An Earth-Centered Path

By Victoria Hunt

I watched as her pen scratched out the answer to the previous question she’d asked me. The clock on the table ticked and then chimed 11, and I knew the interview was coming to a close. But I also knew that before it was over the inevitable question would arise as it always did. And I was right, for the next words out of her mouth were, “Can you tell me about your relationship with the earth—with nature—so our readers will have a better understanding of your work in conjunction with your book?”

I sat there looking out my window at the autumn leaves skipping across the pavement and tried to formulate a simple answer to such an important question, whether she was really aware of how important and difficult such a question was to answer or not. For how do you convey your deep love of, and connection to, the earth and the world of nature? You try to explain with words, but words are lacking. It’s only in the feeling of it that it can be explained, and how do you convey feelings except with words? A 100 million words could never express the reverence, love, and awe that come to you when in the presence of a lordly tree, standing on the shore of a great surging sea, or surrounded by the spirits of the land on which you live. My love for the land runs deep and is not a thing so easily shared—or understood.

“Have you ever talked with a tree, or plant?” I asked her. “Have you ever really listened to what nature is saying? She talks to us every day if we just have ears to hear. It all comes with tuning in, becoming aware and trusting what comes.

“One thing I have the students in my classes do is to find a place in nature they feel comfortable in—it could be a park, by a creek or river, or just in their own backyards. After they’ve found such a place, go out at the same time every day for a week and just observe and listen for 30 to 60 minutes. Then write down everything they saw, heard, and felt while there. By the third or fourth day their perception starts to change, they open up more—get more in tune. That’s the first step. If people are lucky enough to really get a chance to spend time in nature on a regular basis, they come to see that they’re not separate from it but actually one with it. They and the earth are connected on a deep inner realm, spiritually, on that web of life we all share.

“The world as a whole has largely severed itself from nature. It’s that self-imposed separation that causes us to feel so out of balance and alienated from life. By spending time in the natural world and coming to understand it and how humanity works within that structure, we can walk toward reestablishing the connection and healing the wounds we’ve inflicted on the earth and ourselves. We are being called, and what an honor it is to serve!

“So my advice to those who really want to ‘see’ and understand earth spirituality would be to go out and listen with your heart. Extend your awareness and really get a good dose of nature. Open up to the earth, our mother, and all the wisdom she is so willing to share. For you’ll hear her in the breath of the wind, in every drop of dew that falls to the ground, in the tiny sprouts of miners’ lettuce and elder buds. And through the old gods of our ancestors, who are still there, woven into the natural landscape, waiting for us to acknowledge them. You just have to take the time to listen, and nature is their voice, the earth their power. Whether we’ve forgotten them or not they call to us, admonishing us to remember where truth and beauty lie. It lies on the path of nature, an ancient path that beckons to us still. I’ve tried to write that into my book, Animal Omens. The fact that all of creation is sacred and has worth. I hope that’s apparent when reading it, for it is the best evidence I have of how lucky we all are to live here. Now, if we could just remember to care for the earth as she’s cared for us, that would really be doing something!”

As she closed her notebook I hoped I’d done honor to that which cannot truly be defined or contained within the pages of a book or a newspaper article, and that is my deep reverence and gratitude for this big round ball in space that we all call Planet Earth. And may we always seek to find our love and peace there.

Victoria can be reached via her website www.victoriahunt.org or call (530) 894-2469. Her book Animal Omens, published by Llewellyn Worldwide, is available at Lyon Books, Made in Chico, Barnes & Noble, or any bookstore by special order if not available.