A Letter From Marysia

Hello Dear One,
I am devoted to feeding
the regenerative currents of Nature. 

My offerings of…

education, 
ritual, 
herbalism, 
plant magick, 
soil advocacy, 
social justice, 
ceremony, 
retreat, 
garden design,
 land tending
& my book

 …are some of the ways I offer my gifts to feed the holy inside & around us. 

My work is focused on regenerative healing for Earth and people.

“Normally”, by now I would have already opened and completed registration for my next year's courses. However, as we all know, not much resembles what we considered “normal” before, thus some of the changes are reflected in my offerings and timeline. 

I do trust that these transformative times offer us all some good medicine, though as it is with the nature of these things, the depth of the changes can often feel painful to our human bodies and nervous systems.

Many of you have been patiently and kindly inquiring if I will continue offering the Sacred Plant Medicine Apprenticeship with The Gaia School of Healing.

I am writing you this letter the day after graduating another group of 60 apprentices, on June 28th, 2020.

It has been such an honor and joy to train herbalists, folk healers and Earth activists over the last several years and I will continue to do so in a way that is asking to take on a different form. 

I am very much looking forward to sharing an offering that has been brewing and blooming in my creative cauldron for several years, and feels more relevant than ever.

The current pandemic is supporting the timing of this change, while bringing us face to face with what has not been working about the way we have been living on our planet.  

This new course and journey I will be leading you on explores how we can live on the planet in a way that regenerates the Earth, and our own health, vitality, creative joy and sense of connection. 

It is an incredible honor and joy to soon open the gateway for this magickal, multi-faceted journey of plant magick, ritual, Earth regenerating practices, herbalism and personal spiritual exploration and healing.

 Before I open this portal in the golden ripeness of late summer, I honor the endings with me now and my full basket of work well lived. Having spent the last few months midwifing many kinds of completions, I now put down my baskets, pause and breathe. 

 “The mountains are calling, and I must go,” said John Muir. 

I feel the call of this time to rest and replenish between endings and new beginnings, and at dawn tomorrow, I leave my home with a backpack I haven't yet packed, to go into the wilderness of the mountains. To unplug and recharge. 

Part of the offering I will be sharing next fall teaches us how to surf the regenerative currents that exist in Nature so we do not go against the natural tide of life. (I write a lot about this in my book, Witch’s Herbal Apothecary, available here.)

On this journey I will be inviting you into, each month has a theme. In July, it is optimal for us to create experiences to enjoy. Moments of play and joy now in the eclipse season of summer will fill your reserves for the months to come ~ and I can feel the fall will be asking a lot of us. I feel grateful we will have the plants, the wisdom of the ancients, and each other. 

For now, remember: 
Creativity is an antidote to destruction. 
We can midwife the deaths of old systems that cause harm. 
Celebration feeds the energies of life.

I hope in the coming month you will cultivate practices that ground, soothe and cool you, nourish your roots, as you learn to rest better and as we build our resiliency on the grassroots level, working together to dismantle the systems that harm the planet and marginalized communities.

Take care of yourself.
Pace yourself.
Do the work and Rest.
Play!
Read.
Go outside.
Love.
Dream.
Heal.
Make art for no other purpose than creative expression. 

Drink Tulsi, Nettles, Rose water, Mint, Linden
and any other plants that make your heart sing and calm your nerves. 

Move your body, breathe fresh air.

Make offerings of songs, food, blessing herbs, or anything else you give in devotion. 

Talk to loved ones.

Be gentle with yourself.

Unplug from social media.

Unpack your privilege, get humble, learn and join groups where you can support each other in doing antiracist work.

Learn to recognize the machine of modernity pushing you or exploiting the Earth. Carefully, lovingly, untangle yourself from the threads of white supremacy that without our knowing, are deeply embedded in our culture and modern way of understanding life on Earth.

Wonder what I am talking about?
Have your mind blown and read this amazing and enlightening list below:

Join Me in My Summer Reading

Our modern culture teaches us to connect our self worth with our productivity. This makes us and the Earth tired and sick. This is white supremacy culture exploiting our divine creativity. You are so much more than what you do. If this makes your heart tender, I hope you too will receive nourishment from these resources I am enjoying.

The Inner Work of Racial Justice

Healing Ourselves and Transforming Our Communities Through Mindfulness

By Rhonda V. Magee
An essential mindfulness and compassion-based approach to confront racial injustice and work towards healing.

Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good

by Adrienne Maree Brown

Tricia Hersey on Rest as Resistance

Enjoy this wonderful podcast interview with Tricia Hersey of The Nap Ministry on Rest as Resistance.

The Witch’s Herbal Apothecary: Rituals & Recipes for a Year of Earth Magick and Sacred Medicine Making

by Marysia Miernowska
If you have not read my book yet, you can now buy a signed copy directly from me. Thank you!

I hope my letter finds you well and I hope you enjoy some of these resources I added. I am finding them to be powerful tools to help us deepen in the exploration, healing and learning we are being invited into in these transformative times.

I look forward to reaching out to you in August,
with magick and medicine to share, 
and an invitation from my heart that joyfully feels the power of the journey ahead.

With love and so many blessings.

May you be safe and nourished. 

May your loved ones and the lands you love be well.

Love,
Marysia 

06.29.20