Here in the district of our country dedicated to the Goddess Columbia, the wonderful Autumn weather is in full force. It's a perfect time to get outside and actually connect with nature, rather than staying inside and thinking about being a member of a nature religion.

Here's Marcellina, living and singing in Europe, who is not a Pagan, but who is developing a relationship with a bit of land that speaks to her.

The call to look out for and tend to a place, a piece of land that has magic about it, made me think immediately of the Paschberg and the trails (don't worry Mom, I'm not converting to Wicca!). The Paschberg wears some of its history on its sleeve (Tummelplatz, Battle of Bergisl just steps away, the FLAK rings on Landser Kopf) and some of it you have to look for (rocks with cup markings.) Yesterday I walked the trails, instead of my usual jog, and looked for signs. I found a few, but also a lot of tiny litter scraps, and so I began to pick them up.

A great way to develop a real relationship with a bit of land is to get out into it as often as possible (Marcellina's "usual jog"). Over time, one begins to look beyond the obvious (Tummelplatz, the Battle of Bergis) and to see what the land has been hiding (rocks with cup markings). And, then, the land begins to ask something of us ("I found . . . a lot of tiny litter scraps, and so I began to pick them up.") The relationship can go as deep as we will let it. Here's John Muir, talking about being in Yosemite:

In our best of times everything turns into religion, all the world seems a church and the mountains altars.

~Quoted in Dark Green Religion: Nature Spirituality and the Planetary Future by Bron Taylor

What's stopping you? Breathe. Go.

Picture found here.