“As above, so below, as within, so without, as the universe, so the soul.”
- Hermes
Just me and Grandmother Tree, Nov 8, 2022
Dear Wise Women,
Following our circle last Tuesday, I wandered up to visit “Grandmother Tree”. Standing beneath her, I found myself captivated by her majestic beauty above…and grounded by her rooted strength below.
It later occurred to me that she, like all trees, does not depend on the approval of others to grow. She has endured fierce storms, droughts and disease and yet she thrives on.
For she knows no other way to be.
She knows not of disconnection, separation, or betrayal.
Her connection to life force is so pure and clear that she just keeps on growing and living… and when it is her time to die, she will do so with grace and without resistance.
She is a living example of the simple law:
“As above, so below, as within, so without.”
Oh, how often I have heard this quote of Hermes (and have recited it myself). But in the wake of all that I am experiencing in my outer world, I am feeling a new and deeper understanding of what this might really mean. Melanie Tonia-Evans the founder of the Narcissistic Abuse Recovery Program and Quanta Freedom Healing says it quite simply, “What’s going on inside is what’s going to happen in your everyday life.” Similarly the late Wayne Dyer captures a raw truth when he says:
“With everything that has happened to you
you can either feel sorry for yourself,
or treat what has happened as a gift.
Everything is either an opportunity to grow,
or an obstacle to keep you from growing.
You get to choose.”
In other words, how can we be more like Grandmother Tree?
May grace guide our journey within,
Love,
Patti
Grace Within
Still enough
brave enough
and willing enough
I dive within
past the waves
through the currents
noticing
the many schools
swimming and swirling around me
Still
I dive deeper
and finally
I exhale
as I remember
the ocean within provides infinite breath
A voice beckons me
to go deeper
and I go
to where there is only stillness
I feel a warm embrace
and my body melts
into the arms of
the One
who knows me,
guides me,
carries me,
breathes me
She whispers,
“I am here, I never left you”
and my True Self remembers
She is Me.
I am Grace.
- Patti Wardlaw