Power of Story and Sacred Spaces: Exploring the Fertile Ground Gathering

The Power of Story and Sacred Spaces: Exploring the Fertile Ground Gathering

In this episode, Tava Baird and Jennifer Taylor dive into a profound discussion on storytelling, sacred spaces, and the transformative power of communal gatherings. Joined by Liz and Cael Jacobs, of Wilder Grove, they explore the essence and offerings of the Fertile Ground Gathering, a unique event that weaves together spirituality and community in a sacred natural setting.

Resources mentioned:

Register or read more about the Fertile Ground Gathering:

https://www.fertilegroundgathering.com/

Contact Liz and/or Cael via their website:

https://www.wildergrove.com/

Direct link to page for ordering Cael's books:

(Can request personalization and autograph through their website)

https://www.wildergrove.com/shop

Amazon links for books:

Tales from the Wilder Forest :

 https://a.co/d/7JeVqiw

Living a Life in Balance: An Elemental Journey of Self-Discovery 

https://a.co/d/hnoOw8a

Thank you joining us today, remember to LIKE and SUBSCRIBE to keep up to date with your tribe.

Connect with your Hosts!

Tava Baird: tavabaird.com or https://darkflowerbooks.etsy.com.

Jennifer Taylor: Willow Ridge Reiki and Healing Arts https://www.willowridgereiki.com/

Transcript

[00:00:00] Tava Baird: Good morning JennTay. Good morning. Tava Baird. I'm so excited to have this conversation with you today. 

I am too. Uh, Jen went away on vacation, so we haven't gotten to do this in a few weeks, and I'm super excited to have. the team back together and, 

I'm super thrilled, for what we're gonna talk about today, which is the power of story. And we have actually been doing some new work in this area together lately, not on the podcast. so I think Jen's gonna start us off with a lovely song, and Sam ael is very much here to listen and onboard for this.

And then we will dive into our topic. And we will have a guest here to talk about, this and an upcoming event. So you'll get all of this, in today's, podcast. 

[00:00:59] Jennifer Taylor: I love that as soon as you said an upcoming event, the clock below me switched to 1111, so I think that's pretty cool.

this event is Very much being led by the angels, Samael and Archangel Michael. So I found that really potent the exact timing of that. So really excited to get into this and, alright, so I will see what Michael and Samael would like to bring through for our conversation today. 

--Singing --

[00:04:33] Tava Baird: Whew. that was really interesting. That first note that came out. I went so. 

[00:04:42] Jennifer Taylor: Yeah. I was like, so we're, we're starting there really? Like, we're not warming our way up there Nope. Like, oh boy. Hold on everybody. I dunno what this is gonna be like. It's going 

[00:04:53] Tava Baird: spring. It is spring. It is spring.

Yeah. It's 

[00:04:55] Jennifer Taylor: Holy moly. Yeah. it felt very metallic, very sword. I was thinking swordlike it, yes. there were so many versions of strong metallic, like reverberations in my head.

It was in lots of different places, And I realized there's this spot in the air. Up and diagonally to the right where it seems like his sword song comes from it. It's almost like maybe that's the part of my aura that it comes through is right, right there.

And a lot of times to do it, I have to have my hand almost holding that spot or opening. that space for it to come through. Yeah. And so we started up there and I was thinking, oh boy. but it was also all these other places in my head coming through and I just kept thinking, boy, I hope this isn't painful for other people 

[00:05:48] Tava Baird: to listen to.

Well, it was, that and the water song are very different than the other things you were doing. I mean I feel like a bunch of doors are getting opened in rapid succession here and you're getting a lot flooding in. That's very different from before. 

[00:06:06] Jennifer Taylor: Yeah. He's like, boy, Samaels going. The work 

[00:06:08] Tava Baird: has started.

The work has begun. 

[00:06:10] Jennifer Taylor: Yeah. I can't wait to see what's gonna happen at the fertile ground gathering because they're apparently going to be there with us in. Spades. 

[00:06:18] Tava Baird: Yes. And, Samael, while you were singing, here is what he said. Where are your sacred spaces? The energies of the earth? Birth many, but you too wield energies that can be utilized to shape and welcome.

If the temples and churches do not welcome your practice, go to where you can feel the ancestors build a path. Build a circle. Welcome the birds and plants. Build an altar. You do not need walls, you need nothing. Save your voices, your presences, and your bodies. Combine the human arts and carve a place for the sacred to dwell, tend it, tend yourself.

Your body is a temple. I say your body is a vessel for the gods. And you child are one of them. 

[00:07:19] Jennifer Taylor: Wow. So here we 

[00:07:19] Tava Baird: go into The power of story. 

[00:07:23] Jennifer Taylor: Yeah. So I feel like it might be helpful to kind of catch everyone up a little bit on Yes. Our journey. So the power of story and song to create. actual spaces has been something that's really been developing in little bits and pieces.

And it's kind of like we've been following these breadcrumb trails of, getting little bits and little bits. and there was, I feel like it was a night when all of a sudden all of these things started coming together and we were. Marco'ing back and forth 

And it was really also when this idea of us coming together for this, fertile ground gathering to create the experiences that we're gonna be leading really came together. And I have a few notes here of some things that had been said. 

Sam Iel had said, stories are places that collect consciousness. Stories come into being so that the incarnated here can learn. And I had gone back and taken notes on this because I felt this was all so powerful and 

And he said, your stories collect consciousness and draw attention to important paths and. 

you had said If stories are places of collective consciousness that create actual realms. and he's interrupted and said the song does that as well. The drumming does that as well. The running into liminal space, the world created by the paint.

And you said, You're saying that, what I said about Jen that she creates a whole environment when she sings. That's actually happening every time she sings and he said, yes, but they grow and change and merge. Nothing stays the same forever. 

And then I had had a, reiki session where I was doing reiki and I had this feeling that I needed to tell a story, like tell her story differently and tell her story in a. Positive sense and create a new story based in wholeness. , and I was telling Tava about this on the Marco, and he was listening and said, if she tells the story and sings a soul song, it will help. And he started humming as I was talking about it. And so we started having these conversations about. what would happen if we brought all of these different gifts together?

You know, your storytelling and, my singing and Keith's drumming and singing and art, and what if we added all of these different elements, you know, what kind of incredible space could we create? And I realize we should go back and you can talk a little bit about the storytelling in general and how and and how that creates worlds.

[00:10:31] Tava Baird: This, has been a really interesting, journey for us because, I. Right around the time that Samael started to think about this stuff, we got invited to meet with a group of people who run the Fertile Ground Gathering Retreat, and we're actually going to have, guests from that group on, in a little bit on the podcast.

it's this wonderful retreat and We started working on these concepts and fertile ground gathering is giving us platform to sort of take them from concept into reality. Now, the funny thing is, is that these spaces exist all the time, and we are on a certain level, aware of them, but also not, I'll give you an example.

If you've ever been to a rock concert or you've seen a video of one where at a certain point the audience all starts singing, there are some incredible videos out there. There's this one Scottish singer, and I wish I could remember his name. I'll have to find it, but there's this really incredible video where he goes out on stage and he hasn't been famous for a long time, like he's just becoming famous.

But he starts singing and he gets like a frog in his throat or something and he's on stage in front of this massive crowd and he suddenly is choked up and the entire audience starts singing to help him. They keep the song going. They look, I'm getting choked up just talking about it. I saw the video of it.

They all raise their voices collectively. Thousands of people. And start singing the lyrics that he wrote back to him. And you see him, he kind of regains his voice for a minute, but then he's faced now with several thousand people singing his own poetry back at him, and he just starts to cry on stage.

Right. So if you've ever seen a video like that or been at a concert where everybody sings that much loved song, and back in the old days you used to hold up your lighters. Now people hold up their phones. A collective consciousness, an actual sacred space is created in that moment. You can feel it if you are there.

You can feel it, even if you're just watching the video on YouTube later. There is a shift there away from the busyness of the every day. Do you feel it in your heart, in your bones? That this, if, even if it's just for a few moments during the duration of that song, something Sacred visited, there is a communion there of all of the people raising their voices together.

You also see this in stories. Think about a much beloved tale like say, the Lord of the rinks. the Hobbit, that whole thing. Think about you go to a party. Maybe you're a huge fan of the Lord of the Rings. Maybe you're a huge fan of succession on tv. Whatever it is, it's a particular world that was created by a storyteller and some actors or just a writer.

And you find another person there who is a fan of it like you are, right? Two people who both love Middle Earth. When they find each other, you can see this spark that lights in their eyes and they get you. They get desperate to talk about it. Oh my gosh, my favorite part was blank. And the other person comes back with, oh yeah.

And do you remember? And you see this bubble almost being created around them, this sacred space where they recognize, I went to this world and you did too. Now, based on the fact that we have different experiences and things, but it's very akin to when somebody says, I just got back from vacation in Tibet, and somebody else says, oh, I like Tibet.

Where did you go? You see as they exchange stories, this meeting of souls, this shared love, this connection to something greater than themselves. And so what Samuel is talking about to us is a lot of times we dismiss these things as we cut funding for arts programs or whatever. You know, we see these things as hobbies, we see these things as pleasures.

They're not work. So they're not necessarily as valued by some people, but every time people sing, every time people tell a story, every time people meet in one of these spaces, I. Potential for change. And Communion with the divine is created and they're all out there now. Every poem, every book, every song, every piece of art, and anytime we get that feeling that we recognize something in it, those things are real.

They shape our souls. And that is much more powerful than, that meeting you went to at 9:00 AM this morning that maybe shapes your work week but doesn't really speak to you. and as a writer, I have people, like one of the best reviews I ever got, this person wrote 

something along the lines of, I finished these books and I want to go stand in a stone circle now. Right. They had assessed inside of them away from the every day where they now said, I want to connect with the divine in the same ancient way that my ancestors did. I want to, for a brief time, live in that world.

And so what Jen and Keith and I were talking about is could we create a sacred space? With art, dance, song, music, and storytelling, and acknowledge that it is a sacred space. Could we do it out in nature and could we bring participants into that world for a shared experience with the divine?

And that's what we're gonna be doing at Fertile Ground Gathering. 

[00:16:50] Jennifer Taylor: Yes. And you know, some of the other elements that come into this that are things that we have been discussing and that have really been working in our lives is the concept that, and it's not really a concept, the truth that, all stories are true.

And that's one of the things that, that Samael has said, all stories are true. And the understanding that when we tell a story. We bring that vibration into. some level of manifestation. when we tell a story and we believe it and in the sense that I'm using this word story, it's like we tell a story of something in our lives or something, traumatic or upsetting that's happened.

Every time you tell that story, the energy of that gets reawakened and enlivened in you, and you can feel that. And if you allow yourself, you could be right back in that thing that happened you know, the people are no longer together. The situations are no longer the way they are. it doesn't exist in the physical world anymore, and yet 

every time you tell that story, you ignite. That energy again, you keep that energy alive, you bring it back open, and it's as though you were standing in that place where that trauma happened. Again, same as with you're telling a beautiful story. You're telling a story of when you met your husband or your wife or your partner, and.

you start telling that story and you start to feel those feelings again and you're, back in that place and you reawaken all of that energy. you know, when someone talks about their hopes and their dreams, if you ask somebody like, what is your wildest dream? What would be the most amazing thing?

And they start talking about it, they start feeling it. And as they're talking about it, they are creating this in the realms of consciousness. This actually exists now somewhere. So every time we tell a story, we are actually creating it in a realm of consciousness. It may not have. Become manifest in the physical world that we see, feel, hear, touch, that kind of thing.

But it does exist. And the power that story has is absolutely monumental because the telling and the retelling of stories is how we keep things alive, how we feed them and grow them. and like the first time you tell a story, It's like, making like a little. hut out of paper, or something flimsy. but every time you tell it, it's like you're shoring up the walls and you are strengthening it and you're making it larger and more and more substantial to where.

at some point you keep telling the story and it will manifest in the physical world, it could be in the form of , an illness that you keep talking about, being afraid of getting, or in a dream job that falls into your lap all of a sudden, because you've talked about how one day you are going to have this job, you're going to do this thing, or you're going to go to this place and.

in Shamanism they talk a lot about, dreaming the world into being and telling a better story. don't keep telling the stories that you've been telling yourself and retelling the things that you really don't want to keep active in your vibration, but consciously choose a story, retell your own story with yourself as the heroine or the hero as opposed to the victim.

And the power that that has is so much greater then a lot of us have really given, credit 

Which stories are we feeding and keeping alive and nourishing?

And are they the stories that we really want? And are they true? Are they based in real truth, the truth of who we are? The truth of. What we're capable of, the truth of the universe and where we come from, or are they based in things that have been handed down to us and given to us in form of false beliefs and things of limitation and that we're not good enough and all those kinds of things.

And so we started talking about what kind of world could we create let's consciously use the power. that we have to create a place in consciousness where, souls can gather. That was one of the things that Sam all had said was something about that, a story like story and the songs that I sing, and, you know, the things that we do, these are, they create a place where consciousness can gather.

And heal and commune. And so our intention then with this is to come together and consciously knowing the power of all of these elements, bring them together and create a space both for us physically to inhabit during that gathering, to heal and to tell a new story and to release 

the false beliefs and the things that are not our truth. And to retell the story and create a space where we can go and return to. So just like Tava was talking about with the Lord of the Rings of, visiting l Laurean or these amazing places. W having experienced this together in this gathering, then we have created the space and doing it collectively will make it that much more potent and powerful and stable of an environment.

And then we can return to that again and again as a place of nourishment, a place to heal, a place to remind ourselves. Of the stories that are true and the stories that it's time to lay down, and so that's what we're working with Then in this workshop that we're going to be hosting at the Fertile Ground Gathering.

And so we're really excited about this concept of how it is that we are going to the three of us come together and bring all of these different elements and gifts to create consciously this space for us to gather and then return to and heal. 

[00:23:20] Tava Baird: There was a, when, when these concepts first came forward, you know, and Samuel was saying, all stories are true.

I'm like, okay, but cultures all over the world have different creation myths. They can't all have been the first creation. And he challenged me on that. He said, can't they? I mean, if you think about it, okay, think about the power of, say, the Garden of Eden's story, right? Do we know exactly where the Garden of Eden was?

No. We know exactly what Adam and Eve supposed to look like. No. Do those things really matter? No. But think of the influence that that tale has had on our culture. The idea that women are responsible for original sin, the concept of the devil. Tempting and think about, the concept of being driven from the garden.

That one story has fake. thousands and thousands of lives. It has shaped cultures. It continues to shape cultures, right? think of the number of people who can either transform their lives, either by, uh, telling themselves a story. That where they succeed or telling themselves a story where they're the victim, right?

All of these stories, when we get down into the details of Did Eve happen to have red hair or brown hair or black hair? It doesn't matter. But what we're looking at is the idea that, the stories that we want to champion and to carry forward. Are, they're going to shape our souls. And that's the basis for everything.

and, what sort of stories do we wanna build together? So yes, we are really excited This particular class that we're holding at the Fertile Ground Gathering is we're gonna have a brief discussion on the power of story at the beginning, but we are going to give people so that there's something for everyone, an opportunity to experience sound healing, to experience nature, to experience dance and story and healing song.

and all of these things. So no matter which path you take to connect, there will be something there for you. And a lot of us, I'm sure a lot of people who listen to this podcast, I. might not really feel like there are a lot of sacred spaces that they can turn to. We're hoping to ignite in people the fire, to build their own in their own communities, even if it's just in a quiet spot in the woods or in someone's living room, so that we, have more opportunities to come together and build worlds.

[00:26:08] Jennifer Taylor: Yes, absolutely. 

it's a collective experience, but also a very deeply personal, internal experience and a very safe.

Nurturing environment in which to receive and release. There'll be lots and lots of energy holding us all. Yeah. And guiding us. And we have been, very much assured by Michael and Samael that they are in charge of this. They are holding us. They will be. providing the words for tavas stories, the songs, and the tune and the energy for our songs.

so I'm really excited I highly recommend, coming to this gathering. It's a really beautiful gathering of.open loving individuals, and I can't wait to see how all of this manifests. personally, Tava and Keith and I are all being shown that this is going to be a really big leap of faith step for us and kind of, it's going to blow open the doors in a lot of ways.

And so I feel like this means that it's going to be really potent and powerful for those in attendance as well. 

[00:27:26] Tava Baird: I think also, When you look at the, the stress of your job and the stress of trying to care for your family and the stress of the world and what's going on in our nation and with your friends and all of these things, 

a lot of us find our energy is depleted. We feel like we're leaking energy out. Or having to expend energy. and it can be hard to put one foot in front of the other coming to a gathering like this. In my experience, it's like someone reverses that flow. You get there and there are suddenly all of these people who just say, come sit here and let me bring you something.

Come lie here and let me bring you something This is a. A space where you are honored. It is a space where you can express what you need to express. and it's a space to retreat to, for a time. And whenever I go to something like this. a lot of times I'm like, oh, I have to get off next for the weekend and I, I have to go and oh, it's so busy, and then I get there and I don't wanna leave.

You know, because you start to see the way that groups of people can function together when they are heart led. As opposed to, led by profitability or left led by numbers or time or those things, and it's just such a rare thing. So we are so looking forward to hosting a. However many of you can make it.

and we're hoping to do this again, in other venues as time goes forward. this also just feels like a good opportunity to say thank you to all of you who do listen to this podcast. I gotta tell you, when we first started off doing this, I'm like, you know, 10 people are gonna listen, and I have been blown away.

By the number of people who, came up to me and introduced themselves and tell me that they've been listening and the numbers that we get in terms of, you know, I'll pop on and just look at the statistics and go, whoa, I had no idea that, our reach would be this far and that this many people, would be part of this.

And I just wanna say thank you for supporting the work that we are trying to do with your attention and your love. 

[00:29:46] Jennifer Taylor: Yes, absolutely. And I think one of the greatest, Compliments and honors is the idea of people saying, oh, I told my friend about this and now they're into it. The idea that you would be sharing this podcast with other people that you care about and finding enough value in it that you are saying, Hey, I think you would get value from it too, is just a dream come true.

We are so honored and so grateful, for, all of your support and you're helping to share this because. This is meant to be , a gift in the hopes that you can glean something valuable from our experiences, or can brighten your days and inform your life and your path, and the more people that can hear this the more people can benefit.

Tava: and I, it's been so nice. Market season is in full swing for me. if you, are in the area in the Northern Virginia area or West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, that area, on my website, tva bear.com, I'm all over the place right now, but it's been really great as market season has opened up to have people walk into the booth and go, hi.

You are tava. I listened to the podcast and to meet you all in person. it's just absolutely wonderful. so I wanna say thank you for those of you who come to visit us as well. So I realize it may sound like we are wrapping up this podcast, but there's actually lots more to come. This was just the first part that Tava and I recorded together at the beginning of the week, 

So I will sing. And bring this part of the podcast, to a space of completion, and then we'll move directly into the interview, which for us, happened a number of days apart so I, wanted to just complete each of the times that we gathered together with a song the way that we always do. So I hope that you enjoy and stick with us because there are more wonderful things to come. 

---Singing --- 

Jenn: So welcome. It is so good to get to see you again. So good to see you. Definitely. Thank you. And so. And Tava is not able to join us today, but I'm really excited to get to spend this time with you and I know she's gonna be really excited to watch this and listen after the fact. And so I want to introduce you for those that don't know.

this is Liz and Cael Jacobs. And they are with Wilder Grove, which is the organization that is putting on, or the spiritual group that is hosting and putting on the fertile ground gathering. That is coming up this spring at Beltane, and so I'm gonna let them do the talking about that because they're gonna do a much better job of that than I will.

Okay. But I'm so excited to have you here and what we typically do at the beginning of pretty much every episode is just kind of set the, set this the stage, and set the energy. Because, you know, typically we're all running around doing our various things, trying to get everything together, getting everything hooked up.

And so this just gives us an opportunity to switch gears, come into a sacred space, invite in, our guides and ancestors and all those helping spirits who are really the reason that we came together today. And the way that I typically do that is through song. And so I invite you to just kind of relax and take a few deep breaths and I will just tap into the guidance that I am being, provided and then just bring through whatever song is.

Meant to set the stage for us and create just the right environment for our conversation today. 

---Singing --- 

. So, I would love to hear a little bit, I know I've gotten to personally hear some of your stories but I thought it might be nice to give people an idea of who Wilder Grove is and to give them a sense of, who's putting on this amazing event.

And then maybe we can hear a little bit, more about it and what people can expect from that. 

[00:38:30] Liz Jacobs: Okay? Sure. Absolutely. Do you wanna talk about Wilder Grove? 

[00:38:33] Cael Jacobs: Sure. So, more than 20 years ago, Liz and I. we lived in Manassas, Virginia, and we had some land, where we had held our wedding.

And because of that, we had built up a lot of infrastructure in the place. And, after the wedding we were like, well, what are we gonna do with all this stuff? You know, we, we have a beautiful deck that we built out in the woods, and we had, a beautiful walkway down the hillside next to our creek and everything.

And we was more than, than just the two of us could make appropriate use of. And so, at the time we had started going to a local pagan shop, and there were people at the shop who were clearly in need of a place to, to gather outdoors and be able to, you know, hold celebrations and seasonal observances.

And, they didn't have 'em. So they were holding rituals in parking lots and in in apartment basements and stuff like that. And so, It occurred to us, well, we have the space, so why don't we open this place up and invite people in the local community to come and celebrate with us, and that our first event was Soen of 2004, so just over 20 years ago now.

[00:39:46] Jennifer Taylor: Wow. Uh, 

[00:39:46] Cael Jacobs: and we had, I, I think probably about 12 people came that first time, and it just, it just took off from there. the community grew over the years, and it actually outgrew the, uh, the place that we were living at the time. so in 2015, we wanted a bigger place with more land and more usable land so that we could have, you know, better services for people and better things to offer people.

And so we moved to the place that we're in now in Fredericksburg. which has, a much bigger lot that we're on and, and a bigger home so that we can gather indoors when, when the weather isn't good and we've just been, holding things at one place or the other ever since. 

[00:40:27] Liz Jacobs: Yeah. And a lot of what we do is, um, it's, it's a labor of love for us because we don't do it as a business to raise money to, you know, get rich or anything like that.

What we do is provide services to people who are clearly in need of some spiritual guidance. And so we do things like teach classes. Right now, we're in the middle of a 13 week course. That's a foundations course that helps people sort of find their spiritual footing and learn some of the basics and things like that to get them into, the right mindset and to have some familiar, terms and so forth.

And so that's been going really nicely. And we have day daytime retreats frequently, and we host. Gatherings throughout the cycle of the year. So we'll celebrate Midsummer and we'll celebrate other times of the year. Soen is another big one. and, every now and then somebody might come along and say they would like to use our space.

And so sometimes we'll rent out the space if the energy is really good together. and so we may rent out the space so that they can run a retreat here and things like that. So with this space, we have a lot more, Availability because the land is nice and flat. We've built little pathways all through the woods, and there's a drum circle and there's a sacred circle, and we are trying to raise some money to build a labyrinth.

And it's just a beautiful, beautiful space. And every time I go outside, I take it all in and just still can't believe we're living here after almost 10 years. 

[00:41:53] Jennifer Taylor: Yeah. I have to say, I was lucky enough to get a tour of that space with Tava, and I remember us walking around and going, I, I think her words were, this is like pagan, Disneyland.

And it is, it is just, it is so beautiful and the energy there is so strong. I remember walking into that, the stone circle and standing there and just both of us saying. Oh my goodness. Do you feel that like the energy that was coming up from the earth through us was just absolutely incredible? So yeah, I can absolutely personally attest to the incredible energy and space that's there, and it's so clear how much you all have put into that.

You know, how much, love and dedication and connection and honoring of that space has been done to really bring in, the energy that's there. So yeah. Bravo, it is just incredible and I've still feel so lucky to have gotten to walk around there. thank you. Yeah. 

[00:42:59] Liz Jacobs: And yeah, it's such a beautiful space and right now of course the things are just starting to come back to life and so it's very, barren looking.

And so you can tell how close the drum circle and the sacred circle are from the back of the house, for example. But the instant the leaves are all in, it just feels like you're in another world. You step across into the pathway and you can't believe how close everything is because of getting to walk through the trees and the beautiful flowers and all the various little pathways that we've built.

And it's magical for us too. It, and we're constantly wanting to build and add to it so that it becomes even more that. but I think the magic comes from everybody who comes here and sort of lends a little bit of their spiritual magic into everything. And, a lot of gratitude comes into this space because I we're both so very grateful to be able to be here and, offer something like this to those who live in apartments or don't have access to the woods, or, things like that.

So it's really a blessing for us to be able to offer it to everyone. 

[00:44:02] Jennifer Taylor: Yeah. And I know that's a big thing that I hear a lot is just people needing those spaces to gather and finding others in the community. I realize that the one thing I didn't clarify for everyone, because we do talk about so many different types of spiritual paths, that your group then is, offering all kinds of spiritual guidance and like mentoring and things.

how would you kind of define or kind of label the spiritual path that you are on, that you are supporting people in? 

[00:44:34] Liz Jacobs: Uh, it's very eclectic, really. Um, we have this belief that everyone's path is their own. It's very unique because, each person is unique and so their path is as unique as they are.

And so we really, offer things to people of all paths. We have had people who are Buddhist here before. People who are Christian, people who are predominantly pagans are the ones who come here. But also a lot of people who are, just non-denominational, spiritual, just a, you know, general term. and we sort of offer a lifestyle philosophy that sort of can be an umbrella over the whole thing.

And so that just gives people an opportunity to learn what they can from what we have to teach and what we have to offer in a way that they can then incorporate into their own path, as opposed to saying, this is what you must believe or this is what we do. And so you have to do it too if you're coming here.

So in, in a lot of ways, it's very open and very fluid, because we wanna be welcoming to people who are of like mind and like heart. 

[00:45:40] Jennifer Taylor: And I I think that's so beautiful. Yeah. Is there anything more you wanted? I'm happy to hear. 

[00:45:45] Cael Jacobs: no, you covered it. Except for it's worth pointing out that even, within our eldership, we have people of, different paths.

Uh, I myself am an animist. Liz follows a shamanic path. we have a nurse practitioner as one of our ordained clergy. and so all of those paths, we use the things that we have in common to provide a, a common vocabulary so that we can all talk to one another about the same things.

And then we use the things where we're different as an opportunity to learn from one another so that, you know, if someone comes and they find themselves leaning towards a north pass, well, we have one here. You know, talk to this person. or if somebody finds themselves drawn to a more animistic thing, well, maybe I'm the person to talk to.

and so because we have those different paths, it provides sort of a, a strength and diversity of belief and practice, which gives people an opportunity to learn a whole bunch of different perspectives when they come here. Yeah. 

[00:46:45] Jennifer Taylor: Yeah. And I, I absolutely love that because I think sometimes the, structures within which we typically learn about, religion or spirituality tend to be very rigid.

And there's that, this is what we believe and if you're here you're gonna kind of, believe this or you're not gonna quite fit in, or you're gonna have to find something else. And so, you know, a lot of times people may find a community that they really resonate with, but then something comes in that's taking them in a different direction.

And the idea of having to leave that. Is is a lot. So I think it's such a wonderful thing to have a group that is, diverse and varied and open I'd heard. I was talking to someone and she was saying that she had found a lot of benefit and really resonated with a WIC and path, but then this other, guide came in that, now didn't kind of fit with the specifics of, being Wiccan.

And then, so she felt like she had to leave that to go with that. And I thought, oh, that, it's so sad. The idea of like, I've found a path that really works for me, but not to be able to have it, Be flexible and open enough to incorporate whatever guides come in because goodness, tava and I certainly know that, you don't pick which guides decide, you're supposed to be working with, and they can be really far outside of where you think, you're fitting.

So 

[00:48:10] Liz Jacobs: I think that's really great. Absolutely. And also there is a lot to be said for the fact that people evolve. You know, my spirituality is quite different from what it was when we first started 20 years ago. Yeah. And it's this constant, evolution of, you know, I, I learned something new, I'm going to incorporate it because it feels right in my heart to incorporate that into my path.

This no longer serves me, so I'm sort of gonna put that chapter to rest and move forward. Uh, and so that's part of how we guide people too, is to not stay rigid in their path because it is easily fluid and, it's a lot easier to. accept that about yourself when you're in a community of others who also see it that way and don't have, I, I, I think should is a four letter word, and so 

[00:48:55] Jennifer Taylor: Absolutely.

Yes. My, husband are always like, I won't should on you yeah, 

[00:48:59] Liz Jacobs: right, right. We just, I mean, there are times when, it's a good word, but often I think people use it too frequently and it becomes a, uh, a box that we put ourselves in and, and then it's difficult to get out of it.

So, yeah. Yeah. 

[00:49:13] Jennifer Taylor: Absolutely. And it is, I mean, I love that, you know, we are always growing and changing, and if we're not, things are stagnating. And typically that's not really a great place, to be in for our mental or physical or spiritual health. So that constant moving and growing and shedding our skin when necessary and, 

Seeing what's coming in for us is, that's wonderful. And so I know I've talked now about a lot of other things, but we were going to mainly be talking about the fertile ground gathering, which I know, my husband and, Tava and I are super excited and I know you guys know it so much better than we do.

And so I'll give you an opportunity to tell people what is this fertile ground gathering? 

[00:50:01] Cael Jacobs: Yeah. Excuse me. So. back when we had just started The Grove, we were celebrating, the standard wheel of the year and having festivals at the equinoxes and the cross quarter days, and the Solstice and Beltane was our most fun one, you know, because we just had a bunch of people over and we set up a maple in the front yard and, we had 25 people over and we just had a, we made a festival day out of it and it was a lot of fun.

And, on the third one of those in 2007, we were sitting there and we were watching the festivities go on and we thought, wouldn't it be great if we could do this with a lot more people, you know, because 25 people is fine, but you know, not everybody wants to dance the Maypole and, you know, not everybody wants to participate in this or that or the other thing.

And so what if we had a big festival where we could get. 50, 60, a hundred, 150 people come and celebrate this event. And so we started looking into various venues, and how realistic is this to do? And we read up on it and, did as much research as we could. And we found a place.

And it's Prince William Forest Park, which is a national park in Triangle, Virginia. And we went to it and we looked at it and it was just phenomenal, the facility that we had there. and so in 2008, we had our first fertile ground gathering. We, just worked it out amongst ourselves and put on this event.

And the first one was, two days and one overnight. and it went really well. we were very happy with how it turned out, and so we thought, ah. Yeah, two days in one night was easy. How hard could it be to make it instead? Four days and three nights. And it turned out that it's a lot harder. so the second year we were running around with our heads on fire because there was so much more to such a larger event.

But, the third year we fell into the stride. We were used to it. We had done it before, and the community was starting to really rather rally around it. We had people who had been regular since the very first day, and people kept coming back and people kept coming from farther and farther away.

We had guests from all up and down the East coast. We had guests from as far away as Oregon coming in for this event. And it just, it kind of grew from there. 

[00:52:18] Liz Jacobs: Yeah. Wow. And it's a beautiful, the space that Cael's talking about is a cabin campground in Prince William Forest Park. And so it's this rustic, amazing experience.

there's a big feast hall where there's an industrial kitchen and we have a dedicated kitchen witch team that cooks all the meals for us, and we all sit together and eat. Family style in this space. And, then there are cabin units where people sleep and there's, bath houses in each of the units, which have hot and cold running water and slush toilets, which is Wow.

Nice, 

[00:52:51] Jennifer Taylor: wonderful experience. 

[00:52:52] Liz Jacobs: So, yeah, because there have been other events that I've been to where it's, you know, compost toilet and a cold shower. And, so this is one of the things that we kind of boast about. but the experience really is, when we first started it was a festival. We had a may pole dance.

We did a main ritual, we did a closing ritual, and it was a lot of fun. And over the years it sort of evolved as the people who came back year after year felt like they wanted more, they wanted something more substantial and, something that they could really connect to. Uh, we started to design, a theme for the entire event.

And so then we would build a ritual arc that spanned the entire weekend. So starting on Thursday night. We would do a ritual about the theme to get everything started. And every ritual beyond that would build on the previous one until we got to Saturday night when it was a major, ritual. the main event.

and then on Sunday morning we had this beautiful ritual, it, tradition that we've developed a few years ago where we put all of the tables together in the feast hall and everybody just sits around like it's a great big family gathering and we share cakes and a and we say thank you to everybody.

And it's just this wonderful experience because in addition to these strong, powerful ritual arcs, we have so many guests, like the three of you who are coming, who come and teach and offer amazing experiences and learning opportunities to the people who come. And, there are things that we can, that happen throughout the rest of the weekend that are.

Opportunities for people to be part of community and to share with one another their experiences and to just enjoy each other's company and be in a safe space because we cast words at the very beginning. And so this is sort of a place, a time out of time, a place where, you know, there's no signal, there's no cell signal, there's no computers, nothing.

You're just out in the woods. And everybody just embraces that, you know, and experiences this community that is so close knit. And people have built relationships as a result of coming. They come back year after year. We have some beautiful testimonials on our website, that talk about why they keep coming back and things like that.

and we, those of us who put on the event, it's all volunteer. I spend half the year. As my day job putting this thing on. I'm the director for the event and there is a, large, I guess we have about 10 or 15 people on our team. I'm not the numbers person, so I don't know how many people we have on the team, but everybody dedicates themselves in one way or another, and it's all volunteer.

No one's getting paid for it. And, they keep coming back year after year two to do it. and there's this sense of pride and ownership of the event that makes them want to keep doing it and improving it year after year. it's just a phenomenal experience and we look forward to it and we get quite a lot out of it even though we're working our butts off.

[00:55:57] Jennifer Taylor: Yeah, that is, it is a lot. it's amazing all that you are offering and all of the different aspects of what's going on. And I remember, when we had first met and we were talking about it and you were describing it, It's incredible the amount of thought and care and energy and guidance that goes into creating that ritual arc.

Like when you were describing, I think it was the one from last year. it is really a work of art. It is a beautiful, beautiful thing. And, I think it's something that I can, imagine just how much people really do get from that and how much it feeds their soul and their growth and, whatever it is that they're needing at the time.

so for this year, what is the theme and the kind of general kind of arc for this year's theme? 

[00:56:48] Cael Jacobs: Can you tell 'em? Sure. So, this year's theme is one voice, and we chose that because, this is a difficult time that people are going through. There's a lot of divisiveness in the world.

There's a lot of discord and disagreement among people and. So we wanted to provide people with an opportunity to just step back from that and come together in a place where we could all have one voice, where we could all speak together using the same voice, sing together, using the same voice, and really just create a community centered around that idea.

And so the ritual arc itself is centered around, the different voices that we speak with and that, that speak with us, over the course of our lives. And so we have a ritual dedicated to the voice of the divine. We have a ritual dedicated to the voice of nature, one dedicated to the voice of society because whether we like it or not, we're all in society.

and we have a ritual dedicated to the voice of our kin, those people who are closest to us, whether they're blood related or not. and then a ritual, finally dedicated to the voice of self because that. It's a terribly important voice, and a lot of us lose that sometimes, when we're caught up with all the other voices that are talking to us and telling us things and making demands of us.

And it's important that we come back to that voice of self that tells us what we need. 

[00:58:14] Liz Jacobs: And that's the at the closing ritual. And so our hope is to use that voice of self, piece to help everyone sort of have something to take home with them and take into their growing season and use that voice that they have, learned that they have or regained or whatever their experience was, something positive about that one voice of self that they can take on outside of the event to do something powerful with, at the end of it.

[00:58:42] Jennifer Taylor: it sounds wonderful. I'm so excited. and there's still, I think I saw 21 days as of the recording. By the time it comes out, it will be somewhere in the teens number of days where, for people to be able to register for the event.

Mm-hmm. So there is still space, right? For people to be able to come? 

[00:59:01] Liz Jacobs: Yes. 

[00:59:02] Jennifer Taylor: Okay. 

[00:59:03] Liz Jacobs: The event is, and has always been very, uh, small, intimate. And we really like it that way because we feel that the smaller numbers help us to stay in a community mindset more easily.

and so we are happy to stay at the park, which only allows us to have about 150 people. and that's perfect for us. We feel like any more than that, it would become unwieldy. So right now we have plenty of registrations and we could run the event with just the people who have already signed up, but there are plenty still of spaces available.

And the way it works is we encourage everyone to come for the entire time to get that experience of the entire ritual arc starting Thursday. So the ideal scenario would be that someone would arrive around one o'clock on Thursday. Get settled in, they get their cabin assignment where they're gonna be staying the whole weekend.

And then, we have some, activities going on throughout the day until evening time. so we have somebody who's leading a nature hike and things like that. And, then we have a, during our first meal together, we have a newcomers welcome sort of round table so anyone who's new can sit down with us and ask their questions and get to know who we are and, you know, learn who the team is.

That puts everything together. And, we give an opportunity for those who have come before to share their experiences and maybe give little, tidbits of advice of what it's been like for them and, what would a successful event look like for them. Uh, and then we have our first ritual after that.

so it, with the number of people that we get coming in, sometimes people can't make it until Friday, and that's okay. we recognize that some people may not be able to get off work early enough to come on Thursday. So we'll sort of give a, 

recap on Friday during the first ritual just to give people an idea of what they've experienced.

But it is very different from between hearing about it and being a part of it. So, we do really encourage people to be there for the entire time. so does that answer your question? 

[01:01:12] Jennifer Taylor: Yeah, actually that was wonderful. It, it answered that question and then it started into kind of my next question, which was, for someone who's new and has never been to something like this and is kind of unsure about the idea of, putting themselves out there and coming to something like this, kind of what you might want to say to them or what you've found helps other people who have been in that position coming in.

Sure. 

[01:01:39] Cael Jacobs: So, um. Part of it is we have a very comprehensive website, uh, that includes a whole bunch of information, all of the rules, all of the suggestions about etiquette and so forth. festival dos, festival don'ts, all of those kinds of things. And so reading through the website gives people a really good idea of.

What to expect. and then in addition to that, all of our staff are always, always marked with, bright neon green wristbands and staff badges. And so we encourage people who are, you know, having trouble, you know, how do I get from here to there? Or what does this mean on the schedule, to come up to one of the staff members, and ask their questions.

And every one of our staff, is on radio at all times. And so one of the things that means is that if a staff member doesn't know the answer to your question, they are just one button press away from somebody who does know the answer to your question. And so that way, you know, any question that any guest has about anything that's going on, we can answer for them or at the absolute worst, direct them to somebody who can answer that question.

so. All, we really ask of people who come is to come with the idea to be as fully engaged as they're comfortable being and to come with a kind heart, you know, because there are people, at the event who have different belief systems, who practice different paths, who have different ideologies.

And the whole idea is to come together and be a part of a community for an extended weekend. And so if people can come in with kindness in their hearts and be open-minded to one another, then it all just works. 

[01:03:19] Jennifer Taylor: Yeah. Yeah. That's beautiful. and I think you kind of touched part of on one of my other questions, which was, you know, if someone is new and they're not quite sure about, you know, how they're gonna feel in this community and exploring all of these different things, you know, it sounds like they have the option to participate as fully as they're comfortable and then also recognize where their comfort level is and, honor their own, guidance and needs to kind of retreat a little bit and have some quiet time or step out of something if they feel like they need to.

And all of that, is honored and totally a part of that as well. 

[01:04:01] Liz Jacobs: Absolutely, it is. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah, we feel very strongly that. Different people have different levels of engagement that they're comfortable with, and we never ask anyone that we any, to do anything that we wouldn't do ourselves.

But also we recognize that we're just two people. We're just a handful of people on the team, and we recognize that everyone has their boundaries and we want to honor that and, help people recognize that they ought to honor their own boundaries as well. So, I, I take a, I'm gonna be sitting at the feast hall a lot this year, so if people, are looking for somebody to talk to, they can come talk to me.

I'm the director, so I probably know more about the event as a whole than anyone else. but also I broke my foot and my ankle in September, and I'm still not completely up to a hundred percent. And so I'm not gonna be doing a lot of walking around, which means I'm gonna be sitting in the feast hall or, we call the Feast Hall, which is the dining facility.

and just outside of that, there's a table on the porch where we, a lot of us hang out there just to be social and you'll probably see me there as well 'cause it's, when it's nice outside, I'd like to sit outside. so if anybody ever wants to talk to anybody, have any questions, they're welcome to come talk to me.

and I try to have a hands off approach because I know some people don't like being approached and so I won't approach most people, but I will make sure that they see my friendly face and recognize that they can come talk to me if they need to. 

[01:05:31] Jennifer Taylor: That's wonderful. Yeah. And that brings up another great thing as far as accessibility for, I know I was there for just a very brief time because my husband ran an ultra marathon there in the forest and said he attested to, he was like, the energy there is awesome.

This is gonna be great. And that was with a bunch of people running through the woods, not, with the sort of, perspective that everyone's gonna have for this gathering. Mm-hmm. Um, but I know it was, really uneven and hilly and stuff, at least in the areas that we were.

What is the accessibility like for maybe someone who has more difficulty getting around? what would you advise with that or what have other people been able to manage with that? 

[01:06:13] Liz Jacobs: That's a good question. Do you wanna answer that? 

[01:06:15] Cael Jacobs: Sure. So it is, it is a forest. and so there are pathways through the woods and sometimes the rain, causes gies to form and so forth.

And so there are areas of the park that are challenging for, a person to get to if they have mobility issues. However, One thing that, that we do to account for that is that we, make as much available near to the entry as possible, near to where the Feast Hall is. It's a central location. registration is there, and then a lot of the, uh, the activities take place in an area that is not right there, but it's close enough that a mobility, challenged person would be able to get to it without too much trouble.

we also have, we kind of have an insane work crew who are willing to take on, all kinds of things. We had, one guest some years back who was having difficulty walking, and they loaded him into a cart and they took him down the paths, over the gullies, through the woods, all the way down to the bonfire pit.

And so if a guest wants help, our staff will be willing to provide it. You know, if somebody has. if they're able to walk, but they're not able to haul a bunch of stuff, we have young, strong backs who are willing to help them take their things to their cabin and so forth. And so, we try to be as accommodating as possible within the bounds of reality.

I mean, at the end of the day, it's a park. It's made out of mud in some places and, and stones and tree roots. and so it is a challenge. It's a challenge for, even people who are not dealing with any kinds of challenges to get around sometimes. But we do everything that we can to accommodate, everybody and so that everybody can be as included as they wish to be.

[01:08:03] Liz Jacobs: Yep, yep. And, on the registration form, it's quite comprehensive and we always ask people if they have any kind of issues, any kind of health concerns or mobility issues or anything like that. There is a place on the registration form. To let us know, because the more we are informed in advance, the more we can prepare, just in case somebody needs help.

So we do as much as we can to make sure everyone's taken care of. Wonderful. And on 

[01:08:28] Cael Jacobs: that, on that note, we also include in the registration form questions about dietary needs. our kitchen staff is very willing to accommodate people. we've had in the past, they have a vegetarian offering.

And if we have, vegan people who are attending, they, they include a, a vegan offering. they have. special toasters and so forth that are available for if somebody has a gluten sensitivity, so that, those can be accommodated safely. Uh, and if someone says, gosh, I have this allergy to this particular ingredient, then they'll plan their, their menu around not having that in there, or at least having things that are safe from that so that anybody who comes to the event can feel like they're a part of it instead of, having to sit in the corner and eat a bag lunch that they brought themselves.

[01:09:17] Jennifer Taylor: Yeah. And that's amazing. And another, part of it that I'm not sure I've made clear too was that, so all the meals, when you register for this, all of the meals are included, right? So all the meals and everything is a part of that registration fee. Yes. 

[01:09:33] Liz Jacobs: Yes. That's wonderful. the registration fee includes.

All of your meals from Thursday through Sunday, if you're paying for a passport you're also paying for a cabin to stay in. and then of course you get access to the entire event with all the activities and the workshops and the rituals and the bonfire. And there's a performance on Saturday night from a band called Kindred Crow, which is a local band that's been coming to perform at frontal ground for years and years.

And they're phenomenal. We are so happy to have them back this year, but it's all covered. The only thing that isn't covered is if, for instance, a workshop has a materials fee, people might have to pay that materials fee separately. but everything else is included. Yep. 

[01:10:19] Jennifer Taylor: Wonderful. And so when would someone sign up for workshops?

'cause I know there are various, additional workshops being offered, like the ones that we're doing. Is that something that happens before they get there? Or are they, once they get there, they decide what they're going to attend. 

[01:10:35] Liz Jacobs: So we try to accommodate the presenters as much as we can for, for instance, in the class that you'll be teaching, there's a, an attendee limit of, I think she said 13.

13 people. Yeah, I think so. Uh, and so because of that, we ask people to sign up in advance for it. And there's a, a way to do that right on our website, on the listing for your workshop. There's another person who's doing a workshop that's, nature Hike, and then they're gonna be taking home, they're gonna be making something and taking it home.

And so there's a $15 materials fee for that one. And so people will need to sign up in advance. And again, that's on the website so that it's not difficult to access everything else. We sort of give people the opportunity to just decide when, what they're going to do, when they get there. Some people will set up their agenda before they ever show up and they know exactly what they're gonna do.

Some people are more fly by the seat of their pants and decide right then and there, oh, I've decided I'm gonna go to this workshop or what have you. and as long as, they are on time, you know, and they're not disrupting a class, they're welcome to attend. so yeah, we don't really have it rigid so that people have to sign up most of the workshops.

[01:11:48] Jennifer Taylor: Awesome. And I will make sure, I'll let you guys say what the na the website is, and then I will also, we'll put links to that in the show notes so that, everybody can go down there and be able to have the link for the website and be able to find all the information if they would like to register or just read more about it, because this is such a wonderful example of the kinds of things that can be offered.

You know, if someone's listening to this and they're in Washington state and they're like, I can't really get there, but I have a group of people and I'd like to, and I love to just kind of offer this as a, some sense of a template of that, you know, this kind of stuff can happen. 

[01:12:28] Liz Jacobs: Absolutely it can. When we first started, someone introduced us to a book called Chasing the Rainbow, and it was written by a woman, who, ti Owen.

Yeah. Tisch Owen, who was the facilitator for, the Pagan Unity Gathering or Pagan Unity Festival in Florida. Tennessee. Sorry. and she wrote this very small little book full of comedy. Like she's a hilarious person. but she basically said, so you wanna put on a festival? Here's what you need to know.

Here's how you need to do it. And it was a template that we used at the very beginning that helped us. Figure out exactly how we wanted to do things. and it's been so invaluable. So we share that with anybody that is interested. We know we're not, we can't be everything to everybody. We're, like I said, it's a small, very small event.

but we've been doing this for a long time, and so I'm personally very happy to talk to anybody who wants to do something like this, and help them, get started or, maybe give them some pointers and things like that. so please go ahead and, send them my way if anybody's interested in talking to me about it, I'm happy to do that.

[01:13:39] Jennifer Taylor: Sure. What contact would you like, people who are interested in contacting you to use and we can put that in the show notes 

[01:13:46] Liz Jacobs: Absolutely. Um, I can tell you the website right now for Fertile Ground. It's Easy fertile ground gathering.com. Uh, all, all one. There's no dots or anything in between the.com. Um, so that's for this event and for Wilder Grove, it's another easy one. Wilder grove.com. Okay, 

[01:14:05] Jennifer Taylor: wonderful. And Wilder is spelled with an I?

[01:14:09] Liz Jacobs: Yep. W-I-L-D-E -R Grove, G-R-O-V-E. 

[01:14:13] Jennifer Taylor: Okay, wonderful. and so I, I think it's so wonderful that you're offering these things and then also I know that I was, gifted books from by Cael, which were really awesome. And I love the stories. One of them is a group of stories that, I actually had read to my daughter and I really thoroughly enjoyed.

And so I wanted to get a chance to share that with people too and how they could get it. And then I haven't actually had a chance to get into the second one, but I've read the first one several times. so if you want to share any of that, I would love to share that with, our listeners because they, I just, I've thoroughly enjoyed the stories.

They were so beautiful. 

[01:14:57] Cael Jacobs: Thank you so much. So the story behind the story, so to speak, is that when we were starting fertile ground gathering, one of the things that we had early on was a bunch of people signed up with young children. And so we wanted to have, the opportunity to tell them bedtime stories, before they went off to their cabins, to go to sleep.

And so we started looking for stories to tell, around the bonfire or in front of the fireplace on the feast hall. And we didn't find any that sort of fit our specific vibe that spoke to us. And so, Liz challenged me. She said, well, why don't you write some? And so I did. I, I sat down and I, I wrote the first story and it was called, the Girl Who Lost the Moon.

And it's about. a young lady who is given the moon as a gift, and then things happen and she loses the moon. And so the story progresses as to, how the moon ended up being placed into the sky. and it was the sort of thing that, that we wanted to tell. That was the kind of story that we wanted to be able to tell.

And that story led into another one. And that second one was about why trees change color, in the waning of the year. And that story led to another one and led to another one. And so what it ended up being is a, a fictional world that I call the Wilder Forest. And it is a set of stories that are all interconnected with one another so that a main character in this story may show up as a cameo in that story.

And they're all part of a cohesive mythology of why things are the way they are in the world. You know, why, why are birds the way they are? Why the trees change color? what is the reason for bees? all of these kinds of stories. and I was so blessed to have the opportunity to work with, an award-winning artist.

His name is Corey Godby. he has worked with, Henson. He worked on the production for the new Netflix, dark Crystal series when that came out. He's an amazing artist, and, he was willing to work with me to do illustrations for this book. and then he and I self-published it together so that we could retain, creative control over it so that it could appear exactly as we wanted it to appear.

And it, it came out beautifully, in, oh gosh, it was 11 years ago. it came out in April of 2014. and there are copies of it all over the world because of our Kickstarter campaign. and we've sold it at conventions and, if people want it now, it's it's available on Amazon or people can buy it through the Wilder Grove website.

and, if people want signed copies, I'm happy to, to sign them and include a special message for that. the second book is, it's a handbook for a kind of meditation that I have been teaching since the very first fertile ground gathering. it's a technique that I have been using for many years, since college, in fact.

And I started teaching it at Fertile Ground, and I taught it every year for a couple of years. And eventually people started asking me, is there, is this written down anywhere? Because sitting in a class is great, but I don't have any reference material. You know, when I go home, I don't remember everything from the class.

And so I thought, well, I mean, I could write it down. And so I did. and once it was done, I sent a couple of queries to, you know, the usual suspects in the Pagan and spiritual, publishing community. And one of the publishers shipper books wrote back and said, yeah, we'd like to publish this.

and so that book came out, in February of 2015. So, uh, just about 10 years ago now. and that's been a remarkable experience as well. 

[01:18:44] Jennifer Taylor: Yeah. Wonderful. And so what are the names of those two books? 

[01:18:48] Cael Jacobs: Oh, yes, I should have said that. no worries. the short story collection is called Tales from the Wilder Forest.

it's available on Amazon, it's available on the website. there is also an ebook version available on Amazon as well. and then the other one is called Living a Life in Balance, and it is also available on Amazon. There's also an ebook version, and you can also purchase that from the Wilder Grove, website as well.

[01:19:15] Jennifer Taylor: Awesome. And so if someone wanted to get those books and have them, signed and have that personalized from you, would that be through the Wilder Grove website? Is that how they would contact you that way to do it? 

[01:19:26] Cael Jacobs: Yes. Yes. Okay. so I, I have no control over the sales of the books via Amazon.

and so I, someone can't request a signed copy. That way if, if they do purchase through the Wilder Grove, we can absolutely do that. 

[01:19:40] Liz Jacobs: Or if they come to Fertile Ground Yeah, you can, they can meet the author and get him to sign it right then and there. That's true. Yeah. Oh, that would be fantastic.

We do have several authors who are teachers at the event, and so we set up an author's table in the dining, in the feast hall and, the books are there and, everyone's willing to sign or discuss their books or any of that. So Wonderful. Those books will be there. Yep. 

[01:20:05] Jennifer Taylor: Is there anything else like this that I don't know about that you would like to share with people that you guys have to offer?

[01:20:13] Liz Jacobs: Yeah, so, we're excited to be putting on a second, event, that will be starting this coming fall, and it's called Mystic Fire, so it's another, it's more of a retreat style event. That's happening in Front Royal at the four H Center. And it's a another beautiful facility. this is gonna be an opportunity to dig deeper and to sort of prepare for the darker time of the year.

It's gonna be a retreat style event, another overnights, it'll be warm and heated rooms and things like that. So this is something we're still putting all of the pieces together for. but we're really excited about making that offer to people out in the community, especially those who are, used to coming to Fertile Ground gathering.

We actually announced this to the folks at Fertile Ground at the end of the event last year, and we got a lot of interest in the event. So we're looking forward to adding that to our, list of offerings. 

[01:21:13] Jennifer Taylor: Wonderful. And I know I'd seen, a big link to that on the fertile ground gathering.

Website. And so anybody who's thinking, gosh, I would really love to do something with this group and be a part of this, but it's, you know, maybe a little late notice by the time they listen to this. That's another thing. Then later on in the calendar year that they can be looking out for and, possibly be able to connect in and attend as well.

Wonderful. Absolutely. Yeah. Awesome. 

[01:21:42] Liz Jacobs: Yeah, I don't have anything else. Do you? 

[01:21:45] Cael Jacobs: the only thing that occurred to me that I wanted to mention, during the discussion of the accommodations at Fertile Ground, the question that we get all the time is, am I going to have to share my cabin with somebody else?

You know, 'cause I'm, I'm new to an event, I'm not comfortable, you know, sharing, uh, sleeping space with somebody that I don't know, or changing clothes where somebody, I don't know. all of the accommodations with one exception at Fertile ground gathering are private cabins. and so if you come in a party of two, you'll get a two person cabin.

Or if we run out of two person cabins, you'll get a four person cabin, but we won't put anybody else in there with you. Mm-hmm. You know that you don't ask to have in the cabin with you. we can accommodate parties up to six, in one cabin. and then if parties are larger than that, then we may have to split them across a couple of different cabins, but we won't put people in with strangers.

And so, you know, especially for people who are new and unsure about stuff, you can have your own cabin with your own safe space, and nobody's gonna be going in there, you know, except you and the other people in your party. the one exception to that is there's a larger facility, called the Infirmary, which has, I think what, I think it's six beds.

Six beds, And that is a place where historically we have put, people who had limited mobility or something like that. and, single, women who are attending by themselves and don't want to be alone out in the woods in the dark, you know, especially in an unfamiliar place. So the infirmary is very close to the feast hall and it's in a central location, and it has its own private facilities and so forth.

And so, that's a shared facility. And so there, there might be somebody other than just you, but it's also, a safe con of accommodation for that. Mm-hmm. Yeah. 

[01:23:35] Jennifer Taylor: Nice. I'm so glad that you thought to say that because I think there are probably a lot of people who would have those sorts of thoughts when they start looking at it of like, what is this gonna look like?

And yeah, who am I gonna be bunking with and what might that be like? So I love that you guys have really worked that to where everyone really can go and feeling comfortable and can, knowing what their sleeping arrangements will be like. 

[01:23:56] Liz Jacobs: Yep, yep. And we have, we're not allowed to bring cars into the actual, facility.

There's a big parking lot just outside of our campground, and cars aren't allowed to go past that. so instead what we have is the park actually provides these heavy duty four wheeled carts for people to take, load up, their car and take the carts to wherever they're staying. and so that's another thing people wonder about, how am I gonna get my stuff to my cabin and can I park my car next to my, the cabin?

To unload. So that's another question. But, as Cael was saying before, the website has all of that information on it. there's just so much information. and one thing that we do when once registration closes is we'll send out an email to everybody who has registered and we'll give them information about here's the link to what to bring, here's the link to what not to bring.

Here's the directions, here's, you know, what you can expect, things like that. And so, we give people another opportunity to sort of find the things they need to look for on the website in case they get overwhelmed when they're looking on it. Wonderful. 

[01:25:07] Jennifer Taylor: Yeah, I think that that's a great idea. I think the overall feeling of being held in this sounds like it's really great, you've really thought about all of the different ways from energetically holding that to what it is that people.

You know, may need to know or have a sense of in order to feel, safe and held through this experience. And you guys certainly have plenty of years of experience of figuring out all of these little details to where it seems like it's really a pretty well oiled machine at this point.

[01:25:40] Liz Jacobs: It really is. Yep. We still have hiccups, but one thing we do is we'll have a meeting at the end of the event each year to talk about our lessons learned. What could we have done better next time? We always have a feedback form to give people so that if they have suggestions or comments, we, we like to hear them and we take them seriously.

so even if you have something to say that you think we might not like, whether we like it or not, if we can learn something from it and improve in the future, we like to hear it and we do take it, like I said, very seriously. So it's a well-oiled machine, but we're constantly trying to improve and.

And make sure that we are focusing on things that, people care about. 

[01:26:21] Jennifer Taylor: Yeah. And you know, as much as I use the term machine, we are all humans. And also working with spirit who often has its own, guidance and ways. And sometimes the, you know, the unpredicted things sometimes come through to be really potent, important.

Yeah, that's definitely true. You know, the ability to go into it being flexible and relaxed enough I know Tava and I go into most, Uh, podcasts and go, okay, I think this might be what we're gonna do today. And within a few minutes, that's all blown out.

And we're like, all right, now we're just, apparently now we're going this direction. Yeah. Yep. So yeah, they're definitely, having a, a balance of those things is important. It really is. 

[01:27:05] Cael Jacobs: One of the things that we found very valuable over the years is having, uh, a dedicated staff that we've worked with for so long means that we're able to roll with the punches.

Uh, and I don't know whether you're gonna have to bleep me for saying this, but one of, one of our kind of mantras at the event is, fuck it, we'll do it live. because there, there have been times when we had an entire ritual planned out and it was going to take place in this part of the park and it was going to have this infrastructure and these things, and then, the universe said, or we could have a thunderstorm.

And so we couldn't, you know, for, for the safety of our guests and the safety of our staff, we couldn't have that ritual in that way, in that place, in that time. And so even though we had spent weeks and in some cases months planning that ritual, we pulled the ritual team aside and we had a five minute conversation about how we were going to adapt it and how we were going to work with what we could do.

And what we have found is that sometimes those will do it. Live rituals end up being some of the most impactful ones because we've had the opportunity to work with the people at the event and get a feel for the kind of tenor of the event and how people's energy is and what people are needing as attendees.

And so we can incorporate that into that kind of ad hoc plan. and we've had some very powerful things come out of that. And so it's all about having a staff of people that you trust to be able to roll with those punches, to be able to say, I need you to do this. I will do this. And everybody takes care of their part of it, and everybody can trust everybody, to have their back.

Yeah. And it's, it's just a remarkable experience. Yeah. 

[01:28:52] Jennifer Taylor: Yeah. Having that kind of connection where you can work that way. you're so used to working together and, you know, leading ceremonies and just having that personal relationship. It's amazing how everything can just flow.

And especially in those times when it's like, that's all right, well, we're just going with it. We're just gonna be led, I think leads to some of the most amazing things. In fact, Keith and I met, with Tava and we were having lunch in our plan. We were gonna kind of plan out and flush out more of the details of the workshop.

And it was really funny because all of these various things started happening in the days before and in that day and right at lunch and the direction that the conversation took that seemed like it was taking us completely off the topic and basically looped back around to Sam sitting there with us at lunch going, yeah, you can't really plan these sorts of things.

Like your job is to show up and Michael and I are going to tell you what to do. And, you know, we're going through and we're, like, okay, but we still need a, sort of a structure and we have, the general flow of what's going to Happen and we get to a point and, TVA's writing and saying and I'm gonna have my script for it.

He goes, and then I will speak. It's basically like, yeah, it's like your jobs are just show up and be in. Complete full faith mode of mm-hmm. I am. I am here and I'm present and I'm open and I'm getting myself out of the way, and the rest is gonna be delivered to you. And I imagine that that's probably kind of how those, we're just doing it live here.

It goes, kinds of rituals. Go. And I can imagine how potent that is because well, absolutely. There's definitely something to that. You know what, let's just throw it all to the wind and here it goes. lead us. 

[01:30:49] Liz Jacobs: Yeah, absolutely. And, and you can definitely feel the energy shift from everybody who participates in something like that.

because there's no ego involved. You know, when we have to shift gears, all of a sudden it's just what is going to happen? And so I. W we are not involved in it for any reason other than to provide this experience for people. And it allows us to just be entirely ourselves through the process. And when we experience that ourselves, just that opening up and being able to give it exactly how it should come out, I said, should, well, it's 

[01:31:32] Jennifer Taylor: meant to come out.

Yeah. I find we use that on ourselves a lot more than we use on, others , I, find catch myself when I say it to someone else, and yet I'm much more likely to say it to myself. 

[01:31:42] Liz Jacobs: Yeah, exactly. Um, but anyway, so yeah, having that opportunity to just release and do exactly what you are meant to do, and that sort of gives others permission to do the same, to release and to open and to, uh, experience and.

Share energy in the same way, and on the same level. And it becomes a very powerful experience for everybody, including the people who are putting on the rituals though. 

[01:32:12] Jennifer Taylor: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Well, I am so grateful that you guys took this time out of your busy schedule to talk with me about all of this and share just all of this.

I'm sure that people even, who aren't necessarily going to be able to be here will just benefit from hearing about the way that you operate and the types of offerings that you have and the way that this has been laid out. And just getting to feel your energy is a beautiful thing. So I'm really, really grateful that you took this time.

And, as we typically do, we also close the space in. that's usually my job. Um, so my part is always the song part. and I guess if there anything that you guys would like to leave us with before I sing, 

I think we've 

[01:33:02] Liz Jacobs: pretty much set everything. Yeah. We just, you know, hoping that people get the opportunity to experience fertile ground, whether it's this year or next year. Uh, it's life changing for everyone who attends. And so hopefully we will, see some of the people who are listening, and if not this year, next year, the year after, and maybe every year after that.

[01:33:26] Jennifer Taylor: Yeah. 

[01:33:27] Liz Jacobs: And it's been wonderful speaking with you. I'm sorry we couldn't get to have Tap Tavo with us, but. it's been lovely to just get to talk with you. 

[01:33:35] Cael Jacobs: Yeah. Thank you for taking the time to speak with us. Absolutely. 

[01:33:38] Jennifer Taylor: Oh, absolutely. I've, I have thoroughly enjoyed it and so I will switch some mics and I will sing.

Okay. 

--singing ---

So thank you to everyone who took time out of your day to listen and spend time connecting with us. we'll have all of the information that you need to be able to connect with Liz and Cael in the show notes. And we look forward to connecting with you again next week and hopefully connecting with some of you at the Fertile Ground gathering.

So until then, be filled with blessings. Thank you. 

[01:36:14] Cael Jacobs: Thank you.