By Leah Black, 31st August 2024, Ecoinnersense.com
This is the first post of a hopeful collection of regular ponderings, adventures, hierophanies and spiritual experiences in Nature and sacred places, by somewhat of a Nature mystic and part-time mountain hermit, Leah Black.
Over these past two weeks, I have soaked in the oaky late summer smell of an olden forest, stood at an ancient standing stone wondering if anyone else knew of its existence, discovered bygone cabins adorned in ivy and visited places of pre-historic re-creation. Our ancient past, thus by, has been playing on my mind and seeping into my inner senses. I soaked up words of energy, sensed memories of the land, saw images in my mind’s eye of times gone by and received messages from the spirit realms. For many years, I have kept these communions to myself or woven them into my mystical Nature writings. But now, I feel it is time to share them more directly with those who wish to listen. Below, in bullet points, are my interpretations of these messages, of what can sometimes feel ineffable, yet powerful. Like a medium, I can only describe what I sense, which arrives in snippets of information via clairaudience, a symbol or image that appears clairvoyantly or a feeling experienced through clairsentience; much of what is shared is given to me by stones, trees, water and the ancient ancestors of the lands I live upon. And is greatly received and appreciated in reciprocity by me through offerings, forming connections, love and continued interaction.
The messages of speculative wonder I have received these past few weeks, are hereby interpreted, as best as I can, as:
Our past is the present connected to our future.
The now holds significant importance, but so does our history and the future.
Today has been shaped by yesterday. Hereby, the actions of today hold more meaning than you could ever imagine; embrace the past and times still to come. As ignorance or inspiration in this moment will mould tomorrow for you, humanity and the more-than-human world.
You are a blending of the past and the future combined. With much more ancient knowing and future potential than you could ever believe.
Remember the past and the present may become more peaceful.
What infinite potential within you, would you like to explore today?
It seems that some stone carvings are representations of the patterns and lines on the palm of an individual hand, or a fingerprint; a memoir of someone to be remembered from our deep ancient past. These have sometimes been misinterpreted as symbols of swirls, spirals, unknown lines or maps. I was shown this insight clairvoyantly three or so years ago, when I looked at the 11,000-year-old Star Carr pendant found in Yorkshire, UK. An ancient ancestor stepped forward and indicated through the inner senses that this was a tag of identification, or a memory of someone, much like a photograph today, with the lines from that individual’s palm carved into it. Last week, I was shown some images of swirl like carvings in a museum of pre-history. I suddenly sensed tingling in my fingertips; seeing the resemblance of my fingerprints to the swirls, I sensed this could be a sign that these carvings had a similar notion to the ones I was shown as the lines of a palm.
Much art was shown to me to be created in our ancient pre-historic past with ash and charcoal from the fire, drawn onto large dry leaves and tree bark, now lost to the elements of time; naturally recycled back to Earth.
Folded willow whips made for a cosy mattress frame; raising one from the damp and hardness of the ground in what appeared to be during Palaeolithic times. This image arose in the middle of a forest; bringing feelings of a summer camping place during times of hunting and gathering.
In Ecoinnersense mentoring, Natural mindfulness and soul purpose coaching sessions I share little activities tailored to that person, place or moment. So, here is one for you to help you ‘hear’ the land, in your own way – a little like I do, but as we are each our own spiritual selves on our own unique spiritual journeys our experiences may vary.
Activity: In this activity we will focus on the sense of imagination. Visit a place you love or have felt a sense of connection with; whether you know what that connection is or not. Perhaps it is a building, park or field you have felt curious about. Maybe it is your home, place of worship or your local haunt. Find a space in this location where you feel comfortable. Let your core senses and mind settle. Focus on your breath, body or simply a leaf moving in the breeze, a stained-glass window or a ray of light shining on a stream for example. Whenever a thought pops into your mind or external disruption occurs, acknowledge them and let them float away. If you can, touch the ground, a wall or a stone nearby ensuring it is a natural subject you select (most are made of natural sources, except plastic) and feel the energy merging between you and the subject – without expectation.
Imagine what was here, in this exact place you sit or stand in at three different points in history. For example, just before the industrial revolution, in early medieval times and the late Neolithic period. What would it sound, smell and feel like back then? What were the people doing, cooking or praying to? What animals and plants were around them? Was it warm or cold? What can you smell in the air? What sounds surrounded this place? What religion did the people follow, or what spiritual beliefs did they hold? What is the landscape and skyscape like? How did people interact with Nature? If you feel compelled to, go further back in time and re-imagine.
Now thank your imagination and this place for enabling you to see into the past. Write down everything that you sensed in your imagination, even if it was just a colour, a seemingly random image or a single sound. You can repeat this time and time again. You never know, you may start to recognise patterns in yourself, this place and your sense of imagination.
“…the Greeks had two terms for place, topos and chora. Topos signifies a simple location, the physical, observable features of a locale. Chora, however, refers to the more subtle aspects of place, those that can trigger memory, imagination, and mythic presence.”*
If you’re really curious, after a few visits, try to do some research to see what we know nowadays through archaeological and historical records about your special place. Remember, you are becoming part of your land’s story even if the land is eleven floors away from your high-rise flat, or right under your bare feet, whether it is the land you were born upon, or not. You are loved and are exactly where you’re meant to be. Because, what you seek, seeks you. Perhaps, the land even called to you and your inner senses, when you moved here or visited this place for the first time; when you got that feeling that this is the home for me, the place of worship for me, my favourite park to be in, my special spot on a river bank... Maybe, the land wanted you to be part of their history, present moment and future.
I’d love to hear your experiences based on this activity or reflections on this post. Every email I receive from readers or clients makes my heart smile. So please, don’t hesitate to share your story at leah@ecoinnersense.com or on Ecoinnersense's Patreon Page.
With love and light,
Leah
*Devereux, P., Krippner, S., Tartz, R. & Fish, A. (2016). ‘A Preliminary Study on English and Welsh Sacred Sites and Home Dream Reports.’ In M.A. Schroll (ed.) (2016). Transpersonal Ecosophy Vol. 1: Theory, Methods and Clinical Assessments. Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant: Psychoid Books, pp. 389-418, (p. 412).
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