This week we meditated with Octopus! 

Meditation

-Showing me slight of hand, like a magician moving around coconuts with something underneath. I can’t see what is underneath. 
-Artifice, strategy, writing your own story.
-Some systems in our country are not working for some people. There are some systems that are working much better. It is important to find systems that do. For example, social safety nets and schools usually work well, as do libraries. 
-Glorious proliferation and recycling of their bodies into the next generation.
-Chaotic movements, quick movements.

I don't like the patronizing way they talk about the octopus in this, but the video is cool. Also check out My Octopus Teacher, a documentary.

-This animal likes to learn, it is observing my lungs—wondering if it could learn to breathe air. 
-It contemplates my clunky, hard body—my head, my bone segments. It is not certain if this is the best way. It feels it would be better if I were more pliable or elastic.
-It feels I am underestimating or under-appreciating human dominance. We are like a blanket over the land that is controlling most animals.
-This animal can regenerate through retreat and rest. Humans regenerate when ill or injured by retreat and rest too. I can get back some powers I am healing by de-systematizing myself, essentially.
-This animal says it does not think of resting during the night and being active during the day. It does not think of it as a regular pattern. It rests when it can.
-It reminds me of Sedna myth, and notices that I have many activities that I enjoy (like making art and making things).

-The essence wants to offer ease, clarity, and effortlessness.
-You can get through the bullshit (like at work). How? By ignoring it!
-When asked what animal it is there are flickerings of different animals
-It says, “You can always find a path forward and a way through—just one step at a time.”

Visions: 
-A critter grabbed my hand and guided me under, over, around, through…fast. We were zooming through, like an obstacle course. We arrived at a clearing. There was a waterfall stream. I was sitting on the grassy edge and could hear water percolating through the waterfall and see the light sparkling. It was beautiful, calm, and protected. There was an unveiling of the unseen. I saw flickering of different perspectives. For example a map from overhead (like a Lord of the Rings map). The animal said, “This peace is always here—you have to make time to visit it.”

-I was thinking about marketing. A person was hovering over my thoughts, they said, “Stay where you’re at. Stay where you’re at.” I said, “No, I want to go to the animal world.” I got glimpses of the same scene I normally encounter in these club meetings. Then I heard a sigh from the person. I ripped my thoughts down the middle (like a paper backdrop) and behind was the animal scene. It became chaotic inside the scene. An animal was flickering between fox/wolf, and it was howling at the moon/sun. Fox was up on the wall that looked like the sky. Fox was skidding down the paper wall as it went. The fox/wolf ran up a tree and howled at the moon. Then it dove into a lake under the tree. The whole scene got crumbled into a wad of paper in the real world. A guy was holding the wad and about to throw it into a park trash can. The guy turned into an ex I don’t like. The ex threw it into the trash and was smiling. It seemed symbolic of him throwing away the last vestiges of my innocence. His new gf was looking at him very worried. She said, “Are you sure you really want to do that?” He was laughing the rest of the time.

-I had a vision of purple light. There was a random guy, dressed in black like he was working backstage at a play. He ran into the scene. The purple light was encroaching into my thoughts—moving from left to right like a curtain. He pushed it back. By the time he got back to me he was panting. He said “You shouldn’t be seeing this. This isn’t the energy you should be having.” I felt a gross vibe (this was what he was blocking me from). I pictured a beach and fell asleep. 

Summary and Possible Use

Flickering, illusion, and artifice came up many times! With animals changing between each other, images shielding and being broken through, coconut shell games, even marketing and the theater reference illusion. You can see from the videos above how octopuses ingeniously camouflage themselves. They also use surface changes to mimic scarier creatures to deter predators, and express emotion through color and texture. Their physical eyes are considered color blind, so what you are seeing is directly happening in the skin, which senses the environment visually. Connect with octopus if your feeling like your creativity or momentum is lacking and report back.

The chaotic energy was interesting this evening. I worked with octopus several times in the past and its message was more personalized, about pacing myself. Maybe it relates to managing chaos, by ignoring it or navigating it like an obstacle course, to get to the peaceful spots. This seems so like the life of an octopus. Smart, adaptable, quick, quick, quick, but also enjoying to play and enjoy life.

When I first worked with octopus, Sedna also came to mind, asking me what the point of the myth was. Sedna is a trans-Neptunian object/dwarf planet. Sedna is the story of a beautiful young woman coming of age. She loves to comb her hair and in not inspired to marry local men. A stranger comes to town and pressures her into marrying and leaving for his amazing but distant house. She finds that his house is nothing but a dirty snowy shore (this is an Inuit myth) and it turns out this guy is actually an evil raven. She works hard without shelter and prays her father will come and rescue her. He does come, is not happy with the scene, and they quickly depart by kayak. The raven quickly pursues them. A storm comes in. The father, to save himself, throws Sedna overboard. Choosing between the endless cold sea and the boat, she attempts to climb back on a few times. Her father cuts off her fingers, then hands to prevent her from climbing back on. Sedna falls to the bottom of the ocean. This is where the retelling typically ended before Sedna entered Gemini (the sign associate with story telling) last summer. It turns out Sedna found a beautiful crystal home under the sea with a ring of fire inside that never goes out. Her hands and fingers became all the sea creatures, who boast amazing regenerative and self-healing properties. She found partnership with the goddess of storms. Unfortunately she can no longer comb her hair, so sometimes the sea creatures get caught in the kelp beds and the fisherman and shamans must work with Sedna to untangle them and appease her so they will have their food. They also must pray to her lover to be spared in the storms that do arise. The underwater world is full of color and life and emotional connection, whereas the above water world is cold, harsh, and dominated by ruthless men. 

I love the resilience and thriving that this myth portrays. It is not just recovering from insult and injury it is finding a world you can thrive in and way more joy and meaning on the other side of pain and diminishing relationships.

I appreciated the calm that clear and beautiful water spaces brought. This came up as a way to create calm when life was busy or yucky.

Octopus is a reminder to write your own story. If a system or community isn't working for you, find ones that do. Move, hide, use the art of illusion, ignore the bs, and arrive in the spaces that thrive you. There is so much to say about this creature. I am working on it for a book I am writing as a support or inspiration for navigating diseased systems and abusive or oppressive environments. Octopus is so adaptable that it can re-write its RNA on the go, and regrow limbs. This animal will do just fine with global warming. I am cheering for Sedna's world as humans destroy their habitat. 

This essence is not available yet, but check back in a few weeks. :)

Invitation

Do you have a connection with octopus or have you worked with its energy? Please share in the comments below!

On first and third Mondays at 630pm PST we meet to meditate with animal energies. 

Learn more and join here: 

https://brownbearherbs.com/collections/meditation-club/products/animal-meditation-club