Sometimes Nature opens her Holy Writ to a page that inspires us. Sometimes we have to rifle through those pages until we find the exact book, chapter, and verse that holds the Wisdom we're searching for.
We know the answer's in the book, but damn...where?
I wanted to make this post especially for those of you who have problems, who have issues, who are dealing with your own particular variety of darkness in whatever form. Let's put it this way: you just need a little Wisdom in your life. You know Nature has it, but you just don't know where to dependably read the answers.
There are a few ways you can approach this situation successfully, but they all involve one ritual: daily verse. If you want scripture of any kind to start working for you when you need it, you have to read it daily. It doesn't matter if it's the Torah, the Bible, the Quran, or the Bhagavad Gita, reading it once might give you inspiration, and that's a seriously beautiful thing. But reading it daily will give you a dependable inspiration that turns into Wisdom -- the specific Wisdom that you know you need in order to confront what you...just...can't...
Until you build up a mental catalogue of Nature's sacred verses -- the symbols you can go to again and again for dependable inspiration -- you might find yourself in this position: needing Wisdom, but not knowing where to look.
You know, when I first set out on my own Vigil, I started reading whatever Nature was willing to show me. Reading whatever page the book opens to is a valid method of inspiration and even divination. Prophets, Seers, and Mystics of all religions have used this technique in the past. Me? I'd just go for walks somewhere that any kind of Nature existed, and start reflecting on what I saw.
She shows you what you need to see.
I'd see a tree with a crooked branch and ask, "What made that happen?" I'd feed a family of ducks in the reeds and wonder, "What makes them stay in those reeds?"
Sometimes the answers were obvious. Other times, they weren't so much. The harder it is to find an answer, the more exactly that answer corresponds to something deep inside of your present Self. Something you're working through, and most likely struggling through.
But the magic happens once you've found an answer that satisfies you, and then you shift it up and over onto your Self.
Is your life a Tree? How about your emotions? Your body? Your mind? Do you have any crooked branches growing? Is the whole thing a mangled mess? Well, what forces made you grow into what you are? Was the stress you were under similar to the stress that Tree suffered? Maybe you've decided that crooked branch gives you character? Maybe you wanna do some pruning?
Are your emotions like that family of ducks? What are the reeds that you hide in? Why do you stay there? If someone throws some food into the river, are you brave enough to venture out and grab it? Or are you too focused on hiding to notice it passing you by? How far down will you dive should that tasty morsel sink? What are you protecting yourself from?
The thing is, Nature is always turning Her own pages of Scripture. And almost any page your eyes can read contains the dependable inspiration -- the Wisdom you seek. You just have to start externalizing your questions, finding answers within natural circumstances, and then re-internalizing what you find, what you read in Nature.
I promise you, once you do this for long enough, you develop the uncanny but extremely useful ability to look at almost any situation or circumstance in Nature, and understand the forces and Wisdom involved. You develop the mental and intuitional muscles it takes to shift that Wisdom directly onto your Self.
So start the ritual of reading your daily verse. Flex your intuition, as well as your ability to shift. Unpeel inspiration wherever it is fragrant enough to catch your attention. Do this repeatedly, and sink your teeth into the fruits of Wisdom.