Animate Earth Collective

Our existence is intimately bound to the land beneath our feet – we are physically sustained by a vegetal world that generates both food and breath. Countless ancient and indigenous wisdom traditions throughout human history view the self, food, and the land as a single, sacred, and inseparable continuum. In these traditions, eating is not a mechanical act of consumption, but a holy ritual of communion and reciprocity.

But this sacred equilibrium, which underpins all terrestrial life has been systematically fractured and degraded in the modern era. An alienation driven by detrimental agricultural practices, the industrial over-processing of food and a systemic estrangement of humans from their own indigenous roots have all contributed to the present materialistic-mechanistic paradigm of nutrition.

The route back to harmony, however, is present every time we eat.

Consideration of what and how we eat needs to be expanded to include the subtle energetic principles of ingredients through which the sacred interconnectedness of human and planet can be reformed. The emotional and spiritual balance of the cook is the foundation upon which high vibrational, nutrient-dense, soul-nourishing foods can be prepared and an awakening can take place to the foundational identity of humans as a living, breathing extension of the soil itself.

Join us in this two day course with Michelin-trained chef and sanyassin of the Osho school Sarmado Sibley and immerse yourself in the practices of seasonal, sacred food preparation and the sanctity of community, mindful eating and the honouring of ingredients.

Food as a Love Letter to the Land
Explore a more sacred relationship between self, sustenance, and soil
23 – 25 October
Canonteign Manor, Devon

https://animate-earth.org/food-as-a-love-letter-to-the-land/

"I felt myself enter a different state of being. I sang to my ancestors and called on the Spirit of Cerridwen to help transform me. It was then that I understood I needed to be in the water.

I pictured myself in the river, up to my neck in the water and with my back to the world. I wanted to keen and I remembered the story of the wailing Washer By the Ford.

My old life was gone and all its joys and grief. I needed to mark its passing.

Beginning by the spiral I knelt, picked up my wreath and entered the water. I submerged as much of my body as I could, and laying on my back I surrendered to the river and floated in the pool."

Chel Edinburgh shares her transformational experience of attentional encounters with Hazel, Cerridwen and River from our recent Rainmaker residential in Wales.

Photography by Niusia Winczewska and Chel Edinburgh

Come and join us again this year at 'The Magician's House' in Devon for our Subtle Energies of The Land residentials with Patrick MacManaway, Bríd Walsh and Brigite Rowan.

This is a training for those who work with the land in any capacity, for those who would like to explore and begin to use the art, the science of working with the land in this subtle capacity. There is much evidence to show that working in this way, with the land, with crops, animals, water-courses, trees and the communities, human and otherwise that live upon it, leads to greater balance, harmony and productivity for all.

The objectives of our time together are to:

✨ understand subtle energy principles
✨ understand how to use intuition, kinesiology and simple telepathy to access information and guidance
✨ understand the power of connection with the intelligence of nature at work in your landscape
✨ participate with and co-creatively influence the fundamental processes of nature
✨ understand the power of intent and attitude in influencing the success of our relationships and our work with the land
✨ understand the impact of energy imbalances, and learn techniques to correct these and restore health

Subtle Energies of The Land
5 - 9 Oct 2026 / 11 - 15 Jan 2027
Residential Course

Subtle Energies of The Land Level 2
12 - 16 October 2026
Residential Course

Bookings via https://animate-earth.org/animate-earth-courses/

Initiation is an ancient form of ceremony that brings maturity, transformation into a new phase of life and assists in taking up our place within the collective. There are many forms of initiation and in traditional society it was often, and in many places still is, a coming of age where the young person becomes an adult stepping into their role within the tribe. The elders of the community perform these initiations, guiding the next generation into finding their purpose.

In many places now, the processes and the powers of initiation have been forgotten, the elders have almost gone or are having to relearn what ancient rites mean in contemporary times. There are those who believe it is through listening to the land, plants and trees, by coming into deep relationship and conversation with the ‘more than human’ world, that we can once again recover these methods and be initiated into what it means to be truly human.

In this ceremony, open to all, we are offering an initiation with the Elder Tree, an opportunity to spend intimate time with this plant, to receive personal healing and insight, and to establish lifelong kinship.

At the turning of the Celtic year and beneath the Samhain moon we will gather in sacred space with the Elder tree, Sambucas nigra, to fast and drink her elixir of flower and berry, of shadow and light. As a tree of rebirth she will take us each on a personal initiatory journey to release misperceptions and reclaim personal potency for the descent into the darkness of winter.

The potent regenerative power of this tree is transferred to us as restorative medicine bringing psychological and spiritual change which resonates through the generations.

Bookings via https://animate-earth.org/initiation-by-elder/

Please bring strange things.
Please come bringing new things.
Let very old things come into your hands.
Let what you do not know come into your eyes.

Let desert sand harden your feet.
Let the arch of your feet be the mountains.
Let the paths of your fingertips be your maps
and the ways you go be the lines on your palms.
Let there be deep snow in your inbreathing
and your outbreath be the shining of ice.

May your mouth contain the shapes of strange words.
May you smell food cooking you have not eaten.
May the spring of a foreign river be your navel.
May your soul be at home where there are no houses.

Walk carefully, well loved one,
walk mindfully, well loved one,
walk fearlessly, well loved one.
Return with us, return to us,
be always coming home.

Ursula Le Guin

Magical scenes from our recent Elements and Archetypes residential with Colin Campbell in Wales

In this rich dialogue, Animate Earth friends Sharon Blackie and David Abram explore magic as the experience of living in a world that is itself alive—where nature is not an object but a subject in constant conversation. Magic is not supernatural but relational, rooted in enchantment, intention, embodiment, and language born of the land.

Word Magic with Sharon Blackie and David Abram In this rich dialogue, Sharon Blackie and David Abram explore magic...

Gathering in the joy of remembrance, a gathering of how to be and how to move forward in these new times.

The magical faces from a magical week of exploring Mythic realms with Colin Campbell and Rachel Fleming from our recent Elements and Archetypes residential in Wales.

Some good news from Zambia:

Leopards recover in Zambia as communities swap skins for synthetics Conservationists say a switch from real leopard skins to synthetic furs in traditional ceremonies has helped reduce poaching and boost leopard numbers in western Zambia

Sacred moments in pilgrimage, to the chapel 'in the thin place' of Capel-y-ffin, and exploring the folds of this mythic place on our recent Rainmaker residential.

Meet Gaia: A response to what is happening in the world - drought, fire, flooding… I’ve been working trying to show the energies in nature for some time, it's a theme I keep returning to...

As time goes by, I delve ever deeper into the secrets and depths of the natural world, using my painting as a medium for communication."

Artwork by Sibyelle Sibylle Laubscher | Artist, 2026 Feather Fire Stone and Bone / Animate Earth online programme participant