Weather Working & Nature Communication

BY NICOLE LAU

In indigenous shamanic traditions, weather is not random. Rain, wind, storms, and sunshine are expressions of conscious spirits who can be communicated with, negotiated with, and—when approached with respect—influenced.

Trees are not silent. Rivers have voices. Mountains hold wisdom. The land itself is alive, aware, and willing to teach those who know how to listen.

This is weather working and nature communication: the shamanic art of speaking with the more-than-human world and remembering that we are part of nature, not separate from it.

The Shamanic View of Weather

Weather as Spirit

In shamanic cosmology:

• Weather has consciousness: Rain, wind, thunder, snow are not just phenomena—they're beings
• Weather spirits can be communicated with: Through journey, prayer, offering, and relationship
• Weather responds to human consciousness: Our thoughts, emotions, and intentions affect weather
• Weather serves a purpose: Even destructive weather has a role in the balance

Weather Spirits Across Cultures

Native American: Thunder beings, rain spirits, wind spirits
Norse: Thor (thunder), Njord (wind and sea)
Greek: Zeus (thunder), Poseidon (storms), Aeolus (wind)
Hindu: Indra (rain and thunder), Vayu (wind)
African: Oya (storms and wind), Shango (thunder)
Chinese: Dragon kings (rain and water)

Weather Working: The Basics

⚠️ Ethics First

Before you attempt weather working, understand:

• Weather is interconnected: Changing it here affects it elsewhere
• You don't control weather: You negotiate, request, collaborate
• Weather serves the whole: What seems bad to you might be necessary
• Consequences are real: Interfering with weather has karmic weight
• Humility is essential: You're asking, not commanding

Only work with weather when:

• It's truly necessary (not just convenient)
• You've asked permission from the spirits
• You're willing to accept the consequences
• You're acting for the good of all, not just yourself

The Process

1. Journey to the weather spirits
2. Introduce yourself and state your need
3. Ask permission: "May I request [rain/sun/calm]?"
4. Listen to their response
5. If yes, make your request clearly
6. Offer something in exchange (tobacco, prayer, service)
7. Thank them
8. Trust and release
9. Accept what comes (it may not be exactly what you asked for)

Calling Rain

Traditional Methods

Journey to Rain Spirits:

1. Enter trance through drumming
2. Journey to the Upper World or Middle World
3. Look for rain spirits (often appear as clouds, water beings, or dragons)
4. Explain why rain is needed
5. Ask them to come
6. Make an offering
7. Thank them and return

Rain Dance/Ceremony:

• Create sacred space
• Call in the directions and elements
• Invoke rain spirits by name
• Dance, drum, sing to call them
• Visualize rain falling
• Make offerings (water poured on earth, tobacco, cornmeal)
• Thank the spirits

Offerings for Rain:

• Pour water on the earth (give water to receive water)
• Tobacco
• Cornmeal
• Songs and prayers
• Your gratitude and respect

When Rain Comes

• Go outside and greet it: Stand in the rain, thank the spirits
• Make another offering: Show gratitude
• Don't complain: You asked for it, honor it
• Use the rain water: Collect it for sacred purposes

Clearing Storms

When to Clear vs. When to Let Be

Consider clearing when:

• A ceremony or sacred event needs protection
• Danger to life is imminent
• The storm is unusually severe or out of season

Let the storm be when:

• It's just inconvenient (not dangerous)
• The land needs the rain
• The storm is clearing negative energy
• It's part of natural cycles

How to Clear or Redirect Storms

1. Journey to the storm spirits
2. Ask why the storm is here: What purpose does it serve?
3. Explain your need: "We have a ceremony. Can you go around us or wait?"
4. Negotiate: Offer something in exchange
5. If they agree, thank them
6. Visualize the storm parting or moving
7. Trust

Physical action:

• Stand facing the storm
• Raise your hands or use a staff/feather
• Speak to the storm: "Thank you for your power. I ask you to go around this place."
• Visualize it parting or moving
• Make an offering

Communicating with Trees

Trees as Teachers

Trees are ancient, wise, and willing to teach:

• They've been here longer than us: They hold memory and wisdom
• They're connected: Through roots (mycelial network), they communicate
• They're generous: They give oxygen, shade, food, medicine, beauty
• Each species has unique medicine: Oak (strength), willow (flexibility), pine (peace)

How to Communicate with Trees

Method 1: Sit with the Tree

1. Find a tree that calls to you
2. Ask permission to sit with it
3. Sit with your back against the trunk (or facing it)
4. Close your eyes, breathe, relax
5. Open your awareness to the tree
6. Listen (you may hear words, feel sensations, see images, or just know)
7. Ask questions if you have them
8. Thank the tree and leave an offering

Method 2: Journey to the Tree Spirit

1. Sit near the tree or hold a piece of it (leaf, bark)
2. Enter trance through drumming
3. Journey to meet the spirit of the tree
4. It may appear as a dryad, tree person, or the tree itself
5. Introduce yourself and ask what it wants to teach you
6. Listen and receive
7. Thank it and return

Method 3: Hug the Tree

• Yes, really. Trees respond to physical contact.
• Hug the tree, place your hands on it, lean against it
• Feel its energy
• Send it love and gratitude
• Receive its strength and peace

What Trees Teach

• Patience: They grow slowly, live long
• Rootedness: Deep roots, strong foundation
• Reaching: Branches toward the sky, roots toward earth
• Seasons: Letting go, dormancy, rebirth
• Community: They support each other through root networks
• Generosity: They give without asking for return

Communicating with Water

Rivers, Lakes, and Oceans

Water bodies have spirits and consciousness:

• Rivers: Flow, journey, cleansing, life force
• Lakes: Stillness, reflection, depth, mystery
• Oceans: Vastness, mother, the unconscious, primal power
• Springs: Source, purity, healing, emergence

How to Communicate with Water

1. Approach with respect: Water is sacred
2. Make an offering: Tobacco, cornmeal, flowers, prayer
3. Sit by the water: Listen to its sound
4. Touch the water: Put your hands in, feel its energy
5. Ask permission: Before swimming, drinking, or taking water
6. Listen: Water speaks through sound, feeling, knowing
7. Journey to water spirits: Meet the spirit of this specific body of water

What Water Teaches

• Flow: Adapt, move around obstacles
• Cleansing: Wash away what no longer serves
• Depth: Surface vs. depths, what's hidden below
• Persistence: Water wears away stone
• Life: All life comes from water

Communicating with Mountains and Land

Land Spirits and Guardians

Every place has spirits:

• Land guardians: Protect and oversee a specific area
• Genius loci: Spirit of place
• Ancestors of the land: Those who lived and died there
• Nature spirits: Elementals, devas, fairies

How to Communicate with Land

1. Walk the land: Spend time there, observe, feel
2. Ask permission: Before entering, camping, building
3. Make offerings: Tobacco, cornmeal, biodegradable items
4. Journey to meet the land guardian: Ask what it needs, what it wants to teach
5. Listen to the land: It will tell you where to walk, where not to go
6. Honor sacred sites: Some places are especially powerful—treat them with reverence

What Land Teaches

• Stability: Solid, enduring, foundational
• History: The land remembers everything
• Boundaries: This is my territory, respect it
• Cycles: Seasons, growth, decay, renewal
• Belonging: You are part of this place

Building Relationship with Nature

Daily Practices

• Greet the day: Say good morning to the sun, the land, the trees
• Make offerings: Water for plants, food for animals, tobacco for spirits
• Spend time outside: Daily, even if brief
• Observe: Notice the weather, the birds, the plants
• Touch the earth: Walk barefoot, put your hands in soil
• Thank nature: For air, water, food, beauty

Deepening Practices

• Sit spot: Return to the same place regularly, observe changes
• Nature journeys: Journey to meet spirits of your local land
• Seasonal ceremonies: Honor solstices, equinoxes, seasonal changes
• Learn the land: Study local ecology, indigenous history, plant and animal species
• Become a caretaker: Clean up, plant native species, protect wild places

Signs Nature Is Communicating

• Animal messengers: Repeated encounters with specific animals
• Weather synchronicities: Rain when you're sad, sun when you need hope
• Finding objects: Feathers, stones, bones appearing in your path
• Dreams of nature: Trees, animals, landscapes teaching you
• Sudden knowing: Walking in nature and receiving insight
• Physical sensations: Energy shifts, tingling, warmth in certain places

Ethical Guidelines

• Ask permission: Always, for everything
• Leave offerings: Give back for what you receive
• Don't take more than you need: Respect limits
• Honor sacred sites: Some places are not for humans
• Clean up: Leave no trace, or leave it better than you found it
• Speak for nature: Advocate for protection of wild places
• Remember you're part of nature: Not separate, not superior

Final Thoughts

Weather working and nature communication are not about dominating nature or bending it to your will. They're about remembering that we are part of the web of life, that nature is conscious and communicative, and that relationship is possible.

The rain will come when you ask—if it's meant to. The trees will teach you—if you listen. The land will welcome you—if you approach with respect.

We are not separate from nature. We are nature. And when we remember that, everything changes.

The more-than-human world is speaking. Are you listening?

Ready to deepen your relationship with nature? Explore resources for shamanic nature communication, weather working, and building sacred relationship with the living earth.