Category: Nature + Moon + Tea

Night Time Mysteries – and “the world that could be ours”

This morning I walked out to greet the garden at the mystery hour of dawn. The air was so still, warm and soothing, it was as if I’d stepped into a comforting hug.

As I stood barefoot on the moist grass to ground myself, I was fascinated to discover a sea of wild mushrooms had sprung up overnight. Mushrooms are like magic. There was no sign of them yesterday. Yet today, there they were. I couldn’t help but imagine them being birthed under the midnight sky, only faeries and a thousand twinkling stars there to witness the miracle of their essence coming into being.

What other mysterious things are born in the dark hours of night, I wonder? When I lay my head to slumber and my soul returns to its place in the stars? What unseen things manifest before the sunrise of a new day illuminates the world? And also, who plucks the flowers from my tomato plant at night before they’ve had a chance to bear fruit?

It makes me think of Mary Oliver’s poem, Five AM in the Pinewoods. In the poem she talks about how she gathered from spoor tracks in the pine needles that two deer had visited the woods where she lives at night. So she goes to that spot in the wee hours of the morning to wait for them and quietly watches the pair when they show up. Oliver says that this isn’t a poem about a dream, but rather a poem about ‘the world that could be ours.’

Indeed, the world of Spirit and of Nature is so full of precious and wild mysteries just waiting for us to notice. And when we do notice, when we show up and pay attention, we discover a whole new world. One where Goddess is ever present. Along with this comes a deeper understanding of the inner mysteries of our souls. And perhaps by openning up to that world, we too may come to experience what Mary Oliver discovered when she said:

“so this is how you swim inward,

so this is how you flow outward,

so this is how you pray.”

~ Mary Oliver

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Sacred Space and Elephants

The moment these two majestic beasts arrived at the forest clearing with their guides, I was tempted to take your shoes off for it was clear that something incredibly holy had indeed just entered this space. I must say that I was completely intimidated by the sheer size of the young elephants. But once I looked into their big beautiful eyes, it was difficult not to fall in love with their sweet and playful nature.

To give this a bit of context, last week, my husband and I went to a friend’s wedding in the South African lowveld, a beautiful scenic part of the country with the bushveld as its backdrop. While there we made time to explore the area and connect with the wild life too. A definite highlight of the trip was visiting an elephant conservation sanctuary that cares for rescued elephants and runs an interaction programme. I’d been looking forward to doing this for months now and feel so blessed that it has finally come to pass.

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As spirit messengers, elephants hold various meanings, bringing messages of leadership, compassion, mothering, grieving, emotional healing and removing obstacles. In each of my encounters with them, I’ve found that these creatures embody such a peaceful and loving energy.

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In the interaction programme at the sanctuary, I was introduced with a young bull named Casper. Standing next to him, stroking his wrinkled skin and feeding him, I felt that I was in the presence of an incredible soul. His gentleness was so heart-warming and one can sense the profound and ancient wisdom that he carries in his bones. It only felt right to send love and healing energy his way as I brushed my hand against his skin. He had had a hard journey before he found refuge at this sanctuary, yet here he was still standing and emanating such compassion. It brings tears to eyes just thinking about the experience.

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Joseph Campbell said that – “Your sacred space is where you find yourself over and over again.” One thing that I know for sure is that wild Earth is my sacred space for it is where I find my way back to inner peace. When I was with the elephants, I know that I entered into a special kind of sacred space too.

Gathering Your Inner Wilds: How to Work with the wild Earth to Create Healing Affirmations

Happy Wednesday and Full Moon Blessings to You All!

It is said that the outer world is a reflection of our inner world. I am a firm believer in the idea that the wild Earth mirrors the wild, abundant and unlimited inner essence alive within the center of your being – your wild essence. Nature’s sacred whispers therefore have so many profound lessons to teach us about life and about ourselves too.

Like many fellow sojourners on a spiritual path, I love being immersed in the healing vibration of Mother Earth. Whatever I go out into wild spaces, I collect pieces of the Earth – feathers, acorns, pine corns, lichens – whatever she has to offer me. I love bringing these pieces into my home, creating alters with them or placing them in my meditation space. Each of them carries a story and a unique vibrational energy. I am constantly seeking out ways to integrate these healing energy and spiritual lessons. One thing that allows me to do so is by intuitively working with these pieces of Earth to create healing affirmations. After doing this for several months, I’m so grateful for the shifts that this exercise seems to have catalyzed in me. So with that in mind, I’d like to share how can do so too.

 Wild Earth Affirmations Blog

How to Work with the Wild Earth to Create Healing Affirmations:   

Prep Meditation: Find a quiet spot in Nature to sit down comfortably. Close your eyes. Breathein and out slowly as you relax and centre yourself. Connect to your inner self or wild essence for a few moments. Then visualise etheric roots growing down from that space and connecting with the energy body of the Earth. Ask your inner wild essence, as well as your spirit guides/angels and Mother Earth to guide you as you collect pieces of Nature in your environment. If you like, you can set the intention to collect four objects, one for each element, each representing an aspect of yourself. Open up to herguidance. When you are ready, end your meditation and open eyes.

The Gathering: Staying present in the moment, explore your environment mindfully. Gather whichever natural items speak to you, reminding yourself that what you are doing is a bit like symbolically gathering forgotten aspects of yourself. Choose whatever you are drawn to – a stone, a feather, an acorn, a seashell or a piece of bark. Pay attention to any intuitive sparks or insights that come to you as you go about your gathering. Both the New Moon and the Full Moon are great times for gathering.

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Creating Your Affirmations: Once you’ve collected your Nature pieces, then either open your journal to a clean page or get a blank sheet of loose paper to write on. Place one of the Nature objects that you’ve collected on the page. Look at the object and attune to its energy. Write down three or four words – positive qualities that the objects embody. Once you the have words, you can then use them to create a mantra that you can use for the relevant life area. When you’ve created your affirmation/mantra, use it daily. Meditate on it or add it to your vision board.

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As per the image above, a while ago I used feathers for my Air/Mental mantra. The words tied to the qualities of the feather that stood out to me were: Light, Free, Surrender and Flow. At the time I was resisting flow a lot and struggling to surrender to what was. The mantra that I came up with was thus: “I feel as light and free as a feather when I surrender and flow with the Universe.” The more I used this affirmation, the easier it became to surrender and flow.