At the edge between equal day and night, ten of us gathered beneath a mighty oak to honor the land, Alex and those who have helped him create such a place of beauty, and to celebrate the turning of the season from Summer to Fall.
Standing at the four points of Alex’s labyrinth, that he calls the “Four Directions Labyrinth” we started by reading a poem together inspired by the book titled, I Touch The Earth, The Earth Touches Me, by the late author Hugh Prather: …
I breath the air; the air breathes me.
I heal the air; the air heals me.
In the air, the air is me.
I see the fire; the fire sees me.
I heal the fire; the fire heals me.
In the fire, the fire is me.
I taste the water; the water tastes me.
I heal the water; the water heals me.
In the water, the water is me.
I touch the earth; the earth touches me.
I heal the earth; the earth heals me.
In the earth, the earth is me.
We then processed through the opening of baby oaks to another field and gathered round the cairn where Karen Renee recited a poem on softening and edges by Victoria Erickson …
And from there we processed to the threshold to the rock earthworks and obelisks and gathered in a circle before entering. John read a poem on Faith by David Whyte…
And from there we processed to the threshold to the rock earthworks and obelisks and gathered in a circle before entering. John read a poem on Faith by David Whyte…
I want to write about faith,
about the way the moon rises
over cold snow, night after night,
faithful even as it fades from fullness,
slowly becoming that last curving and impossible
sliver of light before the final darkness.
But I have no faith myself,
I refuse it the smallest entry.
Let this then, my small poem,
like a new moon, slender and barely open
be the first prayer that opens me to faith.
We then passed around a beautiful blue glass bottle with the flower-of-life mandala etched upon its surface filled with water from the well on Alex’s property. We each held the bottle and said aloud a blessing and then entered the earthworks. Half of us went to the left and sprinkled the water on the obelisks and then the other half of us went around to the right sprinkling water on the mounds. This was a symbolic honoring of the feminine and masculine, equal day and night, as well as the seen and unseen. Alex then stepped into the center circle mound and poured the remaining water to bless that space reciting his mantra for this Earthwork extending out into the world…
Peace. Joy. Healing. Goodness.
We then took turns climbing up, then down into the central mound (Marilyn is pictured below on another day) and received sound toning from everyone leaning on the outside mound towards the center. People at the center also experienced making sound and hearing it bounce back to them from the mound around them.
As we ended our time in the earthwork we wound our way back to the mighty oak and enjoyed a feast that everyone contributed to.
We started in the light and ended with the stars shining through the great oak filling the night sky. Fall Equinox 2019.