This is from the meditation teacher Jessica Snow
As the world heats up (literally and metaphorically), and as I have the strong sense that the next few months are going to be ripe with intensity* on the level of the collective, I’ve meditated a lot around how best to use this Tuesday space in the weeks and months to come.
I’ve been writing to you on Tuesdays since 2012. I’m sure you will understand me when I say that while I feel I’ve become a much better writer week by week - writing to you, eloquently, inspiringly, has gotten harder and harder. Not because of anything between you and me, but because the landscape around us is fraught.
But I need this space and the wisdom-connection-magic it conjures every week, and I hope you feel the same.
And, as I am just a little human being - I think it is time to turn this space over to something greater.
So… for the next few weeks I am going to center each Tuesday email around a different elemental - earth, air, water, fire, aether/mystery/quintessence - and let their always-wise advice come though.
My hope is that each week, whatever elemental comes through on Tuesday, we spend that whole week connecting to and communing with that energy in ways both big and small.
In this process, it won’t be me telling you things about each element; ideally each week’s message will prompt you to find out your own things from each element you share presence, energy and attention with.
This week, let’s start with earth. We are all earthlings (an identity we’d do well to shift our priorities towards), and we are always on earth; so connecting to all that is earthy feels like a good place to start. I also know, from personal magical experience, that earth elemental energies are incredibly generous and kind and have a relationship to time that is beneficially different than ours.
Our task this week is simple - to connect to, share presence and commune with - anything and everything that relates to the element of earth. This can be way zoomed out - communing with Gaia, the Earth herself - or way zoomed in - settling down with one stone or grain of sand in your hand and tuning into that.
Here are some ideas to get us started in generating and maintaining this profound connection with all that is earth-y:
- Lay on the ground. Whether you are on your front, back or side, find a way to turn your ear towards the earth. Set a timer for 5 minutes. Listen to the earth for that amount of time, without “talking back”, just receive every message she wants to send. (Don’t let your logical brain talk you out of receiving her messages in full.)
- Take a short walk. As you do, imagine or even feel that it is your feet “turning the earth”, helping it rotate and revolve. As you walk, feel as if you are - as Thich Nhat Hanh said - kissing the world with every step. End your walk near a tree (even in the city, etc.) and stand near that tree; feel into your own roots, trunk and branches and those of the tree and listen.
- As you go about daily life, find a simple stone or rock you are willing to tune into. Bring that rock home, wash it under cool running water for a minute or so. Then, put the rock on a chair or table opposite from you and again, listen, like the stone is your guest, a little messenger from the earthen realms. When you are done, deliver the stone or rock to an outdoor place you intuit they’d like to be.
Watch Julio Torres’ settle his crystal into a nice chair in My Favorite Shapes
I also am including below a nice list of some of my favorite earth element meditations and visualizations so you can easily find them in the shop, in the member’s library, or in one of my books.
It is also highly likely that by simply reading the titles of each meditation/visualization, you might receive some inspiration about YOUR best way to connect to the earth element. Remember, there are LOTS of ways to connect. I don’t want you to do it “my way”, I want to inspire you to connect to the earth element however feels right for you. If traditional grounding techniques don’t feel right, maybe you need to tune your dial to something more overtly magical and symbolic - like an earthquake, the four directions or a mountain.
And… remember, that we can make offerings to the earth - so if sometime this week the earth elementals give you a gift, you can always choose to reciprocate. (In my experience, giving to the earth typically results in a feeling of uplift and connection.)
Dreamworld and 99 Visions are books filled with meditations, you can access the Audio via instant download or the complete library.
Lately, I have gotten the spiritual message over and over again, that there is no way to escape or back down from the buzzing, always-awake, electronic doppleganger world. For most of us, it is a capitalistic imperative to interact through the screen interface; as of now, it can’t be “cut-out”, or avoided. But, over and over again I have also been offered the spiritual solution to add-on or add-in magical practices - like connecting to powerful elemental forces - to harmonize whatever imbalances the digital world creates.
So let’s do that, each of us in our own way. And, let’s start at the place from whence all we know is nourished and supported - the foundational and beautiful element of earth…
Read the full post here: what can we do? - Jessica Snow's PARALLEL SOCIETY
