I believe, or rather i know from my own work, that all of nature is sacred and can teach us. In this, no one place is inherently more sacred than another. The presence of the divine can be felt in the entirety of creation even if we fail to notice. It is the ephemeral thread that we call the web of life and also the primal force that gives rise to the power behind the craft.
I say this and i ask that you hold two images in your mind. The first is the heart of any city you choose in all it's concrete splendor. The second is the heart of an ancient forest. Both beautiful in their own ways, both bound by inherent rules, and garner specific emotional reactions when you enter them. These feelings are felt to varying degrees by everyone, practicing or not, and are our spirit's reaction to varying forms of the genius loci; the spirit of the place.
I do not claim to know various dryads, gnomes, fae, etc. Actually i'm not even saying they exist (thats up to your experiences). What i do know is that just as we have consciousness, so to does nature and there are places where that consciousness can be readily accessed for assistance. These are places as i will describe shortly per my own experience, that you know your in when you've entered on.
Now i will differentiate some vocabulary: Sacred v. Consecrated v. Powerful
Sacred Space (SS) So I did my duty as it were several years ago now and studied everything i could get my hands on in terms of Wicca, no particular tradition, and one of those things that bothered me was the whole use of the Compass to create "SS." My studies indicated that the circle holds three key purposes, namely:
I. Create a cleansed and consecrated space to focus you will and energies
II: Create a spiritual barrier to protect/filter out any neg. spirit or energy from interfering
III. Create a pocket reality of sorts where you are between this world and the otherworld, there by making accessing and channeling energy, or communing with the divine much easier. (takes a breath)
So first, while i like this explanation its a bit watered down for simplicities sake. As i said, all of nature is sacred, even where we've muddled it royally. So if i need to work in sacred space, my kitchen or the woods are equally sacred, but my kitchen has a stove, and heat in the winter, and a roof... you see where I'm going. Would i go out if i wanted to.. yes and i do but its not necessary for much of the work i do. (See my circle casting section for a more complete explanation.)
Now consecrated space is a bit different. We humans like to delineat jobs for ritual areas (like my kitchen). a better example of this is a church or cemetery. Nature doesn't function this way, that beautiful glen where you did that ritual an hour ago might just be a dining room for a hungry bobcat, or shelter for a herd of deer. The best we can do is borrow the space from the species that call it home and to do this you should convene with the Genius Loci.
This brings me to the idea of powerful space. Places where the spirit of the land is so strong its palpable. Think about the chill people feel when they talk about hauntings. Or better yet, think of a time when you were out in nature and experienced something so beautiful everything else in your life just stopped for a minute. This sensation of awe is the retain of our etheric bodies sensing the genius loci.
An Experience ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As an undergradate i often found myself studying beneath a particular oak tree on campus largely because of the focus it appeared to instill in me. During renovations is was pruned extensively and that feeling that i had sensed began to recede back into the earth. When it was gone, i moved on and forgot about it for a year. My last year in college was far from stressful and i wasn't on campus much between classes. i had been walking as i had on many occasions to the campus center from the theater and crossed part of the campus i had rarely cut through if at all. nothing outwardly special i thought, but i suddenly got goosebumps and that familiar feeling came over me. It had stopped me dead in my tracks.
So i look around, getting my bearings and i notice it. There in the middle of the campus is a ring of oak trees and I'm talking naturally occurring from before the school was built. Sure there was a tarred path through part of it at an odd angle but it was there. The energy of the place as palpable as someone standing just a little too close to you. That was and is a genius loci, and about as close to a Gibbs slap up the backside of my head as i've ever experienced from one.
Working with a Genius Loci - Powerful, Patient, and Conscious ----------------------------------------
Nature spirits are fickle by our standards, remember that they are not bound to physical laws. IF you cut down a forest and build a shopping mall (twitch), the spirit of that forest isn't going to die, it'll be pissed but it will find another way to express itself and try to teach us youngsters a lesson. Think about those tree roots cracking the sidewalks or the picture above, it'll find a way and it certainly has the time to do so.
This being said all that creative energy is an exceptional opportunity for us to augment our craftwork with a spiritual turbo drive of energy and understanding of a spirit that may have existed for as long as the earth itself. But in order to do so requires mutual trust. One cannot go around ordering and commanding spirits of nature to do their bidding. I always cringe when compulsory action comes up in a ritual i find on the net or in a book. I mean really, if you were at a hotel and needed assistance getting from point a to b. Would you call up the concierge and demand they assist you..? Do i need to tell you what will happen..? I know its a broad generalization and that not all backgrounds act this way, but i ask you. would you invite any person, let alone spirit, into your home without... i don't know, have some sort of rapport with them to begin with..?
Connecting with a local spirit takes time needless to say. baby steps is my advice to a beginner. Find a spot out in nature that speaks to you and is safe for you to be at. Have a picnic (clean up after), meditate, read a book, or simple observe with all your senses. look for signs that the Genius Loci may have noticed you and take a mental note, record your immediate feelings. When you leave, thank the land for its time in a way thats comfortable for you. This is a spirit we're talking about so words aren't necessary its the feeling you leave behind that matters. But promise to return. Time isn't all that important to a land spirit but this is a friendship your building above all else.
The next time you visit, begin the same and spend some time just embracing the green earth. Lie back and feel the sun, feel the earth beneath you. One particular exercise that might be helpful is to place your palm on the trunk of a nearby tree, or the roots if your sitting, and visualize your consciousness as energy mingling with that of the tree and traveling down into the roots, connecting to the rocks and streams, flowers and stones. All the while focusing on your intentions, friendship, understanding. Don't force a conversation this is just saying hi a bit louder. At this point if you haven't already, you've got its attention. But again, our relationship with the green earth is a bit muddy so relax and be honest there are no secrets at this point. After a few minutes (only if nothing happens), politely ask for a more overt indication of awareness. Again be mindful of all your senses.
I would suggest you practice this over several weeks, slowly introducing yourself to the spirit, perhaps bringing a recording of a favorite song, or singing. Talking to it about you day, etc... And when the day comes that you walk into that area and get an immediate sensation, like when you walk into a room and see a friend you haven't seen in ages and they're as glad to see you as you are to see them. Then your ready to talk about borrowing energy for spellwork and/or assistance with a particular problem.
As Always,
Solstice
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