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Winter Solstice: The Light Begins to Return It’s also the holiday season—a time to enjoy friends, family, and feasting. And yet this year it’s also the time of intense political stress. The Democrats are finally holding the occupant of the White House accountable, more and more corruption is coming to light, and the Republicans are almost […] 
Beltane Approaches May Eve, the holiday that celebrates the burgeoning fertility of spring! In ancient times, it was the joyful festival that reveled in wild sensuality. The Maypole, that upthrusting rod, was crowned with a ring of flowers that slid down as the ribbons twined in the dance. But how do we […] 
Ritual is a Basic Human Response to a World of Uncertainty and Intensity When we do a ritual around something, it’s a way of saying ‘this is really important’. It’s a process that helps us integrate deep emotional experiences, such as loss. If someone dies, we feel a need to mark their passage, […] 
A Witch’s Dilemma When Ronald Reagan got elected, my mother—who was never too happy about my being a Witch—nonetheless kept urging me to hex him. I kept trying to tell her that what you send out returns to you three times over, that there were other ways to work, but she wasn’t […] 
Monster Hurricanes, Raging Wildfires, Massive Floods, Unprecedented Heat Waves… This disastrous summer has shown that climate change is no longer a theory but a full, galloping reality. Now is the moment to organize around it, and build a movement broader and stronger than ever before. Great efforts have indeed been […] 
The World Has Gone Bonko. Devout Christians vote for a self-admitted sexual predator. Climate change revs up hurricanes and whips up wildfires into holocausts—and the deniers in government respond by rolling back programs to mitigate it. Having spent the ‘60s and beyond debunking the right-wing assertions that every progressive movement […] 
“Sacred fire, that shapes this land, Summer teacher, winter friend. Protect us as we learn anew, To work, to heal, to live with you.” This is the chant we sing each summer as part of the fire protection ritual we do on my land in Western Sonoma County. […] Spring Equinox—Eostar, the festival of the ancient Goddess who gave her name to Easter. The days grow longer—now day and night are in perfect balance. I understand why eggs are such a part of this holiday—not just that they symbolize new life, but now with the longer days the chickens are laying abundantly. I […] “Bird dreamed of a fortress. Impregnable, formed of cold blocks of gray stone, it towered above him. A bugle blew. The gates opened, and legions of soldiers poured out. Masked and helmeted, armed and shielded, they marched in lockstep, left, right, left, an invincible force. ““But how do we fight this?” Bird […]
Lammas, the ancient Celtic festival of Lughnasad, celebration of the first harvest. In my first book, The Spiral Dance, I wrote that Lammas is the time when we stand between hope and fear. The fruit ripens on the bough, but is not yet harvested. The grapes swell on […] |
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