Above is the icon of the goddess Brighid whose day we celebrate in early February. She greets me first thing each morning and bids me sweet dreams each night. Imbolc has passed. The early stirrings of the green world can be felt by those who take the time to connect. The moon is waxing. Solar energy is building and the Spring Equinox will be upon us before we know it. All energies are concentrated on growth and increase. Time moves faster and faster on the one hand, and yet the snows of winter seem to linger far too long. I’m ready for green plants, green leaves, warm sun and flowing waters.
Fog from snow melt surrounded Lichenwood this morning, so my day began in a kind of out of time and space mist. The white haze covering the landscape is a sure sign that snowdrifts are shrinking despite gray skies. Temperatures in the thirties seem warm. Buds are beginning to swell on the bare tree branches. Sap rising causes more flexibility to return to the limbs and trunks of the still bare trees. Certainly the bulbs I planted in the fall are beginning their journey upward through the soil toward the light of Spring.
In my dreams last night there were swathes of beautiful Snowdrops everywhere. Spring had arrived. In reality, the small clumps of Snowdrops that I planted last Autumn are still buried under heavy wet ice crystals. Once they do emerge and bloom, perhaps they will call to me to make an essence.
This is the year that I can finally begin to make flower essences at the New Lichenwood. I have relationship with the land and the green beings who reside here. More than a year and a day has passed since we transplanted ourselves into this new ecosystem. So many adjustments were needed on my part- many more than I could have imagined. Not only did I need to physically explore my environment and attune myself to the lunar and solar cycles here, there were spiritual patterns that needed release so that new rituals could grow in synch with life at the New Lichenwood. It has taken all this time to feel vibrational harmony with my new physical environment.
Yes, I loved this land from the time I first saw it, but that did not lessen my love for my old paths, fields, and forests. Rituals of goodbye and release accomplished only part of the work necessary to fully ground myself in the new space and move the former environment into a time capsule of treasured memory. This is ongoing, but I feel safe in saying that my roots now run deep in the soil at Old Canaan Road. As Spring approaches for the second time, I recognize the patterns that exist here and I am becoming part of the pattern, in tune with the land and all the beings who exist here.
PS- If you enjoy reading Lichenwood Rambles, it is now possible to receive it directly in your email. Simply use the subscribe option in the top right hand corner! Thanks to Deb Mercier of Greenwood Herbals whose technical gifts made this happen!
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