Lessons From The Land

Today, on the biodynamic calendar, it basically says to do nothing because, as far as I can understand, there’s just too much going on up there in the sky. There’s a perigree (the point on the Moon’s orbit where it’s closest to the Earth) a new moon and a solar eclipse today. Phew. I actually had a dream last night, where the plants told me that the reason we shouldn’t garden at this time is because they need their energy to stay internal, so that they can stay balanced and healthy through these external upheavals. This makes total sense to me, and so I’ve taken it as my cue to have a very grounded, calm day. The weather has been supportive of this – crazy squalls of rain and wind chasing blue sky and huge, fluffy white mountainous clouds out of the sky in an endless loop, so there’s been not much to do except stay inside and be pretty internal.

Trev made bread, we ate the bread, we listened to earthy Irish tunes, we walked to our local dolmen (ancient megalithic site) with the dogs, I received a beautiful massage, and I will teach a grounding, centering yoga class this evening – all wholesome ways to keep me connected to my body, my centre, the Earth. During the hour of the eclipse we’ve decided to do some pranayama (calming, centering breathwork) followed by a simple sitting meditation. I ran my first pranayama workshop in our Roundhouse yesterday, and I felt the solidity, stability and steadiness of these ancient practices, and how they are of great service to ourselves and the collective at this time. And, it feels important to stay very centred and present through this potentially significant event today, especially as NASA are firing three rockets into the eclipse at this time, in a project with the intriguing acronym APEP (standing, dubiously, for Atmospheric Perturbations around the Eclipse Path), which is also the name of an Egyptian god of chaos and destruction. Hmmmm.

I try not to give too much energy to the crazy things going on out there, revealed more and more in plain sight, but this seems ridiculously transparent, and I wonder what is in store for us next. A clue might be in the fact that the cited purpose for the rocket launch is to obtain more information about how the eclipse might affect the ionosphere, which has potential to disturb our communications systems, on which life is so dependent these days. Well, time will tell and, in the meantime, I will keep growing more vegetables and grounding into the wisdom of nature.

As such, as usual, I take my cue from nature (and my dreams) and retain as much energy as I can for my internal processes today. However, I felt very drawn to write a little post, as an external use of energy, as I am feeling the excitement at where this new blog project might take me, and so it’s my sign to the universe, on a potentially auspicious day, that I am willing to put my energy in my words and in communicating my truths and sharing my experience.

Happy eclipse day to you all – wishing you a calm day, may you stay centred regardless of what chaos and destruction might unfold around you. The universe will always balance out chaos with order, destruction with creation, and the phoenix will always rise from the ashes, transformed anew. And so the wheels of life and evolution keep turning. Bring it on.

Post-script – my very earnest plan to do pranayama and meditate through the eclipse window was, itself, eclipsed by what ended up being a spontaneous hour-long session of joyful drumming and singing with Trev – it was bloody perfect! Making music is our balm, always, and almost nothing lights me up, brings me present or swells my heart as much as letting my voice soar. I’ve recently bought a shruti box and Trev was gifted a Tampura for his birthday, and the combination is seriously trippy and the most amazing way to explore your voice. So, it felt good to put out high, celebratory vibes into the ether at this time. In service through enJOYment… 🙂