BENDING LOW

We have a big, vernal pond far down in the woods behind my house. It is a good hike for me, but I have taken it many times over the years in many seasons. By August, it’s mostly all dried up, but for some very muddy spots out in the middle. Always when I go to the pond, I search for frogs and tadpoles. Never have I found a single one. This is astonishing to me, as there are no fish in the pond and it is framed in lovely pond grasses and aquatic plants. I’ve never been able to figure out the mystery of the absent tadpoles, but I set out for the pond a couple days ago on a warm, sunny morning, just to see what I could see…

 

LISTENING WOMAN

Some of you have wanted to know what my pipe looks like. Here it is, loaded with your prayers, resting on the wolf pelt that is my pipe bag and medicine bundle.

Sleep experts advise you to never do anything in bed but sleep and have sex. They say your brain must be trained to shift into sleep gear when you hit the sack, or you’ll be at risk for insomnia. I’ve had insomnia for years no matter what I do or don’t do in bed. So, over the past year or so, I find I’ve made my bed my go-to place for nearly everything. I eat there sometimes, I write in bed, read in bed, maintain a tiny office in or near the bed, conduct most of my phone conversations on my bed, meditate and pray in bed, and have now taken to bringing my pipe paraphernalia to bed, and doing ceremony on the bed covers on the months when I’m alone doing the ritual.

 

NEW MOON PIPE TIME

Time to send prayers up to the cosmos once again. Questions? See this post. This month, our prayers will be accompanied by the powerful energies of  Clan Mother Listening Woman. Listening Woman teaches us to” listen to all of the viewpoints represented in our world in order to learn the harmony that can be found through allowing each life form to have its Sacred Point of View.”

Having been a talker all my life, this clan mother is especially precious to me, and has so much to teach. I do best these days when I talk less and listen more. Nature has so many voices she speaks with that listening to her is the work of a lifetime.

Please send me any prayers you would like me to put into my medicine pipe, and I’ll send them to spirit in a good way. As always, I’ll keep them confidential.

 

SQUIRREL SANCTUARY

Bloomington, Indiana, is having its own unique spring. My Oregon friends are telling me of freaky snowstorms and high-water rivers. My friends in California are writing to me about floods and endless rain. Here in my little corner of the world, we are seeing an uncommonly warm, vibrant, and early-sprouting spring.

Down in the hollows, everything began sprouting and flowering in March. March!! The flowering things in my yard, which usually appear in an orderly procession, all came on at once. Dogwoods, bluebells, violets, asparagus, comfrey, shooting stars, oregano, pond lilies, chickweed, mustard, blood root, toothwort, trout lilies, and dutchman’s breeches are all in the same spring chorus at the moment. I’ve never seen so much color in my yard, garden, or the forest. And certainly never at this time of year.