NATURE SPIRITS: IN CELEBRATION OF SPRING EQUINOX

     It's officially spring! Let's celebrate! Let's go into the forests and meadows and dance in fairy rings! Let's throw off our shoes and feel the earth below our feet! Let's sit on the wet grass and have a picnic! Let's sing! Let's put all our troubles into balloons of light and let them float into space and dissolve into pure light. Let's be free. Now! We can. You can. Yes! You can! It is possible. Now! It is only possible now, never yesterday or tomorrow, only now.

     In celebration of winter casting off her heavy coat and stepping into the soft colors of spring, I am posting a special message about Nature Spirits! Nature spirits are part of the angelic kingdom.

Are angels with us always? Yes! Always! No matter what we think, how we feel, or where we are. Angels surround us in the air, in nature, in cities, in sleep, and in our homes. There are angels of air. Angels of air are clear, light, and ephemeral, moving with the wind, constantly flowing and changing form. There are angels of mists and fogs who sing enchanting melodies, rising into clouds and floating back down again to touch the earth.

     There are angels of rocks who can sit unmoving for hours or ages, blending into the energy of rocks, silent and still. 

     There are angels of deserts are awe-inspiring, vast, and stretch to eternity. It takes great courage to encounter angels of the desert.

      The angels of jungles are as dark, deep, and mysterious as the jungles themselves. They blend so well into the depths of the jungle that you would be unlikely to see one, even if you were standing in their midst.

      There are many varieties of water angels. The angels of waterfalls and brooks twirl and dance, sparkling into and out of form. They awaken the innocent childlike joy inside every person. Running water is a good place to go when your spirit needs uplifting.

     The angels of oceans are great devas, serene and tranquil, who adore chanting the name of God. They spend a lot of time laughing at nothing at all. They know the language of all sea animals and fish. These angels possess such stillness of heart that you can hear it if you go to the ocean and listen carefully. These devas have a deeply intuitive relationship with whales, dolphins, manatees, octopi, and other wonderfully conscious life forms that roam the seas. Intelligent sea creatures experience the presence of angels in a way humanity is vastly unaware of. When human beings savage the oceans, the great sea devas draw even closer to the great sea animals, while doing their best to calm the vast array of fish and fauna that inhabit the ocean.

     River angels are sublime and hardly ever pay attention to human beings. They almost never stay in the same place for long, so it is not easy to become well acquainted with a river angel, even if you should happen to glimpse one of their shimmery gliding forms. Lake angels, on the other hand, are nicely fat and placid from hardly moving at all. 

     The angels of ponds are small fairy-like creatures of all colors and shapes. They spend a great deal of time playing amongst themselves, sometimes forgetting all about the pond they are watching over. When one of them remembers to work, it scolds the others and they all scurry around very quickly to tend to the pond. Other angels often gather and watch with amusement the innocent antics of these small fairy-like beings. They know it is the laughter and playfulness of the little fairy spirits that give life to the pond.

     The angels of mountains rarely speak. They love silence and spend eternities gazing at each other, the sky above them, the earth below. When these angels speak, their voices are like the mouths of caves suddenly opening. Since they seldom speak, their every word is penetrating, deeply moving, and meaningful. Should you ever chance to meet such an angel you, too, might not feel like talking for some time. All words except those that come from the heart might seem meaningless and not worth uttering.

      For a tree spirit, the tree is everything. The angel tends to the tree, feeling the roots of the tree sinking into mother earth, its branches reaching towards the sun, and the angels of wind blowing through its leaves. When you experience the strength and serenity of a great old tree, you are also experiencing the energy of its guardian angel.

     The task of nature spirits is to watch over and meld with nature, holding and maintaining the energy of nature. Nature spirits are content as they are. An angel of mist does not dream of becoming a rock angel. Angels know that everything is Consciousness expressing itself in countless forms. Nature spirits work and play together in a harmony that most people can only dream of. Angels of rain delight in making contact with angels of grass, trees, and flowers. Small nature spirits love being caressed by the angels of rain, listening to stories of where the rain angels have traveled and of what they have seen.

     There are angels of meadows, forests, flowers, trees, and plants. Living in the moment, they work harmoniously together to maintain the sensitive balance of nature. Nature spirits are very intent upon their tasks because so much of nature is disappearing due to the carelessness and cruelty of humankind, particularly the haphazard clearing of trees and rain forests. As the angels of nature are pushed further and further away, they have less and less contact with humankind. Still, they can be inspired to work with human beings when they sense that a person sincerely cares about and is dedicated to the preservation of nature.

COMMUNICATING WITH NATURE SPIRITS

      If your intent is pure, you may be able to make contact with the angels of nature. It is not necessary to actually see a nature spirit. You may honor their presence without seeing them. Ask permission to take a flower or a root. Request their assistance in growing a vegetable. If your mind is quiet and your intent sincere, you may receive inner guidance on how to plant and tend your garden. It is important to stay open and not specify in your mind how the guidance should come to you because then you may miss the way the nature spirit chooses to communicate with you. You may be guided to the right book, the right person, or the perfect healing herb! Nature spirits may even appear to you! Just be open and watch for the small miracles that let you know you are headed in the right direction. The more aware you are of the small miracles in your life, the more open you are to bigger ones. This simple wisdom applies to all areas of life.

      It may please you to know that as nature spirits serve us by serving the earth, we can also serve nature spirits.

 SIMPLE WAYS TO ASSIST NATURE SPIRITS

When possible, purchase food that has been grown without the use of harmful fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. Eat organically and locally when you can. Consider growing your own food or at least educating yourself about methods of gardening that are sustainable, ethical, and biodynamic. Whether you live in a city or the country, you can responsibly recycle and, in some cases, even compost.

     If you raise or keep animals, please do so humanely, with respect for their spirits. If you use animals or any of their products, please consider how and where those animals have been raised and cared for. It is not necessary to sustain our lives with the pain of animals who live out their own lives in abysmal conditions.

     You have the power to support farmers who farm in a conscious manner. The more support they have, the more they will flourish. The more consciously you eat, the more you will flourish. The more nature flourishes, the more the world will flourish. Everything is a circle. You are part of the circle, and what you do matters!

     Support legislation that supports your right to know where your food comes from and what is in it, as well as your choice to buy herbs, organic products, and foods that have not been genetically modified. So much healing is available simply from living in harmony with nature. Even a walk through a forest or a meadow is healing because not only do nature spirits with their lovely energies abound there, but also every tree, insect, and plant has its own energy.

     Do your utmost to honor your Mother the Earth. In this way, you assist nature spirits in their work. When you practice living in harmony with nature, you naturally grow wiser, kinder, and gentler. You act with integrity and responsibility. Instead of insisting that someone else be responsible for positive change in the world, you change it where and how you can, in whatever moment you are in. Isn't it pleasing to know that simple acts of kindness really do matter?