Ice Cold Mountains
Frosty Swags & Showing Up
It was minus five degrees in the Vic High Country this past weekend.
That’s what several of our vehicles measured, early in the AM.
14 of us gathered around the fire as dawn broke, readying ourselves for a mid-winter saunter. A couple of us had frost on the INSIDE of our swags.
That’s when you know it’s cold.
To be honest, and I shared this with some of the group the eve before, I wasn’t at max capacity.
It was a huge few weeks for me leading up to this.
Travel, work, gatherings, home life, grieving a death in the family just the day before our walk.
My body was ready for a purge of energies and decided that this past weekend was the time for it. Not even my typical capabilities of parking my personal stuff to the side until after the gathering had passed could work.
And what a humbling and heart softening thing it is.
To be raw, and vulnerable, and not firing on all cylinders, in front of a group looking to myself as being the guide, maestro, technician between and within worlds.
And amongst all of this, the invitation was there to be present with what was, and to show up in whatever capacity could be mustered.
And muster we all did.
For a multi-dimensional saunter through the alpine snow gums, rocky outcrops, frost laden pockets, with ice crystals scattered across leaf and frozen grass, looking across to snow covered mountain peaks.
Prepare Yourselves By Prayer…
It was a big day in many regards.
While I wouldn’t mention the specific individual journeys that were had, what I will say is that the wild cocoon of nature is always there with a message for heart and soul.
The whispers on wind.
The message from birdsong.
The geometry of an ice crystal.
Nature as a mirror.
When we take pause and open ourselves to the spirit of nature, synchronicities become more apparent. Our sensory antennae can become more finely tuned. We can enhance our pattern recognition with all the significant ways that life has been trying to communicate with us. Our nervous system can coregulate with nature. We can reharmonize ourselves with soul and spirit.
The challenges that we’ve parked to the side can find voice, either beginning, continuing, or completing a healing cycle.
That doesn’t mean it’s easy work. It’s not for everyone. I’m reminded of the words by Eugenius Philalethes, Lumen de Lumine, 1651:
“To this mountain you shall go in a certain night (when it comes) most long and most dark, and see that you prepare yourselves by prayer. Insist upon the way that leads to the mountain, but ask not of any man where the way lies; only follow your guide, who shall offer himself to you, and will meet you on the way...
This guide will bring you to the mountain at midnight, when all things are silent and dark. It is necessary that you arm yourselves with a resolute heroic courage, lest you fear those things that will happen, and so fall back...”
And so as guide, I offer myself to you, and will meet you on the way, bringing those to the mountains who dare heed the call.
I’ve personally found no greater enthrallment than that of wild nature and soul-centred community when it comes to the healing and awakening of consciousness.
It’s why I guide people into the wilderness for this convergence of nature awareness skills, plant-based shamanism, ceremony, initiation, health, healing, awakening and mountain trekking.
You can reach out if you want more info.
Hope to see you in the mountains in good time…
