WORKING WITH NATURE CONNECTION TECHNIQUES TO ENHANCE AWARENESS, EXPLORE NATURE'S RICHNESS, AND FACILITATE HEALTH AND WELLNESS: WORKSHOPS AIMED AT HELPING DIVERSE PEOPLE CONNECT WITH LANDSCAPES AND ECOSYSTEMS AS WELL AS LEARN STRATEGIES AND METHODS FOR ENHANCING THEIR RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE NATURAL WORLD
February 23, 2016 - Fitzgerald Lake Conservation Area, MA
A Saturday morning workshop at Fitzgerald Lake was grounding and centering for participants. Conspicuous patterns observed at various places in the landscape seemed to provide clarity regarding life directions and related choices. Chats with several trees were enlivening and led right into Sunday's preparatory work for upcoming central Pennsylvania events.
April 2015 - south central Pennsylvania
The April 2015 Pennsylvania workshops were STRONG. On Saturday, 4/4/15, a diverse group met at Radiance in Lancaster for an exploration of nature connection techniques. Celebrants explored and/or journeyed into rocks, crystals, wings, antlers, tree leaves, twigs, and other aspects of nature that were represented at the workshop. Then we drummed and danced for and with these sacred aspects of nature as well as the whole earth. The following day we got in touch with sacred places in the Pennsylvania landscape through the use of some of the techniques discussed at the indoor Radiance workshop and others that the land revealed to us. We communed with energies in the Mill Creek Valley south of Lancaster in the morning, and in mid-afternoon focused on communicating with trees at Wildwood Park in Harrisburg, PA. Messages received concerning personal transformations and growth were very powerful, and discussions about ways to do environmental service renewed our motivation be better planetary citizens.
January 10, 2015 - Bloomington, IN
Celebrants from diverse backgrounds came together to journey with various aspects of nature in early 2015 in Bloomington, IN. We walked through a Black Walnut gate in Cascades Park to begin the day's work. Then later, after getting ourselves ready to work and asking a White Oak to watch over us, we gathered indoors to enliven and renew our personal healing practice. We deepened our understanding of the medicine of the Elder, Black Walnut, Bear, Garnet, Turkey, White Sage, Limestone, Earth's energy from below, and energies of the cosmos. Thank you Black Walnut for tracking with us into and through the Bloomington workshops.
October 12, 2014 - Indiantown Gap, PA
From noon until sunset on Sunday we worked with insects, birds, trees, turtles, wind, water, sediment, rock, soils, and other aspects of nature in the Autumn landscape of central Pennsylvania. We gained greater insight into the influence of human land use on the ecosystem, the essences of tree species and individual trees, and influences of nature energies on our own personal alchemies. The group went deep and we supported each other's personal work very well.
August 23-24, 2014 - Baltimore, MD
In Baltimore, we cascaded with water flow over old bedrock, conversed with trees and herbaceous plants, and celebrated diverse ways of working with land energies. The first Baltimore workshop involved a walk in to a site around an ancient American Beech above a waterfall. We smudged with sage and cleansed our hands in the creek before entering the site and were called to make offerings to the trees and bedrock of the area before moving into our personal journey with a hillslope above the American Beech. The workshop on the following day was held in a sanctuary in northern Baltimore. It featured a rich sharing circle that opened us up to diverse perspectives and methods for nature connection work. The shamanic portion of this workshop served to help some folks internalize the teachings of the sharing circle, and some reported engaging some of their ongoing personal work as well.
August 19, 2014 - Lynchburg, VA and August 21, 2014 - Laurel, MD
Indoor Nature Spirituality discussions at the Lynchburg Public Library and at the Crystal Fox in Laurel precipitated the opening of new avenues of perception and heartfelt sharing by the participants. We explored ways of conversing and listening to the land as a whole and interacting with specific nature beings. Turtle medicine was one specific theme that wove through both of these workshops and an impromptu nature walk on Percival's Island in the James River. Working with the many types of flow in rivers and streams as well as other dimensions of their magic was another key theme of these workshops.
August 14, 2014 - Yellow Springs, OH
During our enlivening work with each other at the Summerland Gathering we deepened our awareness of; drew many flavors of inspiration from; and increased our respect for soil, trees, rain, sun, groundwater, and limestone. Spontaneous and planned activities involved flowing along the water pathways from the upland down to the Little Miami River, witnessing the interaction of fire and water - sun and rain, and feeling the trees watch over us as they were also important conduits of energy for our personal and group alchemy.
July 26, 2014 - Illinois Beach State Park, MI
Amidst dunes and wetlands along the shoreline of Lake Michigan, and in the lake itself, humans felt the nourishment of the elements as well as their harshness. Group and solo explorations during the Saturday 7/26 workshops were cathartic, freeing, nourishing, and intellectually stimulating. The plant community variations, related to the dune arrangement and distance from the shoreline, are truly amazing. Tremendous wildflower diversity, monarch butterflies and other pollinators working with the milkweeds, rushes and shrubs in the wetlands, oaks on the sandy ridges, and the occasional Prickly Pear cactus were very inspiring to workshop celebrants. The consensus was that the long term impact of our connection is vast, deep, and is beyond words.
July 14 - 20, 2014 - Sherman, NY
Nestled among rolling hills formed by ice movements that occurred during a much colder time in Earth's history, souls of diverse beauty came together to enrich their nature awareness and spiritual practice. During two western New York workshops folks worked with soil fertility, the sheltering nourishment of an apple tree, an ancestral Black Cherry, frogs, snails, birds, and wildflowers of fields and forest edges. We flowed with the air and water along their pathways through the landscape. The sharing circles were powerful. Expressions of inspiration, growth, epiphanies, and love for the land came from our hearts. We each gave thanks for nature's many gifts and supported the goals of environmental service stated at an Earth healing ceremony also held at the gathering.
July 7, 2014 - Golden, CO
In late afternoon just before a torrential downpour, we engaged with tremendous nature diversity along a creek flowing through the foothills of the Rockies. Several hummingbirds graced us with their presence emphasizing one of our themes - clarity. We could spend days reveling in the wildflower diversity along the Cedar Gulch Trail.
June 29, 2014 - Central Valley, CA
We gathered Sunday in the Central California Valley, just north of the Sutter Buttes to share techniques and engage with the landscape. Fish, birds, trees, and even mud cracks in a constructed wetland area inspired healing and provided information about personal transformations that celebrants were going through. The strong influence of past and present human land use on the lay of the land and ecology of the Central California Valley was present in group discussions as well as the alchemical work of individuals.
June 21-22, 2014 - Sedona, AZ
During workshops around the Summer Solstice, children of the Earth engaged with large, old juniper trees; oaks and pinyon pines; hummingbird; wolf; sandstone; basalt; winds; and pathways of water flow through the landscape. Dry and wet creek beds in Sedona were powerful sources of healing and direction. Folks had specific intentions for engaging with Oak Creek on Saturday and were rewarded with healing and alchemical gifts. Sunday celebrants allowed the energies and messages of the landscape at the base of Cathedral Rock to fully guide the experience and were influenced in more ways than can be named.
June 15, 2014 - Taos, NM
In Taos we were told how to celebrate by a woodpecker. We chanted, danced, twirled, and rolled around on the ground as we also felt the presence of the mountains surrounding us.
June 14, 2014 - Santa Fe, NM
A Saturday morning workshop in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains involved a conversation with pinyon pines, cacti, granitic bedrock and gravel, birds, and insects. Celebrants played with several different modes of intuitively and cognitively interacting with nature beings in this place as well as forces operating across the landscape. A second workshop later in the day was wildflower oriented, and involved a bit of sitting and walking meditation in a stone circle near the Santa Fe River.
June 1, 2014 - Bloomington, IN
A forested ridgetop overlooking Lake Griffy facilitated multifaceted alchemical journeys of celebrants. We embraced the natural wonders of the growing and decaying beings of the forest, worked with inspirational metaphors and omens applicable to our personal growth trajectories, and celebrated the beauty of each person's journey. We delved into deeper understandings of ourselves through interactions with each other and other aspects of the place.
Later in the afternoon at Leonard Springs, a second Bloomington workshop expanded to work with young families walking along the trail. We marveled at the phenomenon of waters moving through fractures and conduits in the limestone then coming out along horizontally oriented fractures between layers of rock. We can spring forth from the dark nurturing earth to flow through the landscape of our lives!
May 17, 2014 - Columbus, OH
Along Big Walnut Creek the workshop themes included community, reconnection, and transformation. Some folks worked with specific trees and birds and others derived inspiration from the overall sacred character of an area at the floodplain edge. Along our journey signs of the ecosystem's diversity put smiles on our faces. Blooming wildflowers, old trees along former fence-lines, turtles, rays of sunshine penetrating the cloud cover, and occasional showers all contributed to the richness of the day. Thanks to workshop celebrants for sharing ways that you maintain, revitalize, and/or deepen your relationships with the land. Thank you Blue Heron and Hickory for choosing the locations of focus for the afternoon workshop. Many thanks to all energies and beings of Three Creeks Metro Park!
April 18 and 19, 2014 - Cross Junction, VA
Through workshops on Friday and Saturday at the Trillium Gathering we deepened our relationships with a sacred oak - hickory forest on a hillside in the Appalachians. We allowed the land and our hearts to guide us in the dance of relationship. Strong revelations came through for many of us. Later on Saturday the good folk of Cedar Light Grove led a beautiful ceremony that invoked and honored nature spirits and sacred essences of regions of the earth. We can continue our connecting work, explore new avenues of environmental service, and remind ourselves to reduce our ecological footprint in commemoration of Earth Day on April 22.
April 12, 2014 - Easthampton, MA and Amherst, MA
Saturday we sensed, communed, sat, and flowed with two places in the New England landscape. On Mount Tom we had revelations about our current paths and our place on the world tree. Celebrants had fluid yet powerful dialogues with trees, birds, insects and other energies of the mountain landscape. It was dynamic and rewarding! A small snail crawling on a gall in a black oak twig reminded us of pathways through the world tree. Black and white birches surrounded by oaks showed us the pattern of new beginning upon new beginning in a place of strength. The mountain expressed loneliness and isolation - an absence of wilderness in surrounding valleys and highways crisscrossing the landscape. The omen to work more closely with environmental groups came through again as well. At Amethyst Brook in the afternoon cleansing, healing, and clarity were fruits of the work. Encouraging messages regarding healthy relationships and tranquility came through as we sat, chanted, and danced on a sand bar among the descendents of a large American Beech. We waded into the cool spring waters and became the flow of the creek. We were grateful for strong heart connections with the essences of both places. Many thanks!
April 5, 2014 - Easthampton, MA
We had the first of the 2014 workshops on a Saturday in early April, indoors at the Awentree shop. After some discussion of connectivity of Earth's beings, forces, and energies we were able to energetically interact with tree branches, leaves, and rocks that we had in the store. Then we shamanically journeyed to the site of the following weekend's workshop on the slopes of Mount Tom. The aspects of their work that the celebrants shared with the group were deeply moving, and left us looking forward to outdoor nature connection work.
July, 2013 - Pomeroy, OH
In early July in southeastern Ohio, we journeyed through the landscape of a reclaimed strip mine, both physically and otherwise. The landscape is a mosaic of wildlife communities and energy flows. Through our dialogue with nature we embraced and gave thanks for its rich diversity. We recommitted to improving the ways that we work with the land, and asked for guidance to help us do so.
October, 2012 - Easthampton, MA
We conversed with the mountain and creatures on its slopes through prayers, meditation, touch, breath, and song. Celebrants received new ways to relate to nature through sharing circles and also through messages from the mountain.
May, 2011 - western MA
Gathered along a small creek near the Appalachian Trail, celebrants used a variety of techniques to connect with the sacredness of the place. One celebrant connected with the whole "Council of All Beings" rather than channel one specific being, others engaged with plants at the site, and others did elemental work. The peacefulness of this sacred space allowed us to readily shift our states of consciousness and the physiological workings of our bodies.
November, 2008 - Bloomington, IN
Walking meditation in general and walking circles around a White Oak in particular were emphasized at this workshop at the Simply Living Fair. The workshop was co-facilitated with a recreation professional who went into detail about the health benefits of walking.
December 1, 2005 - Stanford, IN
After overcoming some resistance on the drive to western Monroe County in southern Indiana, celebrants parked near an old barn and then walked up forested slopes onto a broad ridgetop. Members of the group picked up on the differences between the old natural order of the mature forest of a stream valley that we walked through on the way up and the striving young forest of an abandoned agricultural field on the ridgetop. Once we sat in the middle of the young forest, one celebrant saw native ancestors talking about the paths being the same but that the modern inhabitants don't know where they are. An individual in the group professed to not connecting all that well, but mentioned noticing the snow that fell on us as we sat and that the raven flying overhead was an omen. Another group member saw a hooded man moving in when his eyes were closed - it was a presence that came in - it may have been associated with the raven and so the idea was considered that it might be one of Odin's ravens (Thought). This celebrant also received a message that he was thinking too much and trying to force a nature connection. The spot where we sat in meditation featured dead herbs blowing around in the wind, snow, and a diffuse light. Visualized in the mind's eyes of the group were a connected woman - part of the place, the hooded figure swooping down, cedars showing their young one - showing the cycle of fertility and oneness, and a couple in a corn field. One celebrant was impressed by a message of death, but also of rebirth. The workshop motivated celebrants to put more meditation into daily spiritual practice.
DEVELOPING RELATIONSHIPS WITH NATURE ALLIES
October 10, 2015 - Lancaster, PA
Thanks to those who came together for the Council of All Beings in Lancaster, PA. You conveyed the messages from nature in powerful ways! You did the work over the course of the last few months to deepen connections and were blessed with gifts from many aspects of the sacred Earth. May the wisdom of this council translate into action. May we work to respect and protect the health and sanctity of our environment.
September 19, 2015 - Lancaster, PA
We did strong work on Saturday at the Lancaster workshop. During this second workshop of a three part series aimed at enrichment of spiritual practice, conversations with nature spirit guides continued and relationships with them deepened. New directions as well as new questions emerged. Thanks to all who came together in the spirit of connection, cooperation, and gratitude.
ROCKS, MINERALS, AND SPIRIT
February 22, 2016 - Florence, MA
Thanks to all for a nice "Rock, Minerals, and Spirit" workshop this past Friday. We had rich discussions about the properties of different rocks and minerals as well as the mystical and magical earth of which they are a part. We communed with fossils, local bedrock, crystalline rock from older parts of North America, and crystals of individual minerals. The rocks and minerals highlighted some of the questions that human workshop celebrants had regarding how to best apply talents to meaningful service. Signs/omens from the rocks and minerals, and that emerged from our discussions, provided information upon which we can base further inquiries.
January 16, 2016 - Florence, MA
A brief workshop involving communing with rocks and minerals was a rewarding eddy in the flow of Indigo Yoga's Crystal Fair this weekend. The celebrants discovered ways to deepen connections and enhance working relationships with crystals that they purchased at the fair.
1999 - Baltimore, MD Celebrants who attended this "Rocks, Minerals, and Spirit" workshop explored linkages between bedrock, history of science, and metaphysical properties of rocks, minerals, and crystals that are used for healing, inspiration, and transformation.
CONNECTING AND INTERACTING WITH TREES
October 14-15, 2017 - Carderock Recreation Area, MD
Thanks to all who came to the tree workshops this past weekend. During the workshop that took place on Saturday, 10/14/17, celebrants learned and worked with basic principles and tools for recognizing tree species. Then on Sunday we deepened into multivalent engagements with individual trees. Over the course of the two workshops, we had encounters with boxelder, bitternut hickory, black walnut, sycamore, ash, flowering dogwood, red maple, river birch, persimmon, and sassafras trees as well as northern red, swamp white, southern red, and willow oak trees. Beautiful trees blessed us with gifts and messages, including guidance for personal transformation and environmental service. Thanks to all the trees and energies along the Potomac River near Carderock.
March 26-27, 2016 - Lancaster, PA
On Saturday, 3/26/2016, at Radiance in downtown Lancaster, we discussed a variety of ways of relating to trees. We combined traditional symbolism and observations with meditative and shamanic techniques to energetically engage with a variety of tree species. On the following day, we walked among, made music with, and expressed our deep respect for the trees of Landis Woods Park. We met and interacted with black walnut, several different hickories, honey locust, maples, sassafras, multiple oak species, ironwood, witch hazel, black locust, spruce, and pine. During our encounters with the trees, we energetically tuned to each tree's character. Celebrants were enlivened by leaves and flowers emerging from buds, and several folks were sobered by the scale of the impacts of invasive species.
January 30, 2016 - Bloomington, IN
We visited 5 trees during our Saturday morning workshop, interacting with each differently: sitting quietly and going deep with a sycamore, toning while communing with a tulip tree, drumming for a black walnut and boxelder, and giving a group hug to an ash. Thanks to the trees and humans who engaged with each other on this warm winter day in southern Indiana.
March 14, 2015 - Northampton, MA
On a Saturday in mid-March we walked among the trees around Fitzgerald Lake in Massachusetts. We stopped to appreciate the diversity of tree stands, noticing the different bud arrangements and bark textures of young American Hornbeam, Witch Hazel, White Ash, and Red Maple saplings in the understory. We also took some time to stand with and listen to Alder and Black Elder in a wetland area near the lake. We went on to sing, dance, and drum with some of the older oaks and pines of the forest. Celebrants were comforted by the pervasive presence of Eastern Hemlock and quite enlivened through meeting and interacting with black, yellow, and paper birches. We were in touch with the Birch as a sign of new beginnings.
October 25, 2014 - Otis, MA
In our workshop in the Berkshires we talked with oaks, elders, ashes, birches, an American Chestnut, a Hemlock, a Black Cherry, and a White Pine. We were gifted with new techniques and insights for spiritual transformation, and we found new ways to express our joy and appreciation of tree species and individuals.
RIVER CEREMONIES AND WORKSHOPS
August 26, 2017 - James River State Park, VA
This James River workshop was generally enlivening while also providing strong personal messages to the celebrants. An upstream journey helped us look at past practices with new wisdom, meditation while present with where we sat in the river provided information about the present, and journeying downstream highlighted potential ways of moving forward.
August, 2015 - Summerland Gathering in western Ohio
The river work of the spring and summer workshops continued at the Summerland Festival as we flowed through the western Ohio landscape along the path of a rain drop and communed with the Little Miami River. In addition, festival celebrants were treated to a workshop featuring ways of working with sacred waters in ritual facilitated by Jon Drum and a sweet presentation on springs by Earrach Canali - see http://thebookofsassafras.blogspot.com/2011/03/yearning.html
for a publication related to Canali's workshop. In addition to the scheduled programming many folks engaged in strong spontaneous work with a local spring, the Little Miami, and other aspects of the natural landscape. The poem composed at the May Potomac River workshop was read at the bardic circle Friday night to mark the arc of the 2015 river workshops and honor those involved. Thank you sacred waters for your many blessings!
June, 2015 - Percival's Island, VA
Yesterday (6/28/15), at our afternoon workshop, the James River was swollen with rainwater that fell from the sky the day before. On the way into our deepening place, we stopped to invoke the snapping turtle for protection, and then reflected on our relationships with the river while crossing the bridge to Percival's Island. At our place of deepening, workshop celebrants opened up to teachings from the diverse flows of the James. We thanked and praised the river, played and danced with the currents, had cathartic releases, felt cleansed and nourished, and received inspirations from the river as well as the river birch, willow, and sycamore trees around us. Dear James River and and faces of nature in and around you, thank you for your many gifts.
May 11, 2014 - Montague, MA and Florence, MA
We engaged with Saw Mill Creek, exploring ways to work with the various types of flow that were ultimately headed in the same direction. We experienced the dynamic nature of the river as well as the death and life cycles of the forested banks which stimulated discussion of parallels in cultural stories. In an afternoon workshop along the shores of Lake Fitzgerald we experienced rich connections between various members of the upland - wetland - lake ecosystem.
August 27, 2013 - Bloomington, IN
We explored the Griffy Creek streambed during a Bloomington workshop. The water table was close to the surface such that lower parts of the bed contained water. It was nice to work with the tranquil and subtly transformative energies present there. Workshop participants will likely work with messages and lessons from this place indefinitely into their futures.
August 25, 2013 - Great Falls, MD
This workshop along the Potomac River was extremely rich. By moving through the landscape through various physical and shamanic techniques we discovered more about our talents and acclimations - diving into the river, connecting with the trees, listening to birdsong, traveling through rock and soil. The group was enlivened by discussing differences in how we individually journeyed through and interacted with the river and the metamorphic bedrock as well as the general character of the place. Our discussion also helped us become more aware of the omni-dimensional relationship among hand and body postures, aspects of place we are most present with, and our interactions with nature spirits.
2004 - Bloomington, IN
After discussing principles of water flow in the Earth System, people of the earth followed water pathways through the urban landscape.
ENERGIES AND SPIRIT PATHWAYS OF THE LANDSCAPE
January 2, 2016 - Harper's Ferry, WV
A workshop held on the first Saturday of 2016 in the Harpers Ferry area was both soothing and invigorating. We sat along the bank of the Shenandoah River and reflected upon year 2015. Then we moved to the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers to gaze downstream. We got in touch with our intentions for 2016, inspired by the many variations of flow within the river channel. Then we hiked up to Maryland Heights to soar above the river with the vultures.
MOUNTAIN ALCHEMY
HEALING, INSPIRATION, AND TRANSFORMATION
September 29, 2017 - southwestern Ohio
During the "Personal Transformation Through Connections with Nature" workshop that was held at the 2017 Earth Warriors Festival this past weekend, we discussed some of what is possible through nature awareness and relationships. We also discussed specific techniques for developing and enriching our connections with nature entities and energies. Then we traveled into the woods to engage with the sacred southwestern Ohio landforms and web of life. Thanks to all who participated!
December 13, 2014 - Brattleboro, VT
This afternoon workshop explored and embraced the healing energies of trees, mountains, rocks, minerals, drums, rattles, sage, chants, and dance. Healing ourselves and each other helps heal the fabric of human societies and ecosystems. Many thanks Apple, Cedar, and Oak! Thank you for the cleansing, shelter, and protection. Many thanks to the folks who attended in Vermont and the folks who joined in from afar!
September, 2014 - Easthampton, MA
We came together for a ceremony on Mt. Tom yesterday to mark the end of the summer tour of Connecting with the Land workshops. The prayers of gratitude for nature's beauty were very moving. In addition, celebrants received information from trees, bedrock, fungi, insects, birds, wind, and various energies moving through the landscape. We were gifted with helpful perspectives for the remainder of this year's harvest. Emergent omens concerning the locations of two Fall workshops (one about working with trees in western Massachusetts in October at the Harvest Nights Festival and one in central Pennsylvania in late September or early October) were confirmed. The plan to expand two of the "Connecting with the Land: Nature Relationships in Multiple Dimensions" chapters into books looks like it will continue to move forward as well.
July 25, 2014 - Chicago, IL
Following fruitful drum journeys, celebrants of the Next Door Cafe workshop wandered Chicago connecting with trees, the north pond, other humans, the I Ching, and the interdimensionality of human consciousness. We spent some time reconciling scarcity and infinite abundance paradigms as well.
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