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The Feminine Mysteries of Winter
I walked up the fog-laden path. I could hear sheep grazing nearby, but couldn’t see them through the thick wool of the clouds. I knew I was getting close because the air itself seemed to still. Then, out of the mists, arose the mound, an outcropping of stone associated with the most ancient Goddess of…
Ancestral Stone Medicine
No matter where you walk in this world, you are surrounded by powerful elders— the stones. Stones are our most ancient ancestors. They are the minerals that form the soil and the basis of our bones. Their points, blades and paints are what made our lives possible as humans. Whenever you feel cut off…
Who are your Deep Ancestors?
There is a root that stretches back in time. Follow that root far enough and you’ll reach ancestors for whom you have no names. Follow that root long enough and you’ll meet those who hold the memories that can heal our world. When I was first introduced to ancestor work I was taught to…
Your Secret Dreams Can Come True
We all have secret dreams. Dreams that live at the very heart of us, feeding us with vision and hope. These dreams sustain us, and yet we keep them secret because part of us believes they’re impossible. The dream of true love, a home in the woods, a life spent following one’s passions. The dream…
The Call to Pilgrimage
Last week the fall winds arrived. They came in a great gust on the equinox, turning the leaves upside down and silver. By nightfall the humidity of summer had dropped away, and the first truly cold evening of the season made the stars sharpen. Every year the winds of autumn usher in the same…
When Mystery Comes to Visit
Lately the only thing that feels knowable is the unknown. In the last year and a half all of us have ridden these waves intimately. Up and down, deep and within, and far out to sea. Just when you think the swells might end, it seems the great ocean of the unknown dishes us…
Who are the Mysterious Sheela-na-gigs?
I ran my hands along the old stones of the church. Lichen-lined and crumbling, the walls emanated a sense of deep peace. I moved in a slow circle around the perimeter of the ruins—a place of pilgrimage for thousands of years— until I found her. Perched above the curve of an open window and…
Dealing with Summertime Sadness
Summer has its own darkness. Thunderstorms, closed canopies, forests cast in shadow. Twilight woodlands where mushrooms bloom. For all its long hours of light, summer is a very literally dark time in my house. Built in the middle of a forested grove, every year my home becomes a deeply shaded cave during the summer…
