Years ago, if you lived (as I did) in a family with a fairly active line in occult activity, you learned a most of the Craft as you went along. Actually I am not too fond of that word Craft, but I’m not really sure what else to call it. The Skill? The Ability? The Enterprise? (No, that last one sounds like something from the Mafia.)
Anyway, the point I’m trying to make is that it was a bit like an apprenticeship. You watched, you learned (both what to do and what NOT to do) and you gradually built up a store of knowledge of your own. Nowadays it’s very different. I sometimes write on the occult and paganism for magazines and it always amazes me how some of them want something ‘Hands on’ which appears to be simply a euphemism for ‘cut the crap and just give us a spell.’ A short cut, in other words.
Well, unfortunately, (or maybe fortunately!) Nature is not a magazine editor. She works to her own deadlines in her own good way. Think of her as an old fashioned teacher, the ‘chalk and talk’ type, who stood at the blackboard and imparted knowledge. You could learn – provided you listened.
So when you start gardening with nature spirits, it pays to get into the habit of listening. Admittedly it’s easier in a flower strewn meadow than it is on the edge of an urban car park, but it CAN be done. Just sit there. Don’t do anything. Be.
In our modern and hectic world, the idea of doing nothing fills many people with a sense of guilt. It shouldn’t. There are times when you should be busy and industrious – and times when you need rest. And there are times when you should just sit quiet and see what comes.
Think back to a time when you were ill. When the world shrank to the size of your pillow. We know the world didn’t really decrease in size –it just felt as though it did. Sometimes illnesses force us to take a turning we might otherwise have missed. A few years ago I lost the sight in one eye – quite suddenly really. One moment it was fine, the next there was a large purple splodge across my vision, and from then on it was downhill all the way. Never mind reading the letters on the optician’s chart, I couldn’t even be certain where the wall was!
I was lucky that eventually most of the sight did return. It took a long time and made me face up to my own frailties, my sudden need to rely on others. When I did finally regain my independence, I would like to think I was a somewhat chastened by my experience.
This fits in well with working with nature spirits. I can’t tell you ‘Sit out in the garden and say XYZ and the fairies will come and do all the work for you,’ because clearly that’s nonsense. What I can say is, ‘Sit and listen. See what comes.’ Because something will come. You’ve just got to learn to tune in to it.
Seeking the Green by Tylluan Penry, published soon by Capall Bann. For more info - watch this space!
