Mad wolf boys baya waxing solstice moon to Bloom PTSD Violenceis the GatewayNowhere to hide Bang Bang Warblers sing on FrightfragmentsinnocenceNerves strung too tightcontractGuns batterForest Peace Bang Bang
Nature
Return to the Wild by Caryn MacGrandle
Everything is connected. My son is into Alan Watts. He was speaking about him to me yesterday. It made me think of an old blog I had from 2014 where I quoted Alan Watts. “Advice? I don’t have advice…. Read More ›
Fern Hollow by Sara Wright
I awaken to the common yellowthroat warbler’s song. A light breeze wafts through the open window intensifying the scent of wild honeysuckle. Phoebe chimes in followed by Ovenbird, another warbler. Mama phoebe takes flight from her nest as I open… Read More ›
Crowning the Mother Tree by Sara Wright
Crown the trees that feed the bees, one more keystone species. Crown the trees that purify poisoned air, ground, water, create clouds for rain, return fish to streams… Crown trees that shelter birds as they turn light to sugar… Read More ›
May: A Reflection on Time and Trillium by Sara Wright
With May coming to a close in a few days, I am feeling nostalgia. This month is both elusive and dramatic – from bare trees to lime green, and now lilacs so heavily laden with blooms that some are bowed… Read More ›
From the Archives: Answering the Call by Joyce Zonana
This was originally posted on April 30, 2020 Very early in Henri Bosco’s 1948 novel Malicroix, a young man, Martial de Mégremut, living placidly amid fruitful orchards in a tame Provençal village, receives a letter informing him he has inherited… Read More ›
Hearing Grief by Xochitl Alvizo
I was writing this blog post on the same day that Rosemary Radford Ruether died, receiving the news during my writing process. The timing of that still has me feeling something I cannot yet express… One of the most meaningful… Read More ›
Wildflower Wonder by Sara Wright
Ephemeral Emergence Arbutus trumpets seduce bumblebees three lobed trillium wings streak rose shining stars pearling forest floors wild oats bow bluebead swords unfurl wild lily leaves clasp palms in prayer stained glass hemlock sky filters light fragrant needles fracture… Read More ›
A Reflection on Aging by Sara Wright
In feminism becoming a ‘wise’ crone is acknowledged (it is certainly true that experience brings insight), but the vulnerabilities associated with aging remain hidden. I wonder how much of this silence has to do with shame? Does our culture’s obsession… Read More ›
Starflower by Sara Wright
Snow tide recedes, shrinking waves expose papery oak leaves, thick tree roots, pine needles, fallen lichens, rich humus in the making… Mycelial networks curl tips and tendrils embrace decay.
From the Archives: A Tiny Life by Barbara Ardinger
When I first wrote this post in 2014, I said the news was getting me down. A terrorist gang in Nigeria had kidnapped, raped, and “married” two hundred schoolgirls. Kids were even then taking guns to school. What’s better as… Read More ›
Persephone Rises, Part 1 by Sara Wright
While researching Minoan Crete I learned that each autumn young girls once gathered blue violet saffron crocus to leave as an offering for the Wild Crocus Goddess as they prepared for adolescent female initiation rites. I was intrigued by the reference to… Read More ›
Sedna’s Tale by Sara Wright
The story of Sedna is yet another rendition of the Handmaid’s Tale. This one comes from the Arctic and the Inuit people. During this time when it seems as if patriarchy has a stranglehold on so many of us, I… 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 ›
From the Archives: Child of the Earth by Elizabeth Cunningham
Moderator’s note: This marvelous FAR site has been running for 10 years and has had more than 3,600 posts in that time. There are so many treasures that have been posted in this decade that they tend to get lost… Read More ›
The Blessing of the Elders by Rachel Thomas
, elders are people who have illuminated my path, inspired me to see my own potential. To open my eyes, all my senses, even those I did not know I had. Elders show bravery and model for us how to be strong.
Seal – a Soulful Clown by Judith Shaw
Seal – ever curious – stands up in the water gazing about with her dark, soulful eyes before diving again into the enigmatic, mysterious sea. Seal initiates us into wonder by her extraordinary presence filled with playfulness, adaptability and deep… Read More ›
Mirror Reflections by Sara Wright
The Old Woman still lives in the Forest as she once did in fairy tales. She can present her dark side to those who are uninitiated (mirror mirror on the wall…) but she also offers gifts to those that visit… Read More ›
Sequoias by Sara Wright
When I think about the burning trees I think about women because we are so closely related through myth and story as well as sharing DNA. What is happening to these trees once happened to us… I note that women… Read More ›
Avian Friendship by Sara Wright
The other night I had a dream about a strange green hooded figure that was guarding a green gate underground. She wasn’t human; she had a hooked bird’s beak (like many of Marija Gimbutas’s goddess figures). Something about the strange… Read More ›
Rainbow Goddess by Sara Wright
Winged Iris flew over earth and sea. Rainbows luminesced in her wake. Messenger from the clouds, she gathered up the rain,
Moving towards the Dark… “Elder”berry Musings…by Sara Wright
“I wake up under a tropical dome that has been with us most of August. The thick air feels like it is smothering me, and with emphysema that may not be my imagination. I can no longer walk or hike… Read More ›
Who is the Goddess? by Sara Wright
I have been re-reading Rebirth of the Goddess reflecting upon my own journey over these past 40 years, remembering how her image appeared to me as a bird goddess the day I first worked with river clay… When I discovered… Read More ›
Vigil by Sara Wright
The third daydawns under a cloud. Mourning dovesspread their wingsacross leaden skies.I am walking on air.Two restlessnights – a hugetruck in the yard –Blocked,my stomach lurches.I read Tributes in a daze.Fierce Little FlowerWarrior Womanfights a torrent of waves.She is bridging raging watersforging a New… Read More ›
A Mystical Journey: Psalm 93 by Janet Rudolph MaiKa’i
Sometimes I’m asked where I get my inspirations for verses to explore. In this case it was from the God Squad’s Rabbi Marc Gellman who discussed Psalm 93 in a recent column. In his analysis, he used Psalm 93 to… Read More ›
Women, Birds, and Feminism by Sara Wright
When I was about forty years old I discovered a clay deposit on a beach that I visited frequently. Intrigued, I sat down and began working with the river’s gift. I remember my astonishment when a beaked bird – woman… Read More ›
Patriarchy – For Love of Predators by Sara Wright
I live just down the road from one of our many lakes and ponds here in western Maine. Almost every morning I hear the haunting call of the loons as they fly over the house. Although I cherish the symphony… Read More ›
Meditation in July – Weekend of July 4th by Sara Wright
I offered up morning prayers at dawn this July morning to the song of cardinals, rose breasted grosbeaks, and just barely rippling waters. The air was sweetened by water. Peace filtered through the green – seedlings, lichens, mosses, grasses, ferns,… Read More ›
Deluge by Sara Wright
It’s time to submit another post to FAR, the only blog site I follow, and a place where I have found genuine support and even a sense of community, which for me is a great gift. Mostly, I experience myself… Read More ›
Blue Is My Favorite Color by Marie Cartier
You can’t have the ocean without blue. I walk at night, that’s the time of year the grunion run, a silver school teaching us that it’s work to populate –the small shimmer of a female screwing herself into the sand…. Read More ›