Publication Alert: "Cornerstones of Wisdom"

Hey everyone! My essay ‘Cornerstones of Wisdom: Poetry, Permanence and Wildness in Gaelic Polytheism’ (p50-53) was published in the latest issue of Written River. Hope you guys will take a look :) Right now it's only available in online viewing, but soon there will be print copies to order, if you'd rather have a hard copy.

Lá Lúnasa 2011

Ah, finally have some time to write up about my Lúnasa festivities. More than any other festival (save Oíche Shamhna that is), Lúnasa is my most lengthy celebration. I'm a child of autumn and so I bask in all the turn of the season has to offer for as long as I can. Can I just praise the weather a bit here? A couple of days this month have given us a sneak peak at October's glorious weather and I couldn't be happier. We are in such a time now. Hurricane Irene has given us here in the southeast some breezy and extremely less humid air. I am loving it! Even if it's just a tease of autumn. But back to Lúnasa...

Book Review: The Earth Path by Starhawk

The Earth Path is certainly a book written from a Wiccan perspective yet it is one that harbors wisdom for any and all who read it, regardless of their creed. In fact, you could remove all religion/spirituality from this book and still be left with something wholly spiritual and educational.

Topics discussed within The Earth Path include organic and green living, ecology, ecopsychology, bioregionalism, climate change, activism, evolution, social change, permaculture, feminism (though not in the overt manner one would expect from Starhawk), paganism, earth-centered values and wilderness awareness.

The point of this book is to help people become more aligned and connected (or re-connected) with the thing that surround us all and sustains our well-being: nature. Regardless of what we may think, we are not apart from nature but an integral part within it. Nevertheless, until we realize this fact and balance our lives with nature and everything within it, we will always be apart from it.

Project Ogham

I’ve decided that I really want (need) to begin working with the ogham on a much deeper level. I’m not sure exactly how this is going to work out, in regards to what methods I’ll be using, or if I‘ll be doing them in order, but I know I want to focus on one feda (letter) a month. However, instead of focusing solely on the crann ogham (tree ogham), I’m going to combine it with the éan ogham (bird ogham). Why? I have three reasons actually:

1. I have the sneaking suspicion that more abounds about the lore of trees than birds (both here in my locale and in the Gaelic countries) and I don’t want to miss out on the copious amounts I could learn from there.
2. I have a strong affinity with our feathered friends, and here in our tiny valley (which I‘ve aptly named Gleann Préachán, or ‘Valley of the Crows‘, though sometimes I call it Gleann hÉanlaith, ‘Valley of the Birds‘) it is positively teeming with their presence and song. Being near them makes me happy, and I often sit on the porch and talk to the ones that fly up to me.
3. To me, birds and trees are simpatico (able to exist and perform in harmonious or agreeable combination). Birds, though not all, reside in the sheltering arms of the tree and some depend on them for sustenance—berries, nuts, fruits, sap, bugs under bark, and acorns. In turn, some trees rely on birds—the and wind—for cross pollination and to help in perpetuating their life cycle by knocking fruits to the ground which germinates seeds.

When I see birds, I think of trees and vice versa. It just feels right to focus on them both. Since I am focusing on two things during the span of one month, I know this is a cycle I’ll be repeating numerous times (if not for the duration of my life) in order to learn all I can from them. The first cycle, however, will be documented here—though not fully. There is a great deal, I’m sure, that will remain with me or shared only with friends.

Also, I do realize some modifications might have to be made for trees or birds that are not in my area, but I want to try as hard as I can to keep that to a minimum. Our land is part of the Appalachian foothills, which scientists have said were once a part of the Caledonian mountain range in Scotland before the continents broke apart, so I’m hoping there will be things in common.

I'm still culling the resources I will use for this project, so more on this later.

Capturing the Change

A recent thread at a forum has really gotten me to think about how things are changing environmentally within the low-populated rural locale I have lived in for the last 23 years.

My small town has seen a lot of clear-cutting within the last year. Mostly near my own house. I realize that the people who own the land may want it clear-cut for building or just to earn some money as times are tough for farmers and land-owners here, but it still saddens my heart to see it done.

I was driving down my road one day and came across one of my favorite places where you always see wild turkey lurking about ... and it had been clear-cut. A mother deer and her two fawns were wandering about so sad, confused and lost. The home they knew had been destroyed. I pulled over and sat near them for a while and just wept.

Industry is indeed encroaching on my tiny town and it saddens me that everything I love about this place may not be here when my niece and nephews grow up. They won't get to witness the wild turkey or the graceful deer, perhaps not even the cougar and owl. All that land that has remained untouched for thousands of years, is gone. I'm witnessing the end of an era within this rural countryside and it hurts ... and I don't think it's a battle that I could win even if I tried.