In these days of power-hungry bigots taking a raucous victory lap, I’m trying to learn how to live more like a tree. To be that patient. To be that steadfast. To be that generous. I’m learning that in mature forest systems, nourishment is ever-cycling through the community, from where there is plenty to where there is need; forest ecologist Suzanne Simard studies how mycorrhizal networks allow trees to care for each other in a vastly gorgeous symbiosis which in turn ensures the wellbeing of the entire forest. I am surprised to learn that these complex adaptive systems are always OUT of equilibrium (equilibrium being one of my ever-illusive goals) and delighted to learn that this means they are in a constant state of flow, a flow of sharing and of creation and re-creation. Just like our brains. Or the economy.
Robin Wall Kimmerer timed the release of her newest book right after the election in all her loving wisdom. She knew we would need The Serviceberry and its lessons on how to learn from reciprocity in the natural world however the votes were cast. And this book is deep medicine. A powerful spell for disrupting and subverting the overculture of consumption, inequality, and distrust with delicious generosity. She reminds us that gift economies are all around us, and that we can foster and amplify them alongside the market economy in gladsome, nourishing acts of resistance and renewal. She writes:
In a gift economy, wealth is understood as having enough to share, and the practice for dealing with abundance is to give it away. In fact, status is determined not by how much one accumulates, but by how much one gives away. The currency in a gift economy is relationship, which is expressed as gratitude, as interdependence and the ongoing cycles of reciprocity. A gift economy nurtures the community bonds that enhance mutual well-being; the economic unit is “we” rather than “I”, as all flourishing is mutual.
She also encourages, “When you open your awareness and give them a name, you can see gift economies all around you.” Potlucks, Little Free Libraries, mutual aid societies, freecycling circles, repair cafes, clothing swaps, the Buy Nothing movement, Wikipedia!
Part one of this spell: start a list of the gift economies in your life and put it on the fridge, adding to it as you encounter or create new ones.
More from Robin:
We live in the tension between what is and what is possible. On one hand, we can witness the reciprocity of the economy of nature, showing us how things are supposed to work. And on the other, we see the outcomes of extractive capitalism, breaking every facet of “natural law.” I’m sure that I’m not alone in feeling despair in that comparison and my powerlessness to change it. In illuminating these alternatives, people have the courage to say, “Let’s create something different, something aligned with our values. We don’t have to be complicit.”
The second part of this spell is to get your paws on a copy of The Serviceberry and devour it. Treat yourself to her medicine.
The third part of this spell is a ritual for calling in gift economies large and small, co-created with Bernadette Meyer’s poem, Walking like a Robin.
Ingredients:
Something that delights your eyes
Something that smells intoxicating
Something that tastes delicious
Something that feels luxurious
Something that sounds beautiful
Candle
Matches/lighter
Needle & thread
A dry leaf from a tree that embodies abundance (maple, oak, bay, etc)
A pen
Fire-safe container
Spell: Walking like a Robin
Recite the lines of the poem, and then perform the corresponding actions.
- “take 3 or 4 steps then stop”
Mindfully take steps, like a bird, in a circle. Feel the freedom in your wings and the freedom of this wild world. Call in whomsoever you wish. Protect your space in your preferred manner. Sit or stand when the circle has been cast.
- “look smell taste touch & hear”
Gaze at your delightful sight. Drink in this delight with your eyes and let it fill your mind and heart. Say thank you.
Take a deep whiff of your intoxicating smell. Feel the scent pour through your nostrils and fill your lungs. Allow it to dissolve any burden you are carrying. Say thank you.
Nibble your delicious treat. Let the pleasure permeate your entire being. Allow it to enliven you with joy. Say thank you.
Stroke your luxurious object with your fingers, with your cheek. Sink into how good this feels. Be held by it. Say thank you.
Listen to your beautiful sound. Let it wash away any furrow in your brow. Let your spirit slip inside this vibration and become one with it. Say thank you.
- "is there anything to eat?
oh look, there’s some caviar
it must be my birthday, thanks"
Light a candle. Sing Happy Birthday to yourself. Eat your delicious treat entirely, enjoying every millisecond.
- "i must be very old, like seventy
i guess i’m falling apart, i’ll just
sew myself back together but will it last?"
Take your needle and thread. Picture the parts of yourself that need to be reunited, that need healing. With your eyes closed, stitch them back together. Kiss your needle when you are done.
- "please take a piece of me back home, each piece
is anti-war and don’t pay your rent"
Write or draw on your leaf something of yourself or your possessions that you want to give away for the good of a loved one, or the good of a stranger, or the good of this world. It can be physical or energetic or spiritual or art or anything under the moon.
Note: This gift should feel entirely free from obligation and also should not feel like charity. A christmas present or a donation to a non-profit are both beautiful things, but not what we’re going for here. Hunt for something wilder, deeper, and something that will bring you deep pleasure to give.
- "in fact
remember: property is robbery, give everybody
everything, other birds walk this way too"
Connect with the part of you that knows EVERYTHING, underneath all the systems and bullshit, is free. Everything is wild and a gift. The only real currency is relationship. And true thriving is mutual.
Know that as you give, you also receive. Welcome the deep reciprocity at the roots of this world into your life and heart. Know that gifts are coming your way.
From this place, write or draw what you wish to be given. This can be something that currently costs a f*ck ton of money, like health insurance or rent. Imagine being given this for free, as a gift, and let that feeling reverberate through your whole being.
Become an amplifier for this feeling, reverberating it out and out and out into the world, as you light the leaf on fire.
Chant “give everybody everything” until the paper is ash and the smoke has dissolved into the air. If your candle is still burning, snuff it with thanks.
Stand up and dance flap flutter your way around your circle, repeating “other birds walk this way too”. Feel the joy of being part of this community, this wind under your wings. Open your circle and send her circular energy of reciprocity to our beautiful, beleaguered world.
Walking like a Robin by Bernadette Meyer
take 3 or 4 steps then stop
look smell taste touch & hear
is there anything to eat?
oh look, there’s some caviar
it must be my birthday, thanks
i must be very old, like seventy
i guess i’m falling apart, i’ll just
sew myself back together but will it last?
please take a piece of me back home, each piece
is anti-war and don’t pay your rent, in fact
remember: property is robbery, give everybody
everything, other birds walk this way too
If you’re hungry for more, enjoy this scrumptious interview with Bernadette Meyer!
Xx
Jazimina Creamer-MacNeil is a mezzo-soprano, creative producer, director, writer, actor, and wild blueberry picker rooted in the beautiful and artistically fertile Monadnock region of New Hampshire. Find out more about her work at http://www.jazimina.com
