If i were to wish for one thing from a new year, a fresh start, it would be to become more grounded in reality, more capable of remaining aware of my breath as i move through life, more awake to the life of the world as it flows. To do that, i want to start by focusing on waking up from the dream of modern society, the consensus trance we are convinced is everyday reality.
This raises one core issue affecting us today: we are cut off at the root from nature. We are disconnected, as we wander the cities and the shopping malls, filling up on fossil fuels and alive to the 24/7 energy of the global village – but we have been doing so as if we were sleep walking. Now, it is great to see so many people waking up to the ruse – the capitalist shell game, where you never quite know where anything comes from unless you work hard to uncover the truth or make it to your local farmers market. Guiding people back to the place where everything comes from, the source – the earth and the stars, the elements and the ecosystem – is my path and my privilege.
I recently delivered the first ever Holistic Ecotherapy course and this was what we concentrated on. Reconnection. (By no coincidence this was the name of the album my post-punk art rock band Severins released last year). Sounds great, but exactly how do we reconnect, when we are trained so poorly by modern socialising forces?
We train our attention back. Back to the breath, back to the body, back to awakening to consciousness in the here and now. The mind wanders; bring it back. We practice mindfulness. But once we have that awareness back in place, we drop further down into the bodymind of this one precious life; we drop down into deep listening. This is immersive self-awareness. This is no separation between mind and body, self and nature, purpose and reality.
Now, we are nature listening to nature. We are awake to our place as a human self in a broad and living ecosystem. We are its human mind waking up to itself. There are plenty of other forms of intelligence in this ecosystem. At dawn on the morning of our final session together, a chorus of birds accompanied me down to my current favourite spot at Shark Bay and a yellow serpent coiled up in my belly, calling for some action. I felt the intelligence, the conscious awareness, of a living world breathing all around me, calling out to be heard. I felt the nervousness and responsibility of being the person who was ready to take note of this call and pass it on.
Ironically, in an online course, we were ‘together’ on separate laptops, in quiet bedrooms and lounges, all of us encased in four walls while we learnt to connect more deeply with nature. Such was life in 2021. We could still practice and everyone was given exercises to take out on their next sojourn to the great outdoors – even if this was a city park at lunch time, or a patch of grass in the backyard, or under a nearby neighbourhood tree. We vowed to take notice. Not always looking for something to attain, to receive, to be given – but to take notice, as if we were in love with our home and everything it has already given us.
To greet the place we live, to honour those who came before us, to give thanks to the earth and the elements and our kin, the other plants and animals who play their parts in maintaining a biosphere of life. If we feel called or ready to do so, to speak or sing our praise out loud, to offer gifts and service to nature, to treat it as if it was loved and to open ourselves to how that feels.
We also honoured the people and experiences that have brought deep listening into the public conversation, offered respect to the ancestors of the Country we are on, as well as our own ancestors, recalling our ancient and contemporary birthright to be here now, to feel we really belong in our bodies and our places. When we experience this level of love for our home, we don’t need to look anywhere else for a sense of accomplishment, transcendence or ecstasy.
Deep Listening, Deep Connection.
Join me for the next online Holistic Ecotherapy course here.
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I recently ran an Ecopsychotherapy intensive, which requires time to reflect upon before i can share; it was so filled with exceptional moments, deep nature connection, spiritual richness and shared community that it was truly humbling and overwhelming. In the meantime, though, the question arises: why retreat?
The word “retreat” indicates that we are removing ourselves from a situation. In military terms, it often connotes a situation where we were in danger and had to run away in order to survive. Although our situation might not be so dramatic, the metaphor holds true in some ways. Everyday life in the modern world is a hectic reality and sometimes we just want to get out of the ‘rat race’. Too often we find ourselves caught up in circumstances where we feel we are fighting just to stay alive, to keep that job or position, to keep our relationship thriving, to pay the bills and keep our kids in school or our creative juices flowing in a world where everything has been reduced to the dollar.
The seemingly unending progress of economic rationalisation reduces everything in its path to commodification: what’s it worth? It doesn’t matter if it is our soul or what is left of nature; it seems that once the gaze of modern industrial society falls upon something, it is reduced to what it can be bought and sold for. No wonder the idea of a retreat seems so sensible!
But coming on retreat is more than just getting away from a crazy world, or a rushed existence. It is about remembering who we really are; the “me” behind what I appear to be like to others, the “I” beneath the socialised self that is caught up in all those games, the endless mystery and the crying child, the wounded romantic and the spiritually enlightened person that is forgotten in the hustle bustle of everyday life. Although the retreats i run are specifically designed to enhance deep connection to nature, these social aspects of ourselves are all present too. Every part of us needs to be included in a retreat, no matter what the focus is.
And regardless of the theme, by the time we leave a retreat, our boundlessly free spirit should be shining through again, ready to embrace the world and all its madness with loving arms and a compassionate heart. The person we know we are will be more ready, willing and able to step up to the bus for work, to the kitchen table for another day of family life or retiring reflection, to get back to our creative selves and to be here now. We retreat from the ‘real’ world of rushing about getting things done in order to return to it refreshed, better able to integrate our inner sense of worth with our outer existence in the physical and social world.
So, as well as going deep to rediscover our beautiful souls and loving them back into thriving, we concentrate a bit on how to integrate what we get out of the retreat into everyday life. When we’ve experienced really deep breath without any distraction, we take that out to breakfast and remain mindful of it, until it becomes natural again. When we have rediscovered that gentle child inside and how it viewed the world without judgment or hatred, we ask ourselves how it could remain alive inside our adult lives and concerns, to become a guide just as a good elder can. When we hear a bird calling to us to remind us that we are part of nature and can regain an ability to be in conversation with it, we work on hearing that voice whenever we need some wisdom to help us make a decision.
We retreat to rediscover; then we return to integrate and to share what we have learned with others. That’s how retreats work.
*NB: If you got something out of these words, please Like, Share and Subscribe for more! Lead photo credit: by Sebastian Unrau on Unsplash
Depth psychologist Carl Jung was fascinated by the medieval Alchemists, who apparently tried to turn lead to gold. It probably comes as no surprise that this was always a metaphor. It is as if they knew that by refining metals they were exposing themselves to the powers of the gods, seeking a higher truth from earthly existence. Lead revealed Saturn, the ruler of dark matter, the cold, dark ground of being; Tin expressed Jupiter’s breath of life; Iron the military will of Mars; Copper the irresistible beauty of Venus; Mercury the fluid messenger; Silver the intuitive Moon and Gold the Sun, the incorruptible soul and aim of Alchemy. We work through the aspects of the earthly life, just as we learn each personality trait of the Zodiac, or try to balance out the extrovert and introvert sides of ourselves, or undergo any other training towards a more centred, self-aware self.
The Alchemist was clearly a pagan, or nature lover. They found inspiration everywhere, with English alchemist Sir George Ripley (c. 1415–90) writing that “birds and fishes” bring us the gold, “it is in every place, in you, in me, in everything, in time and space.” In fact, I believe that the language of Alchemy was notoriously obscure because they knew they were dabbling in heresy and wanted to avoid persecution by the Christian church. While the Alchemists were careful to praise God in ‘His’ heavens, they sought an enlightened state from within the body of the earth, searching among the elements for the mysterious powers placed there by the planets, who of course to this point in history have been closely associated with the pagan gods and goddesses of early astrology. As such, I see Alchemy as another valid attempt by European natural philosophers to rebalance Christianity’s dissociative state when it comes to our human relationship with nature and the divine.
So, what might be the enlightened existence we could imagine as the goal of an alchemical process today? Jung was no New Age idealist; he knew that we have to work on our own Shadow, or dark side, if we are to attain a true light within. If we are to radiate with self-awareness, we can recall the ancient dictum to Know Thyself. But we know nowadays that this can’t be an unbalanced consciousness of merely mental power; it also includes emotional intelligence, a connection with gut instinct, and generally a more embodied notion of an enlightened or awakened person whose glow emanates from the whole body.
And, it must be more than merely a personal quest; we must aim for the awakening of all beings and the vitality of the entire ecosystem. This is another return to tradition, in order to become more fully awake in the current moment (one of my favourite themes). When someone from an indigenous tribe went on a vision quest, it wasn’t for personal power or selfish aims; it was for the people, the land, the collective, including human and more-than-human beings.
That means, nowadays, that we have to integrate our own shadow, as well as dealing with the archetypal poisons of greed, hatred and ignorance in humanity as a whole. We can’t do this for anyone else, but again, we can look to powerful stories that have stood the test of time to find out what they might suggest to us today.
Taoist symbol of integration, dark and light and all seemingly opposing forces working together
Light is born from darkness, and ends up back there, just as we are born out of the matter of the universe and return to it upon death. When we get more comfortable with this, we can come to a place where we honour the ‘darkness’ of the earth and express our love for it, giving thanks for being the ancient, timeless birthplace out of which consciousness emerges. What we don’t know is not the enemy, it just needs a midwife. We must be gentle, loving, compassionate and generous towards what we think is the darkness, because it is also the ancient mystery, home of the Goddess, who has all too often been suppressed by a patriarchal power complex.
Jung pointed towards the Sacred Marriage, an ancient rite whereby we unite the polarities of the genders, the male and female within. To get beyond the personal and really stretch ourselves as ecological citizens, kin with the other animals and plants and places, not just arrogant users and abusers of the earth, we need to integrate the light and dark energies of life. This means getting comfortable with cycles of life and death, predator and prey, agricultural seasons of emergence, harvest and withdrawal. The call comes from deep within nature, either from within our inner souls or from within nature itself, outside of our bodies, from the rocks and trees, animals and elements.
Calling upon nature – within and without, earthly and celestial – for its mystical powers is closely related to animist practices, which we can embrace as our birthright and cultural history too. We can consort with animal spirits as totems and familiars, call up the spellbinding powers of the plants and planets, make compacts with the ancient gods and goddesses of the heavens and the local spirits of place, or genius loci, and become more complete in any time and place. With practice and guidance, we can realise our completely unique manifestation as a person, every moment and experience of which has never happened before and can never be repeated, utterly complete and impermanent at the same time, another flowering of the endless manifestation of humanity out of the soil of the earth. This is Alchemy today, the Heroic Journey, Grail Quest or Sacred Marriage of the 2020s. These are the rites of transformative initiation that shift us into another phase of life.
Join Dr Geoff Berry in your practice of transformation now.
Contact via the Nature Calling website or FB page for your personal rites, which will deepen your connection to the sacred powers of nature within and without, earthly and celestial.
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We are born out of the eggs of our mother, inseminated by our father, awakened to our immediate environment. As Caterpillar, the next stage includes wandering about in small circles, munching on the leaves we were born on, following the wisdom of our immediate and distant ancestors. In the same pattern utilised since time immemorial, our mother instinctively chose the right plant to lay her eggs on. Likewise, we’ve followed our own internal compass, to feed and grow, extending the range of our explorations until we find their natural limit. Next, it’s time to pull back. Think of it as a mid-life crisis, where we realise that the strategies we’ve utilised so far don’t work anymore; or an initiation, like into adulthood, where we know we have to step up to a new level, to leave behind the indulgences of childhood and accept the pleasures and responsibilities of being a fully fledged member of adult society.
Either way, we are in need of transformation. In terms of the climate crisis, we all face this now, which was the point of the original post that inspired this series: as a race of technologically driven modern humans, we are acting like children, despoiling our nest and hoping someone else will clean it up for us, But as George Monbiot recently warned, no one is coming to save us. Which makes it ironic that one of the most influential environmental activists of the time, Greta Thunburg, is a schoolchild. It’s also of note that the oldest cultures still alive lead the way when it comes to ecological wisdom; if only we could listen better. So what to do? In worldly matters, protest, join the movement that places ecological health above profit and endless growth, agitate and never give in. In terms of the inner life … well, that’s another thing.
Because there is no division between mind and body, or humanity and the rest of nature, our social lives completely infiltrate our psyche. The reverse also pertains; as below, so above, or as we think, so we feel and act. We need to take care of ourselves, our souls and our breath, if we are to live fully and not become victims of the stress, anxiety an depression that increasingly afflicts modern society. If we care about the damage humanity is doing to this beautiful, precious and now fragile planet, we need to take good care of ourselves even more so. Sometimes, we need to withdraw from the world and find solace within. Each night, as an allegory, we curl up into our restful world of sleep, allowing the relief of night time to wind us down and prepare us for another fresh day tomorrow. We choose a soft cocoon, just as the caterpillar does, and retire into it. And that’s where the magic happens. (Again, the feature image is the actual cocoon created on my little lime tree by the swallowtail butterfly.)
Inside our cocoon, we dissemble. Sleep turns our mind to goop. The butterfly appears as a transformation beyond the complete dissolution of the caterpillar; it no longer exists, except as a memory of this incredible new creature. This doesn’t happen for us, however. If anything, most of us probably find the loop of thoughts and habits that limited us yesterday kick straight back in almost as soon as we’re awake. BUT we can make the process of transformation more conscious, thus more effective. We might not wake up completely transformed into a beautiful new being, but each night something changes and over time we do transform. Why not make this more conscious with a simple ritual designed to support this process?
Sage Counsel offered online
Every morning i make a little space for myself and intone my thanks to the spirit of the butterfly. I ask that my night’s rest bring me new insights and allow the parts of myself that are still broken, or crawling inside their own cocoon, or dissolving into goop, or recrystallising and getting ready to break free, to find their way towards transformation into the more evolved being they are destined to become. Find your own way to this and allow the magic to work.
“Choose Transformation, Create Cocoon, Allow Yourself to Dissolve into Deep Feelings, Wait, Crystallise, Reform, Grow Strength, Break Out of Former Limits, Fly Free. Repeat Daily.”
Geoff Berry, outlining the rites of the Butterfly: Adapt and Practice, Practice and Adapt.
We can’t all live in a green oasis – modern life separates us from our innate connection to nature all the time! So, what are the best ways to make sure we feel connected to nature every day?
When we spend time somewhere we love, it’s relatively easy to drop into a feeling of deep connection with nature; to breathe easier, feel the breeze on our faces, smell the roses (or native flowers!) and feel an intimate part of the universe and this planet filled with life.
But if we want to take that feeling into every day – and who doesn’t? – we need to practice some techniques and remember them while we drive, type, shop, get kids to school, and live in our modern world of buildings and cars, fridges and microwaves, and everything else that makes life easier but also distances us from the natural world we evolved in.
So, to help you keep that feeling you love, here are my Top 5 Tips! Please fee free to share the love, by adding to them in the Comments section below:
Breath: I start every meditation class with a focussed awareness on the breath. Wisdom traditions the world over assert the close relationship between breath and mind; both are seemingly immaterial (thought can fly anywhere at any time it would seem!), but both also have a dramatic, physical effect on the way we think and respond to the world. By practising breath awareness, we can make that effect one that reconnects us to the freedom, beauty and majesty of life in each moment.
Light: in just over 100 years of electric light, we have almost totally lost our deep connection to the cycles of sun, moon and stars, and the way we used to navigate our environment according to those daily cycles. How do we get back in touch with our primal connection to light? Start by getting up early enough to watch a sunrise, and take time to say thank you to that great golden orb that powers all life on earth! Then, in the evening before bed, why not try bowing to the moon (or howl, if the inspiration hits and the neighbours aren’t too close!), while reflecting upon the cycles of life that brought you to this moment. Finally, spend some time gazing into the night sky, remember how lucky we are to be here in the vastness of space, and don’t forget to wonder as you admire the stars.
Bodily movements: the way we move is an expression of our relationship to nature, both the inner nature of the way we feel in our bodies and the way we move through our environment, in terms of our spacial awareness. I found the combination of martial arts training and working in hospitality, where I had to be aware of who might be walking around the corner at any time with hot plates in their hands, drilled into me a consistent awareness of where I am in terms of what is around me. I practiced being ready for anything and sensing what might be coming next, in a physical way, and it feels good; like a hunter sensing prey in the wilderness.
Mindful eating and drinking: take time to focus on what you are consuming. Give thanks for it and don’t take it for granted. This is one of the traps of the modern world; things just appear in our shops and on our plates and we forget the chain of events that brought it to us, from farmers planting seeds to the sky magically allowing fresh water to fall onto fertile soil. Practice awareness of all that comes together to bring you that meal – including the technologies of production and delivery. (And try this free Nature Calling meditation)
Stories: we are all used to listening to the voice/s in our heads, as we daydream, talk about ourselves and others, judge and compare what we like and don’t like, remember the past with regret or longing, look forward to the future with expectation or dread, and so on … but what about listening to the ancient, archetypal patterns, the stories of our cultural DNA, the voices within that could lead us back to deeper connection with nature at all times? These voices can teach us to be attentive to our personal habits and predispositions, to evolve beyond our limits, to trust our intuition and be wary of danger when we sense it approaching, to treat the earth with love if not reverence, to take care of others as if we were all connected … in short, to be a better ecological citizen and a more balanced and centred individual in one.
I’ll extend each of these points out to more detail in forthcoming blog posts. In the meantime, please feel free to get in touch if you want to learn more about any of these options or more. There is a Nature Calling Online Course, if you would like to try some of these practices in more depth. Also, on my Ecoretreats, we also add simple but effective rituals to keep that connection alive, no matter else happens in our day. Check them out here and take that feeling of freedom and endless possibility back into your every day!
