From the barren hedge, your bloom is first.
Abundant white flowers, from bud they soon burst. So ahead of the game, it’s apparently clear. A pioneer of the spring, a sight we hold dear. Like snow upon bush, tree branch and limb. Casting out winter, the brightness undimmed. For it is you that we look to, in knowing the way. As month passes month, and night becomes day Your perches house dunnock, and that of their kin. Your barbs protect chicks, of blackbird, robin. The green fire is coming, but you are the leader. Leaves unfurl upwards, but not those of cedar. Blue skies are present now, the air is so crisp. Clarity of direction, no words carry lisp. For you are the forerunner, of those that come next. The flowers of the woodland, as nature has sex. To you we are glad, of bringing us peace. Food will be plentiful, an autumn feast. But let’s not forget summer, of temperature hot. Where you blend in background, and the harvest is got. By Simon Blackler Copyright © Simon Blackler 2020 If you care to comment on this poem at all please feel free to do so below.
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There is a silence and a stillness, to this place I love to be.
Where the simplest trickle of the water, brings a sense of peace to me. I've descended the steep hillside, like a little mountain goat. To a secluded cove, dear to me, only accessible by boat. I'm now in rapture, warm and naked, close to my beloved sea. Where the sun and cloud have separated, to leave sky blue, totally free. A breeze comes to caress me, and every follicle of feeling. Where an energy is present, bringing any amount of healing. There's rock pippets here, grasshoppers, emerald green beetles. Cathedrals of stone, jagged edges, very tall dark steeples. There's a majesty in the calmness, in the gentleness and karma. Whatever hour you are present here, each one equivalent to dhama. Kingfishers have been seen here, wooly sheep, and racing pigeon. Bringing messages from afar, great mystery by the legion. Two ravens croak above, black eagles of the divine. My heart begins to soar, my spirit starts to shine. I've written many a word here, letters, poems and true prose. I've had many a thought here, of dreams I do propose. A skinny dip is often called for, a plunge into the cerulean deep. Where silk wraps all around me, sending me off to a dreamy sleep. Kestrels hover on an updraft, eyes focussed on next prey. I'm happy, I'm in clover, on this very special day. Time to reflect and mull things over, bringing insight and pure wisdom. This is the place I call home, where there is true love and more freedom. By Simon Blackler Copyright © Simon Blackler 2020 If you care to comment on this poem at all please feel free to do so below. Primrose, Blackthorn & Bluebell Are Here To Guide Us Through Covid - 19! I must immediately state that flower essences are not a cure for Coronavirus, but what they are here to do for us is to help support us through these times of the Covid - 19 outbreak. They will aid us with our mental health and emotional wellbeing in order to be able to better deal with the circumstances that we are now facing.
When I started working with flower essences I had no idea of the journey I was about to be taken on, or what the flowers wanted to teach me about their unique qualities. They had a message for me that they wanted me to bring to the world, both individually and collectively, as I voyaged with them over the course of a year. Firstly, I would learn about how they appeared month by month within nature, then in what place in the landscape that they could be found, how they related to the next flower essence in the sequence and in turn how they could be connected to both the lunar and solar cycles when they were gathered. This was before I was educated in the finer details of how they might also connect to what was going on within the Universe, both in their capture and then when it came to market them a whole twelve months later. Each essence had its own story to tell, its own chapter to write, as if being a part of a bigger book of Allies Of Nature flower essences. Each line, paragraph or page just seemingly wanted to meld into the next as if the flowers were relay runners handing the baton on from essence to essence, in the telling of a collective narrative. This was all the more evident when the cycle began to draw to a close most recently and then begin again, all throughout the days of March. Last week I collected the Primrose flower essence on the Spring Equinox, the final essence, in the sequence of 17. I captured the Wild Daffodil, the previous essence, on 2nd February and all the time in between up to 20th March I was getting hints as to what Primrose was all about even before I placed the bowl of spring water next to the flower itself in order to collect the essence. There has been a lot of renewal in my life recently, a feeling of things coming to a end as well as other things about to come into being. Not only yearly cycles and seasons, but relationships and ways of existing too. When I sat with Primrose, as the day and night became equal in measurement again, the message that came through to me quite strongly was one of 'new beginnings'. 'How does that sum up the Coronavirus situation?' I hear you wonder. Well, it would seem to me that whenever this virus comes to an end the whole world will feel different. Different because of the collective experience we have gone through together and the love and compassion that has been shown to our fellow men and women on all levels of society as a result. Is it even possible to go back now to how we were before, in our more uncaring, busy, busy, busy type of lifestyle? It maybe that the Coronavirus has come along in some way shape or form to wipe the slate clean so we can start again, at our beginning. I would suggest that if the messages that the Allies Of Nature range of flower essences want to bring to us are anything to go by, as one annual cycle starts to overlap the next, that Primrose's herald of 'new beginnings', links directly into Blackthorn's 'knowing the way'. The Blackthorn was the first essence in the range of essences that I created a whole twelve months earlier. It was the March essence, that was actually collected on the new moon in April at the start of the 2019/20 financial year. Its message to me was that it was a pioneer, breaking new ground. Its abundant white flowers and pointed barbs made me think about clarity and direction. It felt to me as if it was guiding other plants in the way of flowering, as it was the first to appear in the otherwise barren springtime hedgerows. I believe that in Primrose's 'renewal' of how to be in the world under Coronavirus lockdown we will find the clarity and direction we need through Blackthorn, but also with the next flower in the range of essences too, the Bluebell. For if we are to believe the collective narrative of the Allies Of Nature then the direction we need to travel from Blackthorn to Bluebell is inward in order to gain a greater understanding of our own inner beauty, our own 'inner-sense'. If you would like to know more about any of these flower essences and how they could best help you why not answer The Call To Adventure and have an introduction session with me or alternatively browse through the Allies Of Nature range of flower essences in the shop to see which one might resonate with you the most to assist you in your own personal development. If you care to comment on this blog with regards to any issues or feelings it brings up for you then please feel free to do so below. Get More In Touch With Yourself, Your Dreams And Nature. In the unprecedented circumstances we are experiencing across the globe at this moment in time I offer up 5 novel, shamanic ways that can help keep you sane through the lockdown period and actually help you to feel good about yourself, your life and your future going forward. They work well for me, so I just thought I would share them with you today.
1. The Cold Shower. Yep, harsh as it may sound the cold shower is a great way to start the day, giving you more vigour and vitality throughout it. It helps raise all your red blood cells to the surface of your being and encourages more brown, lean fat to grow in your body rather than the white, fatty fat that might otherwise be encountered. In times of lockdown, your ego will want to rule, having lots of comfort food and lovely warm showers and hot baths, your soul however wants something more. A short, sharp shock in the morning immediately takes you out of your comfort zone and starts to help you feel more refreshed, more vital, ready to get on with the day, and guess what it helps you save money too. 2. Morning Practice. Morning Practice is a way of expressing gratitude to the Earth for all that you have at this moment in time. It can consist of exercise, prayer or a combination of both and is best performed outside if you have a little courtyard or garden at your disposal. Otherwise you could do it whilst you are out on exercise, or just in your house or flat if you have nowhere else to carry this out. I normally take a pinch of tobacco from by back pocket (I don't smoke), tobacco is considered a traditional offering for gratitude. I offer this up to the 7 directions by way of a prayer. Up towards the sky, down towards the Earth, to the East, South, West, North and then the centre and I might say a few words that come to mind at the time about the things that I see in my view, like the clouds, or the robin or whatever wants to present itself at the time in gratitude for that thing and just bringing my awareness into the here and now. I also perform some exercises / active prayers toward all of those directions too which I got taught in my training, you could use Tai Chi or Qi Gong as an alternative. Morning Practice normally takes about 10 - 15 mins to be able to perform. 3. Meditation. At the very least meditation helps us to still our mind and bring us more back in touch with the centre of who we are, arguably it can help us raise our immune system too. One of the most simplest ones is the Heart Meditation that my teacher Chris Luttichau recommends. It basically involves placing one of your hands on your heart, taking a deep breath in, connecting with the heart, feeling the rhythm of your heart beat, for as long as you can, holding that breath in, then slowly releasing with the out breath. Then repeat for as many times as you can or wish in one session. When you feel you are really in touch with your heart bring forward an image that really gives you joy to focus your attention on, perhaps to remind you of where you are headed. This exercise can be repeated throughout the day as many times as you wish. It helps you to get back in touch with yourself, your heart and the real love you have for yourself. 4. Spend 15 Mins Working Towards Your Dream. Spend just 15 minutes a day working towards your dream, whatever that might be. Give yourself that time to think about what you would dearly love to be doing in your life, what would bring you most joy, what you like to create in this lifetime? Maybe just spend a bit of time thinking about it, writing about it, doodling a picture of it, researching some pictures that might look something like it. If you find yourself spending more time than 15 mins working on your dream then that's great, however 15mins doesn't sound that long does it? Very doable in fact. So let's just utilise that time and start making this world a better place for us all to live in once we have moved beyond this lockdown period again. If you don't know what your dream is then you obviously need some coaching from me, don't you??!! ;-) 5. Recap At the end of the day think about all that you have achieved today, write it down, what has inspired you forward in your life and what has distracted you from doing what you wanted to do today. Don't be too hard on yourself just concentrate on what you have successfully achieved over the past 24 hours even if it was just taking a cold shower first thing in the morning, you did do that right? ;-). They are all steps in the right direction for living a happier life. Anyway I hope this helps you in the lockdown period. I will continue to post inspiration as much as I can throughout this time and beyond whilst working on my own 5 ways to beat the lockdown as well as perhaps come up with a few more too, take care of yourselves during this time. x If you care to comment on this blog with regards to any issues or feelings it brings up for you please feel free to do so below. A Virus Is A Part Of Nature Just Like You And I. With so much fear apparent within society at the moment concerning the advancement of Coronavirus across the globe, I feel it is time to give it a bit more of a positive spin and approach the subject with an element of love, dealing with it from a more spiritual perspective perhaps.
For arguments sake, I am going to assume at this moment in time that this virus has come into being purely through some act of nature. It is my belief that the conditions upon the planet at this moment in time, be it through global warming or some other factor, have provided the perfect environment for its creation. I also believe that everything in our evolvement as a species upon the planet is indeed always perfect, we experience perfection every day, even in the worst case scenarios, in order to experience what we need to do to move ourselves forward as individuals or as a collective in alignment with the planet. The fact that this virus is here now, in the long term could be considered a gift from nature, a herald, to how we need to be, a call for us to adventure and find our own leadership and to do what is needed. Sure, what is being presented to ourselves at this moment in time is difficult to grasp, as we are being urged to stop what we are doing in no uncertain terms. It may indeed cause a lot of heartache and pain, death and illness even, especially to the elderly and infirm. However, it looks to all intents and purposes to have been sent to make us think differently about how we lead our lives and what is fundamentally wrong with our existence, what is our pain and what we need to do to heal ourselves. My work with my range of flower essences would only point further towards this notion. I am about to create the Primrose Flower Essence this very weekend from my Allies Of Nature range of flower essences, an essence I believe that is very much about 'renewal'. There is no doubt that our society is looking at renewal now. A new way of doing things, perhaps a new way of being and existing. We of course will have our own concerns at this moment in time, I have got my own worries too, as to what will become of us, our houses, our jobs, our businesses, relationships, food, social interactions, all elements of community. However, I believe also that we are being asked to look again, to see what lies within ourselves once we stop. What are our true values? What do we really care about? How will we be towards our neighbour? Will we think only of ourselves in this crisis and stock pile or will we naturally start to think of others and the planet as a whole? In one way shape or form we are being asked to trust the process and see where this journey takes us, knowing that for the majority of us we will be OK. I believe creatively I will need to adjust the way that I do business very quickly and it is almost as if I am being encouraged to do this just now for the benefit of the long term, there are notions and ideas coming to me in this period that perhaps would not have come had this virus not arrived. I am being asked to step up in another way, to evolve and be more resourceful, to write blogs, post videos, do Facebook lives, to help engage more people perhaps for what happens after the storm has passed. In Italy I believe, due to a lack of humanity and busy-ness the once murky waters of Venice are now running clean. The skies and roads are now empty of transport too, our carbon emissions have plummeted overnight. Nature is trying to restore itself in our absence to a more natural way of being. We as a species have abused our position upon the planet and raped and pillaged the Earth for all it is worth. We have polluted the air, the water and the ground, fires now rage across the planet too. All the elements are out of balance, life has lost its equilibrium and it is almost as if this virus has been sent to tell us something, that nature ultimately is in control of our existence if we step out of line. It would seem as if it is not too far removed from the plagues of Egypt what we are experiencing now, i.e. natural phenomenon being sent to change our way of thinking, or just make us think, floods, fire, wind, disease, you name it really. In shamanism it is believed that spirit is a part of every living, breathing thing therefore spirit must be a part of Coronavirus, it must have a purpose, it maybe impossible to eradicate it if it has such a purpose, trying to slow it down or stop it spreading so widely is one thing, but if it is meant to be here, ultimately we might just have to learn to live with it. I believe it has its own essence, its own consciousness, its own medicine power, it may well indeed be acting for the greater good of the planet as a whole, in whatever way is deemed fit. For something so very small it seems to have done a pretty good job in stopping us in our tracks just at the minute. With no natural predator for us, maybe it takes a tiny little micro-organism to put up nature's best fight to make us wonder at just how it is to be human in the here and now and start to act in a different way. We may find that this is one of the most creative times in our collective history as we are invited to find new solutions for ourselves the further this isolation and containment goes on. It maybe that come the end of it all our perspective on things has changed significantly. Maybe at home alone we will start to pay more attention to nature and the the flora and fauna around us and begin to love it again and really treasure it for all it is worth and start to place it at the centre of our lives once more now that we have time to experience it more fully. Maybe, just maybe, our lives will be better for it, maybe our businesses, our houses, our family life will improve because of it as we are encouraged to go inward and reconnect with ourselves, our significant others and Mother Earth herself. If you care to comment on this blog with regards to any issues or feelings it brings up for you please feel free to do so below. |
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