Native American Jedi? Part 5 - Touch the Earth

At first glance, his words may seem to communicate something mystical - and in fact it does refer to something very deep - our ability to come in touch with our true nature when touching the Earth - but it’s also referring to something very concrete which we can easily do in our everyday lives:

Touch the Earth.

You’ve probably heard someone - a friend, or loved one perhaps - mention before that being in nature helps them clear their mind and think more clearly.

This isn’t just hearsay, you can test this for yourself. On an especially hectic day, go to a nearby park or hiking trail and take a moment to relax among the trees or walk the trail and feel as your mind begins to clear and your stress and tension begins to dissipate.

No matter what you believe or don’t believe about the healing and demystifying powers of being close to the Earth, or why exactly you think a natural environment clears our mind, it can’t be argued that being close to nature has an impact on our well-being.

And this may even extend to the physical body. The practice of “earthing” is the act of walking barefoot or placing our bodies on a natural surface, and while the science is still young there’s been promise in the findings to support that connecting directly with the Earth in some way can result in better sleep, less pain, reduced stress and tension, and improved immune function.

[From a blog post by Matt Valentine at Buddhaimonia.com]


Commentary: The message here seems rather straight forward, and I imagine many of us have had similar experiences with nature to understand what is being shared. It obviously seems applicable to our efforts to connect with the Force. The only tweak I would offer to the thoughts above are not that we should become a bunch of tree-huggers and environmental extremists, worshipping the deity of a "Mother Earth"...but look around you in your daily lives, Touch the Earth, and reach out to the Universe.

Open yourself to the spirits and beings of all that surround you. Touch not only the Earth, but Touch the Force.

Ms Adder does this sort of thing. She will take her off her shoes to stand on the dirt to 'ground' herself. I'm not sure if hugging tress (trugging?) does the same thing... but it's a fair point, constructions have grounding points where the structure has a solid static discharge channel to the planet. When refueling aircraft its a good idea to earth it to the ground to avoid static discharge (sparks) causing problems with the fuel exchange (or between the fuel'er and the fuel'ed to stop a differential leading to a spark). The planet is after all one giant electromagnet-esk bundle of aggregated buzz, and she is a jealous god

So I was going to say something about how I like to "touch the earth" by standing in the ocean, because I'm some kinda water sprite...then I started researching the effects of prolonged submersion in water...


four or five pages deep into not really getting an actual answer (like, how long until your skin and organs start dissolving) some of the topics coming up where about balancing the elements in the water inside and outside your body to avoid renal failure or dehydration or all sorts of weird ideas.

When I got to someone asking "Would it work if I jumped into a vat of human blood?" I decided it was time to take my shoes off and go stand on some grass and never use the internet ever again

As a part Native American and a Hellenic polytheist I could definitely stand to have more contact with Mother Earth (or, as I usually call her, Gaia).

Thanks for this post! It's a very good reminder.

Adder wrote: Ms Adder does this sort of thing. She will take her off her shoes to stand on the dirt to 'ground' herself. I'm not sure if hugging tress (trugging?) does the same thing... but it's a fair point, constructions have grounding points where the structure has a solid static discharge channel to the planet. When refueling aircraft its a good idea to earth it to the ground to avoid static discharge (sparks) causing problems with the fuel exchange (or between the fuel'er and the fuel'ed to stop a differential leading to a spark). The planet is after all one giant electromagnet-esk bundle of aggregated buzz, and she is a jealous god

Interesting take...I don't know that I would have drawn these connections. Perhaps it plays into why we are always so joyous to regain firm ground ourselves after a sea voyage, or a long international plane flight?

JamesSand wrote: So I was going to say something about how I like to "touch the earth" by standing in the ocean, because I'm some kinda water sprite...then I started researching the effects of prolonged submersion in water...


four or five pages deep into not really getting an actual answer (like, how long until your skin and organs start dissolving) some of the topics coming up where about balancing the elements in the water inside and outside your body to avoid renal failure or dehydration or all sorts of weird ideas.

When I got to someone asking "Would it work if I jumped into a vat of human blood?" I decided it was time to take my shoes off and go stand on some grass and never use the internet ever again

But...what WOULD happen if you were in that vat...? :side:

Greetings, SamThift

"Part 5", eh? I remember a few years back, opening up a thread with a similar/same title, asking if there were any other NA peeps here besides myself... could that've been "part 1"? Hmmm...

Anywho, yes - Earthing.

I was thinking about this, this past week, as I walked by a tree stump on the way back from work... and there's a special and wonderful thing which, if one ever has the time and opportunity to try, I very highly recommend trying out at least once - though again, if opportunities arise, as much and as often as the spirit calls you to do...

Standing barefoot on a tree stump - preferably recently cut, unless its circumference is huge... but if not, it's fine - and "feeling out" where the roots are within the ground, through your feet.

Now, at first glance at these words, the reader might automatically wonder, "But how would I know how accurate that would be? What if my impressions are way off? How can I be certain?", or even, "What the Hell is this crap??"...

Relax.

The goal of such isn't to find the roots' actual-factual, mappable locations per se.

The exercise in itself is the goal. Listen...

Let go of "mapping results", and just... breathe... and feel... as though the Qi of your toes, via those roots, can feel the loamy coolness of the Earth as you wriggle them through the stuff, in your reaching out.

Feel the clutchingness of the system of roots in the mass of soil and stones within its gripping grasp. Feel it's hold, that it is not without give and play in its clutching onto/into this dancing spaceship Earth... but it's a hold, like a child's hand holding the mother's.

However long, or however many times it takes to familiarize yourself with this connection, the next step is to do so on a clear night, and hopefully, in a location with as little light pollution as possible, and while you are rooted in the Earth, feeling its dance through space, feeling the sway in the breeze above the ground, gaze out into the Universe of stars and reach out... and connect...

Be the cosmic child you are, being carried in the arms of the dance between Mother Earth and Father Sky

Have fun exploring.

Sken:nen, and may the Force be with you, always

- Tarran Falls-Down-Laughing
Siksika/Mohawk-Cree

Tarran:

What a wonderful suggestion...I think I might just try that! It may be another month or so before I get back out to the woods...but it sounds like a very interesting experience! I'll keep you posted.

If you saw a similar thread that long ago, it was not of my design. I only recently joined (May 2017), and have been posting a few of these nuggets over the past couple weeks, based upon a blog post I randomly found. The previous 4 or so should be towards the top of that "Faith" forum under the index at the top.

Cheers

Sam

SamThift wrote: Tarran:

What a wonderful suggestion...I think I might just try that! It may be another month or so before I get back out to the woods...but it sounds like a very interesting experience! I'll keep you posted.

If you saw a similar thread that long ago, it was not of my design. I only recently joined (May 2017), and have been posting a few of these nuggets over the past couple weeks, based upon a blog post I randomly found. The previous 4 or so should be towards the top of that "Faith" forum under the index at the top.

Cheers

Sam

Roger that - will give 'em a looksy!

While I'm at it here, if you like blog posts about the Force, might I offer a look into one of mine? I write often in a spiritual tone, in a spiritual sense, on spiritual things - however, in the particular blog of which I now speak (though not absolutely devoid of spirit), those writings are largely analytical and leaning more towards science (for lack of a better term), or well, perhaps I should say "Alchemy" lol You can find it linked on my profile page here, but it seems that the link will only work if you omit the "s" in the "https" part of the URL (damn you, Google Blogger lol).

Thanks for your quick and kind reply, btw!

- Tarran