Why I tend to the earth...

I've been on shamanic journeys with this amazing Peruvian woman several times. Each time, the earth speaks to me. She tells me to tend to her, to grow gardens, to make love, to sing, to share with the children, to honor her blessed fertility.

Once, the first time, I was swallowed by her, my body becoming compost for new life, my very breath on the edge of extinction. In this blessed death, I learned to give thanks for life. To hold gratitude for this tremendous blessing of the sunrise, the song of birds, the hand of a friend...

And she asked me, then and there, to make an agreement - the Great Agreement. That is to honor her - the body of all life, the Great Mother, by offering my hands back to her. In praise, in song, in loving, and in tending the earth, I offer my immense gratitude for this unbelievable gift - simply to be here, now.

Om Shanti ~ A