Soda Mountain-Cascade Siskiyou Earth Exchange

On June 12, eight lovers of Radical Joy met with Dave Willis, chair of the Soda Mountain Wilderness and Cascade Siskiyou Monument, on the land itself. Each year Dave chooses a site he wants us to offer our Radical Joy prayers and ceremony to help protect this unique place. This year we all gathered in a site next to land that had been sold with the intention for conservation but which was being heavily logged. He wanted us to direct our love and caring energy towards the wounded land and hold the intention that conservation would prevail. Dave shared that he believes strongly in the intention of Radical Joy and has seen positive outcomes over the past 12 years.

We sat together and shared our experiences of being present with the voices of the land. We were surrounded by a year-round creek, a large diversity of conifers for which the monument is known, the songs of birds, and the wild flowers blossoming. We then spent an hour in quiet wandering and reflection before returning. We came together again with “news” of the land’s appreciation for our concern and actions and confident that we had infused this place with the blessings of our love and care. Our RadJoy bird was assembled very easily with offerings from the earth, and we left with our hearts filled with the gifts of being together with the land we love and each other.