The Magic Of May
Captured through my camera's lens is this small glimpse of our garden and moments in nature which I find so nurturing.
Hey Everyone!
I am going to begin a new series of posts in which once a month I (attempt to) share some of my photography to give you a glimpse of why I find gardening and observing/learning from nature to not only provide medicine and nourishment for our bodies but also healing for the heart and food for the soul.
There was a time when I tried to stack as many functions as possible, prioritizing utilitarian harvests that provide vitamins, minerals and medicinal compounds but a wise woman helped me to see that sometimes including things purely for the sake of how beautiful they are provides its own kind of nourishment. Over time as I have come to more closely observe and embrace the poetry for the senses that are offered by flowers and other visually beautiful beings, I have come to realize what exactly she was talking about, that the sort of nourishment they provide is just as important as the type that comes from a kale leaf.
In these times when our hearts and spirits are being assaulted by a relentless barrage of psychological warfare operations, materialistic superficial corporate propaganda, the objectification and commodification of that which was once held sacred, digital hyperstimulation and negativity (violence, fear and ego) being pushed through (so called) entertainment, perhaps the kind of nourishment that is gifted to us when we slow down and appreciate a flower or a leaf (which is a magnificent expression of Creator’s love) is (at times) an even more important and dearly needed form of nourishment and medicine than that which we can access through vitamins and minerals for the cells in our bodies.
What is needed to heal our human family, this world and our relationship to her is not more strict government regulation of polluters or ecocidal profiteers.. it is love... love for ourselves and for the living planet that sustains us and shares endless gifts with us.
We are not gonna be threatened, shamed or bribed into loving the earth... the path back to loving our great mother is one that is chosen by each one of us at this fork in the road, one seemingly small choice at a time.
The choice to appreciate a flower or a leaf is like the choice to water a dormant seed full of potential in fertile soils. The seed is the love we were all born with (which has been buried deep under layers of conditioning) and the soil is the heart and mind.
Giving our attention to the beauty of a flower or a leaf is a form of reciprocity and gratitude which truly nourishes and enlivens the spirit.
"The land is the real teacher. All we need as students is mindfulness. Paying attention is a form of reciprocity with the living world, receiving the gifts with open eyes and open heart…
Give thanks for everything that you receive (including the fragrance or sight of a beautiful flower or leaf) is a revolutionary act. In an economy that urges us to always want more, the practice of gratitude and random acts of kindness are truly a radical acts. Thankfulness for all that is given makes you feel rich beyond measure, where wealth is counted as having enough to share. Gratitude pulls us into relationship with other entities, reminding us that our very existence is in their hands. And gratitude is humbling – an antidote to the arrogance of our time. It reminds us that we are just one member in the family of species. It reminds us again, that the earth does not belong to us.
Gratitude is our first, but not our only gift. We are storytellers, music makers, devisers of ingenious machines, healers, scientists, and lovers of an Earth who asks that we give our own unique gifts on behalf of life. Let us live in a way that Earth will be grateful for us."
- Robin Wall Kimmerer (Author of "Braiding Sweetgrass")
Here are some of the moments I captured from during the month of May :
Ok that is it for today! :) I will try and do one of these photography sharing sessions each month if I can find the time.
One day I hope to offer a type of holistic alchemical expression of photography (that one might call "photographic spagyric alchemy") in which I collect some form of the essence of the poetry for the senses each wilderness or garden location in which I take a photo offers.
This would include objects, extracts or preserves with distinct aromas of the place, tastes, tactile sensations and sounds. It may be in the form of an essential oil I would extract from lets say a fir tree's needles in the area in which I took a picture infused into a capsule attached to the canvas print of the photo. Then it would also come with a nutritious and/or medicinal preserve made from herbs, berries or other foraged foods from near where the photo was taken, it would also include an object that conveys a distinct tactile experience from the place the image was captured and then an audio clip I recorded there of the sounds of that wilderness space (which would also be attached to the canvas print, so that one can experience yet another dimension of the holistic beauty of the place in the picture when they are appreciating it on their wall).
Finally, the package would also include seeds to grow some plants/trees from that area (with instructions on how to cultivate them) and part of the cost of the package would be donated to projects aimed at protecting that ecosystem, so that the gifts Mother Earth shares with us can be gifted back to her in the reciprocal action of helping to regenerate her body. I very much look forward to creating offerings such as that once my book(s) are published (I sense that I will be called to write several others once this one I am working on is finally distributed to those who pre-ordered a copy).
Thanks for checking out my photos I hope you all have a beautiful remainder of June filled with blossoms, berries and moments that serve to nurture your spirit in nature and in the garden.
Each and everyone of us is capable of choosing (as our ancestors did) to develop an intimate and reciprocal relationship with the wild plants, trees and fungi in our local region. Taking the time to appreciate a flower, a leaf or a tree and giving our attention to that being, is the first step towards using our skills of observation to learn from our elder species.
May each of us find our footing and hope through embarking on the soft and green path described in The Prophecy Of The Seventh Fire.
In closing I will re-share a blessing passed down by my ancestors…
May the blessed sunlight shine upon you; May Light shine out from your eyes like a lamp set in the window to welcome the wanderer out in the storm. May the blessing of the rain be yours; may it beat upon your spirit and wash it clean, leaving a shining pool where the Truth of the Mother herself glows. May the blessing of the Earth be on you; soft under your feet as you pass along the path, soft under you as you lie out on it, tired at the end of day; and may it rest easy over you when, at last, you lie out under it.
Breathtakingly beautiful, Gavin, and all the more so because I know how big the Nature-loving heart taking the photos is. You're making me want to dig out my box of "real" cameras! Thank you! 💚
I savored my way through this. I think this is maybe a God's-eye view, not distant but up close and intimate. Even my humble borage, that takes over my garden, was precious. I've wondered what the veronica flower looks like--I'll forward it to my Veronica and James, the newlyweds.