Connecting with Nature: My New Story Summit Breakthrough by Pavithra Novak

New Story Summiteer, Pavithra Novak, reflects on her breakthrough experience at Findhorn’s New Story Summit through the lens of her connection with Nature. The New Story Summit: Inspiring Pathways for our Planetary Future, an inquiry into a new story for humanity, was held at the Findhorn Foundation and Community from 27 September to 3 October 2014.

Having had a strong connection with the nature spirits ever since I was little, the New Story Summit marks a breakthrough in my life. I had always wondered why I was so shy to talk about the nature beings. Of course, quite a number of people frown upon this topic. But I know that it is not so much a matter of how others react towards this topic, but more of how I am there with it, how confident I am in speaking to others and which place I speak from within myself: a place of fear and shame, or a place of confidence and love. This determines to a great extent how the message arrives.

I really wonder why I become pretty sheepish when there is an opportunity to share about my experiences with the elementals or to pass on their messages. But whenever I inquire deeper into this situation within me, I arrive at a barrier of fear which is so strong that I don’t want to get any closer to it, not even with the help of my nature friends.

Being in the safe and strong collective field of the Summit though suddenly helped me to approach this barrier within myself. The collective process reflected in me as very old memories coming up from deep within myself. Images of fire, burning and a feeling of great fear suddenly arose, and I realised that the killing of the wise women, deprecatingly called witches, was still stuck in my bones and in my psyche. This topic was never an issue in my life, so I was very surprised to be faced with such intense memories and feelings around it.

On one of that last days of the Summit, when we did the ritual in the center of the Hall representing the different gateways, I felt clearly drawn towards the gateway where the beings of nature were invited to speak. Sitting there knowing that I was going to speak out in public what I felt had to be said on behalf the nature spirits, I was flooded with emotions, inner images and body sensations. Allowing this process to unfold as much as I could, I suddenly saw myself in an inner vision stepping into the center of the circle and speaking about the nature spirits, after which the crowd jumped on me, dragged me out of the room by my hair, tore off my clothes, raped me and burned me at the stake. All of this happened in only a fraction of time, but the panic I felt coming up within me seemed to last forever. I prayed for healing and guidance, courage and surrender until the panic slowly decreased. I felt like I was coming off a roller coaster when I finally entered the center to speak. No one jumped on me, I felt heard, I felt seen – I looked into the eyes of those sitting in the audience and sensed their openness and appreciation. I went back to my seat and felt my whole being soften and calm down. What a profound healing process this was.

Now, two months later, this experience is more integrated within me and, even though I am still a bit careful about talking to others about the nature spirits, I am certainly much more assertive and natural when it comes to sharing the conversations I have with the elementals and devas. In me, I feel the strong conviction that it must become normal again to take the message of the nature spirits seriously, especially when we are interfering with their lives and living space.

As an expression of this, I want to share an example of the effect this is having in my everyday life:

The other day, I read in the newspaper about a new genetic engineering technique in which they don’t use genes from other sources, but from the same plant family. This is what happens in natural cultivation as well, but usually it needs around 10 years, for example, to cross one type of apple with another type of apple. With this new technique it can be done in no time. When I read this article, I was pretty impressed but still had the feeling that it is not good to do this.

I asked the Deva of a tree nearby for its opinion and it told me that this technique harms the plants. It said that it is a little bit like taking a 10-year-old-boy and manipulating him genetically so that he turns 50 overnight. He would eventually become 50 anyway, so it isn’t completely out of place. But the boy needs the time in between in order to fully develop and also arrive as a whole at the proper age.

Similarly, the plants need time to cross with each other and to create new verions of themselves. This process cannot be shortened without damaging the matrix of the plant and weakening its life force.

After I received this message, I thought to myself, “What a pity that I can’t tell this to the scientists.“ But the next thought hit me even more strongly: “Yes, I can tell this to the scientists, in fact I must do so. They have to be told this fundamental truth. It is their choice whether to listen or not, but it is my obligation to pass on what I hear from the plants without any hesitation. They finally have to be heard!”

I have never felt so strongly and clearly about passing on the message of the plants and elements, and I clearly connect this with my experience and process at the New Story Summit. This is my new story: I am no longer shy to speak about the nature spirits. I cherish this special gift of communicating with them and I support others to remember their channel of communication with the nature kingdom.

As a result, I will be even more confident in offering a workshop at Findhorn next April, which the nature spirits have prompted me to hold, and I am confident that they will provide me with all I need to know (and not know) in order to support the reconciliation and reunion of humans and invisible nature beings. (More information…)

I am deeply grateful for the strength and support I received at the Summit and I now enjoy being an even stronger instrument of peace in the world.