Pagan Road Trip-Post One

Leaving Florida with its warm winds and sunny skies amounted to an epic journey into the rhythms of Gaia; with each passing mile the skies grew darker and the earth ever more brown and restful. Our drive across I-10 was a transition back to the seasons, a coming home of sorts that left me feeling invigorated about our planned yearlong adventure.

Arriving at our first destination in New Mexico just served to reinforce my growing sense that I was returning home to a place where the land, the people and the Goddess speak clearly and with out pretence. Prior to our arrival friends had agreed to let us park on their land while we drove, by car, to see my partners’ family over the holiday. This however is not just a place to park, but a place were loved friends have established a community that exemplifies sustainability, community and relationship with the Divine in all that they do.

While Sunflower River self identifies as a “sustainable spiritual community” it is so much more. Here is a place where the conversation surrounds mulching gardens, how many eggs the chickens lay, compost toilets, Pagan festivals and community. This is no hippie commune of bright-eyed optimists; here you will find University employees, a nurse and others coming together to live in a way that reflects their values. Each of these people is highly committed to what they are manifesting.

In this place Gaia is wrapped in a fabric woven of interconnected threads of intent. The love and honoring of Gaia is not something encountered at a morning blessing or festival, but something made manifest by dirt covered hands holding a shovel while standing in a freezing rain. The feeling that I was standing in a sacred space for the entire Pagan community was very strong. I was enveloped with gratitude and admiration for these individuals’ efforts to live with and in service to the Goddess.

Sunflower River is a community asset that encourages others to visit and become involved in volunteer projects on their farm. If you find your self in need of an even deeper connection to the Divine this would be a great place to visit and help work the soil that is the rich nourishing skin of the Goddess.

To my old friends Kat and Tristin and my new friends at Sunflower River, thank you for reminding my what our community can be. For more information on Sunflower River please visit:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sunflower-River/485070315506?sk=info