Nature connection as a child
Growing up on a farm I felt a deep connection with Nature, including the not-so-visible world of nature beings. As a child I imagined that world to be inhabited by fairies, gnomes, pixies & elves.
I have vivid memories of searching the woods for fairies as a five-year old. There was plenty of evidence of them in the fairy rings that I found. Fairy rings are small circles of mushrooms or bright green grass. How I wished that I could catch them gathering in those circles, chatting or dancing.
The roots of the trees were similarly appealing. Filled with interestingly-shaped holes that surely held the doorway to the house of a family of gnomes. If only I could make myself small enough, I could crawl in and say hello to them. Sadly I never actually saw any of these magical beings, but their presence felt very real to me.
Learning from the aborigines
As an adult I left that world behind and focussed instead on the ‘real’ world. The world that I could see and touch. However, my life eventually took me full circle to connecting with a world that is not visible to us.
This began in while I was in Australia where I spent time with aboriginal people. A naturally nomadic people, they traditionally travelled great distances using ‘songlines’ to navigate their way. They tell us that songlines are invisible lines of energy that travel criss cross the landscape. Even where there are no physically discernable features to guide them, aborigines can find their way by following these songlines. I have been with aboriginal elders as they travelled many hours across a barren desert landscape. I observed them following these songlines and they went directly to the place they were intending to go. That’s when I felt that sense of magic and mystery being reawakened in me.
Consciously working with nature
Years passed and I moved to the Findhorn community. One of their guiding principles is “co-creation with the intelligence of nature”. They connect with aspects of nature when gardening or building, or undertaking any activity that could impact the natural world.
As well as connecting with the plants themselves they connect with the ‘over-lighting deva’ of the plants. These ‘devas’ were first contacted by Findhorn community founder Dorothy Maclean. Dorothy realised that every plant species (and every species on earth) has one of these devas. The deva is responsible for the wellbeing of that species. She also taught that we can connect with the devas whenever we want to work with that species; and that when we do connect, it greatly improves the results of our work.
In fact Dorothy was frequently told that these devic beings are patiently waiting for us to connect with them. They don’t force themselves upon us or interfere with what we do. But as soon as we make contact with them they are ready to collaborate with us!
Step-by-step process to connect with Nature Beings:
Intrigued? Follow these steps so YOU can connect with these subtle aspects of nature. Begin by sitting quietly. If you’d like to connect with a deva of a particular plant you could sit near that plant. Or simply imagine it in your mind’s eye. If you want to connect with some aspect of nature at the bottom of your garden, sit there!
- close your eyes or gaze with a soft focus at the plant or place you want to connect with
- relax and quieten your mind by following your breath in and out for about 30 seconds
- focus on your heart / heart chakra and send loving feelings to the place or plant
- using your thoughts introduce yourself and let them know why you are communicating (“Hi, I’m Jane and I would like to be able to take really good care of these plants. I’m respectfully asking you to help me to do that” or “Hello, I’m Jill, I am the custodian of this piece of land and I would love to know who else lives here”)
- after you have asked the question release that from your mind and focus on your heart area
- notice if you can sense anything coming back to you from the plant or the place. You might feel vibrations, or see colours or shapes, you may ‘hear’ words or see images.
- you can then either simply enjoy these sensations, or you could ask a question
- once you feel that you have finished, please remember to give thanks for the other connecting with you. (Please do this even if you didn’t feel that you got a connection. Gratitude reinforces the things that we want to draw into our lives, and saying ‘thank you’ now will help the connection to be stronger next time.)
Notes:
I hope that you enjoy playing with this process, and I would love to know how you get on with it. Especially I would love to hear if you see anything!
Thank you for your love for nature and your desire to connect. I feel that humans, as a species, are becoming more and more disconnected from nature. It feels more important than ever that those of us who love nature and animals, do connect regularly with this vital aspect of nature. This is a key aspect of creating a world that is connected, collaborative and respectful of the natural world. After all, we need nature for our own survival!
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