squeezing the melons and peeking through the apples, “they may be a pain in the ass for a week but they do wonders all summer long keeping the pests away from our harvest.” As I continued food shopping the words of the farmer kept ringing in my mind. ...

“When trees get to a mature age (50 years old +-) they begin to sing and for those of us who are sensitive we can actually hear their song.” EC – Passamaquoddy Elder                When I was pregnant with my children I spent a lot of time being attentive to my heartbeat.    I believe that it was because of this awareness that I had so many lucid dreams one of which saved my son’s life.   In Shamanism the drum is a sacred tool that is used for ritual but that is also believed to have healing powers.   There is nothing more powerful than the heart beat of a mother, the heart beat of a family, the heart beat of a community and finally, the heartbeat of a nation.   The idea is that the heartbeats of people who love and care for each other will synchronize and eventually make sacred all that is dear to these people.   Obviously, if you pay attention to your heartbeat when you are pregnant it brings you to connect to your unborn child.                 After my children were born a...