Sound and Silence in the Wind

“The sound of the wind through a great loom of trees is silence.” ~ Clarissa Pinkola Estes

I sit down to meditate on my first morning in the bushveld.

Silence. Nothing but silence around me.

The air is teeming with energy as it settles. I am painfully aware of the silence. Back home, even in moments of deep stillness, the distant hum of traffic in the background is ever present. I’d become so used to it, I’d blocked it out. I didn’t hear it anymore, or if I did, I decided that it sounded like the ocean.

Now that I am made aware of the stark different two, I remember what real silence was. It is almost unnerving.

A breeze picks up. A gentle gust rushes through the long bush grass and something in the sound calls to me. Another gust comes. Again, I am taken by the sound it makes as it shakes the tall blades of yellow grass.

Yet another gust of passing air rushes over, this time rustling the leaves of the acacia thorn trees before me. The sound is different to before. A lower note it seems.

I move from my meditation spot and sit under the trees, listening to both the sound of the light breeze passing through the leaves and the silence in-between. In my mind’s eye I see a vision of the energy generated by the sound pouring down into my aura. It feels light, soft and fluffy like a cloud. It feels…peaceful.

Moving to the edge of the path, I listen to the grass. I am aware of how different the sound is to the wind flowing through the trees to that of the dancing grasses. It seems the wind, the trees and the grasses are musicians at play, coming together to conjure up different notes of the same song – a beautiful timeless ballad called Peace.   

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Space Clearing for a Fresh Start & How to Make Your Own Smudge Spray

I’m a firm believer in the idea that your home should be a sacred sanctuary that nurtures your Spirit. It’s important to me to be able to enjoy my home and to feel that my space supports me spiritually. I love having spaciousness, Nature and sacred spaces to encounter Spirit in my home. From time to time, when the energy in your space becomes stagnant, de-cluttering and clearing out stagnant or negative energies is an important part of making a fresh start and getting things to flow again. What better time to do some space clearing than at the outset of this New Year?

Smudge bundles work wonders, however my husband seemed to be affected by the smoke when I burn them. So sometimes I use smudge sprays. Clearing sprays are easy to make and I seem to sense a so much loving light and angelic essence filling my space when I work with them. I love using a combination of essential oils, crystals, salts and plant allies. It’s great to imbue the spray bottle with sparkling white light to Reiki energy as well.

The great thing about smudge sprays is that you can mix it up and tailor-make it according to your needs.

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How to Make Your Own Smudge Spray

 

You will need:

  • 1 50ml glass bottle (I prefer glass bottles, but plastic ones will also do)
  •  Essential oils (preferably sage, and one other of your choice)
  • Spring water or Filtered water
  • Crystal stones
  • A pinch of Himalayan Rock Salt or Sea Salt
  • Alcohol

 

I’ve seen many people using amber or cobalt glass bottles. I prefer a clear bottle because I like the sense of clearness and light that I get from it. I personally avoid plastic, but if you would like to use a plastic bottle then feel free to do so.

To make the smudge spray, fill ¾ of the bottle with spring/filtered water.

Add 4 to 8 drops of sage essential oil. Sage is a wonderful plant ally that is known for its powerful sacred clearing medicine and spiritual healing properties. (To my understanding, it is not advisable for pregnant women to use sage essential oil. So avoid if you’re pregnant and investigate other options.) In addition to the sage essential oil, you can also add 2 to 4 drops of another essential oil of your choice, especially if you’d like to give your spray a nice scent. Try cedar or lemon together with the sage oil to enhance the sacred clearing properties of the spray or something like lavender or geranium for a pleasant scent. I often I work with the healing energies of flowers, so I add a few drops of rose essential oil. I then apply a little Flower Essence Reiki to charge the spray with white rose energy. White roses help purify negative energy in your space and your aura. Sometimes, I add a fresh sage leaf and a few white rose petals into the bottle too. This further activates the clearing medicine of these beautiful plant allies.  

Add a dash of alcohol. You can use spraying alcohol which is usually available at most craft stores or a dash of a clear spirit such as vodka. Alcohol helps to preserve the spray, but you don’t have to use it if you don’t like having alcohol in your products. Avoid if you have sensitive skin that reacts to alcohol.  

Put a pinch of Himalayan Rock Salt or Sea Salt into the bottle. This amplifies the sacred clearing properties of the spray.

Next, draw on the healing power of crystals by either putting a small quartz crystal inside of the bottle or placing a few large crystals around the bottle and letting it stand so that it becomes charged with the crystal energy.

Finally, take a moment to be present with your smudge spray. Charge it with cleansing white light or Reiki energy. Call on your angels to imbue it with healing angelic light and love. Archangel Michael and Archangel Jophiel are wonderful Too give the spray a Goddess touch, I often let my bottle outside on a full-moon to charge under the moonlight.

And then you are good to go. Happy Space Clearing!

 

      

Kicking 2014 off in the Bush

How will you be seeing the New Year in?

The bush is calling me. It has been for a while. So for the next few days, that is where I will be.

I am looking forward to reconnecting with the spirit of a place so dear to my heart. I am looking forward to the wildness, the mystery and the primal calls primal calls of lions, hyenas and jackal. I am looking forward to stargazing under the midnight sky and deep conversations around the fire.

I love how the bushveld brings my inner wild woman to the fore. I love how the energy of the wild surges through my auric body and enhances my intuition somehow.

I am happy to have some quiet time to get clear on my core desired feelings, focus on my intentions for 2014 and to set in motion the alchemical process of bring my heart’s desires into being.  

These are small blessings that remind me what I have to be grateful for. And being able to start the New Year with a grateful heart, in a place that I love with the man that I love surely sets a great precedent for the year to come.  

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