Wonder and Wander at Tir na nOg Farm
A Series of Day-Long Retreats for Restoration, Contemplation, and Celebration
9:30 am - 4:00 pm Eastern
Tir na nOg Farm
44 Leighton Rd, Pownal, ME 04069
A working farm is not just a place for agricultural production, but a place to gather, a place steeped in a rich history of kinship between humans and our non-human friends. To spend time on a local farm means to reconnect with ancient rhythms, to tap back into that good feeling of our bodies moving with, learning from, and listening to the land. Amidst this uncertain and climate-changed world, we gathered in such a space of remembering and renewal.
Over the course of Spring, Summer, and Fall 2023, The BTS Center, in collaboration with Tir na nOg Farm, offered a three-part Wonder and Wander series. Recognizing the value of engaging with a specific piece of land over time, we sought to create an offering that would allow relationship with one place through the seasons. Although two of the sessions did not take place due to unforeseen circumstances, we are grateful that the sense of place and relationality with both the farm and those who tend it continue to unfold.
Past Events
Spring: April 28, 2023
Our programming for this day centered around the wisdom of the Celtic, cross-quarter holiday, Beltane. Beltane marks emergence, the “green fire;” the purity, light, and activity of spring. We listened as the land’s own awakening and growth guided our day.
Registration for this date is now closed. Please contact Nicole Diroff at nicole@thebtscenter.org with any questions.
Summer: August 5, 2023
This special day of programming was inspired by the Celtic holiday of Lughnasadh, the summertime celebration marking the harvesting of grain and the well-earned rest that ensues. We planned to our hands dirty in the morning, joyously working to harvest some of the bounties of the farm before a hearty lunch. In the afternoon, we planned to turn our hearts and minds to the divine, engaging in dynamic conversation around the question: what is the role of the farm in a climate-changed world? We intended to end the day in quiet contemplation and lifting a glass to toast the land.
This August session was cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. Please contact madeline@thebtscenter.org with any questions.
Fall: October 27, 2023
Our intention for the programming for this day was to center around the wisdom of the Celtic, cross-quarter holiday, Samhain. On this day we hoped to sink into the thinness of an agricultural season coming to an end. How do we celebrate the oncoming holy darkness? What does the land have to teach us of endings, letting go, and rest?
This October session was cancelled due to the unforeseen and devastating events that occurred in Lewiston, Maine. Please contact madeline@thebtscenter.org with any questions.
Guide
Rev. Holly Morrison serves as full-time pastor of Phippsburg Congregational Church, United Church of Christ. She has previously served congregations in Maine, Colorado, Washington State, and Alaska. She and her wife are the stewards of Tir na nOg Farm, an educational farmstead devoted to restorative agriculture. In farming as well as ministry, she draws inspiration from her Celtic roots. Her writing is included in two collections: There’s A Woman In The Pulpit (Skylight Paths, 2015) and The Smeddum Test: 21st Century Poems In Scots (Kennedy & Boyd, 2012).
Guide
Madeline Bugeau-Heartt (Seminary Intern at The BTS Center) is a second year Masters of Divinity candidate at the Harvard Divinity School where she is passionately discerning how to best vocationally serve in a climate-changed world. Madeline graduated from NYU Tisch in 2013 with a BFA in Theater, and since then has originally devised and collaborated on countless experimental theater and film projects in NYC and Boston. Ever a Jane-of-all-trades, she has spent ample time farming on a 250 acre vegetable farm, caregiving for the elderly, and freelancing as a writer. She is grateful to be working for an organization so dedicated to inspiring and caring for a world in radical transition.
