Earth Day 2012 and Seed Bombs

Earth Day 2012 is almost here. While we feel everyday is Earth Day, I like to look at it as Mother Earth's birthday. Hey, we all have a birthday. It's a great reason to celebrate and have fun.

Last year's Earth Day post gave you some ideas for things to do to connect with Mother Earth and her inhabitants. This year, we're celebrating with "Seed Bombs"... consider them party favors from Mother Earth's birthday party.

Seed bombing is a subset of the Guerrilla Gardening movement, which has been described as “Gardening public space with or without permission.” People reclaim vacant land to grow flowers, plants, or veggie gardens in spaces as small as an abandoned planter and as large as an empty city block.  There’s also a book on the subject! I see seed bombing more as letting my "Inner Faerie" loose.

The basic concept of seed bomb is making mud pies into hard-packed balls consisting mainly of compost, clay, and seeds, which can then be tossed into a vacant lot or planted in a sad, empty piece of dirt as you wander by with an eye towards making mischief (and we LOVE to make mischief).  And after you bomb, there will grow a wild and happy explosion of wildflowers, herbs, or veggies– whatever kind of seeds you put into your compost balls.

This is a great activity to do with the kids (and yes, kids of ALL ages). Seed bombs can also be given as gifts in party favor bags for those who wouldn't stoop to making mud pies, but might still have a mischievous heart and want to toss a few seed bombs.

Seed Bomb Recipe -

5 parts dry red  terra cotta clay powder - You can get it from a pottery supply store, and its important to make sure it's the dry powder, not the wet kind. You can use other kinds of clay powder, but the red contains minerals the seeds can use to grow.

3 parts dry compost - It adds a lot of nutrients to the ground wherever these seeds fall. You can also add coco fiber, which is a great sustainable resource, and another great soil amendment. Try a mixture of both.

1 part wildflower seeds or other seeds - Preferably perenials, so they come back year after year. Use seeds that are for your region, especially local wild flower seeds. We don't want to introduce stray plants in your area.

1-2 parts water - You add the water last and just a little at a time, after everything is mixed together, and you want it to be just wet enough to stick together. If it gets too muddy, the balls will have trouble drying out.

Now put on some really fun music and PLAY! Get your hands in there and mix away. Close your eyes and experience the feel of the clay and the compost between your fingers. Connect with Mother Earth through the dirt and clay. Let the energy fill you. Take time during your play to give thanks to Mother Earth and ask what you can do or change during the upcoming year to help restore Her.

Once you're done playing in the dirt, you will make one to two inch size balls out of the mixture. You can get creative and mold the bombs in silicone ice cube trays or roll them out and use cookie cutters. I've even seen some who have made pellets out of the seed bombs by packing them in 1/2" pvc couplings, then pushing them out to dry. Keep that child playing!

Now for the more serious part. Make each seed bomb into a prayer. Cup each ball in your hand and focus on a loving/healing thought for Mother Earth and her inhabitants. Feel the energy of that thought fill each seed ball. When you're feel it is full, set the ball aside to dry. Reiki practitioners, use your Reiki and infuse each seed ball with loving/healing energy.

Let them dry for 24-48 hours. You can either store them or start tossing them right away. Be sure to toss them when there has been or will be rain. If it's too dry they won't sprout, but the birds may enjoy them.

Here's a great video on making seed bomb (or seed balls as they call them).

So now to finish celebrating Earth Day and Mother Earth go for a walk and throw them wherever you want to see beautiful flowers growing! Continue to carry your seed bombs and spread love, light and flowers where ever you go.

Have you ever seed bombed?  Does the idea appeal to your mischievous or rebel nature? Go forth and enjoy!

Until next time - Happy Seed Bombing ☺

Mitakuye Oyasin (A Lakota prayer reminding us we are all related)
Debbie & Gary

Earth Day 2011

It's funny how we need to pick a day to celebrate the earth... particularly when our ancestors celebrated and honored "The Mother" every moment. They literally "worshiped the ground they walked on".

But let's thank Senator Gaylord Nelson, for beginning the celebration of Earth Day on April 22nd back in 1970. The government set aside another day for us to honor our "Mother". This was, according to Senator Nelson, a way to "put the environment into the political 'limelight' once and for all" (his words). Now, Earth Day, is celebrated in most countries of the world.

As we humans have "evolved", we've completely lost our connection to the planet we live on and the world that we live in. We "think" we're individuals or separate beings.

It's a ridiculous thought when you break it down. Just like our bodies have different cells, fluids and functions... We have a similar relationship with the earth. We are a part of a whole. The slugs, the dirt, the whales, the rivers all are essential cogs, just like red blood cells, neurons and fat cells are a necessary part of your body. If all your red blood cells were to suddenly disappear, you would have a big problem. So what if the all the bees disappeared from the earth?

As shaman, or those who walk a nature based path, we understand that everything has life force or energy and everything is a part of the web of life. As the Lakota say "Mitakuye Oyasin - All My Relations". This prayer is a reminder that we are all connected, all part of that web, each strand connected to the other, forming the whole. You have often heard us refer to the "Standing Ones", "Stone People", "Four-Footed", "Winged Ones", "Plant Divas" etc. They all have life force or energy and offer us support and wisdom.

Many of the "Two-footeds" on this plant simply take the natural world for granted. It simply is and is there for their use and/or abuse. They have the idea that the "Two-footeds" are superior. What a wonderful mind game we have created for ourselves! It's like a video game where on the computer we have "mastered" all. But, Gaia is telling us otherwise, and unlike our video game world, there are no do overs.

But, before I give you some ideas to help you reconnect into the web of life and celebrate Earth Day, let's talk about permission and gifting. Have you ever asked the grass for permission to walk on it or a flower to pick it? Most likely you just assumed that all grass is for walking and flowers are yours for the taking (unless they are the neighbors). Remember that everything has life force or energy. The grass may not feel like being walked on today or that tree may not want to be hugged today. If we honor nature, we must ask permission of the nature spirits and not just blunder in and use or take what is around us.

Next, in the world of the “Two-footeds”, when someone offers us a gift, kindness or piece of wisdom, we have been taught to say "thank you". When someone in the natural world offers a gift or wisdom, we should also say "thank you". Many folks who walk a nature centered path carry with them something to give back to Nature, whether its tobacco, corn meal, stones or herbs. (We have bags of gifting herbs available at Shaman's Marketplace.) 

• If on your walk you find a stone, plant or feather that is calling you and you accept the gift, it is only appropriate to place an offering where you have taken the gift.

• One should always make an offering and ask permission before harvesting from any plant or tree.

• If you find a tall shady tree or a sunny rock to sit with and hear its wisdom, make and offering and ask permission to sit. Then leave an offering for the wisdom when your visit is complete.

• Ask permission to enter a sacred space just like you would knock on someone's door before you enter their home. Be sure to leave a “hostess gift”.

Nature has much to teach us if we approach her with honor and respect. Gifting is our way of saying "thank you".

So, on Earth Day (and every day), here are some things you can do to reconnect.

• Take your shoes off and walk around outside. It's simple and you can do it right now. Your flesh to soil connection will ground you to the earth and re-balance your electrical channels.

• Smell the plants. Go into a park or the woods and just pick (with permission) a few plants and smell them. See which ones smell amazing and which ones smell not as good to you. Your connection to instinct will be revived just slightly.

• Hug a tree. Throw your arm around it and press your heart up to it and feel its life force with your heart. Let your heart beat sync with the tree. Now, let your "roots" flow from your feet, deep into Mother Earth. Then, let your "branches" reach from the top of your head up into Father Sky and reach for the sun. Feel that energy and share in the tree's wisdom.

• Have a conversation with a "Stone Person". Find a rock outside to sit on/with and open your energy body and your mind. Ask what wisdom or message this Stone Person has to share with you. If you don't have a rock outside to sit on, hold a stone in your hand and converse with it. These Stone People have been around for a very long time and contain much knowledge that they are willing to share.

• Look into an animal's eyes. If you have a pet or if you don't... Find an animal, maybe at a pasture or at the animal shelter and look into its eyes. You'll see a wisdom no human would ever be able to rationalize (And that doesn't ever need to be humanized).

• Sit on Mother Earth and drum. Feel her heart beat and drum to that rhythm. (This works indoors too if your weather isn’t up for outdoor activities.)

• Lay face down with your heart and your ear on Mother Earth and hear her song. Allow that song to move into you and become part of you. (This works indoors too if your weather isn’t up for outdoor activities.)

• Make Earth Day a "Gifting Day" - use the idea of gifting to the Nature Spirits with tobacco, corn meal, stones or herbs. Walk around and give these gifts to everything in nature to simply say "thanks".

Just these simple things can help reawaken your awareness and consciousness. That is powerful enough to help make Earth Day celebrations every day celebrations. (And who doesn't like to celebrate?)

Please be sure to forward this blog along to those who could use a "reconnect."

Until next time -

Mitakuye Oyasin (A Lakota prayer as a reminder that we are all related),
Debbie

Welcome to Winter!

Welcome to winter and the North quadrant of the medicine wheel. Depending on our cultural practices, some of us have been in the winter of the wheel since the beginning of November. Other cultures see the upcoming winter solstice as the beginning of winter.

Do you feel yourself turning inward as winter approaches, wanting (needing) more sleep or just wanting to curl up with a good book by the fire? Do you sometimes feel like you want the world to go away and leave you alone or growly as a bear woken from hibernation? No, this isn’t the flu or the winter blahs. It’s a natural part of Circle of Life. That’s right, it’s just part of our natural rhythms. So, relax and enjoy it. Personally, my cycle begins November 1 when I tend to want to hibernate. I carry bear energy, so it's no suprise.

We each travel through the Medicine Wheel or Circle of Life many times. These wheels represent the natural cycles of life, the cycles of the earth, star and all that is. They are cycles of the dark-light, death-rebirth, masculine and feminine. We travel these cycles on many levels – for each life time, each year, each day and right down to each breath we take. Most often we are unaware of these cycles, but as we become more connected with All That Is, we feel the power of these cycles in our lives.

Winter or North in the Medicine Wheel is most often represented by the buffalo. It is associated with the element of earth and the color white. North is the place of endings and beginnings, the time of both the elder and newborns. It is a place is grounding, physical healing, patience and acceptance. North also represents the place of reminiscing, acknowledgment and abundance. North is also the time of the Mother (feminine) and the place of the quiet darkness.

North is a time of slowing down, a time when things seem to be sleeping. Yet, during this quiet time is when the deepest growth occurs. This is the time in the earth when the seeds take in the energy of Mother Earth that allows them to grow when spring approaches. It is the time when Mother Earth takes a rest for life-giving and nurturing. Covered by the blanket of snow, gifted to her by Father Sky, she uses this time to reconnect to the Great Mystery.

Just like for Mother Earth, winter is a time for us to slow down and go within. We have worked all year and the harvest of what was planted last spring has been completed. This is a time to dream. It is during this time that Spirit gifts each of us with a dream that brings promises of new beginnings for spring. Now is the time to nurture the dream like a child in our womb.

I invite you to join me in embracing the quiet of winter. Curl up in a blanket, envelope yourself like Mother Earth and welcome and nurture the dream that Spirit has brought for you this cycle.

Mitakuye Oyasin ( A Lakota prayer as a reminder that we are all related),
Debbie