This post is not strictly Hekate related but it is about something extremely important if you are living in a big city.
When I started my bardic path with the Order of Bards Ovates and Druids, I entered a deep crisis. I was studying the Wheel of the Year, how to connect with Nature and to experience it at a deeper level BUT, in the same moment, I was living in Paris, a big European capital where wildlife is almost non-existent, the flora is carefully manicured and designed to look pretty for us humans and the air, in certain periods, is extremely polluted. Nothing more distant from the beautiful descriptions of forests, mountains, big trees, wild animals, crystal clear waters that you usually find in visualizations. To give you a better understanding of my surroundings, the only nature I could experience on a daily basis, going to work, were the trees along Avenue de Breteuil and the grass of the kids' playground. I didn't even dare to look at the color of the river Seine which looked to me tired, muddy and sad. I was completely unable to feel the presence of the goddess Sequana, the deity of the river so connecting with her, to me, was impossible. I felt lost in my own town. I was so desperate that I was ready to put my bardic journey on hold until my next holiday when I would have spent almost a month in the countryside. That would have finally been the perfect place to dive into druidic lore! Luckily, I decided to talk (and complain) about the whole situation with my mentor who, after comforting me, scolded me - in a gentle but firm way - and reminded me of a very simple, basic truth: Nature is always around us and all we have to do to see it, is to open our eyes even when we don't like what we see. She was right.
If it is undeniably easier to feel a deep connection with Nature while surrounded by it, this doesn’t mean that we cannot feel the land underneath our feet or the sky above our heads when we are not. We should always be able to connect with our own place, with the land that is hosting us, despite its superficial, maybe unpleasant, aspect. Nature itself is a great teacher: along with clean lakes and oceans, there are peat bogs and stinky swamps. In the ground we don't find only crystals and mystic caves but also dirt, remains, bones… In my experience, the key to connect with the Land and the Spirits of highly urbanized areas - they are still there trust me! - is to learn to open our eyes and ears, to aknowledge, to accept, to understand and to appreciate every side of our surroundings, including the less pleasant ones. This is also the first step of taking action, and start working to make our big cities better places. But this will be the topic for a future post.
If you find yourself stuck in the same situation, unable to connect with the land, let me give you few advices that may hopefully help you in overcoming your prejudices, changing your mindset and eventually finding the way to open the communication:
Every morning and every evening, open your window if you can or just walk out and look up at the sky and feel the air on your face.
Notice how the sky changes across the year. Notice how, at the same time of the day, it is darker or brighter according to the movement of the sun through the different seasons.
Look at the clouds, how they run through the sky. Notice if they are clear and white or if they are bringing rain or storm.
Feel the air on your skin, feel its temperature, its humidity. Is that cold? Hot? Can you feel a breeze or the wind? Feel how the air changes across the year or in different weather conditions. Can you see how the air change according to the sky and the clouds? If not, you will be able to do it soon.
If going to work or on your way to the grocery store you see trees or flowers, look how they change during the day, during the seasons, during the whole year and learn to associate their aspect to the different period.
At least once a week try to go to a park - even a small green area will do - seat and just take nature in. Look at the ground, notice its colors and if there are little stones if it is unpaved. Look at the grass, the flowers, the trees. Are there birds? Bugs? Bees? What you can you see and hear around you? Every time you go there see how it changes at different time of the day, in different weather conditions, in the different seasons.
Always listen and figure out if you can ear, under the noise of the city, the sound of its nature. Can you ear the storm coming? Can you hear the trees moving in the wind? The leaves under your feet in fall? The different sounds you make while you walk on the grass if you can do it?
Smell nature may be extremely difficult but when you are in a park try to focus and tune on the flower, on the grass, on the leaves.
Touch everything you can: the trees, the grass, the ground. If you can do picnic and sit on the ground and walk barefoot on the grass don’t miss the chance do it (please be safe - check if the area is clean and there are no broken glasses etc.. - and follow the rules of the town/park you are in)
If your town as a river, a lake, if it is near the sea, do look at the water, at its colors, at its stream and notice how all these aspects change on a daily bases, reflecting the sky, the weather, the moon phases.
I know big cities are not ideal to look at the night sky but who knows, maybe you can have a glimpse of it so.. look up and see once more how it changes.
If there are natural places like forests, mountains, lakes, river sides close enough to your town and easily accessible do travel there when you can and enjoy them.
Do some gardening. If you don’t have a garden, terrace, balcony… it is not important. Even growing a small plant in your house can teach you a lot!
Start acting in a conscious way and do what you can, at the best of your possibilities, to avoid polluting and littering the area.
Do all these activities with open eyes, open mind and open heart. You are not looking for signs or special events. You are not expecting anything unusual. You are simply using all your senses to explore your surroundings and learn from it.
Doing this on a regular basis helped me immensely. Now I am connected with Parisian land, I feel its pulsing force around me, I can talk to its spirits and to the river and She is getting back to me. If you decide to try this method, let me know how it goes for you and if you like this post and want to know how to connect with the Spirits of big cities let me know. I will gladly share my experience.
Comments