Come, now a roundel by Arthur Rackham (1908) she made her feathered nest in the tangled boughs of oak, ash, thorn and found mushroom echoes of moonbeams she delved for essence among the hawthorn roots and brought woven certainty to light she entered the ring where faeries are dancing and knew the wheel’s ceaseless turning… Continue reading the thorn path
Category: story
Bealtaine
the thorn queen she waxes full in fertile grace queen of quick and fay, she reigns in mantle green and seemly face quelling fear and mortal pains eternal mother, ever maid undying wisdom in her glance deathless weird is on her laid to spin th' unceasing wheel of chance again, she comes in crown of… Continue reading Bealtaine
balefire
we are the bonfire on the mountain the light in the waning days we are the chthonic mothers the crones singing lullabies under dark moons we are the eyes on trespass the elder judges, pockets brimming with vindication we are the keepers of truth the guardians on the gates of futures unbroken we are the… Continue reading balefire
Arbor Day
We have a fraught relationship with trees. To mask our utter dependence on the green world and to justify taking whatever we desire from the planet, we have stripped even the possibility of consciousness from other life forms, woody ones in particular. We name them resources, so that the value of trees is determined only… Continue reading Arbor Day
floralia
to be a flower is profound responsibility — emily dickinson we are atrophied arrested in infancy lapped in trifling concerns want, desire, lust all trivial, all meaningless bounded by self in isolation yielding naught but wasted precious time we pursue this void aimlessly assiduously avoiding essence because truth is written materially plain to see in… Continue reading floralia
hawthorn dance
mantra
i can see clearly to banish harm release fear embrace joy i am free i can see clearly to banish harm erase pain embrace wholeness i am free i can see clearly to banish harm release fear embrace love i am free i can see clearly to banish harm erase pain embrace serenity i am… Continue reading mantra
A Red-Letter Day
April 25th is a complicated date. It is St Mark’s Day, which is honored with a wide variety of celebrations; and it is Robigalia, an ancient Roman festival intended to propitiate the god — or demon — of wheat rust and thus ensure a good harvest. These disparate themes may actually be related. Mark the… Continue reading A Red-Letter Day
memory palace in flames
Leonora Carrington Ms Ashton (1987) memory she thinks is like a house on fire forcing mind into perennial present flames monstrous in brutal beauty stark revelations only to be scattered in ash and ruin cherished rooms once filled with laughter and tears and quiet morning comforts now all engulfed in roaring madness she came through… Continue reading memory palace in flames
Saint George and the Dragon
Bernat Martorell, Saint George and the Dragon (1434-1435) Sir George, he went a’questing, as gallant lads will do, to prove his mettle and his fine fettle — a knight both brave and true. He came upon a kingdom wherein misfortune reigned. The dragon blight, a dire plight, a land become blood-stained. The dragon charged the… Continue reading Saint George and the Dragon