THE EARTH SCHOOL JOURNAL
WEAVING MEDICINE
Opening words
Elders from all parts of the world foresaw a shift; in visions and prophecies, they received signs that pointed to this time, when a new cosmic program was to be infused as an invitation to expand into a planetary consciousness that serves life and unites our global cultures.
This cosmic program is now available, being woven and co-created in real-time. It holds a rhythm, awakening, a field of potential, and togetherness. New ways of living are dreamed, initiatives emerge, inventions are made, and even if not everything is visible yet, the seeds will soon sprout and blossom.
The Earth School is anchored in Berlin, Germany. We tend to the land and its stories, myths, rituals and seasonal rhythms to remember our place. We wonder, question, and open to receive ancestral and universal guidance on how to experience a sense of flow, grounding, belonging, and divine connection.
Weaving medicine is intended as a living library and apothecary. I dedicate this journey to the medicine people throughout time and space and share our findings in the eight chapters of our medicine weaving journey through a universal medicine wheel. – Serap Kara, Founder Earth School
This is our journey through the Medicine Wheel. A remembrance of a life in tune with nature’s rhythm. Counting the time not in days and weeks but in moons and equinoxes and solstices. Feeling into the earth’s rhythm to understand and remember our own rhythm and timing.
Finding new, ancient ways to live and celebrate all life force and thus living and celebrating our own force and purpose. We invite ourselves to honour each period of time throughout this cycle, to feel into the energy and space, and to contemplate about our feelings to each slice of time.
We welcome you to journey with us through the year, remembering your own roots, your own story, and your own rhythm. Getting inspired by ancient and modern rituals, by different voices and experiences, myths and stories, and most of all getting inspired by yourself and your own experiences.
The medicine wheel we work with consists of 8 festivities throughout the year, a nature’s cycle. I give thanks to our ancestors and guides who have lived before us and give us the opportunity to learn from their ancient ways and wisdom. – Nina Weid, Director of Program & Host
JOURNAL
from the Cambridge Dictionary:
a) a serious magazine or newspaper that is published regularly about a particular subject b) a record of what you have done, or of descriptions or thoughts, written each day or frequently over a long period c) a magazine, newspaper, or website containing news and information about a particular industry or profession
dʒɜː.nəl
SEASONAL
CELEBRATIONS
the medicine wheel
The medicine wheel or the Circle of Life can be found in the medicine wheel of the Native Indians, in the Celtic wheel, in stone circles, and also in the Buddhist mandala. The circle holds and concentrates the forces that hold the world together. Four cardinal directions represent the four seasons, the four elements, or four phases of life. Adding the above and the below, a center forms, turning the circle into a sphere. The Earth School follows the Celtic medicine wheel that, today, holds both the lunar as solar celebrations.
SAMHAIN
31 October - 1 November
darkness. letting go. mystery.
BELTANE
30 April - 1 May
fertility. sensuality. creativity. joy.
WINTER SOLSTICE
20 - 23 December
birth.renewal.return of the light.
SUMMER SOLSTICE
20 - 23 June
sun power. abundance. turning point.
IMBOLC
1 - 2 February
vision. new beginning. initiations.
LAMMAS
1 - 2 August
beginning of the harvest.
SPRING EQUINOX
20 - 23 March
balance. rebirth. growth.
AUTUMN EQUINOX
20 - 23 September
balance. sharing. giving thanks.
CELEBRATING OUR SOLAR RETURN
To the Living World
When we published the new earth school in the eye of the autumn equinox we had little content and no offer. Yet, the forces pulled us to state our presence in 2020. Until then, the earth school was the teaching and speaking heart of Cacao Mama.
Looking back, Nina and I had first tried to understand the earth school as a business - we worked on marketing and communication channels, thought about an offer and worked out a financial plan. When it was all done, we put the whole thing in the drawer and asked the earth school: Who do you want to be?
Earth school said something like: First, we need to unschool! You will listen to and acknowledge the nature-based traditions that inform you, follow the threads into the past to find the wisdom keepers to give thanks to. You will grow more intimate with the circle, to learn how to be in right relationship with the living world. Let yourself be guided by the land and its seasons.
Our journey through the medicine wheel began with a blank page of a journal which we filled with pictures, recipes and findings. We reflected through our filters, invited friends to weave medicine with us and followed a calling to 'report to pachamama'. This is a new experience and it is wonderful to feel the earth school’s personality within our sacred space.
Now, we experience our first solar return und have entered the eight’ chapter of our journey, from Equinox to Samhain. We will celebrate, look at what we have harvested, honour that we have received and give thanks.
Soon, we will prepare for the darker time of the year, when we will sit with the ancestors in darkness and negotiate the terms for the upcoming seasons. We will pray for the light ahead and bless our seeds for Imbolc to be seeded into this reality and harvested in abundance.
Thank you for witnessing.
- Serap Kara, founder earth school
In Gratitude
I am filled with gratitude for our first turn around and with the medicine wheel. It has been a ride!
In the beginning, I felt like glimpsing into a new world, feeling into a new feeling, flowing with a new stream of time. It felt like dipping into and diving out of a new reality, hesitating to stay to protect myself from being overwhelmed by the vastness, beauty, and timelessness I found there. So I came for a visit, stayed a bit to delve into this ancient energy, and soon returned to my world.
But then my visits became longer and longer and I felt more and more comfortable in this ever-turning wheel, taking me to places I only had heard of before.
I came to understand the beauty of winter, the dazzling energy of spring, and the powerful presence of summer. I felt the strong shift of each turning point during our journey, the dark womb on Samhain, the soft awakening on Imbolc, the vivid strength on Summer Solstice.
And with every festivity, I felt something deeply ingrained in my body that started to move and grow. My inner cyclical being softly opened her eyes and stretched out her hand to connect tentatively with the outer nature, mama earth. And I realised that this was the feeling I was looking for and at the same time has been dormant within me all the time.
This journey is a remembrance that I am not separate, but part of the cycle of life and nature and that I am loved in whatever season I might find myself. It is the heartbeat of mama earth my body wants to follow.
It is a remembrance of beauty in all its colours, my own beauty, and the beauty of the earth, as it is all the same.
The medicine wheel has taught me that I am nature.
I belong.
- Nina Weid, host
