In early August of 2024, due to some house repairs, I had to take down almost all of my altars and shrines of sacred things due to where they were located and the nature of the repars. These shrines were …
A Practice of Return
Cycles
Paper Wasps, Care and Gratitude
Here on our homestead tucked in the mountains of Western Pennsylvania, we have a wonderful greenhouse made from recycled materials. The base is a carport my friend had her farm and offered the greenhouse to me when she moved. This …
Exploring Magical Wheels, Seasons, and Cycles: Free Moon and Sun Wheels for Your Use
Here we are again, at the Equinox. In my ecosystem in the Northern Hemisphere, we are standing at the point between the light half of the year and the dark half of the year, as the pumpkins and squash ripen, …
Addressing Challenging Times with Gratitude for Lessons Learned
As we’ve been exploring on this blog, for many of us, life is more than a bit overwhelming right now. Many of us are feeling beyond capacity from multiple angles: the breakdown of the social fabric and increasing social and …
Looking in the Face of Death at Samhain
As I write this, we have our last day before a freeze–the day before death comes to our landscape. On my landscape, in temperate Western Pennsylvania (USDA Zone 6), we’ve had almost no frosts to speak of–the summer has seemed …
Resiliency in the Age of Climate Change for the Homestead and Home Garden
I’ve been homesteading for about 12 years now, first in Michigan at a 3-acre homestead, and now with my partner here in Western Pennsylvania on five beautiful acres where we practice land healing, forest regeneration, permaculture, bioregional animsim, tend our …
Reskilling, Rebuilding Community, and Exploring Folk Traditions at the John. C. Campbell Folk School
When we think about the building blocks of a new human society, a human society that doesn’t destroy the planetary biosphere, that nurtures and supports human beings and communities, that fosters our creativity and innovation—I think it starts in fostering …
Mushroom Telluric Chanting Galdr Ritual at MAGUS 2023
A few weeks ago, we had the Mid-Atlantic Gathering of US Druids (MAGUS 2023). This gathering has been going on since 2017, and it seems like every year gets better! Since the start of MAGUS, we have been experimenting with …
Mushrooms as Nature’s Alchemists: Cycles, Connections, Healing, and Vision
When I feel lost and feel like the hope is gone in the world, I go spend time with some mushrooms. Mushrooms, more than any other organism on this planet, give me hope. So much so, I’ve been doing an …
A Conversation on Pollution, Extraction and Hope with Wild Pigments
There is a growing movement of people reconnecting to nature through the foraging and creation of wild pigments–pigments from the earth allow us to connect, grow and heal. This is so much more than foraging for colors from nature to …
Mapping Your Spiritual Journey
One’s spiritual journey is full of so many twists and turns, particularly if you are taking up the druid path. Druidry is a path that really focuses on individual relationships with the living earth, and thus, you will find a …
Visioning the Future: The Web of Relationships
Late-stage capitalism has provided us with a series of visions about the future that are pretty terrifying. The grand narratives of infinite growth and progress at all costs have landed us in a warming age marked by the loss of …
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, …
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. …
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 …
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. …