Cultivating A Garden For Birds

Since early autumn, I have been dedicating increasing amounts of time and effort towards maintaining a population of birds in my backyard. With each passing week, sources for water, food and shelter necessary to their livlihood have accumulated. First a birdbath and then a few feeders. I've collected downed limbs from my gigantic sweet gum trees in my front yard and propped them around my composter to create a hiding place for small birds, and mounted roosting boxes by my eaves to provide shelter from the wind and rain. When the temperatures dropped below freezing, each day I would set a bowl of steaming water on top of my frozen birdbath in the early morning to ensure they would have some access to water for drinking and bathing. I keep track of what they are eating, and who visits most frequently.

Years ago, one of my teachers who is a scholar of Chinese classical medicine said, "If there are cats in your garden, there will be no birds." She went on to explain that birds represent the sacred aspects of life as bestowed upon the Earth from Heaven, and cats are the desires that so easily take over our lives, the wants and petty jealousies.

In one of her books, she elaborates further:

"We speak of conduct of life. We could be more precise and say that the Spirits, sent abundantly and permanently to me by Heaven, hold the reins of the Breaths that constitute me. These Spirits are pleased to stay when they feel welcomed. It is natural to them to follow the seasons and to cause beings to behave in ways that help the harmony of the correct Breaths to be maintained. Health can always hit a snag from an irregularity that the environment can bring on, that a person's encumbered heart can provoke, and that the bad times one is living in can multiply."

This recessionary year has produced numerous challenges for people as they are forced to weigh their wants, needs, and desires against the resources available to them. Unfortunately, the stress and excess of the holiday season can exacerbate these feelings. Our internal landscape becomes a playground for cats and their love of bright and shiny desires, and it may become too crowded for any birds to rest there in peace.

As this year draws to a close, I wish for you all the ability to recognize the birds around you and to cultivate an internal garden without cats for their benefit.

This quote is taken from "Rooted in Sprit" by Elizabeth Rochat de la Valee.