In just a couple of weeks, we’ll be gathering at SpiritQuest for an annual Native Retreat. All of our ceremonies come from matriarchal tradition, or deepen our understanding of the Sacred Feminine and our most harmonious relationship to Mother Earth. And it has a powerful way of bringing life into focus so that we can discover how to live in greater ease.
Anything that is working well becomes apparent, as those blessings multiply exponentially. Whatever has not been working also becomes apparent and seeks to be brought into its proper alignment, right then and there, during ceremony.
For so much of my life, I ran away from myself, my gifts, my connection to the Mother, and my connection to the spiritual realms. Joy found me when I finally gave myself permission to see that I was running, and to plant my feet in the ground long enough to find peace with the nature of life itself.
It is difficult to know your true relationship with nature or notice your spiritual medicine gifts when you are moving so fast. It is difficult to hear your ancestors or notice the help you are receiving from the other realms when you are absorbed in your physical needs. Ceremony allows you to pause and focus on your spiritual self long enough to notice who you really are—to see your own divine nature within the great web of life.
In a world where, in minutes, we see and hear about devastation at the hands of Mother Earth occurring all around the globe, it can be easy to forget she is also our source of safety. She can also be our protector.
Years ago, an ice storm in the middle of the night cracked the branches of a tree under which I had parked my little trailer. Every branch broke and fell to the ground except the one directly over the trailer I was sleeping in. That branch stood strong, as if the tree had put all its energy into that single branch in order to protect me.
This kind of protection starting occurring when I chose to live in conscious relationship with her. I blessed her with my medicine songs, did ceremony to honor her life force, and lived in nature with awareness and then she began to show me her greater nature. I heard her heart song, watched her animals bless our sacred spaces, and yes, saw how even the trees protect me.
We live so far removed from Mother Earth most of the time, that true relationship with her becomes obscured by buildings and roads. To experience our lives in their greatest harmony, we must consciously reconnect with her. She gently brings life into perspective, and lovingly holds space for each of us to adjust—to shift our consciousness just enough to enjoy her and live with greater ease.
