The Corona Transmissions

From “Love in the Time of Corona” by Laura Aversano

April 9, 2020

Dear Coronavirus,

This past week has been incredibly intense and overwhelming in so many ways.

I've been excited to see the myriad of miracles you have been providing us with lately. More so than when we first met your acquaintance.

I am hearing the laughter of children again, oh how they radiate such innocent joy in times of despair. Spending more time with mommy and daddy, and siblings too.

Learning, embracing, feeling, hugging. I can't begin to tell you how many hugs you have ignited in our world. Even if some of those are virtual hugs at the moment, the love is so palpable my heart is bursting at the seams.
Hugs within families, hugs between strangers, hugs which cross boundaries we once had that defined our separateness.

So many hugs I honestly want to share one with you Corona.

You are brilliant in the ways that you have brought families closer, strangers are no longer strangers. Mothers are looking into the eyes of their children with presence and fathers are tenderly nurturing what has been long forgotten.

Where walls once stood there are flowers blossoming everywhere!

You are teaching us so much about appreciation when much of what most of us lived by was entitlement.

I don't know how to contain my heart and my gratitude for your presence.
Your friend,

Laura Aversano

From “Exposed” by Sherri Mitchell, Weh’na Ha’mu Kwasset, Penobscot Nation

As I’ve searched for myself within the Coronavirus, I’ve seen a kaleidoscope of images that have led me back to our most ancient stories and some of our most lingering questions: Will we as a species make the changes necessary to move back into alignment with life, or will we continue following the path of destruction that leads to our extinction? Can we find our compassion for our relatives in the natural world and Mother Earth? Can we disengage our minds and our lives from the illusions of the material world and recognize that true wealth can only be measured through our support of one another? I believe we can, if we follow the guidance that is being given to us at this time.

The Coronavirus is providing us with a map for exploring our individual lives and our collective choices. By tracing the path that it offers, we can begin to understand the powerful lessons it has to teach us.

The first point on the map is exposure. This pandemic is exposing all the blind spots in our social lens. Many have claimed that this illness is the great equalizer; I disagree. There is no equity in access to shelter, water, food, or healthcare during this time. More than anything, this virus is highlighting the gross inequities and injustices within our societies. It’s washing away the failing systems that we thought were foundational and showing us where our solid ground can truly be found.

After exposure comes incubation. As we collectively work to slow exposure to the virus by sheltering in place, we have an amazing opportunity to incubate our creative intelligence and deeper knowing. How we choose to occupy ourselves during this time of isolation is a predictor for how we will emerge. The things we focus on, the ways that we choose to entertain or occupy ourselves, the need that we have to distract ourselves, are all indicators of how we will surface from our shelters. If we can take advantage of this time and truly slow down our internal rhythms, let down the armor we have been required to don, and open ourselves us, we can incubate our individual creation songs and our collective genius. The opportunity that we have to incubate our creative intelligence is filled with possibilities. This is a time for identifying and aligning with our deepest truths and bringing forward the dormant gifts that lay sleeping within us.

Once we discover the sparks of insight that live within our center, we must fan those sparks to flame. This is where the intense heat of fever is found on our Corona map. Here, we conduct a controlled burn of the debris that has covered our fertile ground. We burn off all the invasive plants (thoughts and ideas adopted from an outside source) and eliminate the local growths that don’t belong there (family programming). A controlled burn can prevent a total burn out, it can rejuvenate what is already there and protect the native habitat (your natural state of being). And, it encourages new growth.

As we move deeper into fever, we begin experiencing respiratory distress. On the psychospiritual level our lungs are the holders of our grief. Here, we deal with the pain of all that’s been lost. What we’ve lost in the world - vital ecosystems, essential habitat, thousands of species, clean water. Then, we must look at what has been lost within us - our connection to the source of life, our compassion for our relatives in the natural world, our relationship with Mother Earth, and our willingness to care for one another.

We must grieve the loss of friends and family members, those we are separated from while in isolation and those being taken from us permanently by the virus. And, finally, we must grieve our lost way of life, which will no longer serve us going forward.

This grieving process is the beginning of our letting go. I find it intriguing that a key component of letting go is to create physical distance from what you want to release. On a global scale, we have been positioned for this work. There is an incredibly powerful message in that. Now, we must decide what we are willing to release.

Creating New Realities
Richard Grossinger

OVERVIEWS AND TRANSMISSIONS
Two Poems
Kristin Flyntz

One Morning During the Pandemic
Bobby Byrd

Sunday Morning Sequestered in America
Annabel Lee

Love in the Time of Corona
Laura Aversano

What Pluto Is Trying to Tell Us
Ellias Lonsdale

What the Cell Teaches Us in Time of Plague
Fr. Francis Tiso

The Coronation
Charles Eisenstein

An Appropriate Response: Reconnecting the Dots
Gary Gach

Exposed
Sherri Mitchell, Weh’na Ha’mu Kwasset

Make the Blend, Not War
Richard Strozzi-Heckler

MEDICAL INFORMATION AND HEALING MODALITIES
Medical Information and Healing Modalities
Meryl Nass

CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19): Herbal and Holistic Perspectives Matthew Wood

SARS-CoV-2 Protection Protocol: Building the Terrain
Gabriel Cousens

COVID-19 Protocol
Jus Crea Giammarino

Homeopathy, Vital Force, and Corona
Vatsala Sperling

The Intimacy of Strangers
Barbara Karlsen

Corona Yoga: Staying Sane in Crazy Times
Joel and Michelle Levey

Attaining Our Birthright
Steve Curtin

DECONSTRUCTIONS, DIVINATIONS, AND VISIONS
TITANIC NATION, COVID WAKE
Eric Myers

Against an Endemic Response
Robert Podgurski

Make This Time Count
Kristina Joy Gutiérrez

Body Heat
Lindy Hough

Prayers for Corona
Vicki Robin

The Center of the World Is Changing Location
Rob Brezsny

Portal Poems
Zoe Brezsny

At the Edge of the Great Swamp: Seven Poems of Redemption Midst the Virus
Paul Weiss

A Dozen Poems in the Time of Covid
James Moore

Queen of Wands, King of Swords
Salicrow

Working with Stones during Crisis for Awakening and Transformation Robert Simmons

A Message from the Coronavirus
Jeff Vander Clute

A Quartet of COVID Posies, Spring 2020
Stephanie Lahar

Two Poems
Jack Foley Covida--My New Companion: A Disease of Ruthless Truth Philippa Rees

*TODAY IS THE DAY*
Emily Shurr

Moving Forward . . . How Do We Get Out of This One?
Richard Grossinger

Index

Sherri Mitchell was born and raised on the Penobscot Indian reservation. The founding director of the Land Peace Foundation and the author of Sacred Instructions, she received her Juris Doctorate and a certificate in Indigenous People’s Law and Policy from the University of Arizona’s James E. Rogers College of Law. Richard Grossinger is the curator of Sacred Planet Books, a member of the Inner Traditions editorial board, and the founder and former publisher of North Atlantic Books. He is the author of more than 30 books, most recently Bottoming Out the Universe. Kathy Glass is an editor and writer with interests in the ecosystem and environment, eco and human justice, adventure travel, and networking with and helping each other.

"Finally! What a breath of fresh air! Rather than focus on the virus, virus, virus of this pandemic, and rather than increasing the volume on fear-mongering, this remarkable anthology focuses more on the other side of the infectious disease equation: what can we do to strengthen our body's immune and defense system so that we will be more likely to fight off infection or at least sharply reduce its complications? And what is the meaning of this pandemic for this day and age? Are there silver linings, or perhaps rainbow linings, to this pandemic? Maybe our civilization needed some slowing down. Maybe American exceptionalism needed to be questioned. Maybe human evolution needed to learn how to incorporate new viruses into our biome to make it yet stronger and more adaptable to its environment. In any case, this diverse collection of writers, poets, philosophers, physicians, scientists, psychologists, herbalists, homeopaths, and healers bring light to the shadow of this pandemic." Dana Ullman, MPH, CCH, author of The Homeopathic Revolution

“The voices in The Corona Transmissions instilled a greater sense of meaning to the events that we’re living through, helping me to shift from a personal view to a transpersonal view that encompasses a greater range of possibilities. Reading the writer’s words made me feel reconnected to humanity, assured that we’re all in this together and there’s space for the perspective of everyone. In fact, it’s vital that we come together and share our thoughts, feelings, and experiences, and this book is a magnificent start to the dismantling, processing, re-envisioning needed to prevail.” Alanna Kali, Musing Mystical

"We are all desperate for guidance when there seems to be so little sage advice. These are alternative views on the subject, but they are not crazed or conspiracy-led and are all backed up by decades of learning and experience." Adam Gordon, Kindred Spirit Magazine

"This stimulating book consists of alternatives for engaging with Covid-19, ‘from physical to metaphysical.’ There are 35 contributions consisting of stories, poetry, inspirations, medical information and healing modalities, and interdisciplinary analyses where the standout essays are by Richard Grossinger and Charles Eisenstein. Richard weaves together multiple and conflicting narratives and his message is to seek common ground on the basis that the virus has brought to light many long incubating crises as well as the limits and hazards of dominant scientific and medical approaches." David Lorimer, Paradigm Explorer

CURRENT EVENTS/ALTERNATIVE HEALTH

The pandemic of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the biggest event of our lifetimes. This global experience has affected human history, ecology, epidemiology, and supply chains with the suddenness of 9/11, yet with a far greater extent, duration, and toll--the end of which is not yet in sight.

Exploring a broad spectrum of new perspectives on COVID-19, from the physical to the metaphysical, from ecological to political, from apocalyptic to proto-utopian, and from scientific facts and health tips to imaginings, visionings, poems, and awakenings, this anthology offers an antidote to the barrage of data and speculation from the mainstream. The 35 contributors include medical doctors, herbalists, naturopaths, Indigenous healers, and homeopathic physicians--who tell us about coronavirus history, treatments, prevention protocols, and how to cultivate inner balance and harmony--as well as economists, poets, psychotherapists, and First Nations teachers, who discuss the vast effects of the virus and the way forward.

They explore how the disease speaks directly to us and through us, and how it meticulously addresses our relationship to Gaia; to the animal, plant, and mineral kingdoms; to each other; and to the economies and dystopia we have created.

As a visionary whole, The Corona Transmissions asks you to respond, to engage your wisdom and creative imagination, to resist easy categorization and resolutions, and to participate in a collective dance and chant for healing, peace, equality, and a habitable future. Viruses do not live except by virtue of us carrying them. We are the living ones, and our bodies, minds, hearts, and spirits will prevail.

SHERRI MITCHELL was born and raised on the Penobscot Indian reservation. The founding director of the Land Peace Foundation and the author of Sacred Instructions, she received her juris doctorate and a certificate in Indigenous people’s law and policy from the University of Arizona’s James E. Rogers College of Law.

RICHARD GROSSINGER is the curator of Sacred Planet Books, a member of the Inner Traditions editorial board, and the founder and former publisher of North Atlantic Books. He is the author of more than 30 books, most recently Bottoming Out the Universe.

KATHY GLASS is an editor and writer with interests in the ecosystem and environment, eco and human justice, adventure travel, and networking with and helping each other.