Holiness
Blog by Valerie Most of you reading this, like me, grew up a Judeo-Christian culture. And like many of you, I experienced conflicts and hypocrisies with aspects of those teachings. One such conflict is with the concept of “The Holy…
Category Indigenous Science
Gift Economy
Blog by Valerie A market economy is based on exchange, how much we owe (based on lack) and are able to earn (based on social judgment). A gift economy is based on faith, how much we share (based on trust) and give…
Bridging identities
Blog by Valerie There is increasingly a movement for recognising non-binary gender and sexual identities. I see how much relief it brings people to be able to call themselves bisexual, pansexual, gender non-conforming, etc. There is also increasingly a celebration…
Being & Doing
Blog by Valerie When walking the medicine wheel in everyday life, we choose where to place our focus. The lower world, the invisible, felt world of Mother Earth is a metaphor for our state of being. Out of our state…
The Medicine Wheel
Blog by Valerie Indigenous cultures around the world are based on a philosophy of innate wholeness of all beings. The medicine wheel is the “essential metaphor for all that is” (Rael, 1998, p. 35). Walking the circle of the medicine…
Earthing/Grounding Yourself
Blog by Valerie For many thousands of years, humans have been sleeping on Mother Earth and walking barefoot or with leather-clad feet that keep us connected with the Earth’s energy. It is only fairly recently in our species’ history that…
Confronting Colonialism
Blog by Valerie Knowing that you love the earth changes you, activates you to defend and protect and celebrate. But when you feel that the earth loves you in return, that feeling transforms the relationship from a one-way street into…
Healing Unjust Power Dynamics
Blog by Valerie Through a Shipibo elder of the Amazon I learned that about 90% of the thought-loops that circulate our minds are not based in ego, but in ancestral trauma. I learned through Dakota Earth Cloud Walker that ancestry…
Earth Ethos: an embodied philosophy
Blog by Valerie An Earth Ethos considers healing to be synonymous with justice. This philosophy is based on indigenous wisdom, where “indigenous” refers to cultures grown in connection to specific places such as aboriginal tribal members, as well as more generally…