in relationship with everything…
I had a friend once ask me my opinion on ‘protection’ amulets- Things like a stone blessed for protection, herbs that have come to represent protection, and the like… The image of a sun-catcher with blessed amethyst and an eye pendant hanging in my bedroom window popped in my head; I’ve long played around with my feelings about ‘protection’ pieces as well, primarily understanding that whatever is going to happen is meant to be and that as creators we shall fear not of what is to come, as we wrote the story we are living.
But I do have a pre-established understanding of chaos as well- My truth is that chaos is inevitable, and is the reality of life here on Earth. As creators we write our stories, but as humans our stories interact and collide, clashing until one becomes the other or the realities blend into what I like to call the ‘concrete reality; This reality is the “realest” perspective in this realm, where all of our truths co-exist with that of the Universe’s. We can tap into this reality simply by seeing through another’s perspective, stepping into their Divine rationales as one of many truths.
Through this practice I have come to be in relationship with everything. Besides my friends, family, and myself, I’m in relationship with my astrological practice, with Jupiter and Saturn, with my plants, my journal, and that sun-catcher in my bedroom. Everything is alive; And just as a human friendship is symbiotic and mutually fulfilling, so is the potential embedded in these relations.
Like I think most of us do (or should), I talk to my plants when watering and pruning them. If not out loud, then in my head there’s a beautiful energy exchange created by lending my presence; Everything has a Divine being, some might call it an inner child, that is pure, wanting love, and needing to be nurtured. When I spend a few moments with my favorite philodendron (his name’s Phil) each morning, it feels like waking up with my child. I devote some of my time and energy to this being, and vice versa. Phil’s presence feels sturdy and familiar; He’s my oldest plant and travels with me in the van everywhere I go. He’s excited to greet me in the morning and to alleviate some of my unserving energy, showing me what he can do with it- He grows. There’s plenty of philosophy about giving stuck energy to the Earth to transmute into new life, and my house plants are no different. Through this intentional energy exchange, their growth becomes prideful, I can see that when my prayer plant’s leaves stand big and tall at night. They’re happy to take what I give them and grow for me.
Whatever their ‘job’ is (for my plants, it’s to grow and thrive, my journal is to be a safe and sacred space for me to release, and so on) also becomes a part of myself that I can tap into. When I spend intentional energy hanging my sun-catcher, polishing it, and being with it as I occasionally pass my window, our relationship deepens. It comes to understand me as much as it l understand it. It comes to serve me as I serve it, nourish me as I do it. My sun-catcher and I form this relationship, and so I remember it’s there. It’s always there doing its job of ‘protecting’ me (not that I necessarily believe it wards anything off, or that there is anything to ward off), and through our symbiotic relationship it asks something of me in return for its presence; In the sun-catcher’s case, it asks me to remain mindful and tapped in throughout my day, and to remember that everything coming my way is Divinely filtered into what I’m able to navigate at that current moment. “You’re safe, remember?”
Phil asks for water, love, time, and ‘good’ energy in return; It’s a reminder throughout my day to keep myself in energies that he would want to be in and exchange with. By learning his being and becoming in relationship with him, I see his ‘inner child’ (yes, I’m still talking about a plant), and can see how deserving of pure loving intention he is. Not only does this help me serve him better, but I then see how deserving of pure loving intention I am; Then I get to carry around thoughts of what energy I want to be in and exchange with, thoughts based around my pure being that is so deserving of love and nurture.
Initially, it wasn’t intentional; My perspective of and relationship with the world has always been energetically charged. I have so much gratitude towards what I’ve learned spiritually, philosophically, and astrologically for giving me more insights into intentional energy exchanges and living in relationship with everything. In my first lesson, Acyuta-bhava Das, my Hellenistic astrology teacher, told me that “astrology is a moving meditation”….and it clicked.
Everything is alive. The planets and the stars are as dynamic of beings as we humans are. And like people, the cosmos could be boiled down into a few words, like abundant, gentle, or charismatic. Or we could get to know them on a deeper level as the complex and fluid spirits that they are. I urge you to take some moments to sit with the planets and stars; Sit with whatever you know about them, even just a few keywords, and let them tell you their stories. See what their motivations and drives are, and why. Let them reveal what they have to offer you, and see what they ask of you in return…
