If I gave you a really big gift and you did not say thank you, I would probably be less generous next year.  We all love to be seen and honored for our unique gifts to the world. When we feel unseen, we often get sick and sad.  Maybe our more-than-human relatives feel the same? In many earth-based traditions, legends foretold that our precious relations in nature would disappear if we stop honoring and tending them. We are seeing this with the salmon, the whales and sadly, with our oaks who are sick and dying from Sudden Oak Death.

Of all the trees I know and love, the oaks are the most generous. One large Valley Oak tree can drop over five hundred pounds of acorns that support an entire web of life. Around the world, oaks used to be loved and honored because of their generous nature. Now we often walk by and neglect to see them. They are forgotten. It might sound strange at first, but perhaps they need us to remember them? After twenty years the best scientific research has failed to help heal the oaks; It’s time for another approach. Ceremony is an ancient and important way to care for our relations in nature and to show our appreciation for their generosity.  Please join us in honoring our mighty oaks at the Sixth Annual Mount Tam Oak Ceremony. Come enjoy a beautiful day on Mount Tam, and eat some acorn fare.  We will convene a Council of All Beings, a ritual form of the Work That Reconnects that allows participants to see life from non-human perspectives. The Council awakens us to our interconnectedness and interdependence with earth’s natural systems and living beings.

Even if you can’t come to the ceremony, please gather some of acorns so the oaks will know you appreciate their gifts.  Julia Parker, a Coastal Miwok and Kashia Pomo basket weaver said “They told me when it comes, get out there and gather even if it’s one basketful so the acorn spirit will know you are happy for the acorn and next year the acorn will come” If you want to know how to process acorns and eat them you can click here

If you can volunteer to help at the ceremony, your gifts and energy would be most appreciated. We need musicians, artists, people to help with the Council of All Beings and child programs. Please contact us if you can volunteer. Donations are greatly appreciated as well.

Gathering Acorns - A Community Event

A Gathering of Oak Lovers to Gather Acorns