Eliza Daley ~ Wordcraft & Musing on Home & Hope
Ever since reading Becoming Native to This Place by Wes Jackson back in the late 1990s, I have sought to define what that means for me. Wes defines it mostly in terms of food production, but there are also elements of spirituality and philosophy even as he writes about farming. Food is certainly the central… Continue reading The Daily: 15 October 2025
June 15th, the Ides of June, was the last day of Vestalia. With great ceremony, the sanctuary of Vesta was cleansed and closed to the public for another year, the sustaining Vestal hearth-flame hidden behind walls that no man was allowed to pass. This is a slack time, a time when heat is intolerable and… Continue reading The Daily: 15 June 2025
I'm in a mood... and this popped out last night... pretty much fully formed... wisdom traditions as soon as you speakof purity and greatnesswe know your wordsfor poor absolutiondefense for the lives that you stolea wise man would not create god in his imageall violence and self-absorptiona wise man would notlook to the stars locating… Continue reading The Daily: 19 February 2025
5 February is St Agatha’s Day. Born in about 231 in Catania, Sicily, she is one of many virgin martyrs of early Christianity. Her story exemplifies why there are so many women among the ranks of martyrs for the faith. She was said to be a beautiful child born to wealthy nobility, but she turned… Continue reading The Daily: 5 February 2025
Saturnalia Saturnalia begins today. This year Saturn presides over the beginning of his holiday season. Look to the west at about 5:30pm. Saturn will be sitting just above the crescent Moon. In the north, this is also the beginning of the shortest nights of the year. For the next ten days, day length in my… Continue reading The Daily: 17 December 2023
The ancient world of the Mediterranean and Near East has a great number of interesting mythological beings. Some are related to old gods and tutelary spirits. Some are fairly accurate illustrations of the anxieties of humankind — or maybe mankind, since women didn't have much of a voice. Some are just ludicrous. One of my… Continue reading The Daily: 29 September 2023
Found this while searching for something else that I'm pretty sure I never actually wrote... only planned to write... so it seemed serendipitous to throw this back out to the world. Especially since I am currently in a welter of planning. Present circumstances are just unsustainable and I need to figure that out. Meanwhile... here… Continue reading The Daily: 6 September 2023
June 15th, the Ides of June, was the last day of Vestalia. With great ceremony, the sanctuary of Vesta was cleansed and closed to the public for another year, the sustaining Vestal hearth-flame hidden behind walls that no man was allowed to pass. This is a slack time, a time when heat is intolerable and… Continue reading The Daily: 15 June 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
The latter half of June 2022 will be a treat for sky-watchers. All five of the bright visible planets will be in alignment, in the order that we find them in the solar system, from left to right across the pre-dawn sky. Beginning June 16th, Mercury will also be as bright and high up as… Continue reading The Planets Are Aligned
By My Solitary Hearth 