Taiguey, Taino Woods Sanctuary Community!

🌼 SPRING BRINGS EXCITING THINGS! 
Embracing the arrival of Spring, and Yokahu’s rebirth, we’re excited to invite you to explore the latest happenings in our ever-growing community. As the season ushers in fresh beginnings, we’re continually inspired and honored to connect with you, our beautiful and loving community—whether through working the land, joining a ceremony or special event, or simply taking a quiet moment for reflection on your healing journey.

Our calendar is still in the works, so thanks for your patience as you stay tuned. As more opportunities arise, we warmly invite you to get involved wherever you feel inspired.

Han hankatu, Mabrika Itainos!!!

🦅 CHARGED UP FOR SPRING 2025 GATHERINGS

🗓️ Gatherings Calendar Update 
Currently, we’re highlighting Land Stewardship Day: March 15th, Spring Equinox Lodge Prayer Ceremony: March 22nd, Summer Solstice Dance: June 21st. and Summer’s Nature Quest Fast Ceremony: August 14th–17th.

🌻 Spring Equinox:
Indigenous mindset reads the winter as a completion of nature’s ongoing cycle of creation, presenting Spring as the year’s legitimate inception. Celebrating the moment when the sun aligns in perfect balance between day and night, this Equinox represents harmony between earthly and celestial realms, emphasising the values of balance, renewal and the awakening of new life. The Caney ceremony of Equinox is grounded in the Taino creation story of Yoka Hu (Also known as Yokahu Bagua Maorocoti), the supreme creator/protector deity while explaining the sacred status of the cassava. Visit  Miguel Sague for an in-depth explanation of the Taino creation story.

🗓️ Land Stewardship Day: Opening the Land, March 15th 
From 9am – 7pm we will perform various tasks centered around clearing the land, preparing ceremonial spaces and gathering materials for lodge fortification. This is an excellent bonding opportunity as we work and connect to the Land together. 

🗓️ Spring Equinox Lodge Prayer Ceremony, March 22nd (Lead by Miguel Sague)
This deeply immersive ceremony includes a purification (sweat)  lodge, storytelling and a collective short dance, the day rate is $75. Overnight is not mandatory, but if you’d like to stay, you must bring your own tent. The teachings for the day are $125 for overnight individual stays and $175 per family of four or less.

🗓️ Land Stewardship Day, April 12th
From 9am – 7pm we will perform various tasks centered around clearing the Land, preparing ceremonial spaces and gathering materials for lodge fortification. 

🌙 New Moon Purification Lodge, April 26th
This (sweat) lodge honours the divine feminine as we release the old, to step into what’s new as part of a rebirth guided by the wisdom of our Atabeyra and the ancestors. 

🌳 Nature Quest Fast, August 14th-17th 
We are seeking individuals to support this year’s four-day Nature Quest event where you will be instrumental in co-creating this immersive experience that includes multiple sweat lodges, alongside participants and organizers. Volunteers  who have committed to past events such as Vision Quest & MoonDance are preferred but not required.

Though this year’s registration is full, if you indeed feel strongly called to participate in this year’s transformative event, please email us at events@tainowoods.com to possibly generate an additional quest.

📣 CALL TO ACTION 🏃  “One finger cannot lift a pebble.”- Hopi 
This year,  we are calling for hands to support the construction of a water-holding platform and general maintenance tasks in gardening, wood splitting/chipping and organizing utility sheds. To learn more….
🌲Land Stewardship Day: Opening the Land, March 15th 
🌲Land Stewardship Day, April 12th

🖥️ INTERNAL POSITIONS AVAILABLE
📝 Community Outreach Manager: Build and nurture relationships with community members and organizations, promote gatherings, and expand TWS’s network and engagement.

📝 Gatherings Manager: Oversee and coordinate ceremonial gatherings, ensuring all logistical details are in place. This role is vital in creating sacred spaces for healing and community connection.

📝 Gatherings Liaison/Runner: Coordinating and communicating with community members, apprentices, ceremony leaders, and Kitchen support. Tracking liability agreements and donations. Support fire keepers, volunteer tasks completion works with Gatherings coordinator, on call for misc tasks to support gathering. 

📝 Volunteer Manager: Enroll, organize and lead volunteers in support of events and annual land maintenance projects.

📝 Volunteer Liaison: Assist Volunteer manager and serves as a contact for volunteers, orient, ensures tools, supplies are available, creates schedules, and assist groundskeeper. 

📝 Grant Writer: Identify and apply for relevant grants, Maintain records and oversee grant submissions, review grant applications, provide feedback. 

📝 Managing Director: Oversees and monitors progress, maintains  programs, provides support to team members, department heads, and reports back to president, board, and maintains the sanctuary’s calendar.  

 🎉 MEMBERSHIP ENROLLMENT
Whether your path of healing is a new one or you are a leader who has already built yourself a strong spiritual practice, it is our pleasure to share the wealth of resources our community has acquired through intense focus on the cultivation of the land and cultural acknowledgement of the Indigenous.

Membership grants access to various annual and special events, workshops, ceremonies and retreats, in addition to discounts on lodging and merchandise. Membership is a direct way to fuel our mission of creating unity, respecting and giving back to nature as well as the preservation of ancient indigenous spiritual practices.

📣 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Congratulations and gratitude to the February 9th-13th Moondancers of 2025 who brought their prayers, strength, energy and wisdom; and the abuelas for being guides who brought balance for future generations.

🌙 Sacred Smudging & Guardians of the Moon Dance
This February, Chantel continued her spiritual journey in Costa Rica, participating in the transformative 2025 Moon Dance ceremony.

Last year, at the Moon Dance held in New York, she served as the Sahumadora of the West Gate (water, womb, introspection). This year, she has been called to be the Sahumadora of the North (ancestors, experience, wisdom and smoking mirror).

In the Moon Dance, Sahumadoras—women who have danced for four years—serve as guardians of the sacred fire. Using the Sahumador, a traditional clay vessel, they purify the space with sacred smoke, ensuring a spiritually cleansed and high-vibrational ceremony. They light the ceremonial fire and protect it. Positioned at the Dance Circle’s four directions, they envelop dancers in sacred smoke. This smoke, with intention, guides the flow and energies of the dance. Personal or traditional prayers are offered for cleansing and guidance.

Rooted in the Mexica tradition, this practice honors the four elements and deepens the connection to the divine. Highlights include connection to La Danza this year, one of the things that she reports deeply resonated in this role was how participants get to create connections of great depth with every individual dancing and praying in the arbour. 

Through locking eyes, each person experiences a type of communication ancient to present times that drives meaning far beyond the expression of words, existing as a deep knowing that translates completely free of doubt.

🙏 SUPPORTING TAINO WOODS SANCTUARY
As you keep us in your hearts please remember that community donations help keep the magic of the woods thriving with resources required to stay relentless in our mission to strengthen connections with nature through modalities of ritual, ceremony and stewardship of the land. Whether deemed large or small, it all matters and we are grateful.  You may donate here as you feel inspired to help support community initiatives.

UNTIL NEXT MONTH…

Han Hankatu, AHO! 
Taino Woods Sanctuary