Who Sings Now?: a poetic discussion of Creature Teachers (Frogs)

Member Name: QuinnElaine

Product:	Frogs
Date:	26/07/08 (197 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: learning to look for the deeper or hidden meanings in life

Disadvantages: flies still outnumber their predators

"Knee deep...

Goggle-eyed...

in the mud I squat.

Gaze into my silver mirror

and I will teach you to scry

Time

Dreams

Psyche and

Visions,

both given and sought.



Feeding on each airy thought

as about your head they fly...

Leap and Glide!

Faith and Wisdom will abide.

We all begin helpless and small.

Soon enough we grow, adapt, transform

to handle Life's call...

Awareness is the tail that

grounds and guides,

Until all four legs

Keep you steady.

Lift you over.

Help you take it all in stride.

Leap and glide!

Faith and Wisdom will abide.

I am no pebble-skinned Gypsy,

dispensing my Dreams,

Spells,

and Fortunes

by the road.

I leave that for my cousins

Who also follow the

Moon's bright code!

Breathe in Life through your very skin...

Remember all your kith and kin....

Leap and Glide,

I'll show you how."

Who Sings Now?



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"It's not easy being green
It seems you blend in with so many other ordinary things
And people tend to pass you over 'cause you're
Not standing out like flashy sparkles in the water
Or stars in the sky..." ~ Kermit T. Frog

"I spend a few minutes in meditation and prayer each morning. I find that this really helps me to start the day with a good frame of reference. As part of my prayers, I thank whoever is helping me - I'm sure that somebody or something is - I express gratitude for all my blessings and try to forgive the people that I'm feeling negative toward. I try hard not to judge anyone, and I try to bless everyone who is part of my life, particularly anyone with whom I am having any problems." ~Jim Henson

"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change." ~ Charles Darwin

"Be proud of your flippers

and the flies that you catch

and the logs that you leap

and the eggs that you hatch.

We're under the stars

and we're smaller than men,

but I'm proud to be

one of the frogs of the glen." ~Kermit


Frogs and Toads are cold-blooded vertebrate amphibians, Amphibia Salientia ("to jump") or Amphibia Anura ("tail-less"). Frogs have smooth clammy or slimy skin, bulging eyes, strong webbed-hind feet that are adapted for swimming and leaping, and they lay their eggs in a cluster. Toads have legs better adapted to walking than hopping, dry warty skin, slightly different chest cartilage, poison glands behind the eyes, and they lay their eggs in a long chain, except for genera Nectophrynoides toads who bear live young! Frogs can be found everywhere except Antarctica, and prefer a moister environment. Toads do not inhabit either polar region, Madagascar, Polynesia, or most of Australasia, and tend to travel farther from their water sources than Frogs.

There are over 5,000 species of Ampibian Anura, making them one of the most diverse vertebrates. Fossil records show that frogs have been around, relatively unchanged, for about 190 Million years!

"Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death."~ Anais Nin

"The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become." ~ Charles DuBois

"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself." ~ Leo Tolstoy

Frogs and Toads lay multiple eggs which are fertilized as they are laid. It typically takes anywhere from 6-21 days after being fertilized to develop into a hatch-able tadpole, and eggs are typically laid in quiet or static waters to keep the eggs from being jostled too much as they develop. At hatching, tadpoles are basically just egg-shaped bodies, tails, mouths, sticky organs between belly and mouth, and poorly developed gills. Delicate and vulnerable at this stage, they will attach themselves to floating weeds or grass stalks with their sticky organs for about the next 7-10 days. At that time, they will begin swimming around and feeding on algae. Around 4 weeks their skin begins to grow over their gills, they develop guts to digest their growing diet, and tiny teeth to grate their food and turn it into an oxygenated soup of small particles. Toads, however, do not have or develop teeth. This is also when tadpoles begin to develop socially, and will school and interact much like fish.

At 6-9 weeks, tadpoles begin rapidly developing legs, their bodies elongate, and their diet begins to include larger items like dead insects and plants. Their front arm buds will pop out elbows first, and by the end of this stage of development they look like tiny frogs with tails. Froglets complete their growth between 12-16 weeks and will soon begin the cycle all over again by laying or fertilizing a new batch of spawn.


"You cannot step twice into the same river, for other waters are continually flowing in." ~ Heraclitus/Heraklietos of Ephesos

"Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death."~ Anais Nin

"In times of change, learners inherit the Earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists." ~Eric Hoffer

Grandmother Frog's first lesson to us is revealed in the cycle of her own life. Change is the only constant and our ability to adapt, to transform ourselves to suit our situation or needs, is what ultimately determines our success. People seem determined to set one state of being as their goal and when they achieve it, they want to stay in that state. Everyone wants to be happy, for instance, but if that was all we experienced, there would be a vast range of experiences we'd be giving up. How would one develop spiritually if we could never experiences the full array of emotions available in life, and the many thoughts and lessons that are spun from those experiences? Frog often appears to let us know that a cycle of growth is beginning or ending, or that we are being called upon to examine our lives for how best to transform to meet the challenges and changes approaching us.

Change is perhaps the single most frightening concept in life to most people, which is why it is represented by Death in the Tarot deck. Grandmother Frog reminds us that there is nothing to fear from Change, that it is, in fact, a natural part of life. Tadpoles don't resist their growth into frog-dom, trying vainly to suck their new legs back into their bodies. They don't panic, try to escape or deny the natural flow of Change in their lives either. Change is often awkward and leaves us feeling off-balance. Change can even be a painful process, but fearing it is as pointless as fearing our next breath and resisting the changes in our own lives just makes the process more difficult and unpleasant.

Most frogs have tongues that are long and sticky that roll out and pull in their prey. Once caught, a frog's bulgy eyes close and actually push down into its head to create the force needed to swallow their food. This is reminder that often times the only way to deal with what needs to be is to just shut your eyes and swallow! So, the next time Frog appears to warn you of impending change, just take a deep breath, relax, and let it happen.

"It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power." ~ Alan Cohen

Although toads do not require the closer relationship with water that frogs typically do, both are inextricably entwined with this element. Water represents emotion, psyche, intuition, dreams and healing. Frog and Toad people tend to be strong empaths, richly emotional and sensitive beings who understand the sacred nature of Love and the interconnectedness of all things. Frogs and Toads are air breathers though. This is a reminder to balance our sensitive emotional selves with rational thought. Frog and Toad are both symbols of Magic and Wisdom, especially natural wisdom, and those called by these Teachers often have an insatiable hunger for knowledge of all kinds.

Unbalanced Frog people will likely be hypersensitive, overly emotional, or suffer from severely erratic emotions for without rational thought and a willingness to learn we would all drown in emotions like sorrow, anger, desire, or despair. Depression and delusion are common signs of unbalanced Frog energy. Balanced Frog people realize that they, like everyone else, are beings who should be constantly evolving, learning, and soul seeking in hopes of not only taming themselves but helping others along in their spiritual evolution. Toads greater mobility on land and decreased dependence upon the Water element, adds the grounding and nourishing element of Earth to their lessons.

Frogs don't actually drink water. They absorb moisture, and even breathe, through their skin! Many frogs secrete a slimy mucus that helps them retain the moisture they need to survive. The toad's tougher skin does not dry out as easily which is why they can travel farther from water. Frogs can be killed by dropping them into a container filled with caffeinated soda pop or alcohol. Frog people are equally sensitive to their surroundings, and should be very careful about the people they allow into their lives. Surrounding yourself with destructive personalities, poisonous situations or too much negativity will cause the same behavior and a rapid decline in a person called by this Teacher.

Their close association with cleansing, life-giving rain is a powerful sign of the healing and cleansing power of tears in our own lives. Balanced Frog people have an innate understanding of how to not only keep themselves emotionally cleansed, but also the importance of and how to go about clearing negativity out of their environment. Song is also very important to this Teacher, and Music iteslf can be an amazingly powerful healing experience.

If you are having difficulty with such issues in your own space, Grandmother Frog and those she has tapped will certainly be able to help you. In fact, Frog people are typically nurturing environmentally concerned individuals, and thrive on opportunities to "clean up" both physically, spiritually, or metaphysically. They know in their hearts, even if they can't explain it, that since we are all connected, helping others and the World we live in is also helping themselves.

"No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow." ~ Alice Walker

"I believe in taking a positive attitude toward the world, toward people, toward my work. I think I'm here for a purpose. I think it's very likely that we all are, but I'm only sure about myself. I try to tune myself in to whatever it is that I'm supposed to be, and I try to think of myself as a part of all of us - all mankind and all life. I find it's not easy to keep these lofty thoughts in mind as the day goes by, but it certainly helps me a great deal to start out this way." ~ Jim Henson

There are countless tales that emphasize this Singer's connection to ancient wisdom, magic and fortune. The Man in the Moon has also been known in China as the Frog or Toad in the Moon. These Teachers are heralds of Nokomis, Grandmother Moon, and have been associated with the Moon and the wisdom of the feminine Elder. In Ancient Rome, the frog was believed to bring good luck to the home and in Ireland it was considered to be a close relative of the Leprechauns, thus capable of playing fairy tricks upon the unsuspecting. A 3-legged toad was the companion of Liu Hai, the God of Wealth and Luck. This toad symbolizes the riches of the Earth and is often depicted with a gold coin in its mouth.

Heket (or Heqet), was the Ancient Egyptian Moon goddess of fertility and childbirth who assisted Isis in performing the ritual that resurrected Osiris. Heket is depicted with a frog's head, and her priestesses were trained as midwives. They wore amulets, jewelery and other ornaments that bore Heket's image, and they placed frog shaped knives on the bellies of pregnant women and newborn babies as a powerful protection. Frogs in general were so important to the early Egyptians they were often embalmed after death, especially as an insurance of a healthy rebirth for someone who died diseased. The tadpole was their symbol for the number 100,000, and it was a potent symbol of fertility and fortune.

Wise Grandmother Toad continues to transform herself bringing power, learning, good fortune, and the joy of humble servitude to Creator to those who follow her example. For all her endless changes, Hekate remains as a much beloved deity to the Neo-Pagans of today. Witches have been linked with toads and frogs for centuries, and for many generations these amazing creatures were just as shunned and reviled as the witches who were believed to be servants of evil. It wasn't until the Middle Ages that Grandmother Toad began to acquire her less savory reputation.

Thus, while Frogs symbolize the magic of Creation and fertility, they also symbolize death and rebirth. Of course, the wise know that you cannot be reborn if you do not die first, nor can you fully manifest new power and knowledge without first shedding your old skin. In Native American tradition, this is the Teacher who nourishes the dreams of the mind so that they may bear fruit in a mind/body/spirit harmony. She encourages merging with Great Spirit and developing our intuition. Frog sits in the Northeast on the Medicine Wheel and is represented by the 6th stone. A group of frogs is an army and a group of toads is called a knot.

The number 3 and multiples of 3 are important to this Singer and those called by her. Three stages of life, three graces, three fates, three wishes, and three magical tasks to be completed by those breaking a curse can be seen in more tales than I could possibly list here. "The Frog Prince" is perhaps the most well known. A golden ball, like the moon, in-debts the Princess to him and is the first step towards transforming himself back into the human Prince who will bring so much joy to her life and lands. Frogs are potent protection symbols for children, heralds of joy and humor, bringers of good fortune and pleasant dreams. As always, the kind, color and habits of the particular Frog or Toad you are drawn to should be carefully examined to bring you greater understanding, along with balancing energies like Fly, Bee, Snake, Crane, or Raccoon. Humorous, lethal, powerful, humble, ancient and forever in the process of rebirthing herself, the Frog teaches us many things not the least of which is to look always beyond the surface of things to find Truth. How does this Singer appear in your life?

"Whosoever wishes to know about the world must learn about it in its particular details.
Knowledge is not intelligence.
In searching for the truth be ready for the unexpected.
Change alone is unchanging.
The same road goes both up and down.
The beginning of a circle is also its end.
Not I, but the world says it: all is one.
And yet everything comes in season." ~Heraclitus/Heraklietos of Ephesos

"When green is all there is to be
It could make you wonder why, but why wonder why
Wonder, I am green and it'll do fine, it's beautiful
And I think it's what I want to be." ~ Kermit T. Frog

Summary: Examine the symbology of Grandmother Frog...