I was blessed to attend the Pan-Druid Retreat in Gore, Virginia this past weekend. As part of the retreat, I served on a discussion panel about “approaching the sacred through nature.” We were asked to prepare 10 minutes for discussion. …
Respecting Earth
In Praise and Honor of the Snow: Understanding and Overcoming Cultural Challenges
In January, this year, we’ve gotten record amounts of snow (somewhere above 50″ since the new year). This is true of much of the midwest and eastern seaboard in the USA. Snow holds a very convoluted position in modern American …
Vermicompsting II: The Evil of Plastics and “there is no such thing as ‘Away'”
Earlier this week, I talked about vermicomposting and how to build your own worm bin. In this post, I want to talk more about the spiritual side of working closely with worms in a vermicomposting system and what gets “left …
Sustainability as Sacred Action
The common bond that unites druids, and other earth-centered spiritual paths, is a deep respect and reverence for the living earth. We celebrate the turning wheel of the seasons, we revere the plants, and we speak to the forest spirits. …
Sacred Tree Profile: Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga Canadensis) – Magic, Mythology, and Qualities
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. …
Introduction to Permaculture: Terminology and The Ethical Triad
Sustainability means “the capacity to endure.” I use the concept of sustainability broadly in introducing the work that I’m doing as part of my Druidic path—people understand that term, what it means, and are immediately able to have some idea …
Sowing the Seeds of the Future: Spiritual Insights on Seed Starting and Growth
There is so much magic in a tiny seed. Dormant, still, silent, the seed speaks of unimaginable potential. The seed is the first—and last—step in the cycle of most plant life; they complete the circle of life. Seeds can lay …
Community and Connectedness: Extending our understanding of “tribe”
Sociologist Geert Hosfede* has a set of cultural dimensions (which you can look at here) that helps us understand broad differences in culture. These aren’t absolute by any means, but they do give us some baseline indications of how cultures …
As Within, So Without: Blight and the Magical Garden
There is an old magical adage, first written by Hermes Trismegistus, that goes “As above, so below, as within, so without, as the universe, so the soul…” I’ve spent a long time in trying to understand this statement, see it …
Embracing the Sacred and Understanding the Druidic Garden: Growing and Preserving Your Own Food
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 …
Wild Medicinal Plant Profile– Reishi Mushrooms (ganoderma tsugae), or, The Mystery of the Stumps Revisited
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 …
Township Ordinances and Front/Back Lawn Battles – My Own Story
In my post a few weeks ago about what I called the “Garden Resistance Movement” (where people are converting their yards to gardens, etc.), I alluded to the fact that I was now on the front lines of this particular …
The Garden Resistance Movement – Replacing Front Yards with Gardens and Food Forests
Note: I have been composing this blog post for quite some time. This past week, I received a letter from my township about the “state of my lawn” and now find myself in a similar position to those I was …
Ode to the Tree: The Importance of Trees and Human Health
What’s the value of a tree? What’s the value of a forest? I’ve explored these themes before, but I want to come back to this in light of some new research put out by the Pacific Northwest Research Station, and …
From Consumptive Spaces to Productive Spaces: The Lawn as a Site of Change and Growth
In America and many other industrialized nations, one feature dominates the landscape, especially in the suburban areas of the great cities–the green, pristine, velvety lawn. The lawn is so ubiquitous in American culture that a huge industry of chemicals, tools, …
Garden as Sacred Sanctuary
The garden is a sacred sanctuary. The calming nature of the plants; the patterns of light, water, and growth; and the tranquility the garden provides are unmatched. This world we live in is so busy, so full of concrete and …
A Philosophy of Druidry and Sustainability – Embracing Sustainability as Part of Earth-Centered Paths
This month, I’ll have been walking a forest/druidic path for seven years. This experience includes founding a druid grove, being active in two druid orders, attending multiple druid and larger neo-pagan gatherings, mentoring others, and so forth. And based on …
Wassail – An Ancient Rite of Orchard Blessing
Last weekend, I was honored to be invited to a friend’s orchard for an old-fashioned Wassail ceremony (you can read more about my friend’s orcharding and sustainability work on his blog, The Fruit Nut). Wassail (or Old English waes hael, …
A Journey to the Source of a River – A Metaphor for Sustainable Action
I wanted to spend some time in my blog describing a journey I took last summer to see “the source” of a river. My work with the OBOD Druid grade initiated this journey, and it lead me to important insights …
English vs. the Planet – Deconstructing How Language Harms the World
In the early 1930’s, two men, Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf, posited that language was so powerful it had the ability to alter people’s reality just based on its vocabulary, structure, morphology and syntax. This theory later became known as …
Ethical Eating and Avoiding False Binaries – Going Localvore
The politics of food have been tenacious and challenging for as long as I can remember. I have friends/family who are vegan, vegetarian, and/or raw. In general, I find that many people who work with an ethics-based diet makes it …