One of the common questions that comes up about druidry is whether or not you can call yourself a “druid” and when. I get this question quite frequently, especially from folks who are new and are finding their way into …
Calling Yourself a Druid
Druidry
Keeping up Spiritual Practices in Dark Times
One of the resounding things I’m hearing from those on any spiritual path right now is how everything is just falling off for them in terms of their spiritual practices. Its hard to keep up, and hard to motivate yourself …
Kindness as a Radical Act
One of the things I’ve been thinking and writing about a lot on this blog is a holistic approach to living in the age of the Anthropocene. Wendell Berry has argued in multiple books, including the Unsettling of America: Culture and …
Embracing the Wonder of Nature
It is a cold evening, quite cold for early October here in Western Pennsylvania, with the temperature dropping quickly as the sun sets. I knew that tonight would be the night I might get to see the Aurora Borealis for …
Refugia Gardening Guide
What can we do to support nature in this age that is meaningful and important? One of the primary ways that I’ve been thinking about this is in terms of creating refuges for life, or “refugia.” I’ve shared some of …
Deepening Your Druidry: Braiding Together the Ovate, Druid, and Bardic Paths
In my last post, I offered an overview of the three paths of druidry from both an ancient and modern perspective. The paths are: the path of the bard, emphasizing creativity, personal expression, and community; the path of the ovate, …
Introducing the Bard, Ovate, and Druid paths of the Druid Tradition
In most modern druid orders, we honor three expressions of the druid tradition: the path of the bard, ovate, and druid. I began talking about these last week in my Beginner’s Guide to Druidry post last week. These three paths …
A Beginner’s Guide to Druidry and Becoming a Druid
Seemingly more now than ever before, people are seeking ways to reconnect with the living earth, with their creative gifts, and with their ancient ancestors. They are looking to deepen their understanding of themselves and the world around them. Through …
Rituals to Support Wildfires, Smoke, and Climate Change
It has been a hard week for many in North America, and around the globe. About half of the United States is having record-breaking heat, up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit (48.8 Celsius) in a heat dome that shows and is …
An Imbolc Ritual for Creativity: Maple Awen Ritual
Traditionally, Imbolc is a celebration of the first stirrings of spring coming back into the land. For people living in temperate parts of North America, particularly on the eastern seaboard, the timing can be challenging–we are in deep winter and …
Druidry, Colonialism and the Spirit of the Mountain
A fundamental issue in practicing nature-based spirituality has to do with not only your relationship to the land but the relationship of the land in relation to your blood ancestors. Many druids, including those of caucasian descent in North America …
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 …
Animism and Permaculture: Introduction and Ethics
Permaculture design is many things to many people–but ultimately, it is a system of design that works with nature rather than against nature. Permaculture uses principles to allow us to have a clear thinking process for creating resilient ecosystems, fostering …
Biocentrism and Ecocentrism as a Core Part of Nature Spirituality
Once you begin walking the path of nature spirituality, things begin shifting. A tree is not just a tree, an insect is not just an insect–they are beings in their own right, with stories to share, lessons to offer, and …
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 …
Sacred Actions: Doing our Bit in the World
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 …
A 21st Century Wheel of the Year: Cultivating Receptivity at the Fall Equinox
The Fall Equinox is traditionally about harvest, harvesting the fruits of your labor and the fruits of the land in preparation for the coming of winter. This model of the wheel of the year focuses on earned outcomes: you’ve planted …
Sacred Trees in the Americas: Paw Paw (Asimina triloba) Medicine, Myths, and Meaning
The PawPaw is a tree that is so wild and unique and wonderful, and yet, is often quite unknown–it is the only native citrus tree we have in the upper east East Coast and midwest areas. Like some of the …
The Practice of Deep Gratitude
At the heart of the challenges, we face in transitioning from a life-destroying culture to a life-honoring one is to disentangle the many underlying myths and narratives that subconsciously or consciously drive our behaviors. These myths include the myth of …
Sacred Actions: Living the Wheel of the Year Through Earth-Centered Sustainable Practices
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 …
Druid Tree Workings: Exercises for Deepening Tree Relationships
Trees are wonderful and amazing beings, true teachers, friends, and wonderful introductory guides to nature’s mysteries. Sometimes though, we don’t realize what a powerful impact different trees have had on our lives. As one step towards cultivating a deep relationship …