The spirit of the hermit lives in the woods, always. You will not see him under ordinary circumstances, for he is, after all, a hermit. He wanders through the woods in daily meditation and spiritual communing. There are well-worn paths where he trods, and if you look for them carefully, you will always find them. But you must know what to look for as they do not look like ordinary paths. He walks through the woods on feet as light and soft as feathers. He passes by as secretly as any animal, leaving only the impression a squirrel might leave.
His meals are simple:
whatever he can find and whatever is brought to him by those who know he
dwells within the woods. His
self-assigned task is to learn all there is of the Nature that surrounds
him. Day in and day out, he studies the
plants and animals, the wind and the weather, the sun and the moon. When he is not studying, he is meditating and
communing with his idea of god, and he deposits what he has learned into the
great collective unconsciousness of humankind.
There it is available to anyone who cares to access it.
Where can you find him?
I cannot tell you, but I can tell you this: You can feel him when you go into the
woods. Try it, but try it alone. Chatter and a rapport between two people will
block his influence. Just walk into the
woods and try it. Walk or sit. Stand quietly or meander slowly in a circle. Listen.
That urge you feel to go and look at that rock, to see what’s behind
that tree, to know what’s beyond that bend, to find where that path leads--that
is the all the voice of the hermit talking to you, calling you. He does not speak in words but rather in
impressions. Wait, and you will always
receive impressions. And if you are
humble and thoughtful, you will also receive knowledge and advice.
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| A decoration for the Hermit. |
Bring a small gift and leave it. You will not see him take it, but he
will. A bit of food is always
appreciated. Come to the woods and do
this only once, and you will leave with a feeling of ease and happiness. Come to the woods and do this often, and you
will be profoundly changed. To know that
you are never truly alone--to really know it--is a great gift, indeed.
Today I left a jarring, garish ornament, or so it would
probably seem to him, who has no need for such displays. Then why leave it instead of food? I often leave food, but today I wanted to
communicate a feeling of shiny red hope that I found on my Christmas tree this
morning. We take the ordinary everyday
tree and we dress it up with sparkles and call it special, and it becomes thus,
for whatever we say is so becomes so. It
becomes our symbol of joy and peace. Why
would he need a little trinket to symbolize joy and peace? Well, he wouldn’t, but he knows that I need
it and also that I would like to share it.
Perhaps he will place it on a dead and fallen tree. I think it would do well there, but I will
leave it up to him. The forest does not
need decorations, but the human soul demands the creation of beauty, however
garish it might seem, as we are co-creators of this world. No one knows this better than him.
