My sister, Donna, made me a gorgeous concrete leaf that can be used for a bird feeder or any other landscape use. I have placed it just north of the entrance, on the other side of the entrance standing stone. It is a place for offerings to be made - bird seed, corn meal, water, herbs, etc. - for those entering the circle. It can also be used in ritual because it is accessible from inside the circle as well.
I have planted "stone crop" bush toward the north and a "cotoneeaster" in the east. Behind the south altar, I transplanted some tiger lillies.
I had a package of pumpkin seeds, so decided to plant these somewhere along the border, once the danger of frost passed - which in upstate New York, means after Memorial Day. Then I thought about the idea of planting the “three sisters" as a further homage to the Spirit of Place work we are doing in my spiritual group.
This area of New York is the ancestral lands of the Iroquois, and in particular the Cayuga. Since I have a Cayuga ancestor, this felt like a good way to honor my lineage, this land, and my own two sisters, Diane and Donna. The Three Sisters are corns, beans, and squash, and they are planted together in a hill. The corn serves as a climbing pole for the beans. The bean leaves act as mulch, screening out the weeds around the base of the corn and adds nitrogen to the soil. The squash leaves shade the earth and help hold in the moisture. A wonderful system of interdependence!
There is an “ancestor’s cairn” in the West.
Here are close-ups of the circle:
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Entrance, flowing right. Notice the leaf for offerings. The first red pine stump is the North altar. The second, larger one is the main altar. A small standing stone and a round boulder lay beyond that. |
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Immediately after the round boulder above, is the area where I planted pumpkins. This part of the circle flows from the North to the West, marked by the stump at far right of picture, before the circle begins curving to the south, marked by a series of different sized boulders. |
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The red pine stump is the south altar. Lilies are right of that (not pictures) and beyond the lilies, is the creek. Note the green poles and the fence that surrounds the corn, beans, and squash. |
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Taken from entrance view, so circle flows from the top of picture, the South altar area, past the corn, beans, and squash, to the East red pine altar, and to the "crown" rock that marks left side of the entrance. |
The Iroquois Legend of the Three Sisters
Erney, Diana. 1996. Long live the Three Sisters. Organic Gardening. November. p. 37-40.
The term “Three Sisters” emerged from the Iroquois creation myth. It was said that the earth began when “Sky Woman” who lived in the upper world peered through a hole in the sky and fell through to an endless sea. The animals saw her coming, so they took the soil from the bottom of the sea and spread it onto the back of a giant turtle to provide a safe place for her to land. This “Turtle Island” is now what we call North America.
Sky woman had become pregnant before she fell. When she landed, she gave birth to a daughter. When the daughter grew into a young woman, she also became pregnant (by the West wind). She died while giving birth to twin boys. Sky Woman buried her daughter in the “new earth.” From her grave grew three sacred plants—corn, beans, and squash. These plants provided food for her sons, and later, for all of humanity. These special gifts ensured the survival of the Iroquois people.
View from the firepit in the fairy glen, to the circle.