On New Year’s Eve 1972, I stood under the Arc de Triomphe near France’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and looked down the Champs Elysees in breathless wonder. I was alone in a city meant for lovers, but all I was aware of (besides the cold) was the light. Every tree along the Champs Elysees …
Samhain is the season of essences, of bones and sinews. Therefore, one of the natural tasks of Samhain is attending to our relationship with our ancestors (the bones and sinews that support our lives), sending our spirit questing deep into our roots, feeling the breadth and flexible strength of our branches. For some of us, …
[Yes — this is a day late. Life happened.] There was a little hiatus in our tidying process during my 21-Day Art Journey and then our week with our daughter and son-in-law in St Paul. In fact, I wondered if the pause would drain the energy and momentum, whether we might just stop part-way …
Welcome to Samhain. In case you missed it, last Wednesday’s Reflection (29 October 2015) invites you to reflect on the past season – and the past year – and contains a ritual farewell to Lughnasadh and a ritual welcome to Samhain. The winter quarter has just begun in the ancient Irish calendar of the northern …
I saw the video in a hotel room in Council Bluffs. My husband follows news with an enthusiasm I have long since lost, so I was puttering around trying to arrange things without actually unpacking anything – not a surprise for those of you who followed my posts on sabbatical. The announcer’s voice took on …
As Advent is to the church year, so Samhain is to the Celtic year: a new beginning, a doorway opening into infinite possibility. This year, Daylight Savings ends in the United States on 1 November (the first day of Samhain), so we will have a very visible reminder that we are slowing and darkening toward …
Just over a month ago, I turned to my husband and said, “I can’t imagine being part of a religious tradition where thousands of people die on pilgrimage.” The reports from Mecca every year touch a primal fear in me. I hate crowds. Even in high school and college I wouldn’t go to concerts because …
The headlines are enough to make even the most relentless optimist despair. Those of us who are trying to ignore world news still find it seeping in around the edges while we stand in lines at the grocery store or bank or post office and listen to the conversations around us. So, as we hurtle …
And so we come to the end of an amazing 21-Day Journey…at least amazing for me. This was the most challenging week of the three — line turned out to be trickier than I had anticipated. The learning curve kept going and I see it stretching out before me as I resume a more ‘normal’ …
I thought these seven days of Week Two would be the hardest because I was only one-third of the way through the 21-Day Journey with twice as many ideas and exercises still to imagine. Not so, as it turns out. The learning curve continues and I have (re-)learned some things and learned others: I still …