Uncategorized

The 2-year shamanic apprentice group honored a pin oak in the grove (with gifts and love) who volunteered last night to be a prayer tree for the Farm and everyone who comes here. We then tied our prayers onto her branches in the form of “clootie” rags or prayer flags so she could carry them for us to the creative forces of the universe. In many shamanic cultures, trees are considered sacred for their ability to bridge heaven and earth.

Time for a rant. To those who say, “Oh, the deer are in my garden” or “What about all the deer on the road that people hit?” In my family, we were taught how to live WITH wildlife. That was one of the perks of living out in the country — you could see and enjoy wildlife! As a child, I was taught to respect that we shared this earth with other sentient beings. I was taught to respect that they had a right to be here, too.

We helped any animal that needed it without any permits or licenses necessary. That’s just what we did. We didn’t debate it, or question whether or not we were supposed to help the animal. Higher moral reasoning guided our actions. We raised wild rabbits to adulthood and kept injured birds until they healed and it was safe to release them. Sometimes they died, in spite of our best efforts. And in that way, we as children learned about the circle and cycles of life. [Read more…] about Time for a Rant

This morning I was texting about my fear to a trusted friend and mentor, when I accidentally typed “sacred” instead of “scared.” The closet Freudian in me recognized a subconscious message coming forth in the slip, and it started a train of thought about the idea that fear can be sacred. That the difference between “scared” and “sacred” is only a barely perceptible re-ordering of symbols for certain sounds… a slight shift of perspective. And sometimes the sacred can indeed be scary. [Read more…] about Sacred Fear