When the nature kingdom needs to draw human attention to a situation, it will first dispatch large numbers of insects to interact with humans.
~Deva of Insects from Garden Workbook: A Complete Guide to Gardening with Nature Intelligences by Machaelle Small Wright
When I first read this in Machaelle’s book, my first reaction was, HUH? Insects as messengers??? I had mostly thought of insects as pests, nuisances and sometimes icky invaders. As a child I had a particular aversion to spiders and sometimes was fearful that they would crawl on me while I was asleep. Certainly it had never occurred to me that insects were messengers. Yet Machaelle says that insects are often how nature gets our attention and points us to situations where things are out of balance and where people need to make changes.
I have pondered this idea a lot and have learned to observe the insects in my environment with an eye to what they might be communicating. I wish I could say that I do a great job of interpreting the message but often I can’t. But I try to stay open and this can be a doorway into a very interesting way of looking at things.
In a diverse ecosystem undisturbed by humans, nature finds a healthy balance. Humans often disrupt healthy ecosystems in unhealthy ways. We kill off the predators that keep things like deer populations balanced. We pollute. We spray toxic pesticides to kill insects and plants that we consider pests. We have made quite a mess of things on the earth.
Yet we are learning and nature is more than happy to support and teach us, if we just listen and act in co-creative ways. How fascinating that ‘lowly’ insects would be important messengers!
The next time you find insects getting your attention, ask what the message is for you. Ants on your sidewalk? Maybe they are reminding you to work with others to accomplish goals. Japanese beetles? Hmm, maybe provoking thoughts about integrating western and eastern concepts into our thoughts in positive ways. Butterflies and bees? Perhaps a beautiful reminder of our need to protect habitat and care for our pollinators. The messages can come in many ways, some for us personally and some for the collective.
Author Carolyn Myss says that bacteria and viruses that cause disease are also messengers. She points to polio that visited humans after the Depression, when the economy was ‘crippled’. Then Jonas Salk discovered the antidote for polio and people got ‘back on their feet’ along with the economy. Carolyn sees AIDS as the messenger of how we need to stop destroying the earth’s ecosystems and believes that the cure will be found when we restore and nurture the earth.
It may feel like nature is being cruel or harsh with some of its messages. Yet we are the ones who need the messages and when we learn them, we can work with nature to remove the need for them. May we be open to the messages and gifts from the insect kingdom!
Blessings, Mary
I want to share an experience I have had with a particular insect and would love to hear yours.
My Lesson from Ticks
In 2009 I purchased an acre of land in Iowa City as a place to practice what I was learning about the Unseen world of nature-the nature devas, nature spirits, fairies, elves and others. The first year I was on the land I never saw a tick. The second year, they began to get my attention. I would see them on plants and in other places. Sometimes I would find one on my clothes and some even hitched a ride to my house. This continued for two or three more years.
I really tried to develop a peaceful relationship with them but it wasn’t working. I was repulsed by them. I found myself becoming anxious about being in the garden…would a tick show up on me? Frankly, they grossed me out.
My intense dislike of ticks finally motivated me to try out what I was learning about co-creating with nature. My teachers were Dorothy Maclean from the Findhorn community in Scotland and Machaelle Small Wright who created the Perelandra gardens in Virginia. They were pioneers in communicating and co-creating with nature. So I decided to give their ideas a try.
First of all, I knew I needed to find something to like about ticks. Co-creating with nature is about finding solutions that work for all of those involved, rather than ones that benefit humans at the expense of some part of nature. That was hard. What’s to like about ticks??
I figured there had to be some reason that ticks were created, despite my aversion to them. So I affirmed their purpose, even though I didn’t know what it was. And I realized they were giving me a powerful reason to explore the process of working with the nature beings.
I talked to the Deva of Ticks and asked for help. I said I didn’t want to harm ticks, I just wanted them out of my space. I thought a lot about solutions to my dilemma that would work for everyone and everything.
When Dorothy MacLean and Machaelle Small Wright had issues with moles creating problems on their land, they asked the moles to move to another place and they did. I didn’t feel comfortable asking the ticks to leave and go other places. I figured they would then bother animals and other people and that didn’t seem like it would be good even if it helped me.
Finally, the idea came to me to ask the ticks to go into another dimension, a place where they would have their needs met without needing human or animal blood to give them nourishment. I didn’t know what this meant exactly but it felt like it would meet everyone’s needs. I would not have ticks in my space and they would have a place to exist where their needs were met.
So I asked for this to happen. I talked to the Deva of Ticks and said that I was sorry that I wanted them to leave but I did need them to go away for my peace of mind. I hoped I was heard, but I was still nervous when I would go to the garden, checking my clothes and watching for them.
It felt like a miracle when I stopped seeing ticks at the garden, on my clothes or anywhere I went. It took a long time for me to trust and accept that they had left. Yet for the rest of that year, I did not see any ticks.
The next spring, I was again watchful, wondering if ticks would come back. Early in the spring, I saw a few. Again, I asked the Deva of Ticks to please send the ticks into another dimension where their needs would be met without needing to be on humans or animals. After that I didn’t see any more ticks.
The third year there were no ticks to be seen. I started to relax, believing that we had come to an agreement that would continue. I still had times when I would check to see if I saw ticks but I didn’t. I expressed my gratitude to nature for blessing me with the gift of tick-free living. I realized that ticks were indeed my messenger, motivating me to work with nature to have my needs met.
Each person will find what works for them in this journey of exploration with nature. Blessings to you as you experiment!!!
Messages from Gaia 