Seeking Family Simplicity During the Holidays

How do we celebrate seasonal holidays and avoid the mine-field of commercial culture that so easily invades our family life?  Let the Holiday Happen at Home!  Especially during the holiday crush, you’ll do best to keep all your normal life-rhythms steady: meal times, play times, house-keeping, book snuggles, nap and bedtimes. As we know, sharing food together, playing in a healthy way and sound sleep are the foundations of well-being.

During the holiday rush, let’s create meal-times that nourish the soul as well as the body.  We can speak to the spirit of the season in warm home-made ways and stay steady with our usual mealtime rhythms.  Less is more, so keep things simple. You’ll find you need to make very few forays into the consumer-culture, because you are creating memories with your own hands and heart.  For instance, celebrate the joy of the season with a seasonal table cloth, or with a seasonal wreath placed as a center piece.  As I have described in my book Heaven on Earth, I’ve made wonderful seasonal tablecloths by buying beautifully colored seasonal prints in the correct yardage for the table.  Sew up an easy hem, and voila’, you have an instant visual cue that it is time to celebrate. Keep the dinnerware white and it will go with every seasonal table cloth you make. Buy or make a right-sized grapevine wreath for the centerpiece.  Each week leading up to your Winter Festival of Light, add different elements from the natural world: sparkling minerals, pinecones and greenery, holly berries, small seashells or carved wooden animals.  Add one candle each week and watch the light grow.

Cooking the holiday meal together can be part of the holiday fun. Decide the menu, then go slowly and allow time for the children to help with mixing, chopping, carrying and such. Freeze ahead of time dishes that allow for it; this helps you to go slowly, to include the children and to enjoy.  A wonderful “festive food” for the winter holidays is to bake and decorate a gingerbread house village. You don’t need to decorate with sugar and candies.  In the picture below you see a small child-created house built with graham crackers and decorated with colorful interesting shaped pasta!  The day after the festive meal, the children will love eating the house walls and then putting the rest out for the “birds’ holiday.”

Family work may sound dull and not conducive to the holiday spirit, but if you plan well, you may be surprised!  If you show enthusiasm your children will love to help you prepare the festive space.  It can be enticing to do a special holiday cleaning.  I remember as a little girl it was my job, because I was the smallest, to “dust the baseboards.”  I got to crawl behind all the furniture, capture the dust bunnies and make even the lowliest places sparkle.  Shining wooden furniture, going to the attic for holiday boxes, tidying and organizing bedrooms ~ all of this can be part of preparing for the wonder of the holiday.  Remember this motto: make the work visible; when we engage in our work with pleasure, it inspires the same in our children.

You might want to signify the season during play time by joining me in the following play activity.  When I was a child, our family celebrated Christmas, and our home was decorated with lovely holiday ornaments.  But, much to our dismay, they were meant only for decoration and not to be touched by my brothers and me.  I righted this “wrong” as an adult by making or buying ornaments that were sturdy enough for child’s play!  In our home and in my classroom, at the beginning of the season I unveiled a basket of ornaments made of wood, felt, wool, decorated pinecones, shining seashells, golden walnuts and more.  Softly made Santa and Elves rode in a wooden toy train. Small velvet ponies and tiny stuffed teddy bears were ready to spark winter-time imaginations.  Many winter woodland scenes arose, and even winter puppet plays were created by the children. The simple act of bringing out this basket of winter toys, which is put away to “rest” after the holidays, can be as exciting as a trip to see decorations at the mall.  And far more conducive to creativity; the fun can go on for weeks!

If we keep the mealtimes and play times steady and rhythmic, while bringing in elements that are festive and fun, this will make bed-time much easier! Even though it is the holidays and children are begging for later bedtimes, it is best to stay with your regular evening rituals and routines.  A warm bubble bath, fluffy towel-drying and some firm, slow lotion-ing will set the tone. Now again at story-time you bring in the holiday spirit.  Google “Waldorf Holiday Books” to discover a wonderful treasure trove of holiday stories!   

If we let the holidays happen at home, we will be creating not only a strong foundation of family life, we will be making memories to last forever! May you enjoy this holiday season and many more seasonal festivals by keeping activities hand-made and close to home.

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 Rewilding the Human Heart 

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For the Blessings of Gratitude

Thanks Giving

 In the Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address ~ the “words before all else” ~ greetings and gratitude are given to the natural world. Thanks and honor are offered to the earth mother, the waters and their fish, the food plants and medicinal herbs, to the animals, trees, birds and the four winds, to the sun, grandmother moon, the stars, and the creator.[i] This prayer of gratitude opens all gatherings and ceremonies; these words of thanks are indeed “the words before all else.” When we practice this thanks-giving daily, we learn that the one who gives thanks is blessed in a miraculous way. The transformative grace of gratitude permeates the mind and the heart, it heals the body and soul.  It fosters balanced communities and lays a foundation of peace.  Let us learn that Thanksgiving need not come once a year, but can be a way of life.

The following poem, from my book A Litany of Wild Graces,[ii] is a prayer of thanks-giving.

Autumn Light

Daylight’s eve,

autumn forest beeches

slowly give way to splendor

day by day surrender

            cinnamon

            copper

            beaten gold

drench down each leaf

stem to tip.

Chlorophyll’s emerald

summer display recedes,

beech roots sprawl

wide and shallow,

dense thickets of

root-sprouted seedlings

lean close, clinging.

Oak sapling’s outsized leaves

leap out red,

shouting…look…look…

Autumn evening light

~ radiant ~

pours honey thick

upon late fall begonias,

betrays their open green trust

as mercury drops

now one degree, now another.

Solomon’s seal

in balanced wisdom

has decreed

a trove of gold-leaf

carried on a clear white moon.

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https://www.sharifaoppenheimer.org

[i] Click here to find a luminous rendering of this primary prayer of the Haudenosaunee people:  https://danceforallpeople.com/haudenosaunee-thanksgiving-address/

[ii] Order a copy here https://bookshop.org/p/books/a-litany-of-wild-graces-meditations-on-sacred-ecology-sharifa-oppenheimer/18375938?ean=9781954744622

Belonging

Turning Inward

We have passed the equinox and are firmly on the journey of Samhain, moving toward the darkest night.  Honoring this inward turning of the light, we too turn within.  It is typical in our current mythology to imagine this inward passage as moving away from the earth toward transcendence, a distant, detached sacredness.  But perhaps we can return to our more ancient sensibilities.  Just beneath our skin we find earth elements pulsing, breathing, flowing into us and moving onward through our pores and breath, bringing our blessings outward for our families and more than human cousins. We find the Sacred lives, moves, and expresses Her being within the sacredness of our body and the body of the earth.  This poem explores ways to turn inward and remain in breath-by-breath communion with all life. To finally discover we come from and belong within divine immanence.

Belonging

Plant medicine flows in our blood.

Our brains mirror Pliocene acacias

we have lived beneath.

Language leaps

through human synapses. 

Intelligence moves

through phloem and xylem.

I lean into the beech

resting against its

cool smooth skin.

Once I felt the sap

rising in subtle waves

pulsing against my forehead

pressed into its trunk.

I walk in forest’s light.

Plant remedies in my veins

surge in recognition

of living relatives,

foliate beings I brush against.

A celebration ensues;

blood and sap are hoop-dancers

whirling in autumn light.

Find starlight glinting in the mind

sunlight radiant in the heart. 

Fireflies flicker in each cell

as electrons jump orbital loops. 

Inhale lambent plant-light

 through the skin,

its lustrous telluric glow. 

Exhale radiant cosmic light

from the heart,

incandescent lucent beams.

These two,

terrestrial and empyrean:

light upon light,

they choreograph

resonant spheres

within the body

 and shine

into invisible worlds.

We are wedded light.

Walk a sacred circle.

Nest in fields of belonging.

From my book of poems A Litany of Wild Graces

https://bookshop.org/p/books/a-litany-of-wild-graces-meditations-on-sacred-ecology-sharifa-oppenheimer/18375938?ean=9781954744622

Photo John McCann  Unsplash

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Reflections on Balance at the Still-Point of Equinox

Equinox as the Balance Point in Outer Nature

And

 Inner Landscapes

We come again now to the Autumn Equinox. The revered Greek goddess Gaia is the protector and nurturer of all living beings and the land that sustains them. As the Earth Mother, she reigns supreme and presides over the culmination of the bountiful harvest. Harvest Festivals complete with overflowing feasts, singing, parades, traditional dances, ritual and ceremony proliferate the world over.  To mention only a few: Sukkot in the Judaic tradition, the Rice Harvest festival in Hindu culture, the Moon Festival featuring moon cake delicacies in Taiwan and China, the Yam festival of the Ewe people in Ghana, and Thanksgiving here in North America.

There are only two times of year when the Earth's axis is tilted neither toward nor away from the sun, resulting in Balance: a nearly equal amount of daylight and darkness at all latitudes. At this time of balance in the natural world, we are called to examine the balance of opposites within our inner landscapes:

Is my life well-balanced between work and rest?

Between a busy social calendar and quiet home-time with family?

Between work indoors and rejuvenation in nature’s healing rhythms?

Between screen time and human time?

Between outer responsibilities and inner yearnings? 

Twenty-first century culture does not foster the capacity to live in balance life, whether in the exterior world or interior spheres.  Work obligations follow us home in the computer case, while time for rest and contemplation is interrupted by the incessant ping of our phones.  How do we practice balance in the midst of such obstacles?  Self-care is a beginning step.  Click on this link to learn Heart-Breathing, a simple self-care tool that travels with you wherever you go, and can be practiced with eyes open and in the midst of life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nr63KQzZrY

 Self-awareness and self-compassion are the foundational steps toward self-care.  A well-cared-for Self creates a strong, flexible footing for sensitive awareness and responsiveness as we care for our families and other realms of life. If you practice meditation you are familiar with the deep sense of self-care it offers, and the Heart Breathing you learned in the video above, is simplicity itself. Self- care is the basis of care for others and care for life itself.  Remember what the flight attendant tells us on every flight: Put on your own oxygen mask before helping others.

We offer our best selves to the world when we strive toward compassion, and this always begins with self-compassion.  We do this by working with intention, time, space, and form.

  1. First make a clear and focused intention to practice self-care.

2. Then make time: choose a time of day that you can consistently turn toward self-care.  If you are lucky this time may be on the meditation cushion, but if you are like many of us, you will find moments-between when three conscious breaths are sustenance.

-3. -Make space: will this be indoors or outdoors, in the kitchen or the garden….

4. Decide a form: will you choose to consciously breathe, walk, cook, garden….? Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese monk and world teacher shows us that simple acts like walking, cooking and even hugging are valuable moments to practice presence.

We make an inner intention and then arrange our outer life to support this inner striving.

 In his straightforward, beautiful book, How God Changes Your Brain, neuroscientist Andrew Newberg says, according to his research and that of others, to increase a felt-experience of self-compassion and peace through the activation of the anterior cingulate (the angel lobes): 

“Simply focus on compassion or an image of peace as you breathe deeply and relax. Hold this thought for twelve minutes each day and in a matter of a few months you’ll begin to build and strengthen new neural circuits of compassion.... To establish empathy and serenity you simply need to absorb yourself in memories associated with the feelings of kindness and love. If you consciously interrupt pessimistic thoughts and feelings with optimistic beliefs . . . you will stimulate your anterior cingulate, your “angel lobes.” Fear, anxiety, and irritability will decrease and a sense of peacefulness will slowly take its place. It is a simple seesaw effect. Love goes up and fear goes down. Anger goes up and compassion goes down. The choice is entirely yours”.

The choice is wholly ours: We can choose self-care and thereby make new neural pathways of compassion. Three interconnecting principles that can be distilled from most of the world’s spiritual practices are Intention, Relaxation, and Awareness. These can be a foundation for us as we explore self-care. Let’s look at a few activities that we do every day and imagine what our family or classroom life can be when we bring intention, relaxation, and awareness to them.

Simple activities in which we practice Intention, Relaxation, and Awareness:

Walking: It is rare to walk with awareness; usually our thoughts run out ahead of us. Think of at least one time each day you can slow your pace, relax, listen to the rhythm of your footsteps, and become present in your body. Choose a time ~ maybe as you walk to the mailbox ~ and bring awareness and relaxation to your gait. Sometimes you will remember, sometimes not. When you do remember, let yourself feel the reward of pleasure and goodness as you practice being aware and relaxed in a human body.

Cooking: After a long day, preparing the evening meal can be stressful. Slow your pace and turn your attention to the lovely food in front of you. Slowly chop red peppers, breathe in their tang and the deep sweetness of the carrots. Listen to the sizzle of the onions and garlic cooking on the stove. Choose one meal that you prepare each day, and bring yourself to awareness and relaxation.

Cleaning: Try cleaning with gratitude instead of grim determination. I can hear you laughing as you read this; try it, please! Ready yourself with a song. Hum a few rounds of a soothing song.  Remind yourself of gratitude-- maybe not necessarily for the chore, but for your family, your life full of those you love, for laughter and the nights you sleep well, and yes, even for all the mess this circle of love creates. This is a wonderful way to experience the miracle of inner speech—gently prod yourself toward gratitude; sing and feel a little smile forming; feel your heart growing brighter and the load lighter. Sometimes I laugh at myself for being led toward happiness so easily.

Breathing, Walking, Cooking, Cleaning

These are simple activities that we do every day of our life. They are opportunities to devote twelve minutes to care for our self while caring for our family. It is our consciousness alone—the use of our heart and the prefrontal cortex ~ the angel lobes ~ that determines the quality of these everyday events. We can aim for the stars; we can guide ourself toward high ideals right in the middle of a very commonplace ordinary day. Amid good food and daily chores, stories and homework, we can build a new future. We do it right here, exactly where we are One Breath at a Time.

Visit me at Wild Graces

https://www.sharifaoppenheimer.org

There you’ll find Nesting Circles of Belonging ~ Family, Nature and Cosmos.

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 Rewilding the Human Heart 

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Photo by Jeremy Thomas Unsplash

Summer Slowly Departs

Summer slowly departs; cicadas’ rhythmic thrum is fading. The bright crisp choir of crickets’ song accompanies us through early autumn days.  Forest’s light ~ always filtered by the swell of foliate waves ~ saturates every sense.  We are dazzled by this light whose meaning is refracted and articulated with each step.

 This earth-meaning originates within the body of earth Herself. It precedes constructs of the human mind…is delivered through the intelligence of sound, vision, scent, touch. Step outside the door with me and walk into Original Essence.

Meaning radiates,

inherent in particle,

wave, chemical collaboration.

This gift is grace that

holds me unceasingly in its thrall.

Each day my heart asks

what is the meaning of

  galaxies of wildflowers

shining in emerald orbit;

landscapes printed into lavender

            turkey-tail mushrooms;

pebbles radiant in evening light;

wine berry’s barb,

wood thrush’s flute?

what does black fly show me

washing her front legs as carefully

as I brush my hair?

I listen, while White Branch Creek explains,

uttering psalms through Paleozoic ferns,

then turn to the nations of birds;

the chorus of goldfinches

in treetop aviaries, who

repeat their infinite canon.

I ask the breezes who rustle

ever-responsive leaves

            slender wild cherry

            beech’s pleated skirts

            red bud’s green heart

“What news? 

Of what seagoing affairs

do you tell

with your plankton-born air?”

Sight, sound, touch, smell

usher the living earth

directly inside my skin.

They are living transformations.

Chrysalides within my soul

they return to life’s primordial ooze,

evolve gossamer wings,

and I arise into sacred meaning.

From my book A Litany of Wild Graces ~ Meditation on Sacred Ecology

Invite your friends to subscribe to this Wild Graces blog https://www.sharifaoppenheimer.org

Where you’ll find Nesting Circles of Belonging:

*inspiration for families

*nature connection guidance

            *poems to awaken your dreams

Photo Nicolas Pratlong

Visit my Substack Rewilding the Human Heart!

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

We will explore watersheds, forest lands, savannahs, coral reefs, farmlands,

healing herbs and more.  Let’s travel together.

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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

REWILDING THE HUMAN HEART

Come Rewild Your Heart With Me!

Would you like to deepen your Kinship with Nature and rewild your own heart?  Would you like to share this with 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 the invisible worlds.   We will be engaged with song, movement, stories, breathwork, scientific understandings, Jungian explorations, inner inquiry, hands-on activities and more. I hope you will join me!  For more info and to register: https://lifewaysnorthamerica.org/workshops_training/kinship-with-nature-is-a-family-affair/

Here are thoughts to inspire your participation.  The following is from my blog a few years ago:

“Today the children and I returned to the garden playground!  Last autumn, after the Harvest Festival, the children and their parents came to school for a Saturday picnic, to “put the garden to bed”.  But now in the spring we return to the garden, the song of the stream and the graceful poplars that shade us.

It is such a gift to teach these young souls, here in the generous arms of Nature.  The children develop intimate relations with the insect and animal world, from the army of worms they unearth ~ and re-earth ~ to the song of the wood-thrush they hear and the footprints of the raccoon in the mud beside the creek.

Original peoples pray by intoning “All My Relations.”  The children, also, talk of the great family of Nature: our best friends the Rain Fairies, their mother The Grandmother Rain Cloud,  Brother Wind, Father Sun, Mother Earth.  These children have the foundation laid for a life lived experiencing humanity as part of a great seamless Unified Being.  This is preparation for the only future we can sustain.  This is our one hope, and they bring their up- springing joy to it!”

And here is a bit of science: You, the adult, are crucial to the child’s Nature Connection:

“Researchers analyzed data from children and their parent/guardian to investigate factors associated with children’s nature connectedness. Of all variables considered, including frequency of nature visits, an adult with high nature connectedness in the same household was the strongest predictor of children’s nature connectedness. The study highlights the vital role parents/guardians play in nurturing children’s nature connectedness and calls for policies and programs that support nature connectedness among adults who are influential in children’s lives.

A study investigating the role of early childhood educators in outdoor learning considered how teachers in Norway engaged young children in foraging and gardening activities. Researchers found that teachers’ roles centered upon leading with enthusiasm and curiosity, following children’s interests and encouraging exploration. Teachers’ own engagement and enthusiasm for adventurous outdoor experiences inspired children’s engagement and enthusiasm. The research affirms that teachers are important role models in engaging children in nature-based learning.[i]”

Come experience the difference between nature appreciation, which can involve distanced concepts, and a deep “skin to skin” relationship with our other than human siblings.

I hope to take this journey with you!

With Green Blessings,

Sharifa

[i] https://www.childrenandnature.org/resources/research-digest-nature-mentors-and-role-models/

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

Animalia

It is an early spring this year. Crocuses and daffodils bloom in the chill mornings while forsythia buds swell; they are yellow flags in the warm late afternoon sun.  Bluebirds inspect their house beside the rose arbor and goldfinches empty the feeders by midafternoon.  Today a sparrow and I entered a poignant conversation between bodies.  Tentative, trusting, waiting, hoping….

I.

She hears a small thud

against the window.

Sparrow huddles,

breath coming fast,

blinks as the woman

bends to hold her.

No flutter of wings

quieter still

inside the basket.

The woman pulls

soft flannel close

steps back inside.

II.

Forest animals

she bows to by day

return to her

under moonlight. 

They inhabit her dreams

            She holds a wedding

            bouquet of living snakes

            Bees deposit honey

            into her lap

            Birdsong becomes

            elixir in a crystal vial

            A stag with diamond antlers

            stands in shallow creek water

Her house of dreams

is a living bestiary

herds, packs, flocks, schools

species, times, seasons, eons

are waves on the sea

rising, merging, rearranging

patterns of furred, finned

 feathered bodies

surfacing and receding

III.

When humans stood to walk

face forward, gaze level

the underside

~ belly, womb, heart ~

were exposed

vulnerable for the first time.

Rolling over

wolves submit

with a lowered head

tail tucked

underbelly soft and visible.

The woman rounds

her body, bends low

forehead on the ground

to bow bare

before the Sacred.

IV.

One sparrow

the weight of feathers

and a heartbeat

launches into flight

from a basket rim.

From my book A Litany of Wild Graces: Meditations on Sacred Ecology.  For Nature Inspirations to arrive in your inbox, scroll down to Subscribe.  And click on the Books tab to order your own copy.

Photo by Anastasiya Romanova on Unsplash

Become New Again

Now it is the time of Imbolc, an ancient Celtic feast that celebrates new life stirring underground. As seeds roll over in their winter sleep it is incumbent upon us as well, to awaken to our highest human ideals.  In these pre-springtime days let’s feel- into the crucial question “who can we become,” as a solution to our global crisis?  The earth is calling us to become new again!  

Importantly, it is not simply what we do, but also who we are as we act.  Let us learn new and ancient ways of being human, in right relationship with all life.  This consciousness will arc out in resonant fields and work in conjunction with all the good actions that must be done.

Together let’s pick up the primordial thread of Oneness and ~ through meditations, dreams, ceremony, through honor and gratitude ~ explore our biological-spiritual roots in the cosmos.   Let’s carry this thread of the sacred into the future.  We do this for our children, our children’s children and to the seventh generation.  

We bring with us not only the traditional wisdom regained through right relationship with all our fellow earthlings, but also the rich treasures our new science offers.  The ancient knowledge and new science converge at this time as a fresh chapter arising within the very old love story of earth and cosmos.  In collaboration with Gaia, we can help speak wholeness into being.

From my book A Litany of Wild Graces.  For earth inspirations to arrive in your inbox, scroll down and SUBSCRIBE!   https://www.sharifaoppenheimer.org

Only Love is Strong Enough

Only Love is Strong Enough

We walk into a New Year which is filled with the terrors created by the prevailing Story of Domination and Exploitation.  Yet the very ancient seeds of healing and wholeness, which have lain dormant for centuries, are stirring underground.  These ever-new, ever-eternal energies are too subtle to be caught in the web, the glare of news media and social media….yet they are powerfully awakening and a chorus of voices is singing this new birth into being.

“Wild, uninhibited love is the single force powerful enough to send us head over heels, out of our minds and into our bodies; to bring us home to our senses. The enchantments of the senses ~ the same magic used by the flower who seduces a honey bee to carry pollen for his petalled love ~ hope to entice you to love the world in ways you have forgotten.  Carry this breath of devotion into the world….

To become bellows

that blow the spark of love,

kindling human hearts.

To set ablaze a love-fire

that burns out dead wood

~ domination, greed, exploitation ~

and leaves fertilizing ash.

To impregnate minds,

and midwife the birthing

of the new

To love the world is to walk the path of restoration and regeneration: a radical new-and-ancient relationship that sustains the one-being we have always been.   And now we become again.” **

Let’s begin the New Year with Martin Shaw’s words ringing in our hearts:

“What we need is a great, powerful, tremulous falling back in love with our old, ancient, primordial Beloved, which is the Earth herself.”

 With Love, Sharifa

 ** From my book A Litany of Wild Graces; click on the Books tab to order.

Early Winter Gratitude

Earth Offerings

In the spirit of Thanks-Giving, let’s turn toward the living earth and make offerings of gratitude.  A simple leaf, a seashell, a stone are sacred gifts we return to the Giver of all Life.  Our ancient ancestors gave honor and praise to the immanent deity.  Our original foundation is not separate from the earth, not a transcendent spirit removed from a mundane and fallen earth.  Rather spirit is present, permeating the animate and breathing being we call Gaia.  A nature altar can be as simple as a few late autumn leaves,  a unique stone, berries ripening on woodland vines. Every child knows this instinctively, stops to bend and touch, smell, ….to participate in relationship with an ant or a fallen leaf. 

We can return to this state of innocence; our children can lead the way.  Go outdoors into the park or woods.  Go slowly. Open into a soft gaze.  Reach out. Listen, touch, smell, breathe.  Allow wholeness to flow in. This can heal the past and shape the future..  Make an offering of our own heart and the beauty we see around us

Generations

bare winter branches

bow to cold winds

chimes chant prayers

summer’s hydrangea stalks

rattle sun-drenched thoughts

that skitter past frozen ferns

cardinals call from

dogwood’s silver branches

etched into winter’s brocade

poplar and spicebush

hickory and beech

employ mycelial spinners who

thread by thread

weave arboreal

connective tissue

make a living membrane

between pine and oak

red maple and magnolia

bring nutrition

give warning

nurse illness

interspecies collaboration,

or can we finally see

it is love.

My feet walk and sing,

I bow to

Gaian  ancestors

 who arise through

my soles

enter into human veins

which are not unlike

those of

sugar maple leaves

alluvial  spirits reweave

my connective tissue

make a living plasma

mend places

torn by the past

and weave as well

toward the future

interspecies collaboration,

or can I finally say

this is love.

From my book A Litany of Wild Graces: Meditation on Sacred Ecology

Go to the Books tab for more Earth Inspirations