The Wild Hunt (https://wildhunt.org/author/sheri)
Sheri Barker has been a solitary practitioner for nearly forty years. Her relationships with magic, elemental energies, spirits, and her ancestors are the foundation of her daily life. They enrich her work as a witch, writer, homesteader, wildlife enthusiast, gardener, and human being. She is a columnist at The Wild Hunt (https://wildhunt.org) and also publishes perspective essays on her blog at https://www.onthebearpath.com. Sheri lives in an ancient river valley in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina, immersed in nature, spirits, and realms beyond this one. Oh, and books...there are always books, words, and creative activities to be explored!
It has been 88 days since Helene. Some days, it feels like years since the flooding, mudslides, and high winds forever altered Swannanoa’s landscape and the lifescapes of the people who live here. On other days, it feels as though it were surely only yesterday that she tore through these mountains.
Once the immediate danger had passed, though, it was not long before the facades began to crack and slide away like pieces of mud-caked siding. The groups of helpers that traveled in from other areas started to include hate groups, religious zealots, bigots, and con artists. Some local helpers began to show their true colors, too.
This is a month into the aftermath, and I still do not have a full picture of what is happening in all the areas devastated by Helene. I do not think it is possible to live on the ground, function day to day, and zoom out far enough to see the entirety of the scene. For me, there is no visual concept of whole, although my heart and spirit feel it.
The storm’s energy had intensified and like any good, curious, slightly feral Witch, I wanted to meet it in person. The glass wind chimes hanging on the front porch were jangling madly, making a discordant sound that was the first indication of how bad things were.
I am often amazed by the way this country’s people have weathered the years since the 2016 election launched us further into the shadowlands of hatred, racism, misogyny, bigotry, and terror. I am equally amazed by how those years have weathered but not beaten us.