Tag: healing
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The Mórrígan as Mother and More: My Appearance on Personal Pans
I had the honor of appearing this week on the Personal Pans podcast with Vanessa Walilko. We had so much fun, I feel like I’ve gained a new friend. Here’s how she described the episode: What happens when your mother is not a mother? Where do you find a maternal figure? When you find yourself…
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Spring in Appalachia: Starting a Farm With Trauma
It’s an absolutely beautiful day here in western North Carolina. We’re having a run of unseasonably warm weather which has me itching to get the garden going. I have dreams. Big dreams. Lush flowerbeds, a full-on witch’s garden with all my favorite poison plants, and of course enough veggies to feed a small army (or…
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Embracing The Darkness of Yule and Winter
The shortest day of the year is drawing to a close as I write this. Yule is a time of darkness as much as it is a celebration of returning light. A time to draw in, to germinate. And, I’m beginning to realize, a time when darkness is not to be defeated but embraced. Have…
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After Abuse: Do We Have To Forgive To Heal?
Tina Turner has an incredible life story. From abject poverty in Nutbush, TN to world superstardom and rock Icon status. But no matter what she does or how much she accomplishes, she cannot get away from the shadow of Ike. See? I didn’t even have to say his whole name and you know exactly who…
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When Ancestors Did Horrible Things
In 1622, the colonists at Jamestown in what is now Virginia were outgrowing the boundaries of the original settlement. Relations with the local Powhatan tribe had thus far been good, but the colonists weren’t being good neighbors. Feeling entitled, they routinely stole food stores and ruined crops planted by the Powhatans. Finally, a colonist murdered…
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Biddy Early: Healing Comes With a Price
In the southwest of Ireland, midway between Galway and Limerick, a mother and father are worriedly tending their sick daughter. Tenant farmers in the time of Famine, most of the family was starving. They’d likely be evicted when the rent next came due. But none of that was as urgent as what was happening to…