Speaking with Nature: Awakening to the Deep Wisdom of the Earth - Sandra Ingerman, Llyn Roberts 2015
Wild Rose - Sandra
Blackberry Plant and Wild Rose
Wild Rose says, “Tread lightly as you walk on this earth.”
Wild Rose thickets grow after a fast-moving fire and bloom in spring. Many of us perceive the Rose as a symbol of love and connection to the power and beauty of the feminine. We are touched each spring as Rose blossoms brighten the earth with delicate color and the air with a sweet fragrance. Roses are one of the first flowers we think of sending to someone when we want to show our love.
Take a few minutes to reflect on Rose. Close your eyes and imagine inhaling the scent of a rose. The fragrance immediately connects you to the goddess. The sweet scent and folds of the colorful petals might remind you of the magic of life and the amazing beauty that surrounds us on this Earth. With your eyes still closed, bring to your mind’s eye your favorite color Rose. As you imagine breathing in the sweet fragrance, feel your heart expand. Notice how your body begins to relax, creating a sensation of inner expansiveness. You feel more energy coursing through you and your eyes soften as you gaze on this exquisite flower.
When you feel ready, open your eyes while continuing to experience the expansiveness of your heart.
Every morning while I drink my tea, I gaze out my window, where there is an abundant thicket of pink Wild Roses. This is my time for reflection and meditation before arising and being consumed by all the responsibilities of my life. I take my time sipping my tea, and as I gaze into nature, I attune to myself, to my helping spirits, and to the Earth. I give gratitude for all that sustains my life and for my loved ones and friends. I give thanks for my life and for all that life brings to me. This is the most precious time of my day. I gaze further, to the piñon and juniper trees that stand tall on the land, but I spend most of my time staring aimlessly into the expanse of thickets of Wild Rose.
The Wild Rose informs me of the change in seasons. It blossoms in spring, the leaves drop to the ground when summer shifts to fall, and the bright red-brown branches dull as autumn turns to winter. I delight in watching the migration of birds who eat the flowers and fruits during spring and summer. I am always happy and excited when I see the return of the bees to collect pollen for their hive.
The Wild Roses growing just outside my window are hearty and healthy, for there is sufficient groundwater in the land where they are rooted that no extra is needed. My favorite time is when the Roses are in bloom and I can smell the gentle fragrance from the abundant small pink blossoms. And I love to watch the red fruits—the rose hips—bloom after the blossoms die. This fruit of the roses turn bright red in summer. They become ripe in late summer through autumn. Rose hips contain high levels of vitamin C, and I love the tangy taste of rose hip tea that I drink when I feel a cold encroaching. Wild Rose hips provide sustenance to many animals and are an important winter food.
Although I spend a great deal of time walking on the land, the dense, thorny Rose thickets are impenetrable. To me this is sacred ground that cannot be disturbed. The beautiful Wild Rose prevents humans from disturbing the earth.
As Llyn so eloquently wrote, a variety of plants and trees grow after land has been disturbed to protect the soil during the process of regeneration. In New Mexico oak and aspen trees are the first to grow after a fire. Wild Rose can also quickly regenerate after a fire. The growth of trees and plants after a fire is part of the cycle of death and rebirth on the land.
People in native cultures understand that we must honor and respect this great Earth, our home. To native peoples every day is a day of thanksgiving and gratitude. Their ancestors walked on this Earth throughout time speaking words of gratitude with each step and each breath. Prayers and thanks were given for the life received from the Earth so that all life might thrive. Honoring the principle of reciprocity, the Earth gives to us and we give back to the Earth with gratitude. As we care for her, she sustains us.
People in native cultures understand that nature is intelligent. Nature is seen as a helping spirit. The Earth is a living being and has all the information encoded in her to create necessary changes to ensure the continuation of life.
Earth, air, water, and fire are living beings that together make up the body of the Earth. We ourselves are earth, air, water, and fire. Our body is earth. We are also made of mostly water. Oxygen flows through our bloodstream. And the flame of our spirit is a reflection of the power of the sun and the fire that burns within the earth.
The earth is the ground on which we live and walk. She provides an abundance of food while surrounding us with beauty, color, fragrance, tastes, and textures for us to enjoy. The earth shares with us her bounty.
Water held us while we were growing in the womb, protecting us and helping transport nutrients to us. As the water breaks in the mother’s womb, the child is ushered into the world carried by the beauty of water. There is no life on Earth without water. Water reflects the beauty of our souls and also nurtures and cleanses us. Earth is called the water planet, as water covers the majority of the surface of our planet.
There is no life without air. Air is the first living being that greets us and welcomes us to life when we are born, for life begins with our first breath and ends with our last. We are in relationship with air with each breath that we take throughout life. We are often caressed by the air through a gentle breeze and cleansed by the air in a strong wind.
Fire is also an intelligent living being. Fire in the form of the sun gives us the energy to live. It is not electricity that gives us energy, but the sun. The sun is a teacher of unconditional giving as it continues to give us the energy we need in order to thrive and asks for nothing in return. Fire mirrors back to us our inner passion for life, the unlimited sustaining force.
When landscapes are in need of regeneration, fire comes to heal the earth. Humans are traumatized by forest fire, and we feel deep compassion for all the living beings that lose their lives and homes, but in truth the Earth needs fire for her continued health and well-being. It consumes what has died to provide nutrients for new life. Just as fire alters our outer landscape, so, too, our inner landscape changes over time.
Once fire has cleansed and healed the land, new life is born. Seeds that require intense heat to burst them open start to grow and blossom. Seeds carried by the wind are the first to recolonize. There are a variety of plants and trees that bring new nutrients to the land and protect it during this time of healing and evolution.
In the nursery industry there is a powder that contains the chemicals found in smoke. This family of chemicals mimics the chemicals found in soil after a burn and “convinces” seeds they have been through a fire. The smoke powder is added to water in which certain kinds of seeds are soaked before being germinated in potting soil, acting as a catalyst for seed germination. Seeds of more than 1,200 plants species respond to smoke.
Nature teaches us that death is not an end but a transition. In life we go through many little deaths before we experience the “big death,” leave our bodies, and transcend again to Source, Spirit, and a state of oneness.
The little deaths are all the changes and rites of passages we go through in life. And when we experience a life change, we might feel raw and vulnerable as we are sculpted into deeper beings with a new evolution of consciousness.
Just as the Earth protects itself, we must protect ourselves during times of transition as we would protect a newborn baby, because it’s not unusual to feel thin skinned during and after a major life change. We want to make sure that a newborn baby is held in love but also protected from too much energy that might overwhelm a new, unformed consciousness. In caring for a precious new life, we want to make sure it is not being overstimulated by the outer world.
That which we love, we protect. Just as we care for new life, the Earth protects the newness of life after a great change has occurred. The Earth is a master gardener.
The other side of protection is the innate desire and passion for life, which nature constantly mirrors back to us.
In our culture we are socialized and trained to fit into society. At a young age we’re told there are only a few creative geniuses and most of us are not one of them. We’re conditioned to compare ourselves to others and to follow the rules. “Do not shine your light too brightly” is a message given to many of us in a variety of ways; don’t stand out. Conformity has been, and continues to be, encouraged.
In our world today the light has gone out of many people’s eyes, replaced with blank stares and a lack of presence and joy. When the light goes out of our eyes, the light goes out of the Earth. People living in the Western world are not, in general, living a creative life filled with passion and meaning. And our lack of passion for life is reflected in the number of emotional and physical illnesses afflicting us.
Nature teaches us about the power that comes from allowing ourselves to grow wild and be passionate. Nature teaches us about the beauty that is revealed as we grow in vibrance and vitality, mirroring the plants and trees around us. We must shine our lights as brightly as the sun on a clear day and the stars in the night sky. In this way we caretake our inner gardens and create fertile soil, which leads to a life filled with laughter, joy, peace, health, and well-being.
Our destiny as humans is to caretake this great Earth. We are the caretakers and gardeners of our inner and outer sacred Earth.
Practices
Go outside and dig your fingers into the earth. Allow your hands to fully connect with the earth. Feel the energy of that connection traveling through your fingers into your hands. Feel the texture of the earth against your fingertips. Notice any changing sensations in your body as you connect deeply with the earth. With eyes closed, start to repeat to yourself, “Earth is my home. My body is the home of my spirit.” As you continue to do this over time, you will feel a deeper connection with the preciousness of life.
Take some time to engage in a simple meditation. Imagine that a beautiful garden grows within you. Life is filled with change and your garden changes during different cycles of your life. Old plants, representing old beliefs and attitudes that no longer serve you, need to be removed. Life might have brought so much change that it is time to simply let the soil in your garden rest. You can feel this in your cells. There is an intuitive knowing that a cycle has ended, a new one is germinating, and you must protect the soil.
Imagine yourself as earth. What might you grow in your garden to make sure it is protected during this time of regeneration before the newness of life begins to take shape again? What boundaries do you need to create? This is a time of turning your focus and attention within as new thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, and visions are born.
We were born with a DNA program encoded with the knowledge of what we need in order to thrive, including the information we need to heal ourselves. This same knowledge is contained in every seed planted in our inner and outer garden.
When change occurs, if we sink into the depth of our own inner knowing and allow ourselves to simply be and rest, we allow nature’s intelligence to operate. As humans we tend to immediately look at what we need to do, to “fix” it, but there are times we must rest and allow the energy to build inside us before new birth can occur.
The elements clear the land through climatic events, such as storms, fire, and drought so that rebirth and evolution can occur. The earth we live on and the earth within each of us is intelligent. Let us not interfere with the process of evolution. Death, change, rebirth, and evolution are all part of life. We must learn to go with the flow rather than against it, not fight what life is bringing to us. And as the earth protects new life, we must learn how to protect ourselves while the inner process of life grows into a cycle of new beauty. Nature always informs us of how to flow with change versus resisting it.
Take some time to reflect on what you love in your life that you wish to protect and caretake.
Listen to a drumming track or other music that invokes a meditative state of consciousness, or you can drum or rattle for yourself. As you listen to the music, ask yourself: “What activities and creative endeavors would make me feel inspired and bring joy into my life?”
This writing practice will reveal your inner desires to you. As you listen to some meditative music, keep your eyes partially open. Write this question on a piece of paper: “What activities would bring passion and meaning back into my life?” Allow your pen or pencil to automatically write. Allow what is germinating in your unconscious to burst up through you and reignite your inner creative fire, so that your eyes shine with joy, vitality, and passion. Allow yourself to blossom into the great beauty that you are.
Commit to a hobby, whatever interests you, or to spending some time sitting on a park bench or walking through a garden. You will notice that you can add activities or hobbies into your life that spark the flame of inspiration and excitement. Would you like to learn a foreign language, garden, or perhaps tend beehives? Have you always wanted to play with watercolor paints? When was the last time you danced? Maybe you would like to take up a craft such as knitting, crocheting, carving, or sculpting. It is important for your health and feelings of well-being to wake up the strength of your creative fire. Starting with simple steps will lead you on a path to diving deeper into your own creative nature.