A Serpent Bites, and the Horses Roam

The Ghost Ranch herd. Photo by Maura Finn

I've been in deep place of introversion and healing, and the last few months have been more extreme as I have made some big moves, physically, mentally and emotionally. I knew it was time for a fresh blog post, so I have attempted to condense months of learning into something succinct.

The weight of all that is in flux collectively and, in turn, personally, has me anchoring myself with the decades of personal practices to stay grounded and motivated to be here on this Earth. At various points, especially in October, even that wasn't enough so I had to go into the dark places of the psyche that scratch and claw at sanity. And maybe I let myself go a little "insane" so that I could get to my truth. Losing so many securities in my life has forced me to reconcile what actions I have taken throughout my life that simply won't fly any more, including my neptunian penchant for idealizing a life that has not come to pass or romanticizing aspects of my life that I thought were exactly what I dreamed of. I have also come to accept that certain experiences and traumas that I have recovered from, still leave their mark and just need to be loved when they resurface and interfere. The truth is a both/and. I did, in fact, dream up everything that I have experienced AND even in those experiences, I had hard lessons to learn.

This wavy slope of up and down is much like the tiny glass toys that attempt to secure colored water, separating it and having it merge. We are a part of the ocean of life: the constant ebb and flow of tides and waves and currents. This in and of itself is a gift —that our human bodies hold these same salty, majestic waters that encompass the larger expanses of this landmass known as Earth.

We are always in the great ocean of life, even when we live in the desert.

Those who have known me for some time, know that my love for the Earth and all of its creatures is deep and has been a central pillar of my life since I was young. I am not an advocate in the traditional sense and I haven't isolated any aspect of my life to devote to rescue, but I am vocal about it and I am in communion with the world around me daily, sometimes hourly. Much has been revealed during these last months and I will endeavor to share here.

This Chinese year of the Wood Snake has been one heck of a run with copious amounts of shedding and reckonings about our primordial fears and the ways in which those fears, when taking the reins of our life, inhibit deep connection with our natural instincts, including the way in which we allow ourselves to be intimate with life itself. Listening deeply to my own fears, brought me face to face with a King Cobra during an inner journey that I did. The cobra, without hesitation, bit me in the throat and as I screamed in pain, I received the medicine that was so intentionally brought to me. "

Use your voice NOW."

I have struggled with this concept, meaning, phrasing so much in my life. At first, because I didn't feel I had ever NOT been forthright and vocal; rather, it was the lack of being heard, understood or acknowledged that created the internal friction. Then I was tired of hearing it in healing spaces and as a catch all phrase for women healers or coaches. The directive is often given as a form of empowerment, well meaning, for sure; however, there is so much nuance to this and the many layers of what it can pertain to.

Sometimes it is recognizing that you do, in fact, have a voice that makes sounds and has a resonance and tonal quality that belongs to you. Then there are the words you speak to yourself, the way you communicate with others, and the vocabulary that is your default. There is the way you harness and express your anger, your joy, your ideas, your sadness. There is the level of withholding you do when you swallow your words, your pride, your pain and frustration, even your good news. There is the collective programming, ancestral programming and quantum timeline fears and experiences that live in your DNA and affect the way in which you give voice to your human and even spiritual experiences, whatever your heritage or socioeconomic background. It even exists in the ways in which we were educated, or not educated. There have been biases and gatekeeping of information and compartmentalization within our own minds about what we are willing to explore, including that which might create cognitive dissonance. There is digital censoring when you speak about things that make others uncomfortable or what others are trying to suppress rather than give oxygen and allow for transformation. It is not a simple experience and it often has layers, requiring time and space, and sometimes additional guidance, to identify what your voice means to you.

All of this is preparation for a new paradigm of truths to be revealed and the continuous evolution of the human being. If the snake has done its duty calling us to attention, then 2026, the year of the Fire Horse, will ask us to embrace the spirit of adventure and passion to explore what actions we might take that give a framework for the "voice" that is ready to be heard.

I truly believe more and more in the cyclical nature of Life and experience. Each dance around the spiral sloughs off the tired, worn and flaky layers.  Yesterday I took a drive to Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, New Mexico to visit the sacred land where Georgia O'Keefe once lived, where a dinosaur has been excavated and where the stark landscape inspires creatives, artists and tourists alike. It was almost exactly to the day that I first stepped foot on the land in 2022. A photo memory happened to pop up in the morning before I left. I looked at that Maura, fresh-faced and in awe of finally fulfilling a life-long dream of being in the desert Southwest. In 2022, I had only just embarked on the journey being back in the USA after several years abroad. I didn't know then what I know now, that I would be steeped in the magic, pain, wonder and awe of this land for 9 months before taking myself back to Thailand only to have my heart ripped from my chest and then catapulted back to the land where I was born. In 2024, I was stripped of all that was no longer a part of my destined path and then 2025 made sure that I was incapable of donning the old skins. Those skins were permanently dismantled, shredded and dissolved.

Closing out 2025 with a return trip felt fortuitous. As I hiked to the top of the Chimney Rock trail, I breathed in this full circle moment, reclaiming the dreamer in me who has been feeling quite condensed in her belief in the greater magic of life. On the return hike, I spoke aloud (never knowing to whom or what I am conversing with) and was given various images of my accomplishments over the last 47 years, mostly done on my own with my deep inner fire as the flame that both kept me warm and kept me alive. I felt a resurgence of hopeful anticipation of what might still unfold both for me and for the greater collective experience for we are all orbiting each other in some form or another.

I came to a pause when I felt ocean again, within me, that gorgeous sensation of rocking back and forth, somewhat like being in the amniotic waters of a human mother. Our little fetus selves did not yet know that we would be leaving that space nor how we would do it, but once the contractions informed us that it was time to move on, we made it out in some form or other.

Into the great wide open, the unknown adventure of life.

I have been playing with meditating on these inner waters and the fluidity that exists within my own body. I have been inviting in plasma to secure and refresh my nervous system so that my electric body can hold more light. It is in these moments where I am most aware of love and its power.

For to love ourselves, and our very unique human technology is a gift and a wonder.

After the hike, I visited the corral of horses, mules and donkeys and sat on a bench watching them for awhile. It still amazes me how a horse can stand so still, with eyes closed and at rest. Their powerful bodies, their horse power, able to accelerate so quickly. I know that the year of the Fire Horse is coming in a few months and I also know that it will be okay not to accelerate full throttle once the Gregorian calendar year turns a number. I know that riding at a gentle canter is enough. I look forward to whatever the coming minutes, hours, days bring with the knowledge that we are in the midst of a sea of change. It is constant, it is necessary, it is often beyond our own comprehension and we are creating the story as we go. We are indeed the dreamers of dreams, the dancers of the dance, and the singers of the songs. We are writing OUR story with each choice we make. Whether it be to shed like the snake, to run like the horse, or to pollinate like a bee. We are living nature as nature is living us. In this divine play, we submerge and emerge over and over into the vastness of our co-creative abilities. The Earth is speaking, the animals are speaking. It is time for humans to listen.

Upon my return home, I stopped to eat at a Vietnamese restaurant for my favorite veggie pho. I looked on the wall and saw a painting of a group of horses. Then, on another wall was also a painting of 7 golden horses. I hear the message and I am paying attention. We need our communities to rise up together, to become a herd of horses focused on the care and attention of our communities. It is then that the concentric circles will ripple out into the world. It is for this reason I chose a photo of a horse rather than the king cobra although I may make another post about that one too! Snakes deserve the space to share as well.

Thank you for taking your place in the equanimous universe and for reading.  

Speaking of nature messages, two important stories I am following include:

The legal battle between Maasai Mara elders and Marriott Hotel and Ritz Carlton who is building in Kenya right in the middle of the Great Migration. This has been the natural route for wildebeests, zebras, and gazelles for centuries. Please read about it. A quick google search gives loads of information.

The ongoing political turmoil involving the controversial hunting bill which includes aerial shooting of the wild horses, known as brumbies, in Australia. Read more on Billie Dean's website:   rewildingaustralia.com.au