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Badger Shares Story Medicine

How many of you have read the book, CROW and WEASEL by Barry Lopez? Such a wise, wonderful book, beautifully illustrated, and so worth reading. When mainstream narrative would have us believe that we are powerless and pointless, needing to be dictated, stories like this one show the way back to what is true about each one of us: that we each carry and are a unique and much needed medicine for our community and our times. The mythic and imaginative, and the expansive, complex beauty that is the vital force and the natural world is absolutely woven into each one of us.

What stories do you carry? Which stories inspire you most, or inspire you particularly right now? There is medicine in a good tale. Stories nourish our spirit and soul, and we can share this good medicine with others, so that we all grow in courage, strength, wisdom, and imagination.

As Badger says in CROW and WEASEL (and I relate in the video): “Sometimes a person needs a story more than food to stay alive.”

We are so much more than the barrage of fear would have us believe.

This short video that I made (just over a minute long) features a quote from Badger about the nature of story, and a little musing from me.

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Welcome to my Green Office

With the weather so beautiful, and with my promise to myself to be outside as much as possible, I am now working mornings in Forest Halls.  Come join me in  my green office!

As I park my car down the slope, I notice that my keys reflect what the Forest is to me.

Here are some of my colleagues in Forest Halls.

I light a candle to help me center further into the magic.

I’m creating a mini-comic based on the first part of my children’s fantasy novel, Because of the Red Fox. This is the text I’m sketching today.

I also take time to work on Paloma and Wings: An Herbal Comic.  This book is so very close to being ready for me to order a proof.

The work right now on Paloma and Wings is excruciating: lots of wrestling with my word processing program to set up a “master document,” and then fixing glitches that inevitably show up or reveal themselves as I put the files together. Argggg!

When I finish with the word processing for the morning, I take time to lay down and stare at the sky. Good medicine to follow such aggravating work!

Before I head home, I look for a tree who could serve as a reference for the Tree of Tales in the mini-comic — and:

I find the Tree of Tales!

Thanks for joining me!

 

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Forest Halls Celtic – Radio Show – Midwinter Magical Music

Celebrate the magic of the Winter Solstice with music, folklore, poetry, and story — oh, and lots of harp — on my streaming radio program Forest Halls Celtic. Until Jan. 3, enjoy encore airings of Shows 40 and 19, both devoted to Midwinter wonder and Celtic Christmas themes.

Listen on demand at http://voiceofvashon.org/forest-halls-celtic

Harpers you’ll hear include: Margot Krimmel, Debra Knodel,Orla Fallon,Kim Robertson, Máire Ní Chathasaigh, Áine Minogue, Jesse Autumn, Verlene Schermer, Sileas, The Harpers Hall Ensemble, Derek Bell.

Find out more about Show 40: Midwinter Magic
and Show 19: Midwinter Day