sacred

Psysanky eggs

The award for most magically decorated eggs has to go to the Ukrainians and their pysanky eggs. Pysanky eggs are decorated by applying melted beeswax to a hollow eggshell. The layering of intricately applied melted wax and dying can take hours per egg. Before Christianity came to the Slavic peoples, Ukrainians decorated their eggs for the sun god Dazhboh. […]

Spring Equinox: Renewal

March 20th is the Vernal Equinox, which, in the U.S., heralds the beginning of spring. I, for one, am more than ready for spring and its warmer weather, budding trees, flowers, and showers. The earth is waking up, stretching, and greeting the dawn. Spring is a time of renewal. Everything is fresh. The world is […]

Searching through the forest for mushrooms and Baba Yaga.

Many depictions in art of the Russian folk witch Baba Yaga show her with mushrooms, especially the Fly Agaric (the red-capped, white-spotted mushroom also associated in children’s illustrations with fairies and gnomes). As Baba Yaga is Russia’s most famous witch, hunting mushrooms is Russia’s favorite pastime, and both Baba Yaga and mushrooms are found in […]

Kindred Spirits

“It has always seemed to me, ever since early childhood, amid all the commonplaces of life, I was very near to a kingdom of ideal beauty. Between it and me hung only a thin veil. I could never draw it quite aside, but sometimes a wind fluttered it and I caught a glimpse of the […]

Ritual for Morning

How do you begin each month, each week, each day? Do you have a ritual, a prayer, or an intention to mark all the new possibilities before you? Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, has this gatha, or poem, ritual for morning: “Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. I […]

Singing in harmony: the benefits of singing in community

The people who brought us Icelandic Christmas also have a very high rate of participation in community choirs. Even tiny rural communities in Iceland have at least one choir, and adults and children get together to sing every week. Men’s choirs are the most popular, both in terms of participation and attending. Men’s choirs often […]