Today is Beltane, one of the eight earth holidays—a cross-quarter day, between Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice. Early pagans sowed their seeds at this time and did rituals blessing their fields. While we might find some of those ceremonies bawdy, what could be a more magical way to attune yourself to the fecundity of the earth than to be fertile and multiply right along with the crops? It is the lush season, the flagrant blooming of flowering trees and incessant buzzing of bees doing their part to perpetuate life. Part of me wants to loll about beneath a fragrant plum tree, while another part wants to join in the mood of the season and up my own productivity. Why not do both? Balance—what a concept!
Continue reading...28. April 2009
I am spoiled—on purpose. Though I live in western Washington state, which is the butt of every joke about rainy climates, it hardly ever rains where I live (on the Strait of Juan de Fuca). I am spoiled because I have chosen to live in a tiny rainshadow where the annual rainfall is about 10”—the same as Los Angeles. (Please don’t tell anyone else…during the housing boom we were overrun with outlanders hiking up land prices.)
Continue reading...27. April 2009
They lie hidden in soft cliffs above this beach, waiting for each cycle of winter storms to loosen the historic record, then layer by layer they are exposed and tumble to the sand below. These Miocene fossils carry the imprint of animals from an era so long gone it is nearly unknowable. Yet the images are familiar: a snail shell, a spiral nautilus and this scallop shell, once home to a living being who knew these shores ice ages ago. To hold this relic in my hand connects me to my evolution, to my own watery past—perhaps even on these same shores. Was I once this scallop? Did I crawl onshore seeking something else, something better? Was I this intertidal adventurer, both of the sea and the beach?
Continue reading...24. April 2009
There is a stand of five trees at the bottom of my hill whose names I do not know. About 50 feet tall, deciduous with non-descript single-lobed leaves, they grow out of woods beside my house. I am sure they were not planted by design. I see them every day and yet have not bothered to take a stem of leaves and photos to a nursery for identification. It’s like repeatedly running into a neighbor at the store and never knowing her name but being too embarrassed to ask. I can’t go on living with strangers, so I made a point of it this week.
Continue reading...23. April 2009
Words to inspire: “Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night.” ~Rainer Maria Rilke
Continue reading...22. April 2009
I’m not going to remind you to drag the recycling to the curb. I’m not going to urge you to buy compact fluorescent bulbs. Okay, I might suggest you consider powering your own website or blog with renewable energy. But you know all that stuff. I want you to consider going green on the inside. What? No, you don’t need to drink green beer or ingest algae. My whole premise for this blog is that by meditating on the gifts of our amazing planet, we become more deeply connected to her. By focusing on the health of robins and frogs and even dandelions, we can grow a true spiritual appreciation for our earth.
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Click on any of the following links for more information:
What Is Meditation?
How To Meditate in 5 Easy Steps
Setting the Mood to Meditate
Benefits of Meditation
Expanding Your Current Meditation Practice
Why I Meditate and How It Affects Me
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where I enjoy personifying various inhabitants and aspects of the natural world. My most recent Tweets are in the box below.
30. April 2009
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