There are two poems for fall that I love best. One, “Ode to the West Wind,” I’ve written about in Reflections. The other is by Gerard Manley Hopkins, one of my all-time favorite poems. (Check out “Pied Beauty” for sheer glory of words.) The Hopkins is called “Spring and Fall,” and has the dedication, “to […]
Fire is both creative and destructive. Its reputation is often largely as something destructive, and yet it gives life, as well. The humble candle can lead to a house fire, destroying lives, possessions and a sense of history. Or, attended and respected, it can create a sacred atmosphere, a romantic environment, or even a place […]
Last night, I had the privilege of talking with folks about the metaphorical and material power of gardening, of plants, of the powers of weeds, watering, thinning, and composting. Composting as a metaphor for “putting death in its proper place.” The need for death to feed life. Recognizing that even human death feeds the cycles […]
In my tradition of Wicca, when we call ourselves to look to the Directions that go out to the horizon, call ourselves to mindfulness of the Elements within us, we begin in the East. We begin where Sun rises and Day begins, with the Element of breath and breezes and gales, of Air. We begin […]
Ah, the beauty of the movement of the body! The glory of muscles stretching, limbs pulling and pushing, bending and lifting! The rhythms of breathing, running, bicycling, rolling, climbing, jumping, dancing…the innumerable ways we can attend to joyful movement. So many! But then, sometimes, OUCH! I am a bit laid up this week, as it […]