I pray to the Grandmothers, the Mothers
The Sisters and Daughters
I pray to the Changemakers, the Songmakers,
And the Homemakers
I pray to the Winds of Movement
The Rivers of Guardians
The Earth Lovers
And the Fire Warriors
I pray for Change
I moved house at the beginning of this year so you could argue that I have had plenty of time to get to know my place and my space this year. I did all the usual clearing and cleansing of a new home with incense, sound, clearing the hearth and the modern day ritual of decorating the walls. But something was missing….
I grow up in this part of the world and you would think that is enough to create a sense of belonging. But industrial towns have a different story. My grandparents like many, came here for work making me the second generation of my family to be born to this town. So you see I don’t have lineage here, so does that make me feel like I belong? How do we create a sense belonging?
I think it is a complex set of rites that take place over time. This involves relationships not just to people, but to the land. It is an investment of time, connection and emotions. Life experiences foster a sense of relationship at pivotal moments both within ourselves and with a place. The relationship we develop with the land can be the place we go to express those complex emotions, whether that is the physical home, garden or the town. It can be that favourite place where we take a walk that sooths us. A path that we foster comes to be familiar. Just like a meeting of two minds who become friends, the land becomes the friend as we walk a repetitive path. In this communion we take in the land marks, its contours, and changing aspects in the year. As we walk the thoughts, the words, our emotions are expressed inwardly and outwardly as our feet caress the land beneath us.
At one time we would have had rites and ceremonies that did this purposefully and we would have held the land in sacred reciprocity. When the land becomes sacred to us then we have reached a sense of belong as we feel a connection and value the communion with the land not just to the land. I feel this is when belonging becomes anchored. The words that come to mind when considering anchoring into a place as home are, “what have you planted here?” Is it a deep connection, energetically, emotionally, historically,…..or in reverence and respect as keeper to the land, place and space?
To anchor into a state of belonging is when we feel at home to the land and within ourselves. To truly feel like we belong, is to develop the same state of a relationship to our inner selves.
Belonging is more of a decision to be,
To be home within and where I Am,
I Am home.
For me I feel it is both the internal and external sense of being. One can’t be achieved without the other. Believe me when I say if the outer world is not fitting, the inner one is disturbed. So for me the land and the inner landscape are both important in unison. “What have you planted?” becomes a question of presence of the inner landscape and the outer landscape.
Do you journal your bleed time? This is when those nuggets of wisdom appear on the pages. I find it is a time of cleansing and resting as I nest myself. Yes, nesting is necessary, an hour or three is good, doesn’t need to be days, although could you imagine?
Our bleed is a call to the inner cave, to our intuition. It may be a whispering or a shout to come inward. Listening within can be priceless as here is where the treasure lies. As we delve inwards we can start with two questions. What can be cleansed and cleared away from this last cycle? And what can be taken away and seeded for the future?
Reflecting on the last cycle can bring awareness of where we have been overwhelmed and worn by life’s pressures. Evaluating the last month can be a silent retreat into any tension experienced that can be cleanse away after some analysis. (This isn’t all work by the way! This is also nap time and favourite pjs!).
What we can take from our last cycle are the seeds, the accomplishments, that celebrate ourselves. By nurturing these seeds and clearing what has past brings in the energy of the new cycle. We start over, cleansed, nourished and insightful. (after a ceremonial nap).
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Our Holy Ones of the
White Light. I bathe in your surrounding Light
For my inner health and healing.
I acknowledge your Divine Presence
In this time of Now
And the time to come.
Gather with me and
I am truly blessed for your
Loving Presence
In Grace and Love
I thank thee All
I am She of a thousand life times
I am She of the morning Sun to awaken You
I am She of the Dusk to hold You
I am She who loved You beyond the stars
Of days of old
In ancient landscapes
And ancient ways
I am She who awakens You from rest
I am She who Lights You up to Golden paths
And threads of Lightning strikes
I am She who is your Sun, your Star and the Primordial Moon
I am She who takes you to the rivers of pain
So you can drink in vast temperaments,
Diversity, upheavals and change in direction,
So onwards again in Life
I am She You can rest upon,
Dive into,
Dream among
I am She with the Sunlight on your hair
The warming rays and the rain
On showery days
I am She who takes You to the next steps
And hauls you over the fiery coals
And grasps at your breath
For more and more of You
Into Becoming You
I am She of Love of the Sound of You
Yet You can not Hear Yourself
I am within You
Beating in your Heart
And holding onto You
Holding You up
To the Glorious heights
That exists with You
I am She who is
Your rest, your Light
Your Sanctum
The core of All wisdom
The Light of All knowledge
Come into Me as I Am You
My Opening is Your Unfolding
Come, the Doors have opened wide
Words written by Janice Turner Salmon
From She Who Is
Art image by Emily Balivet
Medicinalmeadows 