Eliza Daley ~ Wordcraft & Musing on Home & Hope
The Season of Renewal This year, the Vernal Equinox happens on March 20th at 10:46am. This is, I think, the most nebulous of the solar festivals. Yes, it does mark an actual solar event, but it’s not the one we typically hear about. It’s not much of an event at all. This festival is less… Continue reading The Daily: 20 March 2026
St Joseph, Patron of Fatherhood To me Christianity seems to be rather quiet on Joseph, the husband of Mary and the step-father of their deity. That may be because I've never lived in an Italian neighborhood where Joe is the patron saint of roughly half the male population (though I did get a faint whiff… Continue reading The Daily: 19 March 2026
Today is... the equinox? Vernal Equinox Quiz True or False: The vernal equinox is when spring begins. Not exactly. The beginning of spring depends on where you live, and it is more a cultural phenomenon than a meteorological one. Tradition in Ireland has spring beginning with St Brigid’s Day on 1 February. Spring weather may… Continue reading The Daily: 17 March 2026
There are two observances today that are dear to me. I am sure that there are more, even within my culture. And of course, it's autumn down south. Which adds even more ways to celebrate the time. The Navigation of Isis In Apuleius’, The Golden Ass, we find a description of another marker of spring. The Navigium… Continue reading The Daily: 5 March 2026
World Wildlife Day March 3rd is the UN's World Wildlife Day. This is the day that the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora was signed in 1973. So on 20 December 2013 at the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, March 3 was declared United Nations World… Continue reading The Daily: 3 March 2026
Lion and Lamb March is upon us once again. An Old English name for March was Hlyda, meaning “loud”, presumably referring to the roaring March winds. This name survived as Lide in the West countries. Eat leeks in Lide and ramsons in May, And all the year after physicians may play. — proverb from western… Continue reading The Daily: 1 March 2026
A Parable of the 1%* Imagine a flock of pigeons in a corn field. Imagine that ninety-nine of them, instead of pecking the corn they need and using it as they need it, start to collect all they can into one big heap. Imagine that they do not leave much corn for themselves, but save… Continue reading The Daily: 23 February 2026
Snow Moon The Wolf Moon went dark yesterday at 7:01am. Both Mardi Gras and Chinese New Year, with all their riotous color and spark, took place last night. Today, the Snow Moon, the fourth moon in my lunar year, is new. In my calendar, this is the season of Early Spring, the long wait of… Continue reading The Daily: 18 February 2026
The Wolf Moon goes dark today at 7:01am, so the crescent Snow Moon — or, this year, the Hunger Moon, since it is so late — might be visible tonight at sunset, though it would be faint and you'd need a very flat western horizon to see it. In traditional lunisolar calendars, the Moon is… Continue reading The Daily: 17 February 2026
February First Fruits & Quirinalia To highlight just how different the seasonal cycle is depending on latitude, mid-February, the last ides of the ritual year in Rome, was a festival of the first-fruit offerings. While here in Vermont we are barely thinking about the growing season, never mind able to see actual earth, during the… Continue reading The Daily: 16 February 2026
By My Solitary Hearth 