Earth’s beauty

Balance in the Web of Life

/ Shamanic Healing of Ames / Leave a comment

Can you widen your perspective for a moment? Imagine rising up above our Earth like a soaring bird and viewing the beauty of our land from above…

…the woodlands, streams and rivers, the grazing deer, flocks of birds flying below, fields of green, shady and pleasant neighborhoods, the gardens and parks, lakes and ponds, farms and ranches, the quiet cemeteries, the playing fields…

…Vast oceans and seas, waves breaking on beaches and rocks, mountain peaks and deserts… clouds of butterflies migrating…

Flying bird, summer landscape

From this birds eye perspective you may begin to discern the magnificence and complexity of the web of life on this planet. Can you feel the peace and calm that seem to be generated in some areas?

Do you feel a kinship, a deep connection with all that you see?

But dear ones, as you soar above the Earth you may also see the devastation created by human alterations of our ecosystems, over-development and pollution. You may see some dying and diseased landscapes.

You may sense the anger and suffering inequitable policies have engendered. You might feel the widespread fear of disease for those with no safety net. You may feel the grief of those who have lost loved ones in the pandemic.

The web of life weakens when those with too much power believe the accumulation of massive wealth is the only thing that matters. When this grasping for wealth is valued over the equitable balance and distribution of resources, when health care is doled out for profit and those who cannot pay are left behind, the health and well being of all life on this planet suffer.

When kindness empathy and mutual benefit are seen as weak, when living together in harmony is scoffed at, when co-existing in peace doesn’t manufacture enough money to fill the bottomless pit of greed, the web of life weakens.

Do not allow the precious and complex beauty of our world to become damaged beyond repair under the weight of such stupidity greed and negligence.

Choose leaders who seek to assuage suffering, who do not turn their backs when others are hurting. Choose leaders who are rooted in reality, who make decisions based on the best advice available, who use their power for the good of all humans, all beings, the web of life.

When there is balance within the great web of life on Earth, all her beings can thrive.

GCW speaks, continued

/ Shamanic Healing of Ames / Leave a comment

These words of Grandmother Cottonwood’s are continued from the previous post…

This Earth, this home is so very dear to me… Words cannot capture all I know, all I feel…

I know, too the flow of the stream, the flood in spring, the ice in winter, breaking and grinding during a thaw… I know the rocks and sandbars of the creek, the elegant s curves of it’s southward course, the downed trees, uprooted by the current, changing the flow of the water .

I am familiar with the creatures of the water, the tiny silver fishes, the earth hugging turtles, the insects that skate and float…those that come to drink.

Spider web

I know the worms of the soil, the fungus that consumes rot, the spiders patiently weaving their silver webs, the bright butterflies and nodding wildflowers full of nectar, the sharp trilling call of the red winged blackbird in early spring.

My world is made beautiful by the deep shade of my companion trees in summer, the bark of the sycamore, dark and rough near the roots, creamy white and peeling near the crown…I know the cushiony moss, growing in the cool damp places, a green to remember.

GCW and sycamore

From my home, I feel and know the heartbeat of the city, the town, the homes and all those creatures inhabiting this place. I feel the rushing and impatience of some, the peace and contentment of others.

I experience the students who hurry past me on their way to school, their thoughts and attention elsewhere, forgetting the lesson that life is lived in the moment, one breath at a time; that hugging a tree will help them feel better.

Come to school with GCW and you will learn an age-old yet always fresh curriculum – Observe without judgment. Breathe. Notice what you are feeling. Notice what happens in your body.

Be present to what you see, hear, taste, touch feel, smell – be present and allow yourself to know what you know, to be who you are. Become friends with your own self. Listen to your heart – the dreams of your heart.

Now, put the shiny blinking thing down, for if you let it, it will block out everything but itself. Turn it off for a little while and just be.

Know that you too are a part of this magnificent tapestry! Above all, hug a tree.