A WORLD WITHOUT LIONS…
by Robbie Broom
Robbie Broom
Robbie Broom is a Spiritual Teacher & Healer in private practice in Houston. She specializes in alternative
therapies for deep, lasting healing for heart, body, and spirit and brings a practical approach to the mystical.
On July 24th from 6:00-10:00 p.m., she’ll be leading ONE HEART: A Healing Intensive for the Lions of Africa at
CenterPoint. Call (281) 531-5866 or email robbie@firstnethou.com
for more information and/or to register. She will be conducting a mini-version of this intensive at Carmel Temple on Sunday, July 11th at 11:00 a.m.
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The lions of Kruger Park in South Africa are dying. As many as 80% have FIV, the feline equivalent of HIV; more
than 1/3 have a tubercular disease from eating infected water buffalo. Whereas the buffalo are able to live out
their lives with the TB, the lions cannot. The FIV makes them highly vulnerable; they waste away, unable to fend
for themselves. Leopard and cheetah have been found to carry FIV as well; but given their more solitary nature,
the impact has not been as great. Still…it is there. Lions, highly interactive within their prides, also move among
prides, taking the disease with them. This problem isn’t new. It’s been around since the 50’s, with the TB passing from cattle outside less well-defined perimeters to water buffalo within them. It’s only been in the last few years that authorities have become increasingly alarmed about the number of lion fatalities. In one area of the park, it’s suspected that this disease is responsible for cutting the adult lion population from 25 to 12 in less than 2-1/2 years. Within the last year, a leopard too debilitated from FIV to go after her usual prey, attacked and killed a park ranger. |
| Just as with our own feline pets, there are no cures or vaccines for FIV. Unless there is a cure within the next ten years, the lion population within that part of Africa may be completely decimated. For the time being, slaughter, quarantines, and tightening perimeters are the only real solutions for containing the disease even though other wildlife may be negatively impacted. Surplus elephant and rhino, for example, that would normally be moved to less populated areas, would be slaughtered instead. |
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| When I heard about this, I thought my heart would break into a million pieces. What would the world be like without lions? And then I felt an all too familiar anger about human encroachment on the habitats of our wildlife. Never mind that I’d never been to Africa and met a LionHeart up close and personal. They purr. They roll over and lie on their backs in the sun just like my kitties do. They love their babies. They are supremely beautiful. And as far as animal lovemaking goes, the lions have a ritual unparalleled in the animal kingdom. But it doesn’t take much research to find out that the death rates in so many African countries are incredulously high. Are the lions, then, more important than the people and their cattle? AIDS, Ebola, hunger…it all became too much for me to bear. | |
| What to do? It became another one of those times that I wished I had unlimited wealth to pour on something that grieved my heart. I don’t have that. I do have unlimited love. And something else much more important…I have me. I began to ask some vital questions. Almost all of the Big Cats have made their way into my totem during my life. In working with our power animals, we share their strength and knowledge; we also share their issues and weaknesses. So I began to look for the patterns in me that might equate with the plight of the Lion. It didn’t take too long. Not only were the issues there, they were BIG ones, ones that I’d put on the back burner because I couldn’t handle them…couldn’t “fix” them. Interesting that I felt so unable to “fix” those things in me, just as I couldn’t “fix” the problems in Africa. I renewed my commitment to “fix” those things in me, only to find that I shoved them even further back, such was their intensity. Problems with my elderly parents, suffering severe dementia, provided all the fodder I needed to do just that. After all, there was no time for the Lions. No time for me. This is not easy for me to write about; it isn’t easy to share. | |
| In my healing work, both with others and with yours truly, I find over and over that what we are able to untangle energetically becomes available to us for more Light, more goodness, better life, better relationships, you name it. In fact, there’s no question in my mind that I did not develop my gifts…I did not learn them. They “came available” to me and still do in greater strength, greater clarity, each time I lighten a shadow, remove or lessen an issue that’s in this package of me. We are huge energetic beings…we go forever. The implications of this are vast. It is in this way that we are with God every moment and in-between moment. It is in this way that so many great masters can be with so many of us at once. It is in this way that what we heal in ourselves is also available to the very fabric of the Universe, to every creature, to every blade of grass. It is in this way that we truly contribute…with our very Being…to the well-being or to the dis-ease of the World. So I began again, for the umpteenth, never-ending time, a journey into those particular shadows. Because so much of that shadow came from my time in the womb and for the first few years of my infancy, it is not the usual healing journey. It will not be “fixed” in all the ways I know of “fixing;” some part of its healing requires that I move well beyond everything I know today. It’s important. It’s the only thing I know to do for the lions. And doing it for the Lions gives me the courage to do it for myself. | |
| Lions are extraordinary beings in our mythology and beliefs, thus an archetype. Sekmet,
Durga, Christ-the Lion of Judah, Mithras, the Sphinx guarding her ancient knowledge, Richard the LionHearted, the
Lion and the Mouse…there’s no end to the symbolism of Lion in our lives. Images so remarkably clear…Lion and his
shaggy mane representing the Sun and the Source of Life; Lord of the Jungle; Lions rolled up in sleep, head and
tail touching, eternal…infinite. What would the world be like without lions? What do all races lose if we lose the Race of Lion, the Lion Kingdom? What mysteries and knowledge? What courage and strength? Because of my love for Lion, Lion calls on me to walk back into my own shadows and find the truth and to heal those very core issues in likeness to his Wounded Heart. What can you do? The same thing…walk into those shadows in likeness to Lion and release them for both your healing and that of this sacred, wonderful beast. A simple (but not easy) exercise follows for “shadow recovery and release.” |
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| Divide a blank piece of paper into four quadrants with the labels Why I want the lion to live (upper left), Why I fear for the lion to live (upper right), Why I want the lion to die (lower left), and Why I fear for the lion to die (lower right). And make a list of any and all things that come to your mind and heart about each section. Then repeat the exercise, substituting yourself for lion. | |||||||
| Don’t worry about redundancies on the list or doing it correctly. Just allow it to happen. You may have to set the list aside and come back to it from time to time. Once both lists are done, circle those items you have in common on the You list and the Lion list. You might be very surprised to find what you have in common. Set aside some sacred time and space and be with that list, allowing yourself to “arrive” at an understanding of your wounded LionHeart. You might wish to surround yourself with lion teddy bears, pictures, or even African music or sounds. Allow any emotion, hurt, anger to surface and express it in any way that works for you…cry, beat on pillows, roll up into a little ball, imagine talking to the people in your life that participated in creating those feelings with you, and so on. Then consider how keeping those negative feelings serve you. Make a decision about what you can truly let go of and forgive. Make a prayer to God/Goddess, All That Is, to help you release those issues and to provide the subsequent healing energy to Yourself (first) and then to the Race of Lions. Now is the time to put your heart into it and send it all the way to Africa. Drum, chant, repeat any mantra, dance…all with this same intent…to release those shadows into the Light for You and Lion. It’ll get there…don’t worry. If it’s from your heart, it will get there whether you spend five minutes on it or two full days. Then…take a break, be at peace, and know that what you just did creates life and hope for Lion in the most extraordinary and wonderful way imaginable. Put your healing into practice by finding ways to incorporate it into your everyday life. For example, who and what encroaches into your “wild life,” or your passions, or what might you be eating, that is your normal practice to eat, that is killing your body, and so on. Make some plans; take steps (even little bitty ones) to make changes in your life. Make those changes sacred; celebrate them; and say your prayer again each time you take just one of those steps, offering it to You and to Lion. | |||||||
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A lion’s roar can be heard as far as 5 miles away. I heard it countries away. The lions no longer feel wanted on
this planet. Can you hear them? Because if you do, Lion speaks to you as well. Meet me there. Two good websites for more information about Africa and lions are: www.wildnetafrica.com and www.animalplanet.com. |