Tuesday, 23 May 2023

Guided Visualisation: The Green Spirit of the Woods

Here is a guided visualisation that I ran as part of my Magic for May workshop at the Faery Festival. The theme is entering a wood and meeting the spirit of the wood - a green person or green creature who seems to be made from foliage and flowers. You might want to record this then play it back as you visualise it.

Sit comfortably and close your eyes. Take three deep breaths in and out, in and out, in and out, and relax. Visualise the following:

Visualise that you are out in nature, in a beautiful place in the countryside on the edge of a wood on a sunny day in May. There is no other human being around but yourself. You feel safe and comfortable and at peace. 

Looking around, you spot a pathway leading into the wood and you decide to follow it. You make your way along the path, which winds through the trees. The woodland trees have only recently come into leaf, so above you is a new canopy of bright green, while on the ground, on either side of the path is a carpet of wildflowers as far as you can see. It is beautiful and peaceful, and you feel completely safe as you follow the path.

Visualise moving along the path, through the wood. What do you see around you? What do you hear? What do you smell? Spend some time enjoying the sights and sounds and scents as you continue along the safe path further into the wood.

After a while the path turns and enters a grassy clearing in the wood. The grass is fresh and lush and dotted with wildflowers. In the centre of the clearing you see what at first looks like a bower of greenery and blossom, but then you see it is a person or creature made entirely of plants with leaves and flowers. It is the spirit of the woods.

You realise that the green person or creature has noticed you although they do not move from the centre of the clearing, they look at you and smiles at you. You feel it would be safe to approach them, and that you would be welcome to do so, but it is up to you whether you do so. 

Spend some time visualising what happens, whether you converse with them and what words might pass between you.

Eventually your encounter with the spirit of the woods starts to come to an end. If you are conversing with them, then say your thanks and farewells. 

The green creature or person fades from view and all that is left in the centre of the clearing is a natural bower of greenery and blossom. It is a beautiful and magical place in the wood, but no longer animated with a spirit that you can see. It is time for you to leave.

You retreat from the glade and return along the path through the wood. You safely reach the edge of the wood and look around once more at the beautiful countryside on this spring morning. Then you realise it is time to return to your normal reality. 

When you are ready, take a deep breath, shake your fingers and toes and open your eyes to the real world.

There are more, similar, meditations in my book Pagan Portals - Guided Visualisations(Note: I earn commission from advertisers for some links. This helps support my blog at no extra cost to those who read my posts.)

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