These are transformational times where in the words of mythologist Michael Meade, “nature is rattling and culture is unraveling” simultaneously. The intensity, pressure, and radical uncertainty in the world are creating so much collective stress, fear, and suffering. We all need strategies at this time to nourish and soothe ourselves.
Last weekend I gathered with a small group of women, mostly elders, and we sat in Circle and listened deeply for Guidance about how to meet these times. One woman shared a teaching, the origin of which she could not recall, but thought it might have come from Robert Bly, about the importance of nourishing the various Soul Bodies. To cultivate wholeness and healing we must nourish all of the Soul bodies. The Soul bodies are energetic bodies that cannot be weighed or measured, but have a psycho spiritual reality.
The Fragrant Body: This body is nourished by communing with the natural world.
The Ancestral Body: This body is nourished by honoring the ancestors.
The Village Body: This body is nourished by cultivating relationships in the community.
The Light Body: This body is nourished by awareness of our interconnection with all that is.
We need at this difficult time to feed our souls and each other by attending to what is beautiful, uplifting, and peaceful.
I recently heard a new poem by Marie Howe that for me is the most perfect medicine for this time. It’s called “The Maples”.
The Maples
I asked the stand of maples behind the house,
How should I live my life?
They said shh shh shh ……..
How should I live, I asked, and the leaves seemed to ripple and gleam.
A bird called from a branch in its own tongue,
And from a branch, across the yard, another bird answered.
A squirrel scrambled up a trunk
then along the length of a branch.
Stand still, I thought,
See how long you can bear that.
Try to stand still, if only for a few moments,
drinking light breathing.
