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"She seemed to come suddenly upon happiness as if she had surprised a butterfly in the Winter woods"
(edith wharton)


Friday 11 July 2008

not once, did I think I would ever do this......

just lately, I have found myself in a different mindset... I am beginning to realize that this land, Australia, is my home. I have found myself defending it....and defending it with a passion

a few weeks ago, I had a friend visit who bought her niece visiting from the UK... she loved Cornwall and faeries and magick.. just like me but she was about 30 years younger in age... she was talking of how England has bluebells and woods and is mystical and magickal.. and I felt a real patriotism welling up inside of me.. and started to tell her of when I go walking and how I see a land so ancient.. canyons older than the Grand one in the US......I told her of flannel flowers and waratahs, of tree spirits, of earthy smells coming from decomposing eucalyptus leaves... we have vivid colours, unlike any in the world ....In 1997 Wollemi pines,that were thought to be distinct, were discovered growing, not far from where i live and they existed during time of dinosaurs .... we have places like Uluru and The Olgas, and while the druids were doing their work in England..

this land was sitting, quietly not being inhabited by any one except the indigenous people, who were one with the earth...I agree, we don't have 'history' but here, the land is the history.. you can feel it... a deep earthy wisdom.. I am sure not found anywhere else. I found this link that I wanted to share:-
Sacred sites ..even though I am not an indigenous Australian, these places stir something deep in my soul.. oneday, soon, I am going to visit the Outback.. I am going to walk on land, so ancient it will probably make me cry .. a land with which my spirit is starting to feel a belonging.Being a 5th generation Australian on part of my family tree, I have to accept the wisdom of my ancestors, I have to believe that they decided to come to this land to give their families a better life... and I believe they did.. Yes, I still want to visit Cornwall, I still want to find where my ancestry comes from..and yes, I will probably love it.... but I know that I will come home and feel blessed by this vast Australian land. So I can now start to say that my roots are in Cornwall but my heart is in Australia!!

19 comments:

Bimbimbie said...

*!* Yorkshire roots grow Aussie leaves that create soul tears for me*!* Rainbow Smiles to you *!*

Kathryn Knoll said...

Dear One, I don't think my connection with e-mail is getting through, so I will use this, just to say you are being prayed for big time among the sisters! hugs, Sr. K

Suzie Ridler said...

It's beautiful that you can have roots in many different places! I hope that your future trip to the outback brings you much joy as well as deep tears.

smilnsigh said...

This is a lovely entry. Yes, you have every right to celebrate your Land. We each do. And one Land is not to be held up as 'The' land, as the visitor was seeming to do.

Each has it's beauties and its uniqueness. I want to love my Land. I want every person, in every Land, to love their Land. And want all of us to feel it is our right, to do so.

Yes, we all live on this tiny, beautiful planet Earth. And yes, we should all care for and love our Earth. But that does not preclude us loving our particular spot on this Earth. Why should it?

I tire of those who say we must just be Citizens of the Earth. Just. Of course we are Citizens of the Earth. Common sense says that. But please, don't tell me that this does not allow me to love/celebrate my bit of this Earth.

Never do I say that my Country is perfect. Never. Never. Never. Any more than I say that any Country is perfect. We are all humans and thus, we all act like humans. With greatness, and with awfulness. But if we give up love of our particular Country, then we might give up the Hope of making it better. And that would sad, for the whole Earth.

Oh sigh... I am sorry for stepping up onto my soap-box, here in your blog. But you touched on something I feel deeply. If I have said anything, in this comment, with which you do not agree, it is your right to not publish it. Of course, it is your right.

I'll quiet down now...

Sending gently hugs your way...

'Miss' Mari-Nanci

Gill said...

I hope you get to make that trip soon,feel deep earth connections and unleash the full power of your own magic.

Tracy said...

Your photos are amazing! The land is so beautiful, peaceful, and mysterious...

An Gàidheal Pàganach said...

I didn't see the "visitors" comments as saying their land was "the place". They were probably talking about the aspects which might interest Miss*R when she visits.

Every land has its own magic, mystery and history and, to my mind, all are unique. I'm glad you are feeling such connection to your home land, Miss*R.

Anonymous said...

Robyn! Fantastic! We are all your cheer team., You instigate such wonderful discussions.We are all on a journey, and when not grappling with or delighting in our own, watch with wonder as others unfold their bliss.As always, a big hug.

peppylady (Dora) said...

I think we all living in wonders of the world.
Mother Earth and Father sky change things every day we may not see it but its always on the move.

Julie said...

I, too, need to appreciate my ancient land. We have the colorful Badlands, the sacred Black Hills, burning coal veins, arrowheads dug up by plows, Native American writing rocks dating back thousands of years, white buffalo (three now in ND!!) etc. etc!!!

Amy said...

Ms Robyn, hope you don't mind me commenting :-)
I too would LOVE to visit the Australian Outback - I've only been to Australia one time about 15 years ago to the Gold Coast but I enjoyed every minute of it.

A bird in the hand said...

There's history made by people, and then there's the history of ancient lands. Like Canada, Australia is a new country in terms of settlers, but the lands are billions of years old. Lands that were populated by aboriginals when our continent was ice, and shamans dreamed what was to happen next. Where dinosaur remains have been found on our west coast...

I understand you too well. xoxo

linda may said...

Yay! Robyn. Good on you. You wrote beautifully here and touched my heart. I am proud of you. Yay again.

Anonymous said...

You are so right, be proud of the land, it is magical too and very ancient !!!
Have a wonderful Sunday !!

Ruth said...

Brilliant! I'm so glad this awakening is happening for you. It's all about finding the magic wherever we are isn't it.

laoi gaul~williams said...

now as i read this something crossed my mind~i started to think of my ancestors that moved to NSW well over 100 years ago and whether my family still there have feelings of their roots back here...indeed do some of them even know of their english roots?!
of course you must celebrate your place there dear miss*r :)

Anonymous said...

You are so right Robyn, it is a beautiful, dramatic and magical country and we should celebrate how blessed we are to live here.

I can speak from both sides. We originally came to Australia when I was 9 years old and after a few years we went back to Scotland because my mother was homesick and missed family. I love Scotland and was happy there but I missed Australia (and obviously eventually came back).

It's a hard to thing to love (and feel at home) in two countries. No matter where I am I miss the other....the curse of ex-pats, immigrants and refugees everywhere.

Fortunately I found a reasonable compromise, the Adelaide Hills are a little bit like Scotland :-)

Thank you for that great post that reminded me how much I love this country.
C
XX

Gill said...

Robyn-Ruth once had a deck of cards called 'oracle of the dreamtime' that I think you would find useful because it's rooted in Australian culture and magic. You can get it on Amazon.

Moonroot said...

When I lived in Australia (for 18 months, about 10 years ago now), I was desperately homesick for England. I missed the weather and the wildflowers and the familiar trees, as well as all my friends and family. And I even resented Australia for not being Britain (I'm not saying there was any logic to my feelings, LOL!). I was so used to always being 'in tune' with my natural surroundings, it was deeply jarring to suddenly feel completely out of synch with the Earth.

But then one day - and I don't know why it happened when it did - it was like scales literally falling from my eyes. I suddenly saw how beautiful the Australian landscape was, how teeming with life and diversity and I could feel the sacredness of the land.

Perhaps it just took me that long to get 'in synch' with my new surroundings. Perhaps I just needed to 'open' to it in some way. I don't know. But after that I felt at home, and although I'm now living back in the UK, a part of my heart will always be in Australia. It's a wonderful and unique place.

I now think **all** parts of the Earth are special and sacred. We just need to tune into the spirit of place where we are, and take it from there...