Sole, Soil, and Soul Inform Spirit
© Robin Easton - All Rights Reserved
Merged: Human to Earth
When I wander barefoot on the mountain behind my little casita, I marvel at how often I feel deer approaching long before I see them. I usually stop, stand perfectly still, listen, and sniff the air. I can’t see the deer or even hear them, but I know they’re coming. Yes, the deer are coming.
I’ve known for some time that I’m extremely empathic, which can be confusingly painful and exquisitely beautiful. But, in regard to the deer, empathy is a cherished gift. It allows me to ‘communicate with’ and to feel what it’s like to be Deer. With each communion, feelings, important information, and wisdom lovingly flow back and forth. As Woman merges into Deer and Deer into Woman, we come to know and understand each other...as One Love. We are at peace.
I also know that I have acute hearing and can sometimes hear the tiniest of sounds that others tell me they don’t hear. This too can be both excruciatingly painful and joyously sweet. It’s especially sweet when I hear and then track the sounds of the tiniest scratching beetle, scurrying lizard, seed-nibbling mouse, or wiggling centipede.
Even with these senses in mind I recently told a friend that there appears to be another sense at work in me. I explained that it felt different from my hearing and empathic abilities. I mentioned that this ‘sense’ felt very ‘grounded’ like something was being transmitted directly into my brain, up from the Earth, through the soles of my feet, and registering as instant knowing. Yet, it also felt like a feeling.
I began to wonder if my hiking barefoot might have something to do with this feeling of knowing the deer are coming. Of course, I feel through my feet in many ways. I feel the Living Earth, its weighty steadiness and strong merging of our mutual Love. I feel the reassuring Life Force of billions of years of Knowledge and Wisdom...that is my Lineage. The moment my bare feet silently caress ancient rock and soil, I feel an overwhelming and familiar Sense of Place…my right Place. On a more practical level, I feel the stimulation of all the myriad acupressure points on the bottom of my feet. It’s wonderfully exciting! This stimulation sends energy directly to the associated organs in my body.
A few weeks ago I was telling a friend that when one has hiked barefoot as long as I have, the feet become tactile like fingers. They can feel if something is too much for the foot, whether it is wet and slippery, cold or hot, sharp or smooth, or will puncture. The foot automatically adjusts its angle and pressure…or completely retracts. With so many tiny bones comprising the foot, and in the absence of hard-soled shoes, the barefooted human can easily curve with the contours of rock and branch, as toes grip for leverage and stability. My feet are constantly sending signals to my brain as I walk. By the end of the hike, I feel like my brain and whole awareness is more acute and more balanced. It is both an invigorating and relaxing feeling all at once.
“Sending signals to my brain as I walk…”
This made me ponder further how many and what kind of signals can we receive from the Living Earth. Scientists know that our bodies absorb free electrons when our bare feet or body come in direct contact with Earth, and they know how healing this can be (and feel). But what other information might we be taking in or sensing? Is Soil transmitting information through my Sole to my Soul? Yes, of course, I am taking in vast amounts of information that is vital to my survival and well being.
A couple of days ago, I saw this incredible 4-minute video titled: “How Elephants Listen…With Their Feet”, well worth watching. SEE HERE: https://www.facebook.com/pbs/videos/944201755764404/
This video made me aware of how much I am hearing with my own bare feet. Like snakes that have little or no inner ear and can’t hear airborne sounds---they too use their bone, muscle and fat to hear ground vibrations that send signals to their brain and inform them of events in the world they inhabit.
A door for deeper pondering always opens and I enter barefoot, over and over again, a place where "Sole and Soil and Soul Inform Spirit".
Love,
Robin
(c) Robin Easton
PS: The title of this post is a stunningly beautiful line from one of Jack Larry Glover’s insightful comments on another of my posts. It is a powerful piece in reclaiming my Soul. These are powerful times, my friends. As dark as they seem and can be, there is immense Light shining through. “The Deer are coming.” I feel them.