I sat where I always do, the thready mists of Helheim swirling before me. The crowd had gathered again, an indistinct circle of hundreds around me. More an impression of a gathering of people than anything solid. I could smell apple blossom on the breeze. My heart hammered in my chest and I could feel…
Category: Mysticism
This short sermon was offered for the December 13th, 2020, streaming service at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Frederick. Full text below. I sometimes joke that paganism is an unusually intense form of environmentalism. One of the common threads that comes up when talking to other pagans is that we were pretty feral as children. …
This short sermon was offered for the October 25th, 2020, streaming service at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Frederick. Full text below. This is one of my favorite parts of the year. I think I am a constant disappointment to my friends who love beaches and summer. It’s just not my thing. Give me gray,…
*October 31st marks one of the High Holidays in the widely-used Pagan Wheel of the Year – Samhain. Out of all our holidays, I’d say this one gets the most press. Our celebration of the end of the growing season coincides with all that is spooky in the larger culture. This time of endings in…
I am currently developing some video offerings. These classes are donation based and are free to all my Patreon supporters. Here’s the first class! Building a Sustainable Daily Spiritual Practice Balancing the needs of our schedules against our desire for greater spiritual connection can be challenging. Sometimes even finding 5 minutes to ourselves seems impossible….
One of the types of Ancestors I personally venerate are Ancestors of the Order – humans who followed a similar life path to my own. In my case, these are the priestx classes of many cultures: the people who chose to place themselves in service to Spirit, the journey of human souls, and the creation…
This short meditation was offered for the August 23rd service streaming service at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Frederick. Full text below: I don’t remember where I first heard it, but somehow I learned the phrase ‘if you want to know where a culture will be in 20 years, look at where the counterculture…
When I consider potential titles for an autobiography, ‘Crying in Savasana’ is definitely in my top five. It seems like so many watershed life experiences have landed during a yoga practice or in the reflective/integrative period afterward. In 2011, one such moment landed like a ton of bricks. I was at a retreat and the…
I live in the mid-Atlantic, a region blessed with a long growing season. It is high summer here. Hot days and abundant sunlight drew the first round of life from the dark earth. Afternoon thunderstorms watered tender, twining greens. The spring seeds grew and flourished, and the first harvest has now been gathered: radishes, peas,…
This sermon was for the July 19th, 2020, service for the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Frederick. Text below. I can always tell when a writer doesn’t actually spend much time outside. I’ve read so many stories where the forest is described as quiet. Even in the middle of winter, quiet is not a thing that…