BoomerGirl Diary

The mysteries of owl have lived in my memories for as long as I can remember. The golden, brown and white-toned night birds have made their presence known to me in the trees at every home I’ve lived in since I was a young married woman. The suburban neighborhoods where I lived felt confusing to me, energetically, and the old urban community I love, for the beauty in the old growth trees and brick lined streets, embraced me in ways that at times were precarious at best.

The question in my mind has remained — how do we find peace when the world’s gone crazy?

I know one thing with certainty, crossing the threshold of divorce after 29 years of marriage to my high school sweetheart, and standing strong on my own two feet has been the precursor for much I’ve needed to learn. I needed to discover, what is my truth. I found myself waking up to a reality full of challenges with tough karma, and by now my eyes have become wide open to the horizons ahead.

Taking the lead from the owl that could no longer manage an environment not suited to him, I too am flying to a new place where the unknown has reminded me of a guiding force. I’m certain it’s my destiny at play and something presented as an opportunity, because I am healing the wounds of my past. With great transition at my back, I’ve learned this to be the wild harvest from within. Staying open and on the journey to sacred possibility has been the path I chose. Oh, don’t you just love it when the "ah ha!" moments come!

Recently I was in the far wilds of Abiquiu, New Mexico, and I can’t deny, adding to the experience was the company of my new man. The hike began down a long red road, deep inside the desert forest of juniper, pine and sage. The sun was hot, but my straw hat shaded my face so I could deeply breath. The aromatic molecules in the air brought oxygen that only a forest in the wilds of nature can do. The vibrant scent called me off the dirt trail, and into a valley of ancient trees and shrubs. The smells were divine.

I came across a dry creek bed and felt drawn to walk in a place where I knew water had been. Tall pine trees aligned the embankments edge and cast a cool shade, patterned by pinwheels of light from the sun. I spotted a sage plant and sat down by its field of spirit energy. I looked down and saw a beautiful fluffy owl-sized plume, as if it were delicately placed for me to find. Completely sweet, a sacred gift from feathered friends, which had appeared in my life so many times before. It was a lovely day of healing blessings. Connecting with the plant medicine of wild Sage brought me a sense of the harvest within — a cleared and fresh perspective, in which to view my life.

There are many variations of Desert Sage. Artemesia, named after the Greek goddess Diana, is the goddess of the hunt and of the moon. This remarkable plant is a great medicine teacher for the wisdom-filled path, much the same as the spirit medicine of owl known in Native teachings. A smoky fire of sage to banish and bless is called smudging. Offering blessings and prayers to spirit with the smoke of sage has been practiced as ceremony in many ancient traditions. The ceremonies cleanse and purify, cast a web of protection, and promote harmonious living. The aromatic spirit of this plant speaks of good judgment and the importance for upholding values. To walk a sensible path in the wake of a storm; perhaps even a storm you didn’t want to see was coming. Sage, when offered as a blessing in the season of autumn, helps one to see wisdom within accomplishments made, and to reap what has been sown.

By the way, before leaving the creek bed on that hot afternoon, my heart had been feeling great loss for the things I had loved and lost in my life, and at the same time I knew the lost parts of me were now returning. I placed my hand on my heart and held my palm to the sky. I felt a powerful swoosh of cool air, and amidst the stillness could hear the sound of wings in flight. I looked up and there it was, a great horned owl flying over me, no more than a few feet above — in the day no less! With my heart a flutter, I took a deep breath and knew in that moment only one thing matters. The only requirement for finding peace is the willingness to seek wisdom. To accept the past and to know there is a reason for every thing.

Peace & Love, Terre