Community Engagement

Lighting Fire: Sparking Change. We meet on a nature trail and begin a land acknowledgement for the land that we live on which in our area has been occupied by the Tsimshian people since time immemorial. As we walk about the land we reflect on our relationship to the land and identify plants that provide nourishment, medicine and magic (lycopodium). We gather these gifts from the earth and bring them to the water front where we will have a fire ceremony. At the ceremony everyone is given a tapered candle and a piece of homemade paper and asked to write what light they can offer the world. I proceed to create fire from the dropping glycerine on potassium permanganate, from this fire sacred candles which I created from bayberry wax I harvested are lit on a pillar, one participant lights their candle and shares their gift and offerings to the fire and then lights the candle of the person next to them who proceeds to share their gift and offerings to the fire until the circle is complete. Next, I distribute some silk fans for people to manipulate and talk about the power of the wind and air as it is a medium that connects all of life (the fans will also help me determine the direction of the wind for what I am about to do) and other participants are given beautiful instruments (pan drums, rainsticks, kalimbas, etc.) I talk about the difference of chemistry (the fire created by the chemical reaction), illusion (what they are about to see), and magic (what we are capable of creating when we engage our spirits in contributing to something collectively). Then our collective performance begins