In our classroom at the Living Wisdom School we celebrated the Fall Equinox with one of our specialty teachers, Martia Denniston. I have had the great privilege of collaborating closely with Martia on several large art projects and she has taught me so much about creating extraordinary spiritual art experiences that uplift young children.
This month I have asked Martia to be our guest bloggers and describe our ceremony and celebration.
Celebrating Cycles
May 2012: A
dawning awareness and astonishment appears in the face of a youthful student
when he asks me, “Are we really made of stars?” his voice rising upward
at “stars”. “Yes,” I reply, “we are made from the elements of the stars.” In a moment of meaning we experience a
meeting of mutual understanding and admiration.
These are the
moments I live for.
I
am privileged to create celebrations and art with children. Like the 4 & 5
year olds in Chandi's class I started life curious and connected to the world
of nature. As I learned to read I became more and more immersed in a world of
imagination and less interested in exploring the world outside. At 45, I awoke
with a shock at how distanced I was from the natural environment and my Self.
Experiencing nature, and ourselves as nature, helps us develop an authentic
inner life. We learn who are, where we come from, where we are going...WHY WE
ARE HERE.
Why
I am here, at Living Wisdom School, is to volunteer my life experience in
service and sharing. The teachers, children and I weave shared experiences of
gratitude and relationship in ceremonies to celebrate our place in the cycle of
the seasons, to honor the Earth as our Mother, to evoke respect for the
elemental forms of the Universe, Earth, ourselves...to revere all Life.
I am a Tree
coiled
within a seed within the earth. I stretch and grow as I draw the element of water up from the
earth into my trunk and branches. I become living earth, growing and
unfurling my leaves, feeling the breeze of air whispering through me.
Lifting my hungry leaves up and up I capture the fire of the sun. I am
water, earth, air, and fire. For many decades I remain here, the center of a
world of life, breathing in, breathing out, cycling air and energy. After a
long time I become weary with longing to return home. I fold in upon myself and
into the earth, returning to the planet water, earth, air, and fire for the
future life that will embody the memory of me.
The Circle
We
lay out the directions for our circle. West is water (mist & clouds,
rivers & oceans, blood & tears, tides without and within cleansing and
healing).
North is earth (asteroids
& moons, mountains & forests, hearts & muscles, skeletons and
shells for strength and endurance). East is air (ether, atmosphere,
breath, the inhale and the exhale, inspiring and awakening). South is fire
(sun,
earth's molten core, life's metabolism of energy, creating and transforming). In the Center
we become a Unity of Spirit, the Center is here and everywhere. Each of us
takes a tiny glass pebble. We silently, secretly say our words of gratitude and
slip the stone into a receptacle of water placed at the center of our Center.
Does
every child understand it all? Do I? Deep in our being we do. We know what we
are doing is significant and sacred. I see it in the glow of respect and
reverence in their small faces, in the hallowed hush of their bodies.
Autumn Appreciation
I
read the Greek myth of Persephone, Hades and Demeter. I come to the part where
the land is laid waste by the mother's grief for the loss of her daughter. My
voice falters and tears find form as I push forward a small blue bowl of water,
“these are Demeter's tears.” I am moved by the moment of mystery. We are all
touched and talk about Autumn rains and darkening landscapes, what is going and
what is coming.
I
am a living Autumn, my hair turning and skin weathering like bark on the trees.
Like the oldest trees on our planet, I hope I have gained a little wisdom. The
children are mere beginnings of Spring, full of joy and enthusiasm. They are
helping me to heal the cares of my past. I hope I am helping them to see the
possibilities of the future.
breathe and awaken,
leaves are
stirring,
all things moving,
new day coming,
Life renewing.
Pawnee Prayer
To
close our ceremony we share in the Blessings of the Fruits of the Earth,
calling out the qualities we are about to consume: richness of plum, melody of
pear, knowledge of apple, brightness of orange...fruits to sooth our souls,
berries of summer to which we say farewell until next year. We use their juice
to dye grains of rice. Tomorrow we will arrange bright blue seashells (water),
crushed shells of eggs dyed green (earth), light yellow grains (air), and the
raspberry red rice (fire) in patterns to make mosaic mandalas ~ circles of
elemental forms, our inner feelings and thoughts made visible.
It is a good day.
Since
graduating from the Whole Systems Design program at Antioch University in 2001
Martia has worked with school, community, and spiritual groups in many
capacities, including designer, school librarian and storyteller, and art,
meditation, and youth group teacher. Martia earned a certificate in Drawing and
Painting from the University of Washington in 2008 and is a mixed media artist.
She co-creates art and nature experiences with teachers at Living Wisdom School
and Gaia's Temple in Seattle. “I have always used nature as our inspiration
and teacher for art. I believe that making art can enhance our ability to
observe deeply the processes of nature, and that observing the interactions
between living systems and their environment will enrich students' art making.
My dream is to help nurture in our youth a lifelong relationship with Nature
and Mother Earth, one characterized by mutuality, founded in inquiry,
exploration and self-expression, with a healthy respect for the awe and mystery
of Life.”
