NATURE RAMBLES AND NATURE QUOTES
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?
No time to stand beneath the boughs,
And stare as long as sheep and cows:
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass:
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night:
No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance:
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began?
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
William Henry Davies - Welsh Poet
As a group, Leodis Pagan Circle consists of people who follow different spiritual paths. This means that we relate to various points of view and we experience deity in our own individual ways. However, the one unshakable truth on which we all agree is that nature is quintessential and portrays divinity in its material form.
One of the best ways we can think of to demonstrate our love for and devotion to the natural world, is to get out there and experience some of the wonders it has to offer. Just strolling through a meadow or by a stream or through a wood is enough to make you feel glad to be alive. Indeed, there are studies that prove illnesses such as anxiety, depression and fatigue can be alleviated by getting away from the hustle and bustle of the city. A recent study suggests that short term memory can be improved by as much as 20% by taking a nature walk or even just viewing pictures of rural scenes.
"To find the universal elements enough;
to find the air and the water exhilarating;
to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter;
to be thrilled by the stars at night;
to be elated over a bird's nest or a wildflower in spring;
these are some of the rewards of the simple life"
John Burroughs - American Naturalist
Here at Leodis Pagan Circle, we don't need statistics to tell us what we've long known about the restorative powers of nature and its ability to enhance our mood so we usually organise one or two easygoing rambles each year so we can enjoy its beauty and diversity as a group activity.
"Walking is the great adventure, the first meditation,
a practice of heartiness and soul primary to humankind.
Walking is the exact balance between spirit and humility."
Gary Snyder - American Poet and Writer
We consider all of our walks to be 'Pagan' because they all involve getting out into the countryside and enjoying the scenery en route. However, we often try to incorporate an extra element by, for example, visiting a stone circle or an ancient well or some other relevant site. Of course, there are a limited number of such places within reasonable travelling distance of Leeds so not all our walks can incorporate these extra elements but we do our best.
Because we need to schedule our walks well in advance, we obviously can't guarantee a sunny day but we do try to choose a time of year when it's likely to be dry. However, given that this is England and the weather can change in a nanosecond, the walks do go ahead whatever meteorological conditions prevail at the time (even if it's precipitating it down!). It's always sensible to wear sturdy boots but, even in good weather, it's advisable to carry rainwear with you (just in case). Other than that, all you need to bring is a picnic lunch and your camera. So why not think about joining us on one of our forthcoming walks: Sunday 19 July 2009 - A Wizard Walk at Alderley Edge Sunday 4 October 2009 - In the Footsteps of Giant Rombald The following quotes have been added to these pages because they have something to say about nature that resonates with those of us who make up Leodis Pagan Circle. They haven't necessarily been said by Pagans but they have been said by people who understand the majesty and beauty of the natural world. "Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher"
The length of the walks vary depending on where they are and how much there is to see. We usually aim to cover approximately 2 miles per hour which is really quite slow but gives us ample time to saunter along, take in the views and stop to smell the flowers. We try to choose walks that suit people of moderate ability but please [Contact Us] if you'd like more information about the mileage and terrain of a particular walk.
William Wordsworth - English Romantic Poet
"Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books"
Sir John Lubbock - English Banker, Biologist and Archaeologist
"Sunsets are so beautiful that they almost seem as if we were looking through the gates of Heaven"
Sir John Lubbock - English Banker, Biologist and Archaeologist
"Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair"
Kahlil Gibran - Lebanese Poet
"I put a capital N on nature and call it my church"
Frank Lloyd Wright - American Architect and Writer
"I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order"
John Burroughs - American Naturalist
"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better"
Albert Einstein - German Physicist
"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin"
William Shakespeare - English Poet and Playwright
"Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather"
John Ruskin - British Art Critic, Social Thinker and Poet
"Nature is an infinite sphere of which the centre is everywhere and the circumference nowhere"
Blaise Pascal - French Physicist and Religious Philosopher
"Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you"
Frank Lloyd Wright - American Architect and Writer
"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings
Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.
The winds will blow their own freshness into you...
while cares will drop off like autumn leaves"
John Muir - Scottish-born American Naturalist
"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul"
John Muir - Scottish-born American Naturalist
"The happiest man is he who learns from nature the lesson of worship"
Ralph Waldo Emerson - American Philosopher and Poet
Truly, happiness is looking out across fresh fields, gazing at a distant tree, feeling the sun on your back and the wind brushing your skin.
Anonymous
"In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they're still beautiful"
Alice Walker - American Author
"Nature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive and even spiritual satisfaction"
Edward Osborne Wilson - American Biologist and Naturalist
"Nature is not only all that is visible to the eye — it also includes the inner pictures of the soul"
Edvard Munch - Norwegian Artist
"The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens and nature"
Anne Frank - Jewish Diarist & Prisoner of War
"There is no season such delight can bring,
As summer, autumn, winter and the spring"
William Browne - English Poet
"Nature gives to every time and season a beauty of its own"
Charles Dickens - English novelist
"The mere thought of walking outdoors on a brilliant golden-blue day causes fire-works of delight to go off in most people's psyche. It gives one an instant feeling of happiness and that is meditation! We are not only in touch, at that moment, with the physical splendour of nature, but also with the beauty of merging our own spiritual nature with it"
Karen Zebroff - German-born American Yoga Teacher
"Taking off your shoes is a sacred ritual. It is a hallowed moment of remembering the goodness of space and time. It is a way of celebrating the holy ground on which you stand. If you want to be a child of wonder cherish the truth that time and space are holy. Whether you take off your shoes symbolically or literally matters little. What is important is that you are alive to the holy ground on which you stand and to the holy ground that you are"
Macrina Wiederkehr - American Nun
There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more.
Lord Byron - English Romantic Poet
"The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man"
Anonymous
"I believe that there is a subtle magnetism in Nature, which, if we unconsciously yield to it, will direct us aright"
Henry David Thoreau - American Poet and Naturalist
"Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life"
Rachel Carson - American Conservationist
"Nature is man's teacher. She unfolds her treasures to his search, unseals his eye, illumes his mind, and purifies his heart; an influence breathes from all the sights and sounds of her existence"
Alfred Billings Street - American Author and Poet
Watching clouds roll by on a sunny day, who needs church? Nature is divine.
Carrie Latet - Poet
"Walking gets the feet moving, the blood moving, the mind moving. And movement is life"
Carrie Latet - Poet
"If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive"
Eleonora Duse - Italian Actress