Hi!
My name is Rev. Sara Jolena Wolcott, and I'm going to be directing the Rē Newsletter through the summer. I'm coming into this role at a moment when Rē is going through some shifts. Two of Rē's dear staff people, Adar Laia Thau and Kerri Groce Thomas, are transitioning into positions outside of Rē. They have both been tremendous additions to the core team and will be missed. They are going to find ways to stay in the community with us. Ashlei asked me to direct this newsletter, which has been an important part of the overarching offerings from Rē, during these next few months.
As part of that, I'm hoping you will fill out this short survey about what will best serve your work and life journey around regenerative living.
And - as a reminder - Rē is offering an in-person fire circle at Alnoba on May 18. It's open to everyone! I hope to see you there!
As this is my first newsletter, let me start by introducing myself and my relationship to Rē.
I first met Rē in 2016 or thereabouts, when the organization was based in Tennessee. I had known Dr. Felix Bivens, a co-founder of Rē, for many years prior, from our time studying together at the Institute of Development Studies in the UK. His work on participatory education and how Higher Education Institutions could better engage with communities really impressed me, and I was delighted when he achieved his dream of returning to the Appalachian mountains and doing local, as well as global, work. As I came to know Ashlei and the Rē School, I loved how Rē combined a global perspective with the needs of a local rural community, in a beautiful and often ignored part of the country. My visit to TN was a pivotal moment in my overall journey, when I was a student at Union Theological Seminary after having lived in India, and trying to figure out what it meant to be an eco-theologian and a witchy minister.
During my time in Tennessee, I got to meet some of the local wise women who knew the woods like the back of their hand and had a vision for what we might now call a truly regenerative future. That included Marie Cirillo and Carol Judy in the Clearfolk Valley. Carol was a remarkable herbalist; alas, she passed not long afterward. (And here is the video on the Re YouTube Channel about her). The dream of forests that can support many beings, including people, instead of just as being resources to consume, is a dream that I have since seen in many other parts of the country spring up again. It is as if the land itself is dreaming of a time when people can return to it.
Since that time, I graduated, and with the encouragement of several friends, have been growing a body of eco-spiritual work and communities via founding the organization, Sequoia Samanvaya. I also host The ReMembering and ReEnchanting Podcast where I talk with educators, peacemakers, and leaders like Lyla June Johnston, Nina Simons, and Ramasubramanian. I now live in the Hudson Valley, the homeland of the Mohican people, with my partner, Kristine Hill, who is an indigenous peacemaker. I'm originally from the East Bay in California, and the Hudson Valley often reminds me of a water-abundant, green version of some of the landscapes I love back in California.
I've continued to be in conversation with Rē.
I made a mini-course for Rē about a key aspect of eco-spirituality that I've done a lot of research on the importance of re-membering climate change into colonization - something that I teach in a longer-format to cultural change-makers and regenerative leaders via the ReMembering Course. I also led a course on circular time for the core Rē team, which led to some ongoing conversations with Ashlei. My partner, Kristine, and I were among the co-leaders of the 2023 October Rētreat at Alnoba in MA, and offered our Circular Time Ritual (Timewalking). It was a beautiful gathering.
So - all that is to say I have a long relationship with the Regenerative School.
And, as I'm now directing this newsletter, which has always been one of my favorite resources coming out of Rē, I want you to know something else about me:
I respect your inbox.
If you are anything like me, you probably receive lots of emails.
I'm sure that if you are here, it is because there is something about Rē - and hopefully something about these emails - that speaks to you.
As Rē discerns how it can best be of service, it would be helpful for us to learn a little bit more about what will be most helpful for you.
After all, this newsletter is all about supporting YOU. Trust me, we don't want to be writing it if no one is going to get anything out of reading it!
Please do help us out by filling out this short survey! It's about this newsletter. What's most helpful for you?
Thank you!
And feel free to introduce yourself (or re-introduce yourself) to me. No pressure, but it's also totally fine to do so!
Many blessings,
Rev. Sara Jolena Wolcott