Dear ones - Happy Spring Equinox! A day of balance between light and dark. A time of planting seeds. Winter may still make an appearance from time to time until the cross quarter day of Beltane (or May Day), but the tide has shifted and Spring is here. The sun is getting stronger. Early flowers are blooming and trees are starting to bud and blossom. A few weeks ago, a Scottish woman quoted to me: “Oak before Ash, you’re in for a splash. Ash before Oak, you’re in for a soak!” An old folk rhyme...
about 1 month ago • 5 min read
Dear ones - What’s so special about a round house? Why does it matter that we connect with its energy or imagine ourselves gathering within one? “The way you build a house is a way to shape a town. And how you shape a town is how you form your world.” - Scott Richardson-Read (https://cailleachs-herbarium.com/) Circles have always been sacred and there’s evidence from nomadic tents to the earliest houses - humans almost always built round. Birds build nests. Beavers build lodges. The celestial...
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
Dear ones - I don't think I've shared much about how I became so focused on ancestral connection work. Perhaps you're interested to hear? Especially since it's the opposite of how I felt initially... In a weird paradox, alongside some pretty big patterns of people-pleasing, I’ve also always had a pretty strong resistance to authority and any hint of “because I’m older and know better” condescension. Any sense that I have to do something and my feet want to plant, my arms want to cross, my...
about 1 month ago • 7 min read
Dear ones - Firstly - I acknowledge this email, which usually comes at the beginning of the month, is coming almost halfway through. While there are a lot of voices and images out there glorifying a nomadic life, it's not the whole picture. And I've been stuck more in the challenges of it the past few weeks. Make no mistake - I feel the privilege and richness of making the choice to live this way right now. AND it’s also frequently exhausting and requires sacrifice and huge amounts of...
about 1 month ago • 7 min read
Dear ones - Yesterday evening, I watched the almost-full moon rise while the snow-dusted peaks dipped in and out of the clouds. Today, the wind gusts so strongly, even sitting, my body was having to work to stay upright. Winter is still holding on here in East Kintyre. Some say this moon would more traditionally have been called the Ice Moon or the Snow Moon in Ireland and Scotland. And there are those who believe the ancient Ogham alphabet (dating back possibly as early as 1st century BC)...
2 months ago • 7 min read
Dear ones - There’s a lot of upheaval in the world and it feels surreal to be alive amid so many unfolding crises while also going about the mundane of our days. I’m naming that because while political activism work doesn’t feel like it’s my best contribution to these times (but guiding people to stay human does), I don’t believe in bypassing either. I believe we have to hold the tension of wondering if we’re doing the right things and enough of them; alongside loving the people around us,...
3 months ago • 8 min read
Dear ones - I want to start off quickly acknowledging - the energy feels heavy out there right now. There's a lot of fear, exhaustion, unrest, and uncertainty. Remember to take some deep breaths, rest (I guide you into some in my last podcast episode, ep 56, if you want some support in that), connect with people you love and feel safe around. Take yourself offline and invest in things which are real, as well as your longer-distance connections and community. I suspect one of the most...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Dear ones - The full moon from a few days ago is known in Scotland and Irish Gaelic as the Wolf Moon - the days are getting longer, but there’s still a lot of winter left. Lean days. Hungry days. Wild days. This far north, I can really see how much longer the evenings are getting already. A quick change in weather had all the snow where I was disappear overnight. We’re a few weeks away from the beginning of February and what’s known in the Gaelic speaking countries as Imbolc or Imbolg -...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Dear ones - Happy Roman New Year and beginning of 2025! As they say in Scotland: “lang may yer lum reek” which means “long may your chimney smoke” - a wish for long life, prosperity, and community (harking to the tradition of first footin’ and bringing coals to each other to keep the fire going after the bells ring midnight). Being over here it’s been a pretty quiet holiday season for me, though not without the love of friends and family. There has been plenty of that. I’m grateful to you all...
4 months ago • 5 min read