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Tag Archives: Winter

Witch Hazel

26 Thursday Oct 2017

Posted by Lesley Irene Shore in Aging, Elderhood, Fox Hill Village, Growing, Land, Nature, Spiritual

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Bloom, Blossoming, Cycles, Fall, Flower, Flowering, Fox Hill Village, Green World, Halloween, Harmony Farm, Rambles, Rhythm, Seasons, Spiritual Growth, Spring, Winter, Witch Hazel, Woods

Upon moving to Harmony Farm, I bought guides for identifying the land’s wild vegetation. During rambles over fields and through woods, I became familiar with the green world living there. I learned the names of many species and, over time, their medicinal uses.

When I first met Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana), I was struck by her beauty and the timing of her flowering. During October her leaves turned vibrant yellow and the woods grew awash with her brilliant color. Then, as fall progressed, she dropped her leaves to display delicate yellow flowers along her boughs.

As time moved on, I learned the rhythms of Harmony Farm’s year and lived the cycles of her seasons. I looked forward to Witch Hazel’s burst of glory occurring while the land prepared to enter winter’s hibernation. This happened around Halloween in Medfield, MA.

Witch Hazel’s tendency to flower during late fall, even into early winter, endeared her to me. By bursting into flower at the end of a cycle, I felt reassured that my elder years could be a time of blossoming and spiritual growth.

Our move to Fox Hill Village took place during early January. Looking out the window one late February morning, a brilliantly flowering shrub caught my eye. Due to its yellow blossoms, I assumed the shrub to be forsythia and bemoaned the effects of global warming, for forsythia usually blooms in early spring. A fellow resident corrected my misconception, identifying the flowers as belonging to Witch Hazel. At first I refused to believe him, but further investigation revealed this Witch Hazel to be an oriental variety that blooms in the midst of winter.

Having moved into our new home, I began acquainting myself with Fox Hill’s woods. As I rambled around this new territory, I discovered native Witch Hazel growing here too. Recognizing an old friend, I watched as she sprouted leaves in spring and when summer moved into fall, I eagerly anticipated her time of blossoming.

Her leaves turned yellow and still cling to her limbs. As I take my walk each day, I now study her closely, searching for signs of flowers yet to come.

Halloween nears and this will be my first time participating in Fox Hill’s yearly celebration, a costume party. I decided to adorn myself in Witch Hazel garb – her leaves and, hopefully, flowers too.

As I celebrate beginning the last phase of life, I look forward to my own blossoming. I eagerly anticipate a season of spiritual growth and flowering.

Moving On

02 Wednesday Aug 2017

Posted by Lesley Irene Shore in Fox Hill Village, Growing, Nature

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Energy, Fall, Fox Hill Village, Gratitude, Harmony Farm, Land, Nature, Prayer, Ritual, Seasons, Spirit, Spring, Trail, Walk, Winter

Fall

Fall’s energy invites us to let go of the old to make room for the new.  And so, during fall, I set my intention to release my ties to Harmony Farm.  I had been gradually separating myself, but the commitment to move on required that I sever the ties more completely.

The land let me know that it was ready.  One day, while taking my meditative walk, I stopped in surprise for a huge branch blocked my path.  I had intended to go up the hill to a ceremonial place – the area where I frequently offered prayers.  Knowing that the branch hadn’t been there the day before, I stood for a while and tuned into its message.

The land blocked my path – clearly telling me to stop my daily ritual of walking up the hill.  I asked for permission to go there this one last time, to say “farewell.”  Sensing that this might be alright, I bent down to see if I could push the branch out of my way.  The branch yielded to my touch, I pushed it aside and slowly trod up the hill.

Arriving at the top, I offered a prayer of deep gratitude.  Thanking the land for the ways it nurtured us over many years, imparting its teachings and helping us to grow.  As I walked down the hill, I felt Harmony Farm release me from its grasp.

Winter

Winter’s energy invites us to retreat within, to dig down deep, to rest, to renew and to dream.  So, during winter, I swam in the dark and dreamed big dreams.  I dreamt of the family who would answer Harmony Farm’s call.

During winter, Bill and I gradually moved into our apartment at Fox Hill Village.  This meant going back and forth between our new home and our old.  While I had intended to continue walking along Harmony Farm’s trails, the woods outside my new home beckoned and I began exploring their terrain.  I discovered an abandoned trail, put pruning shears to use and began creating a hiking path.  My heart expanded to embrace Fox Hill’s land.  And as I walked along the trail, I sensed new dreams bubbling beneath frozen earth.

Spring

Seeds germinate during spring – the time of rebirth, reawakening.  During spring, seeds sprouted and a lovely young couple answered Harmony Farm’s call.  They offered to become its future owners / caretakers.

Spring cleaning ensured, for we needed to finish clearing out stuff we had accumulated during 37 years of living on Harmony Farm.

As with every season, Spring’s polar opposite – Fall – kicked in.  We released more and more of the old, while opening to the new.

 

Sap Rising

20 Wednesday Mar 2013

Posted by Lesley Irene Shore in Nature

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Awaken, Celebrate, Contemplate, Cycle, Energy, Forsythia, Healing, Maple, Nature, Sap, Seasons, Spiritual, Spring, Spring Equinox, Tonic, Winter

I sit in my kitchen sipping maple sap, staring at the landscape constantly transforming before my eyes while contemplating the spring equinox.  During the past few weeks, I’ve experienced warm weather melting the blizzard’s huge snowfall, followed by a snowy weekend surprise totaling around 17”.  Again the snow melted, bare ground appeared, only to disappear yet again under another white blanket.

Winter never moves directly into spring.  Seasons spiral in and out as we gradually cycle from one to the next.  Longer days and shorter nights herald the coming of spring. 

Day and night are of equal length at the spring equinox, which marks the official start of spring.  As I do each year before the spring equinox, I cut some forsythia branches last week, brought them into the house and placed them in a vase with water.  Their forced yellow blooms now sit atop a counter in my kitchen – a tribute to spring.    

Prior to the spring equinox, we also gather maple sap from trees on our property.  The sap can be boiled down to create maple syrup.  Many years ago we once took on this project, only to realize its huge labor intensive and sap consuming nature.  Many, many gallons of sap reduced to one tiny container of syrup.

Maple Tap

Our sap gathering equipment gathered dust in the barn until I learned about a traditional practice of drinking the sap without boiling it down.  Consumed in this manner, maple sap is considered a spring tonic.  Full of minerals, and other healing properties, tree sap helps us move out of the winter doldrums and experience the energy of sap rising within.

Although Earth’s energy re-awakens with spring, winter’s lethargy still pervades my body, weighing me down and refusing to release her grip.  As I sip on hot maple sap, I invite the energy of spring to enter my body.  May I feel sap rise within me. 

Winter

08 Tuesday Jan 2013

Posted by Lesley Irene Shore in Nature

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Align, Cycle, Deeper, Earth, Elements, Energy, Hibernate, Inner Composting, Inside, Intention, Nature, Nourish, Reflection, Rejuvination, Retreat, Rhythm, walk in the woods, Winter

I sit in my kitchen looking out at the wintry landscape.   A blanket of snow covers the earth, protecting it from blustery cold air.  Barren trees shift gently in the wind.  The sun hangs low in the sky; its rays readily pass through the glass to brighten the room. 

Winter Scene

Nestled inside my home, protected from winter’s elements, I feel cozy and safe.  Even though I still take my daily walk in the woods, I hunker down during this time of the year. 

Like bears who hibernate during winter months, our rhythms similarly slow during this season.  We feel inclined to curl up by the fire and read a book or simply day-dream. 

Winter prods us to take time for reflection, for inner composting and rejuvenation.  If we nourish our deeper selves during winter’s cold months, we emerge in spring feeling rested and renewed, with energy for manifestation. 

Despite these natural inclinations, we often expect ourselves to continue rushing around – doing, doing, doing.  I believe that we pay a price for this behavior.  We deplete our inner energy reserves. 

This winter I intend to align with the energy of winter.  I plan to slow down and retreat inside – inside my home as well as inside myself.  I aim to embrace each moment and be.  

Making Stone Soup

12 Wednesday Dec 2012

Posted by Lesley Irene Shore in Spiritual

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Tags

Align, Ceremony, Consciousness, Cycle, Dark, Energy, Galactic Alignment, Growth, Harmony, Light, Manifestation, Nourish, Peace, Peru, Prophesy, Renew, Sacred, Season, Seasonal Cycle, Spiritual, Spiritual Practice, Spring, Stone Soup, Stones, Wheel of the Year, Winter, Winter Solstice

One of my favorite spiritual practices involves participating in ceremonies that honor the wheel of the year, the seasonal cycle from winter through spring, to summer then fall.  By aligning with the energy of each season, these ceremonies help me stay in balance.  They also support my spiritual growth.

The ceremonies take place at important junctions in our seasonal cycle, the beginning of each season, which is determined by the length of night and day.  Winter Solstice, the beginning of winter, takes place on the shortest day and longest night of the year.

Winter Solstice ceremonies welcome this darker time of the year, the time when we retreat inside to hibernate.   Winter is our time for reflection, for inner composting and rejuvenation.  Like bears who hibernate, our rhythms similarly slow.  If we rest and nourish ourselves during winter, we emerge in spring feling renewed, with energy for manifestation.

A few friends joined me recently to plan our group’s Winter Solstice ceremony.  One woman had just returned from a trip visiting Peru’s sacred sites.  As she shared some of her experiences, her words sparked a vague memory of a book I once read. 

I wandered to the nearby book shelf, surveyed titles, and my eyes fixated on “Masters of the Living Energy: The Mystical World of the Q’ero of Peru” by Joan Wilcox.  Grabbing hold of the book, I handed it to my friend who located a photograph of the ceremony she had been describing.

We then explored the coming Galactic Alignment anticipated by the Mayans and other indigenous peoples.  Ancient prophesies foretold that this Winter Solstice’s Galactic Alignment would herald an era of spiritual development, with consciousness potentially evolving to enable peaceful, harmonious co-existence with each other and all of nature.

Focusing on the ceremony, we brainstormed in many directions, from Peru to Mexico, from earth to sky and from intent to gratitude.  Our spiraling journey eventually gravitated toward a ritual involving stones.  One of our activities would include narrating the Stone Soup Story and then making Stone Soup.

While many versions of the Stone Soup Story exist, the central theme remains the same.  In a nutshell, here’s the story:

A stranger arrives in a town where the people are hoarding food because of a famine in the area.  When they let him know they have no food to share, the stranger pulls out a pot, fills it with water, builds a fire under the pot, adds a “magical stone” to the water, and declares he will share his delicious stone soup with everyone.  Then the stranger begs for just a little vegetable to add to the pot, to make it truly tasty.  One by one the villagers respond to his pleas and contribute to the pot, until a truly nourishing meal gets created – which they all share.

This story describes how our ceremony came together.  We each contributed ideas to the pot.  It cooked and a nourishing ritual emerged.

Making Stone Soup

After my friends departed, I left Joan Wilcox’s book on the kitchen table.  A few days later, I sat at the computer trying to put the ritual on paper.  Stumbling to find words that would adequately describe the Galactic Alignment, I searched the web to learn more about this anticipated event.

A few hours later, though bleary eyed and hungry, I finally had a sense of the astronomy involved.  Deciding to give myself a break, I went downstairs for a snack.  Sitting at the kitchen table with my bowl of muesli, I idly picked up Joan Wilcox’s book and leafed through it.

My fingers stopped at a page with the caption subtitle, “Andean Prophesy of Spiritual Evolution.”  Reading what lay below, I was amazed to discover information relevant to our ceremony.  This information asserted that we humans will need to work together, in a collective manner, to facilitate the shift in consciousness.

“Aha” I thought, “the prophesied shift in consciousness will require us to make Stone Soup.  Our talents may be different, our interests diverse, but if we pool our resources we can help create a better world.”

Yes!  We’ll prepare Stone Soup.

 

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