[sentient]

Originally Posted by ImthatIm

To pay the respect to the land/place and spirits that inhabit the land.

That is the old animist world view. The ground you walk on is sacred and everything has spirit and/or soul - that reveals itself through spatial communion.

To ask permission in a Spiritual sense. To not just intrude in an area without paying the proper respect. Saying here I am and here is what I wish to do in a Good Way, and to spend time blending in that area and communing with the spirits. Letting them examine your Heart and get to know you.

Exactly.
And when you commune with the Guardian Spirit of a Tree Elder, within that communion you are totally open and transparent, psycho-spiritually there can be no hidden corners you can hide in.

They (Trees) know whats best in their area. Of course the trees are chief beings of the plant kingdom.

Or some rock formations – they radiate or ‘sing’ – i.e. they’ll tell you about the Law on the land, if you *shift* your awareness and listen.

Yes, I can see the sap as the first nutrients coming forth after a long winter. The first show of life moving again. The new years "Water of Life" breaking through and flowing.

Yes. The Great Birch Tree grows in the upper world:

“At the roots of the tree, a spring flows and marks the source of the world river. Near the tree and spring there is a warm lake, or 'sea of life', where water birds and human souls are renewed. This upper world is ruled by an old woman, the ruler of all life, protector of childbirth, motherhood and water birds”.

So when you drink the gift, the waters of the birch tree – it is the eternal circle of life that you reflect upon as mythology and the natural law are but reflections of each other.

We would always have a sweat lodge as part of the most meaningful activities. To purify and to get ones mind,body,spirit right,

The same with Sauna tradition.

Matter of fact most of my time spent in the wild/natural has been to sweat, and seek visions for the path ahead.

I don’t know about the Native American “vision quest” – I just see it as the way one; - psycho-spiritually operates in life.

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Earlier on I quoted a poem that spoke about all our eyes and hearts becoming as one in the sun.
Well, that is also the message of the drum, which is the central sun oriented 'cognitive map'.

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