I started a weekly meditation circle last year. I was impressed by how many people turned up regularly, but this year the intake was even bigger. I made a few changes this year. I moved the venue slightly to provide a more intimate working space, and to accommodate more people. Part of that work involved me clearing out a place that was overgrown and full of old rotting and rusting junk. It took me a couple of days to clear, but when the space was finished it felt amazing.
Before I had done any work I had entered into a dialog with the Spirit of Place. Was the space suitable? Would it be alright to use it in this way? Was the spirit happy with me preparing the space or should it be left as it was? All these questions were asked and more. So, I already felt comfortable with working with the spirit of this new space.
For the last 16 weeks the group has been gathering momentum and getting familiar with each other. Now they are at a point where they have shared experiences, and lasting friendships have been formed. There is a lot of love circulating amongst the group, and that is a lovely experience. Tuesday evenings have become very special.
A few weeks ago we did “Connecting with the Spirit of Place” as the topic. It was particularly remarkable, and so I want to tell you about it here.
As I entered the site, knowing the subject, I ensured that I had the permission to work with the spirit of the site, and I waited respectfully until I got it. Once I had that assurance, I walked into the circle and asked whether it would be alright to connect directly to the spirit tonight, and to allow everyone else to try too. Again, after a moment, I got a warm feeling in the pit of my stomach. This wasn’t indigestion – it was a spiritual response.
We sat and the circle chatted then we prepared. When the group was ready we discussed the concepts of what a “Spirit of Place” could be, then I invited everyone to let me guide them to a meeting with the spirit of this place. There was a beautiful summer silence all around punctuated only by the buzz of insects and the twitter of bird life.
I sat back and watched during one of the silent parts. I could see people were going deep tonight.In my own mind I invited the Spirit of Place to come into the centre. I switched my vision from the three-dimensional to include the subtle dimensions too.
I could see that the circle was creating an energy vortex in the centre! The vortex whirled around like a small tornado. The spinning vortex was made up of layers of shining threads of light, and the shimmer was so bright that I wondered whether anyone else could see it, but then I realised that they all had their eyes closed, unlike me.
I placed my attention back into the vortex. As I did that a figure began to coalesce within the spinning framework. It was a Green Man figure, androgynous and shimmering in an emerald light. The Green Man figure appeared to be composed of scales, then I realised there were leaves, but pearlescent glowing crystalline leaves of green light. It was the Spirit of Place, of course.
The figure went round the circle touching each person who was meditating. The Spirit of Place glided to each in turn, touching one on the head, one on the shoulder, holding its hand over one person, and kissing another on the lips. There were as many gestures as people – about ten in all. I watched spellbound until the Spirit turned to me and gave a knowing glance before stepping back into the vortex, only for it to diminish and fade into a tiny point.
I guided everyone back to normal waking consciousness and then then invited them to speak about their encounter. Most people, to their surprise, saw a whirling vortex of energy and talked about seeing a figure inside of it. It was astonishing how often that occurred. It certainly defied the odds of coincidence.
I listened to everyone’s account, and I could see how the gesture of the Spirit of Place had meant something to each of them. Whether they had seen it, or had somehow or other incorporated it into their experience, almost everyone had noticed something of what I had seen. After hearing their tales I could see that each gesture was appropriate to the person who sat there, and it matched their interaction levels.
This was the start of our small group beginning to come much closer together. Future meditations would be much more cohesive, with many more shared elements and overlapping experiences and visions from this point forth. Something special had happened this evening, and everyone who was there experienced something wonderful in their interactions with Nature and her guardian spirits.
