Buried Slow Stitched Meditation Books

unearth

to dig or get out of the earth
to uncover or bring to light by search, inquiry…

These buried books emerged through the process of making my fabric meditation books. One day, I was sitting at my art table in my bedroom, looking out the window at the trees, and I received the idea to bury a book. I was intrigued by that idea and knew I wanted to try it but didn’t do it right away. Shortly after that, I was in a bookstore and happened to be flipping through the Tibetan book which has been translated as The Book of the Dead and I happened to notice a part that mentioned a practice called earth terma, where sacred texts, objects and knowledge are buried in the earth for future humans to discover and learn from. I felt an immediate sense of synchronicity with the thought I had to bury one of my books. So, I went home and buried two of them in my yard, on the edge of the woods, for 30 days. I knew I had to and I didn’t know why.

Now I am discovering that this process is about so much. It’s about exploring what I have been burying within myself and slowly unearthing over the last many years that I have been on a healing journey. It’s about connecting to the powerful healing energies of the earth, of the rich darkness underground where all life emerges from and returns to. It’s about letting go, releasing and collaborating with the greater creative energy of the earth to make something together. It’s about embracing mystery and subtlety and not knowing and it is changing me. This process feels like it is inviting me and helping me return to an intimate relationship with the earth that I haven’t had or that I lost at some point.

I have created an open, free version of the process called The Buried Earth Book Project that people around the world have been participating in. You can learn more about that and see some of the images here.

“Release”

I buried this book for 30 days in my yard in Wisconsin just at the edge of the woods within a circle of large stones. I buried it in June, 2022 and dug it up in July, 2022 then washed it in the lake near my house.
For the book, I used scraps of secondhand naturally dyed linen, a scrap of Japanese fabric, stones I collected, hand spun nettle yarn from India, indigo dyed, hand spun cotton thread from China and secondhand cotton sewing thread.
You can see more images below of this book along with a couple of videos of its journey.

I loved watching it float in the waves...

“Alchemize”

I buried this book for 30 days in my yard in Wisconsin at the edge of the woods on our property. This was the first book I ever buried (along with another one I put in the ground with it). I had no idea what would happen to it down there but I knew it needed to go into the earth for awhile.
For this book, I used scraps of linen from a secondhand curtain that I had dyed with indigo by a fellow artist. I also used Japanese sashiko thread some that was dyed with persimmons, stones I found outside, a piece of sea glass a friend found along the shore of Lake Michigan. This book continued to evolve after it came out of the ground. I removed threads and sea glass, and responded to the marks and textures the earth left.
You can see more images below of this book.

buried earth book by Emma Freeman, fabric meditation book, Buried Earth Book Project, art as meditation, slow stitching — “Letting Go”

I buried this book for 30 days in my yard in Wisconsin at the edge of the woods on our property. This was the first book I ever buried (along with another one I put in the ground with it). I had no idea what would happen to it down there but I knew it needed to go into the earth for awhile.
For this book, I used scraps of linen from a secondhand curtain that I had dyed with indigo by a fellow artist. I also used Japanese sashiko thread some that was dyed with persimmons, and stones I found outside. This book continued to evolve after it came out of the ground. I removed threads and responded to the marks and textures the earth left.
You can see more images below of this book.

“Burial Scroll”

I buried this book for 30 days in my yard in Wisconsin at the edge of the woods on our property.
For this book, I used two dish towels I had painted on and make block prints on a few years ago, they were objects that emerged from a different chapter of my creative life. I cut them up and stitched them slowly together into a scroll with Japanese sashiko threads and some gorgeous red hemp thread I bought many years ago in Hawaii that I love.
You can see more images below of this book.

Buried Slow Stitched Meditation Books

unearth

“Release”

“Alchemize”

“Letting Go”

“Burial Scroll”

fabric meditation books

meditation scrolls