On this episode I'm joined by Byron Ballard, author and co-founder of the Mother Grove Goddess Temple, and Amelia "Mia" Solesky, Mother Grove's Mycelium Mama, AKA volunteer coordinator, to discuss the environmental crisis in Western North Carolina in the wake of Hurricane Helene, and what a community-centered, Goddess-inspired response looks like.
During this special episode we discuss:
Show Notes:
Hello, and welcome to Home to Her,
the podcast that's dedicated to
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:reclaiming the lost and stolen
wisdom of the sacred feminine.
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:I'm your host, Liz Kelley, and on
each episode, we explore her stories
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:and myths, her spiritual principles,
and most importantly, what this
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:wisdom has to offer us right now.
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:Thanks for being here.
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:Let's get started.
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:Okay.
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:Okay.
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:Okay.
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:Okay.
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:Hey everybody and welcome to the show.
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:This is Liz joining you as usual
from central Virginia and the
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:unseeded lands of the Monica nation.
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:And I am so glad that
you're here with me today.
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:As always, if you want to know whose
lands native lands you might be residing
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:on, please check out the map online
native dash land dot C a I will put
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:that in the show notes as I always do.
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:And hey, if you are a regular
listener to the show, you might
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:have been wondering where I've
been for the last couple months.
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:So I, I did want to address that.
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:If you follow me on social, or
if you receive my newsletter,
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:you will already know this.
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:But I have been in the midst
of a separation from my partner
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:of Really married for 18
years partnered for 20 years.
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:And so it's been quite a significant
shift the last year has been particularly
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:intense and especially the last few months
as we've navigated moving to different
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:houses and Co parenting schedules and all
of that life has been quite a ride and
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:I may speak about it more here It's very
emergent right now, but I just wanted
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:to Name that and that I don't have any
intention of letting go of this show Some
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:of you have reached out to me directly
and and asked me to continue doing
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:episodes And I do have every intention
of that and I think for me the sacred
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:feminine is all about well, she's about
many things but emergence is absolutely
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:one of them and allowing what needs to
appear to appear and Not putting ourselves
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:in rigid rigid boxes and structures.
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:And so while I love to release these
episodes every new and full moon If I
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:don't have the stamina and the energy
and the focus to do so, I won't do so.
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:So that's where I'm at.
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:And that said, I've got many new
episodes that are scheduled to be
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:recorded and I'm planning to release
them throughout the end of the year.
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:So I will cautiously, intensively
say that I think I'm back.
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:But you know, just give me some grace.
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:If, if one doesn't show up,
then know that I'm still in my
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:process and working through it
and I'll be with you when I can.
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:And with that, I want to
start today's episode.
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:This is kind of a special episode.
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:I, I am excited that I'm
returning of sorts with this.
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:But as I was preparing this morning and
thinking, I was remembering this beautiful
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:quote by the writer Andrew Harvey, and
I don't have it exactly in front of me,
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:but this is what I remember him saying.
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:If the sacred feminine is
anything, it is love in action.
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:Love incessantly birthing
itself again and again.
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:And I'm going to find that and put it in
the show notes so I get it exactly right.
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:But it is, that is the essence of it.
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:And I think we can explore the sacred
feminine from all kinds of angles
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:and We can think about it in terms
of philosophically and you know,
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:what does it feel like in the body?
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:And i'm deeply interested if you've
been listening to the show for a while
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:You know this I am deeply interested
in what does it mean to actually see?
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:The values or the expression of
the sacred feminine in action.
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:And so my show today that's
what we're going to talk about
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:I have with me Byron Ballard.
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:She's been on the show multiple times.
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:I'm sure you probably Recognize her name
and her face if you're watching Byron
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:is the Appalachian Witch of Asheville,
North Carolina, and the co founder of
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:the Mother Grove Goddess Temple there.
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:I'm also joined by the wonderful
and amazing Mia Selesky.
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:She is on the board of the Mother
Grove Goddess Temple, and she
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:is also their mycelium mama.
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:Also known as a volunteer coordinator.
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:She's going to explain that to us.
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:But they're here today to talk
about what's happening in Western
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:North Carolina and how this goddess
inspired, sacred, feminine response
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:to the recent Hurricane Helene
there what that actually looks like.
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:So thank you both.
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:I know you're really busy.
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:I'm so grateful for you
both joining me today.
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:Thank you.
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:Thank you so much for having us.
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:Absolutely.
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:And so what I thought might be
helpful, just to set a stage, if
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:either of you, you know, and as
we're recording this, the hurricane
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:Milton is hitting Florida right now.
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:I'm not exactly sure when this episode is
going to be out, but you know, we are, we
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:are recording right in the midst of that.
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:So we, you know, we are, we
are, we are living through these
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:climate catastrophes as we speak.
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:And I, I am, we I'm wondering if
one or both of you could just speak
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:to the situation in Western North
Carolina right now to help people
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:understand what an intense an
unusual situation this is right now.
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:This to, to put it bluntly,
this is our Katrina.
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:Yeah.
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:We had thousand, a thousand year
flood and the, it is, except
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:for the immediate downtown of
Asheville, everything is devastated.
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:We cannot drive from here to
Tennessee on I 40 until November
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:of next year, if we're lucky.
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:We've seen landslides.
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:We've seen rockfalls.
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:We have seen houses literally picked
up off their foundation by small rivers
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:and deposited in the neighbor's yard.
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:We, we don't even know the extent of the
damage yet, but we know that in Buncombe
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:County, the water system was destroyed.
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:So it's not a matter of just Of
just making sure the water is
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:potable and and all the things
you have to do for a water system.
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:They're having to rebuild our water
system, and they can't do that until
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:they rebuild roads to get to the
places to rebuild the water system.
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:We have been so fortunate
power companies from across.
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:Well, I was going to
say across the country.
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:The U.
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:S.
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:but we have people here from Canada too
who are helping us get power back on.
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:I am really fortunate in
my home that I have power.
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:We got power a couple days ago which makes
everything a little bit easier to do.
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:But, but the, the real, I'm not
going to say the real, there is a
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:devastation outside of Asheville.
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:Everybody knows Asheville now because
it's a, it's a cool place to go.
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:But, These slopes were not,
they were never meant to have
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:22 inches of rain in two hours.
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:They just weren't.
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:These rivers can't hold that.
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:And so we are looking at towns that
are, literally, don't exist anymore.
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:They've all just been
blown away with the water.
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:The River Arts District, which is right
above my, right below my house, Has
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:always been an art center for really
edgy artists that can't, you know,
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:they're, they're not the people who are
in downtown galleries in New York and DC.
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:And whole buildings are lost, Liz.
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:Whole buildings, whole
communities are lost.
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:And my words are not
enough to describe it.
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:It's horrific.
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:And I want to say this now,
before I forget, don't come here.
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:Don't come here with the idea that
you're going to help because you're
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:just going to clutter things up.
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:If you want to help send money to
reliable places and Mother Grove is one
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:of those, but certainly not the only one.
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:Send money, send your
thoughts and prayers.
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:I want to see the, the national
and international goddess and
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:pagan community paying attention.
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:We mock Christians all the time
because, Oh, I don't know what to do.
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:I'll send thoughts and prayers.
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:You know what, right now we'll
take your thoughts and prayers.
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:We'll take your donations.
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:We'll take what we can get, but don't
come here either as a disaster tourist
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:or good with good intentions to help.
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:Because you just can't.
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:The roads cannot handle more traffic
and for god's sake don't come here
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:thinking you can camp and look at the
colors stay out Stay out send money.
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:Thank you.
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:Thank you for saying that and I just I
wanted to add to For people who are not
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:from that area when byron says that i 40
is you can't drive it We're talking about
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:so for those of you on the east coast.
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:That's like A major chunk of
I 95 being gone for a year.
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:Like you trying to move through the
states in the northeast or for those
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:of you on the west coast losing I five.
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:So you cannot trans, you can't
get back and forth from LA to
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:correct Cisco or San Diego.
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:A massive thing.
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:It's a major interstate highway that
goes from east to west and west to east.
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:Yes.
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:Yeah.
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:It's, it's, yeah, it's a, it's a
big deal and I I so appreciate I
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:would like to add in there too.
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:Yeah, please.
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:I normally commute pretty
often to Asheville.
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:I mean, I'm up there every other weekend.
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:I'm there for our circle
of council meetings.
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:And it is like, even though I am
an hour and a half away, that they
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:are on the other side of the world.
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:I cannot get there.
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:Even if I want, you know, if
I had the ability, there's
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:not the roads to get there.
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:And when you get to the
roads that could lead you in.
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:They're so unstable.
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:If you're not in a four wheel
drive vehicle, you're risking
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:your life and whoever would be
responding to your accident.
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:It is deeply irresponsible to
try to go up there right now.
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:Thank you.
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:Thank you for putting that in perspective
and So I want to talk about so byron
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:you were on the show not too long ago
Actually, we were talking about your
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:upcoming book feral church and the the
idea of I want you to speak to that, but
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:from my perspective, the idea of sort
of reclaiming this idea of spirituality,
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:putting it back in the community, putting
it back into our own hands and our, and
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:making it rooted deeply in the goddess.
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:And so here, now, Is a prime example
of what this looks like in real life.
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:And, and I would imagine we would
all wish to be talking about this
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:from a more joyful place, right?
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:Like a celebration of
of something new life.
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:But I'd love to hear you both kind
of talk about how the mother grove is
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:playing this role, this, this feral
church role and what that means in
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:responding to a situation like this.
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:I don't know where to start.
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:For over a decade, I have been
touring the country talking about
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:community, community, community.
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:I've been beating the drum for community.
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:And and Mother Grove Goddess Temple
is, I think, about 18 years old now.
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:And we have reliably for many years,
except during COVID, we have we've
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:done Public rituals for the eight
holy days, nine, if you count Earth
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:Day, we have had a food pantry.
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:We've taught classes.
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:We've done all those things that
a quote unquote church would do.
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:But community is a hard thing and
community requires Action and it
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:requires tending and and out of my
teaching and my frankly proselytizing
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:about the concept of circles on
the ground, which is relocalizing
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:everything that can be relocalized and
saying, because the climate change.
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:We don't even begin to understand
what that's going to look like,
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:but it's going to be dramatic
and we need to be ready for it.
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:And I've been frustrated time and
again with communities nodding.
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:Oh yeah, no, no.
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:Oh, I get it.
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:I get it.
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:I get it.
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:But not preparing.
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:So we in this region are going to be the
object lesson for that preparation because
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:we prepared as best we could, not knowing
that it would be a thousand year storm.
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:My family lived through.
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:In 1916 a flood on the same set of rivers.
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:That decimated Asheville and I grew
up with those stories of, of the
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:things that came down the river, the
people who died, how hard it was to
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:rebuild the infrastructure in 1916.
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:At that point, the river then, and we'll
talk about the French broad 'cause that's
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:the river closest to me, the French
broad rose, 22.4 feet above its banks.
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:In this storm, it rose 27.
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:So that's the difference in,
in 110 years, but for us, we.
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:We never thought we
would be a relief agency.
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:We had a small food pantry
that served a small community.
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:And and Amelia, I, I was laughing the
other day about, you remember at the last
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:circle of council meeting we discussed
the food pantry and how much money we
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:needed to put towards it every month.
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:And I just said, look, we're
not just a food pantry.
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:We're a goddess temple.
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:And now of course, we are both a food
pantry and a goddess temple, because.
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:As of, I don't even know how many
days ago, let's just say two weeks, my
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:friend Beth Trigg contacted me late at
night and she said Swannanoa, which is
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:a small town outside of Asheville, and
it's a beautiful valley, and I think
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:actually Swannanoa is either a Cherokee
or a Creek word that means beautiful
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:valley, was decimated and they needed
help and they needed it right now.
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:And so I got her in touch with
beloved Asheville, which is a,
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:an amazing organization run by an
amazing woman named Amy Cantrell.
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:And then she said, but we
need this and we need that.
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:And I put out the all call
then that we need water.
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:We need diapers.
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:We need volunteers.
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:We need, and you can go back on my
Facebook page and on mother Grove's
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:Facebook page, and you can see how
we've kind of consistently every
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:day said, these are what we need
and bring them in, please bring.
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:And we're in a central
location that still had power.
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:And that's really the key.
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:The temple flooded because it
always floods, because our old
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:building has bad French drains.
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:It flooded, but we came in and
we just started gathering, we
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:started the in gathering of things.
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:And then, because we're not a huge
organization, we're not beloved Asheville,
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:we would target different communities,
fill up someone's car with everything that
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:we could, primarily water, food, diapers,
formula, and we would send them out.
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:And we were sending out three to four
carloads a day to different places.
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:We went to elder homes we well like
apartment complexes for the elderly.
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:We went to outlying communities.
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:We, we, well, we just went to
a lot of different places and
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:just left everything we could.
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:And it, it has been amazing
how that has just happened.
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:And our intention as a temple
was that we would say, please
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:donate to this relief effort.
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:And we were going to divide that
money up between beloved Asheville.
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:Who we have a great rapport with
and the cathedral of all souls,
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:which is our home in the winter.
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:They let us use the parish hall and
they were in Biltmore village and they
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:took substantial damage and flooding.
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:And whatever we can raise for them
will be a drop in the bucket to
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:restore that historic building.
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:But that was our intention.
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:And then, and then we became a
resource center and people would
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:say, Hey, you know, over at this
place, they're giving away water.
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:And we would, I would look around
the room and go, who wants to
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:make a run over to that place?
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:And they would run and they would come
back with literally cases of water.
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:The first run we did, I went out to,
and it was Z Strouderman who also
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:serves on our circle of counsel and
myself, to a place called Barnardsville,
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:because we had been told that they
were just desperately in need.
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:So we loaded up Z's four wheel drive.
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:We went out there.
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:The road out there was good.
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:We got off the interstate.
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:That road was good, but a quarter
mile on either side of the road.
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:It was apocalyptic and we got to the
place we were told to go and we, I
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:don't know, I have no expectations
at all right now about anything,
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:but this group of anarchists is
the best way I can describe them.
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:A lot of them are with our
firefly community, which is
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:a primitive skills group.
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:They'd taken an old firehouse.
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:and they had totally organized it.
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:So you go here if you're missing
for missing persons, you go here
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:for first aid, you go here to
the welcome table and they will
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:direct you to where you need to go.
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:You go here for food, you go here for
clothes, you go around the side of the
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:building and there are 10 by 10 pop ups
erected, and there were probably, I don't
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:know, thousands of cases of bottled water.
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:And they had people directing
traffic, so if you were coming
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:in to pick up, you went one way.
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:If you were coming in to
deliver, you went another way.
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:You opened the back of your vehicle,
people came, they unloaded, they
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:took it where it was supposed to go.
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:It was the most organized
thing I've ever seen.
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:Sorry, this is long.
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:Sorry, I haven't talked this much.
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:Except to say, load your car, go there.
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:That as an example to us
of how it can be done.
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:If we can do this, anybody in any
community can do it, but you need to know
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:how you need to figure you, you need to
have a plan and we didn't have a plan.
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:We're, we're, I mean, we're
pulling it out of our asses.
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:We go but we will have a plan
because we're going to go back
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:through all that we did, and we can
have a plan to give to communities.
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:So whatever your natural disaster
is, you can organize that, because
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:we are not, we're not doing
anything anybody else couldn't do.
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:We're just not.
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:Anybody could do this.
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:We were lucky we had space, and that space
had power, which makes it nice because
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:you can boil water and have a cup of tea.
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:We have a volunteer who comes in
every day and brings us hot meals,
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:brings the volunteers hot meals.
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:So the goal at this point
for me personally is to,
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:is to keep a good record.
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:And that's what this notebook is that I've
been writing in to keep a good record.
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:Not only the people who have volunteered,
but of the people who've sent things,
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:the places they've gone so that I
can create a document that can go to
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:any community and they can adjust it.
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:For the specifics of their terrain and
environment, and then they can, they can
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:do it because if we can do it, anybody
can do it, but they have to do it, and
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:they have to not sit on their hands,
because there are people right now in this
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:community who could be coming to Mother
Grove and just sitting and waiting and
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:holding the fort so that other people
could leave, but they're not, they're
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:not, and it is probably, probably My
biggest joy, but also my biggest complaint
331
:about the pagan community in general
and the witch community in general,
332
:is that they're really good online.
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:They, they, they look really, really good.
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:I need them to walk their talk.
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:And I need to see more of that because
the people here are doing that.
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:The people of Mother Grave
Goddess Temple are doing that.
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:And I, my personal plea to
everyone out there is get ready,
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:get ready because it's coming.
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:We are eight hours from the coast.
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:Okay.
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:We're six hours from the
South Carolina coast.
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:We're hours from the coast and
we got hit with a hurricane.
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:And if you think that can't happen to
you on the Great Lakes, you're wrong.
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:You're absolutely wrong.
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:So circles on the ground.
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:And I'll say one tiny thing about Feral
Church because Feral Church is always It's
347
:an outgrowth of my work at Mothergrove,
is that this is all about saying you
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:find the divine, you find goddess
where she is, and she is everywhere.
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:So you don't have to go into a special
building, you don't have to go to a
350
:special festival, you can do all of that
and it's beautiful, but she's right here.
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:She is right here, right now.
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:I want to piggyback off of that
if I can, too, and kind of go
353
:back on the online aspect of this.
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:Because there was a big part
of this that started when
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:Asheville had no connectivity.
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:We went for about two and a half days
where nobody could communicate to anybody.
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:And the Pagan community is
incredibly strong online.
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:It is one of our best aspects, I think.
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:And sometimes it is, it
can be our downfall too.
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:But in this, on those three
days, it was incredible.
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:Because Here I am.
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:I'm down in Concord, you know, pretty
good distance away, but my entire
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:community is there and I can't get in.
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:I can't hear from them.
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:And of course, I'm not the
only one that feels this way.
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:There's a lot of people that love our
community and stay very much in touch.
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:And our weird army was doing their
best to be boots on the ground.
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:From all over the country, we
were looking, we were checking the
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:GIS maps to see if the landslides
were affecting people's homes.
370
:We did everything we can to
find the right information.
371
:And I know that there were a couple
of occasions when connectivity
372
:was so limited that every message
count, every single one counted.
373
:And we were Breaking down maps and
relaying information to the people
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:that we could, so that hey, it's the
first day we know you don't have water.
375
:This location closest to you is they
have water and they have groceries
376
:and they have power, and you have a
little bit of cell phone signal there.
377
:It was that in important for every
communication to count because
378
:it, you didn't know what was
gonna get through and what didn't.
379
:Now, when we were in the
state, the community was.
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:Scared online.
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:We were very worried and concerned and
also feeling intense helplessness, had
382
:no idea how to reach the people that we
loved and wanted to lift out of this.
383
:And that's when I started to see people
get more organized and figure out
384
:where we could communicate the right
information and where it needed to go.
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:On that day that we
finally got communication.
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:There's nothing that can
describe that sense of relief.
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:When you know that people are still
there, so I would say that we're strong
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:online and there are things that even
if you are two hours away and you
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:cannot access people that you can do,
then not all of them are monetary.
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:Yes, a good portion of that is,
but making sure that every point of
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:communication counts and is the right
information that matters a whole lot to.
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:And I want to piggyback on that by saying.
393
:I woke up day before yesterday, I
think time is irrelevant at this
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:point and and it's getting cold here.
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:It's October, it's getting cold.
396
:And I thought I am going to talk
to my fiber friends and say, if you
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:are somebody who knits or crochets.
398
:Send us warm woolies.
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:Send us, and I started with caps.
400
:If you know how to knit what we call
in the mountains, a toboggan hat,
401
:which is a, you know, a beanie thing.
402
:We would love those.
403
:And the whole point of that was, was
to engage the people that I know wanted
404
:to do something, but didn't know what
to do because it's, they can knit or
405
:they can bring their knitted things or
fiber art things that they already do.
406
:And they could really, really be
helping because it's getting cold.
407
:Well, I had no idea
how that would explode.
408
:All over the country.
409
:So I think, I think by by
Yuletide, we will have like
410
:thousands of hats and scarves.
411
:And socks and, and I was trying to be
very clear that I wanted them to be
412
:handmade so that as you're working it,
you're putting in your own magic and
413
:your love and your care and your comfort.
414
:And people would say, well, you know,
I can get them in bulk from Amazon.
415
:And I go, no, please don't.
416
:Because the whole point is that this
would be a magical goddess filled act.
417
:From your needles or your hook directly
to the head and neck of somebody that
418
:you will never know You'll never know who
got it You will only know that you were
419
:the hands of the goddess and and we'll
see we'll see we've already gotten three
420
:enormous generous like garbage bags full
of stuff and that will go to beloved
421
:community because they they They take care
of our homeless citizens all the time.
422
:So that, that will never be bad.
423
:And, and we are stocking up on canned
food because canned food lasts forever.
424
:So yeah, it's been amazing.
425
:And Mia has been such a huge part of
that because she is a mycelium mama.
426
:And right now that's.
427
:That's a great irony of having this
much rain and then that warm weather
428
:is that the earth and the mycelium
people have given us so many flushes
429
:of beautiful mushrooms to eat.
430
:And that's just how that works
and and magically or energetically
431
:speaking, elderberry is blooming
again elderberry, which is.
432
:The cure for all ills.
433
:St.
434
:John's Wort is blooming again,
which is a wonderful nerve
435
:thing for calming people down.
436
:It's, it's extraordinary.
437
:And I want to say one quick thing
about, in addition to being a relief
438
:center, we are also a goddess temple.
439
:So at two o'clock every day, Eastern
time as a Facebook live, one of our
440
:priestesses, and in this case, it's Mary
Jane Finley, will come on to do a brief
441
:meditation and we light the candles on
the main altar and it's very quiet and
442
:it's a chance for people to just sit.
443
:And be quiet together.
444
:People gather in the temple to do that.
445
:We also have set up an outdoor altar for
the missing and the dead and today at
446
:four and we don't know when this will air.
447
:But in the past on this day at four,
we're doing a ritual of gratitude.
448
:And grief and Liz, you had said something
about being more joyful and we are
449
:joyful because so many of us survived.
450
:So we, we're grateful that we were aware.
451
:Yes.
452
:Oh, thank you so much.
453
:And Byron, I know you need to
run to go get ready for work.
454
:So I just want to thank you for
taking time out of your very
455
:busy schedule to share with us.
456
:And Mia, if you've got a little more time,
maybe we can chat for a few more minutes.
457
:Absolutely.
458
:Much gratitude, Byron.
459
:It's always a gift to have you with me.
460
:So thank you all so much.
461
:And Liz, thanks for taking
the time to tell our story.
462
:We need that too.
463
:Absolutely.
464
:Yeah.
465
:Thank you.
466
:God is blessed.
467
:And Mia, I wanted to say to You know
what Byron was saying it, it reminded
468
:me in my, in my book, and this is a
much smaller example, but in my book
469
:I wrote about a few years ago being
present to a man's death on a hiking
470
:trail that I was on with my kids.
471
:And what that experience was like.
472
:He was in his forties.
473
:I, we don't, you know, it's hard
to know what happened to him,
474
:but he, I mean, he was healthy.
475
:He had a heart attack.
476
:He fell down and died in front
of his wife and small child.
477
:And you know, it wasn't a super remote
place, but it was remote enough that.
478
:A helicopter needed to be flown in to get
him out and in the meantime, you know,
479
:there's this, there's this medical crisis
that's occurring in front of so many of us
480
:who were just out on the trail to have a
good day and as was he, and what struck me
481
:about it was There was so much that struck
me about it and I'm, I can feel myself
482
:kind of tearing up as I talk about it
still because it was such a, an incredibly
483
:powerful and sorrowful and moving
experience was that it was witnessing
484
:what Byron just said, that the goddess
is here, that everybody who saw it just
485
:Just launch themselves into their higher
selves in whatever way that they could.
486
:And so there were medical professionals
who happened to be on the trail who
487
:Jumped in and were trying to save this
man's life and my two kids, you know, my
488
:my former partner had the the incredible
instinct to call this little girl who
489
:was his child over and invite her to
play with my kids because What we had was
490
:our children and our family and we could
distract this little girl While her mom
491
:sat with her dying father You There were
people who were clearly praying and like
492
:other people who were holding space to
not let anybody get too close, you know,
493
:so that people could work with him and it
was like, Everybody just knew like there
494
:was not we just knew how to show up as
expressions and emanations of the divine.
495
:And so I think that maybe, and I
don't say this lightly, because I
496
:know how much suffering there is, but
maybe that is the gift or the silver
497
:lining in these horrible, horrible
tragedies is that we remember that we
498
:just what Byron said, we are there.
499
:We are her.
500
:We are her.
501
:There is nothing outside of ourselves.
502
:We are her.
503
:I couldn't agree more.
504
:And the whole theory that the mycelium
network from Mother Grove started talking
505
:about this when I joined the council,
Circle of Council, I recognized, even
506
:though I lived an hour and a half
away from Asheville, that I wanted to
507
:be a part of a spiritual community.
508
:Deeply.
509
:And that I wanted to serve and help and
I have talents that are a little unique,
510
:you know, I have a marketing background.
511
:So what am I going to do with that talent?
512
:I want to help with the social media.
513
:I want to help do these different items.
514
:And I thought if I was feeling
that way, there had to be
515
:more people feeling that way.
516
:I can't be the only one.
517
:So when I joined the Circle Council,
what I wanted to do is create a mycelium
518
:network of volunteers, not based off of
the task at hand, but based off of the
519
:ability of the people willing to serve.
520
:So the idea, much like our mushroom
friend, relay information from tree to
521
:rock to river, that This network could
form a way to jump in and have the
522
:resources already at hand, no matter
what happens and in our mycelium network.
523
:When you sign up, you actually fill out a
questionnaire of how do you want to serve?
524
:And that could be.
525
:Anywhere from lending cleanup help
to providing comfort and having
526
:experience in mental health services,
one of our volunteers actually.
527
:Is familiar with grant writing.
528
:So these are the things
that we're trying to reach.
529
:And I feel that at this time, when we
were trying to get contact with our
530
:locals, and when they had no cell phone.
531
:Connectivity or Internet, this is where
we saw the outside of this network
532
:start to jump in because people.
533
:Provided the expertise
that they could offer.
534
:And that's the key to this
in me, in my opinion, is.
535
:Only give what you can and when
you can because that is going
536
:to be the best you'll offer.
537
:We can only change
those that we can touch.
538
:But we all touch different
aspects of this world.
539
:Yeah, absolutely.
540
:And I want to make sure, I know
Byron already mentioned a couple of
541
:organizations and obviously Mother
Grove, but I'm going, I want to make sure
542
:that I have all this in the show notes.
543
:So if people want to support that
there's some ideas of places you can go.
544
:So be sure to check those out.
545
:I'll, I'll do the best I can
and maybe add to them over time.
546
:If there's, there's more than I know.
547
:Yeah.
548
:And I.
549
:You just even as you were saying that Mia,
I was thinking about the ways in which we
550
:can serve like I'm A pretty sad knitter,
but but I'm a really, I'm a really solid
551
:meditator and ritual maker and holding
of, of energetic space in that way.
552
:And I'm so glad that you and Byron
have both presenced whether we call
553
:it magic or our intuitive abilities
that the access that we have to.
554
:Both the seen and the unseen realms,
the material and the, the more liminal
555
:spaces that all of this matters if we
do it with deep heart and intention.
556
:And yes, people need money.
557
:They need financial resources.
558
:They need tangible stuff.
559
:They need food.
560
:They need water.
561
:They need tampons.
562
:They need diapers.
563
:They need all of that.
564
:And to your point, we give
what we can and that that has
565
:expressions of her is enough.
566
:It is enough.
567
:I'll do that.
568
:It is enough.
569
:Absolutely.
570
:Absolutely.
571
:Because what, what happens from that?
572
:I believe, and we are seeing, is that
these circles are formed in our physical
573
:communities and our virtual communities.
574
:I can't get up to Asheville and
help them, and that kills me.
575
:It, it, survival, survivor's
guilt is a real thing.
576
:I'm completely unaffected down
here in Charlotte and Concord.
577
:My day has just kept on going.
578
:But, I Am able to make a difference by
making every point of communication count
579
:by jumping in and following that intuitive
instinct to say, what do you need?
580
:How can I make this happen?
581
:What can I ask the community
outside and how can they contribute?
582
:That's what I feel we can all do when we
are in these situations, is lean into our
583
:own intuitive instincts and find where.
584
:Our expertise can be best used.
585
:Yes.
586
:Mm.
587
:Well, I this feels like a good place
to pause that you have taken time
588
:out of your work day to join me.
589
:I'm so grateful.
590
:I know Byron has been
running around like crazy.
591
:So I just really want to thank you
for your time being here with me today
592
:and your heart and your dedication
and all that you are bringing.
593
:It's a gift and an honor to
know you and to be able to
594
:share what you all are doing.
595
:So thank you so much.
596
:Mia.
597
:I really am grateful to you.
598
:Thank you, Liz, for having us.
599
:And I do want to mention we on
our website, we have a call to
600
:action if people are interested.
601
:So you can go to Mother Grove and I'm
sure we can put this in the show notes.
602
:We have a whole link of how you can help.
603
:With relief efforts.
604
:Yes, I will definitely put that in.
605
:And then also when you're talking
about your volunteer coordinator, can
606
:we can anybody from anywhere in the
country get on your mycelium network?
607
:Can we be a part of it?
608
:Absolutely.
609
:Okay, absolutely.
610
:And we can find that on the website too.
611
:Yeah.
612
:So that is a separate Google link.
613
:Because it's to a google doc, but I can
make sure we provide that for you Perfect,
614
:and I can put that in the show notes too.
615
:Awesome All right, my heart is with you
My heart is with the people of western
616
:north carolina and My heart is with all
of you who are listening and whatever
617
:it is that you're navigating together.
618
:We've got this Sending you so much.
619
:Love.
620
:Thank you again.
621
:Mia and all of you Take so good
take so much care of yourselves
622
:and I I will be back with you soon
623
:Home to Her is hosted by me, Liz Kelley.
624
:You can visit me online at hometoher.
625
:com, where you can find show
notes and other episodes.
626
:You can read articles about the
Sacred Feminine, and you'll also
627
:find a link to join the Home to
Her Facebook group for lots more
628
:discussion and exploration of Her.
629
:You can also follow me on Instagram,
at home to her, to keep up to
630
:date with the latest episodes.
631
:Thanks so much for joining us
and we'll see you back here soon.