Sacred Nature
and things working out // 2.23.26
Monday Mettā
Mettā: Loving friendliness, goodwill, and kindness directed both inward and outward.
Things are always working out for me.
Whether you can see it or not, things are always working out for you. Think about the last time you “failed,” or jumped into something without thinking. How did your built in safety net help you out? How did your attitude open doors? How did your failure lead to an interesting and great new opportunity?
✨
So glad you’re here.
Intuitive Tarot Card Reading
Use your intuition to guide you to a specific card below. Choose the card with the crystal on it that calls to you. At the end of this newsletter, you’ll see the cards flipped over, with a reading for each one. The card that you choose here will have your reading for the week.
Choose your card, then scroll down to the bottom of the newsletter for the reveal!
Card 1: Green Aventurine Choose this card for a message on prosperity.
Card 2: Moss Agate Choose this card for a message for the immune system.
Card 3: Blue Fluorite Choose this card for help communicating.
Sacred Nature
In the past two weeks I’ve read four books on the sacredness of nature, each seemingly in conversation with the other. All four spoke of the power of naming nature (something I’ve written about before.) Three quoted the same environmentalists (Robin Wall Kimmerer, among others), poets (Emily Dickinson, Mary Oliver), and philosophers (John O'Donohue, whose book Anam Cara is one of my favorites). All of them talked about cultivating wonder. Two of them mentioned the very same Harvard study on silence (the journal Science’s headline of this study? People would rather be electrically shocked than left alone). Three of the four books were given to me by the same person (I guess I have a type). The other I…borrowed… from an AirBnB in Florence almost a decade ago and only cracked open this weekend.
I read these books by my large window overlooking a line of evergreens. Every so often, the corner of my right eye would catch a bird swooping by, or a squirrel hopping through the snow. Other than the hum of the appliances in my home and the occasional interruption, it was quiet, and I was immersed.
Enchantment, by Katherine May, is divided into four chapters, named for the elements of earth, air, fire, and water. Written during the height of the pandemic, it’s a book about wonder, both internal and out in the world. She speaks of interconnectedness, of the alchemy that has created every living being, and writes beautifully about the dandelion, a weed flower I have always adored.
Sacred Nature, written by former nun Karen Armstrong, is more like a religious text than a philosophical one. Karen Armstrong looks at the natural world through the religious rituals and texts of the world’s most well-known and followed spiritual traditions: Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism sprinkled in. She writes about how the sacredness of nature is a part of these religions’ sacred nature, bringing back to us wisdom has been forgotten or ignored in the recent years.
Rooted, by Lyanda Lynn Haupt, is an easy-to-read guide on how to explore nature with kinship, communion, creativity, silence, and spirit. My favorite chapter was on the “tenets of rootedness,” where she reminds us about the mysticism and mystery of nature, kinship and “kithship," that creativity and eccentricity are needed to explore the natural world (and ourselves), and of course, that wonder and enchantment are essential to a rooted life.
Silence: In the Age of Noise, by Norwegian explorer Erling Kagge, is a meditation on quiet. No, maybe not quiet. Silence. He has trekked all over the globe with only himself as company, well aquatinted with the silence that comes with being alone. His short chapters range from how to listen to Beethoven to what snow sounds like to how to find silence in the world of iPhones. Though tempted to check my email 1000 times while I was reading his book, I refrained. To do so would have disturbed my silence, and the focus and imagination needed to read any book.
And I haven’t just been reading about the natural world. We have had snow up to my knees for the past two weeks, and when this newsletter sends, we’ll be in the middle of a blizzard. I have been loving my winter hikes and noticings. In the winter, animal tracks are clear, and I can follow the daily lives of squirrels and rabbits by visiting the same tree each day and looking down at their tracks. I often find a log or soft pile of snow to sit on, so I can be less of a disturbance. Birds start to chirp a bit more when I am silent and still for a while. The snow keeps me warm, somehow, and reminds me of the childhood snow forts I’d make at the end of the driveway where the snowplow’s piles were over my head.
These books, along with a few others that I will post here, have reminded me how important it is to be in sacred nature. Find a tree that speaks to you. Hang out with it. Get to know its branches. Or buy a plant—that works, too. Even better, hike or walk or sit outside. 25 minutes outside is all it takes to feel more at ease, both emotionally and physiologically. And spiritually, nature is our dearest friend and faithful teacher. It teaches us patience, quiet, stillness, cyclicality, and how to bloom.
For more on nature and its wisdom:
When I was little, I often read a book a day, and kept almost every book I ever read. By the age of seven my bedroom walls were lined with books. I would lend them out to my friends, recording each loaned book in a small notebook. My own library.
My reading habits haven’t changed much. I often have four or five books open at a time: one is for the bath, one is for long drives, one is often for a class I’m taking, and one is for pure pleasure. In lieu of inviting you all to my own personal library, I offer you my most authentic way of showing loving-kindness: book recommendations and current reads.
🌻Workshops, Classes, and Ways to Connect
Online: Imaginal Intuition
March 22 and 29, 2026
I believe that every single person has access to deep intuition. It is not a special gift for a select few—it is an inner sense that we can all remember, practice, and strengthen. This workshop is an invitation to do exactly that.
In Person:
Miraval Berkshires
You can find me in real life at Miraval Berkshires. I teach weekly in-person workshops and hold private sessions on tarot, the energy of money, learning intuition, and a Thursday evening class on the soul. I’d love to see you there! Respond to learn more.
Coming Soon: See me live and in person in April!
(Driving distance from CT, NJ, and NYC- details to come.)
With Gratitude,
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🌱Make a micro-donation or become a paying member of this Substack. Subscribe to pay for this newsletter for $5/month or $50/year. Paying subscribers have access to my entire archive.
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Thank you thank you!
Much love and gratitude,
Rachel xo
PS! I make a great gift! Interested in gifting a private yoga, a tarot or an intuitive soul reading to a friend? Simply respond to this newsletter!
Your Tarot Reading, Revealed!
Card 1: Green Aventurine // Seven of Pentacles
The Seven of Pentacles is a prosperous card, with someone pausing their labor to admire the fruits of it. This week, pause to admire what you’ve created, built, or collected. Give in to gratitude for your abundance. The more we show our appreciation for our prosperity, the more prosperous we feel.
Card 2: Moss Agate // Four of Cups
Intuitively, we often know what works for our immune systems and what doesn’t. When I was little, I never liked toothpaste and mints with cinnamon flavor, so I’ve been careful for decades. As an adult, and after a substantial round of allergy testing for something else, I found out I was allergic to cinnamon flavor! I break out in sores when I have it, which my body somehow already knew. Listen to your body, and if you need to say no to a cinnamon mint, say no.
Card 3: Blue Fluorite // The Lovers
In a partnership, a third party is often needed to help decipher who is saying what. Sometimes we hear things that haven’t actually been said. Sometimes we say things that aren’t taken the way we meant them. Sometimes, it helps to rely on a neutral force (the angel in the card) to broker a deal, a compromise, or a connection. Maybe you need your friend to look over an email before you send it. Maybe you need your spouse to translate their sibling’s specific way of talking. Maybe you need a professional!
Rachel Barker’s role as writer and intuitive is to facilitate the reader’s introspection, awareness, and reflection. Whether to make a particular choice or take a particular action is entirely the responsibility of the reader.
Good writing about nature!