Last night I was listening to plant scientist Monica Gagliano who is pushing the boundaries of what we know about plants. She proved that plants respond to the sound of water by moving toward it and cannot be tricked. Bio-acoustics… Read More ›
Nature
Una Hora de Vida, Es Vida! by Xochitl Alvizo
I learned, recently, that this is a common phrase among my family members – “an hour of life, is life.” I remember the first time I heard my mom use the phrase, not more than a few years ago, I… Read More ›
The Crone of Winter, by Molly Remer
Just for right now, let the swirling soften.Exhale into the day,wherever you are,whatever is happening.Allow a cloak of comfortto settle across your shouldersand enfold youwith peace and restoration.Draw up strength from the earthbeneath your feet.Settle one hand on your bellyand… Read More ›
Vayeishev: A Feminist Reflection on the Women in Joseph’s life and Dreams by Ivy Helman.
This week’s Torah portion is Vayeishev, Genesis 37:1-40:23. The portion covers too much information to address it adequately in one post. Therefore, in this post, I will examine, from a feminist perspective, Joseph, the women in his life, and… Read More ›
The Ancestor Story by Sara Wright
During the last few years I have spent hours listening to the haunting cries of Sandhill cranes, awaiting them at the river, stunned each time as I glimpsed a flock float to the ground, great gray wings extended to break… Read More ›
A Ritual for Thanksgiving, by Molly Remer
Find some pine treesand a wide rock in the sun.Settle down and feel gratitudecurl around your shoulders.Listen to the windsense that there is sorrow tooin this place,deep and old,threaded through thelines of sunslices of shadows.It tells of what has been… Read More ›
Biblical Poetry – Trees by Janet Maika’i Rudolph
In many cultures of the world, including our own, trees are considered the ancestors of humanity – own our ancestors. Trees are connected with great goddesses throughout antiquity. We see this in the bible where, as I’ve noted before, the… Read More ›
When Earth Meets the Son by Sara Wright
As I curl up in my hatchback open to sky I am a snail loving her shellsun warms me from behindAutumn lightshimmers, leavesa testamentto breeze some withered by a freeze.Burnt umberGoldSalmonthe understoryin full gloryBare hardwoods peer down sentries stationedOverheadAcorn browned… 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 ›
Calling on the Ancient Ways to Make a New Future by Caryn MacGrandle
Dawn follows the dark. Call on Elen of the Ways for the ancient pathways revealing the mysteries of the deep wild wood where your heart resides. Well, duh. Of course. I camped out alone on my newly bought land in… Read More ›
Listening to Animal Wisdom by Judith Shaw
Throughout these years that I have focused on animals and their spiritual meanings – often in ways that relate to goddesses – I’ve heard from many people about their own encounters with animals. It seemed that for me animals mainly… Read More ›
Witches Butter by Sara Wright
The other day I found the most beautiful fungus on an aging white pine set against deep green moss that was almost arcing over the brook. When I looked up Dacrymyces palmatis I discovered that it’s common name was “Witches… Read More ›
Rocked Back on Our Heels in Awe by Beth Bartlett
I wanted to know . . . why the most ordinary scrap of meadow can rock us back on our heels in awe.[i] – Robin Wall Kimmerer Along the roadside, broad swaths of Queen Anne’s lace and chicory grace the… 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 ›
Peaceful Winding Endurance Road by Sara Wright
I personally think the quality of endurance is underrated. Remember Celie in The Color Purple? After living through hell this woman became who she was meant to be. Sometimes endurance does seem to be the way through. Just now the… Read More ›
Mystic Musings in Late July by Sara Wright
Intolerable temperatures, the air dripping with humidity, unable to sweat, my body catches fire. My aging mind shuts down. How to find hope in the ruins, not just personally but all around me in dying leaves rife with holes or… Read More ›
Seeding up at the Turning By Sara Wright
The forest is bursting with berries, blue lily beads are just one of a multitude of seeds…Astonishing pearl bells adorn mounds of shining wintergreen that shimmer across the forest floor. Soon those berries will blush, bead up, cry scarlet. Three… Read More ›
Three poems by Sara Wright
Spirits of the Forest In Forest Presence I listen, leaves and needles rustle Voices Hum inside Hemlock bark sounding if only humans would listen Incantations erupt beneath the forest floor wrapped in a tapestry of threads millions of miles of… Read More ›
Butterfly Wounding by Sara Wright
Bittersweet orange invokes wounding past torment endured at the hands of those who would harm. Air is lightened, cleansed by absence Trees rejoice Slaughter shifts perspective Despair presses Diamond. Fritillary seeks her flower lover in waiting Tongue seeking.
Part 2 – The Other Side of the Story by Sara Wright
To read part 1: click here I am watching my neighbor from a window as her body dissolves and disappears into a pile of dark smoke that rises up to the ceiling in a pink room. She leaves behind a… Read More ›
SNAPSHOTS FROM SUMMER by Esther Nelson
I’ve been told that most children in the United States learn to write haiku in third grade. At the very least they learn that haiku is a traditional poetic art form using seventeen syllables divided into lines of 5 – 7… Read More ›
The Ugly “Neighbor” and The Power of Evil by Sara Wright
What follows is yet another story of how patriarchy is destroying our culture through the lens of personal narrative. This is a pattern we must uncover, reveal for what it is and refuse to participate. As bell hooks once said,… Read More ›
Shifting Sands Tilting Floor by Caryn MacGrandle
I have this image in my mind of standing on one of those moving floors at the carnival. It is hard to get your balance because it is constantly shifting. The world is constantly shifting at the moment. It is unsettling…. Read More ›
Waxing Moon at Refuge by Sara Wright
Waxing moonpiercesfringed HemlocksStarburstsblink in and outOwls conversefrom Needled Crownsbathed inAir and Light.Refuge Treesoothed byFamiliar callssighs deeply,soakingIn the Night. Refuge incarnates as Aphrodite… In the forest I slip into a lime green skin with the help of one hemlock, under whose… Read More ›
Three Poems by Annelinde Metzner
To spend time in nature and deeply connect with Her is to allow enough time for Her surprising wisdom and dreamlike insights to open up for me. I call this “Plein Air Poetry.” It’s a joy to wait in… Read More ›
The Bang Bang Boys by Sara Wright
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
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 ›