Spirit Mama Bear

Jun 22, 2024

Happy Saturday friends!

A few weeks ago while prepping for my second day of the Women’s Circle, I went out to talk with the horses, donkeys and goats to see what they wanted to add. I always write everything down, luckily, because my memory said Rayn’s information was about “being your own mama bear.” It didn’t feel fully clear to me so it was only something I mentioned in passing in our circle but it continued to be a niggling thought in the back of my mind so a few days ago I went back to read what I wrote and found instead that it was actually about a "Spirit Mama Bear."

Not everyone has or had a mom like mine, who was a loving, protective force in my life. Rayn wanted the women to feel that and to have that moving forward in their lives. To make friends with their Spirit Mama Bear.

What flashed into my mind was an image of a big Mama Grizzly Bear who was standing with her chin on top of a young woman’s head, enveloping her in her fur, in her strength and safety. So, I started sketching. I wanted the feeling to be something out of a storybook, kind of fairytale-ish.

Our Spirit Mama Bear is all the things a mom should be. When things overwhelm or scare us, we often revert to the child within. Being aware of our Spirit Mama Bear can help us make good choices, practice putting ourselves first so we always have full cup to pour from, being aware of the ways we want to be treated so others can know how too. When we are scared, we can imagine curling up in a warm, dark den with her big bulk curled around us. We are safe. When we are worried or unsure, then let’s ask our Spirit Mama Bear to help guide us in the decisions we need to make.

I got the drawing tweaked and then sat down to paint. Here it is:

Who is your Spirit Mama Bear? How is she there for you?

THE RANCH:

The Polar Bear is finally blowing her coat for real:

Rosemary looking like she’s wearing my hat:

Rayn’s infection is slowly getting better. Also! I saw a short video about a woman using coconut oil on her horse’s legs everyday to get rid of flies and OMG! It actually works! Way better than fly spray or swat and it's not poisonous.

This tree…

This tree has so much poison ivy that is growing on it! I realized that there was a thick vine going up the side and looked about 10 feet up to see more poison ivy. I continued to look up, up, up and found that what I thought was tree, was actually just poison ivy! I should have realized as this is a pine, so its greenery was way up at the tip top and would have been pine needles, not leaves.

•••

I am excited to announce that I suddenly see Jaffee! I have been confused by this boy since we got him in September. I didn’t understand his personality. But last weekend I was talking to him in the pasture and asked him how he communicates. I did this with Wynter recently and he flashed me a picture in my head. Oh! I’m always waiting to hear animals, that seems to be my go to, the easiest for me, or maybe just the most practiced as that is how Rayn communicates and she’s the one who started it all. When I was talking with Jaffee and asking him about his preferences I didn’t get anything at first. I told him I wanted to understand him, I still didn’t know him or fully trust him, even after 8 months of being here. I know he wants to work with clients, but he can be mouthy and uses his head to head butt us right in the butt (or in the front—extra fun), so no clients until that stops. I said, “I can’t figure out who you are.”

And suddenly a picture flashed in my mind of Jaffee with a coyote's face kind of peaking around one of his ears! I laughed out loud! In Native American lore, the coyote is often the mischievous trickster and that is absolutely Jaffee’s personality! Needless to say, I’ll probably be painting a version of Jaffee with his spirit animal soon!

As I’ve been doing chores this week, I’ve been seeing Jaffee in this new light and each time I’m out there, he’s been getting softer and softer with me—both his demeanor and his eyes. It's very sweet to see.

On Wednesday evening I watched Frick and Frack the monkey goat twins put their feet on the fence and really inspect the top edge of it. This fence was made to be 4' tall but the horses have pushed it down to about 3'. On the other side of it is where we store the cart we use to haul manure to the compost pile. I swear to God they were looking at the height of the fence, looking at the cart, and gauging whether they could jump over and into the cart! So, I moved the cart and that fence is on the short list to be redone. I've never had goats like these two, they are little roughnecks, really tough babies compared to others. They started jumping way higher than I would have expected at a very young age, hitting things that were 3' high consistently by a few weeks old. And now they are eyeballing the freaking fence! Gulp.

Parsley on left, Rosemary on right:

The next Women's Circle starts Wednesday, July 10th! I have 4 more spots open, want to join us?

Wednesday evenings from 6pm—9pm.
This one is 6 weeks: July 10, July 17, July 24, July 31, Aug 7, Aug 14.
$210 is the total for the 6 weeks.

You can read more about it here!

If you're thinking, "OMGeeeeee, yes Julia! I want to join you for your next Women's Circle and work on my vision for the next 1-3 years and create some beautiful Vision Cards of my own!" Email me here!

THE MEMES: