Moonrise
One of my FaceBook friends posted to go look at the moon….NOW when the moon was rising. I ran outside after wrapping myself in a blanket.
It was rising in the east over the gathering of cows nestled under the ancient live oak trees. I stood at the fence, almost within their herd, and witnessed a spectacular full moon rising, orange and huge in its supermoon status. As I stood in silence, the munching of hay could be heard amongst the herd. The bovines made it feel so much more powerful with their black coloring and the energy of mothers and calves…and their general deep groundedness.
A calf mooed in the distance, calling for its mom. A large bat flew overhead, silent in its passing a few feet over my head. The shuffling of hooves on grass and hay could be felt through the ground. It was as if I stepped into another dimension of amplified sensation and experience.
I started singing a song about the moon and one of the cows walked over to the fence. She started moving to the song, not exactly dancing but did some strange twisting and turning that didn’t appear to be related to giving birth or scratching an itch… but who knows . The other songs I sang seemed to equally appeal to her.
As the moon rose higher in the sky I walked back to the open area between my home and the fence and watched the light grow in brilliance. The bat dipped down closer as I sang and opened my arms in gratitude for the trees that stand as guardians to my home and shelter such beautiful life….hawks, owls and all manner of songbirds. Their presence in the moonlight seemed especially strong as the tide turned from winter to spring here in the northern hemisphere.
This is a time of strong energy, of change and movement, as spring brings us to a time of new beginnings. I welcome these beginnings and the adventures that await.
As I sang and danced under the moonlight, under the limbs of magnificent oaks, I felt connected to the lineage of women who have walked this Earth as change-makers, healers, lovers of life. Let us arise and awaken to beauty within and around us.
(P.S. I took no photographs….just enjoyed the beauty and captured in my heart and mind….and included images I took at other times).
For over a year when I ride my bike or walk, the same message is heard: make a conscious connection to nature. It began when I was in Ireland in February 2018. My friend and I were staying in a little holiday home that had very little heat. It snowed during the night and was quite cold. It was more than the cold weather and lack of warmth, the entire energy of the place was ‘off.’
After a night spent snuggled under the covers, I got up early and walked out with my camera. The light dusting of snow was lovely and the creek below had white frosting on the rocks surrounding it. As I stood at the top of a steep embankment, I noticed a lot of trash that had been simply pushed off the edge when the cheap holiday homes were constructed. Vines and vegetation had grown over and concealed much of it but the evidence was still there….pipes, cans, old lumber bits and pieces.
After spending over a week along the Wild Atlantic Way with pristine scenery and amazing vistas packed with raw, elemental energy, it was quite a shock and disappointment to see the mess. I ran back to the house and grabbed my new Low F Celtic Whistle…which sounds more like a flute with its beautiful mellow tone. I arrived back at the pile of trash above the creek and began playing.
Due to the freezing temperature, the sounds weren’t perfect. Not to mention that I had just purchased it and wasn’t yet familiar with the wider finger placements…which had my hands twisted like a pretzel. Regardless, I opened my heart to the place and sent love and compassion to it through the music. As soon as I began to play I felt the energy of the place shift. It was as if it perked up and took notice. I felt it communicate a sense of surprise that a human would send appreciation to it after other humans trashed it.
So I played with intention and felt a returning energy of gratitude and a soothing of hurtful wounds. Even with freezing fingers and metal that wasn’t sure it wanted warm breath moving through it, the low tones filled the frosty air with love and appreciation for Nature and all beings that lived in that area.
The idea to consciously play music for the Earth really took root within me. Perhaps it isn’t grand gestures that will shift our human consciousness but rather everyday efforts to intentionally connect with the Earth….the living Earth.
It will look and feel different for everyone but here are a few suggestions: read a poem to the Earth each morning; sing a song to Her every day; dance barefoot on Her every day; do yoga outside and work with nature energies as you move through your practice; meditate outdoors and consciously connect with Earth Mother; write a love letter to the Earth each day and read it aloud to Her; when you’re walking outdoors speak your gratitude for flowers, trees, grasses, soil, birds, worms, butterflies; go outside and simply listen with an open mind and heart; say prayers for Mother Earth outdoors and say them out loud.
Suggestion: keep an Earth journal and note what you did and your experience during and afterwards.
Gaia, also spelled Gaea, is the personification of the Earth. Gaia is the ancestral mother of all life: the primal Mother Earth goddess.
Gaia Hypothesis by James Lovelock, a UK chemist, claims the resident life forms of a host planet coupled with their environment act like a single, self-regulating system.
May the first rays of dawn warm your face as the sun rises on a new day and may they inspire you to know the light burning in your heart.
May the first drops of dew kiss your bare feet and clear your past of all that troubles you.
May a fresh wind carry away your heartaches and give you new perspective on your beautiful life.
May you know the strength of your ancestors and feel it in your bones.
May the beauty of nature guide you deeper into communion with all life.
May your eyes see the suffering of the world with compassion.
May you know the beauty of your soul and allow it to shine brightly.
When time sits heavy on your shoulders and the days seem void of joy, may your breath lead you to the calm, quiet place of stillness that lives within your core.
On the other side of the threshold lies unlimited possibility. I see an endless sky filled with stars and a single, brilliantly huge star leading the way home—hovering like a diamond in the night sky over mountains calling me home. The embrace of those ancient mountains calls me hometo myself…to frolic in my own freedom.
The macro lens wanted to play amongst the azaleas. Admittedly, it was my love of abstract flower power that called me to these amazing bloomers. While there I connected with many bumblebees. They are now an endangered species….so many of our pollinators are dying. So my meditation was to simply connect with them, send them love and thank them.
As they buzzed around me and feasted on the sweet nectar–while gathering pollen–I repeated the mantra, Thank you. Thank you. Thank you sweet pollinators.
They brought me into the present moment and from there I found gratitude and peace.