Fighting off the weasels

I had a bad attack of the ice weasels early this morning -- those wee-hours fears and frets that swarm through the brain with their nasty sharp pointy teeth. Logic and reason cannot prevail against them, alas, so it was the Big Cavalcade of Fear for about an hour, with such old favorites as "Who will take care of my cats if I drop dead?" and "What if I don't drop dead, but have some terrible illness or accident?" and "Is something terrible happening in the world right now and I'm psychically picking up on it?" and "How am I going to pay all my bills AND pay taxes?" and "What if McCain is elected?" and "Is all of California doomed to burn?" and "If there is an earthquake, will this house stay standing?" You get the idea. It was also approaching dawn, my very worst time of day that I try to avoid at all costs. I have no idea why the coming of the light affects me so badly, but again, it's beyond reason. I hauled myself out of the fretful bed and made myself a valerian-catnip-Rescue Remedy potion, applied Twilight Alchemy Lab's Peace oil liberally, spritzed the bedroom with Sacred Smudge mist, and read a bit of Amelia Peabody (comforting, but not stimulating, since I've read them all before), and finally dropped back into weasel-free sleep. Awakening three hours later with a valerian hangover, I'm baffled by what brought this on. I was fine when I went to bed, and my dreams were peaceful. But the thought of going to bed tonight makes me a little nervous, so I will prepare well, with clean sheets and sweet bedtime prayers and a calm heart full of faith. What do you do when the fear weasels come?

Comments

[joanna]

And here I've been making notes for the last couple of weeks about this very topic, or a similar one. For me, it's not so much fear as anxiety and despair.

So what I do (even today, as I am in a grief cycle over losing my island home and anxious over the state of the planet)?

- I notice myself running a drama, a negative spiral and tell myself that I have a choice to continue or to stop. (E.Tolle says just the fact that we notice a negative thought process, will start it to dissipate)
- I breathe deeply. I watch my breath.
- I ask Goddess to help me maintain my peace of mind.
- I count my blessings, verbally or in a journal.
- I smile (fake it 'til ya make it)
- I talk to a friend, first asking her permission to listen while I discharge my negative emotion. (that one is from Holistic Peer Counseling - thank you, Wahaba)
- I get outside and get some exercise. Walking and pulling weeds really help.
- I remind myself: It is what it is. And it shall pass. (more Tolle)

Sometimes it takes hours, sometimes minutes. But a combination of these things always works for me.

[Lunaea]

Thank you, Joanna! I do pretty well in the daylight hours, especially if I can get in touch with other people, but in the hours when I am alone and surrounded by weasels, it's harder to break free. Like you, the anxiety gets me too -- in my weasel encounter last night, I found myself completely reliving some panic/anxiety I had two years ago when I was living in Fort Bragg! Telling myself "Hello? You don't LIVE there anymore! Things are DIFFERENT now!" just didn't help. Breathing with consciousness might have. Thanks for that reminder!

[Rue]

Hello Lunaea!!

I ALSO have been fretting A LOT lately. I am fearful for what is going on in the world; what will it be like for my grandchildren, if the planet is still here; have I prepared my children to deal with whatever the future may hold for them; etc. I find my scary time when I go to bed. I lay there looking out the window--fretting!! Then I just close my eyes and pray to the Great Mother--there is nothing else I can do. Love, Rue

[Hecate Demetersdatter, Runnymeade Conspirator]

You may laugh, but one of the most comforting things that I ever did was to make a will and to include in it instructions as to who would get Miss Thing if I were not here to care for her and if Son and DiL didn't think that they could take her. And, of course, there's always Wendell Berry:

THE PEACE OF WILD THINGS

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

May the Goddess, Herself, Guard You and remind you of Hildegard of Bingen's motto:

All will be well
And All Will be Well
And All Manner of Things Shall Be Well

[Maggie]

Ice weasels and fear weasels . . . . somehow just those wonderful images make them easier to handle, puts a silly face on the nameless Bad and identifies something concrete that the forces of Good may rally against. Thank you for your openness in sharing both your worries and your wisdom.

[Sacred Suzie]

It must be going around, it's why I'm doing a group online cleanse tomorrow during the new moon. I hope that you managed to keep those weasels at bay.

[Miellyn]

I have been grieving a lot lately, and I have coped with it by giving myself permission to be scared, sad and weepy. I have tried to step away from the emotions and filter out the ones that are real. Then I concentrate on them, telling myself that real sadness and fear is quite enough to cope with. It's been hard to keep focused though, and talking things trough with friends in the daylight makes it easier to keep the weasels (great name for them!) at bay when it is dark.

[Lunaea]

Thanks for all the good advice and blessings, everyone! Sounds like quite a few of us are going through some "weasely" times these days. By the way, I wish I could take credit for the ice weasel imagery, but it is a phrase I've been using for many years after reading it in an old Matt Groening (pre-Simpsons) cartoon about love. It said, "Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come."

[Beth]

I've used the term ever since you first mentioned them to me some 10 years ago, so I'm glad to know where they originated. I just wish they'd not frequent my nights too. Interesting that so many are infested with the nasties lately, including me...

[kerrdelune (Cate)]

Oh dear, it seems many of us (or at least several of us) are going through this right now, and I wonder why it is so: the moon, the stars, wars on earth and in the heavens?

A good book, mugs of tea, candles, deep breathing and sweetgrass incense help somewhat, as do tarot readings. I've yet to find a "sure fire" fix though.

[Luna]

Hi,
I'm new to this blog. I also suffer from these nagging night-time fears -- I think there's something about the Virgo brain that occasionally needs to purge in order to make space for what's coming next. I like your suggestions for dealing -- I usually just stare into the blackness (not recommended).

[JulieZS]

I'm there with you all in this fear cycle, and lately the usual solutions just aren't working to dispel those ice weasels anymore. I wonder if there is something "out there" we don't know about that we're sensing and reacting to somehow?

[SaraMorgaine]

I'm fairly new to your blog & love stopping by...and I laughed when I read "ice weasels," laughed because that's such a great term! What's funny is that I tend to get them in the *shower* (so maybe they are water weasels?)...pretty odd, huh? I love long showers, water's my element, but the water brings on the litany of fearful thoughts. I have similar ones to what everyone else has posted, as well as concerns for my furkids. Maybe I feel safer within water, so my brain decides to process the junk? I don't know. If the weasels are particularly strong, they'll also linger and pounce as I'm trying to fall asleep. I'm working on fighting them off with affirmations and gratitude...I've actually found that gratitude helps the most. Sort of re-directs my line of thinking. But I also like the idea of spraying smudge mist...I'm going to try that, too.

[Lunaea]

Welcome, SaraMorgaine! Being in flowing water (even just doing the dishes sometimes!) is my prime time for creative inspiration, seeing solutions to things, thinking of new projects, and generally getting assignments from the Goddess. Sounds like you have some of the same thing happening, in terms of your mind and spirit being open. My intuition suggests that you might want to sing in the shower more! Start your shower with a nice cheery song or chant, and then see what approaches to take the place of the water weasels!

[Jim]

Sometimes things are as easy as just doing them. One is to not let all the troubles of the world become our own. It works when we want it to. Good luck.