Last week, I was down in Byron Bay doing some shamanic training with a couple of A-grade people. There were many takeaway lessons from the trip (like how to check that a glass door is open before walking through it), but one really stood out to me. It was from a cricket……in a fire.
Now I know you are probably scoffing and rolling your eyes at the thought of this. Ten years ago, I probably would have done the same. But as I have gone deeper and deeper into my spiritual and shamanic practice, I have come to realise that all around, there are messengers in nature.
Sometimes the messengers show us how to treat the planet, and how to live in harmony with it. For example, a carnivorous animal who will only hunt and eat what it needs, leaving the rest for other creatures and mother earth. Or a bird who goes about singing and enjoying its day, not worrying about where its next meal will come from. Trusting in the abundance of the universe.
The messages from these teachers are learnt simply from observation. All you have to do is stop what you are doing for long enough to watch them go about their business and see how they approach life. Then contemplate how their way of living could be adopted to improve your life.
There are other types of messengers though, and I guarantee you that you would have come across one in your life. These are the animals that show up out of the blue, get your attention, and hang around just long enough for you to question whether they are a sign or not.
There are plenty of books and websites out there describing the common messages bought by each type of animal. I have referred to these thousands of times after having an encounter. However, over time, I have learnt that it’s better to ask your intuition (and the animal if that isn’t too ‘out there’ for you) what message it specifically has for you.
This was the approach I took with my friend the cricket last week. We had built a fire and had been trying to get it burning for a while. I had noticed from the onset that there was a cricket in the middle of the pile of wood who would not stop singing. Not when we were lighting bits of paper around it, not when we were moving sticks and leaves above it, and not when the fire actually started raging.
Now, when something gets my attention like that, I know to listen (which I did, but not before telling the little fella to get the hell out of there before he burned alive!). This was the message he had for me:
“To stay in the flow of life, you have to remain uplifted and in a positive, yet calm state of mind. You have to trust that everything will be okay. That is how you maintain your connection to spirit – don’t drop down into your negative emotions when things get tough, and don’t get over excited when things are going your way. No matter what is going on around you, just keep singing.”
Pretty fucking wise from a little cricket, don’t you think?
Profound wisdom like this is available to all of us, every day. All we need to do is observe and listen. It’s just another reason why I love nature and why I am so passionate about helping it.
Have you had any messages from nature? What were they?