Beyond the Anthropocene: Druidry into the Future

Druidry into the future

Druidry today has both ancient and modern roots, and there have been several distinct “phases” of druid practice historically. While it’s not critical that the practitioner of the modern druid traditions know what I share, it is helpful to have a sense of where the tradition comes from and the forces that shaped it–particularly so that we can think about where we are going. I want to talk today about both the past of druidry in order that we might talk about its future. How do we shape our tradition today so that we become the honored ancestors of tomorrow? What is the work that we might consider doing now, as druids, to create a tradition that endures?

Modern druidry is inspired by the Ancient Druids, a group of wise sages who kept history, traditions, and guided the spiritual life of their people. The Ancient Druids…

View original post 2,557 more words

A Witches Garden | Why You Need One and How to Make it

Happy Full Moon!

This full moon takes place in the earthy sign of Virgo. We can feel the earth begin to wake up as we shift from the colder, darker months into the warmer season of spring.

You might feel yourself beginning to wake up from your own winter season too. Move your body and stretch often. Drink plenty of water (especially during the full moon) to help facilitate movement for changes that are surfacing at this time.

The Full Seed Moon falling in the sign of Virgo this cycle can be beneficial towards the transformation you’ve been yearning for.

Virgo is the healer of the zodiac. Her eye is sharp and she is able to see the things others may miss. Virgo sharpens our eye as well and makes us more detail oriented. This full moon helps shine light on the areas in our lives that are going well, and on the areas that may need some cleansing or weeding.

Virgo is an earth sign, making this full moon the perfect time for working with the element of earth. As the earth wakes up, we wanted to do a Full Moon Ritual that helps honor the rebirth of Spring…

Read full article at: Spirit de la Lune ~ A Witches Garden | Why You Need One and How to Make it

Emotional Intelligence

secretsoftheserpent

Emotion is the root of all action. The mind may regulate action, but intellect rarely pushes us into action. Emotion is what pushes us. Intellectuals spend all their time thinking while doing nothing. We must feel a sense of meaning that move us to action. The mind can not operate without emotional stimulation. Emotion is what helps us remember. The things you remember the most is because there is an emotional charge connected to it. Emotion also helps us to suppress. The things we suppress have an emotional charge connected to it.

View original post 3,533 more words

BIG NEWS: Our newest course is officially here!

Good Witches Homestead

Do you dream of creating your own herbal recipe book? One that’s full ofeffective, original, well-balanced formulasinspired by your unique herbal journey and expertise, and the needs of the people for whom they are intended?Our herbal recipe book would be something environmentally friendly, maybe a wax canvas-bound cover and handwritten interior, with oil stains on the pages and pressed flowers tucked into the spine. Part recipe book, part diary, part scrapbook – it would smell of the garden and be bursting with tried-and-true herbal recipes.

Crafting your own herbal formulations is a beautiful way to develop and share your herbal legacy – a tome of time-tested formulas that your family and clients will treasure for years to come. It’s also how you can start creating personalized formulas based on unique wants, needs, and energetics. If you’re ready to progress from following other peoples’ herbal formulations to developing your own…

View original post 357 more words

Florida Herbal Conference

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

Though winter snows continue to fall here in the Northeast, we are daring to dream of Spring, flowers, and new gardens filled with beauty and fragrant, healing herbs! For more inspiration, exciting workshops, deepening your understanding of the green world, great music and marvelous fun connecting with herbalists around the world ~ head on over to the Florida Herbal Conference site! Emily Ruff and her amazing team are making this conference available to EVERYONE with the pay-what-you-are-able registration fee. I so hope you have the time to show up and be a part of this Herbal Celebration!! Enjoy!

Source: Florida Herbal Conference

View original post

Exploring Vanilla in the Rainforest and in the Kitchen: Part I

The Herb Society of America Blog

By Susan Belsinger

(Adapted from her article, “Exploring Rainforest Spices at Villa Vanilla,” featured in the 2019 issue of The Herbarist, the annual journal of The Herb Society of America.)

Vanilla in the Rainforest

P1110204 Before going to Costa Rica, I researched gardens, restaurants, herbs, spices, botanicals and the rainforest—places where I wanted to go, see, and experience. Once I visited Villa Vanilla’s website, https://www.rainforestspices.com/, I knew that I had to go there. I made reservations for the farm tour in advance. It was one of my favorite things in Costa Rica—I loved seeing the tropical spice plants up close and personal—and I got to smell and taste so many things, which was a memorable sensory experience!

During the half day Spice Plantation Tour, visitors experience the sights, tastes, and aromas of vanilla, cinnamon, pepper, and other tropical spices, essential oil plants, and a wide variety of…

View original post 1,181 more words

Wildcrafted Druidry: Using the Doctrine of Signatures, Ecology and Mythology to Cultivate Sacred Relationships with Trees

The Druid's Garden

A stream in winter

Nature spirituality is most obviously tied to one’s local nature–the trees, plants, animals, landforms, and other features of what makes your own landscape unique. One of the formidable challenges before those of us practicing nature-based spiritualities in the United States and other “colonized” regions is that not only do we not have the right/access to native traditions on local uses of plants, we also have systems that are inherited from other places and may not properly fit. Ogham is a good example of this: if you use the traditional ogham in the US, it is kind of like wearing a pair of ill-fitting shoes: you can get by, but the system isn’t working with what is outside your door.

With that said, I have always been fascinated by the idea of a language of trees, a system that we can use for magical and divination purposes…

View original post 3,672 more words

Forgotten Knowledge

secretsoftheserpent

Alexandria was a place of true wisdom. All the texts mingled together there. It had the knowledge of all antiquity. There was millions of manuscripts. When the libraries burned down we lost more knowledge than we could ever get back. Only legends and fables remain from Alexandria. The entire structure of the Hermetic was developed in Alexandria. Not far from Alexandria was the pyramids was the pyramids of Egypt. Today no one knows how, when or why the pyramids were built.

View original post 3,082 more words

Eat 84 Grams Of Mushrooms. Here’s Why

Mushrooms have come a long way in recent years.

Formerly classified as primitive plants in the taxonomic sense and as white vegetables in the culinary sense, fungi have since risen above their woefully outdated labels.

In the ecological context, we’ve learned that mushrooms are anything but primitive. In the nutritional context, we’ve learned that mushrooms are dietary superstars.

Subsequently, it seems that there are just as many reasons to appreciate mushrooms as there are to eat them. Human health, it turns out, is one overlapping reason.

Corroborating this motive is new research published in the journal Food, Science, & Nutrition. In a recent study, researchers concluded that eating a small serving of mushrooms can have measurable and positive effects on human health.

In a brand new video, I discuss four important findings revealed in this study. If you’re interested in learning the ways in which mushrooms can improve your health, check it out!

Like fungi, the American beaver has made considerable progress in recent years. Formerly classified as extirpated in many states, beavers can now be found in urban parks. To read about a morning encounter I had with North America’s largest rodent, check out the latest Instagram post!Click to view post

I was a recent guest on The Mushroom Hour podcast. In the interview, we discuss many topics related to nature connection, supporting land conservation trusts, foraging wild water, and more. You can listen to the interview through one of the following links:

Thanks for reading and watching, and thanks for your continued support!

-Adam Haritan

Frost Flowers

The Herb Society of America Blog

By Katherine Schlosser

There is something peaceful about a frosty pre-dawn morning. On the morning that I wrote this, I waited at the front door for our latest grand-dog to arrive. We keep him during the day while our daughter and son-in-law work, he providing as much company for us as we do for him. The sky was just turning a rosy pink near the horizon, but overall it was cold and cloudy.

Verbesina alternifolia Wingstem Strawberry Rd by Kathy Schlosser Shivering as I stood looking out the door, a glimpse of white caught my eye. My first thought was squirrels had again torn open the chairs on the deck, ripping out stuffing to line their nests. Walking down the steps to retrieve the wisps of cotton, I realized these are FROST FLOWERS!!