Awe in waring season

[April 2025]

On the weekend I walked in the Ada Tree forest, Yarra Valley. Waring (Wombat Season of the Wurundjeri calendar) was all too evident, with soil tipped about everywhere like the tailings of a party the night before. Mushroom season then declared itself at every step. I was enchanted by the sheer variety of fungi as I crawled along discovering even more hiding under leaves.

I felt my breath deepening, my pace slowing. At one point the forest looked so beautiful I was moved to tears. The ferns sparkled with rain droplets; a leaf spun on cobwebs like a mirror-ball; and the smell of earth was so strong you could taste it. I had an irrational thought that maybe I had somehow consumed a mushroom without realising. And yet, it was even more magical to realise; Nature simply is this extraordinary. I was experiencing Awe.

I have recently been re-reading namesake poem of our clinic, Inside This River by Rumi.

“Whatever is above

and seemingly outside this river

is actually in it.“

Its meanings are multilayers, but in this moment of Awe I felt this invitation to recognise myself also as Nature, and equally magnificent. Often in appreciating Nature we can fall into (and I love this word) bifurcation- A human (here) - appreciating Nature (there). This Awe moment was instead a deepening into a non-dual connection.

This article titled Why do we experience Awe offers fascinating reflections on the importance of Awe not only for individual wellbeing, but also for our societal and collective wellbeing. Another reflects on Awe as a mechanism in psychedelic assisted therapies highlighting the transformative effect of this state.