flame tree in flower
In my last series of articles, Reverence vs. The Machine, I wrote about our need for connection to God, to Others and to our Community - What Paul Kingsnorth terms “People, Place and Prayer”. I thought I would elaborate on ways to connect better with ‘Place’, the Natural World, the Earth…our Community is rooted in the Place we call home, where we are stewards of the land we inhabit along with the others around us. Through our connection to Place we can find our connection to the Divine and to Man.
Follow Nature’s Lead
There is no better way to get in touch with the Earth than to follow its lead - to wake when the sun rises, to sleep when the sun retreats, to slow down when the weather is disagreeable, rest in the heat of the day…
I find this is true also for being more in-tune with my partner. When we retire to bed together, greet the sun in the morning together and eat meals together, we are far more in touch with each other than when we are not in sync.
I know life can be busy for most people and the idea of waking with the sun seems an impossibility, especially when the sunrise is before 5am, but there is something magical about a sunrise. There seems to be a thinness between the human world and the Divine at sunrise, making the sacred more accessible to us. This is the ideal time for reflection, meditation, prayer, quite.
Sunset also holds a similar space for us, allowing us to shift from the tasks of the day to a time of gratitude, reflection, envisioning. It is here we can see where we have been, where we want to go and how we will get there.
Rudolf Steiner often talked about the need for our lives to possess rhythm. As it stands now our lives are frenetic and chaotic with little continuity. Steiner pointed out that our physical body has innate rhythms, eg waking and sleeping, breathing in and breathing out, and that the pattern of our daily lives needs to reflect a similar rhythm. We need to come into ourselves, a time of introversion marked by breathing in, then we need to go out into the world, a time of extroversion marked by exhaling.
At sunrise we come into ourselves to connect with our eternal self and with our spirituality; as the day moves on we enter into the world around us, into our Community, to accomplish our tasks, to serve others, to fulfill our purpose; when the sun sets we come into ourselves again….breathing in, breathing out, breathing in.
The best thing I ever did for myself was get rid of my alarm clock. In my late teens and early twenties I would set an alarm next to my bed so I wouldn’t wake up late for work, and although this seems like a good idea on the surface (setting a good habit of being on time), it actually made my whole day feel hurried and stressed. The beeping alarm set the tone for my entire day. It made me constantly anxious. At 22, I got rid of it knowing that this pattern would drive me crazy over time. Since then, I have always risen just before sunrise.
a couple gorgeous mushrooms I found on a walk in the mountains
Eat Seasonally, Eat Locally
Imbibing food grown and raised locally roots us to Place more strongly than any other act. Being able to look at my plate and know that the majority of the items on it were grown here in my little village, either by myself or my friends, brings great pride and humility to me. Before eating I give thanks for the nourishment I am about to receive, for the love and hard work that went into producing that food.
Foraging for wild food, both native and naturalized plants, and incorporating them into my cooking also gives me a sense of fulfillment. Primarily, I feel it’s important to understand the usefulness of the plants around us - to know if they are edible, if they make dye or ink, what medicinal properties they possess.
I have a mental map of my village and the surrounds that is based on wild fruit trees. Every Spring when the blossoms appear, the map is drawn-out of the recesses of my Winter brain and I start imagining what I might do with wild cherry plums, apricots and the like. Just yesterday a friend of mine gave me a jar of preserved plum cheeks, spicy plum sauce and plum jam…he felt the need to move last year’s plum stock along because he noticed the first flowers on the wild plums near his home - appearantly somone else is paying attention, too.
I like very much to cook with fire instead of electricity or gas, generally on the wood heater in the Winter and in the rocket-oven when it’s warmer outside. Being reliant on wood for heat establishes a primal connection to Place - finding, collecting, cutting, stacking. You must attend a fire unlike other forms of heat which leads to an understanding of how different wood burns and the flavor it can impart on food; it brings you ‘into relationship’ with the wood and fire, and this is the connection I am speaking of…an understanding of and a reverence for the Natural World.
Spring blossoms
Honor and Celebrate
Seasonal celebrations help me orient myself in the year and allow me an opportunity to share in Nature’s bounty with my Community. During a Winter Solstice or Spring Equinox gathering I serve seasonal foods from my garden and unique creations kept just for these special times. At my Winter celebration I served a homemade cyser - a cross between hard apple cider and honey mead - we drank it all! And, it was divine!
In Late Autumn when I was faced with a wheelbarrow full of apples a friend of mine came over and we juiced the lot. To that we added honey, stored the beautiful amber-colored concoction in glass jugs with airlocks and there they sat until the fermentation finished; the cyser was then stored in glass bottles for just this occation - to share with friends.
Of course, you don’t need a festival to honor Nature. Just observing the Natural World around you, feeling reverence for it, engaging with it as a steward is all you really need. In the slanting light of the late afternoon I tend to sit for a few minutes to watch the birds…the cute little fairy wrens flit about quickly just flashes of bright blue, the Red-browed Finches move in schools like fish from one patch of grass to another, the majestic King Parrots come to visit every afternoon as they have for years, the noisy Rainbow Lorakeets eat the calendula seeds and spread them all over the garden, then Charlie the Magpie comes by scattering all the other birds away.
a cold walk in the high country
Explore
Take walks were you live, get to know the land, the architecture, the weather, the plants and fungi that grow there. Go to the beach, hike up mountains, visit national parks, swim in creeks….whatever is available around you. You don’t have to reach the summit, this isn’t a competition. It’s about your connection with the Earth, it’s about being curious, it’s about setting up a mutual relationship with the Natural World.
Do you know that a forest senses you when you enter it? The Forest, as an entity, knows you are there. The key is to acknowledge the Forest, too; to really see the uniquness of it, just as it recognizes your individuality. Natural places have a particular ‘feel’, don’t they? They have certain qualities that draw you in. Some people enjoy being in the forest/bush, some like the beach, others enjoy the snow-covered mountains. I love swimming in the creeks, under waterfalls; I like the wind - I feel as if Mother Nature is caressing me.
I encourage you to take time out to reconnect with Nature; to learn about the plants that grow around you, to wake witht he sun, to sit under the stars….anything that rekindles your love of the Natural World.
N x