Spiritual journeys in tending the living earth, permaculture, and nature-inspired arts
Creativity is the birthright of all people. When humans are young, play and creativity are central to our own development. Children don’t worry about it being ‘good’; they just make things, play with crayons, laugh, dance, and sing. They play. …
The day before the first hard frost. Our garden is still bountiful as the Butzemann watches over all….As the darkness continues to grow deeper on the landscape, it is high time to consider how to put the garden to rest …
Sacred action is all about us learning how to align our outer lives with our inner core of nature spirituality and connectedness, and ultimately, help us live more regeneratively and with care. Sacred action is about doing small, slow things …
When you think of the term “wild”, what comes to mind? Perhaps wild can be defined by that which is its opposite: civilized, tame, domesticated, and controlled. Wild, on the other hand, is free, unrestricted, unbounded, and sovereign. And …
As we continue to explore the concept of wildcrafting druidry and sacred action that is, developing a spiritual practice and daily life that is fully localized and aligned with nature right outside your door, it is a useful time to …
I’m really excited to announce that my new book through REDFeather / Shiffer Publishing is now availableo! The Book is titled Sacred Actions: Living the Wheel of the Year Through Earth-Centered Sustainable Practices. I wanted to give you an introduction …
Here in the Laurel Highlands of Western PA, Beltane marks the start of “planting” season, where we move our indoor seeds out into the greenhouse to harden off, where many seeds like carrots and beans start to go into the …
Trees provide an abundant amount of resources…shelter, food, fire, friendship–but they also as this blog has shown, can work various forms of magic through their energetics, through their lore, through their divinatory meanings. They are some of the most kind, …
One of the hallmarks of spring is the blooming of the vibrant and colorful dandelion. Emerging as soon as the coldest of the temperatures ease, the blooming of the dandelions affirm that the long, dark winter is indeed over and …
Druidry today has both ancient and modern roots, and there have been several distinct “phases” of druid practice historically. While it’s not critical that the practitioner of the modern druid traditions know what I share, it is helpful to have …
Nature spirituality is most obviously tied to one’s local nature–the trees, plants, animals, landforms, and other features of what makes your own landscape unique. One of the formidable challenges before those of us practicing nature-based spiritualities in the United States …
As you may have noticed, in the last month or so I’ve been working diligently on my “Sacred Trees in the Americas” series. The truth is, I’ve worked through most of the trees that are well known and form the …
For the last three years, I’ve spent part of my Imbolc celebration making a Butzemann for our land. The Butzemann is a really interesting tradition from PA Dutch (German) culture called the Butzemann (literally, Boogieman). In a nutshell, the Butzemann …
I used to be a big fan of reading dystopian fiction when I was younger. It seemed like a distant world, a reality far from our own. But perhaps now, those books resonate too close to reality. As someone who …
Plants are our medicine, our teachers, our friends, and help us connect deeply to spirit in a wide variety of ways including through spiritual work. Long before recorded history, our ancient ancestors used plants of all kinds. Ötzi, the ancient …
Browsing an antique store a year ago, I found a wonderful shoemaking hammer. It was an interesting shape, and when I held the tool, I could literally feel the connection this tool had had with its previous owner. Whoever had …
A woman comes to a clearing in the recently burned forest with a basket of stones, sticks, nuts, and flowers. She begins to sing, laugh, and dance as she creates a beautiful circle with the materials. As she weaves her …
Rituals are not just an important part not just of druidry or of nature-based spirituality, but of human life in general. According to leading scholar Catherine Bell in her book Ritual: Perspectives and Dimensions, human beings have been involved in …
In my time as an Archdruid and now Grand Archdruid in the Ancient Order of Druids in America (AODA), a set of questions I see often are questions surrounding the establishment of daily ritual or daily practice question. These are …
I don’t know about you, but 2020 has been a hell of a year. Usually, the Fall Equinox and the coming of the dark half of the year is a time for celebration, as Fall is my favorite season. But …
2020 has been challenging for nearly everyone in a multitude of ways. One of the things that we are faced with right now is grief: grief over lost friends and family who have passed, grief over a previous way of …