Seen and Unseen

I’m a Taurus and the ultimate pragmatist…and yet experience tells me that there is more than meets the eye in all situations. I learned this most vividly on the island of Bali in Indonesia. Bali is Hindu but really the Hindu layer is very thin. The real spiritual core is animism – the belief that everything is alive and sentient. If you’re willing to get off the tourists’ air-conditioned bus, it doesn’t take long to feel that living presence in all the elements around you. Feelings can be discounted easily by the western mind. Unexplainable experiences are something else. I had enough of those on Bali to convince me that I am surrounded by an unseen world, on Bali or off of it.

Fast-forward 5 years to my present life doing permaculture in the desert. Permaculture can be extremely pragmatic and suits me well. There are systems to learn, patterns to observe, tools to use, holes to dig etc. And yet, I have recently arrived at a place where I understand that something is missing. It started as a slight discomfort and has grown into an acute certainty. My suspicion was that I had left out my connection to the unseen and the important information that is held in that world. I was observing and interpreting the patterns of nature without making a connection to the realm from which those patterns flow. In certain circles (at Findhorn for example) this would be called the Devic Realm – the realm of conscious energies that build the natural world around us. Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not convinced that this realm actually exists in the form described at Findhorn but I am willing to find out for myself. Being a pragmatist, my thinking is that we who wish to regenerate our bioregions need all the help we can get.

Over this last summer, I traveled with my mate through California to meet other permaculture people and groups. But my personal homework was to find a way to make contact with this realm. I feel that I was successful at this and came to understand that the language of this realm is artful, symbolic and startlingly immediate. Here’s how I did it on advice from my friend D.E. Whenever I found myself in a remote part of a forest where I felt particularly relaxed I would ask for contact, my purpose being to gratefully listen and learn. Let’s just say that, among other responses, I got a stunning lesson from a salamander on the importance of consuming and digesting one’s past.

Along with all the digging, building, reading, planting and systems implementation, I’ll be continuing with my attempts to strengthen and clarify my communication with this realm. I’ve only just begun. For me, the real proof will be when I receive information that is contrary to everything I think I know and I go ahead and implement it…and IT WORKS.

Much thanks to D.E. and G.F. for your guidance.