Spiritual journeys in tending the living earth, permaculture, and nature-inspired arts
It is that delightful time of year again, when the berries of the fall ripen, when the pumpkins grow orange on their vines, and when the elders are literally loaded with berries. The elderberry tree is a fascinating plant, rich …
I love celebrating the druid wheel of the year. Its just an amazing experience to dedicate eight days to magic, ritual, being outdoors, studying, reading, meditation, gardening, and other sacred activity. I had the most wonderful day today making so …
Because of my ongoing study of Traditional Western Herbalism as a student of the amazingly awesome Michigan herbalist Jim McDonald. I wanted to take some time today to discuss the potential of herbalism as an essential quality of druid practice. …
This week I’ve been back in the Laurel Highlands of PA (my homelands) for a writing retreat for my research team for my university position. I was able to take a short break from our work today to spend some …
One of the challenges that North American druids face is understanding, visiting, and working with sacred sites. In my druid training, one order in particular really emphasizes the sacred site–the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids (OBOD). And I think …
As I’ve alluded to on this blog before, I started beekeeping this year. I wanted to tell the story of that journey thus far, seeing as it is the Summer Solstice today, and share some insights on my process of …
I remember a sunny day not too long ago in early May when I was visiting my parents in western Pennsylvania. Everywhere we drove, dandelions were growing, their beautiful, bright yellow heads serenading the sun. After one of the coldest …
Early in the spring season (as in, right now), the small, wild purple violets begin popping up everywhere. Where I live, this is usually late April to Mid may. I actually found the first violets here in South East Michigan …
In a recent blog post, I talked about the apple as a sacred tree in that it provides us with bountiful, amazing cider. In this post, I’m going to walk through the art of making and canning applesauce. The applesauce …
“MAPLE SUGAR” – Chippewa Song “Maple sugar is the only thing that satisfies me” This is the third in my series of posts about magical trees native to the Americas. In this series of posts, I explore the lore of …
A delightful nine or so months ago, I posted about attempts at the first batch of dandelion wine. In today’s post, I’ll talk about what has happened since that first post and the process that we went through to finish …
I’ve been meaning to write a series of posts on the apple tree for quite a while, and here in the depths of winter, I have finally found time to do so! And while my timing is off-season, I think …
This is the second in my series of posts about magical trees native to the Americas. In this series of posts, I explore the lore of sacred trees, and describe their magical and mundane uses, edible qualities, and medicinal qualities. …
There is nothing like an earthy, warm, sweet cup of tea on a cold winter’s night. This recipe is a magical blend, one of the most sacred drinks I have ever enjoyed. This recipe is derived from an Algonquin recipe …
I am going to do a series of posts on trees–I started a second 3rd degree Adept project for the AODA, and its on expanding the traditional Ogham to include plants native to the Mid-west/mid-Atlantic region. This project will also …
Samhuinn is the final holiday that is connected to harvests in the Druidic Wheel of the Year, and this is a time of apples, pumpkins, hawthorn berries (haws), nannyberries, rose hips, and rowan berries. I always like to do some …
As I’ve discussed a few times on this blog, we have an oil pipeline going through our immediate area in South East Michigan. The first “phase” of the project went 1/2 mile north of my home in 2012-2013. This was …
Dryad’s Saddle, also known as Polyporus squamosus, is a delightful mushroom that you can find the spring and fall cool weather. I first learned about this mushroom earlier this spring, and I must say, I gorged myself on it quite …
When I was a child, I used to read the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. In her books, Laura spends a lot of time talking about food preservation–slaughtering the pig, making maple sugar, making “head cheese”, sowing crops, cutting hay for …
A few months back, I was able to visit herbalist Jim McDonald for an herbal consultation, and we spent a lot of time talking about bitters, specifically, digestive bitters. Jim suggested to me that part of the reason that so …
In a post I wrote about over a year ago, I told the story of the “mystery of the stumps” where I described my relationship to the forest where I grew up, the forest to which I belong. I told …