Amrita Kaur Bhohi

SEASONS OF THE SACRED

A four-part series of events, bringing together guests for a celebratory seasonal meal and a shared experience of sacred time and place. 

Seasons of the Sacred was designed to offer the opportunity to partake in a modern ‘ritual of reverence’ for the living earth. Just as our ancestors, and all indigenous peoples, have always honoured and celebrated the gifts of our great sustainer through marking the passing of time with celebration and thanksgiving, so too was our intention to re-enter these primal cycles of earth to which we belong. Each gathering offered a creatively guided experience, exploring themes inspired by the season, and interweaving food, talks, practices, conversation and ritual.

This series took place in 2019, and was created in collaboration with Vilma Luostarinen with support from Advaya Initiative. A big thank you to all of the venues and volunteers that supported us. Special thanks to: Erin Tandy, Abilasha Bhohi and Luke Cranswick. 

SPRING

April 2019 / Venue: St Ethelburga’s Centre for Reconciliation & Peace / Speakers: Jack Harries, Liz Hosken, Lily Hunter-Green  / Food: Lena Ghaninejad (chef) & Vilma Luostarinen (food design)

We launched the Seasons of the Sacred series with a spring feast in the atmospheric Nave at St Ethelburga’s Centre, a sacred events space in the heart of the city. 

Seasonal themes
First blossoms / The Return of Song / Revival / A Promise That Everything Will Begin Anew / Uncertainty / Planting Seeds for the Future / A New Potential is Present / Awakening / A Delicate Emergence / Mystery / Cultivate With Patience / Longing / Hope

Part 1: Hidden Wisdoms of the Earth
The first part of the evening was inspired by the short film ‘The Kingdom: A Conservation Story’, which tells the story of Sonam Phuntsho, a forest caretaker in the Kingdom of Bhutan, who has spent the last 60 years planting over 100,000 trees by hand. We had the chance to watch the film together, reflect on the theme of regeneration, and to hear from the filmmaker, Jack Harries.

Part 2: If I Could Give You the First Rainbows 
In the Japanese seasonal calendar, spring is a time of first blossoms, first rainbows and the return of song. It is also a time for planting the first seeds of the season. Part 2 of the dinner included a talk by Liz Hosken, founder of the Gaia Foundation. Liz shared stories of her experience working in remote parts of Kenya, where traditions and rituals still held seeds as sacred, and pollinators such as bees are included as a sacred part of the community. 

Part 3: Memories of a Vanishing Garden
We heard from contemporary composer and visual artist Lily Hunter-Green, who has composed music with the sound of bees, as well as collaborating with scientists and other artists to create installations that highlight the current plight of bees and humanity’s relationship with them. We enjoyed a special desert created with ingredients such as honey and rhubarb that would be lost to us by the extinction of bees. It was a beautiful beginning to our series!

SUMMER

June 2019 / Venue: Omved Gardens / Speaker: Tiokasin Ghosthorse, member of the Cheyenne river Dakota / Food: Arthur Potts Dawson (chef) & Vilma Luostarinen (food design)

Our second gathering was held on the summer solstice, in the beautiful outdoor setting of Omved Gardens.

Seasonal themes:
Completion / Sundance / Midsummer / Full bloom / Light / Unification / Rejoice / Attainment / Fire / Extravagance / Intensity / Dreaming / First harvest / Abundance / Return of the dark

Part 1: Summers in a Changing Climate
We began the programme in the beautiful Omved Gardens outdoor green space, overlooking Highgate park,  with an opening ritual and introduction offered by Tiokasin Ghosthorse. In small group conversations, we were invited to reflect on our relationship with the summer season, particularly in the context of climate breakdown and the new challenges the sun now brings with increasing wildfires and droughts.

Part 2: Nature is Celebrating Itself
In part 2, we listened to Tiokasin Ghosthorse share teachings about the Lakota way of life, language and relationship to earth and seasons. This was followed by a three course dinner served in the glasshouse, with a menu that offered a colourful and joyful array of summer harvests.

Part 3: Our Light is a Part of the Light of the Earth
The evening concluded with a traditional solstice bonfire. As we gathered around the fire, the group was lead through a guided meditation, connecting our hearts to the heart of the world, while listening to the sounds of the ancient Lakota cedar flute, played for us by Tiokasin Ghosthorse. We offered our thanks and blessings for all the gifts of the season.

AUTUMN

October 2019 / Refettorio Felix, St Cuthbert’s / Speaker: Eleanor O’Hanlon , Music: Jatinder Singh Durhailey / Food: Holly Cowgill (chef), Vilma Luostarinen (chef & food design)

Celebrating the final harvests of the year, our third event took place at the wonderful food waste project and community space Refettorio Felix.

Seasonal themes:
Harvest Moon / First Frosts / Fruition / Decline / Transformation / Falling Leaves / Descent  / Colour / Darkness / Change  / Letting Go / Preparation  / Dreams / Listening  / Inner worlds / Hibernation

Part 1: Harvesting Land, Harvesting Hearts
Our Autumnal feast began with an opening candle-lighting ritual, and the divine music of the Dilruba, a sacred Sikh devotional instrument, played for us by Jatinder Singh Durhailey. Our playfully constructed canapés were served to guests, comprised partly from surplus waste from the season, donated by the Refettorio Felix Project. While enjoying their starters, guests were guided in a creative practice to connect with the autumn time, creating some playful ‘Kigo’ poetry (Japanese inspired seasonal poetry) in pairs. 

Part 2: The Autumn of Our Civilisation
As the lights slowly began to dim, the main course, ‘a grief meal’ was served, and guests were invited to eat their first bites in silent contemplation. The second half of the meal offered a guided ‘Bowl of Tears’ ceremony honouring our sacred tears for all that is being lost and destroyed in our precious living earth at this time of decline and unravelling. Each guest symbolically added a pinch of salt to the bowl, offering their grief and prayers for healing.

Part 3: Dreaming The Earth
As the darkness envelopes more and more of the night, autumn is a time of hibernation and dreams. In the final part of the evening, we heard from writer and conservationist Eleanor O’Hanlon. Eleanor read from her book, ‘Eyes of the Wild’, sharing a story of an autumnal encounter with brown bears in the wild. Desert was served with a cup of mugwort tea, traditionally known as an enhancer of visions and dreaming, and so we watched our dreams for the following nights, dreaming the earth… 

WINTER

Dec 2019 / Venue: Benk + Bo /  Speakers: Peter Owen Jones, Bronte Velez & Kyle Lemle (Lead to Life) / Food: Holly Cowgill (Chef), Vilma Luostarinen (Chef & food design) 

Our final Seasons of the Sacred edition was an intimate gathering taking place at Benk + Bo’s stylish underground supper-club grotto. Complete with a Christmas tree, we closed the series in prayer, gratitude and one final celebration together with the wonderful community that had formed over the year.

Seasonal Themes:
Bare / Harsh / Longing / Comfort / Community / Protection / Nourishment / Desolate / Hearth / Snowdrops / Vulnerable / Naked / Minimal / Bleak / Ice / Completion / Celebration / Dormant / Darkness / Completion / Healing

Part 1: Now You Must Go Out Into Your Heart As Onto A Vast Plain
We began the final winter celebration with our traditional candle-lighting opening ritual and moment for prayer. In many myths and folktales, winter is a descent into the underworld; relating to the spiritual world, and to meeting our real spiritual selves. Over starters, guests were invited to read and contemplate together the profound poem ‘A Vast Plain’, by Rainer Maria Rilke.

Part 2: The Jewel That Lies in the River Beneath the River
With eyes closed, we moved deeper into the inner worlds through the sharing of a dream story. The dream was about finding ones own unique precious stone, which were each lying at the bottom of the River Thames. To collect this stone, we had to reach down below the dirty water, and find the ‘pure waters’, like a hidden lining, this was a pure and clear stream that ran below the river. We meditated on the symbology of the dream, and the precious stones as a symbol for our ‘real self’. In the austerity of winter, when all of nature is stripped back and bare to its essence, we too may come into deeper connection with our souls, our true essence. We explored these themes in conversation with the radical priest and spiritual ecologist, Peter Owen-Jones.

Part 3 / Closing: A Final Prayer for Beings in Need
The evening and series was brought to a close by Kyle Lemle and Bronte Velez, co-founders of the inspiring initiative Lead to Life, based in Oakland. L2L are a collective of artists working to transform environmental and systemic forms of violence. In song, dedication, prayer and ritual, we honoured all our human and more-than-human relations who are in need or suffering the harshness this winter time. Our candles lit flames of remembrance in minds and hearts, our interconnectedness burning on into the beyond.