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At the Waters of the Equinox
At the edge of the valley, the mountain rises in stone and shadow. At its foot the lake lies still, receiving the whole mountain into...


To Rise Like a Tide – On Resisting Hopelessness in a Time of Unmaking
It would be tempting, these days, to curl into the dark – to say the work is too great, the damage too deep, the hunger too vast. That we...


The Body of a River, The Body of a Human
The magical Esknamucky Waterfall. Photograph by Nigel Wheal A river is never still, even in its seeming quiet. Beneath its skin lies a...


The Arc of Fire, and 'Emotional Kintsugi'
In Ireland, we say that story is medicine. Our indigenous oral traditions do not treat story as unburdening, but as offering – something...


Reclaiming Enchantment After Exhaustion
There are times when the marrow of life feels spent. We arrive at the edge of our own strength and find only hollowness echoing back....


Spring, the Air Element, and the Silent Extinction of Words
Imbolc marks the first day of Spring in Ireland and the Celtic Wheel of the Year. The principal element of Spring is Air, and this...


Seasonal Poetry & Prose: 'The Thing Is', by Ellen Bass
To love life, to love it even when you have no stomach for it and everything you’ve held dear crumbles like burnt paper in your hands,...


Seeking to walk beautifully on the Earth - A talk from Irish writer and philosopher John Moriarty
Recorded in the early 1990's, this incredible recording gifts magical insights into the fertile ground that is the mind of the late great...


On Imaginal Cells and Trusting the Process
To better understand the opportunity hidden in today’s crises, consider the tale of another world in transition. Imagine you are a single...


Seasonal Poetry & Prose: 'Ancient Language', by Hannah Stephenson
If you stand at the edge of the forest and stare into it every tree at the edge will blow a little extra oxygen toward you It has been...


Seasonal Poetry & Prose: 'On Pain', by Kahlil Gibran
And a woman spoke, saying, Tell us of Pain. And he said: Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. Even as...


Ten Love Letters to the Earth, by Thich Nhat Hanh
In honor of the passing of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, we are sharing his Ten Love Letters to the Earth. These meditations are an...


Wintering, and how Trees illuminate the Art of Self-Renewal in difficult times
“Wintering… is the courage to stare down the worst parts of our experience and to commit to healing them the best we can. Wintering is a...


On Smoke, Mirrors, and Shadow Play
One of the interesting qualities of being human is, by the look of it, we’re the only part of creation that can actually refuse to be...


The Miracle that is the Earthly Vessel
The earth element/winter season relates with, amongst other themes, the physical body and your relationship with it. So as a little...


Vision
If we will have the wisdom to survive, to stand like slow growing trees on a ruined place, renewing, enriching it... then a long time...


Fear and the Earth Element within
Fear is one of the themes that destabilizes our root, the earth element within us. Here are a few powerful words to consider on fear, and...


The Cycle of Form and Formless
We are taken into winter, when the leaves are fallen from the trees and the branches are bare. Winter is this barrenness that belongs to...


The Long Night
The ‘Long Night’ feels true of our wider collective experience. Layers of underworlds. Journeys through grief, fear, loss and sickness...


The Edge You Carry With You
You know so very well the edge of darkness you have always carried with you. You know so very well, your childhood legacy: that...