Rain

This morning we had our first thunderstorm of the season. I thought I'd take a pagan look at it, which in reality combines several different views. The first is that of the seasonal changes. We are moving into Spring if you don't already consider us there (I do because the weather has been warming nicely and we passed the equinox last week). In my neck of the woods the rain is extremely important due to the type of crops we grow here, mainly corn and soybeans with alfalfa on the side...yummy. Nebraska has been considered to be in a drought the last 10 years, but hey I look at this as the larger picture of the weather moving in cycles ranging thousands of years with a little mix of global warming. Just something we have to fix what we can and accept the rest. Anyway, as we move into Spring, our fertility season, growing crops is on the minds of many individuals around here, and rain doesn't always mean dreary, a lot of times its much welcomed, unless we get too much and the farmers can't get out to the fields. Anyway, seasonal change and everything that goes with it is important to the growth of crops providing food for us humans as well as livestock and it also is main ingredients in so many products we use daily that even a slight decline in the crop production can hurt all of us on so many levels.

Next I wanted to condense down from the big picture and look at my own personal view of the shower from the sky. My immediate reaction to the rain storm this morning as I lay there in bed was a smile on my face. My husband loves thunderstorms so I had to nudge him awake a little to let him know it was going to storm this morning. For myself, I don't mind the thunder and lightning, unless the lightning gets to be too dangerous...not a fan of that. I focus more on the rain. I'm one of those people who can stand outside in a rainstorm and just dance, shortly after my husband came home from Iraq he danced with me in the rain. I kind of look at it as a cleansing. We are preparing for a new baby to arrive in the house in about a month so we've been cleaning like crazy. I just look at this as another kind of cleansing. Not only is the rain settling the dust and cleaning up the roads a bit from all the sand dropped by the snow plows in the winter, but it is also a spiritual cleansing for me. Later on today I will probably sit down and meditate a bit on those things in my life that need cleaned up, physically, spiritually and emotionally. I can just sit here and imagine the rain washing over me letting mother earth bathe me. It's really a comfort to me. I could go out and just sit in the rain, but since I was ill last week and I'm still getting over that a bit, I probably should stick with my imagination, or maybe a warm shower to give me the effect.

Speaking of the shower, I will often say cleansing prayers in the shower in the morning. It's a great way to imagine the divine washing away all worries and negative energies that are lingering around you. Just another way to incorporate your practice into your everyday life.

Now another thing I don't want to forget to mention here is the symbolism of the water flowing. I live on a hill so it's easy for me to watch the rain water travel down the road, but you can also notice it either as a flowing from the sky, maybe watch the way it flows down the window, if you live by a creek or stream you can even just watch it there. But for me it is a reminder to keep my life in check and make sure that everything is flowing as it should. I'll probably incorporate a bit of this into my meditation today. Just a little something to see if there are any issues in my life that are putting a bump in the road. Even though there is an obstacle in the way, the water will find a way to get around it, but if the obstacle is too big it may end in a flood, my goal is to avoid that happening, because for me it usually ends in an emotional flood, or too much at one time that I get overwhelmed. So I like to keep an eye open for those little obstacles in the beginning that may become big in the end. It's sometimes easier to fix a little one than a big one, and it may be just a matter of changing course a little.

It's amazing how much rain can make me think in the morning.

Blessings
PrairiePagan