CASCADIA: The Ring of Fire

Happy 2026. Thanks to Ona Christie Martin, if you listened to my end of year episode, then you know it is the year of the fire horse. She's incredible. And of the many mind-blowing statements she made during the course of that interview, one that has stood out again and again since we spoke, was be the rider, not the horse. Don't get caught leaning over the horse's head. Sit back in the saddle, hold the reigns and direct that fire horse. And one other gem? Turning circles with the horse IS productive. It calms the horse, and makes for a fruitful path forward.

With fire on my mind, I got to thinking about Earth's Ring of Fire, a circle of fiery volcanoes in the Pacific Ocean.

My first full panic attack occurred in a hotel room half a globe away from CASCADIA - but it was curiously part of Cascadia's legendary Ring of Fire. We were on the final days of a trip of a lifetime to Japan that included a visit to Disney's two parks - Disneyland and Tokyo Sea - which by the way was hands-down the best theme park I've ever been to before or since.  

Okay, back my first panic attack. We were staying in a hotel on Tokyo Bay and somewhere around 3am I woke up, heart racing, sweating, gasping in enough air not to faint. Everyone else remained asleep, which was better than them freaking out along with me. Heart pounding, sweating, crying. I basically thought I must be dying. 

If you've not experienced a panic attack, well, I hope you never do. As the worst of it began to subside, I had an urge to press my hands against something ice cold. The best I could find in the slim room was a window. I sobbed, wiping my face with a pajama sleeve. After fifteen minutes or so, the attack had run its course. 

Thinking back on that night, I believe while I slept in that hotel room on Tokyo Bay, a place rife with traumas, some as recent as World War II, I felt those residual energies, anger, fear, panic felt by Japanese citizens and soldiers alike. All those energies would be amplified by the geothermal activity, wouldn't they?

The Ring of Fire is potent medicine for Earth, and maybe even for humanity. 

Let's get into it.

Show Sources/Materials

Ring of Fire Basics, Wikipedia

What is the Pacific Ring of Fire? LiveScience

The Cascade Range and the Ring of Fire, American Museum of Natural History

Ring of Fire, Seismic Belt, Britannica.com

The Ring of Fire Is the Pacific'

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