“When we have learned to listen to the land, we become its voice.”
Speaking Engagements
Mary speaks at the Justice Speaks Conference about her story of placemaking and how the land is related to justice.
Thank you for your interest in working with Mary DeJong! A naturalist with a Masters in Theology & Culture from The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology and a specialization in Thomas Berry's Universe Story from Yale University, Mary is a confident and competent speaker around topics of sacramental nature, spiritual ecology, Celtic spirituality, environmental justice, ecofeminism and her personal work of forest and community restoration as a practice of profound place-making. Her passionate voice and advocacy for the land couples with ecotheological perspectives and place-making theory and invites the listener into inner-soul landscapes as well as the wild beyond.
People need guides as they wind their way through the wilderness; Mary is very much a wise and sacred guide, bringing people through their own inner and outer landscapes to remember and develop a wild connection to the source of life. She addresses our cultural nature deficit disorder and offers presentations and practices that deepen a participative, relational connection with nature. Listener's come away with new perspectives and deeper understanding of our meant-for relationship with the natural world, and how a development of this interrelationship is critical for how we live, work, and recreate in our particular places. Ecumenical and inclusive, Mary graciously challenges a change-first within ourselves, and then within the communities around us. She leads people back to a sense of grounded belonging to this Earth, and asks what one has to offer to the places and communities in which one lives.
Mary DeJong speaks at conferences, corporate and non-profit events, retreats providing presentations, reflections, and small group talks. She is available to share with faith communities as well.
“Mary DeJong is a voice for our time integrating forgotten wisdoms of embodiment and attunement to the divine within us and among our living world. She offered orienting context to how we’ve arrived in this present moment, while inviting grief, story, and imagination as ways forward. Her rigorous depth of knowledge and mystic presence of soul made for a robust guide through the deeply personal inscapes and communal landscapes.”
A Sampling of Recent Speaking Events, Learning Circles & Virtual Retreats
Mary led a four week webinar for Spiritual Directors International on the Spiritual gifts of journeying through winter
renowned author, theologian, and wilderness mystic, David Whyte, and mary collaborated for a workshop on the practice and poetry of listening in place.
Mary’s practice and learning within eco-spirituality and somatic ecology is the modality through which she companions others. In this learning opportunity with Spiritual Directors International, Mary will be teaching on Eco-spirituality and how one can companion others and the land on their sacred journey.
“It was a pleasure working with Mary DeJong, as she is wise beyond her years, prepared, and well educated in her fields of study. Her enthusiasm is contagious and her calm demeanor is much appreciated. She is an outstanding facilitator - and I look forward to hosting future retreats - both virtual and in-person with Mary. ”
Mary DeJong talks about her work of reclaiming land as a volunteer forest steward in Cheasty Greenspace, in Seattle's densist and most diverse neighborhood.
Mary with David Whyte at a workshop on listening in place
Speaking at Chapel at Seattle Pacific University
Co-facilitating a wild church experience with Seminary of the Wild’s Matt Syrdal
Convening an event at the Whidbey Institute’s Westgarden
Weekend rewilding retreat on camano island
Virtual wild council of all beings with Spirit of Sophia
Mary DeJong, who received her MA in Theology and Culture, speaks of her own journey through dark woods and gaining wisdom through trials and trails that wound. She encourages her classmates to remember their journeys and their scars.
Mary DeJong's Integrative Project Presentation:: A Trinitarian Imago Dei: How Reimagining Genesis Informs an Integral and Functional Creation Theology
“We suffer under this fundamental idea of separation - that we can do harm to land, that we can do harm to others, and that it somehow isn’t going to affect us.”
Podcast Conversations
I greatly enjoy the podcast platform as a way to engage in meaningful conversation with others around ideas related to ecology, spirituality, religion, and nature-based practices. I invite you to pour yourself a cup of tea or take one of these conversations for a walk—enjoying what happens in the moment between two people as seed-ideas are planted in the form of curiosity and conversation.
Spiritual Ecologist and Eco-Theologian Mary DeJong presents her perspective on how we can each reconnect with the sacred Earth through rewilding our inner selves. DeJong works with Waymarkers, guiding others through retreats and pilgrimages, with an emphasis on placing Earth first in each decision we make. In this conversation we explore Celtic tradition and the primacy of creation, how the language we use shifts the various hierarchical ladders in our society, and the way that different spiritualities have more in common than we think. We discuss themes of change, belonging, the importance of reimagining our understanding of divinity in relation to the earth, and the power of stories and language in shaping human experience and perception of the natural world.
During a conversation with Reverend Kelsey Beebe, we explored the concept of rewilding our inner soulscapes and delved into spiritual theologies that have contributed world views of seperation. By reconnecting God with the planet and eliminating ideologies of division such a goal as world peace could be achieved! While this may sound ambitious, our conversation reflects a genuine belief in the possibilities of what could emerge with the imagination of a wild and rooted God!
“On this episode, we unpack what it means rewild, not only our outer landscapes, but mostly the inner landscape of our soul. We discover why wholeness and communion with the natural world so valuable and how rewilding our own stories can help us to reimagine our images of God, ourselves and even our parenting.
Mary is passionate, brilliant and gentle. As you listen to this episode, you will find yourself immersed in your own inner soulscape, a place that longs to be restored to its beautiful wholeness. You'll feel both invigorated and at peace as you listen.” ~Deconstruction Mamas
In this episode, "Awakening an Earth-based Christianity," Chris and I explore the theme of "Apocalypse" and wend our way through this vast terrain by talking about:
Indigeneity
How we understand the presence of the Divine
Mary’s journey into an Earth-based Christianity
Apocalypse and Apokalypsis
What an optimal future looks like
“In this episode we talk with Mary DeJong, founder of Waymarkers. The mission of Waymarkers is to help people to deepen their relationship to the sacred in all of creation. In particular, Mary helps people to shift their world views—and to embrace the profound understanding that we as human beings are not separate from the rest of creation, but instead are an integral part of it. When we shift our perspective in this way, it completely changes our motivation for environmental advocacy and earthkeeping.”~Earthkeepers
Forrest and Mary’s conversation focuses in part on the upcoming solstice on December 21, that day in the wheel of the year when the northern hemisphere is tilted farthest away from the sun. It is the shortest and darkest day of the year, and traditionally marks the start of winter. Of course, it is also the day when the southern hemisphere is tilted furthest toward the sun, thus marking the first day of summer for those in the south. In Forrest's conversation with Mary, she helps us to understand the significance of solstice, and from her home in the north, explains how solstice can be a time for wholeheartedly embracing the change of seasons and even learning to love the dark days of winter. Her larger point is that all of us, whether we are in the north or the south, can learn to hear what the earth is speaking — in a language of darkness and light — to those who have ears to hear.
How do we facilitate space for the Holy to speak through nature, and more specifically, the bioregion in which we live? How do we meet the growing anxiety that is undeniably present related to the ecocidal destruction of their homescapes and the Earth as a whole?
This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation between Mary DeJong and Spiritual Directors International.
How do we facilitate space for the Holy to speak through nature, and more specifically, the bioregion in which we live? How do we meet the growing anxiety that is undeniably present related to the ecocidal destruction of their homescapes and the Earth as a whole?
This is Part 2 of a two-part conversation between Mary DeJong and Spiritual Directors International.
In anticipation of the upcoming winter solstice in the northern hemisphere, I’m here with ecotheologian and spiritual guide Mary DeJong. Mary is the founder of Waymarkers, which offers guidance and support for those who are ready to respond to the call to wander into the sacred wild, seeking wisdom from our interrelated web of life through retreats, pilgrimages, one-on-one and group rewilding guidance, writing, and speaking.
How has nature been a teacher on your spiritual journey?
Eco-theologian and pilgrimage guide Mary DeJong of Waymarkers answers this question in today’s new episode of Pilgrim Podcast and offers inspiration and suggestions for how we, too, can begin to journey with nature through her practice of Rewilding.
“We need theologies that are functional in that they tell us the truth of our existence: that we are created from this earth. This is a shift from a consuming people into a communing people, a people who are collectively and sacredly connected to our places and our planet.”