Weekly Insight: Nature As A Spiritual Guide...

"The Hierophant" archetype brings up the topic of a spiritual teacher again this week. As our story has been shared in a previous blog post, we found our way out of a yoga cult with a spiritual teacher who was a disgrace and disappointment. It took years of trusting and serving their agenda before waking up. For many years, we unknowingly gave our hearts, our time, our money, and our energy away, thinking that we were doing good when we were actually just helping the problem get bigger. It took a long time to forgive ourselves for falling into this trap and playing the role of the good student and teaching staff. In our time of healing, the one wise teacher that stood tall through it all, continued to shine Light, and helped to ground us, was nature. Nature is and has always been a neutral, humble, and wise teacher. Swimming in the ocean, soaking in hot springs, hiking in the mountains, climbing rocks in the desert, and breathing in the trees, shrubs, flowers, and plants was again the greatest medicine to align with. Medicinal Aromatherapy from organic and wild-harvested plants went into deeper areas and helped us clear the shadows in a reality that once felt doomed. It was the natural world that was there before, during, and after the destructive human ego of the "spiritual teacher" was revealed. Nature was our deepest teacher and helped us to open our faculties so we could see beyond the illusions we were being fed to believe.

The natural world teaches flexibility, resilience, and the ability to adapt to change. It shows us every day that nothing is promised and that anything can happen. The most adaptable living beings become the strongest and live the longest and happiest lives. Just look at the ancient trees in the forest or a grandmother plant that has survived many seasons of weather. They bend in the wind, accept the cold rain and snow, have patience during times of drought or famine, and go with the flow no matter what is happening around them. They are still and unwavering forces of Love.

Nature teaches the chain of life, our interconnectedness, and how we need one another. Just sit outside and observe the cycles and the how every creature serves an important purpose and role in our health and wellbeing. We forget sometimes, but we are part of nature. We are in this grand cycle of life and death and can choose to be invasive or supportive of the rest of the natural world. The power of our will gives us the ability to destroy the nature around us or show stewardship in caring for it. The more we realize how important every link to the chain of life really is, then we are more invested in preserving it.

Nature is embraces change and cycles of life. We can learn about ourselves through the seasons, moon shifts, weather, geology, planetary alignment, etc. We are directly affected by what happens in the natural world, and it can alter how we feel, how we think, and how we live our lives. When we learn how to flow through the various cycles of nature, then we better align to it and find ways to coexist where everyone thrives.

As above, so is below. Nature teaches about color, sacred geometry, and the mind-body connection between humans and the natural world. Music comes out of nature that heals, plants and animals radiate colors and vibrations that help to elevate our frequency, and the way things grow form geometrical patterns that explain all of existence. The natural world is the greatest teacher that shares wisdom subtly. It holds all of the understandings of the universe when we know how to tap into this knowledge.

Nature reflects the hard truths that we often times turn away from. Life and death, construction and destruction, how to be sustainable, and how to live together and find balance are all topics that the natural world addresses daily. We can learn how to become more adaptable and accepting of change when we study the natural world. Nature can seem cruel at times, but the end result manifests out of a need to survive and without the need to abuse. Humans can learn how to be more efficient and less wasteful by focusing on needs over wants and taking life one day at a time with complete presence in the moment. Plants and animals in nature have mastered this ability to stay present because they have had to live one day at a time. Nature is simple, and that is why it is Divine.

Nature is attuned to the Heavens and to the Earth and can be a supportive bridge between the two worlds. The natural world serves to connect us to Great Spirit by utilizing it to raise our consciousness. Whether we are supporting it, anointing it, burning it, eating/drinking it, or growing it, nature can be a direct bridge to the higher worlds. It has been used as a timeless tool for opening the higher centers in order to feel and experience the spirit of the Divine. Nature can help to share messages, symbolism, imagery, and more by simply existing when we happen to be there at that time and space. There is a meaning to everything that the natural world expresses to us. We only have to observe and learn how to speak the language that nature has to share with us each day. The more we invest in the natural world, the more we can align to its healing and blessed frequencies and vibrations. This Spiritual Teacher is the most humble, wise, and honest of them all. For us, nature is the master teacher.