Once again the days are shortening and the cold is creeping in; the calendar year is coming to an end. It is time to take a moment to look back at what EarthSpirit has accomplished during 2024, and acknowledge the many EarthSpirit members who have contributed toward the organization’s growth and success. Some members have volunteered dozens of hours teaching, organizing, staffing or planning for EarthSpirit events. Others have made generous financial contributions this year, and still more have helped strengthen the community by attending in person or participating online. So many people have contributed in so many ways. We would not be who we are without you. Thank you! We feel blessed to be a part of this committed and dedicated community.
This is an especially challenging time in the US. The result of the national election has left many of our members feeling unsafe and threatened. It is our intention that EarthSpirit provide a supportive community for all our members, and that we find ways to gather in small focus groups to plan networks for mutual aid and for action planning. We have already met twice online and will continue to do so as we are able in the coming months. We are beginning planning for organizing a delegation at the People’s March in Washington DC on January 18, and expect to participate organizationally in other similar events as they come up.
Looking back at this year, we once again engaged fully in EarthSpirit’s core work of sharing knowledge of Earth-centered spiritual traditions and practices, building community connections, developing a deeper connection with the sacred land, and offering transformative ritual.
We have held seasonal rituals for the community: indoors during cold months, and outdoors with the Sacred Land events at Glenwood which offer the public an opportunity to get to know EarthSpirit’s home and the sacred sites there. We performed marriages and funerals, celebrated births, and ritually marked other life passages, and we are looking forward in the coming year to holding Coming-of-Age rituals for some our young people again at Rites of Spring. This community remains remarkable in its care for the well-being and comfort of each other, making room for closeness and distance as needed when we come together at large events or community rituals. We continue to find strength in the web of connection that we have built with each other and with all beings of the Earth.
Our Zoom skills remain relevant, as we reached out to folks to create supportive connections following the recent election, and with the continuation of our weekly Sunflower Morning get-togethers, hosted by dedicated volunteers Katie and Chris LaFond. These kinds of online gatherings for members have become a consistent presence and a way of caring for and holding each other over distances and time. Having online connection points throughout the year, along with our in-person events and rituals, has kept EarthSpirit an available resource and the center of many people’s lives.
Our dozens of event volunteers – teachers, ritualists, musicians, Clan Leaders, fire-tenders, designers, first-responders, cooks and planners – created beautiful and meaningful in-person events for hundreds of community members in groups large and small. Many thanks to all of those who made these events possible, and especially to the many hard workers behind-the-scenes.
With several certified Death Midwives as part of our community, we are beginning to offer some events and workshops on that topic. In January we held a workshop on planning for the end of life and we look forward to following that in the coming year with more conversations and workshops.
This year several volunteers spent time facilitating Restorative Justice processes to work to resolve conflicts as they arose. This set of principles and processes which we formally adopted in 2022 and have been putting into practice , provide a foundational structure we can use to hold those who may be in conflict within the community, focused on restoring relationships and strengthening our web. It offers a powerful counterpoint to the mainstream cultural narrative of justice through punishment and instead honors the power of truly listening, the possibility of change and growth, and our interconnectedness even through times of conflict. It is challenging work to shift a mindset like this, but we are working on it and we look forward to sharing these principles and deepening our practices together throughout the coming year.
EarthSpirit has maintained its connections with other communities too. Board member Chris LaFond organized the Western Massachusetts Pagan Pride event once again, including several EarthSpirit members on the planning team as well featuring members as teachers or ritual leaders. Chris has also maintained a presence on a local television show, sharing seasonally about pagan traditions and holidays. Andras and Deirdre offered presentations at Harvest Gathering, hosted by the CPWN, this year and EarthSpirit members also continue to be involved in local interfaith groups and other events.
The EarthSpirit Community is built by many hands and dedicated hearts. Whether you participate in programs online or in person, whether you listen to the podcast or read the blog, whether you contribute your time, your friendship or your funds, you are part of what makes it happen. We look forward to seeing you this winter, and if you are able to, we hope that you will also choose to make a donation to EarthSpirit to help us meet our financial obligations in the coming year. We will happily send you a receipt for your tax deduction.
Thank you all for being part of, and supporting, the EarthSpirit Community.
We wish you all a blessed Yule and a prosperous and healthy year ahead.
Deirdre Pulgram-Arthen
EarthSpirit Executive Director
You can find out more about EarthSpirit’s work through articles in “EarthSpirit Voices” , by liking “The EarthSpirit Community” on Facebook, or by visiting our website: www.earthspirit.com.