by Rohini Walker In Of Power and Time, the first essay in the incandescent anthology Blue Pastures, Mary Oliver describes herself as a vessel of, at a minimum, three selves: “I am, myself, three selves at least. To begin with, there is the child I was. Certainly I am not that child anymore! Yet, distantly, or sometimes not so distantly, I can hear that child’s voice – I can feel its hope, or its distress. It has not vanished. Powerful,…
Photo: Members of Syuxtun Collective inspecting plants at the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden. | Still from Tending Nature by Rohini Walker What does it mean to participate? In Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass, a beautiful, indispensable meditation on the gifts of reciprocity and participation with nature, she writes: S2 E2: Holistic Healing with the Syuxtun Collective “In the Western tradition there is a recognized hierarchy of beings, with, of course, the human being on top – the pinnacle of evolution,…
Photos: Bill Green Originally from Poland, ceramicist, painter, illustrator and fiber artist Joanna Szachowska- Tarkowska moved to the Mojave high desert four years ago. Before Joanna and her partner, Artur, settled in this desert, they had traveled far and wide looking for that elusive sensation of an authentic home, a homecoming. They had explored India, Thailand, the Phillipines, Greece, Italy and Spain. It wasn’t until they arrived in the strange, arid landscape of this high desert that they felt able…
Thank you everyone for your support as we transition to a new phase of Luna Arcana under the auspices of this Scorpio new moon! Issue 4 will now be retailing at $4 – all pre-orders will be mailed out today 🙌🏽🖤🌒 Not local to the Joshua Tree area? Order a copy inline: Click here…
By Jessica Dacey / Photo by Carly Valentine “I think it comes from your spirit, maybe your heart. Is your heart your spirit?” It’s dusk, and Victoria Williams is walking her dogs. As we weave through the desert bush, she is explaining how to sing in tongues. “I wasn’t raised in a church that people sang in tongues, but I would unconsciously sing in tongues at night before I went to sleep. Then when I moved to Los Angeles, I…
by Damien Echols Ceremonial magick is the Western path to Enlightenment, the counterpart to Eastern traditions such as Buddhism or Taoism. Magick, however seeks to liberate the individual from the cycle of uncontrolled incarnation in a single lifetime, as opposed to many. It’s a tradition suited to those who have a psyche more inclined to the stresses of rapid transformation over a more gentle, gradual approach. The core of a magickal practice is a process of internal alchemy that traces…
Join us! We’ve been asked to speak at the Joshua Tree National Park Council for the Arts “Artists’ Tea” on 4/7/19 9-11am at Cap Rock parking area…
Eva Soltes has, over the course of her decades-long career, produced, directed and/or written nearly one thousand music, dance, theater and media works for national and international audiences. She currently lives in Joshua Tree, California where as a burgeoning permaculturist she is the Founder/Director of Harrison House Music, Arts & Ecology, an artist residency/performance program for gifted artists and environmental activists based at the straw bale retreat built by late American composer Lou Harrison. Jill Giegerich is an artist and a…
Words by Rohini Walker Illustration by Martín Mancha There is a lake in a desert, under which bubbles a hot spring. Mature desert willows overhang the water from the sandy bank. There is so much lush vegetation here that the spot could easily be mistaken for a watery clearing in the jungle. Bullfrogs abound, their sporadic, guttural croaks echoing in the silence, reverberating off the stillness of the water. Under a full moon, recently replete after being eclipsed by Earth,…
I am the color of the sun in light and shadow, dreaming you into being; each grain of sand, each cell and atom. Shifting light makes butterflies of eyelashes, cocooned in dark slumber moments ago. In the stillness of innocent morning, you can see me in all my glory as I turn from night to day. My cosmic dance never ends, as slowly, through lifetimes, you arrive at surrender, having passed through the gates of fear and doubt and shame.…
