Autumn's Embrace: Unveiling the Sacred In Nature

As summer's fiery reign gracefully yields to autumn's gentle embrace, the world undergoes a metamorphosis that is both breathtaking and profound. The once vibrant hues of green morph into a mesmerizing tapestry of gold, crimson, and amber, painting the landscape with a beauty that is both ephemeral and enchanting. My gardens have been quite neglected this year and so a reprieve from the worry of tending is welcome.

In this season of transition, nature unveils its sacred artistry, whispering secrets of transformation, renewal, and the interconnectedness of all things. The rustling of fallen leaves beneath our feet serves as a gentle reminder of the impermanence of all existence, while the crisp autumn air invigorates our senses, urging us to awaken to the present moment.

For countless cultures throughout history, autumn has been revered as a time of harvest and abundance, a time to gather the fruits of our labor and celebrate the natural world. It is a season of introspection and gratitude, a time to reflect on the cycle of life, death, and rebirth that is inherent in all things.

As we immerse ourselves in the beauty of autumn, we are invited to participate in the sacred art of nature observation. This art is not confined to the realm of formal artistic expression; rather, it can encompass any activity that allows us to connect with the inherent beauty and wisdom of the natural world.

Here are a few simple ways to incorporate the sacred art of nature into your autumn rituals:

• Embark on a mindful walk through nature. As you wander through the woods or along a meandering trail, allow your senses to guide you. Notice the delicate patterns on fallen leaves, the intricate details of a spider's web, and the symphony of sounds created by birdsong and the rustling of leaves.

• Gather natural materials to create a nature mandala. Arrange leaves, twigs, stones, and other found objects in a circular pattern. As you create your mandala, focus on the present moment and allow your creativity to flow freely. Let nature slowly take back these materials or create an intentional ceremony for yourself of dismantling this art piece you have lovingly created. What elements might you include in your ceremony - fire, water, earth and air possibly? Keep it simple at first.

• Spend time in quiet contemplation near a body of water. Sit beside a stream, river, or lake and allow the gentle rhythm of the water to wash away your worries and cares. As you gaze into the water, reflect on the ever-changing nature of life.

• Create a seasonal altar. Gather objects that represent the beauty of autumn, such as pumpkins, gourds, acorns, and colorful leaves. Place these objects on a table or shelf and use them as a focus for meditation or prayer. Anything that you may gather on your walks can be incorporated - a rock, an interesting nest, a piece of lichen found disturbed under your feet. It is also nice to collect dried plant material like herbs, roots, and berries to add to your altar or tableau.

• Simply sit or lie down in a natural setting and allow yourself to be present in the moment. Breathe in the fresh air, listen to the sounds of nature, and feel the warmth of the sun on your skin. A soft gaze helps you drop into a more relaxed state. Do you have a favorite spot that you are drawn to? Make it easy to get to in your daily activities? A simple pause during the day can be surprisingly fulfilling.

As you engage in the sacred art of nature, you will open yourself up to the beauty and wisdom of the natural world. You will also gain a deeper understanding of the cycle of life and death, and the interconnectedness of all things. Perhaps a small notebook carried can become a meaningful record for your days. Even just a few sentences to record the world that you are sensing is an important way to track where you are finding important observations. As the years go by - reviewing these words can reveal how you might be developing internally. What shifts are you noticing? Who are now in this moment? A whole world exists in nature journaling that can be as complex or simple as you feel connected to creating and exploring - in word, painting, drawing, colored pencil, song, poetry.

So, as autumn embraces the world with its enchanting beauty, take some time to slow down, to connect with nature, and to unveil the sacred arts that lie hidden within its embrace.

“To be in love with the world is particularly lucky, as it’s everywhere: city, country, and suburb. And luckiest of all is that it’s never too late to fall into this particular thrall. All you need to do is begin to look around.””

— Bill McKibben

Poetry as a healing art: Words that mend the soul

Poetry is often thought of as a form of entertainment or self-expression, but it can also be a powerful tool for healing. Reading and writing poetry can help us to process difficult emotions, make sense of our experiences, and find solace in the shared human condition.

Here are some of the ways in which poetry can be healing:

• It can help us to process difficult emotions. Poetry can provide a safe space for us to express our pain, grief, anger, and other difficult emotions. It can also help us to understand and accept our emotions, and to find healthy ways of coping with them.

• It can help us to make sense of our experiences. Poetry can help us to reflect on our experiences and to see them in a new light. It can also help us to find meaning and purpose in our suffering.

• It can help us to connect with others. Poetry can help us to feel less alone in our experiences. It can also help us to connect with others who have shared similar experiences.

• It can offer us comfort and hope. Poetry can remind us that we are not alone in our suffering, and that there is always hope for healing.

Poetry therapy is a type of therapy that uses poetry to promote healing and well-being. Poetry therapists work with individuals and groups to use poetry to process emotions, make sense of experiences, and connect with others. You do not need to work with a therapist to find poetry as your own healing way.

Here are some tips for using poetry as a healing art:

• Find poems that resonate with you. There is no right or wrong way to choose poems for healing. The most important thing is to find poems that speak to you on a personal level.

• Read the poems slowly and carefully. Take your time to savor the words and images. Pay attention to how the poems make you feel. Engage your senses as you read through some of your favorite poems.

• Write your own poems. Writing poetry can be a powerful way to process your emotions and to make sense of your experiences. There is no need to be a professional poet to write healing poetry. Just write whatever comes to mind. Poetry is for the people!

• Share your poems with others. Sharing your poems with others can help you to connect with others who have shared similar experiences, and it can also help you to feel less alone. There are poetry circles that offer a supportive atmosphere . Libraries , art centers, senior centers and community spaces may offer something creative in your local area.

If you are interested in using poetry for healing, there are many resources available to help you. There are books and articles on the subject, and there are also poetry therapists who can work with you individually or in a group. In my Biography & Sacred Arts work - poetry is a meaningful, healing practice.

Dandelion Seeds

Nature Aria

by Yi Lei
translated by Tracy K. Smith and Changtai Bi

Autumn wind chases in
From all directions
And a thousand chaste leaves
Give way.

Scatter in me the seeds
Of a thousand saplings.
Let grow a grassy heaven.
On my brow: a sun.
This bliss is yours, Living
World, and alone it endures.
Music at midnight.
Young wine.
Lovers hand in hand
By daylight, moonlight.
Living World, hold me
In your mouth,

Slip on your frivolous shoes
And dance with me. My soul
Is the wild vine
Who alone has grasped it,
Who has seen through the awful plot,
Who will arrive in time to vanquish
The river already heavy with blossoms,
The moon spilling light onto packs
Of men. What is sadder than witless
Wolves, wind without borders,
Nationless birds, small gifts
Laden with love’s intentions?

Fistfuls of rain fall hard, fill
My heart with mud. An old wind
May still come chasing in.
Resurrection fire. And me here
Laughing like a cloud in trousers,
Entreating the earth to bury me.

“Poetry really is the cure.
When we stop jabbering long enough to listen to what is going on around, among, and inside us—and we have someone to help us put that into the fewest, truest words available to us—the air clears and the aliveness flows through all the spaces in between.”

— Barbara Brown Taylor

I am currently reading through The Celtic Myths: A Guide To The Ancient Gods and Legends by Miranda Aldhouse-Green.. Storytelling is as old as the days of when people first gathered together to sit by a fire to keep warm. We are storytelling creatures. We frame our world in story and myth. Dream worlds are stories of the unconscious. We read stories in books - sing story in songs - look forward and back in our lives and create a story. Word of mouth tales told to us through a grapevine - might be true or not. Story has always been with us. Our visual nature and penchant for creativity sparks a natural way of being when it comes to storytelling.

“And after the mist, lo, every place was filled with light. And when they looked the way they were wont before that to see the flocks and the herds and the dwellings, no manner of thing could they see; neither house nor beast nor smoke nor fire not man nor dwelling, but the houses of the court empty, desolate, uninhabited, without man, without beast, within them, their very companions lost, without their knowledge aught of them, save they four only.”

— From the Third Branch Of The Maginogi

From The Celtic Myths: A Guide To The Ancient Gods and Legends. Chapter 1 - Word of Mouth: Making Myths.
Myths, like fables, are elusive things. Modern horror films, whether about vampires, ghosts or revived Egyptian mummies, are arguably acceptable because they allow people to explore the darkest aspects of human nature within a safe environment. In a sense, the same is true of myth, but myths are much more complicated. This is in part because they are almost always associated with religious belief - and often magic - and also because contained in mythic tales are answers to some of the most fundamental human concerns: Who are we? Why are we here? Why is our world like this? How was the world created? What happens when we die? Myths also explore issues related to initiation rites: birth, puberty, marriage and death. Some, particularly those from the Celtic world, are highly concerned with morality - good and evil, chastity, violence, rape and treachery, war and ethics - with gender-roles, maidenhood, motherhood and virility; and with the ideals of female and male behavior.

Myths flourish in societies where such issues are not answerable by means of rational explanation. They are symbolic stories, designed to explore these issues in a comprehensible manner. Myths can serve to explain creation, natural phenomena and natural disasters (such as floods, drought and disease), the mysterious transitions of day and night, the celestial bodies and the seasons. They are often associated with the dreams and visions of so-called ‘holy men’, person (of either gender), with the ability to see into the future and into the world of the supernatural. Myths are inhabited by gods and heroes, and tell of the relationship between the supernatural and material worlds. They can provide divine explanations for the departures of past peoples, their abandoned monuments and burial sites, their houses and places of communal assembly: Myths can explain the origin of enmities between communities and disputes over territory. Finally, myths are often highly entertaining tales than can while away a dark winter’s evening by the fire.

Maps drawn. The concept of drawing maps and land ownership. Boundaries. Who do we keep in? Who do we keep out? How does our life play out based on how we perceive these lines randomly drawn with mostly force and ownership? Can we think of the land we stand with - as anything other than an arbitrary line on a page? The stories we might carry happen inside of these drawn out lines. A lifetime is spent traveling around in these storied mythical places. Placemaking is as old as time.

“Cu Chulainn reached Forgall’s rampart and gave his salmon-leap across three enclosures to the middle of the fort. In the inner enclosure he dealt three strokes of at three groups of nine men. He killed eight men at each stroke and left one man standing in the middle of each group. They were Emer’s three brother, Scibar and Ibor and Cat.”

— From The Tain Bo Cuailange

Reading widely of stories, legends, myths of many places and cultures helps frame our world view. It is interesting to see where an accepted belief comes from. Perhaps a story passed down in a family, a community or an entire culture continues to shape us. As we shape the world the world shapes us. This book of Celtic Myths helps distill where some ancient myths have come from and continue to play out in so many ways in our lives. We are creatures of habit and evolution.

“I am trying to Evolve”

— Ani D'franco

Choosing Love by Meredith Gaston

Choosing Love by Meredith Gaston

Choosing Love by Meredith Gaston

Choosing Love by Meredith Gaston

Choosing Love by Meredith Gaston

Choosing Love by Meredith Gaston

Choosing Love by Meredith Gaston

Choosing Love by Meredith Gaston

Choosing Love by Meredith Gaston

Choosing Love by Meredith Gaston

Choosing Love by Meredith Gaston

I hope you have enjoyed this book tour through Choosing Love:Replenishing Our Hearts by Meredith Gaston.

Internationally acclaimed artist and author Meredith Gaston's Choosing Love will open you to love: love for self, love for others, romantic love, love of life and love for everything in our world.

Through advice, meditations and practical exercises, Meredith shows us how to embrace opportunities and step into our miraculous world of love.

Living a life of love begins with building on our wellbeing. By sustaining joy and inspiration and by paying mindful attention to ourselves and our world, we can expect our lives to flourish. When we nourish ourselves we can be there for others, with compassion and understanding. When we allow ourselves to shine, we grant others permission to do the same. We needn't go through our day-to-day lives feeling alone or isolated – the joy of love is all around us.

Bones

Special objects that we bring into our homes imbue the space with what is meaningful to us. Finding something suddenly of interest without knowing why - is part of living a magical life. It may create a feeling or a memory from a time that you are unclear about. What is it that this object brings to me in my living right now? Having a few items is what makes something so special. Filling a space or home with too many things just overwhelms us. The interesting story about our home objects connected to our everyday lives offers us information about the biography we carry.

When we are young we come into our childhood homes and places without having a choice in what that is - in the mundane world. On a different level what lives in the spiritual realm perhaps - the unconscious maybe - there is this idea that we have a connection to how things develop in our biography. Of course belief systems vary in these theories. I do believe that we are connected to a greater life energy - spiritual life energy - that is awash in a plasma that whirls around us in ways that we do not often understand. This feeling is most likely concretized if one has had experiences in life that offer them glimpses into another world. I have had those experiences - so it is perfectly comfortable for me to embrace this ethos in my life. I think that most people have these experiences. It is easy to overlook these moments if our attention is elsewhere. One way I think most people have experienced incredible moments of beauty is - Nature Connection.

With Nature we can feel those powerful feelings of a connection to something much bigger than ourselves. It is undeniable as we stand before a tree, or in our gardens, or seeing the sky above or the rush of a river flowing by us as we stand on the edge. As a world view enlarges it becomes less important to fill our spaces with many items that may in fact diminish a focused energy in our homes and spaces. Imagine if we must choose one or two very important items in our lives and be content with that. This small box of bones is a treasure of meaning and beauty and significance to me. It would be difficult to articulate how one person’s treasure is meaningful to each of us. It is really only something the individual might understand. That is enough for it to be significant. It is this human ability to imbue objects with attachment and meaning that offers us a glimpse into why perhaps we get in over our heads with too much or too many things.

making vessel

One way of finding objects - would be to bring special handmade items into your life and home place. A simple vessel made by a potter can offer so much. It can contain many items over its lifetime. Water that is filling with the sun or moon on a shelf for hours can then bring that energy into your body when you drink it. Flowers that you have gathered on a walk can remind you of your time outdoors. A holder of things. Find what matters to you. Imbue the vessel with who you are and it becomes enlivened with your uniqueness.

A Gathering Basket

A gathering basket will go many places with you. It will go on picnics, haul things around the garden, bring things upstairs with you and carry your items along on a walk. With each carrying time - the basket becomes more important to you - more useful to you. Even more meaningful to you. You may begin to use the basket to create a display when you are not using it as a tool. In this way we find objects that resonate with us in our life. I think a basket is a very useful item to carry in your life. Containers offer use and beauty. Taking care of these objects that live with us will bring to us an art piece to drape our living around.

In our living with objects we find. We find memories that resonate with what that object represents for us. Even if we do not know it consciously. Even when we are drawn in and do not know why. I think that finding enduring beauty can be of use in a world that is over run with too much. Too much of endless meaningless searching. Carefully bring along a few objects of poetry that hold a thread woven across the years. Let the threads sew together that which has carried you along so far. A kind of visual museum of your life - curated in simple and useful or magnificent to only the life ways that you know about. Your own secret magical treasure. Let that meaning find you.

A Writing Exercise: Find an object in your life that holds meaning for you. Write about what you see, feel and understand about this object in your life. What can you discover about yourself that offers you a glimpse into what this holds for you?

Handmade Mug

“Wherever we touch life we form it. It’s an old teaching that man is a microcosm of the universe. If you really feel and internalize that knowledge, it is quite a thing to be a human being, to touch with the hands but also with a thought, a feeling, or a dream.”

— M.C. Richards

a place

“That people could come into the world in a place they could not at first even name and had never known before; and that out of a nameless and unknown place they could grow and move around in it until its name they knew and called with love, and call it HOME, and put roots there and love others there; so that whenever they left this place they would sing homesick songs about it and write poems of yearning for it...and forever be returning to it or leaving it again.”

— William Goven, The House of Breath