The Daily: 12 November 2024

When I was a young adult, I found November difficult, a month of endurance, of feeling increasingly irritable and often ill, incapable of concentration and yet unable to relax, hungry but never an appetite for anything. November brought darkness and cold, but not the snow and peace of winter, lethargy and apathy, but no time… Continue reading The Daily: 12 November 2024

The Daily: 29 October 2024

Odds are few of you are as involved in the pagan community as I am. Though this is the fastest growing spiritual path, both in the world and in my own country, it is still a very small community. Moreover, I am in the minority in thinking that it might be good for the planet… Continue reading The Daily: 29 October 2024

The Daily: 1 September 2024

St Giles and the Hind by the Master of St Giles (National Gallery, London) Today is the feast day of St Giles, who comes from the legendary days of Medieval Christianity. He was supposedly a 7th century prince of Athens who moved to the Rhone Valley and became a monk. He left a trail of… Continue reading The Daily: 1 September 2024

The Daily: 20 August 2024

It has cooled down substantially. There have been morning fogs and evening breezes. It's still very humid and the smoke is still hazing the hills, making mountains insubstantial, mere ideas of solidity squatting across the river valley. It is also raining most days, but lightly, not torrents (except for the storm cell that dropped more… Continue reading The Daily: 20 August 2024

The Daily: 14 August 2024

Things to look forward to... a full moon I did my graduate work amid people who studied bits of foreign places like comets, exploded planets, asteroids, and moons. I have held pieces of our satellite moon in my hand and looked at the structure of its minerals through powerful lenses. My own work was focused… Continue reading The Daily: 14 August 2024

The Daily: 22 July 2024

The Old Farmer's Almanac says that it's time to start paying attention to the potatoes. In my garden you can hardly not pay attention to them. The potatoes are reaching out and grabbing attention. Passers-by are rubber-necking the veg. The potatoes are so prolific this year, I'm afraid there might be accidents. It's starting to… Continue reading The Daily: 22 July 2024

The Daily: 16 July 2024

It's the age old question: Why do bad things happen to good people? Or maybe, why do bad things happen at all? Though we would like for more of the people we consider bad to suffer the bad things... schadenfreude is a bitch... Most of the world's religions are attempts to grapple with the apparent… Continue reading The Daily: 16 July 2024

The Daily: 23 June 2024

Tonight is the night that Shakespeare had faeries running amok in the woods around Athens. This is Midsummer's Night, tomorrow being Midsummer's Day. Folklore has it that this is the best time to go find the Good Folk, though lore also makes it pretty clear that you may be in for trouble if you do.… Continue reading The Daily: 23 June 2024

The Daily: 22 June 2024

June 22nd is the feast day of St Alban, one of the first British martyrs to the Christian faith, a sort of protomartyr, in fact. It is said that Alban was beheaded by Roman authorities on this date, though the year this happened may be any time between 209 and 304. Stained-glass portrait of St… Continue reading The Daily: 22 June 2024

The Daily: 18 June 2024

I am reading Gods-Speaking by Judith O’Grady, a slim but thorough treatise — or perhaps rather long essay — on the phenomena of talking to beings that are not human and may not be completely of this world. It has set me investigating all sorts of rabbit holes, not least of which are the multitude… Continue reading The Daily: 18 June 2024