Sacred Groves

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Sacred Groves Sacred Groves is a ten acre forest sanctuary located on Bainbridge Island, in Washington state, home to a small intentional community living in harmony with each other, nature and spirit. We welcome guests and clients to the land for rituals, healing work, music, learning, prayer and retreat time in the woods. It is a place to deepen your relationship with Mother Earth and your personal spirituality, a place for ceremony and a sense of connection. We offer season’s change rituals, sweatlodges, grief-work, communication classes, a monthly drum circle and Women’s Moon Ceremony and more. Women’s Mysteries School events are geared especially towards women’s healing and empowerment.

Sacred Groves is not affiliated with any particular religion. The events here include elements of ritual from earth-based spiritual traditions in North America, Africa and pre-Christian Europe. They have also been inspired by mentors like Sobonfu Some, Joanna Macy, Starhawk, and co-creative experiences in drumming and ritual groups for the past couple of decades. We welcome people from all races and cultures who share our beliefs that the earth is sacred and that music, dance, prayer, ceremony, and time in the natural world are essential for personal and community health.

Events at Sacred Groves are most often facilitated by owner-director Therese Charvet whose spiritual practices and offerings have been shaped by 25 years of Buddhist meditation practice, her deep connection to Mother Earth, and her love of drum, dance and song. Some events (like the Grief Ritual and Wailing Lodge) are co-facilitated with Kendra E. Thornbury of SpiritAlive who also occasionally offers her own workshops at the Groves. Occasionally Therese invites other teachers to the Groves to share their gifts with the land and the people who love to come here.

Activities at Sacred Groves occur in the natural setting of 10 acres of Pacific Northwest rainforest. It is a small wilderness park where you can feel the sacredness of the earth. It’s a place to settle into the quiet, listen to the birds, watch the trees sway in the wind, re-establish connection with God, Goddess, Great Spirit, Great Mystery or whatever it is you call that ineffable power that underlies all of life.

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Sacred Groves in India Sacred groves in India refer to forest fragments of varying sizes, which are communally protected, and which usually have a significant religious connotation for the protecting community. Hunting and logging are usually strictly prohibited within these patches. [1] Other forms of forest usage like honey collection and deadwood collection are sometimes allowed on a sustainable basis. Sacred groves did not enjoy protection via federal legislation in India. Some NGOs work with local villagers to protect such groves. Traditionally, and in some cases even today, members of the community take turns to protect the grove. [2] However, the introduction of the protected area category community reserves under the Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act of 2002 has introduced legislation for providing government protection to community held lands, which could include sacred groves. Indian sacred groves are sometimes associated with temples / monasteries / shrines or with burial grounds (which is the case in Shinto and Ryukyuan religionbased sacred groves respectively in Japan). Sacred groves may be loosely used to refer to other natural habitat protected on religious grounds, such as Alpine Meadows. Historical references to sacred groves can be obtained from ancient classics as far back as Kalidasa's Vikramuurvashiiya.

Beliefs Typically, such groves are associated with the concept of a "presiding deity". While most of these sacred deities are associated with local Hindu gods, sacred groves of Islamic and Buddhist origins, and some based on smaller local religions and folk religions (like the folk deities ayyanar and amman ) are also known of. There are over 1000 deities associated with sacred groves in the states of Kerala and Karnataka alone.

[edit] Locations Sacred groves are scattered all over the country, and are referred to by different names in different parts of India. Sacred groves occur in a variety of places - from scrub forests in the Thar Desert of Rajasthan maintained by the Bishnois, to rain forests in the Kerala Western Ghats. Himachal Pradesh in the North and Kerala in the South are specifically known for their large numbers of sacred groves. [3] Around 14,000 sacred groves have been reported from all over India, which act as reservoirs of rare fauna, and more often rare flora, amid rural and even urban settings. Experts believe that the total number of sacred groves could be as high as 100,000. [4] [5] It is estimated that around 1000 km² of unexploited land is inside sacred groves. Some of the more famous groves are the kavus of Kerala, which are located in the Western Ghats and have enormous biodiversity; and the law kyntangs of Meghalaya - sacred groves associated with every village (two large groves being in Mawphlang and Mausmai) to appease the forest spirit.

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Among the largest sacred groves of India are the ones in Hariyali, near Ganchar in Chamoli District of Uttarakhand, and the Deodar grove in Shipin near Simla in Himachal Pradesh. State Andhra Pradesh

No of groves

Local name

References B. R. P. Rao [6]

750

Arunachal Pradesh 65

Gumpa forests (since attached to monasteries)

Assam

40

Than, Madaico

Chhattisgarh

600*

Sarna, Devlas, Mandar, Budhadev

Goa

NA*

Gujarat

29*

Haryana

248

Dudley et al [7]

SERBC document [8]

Himachal Pradesh 5000

Deo bhumi

Jharkhand

21*

Sarna

Marine Carrin [9]

Karnataka

1424

Devarakadu, Devarkan

Gadgil et al [10]

Kerala

2000

Kavu

M. Jayarajan [11]

Madhya Pradesh

21*

Devkot, Matikot, Devsthali, Budhadev Deorai/Devrai (Pune, Ratnagiri, Raigarh, Kolhapur districts)

Waghchaure et al [12]

Maharashtra

1600

Manipur

365

Gamkhap, Mauhak (sacred bamboo reserves)

Khumbongyam et al [13]

Meghalaya

79

Law kyntang, Law lyngdhoh

Upadhyay et al [14]

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Orissa

322*

Jahera, Thakuramma

Pondicherry

108

Kovil Kadu

Rajasthan

9*

Oran (Jaiselmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner), Kenkri (Ajmer), Vani (Mewar), Shamlat deh, Devbani (Alwar), Jogmaya

Sikkim

56

Gumpa forests (since attached to monasteries)

S. S. Dash [16]

Tamil Nadu

503

Kovil Kadu

M. Amrithalingam [17]

Uttarakhand

18*

Deobhumi, Bugyal (sacred alpine meadows)

Anthwal et al [18]

670*

Garamthan, Harithan, Jahera, Sabitrithan, Santalburithan

R. K. Bhakat [19]

West Bengal

Ramanujam et al [15]

Dudley et al [7]

All numbers are quoted from the records of the C.P.R. Environmental Education Centre of the Government of India. Starred numbers are likely to increase. The centre also maintains a complete list of identified sacred groves in India, most of which is online. [20]

[edit] Uses Traditional uses: One of the most important traditional uses of sacred groves was that it acted as a repository for various Ayurvedic medicines. Other uses involved a source of replenishable resources like fruits and honey. However, in most sacred groves it was taboo to hunt or chop wood. The vegetation cover helps reduce soil erosion and prevents desertification, as in Rajasthan. The groves are often associated with ponds and streams, and meet water requirements of local communities. They sometimes help in recharging aquifers as well. Modern uses: In modern times, sacred groves have become biodiversity hotspots, as various species seek refuge in the areas due to progressive habitat destruction, and hunting. Sacred groves often contain plant and animal species that have become extinct in neighboring areas. They therefore harbor great genetic diversity. Besides this, sacred groves in urban landscapes act as "lungs" to the city as well, providing much needed vegetation cover.

[edit] Threats Threats to the grove include urbanization, over-exploitation of resources (like overgrazing and excessive fuelwood collection), and environmental destruction due to religious practices. While many of the groves are looked upon as abode of Hindu gods, in the recent past a number of them have been partially cleared for construction of shrines and temples. [4] Other threats to the sacred groves include invasion by invasive species, like the invasive weeds Chromolaena odorata, Lantana camara and Prosopis juliflora.

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[edit] Traditions A large number of distinct local art forms and folk traditions are associated with the deities of sacred groves, and are an important cultural aspect closely associated with sacred traditions. Ritualistic dances and dramatizations based on the local deities that protect the groves are called Theyyam in Kerala and Nagmandalam, among other names, in Karnataka. Often, elaborate rituals and traditions are associated with sacred groves [21], as are associated folk tales and folk mythology.