She is the lovely and beautiful spirit of the water, and she protects the precious and clear spring of the Blautopf that rises-up from deep inside Mother Earth.
From here in Schwabenland in south Deutschland, this amazingly blue water then quietly overflows to form one of the smallest and shortest rivers on this earth. 14.5 km later, the Blau flows into the Donau, then into the Black Sea. Here at this place of natural beauty, Hiromi and I first greeted "Lau" (the spirit or kami or drala of the Blautopf) and then offered our traditional "Bowl of Tea for Peace into the Four Directions."
Once long long ago (before convenience society, before the Christians, before the Romans, even before history), the local people naturally showed respect for the spirits of earth-water-fire-wind. They greeted these spirits and invoked them into their lives and offered fruits and drink to them. Today at the Blautopf, the people give nothing. Just take. Take a smoke break, take a walk, take a picture, take a coffee break. Take a swim.
Let's return back to the ancient traditions of showing respect for our Mother Earth and all the elements. Wherever we are, let's just offer simple simple bowls of tea into the four directions. Let us do nothing to harm this earth and all creatures above and below.