“… Whispers from the long-departed, songs of stillness carved in silence, locked in time like wasps in Amber…”
Say Hola to Sphecius Speciousus, the Cicada Hawk or Cicada Killer, a large, solitary, digger wasp, aptly named as Cicadas bugs are their prey. Sometimes referred to as a Sand Hornet, this female Hawk paralyzed the cicada below her, held it upside down and tried taking back off toward her burrow. With the bug being twice the wasp’s weight, the flight proves difficult, as we witnessed this weekend, spending extended time outdoors under an impeccably blue August skyline. Solitary wasps behave differently than social wasps such as hornets, yellow jackets, and paper wasps, Cicada Killer females using their sting to paralyze their prey rather than defend their nests. Despite their size and ominous appearance, unlike most social wasps and bees, they don’t attempt to sting unless handled roughly. Wasps even lug their prey up into the nearest tree, gaining altitude for the flight to the burrow, Cicada Killers exerting a measure of natural control on bug populations and enjoying symbiotic relations with the deciduous trees that provide them a launch pad and head start.
As you have heard me say before and will hear me say again, just experiencing our natural, simplified environment offers said wondrous, engaging experiences with nature. Although it may seem a bit odd, maybe not so much in today’s world(!), I’m also fond of highlighting how we build up resources in the face of death here, knowing that Death, which is so a part of nature, isn’t an issue one solves but rather resolves. The visiting Cicada Killer during our Ceremonial overnight helped the cause, as did the words of Oglala Lakota Sioux sage Black Elk (Hehaka Sapa) below. Check out our full Fall offerings on our Retreats/Calendar page, with our next Ceremonial Overnight the weekend of September 12-13th & more info. & registration up soon on our Fall Foraging Workshop and Wild Dinner Saturday Sept. 19th.
“The rite of the Onikure (sweat lodge) utilizes all the powers of the Universe: earth and the things which grow from the earth, water, fire and air. The water represents the Thunder-beings, who come fearfully but bring goodness, for the stream which comes from the rocks, within which is the fire, is frightening, but it purifies us so we may live as Wakan-Tanka wills, and he may even send to us a vision if we are pure. When we use the water in the sweat lodge we should think of Wakan-Tanka, who is flowing and giving His power and life to everything; we should even be as water which is lower than all things, yet stronger even than the rocks.
The sweat lodge is made from sixteen young willows and these, too, have a lesson to teach us, for in the Fall their leaves die and return to the earth, but in the Spring they come to life again. So, too, men and women die but live again in the real world of Wakan-Tanka, where there is nothing but the Spirit of All Things, and this true life we may know here on earth, if we purify our bodies and minds, thus coming closer to Wakan-Tanka, who is all purity.”