Upcoming Events
Nourishment for your heart and soul....
Bless you today, Dear Soul,
These next few weeks we have several, mostly free or reciprocal-offering, in-person and online gatherings, all intended to quench your thirst for soul water and offer you a feast of communion and freedom work as we move through many interwoven collective realities in the world. I pray you will bless us with your presence at any of these. For, you bring with you the medicine.
Warmly,
Jaiya
UPCOMING EVENTS
FEBRUARY 17
STIRRING THE FREEDOM WATERS:
VIRTUAL POETRY CEREMONY
FEBRUARY 19
WILDFLOWERS BOOK LAUNCH
OCTAVIA’S BOOKSHELF, PASADENA
FEBRUARY 28
POWER TO THE PEOPLE:
POETRY CEREMONY AT CITY BBQ, COMPTON
MARCH 7
STIRRING THE FREEDOM WATERS:
VIRTUAL POETRY CEREMONY
APRIL 5. THE GREAT REMEMBERING:
VIRTUAL POETRY CEREMONY
*ALL DETAILS AND REGISTRATION LINKS BELOW
Public Virtual Poetry Ceremonies
STIRRING THE FREEDOM WATERS
*These are free (reciprocal offering)
Upcoming ceremonies:
FEBRUARY 17, 2026
MARCH 7, 2026
Join freedom-working souls from around the world as Dr. Jaiya John guides us through a sacred way of gathering, in reciprocity, mutuality, integrity, liberated voice, collective wisdom, and honoring our Indigenous origins and ancestry.
Humanity is experiencing an eruptive consequence of centuries of pandemic colonizing harm. Now is the time for us to stay in the soul garden, draw deeply from the cultural marrow of our divine assignment, and fashion our fervent way forward to a sacred way of being together.
STIRRING THE FREEDOM WATERS is part poetry reading, part conversation, seminar, and teaching, and part heart and soul massage. Come drink the soul water, refresh your weariness, feel the healing medicine of collective communion, and bring your vital rivers to flow again.
OUR FLOW:
Jaiya usually begins with libations, an African spiritual tradition honoring our ancestors and those we Love who have changed to Light.
This is followed by an invitation for sacred Indigenous song blessing from anyone present.
After this, Jaiya moves us into a sacred poetry reading from his published and unpublished work. As a freedom worker, Jaiya’s writings do not avoid addressing oppressive struggle in the world, but instead directly confront it with Love’s unwavering standard. No spiritual bypassing. Organic, mystic medicine fresh from the spirit garden to nourish your heart, soul, and life divinely.
Depending on how Spirit leads us, and time flow, we receive brief voluntary poetry offerings from a few souls and we also weave heart-communion through Q&A conversation about all things poetry, writing, publishing, creativity, artistic independence and sovereignty, and freedom work in the context of our current human condition.
We like to end with another voluntary sacred song offering or poem.
Each gathering is unique. You can always gain something new if you join us repeatedly.
These gatherings are not conventional scripted, linear lectures. They are wild things and soulfully free.
FREE EVENT. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 5:30pm Pacific Time. Come join us as we celebrate the launch of my new book Wildflowers Praying at Midnight. This intimate gathering is at Pasadena’s first ever Black-woman owned bookstore, Octavia’s Bookshelf. I will be reading from the book and we will have a Q&A conversation and book signing. *If you aren’t able to make it, register and you can pick up your signed book at the store later. You can also swing by the store from 6:30 to 7:30pm during our event if you just want a book signed. FREE EVENT.
FREE EVENT. Registration link will be on my website’s Events page any moment now.
Do you feel weary, overwhelmed, isolated, discouraged by the state of the world? Come join us as we feast together on down home-seasoned spoken word, spiced with the flavors of revolution, resistance, and collective caretaking to make our ancestors proud. Poet, healer, and freedom worker Dr. Jaiya John brings his global rehumanizing mission to City BBQ & Catering with a unique soul ceremony of sacred poetry reading, heart-to-heart Q&A conversation, and book signing. Jaiya will be “pouring medicine” for the Compton and LA community, reading from his new book, Wildflowers Praying at Midnight, along with some of his other 21 published books and maybe even some fresh, unpublished work.
As an ancestral Baba, doctor of psychology, and former Howard University professor and collegiate basketball player, Jaiya uses the transformative power of poetry and spoken word to open millions of souls around the world to their own divine brilliance and capacity for healing and growing. Jaiya has a gift for bringing your emotional soul waters to rise, helping you release what you are carrying and breathe again. This gathering is Loving nourishment for the community as we move through a painful season of reckoning, grief, and uncertainty in the face of oppressive harm, violence, and division.
Come grub on City Catering’s soul food and coffee, meet Jaiya, take photos together, get soul-fed, and feel the energy of being in Loving community. FREE EVENT.
Join us online, Sunday, April 5th, for The Great Remembering: a two-hour transmission of the heart and virtual poetry-reading ceremony led by internationally recognized medicine poet, elder, and freedom worker, Dr. Jaiya John.
Hosted by Alexandre Jodun, Alyona Kobevka, Carl Rabke & Erin Geesemen Rabke (From A Healing Bridge, & Embodiment Matters), this virtual gathering will be a co-creation of sacred space oriented towards deep-listening, embodied presence, and meaningful togetherness. We will bask in the fresh poetic medicine of Dr. Jaiya John and his deep presence, evoking the "The Great Remembering" and what truly matters in these critical times. Jaiya will offer readings of his published books, including from his latest book release, "Wildflowers praying at midnight;" and, depending on the soul-currents that are moving, Jaiya may also share some of his unpublished writings. We will also open space for Q&A (with Dr. Jaiya) and any heartfelt reflections.
We welcome poetry lovers, soul-activists, grief-tenders, broken-hearted ones, carers of this world, and essentially, anyone who is interested in reverently participating with tipping the scales towards a more beautiful, loving, and just world. Whether you've had the blessing of gathering with Baba Jaiya in the past, or if this is your first time, we can humbly say that you're in for a nutrient-dense treat. Please, come join us.
WHAT’S SHAKIN’
HERE AT SOUL WATER RISING:
- My most popular book Daughter Drink This Water is available on Audible, along with my short story Ashia: A Soft Story of Pilgrimage and Peace.
- 40% Wholesale discount on my books. Offer my books at your shop, boutique, studio, library, course, training, or book club. Exclusively at my website.
MY BOOKS are available at booksellers worldwide and at my site. Get to know my books at jaiyajohn.com. Thank you for posting your copies, readings, and creative images and videos, and for sharing online reviews. It all breathes life into a book's life. I hope you will gift these books to your people. Seed by seed we see our garden.