On Tuesday, August 23, a 5.8 earthquake occurred in Mineral, Virginia, at a depth of 3.7 miles, and was felt from Atlanta to Canada. On August 27-28, Hurricane Irene put nine states under emergency status, resulted in the evacuation of more than a million people, and as of this writing, at 12:28 AM on August 28, has left several million people on the northeast coast without power. That number is sure to rise.
There seem to be a lot of firsts with Irene. The lower part of Manhattan – now referred to as Zone A – was evacuated for the first time in the city’s history. The Manhattan Transportation Authority – MTA – has been shut down for the first time in the city’s history. That means bridges, tunnels, subways, trains, are all shut down.
In Philadelphia, the Schuykill River is rising to levels not seen in 140 years – since 1869. The governor of Pennsylvania declared a state of emergency for the first time since 1986 and says this could be the worst storm to hit the Philly area in 50 years. The Philly area got 13 inches of rain in the month of August, so the ground is already saturated and the rain that accompanies Irene means flooding is a given.
Irene, however, is not Katrina, the category 4-5 hurricane that devastated New Orleans in 2005. But it’s a huge, sloppy monster the size of Europe, and has affected all of the eastern seaboard except for the states of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. In a sense, it’s the storm equivalent of the quake on August 23 – impacting a vast area. The hurricane, like that quake, isn’t impressive on the intensity scale – but it IS impressive in terms of the number of people who are affected.
This storm also addresses the question of global warming, as discussed in this excellent New York Times piece.
In my particular belief system, weather is a product of collective consciousness. The fact that in 2011 we have had such severe natural disasters worldwide suggests that we, as a worldwide community of individuals, may be at a crossroads. It may be that the planet – Gaia – can no longer sustain the damage humanity has perpetrated through war, greed, and the destruction of the environment.
This crossroad seems to be reflected in just about every facet of our lives – from the polarization in politics, to the rebellions in the Mideast, to the economic policies that have resulted in such dire circumstances for at least two thirds of the world who live in abject poverty. Naomi Klein’s The Shock Doctrine spells it out in terms even non-economists can grasp.
So what synchronistic messages can we decipher from these events?
Everything is local. What affects you, affects me. The world is now so interconnected that the Butterfly Affect seems to be our MO as a species.
We, as a collective of humanity, are a powerful force – if we unite for the changes we want. Sometimes, the only way we can do this is to experience a weather phenomena or other natural disaster that is usually associated with some other part of the country – the quake, Hurricane Irene.
Rob and I were watching some of the coverage of Irene this evening and he remarked how weird it was to be watching the coverage of this hurricane while our skies were clear, the temp hot, the winds at a balmy five miles an hour. But that’s precisely the point. The Northeast is now experiencing what Floridians face every year between June 1 and November 30.
At the dog park this evening, Karin remarked that her sister had called a NYC friend, an attorney, to check on her in terms of the hurricane. “You know you’re going to lose power during this hurricane, right?” she asked
“That’s fine. I’ll order Chinese.”
Really? Chinese in the middle of a hurricane when the power has gone out?
Even though Florida isn’t earthquake prone, we may one day experience what California does during an earthquake. Or they may be hit by a hurricane. Malibu’s fire storms of several summers ago could hit you in Kansas, you in Texas, you in Belgium or Somalia or Turkey. Who knows? We do not exist in perfect isolation. Whether we like it or not, we’re the inhabitants of Indra’s Net: what affects one, affects all. It always come back to that. Your community, your kids, your family, your ex, your blogger friends, your immediate and your larger family.
When you bleed, so do I.
Just ask the planetary empaths. They know.
We think their ability may be the evolving talent of a species perched at this crossroads.
5.8 on Aug 23 Hmmmm, the boy can’t be playing with those spec’s,, ridicule B right around the corner,,, sure that river he got pulled out at 13 crested a little ^^^^
What I heard on “Way too early” on MSNBC this morning is totally bizarre. Our wild eyed tea bagger Michele Bachmann did a Pat Robertson. She gave a speech in Florida where she said that Hurricane Irene was a message from above and in the same speech said she was in favor of drilling for oil in the Everglades. Is she trying to say God wants people to vote for her so she can help destroy civilization? Does she mean if she gets elected there will be no help for victims of disasters because it would cause the government to have to borrow more money?
I bring up Robertson because he has made statements that God brought Katrina because of evil in New Orleans, earthquakes in San Francisco because it is a gay friendly city and that he personally prayed a hurricane away from Virginia Beach when one turned away from us and went back out to sea.
Ray
Bachman is truly nuts, just like Robertson!
R&T,
It’s Matt; you might even remember me! Anyways, I thought I would share my quick story of synchronicity – that just happened. For some unknown reason, I was browsing through Kyle’s friends list on Facebook, and I saw he was still friends with Megan. Eventually that led me to this blog, where I scanned over the various posts wondering how many of the relationships were purely coincidental. Without doing any further research or putting much thought into it, I decided to leave the blog be for the time being, possibly coming back later to give the idea more thought. After closing out all of the tabs, I was returned to the first one I opened: Kyle’s Facebook Friends. I then noticed my name was directly next to Megans on the list. Synchronicity or coincidence?
Hope all is well!
hey Matt….I’d call that one synchronicity! Of course we remember you – and Kyle. Hope all is well with you, too!
Yes, our connection is integral with each other and Mother Nature.
Very well said.
Watching the news at lunch time here I see Irene is now a ‘Tropical Storm’ category. There were pics from NY where the water has risen 4-5 feet. It appears that the rain could now be the major problem.
I believe we are all interlinked – maybe even one – and we need to get our heads in order along with the rest of humanity. As you say: ‘When you bleed, so do I’