My cat puked on the rug yesterday.
For most normal people, this event may have triggered a response along the lines of “are you serious right now?” “Why me?” They would have cleaned it up, perhaps with some resentment toward the cat, although not without some compassion for its obvious stomach upsets.
If you were not aware, I am not a normal person (thank God). For, in this moment, instead of simply seeing the inconvenience of this situation – cleaning up the puke, washing off and drying the rug, what a drag – I immediately wondered: “what does this mean?”
That’s right. In pure Ethereal Ecology fashion, I saw this seemingly mundane and annoying reality of cat puke on my rug to be a spiritually significant event. And a spiritually significant event it proved to be indeed.
Purging comes in many forms. Physically speaking, a purge may consist of throwing up the contents in one’s stomach that are not sitting well. Indeed, purging is a common side effect of certain entheogenic substances such as peyote or ayahuasca; and surely many of us are familiar with the unfortunate purging that can occur after one (or two, or three) too many alcoholic beverages. Etymologically, purging is defined as a “purification or cleansing”. Purging, then, is a necessary process of letting go; it is a releasing of that which no longer serves us, such that we may reclaim health and balance once again. Except in cases of forced purging (e.g. bulimia), throwing up is a magnificent built-in mechanism for maintaining equilibrium, and can in more extreme cases save our lives.
While it may seem like a stretch, this concept of purification can be extrapolated into the spiritual, emotional, and logical realms. Remember that we experience life not only through the earthy body, but through our fiery visions, our watery emotions, and our airy logic. As above, so below, and what-not; the external world and the internal world are mirrors for one another. Events outside of us are reflections of what is happening (or needs to happen) inwardly. We can see this in the patterns that repeat in our relationships or bad behaviors. If we are fortunate enough to pay attention, we can see this in the animals, numbers, or words that regularly appear to us. If we are extremely aware, we can actually see this reflective nature of life in everything. While that may sound exhausting, it is simply a fact that consistently proves itself true in my own life. As long as I don’t get caught up intellectualizing every minute occurrence, this awareness is an essential tool for navigating my life, and manifesting my desires in as graceful a way as possible.
With this understanding, it was only natural that the simple witnessing of cat puke directed me through a necessary process of healing. Let me explain:
About a week before this incident, I had moved into a new house. In the process of moving out of the old one, I had an enormous task of downsizing to do. This required first identifying the items that were no longer valuable to me, then letting them go by selling or donating. This task in itself was a major purge; one that required focus, intuition, and a healthy dose of sadness. However, even after settling into my new home, the task was not yet finished.
On my ceiling was a tapestry I had every intention of selling; on the wall opposite my bed was another tapestry, tie-dye and ten-million colors. Distracting, chaotic; these art pieces are beautiful and fun, but I am working on cultivating simplicity, a new sense of minimalism, groundedness, structure, and focus. While it may seem silly, these tapestries were holding me back from finishing decorating my room, because they clashed with the other items I wanted to display. Moreover, they were likely affecting my general ability to concentrate or feel uncluttered. Physical environments are vitally important to the psyche’s proper functioning. So after cleaning up the cat puke, I set forth on a mission to remove the tapestries. While I was at it, I even picked up some old vision boards and put them aside for a fire. What a relief that was. My mind immediately felt more clear and organized as I put them in the yard sale pile.
Before going any further, I should also mention that this cat puke was so significant because the concept of purging was a recurring theme in the previous weeks. If it were any other day, any other time, I may have simply cleaned the puke and got on with my life. But you must first understand that my cat’s behaviors are most definitely directly related to my own internal battles or successes. He is psychic; my lunar equivalent. I always pay attention to his erratic, calm, or obnoxious behavior, because I have learned that he is simply copying me. “Copy cat”, indeed.
Additionally, my dream the night before was reminiscent of the struggle I am having of assimilating new ways of being, new ideas, and new knowledge, while still half-living in the past. I am attempting to reinvent myself, and making great progress, but there are blockages. These obstacles are the result of my not having completely gotten rid of the parts of me that no longer serve my new visions of authenticity.
To concretize this entire ordeal, I have been experiencing enormous headaches whenever attempting to stuff new information into my brain. It has affected my ability to work effectively, to learn new concepts, and therefore I have had to take breaks simply to lay down, close my eyes, and be. Physical symptoms are excellent indicators of necessary change. This is certainly no exception.
Finally, a psychic friend of mine had seen a vision of me purging the other day. The affirmations were simply everywhere, and today they all manifested into a wet, warm pile of half-digested cat food on my rug. God sure has a real sense of humor sometimes.
Becoming a new individual is a process of rebirth; as such, it comes with the uncomfortable prerequisite of death. Purging, therefore, is a beautiful accompaniment to letting the old “me” die; letting go, releasing the once-beneficial, now-toxic components of my life. Perhaps unfortunately, the purging process not only includes the stuff we have acquired, but the relationships. We let people into our lives when we need them. Many times, our relationships can be sticky points, or show disconcerting patterns; this is because we created those relationships as unwhole beings. Our intentions were unclear, our true self was buried underneath traumas and repressed emotions, and we were simply acting in the most informed way that we could to fill a void that can never actually be filled with anything except self-love and acceptance. Therefore, we can end up in relationships for months to years with people who actually do not serve our higher good. People are people, with feelings and hardships; with whom we have experienced joy, connection and depth. However, even people must be cut out of our lives if we are to free ourselves of decaying, destructive energy.
Many people have an overwhelming sense of loyalty or compassion when it comes to letting go of friendships, but each of these virtues should equally (if not moreso) be applied to one’s self. We are each living individual lives, for which we are personally responsible; therefore, if a friend or lover is bringing you down – which very often takes the form of a codependency – then you should be a loyal and compassionate partner to your self-worth and lovingly let them go. In reality, keeping old friends around simply because you would “feel bad” if you didn’t, is a weak excuse which propagates a vicious cycle of self-victimization and resentment. Further, if you believe that this process would be too hurtful for the other person, then you are blatantly ignoring the fact that this relationship was hurtful to begin with. Taking the higher road always benefits not only you, but everyone else, including the person you are cutting out of your life.
It was easy for me to identify a friend who needed to be released from my energy field. So I did the “difficult” thing: I called them, and let them know that the relationship was no longer healthy for me; that I was no longer available as a commiserating partner-in-melancholy, and that their chaotic, destructive, addictive behaviors were anathema to the person I am aiming to be. They took it well, considering; and even if they didn’t, I would not have let that bother me. To finalize the event, I did a ceremony, calling in the energy of Snake and several other medicine guides to cut the cord of our energy exchange, to release them from my energy field, and to be truly free from their influences.
The next day I woke up with a renewed sense of confidence and clarity. My headache had lessened significantly as well. I still have more purging to do, but the changes made in that fateful afternoon were liberating and empowering. I can sense a weight lifted, and my body felt light and beautiful as I danced and freely cried through the morning.
So, there you have it. Even the most random things like cat puke can serve as beacons of angelic guidance in times of uncertainty. Life is a miracle; an incredulously intelligent and hilarious miracle, full of magic and insight. It speaks in curious ways, but always tunes its language to that of the receiver; so open your eyes, your ears, and your intuition. The answer to your current conundrum is lying within, and reflected without. The more you listen and respond, the less likely it is that a problem will manifest itself in the form of headaches, stuck energy, unhealthy relationships, or cat throw-up.
Meow.
Ethereal Ecology 