Urban life can seem awfully sterile with little greenery and/or abandoned lots. Often residents have no opportunity to connect with plants by actually growing them. (A must have experience for all children, in my opinion.) It looks like some city dwellers are tired of having just house plants or a few potted plants at windows; urban gardening, including edible foods farming, is becoming a movement. Here's a snapshot of what is happening. Continue reading →
Even in the hardest part of winter the signs of spring approach- tree buds start to swell, and daylight is noticeably longer. Celebrated in the Northern Hemisphere around February 1st as Imbolc (the Feast of Brigit), Oimelc (ewes' milk), Candlemas (Feb. 2nd), St. Brigid's Day, or Groundhog Day, we know that the promise of new growth awaits.
'Brigit, excellent woman, sudden flame,
may the bright fiery sun take us to the lasting kingdom.' Carmina Gadelica
There's concern in the United Kingdom in Dorset and surrounding counties about 20 horses that have mysteriously had plaited manes appearing over the last 3 months. This has been happening on nights of high wind and rain, with some owners believing that the wind is driving the horse manes into sorts of plaits or knots. At first some horse owners and the police thought this was a gypsy tagging trick, to mark horses for future theft. But the horses were not stolen. (Really getting that much gypsy horse crime these days, Constable?) Voices of reason in the local horse community mentioned that these plaits are normal in horses manes, and intentional plaiting is an urban myth. Then Dorset area police research came up with the idea that pagans are 'weaving' or using 'knot magic' with these horses! Continue reading →
I keep on seeing stories about white animals, and thought I should look up the recent sightings. Like many people I assumed these white or albino animals are pretty rare, and that they have different meanings in various belief systems. Little did I know. There are people positing new significance to these animals. And it turns out that I shared some misconceptions about the rarity of white animals. So down a path- from online videos, science of albinos, white buffaloes, white squirrel colonies, to pagan beliefs- I went. Continue reading →
For me and others the answer is- nature is sacred! We've found that a reverence for nature and respect for this world is vital, whether expressed simply as ‘Nature is good’, in a solo spiritual practice, or as part of a formal religious tradition. So spirit, science, and our interactions with nature are delved into on this site. Enjoy your time here, and may green blessings be yours!
Please join theWiccans, (neo)Pagans, Witches and fellows lending team on Kiva, a non-profit website that allows you to lend as little as $25 to a specific low-income entrepreneur across the globe. You can choose to have a loan show up in the team's collective portfolio, so our overall impact will grow! So far this group has loaned over $66,000!