How often do we stop to ask, where does our food really come from? Over the centuries, decades and years we have ignorantly participated in an effort to move away from our own food sustainability. The result is that we have lost the connection to what we nourish our bodies with. These are some simple reminders to think about when providing your sustenance to self and family. We should remember that there is spirit in the foods that come from Mother Earth (whole, organic, live and fresh foods) and what we put in our body influences our mind, body and spirit. We should ask what is the food’s connection to earth? And we should be conscious of how it was grown or how it has eaten before it has come to you.
The Turtle Shell Symbolism: Represents Turtle Island and the land/life that sustains us. In Haudenosaunee culture, the turtle shell is an example of a traditional calendar.
- On the back of the shell, there are 13 plates, 1 for each moon, each time the moon goes through each cycle (New, 1st Quarter, Full, Last Quarter) while the Earth travels around the sun (1 year).
- Each picture represents some examples of food with spirit and life found on Turtle Island seasonally.
- Around the edge of the shell, are 28 tabs which represent the total amount of days within a full cycle of moon (month).
- Each phase is approximately 7 days (New, 1st Quarter, Full, Last Quarter)
- Keeping track of the cycles of the moon was important for planning future actions; hunting, gathering, planting, harvesting, feasting and meeting events.
- Acknowledging the time to come was important for planning SEASONAL sustainability preparation.
- The activity is in the Winter Module of the 13 Grandmother Moon Guidelines.
Intention & Love: Creating an environment with love and positive intention increases flavour and goodness, having a good mind is not only for working in the garden, but in the kitchen and handling food too.
Awareness & Gratitude: Understanding where your food comes from is essential to your Health and Wellness, food is there to nurture your body, mind and spirit. We should be thankful for the food provided and be thankful that we are still able to nourish our bodies with the foods that the Creator has given us.
Optimal Ingredients: Be a conscious consumer by reading labels, shopping local, whole, organic, seasonal and staying aware of the “5 white” gifts, and using alternatives. Real food with spirit is food that was grown with the energy from the sun, natural water and nutrient rich soil.
Preparation: There is more to cooking then boiling water and a microwave. Preparing a meal from scratch is more time consuming but there are many benefits; knowing what ingredients are in your meal, you will have searched for these ingredients yourself, you will have used your very own hands to do any preparing needed and lastly, your love has been put into the meal.
The 4 Elements are represented in the corners of the image, our 4 elements in which our food grows from; soil, water, sun, air. Without these elements how would our food grow from seed to plant and from embryo to infant? Everything is connected in this world and one without the other struggles to live and survive. The Sun: when it rises it brings life into the start of each day. The sun helps all organisms grow.
The Soil: the sun touches the soil. Without soil how would our foods grow?
The Water: it flows through the soil after rainfalls and along our rivers and streams providing nourishment to all life found in the soil. Water is very important for all life on earth. Skin/Air: Like human beings, plants and animals need air as well to live, to be strong and survive. The skin on our vegetables and fruits provide the most nutritional value to our bodies and our skin absorbs what it comes in contact with. Our skin absorbs the sun’s rays and with our bare hands and bare feet we absorb the soil ‘s smoothness.
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