If there is one thing that’s pretty difficult to find locally, I’ve found it to be mushrooms. Once when I was at the Ann Arbor Farmer’s market (which is about an hour and 15 min drive for me, so I …
Building Sacred Outdoor Spaces, Part 1: Stone Carin Building / Stone Balancing / Stone Stacking
I think its important that, as druids, we work to build sacred spaces within the landscape. Yes, many would say that all land is sacred, and I’ll not disagree. But at the same time, there’s quite a difference between a …
On Being Connected and the Toxicity of Technology
In today’s modern world, the idea of being connected is tied to technology and to ourselves rather than the living, breathing world around us. If you are “connected,” you have the latest smart phone or other 4G device, and you …
Tree Planting Ritual – Druid / OBOD Style
This is a simple tree-planting ritual that I wrote for our grove’s upcoming Beltane celebration this weekend. Our grove is only partially wooded currently–we will be planting about 15 new trees around the grove to help fill it in. …
Cycles of Life, Death, and Rebirth
Seven years ago, one of my closest friends, Alfred Struble, lost his 3-year battle with cancer, dying before he was even 30 years old. While I have long since accepted his passage from this world into the otherworld, I find …
Shelter and Growth: Hoop House Gardening
Throughout ancient sites in the UK, where Druidry originated, we find barrows, underground tunnels, and chambers hidden deep within the earth. These “protective places” are sites sheltered from the elements, the bitter cold and frigid winds, where people could find …
Music, Growing, and Land Healing
I wanted to take this time to blog a bit about plants, healing energies, music–yes–music. I use music a lot in my gardening and spiritual work. I play a number of flutes, including the panflute, wooden bamboo flutes, and various …
Seed Saving, Heirloom Seeds, and Sustainability
When I started patio gardening some years ago, I didn’t really know a lot about seeds. Like most Americans, I had simply gone to the store, bought a packet of seeds (or a group of plants already started from a …
Making Phosphate-Free Homemade Laundry Detergent and Dish Detergent
Since its still winter, and I’m making things rather than growing things, I wanted to share a laundry detergent recipe with you! Current laundry detergents are terrible for the environment. They contain a number of chemicals, including phosphates (which can …
The Druid’s Peace Prayer: Stag/Deer and Awen Painting
I wanted to share my first painting of the new year. When the winter months come, I find myself doing a lot more artwork while I wait till the spring is here again! I painted this piece (done in watercolors) …
Druidry and the Land
I’ve added a number of permanent pages on the blog–I hope you’ll check them out: About Druidry: An introduction to druidry, as I see it! I cover the basics of druidry as a spiritual and life path today as well …
Outdoor Root Cellar Barrel – Guide/Instructions for Creating a Small Root Cellar
Root Cellars: A Simple Storage Solution As a druid gardener, I want to grow my own produce and store it in an efficient manner, sans fossil fuels. Back in the day, before people had electricity and refrigerators, root cellars were …
Sheet Mulching / Lasagnia Gardening – Instructions and Experiences
Last year, I reported that I started my garden beds using a Sheet Mulching (aka Lasagnia Gardening) approach that I found in Gaia’s Garden and select places online, such as here, here and here. A year later, and I’d like …
Introduction to Incense Making for Druids
The basis of this post is handout I used for the OBOD East Coast Gathering (2011) for my incense making workshop. I added in additional details based on what we discussed in the workshop, and I wanted to expand upon …
Garden Updates!
What does one get when one plants eighteen tomato plants? Enough sauce and tomato soup for the whole year! At least, that’s the goal. After a year of work, seeing these tomatoes–and kale, and potatoes, and basil, and peppers, and …
Jewelweed Salve: For Bug Bites, Burns, Cuts, and Scrapes
I think sometimes that we forget about the bounty that nature provides us. Jewelweed is a common plant found in most of the USA. It grows about 3′ high and has little spotted touch me not flowers and little pods …
Druidry and the Environment
Someone on the AODA listserv put out a call for people to talk about their connection between druidry and environmentalism. It was a good experience to think, and articulate, my own thoughts on the issue. I thought I’d share the …
Garden Plans and Updates
I have been busy planting seeds so that after our last frost date (May 15th) these new little plants can go into the ground. Seeds contain so much potential–its amazing to watch them grow and get stronger each day as …
Garden Plans
Winter, especially as we approach Imbloc, is an excellent time to begin garden planning. One of my concerns is that I will plan too much and won’t be able to get it in the ground! Take my sheet mulching, for …
Fall Leaves and the Druidic Garden: Leaves as Compost and Mulch
With the passing of Samhain, most of the leaves here in Michigan are now off the trees. As I bike through my neighborhood or visit surrounding communities, I am always amazed to see people bagging up all of those leaves …
Holy Shit.
“Holy shit” or “holy crap” is generally used in a derogatory manner to indicate surprise or indicate that something is very bad. The etymology of the phrase is unknown, but the Oxford English Dictionary tells us that the term “shit” …