In the Celtic pantheon, the cailleach (Gaelic for hag or crone) is the darker counterpart to the Beltane goddess, Brighid. As the summer fades into fall, so too the goddess ages. She can be seen in leaves changing from green to gold, seed heads bowing down, and crops being brought in for winter storage. As we know, this seasonal death is also the beginning of a new season that we welcome with harvest celebrations. Some accounts call her The Queen of Winter, some paint her face blue, some say … [Read more...]
what winter brings
“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.” - Albert Camus "Let those December winds bellow and blow, I'm as warm as a July tomato." -Greg Brown, folk singer, from his song "Canned Goods" Today we welcome winter solstice, and at 12:11pm winter is officially ushered in. As much as I love the growing season in all its verdant glory, I also enjoy the change in rhythm that winter brings. On the cusp of 3 months of colder weather, I'm granted a … [Read more...]