Connecting with HER
HER is the Human-Earth-Relationship
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First Nations as the Leaders and Teachers.
First Nations as the Leaders and Teachers.
First Nation Peoples have been doing this work for as long as humans have lived on earth. When colonizers first came to this land they brought disease, forced famines, stole land and enacted genocide. As we reconnect with HER we must acknowledge, respect, honor, support and learn from the Indigenous communities that have been here long before and will remain for generations to come.
First Nation Peoples have been doing this work for as long as humans have lived on earth. When colonizers first came to this land they brought disease, forced famines, stole land and enacted genocide. As we reconnect with HER we must acknowledge, respect, honor, support and learn from the Indigenous communities that have been here long before and will remain for generations to come.
We must always acknowledge and remember, we are on stolen land. Most likely there is information about the land you are on how you can begin making reparations.
We must always acknowledge and remember, we are on stolen land. Most likely there is information about the land you are on how you can begin making reparations.
If we are to heal our relationship with the earth, we must first see the whole story, hear the whole story, and know the part that we play. It is messy work, but this is where we have to start.
If we are to heal our relationship with the earth, we must first see the whole story, hear the whole story, and know the part that we play. It is messy work, but this is where we have to start.
Listen to the land, listen to her stories, and look to Indigenous Voices as the teachers and leaders.
Listen to the land, listen to her stories, and look to Indigenous Voices as the teachers and leaders.
*In my section "Resources", I have shared a list of recourses to learn more
Reconnecting with HER is to begin this process of healing and learning from the land and each other. This is a story of an ongoing process of learning and growing, failing and listening. Below myself and others share our relationship with Mother Earth and how we try to learn and heal with her everyday.
Reconnecting with HER is to begin this process of healing and learning from the land and each other. This is a story of an ongoing process of learning and growing, failing and listening. Below myself and others share our relationship with Mother Earth and how we try to learn and heal with her everyday.
Mary Oliver Morning Poem
Mary Oliver Morning Poem
spoken by Nammy; video by Savannah
Every morning after her meditation Nammy speaks this Mary Oliver Poem, invoking the depth of our connection with the morning.
Connection~ the spiral of unfolding and becoming
Connection~ the spiral of unfolding and becoming
Here are offerings of people sharing ways they connect with HER.
Meditation and Poetry with Nammy
Meditation and Poetry with Nammy
After Nammys mediation each morning she speaks the poem shown in the video above. It is a Mary Oliver poem called Morning.
"I am reminded that everything is a prayer
"I am reminded that everything is a prayer
heard and answered:
heard and answered:
Light through the tree branches, chickadees singing, and the dancing rain".
Light through the tree branches, chickadees singing, and the dancing rain".
Everything is prayer. ~Nammy
Everything is prayer. ~Nammy
Fishing with Miguel
Fishing with Miguel
Miguel loves to fish. For him it is a way to connect more deeply with the water, earth, and more-than-human world. If he wants to catch a fish he has to blend in with the environment and to do that he has to listen and learn from the environment. He also has to pay attention to the fish and their livelihood: what they eat and when, what else eats them, where they live and how they move. Through relationship he learns how his actions affect the fish and the earth he cares about.
At first he might have developed these skills just to catch a fish, but it invariably brought him into a deeper and more attentive relationship with the earth and all her children.
Talking with Earth through Touch and Music with Savannah
Talking with Earth through Touch and Music with Savannah
One way that I connect with HER is by physically connecting with the land I am on. When I brush by trees I say hello, acknowledging them as sentient beings. I take my shoes off and feel my feet connecting and speaking with the rock. The most pure form of language, I find, is through touch.
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In a time where so many languages have been lost, how to we begin to remember and re-learn the ancient language of our earth family?
I speak to the earth through touch and music.
I speak to the earth through touch and music.
When I sing, the Earth speaking through me.
When I sing, the Earth speaking through me.
Find your own way to let the earth speak and move through you, whether through song, dance, words, gift giving, or creating of any kind.
How you can you give back to the earth? For me, that is going deep into the forest and singing to the trees and the water, letting them know that I am here and love them.
I see myself as an offering, with every song and every step I can give back to the earth.
I see myself as an offering, with every song and every step I can give back to the earth.
Earth-Art with Dylan
Earth-Art with Dylan
"This is a combination of a few things I love. I took this canvas down to Boulder Creek, I wet my hands and feet in the water and covered them with mud. I then stepped on the paper paper with my muddy hands and feet. I threw dirt and leaves on it, ripped it up a little, and then brought it home and splattered paint. I chose these things because they are things I love. I love the earth, the water. This is where I come from". ~Dylan Clancy
Developing Sense of Place :
Developing Sense of Place :
There are many ways to develop Sense of Place~
Continue to take walks around your home and learn the trees, the waters, the peoples, the stories, and the land where you are. Ask all the questions--especially the hard ones. Learn the stories, learn the names, develop relationship with the more-than human world, observe patterns, and participate in interrelationship and community building.
Creating your own rituals :
Creating your own rituals :
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Creating your own ritual is developing your sense of place and interrelationship
Creating your own ritual is developing your sense of place and interrelationship
with humans, earth and the more-than-human worlds.
with humans, earth and the more-than-human worlds.
One ritual I do is to create an alter. If a rock or a plant calls to me sometimes I will bring it home and put it on my alter. It is important to really feel into the being that is calling to you. Ask it (you may feel silly, but trust me, it's important!), "may I bring you back to my home?" I promise, as you continue to talk with other beings you will begin to develop your own language and relationship with them. You will begin to feel less silly and slowly, perhaps, you will hear their answer.
I learned how to make the baskets shown above through developing a relationship with willow. I spent time with her, listening, singing, playing. I learned how she moved and how I could work with her to create something.
Basket Weaving is an ancient craft. Many different cultures across the world have had these skills for a long time and have created their own craft. But learning to work with the earth in a transformational way is something that is always available to every one of us, as long as we do it with respect, humility, and attentiveness to the way in which we connect. We must learn to connect with the willow in our own way.
Our hands and the willow will create their own transformation.
Our hands and the willow will create their own transformation.
My favorite way to connect and gather with each other is through creativity, imagination, and interrelationship. Before creating your own gathering, grounded through ceremony and celebration, here are some questions to ask:
My favorite way to connect and gather with each other is through creativity, imagination, and interrelationship. Before creating your own gathering, grounded through ceremony and celebration, here are some questions to ask:
What is the purpose of us gathering?
Who would I like to participate?
How will we gather?
Where will we gather?
Why does this matter?
What is the spirit of this gathering.
I recently held a gathering with my work friends, the purpose was to participate in a craft exchange. I asked my work friends a couple months in advance if they would like to come together and participate. Many were enthusiastic. I gave out invitations and finally set a day a month away. People came to work sharing their craft ideas and progress with me, a feeling of excitement and creativity in the air.
When the day arrived people came over bringing food and three crafts they had made over the month. There was really no limitations and it was an invitation for everyone--not just people who crafted on their own. I wanted the purpose of this gathering to ignite ideas and creativity in everyone, and so I provided support for people who were unsure about what craft to make. I had extra supplies, time and ideas that I wanted to share with everyone and anyone who wanted to participate in the exchange.
Ten people showed up on a Wednesday evening. I wanted a calming, inviting, and sacred space to walk into. I cooked lots of food, set up a tea table, an alter, lit candles, and cleaned everything! When people arrived I asked them to set their crafts on a communal table.
After connecting, eating, laughing, and enjoying each others company, we began. We sat in a large circle with our crafts in front of us. We went around and shared our name, pronouns, what our craft was and the journey of making it. We also had a go-around question just to bring a little more depth to the community we were building for the night, tonight the question was what each of us had been doing for self care.
We then each picked a number from a hat. #1 went first and picked out one craft. We circled through the numbers three times until all the crafts had been traded. Afterwards there were feelings of love, happiness and fullness.
What is the purpose of us gathering?
To craft, trade, and connect over food, sacred space, and creativity
Who would I like to participate?
Anyone at work who felt called to.
How will we gather?
In a circle with a conscious focus around sharing and giving. It will be in the evening around dinner time.
Where will we gather?
At my home. I will create the space I envision for this event.
Why does this matter?
Because building connections in my work community is important to me. Because partaking in a small gift economy for the night opens a doorway into more ways we can live like this.
What is the spirit of this gathering.
To support each other's ideas, creativity, and desire to share and receive.
A ritual can be anything, allow it to grow and change and move like the water. A ritual can be any of the activities mentioned above, it can be something you do often or on occasion. A ritual that is founded on relationship with the earth is just as dynamic and full as the earth, it honors growth and cycles: it can be formed through meditation, poetry, music, fishing, wandering through the woods, playing in the mud, making earth art, and so much more.
A ritual can be anything, allow it to grow and change and move like the water. A ritual can be any of the activities mentioned above, it can be something you do often or on occasion. A ritual that is founded on relationship with the earth is just as dynamic and full as the earth, it honors growth and cycles: it can be formed through meditation, poetry, music, fishing, wandering through the woods, playing in the mud, making earth art, and so much more.
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Allow yourself space to communicate and play with the earth and create your own relationship through ritual, ceremony, and celebration.
Allow yourself space to communicate and play with the earth and create your own relationship through ritual, ceremony, and celebration.
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