“Every day a million miracles begin at sunrise!”
-Eric Jerome Dickey
All posts by Joyce
The Promise of Spring
Called Saint Brigid’s Day, this 24 hour period, sundown to sundown, Feb. 1 – Feb. 2, is a traditional Gaelic celebration, marking the beginning of Spring! It is the exact mid-point between Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. Also Groundhog Day, Imbolc, and Candlemas, this day in the middle of winter is celebrated in many cultures and traditions.
It is said that this day holds the promise of Spring!
That promise is held dear, while not rushing the inherent gifts of this winter still unfolding. A big storm is on the horizon, that will rush into northwestern Montana tonight, finding us by the hearth with quiet, books, and the warmth of the fire, inviting in the inner sanctuary that this outer sanctuary of peaceful snow allows.
Selena Fox in “Celebrating the Seasons” recommends that we fill our day with:
“cleaning your altar, doing a self purification with elemental tools – cleansing your body with salt (Earth), your thoughts with incense (Air), your will with a candle flame (Fire) your emotions with water (Water), and your spiritual body with a healing crystal (Spirit)… Take a nature walk. ..Reflect upon/reaffirm spiritual vows and commitments you have made.”
I will do all of these things.
Earth will be reawakening soon. This is the time of preparation for birthing all that is new in You!
A Great Pilgrimage
“I felt in need of a great pilgrimage,
so I sat still for three days.”
-Hafiz
Go Outside
“Go outside
and let your breath
be stolen away.
Find the forests,
seek the seas,
meditate
on the mountains,
mist covered
from morning.
We are nurtured
by nature, born
for the wild places;
we’ve no business
in cities, in buildings
taller than trees
can grow.
Go outside,
and begin living
again.”-Tyler Knott Gregson
What Is A Prayer?
“It doesn’t have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patcha few words together and don’t try
to make them elaborate, this isn’t
a contest but the doorwayinto thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.”-Mary Oliver
From The Minds Journal I found the following interpretation of prayer and it resonated deeply. For me, nature’s wonder, these mountains, this majesty, allows and invites a prayerful approach; a reverent way of being alive absorbed by this commanding presence.
Keep praying always…. in all the ways that speak to you.
The Moon of Your Heart
“Put your thoughts to sleep, do not let them cast a shadow over the moon of your heart. Let go of thinking.”
-Rumi
Door to the Temple
Mary Oliver.
A treasure, a poet, a conduit to wonder…
“I could not be a poet without the natural world. Someone else could. But not me. For me the door to the woods is the door to the temple.”
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“For poems are not words, after all, but fires for the cold, ropes let down to the lost, something as necessary as bread in the pockets of the hungry.”
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“Today I’m flying low and I’m not saying a word.
I’m letting all of the voodoos of ambition sleep.
The world goes on as it must, the bees in the garden rumbling a little, the fish leaping, the gnats getting eaten. And so forth.
But I’m taking the day off. Quiet as a feather. I hardly move though really I’m traveling a terrific distance.
Stillness. One of the doors into the temple.”
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All above quoted words by Mary Oliver
Thank you Mary Oliver for the ropes let down when I was lost. You inspired and lifted me up, reminded me of the always verdant, wise, and loving absorption available in the natural world. Your words were and are a respite. You will be so deeply missed, but your rich deep poetry, music really, will remain – always.
See Things As They Are
“I come to my solitary woodland walk as the homesick go home. I thus dispose of the superfluous and see things as they are, grand and beautiful.”
-Henry David Thoreau
Walk Slowly Into the Mystery
“It only takes a reminder to breathe,
a moment to be still, and just like that,
something in me settles, softens, makes
space for imperfection. The harsh voice
of judgment drops to a whisper and I
remember again that life isn’t a relay
race; that we will all cross the finish
line; that waking up to life is what we
were born for. As many times as I
forget, catch myself charging forward
without even knowing where I’m going,
that many times I can make the choice
to stop, to breathe, and be, and walk
slowly into the mystery.”-Danna Faulds
Welcome the New Year!
“And now we welcome the new year,
full of things that have never been.”
-Ranier Maria Rilke
Each of these snowflakes have never been before. Each new crystal is a unique expression of wonder! Light filled, every one. These are a few of the many many reasons that I am completely enamored of snow! The peacefulness, the beauty, the calm, the quiet, the sweetness, the meditative stillness, and that unique expression of wonder – it all embraces me completely.
And aren’t we all like this too, unique expressions of wonder? Light filled crystals of being? Yes, I think we are. May we all be filled with this light and wonder, knowing our unique expression of being this New Year…
It is very softly snowing on this dawn of the newest year and all of these feelings are very present – as am I. And in stillness I am listening to what my heart prays…
“Sit in stillness and listen to what your heart prays.”
-Ruth Jewell