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Solstice Tree

18.12.2013 in turnings

IMG_13Sol_Compiln-Heron+Treex385wwThere are many stories about tree-related traditions at this time of year, the what and why of them, and how they came to be. I expect you know some of them. When it comes to stories about how the Solstice Tree came to be, however, I actually like my story best ;).  It’s too long to include in a post such as this (perhaps I’ll read it to you sometime) so, for now,  let me just tell you a little of what’s behind and inside of my Solstice Tree.

As you already know, I love sun and sea and rain forest. They are very linked for me since getting to my favorite beaches always involves a walk through Forest.

I love the scent of the forest; the coolness, the moisture, the fecundity.

I love the the natural quiet, the peacefulness.

I love the abundance and diversity.

I love the connectedness. Trees, ferns, salal, bracken and funghi all rooted together, connected by an intricate underneath web of fibers in mutual, beneficial relationship. I love how salmon feed trees and how trees feed salmon(1) and how Bear and other creatures are instrumental in that feeding.

I love the way light filters through the trees and lights certain places leaving others in shadow. I love how Wind makes the light dance.

And I love the way Forest  lights up for me in the dark of night. Truly.

Late evenings, after the sun has set and the stars have appeared, I leave the beach, step into the forest dark and pause. I close my eyes and ask Forest to light my way. I open my eyes,  let them soften and I wait. And then I see ferns (most particularly) with the faerie lightest of green glow.  It makes me smile, perhaps evoking my faerie within, and I skip my way through the forest casting a fullness of gratitude as I go.

So now you know some of why Tree is important to me. Life connected, abundant. Light and Love radiant. Wisdom carried. And so I dress my Solstice Tree to reflect all of this.

Heron sits atop the tree where Heron so often sits in reality. Heron, solitary and still in the marshes and on shores; communal in the rookery. White Doves carrying peace and love. Silver spider webs for the web of life and the Spiral. Some few elves and faeries, playfully hide deep inside, seen only by  observant, curious, committed seekers. Amanita Muscaria Mushrooms for magick. Candles for the Light.

The choosing, the placing, the dressing of Solstice Tree is all sacred ritual for me. It is an expression of my overflowing gratitude, a calling, a prayer, and a wish for dreams made manifest.

The candles will be lit(2) on Solstice night. There is nothing like a Tree lit by living light. Enjoy!

Light. Life. Love. Magick.

Nurture your nature
Wisdom Wild
For All
Fiona

1.Want to learn more about salmon & tree? Check out Tongass Rainforest.
2. Special Important NOTE:  Please, if you  would like to experience a tree with living light and have not done so before, do first be in touch with me. There’s things to know and things to do to ensure safety and you must move carefully. And I would not ever recommend this for an artificial tree.)

 

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Pause

17.12.2013 in turnings

IMG_Soll8-5_13DecSunMoonCompx385Solstice time calls me to pause for  many reasons (as you have perhaps already noticed ;)). There may be many tasks to do and much that needs to be accomplished but Pause… Pause is a gift to make time for.

I have often written about the importance of Pause, of taking a moment, often, and regularly.

Pause to get still.  Pause to ground.  Pause to reflect.  Pause to imagine.  Pause to wonder. Pause in awe for those non-ordinary moments.

Pause for non-ordinary moments like Winter Solstice even though it comes every year.  Non-ordinary moments like new moons and full moons, each so unique, even though they appear and disappear every luna month. Non-ordinary moments like sunrise and sunset so often astounding. Non-ordinary moments that take my breath away.

Non-ordinary moments like last night.

The sky lit up with fire last night as the sun set in the west. Gorgeous, awesome. Then, at the same moment, the moon, just hours to full,  rose in the east. It was as if the Sun was heralding it’s return and the Moon rose full-lighted to confirm the promise.

An ‘ordinary’ non-ordinary moment in the Solstice Season. A moment that called me to pause long in amazement, awe and delight. A moment of Earth-Sky Magick as if in honor of the season.

This is the last full moon of the season. The tide is full.

Fill yourself with Light and fullness. Give thanks for all that you have received and accomplished this year. Release all hurts, doubts, fears and whatever else no longer serves. Let these be carried away by the falling tide or fade as the moon wanes in the coming days.

Now consider the doors you are holding open or calling to be opened. Give them names that reflect what you want to receive. Write them down in your journal or on special slips of paper and, if you have an altar, put them there so they may be fed by your attention and energized by Spirit in All.

Remember balance. Remember Pause. Be open and spacious to receive abundance of Love & Light.    

Nurture your Nature
with Love & Light
WisdomWild
Fiona

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Doors & Passages

16.12.2013 in turnings

IMG_13Sol4e_EntranceCompilnx385wwThe Winter Solstice season is a time of much contemplation; there’s something about the dark that calls that in.

As I prepare the doorway and the path into Home this season, I reflect on what doors I have opened this year and which ones I’ve been called to close. I consider what doors will stand open or be opened in the coming year. I imagine what I will step into, what I will carry with me  and what will be left behind.

Doorways, gateways, thresholds, pathways, passages, are all such powerful things, or can be. The very idea of them calls to me. Possibilities, wonderings, wanderings. And the calling feels ancient. Perhaps it’s because they are so much a part of sacred places and journey ways. And I think of how such places so often have Guardians, at the gate, around the door, along the path, and I smile.

I place a wreathe on the door. An evergreen circle, eternal, complete.  A w/holysphere.

The lanterns are lit in warm welcome; sacred herbs release soft scent.

The ‘guardian’ deeper in is a Solstice Cat (of course ;)) and has her eyes on you.  Silver bells hang on silver branches on the landing at her feet.

Those that come this way may brush the branches and evoke their sounds. The sounds are the voices of playful faeries, and they are the magick that gives angels wings. They are here to remind you of where you are: a sacred place, a playful place, a place where magick lives and is born. Do you hear them? Are you smiling in delight? I hope so, for that is the intention.

In this moment, may you again feel-know your playfulness, your magick, your sacred Being.

What doors will you hold open this season? What new doors will be opened in the coming year? I wonder. Do tell.

For Light, Love, Magick and Wisdom,

Nurture your Nature

with love

WisdomWild

Fiona

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Windfall

15.12.2013 in turnings

IMG_13Solstice8-3_grove_gatherx385_P1020373

The winds come at different times each year and I watch for them.

Sometimes a great wind arrives and makes it easy to gather windfall. The City in which I used to live still has trees in some areas. When Great Wind comes it is easy to gather windfall from streets and sidewalks and this benefits the street-keepers too. Unfortunately, trees have become fewer and fewer over the years in this and many cities. That means going farther afield into parks and forests. What I gather from these living places I return at the end of the season. This is very important for what falls in nature, feeds, so the gathering is just a borrowing.

And if Wind doesn’t come, still there is abundance to be found. Even at this time of year (at least where I am) there is garden tending going on. Yesterday I spied some fellows trimming red-berry Arbutus and they were more than happy for me to bundle up some of their cuttings. And garden shops and tree lots also have multitudes of branches trimmed from trees and cast off.  They often smile or shake their heads when I pick ‘waste’ from the floor or sort through the piles designated for the chipper. Of course, if it’s a really lean year, or if you live in a place where no green stands, you could buy a hand full of green.  Buying ‘green’ is a good thing too. :)

For those who have no green about, there are other things to gather. Gather stones in circle; gather sand or soil and trace a spiral; collect together packets of seeds and gather wonder; stand outside at night and gather the light of the moon and stars; meet up with a friend or two and gather the abundance of your friendship. There are so many ways to gather abundance.

What will you gather this day? I wonder…

Nurture Your Nature

With love

WisdomWild

Fiona

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Holly Magick-all

14.12.2013 in turnings

IMG_13Solstice8-2_hollyFaeriesx385A little bit of Holly Magick.  

Let me introduce you to the first guest gracing this Solstice Season. She is a  Holly Faerie and dances now among the huckleberry & holly branches of my chandelier. (Holly Faerie in mini-sculptural form was gifted to me some time ago and is usually the first through the door this time of year.)

 O I am green in Winter-time when other trees are brown

 Of all the trees (so says the rhyme) Holly wears the crown.

 (I expect hir song and appearance will make you grin.

And just so you know, s/he’s a Ze, i.e., gender irrelevant to the brim)

Holly was once held sacred by the peoples of ancient Europe (still is by some ;)).  Known as one of the Seven Chieftain Trees of the Druids, “Holly” means “holy.” Holly protects Home and brings good luck.

So at this time of year especially I welcome Holly, green, red, and white with snow. I bring sprigs inside and lay leaves and berries outside around the house. I call in protections and goodness for my greater home, Gaia, as I walk the stone spiral pausing to call in and place sprigs to honor each of the directions: north, east, south, west, above, below, within (the center), and without (the beyond).

It is a simple thing. A ritual that for me connects, weaves and spirals through many dimensions and both  activates and engages head, heart and hands. It is a union of receiving and offering. In this, Spirit lives and is joy-full.

Holly greets you through this window. I hope you welcome hir in.

Nurture your Nature Dear Ones,

Much love,

Wisdom Wild,

Fiona

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