February 2005

The Indian Ocean tsunami of December 26 rendered our big world a little more intimate. It struck on a day when most of the world was at home in a state of rest, better able to focus on and slowly absorb the wave of loss impacting the world.

The poignancy of the event moved deep into our psyche, revealing much about us and our world.

Socially it was deeply meaningful to be part of a swift worldwide outpouring of compassion. All of us have been so wounded by the selfishness of the oil-war in Iraq that with the tsunami, the dams on our hearts opened and love flowed without hesitation toward the hearts of those in need. Materialism has made us numb and cynical, but we saw our compassionate, optimistic loving selves in the eyes of the rest of the world, and the generosity was a balm to all of us. We demanded that governments and corporations give more, that credit card companies suspend their profits from donations, that charity funds be accountable.

Scientifically it was a year of listening to changes on the Earth. Storms battered coastlines, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions were unusually active, and polar caps melted; even the Arctic never became truly dark this winter. NASA Jet Propulsion labs believe that the effect of the huge tectonic plate in the Indian Ocean being forced under the edge of another made the planet more compact, and it is now spinning faster. Scientists will wait until next autumn to decide if they should add a “leap second” to the year. For now it is estimated that our pole shifted an inch and our days are shorter as we spin three millionths of a second faster after the earthquake that created the tsunami.

It was so fascinating that the animals knew to high-tail it out of danger before the waves struck. A fellow in Khao Lak, Sumatra, who took tourists out on jungle treks said that at the exact time of the earthquake his elephants wailed in a way he could only describe as crying. The herd were calmed down for an hour and then they started again, broke their chains and ran to the hills, many taking tourists with them on their backs, all knowing it was safe to stop at a certain elevation. Snakes were an exception. In Banda Aceh a young woman named Rita found herself swept up in the current and floated near a neighbour who begged her to save her twin daughters. The mother soon sank after Rita took the girls. A python the size of a telephone pole then drifted up to her and let her rest on its back with the two children. The python, to on-lookers, went out of its way to get the threesome to higher ground and then returned to its mission of swimming back to its inland jungle home up-river. That story made me cry. I certainly wish we could all hear the vibrations of the Earth the way animals do and be able to interpret their meaning.

I found myself drawn to help using focused prayer, sacred geometry, water and intention. At first there was simply a map of the Indian Ocean floor out in the living-room altar to focus my prayers. In late January there was a worldwide event organized for all of us to build a labyrinth beside water and walk it while sending love, thanks, and healing energy into the water. Although the synchronized date has passed it is something we can do at any time. The idea is that all the water is connected. As we rinse our food in the sink it is carried out eventually to the rivers, where it evaporates and rains somewhere else in the world. Dr. Masaru Emoto’s work has proven that water has a memory, responds to vibration (energy), and can be programmed by our intention. In the area of the tsunami it is fair to say that energetically the water has been holding fear, grief, anger, confusion, etc., and that it is not healing water while it holds that vibration.

We now know scientifically that we can change the vibration of water (the specific vibrating wave generated by the electron orbiting the nucleus of an atom) so that it is healing again. The labyrinths are a sacred geometric spiritual art form that are tremendously powerful for focusing and amplifying our energetic intentions in this world prayer to send healing water to the affected areas.

Luckily I live on a river so it was easy enough to build a seven spiraled goddess labyrinth on the snowy shore and invite the village to participate. We chose to work at dusk with candles as each person sent their intention of love and thankfulness to the water. We were careful not to build it too close to the house as labyrinths set with intention often draw ley lines and water domes to them (Sig Lonegren: The Benton Castle Labyrinth).

I encourage you to see the film “What the Bleep Do We Know!?” just to remind yourself about quantum reality. To learn more about water see Dr. Emoto’s site www.hado.net, the Project of Love and Water www.thank-water.net, www.TorontoDowsers.com, and www.waterlabyrinths.com.