Neglect. Exploitation. Trauma. Suffering. If she weeps – and I’m pretty sure if you listen deeply, you will know that she does – the Earth weeps for the same reasons so many women have wept and will still weep.
Not only women, of course.
But the sorrow of Earth and Woman share a special entanglement and one that, in honour of International Women’s Day, this issue gently explores in our theme and other pages.
Turn off and away from the usual distractions to sit down and spend some time with poet Nadia Colburn’s Slow Read to remember those women, including your own ancestors, who have woven their own stories into the fabric of a life shared on this Earth home. Perhaps they – and now you – also finally arrived in that place of deeply embodied connection to the Earth that Nadia speaks of, finding yourself there as a result of deep suffering and sorrow. And if not, perhaps you are on your way. Nadia speaks too of our collective cry for love – again, something that we can all hear – and of our shared desire to return to a culture of caring and connection.
In our special theme we explore further what happens when women break the imposed silence and find the freedom to speak, either aloud or even without words, or perhaps instead through art or through craft – see our feature on The Red Dress – but always through choices and actions. We see too how finding your voice, however big or small, is always the precursor for meaningful change.
In our Wisdom & Wellbeing section, modern-day Kabbalah teacher Mike Bais explores the role of the Divine Feminine in that faith pathway, and in our Art & Culture section, writer and writing retreat facilitator Harriet Griffey discovers how many of our most loved female Nature writers, past and present, only found the freedom to speak out once they stepped (literally) outside the confines of four walls and into a meaningful relationship with the space we call Nature.
When we speak, as the chair of our Trust, James Sainsbury, does in his call to action, we show who we are, what we care about and what we stand for, all of which serves as an invitation for others to join us. This is the deep work of The Resurgence Trust.
And of course someone who is known and greatly respected for his determination to speak out and keep speaking is Satish Kumar, who edited this magazine for over 50 years, and who was recently interviewed by The Guardian in an article of which we are delighted to republish an extract in this issue, especially for our newer members who might not know his whole story.
Perhaps you will always prefer to speak without words but simply through your actions, which of course speak loudest of all, paving the way for change for the better.
When we speak, we build and invite community and quickly discover how our common ground is so much more than what keeps us apart.
When we speak. As we now must.
