CHAPTER 2 - FANTASY, FISHING RODS, AND PERHAPS EVEN BERRY JUICE STAINED HANDS
As I mentioned, I don’t have a net nor a fishing rod, I don’t have a wish to fish at all actually. I just like to watch the sunlight sparkle on the water, the fish gifting concentric rings of ripples on the water's surface as they come up for air, the graceful way the water skaters glide across, maybe even a dragonfly or two if lucky. I love those large metallic blue and green ones. So there we are at the water's edge...BIOPHILIA will sit here, as will I, patient, all the time trusting that we will begin our journey and leave when the time comes. When BIOPHILIA hears the call, I already know that I will not notice the first ones leave, for one by one, they will quietly slip off and disappear into the woods, following the voice of those who are calling them home. In the meantime, we will all sit here, dreaming and listening together.
The world is slow, the air is sweet, and discovering even one ripe huckleberry is a gift! Not an ant goes by without us tipping our cap to it and we hear the songs of the firefly as its glow competes with the stars at night. To help you see it too, we will slow this down even further to a more comfortable pace, that space between footsteps and raindrops. The inhale and exhale and that place in between, the place where if you go into it, time stands still and words become soft and whispered...you see, the imagination will drive itself if you allow it, so let the words open up that space and possibility for you. All you need to do is be with that. This space is the ‘in between’, the place where magic is rooted and enchantment resides. This is the forest clearing you accidently stumble upon, surrounded by ferns, teaming with life, and illuminated by the most wonderous sun beams. Shhhhhhh.....tread quietly and slowly, for this is where BIOPHILIA lives, and if we stay still and are lucky, we might just get the chance to see it! Even better, we might get to meet one and become the very best of friends! But oh, we must be ever so careful, because BIOPHILIA is a shy magical creature and a bit weary of humans. So we need to be consistant, we need to quietly visit and sit each day, each day a little closer, and closer, until one day, when we least expect it and you might be about to nod off, BIOPHILIA may approach us and nudge us with its nose!
You see, that’s how it works when befriending ourSelves, ask any wild animal and they will tell you so. We need to trust. And we need to learn how to listen, deeply.
Before you meet this mythical creature, perhaps you might like to know a little about its natural habitat, the landscape in which it lives, where it has come from, and how we can find that place again. We already know that trails of crumbs don’t work so here are some of the stepping stones on our shared map that I can tell you about. They are in no particular order of course, as some of us like to jump, skip and hop, or playfully splosh in puddles in between. Some might like to do a little dance between stone, some might like to take off our shoes and socks and giggle at the mud squidging in between our toes, others might like to go speak with an earthworm or take flight on a robins back. So while the BIOPHILIA experience is what you personally bring to it, this much I can tell you:
RELATIONSHIP • (The square shaped stone)
Over winter 2019/2020 I had been writing and sharing musings on various forms of relationships, and relationship with your inner child, Self, and Soul path is a vital aspect of this. Relationship with authenticity, allowing yourSelf to fully be yourSelf, and having the courage to be seen as you really are instead of compromising yourself just so you can ‘belong’. Winter is the earth element season in the Celtic Wheel of the Year, the season of the Cailleach (Crone/Elder), and the Cailleach herself is in essence a death doula and psychopomp, the one that brings you deep into the bowels of BEing and accompanies you through the initiation of ‘the dark night of the soul’ so that you may shed old Self and birth yourSelf anew.
As such, winter is a time of deep introspection, reflection, and reassessment, a time to tend to inner worlds and till the soils of the Soul so that the seeds we sow come spring will germinate and grow. This comes back to the themes of authenticity and relationship and our perspectives on this. How is my relationship with Self? How is my relationship with Other (species human)? How is my relationship with Other (non human)? How is my relationship with my wild Self (BIOPOHILIA)? How is my relationship with child Self? Are some of these relationships given more importance than others, if so, which ones, and why? Where am I compromising mySelf just so I can fit in? Why is fitting in so important to me? How am I judging myself? Why am I judging myself in that way? What do I actually want? Where are the areas that I would like to change, and how can I do so? What is the string of interconnection between these different relationships for you? What is the state of that string, is the energy flowing between all areas, or stagnant in places, what parts of yourself and which areas in your life require your mindful attention in this moment?
The Cailleach and Winter asks these questions, and more. Questions that relate with core foundational BEing. The answers to your questions might only be heard in the dark on a new moon, or perhaps when your nostrils are filled with the smell of wet earth, or in dreamtime while your body rests on a carpet of emerald coloured moss.
THE MAGIC OF WILD PLACES • (The shapeshifting stone)
'And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.' ~ Roald Dahl
For me personally, the health of the land around me dictates my own wellBEing, and my own wellBEing reflects how I experience the land. It’s a beautiful delicate experience of two way dialogue and interBEing - symbiotic, ever evolving, impossible to define. It is the sacred space I pray in, the place I gather fresh food and wild herbs from, and the face of those I commune with, be they tree, herb, elemental, bird or beast. There is so much clarity, peace, and healing there. These conversations take place just as much outdoors as they do indoors, for this dialogue also takes place within the walls of my home and within me, for all IS nature. The roots of the oak tree in the woods are my roots, my feet are the feet of the blackbird. When the golden eagle takes flight, I too can see perspective through its eyes and feel the wind beneath my wings. There are no longer defined borders of where one starts and the other ends, all is sacred and connected. All is benediction, and every act and non act, living ceremony.
With this, key questions may be where am I limiting myself in life? How are the ideas I have about certain things restricting my growth potential? In defining myself through labels, I am restricting myself to those roles - what labels do I give myself, and are they restrictive or all encompassing? How have you been defining yourself, and why?
On a personal level, I have to say that I have never defined myself by the gender I wear. Doing so would be to define my soul by the body it wears in this life. My energy and spirit is very much genderless and whole, if I were to break that down, I would say it is equal parts masculine and feminine, light and dark, positive and negative. I have always been like that in this life, and do indulge my child self with colour and pretty frocks (dresses are more playful than pants). Likewise, I do not define myself by any of the hats I wear for The Work, I have many skill sets but defining myself by one or a few of them doesn’t honor the space in between nor the potential to expand those skillsets. All I can say is that wear gender female and am an eternal student. And please feel free to read that line again, paying attention to the vocabulary used. I wear my gender as I do not define my soul according to the space suit it wears in one particular lifetime. Our soul is shapeshifting, as is spirit. Defining ourselves through labels on our idea of what we are or should be doing in this one lifetime, installs fixed borders, walls and limitations. This is the energetic reality of doing so.
REMEMBERING THE GOD IN SMALL THINGS • (The teeny tiny pebble with a giant sized message)
One of the promises to my five year old Self was to keep believing. Back then it was a promise to stay connected with natural magic and wonderment, to not 'forget' when 'I grow up'. More recently it has evolved into a promise to hold hope for more human authenticity and compassion. Compassion within, between genders, between races, between species, and more authentic respect for this wonderfully mythical creature that sustains us all, the planet. It pained me (and shamed me) to observe how our species was behaving so disrespectfully. When I asked the land, I was invited to plant a seed. I was reminded that even though an acorn may be small, that it will grow into a mighty oak tree. You cannot conjure the tree, first you need to set the seed, and then patiently give it time to grow. BIOPHILIA is that acorn, an invitation to re-evaluate and re-assess needs, re-discover the god in small things, reclaim time, and remember everyday magic.
SEEDING PRAYER INTENTIONS AND COURTING THE LAND • (The mossy stone that feels so nice to touch)
'This is what you shall do; Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body.' - Walt Whitman
BIOPHILIA is a prayer offering, a love song for the Earth, the wild spaces within us and around us. Presented through words of wild wisdom, strength, hope, and inspiration, this mindful offering is a proposal. A different perspective, a change of narrative, an invitation to be your own guru, and to step up and take responsibility for your own healing. This kind of proposal doesn't require the formalities of an engagement ring, yet requires your commitment and dedication all the same.
As a species, I feel strongly that we need to go back to the beginning - to reclaim simple BEing, the essence of the word, and relearn how to communicate, not just with ourselves, but with each other. We need to raise (not fall, raise!!) in love with the Earth once more, to immerse ourSelves fully into that courtship, and romance sacredness. 'Falling' in love resulted in nothing but grief, greed, abandonment and mischief, so how about we commit fully and raise in love instead? What I am suggesting is the healing of separation, within and throughout. Humans knowing that they too are nature. Refinding our roots. This begins at home, within you.
BIOPHILIA reminds us of the magic of this planet as seen through human eyes before the dusty curtains of consumerism dulled our view...before greenwashing became commonplace, and words like 'green', 'sustainable', 'eco friendly' - and even 'rewilding' were reduced to mere marketing jargon.
BIOPHILIA reminds us of what is outside (and within us) before we allowed our dollars to vote for illusion, destruction, and violence.
BIOPHILIA is a reminder of the untamed magic and wonderment that is to be discovered in every moment, if we choose to live life alive.
BIOPHILIA is a reminder of why we fight for this planet each day, and for those of us feeling a bit lost in what feels like an uphill battle, it's a reminder of why we keep going. A reminder not to lose hope.
Yes, BIOPHILIA is quite likely my political statement, a love song, and an activists prayer all rolled up into one. My five year old Self (and adult Self) hope that inspiring people into loving deeply may kick start a bit more 'doing' in the whirled. Because my five year old Self and adult Self still believe in romance and the power of love.
SPRING AND SETTING SEEDS • (The stone with the dandelion growing out of it!)
“When I grow up,” I tell her, “I too will go to faraway places and come home to live by the sea.” “That is all very well, little Alice,” says my aunt, “but there is a third thing you must do.” “What is that?” I ask. “You must do something to make the world more beautiful.”
This is a quote from one of my favourite stories as a child, that of Miss Rumphius, the lupin lady. She scattered lupin seed along the paths she walked because she wanted to make the world beautiful. It's probably because of this childhood story that I began my passion for gathering native seed, and in the time since, it's developed and informed my sense of sacred ecology. My entire life experience and the observations of mindless consumerism at the cost of this planet has shaped absolutely everything in my life, my approach with what I do, and how I do it. Ensuring both I and my work both walk as lightly as possible is my expression of peaceful resistance and trying to bring balance. It's a microscopic contribution, I know, but I feel action, even small ones, is better than non action. In taking action, we are proactively seeding change and being part of the solution - we become the medicine.
I'm a fervent gatherer of wild native seed, I reintroduce seed to areas where the plants once grew plentiful and share seeds of medicinal herbs with my community. I gather native tree seeds which are grown to saplings then planted out into areas of the mountains that have had trees harvested as crops. I make seed bombs each year to gift to those I meet and spread wildflower seed while we are out on the mountains gathering wild medicinals for my herbal apothecary. It's one of the many ways I give back. It's the hope filled quiet work that heals heartache.
I also seed prayer intentions, and ideas. Ideas that seed perspective and alternatives. BIOPHILIA is a seed for the mind, body and spirit. Each card a nature based invitation to reflect, contemplate and grow. They too serve as reminders to not lose hope, to continue holding space for potential and change and remember that change begins within the ancient clay of our own inner landscape, and the borderlands filled with ‘weeds’ in between.
I AM BIOPHILIA
YOU ARE BIOPHILIA
WE ARE ALL BIOPHILIA
We need to rediscover our inner magic, explore those untamed areas, cultivate resilience, and befriend the shy mythic creatures of the lands around us and within us once more.
