Does Nature Communicate with Us?

Written by Gabrielle Hawke

Written by Gabrielle Hawke

October 2024

Back in 2019 I began studying with an American songwriter and dancer, Lis Addison, through my love of the barefoot dance practice called NIA. Amongst the many things she taught me, I learnt about calling in the energies of the Elements and Directions. This began my adventure into the different realms/dimensions of this world and my relationship to the Earth has continued to deepen daily.

Ever since I can remember I have loved watching the sun rise and set and taking photos of the beauty of this world, even as a small child I was in awe of nature. I never had any direct contact with sentient beings as far as I was consciously aware but it became more and more apparent that this was happening and had been happening. I began noticing incredible faces and beings in rocks at first, then the clouds, the waters, the land, the trees, the animals, all began communicating with me. I thought I was going a bit crazy at first yet when I shared photos and experiences with friends they could see what I was seeing too.

I began further studies with Heidi Wedd, Wildflower Walker in 2021 in Shamanic Herbalism. This strengthened my connection to the world around me and more magic and synchronicities began unfolding.

Over the years I have observed that nature is talking to me constantly, if I am busy and not taking notice I completely miss what is happening, and the guidance given. Yet if I practice awareness in the present, it is quite incredible what happens. I hope to show you through my blog how you can begin to observe and follow the guidance all around you, and how you can deepen your connection to your nature self.

You can communicate directly or indirectly with

plant, animal, water - in fact any sentient being.

If you notice it, it seeks you.

Place yourself near it, you may feel, hear, have a knowing,

see or receive information in many different ways

Lose yourself in the being that wishes to impart knowledge to you.

You must cultivate patience, it will come. Be open. Sit in silence.

Some messages are for all, so you may share,

Sometimes the messages are for you alone

You will know the difference, you will feel it.

I don’t know about you but I am often having conversations with myself, I’ve done it for as long as I can remember. Words of assurance, encouragement, judgement, criticism, kindness, humour, loving, shaming, all different types. Occasionally it feels like someone much wiser is talking and guiding me through the difficult times if I am quiet enough to listen. At other times it’s the voice of a parent that I hear, or the little child within, or that rebel part of me.

During the latter part of 2022 I began making offerings to our beautiful Mumma Earth. Some were offerings to special places, for particular occasions, to offer my gratitude, to give my deepest apologies, in memory of someone who had passed, to create sacred spaces or containers, and sometimes I was just guided to offer a part of myself, a deep knowing that it held some reason I wasn’t aware of yet but I felt I could trust in the guidance. Mostly I created these offerings where the land meets the water, a liminal space. To me this felt like portal of some kind. The offerings opening the portal into another realm that I could access, something I could feel, but not necessarily see.

During 2024 I undertook some writing courses with a friend, Karen Bowler, called Portals and Beyond. My intention was to able to connect into these offerings and to be able to voice what their meaning was or where they were leading. I had no idea what it was about, as I am not a writer, and I was way out of my comfort zone. Yet I felt that same deep knowing that I had to partake regardless of my insecurities. Little did I know how much magic would unfold and what it would open up within me.

What follows are some of my writings: ones we were guided into by a meditation, others that came in after making an offering and through the weeks of the course, further ones that I knew needed to be written after and many pieces of writing I had written much earlier, that seemed to somehow fit another piece of the puzzle. What I found most intriguing after the first couple of pieces that I wrote during the course was that I have this particular style of writing where I am having conversations with the different parts of myself or with some other part of nature, the waters, the trees, Mumma Earth. This was the missing part for me - my offerings, my observations, the gifts, all giving a voice back to all the many aspects of me.

Gabrielle x