Here I am, a little flabbergasted and amazed as Larry, my husband, and I received the United States President’s Lifetime Achievement Award, signed by President Biden. This is the highest award one can get from the president’s office, there are ascending levels in that award and various categories. Here I am doing my little life being part of a subculture that pretty much works under the radar as we do our work for the earth and all her children, when suddenly this comes flying into my space. I have a sense I may be a door opener for more of us to come out of the woodwork. Larry has been collaborating with UMass and the former president of Hampshire college to create a mentorship program. They reached out for funders and Mary Schreiber Swenson stepped forward; I found out later that she was nominated for this award herself. Larry always drags everybody into our home to see my studio and encouraged me to show one of my videos on water. So, Mary came with a group of people, I showed them my garden, fed them from my garden, showed the video, and shrine room. She experienced me in circle praying and singing, and of course it blew her away. I told her that I struggled to get my work out into the world because of my garden commitment to grow food to feed us all year. She asked me if I knew that I was a genius and on some level I knew. She decided to nominate me for this award and put me on the phone with the person in charge who interviewed me. I had no idea who I was talking to and what this all meant. He commented that I was a good story teller.
I was somewhat in disbelief. I am happy and joyful that I am recognized for all that I have created to consistently inspire and bring magic to the world we live in mostly without pay. I have been going through a whole bunch of feelings including ambivalence, gratitude, accepting it, rejecting it, and frustrated as it may change my life and I had set this time away to write. We were scheduled to go to Washington to receive it but it was going to take a lot of my money and time to make this happen and I declined. However it has to be honored by a ceremony by our community which we did on March 16, 2025 at our local townhall.
This video page has multiple full feature productions of water’s journey mainly through winter that can be purchased and short videos that can be watched for free. The images, sounds, improvisational singing and compositions, poems, voice and editing are all done by Katja Esser. It has been a 10 year project in which each winter has been spend gathering, creating, editing, and huge amounts of listening, and returning into the field to record over and over again, the nature sounds, songs, and poems while dealing with lots of waiting for the air travel to subside or the right bird to call without traffic noise. It has been a labor of love, patience, and lots of challenges.
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Vernal Equinox Ritual
The Vernal Equinox is a moment of balance when night and day are equal length. It celebrates the awakening life when all is popping, bursting, and cracking open. The silent and immobilized state of Winter is broken as the hard frozen Earth becomes mushy and soft. The waters begin to flow again; seeds swell and saps rise. The mother is birthing. More info will be posted closer to the event.
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Summer Solstice Ritual
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The Summer Solstice celebrates the optimum light when the sun has traveled to the furthest point to the North, appears to stand still for a couple of days before it starts the journey to the South again. The rapid growth begins to slow down, sprout has come to flower and the process of maturing begins. We celebrate this vulnerable yet full expression of the flower and bless its journey so flower can make it to seed to assure the future of life. More info will be posted closer to the event.
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Autumnal Equinox Ritual
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The Fall Equinox marks the moment of balance, after which the nights become longer again. This is the culmination of the growing season; seed has moved from sprout, to flower, to fruit, and to seed again. We enter the time of the final harvest and begin to prepare for season ahead when the fields lay barren. It is a time of gratitude, abundance, and celebration. More info will be posted closer to the event.
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Winter Solstice Ritual
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The Winter Solstice ritual honors the moment of the deepest darkness in which the seed of light is born. For the Earth it is a time of gestation, cleansing, and strengthening to prepare for the coming growing season. For us it is a time to slow down, go within, and enter the dream time. The rituals take place out of doors. The intention and details will be posted closer to the event.
Life continues to show up, presenting us with losses, changes, and situations that are final and irrevocable. A cascade of feelings emerge when we face the reality of what is. When there is not a supportive environment to express these feelings fully, it can lead to depressions and illness. The grief ritual is designed to create a safe container to fully give your grief over to the ancestors in whatever form it comes out. Full info…..
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Deeper Roots – Feeding the Ancestors
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As we enter the ceremonial Now- where past, present, and future are One… how we move forward is tied to how we deal with our past and our Ancestors. We have come to this moment in time in part because of the choices of our Ancestors in the past as well as our own choices in the present. Full info….
The sound circles are a loosely structured gathering where we use our voice, sound makers, and instruments to open our heart and soul to the infinite universe of sound and vibration and allow it to weave a tapestry of texture, color, and melody that opens doors to joy, vibrational healing, expanded realities, and more. Full info…
The Vernal Equinox is a moment of balance when night and day are equal length. It celebrates the awakening life when all is popping, bursting, and cracking open. The silent and immobilized state of Winter is broken as the hard frozen Earth becomes mushy and soft. The waters begin to flow again; seeds swell and saps rise. The mother is birthing. More info will be posted closer to the event.
The Fall Equinox marks the moment of balance, after which the nights become longer again. This is the culmination of the growing season; seed has moved from sprout, to flower, to fruit, and to seed again. We enter the time of the final harvest and begin to prepare for season ahead when the fields lay barren. It is a time of gratitude, abundance, and celebration. More info will be posted closer to the event.
The Winter Solstice ritual honors the moment of the deepest darkness in which the seed of light is born. For the Earth it is a time of gestation, cleansing, and strengthening to prepare for the coming growing season. For us it is a time to slow down, go within, and enter the dream time. The rituals take place out of doors. The intention and details will be posted closer to the event.
Life continues to show up, presenting us with losses, changes, and situations that are final and irrevocable. A cascade of feelings emerge when we face the reality of what is. When there is not a supportive environment to express these feelings fully, it can lead to depressions and illness. The grief ritual is designed to create a safe container to fully give your grief over to the ancestors in whatever form it comes out. Full info…..
As we enter the ceremonial Now- where past, present, and future are One… how we move forward is tied to how we deal with our past and our Ancestors. We have come to this moment in time in part because of the choices of our Ancestors in the past as well as our own choices in the present. Full info….
The sound circles are a loosely structured gathering where we use our voice, sound makers, and instruments to open our heart and soul to the infinite universe of sound and vibration and allow it to weave a tapestry of texture, color, and melody that opens doors to joy, vibrational healing, expanded realities, and more. Full info…