stephanie brail

I actually started writing this energetic weather report the day before the Japan earthquake…actually, maybe not even 12 hours before it. I ended up getting sidetracked writing about the extreme partisan divide in America and didn’t finish the original post. So it’s easy to say, after the fact, that I had a feeling about Japan…perhaps you may be skeptical, but I really did. Here’s what I wrote on March 10:

My intuitive radar is up, and I’m not the only one. Many empathic, sensitive people are wondering if something bad isn’t going to happen very very soon now.

Now, bad stuff happens all the time. Every day you can read the news and find something bad going on around the world. For example, the Middle East is in total turmoil right now. While I certainly hope more democracy is a result of the protests, the danger is that extremists will win the day. And it’s not good that protesters are being shot and insane madmen like Qaddafi are blowing up oil fields.

So course, some of the unease we’re feeling is due to the uncertainty on the world stage. But I am also wondering if some “big event” may not go down soon, if not a natural disaster, then something man-made that might be pretty shocking. Let’s hope that feeling is wrong.

Well, unfortunately that feeling was not wrong. That Japan earthquake is a huge deal, not just because of the lives lost but because of the current nuclear threat. Yet, I didn’t have this sense of unease prior to the Haiti quake of 2010, and many more people died in Haiti. Was my intuitive radar not working last year? (Perhaps due to all the bad energy I was picking up in Los Angeles?) Why would I pick up on one quake but not the other? Will the Japan quake end up being more devastating in the long run due to a meltdown at a nuclear reactor? I hope not.

My initial gut feeling when I heard the news of the Japan quake was that there was still something more coming. I actually felt that “something more” was possibly a human-made event. I also feel more quakes are to follow, and I am still keeping my eye on Southern California, which has become extremely unstable seismically since the 2010 Easter quake along the border with Mexico. I still feel like there’s something more in the works. I’m not sure what. So buckle up.

Energetic Moods and Trends
These energetic weather reports aren’t really meant to be psychic predictions, by the way. It’s more about the feeling of the “energy” in the air. You do not necessarily need to believe in psychic anything to buy into the idea that we all collectively have “moods” as a species. So with that, let’s look at the current collective moods:

1. Anger and Politics. Increased anger in America with widening political divides that involve demonizing the other side – and both right and left are guilty of this. Concurrent to this is a sense that a lot of people (like myself) are getting a bit fed up with the “lot of them” and tired of the political bickering. It’s almost a comedy when some conservatives believe that the left wants to take over America and make it into an authoritarian socialist state, when at the same time the some liberals think the right wants to take over America and make it into an authoritarian fascist state. Both sides fear the other side wanting an authoritarian takeover and a loss of basic rights. (BTW, this is why some libertarians say the true political measurement should not be right vs. left but authoritarian state control vs. individual freedom.)

The danger with the fear and anger, if left unchecked, is that it could lead to civil unrest and violence. The counter-pull of people wanting to find a middle ground is a positive thing, however, and there’s room right now for a moderate political leader to come forward for 2012. This politician (possibly a woman?) could really be the “uniter” that Obama promised to be but did not deliver upon. This is a long-shot but there is a chance. (This person, by the way, could be a Democrat. I am still not convinced Obama will actually end up being the presidential candidate for the Democrats.)

2. 2012 Fears and the End of the World. Fears over the world ending are ramping up. It’s one thing when you hear a friend making a comment that maybe the world will end in 2012, and they are not totally serious about it. It’s quite another when a mainstream website such as CafeMom publishes fears that the Japan earthquake is a fulfillment of Mayan prophecy and could the end be near? OK, folks, let’s calm down and stop giving the Mayans so much credit. These are people, let’s not forget, who actually performed human sacrifices to appease the gods. If they did that, why on earth do we think they were smart enough to predict the end of the world?

Now. The one thing that the Mayans were right about is that we’re entering into a new astrological phase. This has to do with the positions of the constellations in relation to the earth. Could this mean that we may be entering into a new phase of humanity? Possibly, if you believe the stars have any influence on us. But that’s not an ending. Some new age people actually believe this is a new beginning and a period of enlightenment.

Still, there is this undercurrent of fear around 2012, even though I’d wager most people don’t take it very seriously. But it has the weight of mythology on it, and each time a disaster like a big earthquake hits, it gets people a bit riled up. This, along with the economic uncertainty, is certainly contributing to an overall “mood” that is a bit pessimistic and anxious. Unfortunately, such moods can become self-fulfilling prophecies, and a little more optimism might not be a bad thing right now.

3. Earth Energy and Changes. Along with the 2012 stuff, many people believe we are undergoing earth changes, or that Mother Earth aka Gaia is making shifts because she’s trying to send us humans a message – stop raping the planet! I’m not so sure about that. We’re not really experiencing any more earthquakes or natural disasters than normal – we just have a lot of people on an increasingly crowded planet, which means we’re going to have more casualties when the earth acts up.

Take a look at the historical data for the largest earthquakes with the most casualties – the worst was back in China in 1556, and 830,000 people died!

Now. We have been putting a lot of stress on the planet with our population, so we may well see some “earth changes” that are caused by humans. I’m not talking about global warming so much as I am things like the big patch of floating plastic in the Pacific Ocean. Or plagues of bunny rabbits in Australia, because they were wrongly imported there by settlers.

4. Economic Collapse Fears. There is one big thing going on in America that is contributing to our pessimism, and that’s the rotten economy and fears of an impending collapse. While the majority probably still don’t believe that an actual, literal collapse of America is imminent, they do sense that something is wrong and this is fueling the partisan anger I mentioned above. I don’t sense the optimism in America that was there when I was growing up. Even in the cynical 90s, there was a lot more optimism than there is today. This is course could end up creating a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts.

Unfortunately, I see a lot of people preparing for a collapse by stocking up on food and whatnot, but I do not see a lot of people taking initiative to fix things. There is also the peak oil crowd, which claims that we’ll be running out of oil soon and this could mean the end of Western Civilization. The irony is that, if they really believed this was going to happen, you’d think they’d be clamoring for alternatives. Many of the peak oil folks have unfortunately thrown their hands up in the air and said that no alternatives will make up for oil. So I guess giving up is the better option? Curious.

The Common Thread
The common thread in all of these points above is a sense of powerlessness, despair, and fear. (Ultimately, the political anger is fueled by fear and a sense of powerlessness.) Meanwhile, there are powerful people out there who want to take advantage, and if they see a populace that is pliable, fearful and victimized, they’ll be more than happy to take advantage.

It is for these reasons that mindful, self-actualized people should be doing double-time on looking towards building a better future for us all. There is an opportunity here to shift the energy from fear to optimism. We need true hope, not the hope that is packaged up in a political campaign. I’m not suggesting that we put our faith into miraculous solutions to our very real problems. We need to acknowledge our problems, but not get sucked down into despair, or get swindled by easy answers. We may have a bit of a struggle ahead of us, but the world will go on.