Musings of a Tree Hugging Dirt Worshipper

[Quintessence]

Unfolding Lessons - Attending to the Guiding Star

The Dark Moon approaches
Storm Spirit flirts on the horizon
The Green unfurls
Magnolia stellata welcomes with open arms
Tree pollen carried on the Winds​

In the decade plus I've been on the forums, at no point have I seriously considered creating a journal thread here. For one, if I wanted to create an online journal, a blog would be a far more appropriate venue. I tried my hand at blogging a couple times. It never stuck. For two, across the couple some decades plus I've been a practicing Pagan, I've journaled extensively throughout. What would be the point of creating a journal thread here? Why bother?

A compromise.

Some moons ago, I popped back onto the forums after a fairly long hiatus. There was no particularly grand reason for that hiatus beyond lack of motivation and my attention simply being directed elsewhere. There was something comforting seeing the same old names, and the return of a few I'd remembered from years ago. It was like returning to one's childhood hometown in a way - a return to a community that one had shaped and been shaped in turn by, in ways both bad and good if we want to judge. When we return to our childhood homes, it's never quite the same. A building here or there has got a new owner, and we ourselves come with a somewhat different perspective or new experiences. And there's this feeling of something just not quite belonging. A nostalgia - a remembering of how things were - but recognizing you've grown up a lot and are in a different place. That you need to attend to the now, where your path is going in the gift that is the present, and not dwell too much on the what was. To attend to the guiding star of your life.

For me, over the past many moons, that guiding star has been focusing a great deal on my studies with the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids.

A return to the forums was intended to be a complement to that. After all, sharing stories is important and something I value. Humans are fundamentally a storytelling species. Often, sharing stories becomes a wonderful experience. We learn from each other, grow in the telling, and come away from it all enriched. Other times, it detracts from our life paths and distracts. We run into hecklers and naysayers, the "in it to win it" crowd, and come away from it all exhausted. And it's hard to know which of these you're going to get when you share your stories.

I've just got little to no patience for the naysayers anymore. I just don't. It does nothing to enrich my life or my practice and distracts from what is actually important. And that's following one's own guiding star, as I've always done; doing my own thing and living a happy, joyful life in spite of what anyone else has to say about it (as I stick my tongue out in cheeky defiance, naturally).

The forums weren't complementing my studies with the Order, which was in some ways an awkward thing to recognize. Like that moment when you return to your childhood home but have that feeling of something just not quite belonging. That you've gotta attend to something else. But you don't quite want to let it go. You want to figure out some way to make that relationship still work in some way.

This journal is that compromise - a sort of experiment with that. We'll see how it goes.

 

[Quintessence]

Earth Day is Every Day - The Need for Paganism in the Modern World

The Dark Moon is past
Sky and Sun obscured by Cloud
Freeze threatens the tender green
The growing slows, slows, slows
Biding its time
Three Mourning Doves visit​

Today is Earth Day.

The fact that we even have an Earth Day is a testament to how thoroughly indigenous religion and ways of life were erased from the English speaking world and replaced with a different sort of cultural hegemony. In a proper indigenous or Pagan culture, celebrating and honoring various aspects of nature is just what one does. All the time. On a weekly, if not daily basis. You mind the stations of Sun as they change throughout the seasons of the year. You watch the flight of birds. You feel the changes in the Winds and know when Rain or Storm is coming. You just know. Because you are paying attention to and honoring the greater-than-human world around you, filled with innumerable other-than-human persons, all the time.

Instead, today, we have this awkward thing called Earth Day. That one day each year where the domesticated non-Pagan masses go "oh, yeah, nature! Right! That's a thing!"

Maybe that's being a bit unfair or cynical, but then I look outside. Nearly everything about how modern humans manipulate the landscapes around which they dwell screams disrespect for the spirits of the land and a lack of paying attention to the other-than-human persons that dominate this planet. Though sometimes, you get humans like these heroes, who listen to the land and get it:

"Janet and Jeff Crouch do not know which flower or plant may have pushed their longtime next door neighbor over the edge, prompting him to pen complaint after complaint about the state of their yard.​

​

Perhaps it was the scarlet bee balm that drew hummingbirds in darting, whirring droves. Or the swamp milkweed that Monarch butterflies feasted upon before laying their eggs. Or maybe it was the native sunflowers that fed bumblebees and goldfinches.​

​

Whatever it was, their neighbor’s mounting resentment burst to the fore in the fall of 2017, in the form of a letter from a lawyer for their homeowner association that ordered the Crouches to rip out their native plant beds, and replace them with grass.​

​

...​

​

For the Crouches, giving in was not an option. They hired a lawyer and contacted every wildlife and environmental group they could think of, along with local legislators. After a year and a half, still at an impasse with the homeowner association and fearful that one day they’d come home to find their garden mowed down, they filed a complaint in Howard County Circuit Court.​

​

...​

​

Two months after the Crouches filed their complaint, a Maryland state representative asked if they would allow their case to form the basis of a new environmental law."​

--- From They Fought the Lawn. And the Lawn’s Done.​

And in October 2021, a bill banning HoAs from prohibiting pollinator plants or rain gardens (or requiring those biotic deserts that are called "lawns" in this country) passed unanimously in the state of Maryland.

It's a start.

When I moved into my condo (governed by an HoA not unlike the one the Crouches have to deal with) the first thing I did was rip out the old rock landscaping and put in a small prairie restoration. Add some native shrubs. Plant a couple native trees. I didn't ask for permission. I just did it. So far, no complaints, but if it happens, I have a model and example to follow through the heroics of the Crouches (though I'm not convinced I have the money for the lawyers, sadly). I doubt that this couple were Pagan in any way, but that doesn't matter. Many serve the gods and the spirits of the land regardless of what they believe. It's about what you do, and what you practice, and how you live. If you give back to that which is greater than yourself - you're doing religion right.

And, I suppose, of Earth Day inspires a few more to give back to that-which-is-greater, that's a good thing.

 

[JustGeorge]

Unfolding Lessons - Attending to the Guiding Star

The Dark Moon approaches
Storm Spirit flirts on the horizon
The Green unfurls
Magnolia stellata welcomes with open arms
Tree pollen carried on the Winds​

In the decade plus I've been on the forums, at no point have I seriously considered creating a journal thread here. For one, if I wanted to create an online journal, a blog would be a far more appropriate venue. I tried my hand at blogging a couple times. It never stuck. For two, across the couple some decades plus I've been a practicing Pagan, I've journaled extensively throughout. What would be the point of creating a journal thread here? Why bother?

A compromise.

Some moons ago, I popped back onto the forums after a fairly long hiatus. There was no particularly grand reason for that hiatus beyond lack of motivation and my attention simply being directed elsewhere. There was something comforting seeing the same old names, and the return of a few I'd remembered from years ago. It was like returning to one's childhood hometown in a way - a return to a community that one had shaped and been shaped in turn by, in ways both bad and good if we want to judge. When we return to our childhood homes, it's never quite the same. A building here or there has got a new owner, and we ourselves come with a somewhat different perspective or new experiences. And there's this feeling of something just not quite belonging. A nostalgia - a remembering of how things were - but recognizing you've grown up a lot and are in a different place. That you need to attend to the now, where your path is going in the gift that is the present, and not dwell too much on the what was. To attend to the guiding star of your life.

For me, over the past many moons, that guiding star has been focusing a great deal on my studies with the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids.

A return to the forums was intended to be a complement to that. After all, sharing stories is important and something I value. Humans are fundamentally a storytelling species. Often, sharing stories becomes a wonderful experience. We learn from each other, grow in the telling, and come away from it all enriched. Other times, it detracts from our life paths and distracts. We run into hecklers and naysayers, the "in it to win it" crowd, and come away from it all exhausted. And it's hard to know which of these you're going to get when you share your stories.

I've just got little to no patience for the naysayers anymore. I just don't. It does nothing to enrich my life or my practice and distracts from what is actually important. And that's following one's own guiding star, as I've always done; doing my own thing and living a happy, joyful life in spite of what anyone else has to say about it (as I stick my tongue out in cheeky defiance, naturally).

Yup.

The forums weren't complementing my studies with the Order, which was in some ways an awkward thing to recognize. Like that moment when you return to your childhood home but have that feeling of something just not quite belonging. That you've gotta attend to something else. But you don't quite want to let it go. You want to figure out some way to make that relationship still work in some way.

This journal is that compromise - a sort of experiment with that. We'll see how it goes.

I'm happy you compromised, and glad you shared this.

 

[JustGeorge]

Earth Day is Every Day - The Need for Paganism in the Modern World

The Dark Moon is past
Sky and Sun obscured by Cloud
Freeze threatens the tender green
The growing slows, slows, slows
Biding its time
Three Mourning Doves visit​

Today is Earth Day.

The fact that we even have an Earth Day is a testament to how thoroughly indigenous religion and ways of life were erased from the English speaking world and replaced with a different sort of cultural hegemony. In a proper indigenous or Pagan culture, celebrating and honoring various aspects of nature is just what one does. All the time. On a weekly, if not daily basis. You mind the stations of Sun as they change throughout the seasons of the year. You watch the flight of birds. You feel the changes in the Winds and know when Rain or Storm is coming. You just know. Because you are paying attention to and honoring the greater-than-human world around you, filled with innumerable other-than-human persons, all the time.

Instead, today, we have this awkward thing called Earth Day. That one day each year where the domesticated non-Pagan masses go "oh, yeah, nature! Right! That's a thing!"

Maybe that's being a bit unfair or cynical, but then I look outside. Nearly everything about how modern humans manipulate the landscapes around which they dwell screams disrespect for the spirits of the land and a lack of paying attention to the other-than-human persons that dominate this planet. Though sometimes, you get humans like these heroes, who listen to the land and get it:

"Janet and Jeff Crouch do not know which flower or plant may have pushed their longtime next door neighbor over the edge, prompting him to pen complaint after complaint about the state of their yard.​

​

Perhaps it was the scarlet bee balm that drew hummingbirds in darting, whirring droves. Or the swamp milkweed that Monarch butterflies feasted upon before laying their eggs. Or maybe it was the native sunflowers that fed bumblebees and goldfinches.​

​

Whatever it was, their neighbor’s mounting resentment burst to the fore in the fall of 2017, in the form of a letter from a lawyer for their homeowner association that ordered the Crouches to rip out their native plant beds, and replace them with grass.​

​

...​

​

For the Crouches, giving in was not an option. They hired a lawyer and contacted every wildlife and environmental group they could think of, along with local legislators. After a year and a half, still at an impasse with the homeowner association and fearful that one day they’d come home to find their garden mowed down, they filed a complaint in Howard County Circuit Court.​

​

...​

​

Two months after the Crouches filed their complaint, a Maryland state representative asked if they would allow their case to form the basis of a new environmental law."​

--- From They Fought the Lawn. And the Lawn’s Done.​

And in October 2021, a bill banning HoAs from prohibiting pollinator plants or rain gardens (or requiring those biotic deserts that are called "lawns" in this country) passed unanimously in the state of Maryland.

It's a start.

When I moved into my condo (governed by an HoA not unlike the one the Crouches have to deal with) the first thing I did was rip out the old rock landscaping and put in a small prairie restoration. Add some native shrubs. Plant a couple native trees. I didn't ask for permission. I just did it. So far, no complaints, but if it happens, I have a model and example to follow through the heroics of the Crouches (though I'm not convinced I have the money for the lawyers, sadly). I doubt that this couple were Pagan in any way, but that doesn't matter. Many serve the gods and the spirits of the land regardless of what they believe. It's about what you do, and what you practice, and how you live. If you give back to that which is greater than yourself - you're doing religion right.

And, I suppose, of Earth Day inspires a few more to give back to that-which-is-greater, that's a good thing.

I hope your land thrives, and I hope others feel called to garden in a way that benefits their greater area.

 

[Quintessence]

Avatar

The Waxing Moon bulges
Wind Spirits whirl and whip
Paired samaras on Maple's tip
Red Oak catkins from branches drip​

Since the changeover to the new version of XenForo, things have looked a bit different around here. One of the more significant visual changes was the transformation of member avatars. Instead of being more square or rectangular in format, they were replaced with circles.

I like circles. Pagans on the whole think in circles (wait... that probably didn't come out right... oh well!).

Alas, the avatar I'd used on this site since... always? It doesn't fit in the circle. Or rather, it would fit in the circle, but I don't have the original image and the part of it I would want centered is cut off. Alas, alack! Conundrums abound! Oh, shall I miss the face-in-the-green, so subtle as to be missed by the unwatchful eye!

It was not difficult to come up with the replacement, though. There's a fair chance I'll do some custom artwork that will replace the current rendition, but for now, the present suffices. The Druids will get what it is, what it represents. Others will go "cool, tree leaves!" and that's fine too. Interestingly, when I first encountered the symbol I didn't find it that compelling. The symbol I tend to use to represent my tradition is a different one, but as I've studied more with the Order, more layers of meaning reveal themselves.

Symbols can do such a better job at communicating complex topics than words. Where our alphabetic language is woefully detached from our experienced world, symbols are not. They often directly reference things that are out there, to be experienced, to be lived. They represent physical and temporal spaces in ways letters just don't. It's hard to explain, but the artists probably get what I'm driving at.

​

 

[JustGeorge]

Awen.

 

[Quintessence]

Three-Way+ Thinking

Sun rises in the morning sky
Winged Ones scavenge for seed
The feeder is empty!
Time to replenish the offering​

One of the things I appreciated about Paganisms upon learning of their modern relevance years back was their propensity for escaping problematic patterns of thinking that are prevalent in mainstream culture. There are several examples of these, but the one that comes to mind in this moment was drawn into awareness by an article I was reading by a scholar on The Conversation on why some humans become susceptible to climate change denial (among other forms of denialism). Dr. Shapiro wrote:

"Close examination of the arguments made by climate change deniers reveals the same mistake made over and over again. That mistake is the cognitive error known as black-and-white thinking, also called dichotomous and all-or-none thinking. As I explain in my book “Finding Goldilocks,” black-and-white thinking is a source of dysfunction in mental health, relationships – and politics.​

​

People are often susceptible to it because in many areas of life, dichotomous thinking does something helpful: It simplifies the world.​

​

Binaries are easy to handle because there are only two possibilities to consider. When people face a spectrum of possibilities and nuance, they have to exert more mental effort. But when that spectrum is polarized into pairs of opposites, choices are clear and dramatic.​

​

This mental labor-saving device is practical in many everyday situations, but it is a poor tool for understanding complicated realities – and the climate is complicated."​

--- From The thinking error that makes people susceptible to climate change denial​

As someone who suffers from the problem of thinking far too much for one's own good - which consequently brings about an inability to simplify our complicated realities (yes, plural) - black-and-white, either-or thinking has never been my cup of tea. Mainstream culture, dominated by Christian narratives and reinforced by more secular philosophies, is chock full of reliance on black-and-white thinking and dualism. Paganisms on the other hand are full of three-way (or more) ways of thinking that constantly encourage us to not couch ourselves in either-or traps.

When I was studying the Bardic Grade for the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids one of the things we are introduced to are triads. They are essentially three part sayings of wisdom. There are reasons why three-way thinking is emphasized in Druidry that I won't get into here, but an effect of this structure is that it avoids overly-simplistic dualisms. It encourages us to see shades and nuance, acknowledging the diversity and pluralism that is inherent to the world we inhabit. Wrote a few of my own triads during that period and sometimes am still inspired to new ones - two dwell in my signature that I keep there due to their relevance to the forums.

Speaking of the forums, one of the things that has often frustrated me with its interactions is the propensity for that overly-simplistic black-and-white thinking.

Theism or atheism.

Religion or irreligion.

All or nothing.

Too little acknowledgement of the diversity of theism, atheism, religion, irreligion. Dismissing that which doesn't fit into the binary mold as irrelevant outliers, unimportant minorities, or "really" this or that. The same happens on so many other topics of modern discourse that are described as "polarizing" topics.

Hmph. Perhaps it'd be less polarizing if as a culture we practiced a bit more three-way+ thinking? A reasonable goal for some, though certainly not for all. Dr. Shapiro provides some useful guidance in this regard here - How to Assess Black-&-White Thinking in Yourself and Others

 

[Quintessence]

Wildfire - Isn't All Fire Wild?

Sweet-smelling Linden blooms
How did I miss you all these years?
The key to the Mysteries:
Pay Attention​

I still remember the first time the smoke from wildfires descended down into the heartland of the United States where I live. As a Druid, I watch, I listen, I pay attention to the greater-than-human world around me. I saw the changing tinge to the sky, and something deep within my bones said "RUN! DANGER!" I didn't know the changing sky colors were because of the incineration of trees hundreds of miles away, my instincts just felt something was deeply, deeply abnormal and wrong. When you watch, when you listen, when you are in tune with the Spirits of the Land and your gods, you will feel and notice the wrongness when it happens.

It's happening again.

Not here, but to the lands of the East. If reports are to be believed, a great deal more intensively than what happened in my homelands some years ago. Even those not in tune with the gods can't miss this sort of thing happening.

It'll be happening again soon.
And again.
And again.
And again.
Such is the dynamic nature of Gaea.

The way in which the stories about these events are told says a lot about the relationship mundane culture has with the greater-than-human world. Most of the coverage is deeply anthropocentric. Some of it shows signs of awakening to the fact that the gods don't, in fact, revolve around humanity. I was struck by this comment in particular:

For Chloe Bambara, 23, the hazy orange air she woke up to in Washington, D.C., on Thursday — and the desire to see it lift quickly — brought flashbacks to the uncertainties and false hopes of early 2020, when nobody knew when, or if, the pandemic would end.​

​

It did not help, she said, that faraway forest fires, as well as broader global trends like climate change, felt largely out of her control, just as Covid had.​

​

“A lot of people in my generation might feel this way, too,” Ms. Bambara said. “Is this going to be the new normal? Is this what we have to look forward to?”​

Wildfire Smoke: Air Slowly Clears in Eastern U.S., but Canada Remains Engulfed in Flames

Hundreds of wildfires are burning across Canada, displacing tens of thousands of people. In the eastern United States, the air quality continued to improve.

www.nytimes.com

"Normal" is a powerful myth. And I mean that in the religious sense of term - a sacred story told because it conveys deep truths about how those humans telling it live and experience the world. This country is part of a long cultural legacy which attempts to subjugate and control of the world - of creating and enforcing this thing called "normal." In spite of these efforts routinely failing, this culture persists in telling the myth and attempting (and failing at) domination. The why's of that are interesting to explore, if a bit beyond what I want to reflect upon here. The short of it is that the myths of this culture are really terrible at helping people deal with the fact that we live on a dynamic and ever-changing planet. People like Chloe are in deep need of alternative myths that help the navigate change.

One of the things that finding religion - Paganism and Druidry in particular - did for my life was helping me learn to navigate change. When you are a student of nature, you start to see things more from the long view and in terms of cycles of change. You take lessons from geologic time scales and realize the land you live on was under an ocean not all that long ago, relatively speaking. You seek counsel from the cycle of the seasons and the dynamics of hydrology. You stop expecting thing to be stagnant, much less to be in control (or want to control). You then look at your relationship to the whole and its parts - what I sometimes call The Weave - and assess where your flow fits in and changes over time.

Make no mistake - I'm not happy about anthropogenically-forced climate change. I'm not happy about tens of thousands of Tall Standing Ones getting incinerated and the remains of their corpses casting the sky in flaming orange. But I can't manage to get existentially dreadful about it - or get too caught up in climate anxiety or trauma - because I take this long view of reality and the inevitability of change. Yes, Chloe, broader global trends are out of your control. They always have been. Flow with it. Direct what bits of your own current as you are able into the streams you want to feed. Be who you are, and flow.

 

[Quintessence]

The Importance of Talking to Trees

Cloud blankets from Summer heat
Raspberries! Blueberries! Sweet Corn!
Enjoy all the local flavors
It's all about the little things​

The other day, a couple passing by outside of my house were talking about trees. One of them remarked that as they were traveling more about the state, they noticed there were a lot of dead trees. It was a casual conversation, demonstrating dim awareness of a grave ecological disaster unfolding in the United States at present. They were wondering why it was happening, all these dead trees. The speaker didn't get more specific than that. If their animal senses and brains noticed any patterns to which trees were dying it wasn't part of their conversation. More likely than not, this person couldn't have told you what trees were dying.

I was tempted to walk over to them with a friendly hello, then open up into a conversation about trees. That it wasn't just generic "trees" that were dying, it was specifically the peaceful Ash species. They were dying because of humans. It almost felt like my duty as a Druid to educate them about trees, the Emerald Ash Borer, invasive species, and the importance of Tree Spirits in both human and non-human ecosystems. Nevertheless, I refrained. Bothering random passers by on the sidewalk in front of my home isn't really my thing.

But it got me thinking about the importance of talking to trees.

If that sounds strange, that's mainly because animism fell out of fashion in the West; modern, domesticated humans are very detached from the non-human persons around them. So much so that they barely register as persons with their own wants, needs, and natures at all. I've spent a lot of time lately really getting to know the Tall Standing Ones on a deeper and more personal level. I have a background in forestry - I'm good with tree identification and the science of it all. But all of that is just superficiality compared to really sitting down to talk to the trees. Well, when I say "talk to trees" I mostly mean shutting up and listening to them. I observe and watch, sit beneath their boughs with a sketchbook at hand and just draw. Taking it all in. Feeling, sensing, being... together with that tree in that moment. And they are all a bit different.

When you get to know the non-human peoples you share the landscape with in this way, it opens up a different sort of awareness. Unlike this couple who just saw "dead trees," you know which trees because you've taken the time to get to know them. And you will also know more about what it means - how this will impact the greater whole of the ecosystem and the other peoples who live there. These skills of observation are important for being a good scientist. They are also important for being a good artist. It's the sort of indigenous wisdom that was second nature to our ancestors, but that modern domestic humans have largely forgotten. The good news is, it isn't hard to reclaim and relearn the Wisdom of the Green. It doesn't require any special tools or equipment; just you, time, and patience.

 

[JustGeorge]

The Importance of Talking to Trees

Cloud blankets from Summer heat
Raspberries! Blueberries! Sweet Corn!
Enjoy all the local flavors
It's all about the little things​

The other day, a couple passing by outside of my house were talking about trees. One of them remarked that as they were traveling more about the state, they noticed there were a lot of dead trees. It was a casual conversation, demonstrating dim awareness of a grave ecological disaster unfolding in the United States at present. They were wondering why it was happening, all these dead trees. The speaker didn't get more specific than that. If their animal senses and brains noticed any patterns to which trees were dying it wasn't part of their conversation. More likely than not, this person couldn't have told you what trees were dying.

I was tempted to walk over to them with a friendly hello, then open up into a conversation about trees. That it wasn't just generic "trees" that were dying, it was specifically the peaceful Ash species. They were dying because of humans. It almost felt like my duty as a Druid to educate them about trees, the Emerald Ash Borer, invasive species, and the importance of Tree Spirits in both human and non-human ecosystems. Nevertheless, I refrained. Bothering random passers by on the sidewalk in front of my home isn't really my thing.

But it got me thinking about the importance of talking to trees.

If that sounds strange, that's mainly because animism fell out of fashion in the West; modern, domesticated humans are very detached from the non-human persons around them. So much so that they barely register as persons with their own wants, needs, and natures at all. I've spent a lot of time lately really getting to know the Tall Standing Ones on a deeper and more personal level. I have a background in forestry - I'm good with tree identification and the science of it all. But all of that is just superficiality compared to really sitting down to talk to the trees. Well, when I say "talk to trees" I mostly mean shutting up and listening to them. I observe and watch, sit beneath their boughs with a sketchbook at hand and just draw. Taking it all in. Feeling, sensing, being... together with that tree in that moment. And they are all a bit different.

When you get to know the non-human peoples you share the landscape with in this way, it opens up a different sort of awareness. Unlike this couple who just saw "dead trees," you know which trees because you've taken the time to get to know them. And you will also know more about what it means - how this will impact the greater whole of the ecosystem and the other peoples who live there. These skills of observation are important for being a good scientist. They are also important for being a good artist. It's the sort of indigenous wisdom that was second nature to our ancestors, but that modern domestic humans have largely forgotten. The good news is, it isn't hard to reclaim and relearn the Wisdom of the Green. It doesn't require any special tools or equipment; just you, time, and patience.

At my old home, there was a dike behind the house, and it was filled with trees; some of them quite large and old. The city came in and removed them, saying they'd damage the dike. Hundred of trees gone. I watched in horror as little by little, my friends disappeared. I didn't know them by species, but I knew them anyways. The tall tufted ones. The huge ones with the pretty flowers and seed pods. The mulberry trees that provided this poor family with fruit. I mourned and mourned... and was told to 'get over it'(except by a group of old Buddhist men, who listened and sympathized, allowing and recognizing my pain).

We moved from that house, leaving behind my friend the Linden tree(who was in the front yard, and spared). I was mortified to see the new tenants cut her down...

It seems unnatural to lose so many tree friends. I thought most of them would outlive me.

The maple in the front yard at my current house doesn't say much. I find maples in general to be quiet. I was humbled today to discover a young ash growing up alongside the house, and feel torn about what to do about it. It can't stay; it'll ruin the foundation of the home. But it feels wrong to cut it down, when the ash are already suffering so. My husband said he noticed it last year, but couldn't bring himself to cut it.

 

[Quintessence]

At my old home, there was a dike behind the house, and it was filled with trees; some of them quite large and old. The city came in and removed them, saying they'd damage the dike. Hundred of trees gone. I watched in horror as little by little, my friends disappeared. I didn't know them by species, but I knew them anyways. The tall tufted ones. The huge ones with the pretty flowers and seed pods. The mulberry trees that provided this poor family with fruit. I mourned and mourned... and was told to 'get over it'(except by a group of old Buddhist men, who listened and sympathized, allowing and recognizing my pain).

We moved from that house, leaving behind my friend the Linden tree(who was in the front yard, and spared). I was mortified to see the new tenants cut her down...

It seems unnatural to lose so many tree friends. I thought most of them would outlive me.

The maple in the front yard at my current house doesn't say much. I find maples in general to be quiet. I was humbled today to discover a young ash growing up alongside the house, and feel torn about what to do about it. It can't stay; it'll ruin the foundation of the home. But it feels wrong to cut it down, when the ash are already suffering so. My husband said he noticed it last year, but couldn't bring himself to cut it.

I learned this last year there's one native ash species that might beat the borer: Fraxinus quadrangulata - blue ash.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378112716310520

Whether or not this pattern will hold out in the long term is yet to be determined, but I was utterly crushed when I saw all the native ash species on the ICUN red list predicted for total extinction within the century. The little volunteer tree by your home probably isn't blue ash and it would probably be difficult to find a seller if you wanted to plant one. Urban forestry is strongly pushing diverse native plantings, which is a good thing on the whole, but they are also discouraging any and all ash so stock is going to be hard to come by.

There can be lots of joy planting some new tree friends when we see some of them fall for questionable reasons, as in your tale. My little "Druid tree" planted when I moved here isn't so little anymore - been fruiting for a couple years now. That tree I do actually talk to... haha... mostly words of encouragement like a parent would do to their kid. My neighbors probably think I'm weird, because I do that to all the new trees I helped pick out and plant to replace the ashes too.

 

[JustGeorge]

I learned this last year there's one native ash species that might beat the borer: Fraxinus quadrangulata - blue ash.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378112716310520

Whether or not this pattern will hold out in the long term is yet to be determined, but I was utterly crushed when I saw all the native ash species on the ICUN red list predicted for total extinction within the century. The little volunteer tree by your home probably isn't blue ash and it would probably be difficult to find a seller if you wanted to plant one. Urban forestry is strongly pushing diverse native plantings, which is a good thing on the whole, but they are also discouraging any and all ash so stock is going to be hard to come by.

There can be lots of joy planting some new tree friends when we see some of them fall for questionable reasons, as in your tale. My little "Druid tree" planted when I moved here isn't so little anymore - been fruiting for a couple years now. That tree I do actually talk to... haha... mostly words of encouragement like a parent would do to their kid. My neighbors probably think I'm weird, because I do that to all the new trees I helped pick out and plant to replace the ashes too.

Its terribly sad with what's happening with the ash trees. I'm really stuck with what to do with the one on the side of the house. It can't stay; do you think it could be transplanted? If so, would it just fall victim to the borer in a matter of years? I'm not sure what variant it is.

Tell me about your Druid tree!

 

[Quintessence]

Its terribly sad with what's happening with the ash trees. I'm really stuck with what to do with the one on the side of the house. It can't stay; do you think it could be transplanted? If so, would it just fall victim to the borer in a matter of years? I'm not sure what variant it is.

Tell me about your Druid tree!

The sapling would likely survive until it gets large enough to be attractive to the ash borer - it doesn't go after very young trees. Not enough food. Based on what's been happening out east, once the trees get a certain size they will become victims of the borer, transplant or no. An open question is - after the widespread extirpation of native ash, will the borer populations would drop enough to see a bounceback of ash? We just don't know yet, but the mortality rate is so high that short of reintroduction efforts that won't happen. Back in grad school one of the colleagues I worked with was actually doing seed bank work for ash species in North America to preserve that germplasm, so it is something that is possible. It'll be some decades-long project in the making.

Haha... the "Druid tree" I sometimes call as such because it's an oak. Burr oak, specifically, as I knew that was the type of oak that would get along well with what the land wants to be here. It is the sort of tree that would have been here historically, and they are very drought-tolerant too which will be important for the changing climate here. Very sturdy, deep-rooted trees (oaks usually are) so that is how they stay drought-tolerant. The first couple years it didn't grow much, but I knew that was because oaks grow down before they start growing up. They set their foundation with their roots before extending themselves. Oaks are wise like that. Slow and steady.

Quercus macrocarpa Michx

 

[JustGeorge]

The sapling would likely survive until it gets large enough to be attractive to the ash borer - it doesn't go after very young trees. Not enough food. Based on what's been happening out east, once the trees get a certain size they will become victims of the borer, transplant or no. An open question is - after the widespread extirpation of native ash, will the borer populations would drop enough to see a bounceback of ash? We just don't know yet, but the mortality rate is so high that short of reintroduction efforts that won't happen. Back in grad school one of the colleagues I worked with was actually doing seed bank work for ash species in North America to preserve that germplasm, so it is something that is possible. It'll be some decades-long project in the making.

It will be interesting to see if any reintroduction takes place. So many factors, so many unknowns.

Haha... the "Druid tree" I sometimes call as such because it's an oak. Burr oak, specifically, as I knew that was the type of oak that would get along well with what the land wants to be here. It is the sort of tree that would have been here historically, and they are very drought-tolerant too which will be important for the changing climate here. Very sturdy, deep-rooted trees (oaks usually are) so that is how they stay drought-tolerant. The first couple years it didn't grow much, but I knew that was because oaks grow down before they start growing up. They set their foundation with their roots before extending themselves. Oaks are wise like that. Slow and steady.

Quercus macrocarpa Michx

Oaks are wonderful. I can pick them out by 'feeling' in the park... wonderful presence. I've thought about planting one on the property, but am not sure I have the space(small yard).

I didn't realize oaks expanded their roots before growing. Wise indeed!

 

[Quintessence]

Sacred Movement

Full Moon at Summer Solstice Tide's end
Clack, clack, clack of builder's trade
Goldfinch circling overhead, chirruping merrily
Sweet Corn's bounty in the hearth and home​

Paganism as a religious movement is sometimes described as hedonistic. It breaks down the dualisms between natural and supernatural, between sacred and profane, between spiritual and physical. The Earth is itself sacred or divine, and so too are our bodies. In this, Pagans often embrace our embodied nature as physical animals. Pleasure and pain are celebrated, not shunned. So too, can sacred movement occupy an important place in Pagan rituals.

The importance of sacred movement isn't something I gave much thought to in the not so distant past. Growing up in a culture with toxic narratives about our bodies, combined with being nonbinary and nonconforming in an era where nobody talked about either of those things, didn't set me at ease with my physical self and it has gone largely neglected. It can take a long time to unlearn what one has learned. On this matter, I am definitely still learning. Practice is key. Over the past year or so, I've been incorporating sacred movement more into my practice, inspired by its inclusion in the Ovate Grade materials for the Order. At first, while I felt something, I didn't really get it. So I practiced more. And practiced more. And practiced more.

Do I get it now? I don't know. I've moved past that question? After you have practiced something for so long, have had so many experiences, you may find you stop asking those kinds of questions. There is nothing to "get" but rather to be. To be, to stand outside at least once each day, pulling the energies of Earth and Sky through me, connecting with them, bonding, relating, honoring. Facilitating this flow of Nwyfre through movement and gesture, body and physicality, but feeling something that somehow transcends those things in the core of your being. These things, you "get" only by doing. By trying it out, practicing. By being.

 

[Quintessence]

Too Political

MidSummer, MidSummer, MidSummer I sing!
What incredible wonders and surprises you bring!
A visit from Goldfinch,
A glimpse of Red Fox,
A vision of Elderberry,
Indigenous wisdom unlock'd​

I shop fairly regularly at the local cooperative. Of course I do - it's a Druid thing. Where else are you going to find products curated to those of us who care about the environment and want to support our local farmers and producers? The popularity of ethical shopping has only risen over the years. So much so that one can find "cooperative lite" offerings in mainstream grocery stores. But it's just much nicer to go somewhere that just lacks products from the profit-driven megacorporations in favor of minority-owned, women-owned, locally-owned, permaculture, organic, and all around hippie stuff. Most of it tastes better too.

Today, when I was picking up some things at the cooperative, things got weird.

And by weird, I mean too political.

Perhaps in some ways, it's surprising something like this hasn't happened before. I live in a left-leaning college town. The types of folks who regular cooperatives especially are also left-leaning, because of course they are, myself included. That doesn't make it okay for one of the cashiers to comment "they're Trump supporters" when I was happily discussing products from a local producer at the checkout lane.

The comment upset me, and I had to give pause to reflect on why.

By the end of that reflection, I realized what made me mad about it was how this tribalistic political nonsense causes humans to fail to recognize our inherent and unavoidable interdependence and reliance upon each other. It is utterly impossible to avoid partaking in goods and services (or having conversations and interactions with) humans who think and vote differently than you. It's a lesson in the importance of getting along with one's fellows. It's a lesson in not falling prey to nonsensically petty politicizing.

I don't know what was going through that cashier's head when she made that comment. But their behavior serves as a perfect example of "too political."

 

[Quintessence]

You can take a Druid out of the Forest



You can't take the Forest out of a Druid ​

 

[Quintessence]

Gifts of Lady Luna

Find solace in Silence
Be comfortable in Dark
Close eyes to see Clearly

Embrace Inevitable Change

Seek Mysteries
Know Beyond
Flow
Be







​

 

[Quintessence]

Why Don't you Worship Sun?

Drip ... drop ... drip ... drop
Plip ... plop ... plip ... plop
Kssssshhhhh​

Some weeks ago, I got it into my head to create a thread titled "Why don't you worship Sun?" It was going to be a thread challenging readers to think about theology more deeply and seriously - what it means to deify or not deify something - as well as what worship actually looks like in practice.

It would have started with a short bullet point list of reasons why the sun is worthy of worship: how our planet literally revolves around it; how all life on this planet utterly depends on it; basically how it is unquestionably a higher power and that's what gods are. Following that would've been a short list illuminating (pun intended) how all humans actually already worship Sun whether or not they believe they do: how basically every human has enjoyed a sunny day; how many went out of their way to observe the recent eclipse; basically how valuing Sun is endemic to the human species.

I didn't make that thread.

A lot of practicing a mystery religion is uncovering that which hides in plain sight. To simply pay attention and recognize the blessings and gifts all around us that we take for granted. That it takes such special practice and dedication in this era is symptomatic, perhaps, of how detached many have become from the very contents of their own lives. Of the gods and the magic that is quite literally everywhere, all the time, if we stop, shut up, stop over-intellectualizing, and pay attention. Some will never pay attention. Some are simply blind. And all the thread would've done is yet more over-intellectualizing about the simple elegance of existence and the sublime greatness of it all.

Also, it just felt way too preachy and that made my skin crawl thinking about it. So the thread never got made. Each will find their own path through the mysteries. Or they won't walk the crooked path at all for theirs is a different lifeway entirely. Besides, rather than ask why one does not do something, ask instead...

Why do I do this?

 

[Quintessence]

As it Turns Out...

Mist and Rain
Dark and Cloud

Heralding, Foreboding
Gloom and Doom
Spiting
Red-tailed Hawk's
Good Omen​

Each and every one of us holds to certain foundational assumptions we consider axiomatic. These assumptions are born of our direct life experiences and in many respects define who and what we are, as well as how we relate to the world around us.

A major reason I have been struggling so much with the current election cycle in the United States is because the reality of what going on so deeply contradicts one of my most unshakable foundational assumptions it rouses in me a level of existential dread that, in worse times, would set me on the course of suicide.

That foundational assumption is that humans are inherently good or well-intentioned.

This assumption has been borne out more than ninety-nine percent of the time in my life's journey. It has profoundly shaped how I view myself as well as how I view others. It almost certainly was a major factor in my acceptance of Druidry, a religion that celebrates a deep love of life and living borne of the everyday beauty that is all around us, everywhere, both in nature and in humanity. This isn't to say that my life has been absent of hardships - it most certainly has not been. But with very rare exceptions (I can count them on one hand) the humans around me have been good people.

So when I watch millions of Americans voting for a criminal sociopathic narcissist who spews bilesome hate and abuse of others (and at times outright calls to violence!), it disturbs me on a level that drives a spike into my heart. On a very fundamental level, I cannot process voting for someone who is an epitome inexcusably vile and evil character. It suggests that humans are not inherently good or well-intentioned.

As it turns out, humans are evil and malicious scum.

I am no stranger to paradox, but this? This is... this is different. I am genuinely terrified of the implications of a nation that would voluntarily welcome an evil person to lead them.

All I can do right now is take a deep breath. A sigh, if I'm honest. An aggravated sigh. Perhaps an exhausted one. I look at the kind of person I would become if I threw out my foundational assumption that humans are inherently good or well-intentioned.

I don't like what I see and it brings tears to my eyes.