My bare feet crunched on a Mother Earth that was yellow, dry and parched. My soul however was leaping about with joy to be home, and to be conversing with the Mother of my home — this place I am steward of. I had been too busy for too long.
My dogs ran wildly ahead of me, tongues lolling, eyes bright. They love their walks. As I walked across the paddocks, my bare feet began their conversation with the Great Mother. She needed balance.
As I walked I sang, danced and spoke gently, politely and with much acknowledgement to the rain spirits. I could sense the shudder in the atmosphere, of knowing the two leggeds were so disconnected from the world of nature, they were sending the rain spirits scuttling away with their thoughts. I apologised deeply and laughed as the wind acknowledged our conversation. I was so incredibly happy to be free to walk, bare-footed on the land.
My bare feet walked of their own accord to a sacred grove of ancient trees. With great reverence I asked if I may enter and was granted that permission.
As usual, magic abounds when I am out in nature. The ordinary world slips away and I slip through the mists to become another being entirely. The dogs all lay down, eyes alert. They respond to my inner being, always. And the inner being was in reverence, and was still.
In the stillness I listened for the messages that were needed to be taken out into the world at this time.
“We are the sisters and brothers of human beings,” said the trees. “We all carry the spark of divinity within. We are all alive. We all have purpose.”
Rows of dead pine trees trussed up in trinkets slipped into my consciousness. As usual, we humans have things mixed up. Pines are sacred trees to the Celts. Part of the Ogham. They also drain away negativity and are good beings to plant at the gateway of your home, or between neighbours.
Here in Australia, we regard them as “pests”. I have a definite affinity with pines, having spent much of my childhood sitting in a pine’s branches, finding solace there.
“Compassion for all of us who cannot speak the language of the tongue,” said one tree, taller than the rest. I nodded. This time of year was definitely a time for compassion.
I couldn’t help noticing how green it was in the grove, and how tall the trees were, reaching up to Father Sky and sending their roots deep into Mother Earth. Trees are beauty in the landscape, and hold much wisdom.
I wondered at the ritual of cutting pine trees and decorating them at Christmas. There is so much forgotten of the old ways which were far more connected to nature and the seasons and the magic of life, than to commerce and trade.
Our family celebrates the summer solstice. It’s the longest day in the year. And that is something to be celebrated. The next day, the days start getting shorter. We begin our walk into winter.
We will exchange gifts, and indulge in summer fruits and nuts. We’ll dine outside with fairy lights and listen to the birdsong farewelling the sun, and bringing the soft blanket of night as the sun finally rests his head.
A dog stirred. “It’s time to go,” she said. Regretfully I dragged myself back into present time and send much gratitude to the trees. I noticed the fence was down and asked if the horses bothered them. They flashed me a vision of chestnut centaurs wandering around their glen. I chuckled. Magic!
“How do I appear to you? “ I asked, curious.
“As a dryad,” the trees said.
I chuckled again.
Outside the grove I realised the clouds had gathered, the grass beneath my feet no longer crunched. It was raining.
I sang my gratitude to the rain spirits and completed my evening caring for the animals, soaked and joyous.
“What do you need to say to the world right now?” I asked my animal friends as I scooped manure, filled water troughs and fed everyone.
The horses thought, the geese and goats thought, the dogs, sheep and alpacas thought.
“Compassion,” they said. “Ask the children of the two leggeds to remember the souls inside the bodies of animals, and trees.
“Ask them to give of themselves in their caring and to consider those in their care.”
It rained harder. By giving voice to those who needed to be heard, the ancient pattern was re-established. The rain came to nourish the Earth who gave us everything. Balance was restored.
Inside at last, my eyes fell on my three cats, waiting in the old kitchen for their dinner.
“Tell them what you learnt today from a spirit cat,” they said.
The spirit cat had wanted her person to lie on Mother Earth and for the Earth to take her negativity and pain. But for this gift, there must be one given in exchange. That is the balance. That’s the pattern.
When I asked what that might be, I was shown an image of the person sprinkling water on the Earth, with intent, praise and gratefulness. This was the gift She desired now from that person. The Mother is thirsty in some places.
My cats purred.
Far away I saw a flash of lightning and heard the distant rumble of thunder. I put a dog dish under a leak in the kitchen’s roof, and sat outside for a time to experience the wonder of it.
This is reality. This is magic. This is truth.
The Earth is our Mother who gives and nourishes us. We need to honour her with gifts of appreciation, song, praise, dance, ceremony and celebration.
So this year, when you are thinking of all the trinkets to fill stockings with, think of the word compassion and honour Mother Earth, the trees and the animals with your choices and your actions.
Think of the gift you will give Mother Earth this year, in return for all the gifts she has given to you. Think of giving her some gratitude, some praise and some love, and enjoy a very happy holiday season, and the magic of the natural world.
. . . . . .
Billie Dean is an internationally recognised interspecies telepath, animal and peace advocate and award-winning creative artist. She is the author of Secret Animal Business, and an independent filmmaker of inspiring and heart-warming films about animals and peace. Billie runs a transformational on-line school Rainbow Fianna teaching animal communication with an eclectic blend of native and visionary wisdom to help people evolve into the human angels animals need them to be. With her husband and daughter, Billie runs A Place of Peace Animal Sanctuary and founded The Billie Dean International Deep Peace Organisation, a not-for-profit organsiation to promote peace and freedom for all animals through the arts, education and compassionate action. www.billiedean.com
© Billie Dean, 2009. All rights reserved. You may cross-post this article but only in its complete form with author, author blurb and website included. Thank you!
Originally Published in Conscious Living.
