We’re in the thick of the damp, darkening returning to earth of autumn here, and in a month of deep-mapping with fungus at The Soul Shed, and also in exploring the archetypal theme of Surrender. This exploration has also coincided with a Creativity walk in Alice Holt Forest too, with a wonderful group of creative humans, as part of Alton's Walking Festival, meaning that I want to share just how rich and full things feel here on the deep-mapping side of things!
Please click here for a short clip of our walk!
Whatever season you find yourself in, in your corner of the earth, I hope that our creative overspill will re-source you and inspire you to get out in your own square mile, corresponding with the world around you in real time.
Autumn is a wonderful time to go within, and to go without…and to witness the natural seasonal need to let go of things that we no longer need, and let them return to source, for release and composting, or trusting they will come back to us renewed and restored, later.
Edited for 2024! In this spirit I am offering a seasonal Offering until the next Full Frost moon on November 15th, of two deep-mapping one to one sessions. See here
To get you into the spirit of Deep-Mapping, I would love to invite you to step outside with your camera, and a journal at the ready, and to consider which of these colour-inspired images connects most with you, and which of these openings you might like to enter over the coming weeks....
Image from Shutterstock
1. Red fly agaric fungus.
Get out exploring and learn about the incredible world of fungus. Fungus is so fascinating, and of course it is a way we know our human limits too - some fungus is edible and delicious (think blue cheese and mushroom soup) and others are toxic to humans. Still others need specialist knowledge to use safely for medicinal purposes. This is a whole body of knowledge that connects us both with a body of lost wisdom, and our own instinctual capacity for safety and risk.
Image by Emma Baxter from our community. Thank you!
Also - a wonderful quote to ponder from 'Entangled Life' by Merlin Sheldrake:
“A mycelial network is a map of a fungus’s recent history and is a helpful reminder that all life-forms are in fact processes not things. The “you” of five years ago was made from different stuff than the “you” of today. Nature is an event that never stops. As William Bateson, who coined the word genetics, observed, “We commonly think of animals and plants as matter, but they are really systems through which matter is continually passing.”
2. Orange sunrise.
Consider a month of dawn walking in your own square mile, and noticing and documenting the daily seasonal shifts near where you live. And for a heart opening tree-meditation as part of this, you might enjoy this practice.
Photo by Andrew Rice from our community his Square Mile: Sunrise over a field in Newmarket. Thank you!
The photographs you take would be a wonderful basis for a Deep-Mapping one to one session!
Yellow fallen leaves – collect fallen leaves and celebrate Autumns gifts of letting go, by making a mandala on the ground.
image from my own collection.
Mandala by a participant on last weekends creativity walk in Alice Holt forest.
4. Citrine – grass
Get close to dewy grass. Walk barefoot on grass until its REALLY too cold!
Thanks to Jen Theodore on Unsplash for the image.
5. Moss green – Get up close and personal with Moss and have a multi-sensory experience! See, Touch, and smell moss for an immersive journey into an intimate awareness of your capacity for felt sensing.
From a distance, perhaps you see moss as a singular entity...get close with all your human capacities and you will see and even feel that moss is very varied, and brilliant at living closely with its neighbours of different species.
Here is Robin Wall Kimmerer who writes powerfully about just this in her 'Gathering Moss'
“Just as you can pick out the voice of a loved one in the tumult of a noisy room, or spot your child's smile in a sea of faces, intimate connection allows recognition in an all-too-often anonymous world. This sense of connection arises from a special kind of discrimination, a search image that comes from a long time spent looking and listening. Intimacy gives us a different way of seeing, when visual acuity is not enough.”
Image from my personal Deep-Mapping.
6. Deep forest Green - Evergreen
Visit an evergreen forest and explore its canopy and capacity for sharing light and space.... Photograph upwards!
Thanks for Annie Spratt on Unsplash for the image
Blue – sky
Sometimes its the incredible contrasts of colours that show us just how blue sky can be! allow yourself to be moved by the wonder of this! Read some nature poetry about nature and let it inspire you to write your own. Here is Emily Dickinson.
A Slash of Blue
A slash of Blue A sweep of Gray Some scarlet patches on the way, Compose an Evening Sky A little purple - slipped between Some Ruby Trousers hurried on A Wave of Gold A Bank of Day This just makes out the Morning Sky.
By Emily Dickinson
Thanks to jan Yardley from our community for this picture. Check out a conversation with Jan about Forest Photography as a spiritual practice here
Haiku is a beautiful simple form of three line poetry (5,7,5 syllables per line) which can be a wonderful way to capture the essence of a moment in nature. let your poetry inspire you and check out a November Soul Shed online event on just this!
8. Purple – amethyst deceiver
Circling back to fungus - How wonderful to see purple in organic nature - a rare thing indeed. This mushroom is edible, although please be sure you have identified it correctly before making your dinner!
Photograph found by Carol on our creativity walk last weekend and photographed by Roz from our community. Thanks to both!
Finding the colours in nature in your square mile can be a wonderful exploration in and of itself.
and lastly....
9. Violet – sunrise
another rare colour and one that often draws us upwards! you might remember this image from the dawn walking video with the heart-opening meditation
Consider writing a prayer or a song to express gratitude to something you have discovered in nature that has moved you. Or, open a dialogue with a favourite tree. Start by asking it who it is, and imagining what it might reply to you…given half a chance, this connection between your imaginal space and the world around you will grow deeper and stronger.
And.... I would love to hear how you get on and look forward to the possibility of creating with you soon! Heres a link to a page with more about The Soul Shed and space for if you would like to be in touch:
Big Love
Sam at The Soul Shed
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