SPRING EQUINOX NEWSLETTER

Dear Lost Borders Tribe,

We meet this spring day having  just returned from our personal fasts, and by some small miracle, even with the crowds of people swarming into Death Valley to witness  this year's abundance of  wild flowers, we found the space and the silence that we came for at the end of a rocky road leading into one of our favorite canyons.  

It is always so good to return to the bare bones of the ceremony.  To be with all that arises, in the long days and nights of the threshold, letting the elements whittle away our brittle human defenses as we are slowly becoming part of the land once again.  There is simply no better way to lose the cultured illusion of our separateness from nature then to stick our overstimulated butts on the earth and take away our insulations. 

And no matter how many times we've been out before nothing ever quite prepares us for the grace and richness of return, the revelations, dreams and myths that will feed us for months to come and in ways that will reveal themselves in their own time.  

Know that prayers have gone out for all that have fasted with us before and for all that will come this year, and for the ceremony that is ever alive in each of us.  As we return to the blessed challenge of re-incorporation, our email response time might be a bit slower then usual as we catch up with our inboxes.

With the Ballcourt Fast beginning in just a week and the California Spring Fast soon thereafter, our busy season has begun.  Gear needs to be cleaned up and the first aid kit restocked.  Sagebrush wants to be picked and dried for this year's smudge.  Vehicles will be checked out and serviced.  Blessed be.

Wherever you find yourself on this day of light partnering dark in perfect harmony, as we are crossing the threshold into spring, may the simple miracle of life's desire to blossom break your heart open one more time and allow you to share your gift with the world in whatever way it is meant to be.

With all our love,

Petra and Joseph
School of Lost Borders


The Grandmother's Circle - by Silvia Talavera
  
On October 5th, 2014 The Grandmothers' Circle: The Four Shields of Elderhood for Women was offered through the School of Lost Borders. The dreaming and manifestation of this project took some time, yet with many no's and a few doubts I persisted. I was determined to do this if it was the last thing I do in my guiding career. 

BLESSING THAT MEETS YOU IN THE WILDERNESS


After the desert stillness.  After the wrestling.  After the hours and days and weeks of emptying.  After the hungering and the thirsting.  After the opening and seeing and knowing.  

Let this blessing be the first sweetness that touches your lips, the bread that falls into your arms, the cup that welcoming hands press into yours.  Let this blessing be the road that returns you.  Let it be the strength to carry the wilderness home.

Jan Richardson


Fully Alive through Connection - by Will Scott

I used to think the feeling of being fully alive only came in exceptional moments: A near-death experience, a triumphant achievement, an orgasm, a time of great loss, an instance of inexplicable synchronicity, a moment in love, being in the 'zone' or on the edge of some great,something towards which you know you must move...


'BEYOND OUR BORDERS' becomes 'LIVING THE PRACTICES'


A few years back, we added a small department to the school's curriculum that would combine the traditions of Lost Borders with spiritual, artistic, personal and professional disciplines and practices to integrate ceremonial perspectives into everyday life and work.

These courses can be used as an entry point, in preparation of a vision fast or as an incorporation tool afterwards, or simply as a stand alone invitation to follow a a heart's call to a specific theme.  They range in length from 5-8 days and all have the school's traditions in common: The Four Shields, Solo Time in Nature, Nature as Teacher, and Storytelling and Mirroring.

When we first added this branch, we simply named it 'Beyond Our Borders', in an attempt to give it room to form itself and inform us of how it was to evolve.  It now feels right to change the title to 'Living the Practices', to point more accurately to the intention that carry these programs.  With this naming we are simply honoring the nature of these offerings.

If you haven't already, you can check out the department via the link below.


 



The Great Ballcourt Fast - by Kaysie Dannemiller
  
We arrived in Big Pine in the Owens Valley with the Sierra Nevada behind and the Inyos ahead. With trepidation and excitement, nine brave questers met before being launched into the high desert to play on the "Great Ballcourt." The origins of this "game" can be traced back to around 1500 BC. 
 


 
School of Lost Borders, P.O. Box 796, Big Pine, CA 93513