MotherMossback: A Story
(BiofieldTuning)
When turtle shows up in your life it is usually a reminder to pay attention or you will miss opportunities. To the Native Americans, the turtle was a symbol of Mother Earth and a reminder that she provides for all of our needs. ... turtles remind us that the way to heaven is through the earth.
Frankie and The Mossback
So, a Turtle did show up in my life in a very big way. I was renting a home on a riverside, back channel in the heart of Ontario cottage country after the demise of a second marriage. It was my heaven on earth. The landlady liked me, and said I could stay forever, so I started building gardens.
I built raised garden beds, and a lovely, natural rockery with dwarf evergreens, bulbs and hostas, in my endeavour to heal. A stream, which defined one edge of the property, flowed into the river. I had another garden along the mouth of the stream - perfect swampy, muddy turtle territory.
It happened that I'd become a dog sitter for family and friends. I was a bit of a hermit, needing to return to nature, and lick my wounds, so the dogs were welcome company. I had taken on the care of a young female, a British Black Lab, while its city owners were vacationing in the sunny south. Frankie hadn't been trained much and was incredibly strong and pulled on her lead during walks. I had purchased a specific lead in order to work with her, on the advice of a neighbour, who had been a dog trainer.
We went on daily walks along the country lane, which ended in a right of way by the river, so there was always a great opportunity for a good splash in the water.. It was her first exposure to water, and swimming and being a Lab, she loved it! During the two weeks we spent together, it was turtle time... and most of them were snappers.
Frankie's first exposure occurred one morning while snuffling about the river's edge. She roused a medium sized snapper, who quickly slid back into the water and Frankie followed. I had her on leash, which was fortunate, as her curiosity might have taken her further into the river than she could manage. We headed back the way we came, stopping to chat with Nan and Phil, a Toronto couple who cottaged along the road, and I explained the strength of Frankie's pull on the lead and my concerns about controlling her if we encountered any interesting wild critters. They assured me that I could call and they'd be happy to assist if necessary.
As we returned home, there was a very large mossy lump in the middle of the gravel driveway – an adult Mossback turtle. I’d never seen a Mossbank, or any turtle as large as this one. It wasn’t moving and there was no way I could get by it and control Frankie. I called Nan & Phil and they drove over in a flash. We ushered Frankie safely into their van, in order to figure out how to move the huge Mossback Turtle off the long curved driveway.
With a quirky look on her lips, my friend Nan, said “Why don't you tune the Turtle?”
She was not a Biofield Tuning believer, and in conversation always had a quick come back, usually with a hint of sarcasm. My immediate thought was, of course, what a great opportunity.
It happened I'd left a few Tuning forks in my car, so took out the 174hz fork and a weighted one, activated then gingerly placed the weighted fork and the outer edge of the turtle's shell by the tail. It didn't move... but she was now vibrating for sure.
For those who might not know, Turtle time is when the females drag themselves from the water to find sandy, gravelly locations to lay their precious eggs. Many Aboriginal story tellers revere the Turtle. In literature, such writers as Thomas King, in his novel “The Truth About Stories”, begins each chapter or tale with the great mother Turtle. Gaia, the Mother, the Sacred, the Earth. It's all about the Turtle and the beginning of time, the beginning of life, and the circles it enfolds us in.
So when I began to tune the turtle, after Nan & Phil had scooted off in the rescue van, what began to resonate was consistent with the stories of the earth.
After grounding the Earthstar and Sunstar of the Mother Mossback turtle, and hovering at the edge of the field, I felt great alarm. I was surprised, by the size of the turtle, figuring she was at least fifty years old, and had laid many clutches of eggs. But the fear for her children, the children of earth was there. Perhaps it was a greater fear. - Perhaps this Mother Earth could feel the changes coming in the years ahead and her concern was for survival of more than her eggs alone. Perhaps I'm projecting...
My work with the fork was to entrain the vibrations of fear and clear her energy field, so that she could move forward and complete the mission of birthing the new generations that would come.
The forks and my intentions soothed her. I sent her words of affirmation. I spoke to her heart and spirit, saying, “You are here, as your mother, and grandmothers before were here, in these waters. So, shall your children be here in these shining waters. Be assured that we are here to support your children and to keep your waters clean.”
The Mossback moved from the driveway to the main road, where she stopped in the centre. I maintained my mantra, columing with the forks. The mother moved again, traveling to the east side of the road, and into the ditch and up into the woods. I didn't expect to see her again.
My apartment in the cottage overlooked a back channel of the Trent River. There were stunning windows fronting the small living room. In the center, French doors opened onto the spacious cedar deck which was raised by four or five steps above an expanse of grass and then the dock & water's edge. As it was early spring and the nights were warm and fragrant, I had taken to sleeping on the sofa, with Frankie's kennel beside me, next to the screen door, which kept the black flies and mosquitoes out. A little heaven on earth, after the trauma of an abusive relationship. I was content with the company of man's best friend, instead of a man.
About four one morning both Frankie and I suddenly wakened to a scratching sound on the screen door. Frankie barked bolistically. I rolled over and attempted to determine the cause of the commotion. I could barely see, but taking a few steps to the screen, clearly saw a large Turtle, pawing with its claws on the screen door, as if were trying to open the door. I had no idea what to do to calm the dog, so I simply closed the French door. Then, thoughts raced through my head.
Why had the Turtle returned? Was it the same Turtle? Do Turtles normally climb steps and knock on cottage doors? Should I go outside? What was the message? Did the Turtle want more tuning? Was there a message for me?
Needless to say, I was surprised and felt that I had connected with the Mother Mossback on an intrinsically energetic level. I had been practicing Biofield Tuning on friends and family, in preparation for taking my Practitioner's coursework, and had also used the protocol on my daughter's gorgeous but aging Harlequin Great Dane.
I'd had good results, and on occasion been drawn back into past lives, and often into the ancestral river, to clear the past and work on memories held there and in the DNA, of the individual. But, I was by an amazing tributary of energy and flow, the Trent River. I was drawn back into a completely unique ancestral, elemental experience, by the Mother Mossback.
I now have a place of my own, a few hundred metres from the great river,. Since that auspicious day, I have written a water song, which I sang for a great water woman of the Anishinaabe people of Curve Lake, at her sacred water ceremony, with her water song, at the Petroglyphs, the Sacred Teaching Rocks. I am learning more about the ways of the people, about Biofiled Tuning, and the ways of men, in these uncertain times.
I have a glacial erratic stone, which has become a centre piece of my garden. An acquaintance observed: “Why, that rock looks like a Turtle.” I agreed, and in conversation with a native friend of my new neighbour, he replied: “Turtles have a great sense of smell, like other animals. It likely tracked you.”
My conclusion was clarified, by the comment. I had felt the great Turtle returned, clawing her way into my life, to give her thanks. Her energetic gift to me after giving birth, and returning to the waters of life, she found my spirit and wished to give me her clarity. So, I have finally grounded, albeit a bit of a paradox, by the water. I am grateful to the Turtle spirit for guiding me to this sacred space. I am reminded that the way to heaven is through the earth.
Karen Locklin
HeartStone Healing
By the Trent
August 2020
