From the book "Thinking like a mountain, Towards a Council of All Beings" :

INVOCATION (John Seed)

"We ask for the presence of the spirit of Gaia and pray that the breath of life continues to caress this planet home.

May we grow into true understanding - a deep understanding that inspires us to protect the tree on which we bloom, and the water, soil and atmosphere without which we have no existence.

May we turn inwards and stumble upon our true roots in the intertwining biology of this exquisite planet. May nourishment and power pulse through these roots, and fierce determination to continue the billion-year dance.

May love well up and burst forth from our hearts.

May there be a new dispensation of pure and powerful consciousnee and the charter to witness and facilitate the healing of the tattered biosphere.

We ask for the presence of the spirit of Gaia to be with us here. To reveal to us all that we need to see, for our highest good and for the highest good of all.

We call upon the spirit of evolution, the miraculous force that inspires rocks and dust to weave themselves into biology. You have stood by us for millions and billions of years - do not forsake us now. Empower us and awaken in us pure and dazzling creativity. You that can turn scales into feathers, seawater to blood, caterpillars to butterflies, metamorphose our species, awaken in us the powers that we need to survive the present crisis and evolve into more aeons of our solar journey.

Awaken in us a sense of who we truly are : tiny ephemeral blossoms on the Tree of Life. Make the purposes and destiny of that tree our own purpose and destiny.

Fill each of us with love for our true Self, which includes all of the creatures and plants and landscapes of the world. Fill us with a powerful urge for the wellbeing and continual unfolding of this Self.

May we speak in all human councils on behalf of the animals and plants and landscapes of the Earth.

May we shine with a pure inner passion that will spread rapidly through these leaden times.

May we all awaken to our true and only nature - none other than the nature of Gaia, this living planet Earth.

We call upon the power which sustains the planets in their orbits, that wheels our Milky Way in its 200-million-year spiral, to imbue our personalities and our relationships with harmony, endurance and joy. Fill us with a sense of immense time so that our brief, flickering lives may truly reflect the work of vast ages past and also the millions of years of evolution whose potential lies in our trembling hands.

O stars, lend us your burning passion.

O silence, give weight to our voice.

We ask for the presence of the spirit of Gaia."

The Lothlórien-Nemeton Seed-Group.

(Image : "Watering the Grand'Mother...", Mika)

Hello, dear Readers :

Just a note from us to say that we will probably not write every day now: we will come back full force in September.

Spain is very hot, and the gardens need us now.

Hugs and best thoughts to every reader,

The Lothlorien-Nemeton seed-group.

Mika, Adam and Shakti.

(Images of the Sanctuary)

INside OUT/OUTside IN!...

We are talking a lot about what the Sanctuary really is.

What it is for.

Why we are here, standing up to the storms and the heat, and the difficulties of maintaining this piece of land, this mini-Gaia of a place!...

What we come up with, and what we agree on, is the fact that we protect this place to become a sanctuary, a place of reverence and awe. Not exactly because we revere Mother Nature (we do!), but because this place can become a reflection of the soul, of the parts of our wild soul that have become so blunted by life in "society".

Sitting under the Grand-Mother (the giant figtree in the patio), and feeling the emerald coolness beneath her branches, it´s easy to let the soul spill out. Just to be there, safe and secure and cool and joyous, just completely at ease with the world.

To be or not to be here, on this planet, and how, that is the question...

We are made to live under the trees, we Europeans are, anyway. The Celts said so, and though trees are disappearing fast and everywhere, and we have forgotten about the ancient forests and the Celts, the deep emerald coolness of the Grandmother reminds us of the Forest of our heart, the fertility, the goodness of being part of this planet, the rightness of living in this watery green world.

There is a whole spiritual dimension in our work with this place, you know.

There is a spiritual rebirth in the green connection. It´s not about protecting Nature;Mother Earth will burn us out, the little rats that act like a nuisance to Her. Are we more than fleas on her hide ? Nah, don´t think so. We, the human species, are in danger, not Her! She will be here long long long after we have all gone to dust!

All the rest of the place will perhaps turn into ruins, but here the trees, they are a-growing.

And I sit in the shade, and I know what the word "God" means for this body...

I have to laugh about people doing reiki to trees.

Hey, friends, it´s the other way round : sit still, let the trees share their ki with you,

and the trees will heal you...

Mama Dragon, sitting under the big tree, shaking in silent mirth.

:-)