The Way of Water

The Flow of the Project

"In the middle of the French countryside 36 participants gathered from Europe and beyond.. joined by the global south, north america, and the fertile crescent of Arabia. United together by the reminder that no matter how different they may be, water is the common truth that unites them all. Looking into each other's water filled eyes from the very first day, we saw mirrors of ourselves in the other. An opening ceremony took place on the first night where the trainers washed the participants feet and inverted hierarchy, as a silent statement that we are all made the same. Composed 70% of water, just like the body of Mother Earth. We brought waters from all over the world, and united them together into one container.

We learned about healthy love practices, starting with loving ourselves. We learned about natural water cycles, and the web of life.. physically creating this web and remembering that we are a part of this web we call life. We journeyed to the forest in silent pilgrimage, to reindigineize ourselves to the way of our ancestors.. seeding with our hands and listening to stories while we laughed and cried at the same time. We played, we prayed.. for the food.. for the water.. for each other.. for the world.We heard the cry of the Earth, we felt and heard the pain of indigenous communities far away yet near to our hearts. We saw that their pain is our pain as well. We gathered in forum and told our truths, the beautiful and the ugly. We spoke our fears, angers, and sadness. With courage held with presence by the community, we confessed and released.. giving insight into the turbulence of our inner waters that were calmed by the simple act of being seen, witnessed, and mirrored. We saw in others what we see in ourselves, unlocking blocked emotions that wanted to be set free. We weaved as we spoke of water politics, mimicking the ways of our ancient ancestors. Spending time being in service for the community while we told stories of our lives and lovers past and present.

We celebrated in the council of all water beings, tranformed as fantastical water beings, momentarily leaving behind our human avatars so that we can give voice to the beings of the water who wanted to express through us. A co-creative process.. playful, theatrical, silly, silent and deep. Every moment of free time was spent sharing and exchanging our gifts. Whether through a new proposed economic system of water currency exchanging physical tokens we brought from home, or open space sessions.. yoga classes, meditations, dance improvisation, movie nights, hand made crafts, and ballet. And yet, we still showed up and collectively took care of the space. The tribe of beavers, oysters, crabs, whales, dolphins, seaweed and corals.. collectively they cleaned and cared for the smooth flow of our days spent together as a little temporary community.

We learned about wetlands, ponds, and the lunar cycles.. how the elements of water earth fire and air move through us guiding the time to work, harvest and prune. We learned about water in relation to technology, drones.. maps.. AI.. tools we could use to understand and shape better landscapes of the future. We shook our hips and moved our inner waters, transporting musical rhythms of Egypt and sipping tea from the blue lotus straight from the Nile. Seamlessly we flowed between inner and outer waters, outer to inner.. weaving between our internal and external realities.. and in doing so healing a divide that has been cut for centuries. When did we stop listening and trusting our inner landscapes? When did we stop listening to our yeses and nos? A tantra night reminded us of our boundaries and checking in with our bodies first. And how to transform our triggers to teachers.

In the second week we shifted attention to the outer waters and surely mother nature responded. From the inner waters of our sweat dripping down our bodies hot and sticky to cold winter jackets and heavy rain.. the waters from the sky were ever present as we spoke about managing the rain. We cultivated aquatic plants and dove into murkey waters for the sake of breathing more oxygen into the tiny lake. We gathered in a pond council to decide what was best to do for our shared water body, putting our human needs aside. We experienced the presence of heavy machinery that came to reshape the Earth, so that we could catch and store water to use for irrigation and domestic use for future housing plans. Water comes first.

Lastly, we gathered in sacred circle and shared cacao, a heart opening medicine. We sent out words and prayers to heal the oldest wound of time. We became bridges. Listening, and holding space for the other gender to share their pain, appreciation and sincere apologies. Our words witnessed by the full moon, rippled out into the universe. We dove deep, from the very first day to the last.. into ourselves, into each other, into this sacred landscape. A small whisper from our insides arose to remind us.. we are the water. We are here to reunite with ourself. To love ourselves. To respect ourselves. To take care of ourselves and each other. To rise from the mud like the lotus and open to the light before descending back into the waters and being rebirthed. For the waters live within us. We are the waters and the water is us." 

Written by Zein Gaia