Barefoot tribe

Practicing in a solitary way makes me treasure connections to like minded people via the internet, for me Twitter has been a place where I have connected to some people that have become very important to me in terms of my spiritual development.  In fact it was a connection made through Twitter that first helped me understand my spirituality & set me on my Pagan path.  It was the natural connections I made once my heart was open that led me to understand my soul's purpose & set me on a 'hedgewitch' path.

One thing that is a huge blessing is my connection to Jackie & Jason of Essence of Wild.  I was fortunate to be able to meet up with Jason at a time when I needed a little guidance & reassurance & I feel his spirit walking with me strongly.  I have yet to meet Jackie in person, but I feel almost as though I don't need to, her loving, nurturing aura touches me regardless of the physical distance between us.  I can't wait for my Essence of Wild newsletters to come pinging into my inbox, each one is my little sanctuary of inspiration, learning, healing & connection.

The Solstice newsletter brought with it an invitation to join the Barefoot Tribe, to kick off my shoes & connect more deeply to the Earth.  Being a bit of a hippy, unless I'm in my trusty wellies, I regularly walk barefoot.  But this was perfectly timed.  I had undergone an operation & was in need of some support in my healing.  I kicked off my sandals, lit some incense & settled beneath my beautiful holly tree for a barefoot meditation.

I concentrated on my breath & felt the familiar peace of meditation flood through me.  My dogs felt it too & came & cuddled against me interrupting the stillness, but they felt my need for quietness & went & found shady corners of the garden to dose in. The grass beneath my bare feet that at first felt prickly, became a soft, supportive carpet beneath me, the sun's heat warmed me to my core & with my eyes closed & palms turned towards the sky my brow chakra became open.  At first the Earth's energies travelled through my bare feet & lifted my face towards the Sun.  Still with my eyes closed I began to see my landscape instinctively.  I saw my holly tree by it's protective energy, I saw each bird around me by it's pretty heart song, I sensed every beautiful flower in my garden & the life forms around me.  I felt uplifted & free.  As love poured into my heart, so I poured love out to the skies, to the Goddess.  Even in this peaceful connection I could feel a sense of the pain of the Goddess, the pain of all the harm we are doing to our beautiful planet. After a time, I gently turned my inner focus away from the skies, placed my palms face down on the grass & let my base chakra gently open to receive healing from my Mother the Earth. Earth energy flowed through me, roots grew from my feet & took me further down into the heart of my Mother.  My body began to slowly curl downwards towards the earth.  I felt that Mother Earth was taking me into her own womb to offer me healing.  I sent waves of love & gratitude & let myself sink further downwards into her arms.  I had the sense that as well as offering me healing, my Mother was accepting my soul seed into her heart & that each time I returned to this meditation she would help me to grow spiritually.

When I was ready to gently come out of my meditation I was surprised, as I always am, by the things I had seen & felt.  I'm still new to these experiences, I have no preconceptions or expectations when I begin a meditation or cast a magic circle.  That's why I know the things I feel to be true.  Gradually I'm becoming more confident & less awkward about sharing them.

After my meditation I took time to walk barefoot around my little garden, giving thanks for the beautiful things   around me.

My hug from my Mother the Earth was like a healing hug from my beloved birth mother. <3 <3 <3