Pegi EYERS Ahmadreza Ghafari / Unsplash We are all part of the old stories. And whether we know the stories or not, the old stories know about us. [1] Leslie Marmon Silko I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN attracted to the primordial building blocks of human existence, and my guiding light - or happy place - is my affinity with ancestral ways. The elements of earth, fire, water and air; stone, bone, shells and clay; carved branches and baskets; red ochre and the hand on the cave wall; feathers in my hair and the land's dreaming, all continue to nourish my soul. Ignited by my sojourns in nature and deep time memory, I spontaneously seek to revive the primordial, and to express the wilds of my own imagination by weaving text, mixed media and storytelling - and even digital tools - into my writing, art, and craft. My resonance with the primal was not unusual in my early years, as I grew up surrounded by lakes and rivers, luxuriant forests, the great stone outcroppings of the Canadian Shield, and other wild places. Over the decades, I began to find models in mythology and archaeology (of course), but also in the worlds of literature and fine art. With so many beautiful inspirations – each a joyful discovery - I found that I was not the only one occupied with the paleolithic, neolithic and “time before time,” as the monolith of civilization kept advancing. Today, we find the signs of our primordial past everywhere, as this iconography continues to flourish like a perennial garden. Forms, symbols and textures from pre-colonial cultures worldwide show up in fashion, furniture, food, décor, art, music, movies, games and tools. In many ways this re-emergence is a much-needed return to animism and nature spirituality. But the popularity of tribal content is not merely a reflection of our communal yearning for a simpler time. It is also an expression of our timeless heritage as people of the land, and the primordial legacy stored in our DNA. Over the ages, we have always held a well-defined place of belonging in Earth Community, and with deep ties to the magic and intelligence of being, are both human and animal.
As an animist, I know that my Deep Time Ancestors embraced the wheel of the year, the phases of the moon, and the cyclical forces of birth, life, death, and rebirth. In terms of my own cultural and spiritual path, I make every effort to align with sustainable practices, and to reject the “status quo” of capitalism and consumerism. Living on a rural property surrounded by hedgerows and forests, I observe the activity in nature around me, celebrate the ever-changing phenomena of climate and the cosmos, and keep my love for the land front and center. Despite the demands and challenges of modern life, I applaud those who are able to fully rewild themselves, and join wilderness outposts, ecovillages or intentional communities. Today, the rise of the Ancestral Arts frames the irony of a cultural renaissance based on hope, just as western civilization seems to be collapsing under its own weight. Apocalyptic omens are everywhere, and warnings of monumental change and the breakdown of ecosystems have been part of the public discourse for decades. A civilization that destroys the natural world to live, will destroy itself. The annihilation of wild places alters the balance, and chthonic powers are then unleashed through climate disasters, pandemics and other forms of collapse. Our attraction to the primordial points to the timeless needs of human beings, but it can also be an unconscious pull to the future, when our post-civilizational reality may include such things as bone hooks, stone blades, woven clothing, black earth pigments, face paint, feather altars, vine ties, carved paddles, copper elements, and animal clans.  Voices of Earth ~ Archaic Whispers hands in earth, green growing cavern sweet with flowers and leaves (diving deep) earth that is her body ten thousand things rise and fall Ancestors! Ancestors! the deepest sound is silence next to hard rock she can remember listening ~ not with the ear with the spirit Ancestors! Ancestors! the trail is cold cave walls echo ……….. summoning blissful hallowing voices of earth, archaic whispers guided, protected and inspired rhythmic drums and sacred songs homelands etched on the heart Ancestors! Ancestors! diving deep earth that is her body ] [ (wings to fly) rising up to meet the light  To be fully informed in the sphere of the Ancestral Arts, is to understand the controversies in the Americas (aka Turtle Island), that point to the original apocalypse First Nations endured with the arrival of the European powers. This legacy of colonial violence is still being reckoned with today in cross-cultural dialogue, bridge-building, and discourse in social justice. Today’s “Settlers”[2], the descendants of Euro-emigration, immigration and diaspora, continue to cause harm with habitual patterns of racism and oppression, but also with less obvious actions such as cultural appropriation. Untethered from one’s own heritage, and blessed with access and privilege, many folks have taken the spiritual and cultural property of living First Nations – such as the Lakota or Anishnaabe – to create their own faux identity. Such a shocking phenomena has led academics, activists and practitioners to teach and write about better choices, and more positive actions toward reconciliation. My own book Ancient Spirit Rising: Reclaiming Your Roots & Restoring Earth Community arose from my fascination with my colleagues who were pretending to be Cree and Haudenosaunee, when they were clearly of European descent! In terms of a silver lining, First Nations Elders, vision keepers and community leaders have been urging all peoples - from all ethnocultures - to recover, reclaim and revive their own Indigenous Knowledge.[3] We are being directed - like a mandate or manifesto - to discover our own roots, and to make that expression part of our contemporary lives. This of course, is the antidote to the harm caused by cultural appropriation. And yet, a serious scholar would have difficulty finding an ancestral European culture completely free of coloniality. Religious persecution, economic oppression and other brutalities have been happening for hundreds, if not thousands of years. We can clearly see that horrific events such as the witch burnings, Highland Clearances, Potato Famine and Magdalene Laundries resulted from a long history of oppression, and were also trial runs for what happened in the Americas. With centuries of interference, the pathways back to an authentic European indigeneity are hard to find, if not non-existent. To reclaim heritage and join communities such as Gaelic Polytheism, Celtic Reconstructionism or Druidry is a steep learning curve, and highly rewarding for many who pursue those paths. But what I discovered in those spaces was an overlay of nuage philosophy, dogma, interpretation, repetition, and a humancentric focus that acted as a barrier between the practitioner (me) and the natural world. The colonial defaults of heirarchal behavior, social rules, and competition are deeply rooted, and the work of uncolonizing the psyche is incredibly daunting. After participating in the contemporary worlds of social justice and ancestral arts for many years, eventually I chose to return to my solitary animist practices, and direct transmission with the spirits in nature. It also made sense for me to approach my most authentic pre-colonial connections, which were my Indigenous ancestors in Old Europe. If we truly reach back to pre-colonial times, there is no question that indigeneity can be located, at some point in our ancestral line. In my own case, my mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), or motherline, was traced through Oxford Ancestors[4] to a tribal group that existed 20,000 years ago in the Lascaux Valley of France. From generation to generation they thrived, eventually choosing the migration journey, and crossed to what is now the Scottish Highlands. Through the mists of cyclic time and the interspace of geography, I am the recipient of a wealth of blessings from my earth-emergent ancestors. Their resilience has empowered me to self-identify with my own haplogroup and claim my tribe. It may take much dedication and imagination, but at least there is no argument that I am not Indigenous to Old Europe! I am finally at home, with my primordial belonging, my Clan Mothers, and my kinship to Earth Community. Is a primal return even possible, for those of us who have been “civilized” for millennia? If First Nations - with worldviews immersed in nature and the sacred - are correct in their assessment, civilization is an aberration, and a wrong turn in our overall human journey. The First Nations position is clear, and yet why is this so difficult for the “civilized” to see? Detached from the natural world, modernists are firmly planted in a self-created reality of religion, culture, philosophy, science and Empire-building. Civilized life is now “the norm,” along with the techno-optimists and “humans by design” on the rise in our new era of the Anthropocene. To use a modern concept, I have found the "niche" of going right to the source of my most ancient ancestors, and the simplicity of time spent observing and communicating directly with the land and the cosmos.
It is fascinating to think that we can reach back to the Upper Paleolithic to decolonize and re-indigenize ourselves, and what we can learn from that process going forward. Delving into deep time also leads us to the question – what is the nature of primordial mind? According to China Galland, “Our basic mind is like water, its nature remains clear and unpolluted, and that no matter what distressing emotions arise, our primordial nature – our ‘basic’ mind – remains unaffected, beginninglessly good. Goodness without beginning, goodness without end.”[5] Also, Haridas Chaudhuri writes, “When a person discovers his ultimate ground of existence, his authentic individuality emerges. He begins to feel a spiritual kinship with the entire universe. He experiences a sense of responsibility for the entire living creation. His heart beats in unison with the all of existence. His soul is aflame with the spirit of dedication to cosmic welfare, and he becomes cosmocentric.”[6] I find these assessments very reassuring, in the face of recent critiques that consider past-cultural revivals to be based on fantasy and cosplay.[7] Any rationalist can pull together a case study that discounts our deep time memory and place within the ecosystem. But there are clearly positive attributes of the human psyche that have kept us alive through the millennia. Basic human goodness - still visible today – has been a constant, especially in societies with a moral code that places the most value on kindness, hospitality and respect for all. These are the best qualities of “Indigenous Mind”[8] that we hold from ancient times, and gifts that we can still uncover in ourselves and others. The challenge of the polycrisis means reconnecting with what is most important, and reviving our ancestral wisdom to adapt and thrive. The power of Earth Community is rising once again. The gifts of the Ancestors are manifesting in every sphere – in the revival of the gift economy and egalitarian social organization; the emphasis on the “we” instead of the “me;” the reclaiming of the commons; and the supremacy of unconditional love. We are re-discovering our skill with animist lifeways, interspecies communication, reciprocity with the more-than-human, plant-spirit medicine, important rites of passage, honoring the sacred in all life – and finally, making decisions that honor the generations yet to come. The Old Ones - the weavers embedded in the land - are summoning us back to our most ancient selves, to our Ancestors and wild nature. The natural world remains the foundation of all life, and the wisdom of our indigeneity has not wavered. Even in modern times our true power is found in our ancient communal past, when we remember the sacred essence we held, so long ago.  NOTES [1] Leslie Marmon Silko, Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit, Simon & Schuster, 1997 [2] Referring to the various diasporans and descendants of the original colonizers as “Settler” has gained wide usage in the Americas, and is an appropriate reminder of our status as seen through the lens of Empire-building. “The term Settler is used to denaturalize our status on this land, to force colonialism into the forefront of our consciousness, to cause discomfort and force a reckoning with our inherited colonial status, to create the understanding and desire to embrace, demand and effect change.” Corey Snelgrove and Klara Woldenga, Why the Term ‘Settler’ Needs to Stick, The Martlet, University of Victoria, March 28, 2013. (www.martlet.ca) [3] Pegi Eyers, First Nations on Ancestral Connection, Stone Circle Press, 2025 [4] There is nothing more thrilling than pinpointing your DNA signature and genetic homeland! Oxford Ancestors (now defunct) offered mitochondrial DNA testing (mtDNA) for personal research into ancient ancestry. Oxford Ancestors was founded by Bryan Sykes, Professor of Human Genetics at the University of Oxford, and author of The Seven Daughters of Eve: The Science that Reveals Our Genetic Ancestry, W. W. Norton & Company, 2010. The discovery of my paleolithic ancestors is described here: CLAN MOTHER LEGACY BY PEGI EYERS [5] China Galland, The Bond Between Women, Riverhead Books, 1999 [6] Jürgen W. Kremer, The Primordial Mind: Outline of a Pedagogy for the Recovery of Indigenous Mind and the Facilitation of Integrated States of Consciousness, Founders Symposium, California Institute of Integral Studies, 2010 [7] Alan Jacobs, Fantasy and the Buffered Self, The New Atlantis, 2014 [8] Pegi Eyers, Entwining Heart & Mind, Stone Circle Press, 2025 
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PEGI EYERS The women’s movement has evolved because the crisis of the eternal world is calling for the return of the Goddess to restore the balance of nature. Old forms and traditions are falling away, and new ideas and ancient systems that were interrupted by Empire are rising. At a time when our collective Mother Earth is suffering from massive change and climate disaster, we are being summoned to rejuvenate the chthonic Old Ways that honor Earth Community. The feminine archetype is returning, as women everywhere continue to resist the patriarchy, fight for change, and reinstate the Goddess both within and without in acts of revolutionary love. In recent years, the Divine Feminine has evolved through a monumental array of modalities, practices and Goddess Studies. With a concise foundational myth, and core principles of equity, egalitarianism, ecological sustainability and nature reverence, Goddess Feminism challenges the intersectional oppressions that have harmed all beings – both human and other-than-human. New explorations in rituals, ceremony, storytelling and the arts, and new paths of liberation in social justice, anti-racism, environmental protection and earth remediation, are all empowering aspects of Ecofeminism and Goddess Spirituality. The principle of the Divine Feminine is both immanent and transcendent, and the many diverse Goddesses we are drawn to, or called by - all precious and beloved - evoke the same cosmic principles of universal love, creative fertility and natural abundance. The “Old Shes” have been there all along - waiting to hold us again, to welcome us home - and in return we are embracing them with our whole body, mind and soul! As I respond to the call of the Goddess in my own life, I have been compelled to seek a deeper level, to bypass the millennia of patriarchal occupation and go right to the source, to a time of our most ancient beginnings. As kindred spirits, many of us today are feeling the Great Mystery of our motherlines reverberating in our souls, and to trust that the Primordial Mothers - the weavers embedded in the land- are summoning us back to our most ancient selves, to our Ancestors and wild nature. Tied to the cycles of the land and the truth of our own bodies, the Primordial Mothers are the givers of birth and death, and our fundamental reality. Even in the modern era we are still “Women of the Earth” and our true power is found in our ancient communal past, when we remember, know and feel our symbiotic connection to the Primordial Mothers, and the sacred soil essence our biological bodies arose from, so many aeons ago. But who or what are the Primordial Mothers? In ancient times when the planet was new and life was just emerging from the sea, the Mothers were birthing primal life forms from the elements and waters. Holders of the oldest consciousness on the planet, these Creatrixes moved in fluid streams of energy and through the primal “muck” that evolved into earthy and material bodies. From the beginning, the lifegiving properties and fertility of their transmissions were held within the collective “prima materia” of the Divine Feminine, an eternal voice in the wisdom body that still reverberates today. Each one of us continues to hold this deep connection, and as we embody this truth in our lives, we return to a necessary symbiotic relationship with Gaia. This is the ancestral wisdom that can guide our choices and actions from a deep energetic and cellular level, in our current era of potential collapse and environmental destruction.  Knowing that the Primordial Mothers still surround us is comforting knowledge indeed! Forms found in nature are especially evocative of Goddess energy. Mountains, mounds or rocks shaped like a woman’s face, curves, or body, such as Silbury Hill in England, were further developed by Neolithic peoples into gigantic Goddess sculptures with temples and stone circles. Paintings deep in caverns such as Chauvet Caves at Vallon-Pont-d’Arc in France honored the sacred womb principle, and monumental earthworks in Crete and Malta were built into the landscape to evoke the sense of a female body. Even sacred sites in my own region such as Kinowagwapkong (The Teaching Rocks, or Peterborough Petroglyphs) were built or carved over underground streams, symbolizing the underworld womb and source of all life. Indigenous and earth-emergent societies everywhere honored the life-creating power of the Sacred Feminine, and revered women in their cultures as an extension of the miraculous divinity of creation. Women were held sacred, and their fertility and nurturing abilities were known to be exactly the same as the Primordial Mothers who created all life. To our Paleolithic Ancestors, it was obvious that women, with their mysterious cycles, performed the same functions as Gaia, who was the source of all nourishment, protection and procreative power. Contrary to the Abrahamic religions that dominated history (“His story”) and subjugated women, when we look to nature it is self evident that the divine presence emanating from, and animating the natural world is feminine - abundant, fertile, yin, cyclic, ever renewing, forgiving, and above all, loving and nurturing (“Her story”). All things are born and nurtured by a mother, and this love and nurture is the great cosmic principle of all life. It is so obvious, yet our civilization, based on 2000-plus years of patriarchal rule, has tried very hard to conceal this life-affirming and sacred truth. These efforts are now ringing hollow, and women everywhere are reasserting our primal creativity, and reshaping societies in the process. Just like childbirth and the other chthonic feminine powers, this undeniable process is both laborious and far-reaching! The tenets of Goddess Spirituality hold all life as sacred, bond us to the land, and give us a holistic view of Earth Community. We are connected with all life, from the surging rivers, to the smallest cells, to the plants, the animals, the birds, the reptiles, the insects, and to the great flowing atmospheres of infinite space. Seeking our timeless bonds to the Primordial Ones, we yearn for a way of life when we are immersed in natural processes every waking moment, and embedded in ancient knowing. That is why locating our mtDNA signature across time and space, and membership in one of the great Motherhood Clans is so incredibly empowering. With immense joy (and a mtDNA test) I found my belonging within the largest and most resilient Celtic group, the mtDNA-based Helena Clan, one of the world clans descended from “Mitochondrial Eve” as traced by Bryan Sykes in The Seven Daughters of Eve. My deep time ancestors originated in the Lascaux region of France 20,000 years ago, and even though I may never fully know the lifeways of my distant relatives, I can still resonate with their treasures, and the beauty of their legacy to the world. Being close to the textures of the earth, walking barefoot on the sand, feeling clay on my hands or body, viewing petroglyphs and working with red ochre or earth pigments, can instantly transport me back to my foundational earth connection. Rooting ourselves deep in Earth of every texture and hue, we express Her Body as Our Body. Earth as foundation, Earth as matrix, Earth as crucible, Earth as lightning rod, Earth as watercourse, Earth as birthing platform, Earth as sacred adornment, Earth as sweet bed of fern and flower, Earth as woven bier, and Earth as joyful resting place - our bonds to the land will never fade. The centuries fall away when we come face to face with the “prima materica” that patiently waits all around us, in grotto, ocean-side cave and deep within the forest floor. What better way to shed the trappings of "modernity" for a time, and connect with what is primal and real, both in ourselves and the land?  It is time that we honor the Primordial Mothers, the clan leaders who founded the countless generations of humanity – the ones who possessed the skill, intelligence and resilience for our communities to survive and thrive. We are being summoned at this time to align with the components of ancestral knowledge systems, to reclaim our power and realize the sacredness of our bodies, minds, voices and spirits, and to recover the beliefs and practices our Ancestors were forced to give up, long ago. At the foundation of our essential return, aspects of ancestral identity can be reclaimed from ancient matriarchies and Indigenous societies worldwide, traditions that were guarded through the ages, preserved and passed down through oral traditions, parables, poetic sagas, fairy tales, folklore and myth. Learning to put the “we” ahead of “me” is at the heart of the Divine Feminine, and the wisdom from primeval societies hold beliefs and values that can benefit us today, in our quest for (re)emergent Goddess myths and collaborative community. The resurgence of matriarchal ethics in our time gives us the courage, wisdom and joy that is needed to revitalize ourselves and the world, to recover what has been lost and grieve what cannot be recovered, and ultimately, to restore much-needed balance to the world.  RESOURCES Austin, Debra, Daughter of Kura: A Novel, A Touchstone Book, 2009 Daly, Mary, Beyond God the Father: Toward a Philosophy of Women's Liberation, Beacon Press, 1993 Dashu, Max, Women’s Power (DVD), Suppressed Histories Archives, 2008 Eisler, Riane, The Chalice and the Blade: Our History, Our Future, HarperCollins, 1988 Gimbutas, Marija, The Civilization of the Goddess, HarperCollins, 1991 Goettner-Abendroth, Heide, editor, Societies of Peace: Matriarchies Past Present and Future, Inanna Publications, 2009 Hillyer, Carolyn, Sacred House: Where Women Weave Words into the Earth, Seventh Wave Books, 2010 Pollack, Rachel, The Body of the Goddess: Sacred Wisdom in Myth, Landscape and Culture, Element Books/Vega, 2003 Starhawk, The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Goddess: 20th Anniversary Edition, HarperOne, 2011 Stone, Merlin, When God Was a Woman, Mariner Books, 1976 Sykes, Bryan, The Seven Daughters of Eve: The Science that Reveals Our Genetic Ancestry, W. W. Norton & Company, 2010 The discovery of my paleolithic ancestors is described here: CLAN MOTHER LEGACY BY PEGI EYERS Wells, Spencer, Deep Ancestry: Inside the Genographic Project, National Geographic Society, 2006 
 pegi eyers One of the most exciting moments of my life, was when I discovered through DNA testing that I was a member of the Helena Clan, a group that existed 20,000 years ago in the cave-painting cultures of Lascaux and the Dordogne and Vezere valleys of southwest France! Thanks to population science, genetic research and links to the archaeological record, my mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), or motherline, was traced to this paleolithic hunter-gatherer society. Miraculously, I was able to locate my maternal ancestor, who was a matriarch and Clan Mother thousands of years ago. It is mind-boggling and humbling to think of all the loving “mothers of mothers of mothers” stretching through time and place, all the way to me today! The Helena Clan is one of the world clans descended from “Mitochondrial Eve” as traced in The Seven Daughters of Eve by Bryan Sykes. Each DNA haplogroup has a chain of letters and numbers, and my maternal line begins with the letter “H.” Genetics professor and the founder of Oxford Ancestors, Sykes identified 7 letters overall that represent the European Clan Mothers, and he gave each a name and a narrative. My clan mother is Helena (Greek for light) who lived at the peak of the last Ice Age. Helena’s story begins on the shoreline and in the woodlands south of the ice sheets. With her extended family group she combed the food forest for fungi and other edible plants, and waded into the wetlands and lagoons searching for oysters. The hunters thrived in the woodlands, seeking small deer and other mammals to hunt with handmade spears. Helena hand-stitched clothes with pelts and sinew to survive the icy winters, and gave birth to her children in caves by the river during the annual reindeer migration. Sykes describes extensive tool making including knives, scrapers, spear points, spear throwers and sewing needles, and mentions the flourishing of cave art and ceremonies. At the time of Helena the Atlantic Ocean was frozen, and pack ice was found as far south as Bordeaux, France. Britain was still joined to continental Europe by dry land, and what are now the English Midlands, central Wales, and southern Ireland were buried under the ice.  The Seven Clan Mothers that Sykes identified are: The Clan of Ursula (Latin for she-bear) is the oldest of the seven native European clans. It was founded around 45,000 years ago by the first modern humans as they established themselves in Europe. Today, about 11% of modern Europeans are the direct maternal descendants of Ursula. They come from all parts of Europe, but the clan is particularly well represented in western Britain and Scandinavia. The Clan of Xenia (Greek for hospitable) is the second oldest of the seven native European clans, and also the smallest. It was founded 25,000 years ago by the second wave of modern humans who established themselves in Europe, just prior to the coldest part of the last Ice Age. Today only 6% of native Europeans are in the clan of Xenia. Within the clan, three distinct branches fan out over Europe. One is still largely confined to Eastern Europe while the other two have spread further to the West into central Europe and as far as France and Britain. About 1% of Native Americans are also in the clan of Xenia. The Clan of Helena (Greek for light) is by far the largest and most successful of the seven native clans. 47% of modern Europeans belong to one of its many branches, and are direct maternal descendents of Helena. It began 20,000 years ago with the birth of Helena somewhere in the valleys of the Dordogne and the Vezere, in south-central France. The clan is widespread throughout all parts of Europe, but reaches its highest frequency among the Basque people of northern Spain and southern France. Approximately 47 percent of modern Europeans (and those in diasporas) are descended from the Clan of Helena. The Clan of Velda (Scandinavian for ruler) is the second smallest of the seven clans containing only about 7% of native Europeans. Velda lived 17,000 years ago in the limestone hills of Cantabria in northwest Spain. Her descendants are found nowadays mainly in western and northern Europe and are surprisingly frequent among the Saami people of Finland and Northern Norway. The Clan of Tara (Gaelic for rocky hill) includes slightly fewer than 10% of modern Europeans. Its many branches are widely distributed throughout southern and western Europe with particularly high concentrations in Ireland and the west of Britain. Tara herself lived 17,000 years ago in the northwest of Italy among the hills of Tuscany and along the estuary of the river Arno. The Clan of Katrine (Greek for pure) is a medium sized clan with 10% of Europeans among its membership. Katrine herself lived 15,000 years ago in the wooded plains of northeast Italy, now flooded by the Adriatic, and among the southern foothills of the Alps. Her descendants are still there in numbers, but have also spread throughout central and northern Europe. The Clan of Jasmine (Persian for flower) is the second largest of the seven European clans after Helena and is the only one to have its origins outside Europe. Jasmine and her descendants, who now make up 12% of Europeans, were among the first farmers and brought the agricultural revolution to Europe from the Middle East around 8,500 years ago.
Of course, the Clan Mothers had ancestors themselves, and their genealogies have also been charted. Amazingly, everyone alive on the planet today can trace their maternal ancestry back to just one woman - “Mitochondrial Eve” who lived in Africa 150,000 – 200,000 years ago. From the First Mother, each human has in their lineage approximately six billion ancestors. These ancestors are still present in our blood and bones, helping to shape our own physical and spiritual descendants. To remember all who came before, is to remember that we belong to a vast web of humanity. Through the mists of cyclic time and antidiluvian earth changes, I am the recipient of a wealth of blessings from my ancestors. Their resilience has empowered me to self-identify with my own haplogroup and claim my tribe. Being a descendant of Helena is very grounding, and gives me deep roots in a long lineage of women, all who carry her essence and agency. It may take much imagination and dedication to express these connections, but at least there is no argument that I am not Indigenous to Old Europe! I am finally at home, with my primordial belonging, my Clan Mothers, and my kinship to Earth Community. **** LINKS >Learning of Europe's Past: The Seven Daughters of Eve< >International Society of Genetic Genealogy Wiki: The Seven Daughters of Eve< The Seven Daughters of Eve: The Science that Reveals Our Genetic Ancestry on Amazon 
pegi eyers / deep times ~ A Journal of the Work That Reconnects "Mother Goddess Magic 1" PRINT by Pegi Eyers ~ ORDERING INFO BELOWThe rise of the ecological self in recent years has been spectacular, and there is much to celebrate! Patriarchal Empire-building in the Americas has created a toxic system of ecocide and alienation, and yet ecofeminism, deep ecology, and nature-based movements continue to resist this hegemony in thought and action. The economic model of unlimited growth on a finite planet isn’t working, and in the face of potential climate disaster we have been busy creating resilient communities and finding our kindred spirits in the process. At this point with the stakes so high, we are fulfilling the directive to shift the paradigm, and replace it with more ethical and sustainable ways of being. Resistance to Empire has been a cumulative process over the centuries, and movements such as “abolitionism, pacifism, anarchism, anti-colonialism and environmentalism describe different manifestations of the same androcratic monster as the totality of the problem, yet they fail to address the fact that at its heart lies a dominator, female-dominated model of the human species”[1]. This is extremely important to recognize, as feminists and change agents everywhere confront and deconstruct the masculinist hegemony that is ingrained in our industrial growth society. The ruling elite that initiated Empire-building in the Americas were driven by patriarchal values such as manifest destiny, Christian conversion and capitalism. The antidote to monotheistic religions is animism – the worldview that permeates pre-colonial and contemporary matriarchal, matrifocal and Indigenous Clan Mother societies worldwide, including those in Old Europe. The work of Riane Eisler is key to deconstructing patriarchy, as her methodology compares the dominator model of patriarchy with the relationship model of matriarchy[2] – values observed by Eisler over a long timeline. To describe a “matriarchy” more precisely, it is not the simplistic reverse of a patriarchy, with women dominating or abusing men through some kind of “mother-rule”, nor is it the Jungian notion of an early and necessary “stage” in the evolutionary development toward a higher culture (i.e. patriarchy). A definitive text on the subject, Societies of Peace: Matriarchies Past, Present, and Future by Heide Goettner-Abendroth[3], is a collection of essays by feminists, scholars, activists and Indigenous women who identify the elements of historic and present-day matriarchies all over the world. Goettner-Abendroth argues that matriarchies are societies that place the highest value on the aspects of nurture, care and generosity usually associated with motherhood. It is hard to imagine, but in matriarchal societies men do hold power as brothers and uncles, yet in collab-oration with mothers and grandmothers through an egalitarian process whereby all voices are heard, and there is no value placed on the ability to dominate. Based on matriarchal partnership models, creating an alternative, life-affirming society today is a logical response to the oppression we have endured from the military industrial complex, and the “civilizing force” revolving around the dominator “Big Man.” The contemporary explosion of women’s empowerment, advancements in women’s rights, and the rise of the Divine Feminine in our spiritual life are essential components of the Great Turning. However, feminism and the undoing of patriarch are not just “women’s issues,” and men such as activist Jackson Katz are taking up the fight by openly declaring that “one of the key characteristics of power and privilege is that dominant groups maintain and reproduce themselves, and are rarely challenged to think about their dominance. Men have the ability to lack introspection, to go unexamined, and to be rendered invisible in the discourse. In fact, men are largely erased in the conversation about a subject that is centrally about them.”[4] For both men and women, our imperative must be to challenge the centrality and “power over” of the patriarchal Empire, which has used reductionist science, race theory and other toxic ideologies to suppress egalitarian societies based on interconnectivity, such as women’s wisdom and Indigenous Knowledge(s). The good news is that monumental cracks are appearing in the patriarchal façade, finally liberating the human spirit from the parochial tyrannies based on gender and racial divisions that have haunted us for centuries. Tolerance for diversity in peaceful co-existence is not a complicated approach, and is key to our mutual decolonization project. As we draw on ancient models of tribal and village life in our collective liberation, from eras that pre-date colonization both in Europe and here on Turtle Island, how much do we truly remember? Perhaps there is a hidden code that gets activated in a community, the further away from Empire that we stray, both metaphorically and in the immediacy of our lives. And this arc must surely change and grow as we cycle through our own passages and personal mythology. The revival of ancestral wisdom cannot be repressed (even in a world of “me-me-me” hyperindividualism) and, like the perennial green fuse, will continue to rise again. Finding guidelines for lasting change, or the “decolonization of our psyches”, can be a challenge. Still holding negative conditioning and dysfunctional behavior from a childhood in white cookie-cutter suburbia, being raised in the Americas presents us with a unique set of cultural habits that are hard to shake, even as we are “building the new” and embodying alternatives to the dominant society. Surrounded by narcissism and other forms of infantilization, and trained to embrace the “cult of the individual” over the needs of the collective, overcoming these patterns can be a life-long process. Relinquishing western thinking and learning to put the “we” ahead of “me” is at the heart of collaborative community, and wisdom from pre-colonial cultures worldwide – including those in Old Europe – hold elements of ancestral mind that may benefit us today. Copying these societies verbatim may fall under the rubric of cultural appropriation, yet being informed by the timeless values of earth-emergent knowledge is not. At one time we all lived in tribal groups that acknowledged the sacred in every activity, and emphasized the bonds of the community over the needs of the individual. As modernists, let’s not be too hard on ourselves (!) as we have been steeped in a brew of over-rational, over-analytical linear thinking; dualism and the mistaken belief that we are separate from nature; restlessness and a constant attraction to “the new;” an eagerness to dominate and control, and a bias toward “the other” as a result of the patriarchy that surrounds us. These must be the aspects of western mind that we want to revise or discard! And even though we have ancient models to follow, with the shift to future/primitive ways of thinking we are entering new ground, and it is simplistic to suggest that we can renounce ourselves completely as modern people. To reject the patriarchy, we are moving both forward and back, and when we consider the beauty and timelessness of pre-colonial worldviews, we may find new modalities to encourage or embrace. Let’s look at a brief compilation of matriarchal wisdom, and the overarching values that can be found in Indigenous philosophies and pre-colonial heritage(s) worldwide: The Earth Our Mother The world is a place of sacred mystery, and our relationship with the world is rooted in a profound respect for the land and all life. Humans are not above creation but part of it, and we flourish within the boundaries of the Sacred Circle. Our culture arises or is informed by the land and our bond to a particular landscape, and in this animist universe we are connected to the plants, creatures, elements and earth spirits that dwell there. The love of the land and our community is the only true wealth we have – we are part of the Earth and the Earth is part of us. The Natural World as Blessing, and Portal to the Sacred Circle Leaving the “buzz” of civilization behind and immersing ourselves in nature easily and effortlessly brings us into the intuitive knowing of Ancestral Mind. Opening to the natural world and stilling our inner dialogue enables the mysterious unfolding of our hearts. Simply from being in nature we see the world through the lens of love, and come to know that the Great Heart is the connective force in all creation. Filtered through this harmonious and beautiful space, our thoughts become allied with Earth Community. Clarity replaces confusion, and our thinking becomes a joyful series of inspirations in service to furthering the goals of Gaia, which are to flourish and thrive. Instead of identifying with the separatist and mechanistic worldview of industrial growth society, we find that we are at home again in the Sacred Circle of the heart. And in fact, we have never left. Patterns of Ancestral Mind By reclaiming our place within (not above) Earth Community we organically find ourselves practicing a cyclical thinking that is based on spirit connectivity, natural processes, creativity and peace, rather than singularity, ownership or dominance. When we are physically grounded and embodied our restless mind fades, and we find ourselves vibrant and present in a field of mindfulness and awareness. We begin to perceive time as a spiral, and are more connected and empathic with others. Our learning is purely experiential, as we are empowered to acquire knowledge at our own pace in our own way, and our overall self-identity is based on our own experience and self-reflection. Being a part of an earth-emergent community allows us to hold an “everyday” sense of mystery, wonder and awe, and all of our intelligences are combined to fulfill our holistic potential as a “true human being.” With an ecocentric mind as the foundation, the entire collective is able to integrate self-discovery, wisdom and responsibility. Reciprocity with the Land and Each Other Our existence is sustained by expressions of gratitude, as we unconditionally give thanks for all life and the elements that make life possible. We are in a symbiotic relationship with the Earth, as everything we need to live a Good Life comes from the land, and our activities are intertwined with the cycles of nature. When we embody these principles and have respect for all beings through ceremony and prayer, the cosmic balance is upheld and restored, and the survival of the community ongoing. The reciprocity of maintaining good relationships with each other and all beings is a shared collective value, and our mentors teach us and model to us the virtues of wisdom, bravery, generosity and selflessness that guide us in these interactions. It is our responsibility to hold the role of our teachers in the highest regard, and to ensure that the generations following also become Wise Elders, and continue to pass on our collective values, history and wisdom.  It may be hard work to remember and practice ancient ways of knowing, or to reclaim earth-rooted identity after being told that urban life is the only way to go, or that we cannot exist without the benefits and amenities of the dominant society. But we owe it to ourselves and our kinship group to join the worldwide circle of ecological community, and move through great change and turmoil to a time of “unity in diversity” as we align with a holistic paradigm once again. The love, respect and care we hold, means that we are incapable of using or abusing nature past the carrying capacity of the land, and in the end, these are the mindful qualities that will translate into sustainable societies and well-being for all. Regaining our humanity as whole human beings living in an animistic universe may be challenging, but the outcome is clear that by rejecting the patriarchy in principle, thought and deed, we can protect and sustain the sacred ground of Earth Community for the generations yet to come.  notes[1] Eisler, Riane. (1988) The Chalice and the Blade: Our History, Our Future, HarperCollins. [2] Ibid [3] Goettner-Abendroth, Heide, Ed.(2009). Societies of Peace: Matriarchies Past, Present, and Future, Inanna Publications. [4] Katz, Jackson. Violence Against Women – It’s A Men’s Issue. Violence & Silence: at TEDxFiDiWomen, 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTvSfeCRxe8  "Mother Goddess Magic 1" ~ ORDERING PRINT, NOTECARD or DIGITAL DOWNLOAD
PEGI EYERS
Magic happens in amazing ways. We cannot predict the time or the place, or the shape of the mystery or deity that enters our world. As a practicing Animist, I have often experienced deeply personal messages and affinities out on the land, such as the appearance and timing of phenomena like a rainbow, the cawing of a raven, the patterns etched in sand, or the visitation of a snake. For me, having a deep companionship with wild nature is the very essence of animist knowing, and I continue to see, feel, sense, observe and communicate with other presences in Earth Community - creatures, beings, elements, plant allies and the archetypal animal spirits. I have also communed with inexplicable events and earth spirits in the landscape that are firmly connected to local Indigenous cosmologies. But until one beautiful warm summer day in 2011, awe-inspiring visitations from my Ancient European Ancestors were few and far between. After a long hike through wild lands up from Stony Lake, Ontario, winding between dense forest, overgrown fields and outcroppings of rocky Canadian Shield, I was indulging in “earthing,” which is the practice of resting on the ground for the regenerative benefits to one's body, mind and soul. As I casually looked up to the sky from my wilderness meadow at the clouds billowing overhead, they coalesced into the exact shape and archetypal configuration of the Venus of Willendorf, the well-known carved-stone figurine from an ancient matriarchal culture in Old Europe. With stunned disbelief I watched as every detail became clearer and clearer, and SHE, this magnificent inexplicable feminine presence, hung in the sky for many minutes before hazily drifting off into other shapes and forms, as clouds always do.  Digital re-creation of the Venus of Willendorf floating in the clouds Humbled and shaken by this great visitation, to this day I am still learning to accept, and acquiesce to, the powerful consciousnesses that work through the natural world. Writing about this Great and Ancient Mother now, one of the primordial “Old Shes,” I still can’t discern the how or why of the Great Mystery, but hold this moment in my soul forever. I can see how human beings need to interpret and make associations with events that are unfathomable, to give our experiences individual purpose and meaning. What was my iconic “Venus” telling me? That every important cultural keystone connected to the land is stored forever in the body of the earth and the sky? That the spirits and ancestors will show themselves at the right time? That nature is a feminine force – ever loving and nurturing? That I am personally associated with cultures that honor the feminine? That the world right now has an urgent longing for the feminine? That I need to recover the long-lost lifeways of my Ancestors, and find the trail that leads back to Her? Found outside the Austrian village of Willendorf, this figurine is part of a wider neolithic tradition, and has been carbon-dated to 24,000 BCE. As modernists we can't know for certain if the culture included large rounded women, if the artifact was sacred or just an everyday object, if it was exclusive to either woman's or men's spirituality, if it was portable, or part of a more extensive altar. Yet we can say with certainty that the neolithic ancestors of Old Europe held the procreative force of the feminine as sacred. The “Venus of Willendorf,” if not an actual representation of a living woman, is an expression of fertility and all the cyclic earth-emergent chthonic powers of fecundity and feminine nurture. We can only speculate on the particulars of a culture that held these grounded values, but what a wonderful collective that must have been! Rooted in the truth of life, and the patterns of nature reflected in the human form, this beautiful hand-held object far transcended the female “beauty ideal" that was later promoted in the western world.
Once established, a connection to Earth Mother Magic can never be broken, and the deeper meaning in my own personal mythology continues to unfold. Soon after this visitation, I was blessed to receive my DNA profile from Oxford Ancestors, which placed my motherline 20,000 years ago among the ancient cave-painting cultures in the valleys of southwestern France. I discovered that I am a member of the largest and most resilient Celtic group, the mtDNA-based Helena Clan, one of the world clans descended from “Mitochondrial Eve” as traced by Bryan Sykes in The Seven Daughters of Eve. Without a doubt, at some point in ancient history my neolithic clanmothers either created the small "Divine Feminine" figurines that were found all over Europe, or were honored for their fecundity, fertility and wisdom in this way by the tribe. To explore this amazing connection through space and time to my life today, is an extremely thrilling ongoing project.
And to deepen the magic even further, my dear friend lives within a crow's flight from the exact same wilderness meadow near the shores of Stony Lake, where the Venus of Willendorf had appeared to me in 2011. Earth Mother Magic indeed! Honoring the life force in creation and knowing that all beings are sacred is the core belief of matriarchal, Indigenous and animist cultures, and it is our collective responsibility to support this interexistence with all life, with the highest respect and generosity of spirit.  REFERENCES Her Words: An Anthology of Poetry About the Great Goddess , edited by Burleigh Muten >link< Venus of Willendorf , by Dr. Bryan Zygmont, Khan Academy >link< Icons of the Matrix , by Max Dashu >link< Radical Doll Making from Willendorf to Today: The Relevance of an Ancient Tradition, by Jude Lally >link< The Seven Daughters of Eve: The Science that Reveals Our Genetic Ancestry, by Bryan Sykes >link< Lascaux: Movement, Space and Time, by Norbert Aujoulat >link< Cave of Forgotten Dreams, A Film by Werner Herzog >link< Excerpt originally published in Ancient Spirit Rising: Reclaiming Your Roots & Restoring Earth Community (Stone Circle Press, 2016)
pegi eyers "Reborn" © Jen Otey As a positive term for activating our most primal and authentic eco-self in the wild, many important definitions for Animism exist today. And yet these descriptions can obscure an ancient way of knowing, with the clutter of western mind. As we "return to the garden" today, seeking out the reassurance of intellectual complexity may be the norm for a society that has been disconnected from the land. But Animism is as natural as the flowering of our senses, and it's not that difficult to bypass linear thinking and experience the wonders of nature first-hand. Animism is simple, direct, immediate and profound, and as close to us as the green space, seasonal cycles, and other-than-human-world that surrounds us. "Everything in nature is alive and speaking. Our spiritual practice is about opening our eyes, ears and hearts to hear, understand, and communicate back. The elements, the Ancestors and the spirit beings that surround us want us to communicate with them. They want to work with us to heal the Earth, but they need our invitation." [1] Starhawk ANIMISM UNBOUND You wander far into the wilderness, to where it seems no human being could possibly have gone before. You wait quietly for something to happen. And sure enough, although you cannot pinpoint the source, small bell-like notes rise up in a pure waterfall of sound, like seeds floating in orbits or flower circles chiming in bliss. Surrounded by harmonious bands of singing green and streaming blue, somehow you traverse bogs, meadows and the antlers of branching trees, to find yourself at your cabin door once again.  "Tree of Life" © Tamara Phillips Looking to Indigenous societies worldwide (including those in Old Europe), we are reminded that humans thrive best within an animistic reality in which everything, inanimate or animate, has life, energy and spirit. To the practicing Animist, every part of Earth Community is aware, and a mountain or an entire territory can be the outward form of spiritual presence, or an abode of elemental forces inhabited by sentient beings and creatures. Without a doubt, the life force in nature such as the movement of waters and stars, or the growth of plants and animals, implies the presence of indwelling spirits. Deeply personal messages and affinities are all around us, and the appearance and timing of phenomena like a rainbow, the cawing of a raven, patterns etched in sand, or the visitation of a snake can have great individual purpose and meaning. Interpretations can either come easily with an undeniable “knowing,” or become clear over distance and time. In my own case I have always held an Animist knowing and companionship to wild nature, as I continue to see, feel, sense, observe, know and communicate with other presences out on the land - creatures, beings, elementals, earth spirits, deities, plant allies, and the archetypal animal spirits. These conversations can be one-off, or depending on the place, evolve and strengthen over time, with great care and devotion.
Having interactions with the ecosystem as part of our daily lives, Animists are in agreement that our dependency and reciprocity binds us to the Earth Communities with whom we share our world. Deeply connected to the land and its seasonal cycles, Animists are in rapport with the animals, plants, living spirits, Ancestors and spiritual forces, and “Indigenous animism looks to the wholeness of nature for its principal teachings.”[3] ANIMISM UNBOUND The day you finish a Daniel Quinn book that reinforces the sentience of Earth Community and changes your worldview forever, you leave the house, and just outside the door a magnificent toad is waiting. You long for the day when you are as at home in your environment as this attentive being. You place a blessing of protection on the small creature, which leads to a conversation full of magnetic knowing and mutual love. And from that day onward, you remember Wise Toad as the guardian of life's passages.  © Cori Lee Marvin Western society has finally realized what Indigenous societies have always known, that Earth Community is awake and aware, albeit in different ways than how we perceive consciousness as humans. Stones, trees and other aspects of the natural world are autonomous and willful beings who possess their own traits and dispositions. A spiritual force pervades all of nature, and the magical and mysterious presences and spirit beings in forests, shorelines, caves, mounds, springs and meadows continue to present themselves to us, and communicate great insight, awareness and numinosity. The world is alive with purpose, energy and sacred life. The elementals, earth spirits, plant allies, faeries and “devas” can have identifiable characteristics, personalities or gender, and narratives from oral traditions can portray these other-than-human beings as neutral, lovable, exuberant, terrifying or even mischievous! ANIMISM UNBOUND You find yourself encountering turtles everywhere you go - images and other icons - and you spot them on summer lawns and in the wild. You feel a sense of the miraculous beyond serendipity, and begin to know a closeness to Mother Turtle, who tells you life lessons of the most sacred symbols unfolding, in the deep recesses of both cosmos and Feral Earth. Then one day you encounter a broken turtle beside the highway, psychopomp and sing to her as she crosses over, and are driven to spend the next four years raising exorbitant sums of money for a turtle rescue organization.  With love and thanks to the many artists who contributed to "The Art of the Turtle" "Animism, because it seeks to relate and converse with the world, rather than to define and control it, always renews itself. It wakes up every morning fresh and alive, and every evening it tucks itself to bed to dream again for the very first time. Since animism involves a relationship with the world, a living being that exists in the now, the present moment, what more relevant perspective could you find?" [4] Willem Larsen If we are open to sharing through our heart, mind, dreaming body and other senses, the stones, trees, plants, animals, birds, insects and sacred creatures with whom we share this wondrous planet have an infinity of healing, guardianship, and learning experiences to offer. By stilling our inner dialogue, focusing on positive intent and emotions, and listening deeply with our ears plus our entire range of senses, we have the ability to initiate conversations with earth spirits and energetic beings. The results can be surprising and awe-inspiring! Some people hear actual speech, for others it is a waking dream, powerful vision or spontaneous experience, while others receive messages through night-time visitations, strong feelings or intuition.  We have never been separate from the life-affirming power of the natural world. As it was in ancient times, the other-than-human world embraces a host of endlessly expressive and individualistic living entities whose actions we may adore, emulate, decipher, predict and even influence! Our relationships with all beings, whether spiritual or physical, indicates an acceptance of multiple realities in the world. Deeply related and interactive in our mutual admiration, kinship and needs, the cycles and manifestations of growth that occur in self and nature correspond both materially and spiritually. The macrocosm and microcosm meeting within ourselves, the divine principle of “as above so below” are also realized. By virtue of being connected to the holism of Earth Community, we become attuned to a vast cosmovision, and all notions of monotheism fall away. Animists evoke, honor and obey a multiplicity of spirits, deities, elements and powers. "In tribal societies, there is so much to see and hear. The bear speaks, the river speaks, the rainbow signifies, the eclipse is a sign. The animistic personification of natural objects may be difficult for us to accept in any ‘literal’ way. Yet, judged solely on intellectual grounds, animism can be credited with a more sophisticated perception of physicality than Western Knowledge. Far from regarding matter as dead stuff, tribal societies perceive it as infused with mind, will, and intention." [5] Theodore Roszak  "Our Lives are in the Land" © Christi Belcourt (Anishnaabe) As a clear example of an Indigenous tradition, within Anishnaabe epistomology the intrinsic cooperation and communication between humans, animals, birds, insects, plants and spirit beings is known as the “Council of Life.” Also, in the traditional language of the Anishnaabe, most nouns are animate, indicating that in this conceptual framework “things” are alive, and have autonomous standing and spirit. The Animist perspective is also apparent in the cosmology of the Haudenosaunee, as “the world around and all its features – rivers, trees, clouds, springs and mountains are regarded as alive, endowed with spirit and sensibility every bit as real as those of humans, and in fact of exactly the same type and quality as a human’s. Among the Iroquois this was called Orenda, the invisible force inherent in all parts of the universe.”[6] Kirkpatrick Sale ANIMISM UNBOUND "Like echoes like" you are thinking, as you pick up a stone marked with lines of red ochre, exactly the same as the ancient petroglyphs you have visited with Indigenous friends. Asking permission, the patterned stone willingly joins the other objects in your sacred pouch, that includes a small figure of divine feminine blessing. Weeks later on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico the pouch is lost to human greed and grasping, yet when you return home, the stone marked with red ancestral pigment is on your altar waiting. You accept this magic as willingly as the Petroglyph Stone has accepted you.  "Indian Canoe" © Norval Morrisseau ~ acrylic on stone There are an infinity of examples found worldwide that reflect interactive success between the human/nonhuman world, such as the miraculous communications in the Findhorn community. By developing empathy skills, opening up their consciousness and widening their sensory abilities, Eileen Caddy, Peter Caddy and Dorothy MacLean were able to hear the wisdom and tutelage as expressed by the overarching nature spirits, or “Devas” of the plant realm. In a state of heightened awareness - a space of great joy, freedom and unconditional love - they found that the Devas were thrilled to be noticed by humans, and with ongoing interaction became close companions in cooperative gardening and co-evolution. All forms of life start with energies that are materialized into specific physical form by the overarching soul essences of each being, the “Kingdom of Devas” who hold the archetypal patterns. Feeling and harmonizing one’s self with the soul essence of a plant can evoke a response, such as this communication received from the Flowering Gentian.
An abundance of interactions with the other-than-human-world are just waiting to happen! Numinous encounters tend to be immediate and profound, and then morph into the heart and soul of one's personal mythology. Lived experiences on the land can even form the basis for new oral traditions, as the storied landscape gives rise to new cultural narratives and lifeways. As we focus on the wild as our cultural and spiritual practice Animism will thrive, and by sharing these old/new ways of living with others, the syndrome of nature disconnect will fade away. By extension, our collective responsibility to all life applies to our human clans and kinship groups as well, with the all-inclusive community practices of sharing, care and support. “Nature is alive and talking to us. This is not a metaphor.” Terence McKenna Honoring the life force in creation and knowing that all beings are sacred are the core beliefs of Animism, and it is our collective responsibility to support this interexistence with the highest respect and generosity of spirit. Human beings are just one strand woven into the complex systems of Earth Community! By respecting the Earth as a living entity and acknowledging all forms of consciousness in the natural world, Animism is the worldview that works best for humanity when we take our appropriate place within (not above) the Circle of All Life. Our reawakening to Animism, arising from our collective ancient past, will naturally move us forward to a future of ecocentric ethics and reciprocity with Earth Community.  © Blake Debassige ANIMISM UNBOUND In a state of shock and confusion you practice earthing on the lakeshore for a few hours. Your cares and doubts fall away, and you focus on one particular small shrub who has been gently waving. Remembering your lessons on green energy you pay close attention, but the plant spirit is offended and turns away. After a while other layers open up, and in the healing waters of the deep lake currents you sense a great and ancient feminine being. You think you know her, but hesitate to call her name. It is a brief yet incredible encounter, and as you walk home a voice crystallizes in your mind. "Thank you for seeing me. I have been here since time immemorial, and I will be here after you are gone. Gather your kindred spirits who love the Earth - the time to act is now." NOTES [1] Starhawk, “A Pagan Response to Katrina,” Starhawk’s Tangled Web: Goddess and Pagan Resources, September 14, 2005. [2] Peter Nabokov, Where the Lightning Strikes: The Lives of American Indian Sacred Places, Viking Penguin, 2006 [3] Emma Restall Orr, The Wakeful World: Animism, the Mind and the Self in Nature, Moon Books, 2011 [4] Willem Larsen, “Becoming Traditional: Animism, Culture, and the Newly Born,” The College of Mythic Cartography, March 6, 2007 [5] Theodore Roszak, “The Greening of Psychology: Exploring the Ecological Unconscious,” The Gestalt Journal, Volume 18, Number 1, Spring, 1995 [6] Kirkpatrick Sale, Dwellers in the Land: The Bioregional Vision, University of Georgia Press, 2000 [7] Dorothy MacLean, To Honor the Earth: Reflections on Living in Harmony with Nature, HarperCollins, 1991 RESOURCES ~ ANIMISM Indigenous Narratives ~ Immediate and Fluid, Lived Experience The Sacred: Ways of Knowledge Sources of Life – Peggy V. Beck, Anna Lee Walters and Nia Francisco >link< Messengers of the Gods: Tribal Elders Reveal the Ancient Wisdom of the Earth – James Cowan >link< The Manitous: the Supernatural World of the Ojibway – Basil Johnston >link< The Seven Dawns of the Aumakua: The Ancestral Spirit Tradition of Hawaii – Moke Kupihea >link< The Lakota Way: Stories and Lessons for Living – Joseph M. Marshall III >link< Original Instructions: Indigenous Teachings for a Sustainable Future – Melissa K. Nelson >link< Western Interpretations ~ Structured, More Complex Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology - David Abram >link< Animism: Respecting the Living World - Graham Harvey >link< Everything You Need to Know About Animism - Sarah Anne Lawless >link< The Wakeful World : Animism, Mind and the Self in Nature - Emma Restall Orr >link< Nature Spirits & Elemental Beings - Marko Pogacnik >link< Talking with Nature, Journeys into Nature: A Michael J. Roads Reader - Michael J. Roads >link< Thinking Like a Mountain: Towards a Council of All Beings – John Seed, Joanna Macy, Pat Fleming and Arne Naess >link< 
PEGI EYERS Painting of Kinomagewapkong © Andres Paabo Many diverse peoples now share Turtle Island, and as much as we have roots in Canadian soil, our connection to the land will always be preceded by the much deeper attachments of the original First Nations. Their cultures flourished in a reciprocal relationship with nature for millennia, long before the arrival of Euro-Empire, and evidence of their reverence for the land, both historic and contemporary, continues to surround us today. The Peterborough Petroglyphs, a sacred site of global importance, is the largest known concentration of Indigenous rock carvings in Canada. Over a thousand years ago Algonquian-speaking societies that travelled widely throughout the Canadian Shield established this holy place, Kinomagewapkong (The Teaching Rocks) on a worldwide meridian of earth energy, or ley line. With the creation of a vast visual library, animals, human figures, spirit beings, shapeshifters and other symbols rich with meaning were depicted on a monumental ridge of crystalline limestone. Red ochre was applied to the carvings, an ancient igneous pigment used for illustration purposes and to consecrate sacred space throughout the Americas. It is thought that the visual literacy encoded in the carvings communicated tribal myth and memory, individual dreams and visions, cultural teachings and guidance to the First Nations who traversed great distances to this mystical and pristine wilderness place.  Kinomagewapkong (The Teaching Rocks) It was also a sacred site for ceremonies, petition, prayer and healing, as confirmed by the present-day First Nations who claim cultural meaning and stewardship of the Peterborough Petroglyphs site, now an important location for their spiritual resurgence and cultural reclamation. Ceremonies, vision quests, and other events are held regularly at the site, which continues to be a place of pilgrimage for Indigenous and earth-connected peoples from all over the world. One of the few rock art sites in Canada to be designated a National Historic Site, the Indigenous cosmological worldview and spiritual belief system is depicted with images of turtles, birds, snakes, plant life, items of material culture such as tools and boats, both men’s and women’s fertility, sacred geometry and characters important to the oral tradition. The audible flow of water under the sloping rock indicates this outcropping to be the home of animate earth and water spirits in-situ, and the naturally-occurring fissures in the rock are thought to have been revered as the entrance to these underground springs and lower worlds. Many of these fissures have been enhanced with petroglyph carving and red ochre, such as that of a woman’s womb, breasts and body. To the ancient ones it was obvious that women, with their regenerative cycles, performed the same functions as the earth, which was the source of all nourishment, protection and procreative power.  "Messages by Moonlight" mixed-media by Pegi Eyers with permission The large figures on the rock that depict kinship, clans or human/animal fusion, the recurring themes of turtle and snake, the importance of the fertility symbols and the relationship of the images to each other, truly come alive through interpretations and narratives by First Nations elders, scholars and wisdom keepers. Stunning in their immediacy and evocative expression, these petroglyph masterworks speak directly to us across time and space. Kinomagewapkong is a mystical place that has deep significance to us today as we renew our connection to the Earth, and as allies to First Nations, recognize their foundational claims to the land.
On the north shore of Stoney Lake, accessible from Peterborough or Havelock, Petroglyphs Provincial Park is open from mid-May to October for day use only. In addition to viewing the petroglyphs and touring the Visitor Centre, there is much to do and explore for the nature enthusiast. Hiking trails meander through the surrounding forests, wetlands and rocky ridges, biking is allowed on the park roads, and there are beautiful woodland spaces for picnics and relaxing. Home to many rare species, sightings of different kinds of wildlife and birds are common in this pristine and magical wilderness. “The Learning Place," the interpretive and educational centre, is an amazing storehouse of videos, information, hands-on activities and exhibits based on Anishnaabe history and culture. One can browse the Park Store, that offers nature-themed gifts, and books on rock art and First Nations culture. A 20-minute film “The Teaching Rocks” is shown daily upon request, and visitors are encouraged to see the film before visiting the petroglyphs site.  For Petroglyph Provincial Park hours, facilities, directions and other information: >Ontario Parks< Permission to create work as inspired by Kinomagewapkong, and resource link: Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg: This is Our Territory by Gidigaa Migizi (Doug Williams)  The Teaching Rocks tell us to care for Mother Earth. They teach of coexistence, of harmony. The messages are for all.  The land is filled with places where the Spirit is present. A presence that exists beyond our everyday world. A presence that is sensed as a feeling or atmosphere. Such a place is Kinoomaagewaabkon. The Teaching Rocks are alive. They tell us about ourselves. 
Loving the Earth with a Fierce Devotion PEGI EYERS RETURN TO MAGO ~ E*MAGAZINE “The essence of love is found everywhere in nature, and love is the vibratory field for the plant kingdom, the kinship of the creatures, the nurturing power of the feminine, and elements such as the water.”
Renewing our relationship with The Sacred begins with encounters in the wild, where our hearts naturally open to a space of unconditional love full of gratitude for nature’s abundance, and the gift of life itself. When we experience the sights, sounds, smells, tastes and textures that are nature’s enchantment and joy, we realign with the magic of “Natura” the Green Goddess, our beautiful green world, the kingdom of the plant spirits, and the intrinsic harmony of natural law. Of course, in a humancentric society, there is a huge lack of knowledge regarding the natural world, and the human/nature separation is painfully extreme, leading to callous attitudes and misguided fears. It may seem that urbanized humanity has given up on the Earth, but the harmonic intelligence and Great Heart in nature is waiting, and the Earth has not given up on us. Educating ourselves about the landforms, plants, trees, creatures and seasonal patterns in our bioregion is a life-long undertaking, and in the meantime, there is so much to love in the natural world. Graceful horizon lines, stalwart trees, soft breezes shaking the seed pods, animal tracks, sinewy snake tracings, endless variations in leaf and stone, patterns in sprout and decay, feathered shade and bird song all speak to the senses, and we know the charm and delight of the creatures endlessly calling their names. Are we listening? What are they telling us? When we hear the voices of Earth Community, we are transfixed by the many distinct expressions of beauty, spirit and practicality. Entering “timeless time” is a way to bond with nature, revere nature, and with love, express the earth-honoring ceremonies that align us with The Sacred that dwells in ourselves, all beings and the natural world. Both the macrocosm and microcosm of Gaia are sentient in countless unique ways, and Her response to your biophilia, reverence and positive energy may surprise you! A wonderful practice to adopt is an “Earth Blessing” ritual and recognition that spirit flows through the land, elements and all beings, and that each moment is a gift of vitality and joy. The essence of love is found everywhere in nature, and love is the vibratory field for the plant kingdom, the kinship of the creatures, the nurturing power of the Feminine, and elements such as the water. Blessing and being blessed, expressing our wonder and gratitude with song, chant, drumming, prayer and reflection creates an atmosphere of celebration and love between us and the nonhuman world. By evoking the spiritual realms, and acknowledging The Sacred in ourselves and the land, we are expressing the powerful forces of unconditional love that empower all of our partnerships in Earth Community. All things arise again in perennial growth, and the essence of Natura, the Green Goddess, or “veriditas” is the irreducible principle that the green souls of all beings are blessed with renewal and rebirth. Remaining in place as a timeless, thriving and ever-rejuvenating mystery, the unfailing themes of abundant life continue to manifest, even as we move into an unpredictable future. As the era of Empire ends after centuries of misdirection, our journey comes full circle in a surprising paradox, with our re-indigenization becoming our “future primitive” path. The beauty and timelessness of ancestral wisdom is an unstoppable force, as rewilding and recovering Indigenous Mind become the goal for all people. We have eternal access to a deep well of ancestral knowing, the divine pattern lives on in the DNA, and Gaia’s Matrix sustains us with the everlasting restoration of healing and regeneration. Loving the Earth with a fierce devotion may mean that we view the damage being done to nature as attacks on our own family and kinship groups. The despair and rage we feel as witnesses to terracide, animal exploitation and the everyday disrespect for the land can be channeled into creating awareness, resistance efforts, the Earth Rights movement, and by rejecting the numbing and destructive values of Empire. When we open our hearts to Natura in our thoughts, words, actions and cultural life we will find sacred purpose in the co-creation of an earth-honoring commons, and restore much-needed balance. Our re-enchantment with the natural world is essential for devoting ourselves to eco-activism, environmental healing and earth remediation, and the future rests with us!
by pegi eyers As children we instinctually know that physically connecting our body to the Earth, stretching out under the trees on a hot summer day, rolling in the grass, thrusting our hands into the soil of the garden, or digging our toes in the sand makes us feel wonderful, alive and free. Called “earthing” and touted as some “new” kind of discovery in recent times, earth-connected Indigenous cultures have always embodied the miraculous energy and well-being gained from physical contact to the land. For all ethnocultural groups that flourished on the planet prior to Empire (and in non-Western cultures today) humankind has been intimately connected to the ground for all of our activities, including walking and sleeping. Made from natural materials, rammed earth dwellings, stone, shell, clay or timber walls; wooden lodges, caves and other forms of shelter have been built in close proximity to the earth. In their daily lives, earth-rooted and Indigenous people continue to be merged with the healing and energizing properties of the earth, which have been identified by modern science as the transfer of electrons (the earth’s natural, subtle energy) into our bodies. This physical bond of the body to the Earth is embedded in complete IK/EIK worldviews, and enacted through a panoply of cultural wisdom practices, such as healing or oracle work, reciprocity ceremonies, and growing crops in collaboration with the green world. One example of this essential dynamic is the Mesoamerican empowerment ritual of recapitulation, whereby individuals are covered in layers of rich living earth for many days, until one is completely free from the negativity of past conditioning. As long as I remember I have wanted to be in natural spaces. I instinctually began a conscious “earthing” practice for solace and healing in the early 1990s, spending hours whenever I could on the floor of the Simcoe County forest or on the banks of the Otonabee River gazing at the blue sky, flowing green leaves, interlace of branches, small plants, shrubbery, and rushing water for hours, breathing in the scents and sounds of nature’s perfection in harmony with the “ground” of my being. By staying in one place and just be-ing, I discovered the holistic benefits of bodily contact to the Earth on the emotional, physical, intellectual and spiritual levels of existence simultan-eously. Even if the effects were not immediately apparent, after a “timeless time” I was firing on all cylinders and ready to face the man-made world again. Both the philosophy and material culture of our high-tech post-industrial society conspire to keep us from connecting to the Earth and its boundless storehouse of healing and energizing electrons. Walking on concrete with rubber or plastic-soled shoes, living indoors buttressed with insulative materials, travelling by vehicle from place to place, working under artificial lights, and spending hours on electronic gadgets all take their toll on our physical and spiritual health and well-being. Studies on the disruptive and negative effects of synthetic environments on human vitality such as “sick building syndrome” point to a reduction in our health and overall malaise. It has been determined that even the viewing of pictures showing natural landscapes has a stronger and more positive effect on our health than looking at city-scapes and urban scenes! Without a doubt, it is our immersion in green spaces and our bodily contact with the Earth that promotes tranquility, reflection and restoration for the human spirit. Personally, I am grateful to modern science for pointing out (“discovering”) the holistic benefits of connecting with the Earth, as the next time an over-urbanized city dweller asks if I am “not feeling well” because I’m reclining on the ground in a public park, I can say, “Oh I’m fine, thank you, I’m just Earthing.” The most amazing thing about the soothing, strengthening, grounding and cleansing practice of “earthing” is the simplicity and access – our backyards are perfect, and in many urban areas of Turtle Island, parks, green space and wilderness lands are all nearby. The more we engage with re-connecting to our essential eco-selves, the more apparent it becomes that the Earth is the ultimate source of all wellness and invigoration. In our time and place, the flow of healing and energizing power from nature that interacts with the intricate mechanisms of our physical body is another major reason for reconnecting to the land. Being outside, absorbing nature’s limitless conducive energy systems and “getting grounded” can reverse chronic health conditions, enhance our immune system and keep us young. In addition to enhanced health and wellbeing, our sensate animal body experiences a pure joy and happiness when we are physically connected to the Earth, and we can access this miracle at any time. “We give ourselves precious little chance to taste the nourishment that springs up into us whenever we touch the ground, and it’s hardly surprising that we’ve forgotten the erotic nature of gravity and the enlivening pleasure of earthly contact.”[1] (David Abram) Walking in natural places or out on the land everyday is the perfect way to refocus our thoughts, uplift our spirit, open our intuitive channels, enhance our physical endurance, and revive our connectivity to the rhythm and energy of the Earth. And let’s not forget about the universality and sacredness of the dance! With shells, bells or natural decoration on our ankles to express our ancestral knowledge and to honour ourselves and the land, strong women, wise women, and “daughters of the green realm” throughout time have known that “the Earth loves to feel dancing feet on her body.”[2] (Le’ema Kathleen Graham) Rituals of release, play, spontaneity, walking barefoot, dancing, picnicking, and making love are just a few of the many joyful ways we can recover our intimate connection to the healing and energizing powers of the Earth. “The soil is the great connector of lives, the source and destination of all. It is the healer and restorer and resurrector, by which disease passes into health, age into youth, death into life. Without proper care for it we can have no community, because without proper care for it we can have no life.” [3] (Wendell Berry) Re-visioning our reciprocity with the natural world requires the ethics of genuine care, and as every good gardener knows, the soil itself needs to be nurtured and tended. Age-old practices in subsistence communities worldwide honour the Earth under our feet as alive and divine, a sacred and life-giving force that can be enhanced and nourished for greater yields and for the vitality of all beings. Indigenous societies know the soil to “have human form, and we hint at the same spiritual insight when we speak of rich soil as humus – a word having the same etymological root as human – for when we care for the soil we care for ourselves.” [4] (Patricia Monaghan) Composting methods, vermiculture, and transferring lawn clippings back to the Earth instead of sending them to the landfill, are a few of the soil-building practices we can adopt right away. Part of the “new story” for our transitional society are the many prayers and gratitude rituals that can express reciprocity for the infinity of gifts we receive from the soil - the Earth and ground of our being. It has become my practice to place special containers of sacred soil or sand on my household altars and decorative spaces, to honour the centrality and importance of the Earth from birth to our final resting place. From our mother we are born and to our mother we return. In addition to finding great comfort and healing out on the land at times of loss and grieving, the green burial movement is rapidly expanding, with the use of sustainable organic materials and simple earth-connected crossing-over ceremonies. The liturgical expression “earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust” must certainly be a carry-over from an ancient EIK tradition! “If you will think of yourself as coming out of the earth, rather than having been thrown in here from somewhere else, you see that we are the earth, we are the consciousness of the earth. These are the eyes of the earth. And this is the voice of the earth.” [5] (Joseph Campbell) Certainly our lack of healthy bodily contact to the Earth’s surface is the physical manifestation of a culture that promotes the activity of the rational mind above all, celebrating all that is left-brain, logical, conceptual and cerebral. A true human being moves effortlessly between the four facets of mind, body, heart and soul equally, yet the Hellenistic Order and western knowledge systems that created urban life have denied our access to the land, and the grounding that makes this holism possible. The lack of connection to the land creates the corresponding lack of connection to our own psyche and true essence. In marked contrast, many narratives and post-contact photographs show how Indigenous people literally love the soil, and sit or rest on the Earth with a feeling of being close to a nurturing power. The Earth Herself is the source of all health and wellness, and for the Sahtu Dene people of the Délįnę First Nation in the Northwest Territories, Elder Charlie Neyelle tells us that it is imperative for those who are sick to go out on the land to sleep on the surface of the Earth for a number of days, knowing in advance that “this will change their entire system”[6] for the better. Modelled to us by both pre-colonial and contemporary IK, today all people have the ability to realize their potential by fully occupying our human niche in physical connection to the ever-welcoming embrace of the Earth Mother, and to become energetic in mind, body, heart and soul, charged with positive elements and forces. Timeless and always available, Earthing provides the nourishment to body and soul that we are seeking. NOTES [1] David Abram, Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology, Vintage Books, 2011 [2] Le’ema Kathleen Graham, author of Dancing the Inner Serpent: Memoirs of a Suburban Snake Priestess (GoddessWork, 2009), Facebook comment, 2013 [3] Wendell Berry, The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture, Sierra Club Books, 1996 [4] Patricia Monaghan, Magical Gardens: Cultivating Soil and Spirit, Llewellyn Worldwide, 2012 [5] Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers, The Power of Myth, Anchor, 1991 [6] Charlie Neyelle, “Sacred Water Circle Gathering,” Gchi-Nbi Sacred Water Circle, Peter Gzowski College, Trent University, May 2-4, 2014
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ESSAYS BY PEGI EYERSWe need to tell new stories about ourselves, new myths to guide us forward, and new manifestos that celebrate our integration with the natural world. our archaic spirit needs to rise again in a weaving of timeless myths and stories of growth, regeneration, rites of passage, motion, energy, illumination, magic, decay, and all the earth’s processes that dwell both in us and the more-than-human world.
PEGI EYERS ANCIENT SPIRIT RISING 
PRIMORDIAL REVIVAL
THE PRIMORDIAL MOTHERS CLAN MOTHER LEGACY MATRIARCHAL VALUES: OUR PRE-COLONIAL HERITAGE EARTH MOTHER MAGIC ANIMISM UNBOUND KINOMAGEWAPKONG/ THE TEACHING ROCKS GREEN GODDESS THE ANCIENT POWERS OF "EARTHING" 
Pegi Eyers is a member
of the largest and most resilient Celtic group, the mtDNA-based Helena Clan, world clans descended from “Mitochondrial Eve” as traced by Bryan Sykes in The Seven Daughters of Eve. 
Lascaux Caves
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