Dear Friends,

   Today I knew the feeling of flight at earth level. After having spent the last few months training our small, enchanted, horse friend to cart it all came together and the two of us set out on our first adventure. The little mare had come into our lives a wild, blue spark of spirit and horse fire. Now settled into the routine of farm and family life, she has gracefully accepted being taught the responsibilities and joys of true partnership. Each day we practice the steps that it takes to dance in unison, trust and harmony. 

   In her new harness and soft fleece pads the small equine lifts her slender legs proudly as if she is sure that this is what she was born to do. As we fly down the drive and leafy back lane the rhythm of hard black hooves creates a music that is hard to resist. I find myself humming along as my soul soars away with the wind. If only each moment lived was just this simple and free . . . 
   Going on at an energetic trot every detail and nuance of the day rises clear against a back drop of sheer magic and joy. . .The precise, delicate weaving of a spiders web swaying between two twigs, a small puddle glistening with reflections of sun and sky, a tiny, dark furred creature darting through a jungle of flowers and sedges. In the air a familiar hint of autumn stirs the senses and the smell of mushrooms, falling leaves and ripened apples add their own delights.
    Later on in the evening, by the faded light of sunset and a quarter moon, wild geese fly in wave after wave of v-formation sounding their mysterious autumnal calls and songs. The moment stands still, eternal in its beauty and absolute perfection 
   How is it that we humans so often let such events slip by without noticing? How is it that we seem to have forgotten our ancient connections to the natural world and spend the days, weeks and years walled away in the artificial security of houses, jobs and cities? How much longer can we survive an existence without the unfiltered sun on our faces, the healing vitality of grasses and trees, the songs of birds, the untamed ferocity of hungry hunters, or the cyclical movements of the great herds, flocks and migrations?
   Have we become so dull, arrogant and complacent that we no longer feel the sacredness of our ancestral heritage, are we really no longer curious or sure of what it means to be truly human? I would ask . . .When was the last time that you really looked at the moon, the stars, the fragile butterfly floating by on her thousand mile journey? . . .When was the last time that you fell so deeply in love with the incredible richness of life that the ache in your soul brought tears to your eyes?
   Perhaps, like the song of the phoenix, such freedom can only come with the willingness to catch fire and rise burning, from ones own ashes. Then reborn like an eagle, to fly beyond the mediocrity that has so sadly become the reality of most human existence, we too would more fully taste the essence of our own lives.
   
    Trotting down the lane again today, the ancient rhythm of hoof-beats reverberates hypnotically through my mind reaffirming the truth that we are all part and parcel of the great Divine, unknowing dancers whirling to the ever-flowing pulse of the cosmos. . . . Trot-trot-trot, hum-me-hum, the song pours through my spirit and soul . . . Then, before my eyes, a fleeting shadow passes across the land, a great smoldering fire-bird soaring high on wings of purest silver . . . . . . . . 


                                  Deep Peace,  SvG


                                     


                                     

Dearest Friends,

   The seasons are moving on and even though the weather has been hot and sweltering of late, summer is in slow decline now. In the fields and pastures small, purple asters have bloomed tentatively  among the  fading chicory, Queen Anne's' lace and golden rod . . . a sure sign that autumn is just around the corner. Our small horse friend, chickens, love-dove and moon-cow are shedding fur and feathers, obviously getting ready for cooler times with new, warmly layered, winter coats. 
   Across the road, on the wetland preserve, ducks and geese are beginning to flock and gather, instinctively drawn towards the ancient pathways of their fall migration routes. It's definitely beginning, the sure downward spiral into winter and the long, patient wait until the coming of another spring. Life, once again, cycling and weaving its way through eternity. . . 
   I have been pondering and considering something recently, the powerful, mysterious forces that draw and bind us to certain events, locations and people. What is it that moves us each along our individual paths of living and dwelling? How is it that our intuitions, dreams and longings can lead us into places and circumstances that we would otherwise pass by or fearfully avoid?
   The knowing that comes silently on little cat feet and winds its way into our hearts and minds, a small or great disturbance, a gentle wind that ruffles our hair and consciousness, a beckoning song that calls us to follow its soul-felt direction . . . Those sometimes easy and sometimes forceful hints that our lives have grown encrusted, stagnant and mediocre, no longer humming with the fires of aliveness, joy, and curiosity. 
   Every so often we are challenged to let go it seems. Forced to surrender to those mysterious inner plans that we were all born with, moved irresistibly along to where we have to, must, go . . . Just as the great migrations move our fellow creatures forward on their individual and collectively inherited journeys. The great river of life sweeping all before it on waves of divine intelligence and order.
   Through time and circumstance our lives shift, change and transform in this amazing earthly existence, no one phase more profound or rich than any other in the sacred scheme of things. And yet, in our own individual worlds the events can seem huge and overwhelming. Birth, death, loss and gain . . . the powerful transformations that affect us all, the choiceless migrations of lives, souls and earthly securities in and out of our own small worlds of existence.
   The real question is, what do we do with these changes? How do we proceed after loss or disappointment. Do we settle forever into suffering, self pity, anger and depression, or do we rejoice in the living wonder, beauty and richness that these experiences are all part of, opening wide to the endless flow of love and possibility still awaiting?
   Migratory paths haunt us all, sooner or later our lives will change and move on. Like the fragile Monarch butterfly and the great flocks of gathering waterfowl, we too will give way to the inevitable flow of life's cycles and seasons. Leaving us with nothing but to trust that we are being unerringly guided to the places, people and circumstances that will help move us exactly to that which we were born to experience and do in this life. And perhaps, we may even be drawn just a little bit deeper into the shining, limitless, light of love and understanding.

                           Peace, Blessings, SvG