The Celts did not fear the dead. It is said they held these days and this time in great reverence; reverence for the departed, healthy fear for the sidhe or the fae, reverence for prophecy and looking towards the new year, seen at the end of the cold dark cycle of winter. Reverence for the crone, the dark mothers, the underworld. From womb to tomb and tomb to womb, we greet and move through this ending and beginning. Welcome, dear ones, to summer’s death and winter's birth, welcome to Samhain.

The final episode of Season 2 offers three things:

1) A reflection on your own ancestral inheritance.

2) An honoring of the sacred trees and plants at Samhain: Elder, Blackthorn and Croneswort. These three are also known by other names; Tree of Witches, Dark Crone of the Woods and Wormwood.

3) A sharing of my recent pilgrimage to my maternal ancestral home - Scotland - where I visited magical islands, an ancient fairy flag in a remote castle and spent some time honoring the magnificent creatrix, winter crone and hag of the North - the Cailleach.

A time of abundance,

A time of preparation,

A time of balance,

A time of release,

The edge of the bright leaning into the darkness.

A time of celebration for the harvests of fruit and root.

The second harvest, completing the cycle.

The second harvest, calling the animals home.

Let us welcome the in and the out breath, the double spiral, the balance of day and night.

This is the autumnal equinox.

Hoof and horn, hoof and horn
All that dies shall be reborn
Corn and grain, corn and grain,
All that falls shall rise again

Dear Hazel, sacred tree of the ancients, the druids, holy tree of wisdom, knowing and intuition we honor you.
We pray that your blessing of sight and vision is bestowed upon us, that we might see beyond ourselves and undertake a transformation as you do, in service of all that is highest, best, and most in its wellness.
We pray your nuts of inspiration and wisdom fill our lives and hearts such that we can walk in true honor and grace, unburdened by the pains of our pasts or the fears of unknown futures.
May inner wisdom be ours to tend and nurture as we tend and nurture your groves and forests. Blessed be this sacred tree.

Transformation, strength, accomplishment, pride, celebration of the first harvest, the grain harvest - Lughnasadh is a time for honoring all that has been achieved in the warmth of the summer sun, while starting our gentle walk away from the light towards the darker half of the year.

This is a day of great abundance, wonder and celebration of achievements! And, as with all celebrations on this blessed and beloved wheel of the year, as we celebrate the strength of the light we now turn our sight softly towards the darkening half of the year that will begin shortly after this resplendent day. Celtic stone circles, ancient gathering places, monuments and tombs, are lit by the dawn light on this day - sacred, special, solstice.

The summer solstice offers us a space for connection and prayer, to walk through the trees at the height of their color, to connect deeply with their wisdom and wonder. The summer solstice also offers us the opportunity to see the sun within ourselves, our own shining heartlight, radiant, powerful, magnanimous, divine and true.

Beech, Vervain, Oak and Rose are celebrated today, among many other gorgeous trees and plants of the solstice.

On this day of power may you be blessed with shining light, removing all that no longer serves such that you may live authentically a life of service; may you radiate with divinity, your own holiness, walking on the shining paths of the solstice. May you lovingly welcome the darker half of the wheel, that also begins at this time, claiming radiant power and surrendering again to the endless turning of the wheel of the year. May you partner with fire, allowing it to bless you and burn away all of your dead branches and leaves. May you be refreshed and revitalized this summer solstice!

Beltane is the celebration of the Fire of Bel, the ancient god of the Sun who at this time marries Danu, great mother Goddess of the Earth. This is the time on the wheel of the year when the Sun and the Earth become one - when fertility peaks, when union abounds, and when celebrations of the warming Earth take place. This is a celebration of skin and physicality, senses and sensations.

Today, we will journey together to a sacred hawthorn grove and anoint ourselves with the most mystical and magical of waters - the Beltane morning dew. Hawthorn is a deeply important tree - the sixth tree of the sacred ogham; its berries offer human bodies profound circulation and heart medicine and its energies offer release and healing, and pathways towards love of self and love of other. It is a wild and enchanted tree under protection of the faerie realms - glennie kindred says it has the protection of the old magics and as such it must be greatly respected. Wherever it grows it brings the wildness, whether in a city or on vast lands. To know the Hawthorn is to know the heart, one cannot hide from the exceptional wisdom the Hawthorn brings.

The Vernal Equinox is a time of sacred discernment. A time to reflect on the balance of action and contemplation and to tend to that which has been neglected during the colder months.

In a time and a world when so much is challenging, heartbreaking, confusing, and frightening, rooting into presence with the natural world can help us to strengthen our hearts and our resolve towards unyielding kindness, humility, and solidarity with our human kin and our plant kin alike.

May this Spring inspire our hearts towards ever more beautiful acts of service and compassion. Whether large or small, every kindness offers a pebble into the river of human healing.

May you and all you hold dear be showered in the blessings of the stirring energies of the season.

Season 2 of Animisma is an offering of seasonal contemplation, offered with care, and offered in peace. It is a walk along the hidden paths, along forest floors covered in soft grass, sunlight peeking through ancient boughs, breezes quietly moving across our faces as we walk with permission through mist and shadow. It is a walk in the presence of giants, of plants as portals, mystical herbs, and magical flowers.

Episode 2: Fàilte a charaidean (welcome friends). Today, we will create a tree spirit altar together, in honor of Imbolc. If you cannot access all of these beautiful trees and plants in our human realm, this episode offers you space to gently still yourself and witness through your mind's eye the building of a beautiful and sacred offering to the traditional start of Spring.

Imbolc is the beautiful cross-quarter fire festival and celebration of awakening, fertility, birthing, and beginning. It is the promise of renewal, of hidden potential, of the earth slowly awakening and of life-force stirring. We welcome the growth of the returning light and witness life's rebirth at this time. Imbolc is translated from ancient Irish and means ‘in the belly’ or ‘around the belly’ and refers to both the pregnancy of sheep and to the fertility of the Earth, that is the swelling belly of the earth goddess. Imbolc was the traditional celebration of Spring, as opposed to the modern interpretation of Spring beginning on the Spring Equinox.

Today, we create a sacred altar for Imbolc - requesting blessings from Brighid, the Goddess honored on this day while partnering with the sacred tree, Rowan (Witchwood), and sacred plant Heather (Fraoch) and snowdrop, a messenger of hope.

Season 2 of Animisma is an offering of seasonal contemplation, offered with care, and offered in peace. It is a walk along the hidden paths, along forest floors covered in soft grass, sunlight peeking through ancient boughs, breezes quietly moving across our faces as we walk with permission through mist and shadow. It is a walk in the presence of giants, of plants as portals, mystical herbs, and magical flowers.

Episode 1: Fàilte a charaidean to the deep dark heart of winter. A time of stillness. A time of depth. A time of darkness peppered with light and the green reminders of life everlasting. A time for introspection, a time for dreaming. A time for death and deep contemplation. A time for silence and a time for the decaying of the old and used energies and dreams to go to Earth, creating space for possibility and potentiality.

Together today, let’s take a walk through a sacred, mythical forest in the Celtic otherworld to celebrate the Winter Solstice and connect with the beautiful trees that are venerated at this time.