Clear-cut Forest

I visited the same area on Ridge Road outside of Nederland as last year’s healing ceremony for a wounded place—and experienced a deep grief and pain for the chaotic understory energy still present in this space East of Cougar Rock, the highest area in this locale. Wherever one walks around this “treated area,” one can see anywhere from 18 to 25 of these slash piles from any vantage point! Their intent was to “burn” them last winter. “My heart breaks open in compassion for what was done here in the name of forest health and wildfire mitigation. So much waste—the bodies of cut trees lay about untended, unused.” A dark-colored butterfly flew up as I approached the area. I invite the Presences of the 7 Directions to be with me as well as the Archangels to guide healing energy into the area both here and in the square mile around of forest treated for fire mitigation by the USFS and now full of rust-tinged slash piles. I use a method from the Perelandra Garden Workbook 2d edition p. 249-251 “energy cleansing” creatively following the steps suggested to clear the emotional energies that humans leave and which impair the Nature Spirits in their work here. There is a wonderful uplifting result. I feel very glad to have done this work. I then create and leave a twig circle blessing with Yellow Banner flowers and some Hawk feathers in the center for the area. As I leave, a white butterfly flies alongside me on my way to an untreated area next to a Ceremonial site…. where I feel much calmer and grateful for the undisturbed forest growing in its own simple integrity.