Sea of Nettles

A Sea of Nettles

Foreword

The following is from my personal journals, describing one of my forest adventures. It happened at a time when I was at a very low point in my life, having had an accident that left me temporarily incapacitated, to my great frustration and pain. Often I find that whatever happens to me in the forest and on my nature walks, the things I see and experience or the animal omens that appear, has a direct relationship to what is going on in my life. By changing the one you can change the other. This is a story how persistence and courage in the face of obstacles and suffering does pay off in the end. Enjoy!

Call of the Woods

One day I was driving home after my guitar class, feeling really down and in despair. My ankle was giving me a lot of trouble and I was feeling really hopeless, couldn't see an end to my suffering and this disability. I could barely drive my car with the impaired flexibility of my ankle and had to wear shoes with thick soles else I could not walk at all. That day, I had come from town and had no plans to go to the forest, but on impulse, being really sad and in despair, I had parked my car at the place where I use to park when I went to the forest. But it had been very long, about six months since I last was able to walk in the woods on a pair of healthy legs. My spirit was yearning for the forest and it broke my heart that I was prevented from walking in the woods by my crippled state.

As I got out of the car I saw a butterfly fluttering in front of me. I took this as a good omen, maybe a message of hope from the Goddess. Leaning with the back against my car I took a few deep breaths when I felt the forest calling me. Maybe I would get healing there or some peace for my soul at least. And so I started walking uphill on the gravel path with the intent of going to my special place. Because I hadn't planned to go walking in the woods I wore totally inappropriate clothing: platform sandals, my purple leopard wrap skirt and a tank top, absolutely the worst clothes one could wear in a forest. I had taken to wearing the platform sandals as they were the only shoes in which I could walk without limping, due to the lack of flexibility of my ankle. Even though these were only moderate platform sandals, not the "ankle breakers" I had seen on fashion-crazy town women, they were certainly not made for walking on uneven terrain. Walking up the gravel path in them was tedious and unsafe and I might have changed my mind but the butterfly appeared to me again, for the second time now.

Perseverance

So I persevered in spite of the pain in my ankle and finally came to the place where I had to cross over a little ditch and climb onto a smaller mud path leading uphill. This was tricky! I slipped several times and was afraid I would break my ankle again. Yet I would not turn back now. I was in such despair over my crippled state and being prevented to even go out in nature as I used to. I gritted my teeth and went on. My intention was to visit my special tree but when I came to the area I found the whole scenery had changed so drastically that I felt disoriented for a moment. What had happened here?

There had never been nettles before in this part of the forest. But now there was nothing but nettles! The nettle is my power plant and I have a special relationship with it. The autumn before I had done a ritual with nettles there, clearing myself of entities and somehow, so I thought, this must have caused this abnormal growth of nettles. I could hardly see my tree in the distance. The view was obstructed by a field of man's high nettles! There was absolutely no way for anybody to get through there at all, unless with a machete and wearing sturdy boots and clothing that covered the whole body. I thought of giving up and going back but hated the idea of being defeated. I had been defeated enough these past few months and would not accept another defeat.

Battle with Nettles

And so I fought my way through at least 50 meters of nettles as tall as I and some were taller. I tried to bend some out of my way using my fingers. Of course my fingers and hands got stung in the process, badly! Of course my flimsy wrap skirt came open many times as the vegetation clung to it, and the nettles stung me everywhere, on the naked skin of my arms and legs and even through the thin material of my clothes. I also had to avoid brambles that could rip my clothing and scratch my skin and creeper-like vines that wrapped themselves around my feet and hindered me from walking freely. The going was slow, tedious and painful. Just like my life, I thought sarcastically. But I gritted my teeth and went on. I had gone too far to go back now and I could not stand the thought of being defeated once more. So I went on, trying to ignore the stinging burning pain while focusing my mind only on reaching the tree.

I had made it almost to the tree when I found I couldn't go any further, not even another meter, my path blocked by extremely dense vegetation. There were so many tall nettles in front of the tree that I saw no opening nor anywhere to tread on the bramble covered ground. From my journey through the sea of nettles I already felt a stinging and burning sensation all over my body. It was most frustrating that so close to my goal and having gone through so much I should now be obstructed and forced to retreat like a beaten dog. Was this also like my spiritual journey, having gone far but unable to make it any further, my body in pain, my spirit defeated? It rankled me to be obstructed so close to my goal but no matter how hard I looked I saw no place to put my feet amidst the dense brambles, no way of passing through this wall of nettles. I was despairing and also angry and then I felt something give way inside of me and just went forward without even glancing at the ground.

Victory!

Focusing all my will power I pushed my way through the nettles and reached the tree. I was so glad to have made it that I spontaneously embraced it and let its strength seep into me. There was no place to sit and meditate so I just hugged the tree. This was my special tree, the oak tree I once had done the World Tree Ritual with. It was interesting because I had at that time put some of my blood onto the trunk of the tree to make the bond and fulfill my vows. I had only been able to squeeze very little blood out of my thumb then, it was hardly visible. But now, there was a one foot long stretch of bark that was red like blood. I felt that my ritual sacrifice had been accepted and had made a huge impact on the spiritual level. It gave me hope that there might be light at the end of the tunnel for me. My rituals apparently were very powerful, considering that a few drops of blood had made such an impact and totally discoloured the bark. And my nettle ritual last winter in these woods, where once only three or four solitary nettles had grown, and much further up the path, had now changed the whole area to a sea of nettles. Wow, my magick was powerful and amazing! I focused back on my healing with renewed hope, embracing the tree and letting its strength and calm flow into me. It was like coming back to a good friend after a long separation. After all we had a bond! I spent some time with the tree and felt I received good healing from it. When I was finished I thanked the tree.

Empowered

A painful journey of return lay ahead of me. But no, I would not accept this! And so I commanded the nettles: "Move out of my way, I have already passed your test!" And they did so! I saw them bending left and right as if pushed by a breeze, yet there was none! Whenever I came to a tight passage I mentally told them to give way as I had passed their test and they did! I ended up receiving very few stings on the way back when I had received so many on the way to the tree. I also made it back out in two minutes while I had struggled for at least 15 minutes to reach the tree on the way in.

As I made my way back down to my car, I saw a third butterfly crossing my path just in front of me. 'Three times is a charm,' I thought. The butterfly, symbol of transformation, had appeared to give me hope! I made it back to the car safely in spite of my poor footwear. My skin burned for a couple of hours, but I was very happy. This was one of the many adventures I had in that forest.