Welcome to the Nurture podcast/ blog.

Let’s create the beautiful world our hearts know is possible.

Ginger Edwards 11/11/24 Ginger Edwards 11/11/24

Nurture Pod 24: Wit, Knowing and Ken of what the hell just happened.

In this post election episode Iris and Ginger discuss the national election results in 3 different ways. In a culture dominated by the mind they include the heart and gut into the process to understand the place we have newly arrived at in America.

Wit: the mental understanding of the results. Ideas, perceptions, thoughts and judgements.

Knowing: the somatic experience of the heart and body. How our heart understands what is happening in the world and our emotions- grief, anger, fear and compassion.

Ken- the old word for gut understanding, the intuitive space where we feel the deeper truth beyond what our mental and emotional selves are in reaction to.

As we mull this over you can play along at home! How do these three parts of you understand this election and how you will respond to it?

To find more about classes and courses Iris is offering visit
https://www.dreambirdstudio.com/

To find Ginger's events, coaching and courses visit:
https://www.northfork53.com/

Many thanks to the talented Kathryn Claire for the use of her "Bakers Song" as our intro and exit music!

Find all of her songs at her https://kathrynclairemusic.com/home

Ginger Edwards 10/30/24 Ginger Edwards 10/30/24

All Hallows Short Story: The Change

The Change

She decided to walk home alone after the party wound down around midnight. It was late, but the moon was up and the fall chill helped her shake off the wine buzzing in her head.

Crunching through leaves, she cut across the park and made her way towards a patch of dark trees in the distance.

She was alone and preferred it that way. The fresh air brought her back to life after the noise and heat of the party.

She was never quite comfortable in crowds. She’d hang out on the back porch or near a doorway so she could make a quick escape if needed.

The hot flashes didn’t help either.

Now that she was nearing the end of her blood moons she would go from party mode to panic attack in a few minutes.

Her clothes would start to feel like tight bands across her chest and waist.

The smells of civilization became unbearable. Skin adorned with perfumes and face creams, the exhaust of cars, the reek of detergents on clothes.

The light of phones and screens hurt her eyes. The blare of voices yelling and music hurt her ears.

She knew the change was coming anytime now. It was inevitable.

Her hair was turning more brittle and gray, edging into her dark strands.

The only thing that felt good now was being under the open sky and the smell of the forest. The feel of her muscles moving in rhythm with her breath.

As she walks she hears a lone wailing in the distance that sends shivers down her spine in recognition.

To her surprise, she finds herself stopping to raise her voice in answer. A sound escapes her throat that she’s never heard before but it feels like it’s always belonged there.

Other voices answer her. Her ears pick out names, relationships, stories of grief and rage.

She sheds her clothes without another thought. Her body wants to run. Run faster than she’s ever run before.

In the night she moves, no longer looking over her shoulder in fear of the night.

Her eyes see perfectly now.

Her nose smells every leaf footstep and breath for miles. She’s never felt so perfectly in tune with her herself.

She knows no job title, no regrets, no fears, no shame.

She is alive and the moon is full. Her pack is gathering to rejoice in song.

The change has come.

The world will never look the same.

When the sun rises there will be a woman no longer domestic.

She is now were-woman.

Free to be wild.

Free to create her own destiny.

Free to roam with other women in the dark edges of the known world.

Ginger Edwards 10/30/24 Ginger Edwards 10/30/24

Nurture Pod 23: Red Root of Samhain

In this episode Iris and Ginger talk red roots, the color of blood, power, sexuality, Queen Madder root and the portal between this world and the next.

In the Celtic lands this time of year was known as Samhain (aka Halloween) when the veils between the seen and unseen energies were thin.

Protection charms and bonfires to ward off harm, illness, the oncoming winter darkness mixed over time with honoring ancestors and the dead.

With an major election looming and so much uncertainty in the air how do we stay protected in our own grounding, art, practice and inner souls?

How do we use this liminal space in the seasons to create transformation out of fear?

Ginger Edwards 10/18/24 Ginger Edwards 10/18/24

Nurture Pod 22: Full Moon in Aries

On this episode of the Nurture Pod Iris and Ginger dive into the owners manual for the body- ody-ody. Just because the culture has a speedometer that goes up to 180mph doesn't mean our bodies can or should try to go that fast.

What are the dash lights that we ignore on our way to physical and emotional breakdowns? When do we pull over and let our engine cool down and when do we limp it down the road?

We drive this analogy all over the place!
Come along for the ride and share your thoughts in the comments.

Ginger Edwards 9/28/24 Ginger Edwards 9/28/24

Nurture Pod 21: Becoming Ancestors

In this third and final episode of grief conversations with therapist and retreat leader Joshua Lowe, we talk about what it means to live in a culture without connection to ancestors.

Ancestral grief is the 5th gate in Francis Weller's book "The Wild Edge of Sorrow". Here's where we grieve the loss of connection not to our personal family line but also to cultural traditions around honoring and receiving wisdom from ancestors.

Also unpacked is why it's important for a culture to instill a sense of connection to past and future generations. Thinking of ourselves as future ancestors creates a desire to pay it forward in terms of leaving the planet and our families in better shape than we found them.

The hyper individualism and rationalism of western industrial culture has promoted "me" above the natural world and anyone not directly in relationship to "me" now. It's a transactional worldview where "me" is owed something from the generation before but I have no obligation to provide anything back. In fact there is often antagonism between generations with the youth and elders pitted against one another.

Grieving the loss of relationship to ancestral magic, wisdom and becoming is part of the work we are here to do.

Register for the upcoming Grief Retreat on 10/11-10/13 here.

Find out more about Joshua Lowe's retreats and therapy practice here