Picture copyright Taylor Ellwood 2020
One of the earliest magical practices I did and still do to this day is something I call walking the land. Walking the land is a practice where you connect with the elemental energies of the land, by walking the land and opening yourself up to the experience of the spirits speaking to you, through the journey you take. I first started doing this when I began practicing magic. I would go for long hikes, alone, and just walk and connect with the land, letting it speak to me.
Many years later, and I still do this practice. I have a small park, near where I live, and I walk it every few days, just to experience the place and the life of the trees, plants, and other beings that live in that park. I also do this whenever I go hiking in the gorge or along the coast. When I do this practice, I do it in silence, my hands outstretched, and I will just quiet my mind, and listen.
I’m listening to the wind as it goes through the grass and the leaves. I’m listening to the lapping of the waves as they beat against the shore. I’m listening to the animals, making their noises, and trying to be as quiet as possible, because I’m in their space and they’ve had that infringed on enough by humanity.
I take a breath in and I smell the pungent earth, the scent of plants, but also the scent of us touching these environments. We can’t really escape the impact we have on the land, though we certainly try our best to.
I close my eyes to focus on the touch of the sun as it warms my face. The wind may brush against me as well, a current of air that reminds me of the need to breathe and live. I stretch my hands out and feel the bark of a tree or kneel down and touch the soil of the earth.
What am I really connecting with?
I’m connecting with the environment around me, the place I cohabit with other life. I walk the land to know it, and to let it know me. I walk the land to connect and let that connection speak through me.
To walk the land in this way is to let go of the need to be in control and to just open yourself to the experience that’s already there. Within that experience you’ll find the subtle touch of spirits waiting to be discovered and worked with, provided you’re open to receiving them. When you walk the land and set aside your expectations, you’ll discover that the land has a lot more to share with you than you may have realized.
