Re-envisioning Modern Land Taking Rituals in a Post Colonial World
I am a supporter of the Landback movement, but I feel the name Land “Taking” is doing a disservice to the purpose of the ritual within the modern context. Other names can be used as well such as “circumambulation.”
But what is the purpose of this ritual? Some sources seem to say it is to Hallow the land or make it sacred. This makes sense if you were land taking to create a Hof or Vé, but Land Taking was done to create homesteads as well. It was the creation of the enclosure. This is not the same type of enclosure as the Enclosure movement I talk about in my Forest Commons posts. Instead this enclosure was the land needed by a family for the purpose of subsistence. The land was for raising crops and animals needed to provide for the family through the winter. It also had a physical boundary in many cases, such as a fence, so that people could not as easily come in and cause harm to the family or take their livelihood. The act of the ritual is not of land taking though, but rather of taking stewardship of the land. Ultimately it is a pledge to the spirits of the land that you will take stewardship of that place. This was done by circumambulation, which is to say, walking around the border of that piece of land. (You can refer to my other article for various ways that this was done beyond just the act of walking the perimeter.)
Perhaps the word “taking” is referring to taking stewardship of. Or perhaps it refers to a common form of this ritual where earth was taken in small amounts from each corner of the property and then brought and buried under the front step of the home, to signify the land borders and their protection by those that lived there.
Taking stewardship and caring for the land makes sense in the modern world, although depending on circumstance, we do not rely so much on property for sustenance. Many of us buy most of what we need at the store and often don’t work from home. Still, many of us have at least a garden to help provide some food for our families over the summer (and perhaps winter too, if we are good at preserving it.) Still others of us are farmers, and help to provide sustenance to a broader community using the land we call home. So land stewardship has changed greatly since the time of our ancestors.
So if our needs have changed, and our modern perceptions have changed, there is reason for Land Taking rituals to be re-envisioned as well, in order to match the time and places we inhabit.
How can we modernize this ritual, so it fits the post colonial nature of our relationship with the land here in Canada? Like any ritual we must set our intent. In this case, our intent is to take stewardship for a piece of land. Historically the family would take stewardship for the land indefinitely as multiple generations would live on and care for the same land. In modern times we are a lot more mobile so the land might not be cared for by multiple generations. You might even move in your own lifetime. For this reason it is worth setting parameters for how long you are taking stewardship of the land. You might say you are taking stewardship of the land until such time as you release stewardship. (In which case, perhaps there is a need for a new kind of ritual… a land ‘giving” or “return” or “release.”) You may also want to put in a clause that you and/or the other family members relinquish stewardship in the event of the last of you dying, since you cannot guarantee future generations will keep up stewardship or know to return stewardship ritually. You also may want to incrementally take stewardship of more land if you have a large property and can’t care for it all at once. In this case you would start with the home, then over time do your ritual Land Taking in larger circles outward from your home as you are able to take on more responsibility.
So what might this modern ritual look like?
Land Acknowledgement. What land are you living on and who lived here historically? (Both human and other-than-human.) How will you acknowledge this in your own ritual and choose elements mindfully with that knowledge? If possible, learn a bit about the cultures of the Indigenous peoples and what sentiments they have about this land and its stewardship. This helps inform your own choices on the same land.
Circumambulation. You will walk around the perimeter of the land you wish to take stewardship of. I think it is important to recognize you don’t own the land, but rather you are its steward. While “ownership” is an important idea within the law, it doesn’t make sense ritually in this time and place. Historically circumambulation often started in the East with the rising sun and going around sunwise. You may want to incorporate that if it feels important to you.
Land Spirits. When you reach each corner of the property you may want to gift something to the Land Spirits while stating your intent. Make sure to let them know you are taking stewardship of the land and for how long. You may ask them to share the land with you if they would be friendly. Not all spirits will be friendly to people. Ultimately this is up to your discretion.
Symbolism. This is the part of the ritual where you somehow concretely symbolize the borders of your property. I like the idea I mentioned above about taking soil from each corner of the property and bringing it home. Historically however this part of the ritual could be done in other ways as well. One was putting stakes in at the corners of the property. Another would be to ward the property or create a physical boundary (often historically this was done with fire or torches, but you might use incense or a circle of cornmeal or some other means. You probably won’t want to use salt, since it could damage the land.)
Hallowing. You may want to bless the land in the name of a God or Gods, or you may just want to do a larger gift to the Land Spirits from a central location near your home. You might also ask the Ancestors to bless the land. While this is not a Hof or Vé, you are creating an enclosure of sorts, so you are setting this land apart in some way from the land outside.
I hope this gets you thinking on how to modernize your own Land Taking rituals.
Further Reading:
Demons and Spirits of the Land: Ancestral Lore and Practices by Claude Lecouteux
Land-Taking and the Sacral Enclosure
https://larhusfyrnsida.com/land-taking-and-the-sacral-enclosure/
Land Taking
http://odin.heathenthing.org/landtaking.htm
Ritual land acknowledgements: inculturated justice or ritual overload?
Image Source
“Medicine Wheel Garden” by Green Blessings
