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Tag Archives: Cairn

Learning from Sandy

20 Tuesday Nov 2012

Posted by Lesley Irene Shore in Nature

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Cairn, Earth, Elements, Energy, Flexibility, Freedom, Global Warming, Gratitude, Message, Nature, Oak, Prayer, Release, Rock, Sacred, Simplify, Stone, Strength, Walk, Wind

Heeding warnings of Hurricane Sandy’s impending arrival in Massachusetts, we battened down the hatches as much as possible.  I carried outdoor chairs into the basement, watering cans into the garage, and cushions into the attic.  Bill dealt with heavier items, turning over the picnic table and benches.

We waited anxiously, aware of the wind picking up steam, watching leaves swirling on the ground and trees swaying to and fro.  Standing inside Harmony Center, I gazed through glass windows at the rock cairns outside.  They looked like sentinels standing guard around the building.  I felt them offering strength and protection, along with an ability to ground swirling energy.  I found their demeanor reassuring.

I sent prayers to the trees, asking them to hold on tight with their roots, release their leaves and allow the wind to flow freely through their branches.

Focusing on Sandy, I sent peaceful loving energy her way.  I asked her to be gentle, to let go of anger, and to be kind to all the innocent beings in her path.

I apologized to Gaia, our planet Earth, for all the abuse we humans have wrought – for the ways we’ve taken her for granted while polluting her sacred waters, air and earth.  I begged for her forgiveness.

As Sandy neared the east coast, I went for a walk in the woods.  Watching the trees bend and sway, I asked them to hang in there, to go with the flowing wind, not fight it.  Arriving in an area I consider sacred, I sent more prayers to Sandy, to trees, to all of Earth’s elements.  I fervently hoped that life would be spared.

Wind howled, rain fell, and so did some trees.  We were fortunate, for the trees along our driveway and around the buildings withstood the storm quite well.  They released some branches and leaves, but avoided hitting the power line and buildings.

Yes, we lost power for a while, but not for too long.  Others were not as fortunate.  Ocean water rose up, flooding areas of New Jersey and New York.  Raging wind fueled fires and devastated communities.

After the wind calmed and rain abated, I prayed for healing.

On subsequent walks in the woods, I observed Sandy’s damage and wondered about the message.  What can we learn?

I notice that oak trees sustained the most damage, especially those with leaves still attached.  Their roots held firm, but their trunk snapped.  Mulling this over, I infer that these trees were too rigid.  Rather than bend in the breeze, they stood straight and tall.   I take this as a lesson – there is strength in flexibility.

Looking at fallen boughs resplendent with brown leaves, I wonder why these particular oaks held on so tightly to their leaves.   They wouldn’t let go.  If they had, perhaps the wind would have flowed through their branches more easily.

Knowing the difficulty I have parting with clothes I rarely wear, I recognize another lesson.  I must learn to let go, to release what no longer serves me.  Taking this insight further, I recognize the freedom that comes with paring down one’s life.  If I let go of irrelevant stuff – whether material possessions, compulsive behaviors or distracting thoughts – I can then focus more fully on what is truly important, more relevant to life.

Most importantly, Sandy sent a message from our planet.

We humans need to shift our relationship with Earth.   We need to recognize that we depend on her for every aspect of our lives: for the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe.  Instead of abusing her, we need to value her, protect her, care for her.   We must end global warming.

Let us heed Sandy’s warnings and learn her lessons.  The time is now.  It is up to us!

Circle of Stones

01 Thursday Nov 2012

Posted by Lesley Irene Shore in Spiritual

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Altar, Cairn, Circle of Stones, Community, Fall Equinox, Foxglove, Grandmother Pine, Harmony Center, Journey, Memorial, Nature, Place, Sacred, Sacred Space, Stone, Wholeness

Many years ago I read “A Circle of Stones” by Judith Duerk.  The repetitive “How might your life have been different if there had been a place for you, a place for you to go to be with…” evoked a sense of longing in me.  It spoke to the need for women to gather in community, to share their stories with each other, and to support each other’s journey to wholeness. 

“What if there was a place…”  “What if there was a place…”  This phrase rooted itself in my heart, silently waiting for the right time to echo forth.  On walks in the woods, I felt the land offering to be that place … a place where people could commune with nature, connect with each other, and help each other to grow.  “How might that happen?” I wondered to myself, as well as the land. 

Year after year, “How might that happen?” continued surfacing in my mind.  Then my parents died.  After my sadness abated, which took a couple of years, I realized that the money they left might just cover the expenses of erecting a building.  But in order for it to be built, a large and stately pine tree would need to be chopped down. 

My husband and I debated about Grandmother Pine.  She felt sacred.  We wanted her to stay.  Yet forced to choose between the building and the pine tree, we ultimately opted for the building – with one condition.  Grandmother Pine’s stump would need to stay.  I wanted Grandmother Pine to be remembered. 

While the building was under construction, a fluorescent yellow ribbon with the word “CAUTION” circled the stump, alerting all contractors to exercise care when navigating machinery in the area.  I removed the ribbon once Harmony Center came into being.  

I thought of the stump as an altar, and sometimes placed ceremonial objects either on her or around her.  For the most part, however, Grandmother Pine’s memorial remained undecorated.  This summer, when Foxglove surrounded her with loving energy, it felt as if they were honoring Grandmother Pine.

At this year’s Fall Equinox, I placed a sunflower at her base.  Then recently, I stood contemplating her flat top, asking how she might like to be honored, and suddenly thought, “A Circle of Stones!  Grandmother Pine gave her life so we could have that place, a place to gather in community.  A circle of stones would honor the sacrifice she made.”  And with this thought an image came to mind – a circle of stones around a rock cairn on top of the stump.   

I walked around, gathering stones from various places on the land.  As always, I checked in with each stone, making sure it wanted to be part of this altar.  Then I placed larger ones in the middle creating the cairn, and around the cairn a circle of stones. 

Completing my mission, I stood back to take a look.  I saw the cairn as a new being growing up from the center of the stump.  And around this being, a stone circle creating sacred space within which this being can grow. 

“What if there was a place…”  “What if there was a place….”

Thanks to Grandmother Pine, we now have that place, a place where people gather in community–Harmony Center. 

Stone Woman

11 Thursday Oct 2012

Posted by Lesley Irene Shore in Nature, Spiritual

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Tags

Awareness, Balance, Body, Cairn, Circle, Earth, Harmony Center, Inner Depth, Inner Knowing, Listening, Medicine Wheel, Nature, Ritual, Rock, Sacred Space, Senses, Sentient, Stone, Strength

Melinda Coppola, a local poet and yoga teacher, arrived at a Harmony Center event bearing a gift.  As she handed me a beautiful assemblage of stones, my heart immediately responded.  The minute my fingers wrapped around the cairn, my entire chest expanded and the phrase “Stone Woman” popped into my mind.  “Hello Stone Woman,” I thought, “I’m delighted to meet you.”

Feeling an instant connection with Stone Woman, I wondered where she might like to sit.  Cradling her in my hands, I wandered toward a large expanse of glass facing the woods and placed her in a corner of the windowsill.  My body said, “Yes, that feels right.  She can face our sacred space while also feeling connected to her relatives outside.” 

As I joined the circle of people, I remained acutely aware of Stone Woman sitting nearby.  Holding her in my hands had awakened something inside me.  It had kindled a spark of desire. 

The next morning that spark burst into flame.  I dashed over to Harmony Center intent on communing with rocks resting here and there behind the building.  My body wanted to hold them and see whether or not they would like being placed one on top of the other. 

Standing next to a large rock, I recalled what I’d learned from Loralee Dubeau* when we prepared for her Medicine Wheel class.  She and I walked around the land selecting rocks to be used in the ritual.  Reminding me that rocks are sentient beings, Loralee instructed me to check in with each rock before lifting it up.  If the rock resisted being lifted, we left it where it was. 

I looked at the bluish rock, and asked if it would like to have some relatives placed on top.  Perceiving what I took to be “yes,” I looked around.  My eyes scanned nearby rocks, seeking to discern which one would offer itself, and stopped at a dark, oblong, granite-colored stone.  Feeling as though the dark stone had called, I walked over, picked it up, and carried it toward the blush one. 

My hands and eyes processed messages from the rocks.  Somehow I “knew” that these two were O.K. with being placed together.  I balanced the dark stone atop the bluish one, then looked around until a mottled rock grabbed my attention. 

Totally focused on listening to rocks, and following their wishes, I lost myself in the process.  I feverishly created one cairn after another, and another, and another.   Soon there were cairns gathered here and there behind Harmony Center. 

Eventually my inner flame dimmed, my energy slowed.  I stood back, breathed in the scent of rock and earth, and sensed it was time to stop. 

Today as I sit near the pond, I spot some stones nearby and sense myself responding in a new way.  I notice that my relationship with stones has shifted.  I’ve begun to experience them as sentient beings.  Although I used to believe in this notion, I realize that creating the cairns awakened a new knowing inside me.

Dormant senses came alive.  As my hands and eyes deeply connected with various rocks, inner sensory “organs” opened.  Messages travelled back and forth as hands and eyes found ways of communicating with rocks.

When I now connect with a rock, I sense its being-ness.  I see its uniqueness, and can almost hear it speaking to me. 

Recognizing this new sensitivity, I send a mental “thank you” to the cairns.  They expanded my awareness and helped me to grow.  Cairn’s calm strength, inner depth, and sense of balance live inside me.

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