Earth Sensory Perception is a subsection of Our Uncertain Future and represents a compilation of essays on animistic nature connections in the modern world. These essays are only available for free for two weeks before they are paywalled.
What is Earth Magic
Earth Magic is when you receive a sign or symbol from the natural world like an omen. These can be completely mundane or extraordinary experiences. I love Earth Magic because when it occurs, it reminds me that I am co-creating with the Universe. The nature beings around us become a form of divination, a direct line to the Source, that which connects all of us. Generally, in divination we get to choose when and where we use it—pull the tarot card, shuffle the pages, turn on the radio, read the tea leaves, translate clouds, pick a rune, etc. With Earth Magic however, it can occur at any time anywhere. You have no control over it as you have no control over Nature. But when it does occur, you know you are on the right path.
If a wind gusts, a hawk flies overhead, or you spot a shooting star in the exact moment you are thinking of our departed loved one, there is nothing you did to make that happen. Only our openness to the world and our ability to understand the symbols allow Earth Magic to occur. It’s happening all the time all around us.
Animal Spirits
Some animals are ubiquitous in your neighborhood like deer or rabbits or pigeons, but when you see a coyote running across the road and you haven’t seen one in months, it’s fair to read that as a sign. If you have a special connection to white cats and one appears at your windowsill one morning, it is fair to read that as a sign. If you are asking a question to yourself or the universe and a crow caws overhead, it might be talking to you. When experiencing these coincidental encounters, it is helpful to understand what the animal means to you personally, otherwise in the collective.
The other day I was sitting outside writing in journal and I was in a grumpy mood, complaining a lot, and then all of a sudden, I looked down under my legs where they were perched on the table and there was a wild desert rabbit nibbling grass beneath me, completely trusting and at ease. As with Earth Magic, the experience was uncanny. It wasn’t something that normally occurs. And also as with Earth Magic, I felt a feeling of amazement or awe from the experience.
I started journaling then about the rabbit and questioned, what does the rabbit mean to me? I knew that universally, rabbits represent fear because they are nervous creatures. I wrote about whether I was feeling grumpy out of fear and what fears might be coming up for me. I also knew that my Chinese Zodiac sign was the rabbit and they represented peace, gentleness and good fortune. I journaled about how I might find more peace from my fears. In witchcraft, we see rabbits as a symbol of renewal and fertility and I wrote about what may be transforming in me and creating tension, what new beginnings I may be preparing for.
Through all this the rabbit stood there nibbling grass, watching me with its side eye. Eventually, through my journaling about the rabbit I concluded that I was exactly where I need to be and all was well in the world. And suddenly out of nowhere, with seemingly no sound or movement to incite it, the rabbit took off running under the fence and was gone. Simultaneously, I felt complete. I put down my notebook and went on with my day feeling much better.
That’s just one example of how Earth Magic works.
Serpent’s Tale
I live in a remote off grid home in the desert and have walked these lands daily for six years before I finally had my first rattlesnake encounter in the wild. People always asked me if I was scared of rattlesnakes, but I wasn’t because they are obviously rare and I always took precautions like wearing tall boots and only one earbud in so I could listen. But because I am a nature intuitive, my first encounter wasn’t scary at all, it was magical.
We spotted each other at the same time (although I’m sure she felt my stomping vibrations approaching.) We were face to face on the same trail (one I built). She was so green! She hissed and rattled and I stood in awe, making sure it was really a rattler. I took a video and turned around. There’s no point going around her since I must return the same way.
I was elated. Snakes are powerful medicine. They represent transformation, shedding the past and renewal. Their poison represents healing. The clear warning she gave, so I knew I was safe where I was even as she reeled up, felt truly protective. To come across her then at the peak of summer when my life was transitioning so much was an omen. Literally, it was a sign that it is time to change paths and it’s safe to do so.
Signs can appear in ways other than through animals like wind in the trees, an acorn falling, a distant thunder, and more. My friend told me recently that she heard a singular crash of thunder at the start of her ceremony and immediately knew she had to do a land offering. Signs can also show up for you throughout your life or in different seasons of your life to give you the reminder you need. Only you can interpret their meaning.
Solo Medicine Walk
In 2022, I went on my first solo medicine walk. A medicine walk is a ceremony in which you leave at first light to venture into nature and return at last light, fasting from food, phone and outside distractions. Most importantly, you set an intention for your walk, usually a question your heart is longing for an answer to. Time alone in nature without interruption invites deep listening to your intuition, as well as a powerful connection with the more-than-human world, which can act as a mirror for you, reflecting the answers you seek.
I left at dawn, just as the sun was coming up over the mountains shedding its first auburn glow over the desert. The dog was whining to go with me, but I needed to do this one alone. I decided that the front gate to my yard would be my threshold. A threshold can be anything you cross to signify your intent to enter sacred or ceremonial space. Once you cross the threshold, you are acknowledging that everything that happens from that point forward has meaning. In this case, my front gate served as both a physical threshold and a metaphorical one.
I had woken up anxious, borderline fearful, filled with self-doubt. It had been raining heavily for days, including for hours the night before. I knew it would be muddy and I would most likely be caught in a rainstorm. I was questioning if I should go at all. But I was motivated by my carb loading the night before, I had to burn it off somehow, might as well go.
I hiked two miles before I entered the trees where there was a comfortable private place to sit and write. Writing is another element of the Medicine Walk. I was embarking on a journey and much like a narrative arc, there is a beginning, a middle and an end (rising action, climax, and dénouement, for you lit nerds.) I was tracking my narrative as I went. Just as in a story or novel, I proceeded with curiosity, the hero of my own tale. What symbols will arise? What obstacles will I have to overcome? Will there be a peak experience that ties it all together? And like any good story, the hero seeks catharsis, a feeling of release that will lead to renewal.
My stomach growled a bit, my back hurt. I had to remind myself that I had another 14 hours to go. I meandered, switching between following a path and wandering in the trees. The anxiety I began the morning with intensified as I continued my walk, states of panic, verge of tears, frustration, self-doubt, fear. I stopped to meditate to relax and get centered and stop the preposterous thought loops of irrational worry and ridiculous far out scenarios of danger. I reminded myself that this was my lizard brain, the limbic brain, whose function is to keep me from getting eaten by bears and lost in the woods. It’s where the robust emotions get stuck, particularly fear, and keeps me hyper-vigilant even when I don’t need to be.
When a tarantula hawk began suspiciously circling me, I used my backpack as defense and ran away screaming. Tarantula hawks are terrifying (look them up if you don’t know), but I had to laugh at myself and the ridiculousness of my overreaction. I reminded myself of all the times I’ve hiked alone in the forest from Alaska to New York to New Mexico without anything bad ever happening. I realized then, I had to trust myself to listen to my intuition because I still had 8 more hours to go.
The Magic of Heart Rocks
Rounding the corner, I noticed a large rock in the shape of a heart. It struck me like a vibrating bass note, a chorus of angels surrounded by a glowing prism. Just a rock. A plain old piece of granite covered in moss but shaped like a heart. Yet it was so much more than that. In that moment, it was exactly perfect and exactly meant to be and a message to me and only me from the Earth. It was as if I had never seen a rock shaped like a heart before. Perhaps I hadn’t. It felt like a total and complete phenomenon. It was too destined to be anything other than a sign.
Perhaps in any other situation I could have overlooked this rock. I probably would have. But this wasn’t any other moment. This was a solo medicine walk. I hadn’t eaten in 16 hours. This was a moment of internal struggle when I was trying desperately to release from years of built-up tension. This was a moment when I wasn’t looking for a sign, but I desperately needed one. This was my sign.
I cried a little, overwhelmed as I was with gratitude for my sign. I sat down beside the rock and thanked the Earth. Thank you, thank you so much. The Earth loved me. I was sure of it then.
Eventually, I continued walking. The crows arrived. I decided that junipers had less ants than pinons and were therefore better for napping under. My tummy grumbled like the overhead airplane. I continued my walk. I saw another heart rock and repeated, “Thank you. I love you too.”
I saw rock with a heart on it, instead of a rock shaped like a heart. The negative space of the lichen formed a heart. I said, “Thank you. I love you too.”
I saw the perfectly shaped heart created by the succulent branch of a prickly pear cactus and I said, “Thank you, I love you too.”
As I walked, more and more heart rocks appeared beneath my feet and for each one, I repeated my mantra. I was now in conversation with Mother Earth. The more I engaged, the more she responded.
The Perfect Storm Forms Resilience
Then the event I was most afraid of occurred—the rains blew in. I spent two hours in a rain suit squatting under a tree, jumping up onto my toes with every crash of thunder as three lightning storms converged over me at once. Beyond the fear was the hours of dreaded boredom. I felt empty and fatigued. When the storm finally settled, I trudged toward home much less afraid of lightning storms, since I had faced my worst fear and survived.
I stopped to rest for a moment. Still in my rain suit coated in droplets, my boots covered in mud, I was exhausted. My legs ached from adventure. My heart was raw and softened from the grand spectrum of emotion I had processed. The sky had cleared, yet one singular cloud floated up above— a beautiful white fluffy cloud perfectly shaped like a heart. I gasped with awe. I was sure I had never seen a heart cloud before in my life. This was not an ambiguous sign in the least. This was clear and meant for me in the middle of nowhere in an open field after a wild storm on a grassy knoll at the end of nearly 24 hours of fasting. “Thank you,” I cried, “I love you too.”
At the peak of my journey, I felt completely at ease. I felt a sense of belonging to the forest. I felt a deep understanding that I was never alone as I am connected to all beings. I learned without a doubt that the Earth loves me, Mother Nature loves me. I am in conversation, in relationship with the natural world, as we all are if we just open ourselves up to listen with eyes, ears, hands, nose, mouth and heart. Now I see heart rocks all the time. I have a collection of them in my yard and on my altar. They follow me everywhere I go. Many people have a connection to heart rocks and they mean all kinds of different things to them, all special. But for me, they mean something very specific.
Whenever I am outdoors and in a tough state, a heart rock appears to remind me I am not alone. Always I say, “Thank you, I love you too.” At my most difficult times, when I least expect it, a heart will appear to me in nature in the most unexpected ways. I’ve seen them in wire fences, old cans, tree branches, plant leaves, flowers and shadows. I never take them for granted. I am always grateful to be loved.
Ask For a Sign
Try this exercise. Ask the universe to give you a sign from the natural world. Specifically name something you want to see and wait and see. Give it a week and it will show up. Try not to hyperfocus on seeing the sign but also don’t forget about it completely so you’ll remember it when it shows up. One time I tried this and asked to see a feather. This seemed like something plausible enough but also rare enough. A few days went by and I was losing hope. Then one day I was having a great conversation with an elder woman about all these amazing things she did in her youth. And just as I was about to say goodbye to her, i realized what was on her shirt! You guessed it, a feather. So, it wasn’t an actual feather but a picture of a feather. In that moment, my awareness heightened and I recalled the whole beautiful conversation I just had and what it meant for me in that time in my life. Signs can show up for you in a multitude of unexpected ways, but it requires you to be open and paying attention or you might miss them and miss their meaning.
If you are interested in learning more about Solo Walks, you can purchase my guide for $11 here.
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Deep Listening with the Land
There are many ways to connect with the natural world around you such as sit spots and forest walks but to truly be in sync with the living world, feel the sensation of communing with your environment, and be able to practice animistic nature communication, you must learn deep listening.
The Simple Power of Sit Spots
Just go outside and sit. That’s it. That’s all you need to do. Walk away from your house. Find a green space and sit down. Then stay there and linger longer than you want to. Stay past the point where it feels comfortable to do nothing. Let the feeling that you should be doing something pass. And then you will begin to feel it, the deep coherence with the space and nature beings around you.
