It’s been many, many years since I first read Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower, but every time I return to it, it feels like the first time, with new gifts to offer, new rememberings to deepen into.
I brought segments of Earthseed to a Gathering I was hosting about 4 years ago, where I led a rest-meditation (that I recorded). And then I forgot about it! I returned to the book (again) a month ago, and (again) brought segments of Earthseed into a number of circles I was facilitating, and then I decided to do a rest-meditation centering Earthseed (again) in an MIE gathering. When I went to upload it onto Insight Timer, I realized I had an older one from years ago on my hard drive! Psssst: this is the generative nature of Earthseed.
The recordings are different, of course, and yet are also related. The me- 4 years ago- and the me -a month ago: both on a journey to embody a teaching that I feel deep in my bones: “Life, Shaping life… God, Shaping God… All that you touch, You Change. All that you Change, Changes you. The only lasting truth Is Change. God Is Change.” For me, the teachings in Earthseed are not mental teachings: they are to be a lived wisdom.
I find Earthseed to be a deeply empowering way to be in relationship with life, and Octavia Butler gives us a recipe of sort. Putting it into action, however, is not easy, as we tend to be a rather mental and disembodied culture. Add that to the fact that we’re all habituated to, and in, a capitalistic culture that runs off of urgency and fear, being in the present moment is hard for most of us. We tend to live in concepts, and Octavia Butler’s Earthseed isn’t a conceptual invitation: it is about the here, and the now, and how to be participants in co-creating our lives in such a way as we co-create empowering change for ourselves. So, while she does as best she can to illustrate the living of this teaching in her two books which center Earthseed, it is up to us to do the purposeful work of experimentally living it in our daily lives.
It is my hope that these rest meditation recordings will help us access Earthseed wisdom, tangibly and practically, so that we may shape our lives together in empowering and generative ways.
I’m listing both of these recordings here in this blog post. Starting with the most recent, which I’ve named: “Embodying Octavia Bulter’s Earthseed: A Somatic Exploration”. This can be listened to Here. The description:
In this 17-minute guided somatic rest, we bring attention to our simple direct experiences, discovering fluidity and tracking co-created changes simply happening at the moment. Bringing in Octavia Bulter’s poem “Earthseed” we discover how we might embody the teachings within this poem. In this guided somatic rest mediation we utilize the inspiring writings of Octavia Butler, who is inviting us to go under/beyond a static perception of what god is and isn’t, and discover an experiential co-created god. In this 25 minute recording, taken from an MIE class, we slowly and gently connect with the words of the poem / Parable of the Sower experientially, as living words. In doing so, we discover an embodiment of the teaching. “Life, Shaping life… God, Shaping God… All that you touch, You Change. All that you Change, Changes you. The only lasting truth Is Change. God Is Change.”
The one from four years ago is titled “Somatic Exploration- Octavia Butler’s Earthseed: God Is Change” and can be found Here. The description:
In this guided somatic rest meditation we utilize the inspiring writings of Octavia Butler, who is inviting us to go under/beyond a static perception of what god is and isn’t, and discover an experiential co-created god. In this 25 minute recording, taken from an MIE class, we slowly and gently connect with the words of the poem / Parable of the Sower experientially, as living words. In doing so, we discover an embodiment of the teaching. “Life, Shaping life… God, Shaping God… All that you touch, You Change. All that you Change, Changes you. The only lasting truth Is Change. God Is Change.”
I’d love to hear how these recordings impacted you!
As always, let me know if you’d like me to do a guided rest-meditation on a particular topic or theme, and I’ll do my best for it to happen!
I have more rest-recordings coming out shortly. You can subscribe Here.
