A LAND BLESSING for KHULA DHAMMA

Our Permaculture Design course, having succeeded in allowing us to formally map out and plan the activities we intend to facilitate here at Khula Dhamma, got us thinking that this might now be the time to have a LAND BLESSING.
The 4th of February dawned bright and clear and at nine o’clock we gathered at the fire pit, the symbolic HEART of the farm. Many of us love dressing up; we had child-fairies with their mothers beautifully adorned with flowers, and the men-folk looking cool and laidback. Everyone had brought aromatic herbs and flowers from our land to throw on the fire as they spoke their blessings. The essence and smoke of these herbs lifts the prayers to the heavens! Ole and Yan, the original pioneers of KD, took the position of space holders, holding and grounding the energy. They started drumming while the rest of us divided into four groups and moved off onto the farm to our designated spots. We decided to take four positions – RIVER FOREST, DEGRADED LAND, GRASSLAND and our ELDER’S HOMESTEAD. At our spots each group had been asked to make a small fire from a coal taken from the main fire. We then reflected on the 4 ecological building blocks we had learnt about during the design course – namely; Energy Flow; The Water Cycle; The Mineral Cycle and Succession. We rated the status of our area in relation to these building blocks and then held in our imagination what this area will look like when it moves into its prime. As the custodians of this land, we see this as our job.
We later regrouped around a fire at the elder’s homestead – completed our blessings and went indoors to celebrate!