Since Imbolc, I have been feeling the shift of light and dark intensely both inside my body/mind and in the outside world. I saw bluebirds out scouting for nesting spots on Monday. The chickens have started laying eggs again, and I am remembering images of summer. Today I saw two birds land on the telephone wire in the back yard and I thought about the hummingbirds that lingered throughout the growing season. This, despite the fact that everything is covered in a half-inch of ice and we were replacing mailboxes hit by someone who slid off the road on Friday.
There is a stirring inside of me in this still-dark time Part of that stirring is related to the launch of registration for Becoming Medicine for the Earth, which I have been dreaming up with my dear friend Sylvan Thorncraft for the better part of the winter. Today, just as the moon went full, our intention to gather a circle of sacred, resilient community went out into the world. It feels like I am waking from a long dream and find myself surprised that I am here.
In fact, I am surprised by the fact that I live on this beautiful stretch of land that offers so much support and nourishment to me on a daily basis, and I am so excited to share that support with others.
Five years ago, when I dreamed of a program like Becoming Medicine, I was living in an apartment in Portland with a small backyard garden and the sense that what healed me would help others too. It is the deep connection I have to the Earth and the medicine plants that I feel has saved me from becoming someone who lives buried in despair and anguish.
Five years ago, I did not have the scaffolding I needed to really offer the thing I envisioned. I was struggling to find my path as an herbalist, not fully certain what my gift was. After moving to the land here at Sanctuary Healing Gardens, I started to feel myself becoming more grounded and well. After three years of building gardens and listening to the land and the plants, I saw that now is the time to offer this gathering. The Earth needs all of us to wake up and fight for the rights of all the living world with hearts wide open and spirits grounded in compassion. I finally feel ready to make this offering, and I’m elated that when I asked Sylvan if she would want to join me on this journey, she accepted.
Sylvan and I have gone on many spiritual journeys together and with her by my side, I feel certain that we’re going to create a pathway for people to build life-long relationships with plant allies, trust in their intuitive knowledge, and the courage to show up with our vulnerability and love when we are called to act. I have never been so excited to teach in my life. Yesterday, I could feel what it will be like to gather in a circle on the land together to begin this cycle together. I imagined a group of us gathered around an outdoor fire, tending our inner flames and building the energy of connection between us and the land.
More than ever before, the Earth is calling us to embody our deepest medicine, compassion and courage. We are being asked to step into our power as communities who care about the land and all of the species with whom we share the world. If you feel called to protect what is most fragile and to offer your work as a balm in this time of change, join us!