Nature as Healer

Brigid’s Day - Feast of the Flame

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 06:10:41 -0600

The First of February marks the celebration of the coming of spring. Hours of light and warmth increasing each day cause seeds to begin stirring beneath the hard winter ground. The life force of the green world may even show itself with brave early shoots of crocus pushing themselves through the snow.

This celebration of the beginnings of spring is known as the Feast of the Flame or St. Brigid’s Day. The goddess Brigid was such a strong deity of the native people that when Christianity came to Ireland she was transformed into Saint Brigid. An old saying goes “Brigid breathes life into the mouth of dead winter.” She tends the fire of illumination as she melts the coldness of winter. Candles are lit in profusion celebrating the return of longer days and warmth.

A bringer of warmth and life, the element that manifests most dramatically in Brigid is Fire. Her flaming power promotes health, inspiration and right livelihood. Her role as the firekeeper continues in households honoring her patronage over hospitality, cooking, crafting and the domestic arts, breathing new life into daily activities.

Aligned with the element of Fire to forge and mold, Brigid is the guardian of transformation, change and regeneration. She presides as midwife of the arts of poetry, healing, smithcraft. Feel her wise presence in moments of creativity and vision.

Brigid’s Cloak is made of heavenly sunbeams. Sunbeams have been honored in many cultures as indications of Divine Presence in our lives. The custom of blessing Brigid’s Cloak on the eve of February First has been observed for generations. Take a piece of white unwashed cloth. Hang it outside where it can absorb the light of the sun, moon and stars for the night and the day. Tear, do not cut, into strips. This is traditionally done by women and then stored in the thatch above the door of the cottage. I place my Brigid’s Cloth in a basket and hang it near the doorway.

Brigid’s Cloth can be used for healing, crafting, writing, or other works of inspiration. I’ve used them as prayer flags hanging from trees, placed under pillows, twisted around tools, as a collar on my dog Finn. I’ve wrapped Brigid’s Cloth around body parts needing healing, bringing Brigid’s light, warmth and transformation into the vulnerable area.

One of her powers is guardianship of the land. When I pray for the Earth, I tie a Cloth strip in a tree and envision Brigid’s Cloak cast over the entire land. I ask her to wrap her Cloak around the land and all beings upon it as a protective and healing circle.

The Feast of the Flame is a time to purify the physical, psychic and soulful strands of life to prepare for the coming year. Light your candles, hang your Cloth and make a prayer to Brigid, the ancient Celtic Fire Goddess. “Help me breathe life into whatever is dead around me. Let your radiance shine in my life so that my actions may sparkle with the heavenly light the Creator of the Elements showers upon us.”

A Winter of Robins

Mon, 2 Jan 2012 06:44:47 -0600

The robins have been visiting our bird bath this week. A dozen at a time can be seen fluttering from branch to bath. The cedars surrounding our home are now sheltering flocks of red breasted robins busy over-wintering on this year's abundance of juniper berries. The plump juicy blue berries adorn the tips of the cedar branches beckoning the drove to come feast and seek sanctuary.

The flutter of wings fills the sky as they swoop low over the cedar tree tops. I stop still and listen to the music of wing on wind. On daily walks I often hear a hundred in song as their clear carol fills the deep green trees. Robin chuckles grace the twilight as they flit from berry to branch. I close my eyes to open my ears to the poetry they chant to the trees.

At the beginning of this new year, their heart song fills my spirit with eternal hope and the reassurance that life continues on and on.

Dear Santa

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 05:55:02 -0600

Dear Santa...

On your journey of gift giving around the world this month, I have but one wish. Help us make the world safe for children.

I know that what we see in our commercialized American Christmas season is only the tip of the iceberg of your ancient powers. Throughout history you have been the keeper of the fire, the protector of children, and the tester of human hearts.

You are known by many names...Father Christmas, Pere Noel, Grandfather Frost, Sinterklaas, Star Man, Kris Kringle, St. Nicholas...but have one immortal spirit. Your huge heart is devoted to bringing light to humankind.

On this festival of light, the world over celebrates the possibility that dark nights and hard times will give way to light and peace. We attempt to look past darkness to find light, to reach beyond ourselves to summon the spirit of generosity. We sing of hope. Hope in the goodness of the human heart.

Help us believe that we can make the world safe for our children. Help us to consider how all our actions effect seven generations into the future. If we could travel the circle of time 200 years from now, what world have we left to our descendants?

I work with a search and rescue team dedicated to finding the lost and missing. When a child vanishes, a coldness seeps into the core of our beings. The world is at its darkest and hopelessness reigns. Working alongside my devoted teammates, I realize one of the reasons we search is to help make the world a little safer for all children. I am proud to walk beside these people drawn together out of the simple kindness in their human hearts. These are loving, generous, devoted humans bringing hope into a dark place.

Santa, you will live forever, because of us who believe in you. You have many faces and we know you when we see you. We believe in the light you tend. You remind us that the most real things in the world are those that we cannot see...love, faith, glory. The world abounds in miracles. We can all be Santas to one another and create magic in our own corners of the world. A world safe for all our children.

Sincerely,

your elf helper

Wild Wreaths

Tue, 6 Dec 2011 11:56:32 -0600

If you are in the St. Louis area December 17-18, please stop by my wreath show at the Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, from 9-5. I’ll have my wreaths for sale and I’d love to visit with you.

You can view photos and descriptions at www.willowrainherbalgoods.com.

Lineage of the Wreath

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 05:52:56 -0600

When I weave a wreath of native Ozark plants, I’m creating a portal into nature. A circle of life crafted from living elements of the prairie, meadow and forest that is a symbol of the cycle of the seasons and the web of life... a circle that enhances ones connection to Nature.

Wreaths have been used throughout history to bless the home; tend the sick and restore the spirit; invoke powers of protection; praise bards and heroes; sanctify nuptials; honor ancestors and commemorate the dead; and celebrate the turning of the seasons.

The tradition is so ancient it is difficult to trace the actual beginnings of wreathing. The faded remnants of wreaths dated to 2500 BC have been found in Egyptian Pharaohs burial tombs. The laurel wreath was used to crown victors at the Pythian games dating back to the 6th century BCE and later crowned victors in the first Olympics. In ancient Rome, wreaths were worn on the head and represented a person’s occupation, rank, achievements and status. The evergreen wreath had its beginning in northern Europe with the Celtic belief that the spirit of the forest was strongest in the boughs of the evergreen, which has long been a sign of hope during the coldest and grayest days of winter.

Wreaths crafted from wild everlastings grace doors, entranceways, foyers, living rooms, and offices all year long. Wreaths focusing on the spiritual qualities of plants can be used as an altar centerpiece, dream catcher, and a meditation mandala.

As the first herb craft I learned, I have woven hundreds of wreaths. I much prefer natural materials - native grasses, wayside weeds, everlasting flowers, tree bark, lichens, seeds, cones and feathers – to lifeless silk fakes or plastic abominations.

Make your own evergreen wreath. Collect a dozen 24” long tips of evergreen branches. Use cedar, pine, spruce, yew, arborvitae or fir. Take a wire hanger and bend it into a circle. Cut a two-foot strand of 22 gauge floral wire. Cut four to six 3”-4” lengths of evergreen. Bundle them together and wrap the stems with the floral wire. Lay the bundle on the outside edge of the wire circle and wrap the floral wire around both the circle and the bundle several times. Make it tight so your bundle doesn’t wobble. Make another bundle and lay it next to the first bundle but along the inside the wire circle and wrap both with the floral wire. Be sure it’s snug. Just continue to alternate bundles around the wire circle until you have woven an evergreen wreath. Glue in rose hips, spruce cones, acorns or sumac berries for a spot of color. Hang and enjoy throughout the Yule Season! You are now initiated into the ancient lineage of wreath weavers.