Category: Seasonal Celebration
Lightning Storms In Late Winter
A few weeks ago, we had a lightning storm here in the mountains. It was still February, but an eerie warm front had swept through, melting the hillsides and changing the texture of the sky. I was sitting on the couch drinking a cup of tea when suddenly the clouds began flickering. I looked…
Navigating the Holidays as an Empath
I’ve often found that magic and sensitivity go hand-in-hand. Some of the most magical people I know, are also the most sensitive. Through the years of coming to recognize just how tender my own inner landscape can be, I’ve realized that, instead of being a hindrance, my sensitivity is actually what enables me to see those…
The Way Beyond Death
In autumn, we embrace the dying. As the leaves grow spotted, then yellow and aflame, we watch the world around us begin to wane. We’ve grown so accustomed to the idea of autumn, the disappearing of the green, that we forget how truly profound it is. For those of us in the deciduous belt…
A Recipe for Late Summer Nourishment
Here in the mountains, the waning afternoon light has taken on an earth-warmed hue, like bronze poured over low banked coals. Already a few trees are beginning to fade to the color of ancient paper and there is an overwhelming sense that, even though the snapdragons continue to bloom, things are incrementally beginning to…
Dealing with Seasonal Overwhelm
The trees are deepening their green every day and the flowers are popping off in full symphonic bursts. The wild roses flutter snowlike down the hillside and between the birds, the bees, the peepers and the neighborhood kids there is music every hour of the day. It is a complete summer paradise. And here I…
The Slow Dark Enchantment
Real magic takes time… and a lot of it. Like crystals growing in the deep, the biggest miracles often form far beneath the surface, and need a long fertile stretch of darkness before they can come to light. When the possibility of magic is afoot we will often be asked to slow down so immensely…
A Hymn for Optimism
I’m what you might call an “enthusiastic celebrator.” I can’t help it, I just get a kick out of life a lot of the time. I recently sent my friend a funny gif of Will Ferrell in Elf playing hopscotch with the white lines of a New York crosswalk and she immediately texted me…
Psychedelics + the Ecosystem of Meaning
Autumn is a psychedelic season. More than just a waning golden hour, autumn has its own texture. And just by touching it, our consciousness begins to shift. In our culture psychedelics are often synonymous with “drugs,” exotic substances that blow open the gateways of your perception, concentrates that tip the cup of the world over…
