It is late January. We had a very bout of cold weather these last few weeks, as I’m writing this, the weather broke and I’m out in the land for a longer stay since the sub-zero temperatures hit. When I …
Diary of a Land Healer: January
Wildcrafted Winter Solstice Decorations with Conifers, Holly, Ivy, Bittersweet, and More
Part of the fun of the holiday season is “decking the halls” and decorating for the season. By bringing the symbols of the season into our homes, for festivity and communion, we are able to deeply align with the living …
Reparation and Healing the Land as part of American Druidry
Two weeks ago, I talked about what American Druidry looks like. One of the big issues that came up in conversations here on the blog in the comments and also in the comments on the Druid’s Garden Facebook page was …
Sacred Tree Profile: White Pine’s Medicine, Magic, Mythology, and Meanings
In the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) legend, there was a terrible conflict between five different nations of people. This conflict was rooted in cycles of pain, revenge, and chaos. A messenger of peace sent from the Great Spirit, the “Peacemaker,” sought to …
On Being an American Druid
The quintessential image of a druid is a group of people, all in white robes, performing rituals inside an ancient circle of stones. This image is probably the most known and pervasive of all visualizations of druidry, and for many, …
A Bardic Storytelling Ritual for Empowerment
Everyone has a story to tell, and some stories are worth their weight in gold. How we retell past events, through the bardic art of storytelling, can help shape our present understanding. Thinking about stories as acts of empowerment in …
A Druid’s Anchor Spot
Current statistics from the United States EPA suggest that Americans spend almost not amount of time outside: the average American now spends 93% of their total time enclosed (including 87% of their lives indoors and 6% enclosed in automobiles). A …
Establishing Sacred Land: Shaping A Shared Vision
In Tending the Wild, a book that has deeply shaped my thinking about humans, nature and relationship, M. Kat Anderson reports in her introduction that the concept of “wilderness” had a very different understanding to the native peoples of California. …
An Ancestor Oracle Deck
Samhain is here, and with it comes a time of reflection, casting away, and working with our ancestors. In my post several weeks ago, I discussed in great depth the ways of working with various kinds of ancestors–in this post, …
Establishing Sacred Land, or, A Home-Coming
There has been a lot of talk in the American druid scene in the last few years about establishing sacred spaces, creating sacred groves, and really starting to re-enchant our land here. I think druids and other earth-centered spiritual traditions …
Honoring the Ancestors of Land, Tradition, and Blood
As the world (where I am at, at least!) gets bathed in frost, as the plants wither and die, as the trees bathe themselves in color and then drop their leaves, as the cold wind blows and as the darkness …
An Introduction to Druidry
I was asked to speak at our local UU Church (First Unitarian Universalist Church of Indiana, PA) on the druid tradition. Of course, given the diversity of the druid tradition and the perpetual challenge in answering the question “What do …
Ecoregional Druidry: Adapting and Localizing Symbolism
To follow up from two posts a month or so ago on ecoregional druidry and the wheel of the year and celebrating rituals, observances, and activities, I want to continue thinking about how druids can adapt basic practices of druidry …
Poison Ivy Teachings
Sometimes, as druids and as nature-oriented people, we focus only on the fuzzy and happy parts of nature: blooming edible flowers, fuzzy soft rabbits, cute animals, soft mats of green moss, and shy deer. But nature isn’t just about things …
Urban Food Profile: Cornelian Cherry Harvest and Recipe for Soda Syrup, Jam, Pickles, and More
I really enjoy foraging for foods in urban environments, you just never know what you are going to find. In the spring, keep a good eye out for various kinds of flowering trees in an urban or suburban setting–any tree …
Stones Rising: A Reflection on Raising a Standing Stone
We gather to the outstretched rope lines, ready to move the 22-foot-long stone weighing thousands of pounds by hand. Our goal is about a half a mile away, through hilly terrain. This stone is destined for the a place in …
Ecoregional Druidry and the Wheel of the Year: Rituals, Observances, and Activities
A group of people gather in an orchard, the snows quietly falling, the cold brisk and clear. Our voices ring to the heavens, toast is offered to the branches of the tree. We drum, sing, make noise, and scare away …
Ecoregional Druidry: A Druid’s Wheel of the Year
In the 1990’s, now Grand Archdruid of the Ancient Order of Druids in America, Gordon Cooper, developed the idea of “wildcrafting your own druidry”; this practice is defined as rooted one’s druid practice in one’s local ecology, history, legends and …
The Moon’s Sunbeams, or, Reflections on the Solar Eclipse
In the druid tradition, we recognize that the solar currents, those currents of energy coming from the sun, are extremely powerful. And so, when the sun in the noon-day sky suddenly darkens, ancient peoples saw it as an incredibly bad …
Sacred Tree Profile: Sassafras’ Medicine, Magic, Mythology and Meaning
The fall months are coming and the leaves here are just beginning to turn. Apples are starting to ripen, nuts are starting to fall. And with a quiet walk through the fall woods, you might be lucky enough to see …
Druid Tree Workings: Working with Trees in Urban Settings
I walk down the sidewalk of a street in the small town that I call home. As I journey, I see a crabapple friend with ripening fruit, her leaves rustling in the gentle breeze. I reach out to her and …