“love the world as your self then you can care for all things” ~Lao Tzu
There is an earthy Celtic tradition that I enjoy very much. This tradition is simple, healing and fun. It involves speaking or singing your love and appreciation directly to the trees and flowers, birds and animals that you encounter in nature.
For example, I might go out into my backyard and whisper to the pine trees and tell them just how lovely their green branches are today. Or I might smile at the lavender bush and praise its scent. I might stop as I’m walking the dog, and thank the sky for the amazing cloud shapes floating by. If I’m feeling especially exuberant today, I could even go so far as to sing my gratitude to the trees and flowers and sky. Or create a little poem about their beauty and effect on me.
This ancient Celtic practice gives me a simple way to honor and acknowledge my relationship with nature. Our human lives are interwoven with the natural world in a multitude of ways. But I often forget just how important nature is to my life. This gratitude practice helps me to remember.
“Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.” ~Khalil Gibran
Gratitude Walk
Below I share yet another way to shift into a naturally grateful state:
Take a walk in a beautiful natural space. As you walk, just notice what is beautiful around you. Whenever you notice a beautiful object, silently say thank you to it; thank each beautiful tree and flower and blade of grass for existing and brightening up your life.
Can you come up with 10 things to be grateful for? 25? 50? Make your list silently. And then notice what happens to your mood when you practice gratitude.
My Celtic ancestors held huge celebrations today in honor of the abundance and fertility of the growing season. The time to plant has just begun here in the northern hemisphere and Beltane honors that fact.
Last night under the dark of an earthy Taurus new moon, we slid quietly into the light half of the Celtic year. The light half of each year is filled with sun and warmth, new growth and abundance. And then in 6 months, on November 1, we will dive into the dark half of the Celtic year, marked by short, dark days, fallow ground and long cold nights. And so the cycle of the seasons progresses, year after year after year.
The Celts were avid observers of the seasonal shifts, both on Mama Earth and in the skies above her. So it doesn’t surprise me that my Welsh and Scottish ancestors held outdoor festivals to mark Beltane, also known as May Day. The tradition of teen aged boys and girls dancing around the May pole is believed to have started with the Celts. The dance was a way to have fun AND symbolize the intertwining and merging of the male and female energies that ultimately creates new life on the land and in the waters all around us. Beltane marks the beginning of Mama Earth’s season of fertility and new growth.
For me, Beltane is all about celebrating intimate relationships. My own anniversary falls on May Day, so I consciously celebrate my union with my partner David on this day. But Beltane has other meanings for me as well; my hubby would tell you that this is my absolute favorite time of year, and I love to spend it outside in nature. I love to get outside and commune with Mother Nature by hiking, dreaming in my hammock, picnicking, or just sitting with a tree listening to the wind rustle a million new leaves above me. And I find that every moment I spend connecting with nature nourishes my Soul.
Beltane is the perfect time to connect with Mama Earth in a deep intimate way.
If you can, spend a few moments outside this week. Turn off your computer and go walk barefoot in the grass. Breathe in the scents of spring. Pause and notice the abundance of new life sprouting up all around you; green shoots of grass, tiny new tree leaves and a plethora of flowers all show us how fertile and abundant Mama Earth is at this time of year. Meditate on the beauty and bounty of Mama Earth. Give thanks for every gift that this beautiful planet joyfully shares with us. Give thanks and revel in spring.
In the heavens above us, a full lunar eclipse and a solar eclipse occurred this month. I share Jia Hao’s images of this week’s solar eclipse above (link to more eclipse info). What a bizarre and amazing sight to see our sun temporarily snuffed out by the shadow of our moon!
My astrologer friends tell me that eclipses intensify and stir up whatever is going on in our lives here on planet Earth. Some believe that eclipses bring up our subconscious shadow selves to be healed. But the Cardinal Grand Cross that formed in our sky a week ago is even more unusual than an eclipse. This huge planetary cross was created by Jupiter, Pluto, Mars and Uranus; 4 planets actually lined up in a perfect cross formation in our sky this month. You can bet that I sat up and paid attention when I heard that this cross was slowly forming in our skies and would be perfectly aligned on April 23, my birthday. Yikes!
I don’t know about you, but it has definitely been a month of shakeup and shifts for me and my entire family; we moved into a new home, lived through huge job shifts, a delay in the release of my book, and weird illnesses with odd body symptoms that hang on and on… There have been so many unusual events happening in my neck of the woods that I can’t help but shake my head in wonder. And the world around me seems all stirred up too. I have been engulfed and surrounded by chaos and shakeup all month.
I can’t help but wonder what wisdom is held within this crazy, chaotic Grand Cross time for us? Shamanic astrologer Tami Brunk shares this on her web site, Astrology for Earth Renewal:
“This Cardinal Grand Cross is about a cataclysmic transformation of human culture. At its center is the heart–of our shared humanity, and each of us as individuals. The heart of Retrograde Mars in Libra on an inward journey asking the question–how do I care for both others and myself? Jupiter in Cancer asking–how can I find a home in my own heart, and nurture my family, my tribe? Pluto in Capricorn asking–how can I break down the structures and fortresses and walls that have been constructed between each human being, between masculine and feminine, between humanity and the Earth? The heart of Uranus in Aries asking–how can I awaken humanity to a New Beginning, a radical new path forward, filled with Spirit, with consciousness?”
~Tami Brunk
It seems funny now that I never paid much attention to astrology (or astronomy) when I was in my 20’s and 30’s. Back then I would read my horoscope for laughs, but the movements of the planets just didn’t seem that important to me. But over time, I’ve come to realize that the workings of the sun, moon and planets actually do have an effect on my life; I’ve experienced so many instances of shifts in my life lining up with shifts in the heavens that defied the odds of chance. And as I watch the heavens this month, the synchronicity between my life and the cyclic movements in the sky above me just gets more and more obvious.
My Celtic ancestors would laugh at how long it has taken me to accept the idea that I might actually be affected by what’s happening in the heavens. The Celts believed in the spiritual principle of “as above, so below”; what happens in the heavens is synchronized with what happens on planet Earth. The Celts actually studied how the movements in their sky affected and interacted with events on Earth. They used the synchronicity between heaven and Earth to inform and guide their lives.
I wonder why this synchrony between heaven and Earth is such a strange and foreign idea for us today? When did we lose this knowing and why?
Quantum physicists have shown that just the act of observing the inner workings of atomic particles changes the behavior of those particles. Maybe it’s not so weird and far fetched to believe that the movements of huge planets around our sun actually affect and interact with all life on Earth. Maybe, just maybe my Celtic ancestors were onto something important.
I look at everything that’s happened recently in my life and I can’t help but nod and affirm what my ancestors knew so long ago, as above, so below…
“Not just beautiful, though–the stars are like the trees in the forest, alive and breathing. And they’re watching me.”
I had the great fortune to be on the west coast last weekend for a wonderful workshop led by Nan Moss and David Corbin. What a great group of shamanic dreamers! We journeyed and explored the nature of weather on planet Earth together. Nan and David are amazing guides and teachers. It was an incredible three days.
The only down side to my ‘dreamy’ weekend was that I didn’t have a chance to celebrate Imbolc, a traditional Celtic festival day that marks the halfway point between winter solstice and spring equinox. For my Christian friends, the holiday (holy day) of Candlemas grew out of ancient Imbolc festivals.
My Celtic ancestors held Imbolc celebrations to honor the imminent return of spring. Ironically, when I flew back to my home in the Rockies on February 3rd, it was 11 degrees below zero. And since then, it has snowed twice and been bitterly cold, with temperatures barely creeping above zero. And yet I trust that spring will return soon, no matter how foul the weather is outside. Underneath the cover of a foot of snow, tiny seeds are stirring and Mother Earth is quietly preparing herself for spring.
This year, I decided to celebrate Imbolc with a daily fire in my fireplace. A traditional Imbolc festival would be marked by the entire village feasting and attending a big bonfire. But for me, a small fire burning in my hearth seems just perfect this year. Snow falling outside while a fire burns in my hearth; what a perfect blending of fire and ice!
I have been sitting in front of my little daily fire, dreaming up new classes, and meditating on the Goddess Brigid (AKA Brigit). Brigid is a fiery Celtic Goddess who is said to reign over the powers of poetry, inspiration and metal smithing as well as the healing arts. She has been associated with Imbolc since ancient times. And Brigid has proved to be quite a tenacious Pagan Goddess; when Christianity took hold in the Celtic world, Goddess Brigid simply morphed into the beloved Saint Brigid who continues to inspire many Catholics and non-Catholics even in this cynical modern age.
Brigid is very special to me personally; she has spontaneously appeared in my dreams many times. She seems to come whenever I need to stop, reflect and find new inspiration. This week she has shown up with messages about how I can release troubling family patterns and allow my writing to bloom in new ways. I LOVE it when Brigid shows up in my dreams! Her fiery energies seem to fill me with new insights and ideas.
As our days slowly lengthen here in the northern hemisphere, Mother Earth begins to rouse from her winter slumber and quietly prepare the ground for spring. And, if you allow it, this icy time can be a time of inner fire and inspiration. May you find a few moments to pause, reflect on your dreams and light a flame both without and within. As winter slowly melts away into spring, may you be inspired by nature’s fire and ice.
December 21st marked the longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. And today is Christmas. This is the time of year when Mother Earth seems to be dead and lifeless. It can be difficult to believe that spring will ever return when a cold wind blows all night and icy sleet covers the ground. And yet, the days will slowly lengthen from here; the earth will warm and six months from now, we will awaken to the longest day of the year. Nature’s rhythmic seasonal cycle is one of the innate blessings of life on Earth.
For me, winter solstice is about embracing Mother Earth as she rests for a season. It’s about learning to love the dark, quiet energies of winter and death.
My Celtic ancestors called this dark season Seed Time; long, cold, dark winter nights are the perfect time to dream of the life we want to create in the new year. Just as Mother Nature gently holds flower seeds safe in her dark soil until it is time for them to stir and grow, we too can honor our dreams for the new year by holding them safe within our hearts in these dark cold days. We can gently love each little dream and nurture it until the right and perfect time comes for it to grow into a new reality.
To everything, there is a season. And now tis the season to dream big and seed the new year. This song by Enya celebrates dreaming in the dark quiet of winter:
O mor henion i dhu: Ely siriar, el sila Ai! Aniron UndomielTiro! El eria e mor I ‘lir en el luitha ‘uren. Ai! Aniron…
[Translation]From darkness I understand the night Dreams flow, a star shines Ah! desire EvenstarLook! A star rises out of the darkness The song of the star enchants my heart Ah! I desire…
☾ ☽
Composed and performed by Enya,
Lyrics by Roma Ryan
May you awaken to the mystery of being here and enter the quiet immensity of your own presence. May you have joy and peace in the temple of your senses. May you receive great encouragement when new frontiers beckon. May you respond to the call of your gift and find the courage to follow its path. May the flame of anger free you from falsity. May warmth of heart keep your presence aflame and may anxiety never linger about you. May your outer dignity mirror an inner dignity of soul. May you take time to celebrate the quiet miracles that seek no attention. May you be consoled in the secret symmetry of your soul. May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder.
Many adults have lost touch with the power of dreams. We get in such a hurry to reach that next goal… and then the next, that dreams can seem like a colossal waste of time. Yet, if we can slow down enough to connect with and listen to our dreams, they will help us find our way home.
Dreams provide a window into each Soul’s deepest yearnings. Connecting to your dreams is an amazing way to learn more about who you are and what you really want.
On Sunday December 22nd
Come play in a space of tree dreams and moonbeams.
Learn how to connect with your deepest dreams and self
You can register for Winter Solstice Dreaming by contacting me by email: nancy@nancylankston.com or phone: 720-378-1729. Want to know more about conscious dreaming? Click onDream Flow
Coming in 2014… Celebrate the World Day of Active Dreaming on May 10th, 2014 by attending one of the many dream events that will be held all over the world. Visit ActiveDreaming to find out more about dreamy events near you.
