Create your Own Special Holiday Celebrations to Reconnect with Nature One of the most ancient ways of honoring and celebrating the human-nature connection are seasonal festivals. For Millennia our human ancestors have recognized peak times in nature when seasons begin to shift. Since they were utterly dependent on the Earth’s bounty to survive they needed […]
Eco Posts
THE GIFTS OF SPRING and the EQUINOX
A sense of possibility, hope and abundance arises in spring as shoots of green emerge from the recharged roots of winter sleep and buds appear on barren trees. If we attune ourselves to this resurgence of renewed growth, we may feel a quickening of our own vitality and an urge to launch creative projects, especially […]
SAMHAIN, HALLOWEEN and the RETURN OF ANCESTRAL SPIRITS
For children, Halloween is usually the most exciting, wild and imaginative holiday because they can dress up as anything or any character they want. My granddaughters find it so empowering to recreate theirselves as bugs, witches, feminist princesses, skeletons, unicorns, power monsters or explorers. Playing with costumes fosters a more fluid sense of self for […]
AUTUMN EQUINOX and HARVEST END
Autumn has many gifts to bestow with three primary ones of balancing, releasing and harvesting. Since the word Equinox means equal light and dark, and represents a space between opposites, this season invites us to reflect on what needs balancing in our life, such as balancing screen time with more time in nature, or rest […]
INDIAN SUMMER—THE FIFTH SEASON
I’m including this time period as its own unique season. In Chinese medicine, Indian Summer is regarded as a distinct fifth season, which relates to the earth element, digestion and the stomach, spleen, and pancreas. In parts of old Europe, it was called ‘Gypsy Summer or St. Martin’s Summer.’ Here in Southern Calif., we […]
LAMMAS -MIDSUMMER
Summer heat is at its peak during Lammas, the ancient Midsummer Celtic festival of sun god Lugh. Rituals and the usual bonfires honored the power of the sun and the harvest bounty of Mother Earth. Cattle were taken to upper meadow pastures to graze on lush grasses. This was a time of feasting, marriages and […]
SUMMER SOLSTICE
For the Celts, the Summer Solstice was a time of feasting, rejoicing and the lighting of bonfires which were believed to chase away evil demons, protect the cattle and bring luck to the couples who jumped over them. The promise of fertile abundance of this ripening time was celebrated and gatherings at Stonehenge, the ancient […]
BELTANE
On May 1st, the ancient Celts celebrated the high point of spring with the festival of Beltane, which is Gaelic for ‘bright fire.’ Beltane honors the fertile and flowery abundance of the earth goddess, the sun god Bel and the fiery, sustaining power of sexual union. For the pagan Celts, May 1st was the […]
Spring Rewilding for the EQUINOX
A sense of possibility, hope and abundance arises in spring as shoots of green emerge from the recharged roots of winter sleep and buds appear on barren trees. If we attune ourselves to this resurgence of renewed growth, we may feel a quickening of our own energy and an urge to launch creative projects. To […]
PRELUDES TO SPRING
In moderate winter climates, February is the month when signs of spring begin to appear; snowdrops, crocuses and groundhogs arise from their wintery hibernations. Celtic Imbolc on Feb 1st and Valentines Day on Feb 14th are pre-spring holidays with pagan roots that honor fertility. This is the time when lambs are born and some birds […]
TWELVE HOLY NIGHTS—Deep Rest, Renewal and Rebirth
From Christmas on Dec 25 until the dawn of January 6th when Epiphany is celebrated, exists a sacred circle of time. These 12 nights arise from the gap between the lunar and solar calendars and are therefore considered holy and beyond time. This is often the ‘dead of winter’ phase when there is a strange, quiet lull. […]