If, when you are walking,
an alder catkin spins in the breeze,
seemingly asking to be caught by your palm,
for a moment you may stop
your struggle to grasp the meaning of all life.
The alder catkin, small,
falling towards your palm,
weightless as a feather ,
only to be blown away by the breeze
before it touches your palm
and then all thoughts about life
your life and its significance, changes instantly.
What can we change in the world
when in a flash the world can change us.
Where destiny is not our future
but its where our present takes us.
As we sail into new journeys,
if we allow this,
sometimes we donít notice
our compass and co-ordinates changing.
We can awake some mornings
feeling adrift, as castaways;
and then the warm sun on our face
feeds us a breakfast of hope.
Fearn the Alder loves to live beside water.
Fearn the Alder is nourished by water.
It is here it connects with the four elements
as an axis, as a totem,
conducting the orchestra of
water, fire, air and earth.
Ravens, perch on the tallest alders,
raise their black feathers into the awakening sun,
and through their feathers reveal purple,
the royal colour, released only onto the alders.
Erc The Deravid cut a branch from an alder
and hollowed out a whistle
and called upon the wind to spread harmony.
Erc cut another branch, smouldered it,
to create charcoal of intense heat
to perform alchemy of metals.
Erc planted seeds of healing herbs,
around the alder trunk,
and the alder's roots released food
to feed the new born plants sprouting from these seeds.
Erc invited visitors into the water,
beside the alders,
and called upon their spirit guardians
to guide them.
And he blessed them.
Here a new child, forever new child,
to dance with the four elements .
A new child, like any of us,
is blessed to dance with the elements,
or choose to command them
Forgive that what we choose may not be the choice of the falling catkin.
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