For The Wild - June 23, 2020


DeeplyRooted： Honoring our Ancestors and the Earth with LEAH PENNIMAN ⧸188

MARIAME KABA on Moving Past Punishment [ENCORE] ⧸187 JACKIE WANG on Carceral Capitalism ⧸189

Episode Stats


Length

15 minutes

Words per minute

95.48

Word count

1,505

Sentence count

83


Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
00:00:00.000 For the Wild podcast is brought to you in part by the Calliopeia Foundation and listeners like you.
00:00:05.720 Calliopeia supports projects interweaving spirituality, culture, and ecology.
00:00:11.160 We are grateful for their support and the support of grassroots contributions from listeners.
00:00:16.020 To learn more about the Calliopeia Foundation, visit calliopeia.org.
00:00:20.660 To make a donation to For the Wild, visit forthewild.world slash donate or support us through Patreon.
00:00:27.100 Welcome to For the Wild. I'm Ayanna Young. You're listening to Deeply Rooted, grounding practices to weather the winds of uncertainty, a series devoted to inviting stillness, balance, and abundance into our lives.
00:00:51.380 In celebration of the summer solstice, you'll be hearing the uplifting voice of Leah Penniman,
00:00:56.880 guiding us through a prayer from her traditions.
00:00:59.920 I hope you can create generous space and time to connect with Leah's offering.
00:01:04.760 Leah is a Black Creole educator, farmer, author, and food justice activist
00:01:09.120 from Soul Fire Farm in Grafton, New York.
00:01:12.200 She co-founded Soul Fire Farm in 2010 with the mission to end racism in the food system
00:01:17.640 and reclaim our ancestral connection to land.
00:01:21.260 As co-executive director, Leah is part of a team that facilitates powerful food sovereignty
00:01:26.360 programs, including farmer training for black and brown people, a subsidized farm food distribution
00:01:32.500 program for communities living under food apartheid, and domestic and international
00:01:37.500 organizing towards equity in the food system. Leah has been farming since 1996, holds an
00:01:43.780 MA in science education, and a BA in environmental science and international development from
00:01:48.940 Clark University, and is a manier in Vaudun. Her book, Farming While Black, Soul Fire Farm's
00:01:55.900 Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land, is a love song for the land and her people.
00:02:11.200 Greetings, my name is Leah Penniman. I am the farm manager at Soul Fire Farm in upstate New York.
00:02:17.940 My spiritual name is Manye Amidede Adelowu, and I am a queen mother in the traditional Vodun religion of Ghana.
00:02:27.920 Today's offering is an adaptation of a Haitian prayer that comes from my maternal lineage.
00:02:36.560 You will need a small glass of water or alcohol to pour libation along with me,
00:02:42.960 and we will be honoring the forces of nature and our ancestors.
00:02:47.940 we're going to begin with a few deep breaths together I ask that you inhale
00:02:55.020 and breathe such that you fill your belly your back and all the way down to
00:03:01.740 your toes and exhale breathe in fill your belly your back all the way down to
00:03:12.300 the earth through your feet and exhale. Breathe in and remember that we are alive right now for a
00:03:24.100 reason. And exhale. At this point, you are invited to salute the earth. You can bend down and touch
00:03:36.900 your forehead to the ground, or kiss the ground, to honor the mother of us all, and rise.
00:03:49.260 We begin our prayer by supplicating Papa Legba, who is the guardian of the crossroads
00:03:56.540 and the conduit of our connection to the magical realm.
00:04:00.520 Legba is at the gate.
00:04:27.280 It is you who carries the flag.
00:04:29.720 It is you who shields the loa from the sun.
00:04:35.160 Now we turn together and face the east.
00:04:40.520 Pour a little bit of the water or alcohol from your cup onto the ground.
00:04:46.560 We give honor and respect to the creator spirit who spreads over all the universe.
00:04:53.820 We give praise and honor and respect to those who witness creation.
00:05:16.820 We, the children of the earth, are grateful for your blessing.
00:05:22.480 We, the children of the universe, are grateful for all that you have created.
00:05:30.780 I'll leave a pause here so you can add the prayers of your own hearts to the spirit of creation.
00:05:38.440 Please say them out loud now.
00:05:40.320 we turn together and face the west pour a little bit of your water or alcohol onto the ground as
00:06:00.020 libation we give honor and respect to the spirits of water who dwell in the west
00:06:07.460 We give thanks and praise for the waters of our mother's womb.
00:06:29.540 We give thanks for the oceans and all the salt waters.
00:06:34.120 we give thanks for the waterfalls and rivers and aquifers that nourish us we are so grateful that
00:06:40.440 we are not thirsty we're so grateful for the rains that nourish our crops please grant us
00:06:48.040 connection and love and strong family please wash away strain and frustration
00:06:58.040 i'll leave some silence now so you can add the prayers of your own heart please speak them aloud
00:07:03.400 we turn together now and face the north pour a few drops of water or alcohol from your cup as
00:07:26.720 libation. We give honor and respect to Mother Earth and all of the spirits who dwell in the
00:07:34.960 north. We give thanks for the forest full of timber and shade and medicine, full of animals
00:08:01.660 and plants who are siblings. We give thanks and praise for the farm that brings forth our
00:08:08.860 nourishment and brings us joy. We give thanks for all of the medicinal plants that cure and heal
00:08:16.400 and guide us. We pray that you send us health, sustenance, and long life. We pray that you
00:08:24.000 protect us from illness, injury, and disease. I'll pause here so you can add the prayers of
00:08:31.340 your own heart. Please speak them aloud. We turn together now and face the self. Please pour out
00:08:52.660 a few drops of water or alcohol onto the ground as libation for the spirits who dwell in the self.
00:08:57.660 We give honor and respect to you, spirits of fire.
00:09:04.360 We praise you for your power, your fire, your agency, your courage, your justice and truth.
00:09:27.760 We pray that you bring us wholeness, joy and courage.
00:09:32.780 we pray that you bring us prosperity and purpose
00:09:37.060 we ask that you prevent confusion and destruction
00:09:41.360 I pause now so you can add the prayers of your own heart
00:09:47.560 please speak them aloud
00:09:48.640 we turn our attention now towards the sky
00:10:05.120 raise your arms
00:10:06.980 raise your face to the sky
00:10:08.720 we offer a few drops from our cup
00:10:11.600 in honor of the sky beings
00:10:15.920 we give respect and praise to you
00:10:20.000 who dwell in the sky
00:10:21.680 we give thanks for the storms
00:10:35.280 we give thanks for change
00:10:37.400 and the way you remove stagnancy
00:10:39.820 and bring about transformation
00:10:41.880 we are grateful that there is breath
00:10:45.700 in our lungs. Please send the breath of goodness to us. We pray that you neutralize all evil plots
00:10:54.880 and plans against us. We pray for your protection. Pause now so that you can add the prayers of your
00:11:04.120 own heart. Please speak them aloud.
00:11:15.700 We now kneel down, bring our knees and our hands to the earth.
00:11:23.700 We pour a few drops from our cup as libation in honor of the beings who dwell under the ground.
00:11:32.700 We give honor and respect to the ancestors whose names we know.
00:11:38.700 Please call the names of your known ancestors now.
00:11:43.700 we give honor and respect to the original people of this land we give honor and respect
00:11:58.380 to the ancestors whose names are lost in the seas of time those who were lost to the middle passage
00:12:05.700 to police violence to poverty to mass incarceration mental illness those who
00:12:13.140 loss to transphobia, addiction, slavery in all its forms. We honor you. We call you and pay
00:12:21.840 respect to you. We thank you for knowing us better than we know ourselves. We thank you for keeping
00:12:35.420 our stories alive. We acknowledge that we did not get here on our own, that we survive and thrive
00:12:42.580 because of your sacrifice and example.
00:12:45.880 Please bring us good character.
00:12:47.960 Bring us wisdom.
00:12:49.960 Transform our challenges into blessings.
00:12:53.240 May your love fill us and overflow from us,
00:12:56.600 blessing all those we encounter.
00:13:00.060 I pause now so that you can add the prayers of your own heart.
00:13:03.800 Please speak them aloud.
00:13:12.580 and finally we turn our attention inward please place your hands on your own hearts
00:13:26.500 take a drop of water from your cup and touch it to the top of your head
00:13:32.920 we give honor and respect to our own ori our own bonnage we give honor and respect to our
00:13:46.420 own sacred divinity the spark of god that is within each of us we pray please allow us to
00:13:54.900 hear and heed the guidance of this still clear and true inner voice. Please help us to be bearers
00:14:05.600 of light and of truth. I pause now so you can add the prayers of your own heart.
00:14:24.900 may our prayers and libation today be acceptable and accepted
00:14:36.320 may there be long life for us our beloveds and our lineage
00:14:41.760 and we say three times
00:14:44.240 Ashe, Ashe, Asheo.
00:15:14.240 our community on social media and sign up for our newsletter by visiting furtherwild.world
00:15:19.220 slash subscribe. If you've enjoyed today's offering, please rate us on iTunes and consider
00:15:24.940 supporting us on Patreon. Our theme music is Home by Pura Faye, and you also heard music from Taina
00:15:31.920 Asili. I'd like to thank our podcast production team, Aidan McRae, Andrew Storrs, Carter Lou
00:15:41.460 McElroy, Erica Ekrem, Francesca Glassbell, and Hannah Wilton.