Eliza Daley ~ Wordcraft & Musing on Home & Hope
I have been dealing with ramped up rheumatoid arthritis and allergies for a couple weeks now. Mostly related to weather — perpetual drizzle and highs in the low 50s(°F) — coupled with maple bloom season. You would think the rain would wash the pollen out of the air, but maybe there isn't enough falling moisture,… Continue reading The Daily: 5 May 2025
Because of the emphasis luni-solar calendars place on the eve of the day, today, May 2nd, is sometimes named May Day. More properly it is named Bealtaine — the later holiday for organized (ie paid) labor, May Day, is fixed to the first of the month in keeping with labor time rules. But Bealtaine is… Continue reading The Daily: 2 May 2025
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 The Daily: 1 May 2025
Walpurgis Night The last day of April has been a fraught time for millennia. This is a night when pranks are pulled, when spells are cast and wishes are granted, when the Good Folk pass through the veils to walk the woodlands, and when witches dance. The Beltaine fires were lit at midnight on May… Continue reading The Daily: 30 April 2025
The Greenleaf Moon went dark yesterday afternoon without bringing much in the way of green leaves, though we are much closer to that than we were last week. Leaf casings are opening up. The maples are in full bloom. My pussy willows are almost done blooming. And the peach tree is just on the edge… Continue reading The Daily: 28 April 2025
Floralia Cosiddetta Flora from the Villa di Arianna in Stabiae near Pompeii, 1st century Roman fresco The festival of Floralia is a very old holiday. It honors Flora, the Roman idea of fertility that is embodied in spring flowers. Flora is one of the oldest deities in the Roman pantheon. She is older than Rome,… Continue reading The Daily: 27 April 2025
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… Continue reading The Daily: 25 April 2025
April 23rd is St George's Feast Day, though in the Church of England it is moved until Monday when the 23rd falls between Palm Sunday and the Sunday after Easter. I find that all too complicated to track, so I just stick to the 23rd. I don't celebrate Easter, so there's no reason for me… Continue reading The Daily: 23 April 2025
Earth Day Earth Day was created in 1970 as a direct political challenge. Wisconsin's Senator Gaylord Nelson wanted the US government to do what government is supposed to do — protect its people and lands from rapacious business. He created Earth Day and organized the first demonstrations across the country to force the hand of… Continue reading The Daily: 22 April 2025
We flirted briefly with temperatures above 60°F on Saturday, though it also rained the entire day with gusty winds from every direction, making it not entirely pleasant garden weather. Sunday was dry but much cooler, never topping 50° though it was sunny in the afternoon. Unfortunately, it was also even more windy, the kind of… Continue reading The Daily: 21 April 2025
By My Solitary Hearth 