Yesterday I travelled to Dodgeville, WI, to teach a workshop. I’ve been at this retreat center many times before – most often as a student and several times as an instructor.
As I drove on Highway 60 along the Wisconsin River, there were many sandhill cranes flying over and then landing in fields. Even though I’ve lived in Wisconsin since 1991, my heart still leaps when I see a crane.
I flashed back to a return trip home from the same retreat center a number of years ago. I had attended an intensive five-day class as a participant, and I was still in an altered space as I drive along Highway 60. Traveling down the road at regular highway speeds, I somehow managed to see an owl sitting in a tree. I did a double-take because I couldn’t believe it. It was late fall, and the leaves were off the trees. The brown and gray feathers of the owl were completely camouflaged where it was sitting in the crook of a tree. I turned my car around and went back to get another look. It was a great horned owl. My heart filled with joy, and I still marvel at the experience because I should not have been able to see it. It was that well hidden. I realized the power of sacred space to boost intuition and the senses.
On that same trip, I pulled up outside my house to unload the car. The moment I turned off the ignition, I came down with a cold. Instantaneously. Stuffy head, runny nose, sore throat – all at once. I realized that the instructor had likely included prayers and an Intention that all of us arrive home safely. Once I had, the sacred space fully released and my body felt the symptoms.
I acknowledged the power of working in sacred space with the support of the divine compassionate spirit helpers. It was especially clear to me after that class.
This work is real, and it matters.
(Here are a couple of pictures from a morning hike yesterday in the snow at the retreat center.)
December 10, 2021