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Preserving nature is an integral part of being a spiritual person. Nature has so much to share and gifts to teach us if we will only take the time to stop, look and listen (or ask the right questions!) Be it as simple as letting a daddy long legs spider live in the corner of your laundry room, to feeding and watering the birds, your service to animals will bring you joy. One year we made a Christmas tree for the birds from a tree in our landscaping. We hung pine cones smeared with peanut butter and rolled in wild bird seed. We strung popcorn, suet blocks and apple cores. It was a thrill to see the birds all come and feast in the cold of the season. We felt peace knowing that they would be sustained throughout the cold winter. Not that nature can’t provide, but if we can supplement nature then wildlife can really thrive and do well amid the stresses of modern life.

To nurture nature is sacred. To stop and reflect upon nature is truly divine.

Using your care of nature as sacred ritual is important. Caring for nature puts one in the role of responsibility, which simply means; the ability to respond. To respond to nature’s specific needs is essentially service. And to serve is to find your greatest joy. Find your joy in feeding the birds seeds & millet or nectar for the hummingbirds. You can make butterfly gardens and feeders too. I have a birdbath that at night also serves the nocturnal frogs, lizards and the occasional snake. I feed the wild birds seed and grain that I give to my chickens-cracked corn and wheat. We have a couple of doves who came the 1st year we began feeding the birds and they would always join in right next to the chickens to get their daily grains. The next year they came as a trio, bringing a new little fledgling to feast. We are blessed to live in the forest. This means also we have a forest full of animals & insects. Caring for their needs and fostering an environment for them to thrive in is a great joy and privilege. Caring for nature puts many important things into a perspective that fosters a greater awareness of the world around. There is magic in nature. From the tiny seed that grows into a towering tree to the beauty and form of a spider’s intricate web. Nature has so much to teach us, if we will only stop to notice.

One of the first sacred practices of the Native American Indians that I utilized was making a medicine wheel. A medicine wheel can be as small as some stones in sand on a desk top or larger stones in a garden, lawn or secluded area of the yard. Bring a compass and put marker stones at North, South, East & West. Some traditions acknowledge above & below without a stone marker. Each direction has it’s own character. Four is a sacred number representing complexities we find in nature & being. The Four Aspects of Human Personality-the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual; The Seasons-fall, winter, spring and summer; The Four Stages of Life-childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and elders; The Races-red, white, black and yellow; The Four Elements-earth, air, fire & water.

I will be posting more about making your own medicine wheel and the symbolism therein. It can be as simple or elaborate as you’d like. It’s a great way to acknowledge and build community with Spirit. Please join me!

All the seasons have important lessons to teach us. One of the main lessons in Autumn is that our abundance is here! It’s a time to harvest and gather. Time to bundle up, hunker down and keep warm. It’s a time to share. It’s a time to let go of what isn’t useful anymore. Like the trees do with their leaves; let all the old, withering stuff fall to our feet to fertilize, mulch and protect us thru the winter’s bitter cold & wind. Take stock of the harvest this season. Do you have enough to share or is it going to be bare bones? Native American Indians use to gauge the intensity of the winter by the size of the acorns on the oak trees. It’s time to shelter those less fortunate and more fragile then ourselves. We fortify the chicken coop with straw for warmth & comfort. We put draft stops at the base of the door to keep the chilly fingers of jack frost from nipping our nose & toes. We make hearty pots of thick soups full of nature’s bounty to sustain us. We burn wood for warmth. The glow mesmerizes and comforts us.

Fall is a time to let go of what isn’t working for us anymore. Whether it’s a job, a relationship,  or an attitude or outlook we no longer have a use for, or a unwelcome memory. Spread your limbs and let that which no longer actively serves you to fall away and serve you as fertilizer & mulch for what the new seasons brings. It’s not a time of loss. It’s a time of separating out that which works and that which no longer works for us anymore. Let the inner warmth and abundance of the season nourish & sustain us, heart, mind, body & soul.

Autumn is not the time to hang on to baggage. Though it is a time to go thru and find the slippers, sweaters, wool socks & jackets that we put away so many months ago. It’s the time to protect and hold, to keep safe that which will keep us best thru the winter so we can be again renewed in the spring.