Eliza Daley ~ Wordcraft & Musing on Home & Hope
Romulus and Remus The old river god gently laid the sleeping twin boys on the bank. She watched as he sadly backed away from the shore and melted into his domain. Just before he vanished he looked up and met her eyes, charging her with this task in that one glance. He knew her well.… Continue reading A Full Snow Moon Tale
As February marks the last month in the ancient Roman calendar, the Romans spent their time setting themselves in accord with the world. The 9-day festival of Parentalia begins on 13 February and culminates in the day of Feralia, which began at sundown on the 21st. Parentalia was a sacred time to commune with the… Continue reading Parentalia
Every religion needs its mythos. I wrote this one a while ago and posted it last year. It seems a good day to share it again. Eve Eve woke up with the birds each morning. The piping and burbling of thousands of little brown birds in the reeds, so numerous in kind they’d not even… Continue reading An EarthCraft Origin Story
Home is where and how you meet your needs. It is both a place and the work done in that place, be it actual housework or all the varieties of care that are given without productive physical output. Home is the support and refuge in life. Home is people as much as a locus. The… Continue reading Wednesday Word: 19 January
The third moon in my lunar year is the Wolf Moon. It is new between 28 December and 25 January and full between 11 January and 8 February. This is the coldest time of year in the North. It is when stores of food are running low and hunger is stalking every home. This inhospitable… Continue reading The Full Wolf Moon
It’s my week to tend to the box people. Don’t know why I signed up for a whole week in January. The Wolf Moon is the hardest time of year. But they were so grateful down in the valley when I did that I didn’t have the heart to change it. So now… forty-six years… Continue reading Box People: Winifred Mumbles
The second moon cycle in my lunar year is the Midwinter Moon. It is new between 30 November and 27 December; it’s full between 14 December and 10 January. The winter solstice will usually fall in this month, and this moon will be full during the longest nights of the year. It is, therefore, the longest full moon. It… Continue reading Midwinter Moon
I don't like Thanksgiving. I never have. I don't appreciate the the days of preparation necessary for one meal, much of which becomes an endless stream of leftovers that nobody wants to touch. I can't eat the sugary things anymore and don't want to eat a turkey. I spend far too much money to find… Continue reading Wednesday Word: 24 November
It’s my birthday. Think I might be seventy-eight. Hard to keep track of things like that. There was that kerfuffle over calendars, some folks demanding a clean slate. As if the year number could erase history. As if anything could clean up this mess. But if it makes them feel better, it also doesn’t hurt… Continue reading Apple Cake: Winifred Mumbles
The predicted snow arrived last night. It is mostly over now. First snow doesn't linger, though the cold still steals into the gaps around these old windows. I'm looking out on a damp grey world, more than halfway to winter sleep. But lilacs and oaks seem caught unawares, with green and yellow leaves hanging limp.… Continue reading Wednesday Word: 17 November
By My Solitary Hearth 