Ritual for the Burning of the World — The Druid’s Garden

As I write these words, fires are ravaging Australia. It’s a bleak situation, ecologically and politically. The firest at this point are about the combined size of the entire state of West Virginia and are all through the entire continent, particularly along the coasts. Ecologically, this is a disaster with severe and long-ranging consequences for […] … Continue reading Ritual for the Burning of the World — The Druid’s Garden

A few years ago, I led a smoke cleansing (smudge) stick making workshop at the OBOD’s East Coast Gathering event. As that event often has upwards of 100 attendees, I spent months growing and harvesting materials for the event so that everyone could make 1-2 sticks. Sure enough, everyone got to make some smudge sticks and the workshop went great. After the workshop, one of my friends and event fire tenders, Derek, came up to me and asked me about the leftover materials. I had been placing them in a paper bag, and had planned on taking them home to make more sticks or return to the land. He said, “I want to make a smudge bomb and send healing smoke to this entire land.” I said, “Yes, what a great idea!” So we tightly bundled up the remainder of the material, which filled at least 1/3 of the paper…

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Embracing Ancestral Fires and Fire-starting at Beltane

The Druid's Garden

An awen-shaped sacred fire, created from my flint and steel

The tiny sparks from my flint and steel shower down on my char cloth. This flint and steel set was a gift from a fellow druid from almost a decade ago, a gift that has long offered me a connection with my ancestors. It takes me a few moments to remember the technique he taught me, striking the steel against the flint in a particular way with a particulary angle to my body. Starting a fire in an ancestral way isn’t just a mental act; its an emboded one. I breathe deeply and remember, and the tiny sparks fly from my tools to the char cloth. After a few more attempts, a single spark lands on the cloth and starts to glow orange. I carefully pick up the char cloth and blow on it to increase the ember size, then…

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Sacred Tree Profile: Juniper’s Medicine, Magic, Mythology and Meanings

The Druid's Garden

Here on the East Coast of the USA, we are still in deep winter. Soon, the maples will be flowing. Soon, the winter snows will melt. Soon, spring will return. But until that time, the conifers, particularly offer strength and wisdom. One of my favorite conifers is Juniper, also known as Eastern Red Cedar. It is delightful to come across a wild juniper in the winter months, with her sweet and pine-scented berries and her delightful sprigs that offer friendship and hope through the darkest times. So come with me today as we explore the sacred Juniper tree.

Juniper here on the land

This post is part of my Sacred Trees in the Americas series, where I explore sacred trees within a specifically American context, drawing upon folklore, herbalism, magic, and more! I think it’s particularly important that US druids and those following other nature-based paths in North America understand…

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