Hi Friend,
"When the sun stands Still": Solstice, both Summer and Winter, is a long moment. Several days when it feels like the rising of the Sun is moving neither north nor south, but pausing. The summer solstice is like that moment between the inbreath and the outbreath; the winter solstice is like that moment between the outbreath and the inbreath.
Our body: Earth's body.
I went to my beloved kin, the Sequoias, yesterday morning. I stayed for as long as it took for the sheer gratitude of their presence to transfigure my sense of overwhelm into gratitude.
I used to think I would go to my more-than-human kin with prayers and questions. Questions like, what should I do (about x/y/z)? What will be most meaningful, most in service?
And every time, I am infused with gratitude. Not a to-do list.
The lesson is clear. To ReMember is to be infused into the tissues of the world, and gratitude/thanksgiving/praise is that which infuses these tissues.
It happened again yesterday: After sitting with my beloved kin, gratitude pushed out the sense of overwhelm that had built up over the last few weeks. My FOMO for not being able to do all the things I wanted to do last week (in particular last week! oof!) vanished. Even now it feels like a long time ago. That sense of connectivity is there. I stayed with my kin until my heart was filled to overflowing, and I found myself singing. I sang to the more-than-human world surrounding me: sang and twirled and leaned my head against the soft fuzzy bark of those trees and sighed. My forehead still had bits of reddish tree skin attached to it as I drove away, the song of the birds accompanying me home.
I'm noticing many of my clients and students have a lot going on right now. It is, after all, that season when everything is growing. Sometimes it is overwhelming. Sometimes it is just full. Sometimes we find ourselves dropping things and stumbling. Sometimes it feels like a dance.
From what I can tell, most human societies that engage with solstice do so from a place of celebration. Fires - and water. As if we need both elements, the intensity of the heat and coolness of the water.
This is a time when the light is long and bright and the shadows can be very sharp, and clear. We see what we do not always want to see.
In the forests, I see the legacies of colonization. It was not that long ago that the giant trees were murdered in order to build the cities (in this area, that would have primarily been for San Francisco). The dead stumps surround me. So do their offspring: redwoods tall, tall. The western land management practices that have long feared fire also surround the forest: the forest is far from clean. It needs fire. I see the past in the present.
To walk in the parks is to walk amongst the ramifications of colonization; of land-management practices that are not in symbiosis; of the designation that the forest is a place for recreation, and not necessarily to live. Most of the places I go here are fenced-in. To "protect": the land from being developed; "misuse"; property systems.
If you know what to look for, it's all there.
And so too is the healing power of the place. The possibility of surges of gratitude and re-connection.
Re-Membering is seeing and being a part of all of it. ReEnchanting is the music/dance that can arise from the wholeness of ReMembering.
Yes, there is a wholeness. Even with the fences.
As we pause and as we dance; working hard and healing; recovering and moving and finding those moments of stillness. Finding ways to tell different stories about who we are and our interconnectivity, the past and the present all very much present.
In the spirit of the bright light shining during this season of solstice, I want to share several forthcoming offerings, (in addition to my ongoing 1-1 embodied witchy spiritual direction) most of them short, to support your journey of ReMembering and ReEnchanting. Most of these are shorter offerings, designed to fit into already busy summers. More information coming, but here is an overview...
JULY
Independence Day: Deepening into the Roots of American Democracy: July 4
We can hardly understand July 4th without deepening into one of the major sources of America's democracy and the lived experience of freedom: the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Join me in this cross-cultural dialogue with Kristine Hill and Dr. Montgomery Hill, linguist and knowledge holder around the Great Law of Peace, and its significant influence on America. This is a one-hour conversation, the first we are doing like it, and I think it will be rich with meaning.
ReMembering Course Informational Webinar: July 10
I am impressed with the power of the ReMembering course in people's lives. Happily, a new cohort is forming. What a joy! We have several open spots. Do join this webinar to find out more about the course, which connects the too-often disconnected dots between climate change, colonization, family history, the doctrine of discovery, religion, witch hunts, slavery, indigenous relations, ancestors, and your own spiritual journey.
Three Years On: Honoring COVID Times using a Three-year Circular Calendar
It's the third Summer since Covid. While life is mostly 'back to normal', it also is ... not. We can't ever go 'back', because 'back' doesn't exist anymore. Most of our societies have had no rituals or ways of honoring this moment... so we are providing this space. This entails some pre-work and an online session. We are offering two different times for this, and you can join either: Tuesday July 18 (New Moon), 12 pm and August 29, 12 pm.
AUGUST Offerings
Update from the Middle Ages, or, the Christianization of Europe and the loss of indigenous European traditions: A 5- Session Summer Course, starting August 1.
Informed by my trip to England and Wales, this course goes deeper into some super relevant history that I only briefly touch upon in the ReMembering Course. What was going on in the middle ages that is relevant to today's ecological crises? What are some ways we can understand pre-Christian Europe and the process of Christianization of European 'indigenous' traditions?
This is a short summer course, so I'm trying a new format that is NOT based on small group learning (my general preferred style): four sessions of audio-only recordings, a lot of references, and only one in-person Q&A. More information is forthcoming, but if this interests you, you can join the waitlist!
Also in August: we are going to the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago. Do let us know if you will be there, or in the area! We are doing an in-person Circular Time ritual (held outside of the building so anyone in the area can join us).
FALL OFFERINGS (for all of you who plan ahead... this list is not yet completed, but I want you to be able to know what's in the pipeline!)
September:
We hope to offer our next Land Acknowledgement Class.... in time to be done by Indigenous Peoples Day.
October:
A series of in-person work around Indigenous Peoples Day in Great Barrington, MA and the efforts to return the Mohican/Mahican people to their homeland. Krissy and I live on Mohican land, so this is part of our ongoing work with the organization, Alternatives for a Viable Future.
Telling new children's stories amidst a changing climate
How do we narrate the past to our children... especially when their ancestors were part of the problem? This is based on working on children's stories work that I've been developing with Anna Mudd for several years. This will be our first workshop on it!
November..... ???
Last year we did about 7 events around Thanksgiving. I wrote a lot. It was actually quite fun. Some of you participated, some did not. So I'm wondering... Do folks want more resources around Thanksgiving? If so, what kind?
DECEMBER
I'm going to be offering my course on Origin Stories again!
Our annual Circular Time courses, reflecting on 2023, will once again open up. Last year, we brought this to more organizations, teams, and networks. I would love to do more of that this year, so please do reach out if you would like to start talking about year-end reflective processes.
and now: back to the present moment....
If harvest festivals and year-end retreats feel like a really long time from now, I don't blame you!
The corn is not even growing on the cob yet, at least not where I am.
Plus the wildfire season is growing.
A lot can and will happen over the next six moons.
Is wisdom growing? Perhaps. Sometimes.
Perhaps for us, it can.
So raise a toast, enjoy the sun, and celebrate this growing season. Find the wisdom in the web, in the samanvaya: the dynamic harmony between all beings.
You are the one who is here now. This is your time. Bloom. Rest. Cool down. Dance.
Trust.
Blessings of Samanvaya and of the Sequoias to you, however, the bright light of this season may bring you.
All the best,
Sara Jolena
