Speaking to a Damaged Landscape
Emma H asked in a comment to another post:
Do you ever find when communing with land spirits, that the condition of the land around them affects the clarity of their answer?
There are some places here that I like to walk, that are a little abused (seriously, what’s the point of fly tipping?) and I figure if I tried to commune with the spirits there, they’d be more interested in trying to draw my attention to their own issues. Which, given the condition of their land, is fair enough!
Good question Emma!
Just as you find when visiting a friend who have endured some trauma or injury, when visiting a natural place that has been harmed it will have something of a “one track mind”
Which is, as you say, fair enough.
But also as with visiting a hurt friend, one you’ve visited a few times and listened attentively to their expression of pain, you will develop a closer relationship. Often once they realize how good of a friend you have been to listen to their hurts, they will happily open up their ears to you and reciprocate.
All relationships are a matter of give and take. Sometimes you have to give more than take at first. Especially when working with a damaged landscape.
When going into a place that has been harmed I expect anger, resentment, fear, hurt and the expression of such from the land. I cultivate a good bedside manner and I listen and validate just as I would for a dear friend laying in a hospital bed. Hopefully one day that landscape will be willing to hear me out as well, but if not, at least I have learned something and done a little good for the Land.
If I am seeking my own answers, to express my own thoughts, to do something like a casting or divination I will not go to a damaged landscape if I can avoid it. I will go to the local Nature Reserve or well tended park or a loved garden. Just as if I needed advice from a friend I would go to one who is stable, steady and not suffering from a lot of pain herself right now. A give and take relationship must still be built with even an unharmed landscape, but it often will be more balanced right off the bat.
Cheers!
Related posts:
7 Responses to Speaking to a Damaged Landscape
To Fly By Night
Hoofprints in the Wildwood
This is a really insightful post, thanks!
I find that just spending time in the abused area without intention really helps.
Going back repeatedly gets the spirits used to your presence, and after a while they stop regarding you with suspiscion and realise you mean no harm.
Then, slowly; I start talking and eventually bringing gifts!
I’ve been reading a lot about getting in touch with the spirits of the land a lot lately… but haven’t tried to yet as I’m trying to get all the advice I can before I try. Can you give a beginner any tips?
Nellie x
Beautiful insight. I spend a lot of time letting the land heal me. Lately, I’ve been focusing on reciprocity & sending healing to the land. Using the analogy of her as a friend who’s been traumatized is perfect! I’ve spent time with my fair share of them
Spirits of the Land, in my experience, communicate, indicate, manifest what they intend to and what a practitioner’s quality of attention permit. Plus, depending on the day, they might be obtuse, pompous, mysterious, sadistic, crazy, amicable, grouchy, or whatever mood arises.
The more often we go to a place, I think the better the links and understandings grow. But some may turn out great while others go nowhere, ever.
I might have to write a more thorough blog post!
What a grounded explanation and I think your analogy of talking to a wounded friend is spot on. I lived on some land that had been logged a year before I got there. The Spirit of the Place was VERY upset, angry and hostile at first. It took about eight months to win it’s trust and even then it was skiddish.
I like the idea that you should work with a stable known quantity rather than seek to work in a damaged environment. That makes total sense, unless of course, the work is to heal the environment.
I had the experience of healing a landscape recently. I was guided to a place that needed help, and so I promised to retnrn and remove all the litter from a local pond. True to my word I did just that a week or so later, taking a day off to clean it up by myself. I wasn’t looking for anything from the spirits of that place, only the feeling of relief that they demonstrated to me when I sat for a rest at the end.
Now I know that I will get a favourable reception in the future should I want to work there, but I did it for love, not reward. And to expunge a misdeed many years ago. So, we both got something from it – I got psychological healing, the pond got relief from human litter and was more beautiful as a result.
I did the same for a sacred spring in Ireland too – just cleared away the litter and overgrowth. No biggie, but the local spirits made me very welcome as a result!
If you want to read about these, feel free to go to:
1. Psychological recycling – http://www.hedgedruid.com/?p=6428
2. Psychological recycling : the atonement – http://www.hedgedruid.com/?p=6530
3. A Spring Clean for Carlanstown Spring – http://www.hedgedruid.com/?p=6276
Loving The Hedge,
Vapour Trail.