Hearthkyn, described:

The word hearth has a few fascinating definitions. The first might be the most obvious; it’s the stones that hold a home’s fire. The second has a more nuanced tone, defining the hearth as home. The third comes from metallurgy, and is “the part of an open hearth, reverberatory furnace, etc., upon which the charge is placed and melted down or refined.”  

You’ve also likely noticed that heart is seamlessly woven into the word.

No matter which definition you consider, there is something alchemical in hearth’s nature. What emerges is different than before. Change occurs under the glow of the fire’s embers, and it cannot be undone. 

The harnessing of fire gave humans a place to gather. Drawn towards its brilliant, shapeshifting light, humans have been warmed, nourished, mystified, and healed by this wild force for eons. It’s worth wondering where we would be without it. 

Kyn is the Old Norse spelling for today’s English kin. It’s older meanings include “one’s relations, a family, a nation, a clan, or tribe.” Modern definitions recognize a class or group with similar characteristics as kin. An indigenous lens teaches us that kinship “describes a person’s responsibilities towards other people, the land and natural resources. Kinship is a system that determines how people relate to one another and their surroundings, with the aim of creating a cohesive and harmonious community.” (Watarrka Foundation) 

Kinship recognizes the value of advocating for all being’s wellbeing. Instead of pitting ourselves against each other through competition, fear, and collapse, we collaborate to create synergistic, reciprocal, heartening relationships. We honor each other’s gifts, and come together to support our individual calls. There is abundance instead of scarcity. Trust in one another. A shared foundation built on the capacity to lean in, learn, and live fully. Everyone becomes an ally instead of an enemy. Wildness returns, and the need to control and dominate is diminished. Kinship shows us our relation to all things. It reminds us to take responsibility for our ripples; to dance with the world in a delightfully generous and guided way. 

So, Hearthkyn is a warm and welcoming place to gather, and be human together. It is a place to talk story and remember one’s thread in the great web of life. It is needed alchemical fire that unites us and makes us human. 

The Spark That Lights the Fire, Original Chalkboard Art by Sarah

Sources:

Definitions from Merriam-Webster

Etymology from Barnhart’s Dictionary of Etymology

Watarrka Foundation, www.watarrkafoundation.org