Deepening with Nature Workbook

Deepening with Nature Workbook

Simone Lipscomb

Contents

Introduction

Cycle One—Place in the World

Cycle Two—Hearing the Call of the Wild Soul

Cycle Three—Medicine Dolphin Communication

Cycle Four—Going Within to Find Strength

Cycle Five—Lower World Journeys

Cycle Six—The Three Worlds

Cycle Seven—The Art of Stillness

Cycle Eight—The Art of Play

Cycle Nine—Seeing in the Dark

Cycle Ten—Swimming in the Cosmic Soup of Delight

Cycle Eleven—The Magic of Flight

Cycle Twelve—Vision for the World

Cycle Thirteen—Wisdom Council

Star Meditation

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Books by Simone Lipscomb

Copyright Information

Introduction

Welcome to Deepening with Nature Workbook, a guided course of study intended to help participants connect with Nature in ways that allow barriers between humans and the natural world to be diminished and channels of communication opened and strengthened.

The cycles are set up for independent study but it can enhance the experience to form a group that meets weekly or monthly to share experiences. A group of like-minded and supportive friends participating in the work can create a powerful foundation for positive change that radiates out into the world. The Exercises and Meditations/Journeys should be done solo; however, the group can support the overall expansion of growth and perhaps come together to drum and share.

For each cycle, an animal guides participants deeper into communion with themselves and nature. There is a Notes section at the beginning of each cycle that outlines any special needs for the work that includes candles, crystals, sage, and other small items.

A notebook to record thoughts and experiences is recommended as this work is sacred work of the heart. As the work progresses, the journal becomes a soul map created by each participant for her or his life.

Each cycle also has an Introduction, a personal story about each animal guide, a Teaching, Exercises and Meditations/Journeys sections. The course has 13 cycles, designed for daily progression of one cycle per moon cycle taking participants through an entire year. It is recommended that the work begin either at the new moon or the full moon, but it is not necessary.

The value of the course is totally dependent on how participants invest in time and effort. There is no set time for the exercises or meditations, but participants get out of this what they invest in it. In general, allow 10 minutes for the Exercises and for the Meditations/Journeys allow 20 minutes to half an hour. A suggestion is to do the daily Exercise in the morning and the Meditation/Journey later in the day or before bedtime. With any practice, a set time every day creates a much stronger experience. It is like making an appointment with your soul and Nature for daily work.

There may be inner changes, and therefore outer changes, that result from the work. The process of growth can be challenging so make sure a support system is available if issues arise. It is also possible to have private consultations with the author to assist or supplement the course—please see the Resources section at the end of the book for more information. As well, there are many wonderful life coaches, therapists, and shamanic facilitators who can be of excellent support.

In the beginning, the Cycle lessons are more directed and through the year, they become more open to your own experience. Always feel free to read the suggested journey/meditation and alter it to fit your own intuitive guidance. The earlier pathworkings or guided meditations are more specific and as you become used to creating vivid imagery, you fill in the details as they apply to you and your experience. This is a journey of self-discovery and so learning to trust yourself and your connection to Nature in a deeper way is an expected and hoped for outcome.

Cycle One

Place in the World

Notes

Cycle One--Place in the World is guided by a wise humpback whale that begins your deepening journey. You will need a small space for an altar that will be used throughout the Deepening Cycles. It does not need to be free-standing or large. A small place that will be undisturbed works well.

For Cycle One choose an altar space. Choose a covering such as a scarf or small piece of material that will cover the surface. This can change each cycle depending on the instructions or desires of the participants. White sage is used to purify the space. This cycle a white candle in a fire-proof holder is necessary. Find a small image of a humpback whale to place on your altar and anything else that you might want to include such as a small crystal or blue-lace agate.

Introduction

Where are you? What is your geographic location...yes. But where are you? This moment—where is your mind? Where is your focus?

The journey of life can become mired by many distractions and without realizing, we can become side-tracked and unaware of where we really are in the world. That might sound a bit odd but take a moment right now and notice where your thoughts have been over the past day or so. Where are you now?

Every journey has a starting point so it's quite helpful to know where you are...in this moment, in this breath. This first cycle is focused on the starting point, your place in the world. Your guide will be an elder humpback whale whose wisdom comes not only from her journey in the Ocean depths but in the journey of Dreaming she makes every winter.

Prepare for an inner journey and listen to her story. Then work with her as she gives tasks and meditations that will deepen your journey back home...to yourself....to nature. But first, a story from Simone.

Simone's Story

Since I was a teenager the song of humpback whales called me to deepen my relationship with Nature. That song, released by Roger Payne, awakened me and countless others to a deeper Mystery of the planet.

There has always been a strong connection to whales and dolphins for me so it seemed inevitable that at some point I would be 'called' to humpbacks. It was more like a summons that I could not ignore.

I painted a mural of humpbacks floating in the cosmos on my office wall and then a couple years later had a trip scheduled to photograph manatees underwater. At the last moment I had a very strong intuitive urge to leave a day early and because I was packed and ready, I did leave. On the way down to Crystal River, Florida, I went through rain and then one of the most surreal experiences of my life.

The sun started to peek through clouds. I was listening to an audio book by John O'Donohue about finding your path and living your dreams. Suddenly the sky turned an amazing golden color and a rainbow appeared, but it was unlike any other rainbow I had even seen. Inside the rainbow was a rainbow cloud that was gold with the colors of the rainbow within it. It felt as if another world opened up.

I pulled up to an intersection to stop and photograph it and the name of the road was Follow That Dream Parkway. Between John O'Donohue, the road name, the rainbow within a rainbow I felt the extra day was already paying off.

Then the next day a guy from Australia was on the boat and he operated a humpback whale research center in Tonga. He invited me to join him and his team but insisted that if I could not make it there, to go! and make contact with humpbacks in person.

He, his wife and their toddler and I had dinner and then went on another excursion together. Had I delayed a day I would never have met them, nor would I have received the strong message to absolutely go!

Usually the Dominican Republic humpback whale trips are booked in advance but I chanced a message to a friend who captains a boat that does those excursions and within a couple weeks was booked on a trip that would lead to a total of three trips over three years that completely changed my life.

It all started with those humpback whale songs when I was a teenager and then a wild intuitively-guided trip that connected me with someone who said to go! no matter what.

After my first trip, which was a week spent anchored 90 miles off the coast of the Dominican Republic, I spent a year meditating in a grid of energy I set up with two humpback whales. The following year the first day out, the first in-water experience, I found myself over two 'sleeping' whales. I dropped into meditation as I hovered in the water, imagining the grid I worked with for the past year. It felt as if the entire Universe was opening within me and I became the cosmos and intimately linked with the two whales...which showed me they were not sleeping, as scientists say, but rather dreaming important dreams to keep a deep, spiritual balance on the planet.

The third year I went out I was doing my pre-dawn yoga on the open deck with a full moon shining over the dark sea. Humpbacks were all along the boat, their misty breaths illuminated by the moon. Some came so close that their fishy breath drifted across me as I practiced and opened myself to the sea, to the cosmos...to the whales.

At one point I was doing a dedication using different yoga postures. The whales were at the side of the boat and I could feel them listening, feeling the energy of what I was doing. Their exhalations came closer and closer. Suddenly I was engulfed in a purple spiritual fire that opened me from feet to crown. Once again, I was stars and the whales were stars and nothing else existed. Complete and total Oneness was the experience.

This was not a shamanic journey in an altered state. The whales were present with me in real time, whatever real time is, and we connected in a profoundly deep way.

In the years prior to meeting them in person, prior to swimming with them, I suspected they were part of the Great Mystery of Life...that they held some profound meaning planetarily. After spending three weeks with them, there was absolutely no doubt.

Teaching from The Whale

Long ago my path began. Perhaps it was through the star gate I came as I made my way from the swirling stirrings of life. I remember complete safety in the dark, watery world. I dreamed of stars and sparks of light as I drifted in the inner sea of my mother.

I felt her move in great circles and dive down as the pressure pushed against my still-forming body. Then the rush of sudden joy as she sped up and up and up and then leaped into some great Unknown and came down with a mighty crash. It made me giggle as her joy coursed through my blood and through the inner sea of her amniotic fluids.

I was at my happiest when I was one with Her. Safe, contained, and dreaming...dreaming all of the time about home. I didn't think about home....it was simply part of me. The stars, the inner sea and the Great Peace that always enveloped me.

And then I felt my body being squeezed over and over again. I felt my mother's pain and effort as she pushed me out into the dark Ocean of Life.

The first thing I remember is that I needed air. I needed to breathe. That was a new experience and so she guided me up and up to the surface and pushed me so that I blew my mother's fluids from my blowhole and gasped as I inhaled sweet, salty air. And again, I blew out the air and remaining droplets of my mother's inner sea. Then another breath of sweet air.

My eyes took a moment to focus but as they cleared, I felt huge, black shapes around me. My mother I knew immediately from her joyful energy that still connected us. But there were others that were present that night and I felt their joy and saw, in my mind, their welcoming me. Oh, the sweetness of feeling such love and acceptance.

I remained on the surface for a while as I got my bearings and then rolled to my side and with my eye looked into the heavens.... oh, the very thing I had dreamed of sparkled in the sky overhead. I will always remember the brilliance of those stars and their slow movement across the heavens. It seemed as though I was just there, swimming in the constellations, journeying through stardust just moments ago. And yet, there they were, a map for me in this new part of my journey.

After hours of darkness, of making short dives into the watery realm and coming up for blessed air, I noticed the sky was changing. The stars were beginning to fade and this made me nervous for they were what filled my dreams within my mother's womb. She swam up beside me, sensing my fear, and snuggled to help me feel calm.

My mother and I and several other mother whales with their babies watched my first sunrise together. And while I was anxious, I saw how the light illuminated things I couldn't see in the darkness. The water turned from black to magnificent turquoise and I still remember that transition, that amazing change, as being the most incredible experience of my life.

I somehow knew how to nuzzle near my mother to receive the amazing, rich milk she made for me. Her body still fed me even as I swam free. And I grew stronger each hour as the delicious milk filled me. And I grew fast...every day I gained weight and my swimming became strong and efficient.

Some days my mother took me aside and showed me how to raise my pectoral fin and slap it. That was so much fun. It made lots of noise and caused little fish to scatter. Other times she showed me how to slap my tail but that was hard and it took me a long time to learn that skill.

Other days Mother and I would gather with other mothers and their babies and we would practice our skills together. The most fun time was when we learned to leap completely out of the water and crash back making huge splashes.... but it took a lot of watching our mothers breach before we came close to leaping like they did. Oh, the joy!

Mother made me swim long and hard some days. I saw in her mind pictures of a long journey that would take us to rich feeding waters where we would feast on small fish. She began to push me more urgently as she lost massive amounts of weight from producing the nurturing milk for me.

I followed her lead and never doubted her guidance. And before long we began the long journey back to our summer feeding waters.

Oh, the agony I felt after days of swimming. Sometimes Mother pushed me into the slipstream of her giant wake and it pulled me along so my swimming was a bit easier. I kept seeing her mind pictures as she gazed into the stars at night and sounded the bottom to find the way.

And then one day, we arrived and my mother began filling herself with small fish. And others in our pod worked together to create giant bubble spirals that trapped the fish and then they leaped up together and ate to fill their empty bellies.

This was the beginning of my journey in this body. Humpback whale, cetacean of the sea. Nights were spent gazing into the heavens, days spent eating and frolicking with my friends.

My mother began sending me pictures in her mind of the journey back to our wintering sea. It was time to return to the warm, calm waters where we would rest, where mothers would birth babies and great mating challenges were held with the males of our kind.

She began to teach me also about the Dreaming. I remembered it from being in her body so was somewhat familiar with it, but Mother wanted me to learn to Dream in this world. She showed me through her mind pictures that humpback Dreaming was vital to the planet. I didn't understand at the time but gradually came to understand.

When we arrived back at our warm water winter home, she began to instruct me on the ways of Dreaming. It didn't appear like we were doing anything but sleeping but we were remembering the great journeys of our ancestors through the stars and their journey into whale bodies and the singing stories that reminded us of our great journey.

Humans think only males sing but this isn't so. Females sing beautiful songs and we are the linage holders of the ancestral journeys. So not only did I learn to Dream when I was one year old, I learned the songs. It was the songs that I treasured most in my learning and living.

Our memories went back long, long ago to when we lived in another realm and literally swam among the stars. I learned the Dreaming while in my mother's body. I was swimming among the stars in my spirit body. And so, I learned the stories of my kind and would hover in the water in a dream state practicing the remembering, deepening my ability to be in a body and in the realm of Spirit. I became quite good by the end of my first visit back to my place of birth.

Now, after decades of Dreaming in this body, of making the yearly migration from my birthplace to feed in the cold waters of fish, I am coming to the end of my experience of this physical body. I wish to pass along these teachings to those wanting to deepen their experience of life in the physical while maintaining their true, spiritual essence.

I offer these suggestions as ways to connect deeper with our blessed Earth Mother and thus to themselves, for we are none of us separate from Her.

My mother has passed into the Dreamtime forever but for the teachings she gave me I am forever grateful. And now I pass them to you with my happiest tidings and encouragement.

Exercises and Journeys/Meditations

Day One

Exercise--Begin by setting up your altar for Cycle One. Use white sage as a smoking purification of the altar and space. If you can’t use a smoking purification, sprinkle saltwater or use the sound of bells or crystal bowls to cleanse the space. Use the cloth to cover it and then place the white candle and holder upon the altar. Put the image of the humpback whale upon it and a small crystal or blue-lace agate if desired. Each day light the candle and do a dedication to the day with the intention of deepening your connection to Nature.

Then extinguish the candle and walk around the inside and outside of where you live. As you walk use all your senses to experience this sacred place. Notice color and smell, temperature and texture of the ground. Are there plants here? Water? Trees? What does the sky look like? Fully establish yourself in the place you live. Do the same thing with the inside of your home. Walk within it marveling at the walls, the floors and the light as it comes through windows. Spend time with this and write or draw about your experiences.... or dance them out. Record thoughts in your journal about what it means to be in your home.

Meditation/Journey--Find a place outside near your home where you can sit quietly. Take deep, slow breaths and let your mind relax. If it tries to become distracted just gently bring it back to your breath. Gradually muse about or imagine the night sky...or better yet do this mediation where you can see the night sky. If you have a safe place to sit outdoors at night, allow your mind to connect with the great constellations overhead. If the weather doesn't permit being outdoors, then imagine the stars overhead. Spend time breathing in star energy and exhaling peace and feeling the space grow within yourself. After you feel complete, bring your awareness to your feet and breathe in, imagining the breath coming in and going out of the bottoms of your feet. Do this several times then write notes of your experience in your journal.

Day Two

Exercise--Do your dedication in the morning at your altar. Then choose a favorite place outdoors and take a walk there. Even if it's cold or rainy, dress appropriately (wait if there is lightning or storms nearby) and enjoy the place. No need to think about anything. Just enjoy the place using your senses...smell, sight, touch, hearing and perhaps taste (maybe open your mouth and allow the air to drift over your tongue...do you taste anything from the air?). Take your journal along and after the walk maybe sit and write or draw anything that stands out.

Meditation/Journey--If you have a bathtub, fill it with warm water and add a bit of Epsom salt. Soak for a while thinking of stars and Dreaming. Allow your mind to wander to the stars and feel yourself floating with whales among the stars. Take your time. Maybe play recorded whale songs. Record your experiences in your journal after finishing. Finish by imagining breathing through the bottoms of your feet to ground yourself.