“Just sit quietly with a tree. That’s really all that’s needed to start to shed those layers of doubt.” Isla Macleod
E151 – Isla Macleod on Shamanic Ceremony, Belonging and the Yew Trees
Guided By Tree Whispers
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About this interview:
How can we cultivate ceremonies of transformation and belonging?
“Just sit quietly with a tree. That’s really all that’s needed to start to shed those layers of doubt.” Isla Macleod
In this episode, Amisha talks with Isla Macleod, a ceremonialist who facilitates rites of passage ceremonies, rituals, retreats and healing journeys. Through her work of attending to the more-than-human world, Isla fulfils the service of a traditional medicine-woman, providing a bridge to the unseen and restoring balance to the web of life, and helping heal our separation from the natural world. Devoted to remembering and reimagining the indigenous ceremonies of her Celtic ancestors, Isla has spent time living in solitude in the woods, apprenticing with the Yew clan. At the heart of her work is the practice of learning how to meet death in a good way, to enhance the richness of life, and to prepare for becoming a well and wise ancestor.
Isla shares her personal journey seeking earth-based spiritual practices amongst the Yew trees embracing the lunar calendar traditions of her Celtic ancestors. Her rites of passage and shamanic training with trees as witnesses affirmed a sense of belonging to the more than human world.
Together they speak of the loss of ceremony in Western cultures and the consequences for our sense of belonging. They talk about the importance of ceremony to bring alive our intimate relationship with the sacred and the natural cycles of transitions. Isla speaks of the importance of rites of passage rituals as vital pauses that can help us receive the wisdom of our elders and open ways for communities to hold us whilst we let go of phases of life and emerge into the new phases as whole beings.
We learn that living in cyclical and ceremonial reciprocity with nature’s wisdom keepers hones our visceral sense and our sense of belonging. It offers a way to be curious about our darkness, to tend to grief and death, to align with our integrity, and embody our human potential.
“Any intentional journey or ceremony begins with a sense of what do you hold sacred? What is it that you value and that you wish to bring into a space to feel that quality of sacredness that connects you with a higher power the Mother Earth or any gods realms that you wish to experience in that sacred space?” ~Isla Macleod
Isla Macleod is a ceremonialist and companion at thresholds, devoted to honouring all facets of life and death. She facilitates rites of passage ceremonies, rituals, retreats and healing journeys to celebrate the changing seasons and life transitions in a meaningful way, to support a remembering of our innate wisdom and the depths of our belonging to the earth.
Through her work of attending to the more-than-human world, Isla fulfills the service of a traditional medicine-woman, providing a bridge to the unseen and restoring balance to the web of life by collaborating with nature and undertaking journeys to help heal our separation from the natural world.
Devoted to remembering and reimagining the indigenous ceremonies of her Celtic ancestors, Isla has spent time living in solitude in the woods, apprenticing with the Yew clan, exploring ways to honour the dead and these lands through pilgrimage, grief tending, water weaving and community celebrations. At the heart of her work is the practice of learning how to meet death in a good way, to enhance the richness of life, and prepare for becoming a well and wise ancestor.
To connect or work with Isla, islamacleod.com
To connect or work with Amisha, visit amisha.co.uk
This episode was recorded live at our summer weave 2021 hosted at Embercombe, we dedicate this episode to Fiona Barnes, She Who Walks Barefoot in Beauty.
artwork: Rob Visser
Resources and links from this episode:
- Isla Macleod Instagram account
- Isla Macleod website for newsletter, books, locus and amulet AND for performances, retreats or readings.
- Isla Macleod’s Book – ‘Rituals for Life’
- Rob Burbea (1965-2020)
- Gaia House
- Toko Pa Turner book . ‘Belonging’
- The Weave
- Embercombe
From Me to We
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Connect more with us:
- Beautiful Leadership mentoring
- Amisha’s One-to-One sessions
- Amisha’s book – INTUITION
- all that we are membership
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