As
you become more attuned to the spirit in all things, the first guides
you may sense are the forces of nature.
Grouped
together, the nature spirits are called elementals. Comprised of
the spirits of earth, water, fire, and air, they're sometimes known
as gnomes, sprites, sylphs, devas, and salamanders (which are not
anything like the small reptilian creatures). Although this may
sound like the stuff of fairy tales, every living thing has its
own spirit force and vibration that looks after it.
The
nature spirits are wonderfully therapeutic, and by raising your
sensitivity to their presence and asking for their help, you'll
immediately begin to feel their support. When you learn to identify
them and become open to receiving their gifts, the natural world
will then become a place of healing and excitement for you.

The Earth
Spirits (Gnomes, Fairies, Tree Devas, Elves)
It's
best to start connecting with this spirit realm by concentrating
on the spirits of the earth—also known as devas—beginning
with the trees, flowers, and of course, Mother Earth herself. The
earth is an incredible living, breathing spirit, majestically supporting
all of the life on this planet. Affectionately known as Gaia, she
is the organic mother of us all, and becoming sensitive to her energy
instantly helps us feel physically stronger and supported.
Connecting
with the earth is known as "getting grounded"—a
term that's casually tossed about, but rarely fully understood to
be the act of allowing our spirit to be nurtured by Mother Earth.
When we're disconnected from her we feel scattered, weak, easily
pushed about by life, and cut off from support. By raising our sensitivity
to and becoming conscious of her, our life calms down and our basic
sense of security kicks in.
Not
one of us is so smart that we can live without Gaia's force beneath
us . . . even concrete cannot fully block her energy. If you ever
doubt her power, just conjure up the magnitude of a big earthquake
to bring you back to reality. At the same time, she can also be
astonishingly gentle - nothing is so restorative to your body and
bones as a massage from her.
About
a dozen years ago, my husband, Patrick, and I took our daughters
to Hawaii for the first time. When Sonia hit the beach, she could
hardly contain herself. It felt so delicious and soothing to that
five-year-old that she threw herself onto the sand; grabbed it by
the handful; squeezed, smelled, and even tried to eat it. She rolled
around in the wet sand for hours and never tired of it. As I was
putting her to bed that evening, her heart was so brimming with
joy that she gave me a full-body hug and said, "Mom, before
today I used to love you like a dot . . . now I love you like a
circle."
If
you feel drained, disconnected, unsupported, and unloved, tap in
to Mother Earth's spirit and let it nurture you. Have your spirit
ask her to enfold you with her endless arms and pull you back to
her breast. Gaia's spirit is so powerful that connecting to her
will lift depression and fear, and can even ease one of our greatest
social diseases - chronic fatigue syndrome.
Hot-stone
massage therapy, a recently popularized treatment, channels the
earth spirit. The spirit in the rocks, which are strategically placed
over a person's body, manages to touch bone marrow and has the power
to calm, fortify, and restore strength to the individual like nothing
else.
By
the same token, the spirits in flowers work to calm and balance
your emotional body—the first layer of energy overlaying your
physical body—which goes through a lot of wear and tear in
a day, a week, or a lifetime. It can get weak, thin, and torn, leaving
you prey to all kinds of emotional distress.
Tapping
in to the spirit of flowers doesn't take too much effort . . . simply
smell a rose, appreciate an orchid, or sniff a sachet of lavender
to see what I mean. If you're feeling flat, weak, or uninspired,
bringing your subtle awareness forward to connect with that flower
and plant fairies will restore your balance, and can gently calm
and reweave the emotional body and restore balance.
Some
people have become so connected to the spiritual energies in flowers
and their immense capacity to heal that emotional body that there
are entire alternative-healing methods devoted to the therapeutic
qualities of flower essences. To give yourself an added boost, you
can even look into using these essences, which embody the restorative
spirit of plants and flowers, and are available in health food stores
as well as on the Internet. Each specific plant extract brings a
different result by tapping in to the particular energy you are
focusing on. For example holly relieves you of being critical, lavender
opens and calms the heart, and violet builds confidence.
You
can really connect with fairies if you grow a garden -even if you
just nurture a few potted plants. The next time that you find yourself
mindlessly watering the azaleas, stop and feel their energy and
appreciate their strong, yet gentle, spirit. Talk to your plants
and flowers and even play classical music for them. . . after all,
experiments have proven that their spirits react to kindness and
in response, they'll go wild and grow like crazy.
If
you really want to feel some psychic support, take this a step further
and hug a tree. I'm completely serious when I say this. We (especially
those of us in the Western world) have become lazy and dull in a
subtle awareness, but very few people can remain immune to the
formidable grounding and healing power of a tree. Be willing to
look as loony as a lark if you must, but take the risk and throw
your arms around the next oak or elm in your path. Place your heart
up against the bark and see how you feel. If that's just too over
the top and you can't bring yourself to enjoy that experience, at
least plop down at the foot of a tree and connect with its majesty
through the roots. The
spirits of trees are so powerful that they act like amplifiers for
your psychic sensibilities. Connecting with their energy will pull
your awareness deep into the spirit world, quickly enhancing your
ability to connect with higher-frequency entities, such as your
guides and angels. And although it may not happen overnight, if
you work with trees for a few weeks, you'll no doubt start attuning
to other spirit forces.
If
you're a city dweller, you may have to use a little extra effort
to attune to the earth spirits, but quite honestly, the benefits
and rewards are worth it. City life is very stressful and draining,
so connecting with the nature spirits is all the more urgent. In
the end, you'll become calmer, more grounded, and emotionally more
peaceful.

Sonia Choquette's latest title Ask Your Guides: Connecting to
Your Divine Support System, is a fascinating and inspirational
book that provides all the information you need to help you connect
with your spirit guides so that you can enjoy all the love, abundance,
and joy you’re entitled to. Her Soul Lessons and Soul
Purpose Oracle Cards are an excellent resource to assist you
in answering life’s most profound and pressing question. Sonia
is conducting an all-day Wake Up Your Spirit and Connect with
Your Guides workshop in cities across the US. Click here for
dates and locations.
http://groups.msn.com/MysticalVisions/earthspiritsconnecting.msnw
|