Rewilding the Human Heart is my most recent book! It celebrates new ways to honor our earth-ancestors and deepen these primal relationships. In the videos below, as well as the book, you’ll join me as we breathe with the cardinal elements of Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether. We will also consciously embody our ancestral lines that emanate from nature’s realms ~ Minerals, Plants, Animals, Humans and Unseen Beings. In this way we rekindle their wild and essential nature within our own being. Thus we become better relatives to our fellow earthlings and create a future in which all living beings flourish.
These meditations and photo instructions are taken from Rewilding the Human Heart ~ A Journey of Reunion, Red Elixir Press. To rewild your own unique and incomparable heart, Order here:
https://www.sharifaoppenheimer.org/sharifas-books
If you appreciate these meditations, if you are inspired by them, please follow this link https://www.natureevolutionaries.com and make a donation to The Organization of Nature Evolutionaries! ONE envisions a world where people and Nature are co-creative partners, and all life has the right to thrive. It warms me to know that my work, through your donation, helps support this crucial initiative.
Rewilding the Human Heart Meditations
Theses images show a simple indoors Earth Altar. The first photo honors Earth and Minerals. In the second photo you see the addition of Water, in a small bowl, and Plants. In the next notice Fire is honored with a candle and Animals with seashells and tiny turtle shell. The fourth image brings Air represented by feathers and Humans represented by ancestors. Lastly we honor Ether with the integration of all the Elements. Unseen beings are honored with a representation of Kuan Yin. Your Earth Altar will portray your own spirit, in your very unique way. These images are simply a springboard for your inspiration.
These photos describe a way to make Gratitude Bundles, which we give away in honor of the Elemental Beings. There are two types of bundles, one made with a piece of paper as the base and the other made with a leaf. Each is folded in the same way. First we choose which material to make the bundle with. Next we choose which offerings we want to make: perhaps seed, root, stem, flower, leaf, fruit. Each person will intuit what are the right offerings for the occasion. We place the offerings in the center, then fold from the bottom a third of the way up. This honors Mother Earth. Now fold from the top down, to honor Father Sky. Now fold from the left to honor the feminine principle of generosity. Now fold from right to honor the masculine principle of enfolding protection. Finally, we tie the bundle with a long piece of grass or a string made of natural materials. We go out doors and with prayer, song and ritual, we give away our bundles in gratitude for all the earth-beings who sustain our lives.