This is peace!
During my Cottesbrooke run I was either listening to In the Company of Crows and Ravens or thinking about the world. Last night I was asking the Tarot cards for poetry inspiration and the pack came up with The World. I could have asked that I were granted something a little more specific - I mean, The WORLD?? But actually the card's meaning aligns with much of what I have been thinking about - consider this from the write-up on Labyrinthos:
It symbolizes the moment when the inner and the outer worlds - self and other - become a single entity. In some traditions, this state is described as enlightenment, or nirvana. There is a recognition that the individual self is profoundly linked with all other things, and that we all dance and sway along the flow of life to one rhythm. Not only do you hear this rhythm, but you participate in it - following the dips and the rises, the joys and the sorrows.
Before you accuse me of hubris, I am not thinking that I am enlightened! BUT I am thinking that relationships are more significant that individuals.
Take this lovely wildflower meadow.
I bet the farmer is really delighted that he sowed these seeds and got his grant for so doing. Thing is, grassy rides at Pitsford have vast amounts more insect life than I could see in this meadow. It's a tiny island surrounded by herbicide and pesticide treated crops. The wildflowers are lovely, but they come into their own in relationship with insects, who feed the birds, who feed the bigger birds and so on.
Despite the ecological fragmentation, I foraged enough for another mead - St John's Wort, Willowherb, Wild Cherries, Crab Apples, Common Mallow and later Meadowsweet. All wrapped up in leaves so I didn't lose anything on the way!
That Crows & Ravens one is a good book. Glad to see the swans.