Find some pine trees
and a wide rock in the sun.
Settle down and feel gratitude
curl around your shoulders.
Listen to the wind
sense that there is sorrow too
in this place,
deep and old,
threaded through the
lines of sun
slices of shadows.
It tells of what has been lost,
what has been stolen,
of silenced stories,
and of fracturing.
Make a vow,
silent and sacred,
to do what you can,
to rebuild the web
to reweave the fabric.
Lie on your back in the pine needles,
feel your body soften into the ground
and become still.
Allow yourself to feel held,
heavy bones and soft skin
becoming part of the land.
Wonder how many of your
ancestors kept other people
from becoming ancestors themselves.
Watch the sunlight making tiny rainbows
through your eyelashes and pines.
Find a pretty rock.
Don’t take it.
Leave it where it belongs,
on the land that gave it birth.
Go home.
Keep your promise.
From the Archives: Turkey – Abundance, Gratitude and Connection to Mother Earth by Judith Shaw
This was originally posted on October 25, 2020
In the United States turkeys are equated with Thanksgiving. But there is so much more to Turkey – a gentle creature who forms strong attachments. Reputed to be dumb, Turkey is in fact quite intelligent and curious, with the ability to solve problems. Turkeys have an excellent understanding of the details of their location which makes them so successful at feeding themselves. They also love to play and to cluck along with music.
Turkeys, indigenous to North America, evolved over 20 million years ago and share a common ancestor with grouse, pheasants and other fowl. Two species of wild turkey exist today – the wild turkey of eastern and central North America of which there are 5 sub-species and the ocellated wild turkey of the Yucatan.
Yet why is turkey named turkey? Strangely enough it was a mistake. English colonial settlers thought turkeys were a type of guinea fowl which England imported from Turkey – thus the name. The Spanish word for turkey is guajolote which is derived from the Nahuatl (Aztec) name huexolotl.
Continue reading “From the Archives: Turkey – Abundance, Gratitude and Connection to Mother Earth by Judith Shaw”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
ten times longer
than this piercing pain
of mine –
So why is
anguish
stretching me
into ‘forever’
mourning trees
without hope?
One difference
is that Hemlock
lives in community
with others that care –
the kindness of kin
both young and old
Roots entwine, support…
communicate.
Comfort seeds the air.
Hemlocks can tolerate
the darkest forest
gloom, the sparse
spongy needle strewn
floor stores
a multitude of seeds…
for hundreds of years…
Witch hobble thrives
above, golden
beech composts
future…
400 million years
of Life
buried a few
feet deep….
If nature’s patterns
wed to genes
story a future
when Earth
is ready to birth,
these trees
might rise again
as Blessed
Green Beings
once despised
and rejected
insect infected
Now thriving
in Balance
with All That Is…
___________________________________________________________________
Continue reading “Hemlock Haunting by Sara Wright”Legacy of Carol P. Christ: Can We Celebrate the Dark? Can We Sleep?
This was originally posted on December 19, 2019
According to Marija Gimbutas, the religion of Old Europe celebrated the Goddess as the power of birth, death, and regeneration in all of life. Agricultural peoples understand that seeds must be kept in a cold dark place during the winter if they are to sprout when planted in the spring. People who work hard during the long days that begin in spring, peak at midsummer, and continue through the fall, are grateful for the dark times of the year when they can rest their weary bones on long winters’ nights. Long winters’ nights are a time for dreams, a time when people gather around the hearth fire to share songs and stories that express their understanding of the meaning of the cycles of life.
The Indo-Europeans were not an agricultural people. Herders, nomads, and horseback riders, they celebrated the shining Gods of the Sky whose power was reflected in their shining bronze armor and shining bronze weapons. When the Indo-European speaking peoples entered into a Europe, they married their Sun and Sky Gods to the Earth Mother Goddesses of the people they conquered. These were unequal marriages in which the Sun was viewed as superior to the Earth. The unhappy marriage of Hera and Zeus reflects this pattern, as do the many rapes of Goddesses and nymphs recorded in Greek and Roman mythology.
Continue reading “Legacy of Carol P. Christ: Can We Celebrate the Dark? Can We Sleep?”Witches’ New Year: She is Everywhere by Caryn MacGrandle
Samhain, the Witches ‘New Year’ was a busy time for me. I did a workshop at a local large artist facility Lowe Mill Arts in Huntsville, Alabama. I watched and participated in a releasing burning ceremony the next night at the same artist site. There is so much we are needing to release especially with where we are in the world right now.
And then the following night, I was in charge of a Fire Circle at the Witches Ball at Mill Kat Healing Arts Center where I host my weekly circles.
I admit to some trepidation hosting the very public Fire Circle. I live in the deep south of Alabama most definitely not known for its open mindedness. A friend told me that she shared the Witches Ball event on her facebook page and received the comment, ‘that is how they indoctrinate you.’
Oh my.
But we are not in a time to be deterred by fear. I have been called to share this magic. And people need it.
Continue reading “Witches’ New Year: She is Everywhere by Caryn MacGrandle”Bulletproof: How BTS – and ARMY – are Changing the World
There’s this boy band I’m a little obsessed with. Try to love me. I know some of their early stuff has the toxic masculinity you’d expect from a group of teenage boys. But not only do they openly admit their faults, they keep learning and trying to do better. They’ve really matured as artists, with a genuine desire to help make the world a better place. They sing about love, and female empowerment; loneliness, social justice, and inclusion. And even though they’re from another country and culture, I love listening to them, and it’s fun to get to know them through their interviews and little jokes.
Yup. I’m a Beatles fan.
Continue reading “Bulletproof: How BTS – and ARMY – are Changing the World”Mother Sky: I See You, I Hear You by Carolyn Lee Boyd
The sky is telling us a story of our universe’s first moments while the cosmos sings, and now we can see and hear these wonders through our bodies as well as our imaginations, spiritual journeying, and intuition. These feats are made possible by the successful launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the sonification of sound waves emanating from galaxies that have, for the first time, been converted into a range audible to human ears. Now, experiences that we have only heard about in ancient myths have come to the human realm.
The JWST, according to NASA, allows us to see stars and galaxies as they formed 13.5 billion years ago. Because the light from these stars and galaxies took billions of years to reach us, we see them at the first moments of their birth.
Continue reading “Mother Sky: I See You, I Hear You by Carolyn Lee Boyd”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 Tree of Life is Eve’s tree for the word Eve means life. It is, in essence, the Tree of Eve. Goddesses in trees feeding humans were common themes in ancient Middle Eastern art. The tree was Hers to give freely of as she wished.
Anthropologist and religious scholar, Mircea Eliade writes extensively about the associations of trees ancestral connection to humans. He calls them both mystical and mythical.[1] His examples include the Miao groups of Southern China and Southeast Asia who “worship the bamboo as their ancestor.” He also notes Australian tribes who view the mimosa as their progenitor. And there is a tribe from Madagascar, called Antaivandrika which means “people of the tree,” who considered themselves descended from the banana tree.
Continue reading “Biblical Poetry – Trees by Janet Maika’i Rudolph”Unsung Heroines: Pamela Coleman Smith by Mary Gelfand
If you’ve ever had a Tarot reading or played with reading cards yourself, you’re probably familiar with the work of Pamela Coleman Smith, illustrator of the great-grandmother of all contemporary Tarot decks—The Rider Waite Smith Deck. First published in 1909, the illustrations in most contemporary decks are direct descendants of Smith’s work. Yet most people who engage with Tarot are unaware of Smith’s significant contribution to the world of Tarot. In my eyes, Pamela Coleman Smith is an Unsung Heroine.
When Earth Meets the Son by Sara Wright
As I curl up
in my hatchback
open to sky
I am a snail
loving her shell
sun warms
me from behind
Autumn light
shimmers, leaves
a testament
to breeze
some withered
by a freeze.
Burnt umber
Gold
Salmon
the understory
in full glory
Bare hardwoods
peer down
sentries stationed
Overhead
Acorn browned oak
leaves smudge
sage greens
dark crimson
bleeds
geese fly by
haunting goodbye
A dragonfly lands
on my foot
Not a grouse
in sight
Hunted
in thickets
too thorny
for stealth
She’ll
live to see
another dawning
Scarlet pockmarked palms
lie face up
on the ground.
Warning.
Signs are everywhere.
Insect ridden leaves –
puncture marks
deform once
smooth hands
some shriveled
beyond recognition.
Continue reading “When Earth Meets the Son by Sara Wright”
Feminism and Religion 