Halcyon days, now wars are ending. You shall find where-e’er you sail Tritons all the while attending With a kind and gentle gale. ~ Halcyon Days by Thomas Shadwell (1642 – 1692) With the arrival of yesterday’s New Moon, and then the Winter Solstice being only a week away, we here in the Northern Hemisphere … Read more
In one of the earliest formal shamanic classes I ever took, we were guided into the Underworlds with the intention of meeting our spirit guide. More often than not, our instructor explained, this would be an animal spirit. As I got used to the steady drum beat (à la Michael Harner, and so different from … Read more
Laughter is the shortest distance between two people. ~ Victor Borge (20th century comedian) As I mentioned last week, the story of Amaterasu and Uzime is mirrored by the Greek legend of Demeter and Baubo. So today, for April Fool’s, let’s meet one of the world’s oldest and most revered Sacred Fools, the blessed Goddess … Read more
My child, when thou lookest upon the mirror, let it be as if thou wert looking on me; let it be with thee on thy couch and thy hall, and let it be to thee a holy mirror. ~ Amaterasu (Yamakage Shinto teachings) The Great Goddess (or kami) Amaterasu, is the beautiful and compassionate One … Read more
Halcyon days, now wars are ending. You shall find where-e’er you sail Tritons all the while attending With a kind and gentle gale. ~ Halcyon Days by Thomas Shadwell (1642 – 1692) Winter Solstice is almost here, and so we are invited to observe a Time Out of Time. This period, which traditionally begins the … Read more
Then for the teeming quietest, happiest days of all! The brooding and blissful halcyon days! — Walt Whitman Once upon a time, Alcyone was the daughter of Aeolus, King of the Winds, and the wife of Ceyx, King of Thessaly. Alcyone and Ceyx loved each other devotedly and were never willingly apart. Nevertheless, a time … Read more
May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow, And may trouble avoid you wherever you go. Today is Trefuilnid Treochair (Truh-FWEEL-nid Tray-oh-CARE) in the Celtic traditions. This is considered the premier national feast day of Éire (Ireland). The name of the holiday means “the triple bearer of the triple key,” and it refers to the … Read more
This encore post, is part two, from a series I wrote back in February, 2006. Knowest thou What solemn shores of crocus-coloured light, Reared by the sunset in its realm of change, Will mock the dream-lost isles that sirens ward? –Clark Ashton Smith Many of us are seeing the first welcome signs of Spring and … Read more
Another encore post, this time, part one of two that I wrote back in February, 2006. Behold, this crocus is a withering flame… — Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Barren Spring, 1870 The signs of Spring are becoming increasingly insistent and unmistakable. In my garden, purple and yellow crocuses are opening in the noon sun, before slipping … Read more
There can be no happiness if the things we believe in are different from the things we do. – Freya Stark, The Journey’s Echo How did you do on the workaholism quiz from Friday? Frankly, I am busted on almost every question. Having done this work before, you would think I would have been much … Read more