The Land Holds Us

Q&A: Earth as witness and healer in difficult times.

Welcome to the Q&A session of this weekly Monday letter, occurring occasionally in an effort to find harmony and reconnect with each other, the land, and our he(arts).

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I’m not a professional advice-giver. I’m an artist, writer, and mother, devoted to exploring how we live and navigating life's intricacies. My responses stem from personal insights and experiences and a genuine desire to spark hope, inspiration, and guidance.

Referring to Earth as "she" is a stylistic choice using personification to evoke empathy and emphasize the nurturing qualities associated with the feminine. It's a symbolic expression, not a literal attribution of gender characteristics to the planet.

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Dearest Vanja,

Admiring your profound connection with nature over the past six years has been a continuous wellspring of inspiration and healing. Your artwork and words radiate a sacred wisdom deeply rooted in the Earth. 

As we witness and navigate these difficult times, I'd love to hear your perspective on how the Earth, with her timeless presence, can aid us. Does she bear witness to our grief and violence, holding a collective memory that might offer solace and strength?

Your insights on drawing upon the Earth's wisdom in times of difficulty would be a cherished guide.

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Yes. The Earth not only bears witness to our grief and violence but experiences the grief and violence as her own. Just as human bodies hold not only personal but also collective trauma, the Earth, as a living entity, experiences and holds trauma as well. Like us, the land remembers, transmutes, grows, and regenerates. 

Five years ago, during a visit to my mother in Bosnia (the last time I saw her), I sat with the stones in my hometown near a tunnel we had to cross during the war when we walked on foot to escape the bombardment. The resonance of that experience lingers in both personal and earthly memories. 

Seated among the massive mountain rocks, memories from that time rushed back in a flash. In silent meditation, tears flowed, and eerie energy enveloped me, revealing profound sorrow and grief held within the stones, mountains, and trees. "This is your land, home of beauty and bloodshed," they whispered.

Since that moment, with the Earth's guidance, I adopted a new practice: talking to her. 

Shaped by years of walking for safety during the war, I had come to view walking as a form of meditation—for safety, clarity, and healing—a prayer in motion. Yet, after that impactful journey, the land communicated a shift, not through words but through intuitive nudges, embodied sensations, and dreams. It urged me to walk and talk. "Prayer is crucial," she whispered. "You don't need to be religious; just be present."

The land communicates in everything. 

Healing occurs in therapy; therapy is prayer. We heal in conversations with friends and loved ones; conversation is a prayer. Prayer can be religious, but it doesn't have to be. For many, it's a direct address to God. For me, prayer is a dialogue with all that is—the living universe, nature, my cells, the unseen. The world is alive and listening.

Since that profound experience with the stones, I walk and talk like a friend accompanies me. Every word becomes an intentional prayer. Not all prayers start with a wish; they can be affirmations, acknowledgments, memories, and dreams. Prayers can be songs, art, and silence, too.

The land, sacred in her essence, isn't something external, even though it may seem that way. She and all her beings are our kin. This understanding has evolved over years of walking, meditating, and creating in my homeland and various lands and environments.

In the simplest terms, I've discovered that a relationship unfolds on every piece of land we traverse, visit, or make our home on. There's an inherent communication continually transpiring. 

Now, I find myself back with the Mojave stones in a land that initiated me into motherhood—a land that, in turn, mothers me. The rocks, cacti, palms, and quails are my family, too. With every step, there's a silent gratitude, a reciprocation of energy that acknowledges the interconnectedness of our existence.

So many of us have been systematically severed from our connection with the land and, ultimately, from our own hearts. This intentional disconnection by the oppressor aims to desensitize us from the suffering of others. As we witness the ongoing plight of the Palestinian people—marked by violence, ethnic cleansing, displacement, racism, and genocide—all intricately tied to the land, this separation fosters indifference, allowing selfish greed to overshadow collective well-being. 

In stark contrast, indigenous wisdom reveres all life as sacred and holy, while capitalism often leads people to sell their souls for profit.

When we honor the land and spend time with nature, she shows us that the sanctity of life can prevail, allowing our hearts to beat in unison with the rhythm of the land and each other.

The land is our power, our healer, our friend. She grounds and anchors us in community and shared responsibility. She teaches resilience, holding and releasing our grief, and cultivating empathy. We belong to the land, and we are the land, and her wisdom and power are embodied within us all. In walking and working with the land, we remember the medicine of our hearts; we recognize that we belong with each other no matter where in the world we are. 

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Sacred Stone Ritual for Holding and Releasing Grief in Nature:

Find a serene spot in nature, preferably near ancient stones that carry the resonance of time. As you sit in quiet contemplation, hold a sacred stone in your hands, feeling its cool solidity. In this moment, share your sorrows, joys, and memories with the stone as if confiding in a dear friend. Allow the Earth's energy to infuse your words. When ready, release the stone into a flowing stream or gentle body of water, symbolizing the transmutation and release of grief back to the Earth. Witness the ripples, acknowledging the interconnected dance of your emotions with the eternal flow of nature. Take another stone into your hands. Bless and activate it with loving intentions and prayers, weaving both personal and collective aspirations into its essence. Once activated with the energy of your hopes and dreams, release this stone back to the Earth wherever you intuitively feel drawn. Allow it to become a vessel for the manifestation of liberation, and safety in the world.

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With love,

Vanja

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