Join Me With My New Substack!

Hello Wild Graces Friends,

This last month has brought an unexpected journey into my life: my Face Book and Instagram accounts were hacked and I have spent many hours and dollars righting the wrong. Living in those technological trenches, with daily explosions landing close-by, gave me hours to contemplate not only repair of the current situation, but how to move forward.

I follow a number of writers on Substack and always appreciate its straight-forward simplicity.  No bells and whistles, no ads, no promotions, no tangled web of Meta communications.  Simply the thoughts of writers whose work I admire that arrive not too often in my inbox! You can see where this line of thought is leading: I have paused my Instagram and Face Book accounts and created a Substack called

Rewilding the Human Heart

 A journey of reunion with the living earth.

Explore outer terrain and inner landscapes with me.

Please follow this link, subscribe and forward it

to your friends, family and colleagues who would be interested in my work!

https://sharifaoppenheimer.substack.com/p/rewilding-the-human-heart

 I hope you will join me there!  All subscriptions will be free.  Although Substack has built into its system an encouragement to upgrade with each post, you can ignore it!   It feels to me, given my recent experiences, that Substack is a more grounded container than the circus ~ with its inherent privacy dangers ~ that is social media.

 The following is a taste of what you will find there

“Over the millennia humans have learned tangible ways of fostering relationship with each other and the more-than-human world.  Our lives were spent observing the myriad ways plants, insects, birds, and other animals communicate. The gifts of song, movement, breath and blessing are lessons humans have learned from our other-than-human kin. I call these ways of communicating technologies of relationship. We will employ these technologies ~ these embodied languages ~ here within Rewilding the Human Heart.

Song is earth’s first language, articulated by wind in treetops; by water rushing over stones and dropping into clear pools; by birdsong at dawn, autumn crickets, geese flying in formation; by coyote whom we call the song dog and vixen’s song of love. Like our ancient ancestors around the fire at the cave’s edge, we too can discover the magic of song as we embed ourselves more deeply into our own immediate pocket of the emerald earth. As we walk our favorite trail or sit in the twilit back yard, allow song to arise from your listening heart.  Offer this simple song as a gift to these other-than-human relatives who surround you.

Movement, like song, is a primal language spoken by countless beings.  Certainly, we humans speak through movement too.  Neuroscience, as well as our own experience, shows that rhythmic, continuous movement soothes the soul.  Outer harmonious movements bring harmony to interior body rhythms; here we find comfort and rest. Dance has spoken volumes since the dawn of creation. Think of the bird-of-paradise’s elegant courting dance or the playful grooming, chasing, bumping and tumbling of coyote mates. David Abram, the celebrated cultural ecologist and geophilosopher, encourages us to dance with the wild, a depth ecology movement and arts practice which he calls Place Dancing.  As we settle more deeply into relationship with our earth-elders, let’s playfully move the way they do.  Stand up and allow the breezes to ruffle your hair, spread your wings and feel the lift of wind, feel that your bones are filled with air.”

I will continue to send you this blog from the Wild Graces website ~ to share with you images, poems and inspirations.  My intention in Rewilding the Human Heart is to explore more hands-on, embodied ways to deepen our relationships with the Elements of Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether as well as the Realms of Nature ~ Mineral, Plant, Animal, Human and Unseen Beings. We will put into practice many artistic, ritualistic and celebratory ways to give honor and thanks.  Please join me and invite your friends to enjoy the festivities!

With Delight, Sharifa

As always, please forward this blog to your circle of friends. The link to subscribe is at the bottom of this page:

https://www.sharifaoppenheimer.org

Photo by Aron Katz on Unsplash

Deepening Kinship with Nature

 What is the difference between nature appreciation and deep relationship with our more-than-human relations?  Here are clues: Court the poplar… Woo the waters… Propose to crickets… Wed earth’s timeless round.  To spend the month of July rewilding your own human heart click this link and join me in ancient ceremonies of Nature Worship. Classes begin soon!

https://lifewaysnorthamerica.org/workshops_training/kinship-with-nature-is-a-family-affair/

Pursuit

 April

   Court the poplar

   at water’s confluence:

  Speak the original language

            song, prayer, offerings

            wrapped in leaves

    Listen to arboreal speech.

     Slip inside the bark

     veins become phloem.

  Woman inside the wood

enchanted

is a wind harp

 July 

   Woo the waters:

Fingers trail amid

            crayfish

minnows

            flat green stones.

  Caress sand and silt;

they are twin sisters

  Star shine glitters in

               pre-eternal sand.

               Carbon’s combustive cycle

               deposits silk-spun silt.

 Electromagnetic signatures

are written in an elegant hand

  sand: tourmaline, jasper

  silt:   nitrogen, hydrogen

 October

  Propose to crickets:

  Their song pulses

            on a heartbeat

            echoes in cochlear spirals

            steadies the breath.

  Crickets are winter’s Persephone.

Too soon gone,

they grace the underworld.

 January

   Wed earth’s timeless round

  January’s silence cries

till frozen crystals fall

from opaque skies

and cardinals shine

as drops of blood

on a bridal hillside.

Poem from my book A Litany of Wild Graces

https://www.sharifaoppenheimer.org/sharifas-books

Free Image from Unsplash

Oneness With All Beings

Kinship with Nature is Our Birthright

I walk in the early summer forest; it glistens as afternoon sunbeams penetrate the new, broad viridian leaves. I greet the plant-beings in this way:

Your branches are reiterated in our veins,

You give us food, medicine, clothing, shelter.

Your shade brings cool midday relief.

You are our elders and teachers.

We breathe in the symbiosis that is love.

The forest replies, coming to me in this dream. My task is to learn the language the worms use, as they tunnel under the bark. To translate this for human understanding.

Dream Forest

Her feet walk

heart listens.

She wants to know

the way the worm knows

tunneling beneath his bark

through balsam dark

writing in a germinal hand.

Blind in his world of xylem

he makes poems

in her dreams

writes in wooden braille

tells of stardust

caught by trees

netted roots.

Each earthen word

becomes a point of light.

Star poems map

fourteen billion years

from now…

to now,

written always

in this eternal moment.

He measures evolution

in time filled with presence,

time

full

fecund

wild

round as the trunk

of the poplar

she stops beneath.

Round as tracings

she sees written

in bark.

Round as all

she wants to know

beneath her feet

that walk and listen.

From my book A Litany of Wild Graces

https://www.sharifaoppenheimer.org/sharifas-books

To learn forest-lessons, we must slow down, one footstep then another.  We stop, breathe, listen to language heard only by the heart. We listen….we bow.

Would you like to deepen your kinship with nature and rewild your heart?  Would you like to bring this nature-connection to your family as well? Join me as I teach a five-week Kinship with Nature course through LifeWays during July!  This course is designed for all adults, yet includes an added focus on family. We’ll explore earth, water, fire, air, minerals, plants, animals and more. We will be engaged with movement, song, stories, breath-work, Jungian explorations, scientific understanding and inner inquiries! I hope to see you there.  For more info and to register: https://lifewaysnorthamerica.org/workshops_training/kinship-with-nature-is-a-family-affair/

Photo by Kora Oppenheimer, my grand daughter!

The Power of the Feminine

Sacred Dreams

The following dream came to me recently.  It offers us living images, scent, melody, intuitions.  It points toward a way of seeing humanity’s fresh hope: a return to the feminine principle of relationship with all beings.

 I am with a group of people somewhere in Asia.  It is the time of ceremony.  The Empress is to have her feet washed; the gilt basin is ready.  I have been chosen to enact this ceremony with her, and am informed of the immense importance of this honor.  She waits regally. 

I am given a large water vessel but at my approach, she playfully pulls her feet up under her robes.  Now we are twinkling and quietly laughing together.  Amidst coaxing and playfulness, she slowly lowers her feet to be washed in the warm clear waters.

A smaller bowl is now given. It is a rich composite: frankincense, precious minerals, black deep-prairie soil.  I am to pour this into the pristine water.  As I wash her feet, I watch the elixir spiral around the basin:

I see

clouds   

wave patterns

fractal’s swirl

orbiting interplanetary dust,

I see

evolution emerging

in generative waters

The foot-washing cleanses, blesses, and nourishes everyone.  We are given wafers now, to immerse in the germinating elixir, to eat and thereby absorb grace.

this is Her body,

this is Her blood

this is a new

Holy Communion

Now, the washing finished, I turn to bring her shoes.  Upon return I see

her feet bare

unbound

even by silken shoes.

She steps down and,

arms outstretched,

runs lightly away from

glistening marble

ornately carved wood

away from the prison

of separation.

Hair unclasped

flowing free behind her

lustrous in forest’s green light

she runs home

as a thrush sings in

the scented woods.

I offer this spring wish to you: fresh hope for humanity’s return to the feminine principle of relationship with all beings.

Come visit my website Wild Graces where you will find many resources to explore these life-giving practices of respect, relationship and responsibility ~ for yourself, your family and the community.  https://www.sharifaoppenheimer.org/more-ways-to-connect

This dream is excerpted from my book of poems A Litany of Wild Graces ~ Meditations on Sacred Ecology. 

Photo: Kuan Yin of the Southern Sea. This eight-foot painted wooden statue, carved in China in the years 907- 1000 is a stunning representation of Kuan Yin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion.  She resides in her own small temple, inside the Nelson Museum of Art in Kansas City. Although this photo is filled with beauty, to sit quietly within her temple and feel the power and grace of the feminine is a great gift, indeed.

Spring Arising

                          Spring has arrived; come listen with me!

“I walk my forest land listening for whispers of these other-than-human intelligences, calling a litany of their names as I pass ~ Jewel Weed, Fiddlehead Fern, Beechnut, Curly Dock ~ naming their blessings.  They entice me back to my senses, which carry the collective earth-wisdom we have sadly lost.  Step by step, they bring me back to the living breathing Earth, sensuously alive with our composite Interbeing.  I invite you to walk with me through these animate worlds.  We will re-member, gather back into ourselves the scattered members of our wild foliated, feathered, finned, and furred family. 

We will step outside the door, listen, and as we speak “ruby-throated hummingbird” our shoulders muscles will recall the mystical lemniscate of her wings.  We will recite “honeysuckle blossom” and a heady, intoxicating sweetness will rise up within us.  Our ears will open to many wild languages calling to us come home.  Our skin will shuck off the tough husk of exploitation and extraction, so our soft animal body can feel rain as grace, wind as god’s breath, the taste of honey as love itself.”  From my book a Litany of Wild Graces: Meditations on Sacred Ecology

  ******************

 Now it is spring; mists of green and yellow wash through the forest umbrella, wild cherries, forsythia and redbuds bloom, while on the forest floor morel mushrooms push through leaf litter.  Other new growth is sprouting, as well, and I am excited to share these opportunities with you.

Earth Responders:  I will be joining other speakers and presenters in a new course beginning this week!  This seven-week course is designed to provide insights, approaches, and tools for those who wish to bring deep presence to the global ecological crisis, this most immediate need of our time.  Find more information and registration here. https://inayatiyya.org/event/earth-responders/

Kinship With Nature is a Family Affair : In July I will be offering a five week course in collaboration with LifeWays North America.  This course brings together my two great loves: the guiding, healing, wise presence of the living earth will now more fully permeate my work with children, families and teachers! Research shows intimate connections with nature improve our mood, health and sense of purpose.  Science affirms that the child’s love of nature and its many health benefits, depends upon the adult’s depth of connection with the natural world. “Pass the torch” of nature connection to the children in your care.  Join this course and deepen your own inherent relationship with the Elements and Realms of Nature. I hope to see you there!

https://lifewaysnorthamerica.org/workshops_training/kinship-with-nature-is-a-family-affair

Summoned by the Earth: Becoming a Holy Vessel for Healing Our World: I have been invited to review Cynthia Jurs’ new book!  It is an inspired treasure trove of earth-wisdom and an account of the earth-centered peoples who have gleaned this wisdom over millennia.  It is also a book filled with the adventures both illuminating and terrifying that Cynthia faced as she set about fulfilling the ancient task she had been given.  Click the link below and you can read the review.  Read This Book! It is a “Do Not Miss” opportunity to broaden and deepen your horizons!  

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6396936325?book_show_action=false

More Ways to Connect: I’ve added a new page to the Wild Graces website!  It is full of new resources, online courses I have offered, links to webinars I have given, possible topics for zoom parent evenings, and even an interview on the ten spiritual books that have shaped and guided my life. Enjoy browsing!

https://www.sharifaoppenheimer.org/more-ways-to-connect

 Please forward this notice to friends whose hearts and minds are in service to the future: our children and our emerald earth!

 Subscribe to Wild Graces and discover Nesting Circles of Belonging.

https://www.sharifaoppenheimer.org  Scroll to the bottom to subscribe

Ten Favorite Spiritual Books

Hello Friends,

Autumn is the perfect time to begin to turn inward as golden, burnt umber, and crimson leaves begin their winter journey of slumber, and regeneration. The following is an idea to inspire your inner trek this year .

Recently I posted about a wonderful opportunity that came my way, and I want to follow up with you.  I had the great pleasure of being interviewed for Sandie Sedgbeer’s No BS Spiritual Book Club!  Sandie interviews authors about the ten most influential spiritual books that have shaped their lives and their work.  What an insightful adventure! To re-read my all-time greatest ten books was a time-travel journey! As I re-explored each book, I remembered viscerally, emotionally and cognitively my exact place and mood when I first encountered it. Rereading these favorites so many years later, I could remember the powerful Aha! moments I experienced. I also uncovered layers of meaning I missed at a younger age. Current books, as well as my classic favorites, have joined this list.

I hope you want to join me in this and I encourage each of you to meander through your own exploration of your “ten best!” Doing this is a heart-expanding entry into a life-review!  Walk over to your bookshelf now and begin browsing…. 

 My list of Ten Best has been posted on Sandie’s website here:

 https://www.sedgbeer.com/sharifa-oppenheimers-10-best-spiritual-books/

The interview will air this Thursday November 2, at 1:30 ET

See it here : https://www.facebook.com/sandiesedgbeer

Or watch the recording anytime after that, here

https://www.youtube.com/sandiesedgbeer/streams

I hope this adventure inspires you to move toward winter’s repose, to gather your books, curl up in a sunny window and begin to read.

Enjoy!

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Wild Graces News and Notes

 Hello Friends,

 I’m excited to share with you a few notes and updates from the world filled with Wild Graces!

Starting September 20th  I will be teaching a six month online course Brain Science and your Child’s Journey Toward the Self

in partnership with LifeWays, North America!  The following is from the LifeWays website:

“This exciting course, with Sharifa Oppenheimer, author of Heaven on Earth and With Stars in Their Eyes, will be a six month exploration of the gentle ways teachers and parents can bring cutting edge brain science into their classroom and home, to support the children’s finest brain development!

Six engaging multimedia lessons, with group discussion and valuable resources will be released the third Wednesday of each month, September through March (excluding December). Participants are also invited to join Sharifa for three Zoom conferences for face-to-face experience of the content and connection with the course community.” Here is the link for more info and to register.

https://lifewaysnorthamerica.org/workshops_training/brain-science-and-your-childs-journey-toward-the-self/

In the world of Wild Graces Poetry, my essay Sacred Place was published on the Biodynamics Journal Blog as well as in the hard copy Journal itself!  Please check it out here, for a deepened sense of the sacred in everyday spaces: https://www.biodynamics.com/blog/202301

I have the great pleasure of being interviewed for Sandie Sedgbeer’s No BS Spiritual Book Club!  What on earth is that?  Sandie interviews authors about the ten most influential spiritual books that have shaped their lives and their work.  What a fun adventure!  To re-read my all-time greatest ten books was a time-travel  journey!  The interview will be posted on her website in early November, and I will keep you posted for the date.  Meanwhile, you will want to visit Sandie’s multi-dimensional work here https://www.sedgbeer.com/the-no-bs-book-club/

Thanks for joining me in deepening our relationships to Family, Nature and Spirit! hope your autumn is abundant with joy and beauty!

Green Blessings,  Sharifa

Sunflowers by Eve Supica

You Are Invited

You are invited to join me and the Nature Evolutionaries!

Join me for a free webinar Thurs March 16th at 3:00!

Join me at the Organization of Nature Evolutionaries! Choose one event or join for both!! Here's what they are saying:

 We have two exciting opportunities to connect with Sharifa Oppenheimer coming up! 

Join our free webinar with Sharifa on Thursday, March 16 at 12 PT / 3pm ET : "Sacred Earth ~ Sacred Self"

Register here for free https://www.natureevolutionaries.com/teleseminars-1/2023/sacred-earth-sacred-self?fbclid=IwAR0VgulWD-q3gLDkElg-5H3UVR4HHp1ckPpxExvTRHA7q-G54ip3dE6vM6o  

AND, we invite you to participate in our upcoming Kinship with Nature course, with Sharifa Oppenheimer ~ March 21-April 25 

https://www.natureevolutionaries.com/kinship-with-nature-course

 Do you notice that your worries subside and your happiness quotient increases when you are in Nature? 

Perhaps your soul is whispering for growth and transformation! 

The Kinship with Nature course helps you discover your inherent relationship with the Elements and Realms of Nature. Through song, movement, story, breathwork, visualization and deep internal inquiry, your innate connection to the natural world will flourish. 

Springtime is the perfect moment to immerse yourself in the healing life-forces of Mother Earth. These are do-not-miss opportunities

Light is Born into Darkness and all Earthlings Rejoice

And now the Solstice Light is with us!

We now celebrate with all our fellow earthlings, for the celestial corner has been rounded and Light returns! Minerals, plants, and animals rejoice.  We humans, whose bodies are composed of these living ancestors, give gratitude and honor to all creation.  These poems have come as gifts from the dream world; they arrived to me as visitors in the velvet night.  For more poems subscribe :  https://www.sharifaoppenheimer.org  Click on the thread A Litany of Wild Graces, or order the book from the Books tab.  Happy Solstice to all!

Mineral

Hillside forest.

Spider webs are quilted sunlight.

Her veins open into this dawn.

Tourmaline crystals

tumble at her feet.

She is mineral.

Plant Woman

Her ancestral home

succumbs to fecund

silted flood waters.

A chair rocks slowly.

Lavender grows

in the palm of her hand.

Waters slowly rise.

Land Animal

Her hair becomes silk banners,

flags flying in mist-laden wind.

She dances on tiger’s back.

Jungle fronds sway,

green waves parting

as the she-tiger passes.

Human

We are composite

permeable form

a place

the world-spirit

travels through:

            minerals

            waters

            plants

            animals

            starfire

wind

all these

gather fragments of humankind

carry bits of our genetic alphabet

downstream or disperse them

on dandelion filaments.

We greet these guests

spirit embedded in earth

tend them

as they flow through us

know that elements borrowed

from star-born

ancestors will be returned

for our children’s

children.

Photo Kate Knott@a_clear_lens_photography