I finally met the redwood trees! I know. . .  many people are astonished that Erin, the Plant Priestess and Green Witch lady hasn’t met them yet. How could someone who is devoted to plants have missed a meeting with these gigantic Beings?!  Living in Wisconsin and taking a trip to California takes some planning. And, so, I finally did it. I met them at The Grove of Old Trees in Sonoma County, California. 

I describe my experience meeting these giant Tree Beings with Emily Morrison on her podcast "The Witch Nextdoor" episode "Meeting the Redwoods". 

Podcast link 🌿 Meeting the Redwoods 

Here are some words I use to describe my experience:

portal, stillness, silence, deep care, ancient council, clear frequency

Are there any natural places that feel this way to you?

I was absolutely stunned by the stillness in this grove of redwoods. I stopped in my tracks and looked at Emily and mouthed in silence “What is this?” I was careful to not make any sound. As if I was walking into my Grandmother’s house not wanting to startle anyone or put anything out of place. 

The amount of wisdom and depth of care I felt from these Beings swelled in my body so profoundly I wept at the base of one of them. I share more about what I felt in the podcast. There is more I experienced from the Council of the Redwoods, but I’ll leave that for another time. Sharing this experience is vulnerable enough for me at the moment. 

In a world and country that feels so uncertain right now. I can say this with absolute certainty - these trees must be cared for and protected.

The Descent ~ do you want to join us?

As I mentioned in a previous email I recently went to Santa Rosa to meet my friend Emily Morrison for the first time in-person. 

Not only did we have a relaxing and fun time ⭐ we also went into deep conversations about our connection to nature, the way we celebrate the seasons, and how our spirituality has shifted over time.

This vaca/meet-up became a business retreat as well because we co-created, The Descent. 

The Descent will be a sanctuary of ceremony and embodiment, created to guide you safely into the fertile dark.

Together we will:

• Shed layers of busyness, productivity, and distraction

• Rest and renew in rhythm with the dormant season

• Practice embodiment that grounds you in body and roots you in the earth

• Enter ceremony that nourishes connection with ancestors, shadow, and medicine

• Strengthen community care in a web of shared intention and presence

The Descent into the Darkness is not a metaphor. It is an integration - an active joining of nature and self. The earth is a temple; our body is the altar. When we tend both, we don’t merely balance; we become whole.

We begin in November. The waitlist is open and can be found here. https://wisewomanwitchery.net/the-descent-waitlist 

 The Descent Waitlist is here <<

The Descent into the Darkness by Erin LaFaive

Seasonal reflection
is not a reflection of what’s happening in nature.
This descent is an integration with nature.

The earth is a temple,
and we are the altar.
Join your body with the changing seasons.

Don’t get stuck
chaining your life to the unnatural ways
of capitalistic society
that wants to eradicate human origin
and connection to nature.

The religion of the sky
wants us to float above the breast of Mother Earth,
who holds us close,
the dark womb of underground soil
sustains life,
makes up the core of the throbbing planet.

When Earth is honored as temple
and our body the altar,
we must tend to both.
One cannot be without the other.

It’s more than harmony and balance.
It’s the oxygen to our lungs,
the umbilical cord to the fetus,
sun to photosynthesis.
One cannot be missing
or else the whole being does not exist.

A process of momentum called life
can dissolve into stagnation.

The descent is a community:
an energetic, holographic ceremonial bubble,
an energetic web of people
connecting our intentions together.

Before electronic communication,
people linked up through dreams and visions.
Then we lost and faded this ability.
Now technology mirrors it,
creates instant connections across the globe.
People are practicing, remembering,
dreaming back the natural methods
of energetic connection.

Earth reconnection
is imperative to this revitalization.

The vibration of nature
attunes our body back to the frequency
of the natural flow we evolved with.

The descent is happening in the northern hemisphere,
turning away from the earth’s consort of sunlight.
Plants descend their energies to roots,
for protection from harsh cold,
to reserve nutrients
from the reduction of the sun’s photosynthetic catalyzation.

Intuitive abilities can now be heard.
The focus inward helps.
No eyes to distract us from visual scenes, 
now we look inward:
dreams, thoughts, wishes, reflections.

We must not let the noises in the dark scare us,
or let our thoughts run with fear.

Let us descend together,
to cohere to the safety the darkness has to offer.

Rest makes us stronger,
agile, clear.
Rest isn’t worthless.
The seemingly passive activity isn’t inefficient or wasteful.
It’s a necessity in the process of living.

The cycle is whole
with rest fully activated and presenced.
Without dormant seasons,
beings would be different than we know them now.
Winter would not come.

We must become comfortable
with cycles, 
and flows.

To repair the ripping away of humanity
from Mother Earth’s heartbeat,
we will reunite Earth as temple,
body as altar.

Come rest in the temple of the earth.
Come rest with the Earth, 
rejoined with nature on your body
by listening, nourishing, caring.

Combine our energies together.

Take good care,

Erin LaFaive