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Communion must be claimed.
"To him who in the love of nature holds Communion with her visible forms, she speaks a various language“. -William C. Bryant
As often as possible, but most especially when I feel summoned, I head outdoors. A place usually pulls me toward it, often a land form, or just a general area. Earlier this week, I was called to visit Castle Rock, a beautiful rocky outcropping just at the eastern edge of downtown Boise. There is a 70-acre preserve that creates a nice buffer from encroaching development and some breathing space from the noise of the material world.
I call this practice shamanic hiking. It’s half as slow as the slowest hike and begins with a warm invitation to return to (and remain in) your Heart Center, the seat of Higher Intelligence. All senses become heightened, breathing is calm, slow and deep. An expansion of being occurs. These intentional shifts make you available to wisdom and guidance beyond ordinary physical reality.
I call this practice shamanic hiking. It's half as slow as the slowest hike and begins with a warm invitation to return to (and remain in) your Heart Center, the seat of Higher Intelligence. All senses become heightened, breathing is calm, slow and deep. An expansion of being occurs. These intentional shifts make you available to wisdom and guidance beyond ordinary physical reality.
Yesterday, I set out with the intention to commune with All-That-Is. In doing so, I was called to the base of the rock and was gifted a tremendous energetic surge through my Heart Chakra. While they had my attention, I distinctly heard the message that "Communion isn't bestowed. It must be claimed". I began to laugh aloud. The energy was so intense and the message so highly resonant.
I was raised in the Catholic religion and, while I'm sure there is a more mystical meaning behind the sacrament of communion, as a child I experienced it as something that was very, very important and that only certain people could do. While perhaps not intentional, the feeling I was left with was one of having been given something that I couldn't give myself. The remaining wine and wafers were locked away at the end of the ritual and only certain people had the key. So, obviously, when I received the message urging me to understand that communion is something everyone can claim for themselves , it hit a powerful chord.
The rest of the hike was, not surprisingly, full of meaningful experiences, including up close physical encounters with powerful animal medicine, including snake and vulture. In the shaman tradition, both of these allies announce (and encourage) new beginnings, transformation (through shedding the old/death), and powerful new intuitive awakenings, all of which I am experiencing now.
