{"id":31350,"date":"2025-02-03T00:49:58","date_gmt":"2025-02-03T04:49:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/?p=31350"},"modified":"2025-02-03T00:49:58","modified_gmt":"2025-02-03T04:49:58","slug":"codys-column-connecting-with-your-spirits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2025\/02\/03\/codys-column-connecting-with-your-spirits\/","title":{"rendered":"Cody\u2019s Column: Connecting with Your Spirits"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
The Magic Skagit River<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We made it through our first full moon in January and still no snow.\u00a0 Now it is February, and we received snow on Imbolc.\u00a0 The forest is still not asleep by any means.\u00a0 The tree spirits seem talkative along the well-worn paths.\u00a0 Bird chatter is ever present and today I even came across a squirrel chirping in a cedar tree near the banks of the Magic Skagit River.\u00a0 I drew runes in the wet sand and got Nauthiz, the rune of need for my actions to take this month.\u00a0 This will be my jumping off point when I speak with the spirits of the land as well as the tree and animal spirits.\u00a0 What are the needs of this land?\u00a0 What do I need to accomplish personally?\u00a0 Where do we need to put our collective focus?\u00a0 These are great questions to get the spirits involved on your land.<\/p>\n

\"\"
A medicine bundle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I have learned a great deal about this land through the tree spirits.\u00a0 There are trees like cottonwood, cedar, hawthorn, and alder that make great medicine for everything from hand salve to decongestants, heart, and lymphatic support.\u00a0 Other trees like Holly, vine maple, and Grand fir have deep spiritual lessons to impart.\u00a0 Some trees are in the forest in such a way that they provide an excellent place to sit and meditate.\u00a0 All the trees give clues about what type of growth is possible on the land as well as insights into the overall health of the forest.\u00a0 They interconnect through mycelial networks and help the young trees get nutrients, fight off disease and pest, as well as how to access and shed water in our temperate climate.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Looking out over the pumphouse<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We learned quickly that sandy soil needs shade in the summer months.\u00a0 To mitigate water loss and increase organic matter we learned from the deciduous and hardy willow trees that we need to start a succession of trees to bring shade to the warmest parts of our land.\u00a0 Willow is such a forgiving tree.\u00a0 This land was cleared to make farmland back 90 years ago when logging was at its peak boon.\u00a0 The fertile forest soil gave way to healthy crops for a time until the balance tipped, and all the organic material was sapped out of the land leaving just sand behind on this ancient riverbed.\u00a0 Willow agreed to be the first tree in, but she needed us to run our goats over the land and build up some organic matter first.\u00a0 Once the willows are established, we can take cuttings from them and begin working in a new section of land, goats first, then willows, creating a natural pattern of reforestation.<\/p>\n

\"\"
My dirty feet<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Working with tree spirits requires us to check in on trees, especially young trees.\u00a0 Sometimes they need mulch other times its water.\u00a0 We offer goat milk as well to begin changing the soil to the more suitable fungal dominant conditions for trees.\u00a0 The change in soil takes time, an effective metaphor for the change happening internally as we do this work on the land and with the spirits.\u00a0 Masanobu Fukuoka, a provocative farmer in Japan said, “The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings.”\u00a0 In this respect, I agree with his observation and claim.\u00a0 With the same tools and techniques that we use on the trees, we can use to maintain ourselves.\u00a0 This is the end that the spirits of the land, tree spirits, and animals spirits follow as well.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Apples ripening on the tree<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I recommend that you maintain a relationship of connection to your land spirits, tree spirits, and animal spirits.\u00a0 Take frequent walks in all types of weather to visit your tree friends to see how they are doing.\u00a0 You will notice how they respond to heavy rain, longer days, and drought conditions.\u00a0 Occasionally, you may find pruning a tree, in the case of an apple to be necessary to increase fruiting.\u00a0 Other trees like hazel, can be completely coppiced every three to five years to yield dimensional wood useful for many things.\u00a0 Still others like the oak need very little bother at all.\u00a0 These trees can all be metaphors for the type of growth you need to do personally.\u00a0 Reflect on these metaphors often.\u00a0 Notice your animal friends, especially when a newcomer arrives as this can often bring new revelations about the land as well as our spiritual condition.\u00a0 We all go through cycles, transformations, and changes.\u00a0 It is fundamental to know that spirit guides on the land are familiar with these forces and are therefore versed in how to handle them.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Moutain ravens resting on a scraggly tree<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I once had two ravens greet me every morning for three months while I attended my farm chores of milking goats, feeding our livestock guardian dogs, and checking on our chicken\u2019s fresh clean water supply.\u00a0 I leaned into their visits and began a quest of wonder for wisdom.\u00a0 This precipitated in me starting a group with friends at our local library called For the Love of Wisdom where we meet each month to discuss philosophy, ancient wisdom, great thinkers, and the like.\u00a0 Our experiences with our spirit guides can have real world manifestations.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Altar set up on the Tree of Wonders<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We have a Maple tree down by our river that we call the Tree of Wonders.\u00a0 When we first arrived onto this land, my kids and I discovered the tree on one of our walks.\u00a0 It was adorned with crystals, jewelry, shells, and stones.\u00a0 At first my kids wanted to take all the items, but we made a shift that day in our thinking about the forest.\u00a0 Instead of taking, we instilled a ritual where we exchanged items.\u00a0 My kids all ran back home to go through their treasure we had found along our adventures and slowly we came back to make exchanges.\u00a0 Occasionally, I make deposits of precious stones, a beaver chewed walking stick, jewelry I have made, an antler shed\u2026whatever I think would make the spirits happy.\u00a0 There are always new items coming and going.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Tree of Wonders<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After two years, we discovered an opening on the Tree of Wonders.\u00a0 I climbed inside to reveal a cavern inside the tree that I could stand up in.\u00a0 Once I brought my guitar inside and a song came to me.\u00a0 I still play the song but I have not yet come up with any words to it, just a feeling of transformation.\u00a0 Land spirits work with us in these ways.\u00a0 According to June McCormick in Valley of the Spirits, \u201cSpirits were associated with many but not all animal species, the elements, and natural phenomena like lakes and strangely shaped boulders in the Skagit River.\u00a0 Some spirits had only human characteristics. (All spirits, those linked with animals included, had also human or semi human form which they could assume at will.)\u00a0 Certain spirits could be obtained either as lay or shamanistic spirits but not all spirits had this potential.\u201d (p.146).\u00a0 I find it comforting that the Sauk-Suiattle people had such relationships with the spirits of the land.\u00a0 The spirits themselves form a diverse spiritual ecology where we as humans interact.\u00a0 Some ignore the potential of relationships while others discover and explore these relationships.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Forest Walk<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I have seen an indigenous man in shamanistic attire walk the land from time to time.\u00a0 At first, I was quite perplexed.\u00a0 It was actually sometime after the event itself before I knew the meaning of my seeing him.\u00a0 He is a keeper of the land spirit, and a powerful one, responsible for much healing and teaching that goes on here.\u00a0 Sometimes he shifts form into an animal or once even a tree that fell down in the forest and was completely gone a year later.\u00a0 Each time I see him; he brings a message.\u00a0 And so it is with encounters of the spirit kind.\u00a0 They offer us messages, sometimes clear like the elk I wrote about last month. Other times needing months of contemplation and decipherment.\u00a0 I never feel alone when I walk these lands. \u00a0It brings me great joy when I am at another person\u2019s home, and I encounter land spirits there as well.<\/p>\n

\"\"
River Spirits<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So, what do we do with all this?\u00a0 As I have mentioned, take walks in all types of weather and hone your observation skills.\u00a0 Be of open mind to what the land spirits are wanting to communicate to you.\u00a0 Find a tree and make it your Tree of Wonders and leave frequent offerings.\u00a0 Explain its meaning to your children and visitors.\u00a0 Think about the people who walked this land before us and learn the ways they tend to the land and its diverse spiritual ecology.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Forest Portal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Speaking to this diverse spiritual ecology as well as to the animal spirits that have been influential to our farm will be the topic of my next column article in March.\u00a0 Until then, may your walks be ponderous and your spirit guides be talkative.<\/p>\n

\"\"I am a husband, father, farmer, and friend. I live on the banks of the Magic Skagit River, ancestral lands of the Sauk-Suiattle people. I practice rune reading, tarot, land magic, and work with many spirit guides. My life began Pagan but I veered off into the Christian church in college. I found my way back to my Pagan and ancestral roots in 2005 and have journeyed along this path since then.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We made it through our first full moon in January and still no snow.\u00a0 Now it is February, and we received snow on Imbolc.\u00a0 The forest is still not asleep by any means.\u00a0 The tree spirits seem talkative along the well-worn paths.\u00a0 Bird chatter is ever present and today I even came across a squirrel chirping in a cedar tree near the banks of the Magic Skagit River.\u00a0 I drew runes in the wet sand and got Nauthiz, the rune of need for my actions to take this month.\u00a0 This will be my jumping off point when I speak with the spirits of the land as well as the tree and animal spirits.\u00a0 What are the needs of this land?\u00a0 What do I need to accomplish personally?\u00a0 Where do we need to put our collective focus?\u00a0 These are great questions to get the spirits involved on your land. I have learned a great deal about this land through the tree spirits.\u00a0 There are trees like cottonwood, cedar, hawthorn, and alder that make great medicine for everything from hand salve to decongestants, heart, and lymphatic support.\u00a0 Other trees like Holly, vine maple, and Grand fir have deep spiritual lessons to impart.\u00a0 Some trees are in the forest in such a way that they provide an excellent place to sit and meditate.\u00a0 All the trees give clues about what type of growth is possible on the land as well as insights into the overall health of the forest.\u00a0 They interconnect through mycelial networks and help the young trees get nutrients, fight off disease and pest, as well as how to access and shed water in our temperate climate. We learned quickly that sandy soil needs shade in the summer months.\u00a0 To mitigate water loss and increase organic matter we learned from the deciduous and hardy willow trees that we need to start a succession of trees to bring shade to the warmest parts of our land.\u00a0 Willow is such a forgiving tree.\u00a0 This land was cleared to make farmland back 90 years ago when logging was at its peak boon.\u00a0 The fertile forest soil gave way to healthy crops for a time until the balance tipped, and all the organic material was sapped out of the land leaving just sand behind on this ancient riverbed.\u00a0 Willow agreed to be the first tree in, but she needed us to run our goats over the land and build up some organic matter first.\u00a0 Once the willows are established, we can take cuttings from them and begin working in a new section of land, goats first, then willows, creating a natural pattern of reforestation. Working with tree spirits requires us to check in on trees, especially young trees.\u00a0 Sometimes they need mulch other times its water.\u00a0 We offer goat milk as well to begin changing the soil to the more suitable fungal dominant conditions for trees.\u00a0 The change in soil takes time, an effective metaphor for the change happening internally as we do this work on the land and with the spirits.\u00a0 Masanobu Fukuoka, a provocative farmer in Japan said, “The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings.”\u00a0 In this respect, I agree with his observation and claim.\u00a0 With the same tools and techniques that we use on the trees, we can use to maintain ourselves.\u00a0 This is the end that the spirits of the land, tree spirits, and animals spirits follow as well. I recommend that you maintain a relationship of connection to your land spirits, tree spirits, and animal spirits.\u00a0 Take frequent walks in all types of weather to visit your tree friends to see how they are doing.\u00a0 You will notice how they respond to heavy rain, longer days, and drought conditions.\u00a0 Occasionally, you may find pruning a tree, in the case of an apple to be necessary to increase fruiting.\u00a0 Other trees like hazel, can be completely coppiced every three to five years to yield dimensional wood useful for many things.\u00a0 Still others like the oak need very little bother at all.\u00a0 These trees can all be metaphors for the type of growth you need to do personally.\u00a0 Reflect on these metaphors often.\u00a0 Notice your animal friends, especially when a newcomer arrives as this can often bring new revelations about the land as well as our spiritual condition.\u00a0 We all go through cycles, transformations, and changes.\u00a0 It is fundamental to know that spirit guides on the land are familiar with these forces and are therefore versed in how to handle them. I once had two ravens greet me every morning for three months while I attended my farm chores of milking goats, feeding our livestock guardian dogs, and checking on our chicken\u2019s fresh clean water supply.\u00a0 I leaned into their visits and began a quest of wonder for wisdom.\u00a0 This precipitated in me starting a group with friends at our local library called For the Love of Wisdom where we meet each month to discuss philosophy, ancient wisdom, great thinkers, and the like.\u00a0 Our experiences with our spirit guides can have real world manifestations. We have a Maple tree down by our river that we call the Tree of Wonders.\u00a0 When we first arrived onto this land, my kids and I discovered the tree on one of our walks.\u00a0 It was adorned with crystals, jewelry, shells, and stones.\u00a0 At first my kids wanted to take all the items, but we made a shift that day in our thinking about the forest.\u00a0 Instead of taking, we instilled a ritual where we exchanged items.\u00a0 My kids all ran back home to go through their treasure we had found along our adventures and slowly we came back to make exchanges.\u00a0 Occasionally, I make deposits of precious stones, a beaver chewed walking stick, jewelry I have made, an antler shed\u2026whatever I think would make the spirits happy.\u00a0 There are always new items coming and going. After two years, we discovered an opening on the Tree of Wonders.\u00a0 I climbed inside to reveal a cavern inside the tree that I could stand up in.\u00a0 Once I brought my guitar inside and a song came to me.\u00a0 I still play the song but I have not yet come up with any words to it, just a feeling of transformation.\u00a0 Land spirits work with us in these ways.\u00a0 According to June McCormick in Valley of the Spirits, \u201cSpirits were associated with many but not all animal species, the elements, and natural phenomena like lakes and strangely shaped boulders in the Skagit River.\u00a0 Some spirits had only human characteristics. (All spirits, those linked with animals included, had also human or semi human form which they could assume at will.)\u00a0 Certain spirits could be obtained either as lay or shamanistic spirits but not all spirits had this potential.\u201d (p.146).\u00a0 I find it comforting that the Sauk-Suiattle people had such relationships with the spirits of the land.\u00a0 The spirits themselves form a diverse spiritual ecology where we as humans interact.\u00a0 Some ignore the potential of relationships while others discover and explore these relationships. I have seen an indigenous man in shamanistic attire walk the land from time to time.\u00a0 At first, I was quite perplexed.\u00a0 It was actually sometime after the event itself before I knew the meaning of my seeing him.\u00a0 He is a keeper of the land spirit, and a powerful one, responsible for much healing and teaching that goes on here.\u00a0 Sometimes he shifts form into an animal or once even a tree that fell down in the forest and was completely gone a year later.\u00a0 Each time I see him; he brings a message.\u00a0 And so it is with encounters of the spirit kind.\u00a0 They offer us messages, sometimes clear like the elk I wrote about last month. Other times needing months of contemplation and decipherment.\u00a0 I never feel alone when I walk these lands. \u00a0It brings me great joy when I am at another person\u2019s home, and I encounter land spirits there as well. So, what do we do with all this?\u00a0 As I have mentioned, take walks in all types of weather and hone your observation skills.\u00a0 Be of open mind to what the land spirits are wanting to communicate to you.\u00a0 Find a tree and make it your Tree of Wonders and leave frequent offerings.\u00a0 Explain its meaning to your children and visitors.\u00a0 Think about the people who walked this land before us and learn the ways they tend to the land and its diverse spiritual ecology. Speaking to this diverse spiritual ecology as well as to the animal spirits that have been influential to our farm will be the topic of my next column article in March.\u00a0 Until then, may your walks be ponderous and your spirit guides be talkative. I am a husband, father, farmer, and friend. I live on the banks of the Magic Skagit River, ancestral lands of the Sauk-Suiattle people. I practice rune reading, tarot, land magic, and work with many spirit guides. My life began Pagan but I veered off into the Christian church in college. I found my way back to my Pagan and ancestral roots in 2005 and have journeyed along this path since then.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":295,"featured_media":31357,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":2,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10004],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-monthly-columns"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/295"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31350"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31365,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31350\/revisions\/31365"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}