Welcome to alchemy pot. This is a journey of transformation for the outer consciousness. [Music] Welcome to Alchemy Pot. This is episode one, the soil maker. And since the soil maker right here cannot talk, we are going to dive deep and really go into what it actually is. Yes. Well, let's let's begin. Let's dive in. Yeah, Derek. So tell us what is the soil maker and how does it work? Okay, so it is a stone wearing in ground composter which means the bottom half sits in the ground the top half sits above ground. You put your food scraps in it and worms and other organisms break down the food scraps and they go in and out of the holes. It doesn't fill up because the worms, mostly red wiglers, break down those food scraps really fast. And then, you know, we're averaging about 10 pounds of week a week, you know, which is which is right on par for the average American household. It's about 10 pounds a week. It's pretty amazing as far as it being a composting device that you don't have to turn or really maintain and you can use it as simply as you use a trash can. And what I love about the soil maker is when you give your food to the ground, you're fertilizing the soil and helping heal the planet. And when you give that same food to a landfill, it creates pollution. So, right in your backyard, you can put a soil maker and start healing your land. If you have a garden, it's really great for the garden to be able to fertilize that soil and grow a more abundant garden. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know, it's like 520 pounds a year if you're doing 10 pounds a week. Yeah. And that's 1,800 pounds of CO2 out of the atmosphere not being created by the landfill, which is the equivalent of 30 mature trees. Yeah. So, uh, one of these things is the equivalent in terms of offsetting the carbon in the atmosphere to 30 mature trees. And it creates the environment for more trees to grow. And trees are really good at repopulating themselves better than we are at planting them. So, uh, you know, it's better to make soil and create the environments for nature to regenerate itself. Yeah, exactly. And what's really cool is like all that food like Derek, you were just saying that would go into the landfill, that's now going in the soil maker. And so what would turn into carbon emissions and methane and methane now won't happen because it's just going back to the earth and creating healthy soil and healthy soil is also one of the biggest carbon storage units and it also holds water. So in places where there's a lot of drought it will help prevent drought because water attracts water. So when there's more water in the aquafers in the ground then water in the sky will come and it helps complete the water cycle. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, big picture. Well, on the individual level, if you're using a soil maker, you can complete the loop as far as like the food you consume. It doesn't go to the landfill. It goes right in your backyard and it creates an environment to actually grow things. It's really easy to use. You don't have to get your hands dirty in the compost. And unlike other composters, it's not made of plastic. Yeah. You know, it's that's a big difference. And the the difference is uh because almost every composter is made of plastic. Plastic, especially in an environment of decomposition, leeches into the compost. And that microlastics end up, you know, the microplastics end up into the compost and into the food and then into us. And it's no good. It's no good. Yeah. So this is just made of earth. It's made of dirt and fire. And so this is stone wear. Yeah. Stone wear. All natural. Yeah. It's made in a dragon kil and it's what you find thousands of years later deep in the ground. So what I love about the soil maker is it's something you can have and you can actually pass down generation to generation. And so having that capacity to create soil at home and be able to have it last through generations is pretty incredible. I mean, that's one of the coolest parts, um, the generational aspect. And we'll get we'll dive a little deeper a little later, but, you know, a cool fun fact about stoneware is the, you know, the factories that they're made out of, the the dragon kils. Um, some of the earliest dragon kils were found around, say, 2,000 years ago, and some of that pottery is still intact. So, you know, like you're saying, you know, you can pass down generation to generation. That's that's literally generation to generation. You buy one of these things and like you could hopefully your grandchildren's grandchildren will still have it. Pass it down. It's It's amazing. I mean, since Derek and I started using our soil maker, for me, it it's been a huge shift in it seems absolutely crazy now to put food into a garbage can when we can be giving it back to the earth and literally healing our planet. And we all eat threeish times a day. And if every time we eat, we're actually taking our scraps and what we call waste and and turning that into gold for the earth. And that's why we call this an alchemy pot. Yeah. And that's why we're alchemy pot because turning food scraps and dried dirt into rich, healthy soil is a deep form of alchemy. Yeah. And for those of you who don't know what alchemy is, um we'll dive deeper on the next episode on alchemy, but Simply put, it's transformation. It's um taking one thing and turning it into another. It's the caterpillar turning into the butterfly or um the ancient alchemists would try to turn lead into gold. Um and so yeah, it's sort of that inner transformation as well. And so I think, you know, really the reason we're we're having a podcast in in the first place is to dig deep on these concepts that the soil maker and this, you know, is the ultimate alchemy pot, but the soil maker is more than just a composter. Yeah. It's so much more. It's so much more. And it is a deep form of alchemy. Like when you make that commitment to giving your food to the land every day, I feel like it's a much deeper commitment to also showing up for yourself and for your life through that well through the ritual, through the act of through the practice, however you want to call it, of giving your food, you you recognize naturally that you are a part of nature. And when you recognize that you are a part of nature and you're giving to nature and you're helping restore the land, then that gives back to you because we're alive and we're connected. And when we're connected to the cycles of life, just like there's water in the ground, it attracts water. When we put our food and our DNA into the ground, then we're in reciprocity with the earth. And so by giving to the earth, by giving through the soil maker, I think it's one of the biggest gifts of the self. And it's a deep practice of connection and devotion and also telling yourself that you care and you're doing something impactful every single day. And I think in a world where there's so much happening that feels outside of our control externally, there's so much chaos going on, when you can do those small things throughout your day that do make a difference, that do have an impact, that are of service, then I feel like holistically you're being of service. You'll feel better in your life. you'll feel more connected to life which you'll feel more connected to your family to your relationships to your work in the world and so it what I love about the soil maker and in my experience of using one it's like this ripple effect of self growth and transformation happens and just in the mere fact of using one not even into we'll share at some point the deeper rituals and practices that we do with it. But just even without doing those, just the fact of putting your food into the ground and into the ground in a way that's not leeching plastic into the ground in a way that like other compost bin bins, you know, the worms are stuck inside there. They're not free to move about. And this soil maker allows life to move freely and allows nature to be free and not trapped. So you're giving to something that's holistically serving, which I think on a known level we feel. Yeah. Yeah. I mean there's we feel when we put something in the trash can and we know that it ends up in a landfill and the landfill is polluting. There's a there's an energy line that is felt whether it's conscious or unconscious. Like we we it like it's like ow, you know? It's like one little owl. And then also when we take worms out of the ground and keep them in a plastic tower to eat our food scraps uh and breed them just for that purpose. I think we feel that too on and you know not everybody is conscious of like how or cares about worms and the like life that they live. But the cool thing is that if you do, the added bonus is that in a soil maker, the worms are free to leave. Yeah. Then they're free to stay and there's a food supply there that is not broken down just by worms, mostly by worms, but also other organisms. So all of the rules you have around compost with worms, like no citrus peels and stuff, no avocado pits, onions, you know, like you could throw all of that in the soil maker and it's fine because it actually hosts an ecosystem, not just one mono uh species, you know, one one species. It's it's it's a diversity. Yeah. And so in that diversity, what I'd love to do with you, Derek, is like, let's take people on a journey of what happens from the moment the food scrap scrap is dropped into the soil maker and all the life under there. Let's let's let's take them on a journey and if you'll start us off like what what happens? What's going on underground? Totally. So, let's say you have dinner and you're you're cleaning up and there's food scraps from the meal, there's food scraps from the prep, uh the carrot tops, the onion peels, whatever it is. Uh you we like to put them into a brown paper bag. Um and the reason for this is you have to have brown to green ratio in a compost. So, a little bit of wood product, which would be cardboard or paper. Uh, and then your food scraps. So, we put them in the bag. So, it does two in one. So, okay. We take the bag, we put it into the soil maker. It goes down into the bottom um space. Woohoo. And in here it is like the first stage of the alchemical process which is the death which is the um in in you know alchemists would call it negretto. Yeah. Um but it's it's where everything breaks down. It's the decomposition. Decomposition. And so all the bugs, billions and trillions of mouths feed on this piece of, you know, food scrap. If in a in a healthy soil, um, in a teaspoon of healthy soil, there are over 8 billion different species of microbes. Yeah. And so in a in a soil maker, there's a lot more than that. So, it's like feeding an entire universe of organisms every time you drop food scraps in. Yeah. As soon as the food scrap gets into this space, it's it's space. It's like a whole universe. It it truly is. Uh, and so what do some of those organisms do? So, the worms will um eat and break down a lot of that food scrap. Um different organisms, but I mean, there's like, you know, you see slugs or pincher bugs or all kinds of bacteria, fungi, like they're all breaking it down. And then the worms uh they go out to um let go of what they're letting go of cuz they don't they don't like to um you know defecate where they're eating. Yeah. And so the worm poop then goes all in the soil surrounding the soil maker and that's what enriches the area around it and regenerates that land. So then the nutrients are going from the space in here into the organism and then the organism goes out and it goes into the soil and so the worms are fertilizing the soil. Yeah. And then what is the fungi do? So the fungi builds a a network of like nutrient highways. So they'll they'll start to really build the um the roads, the distribution roads. Think of it like a distribution hub, like an Amazon distribution hub or or whatever company. Yeah. Um, but yeah, like you you you put the food in and then it goes it starts to just they they lay that groundwork so that it just goes out and it's like next day delivery over to the trees, you know, and so that food scrap will be sending nutrients to the trees via the highways created by the hung fungi. Yes. And the prozzoa and nematodes what they do is they take the food scrap and that is being broken down by the bacteria. They eat the bacteria but then they mix it with dirt and then they build little caves and homes and and cathedrals. Yeah. Essentially it creates you know the cathedrals of the earth of the soil. Um, and what that does is it builds what's called soil structure. And soil structure is what allows air and water and roots to flow and grow in the underground space. When you don't have that, you just have dirt. It's all compacted and there's no air, there's no water, there's no roots. So that's why it's hard to grow things when you don't have a soil. And planting trees in an area that doesn't have good soil is like it's not effective. Mhm. You know, it's it it doesn't work as well as if you were to actually regenerate the soil and then have trees either planted and but then let them regenerate themselves. Yeah. So the the food scrap goes in, it goes out, it goes into the tree and then it it goes, you know, either we eat the vegetable that it is and then it starts all over again or it goes out into the world and then it comes back somehow. But it's a circle. It's not a start to finish. There's no beginning and there's no end. Mhm. Makes sense. It'd be like in dirt. It would be like living in a a city that's a a desert with no roads and no access to people or food and in the soil. It'd be like living in a city where there's roads where you can access different people, different marketplaces, different connections, different community and it it's much more holistic, connected, alive. Totally. Yeah. It's it's rich. It's it's got resources, you know, and the trees need resources. And so, the best thing you can do for a tree is put a soil maker in between them because then the fruit from the tree gets to then nourish both trees. And they do that, you know, naturally. In a forest, you know, the ground is littered. There's leaves everywhere. And you leave them. That's why they're called leaves. leave them. Yeah. But in modern agriculture and in, you know, modern gardens, we we we mow and we blow and we we clean up all of the the leaves that are then enriching the soil and we took our food scraps and we don't put them in the ground. We put them in a trash can that ends up, you know, driven miles and miles to a landfill that's mixed with plastic and has no air. And so it it pollutes. So this is like the opposite of that. Yeah. And also if we could dive into what happens when food scraps are placed above ground on like the trunk or on top of the tree versus when they actually make it like via soil maker to the underground. Yeah. So if if you were to put food scraps like a banana peel just on a tree, um it would start decomposing on that tree and the decomposition could then, you know, eat part of the tree and make the tree sick. Um trees get sick. If they have open wounds, they they can get an infection and and you know, just like a just like a human being. So yeah. Um, this is sort of like your your portal into the underground network of soil. And the great part about that is is, you know, if if you wanted to, you could dig a hole every day and put your food scraps in different places around the yard and and amend the soil. And we recommend that, you know, that's that's a great move. That's a great move. Yeah. Especially if you can't if you can get a soil maker. I recommend a soil maker because it's just so easy and straightforward to use. Like I know just the time to dig a hole every day can be a lot. But if you can't at minimum you can take a little shovel, dig a hole in the ground and give your food back to the planet. And that that's our our mission here is to invite people to create soil wherever they are. Yeah. Yeah. And how however they're creating soil, they're creating an environment for growth within their own lives. And it affects the lives around them. Just like a soil maker affects the trees in the vicinity around it and the plants in the vicinity around it and especially the soil life under the under the ground. Yeah. Um this is your portal. So, it's always halfway underneath and halfway on top. Like a tree has roots and a canopy. This kind of works the same way. Yeah. Where it's it's mirrored in that underground and the processing that happens underground is where you see the wealth of the garden. It's just like our human uh experience. The more processing we can do underneath the surface in our subconscious, the better our lives will be and the richer our relationships will be with other people. Yeah, I love that. And I love the the gift of of making soil. And with that, I want to dive deeper into why soil is so important to make. And one thing that I've learned is that as humans, one thing we can really do to affect the environment is to make soil. Because what will take us maybe a year to make soil with food scraps might take the earth what is it 100 years to 500 to 500 years. So what we can do inch just for an inch of top soil so 100 to 500 years if nature just blows dust around and like you know you just you just wait for it to happen um that's yeah and where it has happened already we should save that I totally agree with that concept of saving soil uh but making soil making soil is such a more effective yeah and and also So it like trees are more effective at planting themselves. So if we make soil that's an environment for trees to grow, then the trees will drop their seeds and plant more of themselves. So I think planting trees is amazing and and keep doing it because we need more trees. But if we sometimes will shift our focus instead to making more soil, the trees will naturally grow. And I feel like as humans, that's one of the most important things we can focus on because we can affect nature and quicken the time it takes. And yeah. Yeah. It's like if you want something that affects on a bigger level, you have to go to a deeper level. Yeah. Well, because soil affects not just the tree, but the entire forest. Yeah. And the entire ecosystem of life starts in the underground in in the soil that as the fungi and all of that are communicating to each other underground which doesn't even affect one forest. It that one forest is unconnected to the next forest and so on. So it it actually affects the entire planet. Yeah. And you know, we we have such a relationship with trees and with soil in in that we breathe out what they breathe in. We're mirrored in that way. And there's a there's a connection there that I think we take for granted. Yeah. And this is really about connecting back into the earth, connecting back into ourselves. Mhm. And so we would like to just dive a little deeper into how the soil maker Yeah. is an alchemy pot. Mhm. And how it can actually transform your entire life. Yeah. From not just your yard inside out. Yeah. And that's something that every day when we use the soil maker as an alchemy pot, we do a practice with it. Just like we like the leaves, the tree needs to let go of its leaves and and earth goes through this process of letting go with seasons every year. We as humans have the opportunity to let go and regenerate ourselves every single day. And so we use the soil maker in that way through a a daily practice. Yeah. And the practice is really simple. It's uh three steps. It's what are you letting go of? What are you grateful for? And what are you creating? Yeah. And the way we do it, remember the compost needs a green to brown ratio so that it doesn't smell bad. That's really what it is. It's like well it because it gives air uh air flow and it and it feeds the fungi and it creates a balance in the ecosystem of compost. Uh but the the wonderful thing about that is that you have to use paper or cardboard anyway. And so we write down what we're letting go of on one side of the cardboard or paper and then we speak out loud what we're grateful for. Mhm. And then on the other side of the paper, we write down what we're creating. And then we put it in with the food scrap. And every day, we're clearing out what we want to let go of. And what we want to let go of is not just like, you know, it's a deep question. It's a deep question. It starts with a very deep question. It starts with the uh, you know, it's a look at the shadow. Yeah. Of what is been holding me back? What am I actually ready to let go of that, you know, I I don't want to hold on to anymore. Yeah. And that can be that can be really deep and it could be very emotional and that's okay. Yeah. And and that's the beauty of it. And I think there's a beauty in learning to accept the fact that we are bioorganic technology ourselves. We are a part of nature which means we also feel emotions and we also need to release and let go and create new things. And so in the letting go process, it's a great time to look at the little things every day like, oh, I want to let go of, you know, these thoughts that I've been thinking. I want to let go of this negative energy. I want to let go of this selfdoubt or this heaviness that I've been holding or this belief that I've been holding or the pain of someone else that I'm carrying. I want to let that go. and and we invite forward in the let go process when you're giving your food and you've written it down on your card like you let that release from your body as well. And and and some days, you know, it's like for us it's like really light and and you know there's not much emotionality to it, but there's a strong intention. And then some days there is an emotionality and it gets to release. But every day it's such a great reminder of the fact that we are all creators in our lives. We all have the power within to decide how we want to transform within our ourselves. Yeah. And I think something happens when you watch your written down let go be eaten Yeah. by trillions of organisms and the energy that you know there's a there's just a transfer that happens when you're writing it down. You know, it's almost like they say there's a connection to the soul when you write something down uh when you use a a paper instead of typing, you know. And so like going kind of back to that and writing it down, getting the energy out of your heart into the paper and then watching that paper and those words become the garden. Yeah. You know, that's that's really what happens. It feeds the organisms, but then the organisms feed the trees and the trees become the garden. And you get to every day let go a little bit at a time. Mhm. And that's how real change happens. Yeah. You know, you can go to a seminar over a weekend and do a lot of big work. Um but two weeks later you might still be doing the same stuff, you know. And so when you have something a tool like that to to actually compost your fears, compost your anger, compost your resentments, whatever it may be, old stories of unworthiness, what whatever's holding you back from you being you, you know, like for me, the stuff that holds me back from me, my fullest expression is something that I want to compost. I want to compost the armor that I feel like I got to protect myself in order to survive my world. And like a lot of times I'm missing the beauty and the love that is surrounding me. Yeah. By all this heavy armor I'm carrying around. And so this is a tool where I can take off pieces of that metaphorical armor and compost it and then turn it into the environment that that is the garden of my life. Exactly. Yeah. Exactly. And it's a beautiful opportunity to again and again turn that negative energy into something positive by I love what you said like watching all the organisms break it down. It's it's like also a reminder of how supported we are and how not alone we are. Even though this microorganism might be tiny, it's literally supporting you in decomposing a part of yourself and releasing a part of yourself. and that remembrance that that that we can and that I think so much of this human life is about that opportunity to transform and to find more positivity and to be able to even receive more goodness and more love because you could be living in a life full of so much love and so much goodness and have have this armor up that's affecting perception. and it's affecting the way you're able to like receive the love that's coming into you from your family, from your partner, from your friends, from the nature outside, the like infinite love that's available to us at all times. And I truly believe that when we let go, we're really just letting go of anything that's keeping us from our truest loving and our truest expression. And it's it's that armor. And so the everyday opportunity to take off another piece and then to love the next piece that comes up, you know, the next day when you're triggered about something else or feeling something else heavy. It's it's now an opportunity to That's it. It's It's a place for the triggers, too. Yeah. Like it's not just um you're well obviously your triggers are letting you know you're feeling fear, you're feeling anger, you're feeling sadness, whatever it is that's coming up for you, whatever is alive for you, that is what we let go of. Um you don't have to dig. The thing is it there's stuff every day. Every day something comes up that you know is from the past. Yep. And when you bring the past into the present, you're not present. And so the whole thing is to try and just get present and be here to open the presence of life. Yes. It's the gift in every moment. Literally, when you're present, you open the present of the moment. Yeah. And so the the the process is really powerful because first we deal with the elephant in the room. Let it go. Let it go. Mhm. And it has a place and you know that place is a safe place where it will turn into the gold. It will turn into the uh connection. Yeah. Uh to yourself and to the earth and to the people around you. Uh because when you're not hanging on to all this fear and all this weight and all this this heavy emotions, um you feel lighter, you feel better, and you're nicer to be around. Yeah. Honestly, there's a great reciprocity with it because it's like you give your food and then you give the card and it's like you're giving something that then is also supporting you in your release process. I don't know. But I think the soil maker is maybe one of the best therapists out there. And I would agree. And I I could even It's not It's not a therapist. It's not. And it's, you know, it's not a doctor. Are we implying that it's therapy? Yeah, it's not a doctor, but it is a wellness tool because we can't and there's rules around that and we respect that. But the truth of the matter is that it is a really deep wellness tool. And like you said, it can transform your life. It can transform your life and you and you can go to seminars over a weekend and like I myself host retreats and do energy work with people and and and support people's well-being process every day. And at the same time as I do that, and I think those things are hugely important to be catalysts. They're huge. It's still what you do every day that allows that transformation to complete. And every single day, there's an opportunity to transform and become a better version of yourself. And so the soil maker to me is a huge totem of that energy. And for Derek and I when we started using the soil maker regularly, the reason why we call the company alchemy pot is because we started saying before we would do our ritual with the soil maker and with the food and in other circumstances as well, we started saying the word alchemy pot. And that alchemy pot was an invitation to make soil between us, to make soil in ourselves and in our relationship and in our life. And then we would go and we and we do the ritual together. And I think doing it by yourself is incredible as a sacred act. Doing it with your partner is incredible. Doing it with your children is incredible. Yeah. What we mean by making soil Yeah. is like um think of soil as an environment for growth. You know, if you think of soil as environment for growth that things can grow in, seeds can be planted and they will actually take root and grow. Um and dirt as in hard, crusty, stubborn, you know, stuck in its ways. It's locked into old patterns. So, what we're doing every time we say um alchemy pot y is I'll have a a moldy fruit. I'll have something that's just sort of eating at me that I need to say that I don't want to say because it's not going to taste good, but I got to do something with it because otherwise I'm I'm slowly pulling away from from you. Mhm. Uh, so what I'm getting to do is name that elephant in the room, name the moldy fruit, and actually put it in a place that it doesn't end up on your feet or on your face. I'm not throwing it at you, maker. We actually have a space where we can go alchemy pot, which means I got to say something that's that's eating at me, you know, and then I take the ownership of what it's eating at me and put it in the pot. And when I put it in the pot, I'm not blaming. I'm saying I'm angry. And I feel angry maybe at at you, but I'm letting go of my anger. Yeah. And so there's a self- responsibility and there's an ownership in the way that we use this and in the first step of the process is letting go of what's yours. You you can't let go of what's not yours. So yes, so it becomes an emotional alchemy process and there and there's something we'll do more episodes on this to dive a little bit deeper into the emotional alchemy part of it. But I will say this, there's something in the process of using a soil maker and we'll go and we'll actually stand in front of the soil maker and share our let goes and our our gratitude and our creations. But there's something about taking self- responsibility for our triggers because nine times out of 10 if we're triggered in our relationships, at our job, in our life, it comes from something in the past. And when we can recognize that, we can take self- responsibility and we can look at what we're believing to be true about life based on maybe an experience that we had in our younger years that adop that made us adopt a belief about reality. And so when we can take responsibility of those triggers and decide like what I want to let go of, wow, I want to let go of that that way of being or I want to let go of like the defense mechanism I learned when I was seven that made me feel like my ego needs to run the show in order to be safe and be seen and be loved. Oh my gosh. And that's why I'm angry right now because my ego feels threatened and my ego is my safety mechanism or whatever. That's an example. And so, can you track? We'll have an episode on that. Um, but like you start to recognize these parts of yourself the deeper you dig in your own process. And then it's the coolest thing ever to be able to recognize that you're so empowered in yourself and in your life that you have the ability in every moment to choose what you want to let go of what you and what you want to create. And so that's what we do with the soil maker. And that I believe is simply a reflection of how nature works because we're nature. Yeah. Yeah. nature drops its leaves. You know, there's there's a lot of ways where nature doesn't hold on to the things that are weighing it down. Yeah. And um Yeah. So, the the that's step one is letting go. Yeah. Step two is gratitude. Yep. And gratitude really clears the energy of the let go. I mean, it's like a pallet cleanser. Let's do a little gratitude right now if you're down. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. This is just an example cuz we we invite saying the gratitude out loud even if you're alone with yourself. There's something just about speaking out loud what you're grateful for and doing it next to the soil maker. So I am grateful for all of you who are listening right now. I'm grateful for everyone on the planet who cares about planet Earth and cares about life and is willing to transform within themselves, who's willing to learn something new. I'm really grateful for anyone who's listening right now and is like, "Okay, maybe these transformation concepts of the self are outside of my zone. I do care about the earth, but like this is a little bit on the edge, but I'm like willing to open myself. I'm really grateful for anyone who's willing to open themselves into new possibility and just at least listen. Yeah, I'm grateful for this life. M I'm grateful I get to spend time doing what I love with the people I love. And I get to just tell people about this wonderful thing called the soil maker. Yeah. And I'm grateful to those of you who are who are watching and who are listening and who care. And I'm grateful that I can that I care so much about this and that I'm choosing to use my energy and my breath and my voice to speak about the things that I care about. I'm glad that that's a choice I made. Yeah. Yeah. I'm grateful for Derek as well. It's a really beautiful thing to get to create with you as my life partner and also business partner. It's pretty cool. And I'm grateful for you for if for those of you who don't know, Derek is the one who came up with the idea for the soil maker like 10 years ago in college and then it's still alive. So, I'm grateful for you for sticking with it and following the pain in your heart to bring this further to life. And um the true desire to help heal the planet. And I'm grateful to be alive in this time and to be a human in a time of on some levels great intensity and challenge and on other levels incredible peace and like aliveness and like heaven that can be experienced in every moment through the simplest of things. Yeah. And yeah, I'm grateful for you as well. Yeah. And I'm grateful for the soil maker because, you know, thinking about all of the, you know, the the times we live in are dynamic to say the least. Dynamic. Yeah. And when you have something like this where you can every day set aside a space to actually process what's going on to let go of that stuff to name what you're grateful for and to choose what you're creating in your life and to compost your food at the same time and regenerate your land and connect more to the land you live on. that holds you every day. Yeah. And the trees that give you the oxygen to breathe every day. There's there's a there's something that happens when you connect and feel part of the whole that allows you the freedom to create and be present in your life. And the disconnection is what is creating so much of the chaos in the world. I think they're all symptoms of the problem, which is an inner disconnection. And so when my hope is that people take these home and they put them in their backyards, they put them in their schools, they put them in city parks, and we we just start connecting with ourselves and with our families and with our partners and with our co-workers and communities. and it sort of ripples out from the individual. And so if you have a tool like the alchemy pot where you can connect with yourself that will ripple out into the universe. Yeah. That it just it can't not. It just will. And and to just take that a little bit further because I love this thought line is like I invite you right now listening to just visualize for a second like imagine that you had a soil maker in your backyard and you're giving your food to it every day and you have like this beautiful like object there that that represents your connection to the earth that represents your connection to yourself and then imagine being in that process of letting go every day and creating every day with the support of the earth below you. And then imagine how good you might feel in doing that. And then imagine if other people in your neighborhood had one too and they were all doing that within themselves and within their life and giving their food to the ground. And then imagine like your parks had that and then all of a sudden people are contributing to their city parks because they they're giving to the parks. So instead of like vandalizing and taking from the parks because they feel disconnected now they're giving to the parks because they're giving their food and and being a part of the ecosystem of life. So they remember their connection. And then imagine your children at school like learning from the moment they're born and like learning that their food goes back to the earth and heals the earth. And then imagine all the kids instead of just throwing their food away in the trash bins and like some part of them questioning why we're doing that. And that's what we're teaching our children. Instead, we're now teaching our children that we can be a part of the solution and giving our children the opportunity to be a part of a solution every single day. So then imagine those kids growing up knowing that they have the capacity to create a solution on the planet. And then those are the kids who will become our leaders in the world, who will become our next business creators and will naturally be wired to create things that heal, that help, that support because they're doing that from their early life. And so imagine then having a soil maker in your home and being able to have real conversations with your with your partner or with someone that matters to you because you have a tool to also process your emotions that's also giving to the earth. And then imagine being able to have clear communication and deeper love and deeper intimacy because that space is open. And so imagine then connecting deeper. Maybe you've been married 30 years and you're missing a part, but then all of a sudden you're able to connect and co-give and then a space opens that fungal network of connection has created in your life. And then that remembrance of the deeper roots and the deeper soil that holds together maybe the family you've created. Maybe you have children and maybe you've forgotten at times because there hasn't been compost given to the earth. So there hasn't been an underground network keeping the aliveness. But if there's that underground network, the nutrients are going to flow from you to your partner, to your family, to your children, to your community, to your work, to every single part of your life. And so just imagine then that rippling out. And now people are connected because they're connected to themselves. And then imagine like truly a harmonious planet becomes more and more possible. Like every single time you drop a banana peel in, every single time you put a carrot top in, every single time you throw a little onion in, something so simple is so deeply profound. And that's why I love the soil maker. And that's why I'm like a full steward of this mission and of the alchemy pot is because what I believe it can do and spread energetically is so magnificent. Yeah. And available to each one of us at home right now. Well said. It's beautiful. It's a space. Yeah. You know, and when we're busy with work and when we're overloaded with the state of the world, a space where you can connect to yourself and to your family. That's that's the sort of life transformation that I I have experienced with this. Yeah. And also just know that that's possible for everyone who uses it even if they're not participating so deeply in the in the ritual of process of writing it down. They don't even have to do that. You don't even have to. Just by giving to the land every day, just by using this thing that, you know, is essentially a, you know, a like a magical garbage can where everything you put in it turns into gold for the garden. It's it's it's kind of amazing. It's like if you had a, you know, a container that like if everything you put in it became gold. Yeah. You'd want to put a bunch of stuff in it. It's a portal to creating gold. Yeah. Literally. and and and and you know food scraps are gold for the garden. Yeah, they really are. Uh but they need a space to decompose. They need a space to be held uh so that the the nutrients and the goodness can can distribute itself out and like seep out of the holes and come into the land. Um because otherwise you're just you have the decomposition and it's like chaotic and it's you know but when it's held that chaos then becomes it just sort of emanates out. Yeah. And um that's the creation process. Yeah. And that's the kind of energy you have now in your backyard or your front yard or wherever you're putting the soil maker. Yeah. Um, and that leads us then to our third step. Yes. Step three, which is when that nutrients has gone out and and things are starting to grow and that's what are you creating? Yeah. Yeah. So, so imagine that that process is like the food scrap, right? The first step we put it in and we're letting go and the food scrap is getting broken down and it's being eaten. And then the organisms that are eating the food scrap then take it outside and it starts to get a new perspective. Yeah. And it starts to go, wow, I'm so grateful for the food. I'm grateful for my life. I'm grateful for the the breath in my lungs. I'm grateful that I have choice. Yeah. To do what I want to do with this life. Um, and then, so then, so then it begs the question, well, what are you going to do with your life? Yeah. What are you going to create? What do you what what's exciting for you? And so, so the food scrap, you know, the nutrients in the food scraps is recycled. Now it's in the organism outside the pot, but now it's going to go and end up in a tree. And which tree is it going to be? Which plant is it going to go into? Which organism is it then going to go into? Yeah, like all of that life force that was the food scrap that was the banana peel is now deciding uh through the journey of life. This you know unfoldment of like what's it going to be? And what you're doing with that third step is putting some focus and some intention on what you're actually creating with that space because you create that space. Exactly. And what you do with it matters because when you don't name and write down what you're creating, you end up just doing whatever comes. Whatever comes, which is cool. Nothing wrong with that. But but we direct the energy. And that's why we have a triangle in our in our logo because it's it directs the energy. So you direct where that growth happens. And and in the sense of like it's going to grow in a way beyond like it's not about controlling it, but it's about directing it with intention and then allowing it to grow. And it might grow in a way far beyond your imagination, but at least you're going to be directing with clear intent to allow that to happen. So yeah, that's the what am I creating step. the the example often used is like if you're going to get on a plane, you would never just get on a plane that doesn't know where it's going to land. You know, the plane always knows it's going to San Francisco, it's going to New York, it's going to wherever it's going. Um, and so that's what, you know, we get to do if we choose to in our lives. Yeah. is direct our energy into where we'd like to go and what we'd like to create. And often we're so bogged down with the news, the work, you know, family, like just all of the things that uh can be overwhelming at times. Uh, and so what we're doing is we're just we're we're shedding that weight. We're shedding the things that are that are holding us down. And now that we have newfound energy and like can can go where we want to go. Yeah. Uh we're giving it direction. So I I love the third step. Okay. What are you going to create now? What are you creating now that you don't have to carry around that heavy suitcase full of rocks? What are you going to do? Where are you going to go? What kind of flowers do you want to put in your garden? what kind of plants, what kind of food do you want to grow? And and also the invitation here is like what kind of qualities I I love inviting forward in the creation process like what kind of qualities do you want to bring into your life? Because sometimes it can be so easy to be like I want the house and the car and all of these external things. But then I invite in the creation process like why do you want those things? And is it to to find love? Is it to find happiness? Is it to find joy? Is it to find grace? And so then you can recognize like, oh wow, what I really want is like peace and grace and joy and play and connection and expression. And then from that place then then you know dream big. Whatever you want externally and materially is all okay too. Let yourself dream. But like finding those qualities of like ooh like you know I don't just want the tree to grow. I want the tree to like spread its roots and be free and be this like big wisdom tree that's like got the life of like a 4,000y old tree and every time you touch it you just energetically like fill with life and like what are what what are you putting into your garden of your life? And that's the third step of our alchemy process that we use with the soil maker. What are you creating? Yeah. Yeah. And you know it naturally happens in the garden, right? You know, you put your food scraps in and it creates the environment that allows things to grow. And so, you know, if you don't if you putting seeds if you're putting seeds in the desert Yeah. and expecting them to grow. Um, you know, it's not going to work. It's not going to work. I could have said that better. You can't plant seeds in the desert. You know, you have to create a soil, an environment for those growth. And if your seeds are ideas and you have ideas for your life, you're planting them in a desert. Yeah. If you're not creating soil, creating soil. And so creating soil is the metaphor of letting go of what you need to let go of. Yep. And being grateful for what life is giving you. Yeah. And then making choices. Totally. That's all it is. It's all it is. And and one thing that maybe relates to a lot of you, it's like if you have a lot of ideas about what you want to create in your life, the kind of relationship, the kind of like all the things you want in your life and you've got so many ideas about it, but none of them are manifesting, it's likely because the soil hasn't been created. Yeah. And one thing that, you know, I've found, we've found, and the soil maker has really taught me is like make soil first. Don't try planting all these seeds, growing all these projects, having all these like relationships without the foundation of a healthy soil. M and so like first things first in your life make a rich soil because then all those ideas all the things you want to create they'll just grow. Yeah. like effortlessly. Yeah. Because the soil will be conducive. And so like quite literally make soil and the garden of your life will grow and this soil maker will be a conduit to support you in making soil in the garden of your life. Yeah. Yeah. And it's um it's half the equation. Yeah. So, you know, on a later episode, we're going to dive into the tree of transformation. Yeah, which looks at the different levels of a tree. It's sort of the different levels of consciousness or the different you know deeper layers of anything. And uh you know 50% of that is the soil. The other 50% is the tree growing in it. And so when you plant a seed, half of it's the seed that has in it all the potentiality of becoming the, you know, the acorn has a oak tree in it. Mhm. You know, it just has to have the right environment in order to grow into that oak tree. So half the equation is the soil. Half of it is the soil and learning how to make soil within. And because you brought it up, I'll share. If if that's resonating with anyone here listening, if you're listening and there's a part of you lighting up that's like, "Yeah, I want to literally make soil and and get a soil maker," then I invite you to do that. And if you're like, "Well, I also want to make soil within myself." One thing that Derek and I are creating and offering is like small group pods with a small group of people to then walk through a six-month transformation of making soil within yourself through the tree of transformation and other tools as well because it's just the more of us on the planet who can be literally making soil and making soil within I believe is a conduit to well-being in a world of well-being where where we create from well-being everything our life our relationships our love and yeah so if that resonates you'll we'll have a link in the show notes on how to access that. Yeah. Yeah. So I I think that's it. You know, I think um that's the soil maker in a nutshell. We're going to dive deeper into alchemy into different tools that we've sort of named and uh created into uh to to help with this inner transformation because you know what happens on the inside gets reflected outside. Exactly. And that's that's what this is. Uh this is you know well I did want to create a space because we are talking uh for the soil maker. The soil maker cannot talk. Yes. Um we could sort of just you know Yeah. Let's talk to let's see what the soil maker said. if there's anything we left out what to we're here to serve this the this soil maker and so um just want to tune in to like what you know what the soil maker might have to say. So what I hear the soil maker saying is I'm here to listen. I'm here to receive all of your scraps, all of your food, all of your internal noise and to help hold the space to turn it into something beautiful for life. I'm here to give to you. I'm here as a friend, as a totem. I'm here because I care about the planet. And I'm here to be something beautiful in your home, in your yard, something that you feel joy when you look at. Something that reminds you to be connected in every moment. And I'm here to take the world of composting to a whole new level of connection. And I'm here because I care. Yeah. Yeah. Anything else you hear? You said it. The soil. Yeah. It's truly exquisite. Yeah. I really do love this thing. I love it. We love it. And we we use ours outside and we also use it inside just because it's such a beautiful art piece and we use it as a decoration as a side table. It's like it's it's so powerful and that's the real invitation here is like to be a part of this. If this is resonating with you, we're doing pre-orders now in the US and we invite you to purchase one and you'll be one of the original like soil makers on the planet. And there I just think that's so cool because there's going to be a time where so many people have these and now is just the beginning. And so anyone here who's helping get this off the ground by purchasing one and helping your own life through purchasing one, just know that you're a part of something so much bigger than yourself. And know that like the investment and the price is like you're investing in yourself and in your life and like in a lifetime of giving. And I think that is honestly priceless. Yeah. And yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, even comparing it to other, you know, composters, you're you're one most composters and most of the questions we get is like, well, when do I get my compost? Yeah. You know, when do I get to take from it? Yeah. And with this, you you orient yourself in a completely different way. You're giving to the soil maker that is giving to the earth that is giving to the organisms that is giving to the plants that then gives back to you you know so it's a you have to join into the circle of life. Yeah. And that is is just a much different it's a it's a different mindset than um the usual approach. It's science. Yeah. It's literally science. It's it's it's physics in the sense of what you give is what you get back and it's science in the sense of how nature functions. Yeah. So it's Yeah. It's cool. Yeah. And the other one's, you know, um made of plastic in a factory that burns, you know, tons of different fossil fuels and and then you plug it in and so it uses power. Yeah. You know, the there's there's a lot of the indoor ones, you know, and then it dehydrates and burns uh the food scraps and turns it into dust. So, it's not giving the food to all the organisms. All the organisms are like, "Thanks for the dust." Uh-huh. You know, they're still grateful cuz they're they're humble and they're awesome, but like, you know, a fresh banana peel. You kidding me? Yeah. We want to Don't you want to like have a relationship with the with the When we put a banana peel in, we we recognize all the organisms and we're like they're all like down there cheering like we got a banana peel. Sing it out loud. Like you're literally affecting a whole universe. Like it's so cool. Yeah. Yeah, there's a real, you know, there's a there's an adventure waiting for you and all it takes is stepping forward, that first step. Yeah. That first step of just letting go of what's holding you back. M. And so that's the heart of the message here is letting go of just the blocks to your expression. Yeah. And that's what this thing does. It composts. You know, we thought at first it composts food scraps into soil. Yeah. And it's so much more. It's so much more. And we we had to discover that. you know, we discovered how much more is involved. Yeah. Uh and so that's that's why we've created this podcast is so that we can we can really dive deep into what it means to really make soil. Yep. And what it means to regenerate not only the land, but your life, your your lives. Yeah. And and I'm I'm hearing one more message from the soil maker coming in loud and clear. It's saying it's it's I really feel this. It's like what we're inviting here is an invitation to fall in love with the earth. And in falling love in love with the earth, fall in love with yourself. Yeah. And like what a great way to fall in love with the earth by giving it to it every day and letting it give back to you. And like if you're looking for love in your life, I got to say it's right here and it's within you. It's within you, right? And then it gets reflected back to you. And that's the invitation. And that's what we're here. We're going to dive deep into all things alchemy, transformation, inner, outer, soil. This is really a we're going to process the underground in the alchemy. place where regeneration meets well-being meets consciousness because the two are connected and when we can really understand that when we heal ourselves within we are nature we're going to heal the nature externally and so this is a space to really alchemize to transform to be honest to be raw and we invite you to ask any questions you have there'll be a place on our website where you can write in questions and we'll answer them on the podcast and we're growing a community online as well. Check out the link for that. We have different levels of community that will help us to support the podcast coming to life and and being in the world and also give you an opportunity to be a part of of an alchemical container of community transforming and be a part of that fungal line of communication to receive the nutrients that you need and to give them out. And so if that resonates with you, all support is deeply appreciated. And again, you can get a soil maker on our website, alchemy pot.com, and pre-order one now. And tell all your friends, like tell them, share, because this is this is something beyond all of us. And if you're here, you're already a part of that. and we thank you for your presence and your witnessing in this transformation for our planet. So, thank you. Yeah, thank you.