Contents

The Four Elements

Fire: Green Apples / Fireflies / Tarantula Wasp

Three linked poems about a meteor encounter, a night excursion on the Peruvian Amazon, and a tarantula and a wasp in the Sonoran Desert.

Water: Horseshoe Crabs / San Marcos / Hurricane

Three linked haibun (prose and haiku) about the convergence of thousands of ancient arthropods in New Jersey, a life-changing accident in the San Marcos River in Texas, and a rare Hurricane in Vermont.

Wind: Pillar of Light / Marigolds / Starlings

Three linked stories of a desert storm in New Mexico, a hurricane on All Souls Day in Guatemala, and a murmuration of starlings in the Appalachian Mountains of Vermont.

Earth

Garnets / Metate / Awakening the Dragon

Three linked stories about relationship with the sacred landscape. Garnets is about finding precious stones under ice, Metate is about a shaman bringing a native stone mortar and pestle to an ancient altar, and Awakening the Dragon is about awakening and dreaming the world in an ancient and abandoned Star Chamber.

The Nine Directions

A collection of stories and poems based on our nine totem allies, spirits who assist us in our lives with our life’s work.

Farewell to Tarwathie, about Mushrooms and Whales, from Durango, Colorado

Delfín, The Amazon Pink River Dolphin, Iquitos, Peru

Spirit, the American Mountain Lion, Santa Fe, New Mexico and San Diego, California

Red, the Octopus, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

Blue Gray, The Red-tailed Hawk, Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga, Tennessee

Washita, The Marsh Hawk, Washita Battlefield, Custer County, Oklahoma

Wonder Itself, Bioluminescense on Mustang Island, Corpus Christi, Texas

Heaven on Earth, A spiral in Water, Appalachian Mountains, New England

Trillium, Three Shooting Stars, Williams River Valley, Vermont

The Circle, The Cross, and The Triangle

Stories of awakening and adventure, reference to sacred geometry, archetypes and pathways.

Calanais, the Circle, an encounter at an ancient stone circle on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland

Sycamore, the Line, an awakening to the magic of a sacred space and its spirit, Clinton, Missouri

Buffalo Grass, the Spiral, soul retrieval at the Washita Battlefield, Custer County, Oklahoma

Five Stallions, the Square, return to a cherished relationship, Tucson, Arizona

Gravity, the Wave, the surrender of skydiving into love, Waco, Texas

Spanish Cross, the Cross, crewing on the Spanish replica Columbus Fleet Ships, Corpus Christi, Texas

Bermuda Triangle, the Triangle, a near tragedy while flying through the Bermuda Triangle

The Garden and The Rose

This collection is comprised of chapters of The Garden and the introductory text of The Rose. The Garden is an explanation of nature that makes the grace of offerings a doorway to manifestation. The Rose is a document of initiation and awakening through the act of giving, manifestation through relationship with the sacred landscape.

Title

Introduction, the experience of our lives is unique.

The Garden, awakening to the path of healing, opening to knowing and sight

Knowledge, we are all on our own path, with gifts suited to our work

Bliss, opening to the magic of entrainement and bliss

Symbols, the power of symbols as points of contact with other realms

The Present, the nature of time and space and destiny

Smoke, the perception of a world always in transition

Service, asking for knowledge as a means to serve others

Compassion, the greatest force in the world

Stories, the reality that there are many paths we may choose for our lives

Remembering, calling on our soul consciousness to guide us

Offerings, the power and grace of asking and giving to change the world

The Rose, awakening to sacred spaces, returning to our sacred lives and destinies