Week 10: Return of the Choir Master
The Season of Plenty Begins
Reflection
Heart breaks wide open
Encountering spring chorus
Amphibious song
Evidence & Ecology
It begins quietly with one small note.
The choir master assembles the masses to begin their nightly reverie. A call that begins the mating season under the cover and safety of darkness. This appointed conductor will begin and end the nightly interlude. A song of procreation to their world. A chorus that heralds the tender beginnings of spring.
The song of the Pacific Chorus Frog is being written and performed; night after night with increasing fervour and intensity, in these early days of spring. A symbol of hope. Of promise. Of the seasonal cycle continuing. Endings. Beginnings.
This annoucement that our great Mother is warming up; the sacred season of plenty that is arriving was understood by W̱SÁNEĆ (Saanich) wisdom keepers as a spiritual indicator that it was time to shift focus from the quiet and storytelling of winter into outdoor food and medicine gathering. Preparation for the return of the Salmon would begin.
These small beings are keystones of our ecosystem. Their presence or absence provides vital information about the health of wetlands. This sacred circle of reciprocity is shared with the human folk through song. What are we to give back in return?
How do we repay their performance? What should they “earn” for this concert of song?
If you are lucky enough to witness these performances and the croaks, trills, and grunts bathe you in a kaleidoscope of sound, breathe deeply and invite your body to become present to this immersion.
What sensations do you notice in your body? What are those sensations telling you?
How can we connect and give thanks across species for a gift that we cannot repay?
The Practices
Embodied Nature Meditation
Chorus & Core
Find yourself in a comfortable position, lying down if possible. If that is not available to you, sit in a position that feels most comfortable with your spine straight and your body kept warm with blankets if needed.
Begin by drawing awareness to your breath to allow yourself to become grounded and present to this moment.
Once you feel fully present in this moment, I invite you to begin to focus on your sense of hearing.
Place your focus on your ears, and the sounds of your internal body. Maybe you will notice the sounds of your heartbeat, your digestion or the blood swooshing through your veins. Allow your awareness to rest of whatever aspect presents itself to you…….
Somatic Witnessing
Finding the Liminal Space
Find a literal or metaphorical "edge." This could be where a rug meets a hardwood floor, where the grass meets a path, or simply the boundary of your seat.
Acknowledge that, like the frog, you exist between two states: your internal world (thoughts/spirit) and the external world (environment/land).
Stand with one foot on each surface.
Feel the difference in texture and temperature.
Notice how your body stabilizes itself at the transition point.
Allow your knees to slightly bend and your body to bend forward at the waist, almost mimicking a frog squat….
Story of Place
A Conversation with the Season
Each being on this floating blue and green orb has a place in the web of existence; a role they inhabit that ensures the continual return of seasonal and planetary markers. The western colonized world has lost connection to many of these mysteries.
The dualistic nature of our beliefs systems, based only on rigour and science has allowed us to forget. Forgetting the interconnectedness of all. Our web has tendrils that extend far beyond our human sphere.
The choral wonder that you may be experiencing as you fall asleep, if you live near a wetland, may give you witness to the ancient cycle of life continuing as it should. The Keeper of the Sacred Season is awake, and with that waking, confirmation that the door is opening to another season.
The moon heralding these nightly concerts has been bestowed with the name WEXWS or Frog Moon by the Saanich, such is the importance of their presence and guidance to marking this seasonal shift.
This small amphibian is both a witness and a messenger, existing between multiple realms - land, water and spirit - in a role of liminal guardianship. It’s tiny body an environmental balance; weighing the health of an environment through its living and dying. In Indigenous Northwest Coast art frogs are sometimes depicted with their tongues touching another creature, as a visual representation of the frogs ability to share knowledge and power.
Their distinctive melody is also the equivalent of a green flag being flown at a beach - the water is safe to enter. The W̱SÁNEĆ (Saanich) knows that the time has come to put their canoes back in the water, after a winter of stormy seas, when the frog chorus peals loudly. The ocean is becoming calmer, they chirp, and the watery highway is opening for another season….
The Invitation
Nature Kinship
Weekly nature connection practices aligned seasonally to engage with your locale. Encouraging immersion, appreciation and spiritual attunement with the more than human world around you.
Always remember to enjoy these practices within the bounds of your physical and ecological limits (do not sit outside when it’s -40, or walk on slippery surfaces), practice “leave no trace” and mindful reciprocity (take only what you need, ask permission from the earth, and only leave what is naturally biodegradable)
Ripple & Shoreline
This is a process-oriented art form, meaning the final product is less important than the state of mind you achieve while making it.
Find a local body of water—a pond is ideal, but a stream or even a damp garden patch works.
Begin by quietly connecting with the earth, slowing your breathing and asking permission to source the items needed for this practice.
Once permission has been given, allow your awareness to open to the landscape and your eyes to fall upon a flat rock, which will be used as your "anchor stone" (representing reason). Gather this stone and a handful of small pebbles or twigs while keeping your “footprint” small.
Sit quietly for five minutes. Engaging your physical sensations along with your hearing, listen for the vibration of the environment. Begin to imagine you are "breathing through your skin" like a frog.
Find a patch of soft mud or sand near the water’s edge. If you are indoors, use a tray of sand, salt or flour….
A Final Note
Closing Invocation
“….in the muddy shallows the / Frogs are singing.”
Singing the Earth
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Nature. Connected.
