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Born to the Bee: A Samhain Ritual to Connect to Your Ancestors
Bees in Folklore and Myth Long ago and still today, many cultures believe that bees can travel to the Underworld and will deliver your message to a deceased loved one. If that loved one has a message for you, the bees will deliver that, too. Several years ago, I created a Samhain ritual around that…
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The Harvest and John Barleycorn
WE DIDN’T NEED A SCARECROW I’ve shucked a lot of corn. When I was growing up, a good portion of our garden was always devoted to growing sweet corn. We ate it, froze it, and gave most of it away. I can say without exaggeration that our corn never had bugs. Not a single ear.…
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Croning: A Ritual for a Woman of a Certain Age
She’s a woman of “a certain age.” Our culture thinks those words are better than saying “she’s old.” Well, I am a woman of a certain age. I am certain of who I am, certain of what I want, and certain of what I have to offer. I’ll be 78 in a few days and…
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Romance, Alzheimer’s, and the Alchemy of Ritual
I recently marked the third anniversary of my husband’s death. He had Alzheimer’s. These days, I find myself looking back through photographs, journal entries, notes I made in the margins of my cookbooks, and the birthday and anniversary cards we gave each other over the years. The passing of time has shaped my vision of…
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Yemaya, Part 2: The Middle Passage ~ Aug 25, the Day of Healing
In Part 1 of this article, I explored the connection between seashells and the Yemana, the Yoruba Orisha known as the Mother of All. I shared rituals inspired by cowrie shells, murex shells in general, and in particular, the Venus Comb Murex. With Yemaya in mind, I designed those rituals to help women discover and…
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Yemaya, Part 1: Shell Rituals Inspired by the Yoruba Orisha
Science shows that all human life began in Africa. So it’s no surprise that on the west coast of Nigeria we find the orisha Yemaya, Goddess of the Seven Seas, known as the “Mother of All.” Yemaya is often shown with conch shells. She fills them with her comforting voice. She is also shown with…
