Finding Sun
Notes from the Forest's Edge December 11th 2024
Opening the gate to let the horse and donkey through to their daytime haunt I become aware that everything just changed. In an instant the muddy ground and dead leaves start to sing as Sun emerges from the southern end of the eastern mountain ridge. The crests of the tiny waves in the creek mirror back the shinning glory as the skin on my face soaks softens in response.
Peaking out from the side of the mountain I see Sun, a silver disc seeming to spin behind the clouds, streaming beams of warm light to announce the long awaited arrival. It's been light for a few hours down here on the floor of this tight little valley, we've been existing in a liminal twilight, waiting for this great being to show themselves.
My heart leaps at the sight, causing me pause as the large four footed ones amble gracefully along the path. I turn my face and my palms towards the emerging being of light in utter delight, feeling blessed by this presence. I say good morning in the ancestral languages I can manage, "Bore da, Sul" in Welsh and "Madainn mhath" in Scottish Gaelic, "Good Morning, Sun". I want this one to hear me, to know me, to know from where I hail, and where I stand.
I do the best I can to send my consciousness out to greet this giant. Simultaneously, trusting that I exist with the vast field of the magnificent being and doubting whether my tiny human gestures have any impact on the Shining One. I wonder how many others pause to greet Sun or say thank you in the afternoon as the Western ridge rolls up to cover the golden beauty. Do you?
What if we stop saluting Sun? What will we loose as a species? How can we locate ourselves in this vast, swirling cosmos without Sun?
We dwell deep within Sun's field, held tight in orbit by the force of the burning mass. Yet, even here, bathed in light we spin in and out of Shadow. Every day a new opportunity to be amazed, to behold the timeless wonder of Sun. Like an endlessly patient Grandparent, Sun continues to play hide and seek with us as Earth spins, "I'm here, I'm gone, I'm here..." but we're so busy inside our boxes we often don't even notice or just pull down the shade so as not to distract ourselves from whatever is so important.
What can possibly be more important? All of life needs Sun.
I wonder why we don't all pull over on the highway or fling open our front doors every morning when Sun appears.
The trees open up their leaf pores and start drinking sunlight at dawn. Birds relay-race, serenade Sun as the wave of light perpetually travels around the plant. I see animals, including those in our field, turn themselves sideways on these winter mornings to soak up the warmth freely offered.
After closing the gate to the field it occurs to me that I can make up for our cultural lack of Sun honoring. I skip down the hill just a little, past the shadow line, time traveling back into pre-dawn. There I wait. Sure enough, as the planet spins toward the east it happens all over again! This time the clouds have moved and Sun appears as golden bright, I imagine Sun smiling at my silliness and hope I can make up in some small way for our human forgetfulness.
What important thing in this world might you be forgetting to tend to, dear one?
Notes from the Forest Edge is a bi-monthly exploration of the liminal space between human and forest consciousness, rooted in a small farm in the Southern Appalachian mountains.
Brilliant ! ******