ʺI am a child of Earth and Starry Heaven; but my race is of Heaven.ʺ - (From a 4th-3rd-century Orphic gold plate found at Petelia, in southern Italy)
" To capitalize Nature is my attempt to bow before it, to sit in awe of it, to be a willing servant of it, to be a perennial student of it, to convey my reverence, regard, and respect for it." - Gordon Neufeld PhD
I’ve been open over the years about my struggles with mental issues, and want to include here first a quick recap of how much building a deep connection with Nature helped me. When my kids were only 2 & 3 years old their father and I split up and I was left on my own with them. Being mostly estranged from family and long out of touch with friends, the overwhelming reality that the needs of my children; not just keeping them housed, fed and safe, but their emotional needs too, and the knowledge that how I raised them, what I taught them, how I supported them emotionally, all these would be factors in who they would become as adults. I remember the exact moment when this came crashing down on me; I was sitting on the couch, the kids playing joyfully in their room and I suddenly felt crushed with responsibility, and with feeling alone. After the weight of that overwhelming moment landing on my shoulders, I started having panic attacks, anxiety attacks and migraines, which then grew into having severe TMJ issues, OCD and multiple phobias. It took several trips to the hospital, and many more to the doctor over several years before it began to become clear to me what was going on, and it took many more after that to gain clarity on the how and why of how it all happened. It took even longer before any healing at all was able to occur.
I did try a medication, just one time out of desperation, but quit it due to it making me feel even more depressed and even suicidal. I briefly saw a psychiatrist who specialised in OCD, but who didn’t help me much at all. So that left me feeling there was nowhere and no one to turn to. And with two young children needing me to be able to care for them. I was already deeply afraid of anyone realising how bad my mental state was and taking them away from me, so I was desperate for some help. (Please see disclosure below this post.)
(My apologies for the over-sharing here, but I wanted to be clear about how awful the situation was. it went on badly like this for around 10 years.)
I cannot say what it was that made me try this the first time – I had grown up in nature, mainly due to my grandparents, and nature was always very much a part of their lives, and therefore mine as well – so maybe it was just growing up always having that closeness with the land, or maybe the land was directly calling me, or maybe even Spirit was guiding me. But one day, after multiple days of anxiety so bad my heart would not stop pounding, day and night, (to the extreme I started to wonder if it might sustain damage from the constant fast beating) I ended up spending an entire day in the wild, not just a walk or a couple walks, and not even the same as when you go camping, but an entire day immersed in observing everything around me in the natural world. I went to two separate locations, one was an oceanside bird sanctuary, the other was rainforest; I walked some, but more importantly, I mostly just sat, and listened, and watched. And I felt and experienced the changes in the air, in the energies of each place. It is hard to explain in words what happened, but during that day I ended up feeling so small, so insignificant in the Universe, but also, so very much a part of it all, and that in turn made me feel amazing. Sometimes I think we end up walking around so focused on ourselves, I mean of course it would be that way, we are each the centre of our own experience, but seeing myself as simply a tiny part of it all made my issues seem also much tinier, and made me feel supported as well by being part of something so much bigger. This wondrous (and harsh!) world of nature and animals. Plants and insects, birds and mammals, the earth, stars, sun and moon, the tides, and the forest, I was part of it all. Part of the Earth, and the entire Cosmos. And yet only a ridiculously small speck within this wonder. It was exhilarating and it gave me a safe place from which to keep working on myself and continue to work on my coping skills.
During this time, I had also started doing a lot of astral work, I had met Hekate, and I learned how to read tarot and oracle cards. These things also became crucial in making me feel supported and less alone. Over the following 10 years I continued to build upon this; Nature always being at the forefront with Hekate. I have spent a lot of time connecting with Nature at my favourite locations, with Spirits (local and not local), and I’ve explored various spiritual paths as well, now finally in my 50’s feeling very well settled in Druidry (as it has no dogma and is mainly a structure of a land and spirit-based practice which can be tailored to any location and culture).
I want to stress that for this exercise, it is not only a long one lasting over months and even years, but importantly, it is more than just a walk. You absolutely must sit quietly and do this over and over, in the same location, as much as you can. I know not all of us live near to wild places, you may only have your own backyard or a public park. That is okay! I think a lot of people would be surprised how much wildlife there is even in the city. I live in the city (though I have access to a lot of wilderness so I am fortunate) and here I have seen numerous eagles, hawks, owls, vultures, deer, raccoons and more. The key thing is to find a space and devote yourself to quiet time there. Once the animals and spirits get used to your presence, you will then start to really see all the activity that surrounds you. When we just take a walk in nature, quite frankly, most everything is running and hiding. Even walking quietly as I do, it takes time for wildlife to recognise you are not a threat and accept your presence. So, by finding a place to sit regularly, the inhabitants of that area begin to recognise and accept you. You can then learn and experience more about the habits and the lives of the beings around you. Plants, insects, birds, mammals and even the spirits of the place will begin to show themselves to you.
There are a lot of benefits to this exercise. It benefits nature because what we know about and understand, we care about and want to protect. It benefits us because a connection with the nature of our world is important. So many of us have lost that deep connection with the seasons and the wild. We no longer must harvest ourselves, we don't have to hunt or fish, most of us don't build our own homes. We don't have to make anything if we don't want. We don't even have to cook if we don't wish to. Everything can be bought. So over time the connection we once had with where we live has oftentimes been lost, with nature beginning to be thought of as ‘other’.
Nature Still Draws a Crowd – Jamie Reid
It has been suggested that this is a root cause for many issues within western society. Multiple psychologists and researchers have shown correlational and experimental research showing how healing nature can be for our minds and bodies, and how harmful the lack of contact with it is. Despite all our modern conveniences and technology, we are always and forever, children of the Earth and the Starry Heavens.
Sara and I will be providing numerous exercises and visualisations over the coming months to help anyone interested to connect more deeply with the nature and spirits of a place, but a good start will be finding your special location and starting to just sit regularly, and to listen and observe. Things to bring: water, perhaps a snack if you plan to spend several hours, an offering for the place you will be spending time, but please DO NOT BRING FOOD AS AN OFFERING, this disrupts the balance of a place and changes behaviours in wildlife, so definitely keep your snack to yourself and share only libations of water as an offering. In North America, a sprinkling of sacred tobacco would also be appropriate. Bring also a notebook to record your experiences. Alternatively, you can write in a notebook after you return home.
As you sit there, do not get lost in thoughts about yourself and your life, you are not there for reflections about yourself during this time, but instead about the nature that is around you. If you find your mind going elsewhere just bring it back to focus on the breeze, the waves, swaying grass, a noisy bird. By scanning slowly around the landscape, you will start to notice different movements and disruptions which will help you to focus outside yourself and observe what is going on around you. As you progress in this exercise you will also start to learn the ‘feel’ of a place and sometimes you will feel that energy change while you are there, such as when an eagle may fly overheard or if a storm begins to brew. You may also eventually begin to feel the presence of various spirits. As the seasons pass you will note the changes in behaviours of wildlife and in the foliage as well. Record all this in your notebook, and if you are creative adding drawings is fun too. If you are less creative, you can print and paste appropriate images. (If you do not wish to write or draw anything, that is perfectly fine too, no obligation!)
Please feel entirely welcome to send us questions and to share the reflections of your experiences with us! Sara and I both feel strongly it is our life’s work to help foster these connections with Hekate, with Nature, and with the entire Cosmos, so we will always be thrilled to hear how you are progressing.
You can comment on this post, message us here, or email us at santuaryofhekatepotniatheorn@gmail.com. There is also a channel in our Discord where discussions regarding the material we present here can be discussed.
Disclaimer: None of this is meant in any way to encourage anyone to throw out their medications nor to ignore the advice of their psychiatrists or other doctors. I still struggle terribly with anxiety, OCD and phobias, so I am not 'cured', but thanks to Nature, I have found ways to manage and to get some comfort and relief.
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