Latest / Old Ways New Days / The Spiritual Practice of Soil Building: Compost, Grief, and the Slow Magic of Renewal

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The Spiritual Practice of Soil Building: Compost, Grief, and the Slow Magic of Renewal · Old Ways New Days

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: It starts with what most people throw away.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_01: Wilted leaves, kitchen scraps, dead stems pulled from last season's garden.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_01: Things we're taught to see as waste.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_01: But if you step closer, if you slow down, you begin to notice something different.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: The heat rising from a compost pile on a cool morning, the quiet hum of life beneath the surface, the slow transformation of what was into what will be.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: There is no rush here.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_01: No instant result.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_01: Only time, only change, only trust.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: Today we're talking about soil, not just as something we plant in, but as something that teaches us how to live, how to grieve, and how to begin again.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome, witches, pagans, heathens, spiritualists, and anyone interested in living sustainably.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_02: This is Old Ways, New Days, where the old ways meet the good dirt.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_02: I'm Kayla, and I'm Nel.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_02: And each week we explore the sacred art of living close to the land.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: From compost to covens, chickens to charms, we're reclaiming self-sufficiency, seasonal living, and ancestral wisdom.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: Whether you're stirring your cauldron or your soup pot, this is a space for wild-hearted folk walking the homesteading path with intention, magic, and muddy boots.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: I know it's been a week.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: It has.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: So updates on our trip.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: So it was a great trip to Chicago.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: Beautiful weather.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: It was.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_02: Monday was super windy.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I had to look it up.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: I think it said the straight line winds were 27 miles per hour, and it didn't tell me how fast the gusts were, but it was it was knock you over.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, it was.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: So there's a reason Chicago is called the Windy City.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: Although somebody said it was named that because of politicians and not the actual winds.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: Because they're airbags.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: Quote unquote.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: So update everyone.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yes.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: And after two bridal shops and what?
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: 15 dresses?
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: I lost count.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I don't know how many dresses.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: But two bridal shops in Chicago.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, two bridal shops in Chicago and more dresses than we can count.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: I found the dress.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: I said yes to the dress.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: Is that how it goes?
• 3:01
  unknown: Yes.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: She said yes to the dress.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_01: And it wasn't the one she was thinking.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: No, it wasn't.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that one is still very beautiful, and I may still buy it just for shits and giggles.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_01: You would, you would, I would.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_02: But the dress that you did pick out, it was one that wasn't even on your radar.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: No, and I had seen it online, and I was like, eh, it's okay, but I wasn't quite sure.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and then of course, trying it on was a whole different thing.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_01: It's going to look different on than it will on a rack.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: Especially since, you know, the racks or the the dummy models, mannequins, they don't really use mannequins.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: It's more of a like a dressing dressmaker's mannequin.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_01: So that's what they use when they for a lot of their pictures of their dresses.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: And so of course that's like, you know, really skinny waist and really tiny, you know.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_01: And they bunch it all up so it's forming.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: But we found the dress.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: I found the dress.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: And you got to see what?
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_01: The Chicago River turned green! Yep.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: It was on my bucket list that I didn't know I had.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_01: And then uh, because I booked our hotel room in the Drake Hotel.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, it was such a beautiful scene.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: It was a gorgeous hotel.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: It's one of one of the older hotels.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: Uh 1920, New Year's Eve, I think is it said when it opened.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's also the second most haunted hotel in Chicago.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_01: It is.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: So maybe if we ever go to Chicago again, we'll have to stay at the ha most haunted Chicago.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_01: Do some investigating.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: I know.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: We did we did my kind of thing.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, we didn't have a Ouija board, but we did have uh I did have a reading board.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: We did have a reading, yeah, a little tiny medallion.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_02: It's not the same as a Ouija board, and I prefer to use a reading board versus a Ouija board.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_02: Because you just ask yes-no questions anyway.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_02: And it's you hold it the pendulum.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, thank you.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_02: I was at a loss for words.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_02: It's been a rough week.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_02: You hold it in your non-dominant hand.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_02: Because then nobody can say, Oh, you're moving it.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_02: It's like I don't use this hand.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: But take it through.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, we had two possibly two.
• 5:50
  unknown: Possibly.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: But it was it was definitely an experience.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_02: And maybe next time we go, maybe we'll have to back to the Drake and back to that same hotel.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_02: Same room.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I don't know if we can get the same room, but you never know.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: Well, hopefully the rest of the bridal party will be able to join.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: So then it would have to be a bigger room.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_01: And just for listeners to know that there's going to be noise in the background, I have I have my neighbor who is a contractor doing work at my house, and they are on a ladder right now outside the podcast room.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: So the banging in the background is the ladder.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, but the windows look really nice.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: They do look really nice.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: And right now they're working on the fascia and the soffits, which is the trim around the roof.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so they they work really fast because I talked to him Monday about it, and they started yesterday with the scraping.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: Oh wow.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: Then he called me it when I was at work today, and he's like, Do you have you said you had primer?
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, my gosh.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, I do have primer, so they've already primed some things.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it's nice out now.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_02: You gotta get it done this.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: It is it is surprisingly a heat wave here for March.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um It is 72 degrees right now.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_02: For March 25th, right?
• 7:24
  unknown: I'm like, yeah.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: No, you can't go up there.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_01: So all the kitties, of course, have you know cabin fever, even though they're not allowed outside, but they do want the windows open so they can get all that fresh air.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_01: But anyway, enough of the expedition.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_01: Expedition and the and the other talk.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: It was fun.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was fun.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_01: So we are talking about compost today.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_01: Alright, so nothing is wasted.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_02: Nothing, absolutely nothing.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_02: Alright, so in modern life, we're taught to separate trash from value, clean from dirty, useful from useless.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_02: But composting breaks that illusion.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_02: Compost says, nothing is wasted.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_02: Everything returns.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_02: That wilted spinach at the back of your fridge, future soil.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_02: The leaves that fall and decay in autumn, next spring's nourishment.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_02: Even death itself is not an ending.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_02: It's a transition.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_02: In many earth honoring traditions, this isn't just gardening practice, it's worldview.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_02: A kind of quiet theology, not unwritten in books, but in cycles.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_02: Growth, decay, transformation, renewal.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_02: Compost asks us to trust that breakdown is not failure.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_02: It is necessary.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: So regeneration as ritual, when you build soil, you're not just gardening.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: You're participating in regeneration, turning a compost pile, layering browns and greens, watering, waiting.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: These can become rituals if you let them.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: There's intention in it.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: You begin to notice the balance between what is dry and what is alive.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: The need for air, for movement, the importance of patience.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: It becomes less about control and more about relationship.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: Some people light candles and ceremonies, others turn compost.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_01: Both are acts of tending.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: Both are acts of care.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: And both say, I am a part of the cycle.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_02: So what Soil teaches us about grief is that compost is not pretty.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_02: It smells sometimes.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_02: It breaks down into something unrecognizable.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_02: It asks you to let go of what things used to be.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_02: And that way it mirrors grief.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_02: Grief is not linear.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_02: It doesn't resolve quickly.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_02: It changes shape over time.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_02: And like compost, it can feel heavy, dense, and overwhelming at first.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_02: But something is happening beneath the surface.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_02: Slowly, quietly.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_02: Grief, like compost, transforms.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_02: Not into what it was before, but into something that can still nourish life.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_02: This doesn't mean loss is good.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_02: It means that even in loss, something can still grow.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_02: Memory, resilience, depth.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_02: Soil holds everything that came before it, and still it grows.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: So patience is the virtue in this fast world, especially when it comes to compact.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um compost.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_01: Compact?
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_01: Compact.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: Well, compost can be compact.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know what I was trying to say.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: We live in a world that demands speed.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_01: Fast results, quick fixes, instant growth.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_01: Come on, come on, come on.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: But soil, it doesn't work like that.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_01: You can't rush decomposition.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: You can't force life from depleted ground overnight.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_01: Healthy soil is built over time, season by season, layer by layer.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_01: And in that slowness there is a lesson.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: Not everything meant to last can be rushed.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_01: Soil teaches us to wait, to observe, to trust processes we can't fully see.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_01: It asks us to release urgency and embrace timing.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_02: So we're gonna bring this practice into your life now.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_02: You don't need acres of land to begin.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_02: The spiritual practice of soil building can start small.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_02: A compost bin in your kitchen or backyard, a small garden bed or container.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_02: Even simply observing the soil beneath your feet.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_02: As you begin, try this.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_02: When you add something to your compost, pause.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_02: Acknowledge it.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_02: This was once alive.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_02: It will be again in another form.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_02: Let it be a moment of reflection, not just disposal.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_02: Over time, the act becomes something else entirely.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_02: Not just waste management, but participation.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_01: Soil is not just dirt.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_01: It is memory, it is transformation.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: It is the meeting place of endings and beginnings.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: Every garden you see, every forest, every field is built on what came before.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_01: Nothing is lost, only changed.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: And maybe that's the quiet truth Soil offers us.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: That even in our breaking down, even in our grief, even in the parts of life we'd rather discard, there is still the possibility of becoming.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: This has been LA's New Days.