Shrine Building Reflection

It was a beauty filled afternoon of inspiration and collaboration, while honoring something greater than ourselves.  We have been talking for weeks about creating numerous shrines, one to give great thanks for this generous land which has willingly welcomed us and blessed us with such abundance, another to pay homage to the many rabbits, gophers, and squash bugs that have been sacrificed for the sake of a healthy garden, a shrine to the water, both from the heavens and from the earth (our well has sustained this vision for months now, and it is time to acknowledge this gift of life), the list of elements to be grateful for which have supported and nourished our dreaming, goes on and on in my heart. 
 
 Today, within half an hour our first shrine was built!! Ivonne, from the Youth Shelters, brought a busload of enthusiastic teenagers to Gaia Gardens.  They helped harvest beans, cucumbers, and chiles for the farmers market, jumped in on our squash bug patrol, and then joyfully joined forces to create a shrine dedicated to their family and extended relations, even “enemies”!!

As we were collecting rocks to place in the center to represent significant family members, one young lady asked, “how about putting rocks in the shrine for our enemies?”  This gesture of reverence from this young woman, even for those that challenge us deeply, amplified a place of hope in my being.  In that moment the Power of creating with intention washed through my being. 

    Upon completing this first layer of the “family” shrine we gathered in a circle, hands joined in the center, as each participant delivered a silent prayer.  I experienced our energies swirling, a wheel of goodness spinning into the ethers.  We are one family, and I give tender thanks for this afternoon.

Dominique