Calling to the Wind of Life

Always the wind of life blows, but rarely does my awareness perceive its embrace. It’s taken two moon cycles of protracted practiced perception. Two moons of drawing in, cleansing, sweeping, sending, listening, directing, and feeling the wind’s kiss on my face to begin to understand. Each new task in the Wind Riders Quest taking me deeper and deeper into relationship with the versatility and utility of the wind.

Then, one day, the Wind of Life arrived to show me immortality.

A break in my work schedule allowed me an afternoon to venture to the coast to relax my mind. My dedication was simply made for peacefulness and connection. At the trailhead, I was immediately greeted by the most beautiful wind spirit. They spun through the dry grass moving slowly toward me. Oak leaves and Baccharis seeds gently lifted, spun, then dropped, only to be lifted again in a hypnotic dance. Five feet from me the spirit dissolved amid a patch of yellow flowering tar weed.

That was the first sign that today-- the wind was courting me...

I hiked through the tall bunch grass covered dunes noticing the varied microclimates where sun and wind either waned or intensified. Finally, I arrived at the beach and gazed across the Great Pacific. The wind blew steady and sweet. I cast away my shoes and walked into the shallow edge of the tide. The water was cold but cleansing and I surrendered myself to the shifting waters and caressing winds, caught in the sensations, filling me with joy.

Then, something drew my attention. I backed away from the water and looked down into the wet sand. There in the breaking tide I saw a Huge. Dead. Wasp. It was half buried and as big as a ping pong ball. I’d never seen one so big, nor one with a large red body. I picked up the little being considering this a gift. Maybe I can incorporate this creature into a Trolldom spell?

I held the dead wasp by the wings inspecting it’s limp body. The stinger was long, at least 1cm and wickedly curved.

I began walking down the shoreline, wasp in hand, every now and then I'd blow a breath upon its body. I didn’t know why exactly, but it felt right. Eventually I sat down against a log and inspected this creature further. I was thinking about ways I could wrap it up to take home without damaging the body. But, suddenly, I got a strong sense that I needed to leave it here on the beach.

I placed it on the sand next to me and brought my awareness back to the wind. It seemed to have changed, growing in intensity and also tickling some thing deep in the recesses of my mind. What is that? Life?

I closed my eyes and breathed with the wind.

Each outward breath seemingly a force as strong as each misty ocean gust. Me and the wind. The Wind and me. Life and Life. Breathing back and forth. Expanding and contracting together like the tidal waters in front of me.

Oneness, harmony, connection.

The sun shone hot on my face but the wind caressed away the intensity. All I could feel was gratitude for this moment. For the life the wind gave me, and the wind that I gave to life.

I scanned the beach watching bits of seaweed and clouds of sand riding the gusts. The wasp next to me was riding too. I could see its wings being pushed and its body pulsating up and down as the Wind of Life grew stronger. I was mesmerized with how the wind seemed to be stirring this wasp, spinning and spinning it around little by little, pushing its wings up and down.

Then, a thought struck me. What if this Wind could give the wasp life again? Considering the living wind of my own breath, and the life it nourishes, why couldn’t these winds bestow life upon another?

It was at that moment that the wasp…Began to fly.

Not by being blown in the wind, but by buzzing its wings full of its own life force. It charged at me and I was so startled that I leapt off the ground out of its way jumping onto the log. It skimmed along, striking the ground with its stinger clearly agitated and confused.

I was shocked, awestruck, and scared all at the same time. The biggest wasp I’ve ever seen, dead and injured just moments before, now scouting the beach for prey. FULL of LIFE.

The Wind of Life came that day and it showed me immortality. What will the wind teach me next?