Exploring the Sacred Animals of the Quarters in the Druid Tradition — The Druids Garden

In the druid tradition, in multiple modern druid orders, we associate animals or fish with the four directions. The classic ones are: The Great Bear in the North The Hawk in the East The Stag in the South The Salmon in the West Depending on the tradition, it might get a little fancier. For example,…
Exploring the Sacred Animals of the Quarters in the Druid Tradition — The Druids Garden

A Prescription For Swans (new video!)

The arrival of spring can easily be seen on a lake.

Melting ice, blossoming poplars, and migrating waterfowl are among its most faithful signs. Like an unerring calendar, the lake reminds us that the darkest days have expired and a season of growth awaits.

While walking the shores of a local lake one chilly morning, I observed and heard several signs of spring. One sound in particular, emanating from the center of the water, caught my attention.

As I approached the sound, its intensity changed from a periodic “coo” to a chorus of whistles. Too early for spring peepers and wood frogs, I thought to myself, but not too early for something else I had hoped to find.

Tundra swans.

I peered through the cattails and alder shrubs to confirm my hunches. The icy lake hosted hundreds of tundra swans that had stopped for a visit on their journey to the Arctic. With a camera in hand, I decided to document the experience while musing on the subtle power of swans to heal.

If you’re interested in seeing tundra swans up close, check out the new video!

Less vocal and numerous but still a sign of spring’s impending arrival are these diminutive diving ducks. Have you seen any buffleheads this year? To read about my recent encounter with a small flock, check out the latest Instagram post!Click to view post

In case you missed it, here’s a recent interview I did with The Mushroom Hour podcast. In this interview, we discuss many topics including nature connection, reciprocal living, and supporting land conservation trusts. 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

Cuckoo Bird Totem

A Druid’s Guide to Homestead Bird Flocks and Flock Happiness

The Druid's Garden

On the Druid’s Garden homestead, we have many feathered friends. I think a lot of people see birds just as livestock, but here, we see them a little differently. Thus, I wanted to create a short guide for people who were thinking about cultivating a relationship with a backyard flock of birds but they weren’t sure what kind of birds they might want! Of course, this is my own druid perspective on homestead bird flocks, which might be a bit different than what you’ll find on more general sites. In this guide, I’ll talk about a variety of backyard flock breeds, how they might help your garden and homestead, challenges, temperament, and more. I will also note that I haven’t raised birds for meat, so I won’t talk about that much in this guide. I’ll cover four common backyard flock birds: chickens, ducks, geese, and guinea fowl.

Entering Into Relationship

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Nightingale Totem — Elder Mountain Dreaming

By Phoenix of Elder Mountain – A friend of mine shared with me the lore of the Ukrainian Nightingale which I am very grateful. I have smaller birds such as the Mourning Dove and the Nightingales as a totem, and on occasion the Mockingbird on and off through my life. These birds after working with them […]

via Nightingale Totem — Elder Mountain Dreaming

Loon Totem

Stingray Totem

Feel Good Sunday: Italian City to Use Quiet Fireworks Out of Respect for Critters

Straight from the Horse's Heart

by R.T. Fitch

“More Companion Animals Run Away During the 4th Than any other Time of the Year…”

Living in an equestrian community it has always been the ‘law of the land’ to ban all types of fireworks at all times of the year for the sake of the horses and donkeys, but of course; there is always a drunk or unsupervised teenager who attempts to press the envelope during the 4th of July. But all in all, we manage to stem the panic at a local level but are not exempt from the pops and booms from neighboring communities and our companion animals end up suffering stress from the surrounding commotion.

Years ago, when we had a quaint little farm in the countryside north of Lafayette, LA we were surrounded my neighboring farmers who would actually aim their aerial assault OVER our property just to watch our horses run…

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TECHNIQUES FOR WORKING WITH POWER ANIMALS

Good Witches Homestead

Throughout our lives, we may encounter animals of a special nature that bring to us certain gifts of the Spirit. These are power animals… and they visit us for the purpose of sharing knowledge, giving us necessary abilities, or teaching us wisdom that it is important for us to know. These may be called familiars by some (a common European term), allies (a more common North American Indian term), totems, guides, or power animals. Different cultures and different faiths have different views on exactly what constitutes a power animal. I won’t address those distinctions here. I’m not the end-all expert in every culture’s traditional correctness! But more importantly, there are certain features of power animals and how we can relate and work with them that are true and effective regardless of what they are called.

First and of greatest importance, always understand that power animal is gifts of the Spirit…

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State Experiments with Legal Advocates for Abused Animals in Court

Straight from the Horse's Heart

Story from Fox News.com

“Every state has the problem of overburdened courts that understandably prioritize human cases over animal cases in allocating resources,”

niversity of Connecticut law professor Jessica Rubin, left, and law student Taylor Hansen prepare to present arguments as animal advocates in a dog fighting case on May 30, 2017, in Superior Court in Hartford, Conn. (AP)

Many states have victim’s advocates or child advocates, people in the judicial system who represent those affected by crime or abuse. Now, one state has created legal advocates for abused animals, an experiment being watched across the nation for signs of success.

There are eight approved volunteer advocates across Connecticut — seven lawyers and a UConn law professor, working with her students. It’s up to a judge to decide whether to appoint one, but they can be requested by prosecutors or defense attorneys. In the first six months of the…

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