Rewild your sense of wonder and rediscover how nature provides sacred guidance through life's circular and seasonal journey. Rewildling retreats & pilgrimages are a response to the longing to deeply connect with the sacred, surrounding and within the wild world.

Weaving words that reconnect and deepen one to nature, Mary writes from within the wisdom of creation spirituality and the peregrination tradition, both which invite ways of being that bring humanity into a deep sense of belonging to the world and one another. 

All of us need guidance at some point in the Journey. Waymarkers comes alongside individuals and groups who long to experience personal transformation through soulful travel, and those who desire to participate in the cultivation of the culture of a place.  

“Mary DeJong is the next Wendell Berry; however instead of writing from a farm, her voice is rooted in an urban forest.”
— Dwight Friesen, The Parish Collective 
 
“May you grow still enough to hear the small noises earth makes in preparing for the long sleep of Winter, so that you yourself may grow calm and grounded deep within.”-Brother David Steindl-Rast • December nature mandala co-creation with snow berry, Oregon grape leaves, red and yellow twig dogwood, Nootka rose hips, grand fir tips, and mock orange. A deep frost shimmers on the edges. • #naturemandala #mandala #mandalaprayer #spiritualecology #spiritualpractice #sacredecology #sacredearth #ecoattuning #deeplistening #sacredbioregionalism #rewildingwonder #rewildingthesoul #rewildingwheel
Learning patience and due respect for the element of fire. • #vashonwildernessprogram #bowdrill #firestarting #rewildingwheel #rewildingwonder #fireelement
The most enticing seasonal bakery case welcomed us on #vashonisland this morning! A day away to read and reflect on Thomas Berry’s “inscent,” Christmas shop at vintage farm bazaars, while the kids tête-à-tête with the wild (deep bow to you @vashonwildernessprogram), must begin with a bakery stop such as this. So grateful! #phenomenology #sacredphenomenology #snapdragonbakery #vashonisland #sacredwild #revelatorywild #advent #rewildingthesoul #inscent
Iona is a small island that hangs on the western skirts of Scotland's Hebridean Islands. A sacred site even in pre-Christian times, Iona became the center of Gaelic monasticism, a unique form of mission that grew within these wilder climes. The Irish monk St. Columba arrived to Iona in 563 and established the first monastery on its shores. Since this time (and in all likelihood, far before), people have come to this holy isle to glimpse, to hear, to feel Divine Presence and be transformed by the encounter. • There are places on this planet where that which divides our physical reality from the spiritual one seems almost nonexistent--where the distance between heaven and earth breakdown. Iona is one such "thin-space," where sacred enchantment is as present as the surrounding sea. • Will you respond to the Call to make pilgrimage to Iona? Save $200 with the early bird rate, which expires December 31, 2018. There are only a few spots left! • https://www.waymarkers.net/iona-pilgrimage-2019/ • #ionascotland #ionacommunity #celticpilgrimage #celticspirituality #pilgrimagejourney #pilgrimage #heroinesjourney #sacredtravel #transformationaltravel #ecotheology #thinspace
December nature mandala making and foraged-tea sipping in my favorite winter-mood @phoebewahl mug! Grand fir and rose hips with some orange peel and a dash of maple syrup. So delicious!
As Autumn gets tucked away into the now-frozen folds of Earth, and Winter is at the threshold, I am reflecting on this past season. The Rewilding Wheel, a circuit of practices that attune one to the wisdom within the associations resonating between seasons, directions, elements, and bioregion, focuses on one's watershed and the westerly waters. • There is a depth that is engaged when one is working with water, a generosity and humility that willingly takes on the shape of whatever contains it. In this way, water becomes a powerful metaphor of meaning and invitation to the imaginative realm. Through tuning in to this source of life, one reconnects to a profound wisdom within a bioregion's watershed, a particular presence-ing of the spirit of a place. • And so I take up what I have learned in this rewilding season, sewing it into my skin that feels more fluid and flexible; foraging the wisdom like seaweed that will hearth-simmer into a winter-nourishing bone-broth, a brew supped over warm and wizened stories that become the kernels of things to come-hope sized seeds that Winter's wind will blow from mountaintops to become the emergent and integral life we are seeking. ------ Waymarkers Rewilding Retreats reconnect us to the sage wisdom within the seasons and the sacred presence within a place. The next Rewilding Retreat is on Saturday, January 5 at The Whidbey Institute and there are only a few spots left! • Come, commit to a journey that will reacquaint you to the archetypal forms that reflect the powers of the Earth and reconnect you to the Sacred Wild. Rewilding Retreats are a gift to yourself, the Earth, and the Future that is desperate for us to re-member ourselves back within the community of creation. What an amazing way to kick off 2019! • REGISTER TODAY: https://www.waymarkers.net/rewildingretreats/ • #rewildingyear #rewildingwheel #rewildyourlife #rewildingwonder #rewildingthesoul #rewildingretreats #rewildingworship #sacredbioregion #ecotheology #ecoawakenings #ecospirituality #ecologicalperception #ecologicalspirituality #phenomenology #sacredphenomenology
When one responds to the Call to become a pilgrim, a state of heightened perception develops to begin to discern guidance from the stranger. Soulful direction and revelation is carried by that which is unknown and unfamiliar, the very guise of the sacred. • But note, the sacred messenger does not only appear in human form! Those with two feet and four; those with fur, feather, or fronds; those who bear the elements as their form are all imbued with numinous qualities that can convey profound counsel for your journey. However, to hear their speech, requires the tuning of a pilgrim’s ear and an enchanted heart. And when on pilgrimage to Iona, you cannot help but be apprenticed by the revelatory guide whose form will always take you by surprise! • Be on the look out today for an encounter with a revelatory guide, a sacred stranger. Will you respond to the Call to make pilgrimage to Iona? Save $200 with the early bird rate, which expires December 31, 2018. • #celticpilgrimage #celticspirituality #iona #ionascotland #ionacommunity #sacredstranger #pilgrimagejourney #sacredwild #rewildingwonder #rewildingthesoul #ecoawakenings #sacredecology #phenomenology #sacredphenomenology
The gifts received by making pilgrimage to Iona, Scotland are innumerable! However, this December I will be selecting and sharing just twelve of my most meaningful reasons why making this sacred journey to this holy island is a gift of profound and powerful measure. • Watch here for these posts, and if you have other gifts you have received from your own pilgrimage to this particular place, please share! • The Waymarkers Iona Pilgrimage is forming and there are a limited amount of spots left for this transformational trip. Save $200 with the early bird rate, which expires December 31, 2018. • More pilgrimage information is in my profile ☝️ • #iona #ionascotland #celticpilgrimage #pilgrimage #pilgrimagejourney #heroinesjourney #sacredtravel #souljourney #rewildingwonder #rewildingthesoul #celticspirituality #ecotheology #ecoawakenings #ecospirituality #sacredwild
In Celtic mythology the crane/heron is a sacred, magical being with mastery of the threefold elements of land, water, and air. A symbol of the feminine (especially the powerful wisdom of the female elder, the crone), I happened upon this one this morning during my morning walk where I found myself in need of the old ways as I seek along a new path. And of course the response comes from the wild enchanted edges, the fringes where elements meet and merge. Within this heron’s gaze were the tools of transformation, first among them to seek the wisdom that resides within the journey home. Her’s are the ways of wizened patience, and the shape-shifting energy from Autumn’s West to Winter’s Northern long dark. • #cranemythology #celticmythology #crane-magic #rewildingwheel #rewildingyear #rewildingwonder #rewildingthesoul #sacredecology #sacredbioregionalism #deepecology #rewildingretreats
CYBER MONDAY Rewilding Sale! • 20% OFF Waymarkers Books Rewilding Workbooks 2019 Rewilding Retreats • CODE: REWILDING20 • These items will make wonderful holiday gifts for others or will provide profound soul-care for yourself. Thank you for your support of the work of Waymarkers through this meaningful purchase! • This wild sale code is only good on Monday, November 26 from 12:01am PST to 11:59pm PST. (*This sale excludes the Waymarkers Iona Pilgrimage) • “Once the scales have fallen from one’s eyes, once one has seen and believed that reality is put together in such a fashion that one is profoundly united to and interdependent with all other beings, everything is changed. One has a sense of belonging to the earth, having a place in it along with all other creatures, and loving it more than one ever thought possible.”-Sallie McFague • #rewildingwonder #rewildingyear #rewildingwheel #rewildingthesoul #rewildingworship #ecotheology #ecoawakenings #ecospirituality #ecologicalperception #ecologicalspirituality #sacredwild #sacredearth #sacredround #sacredecology #bioregionalism #bioregionalpractice #sacredbioregion #cybermonday2018 #mutualism #solidaritywithnature #wildsoul
That every post-Thanksgiving Walk in the woods would include an increment borer (a specialized device to extract a tree’s tissue so to count the rings to devise its age/health), woodland play on a glacial erratic boulder, and meaningful learning around the integral health of forest ecology. Deep gratitude for this day and all who were apart of it! • #forestwisdom #forestecology #mycelium #growingrooted #ecotheology #deepecology #ecoawakenings #childreninnature #incrementborer #rewildingwonder #rewildingwheel #whidbeyisland
How can humans become to Earth like these mushrooms to this forest? • #ecospirituality #ecotheology #ecoawakenings #bioregionalism #sacredwild #sacredwoods #sacredbioregion #mycelium #mycorrhizalnetwork #rewildingwonder #rewildingthesoul #rewildingworship #mutualism
Wrapping up today’s orders of Waymarkers Rewilding Calendars. Have you ordered yours yet? The holidays are here (it’s true in spite of resistance. Thanksgiving is next week!!) and these calendars will make the most meaningful of gifts as they invite the beholder into a re-membered relationship with the sacred wild and our integral role within the whole web of creation. • Order link in my profile ☝️ (psst...only five left so order soon!) • #rewildingyear #rewildingwheel #rewildingcalendar #naturemandala #ecospirituality #ecotheology #ecoawakenings #wildmandala #rewildingwonder #rewildingthesoul #soulrewilding #soulpractice #bioregionalpractice #sacredwild #sacredearth #sacredbioregion
“And the world cannot he discovered by a journey of miles, no matter how long, but only a spiritual journey, a journey of one inch, very arduous and humbling and joyous, by which we arrive at the ground at our feet, and learn to be home.” -Wendell Berry • Fulfilling orders and shipping the 2019 Rewilding Calendar and Rewilding Workbooks literally all over the world! • Packing into these boxes my deepest hope and desire that this project inspires kinship, communion, and a felt sense of belonging to the wild world around us the whole year round! • #naturemandala #childreninnature #soulrewilding #rewildingyear #rewildyourlife #rewildingwheel #holyground #bioregionalism #sacredbioregion #spiritualecology #naturespirituality #ecoawakenings #ecospirituality #ecotheology #wendellberry #naturemandalacalendar