Seeds of Wisdom & Transformation

“The seed is the bearer of information, the concentration of nutrients and essence that ensures the survival of the species. Seeds of wisdom -even as metaphors- do not obey physical or economic laws. In the physical and economic world, if I give you something, then I no longer have it. Wisdom and love behave altogether differently: if I give you my love or wisdom, both of us can have it. And yet more remarkable, you may pass it on and not only still retain it, but it will grow with each transaction. The more you give away, the more there is and the more we have.” (Goddesses in Older Women, by Jean Shinoda Bolen, M.D.)

The image I share is of maple tree seeds called ‘samara’. As these seeds helicopter on the winds, I imagine us a seed slowly preparing for the winter and for our journey inward, possibly on a path of self-discovery. For some of us perhaps our seed is a prayer we are ready to bring forth in our life, the wintering a sacred pause to start nurturing this prayer into action. Springtime awaits, not far in the distance, with her gentle warmth and sweet water. She is the lighthouse in our life or the beacon in the night, always here to guide us home. Maple’s strength, kindness, and courage are a grounding and loyal companion through the wintering months that lie ahead.

The cycle of seasons are a beautiful reflection into our own personal cycles of death and rebirth. Today is a day of sacred pause, when we honor and remember those who have died. A time to pay our respects to all those who have come before us and have paved the way in our own awakening and healing. A time when the veils between worlds are thin, when spirits and beings of this world and the otherworld connect with more ease and in reverence. Lately I find myself asking, what am I ready to let go of and what do I want to welcome in? Questions can guide us to uncovering what is asking to be transformed. These soul or inner journey questions can only be tenderly greeted in a space of stillness. It’s not a fallow season, this going inward or wintering. On the contrary, it is a sacred journey. One where we can grow and develop if we are open to learning soul lessons through what has brought us joy and suffering. Mystery dwells in this fertile soil of the unknown, and it’s in the darkness that the soul is soothed, healed, revealed, and transformed.

As I prepare for the winter months ahead, I notice the energy of the fall, one of harvesting and also one of planting seeds. There’s a certain busyness in the air. Somedays I feel like a squirrel myself, focused on gathering food in preparation for winter.

Hildergard for Bingen spirituality was deeply grounded, believing in the interconnectedness of all life, and that we are not separate from nature, but an intimate part of it. ‘She told her nuns to pay close attention to the rhythms of nature, suggesting that those rhythms held the secrets both of physical wellbeing and profound luminous inner life.’ (“Hagitude” by Sharing Blackie)

About the image: I collected these seeds from the backyard of the house we are renting this fall in Portland. I was hoping to make a sculpture piece in the shape of the samara seed but it didn’t work out. I’m glad, because instead the shape of a maple tree formed from the seeds themselves, without me realizing till after the shoot. A wonderful and inspiring woman, poet, advocate of mother earth is photographed wearing this piece, Meghan Tatiana Jacobsen. Thank you for taking the time, as you were packing up your life en route to CR (literally the next day!) to create this image together. 

Here are some books I’ve been reading that I love:

‘Dog Songs’ by Mary Oliver

‘Hagitude’ by Sharon Blackie

‘Love Letters to the Earth’ Thich Nhat Hanh

'Goddesses in Older Women' by Jean Shinoda Bolen

‘Dissident Daughter’ by Sue Kidd Monk