THE MASK OF THE RACCOON

"MASKS ARE ONE OF THE TOOLS OF TRANSFORMATION. A MASK CAN HELP US CHANGE WHAT WE ARE INTO WHAT WE WANT TO BE."





This morning I woke up looking like a raccoon with a hangover. Not only did my new mascara encircle my eyes with dark rings, but it also gave me an allergic reaction. So now I have red, puffy eyelids and heavily bloodshot eyes (so much for buying the cheap stuff).

But maybe I should wear a raccoon mask all the time. Checking out "Totems" under http://www.linsdomain.com/, I found out that "The magic of the Raccoon is in its mask. Masks are a powerful magical tool: You can achieve altered states through the use of the mask - you can become someone or something else behind a mask."
It continues, "A Raccoon totem can teach you how to wear masks for many reasons as the need arises. It can teach you how to mask, disguise and transform yourself.

"Don't you act differently with your boss, parents, children, husband, friends, strangers? These are all masks you put on. "

I certainly wear a mask at work. It's a mask of compliance, of conformity, of blandness; a mask of someone who is afraid to speak her mind, of someone who has lost her individuality for the sake of "THE TEAM."

I need to put on the mask of the raccoon, if only symbolically, to help me transform myself at work into someone self-assured, confident, powerful, calm.

I have a little clay plaque that reads, "Serenity and Grace be to this place." I want serenity and grace to be TO ME, as well. I need to wear the mask of the raccoon, every day and everywhere, to help me project those qualities, as well as physical grace, peacefulness and spiritual awareness.

Also from the website quoted above: "Raccoons also teach you how to put asleep the part of you that is not needed and awaken the aspect of yourself that is."

Oh how I need to put to sleep the part of me that is mean, insecure, angry, powerless, greedy, and blind to needs of others.