HEARTH

This piece HEARTH came through me while taking a course on Ancestral Jewish Wisdom from Taya Ma Shere. We were led in contacting a well ancestral guide as well as taught about a variety of traditional Jewish practices around ancestors, death and dying. This piece goes hand in hand with the learning I have done about shmita (much of which was done at the Jewish Farmer Network conference in 2020). Hearth is home, it is fire, it is cozyness and togetherness. Its about rest and regeneration. When I think about the importance of shmita, its anti-capitalist nature in relieving debts and allowing those in need to be fed and tended to, it reminds me of the act of Hearthing. The community I live in takes the role of the hearth-tender very seriously. It has been historically “women’s” work, which we are actively queering. During every “work party” or big project of hard labor, we always have a person who is hearthing the rest of us. That kind of work makes all of the other work possible. In a year of shmita, the role of hearthing becomes that much more important. Rationing and tending, hibernating and coming together. This is a 8×8″ watercolor.