Related posts:

1. Wordless Wednesday: Spring at the Farmers Market
2. Wordless Wednesday: Spring at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
3. Wordless Wednesday: Gold

This week, I’m guest posting over at Essence of Wild, on the Gaian Tarot and Becoming Native to our Place.

Essence of Wild is the home of Jackie and Jason, and their wonderful Barefoot Breathing e-course.

Green and Barefoot Blessings!

Related posts:

1. Moment of Grace: First Wild Roses of Summer
2. First Aid with Wild Herbs (Celebrating Plants in the Springtime)
3. First Aid with Wild Herbs, Part 3 (Celebrating Plants in the Springtime)

A guest post by Loran Hills of Loran’s Heart.

(Joanna’s note: I am fascinated by the ways that people love the Places they call home, and I love hearing their stories. Here’s one by my friend Loran.)

I raise my arms and greet the east:

In my youth I dreamed of living in the country.  Eventually my dream came true.  My husband and I live on twenty acres in the alpine desert of northeastern Utah.  Surrounded by sagebrush, cedars and juniper trees, our house sits at 6800’ (2072m).  Cactus, sego lilies and Indian paintbrush bloom in the spring.  The Uinta (you-in-tah) mountain range is the only one in the US that runs east – west.

Today I walked east on a gravel road to the mailbox.  Bridgid’s Day is in the past but it’s not yet Spring Equinox.  The days are getting longer.

Spring weather is unpredictable.  “If you don’t like it, wait five minutes.”  We can experience snow, rain, sun, and hail all in one day.

My two children were young maidens when we moved here and, although they could roam free, they often preferred to play inside.  I never understood this.  As a city kid I longed to play outside in the woods.

I raise my arms and greet the south:

Castle Cove is magical.  It’s a stunning blend of rock formations and pine trees.  Fog and snowstorms arrive over the top of the mountain and swirl around the rocks.  The play between sun and clouds, weather and terrain is enchanting.

We live at the end of a dead end road.  Visitors from the city comment how quiet it is. Today I heard the wind and the birds.

Summer weather is dry, windy and hot, but not unbearably so.  Sometimes there are large and dangerous fires.

As teenagers my daughters couldn’t easily sneak in and out of the house.  They couldn’t get cell service then either.  It was a good thing.

I raise my arms and greet the west:

Pine Ridge is covered in Ponderosa pines; they are large, old, magnificent trees.  One of them is my special friend.  I visit when I can but it’s a steep, treacherous climb up.  After a back injury last year I climbed down from the road to visit instead but it wasn’t the same.

There is a two-hour hike from the house to a cow pond at the bottom of Sawtooth Ridge where once I saw a coyote.  We frequently hear them at night.  I’ve seen fox too.  The jackrabbit and cottontail populations ebb and flow.

Fall is usually the most beautiful season of the year with its balmy days and chilly nights.

My children are in college and my nest is empty now except for the holidays and summer.

I raise my arms and greet the north:

Dry Fork Canyon is well known to tourists who travel the Red Cloud Loop Road to behold the sandstone cliffs and wildlife.  I’ve traveled to many exotic places in the world, but the Flume Trail remains one my favorite places to hike.  Every excursion on the trail is unique to the time of day and season.

Winter can be harsh, extremely cold and filled with snowy days.  It lasts a long time; sometimes it feels eternal.  Although it’s not good for the water table, this winter has been quite mild.

We live with animals, both wild and domestic.  Every evening a flock of wild turkeys peck and scratch under our birdfeeders looking for seeds before they roost at night in the cottonwood trees. Deer raid the bird feeders too and eat my columbines and day lilies.  Blue jays hop into the duck coop looking for scratch. Occasionally, in winter, a goshawk will come down from the pines and scout its prey.

Driving home one night a mountain lion crossed the road in front of me.  I was so thrilled I almost stopped breathing.  Some time ago a moose met me on the Flume Trail.  I’ve seen traces of bear on the trail too.  Our llamas sound their alarm when there are intruders.  The dogs are friendlier when they greet new arrivals.  Skunks, raccoons and magpies enjoy the cat food.

Because we have no light pollution, on a clear night the Milky Way gleams in the sky.  It’s easy to follow the cycles of the moon, the sun, the planets and the constellations.  I love to gaze at the Pleiades in winter’s heavenly vault.

The circle is cast.

I grew up on the east coast where it’s congested with people and vegetation.  When I first moved “out west,” the terrain was vast beyond my comprehension.  Now I adore the open space.

Little Mountain is red in color and sits above the Dry Fork Cemetery, an old settlement graveyard.  Although it’s not groomed, there are a lot of quirky decorations, stone benches and well-seasoned headstones.  I felt inexplicably happy when I bought my burial plot a few years ago.

With camera in hand, I’ve increased my awareness of minute changes in light and season.  My connection to the Earth nourishes my spirit daily.  I have become native to this land that I love wholeheartedly.

The circle is open but unbroken.

---

 

 

Loran Hills is curious about all things related to personal growth and spiritual exploration. By opening her heart and letting her light shine, she is inspiring others to follow their own paths towards deeper inner meaning in life and a more enchanted existence.  She is especially fond of using her nature photographs and writing prompts to encourage others to journal.

Related posts:

1. Becoming Native to Your Place
2. Getting to Know Your Place
3. Finding Your Secret Place

Related posts:

1. Wordless Wednesday ~ Late Summer on the Beach
2. Wordless Wednesday: Green Beach Glass
3. Wordless Wednesday ~ Beach Stone

“Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.”
— Rumi 

This Valentine’s Day, let’s consider the multiplicity of ways that we open our hearts. How fortunate we are, to have so many opportunities to love.

“Even after all this time, the sun never says to the earth ‘You owe me.’ 
Look what happens with a love like that. It lights up the whole sky.”
- Hafiz   

No related posts.

(Looking back to 2007 and this post.)

Related posts:

1. Wordless Wednesday: Hungry Visitors
2. Wordless Wednesday: OwlsDaughter’s Woods
3. Wordless Wednesday: Rosehip Icicles

I am thrilled that my first-ever Gaian Soul Retreat, coming up this September on beautiful Whidbey Island, is already 2/3 full.  I set my intention for a group of lovely, amazing women to join me, and boy howdy, have they ever!

But there’s still room for more . . . perhaps you might be the next one to join us. (Click on the image above to watch the wind spirits play with my hair!)

Come, drink deeply with us from the sacred well of Nature, Spirit, Creativity and Community!

Related posts:

1. Join me for the first-ever Gaian Soul Retreat next September!
2. Mermaids on Retreat: Photos & Doodle-Sketches
3. A Gaian Soul Chat with James Wells

“Blessed be the precious and preserving water,
the water of life, our cleansing guest.”
- Caitlin Matthews

This week, over in my “Gaian Soul Practices for Candlemas” e-course, we are considering the theme of “Cleansing and Purification.”  So there’s a water theme weaving its way through the material.

Today’s journal prompt is:

What bodies of water (lake, sea, river) do you hold as sacred? 

For me, the waters I hold as most sacred are:

• The waters of the Salish Sea, especially around Lummi Island and Orcas Island.
• The Nooksack River, as it winds its way down from Komo Kulshan (Mt Baker) to Bellingham Bay.
• Bellingham Bay itself, where we left a cedar wreath symbolizing my father, thrown from a US Coast Guard cutter, a few days after his memorial service in August of 1996.  (USCG would not allow us to scatter his ashes.)
• Chalice Well in Glastonbury, England.
• The beach near Merlin’s Cave, Tintagel, Cornwall, England.
• The waters off the California coast between Monterey and Big Sur.

It’s not so surprising then, that many of these waters found their way into the imagery of the Gaian Tarot.

The Ace of Water shows a young salmon emerging from a deep pool in the Nooksack River.

The Elder of Water shows a man in a skiff in Hale Passage (in the Salish Sea) between Lummi Island and the mainland.

The Nine of Water shows me in Merlin’s Cave, Tintagel, Cornwall.

The Four of Water shows a woman kneeling by the side of Chalice Well.

In the Gaian Tarot, the suit of Water stands in for the traditional suit of Cups. Water in the tarot embodies emotions (bliss, love, sorrow, joy, grief, disappointment), inner depths, dreams, fantasies, imagination, healing, spirituality and mysticism.

Oh yes, and — cleansing.

When it comes to our relationship with Mama Gaia and Mama Ocean, it’s all about reciprocity.  So yes, Her waters cleanse us — and we have a responsibility to protect and cleanse Her waters as well. So we get to know our own watersheds, and we contribute to organizations we trust who are doing the work. We get our hands dirty (literally) and do what we can.

I love Dr. Emoto’s simple prayer for the waters of the world:

We’re sorry, Water.
Please forgive us, Water.
We thank you, Water.
We love you, Water.

Dear Reader, what bodies of water do you hold as sacred? How do they cleanse you, and how do you, in turn, protect them?

Related posts:

1. Weekly Wisdom: Communing with Mama Ocean
2. Weekly Wisdom: Allow Healing to Flow Through You
3. Weekly Wisdom: Silence & Solitude

(Not quite wordless!)

We welcome you, Brigit, on Candlemas Eve,
We pray for your blessing new life to receive, 
O Mother of Poetry, teach me your art, 
That your inspiration may enter my heart.

O Mistress of Magic that stands by the fire 
And shapes the bright metal to the form you desire; 
O Mother of Smithcraft, please teach me your art, 
That the power of changing may enter my heart.

You kindle the springtime to quicken the earth, 
From under your mantle the old has new birth, 
O Mother of Healing, please teach me your art, 
That peace and contentment may enter my heart.

— Mara Freeman, Kindling the Celtic Spirit

Related posts:

1. Wordless Wednesday: Spring at the Farmers Market
2. Secrets of Spring, Part 3 ~ Easy Birding
3. Secrets of Spring ~ The Language of the Birds, Part 2

(This post is part of a Tarot Blog Hop, the brainchild of Stephanie Arwen Lynch. A group of tarot bloggers are all blogging on the same topic today, “How can I be the best candle?” in honor of Candlemas. 

The blogger before me is the lovely Jaymi Elford, and the one after me is the astounding Jordan Hoggard.  Be sure to check their blogs out, and hop on through to the others!)

“How can I be the best candle?” I mused, and immediately flashed on one of my favorite poems by Rumi:

There is a candle in your heart,
      ready to be kindled.
There is a void in your soul,
      ready to be filled.
You feel it, don’t you?

You feel the separation
      from the Beloved.
Invite Her* to fill you up,
      embrace the fire.

Remind those who tell you otherwise that
      Love
      comes to you of its own accord,
      and the yearning for it
      cannot be learned in any school.

In the Gaian Tarot Four of Fire, a woman stands within a sacred circle, the four directions marked by tall votive candles. A dozen smaller candles mark the rim of the circle. She is breathing deeply, allowing the energy of the desert night to flood her body. Energy moves up from the earth and down from the sky into her body. Kundalini rises, power flows, all blocks are gone. She is marking a personal rite of passage and exulting in her own empowerment.

This woman has, in Rumi’s words, embraced the sacred fire. She is no longer separate from the Beloved, but instead is filled with Her. Indeed, the Beloved has taken up residence as the candle in her heart.

How can I be the best candle? By opening my heart to the Beloved and embracing the sacred flame of passion, creativity and love.

How about you, dear Reader?  How might you be the best candle?

Do the Tarot Blog Hop!

>>>Click here to hop backward to Jaymi Elford’s blog, Inner Compass Tarot Coaching.

>>>Click here to hop forward to Jordan Hoggard’s blog, The Land of Mystereum.

~~~~~

*Since I am a devotee of the Great Mother, I changed Rumi’s “Him” to “Her.”

Related posts:

1. Gaian Tarot on Beyond Worlds / Blog Talk Radio
2. Solstice Moon, Solstice Candle
3. Wordless Wednesday: First Candle, Advent of the Sun