EMBRACING FEAR
by Fran Tomlin

In an old North American Indian tale, Rabbit was a very brave & fearless warrior a long, long time ago.

Rabbit had a great friend called Eye Walker, a witch. They spent much time together. Eye Walker provided for Rabbit’s needs when they arose such as if Rabbit was ever hungry or thirsty. She would blow on leaves or stones to produce food and water.

One day Rabbit had a bad accident and almost died, but Eye Walker used a magic salve to mend all his broken bones restoring him to full health immediately. Rabbit said nothing.

Days went by, and Eye Walker could not find her friend, she went looking but Rabbit was nowhere to be seen. Eventually Eye Walker gave up looking.

Finally, after many moons, she bumped into Rabbit by chance. She asked Rabbit why he had been avoiding her?

“Because I am afraid of your magic,” he replied.

“I see ,” said Eye Walker “so now that I have used my magical powers on your behalf, you turn on me and refuse my friendship?”

“I’m afraid of your magic!...I want nothing more to do with you or your powers,” replied Rabbit.

Eye Walker was exceedingly hurt. She acknowledged that once they were great companions and that she had the power to destroy Rabbit. But instead she decided to put a “curse” on Rabbit and all his tribe. She determined that from now on Rabbit would “call” his fears, and his fears would come to him.

So now Rabbit is known as the “fear caller”. He goes out and shouts “Eagle I am so afraid of you stay away from me!” In fact, he goes out and shouts it twice if perchance Eagle hasn’t heard him. So Eagle hears and comes and eats him.

Rabbit calls out to all his predators and they come. And they eat him.

So ... STOP giving voice or thought to your fears. They will take form if you do. Rather write them down, look at them, embrace them. Be willing to feel them. Breathe into them, feel them running through your body and out through your feet into blessed Mother Earth, where she absorbs and transmutes them, transforms them into energy that can be used positively for growth. Give your fears into the Earth to be healed and transformed. Don’t hang on to them. Allow them to release into Earth, after all Gaia is alchemy Herself. But first, as stated, you have to embrace them fully, to own them, see them for what they are ... and then let them go into the space of null and void, releasing them into the Earth.

Until you do this, you may be unable to move on, to resolve issues or situations in your life. You may even feel “frozen in motion” and this could well indicate a time to rest, wait, re-evaluate and really face those fears or any negative feelings, obstacles or barriers ... and rid yourself of them. It can mean, simply put, that your influence in life, in situations, cannot be felt “out there” until you re-arrange your way of seeing whatever set of circumstances. For it is in the way you handle problems, or react to them, that allows you to succeed.

So, like Rabbit, you may need to burrow deep to nuture yourself, to set yourself “free”, releasing fears until it is time again to venture out “into the open” facing the world free of “predators” and be able to live in peace, vitality and LOVE.