Eliza Daley ~ Wordcraft & Musing on Home & Hope
Come, now a roundel by Arthur Rackham (1908) the thorn path 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… Continue reading The Daily: 4 May 2023
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 2023
Floralia Cosiddetta Flora from the Villa di Arianna in Stabiae near Pompeii, 1st century Roman fresco The festival of Floralia is another 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: 28 April 2023
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 2023
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 2023
National Dandelion Day The Old Farmer’s Almanac claims that April 5th is Dandelion Day. I’m fairly certain this is not a thing, but it should be. Dandelions are pleasurable in so many ways. Just imagine an early summer lawn dotted with bee-covered smiling suns! And when you need calm, there is nothing better than sitting in the… Continue reading The Daily: 5 April 2023
Thanks to all the well wishes! I feel blessed! All ended about as well as can be expected. Everybody is home with extant body parts more or less functional again. Perhaps certain persons may even take this as a sign that it might be time to slow down a bit now that over eight decades… Continue reading The Daily: 1 April 2023
Parentalia As February marked the last month in the ancient Roman calendar, the Romans spent this time of year setting themselves in accord with the world. The 9-day festival of Parentalia began on 13 February and culminated with the day of Feralia, which began at sundown on the 21st. Parentalia was a sacred time to… Continue reading The Daily: 13 February 2023
They asked a Chinese man, "What is science?" He said, "Science is knowing people." Then they asked, "And what is virtue?" He answered, "Virtue is loving people." — Tolstoy, from his Calendar of Wisdom for 27 January Yesterday was my birthday. I am not going to say which one, but that’s more because I like… Continue reading The Daily: 27 January 2023
Turn your head and squint at the stories you’ve been told and you may see the traces. Delicate razor-thin reminders. Forgotten runes etched deep into memory. Ghostly echoes inherited through the ages. We know what we do not remember, what we have disregarded until the capacity to see is lost. But it is still there,… Continue reading Palimpsest
By My Solitary Hearth 