Healing with Nature: Daily Practices to Connect with Mother Earth
The late literature professor Joseph Campbell wrote: “The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the rhythm of the universe, to match your nature with Nature”. This statement aligns with the goal of healing in Ayurveda, which is to achieve balance and unite with cosmos. Life is a healing journey. All of us…
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Cottagecore Philosophy + DIY Soap Bars
If you follow interior design or fashion trends, you have probably come across the term Cottagecore. A nod to the traditional English country style in terms of aesthetics, the concept also encompasses a do-it-yourself lifestyle focused on traditional arts and crafts such as baking and woodworking. The emphasis on thrifted furniture puts cottagecore in the…
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Winter Salve for Dry Skin with Lemon and Siberian Fir
Salve is a very old word that exist in several Germanic languages. It derives from the old English sealfe (healing ointment), Old Saxon and High Germanic salba (ointment), and West Germanic salbo (oily substance). An excavation of the etymology of the Indo-European root of the word, selp (fat) and it’s connotations with Greek elpos (fat,…
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The Healing Journey: Setting Intentions for 2021
Last year, I learned that Canadians don’t celebrate with fireworks on new year’s eve. In Scandinavia, fireworks and champagne is the standard new year salute and it is such a natural part of my life that I had not even considered that other western countries might not have this tradition. In truth, I didn’t even…
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A Prosperity Ritual Inspired by the Winter Holidays
Christmas and Yule are my favorite holidays. I celebrate them together, honoring both the Christian and the Norse elements of my cultural heritage. Modern pagans refer to the Sabbat held at the winter solstice as Yule, an old Anglo-Saxon word meaning wheel, as in the wheel of the year. The same word exists in old…
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Trees of Knowledge
A modern earthbound spirituality seeks to rekindle the relationship between man and nature that was obliterated by the emergence of industrial and later technological society. People of older civilizations encountered the forces of nature in every aspect of their daily life and they interpreted this experience religiously. Trees became powerful spiritual symbols in many ancient…
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My Spiritual Library: Wheel of the Year Source Books
Pagan literature is a vast universe. Some books are written by scholars or teachers of a certain path who are both knowledgeable, critical, and pedagogical. Other books are not as enlightening. For example, I am not a fan of “spell books” that aim to instruct you in the “how to” of magic without giving any…
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The Autumnal Equinox
In late September we celebrate Mother earth in her full maturity: it is the height of the harvest and the land is abundant with crops. In Ancient Ways, Pauline Campanelli reminds us that the English word mother comes from the Latin mater, which shares the same linguistic root as the words material and matter. The…
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Lammas: Celebrating the Grain Harvest
Dear reader, A few months have passed since I last updated the blog. This year has been quite busy, even though it feels like nothing happens in this very odd situation that requires us all to simply sit back and wait for the world to start spinning again. I spent the summer months of 2020…
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A Digital Journey of Self Discovery: 5 Reasons to Blog
As the global quarantine continues, it is truly heartwarming to see how the world comes together on social media and be reminded that bad situations tend to bring out the best in people. So many bloggers, youtubers and instagramers now use their platforms to offer compassion and positive energy. As I watch and read about…
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