spirit-beams

"Rocky Mountain" by Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902) German-American Painter
“Rocky Mountain” by Albert Bierstadt

To lovers of the wild, these mountains are not a hundred miles away. Their spiritual power and the goodness of the sky make them near, as a circle of friends. … You cannot feel yourself out of doors; plain, sky, and mountains ray beauty which you feel. You bathe in these spirit-beams, turning round and round, as if warming at a camp-fire. Presently you lose consciousness of your own separate existence: you blend with the landscape, and become part and parcel of nature.
~ John Muir
(A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf)

14 thoughts on “spirit-beams”

  1. I feel John Muir has got something here! There is a power among the trees, a warmth of the Sun, that is deeper when consciously part of it! Nature truly is our parent, our friend, and our Lover!

    1. So very true, Jeff, nature is at times all things to us and when we are aware of our profound connection to her we are blessed. So many ways she offers us and sends us her spirit-beams!

    1. Palomar Mountain sounds like a spectacular place to pitch a tent – I’ve never seen the Rocky Mountains or the places John Muir loved so much, but his writings made me put these places on my bucket list!

  2. Oh, how I love this man’s writings. He shares with such grace and beauty how I so often feel when out in nature, but don’t have the words to describe. We are blessed to be living near Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada mountains and have been able to follow many of his *footsteps* through the area. It’s inspiring to walk where he has walked, to sit in the same spots, to look out over the mountains and to read his words and thoughts. I so often feel as if he is with us in spirit, in those moments.

    Happy Easter to you and Tim, wishing you both a lovely weekend 🙂

    1. I think that’s why I collect quotes, Colleen, the words to describe how being out in nature or being in a state of spiritual ecstasy makes me feel are so often elusive. As I mentioned to Laurie, above, I’ve never been to California and hope I find the time and resources to make it happen some day not too far off in the future. What a blessing it must have been for you to retrace some of Muir’s steps – no doubt his spirit was with you. If I get a chance to I will bring his words with me, as you did, to contemplate as I go along.

      Thanks so much for the Easter wishes – it was a quiet weekend, a respite after so many busy ones… I hope your weekend was good, too!

    1. Thank you, Kathy. It is a wonderful experience, to become part and parcel of nature, and the universe…

  3. How beautiful this is, visually and poetically.

    ‘Their spiritual power and the goodness of the sky make them near, as a circle of friends’

    I love when something offers a new perspective like this … or, actually, expresses what we already know. Thank you for sharing, Barbara! Hope you had a lovely Easter. XO

    1. Thank you, Diane! It is wonderful the myriads of ways words can express those things we know intuitively. We had a very quiet weekend with Zoë and Olga – it seems like we’ve been on the go ever since they arrived so it was nice to just hang out with them. Olga isn’t hissing at Zoë as much as she was, and loves to sleep on Tim’s chest. 🙂 Hope you had a lovely Easter, too!

    1. It is definitely a divine feeling of freedom and ecstasy, Joanne. I often felt the energy of the trees while I was growing up, now I can think of that energy as spirit-beams. 🙂

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