International Women’s Day 10th March 2023

Photo -Becca Tapert

Blessings on all women everywhere.  Blessings on the mothers, grandmothers and all ancestors back to the beginning of time, those who have gone before us, who have passed on their gifts and talents to us, who have taught us how to be in the world.

Blessings on all women to come, our daughters, granddaughters and all future generations of women.  May we pass on positive models of womanhood to them.

Gratitude to all women who have given us life, taken care of us, taught us how to knit and cook, how to sew and garden. Who have taught us to read and to think and how to be kind to our friends and neighbours.

Respect and love to all women who have suffered in the Mother and Baby Homes, in the Magdalen laundries, at the hands dictators, tyrants  and invading armies all over the world, all down through the centuries. 

Gratitude to the midwives, the herbalists, the healers, the musicians, the nurses, the teacher’s, the academics, the political activists the warriors, who have loved and supported women and women’s causes.  

Remembering the women who have fought for our freedom, so we can vote, so we can be free, so we can speak our truth, and bring our influence to bear in a positive way on the challenges of today.

Remembering their courage, their strength, their intelligence, their skills in the eye of battle, in the face of fear and persecution.

And to the Mother of us all, our Mother Earth, who provides us with food, nourishment, fresh air and clean water, deepest gratitude, humble appreciation, and undying love.  

World Wildlife Day – 3rd March, 2023

 ‘This is what you shall do:  love the earth and sun and the animals’ Walt Whitman

‘March 3rd is World Wildlife Day.  It is a United Nations International day to celebrate all the world’s wild animals and plants and the contribution they make to our lives and the health of the planet’  World Wildlife Day

What can you do today on World Wildlife Day?  When we hear ‘wildlife’ we may think the beautiful animals in Africa, India or Australia – but our own birds, bees, and insects are wildlife too.  

Spring is a particularly important time for our native Irish wildlife, the birds are nesting, the bees are starting to buzz, the hedgehog and squirrels are awakening from hibernation. 

 And they are all in danger from the toxins of civilisation – the wrong thinking and arrogance we have accumulated over time which allows us to disregard the other inhabitants of our planet.

  Here are some thoughts on how we can help save our threatened species on this World Wildlife Day.

• Leave the dandelions to flourish as they are the first food of the bees – at least until they turn into the jennyjoe’’s we used to blow as we said ‘s/he loves me, s/he loves me not’.

• Avoid spraying at all cost, the sprays are inhaled by children and adults and seep down into the water systems.

• Feed the birds – the bird food is really for the parents, they collect the ‘good stuff’, the grubs and insects, for the newborn hungry baby birds.

• Resist the urge to mow the lawn until it is really necessary and then do it as infrequently as possible.

• Watch out for awakening hedgehogs in the long grass.

• Plant something – anything – in the window box or garden

• We all tend to feel better in Springtime so let’s enjoy the lengthening Spring days, the bursting forth of the beauty of nature again this year.  Let’s be glad to be here to witness it all again.

‘The Beauty of this world hath made me sad,

This beauty that will pass,

Sometimes my heart hath shaken with a great joy,

To see a red ladybird upon a stalk,

Or little rabbits in a field at evening,

Lit by a slanting sun.

(from The Wayfarer by Patrick Pearse).

‘How do I love thee, let me count the ways’

Photo - Amy Shamblen

Love is all around us and on St. Valentine’s Day it’s nice to remember all the ways that we experience love every day.

Our Mother Earth shows her love particularly in the Springtime as the song of the birds busily mating and building their nests brings joy to our hearts. 

 She loves us in providing us with clean fresh air, with nourishing food and fresh water.  It is in her love that we live and move and have our being.  And she loves us in the beauty of the long summer days, the abundance of yield of crops in the Autumn, in the quiet of the Winter. And she loves us in the rain and the sun, helping the seeds to sprout and grow, and the wind, blowing away our cobwebs.

St. Valentine’s Day is more focused on erotic love, the kind of love which we see expressed in wedding vows, and in the cards, chocolates and red hearts everywhere on this day.

We experience many other kinds of love in our daily lives too - the driver who stops in traffic to let us out of a side road, the girl in the Supermarket who takes a moment to smile and ask how we are as she serves us, the young man who holds the door for the next customer coming through.  We recognise love in the hugs of friends, the phone call when we’re having an ‘off’ day, the unexpected gift in the post, the kindness of colleagues.

Love is all around us every day, not just on the day when we celebrate love; every day can be a Valentine’s Day if we remember to notice the love all around us, if we remember to be kind and loving to ourselves and others.

As the sap rises in the trees this Spring, may the love open our hearts and minds to the flow of love that carries us through every day, and let us free that love to flow through us to all whom we love, all whom we meet, and to our precious Mother Earth too.  

‘Anois teacht an earraigh…….’

‘Anois teacht an earraigh,

Beidh an lá  dul chun síneadh,

Is tar éis na Féile Bhríde,

Árdóidh mé mo sheol.

Spring has come.

The days are getting longer 

And after Brigid’s Day,

I can hoist my sails again. 

There is great joy to be felt in the lengthening of the days.  After the long nights of winter, we begin to feel hope again.  We feel more energised, more enthusiastic for life again.  We notice those extra few minutes in the evenings first and then in the mornings. 

We become aware of the birds singing, the tiny buds appearing, the snowdrops and daffodils pushing up towards the sun. 

This week we celebrate Lá le Bhríde, in the Celtic world, the first day of Spring.  Also known as Imbolg, in the lunar calendar for this year, it occurred on Saturday 28th January.  For the first time, the Divine Feminine in the form of Brigid is being acknowledged by us having a national holiday on February 5h this year.  There are many celebrations in Ireland and elsewhere, in the real world and its virtual counterpart.  

Here at Our Spiritual Earth, we are very aware, very tuned in to this sense of hope, of underlying excitement of the arrival of February, very much feeling the sense of being able to ‘hoist our sails’ again.  

And we are very grateful that, just as the Earth is awakening, so too are many of her inhabitants awakening to the urgent need for us to take greater care of her.  And it’s interesting to note that while we have been aware since the 1960’s that we have been abusing her by our rampant consumerism, it has taken a while for this realisation to become part of our daily lives.  

This year may we be actively do more to support Spring as she emerges.  May we use fewer plastics, gently challenge those cutting dandelions or spraying grasses.  May we be conscious of the effect of our household cleaning products on the seas and the rivers.

And may we rejoice in the coming of Spring.  

Be still you know

Photo - Nathan Dumlao

We are giddy nowadays.  Giddy with stress, with anxiety, with the constant ‘ping’ of our phones, with social media posts.  Affected, albeit subconsciously sometimes, by the constant noise of daily life at the end of 2022.  Cars, trucks, the sound of sirens, radio on constantly in the background.  All contributing to agitation, lack of peace, tension.

The constant noise can make us cross, crabby, irritable.  And yet, all of us know what to do to bring ourselves back to peace.  We know that we like the peace of a Sunday morning, the stillness at dawn and dusk.

Ancient and modern wise ones and elders reminded us, as Ram Dass did in the title of his book to ‘Be Here Now’ or to say it as Louise L Hay does ‘The point of power is in the present moment’.

It’s not always easy to sit in the now, in the stillness of the moment.  Speaking with a friend who retired recently, the quietness means for her that the memories of her past difficulties can come to the fore as she is no longer distracted by the daily grind.  And one of the reasons we find it so hard to ‘be here now’ or to ‘be still and know…’ is that our issues come to the surface, our worries come to the fore, our sadness’s emerge.

We may need help to deal with these and there are many good councilors and therapists to help us get to the root of our sadness or troubles, therapists who can create a safe space for us to deal with the hurts, traumas and abuses of the past.

But if we continue to distract ourselves with the noise of modern living and thus to consciously or unconsciously avoid dealing with our issues, they may present as physical or mental illness at some point in our lives.

While being still may be difficult, moving through this pain may bring us to deep peace within ourselves, may allow us to ‘be here now’ to ‘be still and know….’.

At the beginning of ‘stillness practice’ sitting for even a few minutes may be a challenge.  But slowly, over time, we come to value those times of quiet, those moments of peace.  We may come to value the only moment in which we can live fully, the Now.

No Mow May

Photo - Annie Spratt

Did someone once tell you that a dandelion was a weed? And that nettles were weeds too? 

Supposing instead you were taught the Dandelion was  precious and beautiful flower, would you see it differently?  That that golden shiny head was a gift from GAIA, from Mother Nature, to help us to continue to exist?

If we’d all been taught that the Dandelion was an amazing plant, with many health and healing benefits, would you look at it differently?  A herb who’s young bitter green leaves are a digestive aid (our grannies used to say ‘what’s bitter to the taste is sweet to the body’), herbalists use it to help with fluid retention and fat metabolism and it may also help flush unhealthy chemicals from the body.  And a herb which is the first food of the bees.  Bees whom we now know carry a part of the burden of saving our planet.

No Mow May is about preserving our planet.  It’s about not cutting the grass with its wealth of dandelions, nettles, red clover, (to name a few) all rich in nourishment for the insects, bees and baby birds.  It’s their food, their nourishment.  Without these, they (and we) are doomed.  The bees in particular, pollinate so many species of plants and trees; and of course, we know they also make honey, used in the cold and flu season for its health-giving properties. 

Ants, beetles, butterflies and bees all help to pollinate flowers and plants; seeds form when dust, called pollen, is moved from the male part to the female part of a flower. 

We’d like to say that ‘it goes without saying’ that the use of chemical insecticides and herbicides is a disaster in terms of the climate crisis; sadly, we can’t, as some still seem to think the horrible brown burnt verges are better than a few dandelions cowslips or red clover.  These chemicals seep into our water systems and may be inhaled by those passing after the spraying is done and if they kill insects and plants, could they possibly be not so great for us humans too?

So this year, let’s hold off the mowing in May.  Let’s just realise that we’ve been sadly misinformed about what are weeds, what are herbs and what are flowers.  Lets be aware that these all have their role to play in maintaining our earth and thus our own health and well-being.

And let’s be grateful for the abundance of Hawthorn, Wild Garlic, Nettles and Dandelions, with their huge health and environmental benefits this year.  Let’s look at them with fresh eyes and with an open heart and mind.  

Let’s not mow or spray this May, let’s all do ‘no mow May’ together for the good of all. 

Sustainability

Photo by Margot Richard

Sustainability and the consumerism are uneasy bedfellows. 

While we continue to be bombarded with ‘gotta haves’ through media, social media, on the high street and in the shopping centre, the clock is ticking on the climate crisis.

We have become disconnected from the earth and continue to dump more and more stuff into landfill, open more and more charity shops, and as Nero played while Rome burned, in the first world,  we live like there’s no tomorrow.

Since the 1960’s we’ve been hearing about global warming and still we continue to create a huge mess for our children to clean up.  The excellent quality of our lives is at enormous cost to those in the third world who have been suffering from climate disasters for many years already.  Even though we see and hear about this issue every day, we often don’t know what we can do about it.  It seems overwhelming.  And we hear confusing arguments particularly about the role of the individual versus that of government and big business. 

We thought it might be useful to outline some simple steps which we all can do on a daily basis to help sustain life on our planet. 

1. Repair, Reuse, Recycle – the old chestnut. Upgrading our laptop, phone or washing machine has become easy but the cost to the third world of supplying the components for our ‘upgrades’ is phenomenal. It’s easy to find the information of how the children suffer in mining some of the components for our sleek glamourous tech and there is now a serious onus on us to repair our equipment, to reuse rather than replace our goods and to recycle that which we cannot repair or reuse.

2. Reduce is a holy word in sustainability. Reduce the amount of food we are buying and wasting. Reduce the time we spend in the shower. Reduce the amount we use the car. Reduce the temperature of our home heating. Reduce the amount of clothes, shoes, and makeup we buy and reduce our spending on fast fashion.

3. Feed the birds, the bees, the insects – resist the urge to spray that beautiful harbinger of Spring, the dandelion, first food of the bees; appreciate the nettle for its role in sustaining a healthy eco balance and local biodiversity. Plant bee-friendly herbs and flowers, even a window box will make a difference.

4. Think Global, Shop Local – another old sustainability chestnut. The decision to shop locally contributes hugely to sustainability. It eliminates thousands of airmiles, supports the local farmers and growers, contributes to the local economy, feeds us fresher food.

5. And it’s not just food which comes from our own area but supporting local business, artists, etc. contributes in all kinds of way to help slow down the destruction of our planet and, eventually, even those of us privileged to live in this part of the world.

6. Become Conscious. Wake Up. There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Everything we do impacts our Gaia in a positive or negative way. While living on earth can be an absolute joy, we can’t afford to close or eyes to the fact that living this consumerist life, buying everything we want when we want it, has a hugely negative impact on our earth and on other parts of the world.

7. Beware Greenwashing. Some big businesses have become experts at greenwashing. While destroying our planet, in a massive act of ‘smoke and mirrors’ they draw attention to one or two comparatively small acts of planetary kindness.

8. Ask Questions – where does it come from? Where is it made? Are any people, animals, plants or habitats being destroyed in its manufacture or transport? Do you really need it? Can you repair it? Are you really going to be any happier for having that extra ‘thing’ in it?

9. Don’t despair – yes, it can feel overwhelming, yes you can see that the big boys/girls are really not listening, but you are making changes.

You are waking up.  You are doing a monthly ‘shopping fast’, objecting to trees being cut down, having conversations with your neighbours, turning off your lights in the other room.

You are being the change which could save the world and your children.

Step by Step

Photo - Khadeeja Yasser

‘Let us thank the Earth

That offers ground for home

And holds our feet firm

To walk in space open

To Infinite Galaxies’.

The above lines from John O’Donoghue jumped out at me when thinking this morning about National Walking Day

  Some sources cite yesterday and others today as National Walking Day, but whichever it is, it’s a reminder of the many benefits of ‘getting out for a walk’ ‘having my daily constitutional’ ‘getting a breadth of fresh air’.

Whatever we choose to call it, walking is good for us.  One woman whom we know walked every day of her life and when asked what contributed to her current age, a few years short of a century, she replied ‘going for the walk every day’.   

While it’s true that the physical exercise is good for us, getting off our bums and getting moving, getting the blood flowing, getting the circulation moving, walking also  helps to clear the mind, calms the stress, and refreshes the  blood with fresh oxygen……… and we know that disease can’t thrive in well oxygenated blood.  

Walking can also bring us into touch with Mother Nature, with our beautiful blue planet.  This time of year we can notice the blackberries and haws, the red berries on the hawthorn bush, the leaves turning as they fall. It’s a bit quieter, the children are back at school, there’s less mowing of lawns, our daily walk can become a meditation.  One breath at a time, one step at a time.  

Walking nowadays has come to be almost exclusively seen as exercise, but many books on creativity suggest walking as a way of resting the mind and then slowly ideas may come dropping slowly.  In her beautiful book ‘If you want to write’ Brenda Ueland says ‘If you would continue to be alone for a long time, ambling swinging your legs for many miles and living in the present, then you will be rewarded;  thoughts, good ideas, plots for novels, longings, decisions, revelations will come to you’.  

Today, on national walking day, lace up the runners, pull on the fleece and head out for a walk.  Breathe, notice the autumn light, the sky, the nip in the air, the angle of the sun, hear the wind rustling the trees.  Beware of each step, one foot in front of the other, seeing the dewdrops on the grass, listening to the sounds all around.  Today, let our walk be mindful, aware, peaceful.  Let us disconnect from the thoughts running round in our heads and be present, alive, awake and alert.  

‘Let us ask forgiveness of the Earth,

For all our sins against her;

For our violence and poisonings

Of her beauty’.

(John O’Donoghue from his book ‘to bless the space between us).

Forgive and Forget

Photo - Brett Jordan

We hear a lot about revenge in the media today – and sometimes people say, ‘oh I just did it for spite’.  And the expression ‘anger is a dish best served cold’ is also in common usage.  

If I’m holding onto to anger, if I intend to ‘get my own back’, who is disadvantaged the most?  The one with whom I am angry or myself, using my time and energy in a negative non-productive way?

Sometimes too we hear people say ‘well I’ve forgiven him/her but I’ll never forget what s/he did’ and we have to ask ourselves if we keep remembering have we really forgiven?  

There is much evidence nowadays that holding onto anger and resentment is toxic, is bad for our own health and well-being.  That said, it is not always easy to forgive and let go.  But it may well be the better option – primarily for our own health and well-being but also for the one whom we perceive as having hurt us. And it is often those closest to us, those whom we love the most, our immediate family and friends, who have the power to hurt us the most and whom it may be hardest for us to forgive.

One of our core beliefs here at Our Spiritual Earth, and indeed in most religions, is ‘do unto others as you would others to to you’.  None of us has lived perfect lives, we have all intentionally or otherwise hurt others and we would like to think we have been forgiven for our own thoughtlessness or unkindness or hurt to others.  And we need to forgive ourselves too.

In his wonderful bestselling book ‘The Power of Your Subconscious’ (a favourite of ours) Dr. Joseph Murphy dedicates a whole chapter on ‘how to use the subconscious mind for forgiveness’.  Here is part of a prayer from that chapter, which Dr. Murphy recommends we say when we are relaxed: ‘I fully and freely forgive (person X). I release him/her mentally and spiritually.  I completely forgive everything connected with the matter in question.  I am free, and s/he is free’.

Today is a new day.  This moment is a new moment.  Let us let go of the past.  Let us truly, fully and willingly forgive and let go.  By doing so, we can make our personal lives happier and more peaceful and we are also contributing to creating more Peace on Our Spiritual Earth. 

Rainy Days and Mondays

Photo - Liv Bruce

It’s pouring rain today.  At the shops people were moaning ‘what a horrible day’. But, here’s the thing…..without this rain, we wouldn’t have this ‘green and misty isle’ (to quote John F Kennedy on his visit to Ireland in 1963). 

We love to moan about the weather, it’s like we think the universe is a waiter/tress ready to take our order.  On the other hand whinging about this daily reality, well,  it’s a bit of a waste of our time and energy.  Like everything else every kind of weather has advantages and disadvantages.  It’s just weather. 

In one of his books, Michael A. Singer speaks about making a decision not to talk about the weather.  How would that be?  Just to notice and accept it but not talk about it? Free up that energy to become more conscious, to be more present.

I was really surprised by a young man in a café once who told me he Loved the Irish weather!  Loved all the changes of air and the sky;  the ever-changing colours all around us, the cool clear air, the softness of the rain and the constant changes, the ‘four seasons in one day that is Ireland’.

So here are a few pointers to including the weather in our spiritual practice.

1. Acceptance. Just accepting whatever the day brings. Rain or shine, just quietly accepting it. Not moaning about the heat or the cold but just taking a breadth, popping into the moment and accepting it just exactly as it is.

2. Gratitude. Feeling love in our heart for the wind, the rain, the beauty of nature so supported and enhanced by the weather. Enjoying the gorgeous fresh smell of the earth after a shower. Loving the sun or rain in the early morning.

3. Delight. Little children love splashing in puddles in their wellies or bare feet. They haven’t yet learnt how to judge and react to whatever the day brings, they just enjoy it and delight in it anyhow.

Could  the wind be a  reminder of Great Spirit? – I can see it moving the leaves on the trees, I can feel it on my face or blowing my hat off, but I can’t actually see the wind, only it’s effects. 

For now, for today, let’s incorporate the weather into our spiritual practice.  By becoming conscious of the weather and our reactions to it we can increase our own consciousness levels and even become aware of what ‘moany Michael’s’ (a phrase from the  Fr. Ted TV series) we are when it comes to our beautiful ever changing gift, our daily call back to presence, our beautiful Irish weather.

World Ocean’s Day - 8th June 2021

‘I must go down to the seas again,

To the lonely sea and the sky,

And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by’.

SEA FEVER by John Masefield

Most of us, especially if we don’t live near the sea, think we are not damaging our oceans.

Why then are we regularly seeing documentaries on TV about the climate crisis and the threats to our oceans?  If we live inland and only pay the occasional visit to the seaside, and we carefully collect our rubbish afterwards, we convince ourselves that at least ‘we’ are not damaging the ocean in any way.  But, is this true?  Let’s take a bit of a deeper look.

Do we know where the plastic wrappings on our fruit, vegetables, and much else that we buy in the supermarket go when we bin them?  Are we still drinking from plastic water bottles, and do we know what happens to them after we dump them?  Are we using destructive chemical toilet cleaners, washing up liquid made from petro-chemicals, or biological washing powder? Are we buying fruit and/or veg from the Southern Hemisphere which have many air miles on and thus contribute to global warming, contributing to the melting of the polar icecaps? Are we silent when friends or family are planning a cruise?

While it is true that much must be done at national, EU and Global levels if we are going to be able to continue to exist as a species on this earth, there is an onus on each of us as individuals too to halt this tide of global destruction.  Here are a few simple steps that will make a difference.

1.     Use only environmentally friendly toilet/bathroom/kitchen cleaning products.  These are readily available in health stores, zero-waste stores, and in some supermarkets. Or make your own from natural products like bread soda, lemon juice, and vinegar – there is much information on how to do this on the internet.

2.     Ask your local supermarket to stock more of these – and you may have to ask a few times! 

3.     Decide to reduce or eliminate plastic from your home and your life. It takes determination but if it contributes to saving the world for our grandchildren, surely it’s worth it?

4.     Use only natural body care products which are devoid of micro beads – these have become hugely hazardous to marine life.  

5.     If you live near the seaside or a river join a beach-cleaning or river-bank-cleaning group – always taking care to be safety aware.

6.     Encourage friends and family to grow something or re-wild something – all the natural systems are interdependent and the destruction of one has an effect on all.

7.     Learn more about the risks to our oceans by joining an environmental group.

Nowadays many high-profile figures belong to ‘save the earth’ or ‘save the seas’ groups and have plenty of useful (and scary) information on this topic on their websites.  One who focusses particularly on the dangers to our oceans is Leonardo Di Caprio – his speech some years ago to the U.N. is short, to the point and well worth watching.  Leonardo has recently pledged $43m to help restore the Galapagos Islands.

Surely, we can replace our toxic toilet cleaners with a more natural one which won’t damage our oceans and surely we can also refill it when it runs out.

Good Vibrations – The most important decision you make is to be in a good mood (Voltaire)

Photo - Photo by Karson on Unsplash

We kind of live in an upside down universe.  We think we are in a bad mood because it’s raining, someone annoying us, or our order hasn’t been delivered today.  It’s actually the other way round.  

We perceive things as they are because of the mood we’re in.  The world is not as it is but as we are.  We can’t do much about the weather or the news but we can do a lot about our own mood, our own vibration.  If we want things to be better ‘out there’ we need to choose to make them better ‘in here’ first.

We are not at the whim of our own mood, our hormones, or those with whom we share space.  We can at any moment raise our vibrations and change our mood and/or the situation we’re in.  Firstly, we need to be aware of our vibration and then we need to know what we can do about it.  Awareness is the first step.  We cannot change our mood if we don’t know what mood we’re in in the first place. 

  Of course, sometimes we deliberately choose to stay in a grumpy mood and to find fault and complain.  But life is short so lets look at some ways of raising our vibrations. 

1. We’ve mention frequently in our OSE blogs the need to take a deep breath or a few deep breaths. It’s vital and simple and costs nothing but we habitually forget to – take a few deep breadths.

2. Do something to shift your energy  - go for a walk around the block; dance around the kitchen;  sing your favourite rock song;  clean out a drawer.  Action moves us into a different state. Singing a children’s nursery rhyme is a great way of shifting to a higher gear.  Even just shaking our arms in the air over our heads as if we are at a rock concert can lift our mood.  

3. Let’s not indulge in negative speech, criticism or gossip.  This has the opposite effect to what we are shooting for….it keeps our vibration low,  doesn’t feel good and we might even feel like a good shower after we’ve indulged in some character assassination.   In his book ‘Letting Go, The Path of Surrender’ Dr. David Hawkins ranks ‘condemning’ as near the bottom of ‘The Map of Consciousness’ with ‘Loving’ and ‘Inspiring’ rank way up in the top half of the Map.

In conclusion, here’s  the strap-line from Raymond Kirwan’s book ‘The Conscious Illusion’ – ‘Our Happiness may not be defined by our environment but it will be reflected by it’ so it’s really clear that our vibration is much more important than we may have thought and it is up to ourselves to practice our ‘Good Vibrations’ every day.  If we all follow these four simple steps – Awareness, Deep Breaths, Movement and No Negative Speech – we’ll find it much easier to keep our Vibrations nice and high :-)

Grey Water – Less Harmful to Mother Earth

Grey water doesn’t sound very nice, does it?  And what is it, anyhow?

Following on from last weeks blog for Earth day, this week we have a short blog on a small step we could all take to slow the destruction of the world as we know it. 

Grey water is water we have already used for something else.  Water in which we have washed dishes qualifies as does that which we used to wash the floor or which we collected in a basin from our shower. It can then be used to water our flower beds or veggie patch.  It might even be useful if the garden path needed a wash.

It is of great benefit to our Mother Earth.  Here’s why – it saves on using fresh water, keeps our energy consumption a bit lower, reuses water, is part of the ‘repair, reuse, recycle’ mantra of environmentalism and we get a ‘virtue hit’ from doing another little bit to help save the planet.

Here are some tips for using grey water.

1. Wash the dishes in a basin, not the sink, pour the used water into a watering can and water the flower bed or the herb pots on the balcony.

2. Stand a basin in the shower to collect the water and use it as above. Rather than using the fresh water in the toilet cistern, this grey shower water can also be used to pour into the toilet.

3. If you are handwashing delicates, resist the urge to pour the water down the drain and collect it for when it’s next needed elsewhere.

4. Tell your friends about grey water and how to use it.

There are other ways of saving a valuable resource like water – for example, getting a barrel to collect rainwater from a drainpipe is a good one.  This ‘soft water’ can also be used in the garden.  In fact, many of us remember when rainwater was deliberately chosen for washing hair as it was softer and gave the hair a better shine.  We’re all now familiar with the ‘not letting the tap run while your brushing your teeth’ advice.

With the earth now on a knife edge it is up to us to take personal responsibility and do everything we can to save her for herself, ourselves, our children and our grandchildren.

If you wish to know a bit more about this issue you could do worse than read ‘Medicine for the Earth, how to transform personal and environmental toxins’ by Sandra Ingerman.

Earth Day 2021

OVERWHELMED?

Concern for our Earth across all age demographics is at an all time high. So is a sense of being overwhelmed and a feeling of desperation.  We at Our Spiritual Earth are very conscious of our connection with our Mother Earth and are also aware that many really feel that their contribution to saving the planet counts for little. 

We want to say:  This is not so. 

Every little effort we make, makes a difference; it further increases global consciousness and awareness about the knife-edge balance on which our earth now stands.  Everything you do, every conversation you have, every effort you make, makes a difference. 

We are aware that there are some wonderful information sites, TV programmes and books where there is plenty of good information available.  But if you are one of the many who is feeling overwhelmed we thought we’d just mention a few simple steps which could (literally) make the world a better place.  

1. Be grateful for the beauty and gifts which the planet provides us with every day.

2. Limit your use of her valuable resources, eg; take shorter showers, switch off power sources if they aren’t being used.

3. Notice where your fruit and veggie is grown. If it comes from the Southern Hemisphere it has many thousands of air miles so the choice to buy fruit and vegetables from the Northern Hemisphere is a better one.

4. Gifting flowers is a lovely thought – but where do they come from? Are the growers poisoning themselves and the earth with toxic chemicals? How many air miles are on them? There are some wonderful Irish flower and wildflower growers providing these to shops now.

5. Plant something. Even just a pot of parsley on the balcony will help a little to redress the balance.

6. Explore the use of herbs, homeopathy and flower remedies in health maintenance. Their production has far less impact on the environment.

7. Try a vegan or vegetarian dish once or twice a week – we don’t need to go into the problems with meat production here as there is detailed information elsewhere.

8. Walk to your local shop. Why pour further emissions into the atmosphere if you can avoid it? Obviously, leaving the engine running unnecessarily is a big No-No too.

9. Give yourself a pat on the back every time you act more kindly and more consciously to our beautiful earth, our home.

For more organised events - see; https://ecounesco.ie/events/

Know that every little more earth-friendly choice you make, makes a difference.

If we all do our own bit every day perhaps as we approach Earth Day next year, the news headlines might be a bit more positive and more hopeful.  Perhaps the Earth and its inhabitants will survive after all. 

Forgiveness or Let It Go!

Photo - Brett Jordan

Forgiveness is the key to happiness.  Letting go and forgiving whatever real or imagined hurt we are nursing is the way to find peace in the moment. 

The problem is that we might not realise that we need to forgive.  We may not realise that our hurt, anger or resentment today may actually be a replaying of a situation long forgotten to our conscious mind but still alive and well in our subconscious. 

‘Responding’ to a current situation is an elegant and adult way of living life.  However, most of the time we ‘react’.  We are angry or hurt because ‘somebody’ did ‘something’ awful to me.  But if we hadn’t some forgotten incidences playing away in the background our ‘reaction’ may have been much less full of the fuel of anger or resentment.  Today the girl on the supermarket checkout may have spent ages chatting to the previous customer while you have steam coming out your ears and a tape running in your head about how ignorant the checkout girl is, now he/she is so badly trained, is so bad at customer service. But this might not be at all what’s really going on.  Perhaps your subconscious is replaying an incident when you were little and really, really wanted to get to your grannies for your Easter egg while your Mam was spending ages chatting on the phone.  You are so eager to get going and feeling so frustrated because you were powerless in the situation.  Maybe you tried to get your Mam to hurry, and she shouted at you to be quiet.  But today, all you are aware of is that the checkout person is spending too long chatting and you … well, let’s just say you are not at your most charming.

Here are some hints which may help us all to be happier, more aware and more peaceful.

1. Take a few deep breaths. Breadth is one of our greatest gifts and one of the ways of coming into the present moment.

2. Realise that we are ‘reacting’ and not ‘responding’ to the situation and choose to ‘respond’. This takes quite a bit of practice.

3. Perhaps we might need to deal with our unresolved childhood issues (we all have them!) – psychotherapy might help; or some other healing modality could be helpful too.

4. Being willing to forgive and let go. This willingness to let go, to release the other and ourselves from the ties of our issues, may not be easy, but taking the first step of being willing to forgive gets us moving in a more helpful and healthful direction.

5. ‘I fully and freely forgive (X). I release him/her mentally and spiritually. I completely forgive everything connected with the matter in question. I am free and s/he is free. It is a marvelous feeling’ are the first line of a forgiveness technique from Dr Joseph Murphy’s book ‘The Power of your Subconscious Mind’.

‘And Leave us serene, just as we allow others serenity’ is a line from the kabbalistic Paternoster and it kind of sums it up really.  In forgiving others, we are freeing ourselves. The heavy weight of our blaming others drags us down too.  In forgiving others, we are freeing ourselves too. 

Silence is golden

Photo - Guillaume-de-germain

Oh, my goodness, the world is noisy these days.  Electric lawnmowers back in action as the growing season starts, phones beeping everywhere, airplanes overhead, cars, washing machine, TV’s.  Noise, noise, noise everywhere which for many of us means stress, stress, stress everywhere.  

We have become so accustomed to it that we almost don’t notice that continuous background racket increases our stress levels.  Everyone is having to speak more loudly (which requires more energy) as they chat over the messages over the PA system in the supermarket, the radio in the friend’s home, or the trainee pilots flying their two seaters overhead.  

Give me a Break!  Some peace and quiet required here.  Struggling to be heard over the music or having conservation interrupted by the beep of personal messages makes us cross and irritable.  

Retreating to silence for a few days can give us some welcome respite, though this is not easy in this time of restrictions.  So where and how can I drink of that much longed for nectar of silence?  Where can I find that peace so badly needed at this time?  

Deep within ourselves is where we find that ‘Peace which passeth all understanding’. There are many online Mindfulness classes and plenty of books available on the topic and here are some simple steps which may help.

1.       Turn off all electronic devices for a while every day.  Phones, laptops, radios, washing machines all turned off and enjoy the luxury of that silence.  At the beginning this can feel really strange but before long we begin to remember how much we enjoy peace and quiet and how refreshing it feels to be without electronic stimulation for a while.

2.       Sit in the Silence for a while and notice how your feeling – what’s happening in your body? In your head?  Are you aware that your heart is racing, that your breathing has become shallow, that you’re feeling peckish?  Or that you are really irritated, tired, or off kilter? 

With so much noise going on outside we can become disconnected from our own bodies and miss some of the important messages it is sending us for our own health and well-being and peace of mind.

3.       Walk somewhere in nature – in silence.  No audio book playing, no minicomputer counting your steps, no phone pinging.   Just a good old-fashioned walk.  The body needs a rest, the mind does too – we all need a time to be quiet, to listen in to the voice of our intuition, an opportunity to hear that ‘still small voice’ within. 

With so much virtual communication these days many of us are exhausted and over stimulated.  We crave some rest even if we are ignoring that still small voice inside.  It’s time to treat ourselves to that most nourishing of nutrients, the sound of silence. Time to notice how much we have been craving some quiet time.  Time to just rest awhile.  

Time to sit in silence.

Equinox - It’s all about Balance

Photo - Tomoko-uji-eriuKj

It almost slips by unnoticed, but the day of the Spring Equinox is a great occasion.  In many countries regarded as the beginning of Spring, for us in Ireland it’s the day when we have equal day and equal night and from today onward, we have days which are longer than the nights.  Something indeed to celebrate.

Today, the sun is exactly over the equator and from today we get more sunlight each day while those in the Southern Hemisphere get less.  They are heading into Winter while we are joyfully heading into Summer.  Spring is here and the birds are singing their hearts out and busily making homes for themselves and their families.  Daffodils are in full bloom everywhere and we are deeply grateful to have survived the winter.  We start to wear brighter colours and although we may grumble about the dandelions, which have many health giving properties, we unconsciously react positively to their bright shining faces turned up to the sun. 

In the busyness of this world we can easily knock ourselves out of balance – doing too much or too little, thinking too much or too little, sleeping more than we need or not enough. We live in a dualistic world, everything has it’s opposite – rich and poor, sweet and bitter, enslaved and free, and we easily slip out of balance, in our activities, in our eating or drinking.  It’s lovely to enjoy clean windows for example but for some being ‘out of balance’ means not never cleaning the windows, for others it means being fanatical about them and the balance is enjoying looking through nice clean windows.  

Equinox is all about Balance.  It’s one of the two days (the Autumn Equinox being the other) when our days are in perfect balance with day and night being of equal length.   Mother Nature does provide us with other moments of balance – those few glorious minutes of perfection and beauty at dawn as we await the appearance of the sun over the horizon; and again at dusk when the day becomes still again before descending into the heavier energy of the night.  In Sanskrit this is called ‘Sattva’ meaning balance, harmony, goodness, while the fiery energy of daytime is called ‘rajas’ and the heavier energy of night-time is called ‘tamas’.  

Today is a reminder to walk the middle path, to stay in balance, not to over or underdo anything.  It’s a day to celebrate the end of winter and the arrival of Spring.  It’s a nice day for a wedding ceremony being symbolic of the equal balance between partners.  And it’s a time when we feel our hearts lift with the joy of the lengthening days.  Exactly half way between Midwinter and Midsummer, half way between Imbolg (Spring) and Lá Bealtaine (Mayday) Equinox reminds  us of the importance of constantly coming back to centre, back to being in Balance, just as Our Spiritual Earth constantly maintains herself in Perfect Balance. 

The earth is our mother - a post for mother’s day

Photo ekrem-osmanoglu

It’s a great day for today.  It’s that day every year when sons and daughters are gifting their Mums flowers, chocolates, breakfast in bed to thank and honour them.  When we recognise the often invisible work and support we receive from our Mams. 

Aunties, stepmums, grannies are all being honoured and thanked    for the ‘mammying’ they’ve done for the loved young ones close to them.

It’s a day to remember those families where Dad plays Dad and Mum.  And let’s take a moment too to remember with gratitude the mentors who have had a positive ‘mammy’ influence on our lives - helpful teachers, senior work colleagues, kindly neighbours – who were instinctively stepping in to help when needed without even thinking about it, instinctively playing ‘mummy’. 

And then there’s Mother Earth without whom we children couldn’t live at all.   She provides us with Air, Water, and Food.  Her very being allows us to live and to thrive.  To Live.  Her fresh air provides us with oxygen, her water keeps us hydrated and refreshes us with cups of tea and glasses of wine.  Her ground, which we walk on every day without even thinking about it, provides our vegetables and fruit.

As we potter about in our busy lives we hardly notice the seasons turning, the migrating birds, the weather patterns.  We pollute her air and fill her seas with plastic.  We spray her with toxic chemicals and while our four-legged friends don’t soil their beds, we think nothing of dumping tons of rubbish on our Mother Earth. 

From dawn to dusk on this Mothering Sunday let us notice and be grateful for our Mother Earth, for she supplies every single breath we take.  Let us remember, as we sit down to our family celebration, that she supplies all the food and drink at our table.   That without her, none of us would even be sitting at that table.  Let us walk slowly and breath thankfulness to the earth today.  Those flowers, chocolates and breakfast in bed all come from this blue planet.  The Earth is our Mother, she takes care of us, let us remember and take care of her everyday but especially on this Mothering Sunday.

Wobbly Days

Photo - Farid Askerov

We’re hearing more and more people say they’re having wobbly days.   Many who coped well last year are finding themselves challenged as the lockdowns seems to be go on and on.   Here are a few tips for coping with those wobbly days.

1. Do something you love. Whatever it is, cooking, gardening, listening to music, playing music, whatever it is, just do it. Now. Drop everything else because right now you need to take care of yourself. You need to do something to lift your spirits and de-wobble yourself.

2. Breathe.  It’s obvious, we’ve been doing it since the moment we were born.  When we’re stressed or anxious, we may find ourselves holding our breaths.   We need the oxygen, we need the calmness, the reassurance that a few good deep breaths bring.  We need the connection with the moment.  Outdoors is best but if that’s not possible stand by the open window and breath right down into your tummy, at least three or four times good deep breaths.  Breathing out first and imagining all the stress leaving with it, and then breath in the good clean fresh air.   Counting can help too, exhale (count four) hold the breath (count four) inhale (count four) hold (count four).   It is the breath of life.  It is the nearest and least expensive tool for helping with the dewobble. 

3. Do something physical.  Dance around the kitchen, clean out a cupboard, walk around the garden if you have one.   Do some weeding or ironing or wash the floor.  Doing something physical gets us out of our heads thus decreasing those stressful feelings.

There are many more ways that we can help our mental health.   Much information is available on line.  Sometimes in the middle of wobbly day (or few days) the mist descends and that first step out of the panic can be hard to see.  So here are three simple little tips to help - 1.  Do what you Love.  2.  Breathe.  3.  Do something physical.

We at Our Spiritual Earth understand this is a stressful time, we’ve all had our challenges too and these are some of the things which we do on our Wobbly Days.

Groundhog Day

Photo NYTimes

Ever since the movie ‘Groundhog Day’ opened in cinemas in 1993 the term has become associated with the experience of every day seeming to be the same.  In the movie, the Bill Murray character continues to have the same experience, to relive the same day, until he catches on that by being nice to folk his life can move forward again.

The current third lockdown can feel very much like Groundhog Day.  Same ole, same ole.  No concerts, movies or theatre.  No checking out the Spring/Summer collections in the department stores.  No enjoying dinner at a favourite restaurant.  On a wet day can feel even worse and listening to the daily news bulletins can further decrease our joie de vivre.

Here are a few tips to help dissolve that groundhog feeling.

1. Every day is actually truly different.  The sun rises and sets at a different time and Mother Nature moves forward through the seasons.  On our daily walks we can notice the daffodils blooming, the primrose – la prima rosa, the first rose – in the hedgerows, the tiny buds appearing on the hawthorn bushes.  Taking our daily constitutional with our eyes wide open can simply lift our spirits up a notch.

2. Do a little kindness to someone else without expecting anything in return.  Bring a neighbour a bunch of daffodils.  Phone an old friend, s/he may really need that call today.  Pop a thank you card in the post – to anyone, a TV show presenter who’s show you enjoyed, that auntie whose Christmas gift you forgot to acknowledge, the friend with whom you used enjoy a coffee.

3. Commit to learning something new every day.  A poem, a song, a new language.  This brings a new and fresh energy into the day.

If you’re feeling like it’s Groundhog Day – and the calendar says today is groundhog day in the U.S.  - try one or all of the above to lift your own spirits and the spirits of those in your hub.

Rumi says it all so beautifully in his poem ‘The Guest House:

‘This being human is a guest house.

Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!

Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,

Who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture.

Still, treat each guest honourably.

He may be clearing you out for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice.

Meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.

Be grateful for whatever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.