“All has been consecrated.
The creatures in the forest know this,
The earth does, the seas do, the clouds know
as does the heart full of Love.”
–St. Catherine of Siena
A rose placed on the altar for unconditional love. Rosemary right outside the door for protection. Geranium on soft skin for tending grief in the heart. There’s a healing balm for everything. This is Her generosity. It comes from the bare earth beneath our feet, when we stay present to what is here. It comes from within, when we listen to our own heart. When we get quiet enough to hear the plants, the trees, the flowers, the light, the wind, the mountains, rivers, lakes and oceans. The wise ones. All whisper the same love song…
Stay here with me. Stay. Let me come to you and heal you right where you are. Don’t change a single thing. Let me work with you and allow the change to happen naturally, gently, with grace and ease.
Like ancient magic our bodies know and love without thinking about how and when. Nature’s medicine works in secret subtle ways. She will not bend to our limited concepts and thinking, but she will take all those old beliefs and melt them open so we can soften and receive something greater. The mother’s wisdom opens us, humbles us, empties us, prepares us to receive. We have to be prepared to receive…the vessel has to be prepared so the divine nectar can flow through and nourish and empower us in all ways.
And sometimes the preparation is a shock, not getting what you want, rejection, isolation, illness, a break up, a break down, anything that stops us in our tracks, brings us to our knees. Leaves us feeling powerless. The mind is quick to interpret, judge, take it as a sign that something is wrong. But when we look beyond the surface reaction, we feel a hand moving the pieces of our lives. The heart breaks open. You turn your face to God.
Her medicine is always showing us the way home.
Lighting the pathways back to the One who made us.
The old pain, the ancient grief washes through and wakes us up out of our sleep. The story we inherited, the weight passed on through generations without choice, now rising to be released through you. It’s an incredible blessing when we see it through the eyes of love. But it is not always easy and it requires a lot of self compassion and patience and allowing Her medicine to work on us slowly without force, demand or rush. We are asked to surrender to the wisdom of this great intelligence. We are asked to let go of the struggle and the fight so she can take care of our bodies, minds, hearts as we navigate the waves… helping us open to greater love and beauty and wonder. Helping us clear out the old to make way for the new.
She will always bring us the right support, guides, friends, teachers to help us through the waves.
She clears. Transforms. Grounds.
So that we emerge…
Feeling our belonging… feeling our connection to everything. Slowly, we melt into this belonging as every cell in the body settles. We feel it in our bones and our blood. We feel it in our feet. Tender and soft on sacred ground. The dark soil, the touch of bark, the smooth curve of ancient stone, the petals and the herbs and the magic in moonlight.
We belong here. We belong to the earth and the entire web of creation that sings and hums in our skin. You belong. We belong. The body finds its place as you stay with yourself. You don’t have to chase, escape or run anymore. You can stay right here with the earth. Letting her in… let this love flow in and out with every breath.
And when it gets too much and you find yourself overwhelmed, confused, not sure which way to turn… turn to the earth and the ground beneath your feet. Feel your place right here. Feel your place in the arms of the Mother who holds you.
“We can slip into the Beautiful
With the same ease as we slip
Into the seamless embrace of
Water, something ancient within
Us already trusts that this
Embrace will hold is.”
John O’Donohue
