A month since Storm Kristin brought chaos to the central region of Portugal, and in her wake several others added their toll to the already saturated land and fractured infrastructure. A month where many who were affected and those working on the recovery operation have felt overstretched and overwhelmed, yet carried on anyway. Some people have been without electricity for 28 days, and many are still without stable communications connections. Most are still waiting for either their insurance to pay out for repairs, or trying to navigate the sea of bureaucracy to reach some of the relief funds the government and municipalities keep talking about but that never seem to quite materialise. Meanwhile, of course, the electricity and communications companies are still sending out their bills regardless!
It’s a tricky time financially for many, and for the local economy. The small businesses that survived are also feeling the impact of decreased footfall and income. Like the trees prostrate at the side of the roads, these storms destabilised people at their very roots. In energetic terms, the root chakra is where we manage our most basic needs in life and sense of security, what keeps us feeling safe and grounded. Many people have been left, literally or figuratively, without a roof over their head. But disasters always separate people into victims or survivors and in my observation, the Portuguese people are a stoic and accepting race - though sometimes I feel overly so. It’s a fine line between going with the flow and expecting God to save you and sort it all out for you, and it’s often that dichotomy which keeps people stuck into victim mentality. For those who believe in a separate, saviour god, it’s a logical transition to look externally for others to help or rescue them. It’s what they’ve been conditioned to do, whereas survivors tend to understand that they have inner resources to call on (which they may also call God) and as a result are often more proactive and flexible in the face of challenges.
The winners, as so often, are the builders, roofers, construction workers, utility providers and infrastructure engineers - maybe feeling tired and rushed off their feet at the moment, but making hay while the sun shines nonetheless! as they did during the pandemic too, one of the only industry sectors still allowed to continue working. Because somewhere along the line, we have been fed the line that pouring all our energy and resources into bricks and mortar, and all the associated financial and consumer activities and costs that go along with that, is what makes us in life, is what keeps us safe and secure and our root chakra balanced. We’ve been fed on a diet of fear for so long, to keep us on this treadmill of spending our life working to fund our house and lifestyle, that we’ve lost sight of what’s really important. We saw this during the long days and nights without power. The older generation were brought up with no electricity or hot water and so many of them just hunkered down, put another blanket round their shoulders and got on with life as usual. But for the younger families, being without internet or television and smartphones was much harder, they didn’t know what else to do with their time.
And it seems to me that this past month has been a test not just of physical resilience, but of metaphysical mettle as well. It has been physically challenging, trying to keep warm and dry and some sense of daily normality in some of the wettest conditions that have been reported for over 40 years, and all without electricity nor an easy way to communicate with others. But for some, like me, what has been just as distressing - if not more so - is seeing the destruction of our familiar landscapes all around us whenever we go out, and realising the ongoing impact this will have, on the agriculture and crops and wildlife, and when the hotter weather comes and the trees are no longer there to cool the land and us, nor soothe us with their energy.
Everyone is scrambling to get their houses repaired, lamenting the loss of the contents of their freezer, complaining that they still have no television or fast internet. Meanwhile chainsaws are roaring non-stop as the logging machines scoop up all the detritus and broken trees, and replant more eucalyptus in their place, and so the cycle of wildfires and deforestation and chasing quick income at the expense of the environment will continue. And I wonder, what have we learnt? Will we learn, that we find our true home within ourselves, that it doesn’t matter how big or shiny or new our house or Smart TV is, Nature can take it all away with one puff of breath and swipe of her hand? The root chakra is not just called that because it is at the base of our spine, but because balancing that energy connects us, keeps us rooted, to source, nature, spirit, god, the universe, whatever we choose to call it. And that energy, that presence is within us and guides us and protects us whether or not we have a roof over our head. The older generation understood this better; they are content with less. I think this is why those who made the news headlines for not wanting to leave their homes even while they were without electricity for many days, stayed put.
But many felt, and are continuing to feel, afraid and lost and shocked. Because when our sense of worth and identity is tied to external and material values, when that is shaken, it affects our whole self, and raises questions about who we are, and who we can rely on, who will save us - back to the victim and survivor archetypes. And so were these storms perhaps a lesson in detachment and trust? A test of faith? An invitation to come back home to our true self, and not worry so much about the material things, to realise that our true stability comes from within us, and once we are truly connected to that energy, to the flow of the universe, we are connected to everything, and nothing can uproot us.