Sept 22nd, 2012
Blackberry vines clamber over fence and rocks, each branch hanging heavy with ripe fruit. I carefully arrange the bag I am carrying to hang in front of my belly, so that as I lean into the vines, I am not directly snagged in the thorns. Squatting down to reach some of the lower berries, a snake skin resting in the grass catches my attention. Placing it carefully in my bag, well away from the containers of berries, I take it as a sign to work with Fire later tonight. Allies in transformation…
In the evening, preparing for a burning ritual, I begin by anointing myself with amber and sandalwood oils, then gather a variety of herbs, bark, and resins for a small fire in the outdoor pit. Keeping the fire hot and contained so relatively few ashes float about, I keep the ritual short, intense and sweet.
After the burning, I bathe. Hanging my towel, Night-Moth flies out of nowhere right at my mouth as I am inhaling. She hits my lips with her soft and full body. Bouncing off, I am left momentarily startled. I look around. Where is she? I do not see her anywhere. Is she delivering some sort of message?
Sept 25th, 2012
We need rain. The plants, the land – they all need rain. I have decided that I will sing or dance each night to call the rains. I spoke this intention to one of my students, and she is also going to do a dance each night to call the rains until they come.
I walk outside. It is beautifully serene. The stars are hanging in the sky and the moon is nearing fullness, shining through the trees, rays of light touching the earth with cool white light.
At first, I do not know what to do. I have never really danced to the rains. I stand under the sky and look up. I wait for inspiration. I walk around, twirl, reach my arms out... Inspiration does not come.
I decide to walk to Life-Blood Tree.
Laying hands on her, I can feel that her energy is not near the surface, but rather withdrawn deep into her interior. Closing my eyes, I sense into her roots, and ask if she can carry my prayers for rains deep into Mother Earth's belly. It is dark here. Dry earth surrounds me. Even the insects and worms are withdrawn from the surface, shrinking into the earth trying to seek moisture. I feel my awareness turning and gliding along the surface of Life-Blood’s trunk, upward along deep crevices of rough bark, to her uppermost branches. I ask that she carry prayers to the winds and sky – to reach over the ocean waters and call the clouds, pulling them toward us. "May the rains be gentle and consistent at night, and may the skies clear during the days," I ask.
I turn and walk away, and she calls me back. "Do you not want to hear your message?" she asks.
I return to her, and lay hands on her trunk once again. "Yes. please," I say.
"It is time," she says. "It is time. Do not be afraid to transition as a teacher. You are needed to teach these connections to land, spirits and the sacred... You are needed to spread these teachings. It is not enough to give them as you do at the college. Gaia needs you to make the learning experiential and direct with her.
Have people walk the land and connect. When enough beings make these connections in this way, healing is possible – healing and rebalancing of Earth is possible."
A doorway in my heart opens. Images and feelings begin to pour through me, and I am aware of a growing heart-to-heart connection with Nature, the Earth, and cosmos.
"It is time for you to begin to transition."
I thank Life-Blood tree and walk a small distance away, looking up at the sky once again. Inspiration arises as sound in my throat and I begin to sing a wordless song to the skies. When I finish, there is a moment of silence, and then a peeper-frog begins to chirp.
Peeper-frog, a creature of the waters of hope, continues to chirp – his gentle presence an affirmation that the waters will come in response to these combined prayers for rain.
Blackberry vines clamber over fence and rocks, each branch hanging heavy with ripe fruit. I carefully arrange the bag I am carrying to hang in front of my belly, so that as I lean into the vines, I am not directly snagged in the thorns. Squatting down to reach some of the lower berries, a snake skin resting in the grass catches my attention. Placing it carefully in my bag, well away from the containers of berries, I take it as a sign to work with Fire later tonight. Allies in transformation…
In the evening, preparing for a burning ritual, I begin by anointing myself with amber and sandalwood oils, then gather a variety of herbs, bark, and resins for a small fire in the outdoor pit. Keeping the fire hot and contained so relatively few ashes float about, I keep the ritual short, intense and sweet.
After the burning, I bathe. Hanging my towel, Night-Moth flies out of nowhere right at my mouth as I am inhaling. She hits my lips with her soft and full body. Bouncing off, I am left momentarily startled. I look around. Where is she? I do not see her anywhere. Is she delivering some sort of message?
Sept 25th, 2012
We need rain. The plants, the land – they all need rain. I have decided that I will sing or dance each night to call the rains. I spoke this intention to one of my students, and she is also going to do a dance each night to call the rains until they come.
I walk outside. It is beautifully serene. The stars are hanging in the sky and the moon is nearing fullness, shining through the trees, rays of light touching the earth with cool white light.
At first, I do not know what to do. I have never really danced to the rains. I stand under the sky and look up. I wait for inspiration. I walk around, twirl, reach my arms out... Inspiration does not come.
I decide to walk to Life-Blood Tree.
Laying hands on her, I can feel that her energy is not near the surface, but rather withdrawn deep into her interior. Closing my eyes, I sense into her roots, and ask if she can carry my prayers for rains deep into Mother Earth's belly. It is dark here. Dry earth surrounds me. Even the insects and worms are withdrawn from the surface, shrinking into the earth trying to seek moisture. I feel my awareness turning and gliding along the surface of Life-Blood’s trunk, upward along deep crevices of rough bark, to her uppermost branches. I ask that she carry prayers to the winds and sky – to reach over the ocean waters and call the clouds, pulling them toward us. "May the rains be gentle and consistent at night, and may the skies clear during the days," I ask.
I turn and walk away, and she calls me back. "Do you not want to hear your message?" she asks.
I return to her, and lay hands on her trunk once again. "Yes. please," I say.
"It is time," she says. "It is time. Do not be afraid to transition as a teacher. You are needed to teach these connections to land, spirits and the sacred... You are needed to spread these teachings. It is not enough to give them as you do at the college. Gaia needs you to make the learning experiential and direct with her.
Have people walk the land and connect. When enough beings make these connections in this way, healing is possible – healing and rebalancing of Earth is possible."
A doorway in my heart opens. Images and feelings begin to pour through me, and I am aware of a growing heart-to-heart connection with Nature, the Earth, and cosmos.
"It is time for you to begin to transition."
I thank Life-Blood tree and walk a small distance away, looking up at the sky once again. Inspiration arises as sound in my throat and I begin to sing a wordless song to the skies. When I finish, there is a moment of silence, and then a peeper-frog begins to chirp.
Peeper-frog, a creature of the waters of hope, continues to chirp – his gentle presence an affirmation that the waters will come in response to these combined prayers for rain.
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