Dearest readers,
For the last two years, an otherwise ordinary-looking squirrel has been targeting very specific plants in my porch flower containers and viciously and systematically shredding the plants until nothing remains but the stub of a root. This creature, whom I have dubbed “Psycho Squirrel”, does not eat the plants. He, and I am assuming, perhaps erroneously, based on his deliberate and aggressive yet sneaky behavior, that he is a male, has occasionally garlanded my wooden fence with shreds of geraniums.
Squirrels are supposed to be repelled by geraniums.
My initial response to this squirrel’s erratic behavior was to feel upset and even a bit angry. I love all animals, but I was having difficulty feeling affection for his less than lovable behavior.
When people on my local neighborhood social network regularly vent about package thieves and other nefarious individuals who delight in petty crimes and burglaries in our area, their reactions, while more heated and intense than my response to my rodent visitor, reminded me of my own thoughts about package thieves and such.
Generally, humans are very protective of their property, their belongings, and they become quite angry and aggressive when their territory is invaded. Sending unconditional love to these perpetrators is outside of the realm of most people’s experience and ability.
Since I spend much of my time and energy focusing on raising my energetic frequency and working towards unity and coherence in my body, mind, heart, and energy field, the behavior of this erratic, fluffy-tailed being intrigued me. Perhaps he is not a simple ne’er-do-well bent on tearing up flowers. Perhaps he is a messenger from Gaia (Mother Earth), and his actions have been misinterpreted by me. Perhaps I need to send him (and our relationship) unconditional love despite the vegetation decimation in which he seems to delight.
As a gardener on this third density realm of experience, I struggle with the concept that some plants (people, animals, trees) are considered more valuable, more important than others. In my heart of hearts, all beings are conscious and have specific talents, properties, beauty, and energy. No being is more important than another, no matter how humble in appearance.
Some people say a “weed” is a plant that is the wrong place. Perhaps a plant becomes named a “weed” when it is perceived by a lower density being, by a state of consciousness that divides, confines, compartmentalizes, judges. Because we, for the most part, still live in duality while striving for unity consciousness (some of us do!), our gardens are also subject to judgment.
The message of the squirrel, as I interpret it, leads me to question my gardening practice. I have written of this dilemma before in this blog. By tearing up my asters this spring, and my geraniums last growing season, the squirrel was destroying the “privileged plants”, who get to live in containers on the porch, with lovely store-bought soil, compost, and plant food. The wild plants, of which there are a great variety who propagate themselves throughout my front and back yard – and the types of plants also vary to some degree from year to year – are not allowed, for the most part, to live in the designated flower beds or containers.
And while I regret doing it, I do pull up certain plants to favor others. I do not resort to using poisons of any kind. But think about it! In our human societies, we constantly judge certain people. Put them in categories. Decide that some should be punished, put to death. Some enjoy great privileges, while others constantly struggle to survive. Certain body types and appearances are considered beautiful and desirable, while others are judged ugly and unlovable. I believe that when we live from the heart, these judgmental practices fall away. The heart is a great unifier.
This institutional plant racism or segregation does not obey the Law of One. How can I be aligned with my higher self and in service to Gaia and to continue to garden in the old way, with hierarchies of plants, separated beds? Should a New Earth garden be a confusion of weeds and cultivated plants? Areas of intentional planting with other areas left intact? I don’t quite have an answer to this question yet. But the question itself intrigues me. How do we garden in the fifth dimension?
I do talk to my plants, to the trees, the stars, the air, water, rocks, and clouds. I apologize to the tiny trees and seedlings which I remove from my yard. Each time I grasp a tiny stem and pull the roots from their hold in the Earth, I feel twinges of sadness. And I know that Nature herself is quite harsh on small trees. Very few reach maturity. Perhaps I am just one of the hazards in the eco-system. Still, to love the plants unconditionally, while loving myself unconditionally is my goal. My intuition tells me that I simply need to listen to the plants more. Sometimes, I ask certain plants if they could please move somewhere else.
In any case, Psycho Squirrel has inspired a thought process and a questioning of how we, as human beings, interact with our natural environment. I feel much improvement to our quality of life in human societies would come if we did slow down and took the time to listen to plants, animals, rocks, the soil, trees, the air, and the clouds. The ability to understand all of creation is inside of each of us. Of that I am certain. We simply need to be still, and to remember.
Intuitive botany 