Wild Rituals

waking with the land

The pivot point of spring equinox is near. Deciduous trees are waking, their sap rising, and I feel myself thawing out too; my blood quickening under the warming sun. Soon, queen bumblebees will wake from their winter slumber in abandoned rodent cavities, rotten wood, clumps of grasses, or beneath the soil and a blanket of autumn leaves. Migrating birds will return to nest and fill mornings with song, and tender shoots of spring ephemerals will rise from underground. As I walk through the woods, I sink into tender earth and see deer tracks, dark depressions now, disturbing the soil, making space for new life to grow.

In the Northern Hemisphere the spring equinox usually falls on March 20th or 21st but it occurs on March 19th this leap year.

During an equinox, the sun sits directly above the equator, balancing day and night. Annual celestial events — spring and autumn equinox, summer and winter solstice - are my favorite times for ritual. Wild rituals connect me to the cyclical nature of life, remind me of my relationship to deep time, and keep me in sync with my animal body. A living ecosystem like all bodies, mine ebbs and flows, goes backward and forward, contracts and expands, and moves through necessary phases of growth, death, and restoration.

Aligning with nature’s rhythms aligns me with who I am.

Photo by Tom Bradley on Unsplash

Here are a some wild rituals to help your body align with spring…

Emerge slowly.
Life is starting to appear above ground, but is still tender, slowly emerging from the sleepy hibernation of winter. As wild beings, we humans are also adjusting to change, gradually beginning to thaw.

Let light touch your body. 
The sun is getting closer. Let our committed star warm places inside you that have hardened in the cold of winter. Let yourself begin to melt.

Peel back heavy layers.
Shed layers, both literal and metaphorical. Gift or donate clothes that are weighing you down. Let go of inner heaviness through unedited writing or visual art until you feel lighter, and a little more free.

Lean on an elder.
As the land wakes up and your blood stirs, tree sap also rises. Find a special tree in your local park, forest or backyard. Who are they? A maple, oak, maybe an elm? With the tree’s permission, lean on their trunk and let go. Let the depth of their roots anchor you. Trees are our elders. Remember you too, are nature.  

Welcome waking queens.
Queen bumblebees will be waking up soon — groggy, starved and in need of nectar. Look around: Do the local queens have what they need to survive? Research a local species of bumblebee, learn about their role in your ecosystem, the challenges they face and the wildflowers they need. Welcome queens and potential hives into your orbit with native wildflowers.

Learn birdsong.
Listen to the birds around you. Can you identify some of the singers and their songs?

Plant seeds
Plant a seed in fertile soil when the ground is ready and imagine planting a seed of intention within yourself. What does the seed represent? How will you nurture your seedling as it grows? True, tangible growth takes time, it is a work of community — sun, rain, soil, pollinators, love — and it takes patience.

Turn down lights for small travelers.
Migrating birds are returning to nest. Imagine being a small songbird migrating at night. Now imagine how artificial lights and windows further complicate your journey. Turning lights off from 11:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m is one small way we can help. You may also want to ruin your view with fake predators and trinkets like prisms in windows so they don’t crash into them.

And of course…

Deepen intimacy with nature through plants.
Here is a collection of posts to inspire you to get outside and fall in love with the green ones. And remember, you can join me for an online plant walk to get to know common edible and medicinal species a little better.

Drink (and potentially harvest) stinging nettles.

Notice the beauty of dandelions.

Ask permission from the plants before harvesting them.

Admire the beauty of spring ephemerals.

Remember you are nature, not separate from the natural world. Nature is not something outside to observe as scenery, nature is you.