holy lands
on decolonising the moments in between
THE THRESHOLD
We live in a world that cannot stop claiming things. Land, resources, attention, the narrative. The impulse to name, develop, and own runs so deep we barely notice it anymore. Even in ourselves. We fill every silence with noise and every moment with plans.
What if the most radical thing we could do right now is simply stop, sit in the uneasy emptiness and listen for what the world is singing beneath all our claiming of it?
This space is for us. Welcome to your weekly Portal. I’m glad you’re here.
THE POEM
HOLY LANDS Let’s sit in silence no words, no plans or staking of claims, only untamed undeveloped uncolonised uneasy emptiness, a portal to the wild inhabited holy lands, its song, falling finding our ears.
THE PRACTICE
The poem is an invitation to a particular kind of silence. Not the absence of sound, but the absence of claiming.
This week, find ten minutes to sit outside, or near a window, without your phone, or a plan, or an agenda for the time.
Don’t meditate or try to be present, or make it somehow worth your while. Simply sit in the uneasy emptiness and let it be uneasy. Let whatever song is there to fall into your ears.
The world is always singing. We simply forget to stop talking long enough to hear it.
Afterwards, if you feel like writing, you might like to begin with one of these lines and write for five minutes without stopping:
“In the silence I heard …”
“What I have been claiming without knowing it is …”
THE THREAD
This week, notice one moment when you resist the impulse to fill the silence. Stay in the emptiness a little longer than feels comfortable. That discomfort is the portal. On the other side of it is something wild, holy, and entirely yours to hear.
Yours in radical hope … Amanda
You are receiving this because you chose to. Thank you. If this moved something in you, would you be willing to share it? Together we can create a more just and loving world.
P.S. Last week’s Writing Across the Veil workshop was a beautiful gathering. Together we co-created a genuine container for encountering what lives in the silence, and in the words that arise when we stop performing and simply listen. If you missed it and this kind of workshop calls you, Opening the Channel is coming up on Sunday 17 May, 8–9.30am AEST online. Under the fertile darkness of the Taurus New Moon, we’ll practise invocation - the art of calling in - and divination - the art of listening for what is already present. $33 AUD. No experience needed - only a notebook, a pen, and your willingness to be present. Reserve your place here:
I always feel such a kinship in your words, Amanda. I deeply appreciate your authenticity and commitment to sourcing from within the unseen spiderweb that connects us all.