Greetings Lovelies, here is my end of month summery of things that have caught my eye and caused me to ponder as well as happenings of interest. Some of these links will also be on the events page and things of interest page….
Firstly a little bit about life in the canyon.
It’s been five years in the making and it’s happening. For the last six months I have been living a dream. I’m currently in an off grid yurt on sweet wild oak savannah with no cell phone access and just me, my husband and the wild. This has been a lifetimes work, to get to this point and if it sounds sweet thats because it is and I have been relishing every minute of it. Even through the 95 degree summer days with no air conditioning and ice becomes a trade item. Even though there are still a million and one things to do, structures, infrastructure and most of all understanding what the very bossy land here has to tell us I wake up every morning in gratitude for just this blissful moment brought about mostly by the basic simplicity of our life here and our needs.
I will be writing more about canyon life, hopefully to inspire and entertain but mostly because I am lucky enough to be tangental with the wild. One of the reasons I worked so hard to get to be here, in this place in time, is because of my beliefs and desire to help hold the wilderness and share its voice with my kind. I feel our human centric well intentioned yet disastrous management of earth would be better spent listening to the stories that the wilderness and being in place it has to teach us. This is much inspired as my work as a wildcrafter, and the incredible healing and wisdom that I have received by befriending the plants and trees that I make medicine with.
I also hope to share this land and its wisdom with you in person, as an experience as well as a way of life and I am excited to offer up the first, of what I hope to be many, gatherings that mark the passing of the seasons, the ceremonies of the land and the earth centric skills the canyon can inspire us in.
Fall Celebration In Swale Canyon
Fall Harvest Abundance Feast Overnight Retreat
Date: October 19th
Cost: $150 - $250 Sliding ScaleJoin us as we celebrate the Fall Harvest with an special immersive overnight retreat
We are excited to share our hidden canyon medicine spot for a nourishing and immersive experience, building ceremony together.
There is also an opportunity in a neighboring canyon to become part of this simple way of life and if you know of anyone looking to live off grid for 3-5 months for very little cost then we might have a place of interest. Please reach out and contact me at sashsasideways@yahoo.com with Yurt in the subject line.
Meanwhile on the outside…
When I do go into town and check my intrawebs I am pretty horrified at how cynical everything is and also just plain vile and feel completely overwhelmed - like most of you I assume. This is even more weird as its juxtaposed by the general wellbeing I am feeling as I step onto the incredible earth outside my door and look around at the beauty and wonder of this miracle we call home.
I am immediately grateful for all the work I have done with this incredible fellow substakean, whom I also know well in person, and would like to share this essay about just how we can make different choices when struggling with authority
Personally I find where I put my feet on the ground and what I invest my resources in to be the best focus I can have as an agent of change. For instance it’s important to me that I dont fund what I believe is an atrocious government(s) with an equally atrocious end of empire game plan. I did enjoy somewhat this take on Globocap (global capitalism) from CJ Hopkins
I dont need to have a part in the coming political nightmare in the USA nor exercise my right thats happening this year. A lot of folks I know get angry when I tell them that I don’t vote in general politics but from my experience of shitty marriages, partnerships or agreements that we feel the need to keep alive, what in fact is called for is an ending, exiting, declaring a boundary and doing something completely different. We have to close doors, disconnect engagement for other avenues to become apparent. Avenues which won’t become clear, opportunities which wont show themselves until we’ve made a commitment to trust that something else is out there waiting to be taken up.
Even for the most good intentioned amongst us this incredible translation of the
I - Ching has this to tell you:
“turning away from the path. to be firm and correct brings good fortune. one should not cross great water
This line refers to a person who believes it is their job to give love and nourishment to others, whom they perceive to be in need. In doing so they have adapted a grandiose self image; if they continue acting in this way they will create a fate. To free themself from that self image they first need to reconise that each person has the ability to call for help to himself. It is the Cosmic Sage that activates people towards help through spontaneous acts of kindness.
Being firm and correct is consul not to act ether in the presence of another whose ego is demanding attention. Not to act means to refuse to inwardly give this attention because in doing so would only feed and strengthen the ego more. A polite and determined retreat is all that is needed.
One should not cross great water means that the person should wait until the other has returned to modesty.”
Being less than perfect and far from modest I can only say look to your own houses my lovelies - and if you want to to activate change, stop paying taxes and start making magic. A great inspiration of some practical applications of living a magical life has been bravely shared by Ryhd Wildermuth,
Meanwhile I humbly thank all the invisible helpers and the great sage(s) as well as this most incredible mysterious cosmic universe for helping me understand that I simply need to ask for help from all the incredible support that is on hand. most of it invisible and only felt. And oh my god this I Ching book is truly fantastic. A non human centric interpretation of the I Ching, helping us divine our energetic pathway through the universe. One of the best reads this summer
I Ching, The Oracle of the Cosmic Way Carol K. Anthony; Hanna Moog
I have also devoured the Name of the Wind, Kate Atkinson and Sarah Walker, the later writing great historical fiction with hot and heavy restrained lesbian love which helped spice up innumerable mundane chores of simple living.
Speaking of love my poor sweetheart had to go in a get a tooth pulled out which turned into something more like a brutal extraction and that brought up this little gem by one of my favourite animators.
Luckily he’s doing fine but it was interesting to see the havoc that 5 days of ibuprofen wrought on the skin.
Luckily my neighbor has an epic field of burdock which I’ll be pulling up in due course and sharing recipes with next month.
And that’s what’s happening right now - processing time with plants and more plants waving frantically to be pulled up and caressed and washed and simply adored so that they can be displayed lovingly on the shelves until consumed with ecstasy.
We have Hawthorn, rose hips and I’m going to try elderberry wine as well as hard cider and hahaha probably apple cider vinegar as the great consolation prize. Not a great acorn year and probably the same pack rat that poops like clockwork every night on my front door step found a way into the pantry and ate all last years nuts. The bastard. Even paradise is full of nemesis.
Thats one of the biggest change for me, that I experience living off grid with out the phone, is the lack of hum and how much simpler our diet becomes. We crave way less junk in general and eat far more in nourishment. Hopefully we will get to share the experience with you sometime in the future -
As always I love your comments, what you’re harvesting and feedback. Please share our offerings and much love to you all.
I hope to have a couple more chapters coming out in October and have been buffeted and warmed by all the good words and comments.
Big Love
Natasha
Just finished canning pasta sauce (just roasted tomatoes with basil & olive oil). Gonna be loaded down with apples soon. Made both yummy dehydrated candy and liquor from rhubarb. And freezing endless garlic!
Thanks for the links and love seeing your habitat - wow! Still in transition here so no place to grow, but enjoying my Fairy God-Mother's courgettes, mum's Somerset apples (made into cinnamon crumble for the tearooms) and tasting through my eyes all your lovelies. x