Our garden is a bright spot in the deep woods, but the pollinators can find us anyway!
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
New Year Wishes
Winter Forest
It is quiet and slow in the winter forest, at the dawn of this New Year. Stop and breathe for a moment. Join me as I walk the Winter Labyrinth; she is wearing her subtle colors and the song of the wind is low, sweet. I pause, reach down and….
For more poems, order A Litany of Wild Graces at https://bookshop.org.
Winter ~ Slow ~ Quiet
In winter dawn’s pure
shadowless light
mountain’s north face
shapes emerge, recede.
Her slow pace stops
she bends
holds in her palm
the smooth
flat hip bone
last winter’s venison
weathered to a richly
embroidered surface.
She sees synaptic deltas
of her mind
reflected in bone’s
fractalline calcium terrain.
Fingertips trace
its ivory in
ever repeating
diminishing
patterns.
She gazes soft, open.
Its infinite living form
refracts outward
visible in forest’s
fine tapestry
stone, mycelium, bark
Her branching
veins, arteries
are reiterated
in bare winter’s
intricate, eloquent limbs
in reindeer moss
etched by crystals of frost
and velvet lichen
grown chocolate brown
on walnut trunk’s
north side.
A Child is Born
There are many winter stories from various traditions and cultures, especially within our temperate climate, which use the images of light being born out of darkness. For me the telling of these stories is a way to wrest the deep spiritual significance of the cyclic transformation of light, and its corollary importance in the human soul, from the societal marketers and money magicians. These stories image the transformation of consciousness, beginning with the story of the mineral kingdom in the crystalline formation of the snowflakes, moving through the plant kingdom, with the story of the little fig tree, and on to the animal kingdom in the story of the birds, and the animals’ speech. The final one is the transformation of our humanity, the story of the “child of light.” , In each story, we see the central figure take a step in evolution; we see something brand-new appear. I have been told these stories come from an ancient medieval tradition. They are stories to delight and inspire! Here is the final one in this winter series. I hope you and your children will be warmed with the simplicity and beauty.
Once upon a time, on a cold and snowy winter day, an old man and young woman started out on a long winter journey. Their little sweet donkey carried their bags upon her back and so, they trudged up and down one snowy hill after another. After they had gone a long way, the young woman said “Oh, my I am so tired, I don’t think I can go any further!” But the old man replied “Never mind, my dear, I will carry our bags and the donkey can carry you”
Mother and Father walk uphill and down
Uphill and down, to the little town.
Mother on donkey all shaggy and brown
Father beside her with staff smooth and round.
Uphill and down, uphill and down
To the little town.
Finally, as the sun began to set, they saw in the distance the twinkling lights of the town. Soon, they came to a small inn on the outskirts of town. The old man said “Here we are, my dear, I am sure we will find a bed so we can rest and sleep.” He went to the door of the inn and knocked, asking for a place to sleep.
Knock, knock, knock at the door
“Is there room here to sleep,
On the bed, on the floor?”
But the innkeeper said
“No, no. No room at the inn
I have no room to let you in”
So they went on their way through the snowy dusk, looking for a place to sleep. At each inn they said
Knock, knock, knock at the door
“Is there room here to sleep,
On the bed, on the floor?”
But each innkeeper always said
“No, no. No room at the inn
I have no room to let you in”
Finally they came to the last inn at the edge of town, and again they asked
Knock, knock, knock at the door
“Is there room here to sleep,
On the bed, on the floor?”
Again this innkeeper said
“No, no. No room at the inn
I have no room to let you in”
But now the innkeeper looked at the young woman’s face and saw how very tired she was. And so he said
But, my animals live close-by in a stable
It has no bed, no chair, no table
Upon the floor is straw and hay
There I’ll gladly let you stay
They were so happy to have a roof over their heads, they went right into the stable. The old man made a soft bed of sweet-smelling hay for the young woman. Although the friendly animals came close to her, their warm bodies and breath were not quite warm enough.
So, the old man began a fire to build
For the air was cold and chilled
And to them this wintry night
Soon, very soon would come
The Child of Light
On the hillside close by, shepherds were tending their sheep, preparing them to go to sleep. When the sheep were cared for, the shepherds lay down and slept as well.
Stars shone bright and brighter still
Shepherds slept upon the hill
But to them this wintry night
Came an angel dressed in white
The angel sang:
“Shepherds, wake this holy night
Shepherds, seek the Child of Light”
Shepherds shake their drowsy sleep
from this night filled with dreams so deep.
To them, again, this wintry night
sang the angel dressed in white:
“Shepherds wake this holy night
Shepherds seek the Child of Light”
Finally the shepherds woke up! The first one said
“Child of Light, this holy night?
A bottle of milk I’ll take”
The second one said
“I’ll take some flour, to bake a cake”
The third one said
“I’ll take soft wool, for a pillow to make”
So, they set off singing through the snowy hills
“We have heard the angels bright
Singing in this holy night
Now we go to seek the Child
Little baby meek and mild”
Away they went, singing and dancing up hill and down, uphill and down. Finally they saw a bright golden star shining in the cold night, and below it was a humble stable. They could see a rosy golden light pouring out from between the cracks in the stable walls, so the snow glittered in crystals. They went and knocked upon the door
“Open up the door we pray
Shepherds we are from far away!”
When they went inside they saw that all of the golden light was shining from a new little baby that had just been born! They brought their birthday gifts:
The first one said “I beg you this milk to take”
The second one said “I brought some flour to bake your cake”
The third one said “I brought soft wool, for a pillow to make”
The old man and the young woman, the warm and friendly animals and even the stars were so happy to welcome the shepherds! The all sat by the fire and smiled and smiled at the new little baby, who had come from so far above, down to the earth below.
A child is born, and by this birth, a rosy glow spreads over the earth.
This is an adaptation of a circle-game offered by Janet Kellman many, many years ago. Janet’s words are indented in verse. Sharifa’s story-line ties them together. Many thanks Janet for inspiring decades of children’s Christmas dreams!
photo @isaacquesada
The Animal Realm waits, along with us, for the return of the Light
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
We honor the Animal Realm, as we approach Solstice.
#15 As we approach Solstice, this week we honor the Animal Realm.
A medieval principle of kinship invites us to imagine that all of nature….as well as we humans, feels rising anticipation for the return of the light. In the time preceding Solstice, week by week, each of the realms is honored and recognized as kin. In this vein, I offer you ~ week by week ~ a poem honoring mineral, plant, animal and human. These are from my book A Litany of Wild Graces. Click on the Books tab to order!
Animal
Wide cretaceous wingspan
heron descends in majesty
steps high
with ancient grace
through autumn’s garden stream.
Cool intense gaze
studies creek-bank
stream bed
plucks a
crayfish midstream
an elegant Asian woman
she reaches with chopsticks
to extract a plump water chestnut.
Woman moored at the window
a slight quiver trembles between
shoulder blades
as bird ascends
cruising
with slow deep wing beats.
Coyote prints in mud
bear scat amid birdseed
possum’s marsupial parenthood:
we bow to
their warm blood
salute the sun-being
who walks across
his blue arch
raying out beneficence
generosity.
The father of all incandescence
brings light
by the gift of fire.
Our limbs are warm
hearts ablaze
free.
Photo by Pixnio
We Honor the Plant Realm with a Mid-Winter Story
Stories for the Early Winter
Nature's realms, and we humans, settle-in during mid-winter. We all wait for the Solstice.
A medieval principle of kinship invites us to imagine that all of nature….as well as we humans here in the temperate northern hemisphere…. is settled deeply into midwinter. As we wait, we feel rising anticipation for the return of the light and the coming of springtime warmth. In the time preceding Solstice, week by week, each of the realms is honored and recognized as kin, as we wait together. In this vein, I offer you ~ week by week ~ a poem honoring mineral, plant, animal and human. These are from my book A Litany of Wild Graces. If you’d like to hear these poems, go to the Sacred Earth Thread’s videos. If you have young children, look for stories of the realms of nature on the Family Life Thread ‘s videos. I hope these offerings bring you warmth and light.
Mineral
Minerals are stardust
coalesced in deep space
messengers of light
shot from Sagittarius’ bow.
Luminous arrows travel
through a new sun’s orbit.
Pulled by love’s gravity
they shape the intelligence of light
into Appalachia’s igneous core.
Electromagnetic signatures ray invisibly
from caves’ palpable dark.
Woman-in-mountain is our sister
breasts twin peaks
waist a deep valley
hips rising smooth
long thigh bone a treeless ridge.
Her timeless gaze
illumines evening’s blue ridge.
Her minerals tumble
through our blood
like stones
carried in highland freshets
come to rest for a time
in our shoulder blades, ribs
then flow on
to nourish sacred ground.
