For The Daily Post's Weekly Photo Challenge: Vibrant, I chose this picture of the riotously colorful chalk mandala that the Temenos Center's Artist-in-Residence, Rich Francisco (See his other work on his facebook page or his website), drew for our Open House on Sunday, January 24th. We requested that he model this work after a mandala …
Continue reading Chalk Mandala – Weekly Photo Challenge: Vibrant
This video for the Kickstarter project "The Monument Project: Africa" is short, beautiful, and inspiring. Three things about the project presented in the video that touch me personally are the practice of using repurposed items, art being the domain of every person, and Autism and autistic people being recognized and supported. I strongly encourage anyone who …
~ Crane's wing sweeps floating like snowfall Sweetly poised, graceful dancer elegant hunter, steady watcher Bugling call shakes dust from the soul opening the inner sight to wondrous colors ~ Months ago, I was stunned into awed, motionless silence. I had never heard the rattling duet of paired Sandhill Cranes, and all I could do …
Practical necessity can serve as a very effective spark for creative expression, and in this case it certainly did. Unintentional fire is generally considered undesirable, and the necessity for an appropriate offering apparatus led to just such a creative venture. Since the offerings vary significantly in size and type, from palo santo to cedar to …
Continue reading Artistic Creation Exploration: Offering Bowl
The care of the earth is our most ancient and most worthy and, after all, our most pleasing responsibility. To cherish what remains of it, and to foster its renewal, is our only legitimate hope.[1] Blogging about the Nemetons has got me thinking about the process of entering into, experiencing, and maintaining the spiritual practice …
Continue reading Becoming Indigenous: The Sacred Courtship and Marriage to the Land
Beautiful, cool August morning here in west Michigan. The sun hadn't yet evaporated the dew from the grasses at the park, so boots, jean hems, and the dog were soaked in short order. Reds and golds of the approaching autumn are beginning to peek out from still-vibrant bushes and tree limbs. The central ring at …
To be human, when being human is a habit we have broken, that is a wonder.[1] In the Irish myth The Voyage of Bran, there is a silver branch that sings to Bran, and by doing so, upends his world dramatically. As Moriarty explains in his book Invoking Ireland, this is a breaking of the …
A druid stood on the shore of Ireland, and recited a poem. The Celts had recently arrived in Ireland, and were preparing to battle the mythic race of the Tuatha de Danaan for the island. After calming a sea storm sent by the sorcery of the Tuatha De, Amhairgin, druid of the Celts, came ashore …
Continue reading A Very Brief Ecocritical Analysis of Irish Mythology
A Vital Recognition 