About this Morning Altar ™ Mandala
Each altar that finds its way through my hands is a surprise. If I take my time with it I will find gifts of knowledge, insights, awareness and ultimately joy. Creativity involves mystery and it is never certain what will emerge. If I can lean into curiousity about foraging combinations of shapes, colors, materials and am so often profoundly amazed at the symbolic language and wisdom that unfolds. Making nature mandalas with the MA practice is what I would call “dreaming with nature” as it often mirrors dream language and the many healing benefits of the emotional processing through creativity.
It's fall and Apple Harvest is upon us. These fruits are often affiliated with times of gathering, sharing and celebrating harvest and bounty. These highly adaptable fruits the embodiment of a reciprocal relationship this is part of what makes them so perfect as a blog on the embodiment of abundance.
Even something as small as an apple; It's simple and somehow complex; Sweet and divine, the perfect design; Can I speak to the architect? Kacy Musgrave, Lyrics and Song The Architect
Nature Mandalas as a Healing Practice
As I have learned more about the holistic practices of nature, altars and mandalas, I’ve discovered so much more about our human lives and history, and our relationship with the Earth. We live storied lives and there are ways we have shared wisdom through words, stories, folklore, and myth about our felt sense experiences in this mysterious world.
Abundance refers to our wealth, or sense of being plentiful and even about overflowing. But what is overflowing, plentiful and ultimately our wealth? In our times we would look at this through the lens of scarcity mindset, growth mindset and even manifesting.
The Mythology of Apples
Apples symbolize our connections with the natural and the spiritual worlds. In thinking of the earth elements, it represents the water element. And water, in many early cultures, is linked with the spirit world.
· Norse Mythology: Idunn and Her Apples of Immortality
· Greek Mythology: The golden apples of Hesperides
· Celtic Mythology: The Isle of Avalon and the Sacred Apples
· Christian Tradition: The Forbidden Fruit of Eden
· Chinese Folklore: Apples as Symbols for Peace
· Islamic Folklore: Apples as Fruits t of Paradise
· Japanese Folklore: Crimson Fruit and Temptation
· Irish Folklore: The Silver Branch with Apples
· Roman Mythology: The Festival of Pomona (the goddess of fruit and trees)
· Basque Folklore: The Apple and the Earth Goddess Mari
· Scottish Folklore: Apple Divination on Samhain (Halloween)
· English and American Folklore: Apple Divination and Bobbing for Apples
And let’s not forget the well-known Grimm’s fairytale of Snow White and the poisoned apple (though there are much earlier folkloric roots). I particularly love this one in thinking about scarcity mindset!
As it turns out we hold so much lived story and rich relationship with this fruit. Even in current times we use the apple as a common a symbol of physical health. Along these lines are “health is your wealth” and “An apple a day, keeps the doctor away.”
Among the stories I reviewed, I found myself partial to learning from this one about Abundance and Apples.
The Ritual of Orchard Wassailing
Rituals are ways of creating meaning and can often be associated with ceremony and community. Until writing this I was not aware of the term wassailing. The word wassailing is from the Old English “waes Hel,” which means to “be in good health.” There is a history of 2 kinds, one is going door to door and singing, like caroling. The other is a ritual dedicated to apple orchards.
In communities that use this ritual, they gather in the apple orchards usually on the Twelfth night, which may fall on January 5th, 6th, or sometimes January 17th depending on the tradition origin calendar. Together they make noise with pots, pans, and also with song. They pour offerings of cider around the roots of the apple trees and decorate the branches with cider-soaked toast for the birds to come so the trees may bear plentiful fruit. All of these rituals are performed to “wake them up” (the trees) from there winter rest and also to protect them from harm, chasing away malevolent spirits and welcome in bounty.
From Scarcity to Growth:
I was drawn to this ritual because it spoke to me of scarcity vs. growth and the process of that journey. Abundance, growth, begins long before the harvest. It begins with our community, awareness and awakening.
As a therapist of more than 20 years, I have been witness to many times of breakthroughs. These are the awakenings that have been cultivated in our shared rapport and time. What stands out to me as I write this is the number of times the breakthrough, awakening, begins with the "noise" as own finds their authentic voice. Prior to this awakening is the deep sleep of winter and the felt sense of scarcity, maybe even loneliness within.
As the noise of voice vibration and coming back into our bodies occurs the problem (whatever form of its malevolence) is scared off and soon growth is ready to be invitied within. Of course there is more journey to travel from this point, and therapy work, or healing process, turns toward the discovery and finding the new ways to create of “attracting in” what will support us. As community, composition, supports the emergence of the new healing fruit begins to emerge. I'm no expert in this but some may even call this manifestation.
Growth or Ambition? The quality of the Fruit
Returning to the pscyhological and spiritual wisdom of the above folklore, we need to evaluate our abundant experiences. Afterall, just because we begin to grow and bear fruit, we can still be stuck in scarcity masked as ambition. Ambition is a low quality fruit in which we are growing but still not generating a life filled with the nutrition of joy and vitality. It can be help to get curious with your growth, is it aligned with our spiritual and psychological maturation?
The Orchard by Mary Oliver
The Orchard I have dreamed of accomplishment.
I have fed ambition.
I have traded nights of sleep for a length of work.
Lo, and I have discovered how soft bloom turns to green fruit, which turns to sweet fruit. Lo, and I have discovered all winds blow cold at last,
and the leaves, so pretty, so many,
vanish in the great, black packet of time,
in the great, black packet of ambition,
and the ripeness of the apple is its downfall.
In Summary
Taking time to cultivate healing practices like nature mandalas offer us a rich conversation with our planet, our ancestors and our human history. We are offered the rich soil of interspection, self-reflection and reciprocation with the materials, the constructs, the positive and negative uses of space.
Some closing thoughts:
I'm curious what healing practices are nourishing you?
What apples are you currently harvesting this season?
How might connecting with nature enrich your psychological, physical and spiritual well-being?
Lastly, even if just enjoying a fine juicy cold apple is your practice today. Maybe try practicing it mindfully. I will leave you with these words by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh
At its most essential, the apple you hold is a manifestation of the wonderful presence of life. It is interconnected with all that is. It contains the whole universe; it is an ambassador of the cosmos coming to nourish our existence. It feeds our body, and if we eat it mindfully, it also feeds our soul and recharges our spirit.” Thich Nhat Hanh, Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life
All my best to you and hope you have enjoyed this blog. You can reach out to me if you are interested in learning more about nature mandalas by emailing me: jcardozalmft@gmail.com
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