We belong to the Earth. We are attuned to the gravitational pull of our native planet, it’s powerful energy filling and anchoring our lives. She gives and gives. Her web of life supports all life forms. Our bodies thrive on the wide variety of food earth provides. We find shelter in materials gathered from the earth. She provides everything we need to survive and generously supports our lives of plenty.
Earth is the foundation for our physical lives which gives us a platform for the growth and the development of our souls as we meet the challenges of life in a body.
Earth heals. Nature heals. Think of the peace of a riverbank, resting on a pebbly sandbar, the solid bedrock beneath your feet, holding you steady, the peace and patience and beauty of trees, the fragrance of the evergreens, breathtaking and inspiring landscapes of all varieties.
Attuning ourselves to nature and connecting to Earth energy, we feel calmer, at home. Feeling calmer gives us the ability to slow down and tune into the quiet rhythms of life. The rhythms of life are those of the energies and cycles of nature, the ebb and flow of our breath, the beat of our hearts, sleeping and waking, light and dark, life and death.
The spirit of the Earth teaches us through the love and wisdom contained in the ancient stones here since our planet’s fiery beginning. We learn from the past through buried clues and hints from those who came before us, the transformation and renewal of new life feeding on the decay of the old. She shows us how all things are interconnected, interdependent, how nothing and no-one stands alone in the web of life. Her example is one of generosity. Earth teaches us giving and receiving when the timing is right, going inward and reflecting in season, gathering strength and sending down roots, grounding ourselves and opening to the light of spirit.
Release Ceremony with the Earth Element
What feelings, negative patterns, ingrained false beliefs are you ready to release to the Earth? For this release ceremony, create a power object of nature materials to hold those feelings. You will infuse the object with the feelings you wish to release, then bury it in the earth. The earth will dissolve it into its component elements that will feed the soil and fuel new growth when the timing is right.
The Earth will disintegrate or dissolve your object over time in some way. Because of this, don’t get too attached to your object or make it too precious. Your creation must be biodegradable. Plastics or artificial materials that persist in the environment for many years are not suitable.
Your handmade article doesn’t have to be beautiful, clever, or complicated. Since it contains the energy you are releasing the earth will will dissolve, disintegrate, and recycle that as well. The physical object will rust, wither away, decay and dissolve, return to its original elements and feed the soil. At the same time, the earth will absorb and re-integrate the energy of emotions and feelings you are releasing.
Your power object is a symbolic assembly that will represent those feelings, beliefs, patterns of thought or action you wish to release. Before you create your object, spend some time thinking and writing about the concerns and challenges you are ready to release. Think about how you life will improve after letting them go, surrendering them to nature.
For your object, you might use leaves, small sticks, slabs of tree bark, seed pods, paper, an offering of food, vegetable matter such as you would place in a compost pile, a bouquet of wildflowers, a bundle of hedge trimmings, cotton string or hemp baling twine, Use your imagination and creativity and enjoy the process of making this article.
Now assemble your power object. It doesn’t have to be artistically pleasing or pretty. Remember, it will be destroyed. After your object is ready, gather the energy of those feelings you wish to release into your lungs on a deep in-breath and then breathe the feelings into your power object. This powerful out-breath empties you of those unwanted, unhealthy feelings, and transfers them to the object you will shortly surrender to the Earth. The earth will cleanse and clear, and make new again.
Next, find a place to bury your power object and give it up to the earth. Get permission if needed, and dig a shallow depression or hole. (If you dig deeper you may need to plan ahead and check with the utilities locator in your area.) Place your object in the earth and cover it with soil. You may also want to place an arrangement of stones, flowers, or dried grasses on top of your refilled hole.
Thank Earth for her assistance, her healing and clearing power, for her ability to recycle, transform and transmute energy, to clear you of those feelings that were holding you back in life. If you are so moved, do a happy dance, sing, drum in gratitude for the healing Earth has so readily provided.
Trust the earth to work in its own time to heal and diffuse the energy of your stagnant emotions, dissolve your object and return it to the soil. This is the power of the earth element in action.
Shamanic Healing of Ames 