Encounters with Nature Spirits: Co-Creating with the Elemental Kingdom by R. Ogilvie Crombie (ROC) was an absolute delight to read! Some people complain that philosophy is dense and inaccessible. If you are looking for whimsical and optimistic philosophy with large print, large margins, and pictures, look no further!

ROC was a Scottish Gandalf like figure, who was born in 1899 and died in 1975. This book is a series of remembrances by him and about him from his followers. ROC claims to have met and developed a friendship with a faun named Kurmos in the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh. This lead to developing a friendship with the god Pan, who grants him the abilities to interact with elves, nature spirits, and other elementals. This friendship spans several philosophical conversations while strolling through gardens, and there are many key similarities across other philosophical practices that are here introduced in a more whimsical and friendly way.

Some places that resonated with me enough to mark it for future consideration:

· That we, and everything around us, also can be considered as an etheric body on an energetic plane. This is a central conversation in Stalking the Wild Pendulum, the Holographic Mind theory, the Hindu philosophy of Maya, and even going back to the parable of the cave: the material world is an illusion. There is a deeper reality besides the one of this 3D plane. I used to be a community garden manager, and so I in particular enjoyed how much these philosophies were constantly tied back into gardening lessons. See, I knew me talking to and being friends with the plants in my garden was paying off!

· There was discussion about the hierarchy of beings in God’s creation, with us humans on this material plane, devas or angels on a higher energetic plane, and the elementals which embody nature’s energetic fields. The entire thesis of the book was that when these three planes work together is when the most beauty and joy can be brought into the world. It never got too preachy with environmental policy, it was instead about appreciation and gratitude for being caretakers of God’s creation on this plane which I found really beautiful.

· I enjoyed the care that was taken to explore why man’s separation from nature had to occur to develop our intellect. But such separation is not meant to last. I think that it could be a very cool thing if humanity went past some sort of inflection point in our progress and we started coming back to this type of magic in addition to our more newly developed technology and intellect.

· There was also discussion about how these types of whimsical imaginings are not contradictory to more widely accepted psychological theories of a Jungian subconscious. These types of meditations on nature, nature spirits, and even angels… they are beneficial and impactful for us even independent of the reality of such elves and fairies because knowing ourselves better through in depth discussion with our subconscious selves via this meditation is beneficial and impactful!

As a child I felt a very close friendship with many of the trees in my neighborhood. As an adult, I’ve felt an energetic intimacy with plants and animals that has made me excellent at gardening and caretaking. I’ve never seen a fairy or a faun, and I’d probably knock down the door of my therapist if I did, but I love believing the magic that I feel exists out there in such a way. It just makes life more lovely to fill it with such whimsy!

Have you have any encounters with nature spirits? Any whimsical moments of nature magic? I would love to hear all about it!

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