Three Cranes Grove, ADF, did an “Earth-Along” last weekend with people all over the world. You didn’t need to be part of Three Cranes, or even ADF, to participate. The first day was of service to the Earth Mother and Nature Spirits. As I said recently, I take a bag into the woods with me every year right after the snow has fully melted. It tends to come around Earth Day. What perfect timing! So I joined my brother and sister Druids around the world and went into the forest to do what I could. A bit of styrofoam here, a broken toy there, a stray decoration here, a plastic bag there… The hardest part is saying, “enough.” There’s still more, but I can’t do it all by myself. Whenever I visit the woods, I make a point to take three things back with me for the trash or recycling bin, yet rubbish continues to find its way in…
Yesterday, a few of us from Northern Rivers Protogrove attended The Thousand Islands Land Trust’s Arbor Day Celebration in Clayton, NY. It was a lovely time and gets better each year! Kudos to my friend, C, for organizing so much! I led several children in an active meditation in which we used our imaginations to become trees. It was basically the Two Powers for children but much more secular. It was a hit and I will definitely do it again next year! There were many other family activities such as making peanut butter and birdseed pinecones, leaf rubbings, and visiting animals from a local organic farm. One of our grovies helped children write environmental goals on a mural, and a few others helped to plant some trees. After that was lunch and chatting along the majestic St. Lawrence River.
Today, my husband, my daughter, and I joined with others in Thompson Park in Watertown, NY for an “Earth Week Celebration.” First was a discussion on sustainability lead by Mr.Juczak, founder of Woodhenge in Adams, NY. Then we broke into groups to clean up the park. My family found so much litter! It was hard to help with a baby in a carrier, but I pulled my own weight. It felt great to give back to Nature and the community. For many of my urban friends in the area, Thompson Park remains one of the most accessible natural locations so it’s important to keep it clean.
As I explained to one of my fellow cleaners today, as someone who reveres the Earth, it’s important for me to truly practice what I preach. It isn’t enough to send out healing energy and give offerings of seed and herbs. You have to embrace sustainability as a lifestyle. That can mean many different things to different people, and the important thing is that you start to take baby steps to live in better harmony with the Earth and Nature Spirits every day. With that in mind, I remind all of my readers that we shouldn’t leave service to the Earth Mother and Nature Spirits to Earth Hour, Earth Day, Arbor Day, or Earth Week. We need to live and breath it!
May we honor the Earth Mother in all we think, say, and do! So be it.
