hildewestacre - Tumblr blog

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I'm playing around with the things Druidry and permaculture have in common, and the ways they can enrich each other. The three Permaculture Ethics can be a useful guide to steer a Druid's life by.

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Thank you for following me

I have been very absent from Tumblr for a long time, but these last few weeks several people have started following me. It's all a bit odd, but I'm grateful. And you will find some new content here in the near future.

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Druidry and permaculture have quite a lot in common. I'm playing on the edge between the two.

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There is so much work to do. If we want to create a better world in the shadow of the industrial growth society, we must do what needs to be done, even if the result is uncertain. So be gentle with yourself.

From my WordPress blog.

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Power from the Ancestors and the good Earth. Inspiration from Spirit and ever-moving thought. How do they ebb and flow in you?

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Nature is in the full flow of creativity now, as we move towards the Summer Solstice. You can come along for the ride.

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Riding Nature‘s creative wave

We have come a long way from the dead of winter. Back then, our creativity was a tiny flame in the darkness. We discovered seeds of ideas and played with them. We watched the world change and let it inspire us to express our unique inspiration.

Having followed the power of Spring as the world turned green, our wave is now cresting. Close to the Solstice, the trees have turned a luminous green. Flowers of every colour open to the Sun. Light stays in the sky until late.

If you have done the work of aligning with the power Nature's creativity in the first half of the year, and if you have committed to a creative focus for this growing season, you should be riding high on that wave even now.

Of course, life is seldom that simple. There are any number of reasons for you to have fallen behind and are running to catch up with what you had planned. Or maybe the rush of Nature's energy feels overwhelming and leaves you paralysed. Or perhaps you've missed the wave all together and you don't feel things are moving forward at all.

Don't worry. There is a way to get back on track. All you need is a bit of inner fire.

Our inner fire of creativity is lit by the combination of two things: power and inspiration.

Power is the life force that flows through everything. You connect to it by getting in touch with the Earth and your body. You can

meditate on your connection with Earth, putting down roots.

walk barefoot on the grass.

plant something in your garden.

have a massage.

Inspiration is creativity flowing from the world of Spirit into our own. You connect to it by waking your mind to its messages. You can

meditate on your connection with Spirit, growing a wide canopy of twigs and leaves.

go out and explore the world.

read widely.

talk to interesting people.

When you are aligned to power and inspiration, they naturally combine to light the fire of creativity inside you. They will also put you into synch with the natural ebbs and flows of creativity in Nature.

This is, of course, more complex than the growth cycle of the seasons. The Moon has her own tides that affect us. And so does your unique animal body. Find your own cycles of ebb and flow, align with power and inspiration, and ride your creative wave.

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The basic building block for a reslient community where everyone can live fully is very simple. And fun. Celebrate!

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I'm crafting a new web site. A new home for my blog and the courses I offer. It'll be bigger, better and more accessible than the old one.

I'm having fun experimenting, putting it all together. It'll probably take some time, as I'm fitting this in around our renovation project. But I can't wait to show it to you.

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Garden Stock 38 by AsiaAndEric-Stock

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Celebration as daily practice.

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Find out how celebration could change the world.

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Celebration - creating a new world

We ate the very first young greens from my new vegetable bed this lunchtime. Our plan is to become a lot more self-sufficient over time, so a first harvest, however small, is important.

It's a bit of a milestone. It turned our meal into a tiny celebration. The food was shared, the occasion acknowledged.

I've learned a lot about soil, recently. How important that dirt in the garden really is. And how to look after it.

Imagine a forest floor. Plants grow there in great abundance, yet nobody ploughs or fertilises it.

All those colourful flowers thrive in the organic matter from previous years' growth. In that broken down humus, millions of little creatures are working away to turn old leaves into nutrients for plants.

In my vegetable bed, I've tried to emulate the wisdom of the forest. Without doing any digging, I've fed my soil compost and manure. I've covered it with grass clippings to hold in the moisture and keep the weeds down.

And now the larger seedlings are protecting the smaller ones by shading them from the sun. After just three weeks, the bed is looking lush.

I am giving gifts of organic matter to the soil, and it is giving me fresh young salad vegetables in return. This is a magical connection that contributes to our health, the health of the garden, and the health of the world.

As a Druid, I like to think about what Nature teaches me, and how I can apply that to my life and my world. Knowing how important soil is for life to thrive, I asked my guiding spirits how I can help build the soil of a flourishing world.

The spirits told me something I didn't expect. They told me that the soil our world needs to become healthy and abundant is celebration.

The dictionary definition mentions three basic elements to celebration: people coming together, solemn words being spoken, and food shared.

You can do this on any scale. You can get all of your friends and neighbours together for a potluck picnic in the park. Say a few words about your reason to celebrate – a birthday, a major festival, simply being alive.

The act of bringing people together and strengthening relationships may well be one important way to save the world we know from disaster.

Celebration can also be a simple daily practice you can do any time. The gathering doesn't have to be exclusively human. Any being you meet in the course of your day can be a partner in celebration.

Celebrate the warm sun on your face. A tree freshly coming into leaf. A plant cracking trough the pavement.

Stop for a moment and feel the presence of this other being. Speak to it – silently in your heart or out loud – of the gifts of beauty it gives you. Your words and attention will be a gift in return.

If you wish, leave an offering. The simplest one is a libation of water. Have a sip yourself.

Imagine how your connections with other people and the natural world would change if you did this consistently. They would become magical.

Vibrant connections are the very soil of a flourishing world. Tend them well.

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I love the photographic tarot images. I wonder if they'll be made into a deck one day.

Photographer Teams Up With Haitian Artists to Bring Traditional Tarot Cards to Life

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My spiritual Tribe got together to celebrate Beltane last week. I was privileged to facilitate part of the magic: A Council of the Wildwood.

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