Nature Is Talking… Are You Listening?

It’s early March. That summer heat has been giving way to a cool Autumn breeze.

In the silence, sacred murmurs coax me into oneness with creation.

In the middle of a swirling vortex of ancient energy, between Wurgarri and Mud-dadjug (the traditional names of Mt Sturgeon and Mt Abrupt), I nestle in and listen.

These two peaks form the southern portal of Gariwerd (The Grampians) in Victoria, Australia. Between these two mountains, sitting on this layline, I drifted into this wild mountain medicine.

An expansive field of ceremony and ritual could be felt, for what felt like millennia. The prayers, the respect, the honourings, the blessings, initiations, sacred stirrings and wise whispers. The many threads of meaning stitched into this particular gateway by what I could only imagine were the original stewards of this land, the Gunditjmara.

With my medicine bag still at home, I poured out some water as an offering before drinking myself. Ayni. Sacred reciprocity. One of the fundamental spiritual principles. Those teachings from the Q’ero medicine men all those years ago had never been lost on me.

A wedge-tail eagle soared directly overhead.

Close enough to see it's plumage rustling on its underbelly. Wings steady as the valley wind carried it up and over. The eagle looped and descended back towards the lowland with a second eagle following close by.

In order to live in harmony, we must receive and give in equal measure. Always ask before we take, always give back; keep the rhythm in check. Little do many realize that there can be a potency of receiving in giving, and giving in receiving.

This wild mountain wisdom. I feel it in my bones. One doesn’t need to speak to hear the truth.

Nature is talking… are you listening?