This picture tells all of Who I truly Am... If you would cut my Soul open - this is what It would look like on the inside. This is my Homeland. Fields of my beautiful Lithuania. My blood. My roots.
My son and I are visiting my Homeland again, as we do every summer since his birth. Visiting my parents and my brother's family, my in-laws, uncles, and aunts, cousins, our grandmas and great-grandmas, and our ancestors, peacefully resting in the oak and birch tree groves.
I have my favorite visiting place, just up the hill of my parents' village. Where the sky meets the land, where my Soul cracks open every single time. No people around, just Nature and I. It is a home of four Linden trees, standing strong and tall, overlooking my village for decades, like guardians and storytellers of the lives of those living down the hill.
If anyone would ask me what is my Spirit tree - Linden it would be! In Lithuanian mythology, Linden tree is referred to as a "Mother", so feminine and divine, but strong and protective at the same time. It was believed that our Ancestor Spirits live in Linden trees. Mothers were advised to take their sick children by the Linden tree for them to be healed. Women would worship Linden trees and ask for beauty, love, health, and protection. Its energy removes negativity and cleanses one's mind and Soul.
Every year I go and hug my Linden trees (they technically are not mine, but became a part of me years ago). When I come closer to the trees, I feel an urge to bow down to them, as if entering a sacred space. Like returning home, to the Mother. And they always share with me their treasures - abundance of linden blossoms! I make a tea out of them, which is our first remedy during the cold and flu season. And ah, that linden blossom fragrance! And hundreds of bees covering the trees! Truly - a sacred space to be in!
My Mother Land! When I stand on Her grounds with a strong wind flowing through me, when a little skylark chirps his song hanging just right above my head - I get on my knees and allow myself to experience it all within me! I cry and sink down to the ground, smelling and hugging Her beauty, opening my own wounds, old and new... Longing to be One again with all that surrounds me. Allowing my body, mind, and Soul to go through the tornado of emotions. And Mother Land never judges me, never refuses to soak my tears in into her womb. She hugs me back with the hands of a wind. She welcomes me back into Her lap. She listens. She remains the silent witness of my cleansing, of my Soul's rebirth. And I stand up purified, rejuvenated, grateful and ready to spread my wings once again!
My home may be on the other side of the ocean, but my roots will always be here, hidden deep in the land of my Ancestors - where the sky meets my Soul!
Soul's Greenhouse will be on vacation for the month of July (did you know the month of July is named for the "Linden Tree" in Lithuanian?). We'll be bonding with the family and Nature, rejuvenating our minds and bodies so we could come back all recharged and boiling with new ideas!
Keep blooming, my friends, and don't forget to stop and smell the flowers!
Ausra
Soul's Greenhouse
