The Promise of the Rainbow

By Tiffany A. Dedeaux

Inspired by the response of the Rainbow Warrior I thought again about what rainbows mean to me. When I turned 25 I traveled to Hawaii. There I was told that without rain there can be no rainbows. Now I find that anytime I know it’s been raining and the sun appears I look for them.

Never has there been a more important rainbow than there was for me in Belize. My husband and I traveled there and spent a few days on the beach and a few days at an eco resort further inland. There were storms and changing weather but not until we got to the eco resort did the rains come. Serious rains. Create a mote around our hut rains. We couldn’t really do anything but sleep and read (which is why I read Turn Right at Machu Pichu so fast). My husband was fit to be tied. He wanted to explore, to have adventure. We couldn’t go look at Mayan Ruins but we could hike around the rainforest. The waterfalls were fierce with the force of all the water.

Rain, rain, rain.

During the bumpy ride back to Belize City and ultimately home I looked out the window and saw a rainbow. It struck me that rainbows represent promise. The promise from God to Noah is that God would not flood the earth as he had. After the rains in Belize, a tropical depression we later found out, I took comfort and smiled at that rainbow. We were promised that we would not be overcome, we would not be destroyed, and we would not be forced to start over to that extent. Rainbows are the promise that we are not alone.

What do rainbows represent to you in your life?

 

Reading, Writing, and…

By Tiffany A. Dedeaux

If you emphasized the basics in your life what would you focus on?

Think back to your time in high school.  What do you wish you had learned or what are you thankful you covered?  My answer to this is accounting.  Although I had discovered a dislike of geometry and a like for algebra, the most useful thing for me was learning to write a check in accounting.  I seriously went back to that homework and copied that assignment in order to write my first check while I was in college.

On a hike to Bocawina Falls my husband and I talked with our guide, Emilio.  He expressed concern for the emphasis on work with pencils versus machetes.  His point was what was most useful where he lived:  being able to write or being able to get where you needed to go.

This is an interesting perspective for each culture you may visit or wish to influence:  what is actually the most useful skill for where they are and how they live?

Mirrored Paths

By Tiffany A. Dedeaux

Recently my husband and I were hiking through the rainforest toward Bocawina Falls and we appeared to be headed right for a downed tree.  It was only when we got to the tree that it became obvious that we could walk around to get to the other side.

What do you do in those moments?  Are you the type to even look up and notice the path is blocked? Do you keep your head down until you get there?  If you notice your path appears blocked do you change your course, keep going, or quit and turnaround?

I keep going, or I should say that I’ve learned to keep going.  I usually find that when I get to what appeared to be a dead end, the path more often than not has veered in a direction that was not obvious some distance back.

In this case we walked around and kept going until I noticed the temperature had dropped and I felt a few rain drops.  I insisted we turn back.  After we were comfortably in our hut did a crazy amount of rain fall.  It turned out to be the remnants of a tropical depression.

When we tried to find the Bocawina Falls the second time we took a guide armed with a machete.  It turns out part of the trail that was blocked enough to require bushwhacking.  Everything worked out for the better and we experienced the power of the falls after an incredible storm.

Think back to the last hike or walk you took.  How did that jaunt mirror the path you’ve taken in your life?

You Are Here — How to Know

By Tiffany A. Dedeaux

How you can know your guiding image, animal, or symbol is an excellent question.  The answer, for me, is through time and intention.  To start, you need to know what or who your guide is.  Through my experience, and that of some of my clients, you can find your guide through journeys, resonant experiences, and themes.

1.   Journey

I have participated in an exercise where each participant journeyed to retrieve the spirit animal for a partner.  During the journey we set the intention on our partner’s behalf and when the image or animal appeared we asked for confirmation and offered gratitude if they agreed to come back with us.  This is a simplified explanation, but should be done with shamans or experienced journeymen (or women).  Once you have identified your spirit animal, notice when they appear to you and pay attention to the meaning you attach to it.

The Deer-inspired logo for my coaching practice, Sacred Time

My spirit animal is Deer.  I once went on an intentional walk to clarify my purpose as a guide.  This meant that I fasted, kept to myself, and spent the day outside holding the question of what my purpose.  At the end of my walk I saw Deer for an instant.  I followed, and at the edge of the woods I scanned to see what I could see and suddenly realized Deer and I were locking eyes.  In looking up the message of Deer I understood that my purpose as a guide was to help transform others through the power of gentleness.

2.   Resonant Experiences

While I have mentioned that I have had a sudden encounter with a black swan, I have known others who’ve received messages from movies.  One woman in particular started to follow the rainbow based on a movie she saw.  As another example for me, I was seeking guidance about whether or not to sign up for coach training.  I went on a wilderness retreat where one of my assignments was to take on one aspect of nature.  I became a ladybug because that is made my stop and take notice.  I came to realize that I did want to pursue coaching as part of my application of ecopsychology.  Now, on occasion, a ladybug appears in my office even when all the windows and doors are closed!

3.   Theme

If you wish to consider what your guide has been, look back on your life and see if you’ve had multiple encounters with the same symbol.  Some examples would be finding a penny on the ground as you’re faced with important decisions or seeing a specific number or design when you’re confused as to what to do next.

In talking with my husband while in Belize, I pointed out we saw his spirit animal but what caught his attention were the many encounters he’s now realized he’s had with one particular animal:  the barracuda.  It was his first car, an encounter he had while snorkeling, and the name of the restaurant we ate at when he turned 50. He can take that as he is in the beginning of a new chapter of his life, he’s on the right track, or he can even look at what the barracuda symbolizes:  that it’s time to follow his own path.

For a Moment or a Lifetime

You can have many totems or guides throughout your lifetime and you can have only one.  If you have had many guides then they take turns for different seasons, events, or aspects of your life.  How I choose to receive  guidance from those that guide me is I look up their meaning.  I consult Animal Speak by Ted Andrews, which I was introduced to by my mentor during my wilderness quest.  When I don’t have access to that book or the decks of cards I use in my coaching practice, I will search animal totem using my smartphone and use the same site for consistency.  I choose Lins domain because the content from Animal Speak is often referenced or quoted.  In a moment’s notice you can receive a translation of the message being brought to you in that one moment or by the guide that serves you for this season or this life.

As you’ve been consider who or what guides you, what has your guide revealed to you? 

You Are Here

By Tiffany A. Dedeaux

Not everywhere we go includes a map with a ‘you are here’ marker.  One way I know that I’m on the right path is by the personally relevant signs that I encounter along the way.  For example, since returning from Australia, anytime I see a swan—especially a black swan—I know that I am where I ought to be.  While going to meet my then boyfriend for a date, I saw a sign for Swan’s Moving and Storage.  Seriously.  For me that was a sign that I was meant to be on that date (and, as it turned out, I married the guy).   I have even had a difficult time during an assignment only to receive a postcard from Perth with a black swan and a note from a friend who was thinking of me.  To me these are messages that both say “you are in the right place” and “keep going in this direction.”

You can also have more than one personal sign that guide you through life.  When I quested for a vision for my life, a butterfly appeared to at the exact moment I picked up a log and heard music in the air.  It was as if the butterfly was a delicate piece of punctuation that let me know this was a moment to be mindful…Since that time, the butterfly has also been my personal guide.  When I apprenticed and all the questers were out fasting in their solo sites, a butterfly danced on my tent and I knew I was where I needed to be.

Without me saying such things to my clients, they share the signs that guide them.  Recognizing your personal sign becomes most important when you take a turn and you’re not sure if you’re still headed in the right direction.  Most recently for me, I was not a fan of going to Belize because I didn’t think it was the right time to go, especially when I’ve put so much work into researching and preparing to go to Machu Picchu.  When my husband and I arrived in Dangriga one of the first things I noticed was that a few buildings had railings along their upper floors, and in the middle of those railings were swans!  That is in part why I settled into the adventure of Belize.  My sense that I was in the right place at the right place was confirmed when we moved to the jungle of Bocawina and were greeted by butterflies.  As it turned out, the place where we had been became flooded after we moved into the jungle.  We were exactly where we needed to be.  I knew it.  I took comfort at that in the moment, and especially now as I look back.

What are the signs that guide you in life?

Remembering My Place

By Tiffany A. Dedeaux

A souvenir is defined as something bought to remind us of a place we’ve visited or an occasion we wish to celebrate.  In the words of my pastor it is a memory holder.  Recently, while in Belize, I felt the need to load up on souvenirs for friends and family, as well as myself.  What I realized is that this simple act of looking for a memory holder can change my perspective.

Back when I first traveled to Australia in November 2007, I spent time with an exchange student who was having difficulty picking out a suitable souvenir for his parents.  Why?  Because everything seemed to be made in China, which increased the chance that his parents would have made the item he would send back.

This time, I was looking for a souvenir and the difficulty was in finding something meaningful.  The first thing that caught my eye was a studded t-shirt that simply said Belize.  I shook my head and thought of how ridiculous this was both because I knew nothing of the area—I had just arrived at the airport—and also because the only thing this purchase would accomplish would be fulfilling my need for a souvenir.  The good news is I realized how shallow the purchase would be and I moved on.  Within moments my husband pointed out a painted owl, reminding me of how this season Owl has been an important messenger for me.  I wanted it, but I didn’t buy it.  After some thought I realized that this time Owl might have been suggesting that I was projecting who I was on the experience.  In essence, I was doing Belize as a tourist, Belize wasn’t doing me.

To be honest I struggled with the desire to shop, consumerism so engrained in me, but also with the notion of why I wanted to make a purchase.  Even until we were ready to return to the States did I realize I liked t-shirts and tokens of places we had only talked about, but hadn’t really seen.  Granted, memories are sometimes distorted.  Some of mine I’m not sure if I lived or if I remember seeing the picture my father took.

In the end I did buy some souvenirs for myself.  One was an adjustable necklace from a Mayan woman I met along the beach.  I never went a day without wearing it the whole rest of the trip.  It reminded me of buying from the woman in the wheelchair on the way to Lummi Island; it adjusts in size like the dolphin necklace an Australian friend once gave me; and it holds the image that is half sun and half moon which both reminds me of the part of Artemis (moon) and Apollo (sun) play in Ethics and the Earth Missionary as well as the crest of a personal totem pole I once created to represent the story of my life.  The sun energizes me and the moon grounds me in the cycle of life.  As a souvenir I would have to say this necklace doesn’t just remind me of a place named Belize, but connects me to the rest of my life and my place in it.

What’s your favorite souvenir and what memory does it bring to mind?