Stand for Something or Step Aside

I live, work, and bead at the beautiful Four Quarters Interfaith Sanctuary of Earth Religion in South Western Pennsylvania. I am a monk there, I live and serve under a vow of poverty. My work, and the work of my fellow monks supports this amazing 250 acres of Land and the Stone Circle being raised upon it.

You can read more about Four Quarters at www.4qf.org.

I am very serious about my commitment to Four Quarters. Four Quarters is the creative and spiritual battery that feeds my fire. Four Quarters is my Muse, my inspiration, my source. Not every artist has a Stone Circle, a Labyrinth, and a suspension bridge as sources of inspiration. But I do, and I'm humble in the face of it.

But I want you to understand that these bead businesses benefit Four Quarters. They do not benefit me personally. These beads are being sold to raise money for the Seventh Generation, the children whose grandparents who have yet to be born.

I try to show, in my beadwork, that there is a sense of history, that the pieces carry the weight of tradition with them. Even though I use the most modern materials and techniques, beadwork remains a primal art, and I try to never lose that sense of the primal in my work. Four Quarters helps keep my work grounded in the blood and guts reality of primal beading.

It is a delicate balance. Four Quarters has been buffeted by the winds of Covid and hard change. But we persist. And the faithful few pilgrims come and camp, and pockets of conversation and laughter, light as birdsong ring again through the woods.

We are home to five monks, a Santera, a Christian, a Stoic, a Heathen, and a Babal'awo. During the Season, our Hare Krishna will rejoin us-he doesn't do well in the cold, and migrates for the Winter. Together, we share the many tasks of running and maintaining this Sanctuary.

We run a camp and retreat center, a machine shop, a meadery, and, now, a beadery. All of this is necessary to keep the wolf from the door. We work seven day weeks year round. This seems to be what it takes to build a Stone Circle on Land owned by a non-profit corporation.

Over the years, Four Quarters has been assailed by those that did not understand it. Four Quarters is still here, those people are long gone. I still stand by Four Quarters. I still support Four Quarters. My work supports Four Quarters. By supporting my work, you are supporting Four Quarters, the Stone Circle, and the Seventh Generation. Just so we are clear, me and you.