The Quiet Teachings

Tai Guey Itainos, 🌿

The forest begins to whisper differently in August.

The excitement of early summer starts to give way to something deeper. The songs become quieter. The days slowly begin to shorten. The land reminds us that growth is not always loud and that some of our greatest transformations happen in silence, as we experience during the Nature Quest Fast.

This is a season of listening.

It is the season of the Colibrí—the Hummingbird.

The Colibrí teaches us that wisdom is often gained through hardship. Even after long journeys and difficult seasons, the hummingbird continues searching for sweetness. It keeps moving. It keeps trusting. It continues doing what it was created to do.

May we carry that teaching with us as we enter a month of preparation, prayer, fasting, service, and community.

🪶 Nature Quest Fast Begins

The blanket is waiting.

Nature Quest Fast is a sacred four-day rite of passage in which seekers enter the forest in solitude, fasting and praying while deepening their relationship with themselves, the Land, Creator, and Spirit.

This year’s teachings come through the Colibrí, reminding us that perseverance, humility, and endurance can bring us into deeper wisdom.

If your heart has been whispering, “Maybe someday,” perhaps someday is now.

🌿 Nature Quest Stewardship Weekends

All members of our community are invited to come tend the land with us.

These weekends help us prepare for Nature Quest and for the ceremonies and gatherings that will continue on the land through January 2027.

Together, we will:

🪵 Split and organize firewood
🌱 Tend the gardens and sacred spaces
🥾 Clear trails and prepare Quest sites
🔥 Prepare ceremonial areas
🏕️ Organize camps and shared spaces
🛠️ Complete projects throughout the sanctuary

You do not need special experience. Come with a willing heart, work clothes, and helping hands.

Whether you are a Quester, Supporter, Supporting Member, or someone who simply loves this land, you are welcome.

🌲 The Land Is Always Calling

You do not have to wait for an official stewardship weekend to come help.

There is always wood to split, gardens to tend, trails to care for, structures to improve, camps to organize, and sacred spaces to prepare.

The land teaches us through relationship. Every hour given in service strengthens the sanctuary and helps prepare it for the people who will come here seeking healing, prayer, connection, and community.

Reach out and let us know when you would like to come serve.

Our vision is to grow a circle of at least 300 Supporting Members so that every month we can invite a group of 15 to 20 people to Taíno Woods Sanctuary for a fully sponsored two-day retreat.

Participants would only need to find their way to the sanctuary. Through the support of our membership community, their lodging, meals, teachings, activities, and experiences could be provided at no cost to them.

Imagine someone who has never been able to afford a retreat finally having the opportunity to step away from daily stress, reconnect with the Land, sit in prayer, and experience community care.

This is not only a membership. It is a community-supported way of making healing experiences accessible to people who may otherwise never receive them.

Just 300 people giving $10 each month can help turn this vision into something real.

🌱 Supporting Member Benefits

Supporting Members help sustain the land, ceremonies, Elders, supplies, maintenance, and community offerings throughout the year.

As a thank you for walking with us, Supporting Members receive:

✨ One complimentary overnight stay every month for the member and one guest

✨ Free overnight stays during Taíno Woods Sanctuary lodge offerings

✨ The option to bring your own tent or request space in one of our communal tents at the Itaíno campsite

✨ A $20 Supporting Member discount on lodge contributions

✨ Reduced dues and additional opportunities throughout the month to stay overnight with us

✨ The knowledge that your contribution is helping make ceremony, healing, and connection more accessible to others

Together, we keep the fires burning for our lives and for our children.

🪶 Gathering of the Tribes

Music. Storytelling. Prayer. Art. Dance. Community.

Our 2nd Annual Gathering of the Tribes is approaching, and we need the help of our entire community to fill the circle.

Share the flyer. Invite your relatives and friends. Post about the gathering. Speak about Taíno Woods and the work happening on the land.

Your voice may be exactly how someone discovers the community, connection, or healing they have been searching for.

Every share helps another person find the circle.

We build this together.

🗓️ Upcoming Gatherings

Contact Us About Upcoming Gatherings

✨ Closing

As the hummingbird reminds us:

Keep moving.
Keep trusting.
Keep seeking the sweetness.

May we continue walking together in service to the Land, to one another, and to the generations yet to come.

Han Han Katu. Seneko Kakona.

🌿 Taíno Woods Sanctuary

Taíno Woods Sanctuary • Harris, New York

www.tainowoods.com

events@tainowoods.com

Follow us on Instagram:
@tainowoodsny