By Carol Keay
Originally printed in the MARCH-APRIL 2006 issue of Quest magazine.
Citation: Keay, Carol. "Katrina." Quest 94.2 (MARCH-APRIL 2006):68-69.
The Great Old One was ancient as time. She began her being when the Earth was young and spawned its first seas. The Earth, the Sea, the Winds and Clouds were calling her. Her long deep slumber had been peaceful bliss. Now Nature was drawing her forth to play her part, to fulfill her role in the patterns of destiny. The World has rhythms, music, and dances that are part of creation and evolution. Humans call it chaos and disaster.
The Ancient One heard the call. In recesses deep and dark she began to stir and awaken. She found her rhythm and began to turn. Like the Sufi she danced faster and faster, round and round. This was her dance of Life. She was a being of great power; she commanded the sea and air with her fierce and awesome beauty. Spirits of the air, denizens of the deep, as well as sprites of the ocean surface were drawn to her dance. Poseidon, Zeus, and Aeolus saluted her greatness as she commanded the sea and air in her determination to unleash her power upon the land. Queen of destruction and renewal, re-shaper of earth and sea, she came to sacrifice herself as the instrument of karma.
She was one of the oldest, most powerful beings of her kind. No other could answer the call of Mother Earth and Father Time to command the sea and air to join in this work, as could this great ancient being. The waves rolled and grew, the very sea lifted up at her bidding. Great clouds raced to gather around her. The angels of the wind came forth. Together they began the dance, the now familiar cadence of the seas that lay hidden in rhythms of time. In time, endless time, we saw these rhythms and patterns as moves of the dance of evolution. Karma began to fulfill the destiny of earth and humans.
As Katrina gathered all at her command and grew to her greatest power, she became the most fierce hurricane to assault this land in recent history. The heavens were rent with lightning and thunder. Relentless rain poured forth as her terrible winds howled through the air, like legions of fearsome dragons ripping and tearing at the beauty of nature and lives of humankind. In the great suffering, compassion, love and service filled the hearts of humanity. The loss of home and creature comforts taught us that our strength and worth lay within each soul, and many rushed forth to serve as their brothers' keeper. In great sadness we saw some kill and do violence against another in their fear and anger, while others crumbled and died inside, just as lost as the decaying dead bodies floating in the putrid waters of a place now called Hell by millions. We prayed for their souls and shed tears for all beings that experienced this part of karmic law.
Many of God's creatures suffered, some had stayed at their masters' side and met death with their masters. Hundreds of thousands of mighty trees and the beautiful proud ancient live oaks of Louisiana and the Gulf Coast were called by this majestic hurricane, to bow down and give their lives in submission. Our hearts ached as we lost more than old friends. The ancient beautiful trees, with their individual forms of sweeping graceful boughs, where children have played and imagined great deeds; lovers have met and married; workers have found shade and artists have painted have been lost. We all have admired the beauty of their branches and grace of their inner beings, and have wept for the death of these dear old friends.
One million and more human beings fled in fear of the mighty storm. But, that was not enough for her great hunger. She felled the trees, flooded the city and towns, and killed unnumbered thousands remaining in her path. The wings of birds were powerless as she roared. Animals, small and large, tried to hide from her fury, only to be left homeless. Millions of homes were broken and crushed as she flung great trees through roofs, cutting homes in half or crushing them into the earth. So great was she that she ravaged the land as men, women, and children prayed silent prayers and clung to each other. Quaking humans gathered in dark corners that were little, if any, protection from her horrendous presence as they waited their fate through the endless dark hours as Katrina ravaged their lives. Would the next tree to fall crush their frail forms? Everyone knew the angel of death to be only a heartbeat away.
Ponderously she moved, churning the waters and ravaging the land. Those with life still in their forms were stunned, unable to believe what they had endured and what now lay before them. As the long dark day was finally put to rest, there was gratitude for being alive.
As the next day dawned, life now became a new struggle for existence. Whole cities and towns of people became the homeless hoard of our nation. Every cell of their bodies, every corner of their minds will forever hold dark memories of Katrina. With scared hearts, fear as their shadow, and minds invaded with a horror that will never depart; these human souls gathered strength to persevere, rebuild and pick up the fragments of their lives. Too many lie stunned and broken in her wake of death and destruction, unable to perceive her other face, the face of hope and promise for growth and change that echoed in her winds and rode on her waves. The resilient ones found work in recovery, rebuilding, and creating in the spaces that Katrina cleared and opened.
As time unfolds, Mother Earth moves onward, as is her nature. With will and ability to choose, much is left in the individual hands of human kind. Each soul must choose its path, creator of present and future karma. All over the world Mother Earth, Father Time, the Lords of Karma and the cruel actions of some men unleash catastrophes of flood, famine, earthquake, tsunami, storms, pestilence and war. As with Katrina, the ultimate legacy is being written by the hands, hearts, and minds of humanity. We are our brothers' keeper. Our deepest prayer in every corner of the world is "May this troubled time birth a flowering of love, compassion, and peace that flows from each of us and uplifts all of Humanity."