Spiritual journeys in tending the living earth, permaculture, and nature-inspired arts
Creativity is the singing of the soul. When we create, we draw from the deepest parts of who we are and express ourselves to the world. The act of creation, drawing forth and connecting to our inner selves, is the …
A group of people sharing stories and songs by the fire. A fine pair of leather shoes. A beautiful woven garment. A tale full of twists and mystery. Finely wrought iron doors. An amazing wood carving on a stump. A …
Recently, I took some time to go back through the many spiritual journals I have kept on my journey deeper into the mysteries of the druid tradition and my relationship with nature. These journals spanned over a decade. They included …
In my last two posts in this series, we explored permaculture design principles from the perspective of our outer and inner landscapes. We now move into a series of posts exploring different aspects of these specific principles. Today, we start …
When I was a child, my family and I would spend hours carefully drawing melted beeswax onto eggs and dyeing them, the rounds of successive colors growing darker and darker. Once an egg had been fully dyed and covered in …
I’ve already talked on this blog some time ago about the three permaculture ethical principles–these are simple ethical principles that allow us to live life in a way that is fair, equitable, and sustaining to all life. I use these …
As I mentioned in some previous blog posts, I’m currently taking an herbalism course with herbalist Jim McDonald. I find that visualizing material really helps me. This is my visual from the first class–its the energetics of herbalism, upon which …
About a month ago, I painted piece below hat used the traditional elemental symbols, the four animals in the druidic tradition, the directions, and the astrological symbols of the four elements. I posted this a few places, and people were …
In my quest for sustainable art supplies and things for daily living, I’m always experimenting with ways of replacing commercially produced materials with homemade ones. And so, my papermaking quest continues. For earlier posts on papermaking, you can read about …
Today, at the start of the “holiday season” we have Black Friday, the epitome of the American consumerist culture. We are are continually bombarded with what to buy. We are presented with the dominant cultural narrative that owning products somehow …
In my last post, I detailed the steps for making handmade paper from recycled materials. In that post, I also detailed the basic steps of making paper, from blending to couching to pulling and pressing sheets. Recycled fibers are a …
A key principle in druidry is Awen, which means poetic/divine inspiration–the inspiration to bring forth creative efforts into the world. Many artists seek their inspiration in the natural world, through which Awen flows. It is Awen that gives us poetry, …