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  • Natural CommunitiesThis section honors our native plants and animals and the diverse and beautiful habitats in which they live. It includes an article on Drawing the Natural Gardens of North Carolina and selected illustrations of mountain, piedmont, and coastal plain habitats. I hope these drawings of the sacred natural communities where I live will inspire you to savor the wild lands where you live and help to conserve them.
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  • Home: Earth Sanctuaries
  • Pilgrimage Stories
  • Garden Sanctuaries
  • Seasonal Celebrations
  • Natural CommunitiesThis section honors our native plants and animals and the diverse and beautiful habitats in which they live. It includes an article on Drawing the Natural Gardens of North Carolina and selected illustrations of mountain, piedmont, and coastal plain habitats. I hope these drawings of the sacred natural communities where I live will inspire you to savor the wild lands where you live and help to conserve them.
  • About BL
    Contact Me

Natural Communities

This section on natural communities honors our native plants and animals and the diverse and beautiful habitats in which they live. These are our wild natural sanctuaries, and I consider them to be sacred. Here you’ll find an article on Drawing the Natural Gardens of North Carolina, a project completed for the Certificate in Native Plant Studies from the NC Botanical Garden. There are sketches of diverse North Carolina habitats from my nature journals and selected illustrations of mountain, piedmont, and coastal plain ecological communities. I hope these drawings and occasional blog-posts about the plant and animal communities where I live will inspire you to savor the wild lands where you live and help to conserve them. Saving and restoring the natural communities of forests and wetlands will not only foster biodiversity, but will also sequester carbon in the soil and help to reduce climate change.

Inner Fish/Outer Fish
21 Jun 2021

Inner Fish/Outer Fish

by Betty Lou Chaika | posted in: Natural Communities | 10

Animals may come to us in the wilderness of dreams and visions. A certain blue fish has appeared in so many of my dreams over the years that I have often cried in astonishment and surrender, recognizing a profound healing … Continued

animal guides, art therapy, bluehead chub, eco-psychology, eco-spirituality, eco-therapy, inner fish, river fish
Sacred Ground: A Whale of a Tale
20 Apr 2021

Sacred Ground: A Whale of a Tale

by Betty Lou Chaika | posted in: Natural Communities | 6

“The closer you get to real matter, rock air fire and wood, boy, the more spiritual the world is.”  -Jack Kerouac We admire the beauty of mountains and rocky outcrops and feel called to spiritual heights by their magnificence. Many … Continued

"nature's rock gardens", granite flatrock, granite pluton, Mitchell Mill State Natural Area
Miracle at Pocosin Lakes
30 Jan 2020

Miracle at Pocosin Lakes

by Betty Lou Chaika | posted in: Natural Communities | 21

We are a small group of amateur naturalists committed to merging ecology and spirituality. For twelve winters we have traveled to the coast to witness the arrival of a hundred thousand tundra swans and snow geese to their wintering grounds … Continued

black bears, snow geese, tundra swans
Belonging to the Community of Life
31 Dec 2018

Belonging to the Community of Life

by Betty Lou Chaika | posted in: Natural Communities | 11

To complete the first year of Earth Sanctuaries, I’ll first summarize the year’s posts, each of which was about some important aspect of eco-psycho-spiritual community. Then I’ll describe a vision of deep belonging to the whole community of life, toward … Continued

Longleaf Pine: Brunswick Adventure
30 May 2018

Longleaf Pine: Brunswick Adventure

by Betty Lou Chaika | posted in: Natural Communities | 16

­­­ One of the things I enjoy most in life is getting to know the native landscape in which we live, feeling rooted in a sense of Place. I love to experience the incredibly varied natural habitats of our state. … Continued

carnivorous plants, cypress swamp, longleaf pine, native orchids, Venus flytraps
Natural Communities of North Carolina – Illustrations
10 Nov 2017

Natural Communities of North Carolina – Illustrations

by Betty Lou Chaika | posted in: Natural Communities | 10

These illustrations are of native habitats that I consider to be not only beautiful, but sacred and to be treasured. The drawings are double page spreads reminiscent of a sketchbook. Green Swamp Savanna, Shaken Creek Savanna, and Roadside Wildflowers are … Continued

Natural Communities of NC – Sketchbook
5 Nov 2017

Natural Communities of NC – Sketchbook

by Betty Lou Chaika | posted in: Natural Communities | 8

These double-page drawings are from a field sketchbook of North Carolina native habitats and natural communities in the coastal plain, piedmont, and mountain regions of the state. Each drawing shows characteristic details of each habitat on a particular day and … Continued

Drawing the Natural Gardens of North Carolina
3 Nov 2017

Drawing the Natural Gardens of North Carolina

by Betty Lou Chaika | posted in: Natural Communities | 0

This is a report on Drawing the Natural Gardens of North Carolina combining art and ecology for the Certificate in Native Plant Studies. It contains descriptions of the habitats as well as how to visit them.

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Previous Posts

  • The Ceremonial Knife January 15th 2023
  • The Thanksgiving Visit November 24th 2022
  • Everyday Acts of Practical Reverence September 22nd 2022
  • The Stone Beings of Ridges Mountain July 15th 2022
  • Summer Solstice: A Time for Renewal June 18th 2022
  • Spring Equinox: Prayers for Ukraine March 30th 2022
  • New Hope: Water Blessing Ceremonies February 26th 2022
  • Wetlands: Holy Wells and Sacred Springs January 30th 2022
  • Honoring Ancestors of the Land: Native American Earthworks November 21st 2021
  • Snake Medicine: An Animal Healing October 16th 2021
  • Earth-Dreaming Ritual: Milk Flows September 1st 2021
  • Prayer for a Blue Jay August 10th 2021
  • Inner Fish/Outer Fish June 21st 2021
  • Sacred Ground: A Whale of a Tale April 20th 2021
  • Turning a Trip Into a Pilgrimage March 19th 2021
  • Plant Love Stories February 11th 2021
  • Celebrating Imbolc: A Time for Healing January 25th 2021
  • Earth-Dreaming: The Mysterious Tree House December 20th 2020
  • Indigenous American Thanksgiving November 25th 2020
  • Celebrating Samhain: The Mystery of Transformation October 31st 2020
  • The Cailleach: A Witch for Our Times October 15th 2020
  • Autumn Equinox: Circles of Peace September 21st 2020
  • Pond Love August 25th 2020
  • Celebrating Lughnasa: A Vision of Leadership August 4th 2020
  • Ceremony: Welcoming Back the Pollinators June 30th 2020
  • Beltane Maypole Sun Celebrating Beltane: A Passionate Burning April 30th 2020
  • Five bluebird eggs Restoring the Forest, Restoring Ourselves March 28th 2020
  • The Stone Garden The Stone Garden: A Delicate Balance February 21st 2020
  • TundraSwans flying over moon at Pocosin Lakesmoon Miracle at Pocosin Lakes January 30th 2020
  • Drawing of orange marigold Earth-Dreaming: Marigold Transformation December 30th 2019
  • A Magical Stone, A Healing Chant November 29th 2019
  • Sacred Landscape: Native American Effigy Mounds October 13th 2019
  • Turtle Teachings September 9th 2019
  • Sacred Trees: Rag Tree, Rock Tree, Witch Tree August 3rd 2019
  • Summer Solstice: Co-Creating Ritual and Ceremony June 24th 2019
  • Thomas Berry: Celebrating a Wise Earth Elder June 4th 2019
  • Garden Path Earth Day: Temenos Garden Sanctuary April 22nd 2019
  • Inventory of Garden Native Plants and Animals April 1st 2019
  • Earth-Dreaming: Liminal Waters March 19th 2019
  • Divine Feminine/Sacred Landscape: St.Gobnait, Lady of the Bees February 11th 2019

EarthSanctuaries content © Betty Lou Chaika unless otherwise noted.