The Becoming of Sorelle
This land has been rooted in my Italian ancestral lineage since 1926, when my great grandfather purchased his first farm upon immigrating from Italy to the Atherton Tablelands. The 20 acres that remains today is a small portion of the original farm that remained and was returned to my immediate family in 2008.
There is no doubt that I felt a feminine pulse in this land from the moment we moved here. Awakening from my bedroom to feel the golden light of the sunrise rising over the Seven Sisters Mountains, landed the name of Sorelle with clarity. Sorelle. Italian for sisters. My Mother was one of 7 sisters, My father and his only brother had 7 daughters between them. Through my ancestors' devotion to farming, I was gifted the opportunity to discover my own connection with this land and all that she has to offer.
The internal resistance I felt was real, as I could see the work ahead of me from the moment it was spoken of moving back to the land. Following the abrupt end to my hospital midwifery career and dissolution of my marriage, in 2022, my bigger vision for Sorelle was forged through fires. Through these times of uncertainty and grief, staying on the land felt heavy, overwhelming, impossible and too much. Guided by a mentor at the time, I created an Earth altar. I knelt on the land with bare feet and hands pressed to earth, asking, “What do you want? What do you need? Tell me what the next step is”.
She said, “Bring the women here.”
Meet Tanya
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Land steward of Sorelle
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Meet Tanya ♢ Land steward of Sorelle ♢
ABOUTHi, I’m Tanya
A passionate matriarchal leader, mother of five, home-based midwife, land steward of Sorelle. my devotion to women in the name of MOTHERS has become my way of living. My life’s work pivots around honouring mothers and every creation on this land is seeded in awakening women to their inner Matriarch.
Born and raised by 3rd generation farmers on the beautiful Atherton Tablelands, I feel an inherent deep connection with this place I call home. Growing up on this land and making Sorelle my home, has no doubt informed and deepened my connection with, my body, my womb and the cycles of woman that are mirrored by mother earth.
The deepest matriarchal encoding of this land has come through me birthing, raising and nurturing my children on this land. Through earthing my placentas and returning my blood to the land, as I planted and tended to gardens, I wove my body and land story together.
THE SORELLE STORY
Listening to the voice of the land, I followed her instruction to create spaces for women to be nourished and replenished and to reclaim their power on and through this land.
Creating earth altars, and with blood, sweat and tears I took to anchoring my roots even deeper into this place I call home. This place that had grown tired with overwhelm, disconnect, separation and burden. Tending to the land with my bare hands to physically clear dense, stagnant energy was accompanied by the assistance of the masculine and machines.
Devotion to my own healing towards reclaiming my worth as a woman in a patriarchal world became an essential part of this journey.Believing I was worthy and letting go of the independent woman mindset enabled me to ask and receive the support that was needed to breathe new life into this land. With intentional prayer and ritual, connecting crystalline grids of the land, Matriarchal templates were encoded.
Waking to the sunrise, walking barefeet across the land and basking in the sunsets on Sorelle, have been medicine to my own healing. Connecting with the hum of this land, hearing her quiet breath, feeling the pulse of her beauty beneath the soles of my feet and witnessing her across the seasons awakened something ancient within me. I found a connection with Mother Source, received clear visions of a past life on this land and was guided to re-ignite the medicine in my hands.
As I recently sat with my 80 year old parents beneath an ancient fig, I came to recognise something profound. They share a love for the land that is different from each other. Both farmers, but my Mum is an avid gardener and lover of trees. Without her, his vision would not have been possible. And without him, our vision would not have been possible. The rise of the matriarchal way is not a war against the patriarchy It is a return. A reconnection. A rekindling. Because Matriarchy, in her truth, is not meant to dominate. She was meant to dance to the rhythm of mother earth. A dance that calls the masculine to stand steady enough to hold her rhythm.
Matriarchy isn’t about hierarchy. It’s about harmony. It’s not about blame. It’s about balance. And it’s not about turning away from the past. It’s about turning toward the future, with hands joined in reverence and renewal.
I walk with the knowing that this sanctuary, this becoming, was not built by me alone. The seeds of devotion, of duty, of vision, even if shaped by another time, still formed part of the soil I now tend.
I honour the journey it took to reclaim and activate matriarchal codes. I honour the matriarch in all her fullness. But I also honour the silent masculine. The one who built. The one who carried. The one who planted. The New Earth is born from both separation and connection. We are here to remember what wholeness feels like.