Thoughts While Waiting (Impatiently). A Bout of Gratitude & Observation (turned prayer).

This week my husband suggested that we "might have to give up on the idea of mushrooms this season..." to which I squirmed & balked & grumbled & subsequently chose to ignore.

But there is a dearth of fungi here this season. It is true. 

In a way, maybe this is a good thing. Sort of. I guess. 
It is in the sense that we have had to turn our attention to other things. Things overlooked, but things that also fill our hearts & imaginations. They are not fungi, but still, as I reflect, I am grateful.

When we turn our eyes from the duff, what more is there to discover?

The World. (In no particular Order.)

Just allow me open spaces to roam, please.

And Mysteries to solve...
A stone left at Hubby's workplace. Turns out this is
Norwegian translated to runic, it says, roughly,
"There is no cake served in hell."

And flowers to Learn, Know & Nurture...
Wild ones, like the Twinflowers (Linnaea borealis)

And Buttercup (Ranuculus, spp.)

Or Yarrow (Achillea millefolium L. var. borealis),
white & pink varieties.

And Strawberry Blite (Blitum capitatum) -- coated with
 insect reproductive activity of some sort, I suspect.

A Foxglove (Digitalis spp.) at the front doorstep

A Fuchsia, "Blackie" (Fuchsia, spp., one of many) in back.

And Poppies (Papaver, spp.)
everywhere in between.

Show me other folks' creations to
discover, admire, emulate... 

And allow me to indulge in their
creative Secrets, Free Play & Art...

Always remembering that everything, everything
from eating to breathing to sleeping is an Art...
(especially if there is a basil sorbet involved...)

(...or a local rhubarb-infused vodka, paired with
friendship & sacred choreography planning)

And may I always be an open witness...
Witches' Altar. Lammas 2015.

Labyrinth, Anchorage, July 2015.

Laybrinth, Kasilof, August 2015.

Especially to Play.

And more Play.

Let me look to the Earth & the Sea & the Sky...

And everything in between.

And moreover...

Please let me recognize & embrace
the aesthetic of every human moment...

Let me respect my own mortality,
(Also let me know my allies: wounds packed 
with Yarrow & bound with Plantain)

And that of others...
Shrew (Sorex, spp.)

Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) remains.

And please, let me laugh, 
(Thank you Llewellyn.)

experience Joy, 

and Love.

For the Files: A Dream -- Swimming with Fire

I am taking a moment to record a dream I had last night during that thin, vibrant, active dream period just before falling into deep sleep. Some dream experts say this is one of the best times to practice lucid dreaming. I always find myself too mentally disorganized to utilize that particular window of opportunity to practice lucid dreaming, but last night I was disrupted out of pre-sleep long enough to recall the imagery. I don't really have any thoughts on what it meant, though I have no doubt it holds some meaning. Mostly, I found it very reassuring, so I save it here, for the files.

I was swimming in a very slowly moving stream which was wide, relatively deep & very clear. The ambient light was quite bright & could see the stones at bottom; very large, red, brown & orange cobbles, some with algal growth on them. I was very comfortable & relaxed. I wore a plain white gown, or shift. I swam upstream underwater effortlessly & without need to rise to the surface for air. As I swam, I held my (right?) arm extended before me & in my hand I held a (red?) candle, burning bright.

All the elements except air. Interesting. 

Stamets: "If I Die Trying..."

"I believe Nature is a force of good. Good is not only a concept, it is a Spirit..." -- Paul Stamets

The fungal-fantastical. Emerging from their axial homes, fungi are beginning to be understood as nutrients to the human consciousness and ecological sustainability. Paul explores mycology and compels support for your own good nature and our fungal allies. This is the first in a collaboration of Louie Schwartzberg of Blacklight films (Movingart.tv) and Paul Stamets of Fungi Perfecti (fungi.com).


This is Sciento-Paganism.

Transforming "Spiritual Warfare": Day 20 (California)

 The Little Lad at Crystal Cove State Park, Laguna Beach, CA. Samhain, 2009.

The greater part of my extended family resides in California. Mostly, it is a place of fond memories, family gatherings & warm moments. It is very much a place of my childhood. I have visited California only very rarely since becoming an adult & I tend to think this might be because my Grandmama, my icon for this fair land of sunshine & citrus trees, no longer breathes its warm air. She took some of its sunshine with her when she left us.

Abalone shell in tidepool at CCSP, CA.

Every visit to California in my adulthood has been significant. I went to my Gramps's funeral, I went to get engaged, I went to meet my future in-laws... My last visit to California I went broken. No, utterly shattered, emotionally tortured, in search of respite & recovery. The kindness of friends gave us a means to pick up the bits & pieces & fly them abruptly from the ice age of Alaska to California's sunny shore. It was the last week of October & the week of my 38th birthday. Blindsided by unexpected loss, I sought the healing waters, the heartwarming sun, the gentleness of its paradisical climate. Lulled by its diversions & balmy days, I was restored by this place. For this, California has my unlimited gratitude. 

I credit a good part of California's healing powers to the Pacific ocean. I am working with that energy & symbolism, appealing to a diverse group of saprophytes that sing siren's songs from the forest's rich, calm surface. Healing cleansing waters. Healing, cleansing fungi. Creatures of Earth & Water, may you mend our assailed freedoms, may you restore balance to our lands.