Summer, especially late summer, is a wonderful time to remember to connect with the spiritual side and energy of nature. In early summer, the spirit and energy of nature are busy preparing and growing anew its bounty. Then, in later summer, just before harvest, its full energy is waiting to share the knowledge and wonderment only nature holds.
I learned a valuable lesson this spring: remember nature in all seasons. Usually, I share my tea leaves with my flowers and receive the earliest and latest lilies in the neighborhood. This last winter, I was lax. I noticed my lilies did not come up early, but instead came up later than my neighbors’.
I needed to give my fae friends, who tend to my flowers, a huge apology and some honey in addition to the tea leaves as an act of asking for forgiveness. This forgiveness is meant to honor the work they do in caring for the flowers that adorn the yard I enjoy. I receive many compliments, but I know the work done is not mine to claim but theirs. And I do give them credit. However, I also give them payment throughout the year. My usual payment to them is regular deposits of tea leaves and occasional other things.
By paying them, I not only receive the bounty of what the plants yield, but also the pleasure of seeing them in their beauty and glory. That’s the external.
The greater bonus a person may receive is the knowledge and insight nature gives us. The insights come in many ways, with two being the most common. The first is through symbolism, and the other is direct communication.
Symbolism is the most common way nature communicates with people. There are many ways nature sends symbolism to people. The symbols may be in the form of the number of items sent (for example, three birds) or in a specific item (a crow, a fox, or even seeing a specific plant). Each of these things represents something, has a meaning, and gives meaning to the person meant to notice them. The symbolism is communication.
When a person calms enough to notice the symbols given to them by nature, the communication with nature is profound. A person may go even further and gather symbols together to see even deeper, more complex messages meant to be understood by the person who has noticed.
Then, another more difficult way of communicating with nature is direct communication. This communication is more difficult because it comes in less clear ways. It may come in the form of music that is so subtle because it is a simple drop of dew sliding down a leaf. Receiving the gift of hearing this music requires a person to be quiet and still long enough to both hear and feel the music and the music’s message.
Another direct way nature communicates is by sending messages on the wind. The wind carries many soft, subtle messages that again require a person to sit quietly enough that they can receive what nature wants to share. Trees and other plants will share deep knowledge about an area’s history. And it is widely known that stones and crystals carry spiritual qualities. These are only a few of the numerous examples of nature’s wisdom and what it may share with us through willing communication.
To communicate with nature, being still enough to sense and hear is essential. It is also important to be open to trust and believe. If you sense something, doubt negates the trust and makes further reception of clear communication challenging, nearly impossible. However, trusting creates the beginning of a strengthening, clear flow of communication between the two.
Sometimes, I’ll just sit with my flowers and listen. There are times when all is quiet. I’ve come to understand that quiet has a meaning. Quiet means, “Be still and relax.” Other times, I can hear messages meant for me. Another time, I heard a laugh. Just a laugh when no one was around. Laughing reminds me to enjoy life, relax, or find humor. A simple laugh is infectious, and I find myself laughing. What a joy nature can bring.
Other times, a certain smell brings a reminder or warning: rain, or prepare for a storm.
There are many ways nature communicates. Can you be still enough, open enough, or aware enough to want to receive these very wonderful interspecies messages?