Art: First Stirrings of Earth by Erin Carr @wandering_witchway
Our Sacred Work is Shared Medicine
During these challenging and isolating times, so much has changed, and been lost. I trust that there is another side, hopefully a more just and equitable side, of the pandemic. As the months wear on, and frustrations, disappointments and sickness rage through our communities, I find my self relying on small blessings, Nature beauties and short heartfelt connections (a few masked and distant sightings, but mostly online) to get me through each day.
I almost didn’t go to the effort of putting this newsletter together. “Why bother?” a voice in my head said. “Does it matter?” I sat with that feeling for a moment, and then I decided to follow my own advice. as stated above. I put out a call to the growing number of Web of Life Ministers to share a bit of their sacred work here, with all who are connected with Web of Life Animists.
It is an honor to share all the Power-filled Beauty shared by Ministers of Web of Life church!
Be Well, or get Well ASAP,
Quynn Red Mountain
Web of Life Animist Church
SEE THE FULL FEB 2 NEWSLETTER HERE
We would also like to include this writing from Jen, a Web of Life Minister “Earth Priestess” in NE Oregon.
People often ask, ‘what is this time of year about? Imbulk?’ and I would say, living on the 45th parallel as I do, it’s the very first stirrings of spring, and snow drops. Or at least is usually is; this year the snow drops aren’t up yet, but the weather has felt like early spring for a few weeks. This isn’t a sign of spring, it’s a sign of climate change, or to put it more realistically, climate chaos. I’ve grown to love all the seasons, and I miss winter, winter with snow drifts and blizzards and cold upon cold, with a warm fire inside. I always want to take action, do something, fix it. I try to come up with something new to do. I have a carbon sequestering garden, I eat organic, I vote, I donate to groups who protect the Big River and the environment in general, I forgo having a gas guzzling truck.
For me, spirituality, my connection to Gaia, and being politically active are intertwined, not really sepearble, much like the body/mind/spirit connection. What seems most needed, and forgive me for saying the obvious, is the cultural shift to resilience, to connection, to what Indigenous People call ‘Original Instructions’. My simplest understanding is ‘take care of the Earth, and she will take care of you. Keep the waters clean.’ So I do what I can to understand, to learn, to connect, and to create a space, as an Animist Minister for others to find themselves and where they fit in the web of life, on this earth, in the now time. So this time of year, while I am dreaming about what kind of flowers, vegetables and herbs I would like to grow in the itty bitty patch of habitat/life zone on this earth where we care for each other, I also begin to plan for the Solo Fast on the Mt.
Five times in the summer, friends and I have done this sacred and life changing rite of passage. We spend a week, and the questers go out on their own, for 3 days and nights, to be without human company, to ask the Mt, the Winged Ones, the Stone people, 4 leggeds, Trees and Plants, who they are and why they are here, or to find courage, to remember love, to build Community.
I live way out in the middle of nowhere, in NE Oregon, but if anyone feels called to do this work, you can let me know. We will be doing some prep work online and heading out to the Mt. around summer solstice.
May we all find our way, and do our part, and know that we belong, here on this earth, in the most sacred and precious time.
Jen Moore, Earth Priestess for my People
