The music of what moves you

Meditating on the spirits of nature

I sometimes shuffle my meditation and prayer cards in with my oracle deck for my daily draw. Today, I drew this card, once again encouraging me to reach out to nature. If you follow my writing and other work you might think I need no encouragement -- but that depends on which nature we're talking about. The lush, green world of Britain really speaks to me, even from a distance, but the stark, sandy, drought-ridden of Colorado -- not so much. I am trying. Trying to open myself up to whatever this land wants to tell me.

The quote on this card is from Inisfail, by Ella Young. The quote below, is from the guided mediation on the reverse of the card.
This and other guided meditation cards are available from my web shop.

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So when I sat down to meditate today, with this card in my hand, and read the phrase "Bring your thoughts to an image in nature which moves you." I decided it was an opportunity to listen. So rather than think of images from Scotland, I remembered a really great sunset I saw about a week ago as I was driving home from a nearby town. It was one of those sunsets which is outlined and defined by the silhouettes of many bare winter trees. It covered the whole palette, from reds and oranges, through to pinks and finally streaks of yellow and blue. A sunset is an interesting entity. Could it be said to have its own spirit? I doesn't feel so to me. It is created from the contributions of many different aspects of nature (the sun, clouds, moisture, dust, the season), but on reflection, so is a songbird, or a bluebell wood.

While the connection between all things must be acknowledged and respected in the individual, whether songbird or sunset, I also want to remember that bigger things like where I live vs where you live are connected, too. Sometimes, in a warm, fuzzy way, it's easy to see the connections between the small, loveable things, or human things. or the obvious ecological connections that concern us so much lately. It's not always so easy to stop drawing lines between cultures, between what we like and what we think we don't like, between my dog and your dog.

If I truly believe that there is Spirit and Deity in the joy-shout of the rivers, then knowing that all things are connected, perhaps I can trust that even the tumbleweeds and dying cottonwood trees contain the same spark. It all contains what Fionn mac Cumhaill called the music of what happens. The music, one might say, of acceptance. No attachments, no aversions, no resistance. Just vibrating with the molecules of the universe, and yet . . .

And yet, what brought the Tuatha De Danann to Ireland? What brought the Milesians? If it wasn't a love for one place over another, then what? I can only conclude that part of coming to earth, part of living an earthly life, is to experience a heart-rending love for certain things, for particular views, for particular weather. This is part of what defines the earthly experience, and part of what defines the spiritual experience. As usual, balance is everything.

Song

A rowan like a lipsticked girl.
Between the by-road and the main road
Alder trees at a wet and dripping distance
Stand off among the rushes.

There are the mud-flowers of dialect
And the immortelles of perfect pitch
And that moment when the bird sings very close
To the music of what happens.

–Seamus Heaney

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Set of four cards - Set 1

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