You can read part 1 here. The patenting of seeds[i] has made the thousands-year-old practice of seed saving illegal, as is the sharing of seeds from farmer to farmer. The most notorious case is that of Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser,… Read More ›
environment
Seeds of Hope: Part One by Beth Bartlett
Author’s Note: This piece was inspired by Janet Maika’i Rudolph’s wonderful FAR post of December 15th, 2022, “Ode to Seeds.” “. . . I know, yes, there is renewal, /because this is what the seeds ask of us/ with their… Read More ›
Feeding the Birds….Refuge, Part 1 by Sara Wright
It’s another gray snowy day with large white flakes falling from the sky… January lasts “forever” every single year. I feed chickadees on my window ledge until the squirrels show up; then I scatter seed on the ground. Chickadees begin… Read More ›
Answering a Call by Sara Wright
“Shamans bridge the night flow…” the first lines from a poem I wrote long ago keep coming into my mind. Frustrated because I can no longer access the poem, I accept that the first line is what I need… ‘bridging… Read More ›
When Betrayal Makes Sense by Sara Wright
When I was a young woman, a divorced mother of two, working as a waitress I became obsessed by a window hanging in a local store. This cluster of grapes was fashioned out of thick, uneven hunks of stained glass… Read More ›
Saying Goodbye (Refuge), Part 2 by Sara Wright
Part 1 was posted last week. You can read it here. When I first came to this area 40 years ago I was ‘called’ to land about 15 minutes from here. That first summer I was out in the field… Read More ›
Ode to Seeds by Janet Maika’i Rudolph
“In this is all that is.” Julian of Norwich (while purportedly holding a seed in her hand) – 14th century “Even if I knew that the world would end tomorrow, I would plant an apple tree today.” Martin Luther Have… Read More ›
Saying Goodbye (Refuge), Part 1 by Sara Wright
Leaving chores behind I bundled up and grabbed a trowel and drove between still waters to my beloved forest. The premature snow had melted, cracked ice created fantastic glittering patterns in shallow waters informing me that it was probably too… Read More ›
Aging and the Ancestral Dark? by Sara Wright
Unfortunately, an inner darkness has been with me all fall hiding in the corners of my mind and disturbing my body creating headaches and stomach troubles during the day. Although I attempt to protect myself from a culture that I… Read More ›
Hemlock Haunting by Sara Wright
When I stand under one of these giants I sink into the dark spiraling into Deep Time. If Hemlock does not succumb to insects a poisoned sky this tree might live out a natural life… 800 years is eight to… Read More ›
Elf and Seed Woman Stories by Sara Wright
The older I get the more important the forest becomes to me because it is a place where I find inspiration and peace. I also play in the woods! During the month of October and what I call the “Witching… Read More ›
On Her Birthday by Sara Wright
One of the aspects of feminism that really disturbs me is the SILENCE around aging. Reflections on our personal lives are a critical piece that can help women to deal with this inevitable process. Oh, we write about the “wisdom”… Read More ›
Legacy of Carol P. Christ: Tree-Hugging Is About Trees and So Much More Than Trees
This was originally posted March 11, 2019 Not too long ago I heard someone deride members of a seminar who were building labyrinths in the olive groves of Greece as “a bunch of tree-huggers.” I bristled! I probably first heard… Read More ›
The Miracle of Becoming by Sara Wright
We use the word “transformation” very casually in our culture. Humans including feminists have ‘adopted’ the word to describe an inner shift in mental awareness, and of course this can happen, although not usually after a weekend spiritual retreat. The… Read More ›
Mabon and the Warbler by Mary Gelfand
Small, perfect, magnificent! The creature lay in Mark’s hand, unmoving. Stunned or dead—we couldn’t tell. Some birds recover from impact with our sliding glass door and some do not. This was a hard hit—I could hear it from another room—and… Read More ›
Legacy of Carol P. Christ: “Calling All Women” to Save the Earth, signed and shared by Carol P. Christ
This was originally posted on April 1, 2019 We are calling all women and our allies to come together to save the earth that sustains us all. Is it any wonder that from Rachel Carson to Wangari Maathai to the… Read More ›
Heat Wave by Marie Cartier
The heat wave was real. Suzie squinted into the afternoon light glinting off her pink ’69 VW. How was that still running, she thought, rebuilt and rebuilt? Work? That’s how. And that’s how she’d keep running. Work. You just had… Read More ›
Time of the Goddess by Sara Wright
Apple trees have always been dear to my heart and of course, they are associated with the goddess. What follows is a little story where the goddess is made manifest. Torn Apple Heart Three years ago I had a beloved… Read More ›
From the Archives: A Feminist Retelling of Noah’s Ark
This was originally posted on May 4, 2018 My daughters came to me after Sunday School one day, concerned about a story they had heard in which God drowned almost everyone on Earth. So I sat down and thought about… Read More ›
Women Who Dig by Trina Moyles – Book Review by Carolyn Lee Boyd
Here in the north, it is harvest time when the deep and ancient relationship between women and farming once again brings forth the food on which life depends. Women have been co-creating with the Earth to feed themselves and their… Read More ›
Mycelial Madness by Sara Wright
For those of us who are dedicated to feminism and to the sanctity of nature here is one more way to understand the earth as our goddess. Her mysterious veil is the source of all life. Immanence is sacred. The… Read More ›
“Finding The Mother Tree” by Sara Wright
Susan Simard received her PhD in Forest Science and is a research scientist who works primarily in the field. Part of her dissertation was published in the prestigious journal Nature. Currently she is a professor in the department of Forest… Read More ›
On Tazria-Metzora and Covid: Saving Lives, Saving Worlds, and Saving the World by Ivy Helman
It is often said that every year when you read the same Torah passages, you are in a different place, spiritually and otherwise. Therefore, one will always be learning new meanings and discovering new insights from them. No more is… Read More ›
Lily B and Messages From the Beyond by Sara Wright
The night before last I had a dream that has stayed with me. My dreams rise out of my body to teach and to comfort me so I pay close attention. I had recently written tributes for two men, Lynn… Read More ›
Toadwise: A Tale for a Life Lover – Part I by Sara Wright
Last night I was thinking about the giant western toad that is living in my garden when I had a peculiar thought: Write a story about the Toad and an Old Woman and call it A Tale for a Life… Read More ›
Uncovering What’s Hidden by Sara Wright
Shame is the shadow of being unloved, unwanted, rejected, strung out on need. Shame paralyzes; slamming into reverse actions that would create new intentions including hope of love. Shame blots out Personhood, snapping the thread of interdependency. Plant Consciousness restores… Read More ›
Deb Haaland, the Secretary of the Interior We Need by Anjeanette LeBoeuf
This past week brought an announcement from the 46th President Elect’s office on the nomination for the Secretary of Interior position, House of Representative Debra Haaland of New Mexico. This nomination has solidified President-Elect Biden and Vice President-Elect Harris’ promise… Read More ›
Tree Teachings by Sara Wright
I breathe in the scent of moist wooded bogs, crystal lake waters, baskets of dew heavy and sweet soaking heat through every pore… note withered leaves shriveled mosses and still the rains do not come. The Earth is on Fire…. Read More ›
What is Natural? The Wooden Chair Discussion by Ivy Helman
When I begin my class discussion about defining nature, I often start with a wooden chair or table. I point to it and ask the students, “Is this chair natural?” I pause. They have already been introduced to the idea… Read More ›
Re-Visioning Medusa: Part I by Sara Wright
All through my childhood a self-portrait, painted by my mother hung above my parents’ bed. I was fascinated by this image of the stern face of my very beautiful mother with her long wavy chestnut hair. In the painting my… Read More ›