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 
 
God’s first revelation is through every aspect of the more than human world. Everything that is and was; all creatures with fir, feathers, or fronds—gilded mountains or forest glades, in John Muir’s words are “opening a thousand windows to show us God.” • “Oh, these vast, calm, measureless mountain days in citing at once to work and rest! Days in whose light everything seems equally divine, opening a thousand windows to show us God. Never more, however weary, should one faint by the way who gains the blessings of one mountain day; whatever his feet, long life, short life, stormy or calm, he is rich forever.”—John Muir, journal entry, June 23, 1869 • #mountainwisdom #sacredmountain #rewildingwheel #rewildingwonder #rewildingworship #johnmuir #creationspirituality #ecoawakenings #ecospirituality #sacredwild #sacredecology
Celebrating this day of love and devotion with my youngest. We trekked through the snow to find some sword fern fronds to create these Valentines Day cards. This simple craft requires a leaf or frond, white crayons, water color paper, and your paint palette of choice. After doing a rubbing of the natural subject with the crayon, paint over it with water color. It was like uncovering a secret love letter! May that today spur our love and affection for all those with whom we share life! • #naturecraft #naturevalentine #naturelove
Snow. Transforming the mundane into magic!
"Snow was falling, so much like stars filling the dark trees that one could easily imagine its reason for being was nothing more than prettiness.” Mary Oliver • Loving the snow that has descended upon Seattle! May that all be safe and warm in these coming days. • #snowmoon #snowpocalypse #maryoliverpoetry #maryoliver #rewildingwheel #rewildingyear
“Snow isn’t just pretty. It also cleanses our world and our senses, not just of the spot and grime, but also of a kind of weary familiarity, a taken-for-granted quality to which our eyes are all too susceptible.” -John Burnside • Snow Moon attuning is inviting looking at the renewing and clarifying qualities of snow and how this waxing new moon phase can invite some intention-setting for this month. Grateful for Snow Day #2, and some guiding thoughts from the #kidsmoonclub, and the space it provides to do this sacred work with my children. • #snowmoon #cosmicconnection #sacredwild #sacredbioregion #lunarleadings #ecologicalperception #ecolearning #ecologicalself #sacreduniverse #rewildingwheel #rewildingwonder #rewildingworship #sacredphenomenology
Urban snow days be like bringing the old dryer drum to the front as a fire pit for all-day warming for these kids won’t be coming in!
Today marks the new moon phase for February’s Snow Moon. In the Pacific Northwest’s Seattle area we are experiencing the markings for which this moon is known! We loved walking in our neighborwood this afternoon and seeking out our native snow berries (Symphoricarpos) covered in snow—perfect symbols for this month’s moon! • And while indigenous monthly moon names provide a deepening understanding of the accompanying natural world phenomena, these phases also invite personal introspection and focused intentions. What in your life might need some emergence and transformation? What soulful intention might be set that picks up on the phenomenology of this moon-time? There is a simplicity of this time of year, a bare-essentials that are present in these remnant berries and crystalline forms. How does the Sacred speak to you through these more-than-human presences? • Blessings on your Snow Moon journey! • #lunarleadings #snowmoon #sacredphenomenology #sacredbioregion #rewildingwheel #rewildingwonder #rewildingworship #cosmicconnection #sacredwild
Blessings of Brigid to you all this day of Imbolc, the time where Winter is at our back and Spring begins its warming. Today I had the opportunity to teach the lovely Grade Six children at @brightwaterwaldorf a bit about the mythic and magical life of Brigid and together we made St. Brigid’s crosses, a pre-Christian cruciform of the sun cross. They were invited to hang these over their doors at home, blessing the threshold into and out of home’s safe keeping. We also talked about how this symbol might serve to remind them of the rhythms and patterns that are occurring within the natural world. This is a lovely Brigid blessing for this day that accompanies the Brigid Cross very well! • May Brigid bless the house wherein you dwell Bless every fireside every wall and door Bless every heart that beats beneath its roof Bless every hand that toils to bring it joy Bless every foot that walks its portals through May Brigid bless the house that shelters you. • #imbolc #stbrigid #bride #brigitofthemantle #brigitofthemantle #celticspirituality #ecoawakenings #northwestjunco #wildrushes #sacredpractices
The labyrinth at @thebishopsranch is one of my favorites. It is surrounded by oak trees and has a seemingly ancient rosemary shrub at the center. As one walks this path, the scent of rosemary wafts through the air, reminding one of their deep belonging. This remembrance is a central aspect of this week’s teaching at The School of Celtic Consciousness, as well as the symbolic function of this herb. So grateful to be walking this path! • #schoolofcelticconsciousness #johnphilipnewell #celticspirituality #thecelticway #labyrinth #bishopsranch #sacredround #sacredcircuit #ecologicalperception #ecoawakenings #ecospirituality
An absolute gift of my time here in California with the #schoolofcelticconsciousness is time with my beloved college roommate and her amazing family. We spect glorious time on the beach where I was able to introduce the children to co-creating nature mandalas. They understood the practice intuitively and went about collecting with awe and wonder, true handmaidens to the presence of the numinous within the natural world! • #ecologicalperception #ecoawakenings #naturealtar #deepecology #naturespirituality #naturemandala #numinous #phenomenology #sacredbioregionalism #sacredphenomenology
January Monthly Mandala • I went out to my garden to meditate, to pray, and to prepare for this week and the practice of the monthly nature mandala was a perfect way to center in on all three. Today I leave for my second year of the School of Celtic Consciousness with John Philip Newell. We will be learning more about some primary Celtic theologians like Eriugena; reading the prayers and poetry that came up from the relationship between land and people through the Carmina Gadelica; and look deeper into the wisdom of John Muir as a modern Celtic saint. Indeed, the wild edge is often where the Sacred is found. • This form is primarily created with the green lines and seed pods of Juncus, the Common rush that is most akin to Ireland’s wild rushes. This variety is commonly used to weave Brigid’s Cross, a small four-armed cross that is symbolic of this Celtic saint and pre-Christian goddess and associated with Imbolc, the mid-point between Winter and Spring. This wheel-of-the-year turning day is at this week’s end, so another reason why I needed to be out in the wild edges today as I prepare for a small workshop of cross making on Friday. But mainly it was to ground in the fullness that this week holds. I’m so grateful for this week’s study and its timing. • This month’s nature mandala is cocreated with Common rush (Juncus Effuses) with mature florets presenting as small brown seed capsules, Rhododendron ‘Christmas Cheer’, Witch Hazel Hamamelis virginiana), Pink Coneflower (echinacea) seed heads, usnea lichen, and Mediterranean Pink Heather, Erica x darleyensis. • #naturemandala #naturealtar #naturespirituality #ecologicalperception #ecoawakenings #deepecology #rewildingwheel #rewildingyear #rewildingwonder #rewildingworship #sacredcircles #numinous
Imbolc is coming! The threshold from being fully-Winter to Spring-turning is upon us this Friday. This crossing is celebrated by the Feast Day of St. Brigid, a sacred and storied life wrapped in myth and ancient times. I’m preparing by searching out a Pacific Northwest equivalent to the Wild Irish rush with which to make Brigid’s Crosses this Friday. Grateful for Juncus growing nearby! • #imbolc #brigid #stbrigid #juncus #brigidscross #rewildingyear #rewildingwheel #celticwheeloftheyear #celticspirituality #ecoawakenings
There is a spot for you on the Waymarkers Iona Pilgrimage (and truth be told, only one spot left). Will you say yes to this transformational and sacred journey this summer? For this is a place where one encounters a wild form of prayer, and the sacred that is found in the form of the sea and stone. • • This is a place where one re-members their own wild and precious place within this wonder-filled world! • More information and registration information in my profile ☝️ • #ionascotland #iona #ionapilgrimage #celticpilgrimage #pilgrimage #pilgrimagejourney #heroinesjourney #mythopoetic #sacredjourney #waymarkersjourney #waymarkerspilgrimage #ecoawakenings #sacredtravel #sacredworld #sacredwild #deepecology
Happy Wolf Moon!!!
Do you keep a nature table/altar in your home? My latest blog post shares what inspires our seasonal sacred space with a how-to for making your own stone feathers! Link to post in profile. • #sacredbioregionalism #rewildingwheel #naturealtar #christiananimism #ecologicalperception #sacredphenomenology #ecoawakenings #deepecology #stonefeather #naturetable #naturealtar