As with any spiritual path, the question of how we build knowledge, what we believe, and where that knowledge comes from is important. I think it is particularly important to druids as we have so few fragments of the Ancient …
A Druid’s Guide to Dealing with Climate Change: Addressing Deep Emotions and Grief
Fear. Anxiety. Grief. Helplessness. Despair. Feeling overwhelmed. Hopelessness. Powerlessness. Anger. Numbness. Displacement. Disconnection. Sadness. These feelings are some of the common ones that people experience today with the pressing and growing concerns about climate change, the age of the Anthropocene, …
Druid’s Travel Altar or Pocket Altar
Creating a little pocket or travel altar for your nature spirituality practice is a great way to be able to “carry” your practice with you, particularly when you are hiking, traveling, or simply out and about. I’ve made a number …
Bringing back the Hearth: Ancestral Fires for Protection, Connection, and Comfort
Fire is one of the most ancient tools that humans have and one of the things that separates our species from others on this beautiful planet. Humans have an incredible ancestral connection to fire. Think about how a fire draws …
Nature Connection, Wildcrafting, and the Wheel of the Year
The Wheel of the Year is obviously a powerful symbol, both in nature spiritual practices like druidry as well as more general neopagan practices. It resonates with something that is ancestral and connected–living by the cycles and honoring the seasons. …
A 21st Century Wheel of the Year: Reskilling at Imbolc
In a traditional neopagan Wheel of the Year, Imbolc is the holiday that offers the first signs of spring. Most traditionally, this is when the ewes began to lactate, and the snowdrops appeared on the landscape in the British Isles. …
Building a Rocket Stove Maple Sap Boiler / Evaporator for Maple Sugarin’: Design Plans and Instructions for Boiling Sap
Maple syrup season is one of my favorite times of year. Honoring the maple trees, collecting the sap in buckets, seeing the magic drip from the trees, and feeling the return of early spring. Sap begins running just after the …
An Approach to Spiritual Retreat and Rejuvenation: Going Dark Week
Perhaps now more than ever, the idea of taking regular retreats is a critical one. Last week, in my post on the Winter Solstice, I shared the deep need for restorative activities that allow us to heal, process, and deepen …
A 21st Century Wheel of the Year: Restoration at the Winter Solstice
The time of the greatest darkness is upon us at the winter solstice. Each morning, the sun seems to struggle to rise and hangs low in the sky. The world is covered in frost, cold, and snow, and the darkness …
Sacred Trees in the Americas: American Holly (Ilex Opaca) – Magic, Meanings, Ecology, and Divination
American Holly is one of the most wonderful trees for getting us through dark times. And as the season of darkness is upon us once more, it is a good time to consider the magic, meanings, and mystery of this …
Druid Tree Workings: Witnessing the Death of an Old Tree
Many of us on the path of nature spirituality grow close to trees–so very close. What happens when a tree that you love dearly, who is a good friend and mentor–tells you that it is time to go? In this …
Creativity, Mental Health, and Well Being: A Case for the Bardic Arts
Creativity is the birthright of all people. When humans are young, play and creativity are central to our own development. Children don’t worry about it being ‘good’; they just make things, play with crayons, laugh, dance, and sing. They play. …
Putting the Garden to Sleep: End of Season Activities and Rituals
The day before the first hard frost. Our garden is still bountiful as the Butzemann watches over all….As the darkness continues to grow deeper on the landscape, it is high time to consider how to put the garden to rest …
Transitioning into Deeper Darkness: Seasonal Activities and the the Golden Hour
As the light grows dim this time of year, as the days grow short, many people find this particular season a difficult one. Without the light, our thoughts can spiral into the darkness, our spirits long for the warmer days. …
A 21st Century Wheel of the Year: Release at Samhain
Samhain. The time of no time, the time of the ancestors, the time of the wild hunt. The time when darkness blankets the land, the frost covers the landscape, and many things die. Here in the hemisphere, this signals the …
Druid Tree Workings: Intuitive Tree Sigils and Tree Sigil Magic
Nature provides incredible opportunities for us to work with her magic, through symbolism, sacred geometry, and meditation. Today, I wanted to share a technique I’ve been developing for land healing purposes–tree sigil work. Sigils have many different purposes. In classic …
Sacred Actions: Doing our Bit in the World
Sacred action is all about us learning how to align our outer lives with our inner core of nature spirituality and connectedness, and ultimately, help us live more regeneratively and with care. Sacred action is about doing small, slow things …
Healing from the Trees: Spruce Resin Salve Recipe
Since moving to our new homestead a few years ago, I’ve been working to build a local material medica–that is, learning about all of the medicinal plants, herbs, and trees here on our 5-acre property. This also, of course, means …
Sacred Gardening: A Druid’s Spiritual Approach to Weeding and Clearing Plants
Druids revere all nature as sacred–but what happens when you need to weed your garden? What happens when you need to clear a new area for a project where lots of things are growing? Is there a way to clear …
A 21st Century Wheel of the Year: Cultivating Receptivity at the Fall Equinox
The Fall Equinox is traditionally about harvest, harvesting the fruits of your labor and the fruits of the land in preparation for the coming of winter. This model of the wheel of the year focuses on earned outcomes: you’ve planted …
Sacred Trees in the Americas: Paw Paw (Asimina triloba) Medicine, Myths, and Meaning
The PawPaw is a tree that is so wild and unique and wonderful, and yet, is often quite unknown–it is the only native citrus tree we have in the upper east East Coast and midwest areas. Like some of the …