This piece of writing is a little off from my normal reflections, not too far off, just a little more conceptual, or perhaps more abstract.

I have been contemplating the ancient symbol of the Caduceus. I find it mysterious and magnetic; it's often considered the wand carried by Hermes (also known as Mercury,) who is the God of communication, who delivers messages to and from the Divine; it is also a symbol of magical alchemy that brings two forces into the One.

The symbol itself, two snakes spiraling up a staff, with wings at the top, has always made me think of Mercury's fleetness. The staff itself represents the spine, and the spiraling snakes as the inherent dual force of yin/yang within us, the flow that keeps the life force moving. Discerning the path forward is a balance of opposites. If we ever separate yin from yang, we would have death.

One source describes the wings on the staff as representation of the angels that fly up our spine when the energy rises there. Some see the snakes similar to the two sleeping snakes of kundalini at the base of our spine, ready to rise when the light and dark is balanced within; or when our own vision of our very own divinity clears.

My muse brings me to consider these Forces within, the ones that we balance in order to achieve inner and outer balance of body-mind-spirit. In humans, such balance feels like life-time(s) of magic and art. It certainly feels like it requires magic to balance the contradictory aspects of humanity and divinity within. Yet, it is also my belief that that is the very thing humans are asked to do on this planet. It is also my belief that the inner balance is needed before out balance is seen.

What if like a magician, we could pull the answer out of the hat in front of us? The answer to our questions, to the puzzles and conundrums? What if like the magician, we must have insight, faith and internal focus to listen and believe that what we need is right here, within reach, within ourselves.

In Chinese Medicine, the map of our bodies is a reflection of the Universe. We, like the universe, have orbits of energy, and nervous light systems. (Our very own electromagnetic field!) We have grids, connective lines of contact, and vibrational influence. (Fascia, muscle and nerves.) As Nature uses the forces of yin and yang to bring balance, vitality and maintain life on this planet, so do we. As we learn from one, we begin to understand the other. As we nourish and heal one, we nourish and heal the other. Our path of self-awareness, of finding solutions for health and wholeness is a sacred path gifting to the universe. One opens the door for abundance in the other. One opens Life and vitality in the other.

(oh my the baby raven just hooted right near my window as I wrote that. I will save the story of those new cavorting winged ones for another blog!)

And one more thought on this line of musings- Daoists believe that humans come from the cosmic dust. We are made of the same material as the stars. What a thought. "We are the flower that receives heavenly light and dust, and roots ourselves into the earth creating an unending line of connection."

With the recent increase in magnetic activity from the Sun, not to mention the stars, and the Solstice itself, the cosmos appears to be emphasizing the abundance of light shining to Earth and all who dwell on her. The message is sinking in.

For all that I feel so much gratitude. Absorbing cosmic light, Light and dark within finding balance, and help from the cosmos and each other all helping us discern the way forward. That indeed feels like Magic climbing up the Spine in an alchemy of life. I am grateful.

Fireflies remind me of little quiet fireworks.
Or of silent, yet rhythmic music that is tuning to the the night air. One "hears" them with wonder, surprise, captivation. Where will they show up next? What is the rhythm that they follow? What is the song to which they sing? Their music reflects heights and depth, singing in a universal language of love.

Perhaps all things that matter, that really matter to us, sing a song of truth, mystery, height, depth, and presence, presence regardless of fear. Anything that really matters to us, all contains within it a paradox, a mystery. The fireworks playing this night, appear and disappear, feels both mysterious, paradoxical and yet the most alive moment to me. The light comes on and off in a pattern not visible to my eyes, surprising me delightfully as I watch them with wonder. And like a paradox, this firework light appearing and disappearing is ungraspable, unknowable, untrackable, unpredicable.

Without paradox, with only the predictability, our lives flatten and dim.

I say sings Truth, because, I feel truth, like a crystal, has many sides. Like a crystal, it shimmers a light, anyway you look at it. A Real Truth has the "chatoyance" of life.

Crystals also shine sparkling light into the eyes and cause one to feel captivated. The crystals glimmer and shimmer in their own light, like starlight prismed here to earth. What if light, which is a wave, is really a song sending its inaudible flow to you as you sit letting it sink deep into your skin? What if crystals, like light, are singing to you now? From this Earth and all over the universe, encouraging you forward? What if crystals are sending nearly imperceptible, non-visual vibrations to encourage us forward onto our way? Vibrating us so that we never can really get "off the path." Instead, we merely need to be brave enough to take that next step forward and land on the matter that we have vibrated into space. Vibrations create matter. Matter vibrates us to the next stepping stone, or crystal, for that "matter."

The Fireflies vibrate a light that turns on and off. In between the "on", they are invisible to our eyes. Yet, still present, in the dark and in our unknown. Freely singing their Lightening song. So I guess, our next steps are there, waiting for us to create them, singing their lightening song.

Thank you dear Light, Thank you for beauty, Surprise, wonder, music and singing. Thank you for the high notes and the low. Thank you for the paradox and the wonder. Thank you for filling me up with joy and love. May your song flow strong.

The Earth Mother reflects herself in the trees, in all plants, the air, the light and water. She creates herself again and again in and through all of this. All to show you you, and allow you to experience her through nature.
In this body of nature, you exist and are a gift from Nature to the Universe.
Cherish all of you.
Indeed, your body is the reflection of the Earth. Cherish both.

Ahh, the Sun pauses a little longer in the sky today over this precious Earth.
The wind blows free and buoyant, lifting the heat and my spirit.
The prophesied Rainbow circles the sun, casting wonder on the Earth
I pause in such a time of Wonder.
How is it that the Sun can not only shine the strongest today, (in the northern hemisphere at least,) it also can create a self-made rainbow? Light shining through some unseen prism multiplies and refracts into colored light.
A miracle. This light, this day, offers an opportunity to revel in all the colors, all the perspectives and all the paths.
All the blessings.

Light revealing "itself" as a many colored expression, is a miraculous gift indeed.

Today is a path of the light, and the rainbow, in which to dance, heal, and rest in the infinite arms of infinite love.

Draw deep from the well of love that shines through today's magic. No words can encompass it all, only love can come close to allowing the infinite. Let that light rest boldly in all of the nooks and crannies, even if the same light reveals cracks and wounds in need of attention. Love yourself right up. There is time enough for all to reveal its beauty.

The solstice is brilliance and guidance all in one. Let the waters flow, let the light shine bright, even if it feels unbearable, let the path unfold in brilliance and inspiration.

Venus muse, https://inlightofthetrees.com/venus-muse/ also has some new thoughts, as well as photos....
love to you all

More musings on the question of weeds...

Today, I walked into my garden after a lovely night-full of gentle rain. I walked out curious to see who had arrived.
To see how the greendom had welcomed the rain. And who had visited in its mist.

I wonder if everywhere if the plants are blooming as they are here, in bigger and bigger displays of life, opening us to the bigger picture of life, informing us to the strength of reveling in life, in diversity and joy.

Now, before I say more, I must explain that my garden is a compilation of friends, most of whom arrive on their own volition. A few planted on mine ~ The nettles mix with the snap peas, and the dandelion leaves drape over the mustard. Today a new St Johns wort pokes up between the lettuce. Mmm, how did you get here??

So, as you see, All are welcome to the garden.
All invited either by me or by a force much bigger than me ~ Invited to participate in the game of life. And when they arrive, they come as emissaries with wisdom and blessings for my garden and my wild heart.

The St John's wort arrived last night; who knows who will arrive on the breeze tonight, brought from the wild beautiful unknown...

I believe in the wisdom of welcoming these strangers, the unknown, and the unacknowledged to our homes and life to expand our understandings and perspectives of living and living in harmony with all.

Because, you see, I know, If they come, they come sent with information, medicine, and wisdom to share. And I welcome them all. In their midst, I can practice celebrating the beauty and complexity that exists in diversity. Not always easy, nor comfortable. And sometimes difficult to manage, with varying levels of success, the differing needs of all present.

Even still, I do and will celebrate this wild unknown, unplanned, unforeseen, and always mysterious.

This compelling song of mystery,
May it sing free in my garden, bringing with herself, the teaching of the medicine of discomfort, the teaching of the medicine of surprise, the teaching of the unknown and misunderstood. The teaching of the blessing of abundance.

I welcome this banquet to my garden. There is much still to learn here and today, so far, I've found the St Johns wort.

Some more beautiful Photos showing surprising gifts can be found in Seasonal photos

A teacher from the forest knocked on my door today. Showing me the shadows.

My psyche's first response was,
"Nice. Beautiful. Think I'd like to keep weeding, thank you very much."

Ha!
Yes, Indeed. That is what I said to the above gift. Then, I caught myself...

My my, being so very human, can be so funny! At first, I thought I HAVE things to do. And, certainly, I wanted to DO something to make a difference today; and then perhaps, yes, to have a greater sense of control. From Chaos to order kind of mentality... When really, the best kind of abundance is allowing chaos to bring creativity and opportunity, not the other way around .... Oh my, I unlearn old habits slowly.

I also remembered these few ancient aphorisms and they helped me shift gears:
~When there is lesson offered, it's usually a good idea to listen. (Or the message will only get louder and sometimes less comfortable...)
~When the master arrives ~ stop washing the dishes (Martha,) and listen.
~And in the words of Alice Packard~ A clean house (Or garden?) is a sign of a boring life.....

So I put my tools down. I sat down to take a peek into the shadows, and into the forest near to notice and listen. Here is what I see.

I see shafts of light moving through the canopy, landing on tree trunks, as light will wend the way through our covering stories, to our hearts, to illuminate the luminous dark spaces, and thereby showing us the under-canopy, with all the abundant riches. Once seen, these riches remain like treasures, never forgotten, nor fully out of consciousness.

The second aspect that I notice was the indistinct, nearly nebulous, movement of the distant leaves, deeper in the woods. Movement that the above photo can not capture. I can not quite see the leaves either, mostly I see movement. That motion informs me of the presence of the understory of leaves, dancing to a wind I can not feel. They sway to this wind, appearing as a forest-green wave, moving in an ocean of light and shadow together, and harmoniously.

I think the forest beckons me to enter this dance, enter the shadows under the canopy to visit, and explore. While there, I can bathe in the green light, soothed in the forest's green. This dance can carve out more space in my knowing and doing, to allow for more space in my belief systems, for "I don't know," for listening, for differences and not understanding. For allowing and accepting.
so, I will go
into the shadows today,
to notice the beauty here
and there, in the shadows.
To notice the beauty of both light And dark.

In the shadow, between one and the other, between dark and light, there is an unknowing, a not defining, where one no longer creates more divisions.
And in that dance I can allow for the space of Love.
And that is the difference I shall make today.

In Honor of the Early Yellow

Every where that I look today, I see Yellow. The leaves shimmering a delicate yellowish green. The last 3 remaining tulips bright and fresh in my garden also shine Yellow. All of them saying to me, "notice Me!"

Yellow ~ The color of courage, the color of a daisy's heart, of a dandelion's smile, of buttercup's reflection.
Yellow ~ the color of the solar plexus chakra, and in Chinese medicine, the Spleen.

What is the message that all this vibration wishes to give? Though I do try to listen, I do not feel clear ... Perhaps it is because there is, a storm lingering on the edges of my perception today. I can not name it, nor encapsulate it. I only can feel and almost see it. The physical Sun (ALSO associated with the Color Yellow, in crayon art) is moving in and out from behind the various clouds. The clouds, in all shades of light and dark, do not linger either. Something unseen blows these winds that lifts the delicate newly emerged grass and leaves. Something unseen blows in these winds.

Yes, indeed, me and my inner barometer remain unsettled. I know that this storm just won't come today; So... no.... No relief from that particular pressure.

Instead, I ask myself, what else? What is the best path through this day of yellow that honors the seen and unseen? Where is the flow today?

Looking around, I see that when the wind stirs, the trees dance, and when the wind stops, ALL is so Still. All pauses so deeply, as if listening. So, I follow suit, and listen.

Here is the inner wisdom that follows ~ If yellow could sound a call, what would I hear? The ancient systems of study say that Hooo is the sound of the Spleen, and Mi, (as in do, re, mi) the note of the solar plexus, and AHA! ~ remembering more ~ RAM is the sacred sound of the solar plexus!

RAM, wow, that indeed is a sacred sound. Of course.
RAM.
Ram, the inner call, and the answer. Diving deeper in and into the vibration of color, and there, the infinite appears. In this case, the movement of light and color created a vibratory sound that called. And I heard. Sound, by creating movement created change. Sound and color change matter and form; Sound and color together can and do change us.

I guess my friends the plants felt I needed this point to be VERY clear. For which I am ever so grateful. I Did need to hear them, I did need to hear the sacred, and in "hearing" it without, I then hear it within.
I put my trust in these plants. I put my trust also in the Vibrations that change me every so mysteriously.

This may be one of those days when the gift is to profoundly whisper the sacred sounds of yellow, To breathe in that shiny brightness, breathe in that golden glow until my innards glow so bright as a daisy. Then exhale and whisper the sacred mystery of RAM, RAM, RAM. Breathe in again the fresh light, and then once more change form in the mere exchange of light, sound and breath, exhaling A sacred sound that is a mystery beyond our understanding.

Thank you mysteries of the divine in All

There are more photos in the Seasonal photo section for your perusal.
Also, Mercury goes retrograde soon. It seems in retrogrades, I become less likely to post. Though I do often still contribute to the Venus muse page. If you find you are wishing for more to read- You may find new ideas explored on those page in the coming weeks. Namaste and Blessings ~*~

Back by popular demand...

Spring

In nooks, crannies and sky.

Marsh, Field and Mountain.

Ahhh... for you and me and all of Earth

A Celebration of Life and Wonder

That anything could be so alive, so present, so bountiful.

Thank you, dear ever Present one

When the clouds descend to meet the Earth, when the rains that fall, splash back up into humid air, when the rare sandhill cranes land, barely visible, to rest on their way from someplace to some where else, when the hilltops lose their edges in the encompassing clouds, When no photo can capture the ephemeral wild beauty, when the budding trees decorate the hillside like flowers in a garden, celebrating the wild unknown~ That is when the rains arrive.

This type of rain, that arrives before the trees have fully unfurled their leaves, comes with an insistence that all matter must release its hard edges and melt like butter into puddles. It is not personal, it simply Is.

This rain runs deep into my roots like the rain that streams down the tree's bark to feed the roots. In this rain, all hardness melts and the inner, deep rivers of life renew into mossy softness. There, in the heart of hearts, all resistance dissolves.

This rain, coming soft or hard, lands on earth that already seems impossibly drenched today. The Earth receives still more, and brings the pooling rains down deep into the the roots of all. The trees and rain remind me that there is always deeper I can go, as well. I listen to my heart and melt deeper still. Resistance to the pooling is indeed futile. Today, there is no escaping the presence of the melting forces. When I finally relinquished resistance, and my busyness dissolves and I give in to weight of the Presence, I feel Great Relief. Ahh... then, the pressure becomes boneless deliciousness. I welcome the melting

Then, I, like the trees who welcome the presence and drink deeply of the life that is running in rivelets to their root system, and who drink deeply from this Goddess of form and formlessness, I, like them, also can drink deeply, letting the the rains nourish deep into my sinews. Today, I feel nourished where I had become clogged. I breathe in this new life. Like roots that tentatively grow into new areas, I feel my sinews tentatively relaxing, unfurling like moss fronds drinking and expanding into new places.

All life unfurls first within. The transition before the outward growth of a tree occurs every year, deep in the heart wood, the roots, the underground and in the unseen. The deep nourishment, the deep dive in the heart and sinews happens first. Soon enough will be the time for flowering. For now, there is the puddling, the diving, the unwinding and unfurling, the making of new inner connections. These connections may be long lost friends, or new revelations. Connections not seen since last Spring, when the rains came then, and woke up the inner Spring once more, from the long winter sleep. These connections will fuel us for times of outward growth.

No need to rush this,
Soon enough it will end, and busyness regain attention.
For now, I relish this time of deep stillness, breathing, and presence. A time to drink deeply of the waters and puddle in bed with a book, a cat and softness.

Happy puddling dear friends, and happy feeding your soul.

PS: After writing the above, large thunder came, and heavier downpours. It came as if to help us remember our comparative size in the map of the universe. To help us remember to surrender to the Presence much larger than ourselves. A presence that also lives within ourselves.

"We can't afford not to open our hearts... There comes a time when we realize we'd rather be vulnerable and hurt, then dead, in a dead-to-life sense of dead... Then we fall in love again, and the cycle renews, until finally we fall in love with love itself..... We fall In-To Love, In-To ourselves, where there is only Love, and we merge with the Beloved."
*Ram Dass*

Mud season~ A truly amazing moment of alchemy.

Mud appears in a season when the earth melts and runs with the water, as fluid. Mud appears in the sap rising season in Vermont. When the mud begins to rise and heave on the roads, I know the roots are doing the same preparing to send their precious sap up to the treetops for a new year of growth and co-mingling with the sun and air.

Until the moment of mud, there is a ritual that takes place~ a water and earth dancing ritual. The water rises, the frost stills it in statuesque forms. The water rises again and the earth heaves, the water rises again and this time, maybe This time ... the waters will meld with the earth and becomes glorious Squishy, sticky impossibility of mud. Whole cars have been lost in the earth this way. Oh, I have even heard that Mammoths are buried in this mud, but... maybe that is a long tale...

This is slippery soothing healing balm also supports safe passage for amphibians, for root systems to grow into the fallen leaves, for old scars to mend, for the earth to heal from the hardness of winter. I love for the season of mud to last as long as it can, to allow for slow leisurely growth of root systems to settle deep down into the Earth and to allow time for the root systems of trees to explore the wild unknown beyond their parameters.

My own root systems will do the same. I spread slowly and deeply into this Earth first, to feel well supported before spreading out to new terrains. Before seeking the wild unknown before me

Mud also gives the Earth herself the opportunity to spread. She rises to meet the delicate feet of her creatures. The above picture is one imprint of a very large bear that met the waters of the mud one night outside the yurt. This very large bear allowed the earth to spread in between ki's very large toes. (You can just make out the toes next to my fingers.) I like to imagine the bear dances every year on this wet earth celebrating the end of hibernation and beginning of Spring. I heard the bear this night, and the sound, despite the size, was quieter than a hush. Quiet as reverence. Quiet as star light.

In the mud we fine tune the dreams we dreamt in the winter, and it is from the mud they will bloom like lotuses

I embrace the mud, the dreams and wild unknown beyond my parameters, where earth, water and all combine in an ancient ritual of slipping and sliding into the miraculous ineffable Spring.

Wishing you all a wonderful adventure of slipping into your dreams of new life

I live in a cozy small yurt who sits on a platform above the ground. The frost has been so deep this year that the floors are shifting with the cyclic freeze and thaw to create creaking and booms in the night. My cat jumped last night with a particularly loud boom. Now, the shifting and heaving is enough that I discovered that my door can't quite fully close. : ) Happy discovery!

So, I let it stay ajar, to allow what wants to flow in and out, have free reign, letting the gentle ethers, the spring sprites and the wisps come and go as they please. Oh, and the birds too- oh yes, another flew in this morning, and left much more decidedly than the last one.... Must have had better places to go.

I know this new norm is so ephemeral that I delight in it, knowing this precious time will shift again. Soon, the earth will level to a new calibration. For now, I ride the ups and downs with pleasure. Finding balance within and without.

Here are some photos showing what that the shifting of balance looks like in my woods this Equinox day.

And for your pleasure, I also wrote musings on Equinox, a time of finding inner balance to the new outer balance, on my Venus Muse and seasonal pages.

Blessings, Happy Equinox and so much love to all of you.