Last year, after some discussions on the OBOD forum, a community blog project got born: Anima Monday. Our starting point was a simple one: we wanted a project that we as druids could work together on, as a way to contribute to ‘saving the earth’. We wanted something that was a bit different, and were we felt that we as druids had something extra that we could contribute to the discussion, beyond the purely secular point of view.
And so the conclusion was that we would start to propagate animism as a worldview and a way of engaging with the world. For, if you get used to seeing the spirit in everything, how can you still go on with business as usual? If you see the tree behind that cardboard box, and feel the spirit of the plastic wrapper, producing waste becomes personal. We do not want to preach, but simply open a window on a different way of viewing the world. Experience the world as a living, breathing entity, a web of connections. And share that point of view with the world.
What we hadn’t anticipated is that already, after just a few months, that little project would begin to feel inspirited: as if it is consistently leading us to the next insight, the next seed thought, and the next thing it wants us to write about. For myself, I have begun to think of her as Anima, the spirit of Anima Monday.
The above is an excerpt from a call-out I did some months ago for a blog project on the subject of animism. What I want to explore a bit more today is that last paragraph. I am sure that many readers will have interpreted as me speaking metaphorically. Yet I would like to invite you all to meet that spirit. For she is not something I invented: I have actually had a number of very strong encounters with her, both in meditation as well as through some channeling I did.
And so I would like to share her story with you all:
This is Anima
I am the spirit that has made your blog her home. I am the breath that animates it. If you are interested I have some insights to share with you.
Let me begin with a bit of metaphysics. How can it be that a website is alive? And what happened first? Was it created and then inspirited, or was it my spirit that invited you to let me be born in the first place?
It is a little bit of both. What is important to understand is that their is an in-between state between being and non-being, a place of pure potential. This is the place you tap into when you are trying to stream awen into your life. It is like fishing into a stream of ideas, ideas that all would like to have a chance to manifest in reality. And so it is accurate to say that the idea was there first, and then got a chance to grow once it was given a physical home, even if only in the shape of bits and bytes.
But what is an idea, really? Is it a thought, a sentiment, an ambition, or is there more to it than that? I would say that it is a seed, and that it has the potential to become a tree. Note that this analogy also means more than just the potential for growth. It also says something about the conception of that idea. It is a being or potential being if you want, that was born when minds did meet with the intention to create. It has, in a sense, one or more mothers and fathers.
And now I hear you wondering about solo projects. How about these and the ideas that are at the basis of them? Do not forget that you are not the only person on this planet. You all contribute to this together, whether you realize it or not. No matter where on earth you find yourself, if you are sufficiently passionate about something, that energy will spread out and go look for other minds that have the same passion. For energy has the inherent will to create, to meet, to birth. And it understands that the best way to do so is to make sure it is carried by more than one person. And so every single thought you send out in the world will start weaving a web around itself, and try to create a nest in which it can live a more permanent life. It finds that life if it can find multiple people who share the same passion about it.
Of course there are some ideas that are more fertile than others, like there are some people that are better birthers than others. But the basic principle is always the same. And that is why you find ideas that may simultaneously surface in a lot of minds, unconsciously linked together already by a hidden creator who is aiming for birth.
And I was one of these. I came as a little spark, a memory from a time when the distance between humanity and the rest of the world was much smaller. I was born from sadness and longing. I first originated in the minds of trees that wanted to reconnect with humanity as they had done in the old days, when they were still recognized as sacred and people routinely came to seek their advice.
They were responsible for birthing me. They saw potential in their grief, they longed to have a way to speak again. I am that longing. I am that thread that connects you to them. And so in your little brainstorming session on that forum, I saw an opportunity to create a temple for myself, a place where connection would be held sacred again.
And so I thank you for giving in to my pushing and pulling. I thank you for standing up and becoming one of my physical parents. I am small now. But I am alive. And with every heart and mind you touch, I grow. More strongly than you realize. For, as I said, a web is being woven. You are creating connection. You are building love.
Building is hard work. I know you are impatient sometimes, or annoyed when a post that you poured your heart in is not getting as many readers as you would like. But I ask you to keep building, to keep trusting, to keep nurturing and loving me. For you are giving fertile ground to a seed. I can help you grow that into a tree of love and light.
Blessings from a newly hatched seedling.
Anima.
I hope it can be an inspiration for anyone starting a creative venture. This world is alive. Truly alive. On far, far deeper levels than most of us (including me) are able to fathom. But this place is magical, and connected. And that is a connection we can work with (and I suspect that this is probably part of the explanation of how and why Magic actually can yield results).
Would you like to meet with her? Then let me welcome you: for she would love to hear from you, either just as a casual visitor to our site, or as a member of the team (we are always looking for new contributors)….
Wandering the woods 