Along with the birds, I am very interested in the bugs. I get excited when I see a praying mantis. I raise plants specifically to attract bees and butterflies. I talk to flies and try to achieve a psychic link with them. We do mow, but there are places where we let the weeds grow for more diversity in the habitat. One of my favorite pollinator attractors is Pineapple Sage. It blooms later in the season after most of the other flowers are gone. It makes an odd flower which is long and thin, and a brilliant red. The bees go crazy over it. I get the most honey bees of the year when the pineapple sage is blooming. Unfortunately, it is an annual and must be replanted every year.

The flies help clean the world. Bees and butterflies pollinate our food plants, and bees make delicious honey. Possums are kind of homely but they’re harmless and eat ticks. They also like marigold blossoms. The praying mantis is an apex hunter of other insects and helps control the insect population. Squirrels actually do a lot. They plant trees and help maintain biodiversity. Squirrels eat insects and small animals helping to control those populations. As prey, they provide food for larger predators. All living things have a role to play in the life of the planet.

As human civilization (I hesitate to call it that) expands, more and more natural habitat is swallowed up in mowed green lawns and parking lots. Widespread use of insecticides contributes to the pressure. The honey bee population has already collapsed. Climate change is impacting the environment, changing rain patterns and disrupting migratory patterns. If we are smart, we will give attention to restoring natural habitat. It’s not really hard to give a part of your yard to the natural habitat. Don’t mow it. Don’t spray it with chemicals, and plant a few pollinator attractors.

The meditation of the bees, butterflies and birds is a grounding spell. It connects you to the natural order in a very direct way. When you find yourself caring about these tiny lives, you know you have progressed a few steps along the path of spiritual evolution. We should teach our children how to connect to the Earth. There is much that is good about Christianity, but I feel that the doctrine is too other-worldly. Our spirituality needs to move in a more Earth-centric direction. Having a connection to the Great Spirit (whatever name you choose) is a wonderful thing, but we need to be making connections with the small lives, the bugs, flowers and trees.

We need to learn to live in this world.

5/21/2024