
Shamanic Earth Tending
Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
are not lost. Where you are is called Here,
and you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
you are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
where you are. You must let it find you.
~David Waggoner
#forest
#earth
#nature
#presence
#wisdom
#here
#now
Photo by Nancy Lankston
As Earth Day approaches, our thoughts naturally turn to loving, honoring and helping Mama Earth.
Please join Nancy Lankston in a shamanic exploration with Mama Earth.
Let’s journey in the shamanic style and ask the land and waters how we can help. Let’s call on the Celtic Goddess Danu – the ancient, primordial mother of all things – and ask for guidance.
How can we be of service?
What does the land ask of us?
What do the waters have to share?
How can we tend to the needs of our mother Danu / Pachamama / Gaia on Earth Day and every day?
This is a Free online Zoom event
Oh do you have time
to linger
for just a little while
out of your busy
and very important day
for the goldfinches
that have gathered
in a field of thistles
for a musical battle,
to see who can sing
the highest note,
or the lowest,
or the most expressive of mirth,
or the most tender?
Their strong, blunt beaks
drink the air
as they strive
melodiously
not for your sake
and not for mine
and not for the sake of winning
but for sheer delight and gratitude –
believe us, they say,
it is a serious thing
just to be alive
on this fresh morning
in the broken world.
I beg of you,
do not walk by
without pausing
to attend to this
rather ridiculous performance.
It could mean something.
It could mean everything.
It could be what Rilke meant, when he wrote:
You must change your life.
~Mary Oliver
🕊️
Image: European goldfinches
by Anton Mir-Mar
The universe is composed of subjects to be communed with, not objects to be exploited. Everything has its own voice. Thunder and lightening and stars and planets, flowers, birds, animals, trees, – all these have voices, and they constitute a community of existence that is profoundly related.
~Thomas Berry
🌀
Image: Artist unknown