When I was a child, my grandfather took my cousins and I to a wild area we later called “Grandpa’s field.” It was a field on the edge of the forest below our houses, the edges rich with crab apples, …
Finding and Working with Ancestral Traditions
Living in Harmony
Ethical Sourcing of Medicinal Plants: The Case for American Ginseng
Stalking the Wild Ginseng When I was a child, my grandfather picked wild American Ginseng (Panax quinquefolius). I remember him talking about it, and seeing it, and him sharing with me what it looked like. To him, ginseng wasn’t a …
Slowing Down the Druid Way, Part IV: Slow Movements and Slow Spirituality
When I lived in Michigan, each Christmas, a local church just down the road from me put on a drive-by nativity scene. Cars full of people would line up for over half a mile and drive around this circular loop …
Urban Homesteading in a Rental House: Late Winter/Spring Updates!
Last year, I explored the idea of “growing where you are planted.” At this stage in my journey, I am working towards living my spiritual principles through permaculture practice within the bounds of a rental house within walkable distance to …
Slowing Down the Druid Way: Part III: Time-Honoring Strategies
This past week, a friend and I were discussing options for starting seeds for a new joint major gardening project (more on that in an upcoming post). We talked about several options, and deciding we wanted to stay away from …
Slowing Down the Druid Way: A History of Time
What continues to drive me is to live more in line with my principles: to grow my food, to take care of my basic needs, take charge of my health and healing, and to live fully and honestly with myself …
A Guide to Winter Hiking: Walking in the Winter Wonderland
Recently, I went on a winter hike with some friends. It was below freezing, with ice-covered trails and the sun shining low in the sky. We came to a crossroads and all felt led to go to the left; eventually, …
The Way of Wood
Imagine sitting down to your holiday meal with loved ones and family. There is a feast before you–ham, turkey, potatoes, stuffing, corn, gravy, and various other family favorites. The table is decorated with colorful red tablecloths, the lights are low, …
Druid Tree Workings: A Seasonal Approach and the Breath of the Earth
During a recent big snowstorm, I took an amazing ritual walk through the town where I live. We were getting our first substantial snow of the year, and it was a full moon to boot. And so, I spent a …
Druid Tree Workings: January Tree Blessings and Wassail for Abundance
Deep, in the darkest months of winter, a variety of cultures offered blessings to the trees for abundant harvests. A few years ago on this blog, I wrote about Wassailing at a friend’s orchard; since then, I’ve done wassailings each …
Embracing the Bucket: A Colorful Compost Toilet for Small Space Living
A few months ago, I posted on humanure and liquid gold as ecological resources. Many are once again realizing that our own waste is a precious resource, not something deserving of a flush. As a quick review, humanure refers to …
Awaiting the Sunrise: Holding an Outdoor Winter Solstice Vigil
A group of people make music and merriment near a roaring fire during the longest night of the year. Their mission: to await the sunrise and hold vigil through the darkness with feasting, celebration, and the burning of the sacred …
A Druid’s View of Cartography: Rewriting Maps and Nature-Human Relationships
This fall, I took a number of weekend hiking and camping trips into different parts of Northern Pennsylvania; to navigate these new areas, I found myself often referring to both physical maps as well as using my GPS for guidance. …
The Art of Getting Lost in the Woods, or Cultivating Receptivity
I think we’ve all had periods of our lives where we feel like we are moving like a stack of dominoes; we have so many things piled on us that we have to keep going, going, and going. In fact, …
Life in the Extraction Zone: Complex Relationships of Livelihood and Land
As I write this, threats to our lands, our environment, our oceans, and life on earth seem greater than ever before. As I write this, water protectors in North Dakota are getting beaten, arrested, tear-gassed, and jailed. As I write …
Sacred Tree Profile of Walnut (Juglans Nigra): Magical, Medicinal, and Edible Qualities
I remember when I first met black walnut. My Great Aunt and Uncle lived on a farm, and on that farm was a colonial-era farmhouse. Near their farmhouse sat a massive black walnut tree. I remember going there when I …
Spiraling at Samhain: Building a Classic Seven Circuit Labyrinth
In many sacred spaces throughout the world, we see the labyrinth. It is reflected in the spiral, the pattern in nature that repeats often, and asks us to engage. It offers us the ability to slow down, to wind around, …
Observe, Interact, and Intuit: The Personal Niche Analysis
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 …
Permaculture Principles for the Inner Landscape (Mind, Spirit, and Heart)
Let’s start today’s post with a short exercise. Take a look at your hand–look at the patterns of veins under the surface. What does that remind you of in nature? Now, look at the creases on your fingers, again, looking …
The Giving Garden: A Permaculture Design Site in the Making
“We grow where we are planted.” This is the theme of a conversation on an earlier post from this year. All of us have the opportunity to do regenerative work in the world, in the spaces and places we already …
Permaculture for Druids: Design Principles through the Five Elements
Humans throughout history have looked to nature as the ultimate teacher; nature is the sacred text from which all wisdom flows. As druids, we know the more time you spend in nature, the more you align with its rhythms, and …