As a part-time member of the Goose flock, I walk in the back of the line of geese we make our way to swim in the creek. I say hello to the berry bushes and hazelnuts that are ripening, playing …
Growth
The Medicine, Magic, and Spirit of Trees: A Druid’s Garden Guide
To say that most druids and those practicing similar nature-based paths love trees is an understatement. Trees are some of the most magical and friendly of people in our landscape, almost always ready to share wisdom, teach, and provide shelter …
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 …
Growing Dyes and Dye Gardens: A Walk Through a Temperate Dye Garden
I think it is easy to forget in this day and age that so many of our traditional art forms are directly rooted in the living earth, and reconnecting with those ancient forms can bring us closer to nature. This …
Bardic Arts: Creation as Deepening Relationship with the World
One of the things that the rise of AI has done is asked all people who create to really investigate the benefits of that creation, and weigh them with the potential efficiency of AI. For example, right now I’m about …
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 …
Diary of a Land Healer: A Vision of a Healed Landscape and the Power of Hope
In my ongoing work as a land healer, I find that I regularly need a retreat from my battered bruised landscape. Why? Because this work is really difficult. Lately, it seems more so–we have large swaths of forests where I …
Earth Centered Spiritual Journaling through the Wheel of the Year Course
Hi everyone! Today I interrupt our regularly scheduled blog posts to bring you my big update–the Earth-Centered Spiritual Journaling course is now ready and open! I offer details about the course and how to sign up in this blog post. …
Sacred Trees of the Americas: Linden/Basswood
Linden is always a joy to find anywhere you go. A tree with a gentle spirit and incredibly useful offerings, the Linden is there for you. I remember meeting Linden for the first time when I was young with my …
An Animistic Garden, Part II: Gardening Strategies
A garden full of life, joy, wildness, and spirit–where the vegetables, herbs, fruits, and nuts grow fat with the joy of being nurtured, where the spirits are working with the gardener for the good of all, and where all is …
An Animistic Garden, Part I: Garden Philosophy and Bridging between Domestication and Wildness
“That’s a pretty wild and unkempt garden you have there. Did you lose control?” a visitor to my land once said. “Yes, I responded, it is wonderful.” When you look at pictures of gardens online, in gardening magazines, etc. things …
Review: Natural Building Workshop at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage
Where we live–the spaces we inhabit, and how they are designed, make an enormous difference in how we are able to address climate change and sustainability. Modern houses are commonly disconnected both from the land where they are placed but …
Animistic Permaculture: Observation and Interaction with the Genius Loci (Spirits of Place)
In permauclture design, the “observe and interact” principle is the very first thing we do. This principle asks a practitioner to spend considerable time (up to a year) observing and interacting with a site. This would include regular observations in …
Living Low Acre: A 20 Year Urban Permaculture Site in St. Louis
I had the opportunity this summer to visit Claire Schosser and her amazing “Living Low Acre” garden in St. Louis, Missouri. Her home sits on 1 acre in an urban setting and features a fruit-based forest, large vegetable garden, a …
21st Century Wheel of the Year – Reverence at Lughnasadh
Many of us are now going deeper into the experience of climate extremes. In the summer months here in the US, we are experiencing heat, lack of rain, and drought-like conditions. It is hotter and drier, and that creates stress …
Ultimate Guide to Hugelkultur Garden Beds: Creating, Maintaining, and Benefits
Hugelkutltur (or Hugel for short) is a garden bed technique that uses wood and layers of plant matter, topped with compost, to build up moisture-holding beds over time. Hugelkultur beds were first described in Sepp Holzer’s Permaculture book and are …
A 21st Century Wheel of the Year: Re-Visioning at the Summer Solstice
Human cultures throughout the world, modern and ancient, recognize the incredible power, potency, and magic of the sun. This is why so many cultures have sun gods and worshipped the sun, and this is also why so many ancient kings …
Living for the Future at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage
As many of us seek to transition from our current destructive culture and create a powerful vision for the future, we need good models of what this kind of transition may look like. As we are moving forward, this often …
My Best Advice for Homesteading: Planning, Flocks, and Gardens
I’ve been homesteading (or what those in the UK would call smallholding) since 2010 at two different homesteads. Through this, and through being in community groups and having many friends who are also homesteaders, you learn a lot of things …
The TreeLore Oracle and Magical Compendium of North American Trees
One of the most important things we can do to address the challenges of today’s age is to build authentic, lasting, and meaningful nature-based relationships and spiritual practices that are localized to our own ecosystems. We can build deep connections …