Were you ever moved by a story? Moved so much that it literally made you move? ‘If Women Rose Rooted’ was such a story, that activited something in me: my desire to go to the UK to connect with my Celtic roots. So of I went to Schotland in april. And of I went again in august, to live with the land and sit around the fire were
thousands year old songs and stories about selkies & salmons were passed on
under the starry skies & in Celtic round houses.
One story was told by Sulustu, a native from the Spokane tribe of the westcoast of USA/Canada (Europeans drew a line that divided their people and land). A story about trauma, loss & how fate forced him to pass on his culture, songs and language. A story about a vision he recieved, of himself telling his touching life story in Schotland, with the hope to touch us, so we would pull back our culture out of our land, so we would start to sing again the songs of our land, and discover again our convenant with the land. After Sulustu delivered his message to us, a group of geese flew over us… and a women stood up. Trembling and crying she told us about her vision she had earlier about Sulustu coming and she knew that she had to sing for us an old Celtic love song.
One by one we stood up, tall, re-rooting like trees, to join her song.
And the entrancing sound of bagpipes moved us deeply into kyros time, opening the curtain between the worlds.
This happened during ‘The Art of Mentoring Summer Camp’, were we (240 children to elders) lived one week together as a tribe in nature. Were we learned that
storytelling has always been the key to our survival.
Were we heard stories about the San Bushman that live like hunter-gatherers in the Kalahari Desert, since the beginning of humanity, teasing lions and hearing danger from kilometers away. We learned exercises like 'owl eyes' and 'fox walking' to sharpen our senses & rewire our brain patterns, so we can use again the full potential of our body & sense what is going on around us. For example with our ears that are designed to capture all the frequencies of bird calls, so they can warn us for danger.
I learned about plants and my own flower. About the power of Runes and the Ogham. About the journey to the underworld to encounter your demons. I learned splitting trunks and
how the Romans disconnected us from our land and tribe.
And I felt ancestral trauma in my body during a powerful grief ceremony in which we would let flow our grief and anger, being hold by whole the community. Healing ceremonies like this are held four nights a week by the San Bushman, so their body stays clear from trauma.
During the closing ceremony of the Summer Camp, Sulustu lived up his name again (‘where the two worlds come together’) by falling into trance, together with the little boy that recieved his sleeve. While we were carrying the boy up in the sky above our heads, many children and adults were confused. Instead of closing, this ceremony opened a lot!
Also Woman Fest near Glastonbury turned out to be a surprisingly deep spiritual experience. Besides facilitating 'Wild Woman Awakening' sessions
I participated a ceremony of ‘bee shamanism’, an ancient form of shamanism practiced by women.
We called upon us the spirit of the beehive and one by one the buzzing beehive would hold space for another queen bee, who’s inner and outer bodies were smudged and cleared by the shamans, that -guided by spirits- made strange sounds to get stuck things loose and made the queen bees shake & shout. One thing is for sure: Women are remembering how to do magic!
And as icing on the cake I had a good booty & cosmovision shake at Psy-Fi Festival, toegether with our Belgian Healing Tipi Crew, before I returned home. Back in Belgium I wonder: What are the stories of our land? Which keys can place names give us? Where are our holy wells and caves? Do you remember Arduinna? What if we root into the land that nurtures us? How does it feel to be indiginous?
Who wants to join me, digging deep, pulling back our culture out of our land?
Kula Dance. Re-member. Re-wild. Re-connect.
Recommended Reads
- If Women Rose Rooted - Sharon Blackie
- Coyote's Guide to Connecting with Nature - Jon Young
Recommended Movies
- Song of the Sea
- Secret of Kells
- Talks of Jon Young on Youtube
Celtic Round Houses & Storytelling
- Felin Uchaf, Wales
- Cae Mabon, Snowdonia, Wales
Self-Sustainable Communities
- A list of communities in the UK: www.diggersanddreamers.org.uk
- Rubha Phoil, Isle of Skye, Schotland (WorkAway possible)
- Tinkers Bubble, England (volunteering/living possible)
Conscious Festivals
- Buddhafield
- Green Man
- Woman Fest
- Into The Wild
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