October 30th 2022
Our final Compassionate Community – Time in our Life event of the year
We gathered – some regulars and some for the first time, in Kaliwoods, with fungi blossoming after the morning surprising rain, to share this day with community and ancestors. This day of the dead, this all souls, this Halloween, this Diwali, this time of darkening and importance of fire. This liminal time of year when the veil between worlds is thin.
The wonderful Suzanne Arnold led us in our opening circle, which opened up, inviting in remarkable diversity of ancestors: grandparents who once showed us the maths, a dad, a mum and a cat of 21 years, a loving wife, a friend, an Aunt Olive who was stubborn but wonderful.
We are the ancestors of the present, Suzane reminded us.
All were invited to create an alter of our ancestors with a photograph or object of memory, and Nicky found some marigolds, beloved of Indians for Diwali, to decorate the table.
We wove our stories into the tapestry on Kally’s loom
We carved pumpkins and made jar lanterns.
We had compassionate conversations down in the warm cabin with Guy
With our fire tapers, led by Theo, fire pixie, we walked through the wood, to the place of Hornbeams, were we planted acorns, gathered from Sotterly and Staverton Thicks, to become the oak trees to give shade to future ancestors.
Michael read two poems Transitions by Thomas Hardy, In hardwood Groves by Robert Frost.
We did the circle dance, circling around each other, before we made an archway, singing our song, so quickly learned, (and quickly forgotten I’m afraid!)
As dusk fell into darkness we bid farewell to our ancestors who had danced and dined with us this day, and warmed by a hug we all gave ourselves, and the feeling of community around us , we walked into the dark night, back to our hearths.
Time in our Life – Samhain to Samhain
Samhain 2022 gathering is the final gathering of our year long project Time of our Life, organised by both Pear Tree and Kinda Education, supported by Compassionate Communities, and funded by Compassionate Communities and Suffolk County Council.
Pear Tree supports cradle to grave, local community well being, the edges of well being that are often not addressed by the main stream systems, including death and dying. Kinda Education promotes kindness through nature connection also cradle to grave, specialising in children with Kinda Forest school.
This project embraces death and dying, aptly starting at Samhain 2021, the time to reflection on our ancestors. It embraces a reflection of our own life path, celebrating connection with nature, the natural cycles and systems in the Wood Wild Web, or inside where the Pear Tree grows.
Kinda Elders in the woods 