The San Francisco Bay Area is, obviously, defined in many ways by the Bay itself. When moving to the area in 2002 my travelling companion and I went out of our way to enter San Francisco from the North via the Golden Gate Bridge, sensing this to be a place of unique power. As I gradually became more acquainted with the history and rhythms of the land here, this impression was confirmed. As in much of the Western regions of this continent, the story involves our intimate dependence on Fresh Water.
The mind that would control the flow of the waters was imported with Euro-Americans to the West and radically altered the landscape. In the state of California there is now only one river of any size that has not been dammed (the Smith near the Oregon border). There are over seven million people in the nine counties (Marin, Sonoma, Napa, Solano, Contra Costa, Alameda, Santa Clara, San Mateo, and San Francisco) that border the Bay yet most of our fresh water comes from elsewhere. If we lived only on water locally available, I have heard estimates that 80% of Bay Area residents would need to move elsewhere. Imagine the effects if this change were immediate. The three major wetland areas of the San Francisco Bay (San Pablo Bay, Suisun Bay, and the South Bay) were seen as wasted land and all radically altered in the past 150 years. What is the mind that would dam an entire river, import water in a pipeline from hundreds of miles away, or create permanent levees over a wetland? How does this mind still operate in our everyday life and in the ways we relate with ourselves?
It is questions like these that we carried with us in the first year-long Earth Medicine training initiated in December of 2007 on Mount Tamalpais. Over the course of the year an intimate ceremonial working group circled the San Francisco Bay, gathering one day a month to deepen our personal relationships with the land and conduct ceremony for the well-being of the Bay, the human ancestors, and our larger web of relations. Our journey was anchored by four mountain elders as we traversed the wheel of the year and this land, honoring Mount Diablo on Spring Equinox, Mount Hamilton on Summer Solstice, San Bruno Mountain on Fall Equinox, and returning to Mount Tamalpais on Winter Solstice of 2008. Throughout the year we carryied a prayer especially for the well-being of the Bay as the meeting place of many waters; the Sacramento, the San Joaquin, many local rivers and creeks, and, of course, the Pacific. The waters that enter the Ocean at the Golden Gate serve as a perpetual offering to our Mother. What is the quality of this offering? What messages (chemical and energetic) are we sending to her of our current way of life?
Each time we gathered, we established a simple natural altar or some node of blessings and positive energy for the ancestors and the land. The information below contains the location of these places of ceremony, and we invite anyone who is moved to visit and to make your own ceremony there to add your prayers and good intentions. If you visit, we would love to hear how it goes!
Angel Island State Park (early December 2007)
A Buryat Mongol-style Peace Tree ceremony (see the work of Sarangerel Odigan) was conducted on Dec 1, 2007 at campsite #1. If you walk to the end of this campsite, the medium-sized oak (I think a coast live oak) at the end of the flat area is the one. If you continue past the tree there is a look-out where you can see Treasure Island and the Bay Bridge (the site of the oil spill and the focus of prayer for this ceremony). It is customary to tie on your prayers (thread or ribbon) or to leave simple biodegradable offerings. Reserving campsite #1 (or #1-3 if you want the whole area) would make a great overnight gathering for a handful of people and you could even sleep under the ceremonial tree.
Mount Tamalpais State Park (mid December 2007)
This was our first ceremony conducted as part of the 2007-08 Earth Medicine training. There is a parking area just before the East Peak parking lot where you can pick up the Lakeview Trail and take it up to Middle Peak. When approaching the top of Middle Peak, take a right. Do not enter the ominous radiotower buildings with their strong electric juju, but walk just past them to the largest boulder. This was the place of our afternoon ceremony. Perhaps add a nearby prayer/stone infused with a prayer at this physical manifestation of the World Mountain.
Deer Island Open Space Preserve (January)
On Jan 19th, we established a Peace Tree at Deer Island Open Space Preserve near the intersection of 101 and 37 in Novato. After doing a circumambulation around this lovely (former) island, we ascended the DeBorba Trail, and near the top, past a beautiful rock outcropping surrounded by Bay trees, we took a left onto a smaller unmarked trail. This side trail to the left (East) leads into a grassy open area with oaks and the Peace Tree is a mature Oak with a double "Y-shaped" base. The ceremony was conducted with a nearly full moon rising in the East and the sun setting in the West. Add your prayers for the restoration of San Pablo Bay and maybe even a colorful ribbon gently tied to a branch to honor the ancestors of this land.
Alhambra Historical Cemetary (February)
On Feb 23rd, in Martinez near the Carquinez Straits, we conducted a ceremony for the ancestors at Alhambra Historical Cemetery (to enter the cemetery it is necessary to pick up a key from the Martinez Police Department...just ring the outside buzzer any hour of the day and request it). The cemetery is on a hillside overlooking the straits, the Shell refinery, and Martinez Regional Shoreline. We spent time listening to ancestors, made offerings, sang, and prayed for their wellness, inviting them to work for the vitality and healing of the land there. Our ceremony used a large stone ring (see the "horse trough" in the link above) as an energetic focal point. As a storm rolled in while we were completing our ceremony, we asked that the coming rains be infused with positive energy and blessings for the land. This area of the straits is the major waterway that feeds the Bay and is the confluence of the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers.
Mount Diablo State Park (March, Spring Equinox)
After spending a day together Saturday in ceremonial space and then sleeping on the mountain, on March 23rd we gathered at the summit of Mount Diablo before sunrise to welcome the first light of Spring. In each of the previous gatherings we have conducted a ceremony for the wellbeing of the ancestors of the land; however, we repeatedly had the sense that the spirit of this particular mountain is highly vibrant, energized, and not in need of any particular action from our side. Our group was touched in a strong way by the energies of this place, and if you have never been, I highly recommend it; this is an amazing place of power within an hour's drive of nearly everywhere in the S.F. Bay Area.
At the summit, we energizing our prayers for the coming year with the first rays of sun over the distant Sierras. We gathered in this way near an amazing stone outcropping just Southeast of the summit and along the loop trail that circles the peak. We reaffirmed our year-long prayer for healing of the waters of the Bay (and the waters feeding into the Bay). As the delta of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers is clearly visible from the summit of the mountain, this prayer is especially sweet in this location. It was also lovely to be able to see the first quarter of our circle of prayer around the Bay from Mt. Tam to Deer Island (Novato) to Alhambra Historical Cemetery (Martinez) to Mount Diablo and in April onward to the Eastern area of Sunol Regional Wilderness.
Sunol Regional Wilderness (April)
In our day at Sunol, the hills were teeming with green and the brilliance of California wildflower spring. Our group explored different plant and specifically flower medicines by connecting with locals that included: Sticky Monkey Flower, Mariposa Lily, Blue Witch, California Poppy, White Fairy Lantern, Wild Oat, Shortstem Morning Glory, Minature Dove Lupine, California Buttercup, and Milk Thistle. Not to mention the California Sycamores, Willows, Bay, California Sagebrush, and Oaks (with and without Mistletoe). We invited those flower relations who wanted to join us in offering their blessing to the waters, carefully gathering with permission a few petals here and there.
This led into our ceremonial offering for the vitality and wellness of Alameda Creek, the largest East Bay watershed, a former home of salmon and now slowly returning steelhead trout, and a major contributor to San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (meaning a source of water for 2.5 million Bay Area residents). We gathered just upstream from Little Yosemite at a deep, quiet pool with a sycamore overhanging the trail side of the creek. This tree was recommened to us weeks earlier by the landing of a Belted Kingfisher in its branches. After make offerings of song and visioning with (and in!) the cool waters of the creek, prayers were made and flower petals scattered on the water, honoring the intimate conversation between Flower and River. Finally a small piece of obsidian was placed beneath the river stones as a prayer that any heavy or harmful energies be drawn from the stream and that the steelhead and perhaps even salmon may return with all their vitality.
Coyote Hills Regional Park (May)
If you haven't been, this park is a gem. For one, of all the places we will gather at this year, this may be the only location where one can see and feel surrounded by Mount Tamalpais, Mount Diablo, Mount Hamilton, Mount Umunhum, and San Bruno Mountain. One would be hard-pressed to find a public site that feels more surrounded by these mountains and this quality of being a convergence point shaped our afternoon ceremony. Two, this is the place where Alameda Creek meets the Bay, and we spent time appreciating the creek here, knowing that we will be near its source on Mount Hamilton in June. Finally, this is a great place from which to get some feel for the scope of the South Bay wetlands restoration as most of the South Bay wetlands are visible from Red Hill in this park.
Red Hill was also the location of our afternoon ceremony for the land. You can Google "Red Hill, Fremont, CA" or just consult a park map. At the very top of Red Hill, there are several stone formations. In the second outcropping from the North in the center of this formation there is a flat seat-like stone that forms a natural center-point. From this point, amidst several hours opened up to wind and sun, we conducted one version of an oboo or world mountain ceremony, calling in blessings from mountains in the various directions and making offerings for the ancestors and spirits of the land. We also made a focused prayer for the ongoing success of the wetlands restoration efforts.
As one example of the type of magic that arises when doing ceremony on/for the land, at our first ceremony on Mt Tam there was a lovely vulture feather just waiting at the site of our ceremony, so we incorporated it into the altar. At each of our subsequent gatherings Vulture made an appearance at some point. When walking up to Red Hill at our May gathering, I was the first one up and after I saw what was there, I immediately walked back down the trail to ask the group what bird has been appearing each time we do these ceremonies. "Vulture". I wanted to assure them that I was not the one who placed the vulture feather on the Northern stone of our ceremonial site, wedged in the stone,greeting us.
Joseph D. Grant County Park (June, Summer Solstice)
Under the gaze of Mount Hamilton and in the 95 degree heat of summer sun, our group honored the Solstice by exploring both different expressions of elemental Fire and by honoring in circle the animal relations we are especially close with. We were clear from the start that we were in no way intending to invoke Fire, merely to pay respect. We hiked (slowly with frequent pauses) up to the scenic overlook on Dutch Flat Trail where we held a brief ceremony to mark the holiday. In this ceremony we invited certain animal spirits to speak through us and in that way to be available to share their wisdom and perspectives on concerns of interest for group members. The ceremony for the land in this way was dedicated to the vitality and well-being of our animal relations and a prayer was placed in the earth at the base of the valley oak directly across the trail from the bench at the scenic overlook.
Aside from the humbling temperatures we also saw from the overlook numerous brush fires in this valley that is the southern gateway of the Bay Area (Coyote Creek watershed, 101 South, San Jose and south). Having watched lightning in the distance over the Santa Cruz Mountains, just as we finished our ceremony and were preparing to make our way back, a flash of lightning struck very close to our group followed by a powerful ripple of thunder overhead. We made our way to lower ground right away, taking heed of the awesome energies of electricity as fire from the sky.
Still touched by the display of elemental Fire we returned to read about the thunder beings sparking fires all over the state, many of which started on Summer Solstice. In 2009 much of California remains in a state drought, and the beings intimately connected to the rains also are capable of bringing fire to the land. In the Bay Area during the summer of 2008 as we awoke to the smell of forest burning, seeing the sun and moon through a veil of smoke, the question arose: How is our personal relationship with Fire? Are we also in touch with coolness, gentleness, and the blessings of Water that can temper the flames of destruction? Perhaps there are also healing and unseen gifts in the fires?
Monte Bello Open Space Preserve (July overnight)
This was our second overnight (Diablo was the first) and our only backpacking trip as a group this year. We hiked in 2 miles to sleep near Black Mountain near the source of Stevens Creek in the Santa Cruz mountains. Continuing with a summer focus on elemental Fire, we explored Fire in the Earth through guided meditations on the origins of the planet and visioning into the depths of Earth. We discussed earthquakes and the movement of earth's thin crust over nearly two thousand miles of underlying stone, magma, and metal.
After sharing a camp dinner and singing for the sunset we made our way back up to Black Mountain overlooking the South Bay. From this amazing rock outcropping, we watched as day gave way to darkness and stars. Overlooking the lights from millions of East and South Bay residents, we drummed to explore our connection with the star people. Touching the Fire in the Stars.
To complete our time in ceremony and offering pleasing energies to the land, we offered our attention to the stone people in the form of spontaneous movement and dance. I'm pretty sure those stone people have not had humans dance under the stars with them very often. It was lovely, and we continued in our tradition of making prayer for the wellbeing of the land and spirits there.
Wunderlich County Park (August)
We dedicated this day's gathering to better understanding our tree relations. In the same redwood grove (along the Bear Gulch Trail) where we recenty made ceremony to honor the mountain lion, we visioned along the roots, trunk, and branches of Tree asking where our own tree-self and personal energy body is in or out of balance. We connected with various local relations such as the Bay Laurel, Coast Live Oak, Redwood, and Hazelnut and invited their particular perspectives and healing medicines.
After lunch, participants spent time reflecting on the upcoming vows they will be making at our December completion gathering and about questions of legacy in general. The story of Martin Wunderlich was shared (he purchased the land originally to build subdivisions and a golf course but instead gifted the land to the county to be a park upon his death). What do we wish our legacy to be and how are we working to manifest that? After this sharing we enjoyed time doing some healing and prayer for one another and eventually left an offering, infused with prayers for the wellbeing of the land and the Bay. This offering was left in the general area of the second small redwood grove off to the left of the Bear Gulch Trail maybe 1.5 miles in.
San Bruno Mountain (September, Fall Equinox)
During our June gathering at Mt. Hamilton fire swept across the landscape in the form of lightning storms that started many wildfires across the state. One of them was close to home at San Bruno Mountain on the S.F. Peninsula, the site of our gathering a season later. Honoring this particular cycle of death (by fire) and rebirth, we spent the first half of our day in the Buckeye Canyon area, in and around the place of the fire. New growth was emerging in bright greens across the charred landscape, a reminder of our own inner resilience and the generativity of the land. At the shellmound we paused to pay our respects to the Native ancestors, make a prayer for the wellbeing of their living descendants, and invite their perspective on becoming even more intimate with the earth here.
Then in the second half of our day we made our way to the peak of San Bruno Mountain, passing the various radio towers and high voltage energies so common to the area's sacred peaks, to enjoy a scenic lunch on the ridge trail overlooking Colma, the Pacific, and SF Bay. From here we reviewed the arc of our previous gatherings from Mt Tam in December 2007 all the way around to Wunderlich County Park in August 2008 and then walked with this living prayer for the Bay in our hearts along the Ridge Trail north to an area overlooking San Francisco and the Golden Gate. Here we made ceremony again to honor the ancestors of the land, bringing them offerings of traditional foods, and holding a space to listen to their wisdom and perspective on themes like reciprocity and gratitude. Upon completion we made prayers and other offerings to them to continue our year-long cycle around the Bay.
The Presidio of San Francisco (October)
We began our day in the restored dunes along Lobos Creek in the southwest corner of the Presidio. Here we explored the dynamics of native and non-native organisms, passing from an area of revegetated native plants such as coyote bush, sticky monkey flower, and various lupines into an area of invasive and non-native plants such as Monterrey cypress & pine, eucalyptus, and ice plant. We discussed biodiversity and other key principles that pertain to healhty ecosystems before visioning with the drum on how to understand these dynamics on a deeper level.We then journeyed West to Baker Beach and shared of the medicine of Ocean and of West, Autumn, and Water on the wheel of the year before making contact with Ocean (it was chilly!) to wash and cleanse from our beings whatever heaviness we might be carrying with us.
Along the coastal bluffs we entered deeper into the conversation between native and non-native organisms and sought to apply this on an inner level as well. Through a simple ceremony we used eucalyptus seeds to represent something invasive to our authentic, essential nature that we then released (they will be burned in a ceremonial fire later). We used a stone from the land to represent something native to our souls and spirits that we wanted to strengthen, support, and perhaps reintroduce. As usual with our gatherings, we made prayers and offerings to anchor positive intent and blessings for the land.
Kirby Cove (November)
The focus of our day together was exploring the energies of the power place that is the Golden Gate and making ceremony for the deceased of the land (specifically those who have taken their lives by jumping from the bridge). The energies of the land (and waters) here are predictably wild and poweful, and the afternoon peace tree ceremony is difficult to capture here in writing besides to say that we spent several hours doing heavy, engaged ceremonial work for those who jumped from the bridge. Here is the message that we considered leaving on the peace tree itself:
The Golden Gate is a place of natural power and beauty where many rivers meet the sea. The Golden Gate also has the highest suicide rate of any place on Earth; a new attempt about every two weeks. And of those who jump, 98% die in these waters.
In the style of the Mongolian peace tree (barisaa), this tree has been consecrated as a memorial to those who died, a living prayer for their well-being and elevation as ancestors. If you wish to add your positive energy, it is customary to tie a thread or ribbon with a prayer (loosely so the branches can grow) or to leave a simple, biodegradable offering at the base of the tree. You could also make a prayer with a stone with the name of a beloved friend or relative and place it at the base of the tree. May the spirits of those who have died know deep and lasting peace. May those who despair find support and healing.
The tree itself is a large, old cypress in Area 1 of the picnic sites (the site closest to the bridge). The tree is the biggest of three large ones close to the small cliff overlooking the beach. As a group we all agree that the ceremony felt strong, helpful and also that more work is needed in this area and around this issue. If anyone is inclined to make ceremony for the suicides or build upon the energy of this initial offering, be in touch and I can share more.
Mount Tamalpais (December 2008, Winter Solstice)
On Sunday, Dec 21st of 2008 the seven Earth Medicine particpants and I were joined by about a dozen community members at Pantoll Campground on Mount Tamalpais for a completion of our year of ceremony. Our circle of twenty gathered around a fire in cool, steady rains on this sacred mountain, the starting place of our circumambulation of the Bay. We began by giving thanks to the lands and the rains and made a space for the seven participants to share from their experiences and learning over the course of the year.
We then set in motion the creation of a despacho-style offering bundle to thank the elementals and spirits of the land that nourished our lives throughout the year. Midway through this ceremony, each of the seven participants stepped forward in turn and made personally crafted vows to the Earth, vows to deepen in various ways with their journey in 2008, vows of service and of continued personal growth in partnership with the spirits of the land. The community served as witness and support to these vows and each of the seven placed something in the offering bundle to represent their vow.
We completed the gratitude bundle in a traditional way, praying and giving thanks with seeds, sweets, and other symbolic items. After being closed, the bundle was used to draw off any unneeded heavy energies from participants. After ceremony, the bundle was presented to the mountain, asking the spirit of Mt Tamalpais both to support each of the seven in fulfilling their vows and to remind them when seeing the mountain of the commitments they have made.
The ceremony was really beautiful and inspiring. The year around the Bay was powerful for all of us. I'm grateful and uplifted by it all. Major love and respect to all the beings (seen and unseen) involved.The story continues in 2009 in two places, one uplifting and vibrant (Mount Diablo) and one heavy, disrespected by humans, and in need of healing (the Guadalupe Watershed). For more info on these two year-long progressions see Earth Medicine 2009 on this site.
