“I stand firmly between the worlds of who I am and who I shall become, celebrating my wholeness. I celebrate my Sovereignty and I do not fear my Shadow, for together they hold the seeds of wisdom: as they grow,… Read More ›
Earth-based spirituality
Mulling over Movies: Moana, Pt. 1 by Elise M. Edwards
I love going to outdoor movie screenings. Sitting outdoors on a summer evening with good company brings me joy. Last week, I went to an screening of Moana, the Disney movie about a teenager who goes on a quest through… Read More ›
Shapeshifting Goddesses by Judith Shaw
Magic, divine intervention, shapeshifting – what do these things offer the modern mind, concerned with time clocks, definitive proofs and skeptical disbelief? Yet to the ancients, shapeshifting was a well known tale, found in stories and mythologies across the world.
The Tree of Life and the Forest of Friendship: Circle Dance to Restore our Hope by Laura Shannon
Yes, times are tough. But a better understanding of our interconnectedness can help us move beyond the cynicism, frustration, and despair we may be feeling in the modern world. A closer look at trees, and at women’s traditional circle dances,… Read More ›
A Return to Light by Judith Shaw
Spring is here in the northern hemisphere and with it the return of light in the yearly round of seasons. Today is Earth Day. Flowers bloom, new seedlings emerge and birdsong fills the air. As the cold and dark of winter… Read More ›
Honoring the Earth in our Rituals of Well-Being by LaChelle Schilling
Much of our lives lack the rich culture of ritual that I think would help us repair the relationships we have with our own bodies and with the earth. The Rg Veda is one of the oldest collection of hymns… Read More ›
Kissing the Earth by Molly Remer
“Let the beauty we love Be what we do There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the Earth.” –Rumi Introductory note: At the end of 2016, my parents purchased a piece of land about one mile from where… Read More ›
The Coming of Spring: Reflections on Pesach and Judaism by Ivy Helman
It is, I think, quite common knowledge that most Jewish holidays relate to the seasonal cycles of the Earth. Sukkot celebrates the fall harvest. Chanukah sheds light on the winter darkness. Tu B’Shevat marks the end of the dry season… Read More ›
Darkness and Light by Judith Shaw
“Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light.” – Theodore Roethke “Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot… Read More ›
Renewing Our Spirits in the Wilderness of Our World by Carolyn Lee Boyd
In my garden blooming with native wildflowers, in nearby rivers and woods, across the New England landscape, the Earth is healing Herself. Two centuries ago, New England’s forests had been cleared for farms; myriad species of animals, birds, fish, and… Read More ›
Earth-Spirituality in the Qur’an and Green Muslims by LaChelle Schilling
There is some very helpful guidance in the Qur’an for how we should and should not treat the earth. In my exploration of Qur’anic verses on the environment, I have found a great deal of Earth-love that I want to… Read More ›
Springing Forward with the Wicked Witch by Barbara Ardinger
El Presidente was enlarging his war against his citizens. This meant the roads were more crowded than before with refugees fleeing the capital city for safety among the farmers on the plains and up in the hills. Some of these… Read More ›
Desierto Divino: Messages from the Earth by LaChelle Schilling
I have been thinking about deserts lately, what places are desired, which ones are deserted, and by whom. Cabo de Gata of Andalusia is one of the four deserts in Spain. In 2010, it became public knowledge that the Ministry… Read More ›
Feeling the Earth Move by Carol P. Christ
Magnitude 5.2 earthquake Feb 6, 5:51 AM I awake to the sound of the windows and shutters rattling and the bed moving up and down beneath me for a few seconds. Magnitude 5.4 earthquake Feb 6, 12:58 PM This is… Read More ›
Making Our Stand by Molly Remer
“You may not remember, but let me tell you this, someone in some future time will think of us.” —Sappho I put on my boots and jeans, grab my priestess robe, pack a basket of ritual supplies, and meet four… Read More ›
Triple Goddesses in the Celtic World by Judith Shaw
Many neopagans and modern Goddess worshipers mistakenly equate the triadic nature of some Celtic Goddesses with the Triple Goddess concept first popularized by Robert Graves in his book, The White Goddess. Graves stated that Goddesses were frequently found in triplets… Read More ›
A Serpentine Path: The Dance Is About To Begin by Carol P. Christ
Entering the archaeological site of Kato Zakros, which includes a Sacred Center and part of a town on a small hill above it, I felt too tired to continue with the others. As we passed a stone bench to the… Read More ›
The Book of Earth & Other Mysteries: a book review by Elizabeth Cunningham
When a poem shows me something in a strange and wonderful light and at the same time awakens some bone-deep knowing of my own, I feel more alive, I feel less alone. My soul is stirred and satisfied. The Book… Read More ›
As It Might Have Been: Ancestor Stories in the Dreamtime by Carol P. Christ
In the middle of the night in waking sleep, I asked my great-great grandmother Annie Corliss to tell me the story of how she met and married James Inglis. This story came through me in a place I have come… Read More ›
Exe(o)rcising the Spirit by Natalie Weaver
Why bother? It’s a legitimate question. My oldest son, almost 12, announced that he is depressed. He’s got good reasons for it, so I don’t try to talk him out of it. My youngest, almost 8, told me yesterday that… Read More ›
Ancestor Connection in Williamsburg, Brooklyn by Carol P. Christ
In early December 2016 I visited central Williamsburg in Brooklyn, New York, where my 2x great-grandparents Thomas and Anna Maria Christ and their son George and his family, including my father’s father Irving John, lived for over fifty years. I… Read More ›
The Reindeer Goddess by Judith Shaw
Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere is the day of the least daylight and the longest night. Long before Christmas our Northern European ancestors celebrated the Winter Solstice, the moment that heralds the return of the sun and with it… Read More ›
Earth’s Mystery School by Molly Remer
“Earth is a mystery school complete with initiations and discoveries that you only experience by living with your feelings, touching the earth, and embracing the fullness of your humanity.” –Queen Guenivere (awakewoman) On Samhain morning, I wake early and mist is rising… Read More ›
Down on the Farm by Carol P. Christ
In the past week I visited Cherry Ridge, Honesdale, Wayne, Pennsylvania in the Pokonos, where I was welcomed by my third cousin Marcia Perry Gager whose family never left the place where our ancestors settled. Marcia and I have been… Read More ›
The Bird Goddess by Judith Shaw
Birds soaring high above the earth reaching for the heavens have long inspired humans as links to the divine realm. Birds fulfill various functions in world cultures and religions – from playing a central role in creation, to birth, to… Read More ›
Mother Demdike, Ancestor of My Heart, Part 3 by Mary Sharratt
Continued from Part 1 and Part 2 When Bess was in her fifties, walking past the quarry at sunset—called daylight gate in her dialect—a beautiful young man emerged from the stone pit, his hair golden and shining, his coat half… Read More ›
Mother Demdike, Ancestor of My Heart, Part 2 by Mary Sharratt
Continued from Part 1. As I sought to uncover the bones of the cunning woman Mother Demdike’s story, I was drawn into a new world of mystery and magic. It was as though Pendle Hill had opened up like an… Read More ›
Tailtiu, Celtic Earth Goddess of Endurance by Judith Shaw
The Celts were fascinated by the number three – triple designs, images and triadic ideas. The Goddesses and Gods who related to the mysterious rather than the mundane nature of life were always worshiped in threes. Unlike the Greek triple… Read More ›
The Sacred and the Marketplace: A Political Story by LaChelle Schilling
John Henrik Clarke has said, “The most dangerous of all dependencies is to depend on your powerful oppressor to free you and share power with you, because powerful people never train powerless people to take their power away from them…. Read More ›
Rocks, Flowers, Circles: Sustenance During Troubling Times by Elizabeth Cunningham
I had planned to write my October post about the election. Out of respect for everyone’s election fatigue, I’ll give the subject one paragraph only. I voted for Bernie Sanders in the primary. Like Bernie himself, I will vote for… Read More ›
