Oh I do like to be beside the seaside! My annual escape to the country includes a few days’ stay at the atmospheric ‘Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham’ in Norfolk. This is a place of tangible spirituality and credible folk lore. There are romantic Abbey ruins in beautiful grounds nearby; a visual reminder of the dissolution of the monasteries during the reign of Henry VIII.
As I reflect upon my visit there, thunder is booming and rain pouring– this takes me back to a cold and damp Autumnal visit to Wells Next Sea, only a few miles away from Walsingham.
Gastronomic consolation! My umbrella had been blown inside out by the wind and by the time I came across a local gem of a restaurant I was a little wet around the edges. However, tucking into a really fresh crab salad and a glass of sauvignon blanc provided comfort and consolation to my dampened senses!
Tides of Tranquillity: As I walked back to get the bus the light was dull, the rain became a gentle drizzle, the tide had gone out and there was an expanse of labyrinth-like sand dunes, grassy wetlands and small tributaries of sea water. I reflected on the bounty of the sea (my crab lunch!) and how beautiful the slightly barren landscape looked.
Health is like a tide: Within the sphere of my work, as a therapist, I often think that wellness has an affinity with the rhythms of the sea: depending on stress factors, our energy levels and mood swings are like the tides ebbing and flowing to varying degrees.
Some watery facts: ‘only 2.5% of the Earth’s water is freshwater and 98.8% of that water is in ice and groundwater’. (Wikipedia) ‘In the human body water can account for around 60% of an adult’s body weight’. (The Human Body by Dr. Tony Smith).
More fascinating, perhaps, is the relationship between words and water as discovered by a Japanese scientific researcher – Dr. Masaru Emoto. His long years of research work with frozen water ice- crystals demonstrated that “from beautiful words and music, come beautiful crystals; and from mean-spirited, negative words, come malformed and misshapen crystals”
Celtic Reflections: Returning to the historic village of Walsingham,
I purchased a booklet entitled Celtic Reflections by Martin Wallace in which it coincidentally and empathetically stated:
“Allow the love of God to flow over you but then allow it to flow out again for others like the sea”.
Spiritual Hydration: The theme of water continued with the evening’s service – an invitation to meditate on unconditional love, (inspired by the compassionate and forgiving example of Jesus) our own needs and the needs of others. This quietly powerful service concluded with a laying on of hands, an anointing with oil and a ‘sprinkling’ of the Holy water from the Shrine well.
The significant ‘H20’ connotations regarding the Shrine’s Well (Over the years powerful healings have been associated with this resource) reminded me of a hopeful Christian message which states:
“Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within.”
The body’s ‘bubbling Spring’: Beside the Shrine House entrance there is a pretty pond and water fountain which tunefully tingles and consistently bubbles away. This energetic sound reminded me of a significant acupressure point on the foot (Kidney 1) its resonance is with water, cleansing and life-force vitality; its metaphoric TCM* title is ‘Bubbling Spring’!
Water falls from Heaven: In the evening darkness, lights shimmered upon this ‘bowl’ of water and evocatively highlighted a large figure of Christ on the cross close by. Through the window-scape of Shrine House, candle light (red, blue, white) delicately glistened; encouraging me to meditatively linger:
“Have you noticed that water keeps falling over a water fall? It never goes upwards. My (God’s) love keeps falling on you. It is just like that waterfall. I cannot stop it falling on you. It cannot go upwards and leave you. It can only descend on you. Stand under the waterfall of my love and receive”
On a physical level many people imbibe or bathe in nourishing Spa waters to improve their health. The sounds and sight of water can sooth mentally and emotionally and there’s nothing like a holiday by a lake, river or ocean to clear our ‘personal clutter’.
The gift of water hydrates, sustains, refreshes and cleanses all life. It is a most valuable substance for the entire planet and we can’t live without it. Coincidentally – somewhat appropriately – Handle’s Water Music has just started playing in the background! (David Starkey’s Music & Monarchy)!
Rivers for the soul … I hope my recollections invite you to reflect upon the nourishing significance of ‘Water’ in all its guises in your life. I close with this lovely prayer displayed in the All Souls Chapel at Walsingham:
“May we who declare our faith in this fountain of love and mercy, drink from the water of everlasting life. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord and God”
Louise Exeter