Spiritual journeys in tending the living earth, permaculture, and nature-inspired arts
Here on Turtle Island, from the dawn of time until about a hundred years ago, Chestnuts were a staple food crop for all life, including human life. A nutritious and carbohydrate-rich nut, Chestnut trees produce a bumper crop of nuts …
One of the most powerful lessons we have from nature is nature’s ability to heal, bounce back, and thrive despite adversity. You see evidence of it every day–a forest is logged, and immediately the fungus begins to take root and …
Last summer was one of the worst droughts we’ve had in my recent memory. This was the 5th drought in six years, and these droughts are getting more and more exhausting. I should start by saying that my region is …
Learning and connecting with nature is a big part of practicing any kind of nature-based spirituality. As we know in the druid tradition, a multitude of ways exists to connect to nature. In order to connect with nature on a …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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. …
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 …
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 …
“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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …