Yesterday I wrote about Ostara eggs, so today I’ll introduce the Ostara Bunny. Rabbits are well known for their prolific ability to make more bunnies, and it’s that fecundity which inspired the ancients to celebrate rabbits as potent symbols of fertility and prosperity. It’s easy to imagine rituals that asked blessings for crops that they might prosper as fruitfully as the hares in the fields. Germanic spring festivals for Ostara featured rabbits in this way, as they were considered sacred to her. Hares were revered in many ancient traditions and were also attached to moon goddesses and those connected to the hunt. Yet many other cultures feared the hedonistic associations with hares, and so assigned to them all manner of evil stories.
Continue reading...11. April 2009
All around me the earth is greening, dripping, receiving new life. I must invent new colors of paint to capture this verdancy on canvas. I feel inside the flow of nature; I feel one with the fecundity of the earth. Ah spring—who doesn’t feel the impulse of new life at this time of year? On my walk this afternoon, I watched several pairs of humminbirds courting. The females watched from branches, commenting on the males’ aerial acrobatics. I wanted to be that hummingbird, zipping up and looping into the bright sky, then plunging down, hoping to to dazzle. It just looked like so much fun!
Continue reading...10. April 2009
If you ever make it to the extreme northwest corner of the lower 48 states, this is the last beach you can walk on: Hobuck Beach near Neah Bay, Washington. Part of the Makah Nation, this is wild land with unpredictable weather and spectacular scenery. I hope you'll endure the slow loading of this post, as I just couldn't limit the number of photos i wanted to share with you any further. I really want to convey the power of the misnamed Pacific Ocean--even on a mild spring day.
Continue reading...9. April 2009
When you find a wide, flat sandy beach along the Pacific Ocean, at low tide you may discover money strewn along the tideline…sand dollars. I remember finding my first one when I was just six at Cannon Beach, Oregon. Even at that age I knew they were magical. With a five-pointed star centered inside a larger star, gracing a round white dome of a shell that evokes the full moon, this is surely one of the most delightful shells on earth. And it’s a pentacle. A pentacle—a five-pointed star in a circle—has gotten some bad, erroneous press. Ignorant people claim there is something satanic about them, when in fact, they couldn’t be more wholesome.
Continue reading...8. April 2009
Skunk Cabbage is difficult to miss, popping up in bright yellow profusion along streams and rivers or in just about any wetland along the milder areas of the west coast. As attractive as it is, as soon as you approach it, you quickly see how it earned its name. It stinks. Why would a plant feel the need to do that? Well, the foul odor attracts its pollinators, scavenging flies and beetles. Other creatures don’t always share our reactions to things. All you have to do is watch a dog rolling in a dead seagull to know that. (Not that my prissy papoodle would do such a thing!) Actually, she wouldn’t.
Continue reading...6. April 2009
I’ve joined the haiku group on Twitter and it has revived a former passion for the form. Haiku is a Japanese poetry form that traditionally is written in three lines of 5 / 7 / 5 syllables, though not all people adhere to that rule. Twitter, with it’s 140 character limit is the ideal delivery medium
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What Is Meditation?
How To Meditate in 5 Easy Steps
Setting the Mood to Meditate
Benefits of Meditation
Expanding Your Current Meditation Practice
Why I Meditate and How It Affects Me
12. April 2009
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