A MODIFIED GECKO
compiled by Dee Finney
EXPERIENCE:
Yesterday, 2-27-02, I went into the kitchen, and there - right in the center of the floor - was a little animal, which I couldn't identify.
I called my friend Michelle and described it to her and she thought it might be an Anole, which in Florida are so prevalent people make pets of them. But when we went on line to look for pictures of Anoles, they were different enough for me to know that wasn't it.
So, we added the word California to the search and other pages came up with all kinds of reptiles on them, including 'Gecko'.
There, on the screen was a picture of my guest - a modified gecko. :-)
Then, because I know that events are symbolic, we looked for 'gecko symbolism' and came up with some really neat ideas, which I present below, along with two dreams I had of 'geckos'. Since I've never had any experiences with this type of creature before, I find this to be really unique.
NOTE: See the dates of all these dreams and events. Is that symbolic as well?
2-27-02 - 3-p.m. Another guest arrived - when I came in from gardening, I went to the bathroom to wash my hands, and there in the sink was another gecko. This is really strange because when I was outside, I was thinking whether I should keep the gecko or not or whether it might like a companion if I did. So he's got a companion until I decide whether to keep them or not.
2-27-02 - 5 p.m. Well, maybe the whole thing was an illusion. I decided to let the geckos go out in the woodpile next to the house, and when I took the box outside, there was nothing in it. So, did they both decide to stay in the kitchen a second time? Will I ever see them again? I guess this remains to be seen.
GECKO SYMBOLISM
Animal Adaptations to the Desert
Due to the intense fluctuations in temperature and to the dry climate, animals have to be extremely flexible in
order to survive in the desert.
Over the years, desert animals have learned to subsist on less desirable food and to move in colonies to new environments
in order to find food.
Some animals, such as the gecko (a kind of lizard), avoid drought by becoming dormant, shutting down some of their
bodily activities during
dry periods. Other animals leave the area altogether. Some avoid dehydration by coating themselves with “water
layers” or storing liquid in
internal “canteens”. The roadrunner can lower and raise its body temperature to compensate for extreme conditions
with the aid of a “solar
panel”, a patch of black feathers on its back.
Lautem
Eastern tip of the Island is made up of mainly Dagada or Fatu Luco speakers. NA It was a site of strong resistance
during the occupation and the people are known to be particularly strong and willful folk. It is from this area
that I bought some wonderful examples of naturally spun and dyed cotton Tais with traditional patternings, some
of them quite expensive. A huge blue mane Tais with plaited fringe and patterned white, brown, green stripes on
the outside cost about $300. Some of the others had patterns of the double-headed gecko and the traditional tall
house roof. I bought these from a craft cooperative in Dili Murak Rai who have links with women in that area. There
is an Australian AVI working with this group, Maureen Magee who can be contacted on <maureen@shoal.net.au>
In the animal-world where feelings experienced
are "painful, sharp and severe," one can see the dukkha, the hunter and the hunted, in my illustration.
The birds of the air are being shot while a vulture is feeding on its prey. A wasp struggling in the net of a spider
represents the horrors of life among the insects, while among the larger animals, a buffalo is being forced to
work, a deer is being shot and a lion feeds upon his prey. The fish fare no better and are shown being devoured
by larger fish, or else hooked and netted by men. Slithering down the division of this world from the hells, there
is a gecko. The Tibetan picture illustrates the diversity of animal life and shows, under the waters, the palace
of the serpent-spirits or naga, half snake and half man.
The hells, which are not permanent states of course, have some new horrors of our day: for railway lines run into
a concentration camp from the chimneys of which belches sinister black smoke, while a uniformed member of some
secret police force compels a suppliant hell-wraith to swallow molten metal. Towards the viewer flows the river
of caustic soda called Vaitarani which burns the flesh off the bones of those swirling along in it, mingled with
a stream of blood from the clashing mountains. Whatever torments hell-wraiths experience, though their bodies are
mangled, crushed and ripped apart, yet they survive still for vast ages of time experiencing feelings which are
"exclusively painful, sharp and severe," unrelenting and uninterrupted:
"As highest is the bliss that comes
from all desires' cessation --
No higher bliss than this!
So worst the woe that's known in hell
Avici with no interval --
No woe is worse than this!"
From: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/bps/wheels/wheel147.html
ORACLE CARD OF THE WEEK Gecko or lizard
-- drawn from the Medicine Card Deck
Famous as gatekeeper of dream time. Power symbol of medicine people and Shamans. Gecko's message is for you to
look more closely at your
dreams. And to explore your shadow self. Allow your inner self to flow. Make concerted effort to contact your higher
self. Outstanding time for
affirmations and visualizations. Fine time to let go of fears, worries and all those things you are resisting.
You are the power. You are in control of
your Universe. Gecko's message is to use that power.
May 27, 2001
by Doug Thacker
Varanasi, India --
As I while away the hours here in Varanasi I'm re-doing the Hindu pantheon. Here's what I have so far.
First, the noble dog. Him, of course, we make God of Nobility.
Next, the gecko. As you may know (if you've lived in a tropical zone like Hawaii) the gecko is a special animal,
a bright green lizard who
catches insects (mosquitoes, flies, you name it), has his own distinctive laugh, and is said to impart good luck.
Well, now, this is perfect for India (which has a similar lizard). The green green gecko becomes God of Good Fortune
- and of insect eradication. Want to
have good fortune? Be like the gecko: laugh a lot and get rid of your bugs.
THE LIZARD TOTEM
FROM: http://www.geocities.com/tammlynn/lizard.htm
Keynote: Subtlety of Perception
Lizard is an animal of great subtlety. Its movements are quick. It has four lets and can run with great speed.
Some lizards can live in
the house, and they help to control the insect populations. The gecko lizard is one of the few reptiles that has
a voice, and this should be
meditated upon by anyone that has it as a totem. The Komodo dragon of Indonesia is a monitor lizard, and is the
largest of all lizards. If
at all possible, try to identify the kind of lizard and study it individually.
Most lizards have long tails which help them maintain balance and can also serve as a defense mechanism, as you
will learn later. Most
also have a crested back, ruffs, or spines. These serve as protection but they are also very symbolic. Some have
ruffs about the neck.
The neck is an area that bridges the higher and the lower, and lizards with them are those that can teach you how
to bridge the
subconscious with the conscious~ dreaming with waking. They can stimulate lucid dreaming.
Those with spines and crests along the spine usually reflect that the sensitivities of the chakras are heightened
or about to be. Are you
being too sensitive or not sensitive enough? Are you being too picky or are you missing the obvious? It can also
reflect that the kundalini
or life force is active and flowing strongly, which will heighten all sensitivities~ physical, emotional, mental,
psychic, and spiritual.
A lizard has an ability to recognize the subtlest insect movements, and it can remain still or relatively so to
mislead its prey or protect
itself. This indicates that your intuition and psychic perceptions are either already active or about to be activated
more strongly. Pay
attention.
There are a number of characteristics that distinguish a lizard from other reptiles. They too, have dry skin, and
like many, they also
have claws. They are also sensitive to vibrations in the ground. They feel it with their feet, tail, and body.
Their eyes are sharp with an
ability to detect the slightest movement around them. They also have acute hearing.
All of these characteristics give it a symbolism associated with the psychic and the intuitive. The ability to
perceive subtle movement~
physical and enthereal, walking or sleeping~ is what lizard medicine teaches. To some within the Native American
tradition, the lizard is
associated with dreamtime. Dreams contain some of the subtlest perceptions of the mind of which we may not be conscious.
They are
translated to us through dreams to make us more conscious. These can be fears or foreshadowings, but almost always
they are the things
to which we do not pay attention.
Individuals with a lizard totem should listen to their own intuition over anyone else's. Lizard usually reflects
heightened sensitivity. You
feel what others may not. You will see things that others may miss. You will hear things that are not being said.
No matter how strange it
may seem, learning to follow those perceptions is what will enable you to succeed most frequently.
One of the most significant characteristics of some lizards and their claim to fame is the ability of the tail
to come off. A predator may
grab for it, its paw landing upon the tail, only to be surprised as the tail breaks off and the lizard scampers
to freedom. The lizard then
begins the process of growing another in its place.
This detachment is also part of what the lizard can teach. They can help us to become more detached in life to
survive. Sometimes it is
necessary to separate ourselves or part of ourselves from others to be able to do the things we must desire to
do. The lizard helps us to
awaken that ability for objective detachment so that it can occur with the least amount of difficulty. Lizard can
show up to help us break
from the past. It may even indicate a need to explore new realms and follow your own impulses before you get swallowed
up in what is
not beneficial for you.
Like most reptiles, the lizard will often bask in the sum. It is cold blooded, and it needs the warmth of the sun
to stay warm. This
basking is often a feigned sleep, and it serves a secondary purpose of fooling insects that may mistakenly come
too close. This ability of
feigning sleep while basking in the sun is sometimes related to controlling the sleep state~ especially dreams.
Lizard, as mentioned earlier,
is the totem that can help us understand and use this state more effectively.
"And these are unclean to you
among the swarming things that swarm upon the earth: the weasel, the mouse, the great lizard according to its kind,
the gecko, the land crocodile, the lizard, the sand lizard, and the chameleon. These are unclean to you among all
that swarm; whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until evening." {Lev 11:29-31 RSV}
GECKO DREAMS
2-24-00 - DREAM - I can only describe this dream as Michelle's ship. There were people in this dream, but many
of the objects were not real, such as a ice-blue jello-like gecko or other long legged animal which was going to
be my lunch. I was going to eat in front of all the other people but ended up teasing the other people so they
would gag and get squeamish.
Much time was spent moving things around maybe like energy or something to spread two spaces into larger rectangles
made of stars like this:
| ******** | *************** | |
| * * | * * | |
| * * | * * | |
| ******** | *************** |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2-20-01 - DREAM - I was at my 16th
St. house, but it wasn't old fashioned like it was when I grew up.
I was working on a computer in the diningroom area, looking for a modified gecko. hmmm.
I went out into the back yard where the water was so high, there was a long pile of stones about 3 feet high, where
the sidewalk was supposed to be . There were deep pools of water on both sides of the stone walkway where I could
see fish swimming. There were small fish near the surface, but I could see what looked like a salmon way down deep.
My children and their friends were playing out on the walkway and some were swimming in the water. j
I then saw a big black bear ambling along the walkway back by the garage. I started hollering at the kids to get
into the house without telling them there was a bear. They started towards the house but not as fast as they would
have had they been scared. So, I had to holler, "Get in the house!" and wave them on quite a few times.
Finally, they all got into the house. My mother was the last one inside, and still nobody closed the doors.
By then, I could see and hear the neighbors across the alley screaming, "Bear! Bear!" and they were all
panicked about getting into their own house.
Everyone was safe at my house, and I went from door to door in my house, shutting them. It was quite difficult
like their was heavy air pressure behind the doors.
I went inside and hollered at my Mother about her being the last one to get into the house, and she started hollering
at me for hollering at her. At no time did anyone see the bear so they still weren't aware it was there.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OTHER PEOPLE'S GECKO DREAMS
Tuesday, January 12, 1999 7:50 AM
From: http://firstpersonparticular.com/archive/1999/011299.html
Git Along 'Lil Dogies
Last night I found a big yellow beetle on the keyboard and later, in bed, I dreamed the giant Madagascar
Day Gecko was running loose in the house, looking for it. The beetle was beautiful, a shiny golden yellow
with black racing stripes. I've never seen anything like it. Usually species as showy as this live on some
other continent. For example, in the bird arena WE have brown robins and dark gray and white
mockingbirds. Australia has white and yellow cockatoos and Africa has those huge colorful parrots.
WE have black beetles, other places get the bright blue ones. What gives? Where was America when the
birds and things were handed out? Off checking its stock portfolio or doing some extreme snowboarding
instead of paying attention, one supposes.
What was I talking about? The beetle. I considered giving it to one of the lizards for a snack, or to The
Creature, but a goldie-yellow beetle like that one definitely rates more highly than the damn lizards and The
Creature could get Parsifal deported since it is illegal to even have one in California. I looked at the Day
Gecko but decided against it despite how lovely a color contrast there would be between the bright green
and red lizard and the beetle, until it was crunched up. I took a picture instead and tossed it out the door.
Then, with a keyboard freed of beetles and the male humans in bed, I got ALL my technology working.
I'm back in business, and I won't make any more of those embarrassing name confusion faux pas anymore.
Nearly all working, that is. Eudora won't send mail so anyone who is expecting any from me shouldn't hold
their breath. I receive mail. I just can't send it out. No really.
Then I went to bed. And dreamed the Day Gecko was roaming the house. It was a rather comforting thought
at first. He was eating the house spiders that I detest so much but that Parsifal won't let me completely
eradicate from the corners. I appreciated it. The patter of his little feet on the ceiling was irritating, though,
and I kept feeling guilty about having a lizard loose in the house, like it was a major housekeeping failure.
Yes, I know that loose house geckos are considered good luck in some societies but I was raised by a woman
who would merely consider such an infestation a major break-down in cleanliness and hygiene. Then the
golden beetle appeared, much larger and more golden than in real life, like a beetle God from some past
failed primitive society. The gecko, which had turned into two, herded the beetle, which had turned into
many beetles, and tried to keep them away from the ceiling over the bed. I appreciated it. Golden or not,
you just don't want beetles dropping onto the bed. This dream was so stupid I finally woke myself up. No
overt whack-you-over-the-head symbolism like the dream of Jane and the black cave, but pretty to look at.
Then I couldn't sleep so I read some more Van Gogh correspondence. For three hours. Hence this disjointed
and rather strange entry. I made a picture of the geckos and the beetles from my dream and you'll have to
settle for that.
Note to myself: I WILL NOT relate any more dreams in these pages. I am way past the age where I think
my dreams are interesting to anyone but me. Not even me, usually.
This one was rather unusually colorful and odd, though, wasn't it? Yawn.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: http://www.inviolate.com/writing/gecko.html
Just woke up out of an odd dream...
Was walking with an older woman whose blonde, 15 year old daughter i was supposed to take into my teaching. Was
asking
her about the daughter's backgrounds and various intrests, which i was getting some strange answers about.. eventually,
i asked: "So she's well trained, then.". And the mother responded : "Well, yes.. we buy her labor
leashes."
She took me down through the hotel to a series of stone, open faced rooms arranged in a long hallway .. in each
room there was some
kind of training device that had been used by the girl and a vending machine of some sort, for some personal item.
In
one room was a treadmill and a large vending machine for prescription glasses. At this point I noticed that a large
toy train ran through all the rooms. In the next room were some regular vending machines selling toy rings
and super bounce balls and the like. I knew this machine well, apparently having spent a lot of time in this
particualr room as a child. I found that a quarter was still in one of them, presumably left by the girl I was
supposed to
be teaching, and turned it, having some trouble. It dispensed only a tiny metal ring that seemed very heavy for
it's size, instead of the cheap star and moon ring it was supposed to. So I turned the entire vending apparatus
over,
sudenly happy to be able to get at now what i was never able to get enough of as a child, though the machines dispensed
worthless things, and opend the back to retrive my ring. it turned out the bit of metal that had been dispensed
was broken
off the ring that I put on my finger, but I didn't care.
Leaving the machine, I turned and found the empty tank my leapord gecko used to live in. I left it for a while.
After a bit, I saw a tiny baby gecko in it. Feeling lucky that I didn't have to buy another lizard, and presuming
the reason for my
other's death was egg-laying stress I watched it for a while. Soon, I spotted another baby at the other side of
the tank.
I feared they would fight, but did nothing. Ignored the tank for another while, and turned, only to see another
tank, this one set up
with sand, like a desertscape. Another lizard sat on top of this tank, but far older. The only thing I could think
was "Gee, these
things grow fast" as a looked back into the orignal tank. The first baby Ii had spotted was dead, but the
second was older,
and I could see two more, of varying ages.
At this point I turned to do something about the lizard on top of the desrt tank. I moved to pick it up. but it
opened it's mouth
in preperation for a bite, so I just shooed it inside instead and closed the lid with some difficulty, almost letting
it ecape
more than once. I saw another baby in that tank. Meanwhile, the ones in the first tank were maturing at an exponential
rate,
and eating the dead ones. I feared lizard war at any second, but it never did break out. I wondered how I would
find food for
all these little guys.. and then woke up as the toy train was passing through.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I had a dream the other day that my husband and I were going to have a new baby, so we had to pick out one
of many large, multicolored geckos to
decide what kind of baby we would have. The doctors were going to attach the fetus to the gecko so that they could
clone it, and then we would have a
gecko baby. My husband picked out a bright blue one, and it was very slick, and it seemed like it glowed under
blacklights.
I woke up very upset because I didn't want a baby, OR a gecko, and it took a few minutes for me to realize that
it was a dream. The first thing I said to Jason was, "I don't WANT a gecko!"
-- Saundra (headspace@anywherebeyond.com), August 12, 2000.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GECKO INFORMATION
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata Sauria
Family: Gekkonidae
Eublepharis macularius Leopard Gecko
Gekko gecko Tokay Gecko
Gekko ulikovskii Golden Gecko
Pachydactylus bibroni Bibron Gecko
Rhacodactylus ciliatus Crested Gecko
Phelsuma laticauda laticauda Golddust Day Gecko
Phelsuma madagascariensis grandis Madagascar Giant Day Gecko
Hemidactylus Frenatus House Gecko
Photo courtesy Kellar Autumn
A scanning electron microscope image of a geckos toe
that has thousands of microscopic structures called setae.
From: http://www.howstuffworks.com/news-item21.htm
A gecko can support its entire body weight from a wall with only one toe.
Scientists are studying how geckos use intermolecular force to cling to walls as a possible model for developing a new self-cleaning, reusable tape that can work in space and under water. Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley and Lewis and Clark College in Portland have found that the lizards climb walls by using microscopic hairs on their toes that create one of the strongest adhesives in nature.
By using these tiny hairs that can adhere to smooth surfaces, geckos are able to support their entire body weight with a single toe. The adhesive force created by these hairs, called setae (pronounced see' tee), lining the gecko's toes is estimated to be 10 times greater than had originally been thought. "In fact, the adhesive is so strong that a single seta can lift the weight of an ant. A million setae, which could easily fit onto the area of a dime, could lift a 45-pound child," said Dr. Kellar Autumn, a biologist at Lewis and Clark College.
The hundreds of thousands of tiny pads at the tip of each hair are the key to this strong adhesive force. These pads, called spatulae, are about 10 millionths of an inch across. Scientists believe that as these billions of pads come in close contact with a surface, the weak interactions between molecules in the pad and molecules in the surface create a strong bond that is 1,000 times greater than a gecko needs to hang on a wall. As a gecko climbs a wall, it rolls these hairs onto the surface and them peels them off like tape. But it's better than tape, the researchers say.
A microscopic force sensor measured the tiny forces of adhesion found in a single setae from a Tokay gecko. When the hair was touched to a surface, it didn't stick. But when the hair was manipulated to simulate the movement of a gecko's foot, scientists found that the seta is incredibly strong. By rolling the hairs on its feet, the gecko automatically pushes the hairs in and then pulls them down, achieving sticking power 600 times greater than friction can produce.
The strong adhesion is caused by an intermolecular force called Van der Waal forces. This force is weak until it gets very close to a surface. When the surface it contacts is large, it can add up to a strong attraction. Van der Waal forces occur when unbalanced electrical charges around molecules attract each other. The charges are always fluctuating and can sometimes reverse direction, but the outcome is that they draw molecules together, such as molecules in a gecko's foot and molecules on a smooth wall. However, although Van der Waal forces are the likely explanation for the adhesiveness of the gecko's toes, scientists haven't ruled out water absorption or some other kind of water interaction as the cause for it.
Scientists are now working to using this discovery to create the first dry, self-cleaning glue. Autumn foresees many applications for a synthetic gecko adhesive, including tape that could be used in space. The discovery also has inspired engineers to design tiny robots that may one day aid search and rescue missions. Currently, the mechanical gecko developed in association with IS Robotics, Inc., uses an adhesive glue to stick to surfaces. But this new discovery may lead to the use of an artificial dry adhesive that will create a longer lasting robot.
CALIFORNIA WILDLIFE - ABOUT GECKOS
LIZARDS AT THE FORTH WORTH ZOO
THE LEOPARD GECKO - ZOO INFORMATION
OTHER ANIMAL PAGES
CHIMPANZEES ARE AN ENDANGERED SPECIES
