In a recent Constellation workshop that took place inside the Westin hotel in Bellevue WA, I was guided to meet my Power Animal with the intention of finding support in a difficult situation. A black Cougar with yellow eyes showed up for me loud and clear. Cougar medicine is about 'Coming into your own Power'.
I was in a difficult situation, I had gotten into a car accident the day before. While driving a rental car I collided with another vehicle. Nobody was hurt but when the cop came to make a report he claimed there was no way to tell whose fault it was. I was kicking myself because I had not bought the additional insurance coverage from the rental car company. The car insurance I have is basic coverage which does not cover damage to the car I'm driving. It was turning out to be a very expensive trip.
When I got back to California I gave statements about the accident to both insurance companies thinking it would go in my favor. It didn't. I was told by my insurance company it was a word against word situation so each insurance company would take care of their own vehicle. Unfortunately I wasn't covered for the damages to the rental car and would have to pay out of pocket. I felt completely powerless and wronged.
In an attempt to receive guidance about the situation, I consulted the virtual I Ching. I got #57 Penetrating Wind, which included these words in the description.
The special message said:
With # 18. Repair as the outcome:
I called the one friend I knew who was an attorney. I told him the situation. This was his advice. "Well the good news Sara is that you live in California and the accident happened in Seattle, so refuse to pay it. If they come after you they will have to come to California and I doubt for a few thousand dollars or so they would even bother".
After this phone conversation I had a sleepless night. Tossing and turning I obsessively kept going over what I should have done and was trying to make sense of the actual accident. The information the I Ching had given me, about having success etc didn't feel likely. I didn't like the idea of not paying but felt it was incredibly unfair if I had too.
The next day I taught a Shamanic Horse Workshop to four women. In the morning I had them journey to their Power Animals to receive information that would resource them in their healing for the weekend. As I guided them through their journeys I decided to give my cougar a visit and asked him what I should do in regards to my situation with the accident etc. He was laying on his back with his legs flopping side to side as he rubbed his spine sideways into the ground. " This is minor" he told me. "Come with me". Getting up he led me to the top of a mountain where we had a clear view of all four directions. "This is where you need to focus, put your energy here".
I felt slightly better coming out of the journey. He's right I thought, in the bigger scheme of things this is minor and I should take my energy back from this situation.
At the end of the day the women in workshop asked me about my trip to Seattle, one of them said,
"You had an accident right"?
She had read my previous blog in which I wrote about my weekend at the Constellate US conference where I gave a presentation on Horse Constellations.
"Yes I did, and it looks like I'm going to have to pay for the damages to the rental car".
"Did you pay with a visa credit card"?
"Yes"
"Then you are probably covered by their rental car insurance policy"
"You're kidding!"
"No, you should check it out"
I did, immediately, and she was right, I am covered! I now feel empowered, a huge burden has lifted and I feel very happy.