For months now, I’ve been encouraging you, in the weekly blog, to be observant of the world around you. At the beginning of this month, I told you that Spring is here. You may still be wondering why I insist that’s true.
The simple answer is, I have observed the signs.
For example, here in Colorado, where I live, it snowed Friday. Wait, isn’t snow a sign of Winter? Absolutely, but here, we also get Spring Snow storms. They are different. They are heavy, and wet, and they melt the next day.
While the snow was the light fluffy powder of Winter, this acted like a Spring snow storm. As I watched the snow fall, I could see and feel the difference in this storm. It piled up high, like a Spring storm, and by noon the next day, the street in front of my house was wet, not snow-packed.
With a little more water content, this would have been a classic Spring snow storm.
Saturday, I watched as three woodpeckers returned to the tree in my neighbor’s backyard. They flicked snow off the branches, and began looking for a roost.
Sunday morning, way early, I heard the unmistakable B-R-R-R-R-R-R-R of woodpeckers hammering my house. Last year, they were pecking at the gutter. It was loud, but not destructive. Sunday morning, they were hitting wood, so I walked outside, in the snow, and shooed them away.
I have been watching the Canadian geese, flying back East, and North. They Winter here, so we see them all Winter. Now they are leaving again.
Observing The Ordinary
I think I caught my first glimpse of a Robin, Saturday. It flew into the branches of a tree, so I can’t be sure. I have certainly been seeing a lot more birds, and I’ve been hearing, well, not song birds, but different bird calls for weeks now.
I had a dream the other night, where I was standing under a tree. I looked up and noticed the leaves were coming in. I remember that I was upset at myself, for not noticing it earlier. While it’ll still be a couple of months before leaves start actually coming back to the trees, my subconscious is telling me that it is Spring.
Every area of the world has its own signs of the seasons. They are going to be different, depending on where you live. If you’re in the Southern Hemisphere, it’s Fall, and the signs should match that fact.
If you are in the South Eastern US, I expect that it is already green, and lush with new growth. One of the things I could never wrap my head around, when I would go there in March or April, was how green it was, compared to here.
I would fly down there for work, and be hit with this wall of color. I’d fly back at the end of the week, and everything here was still brown and dead, or a much paler shade of green.
So, how observant have you been? Have you noticed the changes going on in your own backyard?
Have you been paying attention to how the season is changing, or have you been distracted by “Real Life”?
Your Spiritual Life IS Your Daily Life
Remember, a Witch pays attention. A Witch observes. A Witch notices the things everyone else misses. That is why we have a reputation for knowing things that most people don’t.
You hone your skills on the predictable world around you. The animals, plants, and seasons change, but almost always in the same way, every year. They are easy to predict and recognize.
As you begin to notice, I mean really observe the changes in the natural world, you also begin to notice and observe changes in the less predictable. Like People.
In another facet of my life, they have a saying: Slow creates accuracy. Accuracy creates speed. You don’t have to practice being fast, that comes naturally.
The same thing applies to observation. As you observe, really look at and notice the Natural World around you, you will also begin to notice the things that people around you do. Humans naturally notice patterns. It’s a survival instinct. We can’t help it. As observation becomes a habit, you will begin to notice patterns around you. That include the people you observe.
These patterns will eventually form into traits. Things that as you observe them, you will be able to predict, with accuracy, what they indicate about the person. Anyone who has ever read a Sherlock Holmes book, understands the power of observation, yet so few ever bother to use it.
Holmes would astound people with his ability to seemingly read their minds. Witches have a reputation of doing the same. There’s no magick there, just simple observation, and a mental catalog of indicating traits, gathered over years of watching, and taking notice. Observation.
Worry Never Solved Anything
It seems magickal, because no one does it. Everyone is always so focused on their own lives. They worry about insignificant problems, that they either can’t do anything about, or aren’t nearly as important as they think.
How many times in the last month, have you not been able to get to sleep, because of worry? Did worrying about it, ever solve the problem? Did worrying about something, ever actually fix it? No, of course not.
I never lose sleep worrying. There’s no point in it. Instead, I focus outward, at the world around me. I know how likely rain or snow is. I know if it’s going to be a warm day, or a cold one.
I watch the people I encounter, and I know, to a certain extent, what they are thinking. I can’t read their minds, but years of observation, along with logical deduction, allows me to have a pretty good idea of what is going on inside their head.
It all starts with consciously observing the Natural World around you.
Are you being consciously aware of the world around you? Have you observed patterns that indicate information the average person would miss? Are you having trouble releasing your worries? Let me know in the comments below.
