A Wild New Work

In this episode, I’m sharing some of what I’ve learned about how we can aspire to have roots as deep, large, and well-connected as the wise women of our lineages. I explore how our lives might change if we knew how to fully inhabit where we are, remembered how sleep helps us grow roots, and could be more stable in the face of these wild times. If you enjoyed this episode, please help get it to others by subscribing, rating the show, or sharing it with a friend! You can also pitch in to support the show once or monthly at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/meganleatherman Resources mentioned: Needing More: A 4-week pilgrimage into darkness: https://mailchi.mp/awildnewwork/l9o6i3uzyo

I’ve been in love with whales since my childhood, and in this episode I get to share some of their magic–particularly as it relates to our cultural myth of progress. In this episode, I talk about my definition of what progress really is, whales’ surprising evolutionary history, and why progress so often requires the letting go of adaptations that are no longer helpful. If you enjoyed this episode, please help get it to others by subscribing, rating the show, or sharing it with a friend! You can also pitch in to support the show once or monthly at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/meganleatherman For more about upcoming events and offerings, visit: awildnewwork.com Resources mentioned: *When Whales Walked on Four Legs: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/when-whales-walked-on-four-legs.html *The Evolution of Whales from Land to Sea: https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/living-world/2022/evolution-whales-lanFrom Land to Water: the Origin of Whales, Dolphins, and *Porpoises: https://evolution-outreach.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1007/s12052-009-0135-2

Today I’m honored to share a conversation with one of my beloved teachers and mentors, Old School Nate. Most of us are feeling ready for a deeper wisdom–one that truly comes from the Earth and from our wise ancestors–and Nate’s work takes us there. We talk about how to see one another’s gifts, the value systems of capitalism v. the natural world, why the Autumn is a potent time to change our belief systems, and more. ***About Old School Nate: Old School Nate is a wizard following the ways of his Wise and Well Ancestors. He has been on the path of learning how to make Village in modernity, welcoming others through their inborn Gifts, and tending to the Land since finding out he was born just fine the first time.*** To connect with Nate, visit: Instagram: old.school.nate Email: oldschoolnate108@gmail.com*** If you enjoyed this episode, please help get it to others by subscribing, rating the show, or sharing it with a friend! You can also pitch in to support the show once or monthly at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/meganleatherman ***Other resources mentioned: Episode 111 with Rainer Baumorr (fka Ben Murphy): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/111-invoking-kinship-with-ben-murphy/id1437555777?i=1000638304510

Welcome to the first episode of the Autumn 2024 season of the show! In this episode, I introduce our topic for this season, which is decline, and discuss what decline really is, how we know it’s a natural part of every cycle, and how our lives could look if we embraced decline rather than resisted it. If you enjoyed this episode, please help get it to others by subscribing, rating the show, or sharing it with a friend! You can also pitch in to support the show once or monthly at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/meganleatherman Other resources mentioned: Composting Capitalism: https://awildnewwork.com/composting-capitalism Living the Seasons Journal: https://awildnewwork.com/shop/living-the-seasons-a-journal-for-surviving-capitalism-and-bringing-the-medicine-of-autumn-into-your-life

My guest today, Osprey Orielle Lake, speaks clearly about the limits and possibilities of this moment on our planet. In this conversation, we talk about how dominant culture needs to shift in order for us to respond more intelligently to what the Earth is communicating to us. We also discuss women’s role in this work, Indigenous leadership, and exciting possibilities happening in the climate justice movement. About Osprey: Osprey Orielle Lake is the founder of Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN), an organization whose mission is to protect and defend the planet, particularly through the work of women who have typically been unheard and undervalued by policymakers. Her book, The Story is in Our Bones: How Worldviews and Climate Justice Can Remake a World in Crisis, casts a wide net that embraces global Indigenous perspectives and modern science to discuss topics such as humanity’s origin, society’s relationship to nature, and the imperative need to halt and reverse climate change. To connect with Osprey, visit: https://ospreyoriellelake.earth/ https://www.wecaninternational.org/ If you enjoyed this episode, please help get it to others by subscribing, rating the show, or sharing it with a friend! You can also pitch in to support the show once or monthly at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/meganleatherman Other resources mentioned: Composting Capitalism: https://awildnewwork.com/composting-capitalism Living the Seasons Journal: https://awildnewwork.com/shop/living-the-seasons-a-journal-for-surviving-capitalism-and-bringing-the-medicine-of-autumn-into-your-life

We can make so much meaning in our lives by telling the stories that live within our bodies and within the land that we inhabit. In this conversation with author Jane Clark, we explore what it means to be what she calls a “story carrier,” and how telling our stories is a way to root ourselves firmly in the midst of collective change and capitalist pressures. About Jane: Jane Clark is an author, retired writing professor and former journalist who lives close to the land near the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania. She leads writing workshops focused on giving life to our stories as a form of currency in a capitalistic system that defines us as workers/producers and separates us from ourselves. She loves to help writers bring their stories to life as a way to reclaim identity and agency as story carriers. Much of her work is an attempt to ground writers in the land, in nature, to help them see the stories that surround all of us, including those stories held in the land and beyond those told by this system. To connect with Jane, visit: Web: https://www.storycarriers.com/ Amazon: https://a.co/d/bgp0w4f Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janeclarkauthor/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552393023737 If you enjoyed this episode, please help get it to others by subscribing, rating the show, or sharing it with a friend! You can also pitch in to support the show once or monthly at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/meganleatherman Other resources mentioned: Composting Capitalism, starting October 2nd: https://awildnewwork.com/composting-capitalism Rise Up Rooted Retreat on August 17th-18th: https://awildnewwork.com/rise-up-rooted

Why should we listen to the land, and how do we even do so? In this gently flowing conversation with Leah Rampy, we discuss the benefits of communing with the Earth and ways to deepen the relationship that we already have with the land and that can never be severed. About Leah: Leah Rampy, Ph.D. is a writer, speaker, retreat leader, and educator who weaves ecology, spirituality, personal stories, and practices to help others deepen their relationship to the natural world. She is the author of Earth & Soul: Reconnecting amid Climate Chaos and a frequent speaker on spiritual ecology and leadership in these uncertain times. To connect with Leah, visit: Web: www.leahrampy.com Instagram: @leahrampy Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61553196486975 If you enjoyed this episode, please help it get to others by subscribing, rating the show, or sharing it with a friend! You can also pitch in to support the show once or monthly at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/meganleatherman Resources mentioned: *To learn more about Old School Nate and the divinations he offers, visit him on Instagram @old.school.nate *Fruition: Expand Your Options and Make Fruitful Choices: https://awildnewwork.com/shop/fruition-expand-your-options-and-make-fruitful-choices *Rise Up Rooted Gathering August 17-18: https://awildnewwork.com/events/2024/we-are-the-sturdy-ones *Summer Tarot Readings: https://awildnewwork.as.me/3-card-reading *Save Our Soil: www.saveoursoilwv.com *Church of the Wild Two Rivers: www.churchofthewild2rivers.com *The Center for Spirituality in Nature: www.centerforspiritualityinnature.org

Welcome to the first episode of the Summer 2024 season of A Wild New Work! In this season, we’ll be exploring how to communicate with the Earth. In today’s episode, we’re looking at a pre-Christian Celtic ritual in which the land and the people were brought into intimate partnership. We’ll explore how our own modern lives could change if we were sovereign and in committed relationships with the enspirited lands we inhabit. If you enjoyed this episode, please help get it to others by subscribing, rating the show, or sharing it with a friend! You can also pitch in to support the show once or monthly at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/meganleatherman *Fruition Class: https://awildnewwork.com/shop/fruition-expand-your-options-and-make-fruitful-choices *Rise Up Rooted: Rite of Passage Program for Adults: https://awildnewwork.com/rise-up-rooted Celtic Ceremonial Marriage Resources: https://sharonblackie.substack.com/p/marrying-the-land-how-we-broke-the-ancient-bargain https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWyHPRFOJr4&t=299s

When an organism’s needs are met, growth naturally occurs and takes the form of some kind of flower, fruit, spore, or offspring. In the same way, when our needs are met, our blooming is inevitable. In this episode, we explore how that process occurs, how we know when something is blooming in our lives, and how to make more room for it as we head into the Summer season. If you enjoyed this episode, please help get it to others by subscribing, rating the show, or sharing it with a friend! You can also pitch in to support the show once or monthly at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/meganleatherman Rise Up Rooted: Rite of Passage Program for Adults: https://awildnewwork.com/rise-up-rooted

Meeting our needs in today’s landscape requires that we remain flexible and shift how we relate to ourselves, our work, our income, and one another. Across the animal world, we find countless options for how to feed ourselves, and in this episode we explore some of the major strategies our animal friends employ and how we can adopt them in our own lives. If you enjoyed this episode, please help get it to others by subscribing, rating the show, or sharing it with a friend! You can also pitch in to support the show once or monthly at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/meganleatherman June 17th: How to Expand Possibility and Choice Inside of Capitalism, a Summer Solstice class to help you reset for the rest of 2024: https://awildnewwork.com/events/2024/summer-solstice-workshop Rise Up Rooted: Rite of Passage Program for Adults: https://awildnewwork.com/rise-up-rooted

In this episode, we’re learning how plants meet their needs and what it can show us about how to be here in a good way. Plants receive sunlight and carbon dioxide freely and then, in turn, offer us an abundance of oxygen, medicines, building materials, and nourishment. Their truest nature is collaborative and generous, and the same is true for us. If you enjoyed this episode, please help get it to others by subscribing, rating the show, or sharing it with a friend! You can also pitch in to support the show once or monthly at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/meganleatherman Rise Up Rooted: Rite of Passage Program for Adults: https://awildnewwork.com/rise-up-rooted

In this episode, we’ll learn how fungi meet their needs and the unique teachings they offer us through their millenia of experience adapting to life on Earth. Fungi are masters of absorption, decomposition, and collaboration, and most of us could use a dose of their teachings. If you enjoyed this episode, please help get it to others by subscribing, rating the show, or sharing it with a friend! You can also pitch in to support the show once or monthly at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/meganleatherman You can learn more about Megan and her work at: https://awildnewwork.com/

How can we make the tiny area of life that we inhabit more caring, less transactional, and free from extraction? In this conversation with Toi Smith, we discuss strategies for embodying more beauty and less exploitation, whether it’s in our parenting, work, relationships to one another, or our relationships to the wider world. About Toi: Toi Smith is a Growth + Impact Strategist and her work centers on doing life, business, and motherhood differently. Toi works with people whose work is countercultural, liberatory, and revolutionary in nature...or people who desire and are committed to moving their work or lives in that direction. To connect with Toi, visit: www.toimarie.com deepening.toimarie.com www.lovingblacksinglemothers.com www.projectbloom.com Instagram @toimarie If you enjoyed this episode, please help get it to others by subscribing, rating the show, or sharing it with a friend! You can also pitch in to support the show once or monthly at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/meganleatherman You can learn more about Megan and her work at: https://awildnewwork.com/

Many of us yearn for a way of living that is evoked by the term “village,” and it’s true that for millenia, humans met their needs inside of a communal setting such as this. In this episode with anticapitalist, nature-loving co-conspirators Heather Dorfman and Megan Hayne, we discuss what the term “village” means to us, what needs might be met in a village setting that aren’t met in our modern way of living, and accessible ways to re-village right where we are, with what we’ve got. Resources Mentioned: *Rise Up Rooted: https://awildnewwork.com/rise-up-rooted About Megan: Megan Hayne (she/her), is a shepherd’s daughter, mother, body worker, and menstrual circle facilitator. She is also an authorized Kum Nye (Tibetan Yoga) instructor, Licensed Massage Therapist, and holds a Bachelor of Health Science Degree. Megan is presently studying ritual with Old School Nate. You can learn more about Megan’s work at moonschoolcircle.com or on Instagram @mooncyclemegan About Heather: Heather Dorfman, LMSW (she/her) is the founder of Rose and Cedar Forest Therapy. Heather guides groups and individuals in the practice of Forest Therapy; offers Grief Care; provides organizational consulting, training, and retreats; and is also an adjunct professor of social work. In all of these realms, Heather is co-creating a world of justice and liberation for all beings. You can learn more about Heather’s work at roseandcedarforesttherapy.com or on Instagram @roseandcedarforest If you enjoyed this episode, please help get it to others by subscribing, rating the show, or sharing it with a friend! You can also pitch in to support the show once or monthly at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/meganleatherman You can learn more about Megan and her work at: https://awildnewwork.com/

How does a seed grow to become the fruit? It does so by meeting its needs. In this first episode of the Spring 2024 season, we’ll be discussing what our actual, original needs are, the extraneous needs put upon us by capitalism, why it’s so hard to meet our needs in this culture, and why we need fresh strategies for meeting the needs that will actually help us become who we deeply are. If you enjoyed this episode, please help get it to others by subscribing, rating the show, or sharing it with a friend! You can also pitch in to support the show once or monthly at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/meganleatherman Resources mentioned: *Rise Up Rooted: Rite of Passage Program for Adults: https://awildnewwork.com/rise-up-rooted *Eating Capitalism: https://awildnewwork.com/eating-capitalism *One on One Work: https://awildnewwork.com/one-on-one-coaching

Life happens in cycles, but we work as if we’re walking a straight line. In this encore episode, I’m sharing how you can move through four seasons on your vocational journey and why doing so can bring more ease, alignment, and wisdom to your professional life. If you enjoyed this episode, please help get it to others by subscribing, rating the show, or sharing it with a friend! You can also pitch in to support the show once or monthly at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/meganleatherman Resources mentioned: Becoming the Dawn: A 4-week Sunrise Series: https://mailchi.mp/awildnewwork/becoming-the-dawn Rise Up Rooted: Rite of Passage Program for Adults: https://awildnewwork.com/rise-up-rooted Eating Capitalism: https://awildnewwork.com/eating-capitalism

Navigating this murky late Winter / pre-Spring period requires that we know how to make the best choices we can, given the constraints and circumstances we’re dealing with. Does a seed get stuck in analysis paralysis? Probably not. Does a nesting bird get frozen in indecision about when to lay her eggs? No. We can tap into this free flow of energy and choice that we see modeled around us and remember how to take one right step, then another, and then another. If you enjoyed this episode, please help get it to others by subscribing, rating the show, or sharing it with a friend! You can also pitch in to support the show once or monthly at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/meganleatherman Resources mentioned: Becoming the Dawn: a 4-week Sunrise Series: https://mailchi.mp/awildnewwork/becoming-the-dawn Eating Capitalism: https://awildnewwork.com/eating-capitalism Pay What You Can Tarot Readings: https://awildnewwork.com/intuitive-career-readings Deeper 1:1 Work: https://awildnewwork.com/one-on-one-coaching

We can sense how chaotic, disconnected, and troubled our world is, and many of us feel the need for sturdier skills to help us be with these times. In this conversation with trauma recovery practitioner, clinical hypnotherapist, and kitchen witch Carmen Spagnola, we explore the poignancy of being alive right now as well as the frameworks and practices that can help us metabolize what’s happening and find the deliciousness that’s available. About Carmen: Carmen Spagnola is a Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef turned trauma recovery practitioner, clinical hypnotherapist, and kitchen witch. She has hosted The Numinous Podcast since 2014. She's the author of The Spirited Kitchen: Recipes & Rituals for the Wheel of the Year, and founder of The Numinous Network, an online learning and support portal for people healing from trauma through a cross-pollination of somatics, attachment, and nature-based spirituality. Ways to connect with Carmen: The Spirited Kitchen: https://wwnorton.com/books/9781682686676 www.carmenspagnola.com www.numinouspodcast.com Insta: @carmenspagnola TikTok: @itscarmenspagnola If you enjoyed this episode, please help get it to others by subscribing, rating the show, or sharing it with a friend! You can also pitch in to support the show once or monthly at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/meganleatherman You can learn more about Megan and her work at: https://awildnewwork.com/

Learning how to recognize new growth in your life and make the right type of room for it is an advanced practice. In this in-between time before the Spring Equinox, we explore how to notice and honor the seeds that are alive within us, how to create an environment in which they can grow, and why some of them may not activate in this growing cycle. To learn more about “Eating Capitalism,” my new workshop on the origins of capitalism that’s starting February 23rd, visit: https://awildnewwork.com/eating-capitalism If you enjoyed this episode, please help get it to others by subscribing, rating the show, or sharing it with a friend! You can also pitch in to support the show once or monthly at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/meganleatherman

Trees hold a special and mythic place in the hearts of humans, and in this conversation with Heather Dorfman, the founder of Rose and Cedar Forest Therapy, we explore these amazing beings and how we can build relationships with them in a thoughtful way. About Heather Dorfman: Heather Dorfman, LMSW (she/her) is the founder of Rose and Cedar Forest Therapy. Heather guides groups and individuals in the practice of Forest Therapy; offers Grief Care; provides organizational consulting, training, and retreats; and is also an adjunct professor of social work. In all of these realms, Heather is co-creating a world of justice and liberation for all beings. To connect with Heather: -Website: https://www.rosecedarforesttherapy.com/ -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roseandcedarforest To learn more about the upcoming workshop series called “Eating Capitalism,” visit https://awildnewwork.com/eating-capitalism If you enjoyed this episode, please help get it to others by subscribing, rating the show, or sharing it with a friend! You can also pitch in to support the show once or monthly at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/meganleatherman Resources Mentioned: The work of Suzanne Simard: https://suzannesimard.com/