Greetings, as usual, from the Order and Ordinance. We rejoin in our space to continue our loose selection of discussions on various perspectives and angles of Nature. We began with unearthing the more whimsical nature of the Lord Herself, and moved to appreciating the hidden meditative aspects of nature. But, as is true of most things, there is always another side to explore. Today, we shall move into the calm before the storm and talk about the warning that Nature gives to those who seek to challenge it. Let us start.

We’ve talked many times of Sacred Child Niinkisia’s lesson regarding Nature, and how the thorn on the follower he admired held a hidden warning to it. Nkes spoke quite directly about the power of Nature’s wrath, and so as we zoom in on this particular lesson, we can make a few distant observations about the minatory aspects of Nature even before any wrath is applicated. The thorn on the flower itself is the perfect example of this; just from observing the sharp and spinal appearance of the thorns, we can ascertain that they are both sharp and meant to ward away threats. For all the beauty that the flower holds, as Nkes warns, the thorns protect the blossom, and one can reason from appearance alone that function of the thorns is protection.

We often see the vibrancy of Nature and are taken by its colorful beauty, but even those exuberant colors act as warning for us to respect Nature’s awesome power. Vibrant colors can both be a display of whimsy but also a sign of menacing toxicity. Take, for example, the vibrant pigmentation of the Poison dart frog—holding enticing and intricate color patterns. However, that is indicative of their highly toxic nature, as bodily secretions of alkaloid toxins act as a defense against predators to the species. The same property often applies to various plant life too. The beautiful blossoms may belay a hidden poisonous nature if the plant or flower is consumed; this is especially true of some plants that produce berries or fruits that would otherwise be inedible or poisonous to humankind at the very least. This is where a more sinister aspect of Nature’s protective wrath comes into play. The instinct to seeing vibrant colors or delectable berries or fruit would be to touch or eat them, but as we see from Nkes’s warning, doing so is testing a Nature one does not either truly understand, appreciate, or respect.

Finally, we shall talk about the ominous warnings that Nature gives us to its wrath, and the perfect example can be seen through severe weather or climate events. The classic “calm before the storm” applies here, where we can physically witness the weather patterns changing, the darkening of the skies with heavy cumulonimbus clouds arriving on the horizon. The barometric pressure dropping, or a cold front rushing in. We can hear thunder and know that that indicates that lighting has already struck; in more frightening cases, we can feel the static energy in the air indicating lighting is about to strike. Other catastrophic warning signs include the receding of the tides so far out from the shoreline after a major earthquake has taken place near a seaside—indicating immediate danger of a tsunami coming inward. Watching the behaviors of animals, who often have unique sensory abilities that humans don’t, is also another ominous aspect of Nature. Animals will often detect a climate event just before it happens—especially in cases of storms or earthquakes, and will act erratically or flee before catastrophe strikes. We can draw from all these cases that Nature gives warnings for nearly every menacing circumstance it affords, and as with Nkes pointing out the thorns to a young Niinkisia, we too should always be in tune with Nature and be observant and respectful of those warnings as well.

For now, we will conclude this portion of discussion here. I encourage reflection on this aspect of Nature and hopefully a new appreciation for the divine properties of Lord Nakndes’s creations. With that said, please have a wonderful and vigilant Sacred Day, and take a look at the Nature around you and see if you can spot parts of it that apply to this discussion!

—lnX