I am in a class on healing my ancestral lines at the moment. It has been wonderful in many ways, but I find myself returning with renewed interest to my non-human kin and reclaiming my connection to our shared and most sacred ancestor: Gaia.
In this time of quarantine, we are staying close to home. This is an opportunity to get to know our extended family a bit better and begin the initial spadework for entering into a reciprocal relationship with the natural world. No better place to start than the ground beneath our feet.
This week, our journey will seek to deepen our relationship with the earth through a representative, be it a plant, insect, tree, animal, waterway, or geological feature who also inhabits the place we call home.
We will seek to meet a wise, kind, and healed Elder who is willing to step forward on behalf of the land where we live. These non-human Elders are under no obligation to answer our call, but if we approach with humility and reverence, our request will likely be honored.
We will journey to offer our thanks, to ask if anything is needed, and to listen. We may receive new practices to demonstrate our commitment and love for the land. If there are questions you carry, feel free to ask. The Elder may be willing and able to answer, but do be willing to let go of that part. This is primarily a journey to court the wise and well ancestors in the lands where we live.
This is how we cultivate the hard ground of this moment: by meeting the earth where She is, where we are as well. Relationships of mutuality are begun when we assume the posture of asking instead of telling, listening instead of speaking, and being present where once we were absent.
Let us begin our journey home this Wednesday. I hope you can join us this week for our free weekly online journey circle. Email anna@gaiashamanism.com with your interest.
Ritual
I’d like to ask you to join me in tending the ritual center of our journey circle.
I invite you to choose something from where you live as an offering for this week. Don’t be heady about it; allow your instinct to guide you in its selection. Take a walk and look around with the intention of bringing an offering to our circle. Don’t offer something that already sits on your altar. We are seeking new allies for these new times.
When we join the circle this week on Wednesday at 4 pm PDT on Zoom, we’ll have a bit of show and tell: what we chose and why (we think) we did.