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Last week in Gaia Shamanism’s weekly journey circle we journeyed with the intention of meeting the Goddess, source of our lives, body of the land, ancestor of all beings.

The Earth Goddess has many names: Pachamama (Andean), Gaia (Greek), Mari (Basque), Umai (Mongolian and Turkic), and Mother Earth (North America) to name but a few.

Though I wasn’t sure which form of the Goddess would receive me, when I found myself suddenly standing on a craggy mountain ledge before the mouth of a dark cave, I knew.

Mari emerged from the cave in her frightening aspect: a hag with a gray stony face with wild and unkempt hair. She was the spirit of the mountain in human form.

I stepped forward and placed a bouquet of Eguzkilore, or yellow Basque sunflowers, at her feet.

Mari motioned for me to enter the cave.”Is it safe?” I asked.

Mari laughed: “I could make the very earth swallow you up right now.” Not very reassuring.

Or, on second thought, maybe it was.

I took a moment to notice and feel gratitude for the fact that the ground remained solid under my feet today, as it has every day of my life. One day, things might be otherwise. 

Again, Mari beckoned for me to come forward. This time I stepped into the cave.

Inside, I was surprised to find a world rich with beauty and treasure. There were two white silk thrones before me, gold tables with elaborate glass vases showcasing magnificent arrays of flowers, and loaves of bread, wrapped gifts, and fruits of many colors arranged in neat mounds about the cave.

Standing there, I realized that we were surrounded by many centuries of offerings of devotion to Mari. This dark cave in the craggy mountain was a hidden cathedral of love and gratitude for the sacred earth.

Mari walked over to her oversized throne, sat, and patted the white cushion next to her. She no longer looked like a hag, but now appeared as a beautiful black-haired woman with deep brown eyes. I sat with her.

Mari put her hands on my head “to heal my mind” as she put it, then placed my head in her lap where she combed my hair with her golden comb. Lovely though this attention was, I grew restless quickly. I could only see a narrow band of the cave from this position and wanted to see more. But when I tried to sit up, Mari held my head in place while continuing to gently stroke my hair.

To seek to enter into a deeper relationship with the sacred earth can be a frightening prospect—at least at first. To enter into the dark cave of climate change, pandemic, and social collapse at the behest of the Goddess is to enter a tomb that will only become a womb over the long passage of time.

Once we accept the earth’s invitation to transformation and step into Mari’s cave, however, we will begin to recover the lost riches, abundant love, and the undying devotion of our ancestors. The cost of recovering lost intimacy with the earth is the dissolution of our current way of life.

To enter into a relationship of devotion with the sacred earth, source of our lives, body of the land, ancestor of all beings, is to be held firmly by the powerful embrace of love and never to see the world the same way again.

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If you would like to attend Gaia Shamanism’s free online journey circle this Wednesday, December 1, from 4-6 pm PST, email anna “at” gaiashamanism “dot” com.

All skill levels are welcome. Hope you can join us this week!

This week, I suggest that we journey to meet the Goddess, source of our lives, body of the land, ancestor of all beings. 

I’ve been holding this journey circle for years now and never have I suggested that we journey to meet the one for whom this work is named. There are a few reasons for that. 

For one thing, we are the earth. There is no separation except in our minds. When we feel lost, disconnected, or orphaned from the ground of our existence, we are speaking of a mental state, not our actual state of being. Just you try leaving the presence of the Goddess. Gravity will bring you home every time. There is a comfort in this fact, a closeness, and an overlooked intimacy with Divinity that is our inheritance as embodied beings. 

For another thing, being on good terms with the Goddess isn’t a straightforward proposition when one lives on land that has been stolen at gunpoint, fractured into pieces, and plundered for resources. Approaching Divinity by using any of Her names–Pachamama (Andean), Gaia (Greek), Mari (Basque), Umay (Mongolian and Turkic)–is not something a sane person does lightly. 

But no matter what we do, or how well we do it, we will never “deserve” to be speaking terms with the Goddess. At best, we are in process, deepening in some ways while falling apart in others, as we journey through the seasons of life. To be in process, to participate in this falling apart and coming together, is to become fluent in the language of the Goddess. 

So it’s okay. Come as you are, not as you aren’t. Set aside all pretense, be sincere, and ask to meet Her. The purpose of these times is to restore the Goddess to memory.

Let us begin.

Preparation 

Bring an offering to the circle for the Goddess, source of our lives, body of the land, ancestor of all beings. Be thinking about which name you will call her by and why.

RSVP

If you can attend Gaia Shamanism’s free online journey circle this Wednesday, November 24, from 4-6 pm PST, email anna “at” gaiashamanism “dot” com.

All skill levels are welcome. Hope you can join us this week.

The earth has always been the main event, though humans have a tendency to overlook the ground in favor of the heavens. The current race to space among the billionaire class is only the most recent example of our disembodied relationship with the earth. The ground–not the sky–has always been the limit of human civilizations. We ignore the soil and the soul at our peril.

I, for one, find myself a bit afraid to bow into a relationship with the ground beneath my feet. The land I “own” was taken from its original stewards, the Kalapuya peoples, in 1855. The land you live on or own was similarly stolen from native peoples, fractured into pieces, and sold. The land has not forgotten, nor commonly been asked to forgive, these acts of theft, trespass, and violence. 

But because we live here now, we are uniquely qualified to ask forgiveness, repair harm, and learn to relate well to these lands once again. 

You and I occupy the fulcrum point in history where our primary job is to clean up messes and make amends for crimes committed some generations ago. If we shirk our responsibility to the land and to our descendants, the price of cleanup will grow–with compounding interest. Regardless of our heritage, regardless of where we stand relative to society, we all stand on a piece of the earth. This is where we begin.

To pretend the mountain, stream, or tree isn’t alive, capable of communication and communion, is to exempt oneself from the web of reciprocal relationships in which we are embedded. To continue to obey the dominant materialist paradigm which says that we cannot communicate meaningfully with the natural world is to tear, rather than repair, the web of life.

There are many ways to befriend the place we live, deepen in connection, and repair past harm. Journeywork is one way of entering into a heart-centered and mutual relationship with the land. 

If you were to seek counsel from the land about how to right wrongs, ask for forgiveness, or facilitate the health of that place, where would you start? 

Who would you call upon to begin the process of building a relationship? Our journeys this week will seek to begin answering these questions. 

Preparation

Before our circle, take about 15 minutes to walk around the land where you live. Walk mindfully, or sit, with your senses engaged. 

Bring a gift of some kind for your land. We will discuss our experience at the start of our circle.

RSVP

If you can attend Gaia Shamanism’s relating well to the land journey circle this Wednesday, November 10, from 4-6 pm PST, email anna “at” gaiashamanism “dot” com.

All skill levels are welcome. This is the first in a series of journeys.

Our relationship to the land and the production of food is central to our religious understandings and calendars. As folks who don’t raise our own food, however, the spiritual meaning of the seasons can be lost on us.

According to Farmer’s Almanac, Samhain (“summer’s end”), celebrated on the same day as Halloween, “was the day when the cattle were brought in from pasture; those needed for the winter’s supply of meat would be slaughtered. Since Samhain was the death-night of the old year, it came to be associated with ghosts and graveyards.”

Around here, we don’t slaughter our animals or even take honey from our bees. You might say we farm with vegan sensibilities.

Though we sell the eggs of our chickens, we never “break” our hens of broodiness but instead allow them to take over a nest box and sit on their eggs to incubate chicks. We refrain from the common practice of “forcing” eggs from our hens by keeping a light on in the chicken coops throughout the winter (egg-laying is a light-sensitive process). Instead, we allow them a natural and “unproductive” season of rest.

Our relationship with the more-than-human world continues to evolve and be refined. This time around with our new flock of hens, we did not clip their wings. Our thinking was that our chickens might better elude predators with their wings intact.

But retaining the full function of their wings has made our flock truly free-range; we can’t constrain them to the bounds of their chicken yard, much less of our 14-acre property. This freedom may ultimately curtail their life expectancy, given the dogs who live pinned up next door, but for the quality of life they enjoy now, the risk seems worth it.

Our flock journeys to visit the goats and horses on the other side of the fence several times a day. They have breached our garden and orchard fences, regularly investigate the compost pile and the leaf litter in the woods, yet stand waiting for us to open the gate so they can step s-l-o-w-l-y back into the chicken yard late in the afternoon.

I love every minute of it. From the eggs that Escalera lays beneath the stairs to our house, to the visiting band of chickens who come by to say “hi” when I journey with others out on the land, to the hens balancing on our backyard fence after nightfall like toddlers who won’t go to bed, these rowdy young chickens of ours are sewing a joyful thread of chaos through our leaden pandemic lives.

Soon the days will grow dark enough that their egg-laying will cease and we will have to scramble to return our wayward hens to the safety of their chicken yard by 4:30 pm.

Whenever and however we are engaged with the more-than-human world, we are given the opportunity to reclaim the wisdom of our ancient spiritual roots born of soil and the seasons.

In the coming months may you also enjoy the adventure of unclipped wings, the luxury of dark incubation, and freedom from being “forced” to produce.

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If you are interested in attending Gaia Shamanism’s free online journey circle this Wednesday, November 3, from 4-6 pm PDT, email anna “at” gaiashamanism “dot” com.

All skill levels are welcome. I hope you can join us this week to kick off the new year in the Celtic calendar.

Samhain (pronounced sah-win)

From the Farmer’s Almanac:

Samhain (“summer’s end”) is celebrated as today’s Halloween. Many historians believe that it served as the start of the new year in the Celtic calendar—their “New Year’s Day.”

It was the day when the cattle were brought in from pasture; those needed for the winter’s supply of meat would be slaughtered. Since Samhain was the death-night of the old year, it came to be associated with ghosts and graveyards. 

From Wikipedia: 

Samhain marked the end of the harvest season and beginning of winter or the ‘darker half’ of the year. It was seen as a liminal time when the boundary between this world and the Otherworld thinned. 

This meant the Aos Sí, the ‘spirits’ or ‘fairies’, could more easily come into this world and were particularly active. At Samhain, the Aos Sí were appeased to ensure the people and livestock survived the winter. Offerings of food and drink, or portions of the crops, were left outside for them. The souls of the dead were also said to revisit their homes seeking hospitality.  Places were set at the dinner table and by the fire to welcome them. 

The belief that the souls of the dead return home on one night of the year and must be appeased seems to have ancient origins and is found in many cultures. In 19th century Ireland, “candles would be lit and prayers formally offered for the souls of the dead. After this the eating, drinking, and games would begin”.

Intention

This week, let us journey to learn how we might best honor the endings and new beginnings of the year.  

Perhaps you would like to journey to craft a ritual observance for October 31? Or connect with a healed ancestor? Grieve a lost loved one? Give gratitude for the harvest of the past year?

Whatever the case, let us gather together on this threshold to deepen our relationship with the Unseen world. 

The more we use liminal moments like these to tie the Seen and Unseen worlds together with the humble threads of heartfelt intention and tangible action, the more we find that we are stiched together–re-membered–into larger coherence by forces greater than ourselves. 

RSVP

If you are interested in attending Gaia Shamanism’s free online journey circle this Wednesday, October 27, from 4-6 pm PDT, email anna “at” gaiashamanism “dot” com.

All skill levels are welcome. I do hope you can join us this week.

The leaves are changing color here now, as they are across most of North America. 

Crossing the fields in the early morning fog this morning, I was stopped by a vision of autumn leaves that looked like torches illuminating the dark limbs of the trees.

Leaves are, of course, repositories of sunlight. But never before have I seen sunlight emanating from leaves as I did this morning. 

To see the light burning in the leaves is a metaphor for seeing with the eyes of the heart. Such beauty blazes out from all around us, but seldom do we notice.

Let us journey this week and seek the luminous view of our lives. 

Intention

Be thinking about your intention to bring to the circle. If you don’t have a clear intention in mind, join us anyway. 

We can all benefit from this heart-centered and communal spiritual practice. 

RSVP

If you are interested in attending Gaia Shamanism’s free online journey circle this Wednesday or Saturday, email me at anna “at” gaiashamanism “dot” com.

All skill levels are welcome.

I’ve been keeping close to the campfire of my heart this week, largely because I have needed it. 

When the darkness of vulnerability, betrayal, or sickness draws close, what we need most is the warmth, strength, and vision granted by the living fire of Spirit. 

Thankfully, this fire is ever available in the heart. Our spiritual work consists in learning to make the journey from the cramped corridors of the mind down to the expansive landscape of our center.

Once we learn how to descend from the mind down into the heart with the drumbeat, we can receive instruction on how to tend the fire at our core. This tending is the basis of spiritual practice.

This week, I have journeyed outside facing east in the mornings and facing west at night. The regularity of these visits to the campfire of my heart has helped me enormously. I am feeling my feelings, receiving counsel and energetic help, and most of all, and experiencing the fundamental okayness of everything that’s going on in the world.

I may not like all of it, but when I journey, I can sense the wholeness that holds our lives together with the tender touch of coherence. Despite it all, and because of it all, we are privileged to live in the midst of beauty. 

I hope you can join us this week to tend the communal fire of the heart on Wednesday, Sept 29 from 4-6 pm PDT and/or Saturday, October 2, noon- 2 pm PDT.

Intention

Be thinking about your intention to bring to the circle. If you don’t have a clear intention in mind, join us anyway. 

We can all benefit from this heart-centered and communal spiritual practice. 

RSVP

If you are interested in attending Gaia Shamanism’s free online journey circle this Wednesday or Saturday, email me at anna “at” gaiashamanism “dot” com.

All skill levels are welcome.

Only twice a year is the light of day perfectly in balance with the dark of night. On every other day, either light or darkness predominates.

In the midst of the whirl of life, the biannual equinox provides us a moment of rest, stillness, and equipoise. 

One maxim of Waldorf early childhood education is: “the environment is the curriculum.”  

This environment is the classroom, carefully curated to include only natural materials such as wool and wood, beeswax modeling clay selected for its ability to give scent and warmth back to small hands, soft pastel colors on the walls and curtains, and hard edges rounded on papers and chalkboards to mimic the organic shapes of the natural environment. 

Children are educated primarily through their senses, not their minds, and nature, beauty, and symmetry in their surroundings soothe, ground, and ennoble without so much as a word. 

From what I have observed, the environment is the curriculum for us grownups as well. 

In our dawning age of climate chaos, we are indeed beginning to pay attention to our wordless teacher, the environment. Indigenous peoples worldwide and throughout history have studied the ways of nature and strived to emulate her wisdom in their pursuit of balance with the natural world, with each other, and within the self.

We live in and are informed by social structures and economic systems predicated upon imbalance. It is this hard-edged, individualistic, and unjust classroom that has inwardly formed us. Built on an uneven foundation, our institutions and psyches are now in the process of collapse because what is untrue cannot stand the test of time. 

The equinox provides us with a reminder of what balance looks and feels like in the classroom of life. Tomorrow, Wednesday, September 22, is an opportunity to reset and root into the solid ground of the true, real, and enduring. 

Let us spend some unhurried time outside tomorrow, ideally at sunrise or sunset, to remember what our short time on this earth is about and to recommit ourselves to that holy purpose. 

And let us journey tomorrow to honor the dance of Grandfather Sun and Grandmother Earth and to seek their guidance on this day of balanced light and new life.

RSVP

If you are interested in attending Gaia Shamanism’s free online journey circle this Wednesday, September 22, from 4-6 pm PDT email me at anna “at” gaiashamanism “dot” com.

All skill levels are welcome.

Last journey circle, I held the intention of feeling the feelings I had skipped over or missed in the past week. To feel your feelings, while often uncomfortable, is to reconnect to your strength as a sensitive. To skip over feelings, while natural (especially when we’re busy), is to become gradually alienated from self and Source. 

About 15% of us on the planet are feelers who are exquisitely (and sometimes excruciatingly) sensitive to energy. This sensitivity gives us the ability to connect directly to the energetic truth of the moment without intermediaries. It is of great practical value to be able to feel our way through darkness and unknowing in the collective birth canal of these times.

Twenty years ago, on September 11, I was only in my first week of work as a campus minister at a Catholic university in Austin, Texas. In the midst of grieving, coaxing our students away from watching the planes slam into the towers on TV, and planning a candlelight vigil for the community, I was pissed off at one of my best college buddies. 

My friend was frantic because two of our other friends from UT lived in Manhattan and she feared they might have been inside or near the twin towers that day. It was unlikely, but not impossible: one worked as a temp at a variety of office jobs while the other worked in finance in the city. 

In the turmoil of the moment, I had no idea why my panicking friend was stirring up anger in me. But a few years later, after doing a considerable amount of work to heal from childhood trauma, I had grown into the understanding that I am an energetic sensitive who navigates the world not primarily by thought but feeling. This realization was not a happy one for me because I wanted to be a “thinker” cut from the same mold as the towering intellects in my family. No such luck.

The jarring events of 9-11 had me checking on my friends the only way possible after cell reception was disrupted by the attacks: by feeling into them from afar. By dialing in, I knew with every fiber of my being that these friends were perfectly safe, This knowingness proved correct.

On that fateful day, I felt like my friend was being a drama queen, but with time I realized I made the mistaken assumption that she had access to the same information I did on that day. Not so. 

Again, only about 15% of us are feelers. Most of us can only dial in by using a phone. 

One unlikely gift of 9-11 was the realization that being a sensitive is a competitive advantage over being a thinker with a towering intellect in times like these.

Intention

Bring your own intention to the circle this week.

RSVP

If you are interested in attending Gaia Shamanism’s free online journey circle this Wednesday, September 15, from 4-6 pm PDT email me at anna “at” gaiashamanism “dot” come.

All skill levels are welcome.

If I had more time, I would write something about ripples, connection, and being inextricably wedded to the larger whole, for good and ill.

We live in the midst of unspeakable beauty, but much of that beauty is invisible to the eye; we need an open heart to sense it.

As feelers, sensitives, and empaths, our primary way of knowing—through feeling–is uncomfortable in the best of times, but borders on unbearable in times of collective difficulty like these. 

It’s so loud out there with the rage and fear whipping around us that I find myself avoiding my feelings in order to get some relief from the intensity of it all.

But feeling our feelings is how we sensitives navigate, make sound decisions, much less share our particular signature of magic with the world.

It helps me to remember that if we can feel overwhelmed by the world, then the world can feel us in return. 

Let’s join together this week to feel our feelings, yes, but also send ripples of beauty out into the world from the silent waters of the heart. 

I hope you can join us in the journey circle this week.

RSVP

If you want to attend this free online journey circle on Wednesday, September 8, from 4-6 pm PDT email anna “at” gaiashamanism “dot” com.  All skill levels welcome.