GAIA MANDALA

Earth Treasure Vase “Corona Ma” for Kirkland,
on the shores of Lake Washington

Introduction

The Kirkland, Washington Earth Treasure Vase joined her sister-, aunt- and Grandmother- vases in the Mandala on October 25, 2022, to heal and protect Gaia and her people from the deaths, illnesses, and toxicity they have suffered from Covid-19 and its variants. She is buried 10 minutes away from Life Care Center of Kirkland. In early 2020, 46 people associated with the nursing home died in the first Coronavirus hot spot in the United States.
She was buried a few hours after a New Moon Eclipse in Scorpio in a park on the shores of Lake Washington, called HAH-choo by the Duwamish people. On May 18, 2022, Marita (who stewarded the Vase) had received permission and a blessing for her burial from The Honorable Cecile Hansen, the Duwamish Tribal Council Chairwoman from 1975 to the present (10/22). Maritaalso started to make annual “Real Rent” payments to the Duwamish for her personal use of their land as well as for the Earth Treasure Vase.

Marita writes:
“I started calling her Corona Ma about a week before she was buried, when I started feeling the bittersweet emotions of letting her go soon, like my three daughters before they left for college. During the 13 months she had lived with me, she had become my fourth daughter.”

Corona Ma was created at Ghost Ranch in 2021 specifically to alleviate the sufferings from our generation’s Black Plague. The day before she was lowered into that three-foot hole, 1,356 worldwide deaths had occurred from Covid. “Our World in Data” listed 628 million all-time cases of Covid and 6.58 million deaths.

Marita:
‘’I don’t think they knew or tracked when I got Covid. How many others? I will always pray for her and her heavy burden of healing. I live 20 minutes away from the Life Care Center and 30 minutes away from the darkness where she is planted. My life was saved by chemotherapy at EvergreenHealth Services of Kirkland, where some of the Life Care Center residents died in early 2020. I feel that bond deeply.

My biggest challenge in stewarding Corona Ma was discerning the location of her forever home. Kirkland is a residential community. Its parks are efficiently run and monitored. I didn’t want to be arrested for walking into one of them with a shovel. About six weeks before this little vase was dropped in Gaia’s womb, the energy changed dramatically so that I knew that it was time.’’

Three equally important events pointed Marita to the burial timing and location. She asked for support in helping to discern the location and Elizabeth Christine and Rasul posted her request in the online community gathering place ‘’Gaia Mandala’’. The response was felt.

Second, Marita just happened to find Therese Hogan’s powerful offering, “A Prayer for Stewards” somewhere on the website. “I can’t recommend it highly enough. It became part of my daily practice.”

Third, Marita belongs to a “Power of 8” Intentional Group that had started meeting weekly by Zoom just as the Pandemic began. Her Intentional Friends helped birth her Earth Treasure Vase even before the Ghost Ranch Retreat. One of them, Laurie, has been suffering from long haul Covid symptoms for over 2.5 years. She saw in her meditation tree roots. Her transmission led Marita to ask the question, “What if I donate a tree to a park and then bury this holy Vase underneath it?” After that, there was an ease and flow to eventually volunteering to plant a tree in a park during a special month-long Urban Forest Management Plan program this October.

“What timing! I am so grateful to everyone who participated in this support.”

The Burial Ceremony

By Marita Sheeran

I placed this child I had nourished into a vintage copper container and cushioned her with tiny pinecones I had retrieved from the Life Care Center property, Tewa grains and herbs remaining from our Ghost Ranch retreat, my own positive Covid test strip, and other gifts. The sun faded red ribbon, honoring healthcare workers of Covid patients in my front yard for over two years, was tied around the handle to note “East” for the sealed knot of the vase silks’ ties.

We chanted the Om Gaia mantra (which came forth from the Mother Gaia Meditation Practice) and we also chanted a mantra that has been used by the community of Sri Sakthi Amma of the Sripuram Golden Temple, in India since the beginning of the pandemic: Om Kreem Maha Kali Sarva Rogam Nasi Nasi. Its roots are in the ancient Ramil Siddha tradition and was especially used in times of major crisis or increased negativity. It is a mantra to remove all diseases.

We paraded from our park picnic table to the designated spot, where we took turns filling in the hole and planting the one-gallon sacred Red Cedar over this Earth Treasure Vase to protect her. The perfect sun-filled spot was chosen by the park area steward the day before, when my handyman and I met him after he spent some hours planting trees and ferns with 23 Middle School students. My handyman dug the 3-foot hole, using 4 different tools for an hour. Both men contributed prayers for the vase. I feel honored to have buried an ETV in an urban forest setting.