Karl is the word for Fire

Karl is the word for fire in Noongar and where I am situated in the world right now, there’s a lot of karl around and even more heavy energy at work. The fires throughout Australia have burnt over 15.6 million hectares (and counting), displaced countless folks, at least 27 people have lost their lives, over 1,400 homes destroyed, sacred Aboriginal sites and totems are being ravaged, more than 1 billion animals have been killed and who knows how many plant allies have been decimated. I awoke this morning and wept. Picture kangaroos burnt standing trying to pass a fence to no avail, sheep and cows and creatures of all kinds burnt alive, beautiful songbirds charred mid-flight falling to the ground and fleeing koalas surrounded by 800°C radiant heat before the flames engulf them. Picture a mother trying to get her child to a safe place but there isn’t one, or a father thinking he is leading his children away from the fires, only for him to learn that the fire is on all sides and there is no way out. Both these stories could be true for human and non-human life alike. Is this not a nightmare realised, is this not some kind of apocalyptic vision? Sure it is, and it is also real and happening right now. These horror stories and the figures that accompany them just seem to keep increasing and increasing as the hours go by. A fire started very close to the place I call home last night and I will count my blessings for now as it has been contained, though many have not been so fortunate, and the bushfire season is far from over. There is an ecological crisis unfolding here, folks are being evacuated en masse whilst plant and animal life has suffered immeasurably. To live through dark times like these is to be in a perpetual state of grief and mourning. How do you folks find ways to cope with, and feel through, the ecological crises that are occurring the world over?