Enchantment – To Will
A Love Song and A Promise
This was the “Love Song to the Natural World” honoring the Winter Solstice that Gary Phillips offered to our Gathering the Tribes celebration last night. Like all lyrical writing, it is meant to be read aloud. Especially, I think, the commitment at the end. I hope you will add your own voice to this promise. … Read more
The Last Day of a Month of Thanksgivings
In a good bookroom you feel in some mysterious way that you are absorbing the wisdom contained in all the books through your skin, without even opening them. ~ Mark Twain, whose birthday is today! There are so many things, large and small, that I could give thanks for … I ran out of time, it … Read more
Day 29 of My Month of Thanksgivings: CHS
Today, I give overflowing thanks that I live in a place and a time when an institution like Cherry Hill Seminary exists. If you don’t already know, Cherry Hill Seminary is the leading provider of education and practical training in leadership, ministry, and personal growth in Pagan and Nature-Based spiritualities. I am especially grateful and honored to … Read more
Thank you, Lady Luna!
Come to my hut – The crickets will Serenade you, and I will Introduce you to the moonlit woods. ~ Taigu Ryokan (1758-1831) It’s Day 27 of my Thirty Days of Thanksgiving practice, and I admit I am a little groggy. Lady Moon, who is quite nearly full, kept waking me up all night! I … Read more
Gratitude Day 26: The Pale Sunlight of November
Her skin seemed to grow a million extra pores, and all of them opened to take in the warmth and tenderness of the air. The sun on her face made her want to cry. Into all those millions of open pores came the sunshine, and other feelings as well. In and out. She was porous. … Read more
Thanksgiving Day 25: Counting Down to the Dawning
Tonight, we begin the annual Solstice Sun-Wheel Prayer! And so, on Day 25 of my month of Thanksgivings, I am overflowing with gratitude to all who have participated in the past, and who are planning to join us this year! Inspired originally by Beltane Papers founder, the late Helen Farias, and the wonderful Waverly FitzGerald, I have found … Read more
A Month of Thanksgivings, Day 24: Altars and Shrines
One of my favorite parts of my spiritual practice is the creating of shrines and altars. It marries my inner Martha Stewart with my Priestess self in creative, soul-nurturing ways. When I was younger, the idea of having a home altar in our Episcopalian house would have been shocking and faintly sacrilegious. But non-Protestants the … Read more
Gratitude Day 23: Peace Fullness
This Turning, as I experience it, is like what poet Robinson Jeffers called “falling in love outward.” Our mission is not to escape from our world, or tune it out, or fix things by remote control, but to fall in love with our world. ~ Joanna Macy It is supposedly Black Friday, and we … Read more