Codes of Genius
These spirits are the tenders of the land whether we are aware of it or not, and it is with them that we may truly begin to nourish reciprocity and wellness. It's in communion with the spirit in all.
We have hopefully acknowledged at this point in space and time the knowing that we are a body, yes, and also a spirit, a consciousness that is held within this physical matter. We are spirits woven into form. When we take this framework and look at the natural world, it isn’t all that different. Many people refer to the natural world as though it is lesser than humans. Upon the evolutionary hierarchy, humans are far more advanced, intelligent, and special, so they say. That is the narrative spread. Yet this story really only serves to devalue the utter intelligence that moves through the entirety of the earth and cosmos, that is greater even than our own, for it holds the intelligence of eons, of past present and future. It holds the all that we are merely a fraction of here. This narrative only deepens the wedge between us and everything that we are a part of. We miss so much when we live in this narrative. We miss the opportunity to connect with the land, the plants, the life around us as equals. As inseparable parts of a whole. It is a humbling reminder that we are no better or worse. Nor are we more special.
When we really open our perception, we glimpse another truth around us. That there is intelligence everywhere. Some would argue that it is even greater than the capacity that humans hold, for it retains knowledge and consciousness far beyond our own capacities in this moment. Beyond this physical dimension that we have been taught is the only one. Yet I wouldn’t say that is it better or worse, more or less. It simply is. Existing outside our perceptions of it. It is indeed a potent and vital intelligence. It is a living consciousness. If you think about life, what does it mean to be alive? Let’s look at it like this, being alive is to hold desire. It is to hold meaning. It is to hold a linage. When we see aliveness in this way, humans are indeed alive, and so is everything else around us. Does not the tree desire to expand out towards the sky, does the river not desire to be flow, does the deer not desire to be nourished? There is desire infused in everything. As for meaning, even in the molecular realm, or the realm of bacteria, there is meaning translated, there is knowledge retained and shared, there is a recognition of a lineage. There is life and intelligence everywhere!
Suddenly, when we really begin to see the world like this - with reverence and reciprocity - it comes alive. It’s been alive this whole time actually, yet our awareness of it shifts the way that we may relate to it all. It opens up as an opportunity to connect to these beings of the earth and cosmos. All the ways that life expresses itself through the forces that move through all things. Humans are no greater or more evolved than any other creature upon this earth. We are all embodied within our own unique Genius. This is a narrative that becomes cut off from the true genius that lives in all things, not only in humans. -Why do humans feel the need to try and prove they are better?- When we are embodied within this remembrance that there is intelligence in all things, there is life force in all things, all things hold purpose and value, we are catching a glimpse of dimensions beyond the physical. We are peering into the grander cycles that flow, and the forces that move them. We are opening the doors to the elemental realms, angelic realms, realms of consciousness far beyond our own. Realizing that the workings of life are not simply random events occurring one after another, they are being moved by powers invisible to us, in very intentional ways that tie together the whole of existence. That make it so the earth may turn around the sun at the perfect distance for material life to take shape here in the ways it does. Coincidence much? Every being serves a vital purpose. As we open to perceive it, it reveals itself to us. We may learn then from all things. We may be humbled by their wisdom.
Like we are a spirit AND a body, so too is a plant, a body of water, a landscape. We are no different in this way, than a flowing river. It too hold a consciousness, a spirit. It too is a being embodied. It is only that our conditioning has limited our capacity to perceive it in this way. We are so deeply influenced by our culture that our perception of the world becomes shaped by how we have been taught. In this age of “technological modernism” we are taught solely of the physical plane. And are taught to completely disregard our connection to these other layers of life that cannot be explained or analyzed with logic. Anything that happens to slip between the cracks is labelled an exceptional miracle if you’re lucky, if not, it is discredited as delusion. It asks for great effort and presence here to dismantle these reductionistic ways and open once again our doors of perception into other realms of consciousness, that in the past were a fully integrated element of human life. There used to be no separation between the physical and the spirit. It is the work now that we are being called to remember, that of the Spirit in the earthly physical form. Integrating again all the layers that we dwell within. Remembering everything as alive with genius. Bringing ourselves back down into the spiralling embrace of all of life, not as the top of the hierarchical chain of command. Humbling our perception of ourselves and of our kin.
When we talk about spirits, what comes to mind here? Do you see a soul that has passed on from physical form yet that still lingers around us? Of our ancestors? Do you see angels? Light beings? Or perhaps fairies and mermaids? As always, we may gain so much perspective and wisdom through peering into the tales of old. The stories of our ancestors touched upon the ways that feel lost to us now. When we listen to stories, our rational mind is asked to take the back seat as we invite in the expansive and open intelligence of our creativity. Stories aren’t often told literally, they ask for some level of play. When we think of the fairytale stories of giants and dwarfs, fauns and fairies, perhaps we are glimpsing a once held connection to the active spirits of the earth. They are not embodied in the physical forms in the ways they take on in stories, but as living energetic intelligence that weaves the workings of life. The forces that are in charge of the growth of trees and the flowing of cycles, the formation of plants and their decomposition. This is where stories bring to life these forces as beings. And when we open ourselves, we too may actually get to witness them. They are the intelligence infused into this physical world, its divine and unified counterpart. When we interact with the spirit of a plant, for example, it is these beings we are calling to. Those who held onto their relationships with this realm of existence memorialized them into story as humans began to move further and further away from their communion. We once lived as one. In harmony and in right relations. As equal and inseparable parts of a whole. And so tapped into the wisdom that they hold and offer us.
Our disconnection from these spirits and intelligence has led to not only a disconnection from the true ways to tend to the earth, but we’ve lost a piece of ourselves along the way. We’ve lost a vital connection to important wisdom. These spirits are the tenders of the land whether we are aware of it or not, and it is with them that we may truly begin to nourish reciprocity and wellness. It is in communion with the spirit in all things. It is sitting at the feet of these elders and asking how it is we may serve. In what ways we may heal the lands, in what ways we may bring vitality back into depleted ecosystems. When we are disconnected from this level of communication, even the purest intentions may not support the true needs of a place. It is only in communion that we may nourish, and be nourished. It is in right relations with all. In community. Aligning ourselves once again with the spiral of life. And so it is with these teachings that we remembering that we are not out here alone, just meant to figure it out as we go. We are supported if we allow ourselves to be. And we most definitely are not doing it alone.
