Timing
This ritual is suitable for when the moon is waxing in Gemini or Aquarius.

Supplies:
A map of the world, either a cardboard globe or a map stapled to a cardboard backing of bulletin board.
Several tacks in different colors. Enough so that each participant can have a color and have several tacks for their own use.
(Alternatively you could use stickers instead of tacks)

Have everyone bring a dish to pass that represents their ancestry.

Meditation:

Begin with a basic relaxation exercise. Then speak the meditation below. You may wish to record it ahead of time or have a leader recite it.

You are standing in a great, ancient forest. Surrounding you are many tall trees. They have been here for many years and they are all of the same type. There is no undergrowth. You walk on the soft, bare ground and the trunks rise up on either side of you like pillars in an ancient temple, their branches spreading out to make a thick roof. As you walk you realize that there are no young trees here, only the ancient ones. The canopy is too thick for the young ones to grow. There are some animals, but only a few kinds. Only those birds who like to nest in just this sort of tree sing to you in the stillness and only those animals who eat the fruit this tree provides scurry about on the bare ground.

Time passes and the forest grows older. Some of them catch a disease which quickly passes to the others. The trees begin to die off. The animals disappear one by one, leaving to find another place to live and the birds' songs fade away. As the trees die, their leaves fall and the sun shines through. Now young trees can grow. Tiny seeds are carried on the wind from far away and they land on the bare ground and take root. Soon this forest of dead trees is full of undergrowth. More animals come to hide in the undergrowth, to eat the seeds and berries that are produced by these new plants and some of them bring seeds from elsewhere. Some bring these seeds stuck in their fur and others bring them there to hide them to eat later, but forget them so they can take root and grow. Some animals and birds eat fruit elsewhere and then leave their seeds behind here when they relieve themselves. Some of these too soon take root and grow.

More time passes and more trees grow. Now as you walk through this forest you find it a little more difficult to travel. There are many small plants underfoot and tangled shrubs, some with thorns, block your way here and there. Some of these plants like it in the shade and others crowd the sunny spots. The air is full of the songs of many birds and many different types of animals search for food and build their homes in the undergrowth.

Suddenly there is an alarm call in a distance. A fire's been spotted. It moves quickly through the forest. The animals flee and many plants and trees are destroyed. But some of these plants survived. And some seeds survived beneath the soil. Time passes and soon the forest is green again. The birds and animals return and with them more seeds from other places. Before long the forest is once again full of the sights and sounds and fragrances of many plants and animals. You can feel the dynamic energy of the forest and you know that it will survive whatever disaster. Fire, storm, flood, disease because of the forest's diversity, you know that there will always be some plant here that will survive, that will draw the birds and animals back and with them the seeds of other plants that will return this forest to the beautiful place it has come to be.

It is time now to return home. When you are ready, open your eyes.

Discuss the meditation.

How did the forest feel when there was only one type of tree?

What was better about it then? What was better about the forest when there were many different types of trees and plants?

Explore the Group's Diversity
Now have everyone gather in a circle with the map in the middle. Discuss the map of the world and point out the various continents if necessary for younger participants. Talk about natural resources, food and inventions that have come from different places.

Then pass the map around and have everyone place tacks in the map indicating places where their ancestors originated. Parents with children should share their tacks (or stickers) with their kids and help them identify places to put them. Discuss this and place the map in the center again. Talk about where everyone's ancestors came from and how they came to be in this place.

Place the food around the map and prepare for your feast.

Join hands and pray:

"We are thankful for our Mother Earth that She provides for us each in a unique way. She is so great and broad that She bears children of every conceivable shape and color and yet not so big that we cannot come together to learn from one anothers' experiences. We give thanks that we can eat so many different types of food, that we may care for so many different types of pets, that we may smell so many different types of flowers and that we may make friends with so many different types of people. It is with great joy that we share this feast and celebrate the diversity that it represents."

Now share the food you have brought and bring the gathering to a close.

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