Winter 2020 was wild in a way probably none of us have ever known before. As the weather worsened, the dark nights increased and the cold began to come, covid infections were also on the rise and, with the introduction of the tier system, life became more restricted for many parts of the UK. Here in the South West we were less affected than further north and east, yet larger gatherings needed to cease again, including those of Wild Church/Monastics.
So plans to create our usual elemental altars in Dartington Church for Remembrance for Lost Species had to be cancelled, as did our Advent pilgrimage and everything moved back online… and was mostly either recorded, live-streamed or ‘Zoomed’ from home – not very ‘wild’ perhaps and yet something of a technological new frontier for many of us and still a wonderful way to come together in community.
Our season of Remembrance drew to a close with Lost Species Day on 3oth November, although we met a few days earlier for a Zoom ‘Council of All Beings‘ inspired by the form originally created by Joanna Macy and John Seed. Different members of the group felt called to speak for different endangered or extinct species and there was a wonderful diversity of voices, from nameless microscopic flora and fauna to large mammals. Some people wore masks or used visual aids to enhance their shift into communion with a more than human perspective and we particularly remembered the Devon special species, whom are now the focus of a new campaign from the Devon Wildlife Trust and which we will be supporting.
As we moved deeper into Advent and December, we gathered by Zoom again on the second Wednesday for our contemplative Wild Monastics meeting and then for a final time for a special Midwinter/Christingle celebration on the afternoon before Christmas Eve. I prepared a crafty little video for this here, to demonstrate how to make your own Christingle, or a ‘midwintertingle’ for wildlife using an apple and dried fruit. It was so moving when we gathered virtually from around the world, to meditate together in the darkness and then watch each ‘tingle’ candle light up the dark.
This year, I also created several ‘inclusive language’ Advent liturgies to re-wild inherited church services locally and these were either recorded or live-streamed. Among my many frustrations (I also have appreciations-honest!) with inherited church is the relentless use of male pronouns and male depictions of the divine, which is so sexist and yet rarely challenged or even commented upon in many church circles. So I am on a quiet personal mission to adapt what is often the beautiful poetry of more traditional services to include female and gender neutral perspectives. Here is Compline for the fourth Sunday of Advent, recorded by techno wizard Gill George, and here is Midday Prayer for 23rd December with a special emphasis on Mother Mary. Both are inspired by the ‘celebrating common worship’ liturgies created by the Society of Saint Francis.