Mountain Hollow

Since I moved to Vermont 12 years ago, I have been longing for a spiritual community of women whom I could speak my truth to as only they would understand; sisters in spiritual living. I had the great fortune last year to meet Diana Gonsalves Hansen , the owner of Mountain Hollow Medicinals . She holds workshops and offers Reiki and other healing services in a yurt and an 1800s farmhouse on her land in Craftsbury.

A teacher and a friend of mine, I have been to many of her workshops and classes in the past year on that beautiful land, and the more I visited, the more I started to become aware of the energies there welcoming me and encouraging me to come back. Diana had told me of 12 female spirits which shared the land with her, who had surrounded her and given her strength during the birth of her daughter. One early fall evening before I was to attend a workshop in the yurt I felt compelled to start a sketch of Diana surrounded by these 12 women. I began with her in the middle and drew 12 ovals at the clock points all around her, and just let their features and clothing flow from my third eye onto the paper. For me, clothing style, colors, and textiles have always been the most vivid in my mind - much more so than facial features. They are women who had lived in the house, who had lived on or near the land, ancestors of the land and some who have never been human at all. The naked woman with the shining aura is a very powerful and ancient earth spirit and some of the others were drawn to that place by her. I am so grateful to have been able to complete this drawing, and to continue to visit their magical land while working on my own spiritual journey. When I go to Mountain Hollow now, I always bring a gift for these spirits... usually roses or other flowers. It feels right to honor them and the spirit of sisterhood. ✨