Earth Meditation
Seeing that winter is correspondent with the element of Earth, I view it is appropriate to do an earth meditation. We just got a huge dumping of snow up here, and for the first time in a decade gotten a snow day, so I'm going to do this meditation to connect with Earth today. Remember, it's good to record this and listen to it.
This meditation is best done on the earth itself, whether in a garden or woodland.
Make sure you’re comfortable, take a few deep breaths, and close your eyes.
Focus your mind on the solidity of earth beneath you and in your mind’s eye visualize a huge green pentagram on a black background. See the pentagon in the center of the pentagram shimmer and disappear, opening a doorway to the elemental realm of earth. Through a doorway you can see a mountain range rising up with a dense forest, lit by the morning Sun, covering the lower slopes. Send your awareness through the doorway in the center of the pentagram and into the elemental world of earth. As you do so, you feel the cool, rich soil beneath your feet and find yourself standing in a forest clearing with trees rising up toward the heavens. Look around; take note of the different types of trees in the forest as well as the many different wildflowers, herbs, and other small plants.
(pause for a few moments)
You notice the stillness that surrounds you, a sense of peace permeating every particle of your being. Listening carefully to the sounds in the forest, you hear movement nearby and see a stage bounding through the undergrowth. This seems to be a signal for other animals that start appearing in the forest around you. You see a bear lumbering by and a fox hurrying through the glad. There are other forest creatures lurking in the undergrowth.
(Pause)
A sharp breeze catches your breath and you feel flakes of snow on your face. Soon the snow is blanketing the ground and you are struck by the transformation, as everything is covered with a layer of crisp ice. The verdant greenery is now a white winter and activity is reduced. At this time, although you feel no inclination to move, you realize this is not a time for stillness, so you walk through the trees toward the mountains.
(Pause)
Soon you find yourself at a cliff face, and see a cave opening in the rocks. You decide to enter the cave. Caves are entryways into the earth and this one will provide you with shelter as the snow turns into a blizzard. Crossing the threshold of the cave, you feel yourself changing. Your skin turns into fur, your body grows larger, and you become a bear. Warm in your protective fur, you curl up in a corner of the cave and consider hibernating. Your thoughts are interrupted by other animals entering the cave in search of shelter from the blizzard. A fox, a badger, and a deer all enter, their desire for finding shelter stronger than their desire to fight with each other. They all approach you, settling down against your warm fur. The sensation of the animals against your skin makes you focus on the pleasure you get from nurturing others, sharing your warmth to help them survive.
(Pause)
Time passes and the blizzard lets up, and the animals all get up and leave. You realize that it’s time for you to leave as well. With your ursine sense of smell, you easily retrace your tracks back toward the pentagram in the forest clearing through which you entered this realm of earth. As you stand before the pentagram you take a last look around.
(Pause)
Then, walking through the doorway, you feel yourself transform back into your human form. Awareness returns to your body, you take a few deep breaths, and open your eyes.
