How Do Humans Affect Weather? Harmonizing Our Connection with the Elements

It was October 2, 2002, and Hurricane Lily was approaching the Gulf Coast of Louisiana. With every weather report, her power was increasing and by 4 pm that afternoon, she had evolved into a Category Four hurricane with winds of 140 mph. Governor Foster declared a state of emergency for a region that only days earlier had been hard hit by Tropical Storm Isadore. If Lily were to make landfall at that level, New Orleans stood to be completely destroyed. Mandatory evacuations of the southern portions of the state had begun and the highways were gridlocked with panicked citizens trying to escape almost certain destruction. In Baton Rouge, 60 miles from the coast, I sat alone in my living room flipping between a local news station and the weather channel looking for any information or instructions as to what to do. As a northern girl recently relocated to the south, it was my first hurricane and I had no idea what to expect. As the barometric pressure continued to drop, I found myself becoming dizzy which only increased my anxiety. Feeling powerless, my only option seemed to be to pray as this monster approached my new home. For nearly 12 hours, I sat on my sofa chanting the Hanuman Chalisa as I watched the storm grow increasingly more menacing. Hanuman, an incarnation of Shiva, who is the destructive aspect of the Hindu trinity, is the son of Vayu, the God of the wind. I prayed for his mercy on us all. And then something totally unexpected and miraculous happened. For a reason that meteorologists still can’t explain, on the morning of October 3, Hurricane Lily went from a Category Four Storm to a Category One storm and made landfall with winds of 100 mph. Wide spread wind and water damage affected the coastline, but it wasn’t the major catastrophe that had prompted FEMA officials to order 250,000 body bags. We were spared, and I offered humble prayers of gratitude, knowing full well in that moment, that I hadn’t been the only one praying to be saved from the wrath of Lily. I knew that people of all faiths had also been begging God for safety and protection, just as the ancients had for eons before us. We have always tried to control the weather, but rarely do we try to befriend it.

Just days before the spiraling winds of Lily calmed before reaching shore, Nan Moss and David Corbin, authors of Weather Shamanism Harmonizing Our Connection With The Elements gathered in New York City with 35 other experienced Shamanic practitioners to present a two day workshop on “Weather Dancing.” Moss and Corbin, who are faculty members of Michael Harner’s Foundation for Shamanic Studies, the Esalen Institute and the New York Open Center, had been researching and teaching about the spiritual aspects of weather since 1997. That fateful week, they dedicated their opening night ceremonies to the spirit of Hurricane and all its weathers for the purpose of “ redressing any wrongs in our individual and collective past relationships with weather.” A few days later, as they drove home from their workshop, Corbin and Moss heard about Hurricane Lily’s miraculous change on the radio. Moss writes, “David and I looked at each other and grinned, knowing that there must have been other weather workings around Lily, and our circle’s big-hearted ceremony was part of it, too.”

Three years later, on August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina battered the entire Gulf Coast region creating the largest natural disaster in US history. Record numbers of Hurricanes occurred that year, but that was only the beginning. In the coming six years, an unprecedented amount of tornados hit the US, and snowfall and winter and summer temperature levels broke known records. According to NOAA’s National Weather Service, during April, 2011 alone, 875 tornados roared across the continental United States, creating mass destruction in their wake throughout the Midwest and southern US. Alabama was particularly hard hit, and by May 17, only a few days before a large portion of Joplin, Missouri was destroyed by an estimated F 3 tornado, the number of storms in the US had reached 1076 for the first four and half months of the year only, making a three year average of 1376 storms seem small. As these whirlwinds wreaked their havoc, the Mississippi River continued to reach 300 year record flood stages from melting snow from one of the harshest winters in centuries and the heavy rains from the plethora of spring storms. It seemed for many as if the weather were out of control.

Why, many ask, had this been happening? Was it global warming? Was it our increased pollution causing nature to work harder to maintain her balance? Our lack of trees as urban sprawl spreads further into natural lands? Perhaps it was the spirit of violence that was plaguing our cities? Or had we lost touch with the natural world around us?

Published in 2008 in response to the increasingly violent weather in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Moss and Corbin’s book, Weather Shamanism , is a fascinating study of the spiritual nature of weather and our ability to interact with and affect it. Three years later, this book is as relevant now as it was in 2008, perhaps even more so as we reevaluate our relationship with our environment in light of 2012 predictions of increased natural disasters. Perhaps the rising consciousness that so many believe is about to begin starts as we face these natural crises and awaken to the weather around us. Certainly, the spirits of weather are screaming for our attention.

The first thing that struck me about this book was how Corbin and Moss approached weather working with integrity, respect and love. Unlike so many non-traditional individuals who dabble in shamanism, energy work, magic and mystical arts in order to control and manipulate the world around them, the authors of this book represent the true spirit of shamanism and its role as mediator between the worlds of spirit and nature to bring healing to a community. They write, “In the shamanic worldview, all that exists is alive and everything and everyone is interrelated with everything else. We are related not just to each other as families and humans, but also to the beings and elements of nature—to the trees, rocks, animals, clouds, wind—we are privileged to live upon our relative, the earth.” Using a combination of historical research, ancient teachings, modern physics, personal experience and reports from shared Shamanic journeys of many others, this easy to read and intriguing text asks us to reflect on our personal relationship with the weather and how that relationship may be affecting our lives and our communities.

Beautifully interwoven in the diverse forms of nature is a unifying spirit. While most faiths teach of a God that is omnipresent and omniscient, in the shamanic world, all natural things are alive, possess consciousness and are infused with the divine . However, Corbin and Moss postulate that we have lost sight of our ability to form relationships with the natural beings like the clouds, the wind and the rain and to recognize their spirituality. They explain that, “through our current worldview we have torn ourselves away from the natural world in our attempts to encapsulate, regulate, and dominate it. We have run away from home and forgotten the way back….” They remind their readers that as our fossil fuels are depleted, and we go to war over resources as we simultaneously deplete our natural materials that it is not too late to change. They ask,“What if we could infuse our prevailing worldview with a spiritually oriented perspective founded upon respect and a sense of reference for this world and its inhabitants, including ourselves?”

This is a book not only for those who have an interest in shamanism or who love the natural world, or are interested in saving our environment, but also for those whose lives have been deeply affected by weather. Moss and Corbin, their students, and even the weather spirits themselves who bring their teachings through the shamanic journeys shared in this text, offer a fresh perspective on how weather works and its importance in our lives as a creative and healing force and friend. “Imagine, “ they ask us, “what would happen to our world if the weather never changed….”

While many call the storms that have plagued us acts of God sent as punishment, for Moss and Corbin, the spirits of weather are neither good nor evil, but life forces that are consciously fulfilling their destinies of creation, destruction and preservation which allow life to exist on our planet and allow us to fulfill our destinies. But more importantly, the weather spirits are acting and reacting in accordance with our interactions with them. According to the authors, our ancestors knew that their actions and even their thoughts mattered and could make a difference in the world around them. Moss and Corbin remind their readers that even modern physics has proven to us that our expectations and thoughts can affect outcomes. They inform us that although few of us escape the hardships that weather can bring, “if we have no heartfelt relationship with Nature, then we cut ourselves off from the most nourishing cord of life support that is always available to us. We lose touch with the very things and relationships that would balance suffering and bring peace to our minds, joy to our hearts and provide balm for our souls.”

As we heal from the violent weather that has plagued the US during the past decade this book is a balm for our wounds. The sun shines on us all regardless of race or creed, age or size. We are all affected by the weather and its daily changes and so I recommend this book to anyone who dares to explore that natural relationship more deeply. As Moss and Corbin remind us “The weather offers us a portal, a way in, to Nature. Once we set our intention to engage in a conscious relationship with Nature, we are inspired to expand our focus beyond personal boundaries of self-interest. This is not to say that we are asked to abandon ourselves, for we are Nature, and therefore we stand to gain not only an expanded sense of self, but also a better understanding of our place within the workings of this world.”