Sovereignty, Children & The Anthropocene
~ seeds of my inquiry

Preface: I’ve stopped using the word sovereignty since QAnon et al. took hold of it and smashed it to smithereens. I don’t equate sovereignty with personal rights and freedoms. To me, this highly nuanced word has as much to do with duty and humility. (I’d also like to note that I will never refer to myself as a “queen.”)

The word sovereignty has been stuck on my tongue since the year 2001. I was pregnant and my eldest was a toddler and I read the Kabat-Zinn’s book, Everyday Blessings. The authors shared their desire to raise sovereign children and as soon as I saw the word, I knew I wanted it for my own kids.
 
Curiously, it wasn’t a word I applied to myself until I allowed myself to feel the pain of our world and was confronted with the futility of maintaining status quo. When I claimed my sovereignty, there were no fireworks, I actually felt hopeless.
 
I knew that doing what was expected of me was easier than putting myself forward. It was easier to bask in the potential of my gifts than ever have to put them to the test.
 
I’ve spent the last few years meditating on the word and have been diving deep into the heart of the Sovereign searching for insights. I asked her several questions. What is it to rule oneself? What are the boundaries of my domain? Can anyone be sovereign? And, why oh why is it so difficult?

As my contemplation went deeper and my grief over ecological destruction frequently has me on my knees, I discovered that in Celtic traditions, Sovereignty was known as the goddess of the land.

I want to believe that the call towards sovereignty comes by the land and as the land.

I’ve heard it said that this slow awakening around our collective behaviour is an immunity response from Earth herself. Understood this way, sovereignty isn’t something we gain for personal power, but a duty and responsibility to the flourishing of life.
 
Sandy 

about Sandy Ibrahim

Part poet, part rabble-rousing mystic, Sandy is a so-called Canadian of Egyptian and German descent. She isn’t sure if her grandmothers are cheering her on or rolling over in their graves. After leaving her childhood home at 17, she has been doing her best to minimize harm and maintain a state of reverent bewilderment in “a profoundly sick society.” She lives uninvited on the unceded territory of the Lekwungen peoples, and the Songhees, Esquimalt and W̱SÁNEĆ First Nations (colonially known as Victoria, B.C..)

Of the planets she knows, she likes Earth the best.

subscribe

Infrequent musings and updates on future workshops