Sea Otter: Second Chances

When people think “otter”, they often imagine Sea Otter with her cute face, floating on her back, holding a clam. The most aquatic of Otters, Sea Otter spends most of her life at sea. Since She likes to be in the water near the shore, Sea Otter prefers living along coasts instead of the open ocean. During rough weather, Sea Otter will seek shelter in a rocky cove.

Unlike other Otters, Sea Otter will catch fish in her clawed forefeet. Other times, She dives to the sea bottom, snatches a tasty clam, and returns to the surface. Swimming on her back, Sea Otter uses a rock and bangs open the clam on her chest. She eats crabs, being careful not to get her nose pinched.

Sea Otter is a keystone species since She maintains the health of the near-shore ecosystem. Sea urchins which attack kelp are her favorite food. Since She maintains the kelp forest, many species have their homes there. Places where Sea Otter has been reintroduced has rebounded in health and been restored.

From time to time, Mother Sea Otter will gather with other mothers and their pups. While her pup is playing with the other pups, Mother Sea Otter grooms herself to keep her fur clean. As her pup has fun with his playmates, Mother Sea Otter rests with her friends. Usually, She has her pup rest on her stomach as they float in the estuary. The bond between mother and pup is so close, that a mother will carry and mourn a dead pup for days.

Because She lives in the cold waters of the Pacific, Sea Otter has the thickest fur of any mammal. To keep her fur in prime condition, Sea Otter will lay on her back and blow air into her under-fur. To clean Herself after eating, She will somersault and twist and turn to get the debris off her fur.

Sea Otter’s history with people is a sad one. Russians and Americans hunted Her to near extinction for her fur. What saved Sea Otter were other, more thoughtful people. When the hunters thought that there were no more sea otters, other people knew where sea otters were hiding and kept the place secret. After laws were enacted to save the sea otter, her numbers slowly recovered.

Today, sea otter populations face other problems. Coastal pollutants and habitat degradation limit the number the survival of the adult otters. Used cat litter has infiltrated the watersheds bringing with it lethal parasites. Every sea otter counts to the people of California who are doing their best to keep these mammals from going extinct.

Sea Otter once trusted people before they hunted Her. After about a hundred years, Sea Otter is willing to trust again. As people are working to give Sea Otter a second chance to thrive, so She is giving people a second chance. Learn from Sea Otter when to trust and when to walk away.

Updated and revised version of a blog posting in 2010.

Relating to The Tarot and Me

For me, the best method for relating to the Major Arcana of the Tarot is the character sketch. Creating a character from each card, and then melding this character into a story is challenging. Doing this makes me look deeper into each card. For example, The Hanged Man presents me with the following: Why is he hanging upside down? Who is he? How does he relate to others? The second part of creating a short story with random cards further cements the meanings of the cards for me as a reader. Writing a story using The Hanged Man, The Sun and The Chariot challenges me to see how they flow together. How does The Hanged Man relate to The Sun, and what do they have to do with The Chariot? This to me is the core of reading the Tarot – the story that the cards tell.

 Aligning the Tarot with the Tree of Life of the Qabalah reminded me why I detest the Tarot. The focus became for me one of organizing the Tarot into a system of redemption and unification with God. This runs counter to what I believe, as a Roman polytheist. I do not regard the Tarot as a tool to relate to various energies of the Universe. For me, the Tarot is simply a divination tool.

Finding patterns in the cards is the most helpful for me to connect with the Tarot. The most common pattern that people see is grouping the cards into aspects of The Hero’s Journey. Finding other patterns became a mnemonic for remembering the essence of each card in a group. I set up a pattern of the Journey to the Dark Goddess and the Return. Each card now fits into a “family relationship,” which aids in a reading. When certain cards appear, I can interpret them by know where the questioner is on this journey.

The constant repetition of learning different methods of how to relate to the cards has made me more confident in my ability to interpret the Tarot. As I worked with each method, I encountered different aspects of each card. Therefore, my reading of The Hanged Man (or any other card) becomes richer by knowing the subtext. Furthermore if I cannot relate The Hanged Man to the other cards in one way, I can employ another method. The repetition and review increased my ability to interpret a spread holistically.

Types of Animal Teachers: Introduction

My blog at Witches and Pagans: Types of Animal Teachers

A part of working with animals is learning as much about them as you can. Since common names are confusing, scientists will use taxonomic names for each animal. In taxonomy, animals are separated into various groupings according to their DNA and biological characteristics. Therefore, every animal has a scientific name based on where they fit in the Web of Life. Taxonomy (this scientific classification system) is essentially the animal’s name, rand, and serial number.

Read more at Animal Wisdom blog