Gentle sparkle of snow on a leaf. Winter medicine is still present on the land of the sanctuary, the land of the sacred white deer, and the ancient land of the Lenape people.
Despite a warm winter, we had a little snowfall today.
To those who spend long hours outdoors, day after day, we witness an unsettling change in patterns, rhythms, and flow.
Bees are coming out too early and too frequently this winter, awakening from their winter state in search of food, that is not there yet.
Trees are ready to open their fragile buds despite the fact that we are still far from the last winter frost.
Plants are coming out of the ground tricked by warm nights only to freeze and die a few days later.
I see it. I feel it. In my heart. In my bones. In my pain body. Weaving its way to my core.
I always found so much beauty in the winter landscape. Frosted lands, rivers, and nature. And wonder what it will be like in the future? What will be left for my grandchildren to witness?
How will the ancient precisely weaved cycles between plants, trees, birds, insects, and animals respond to such rapid and dramatic changes?
Will my greater kin family find refuge, food, and balance?
Who will not survive the consequences of our human-centric world that lost its capacity to deeply listen to those ancient and essential voices?
This photo is not mine but reminded me of how nature always invites us to be amazed. Still today, I found the awe, the beauty, that invites me to feel more deeply the tender and ancient connection with all this life I depend on.
Even on the coldest days.
Even on the longest nights.
We can find beauty.
Maybe it is that beauty, that awe, that will call us to a more authentic connection, a deeper care, and a deeper understanding of the necessary changes we need to make in our lives and communities?
Maybe it is that magic, that invisible thread that connects us all, that will invite us to listen more deeply to the lands, the indigenous voices, and the Spirits who carry the wisdom we need to find our way back home, our sanity?
As Bruce Stanley says; ”The worship will happen when your heart is caught up in the beauty of the moment.” Angell Deer
