The core essence of geospirituality is the way in which different locations in the world bring about specific energies, inspirations, and motivations that I capture using tarot journaling and cultural & historical research. These observations and integrations then help to deepen my connection with the world. In past travels, I often prepared a ‘kit’ comprising of decks, books, and my travel journal so that I could do this practice in situ. Recently however I found myself moving away from these tools. My tarot practice always ebbs & flows and is currently in a lull. And I don’t read as much for postural reasons. But what really sparked the change in my latest escape to Florida was learning to read tea leaves. I had been dabbling here and there with conchomancy and tasseomancy but it wasn’t until this moment in time that I began to take these two more seriously. And the expansive thought was: Let’s just see what shows up. Whether it’s a shell on the beach, the tea from the local French café, or the fallen leaves at the park tossing and turning in the wind… No books, no decks; let’s wait and see what insights and messages I get. (I did bring my travel journal though.) WELL. It wasn’t as easy as anticipated. And yet, there was a strong call to return to stay.
stay is a practice that I invented a few years ago, an acronym that stands for sound medicine, tea ceremony, astrology, and yoga. I did not engage with this for some years but there was something in the Floridian air that called me right back. Was it the languid way in which alligators moved about in the waters, the repetitive coming and going of the waves, or the lazy breeze rolling through the sapodilla trees..? stay is a practice of stillness, of pausing and allowing, of observing and slow unfolding. It is the antidote to the toxic squirrel in my head that runs a thousand miles an hour, the one that gets activated during mind excavations and agitated by familial patterns.
The purpose of stay is to slow down the mind and the body. Sound medicine helps to entrain the brain to lower frequencies, to change our waves from beta to alpha to theta. Tea ceremony is a moment of communion with our teacher Camellia sinensis and with ourselves. Astrology reminds us of our path, our purpose in each lifetime. And yoga teaches ease. I don’t recall what brought me away from this practice but there is now a renewed vigour that I feel with regards to these modalities upon returning to the great North (Spring is upon us!). I have returned to a daily sound practice and am currently undergoing (yet another) yoga teacher training. There are also some discoveries and explorations underway with hypnotherapy and reiki. But as usual, nothing really happens until something happens. Sharing will occur when the time is ripe. And the Everglades? I want more time in the swamps and dream of my next return.