Since September 2021, I have been involved with a group called Alliance for the Earth that has as its mission “planting” Earth Treasure Vases in significant places all over the Earth. Its founder, Cynthia Jurs, was given this ancient Tibetan Practice when she asked a venerable Lama in Nepal what she could do to help to protect and restore the Earth. As she recounts in her new book, Summoned by the Earth, she has faithfully executed this mission creating a “Gaia Mandala” of over 90 vases on every continent on the planet.
I was introduced to this practice by Veriditas Labyrinth foremother, dear Marge Mc Carthy. It was her hope that I would help link her beloved Buddhist practice with Cynthia Jurs to her equally beloved Labyrinth practice. She asked me to bury a Treasure Vase under a Labyrinth in Washington DC in her stead. One doesn’t say no to Marge McCarthy!
Answering Marge’s call sent me to Ghost Ranch in New Mexico where I met Cynthia and was given the Vase destined for DC. I also crafted a third generation vase that I subsequently buried in Scotland—- another long story!
Marge I convened a working group to build a labyrinth in DC but were unable to make that happen after trying for over a year. In the spring of 2023, I began to dream of woodland site, near a labyrinth and sure enough, there was such a place in a park in DC. I was able to tell Marge that we were closing in on the burial site before she passed away last October.
In February, after a Women’s Dream Quest in Charlottesville, VA, with the help of Veriditas friends, Lars Howlett and Mary Ann Wamhoff and a wonderful UU minister from DC, I found the spot and made plans for a pilgrimage of 15 Veriditas and Alliance for the Earth members to bury the Vase on Earth Day.
In order to join the energies of Buddhist meditation and Labyrinth walking, our pilgrimage had time for both practices. We also toured the museums in DC that honored both Native and African Americans and walked Black Lives Matter Plaza to the White House fence. Everywhere we went we prayed into the vase and made tangible offerings. The Vase had already visited Chartres in 2023 and received blessings from participants in the class, Holding Space for the Sacred.
On the Sunday before Earth Day we attended a special service at All Souls Unitarian Church. Lars had borrowed a 40 labyrinth labyrinth and laid it out in the social hall. The Alliance for the Earth tribe loved this practice and all of us were helped by the weaving our beloved labyrinth provides when we are in sacred space and having intense experiences.
The Vase was buried in a beautiful basket created by Liza Jane Alexander who has been joining our handheld walks and has a long history with her woodland labyrinth in Tennessee. A pewter Chartres Labyrinth topped the basket. As is the practice, there is no trace of the burial site. You should know that it is guarded by tall trees and is connected to a nearby stream and therefore the waterways that flow through Washington DC.
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