Gaian Tarot Artist's Journal

Moments of Grace: Lavender by Sun & Moon

Harvested lavender & lilies with sisters the other night under a crescent moon & rosy-golden sunset, on a hill overlooking the western isles. Blessed be.

Moment of Grace: First Wild Roses of Summer

I first posted this photo a year ago, but it's too beautiful not to share it again. Blessed be.

Moments of Grace: Blossoms Overhead

When I walk out my front door and look up, this is what I see.

"May all eyes be open to the transforming delight of Summer this day; may the earth be made glad by the dance of life, may we discern the blessed peace of the Plain of Delight upon our planet." 

- Caitlin Matthews, Celtic Devotional

My Heart's Home

From the moment I drove off the ferry onto the island, I knew I was home.

No other place on the planet that I’ve ever visited has tugged on my heartstrings the way this one has.  I am relaxing into the knowledge that it is my true heart’s home and that someday I will live there again.

Advent-of-the-Sun Calendar: Solstice Day!

And on Solstice Day, my true love sent to me . . .

A song & slideshow from our family to yours.

Click here to play a Quicktime movie (high res version) or click here for the YouTube version.

“In the Deep Midwinter” performed by Craig Olson

Music by Gustav Holst (1906)

Lyrics by Christina Rossetti (1872), revised by Craig Olson (2006)

Photography Credits:

Snow scenes by Catherine Kerr and Joanna Powell Colbert

Interior scenes by Paul Bingman, Chele Eva Armstrong and Joanna Powell Colbert

Advent-of-the-Sun Calendar: Day 18

On the eighteenth day of Advent, my true love sent to me . . . 

Snowfall, wild visitors, and a warm, warm house.

Morning Visitor

All Soul's Night

 

Last night our friends gathered to honor the changing tide and to remember our loved ones now on the other side of the veil.  We built this altar for our ancestors.  Isn't it beautiful?  Thanks to Chele for such a gorgeous photo (click on it to see a larger version.)

Earlier in the day, Betsy and I set up little shrines along the loop trail in our woodsy backyard.  Craig raked the leaves, laid out rope lights along the path and sprinkled sand on slippery flagstones.  Deb & Michael brought torches, and those were lit at each station, to illuminate the shrines.  Even though we live in semi-suburbia, our third-acre lot backs up to five acres of woods and the mountain beyond. So after nightfall, it was quite dark, isolated and very magical.  

A light rain and breeze rustled up the leaves. After singing chants inside the house, we walked in procession outside, carrying candles and offerings.  Humming "when we are gone, they will remain; earth and wind, fire and rain . . . "  we stopped at each shrine to offer a stone, a shell, a necklace, a bit of chocolate, a handful of nuts.  Honoring the spirits of the land and the spirits of our Beloved Dead who hovered oh so close, a whisper on the wind.  

The Rain Makes the Colors Deeper

Moments of Autumn Grace

I'm leaving Maine tomorrow for North Carolina.  My heart is filled to overflowing with images of time spent with baby Grace (and what a happy baby she is), and with the stunning October leaves.  Oh it's so true what they say about fall in New England.  Nothing like it.