Seasons Of The Sacred Earth

Cliff Seruntine describes his family's adventures living on a secluded homestead in Nova Scotia.

Seasons of the Sacred weaves together poems, images, and stories of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter, reconnecting us to our roots in the cycles of nature and our own soul. As our world appears more and more out of balance, our destruction of the natural world increasing, there is a vital need to remember what is essential, simple, and sacred. Likening Spring to falling in love, Summer with abundance and spiritual awakening, and Autumn with fruition and wisdom, this book continuously reflects the profound resonance of humanity within nature. Never more relevant than now, the chapter on Winter helps the reader remember what is most essential, showing how there is meaning and even peace amidst the most devastating losses, and how all life belongs to these deeper patterns of change. The book draws from such a variety of sources, such as Rumi, Hafiz, Lao Tzu, Rabia, Julian of Norwich, T.S. Eliot, and others. Each chapter opens with a unique woodcut or engraving image, further illustrating the beauty of our seasons. Vaughan-Lee adeptly connects the reader to the deepest envisioning of contemporary challenges. Climate catastrophe, refugees, cultural degradation, and political divisiveness are all contextualized within natural cycles of birth, loss, and transition, and the reader is guided to listen through the fear and anxiety of our age to the deeper ground of belonging that calls from even the most destitute inner and outer landscapes. Seasons of the Sacred is Llewellyn Vaughn-Lee’s fifth contribution to his spiritual ecology series, which places the human story within the story of the Earth and compels the examination of attitudes, beliefs, and habits in relation to the ongoing desecration, ecological devastation—and potential restoration—of our common home. “Vaughan-Lee encourages reconnecting with the Earth in this heartfelt compilation of essays, poems, and illustrations…. Suitable for readers of all spiritual persuasions, Vaughan-Lee’s soothing observations will inspire a more mindful contemplation of Earth’s rhythms.” —Publishers Weekly “Seasons of the Sacred is a beckoning down into the simple rhythms of nature. With his guiding eloquence, Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee moves us into conversation with the sacred, calling our awareness to the concealed gifts of each season. Drawing on the ancient poetry of Rumi, Hafiz, Julian of Norwich, Wordsworth, and others, we can’t help but fall into step with the numinous found in ordinary life.” —Toko-pa Turner, author of Belonging: Remembering Ourselves Home

Do you want to live a life with more meaning, purpose and connection? In this inspirational handbook, moon mentor, soul alignment and spiritual coach, Kirsty Gallagher, takes us through the year season by season to help us reconnect with nature. Sacred Seasons shows us how to find balance and a deep connection with the seasons, the astrological cycles and the lunar phases in order to live well and thrive. Packed with nourishing moon rituals, crystals and altar set-ups, journal prompts and practices and Kirsty's trademark wisdom, Sacred Seasons will show you how to draw on inspiration from nature's events, including the Spring Equinox, the Summer Solstice, the Autumn Equinox and Imbolc. You'll learn about the Wheel of the Year and the best moments to pause and reflect and look inwards, as well as when to tap into your abundant energy and achieve all your goals. Live your best year yet with Sacred Seasons.

Uplifting and inspiring, it explores eight Celtic festivals, how they were celebrated and understood in the past, the underlying changing energy of the Earth, and the ways we may use this energy to create meaningful celebrations for today to deepen our connection to the Earth and our fellow human beings.

For the ancient Druids, the healing and magical properties of herbs were inseparable from the larger cycles of the seasons, the movements of the planets, and the progression of a human life. A Druid’s Herbal shows the reader how to use herbs when creating rituals to celebrate festivals and significant life passages such as births, house blessings, weddings, funerals, and naming ceremonies. Drawing on extensive research and a deep personal experience with Pagan traditions, Ellen Evert Hopman explores the history and folklore surrounding the eight major Celtic festivals: Samhain, Winter Solstice, Imbolc, Spring Equinox, Beltaine, Summer Solstice, Lugnasad, and Fall Equinox. Included in each discussion are complete instructions on the medicinal and magical uses of the herbs associated with each celebration. Using these Celtic traditions as examples, the author suggests ways to incorporate the symbolic and magical power of herbs into personal rituals that honor all phases of life from childbirth to last rites. Also included are chapters on how to prepare herbal tinctures, salves, and poultices; herbs used by the Druids; herbal alchemy and the planets; and the relationships between herbs and sacred places. Filled with practical information and imaginative suggestions for using herbs for healing, ceremony, and magic, this book is an indispensable and comprehensive guide to age-old herbal practices.

A leading spiritual teacher reveals how Celtic spirituality—listening to the sacred around us and inside of us—can help us heal the earth, overcome our conflicts, and reconnect with ourselves. John Philip Newell shares the long, hidden tradition of Celtic Christianity, explaining how this earth-based spirituality can help us rediscover the natural rhythms of life and deepen our spiritual connection with God, with each other, and with the earth. Newell introduces some of Celtic Christianity’s leading practitioners, both saints and pioneers of faith, whose timeless wisdom is more necessary than ever, including: Pelagius, who shows us how to look beyond sin to affirm our sacredness as part of all God’s creation, and courageously stand up for our principles in the face of oppression. Brigid of Kildare, who illuminates the interrelationship of all things and reminds us of the power of the sacred feminine to overcome those seeking to control us. John Muir, who encourages us to see the holiness and beauty of wilderness and what we must do to protect these gifts. Teilhard de Chardin, who inspires us to see how science, faith, and our future tell one universal story that begins with sacredness. By embracing the wisdom of Celtic Christianity, we can learn how to listen to the sacred and see the divine in all of creation and within each of us. Human beings are inherently spiritual creatures who intuitively see the sacred in nature and within one another, but our cultures—and at times even our faiths—have made us forget what each of us already know deep in our souls but have learned to suppress. Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul offers a new spiritual foundation for our lives, once centered on encouragement, guidance, and hope for creating a better world.

"In this timely third book in his Spiritual Ecology series, spiritual teacher Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee continues his exploration of the many facets of interconnection between humanity and the Earth. Deeply spiritual but not religious, "Seasons of the Sacred" offers a collection of narratives, poems, and images from various sources to illuminate the hope, beauty, abundance, and darkness of the Earth's cycles and humanity's place therein. Likening Spring to falling in love, Summer with abundance and spiritual awakening, and Fall with fruition and wisdom, the book continuously reflects the profound resonance of humanity within nature. Never more relevant than now, the chapter on Winter points the reader to what is most essential even as the temporal is stripped away like autumn leaves, providing some assurance that there is meaning and even peace amidst the most devastating losses. As with other books in this series, Vaughan-Lee illustrates the essential interdependence of the human soul with the soul of the Earth and highlights the spiritual roots of contemporary issues such as the climate crisis. "Seasons of the Sacred," places the human story within the story of the Earth, and compels the examination of attitudes, beliefs, and habits in relation to the ongoing desecration-and potential restoration-of our sacred home"--

As we approach the hectic holiday season, many mamas find ourselves longing to add more meaning, resonance, and ritual to our family traditions. If you're looking to tone down the conspicuous consumption and turn your winter traditions from frenzy to reflection or from mundane to mystical, this book can be your guide. The Sacred Seasons incorporates activities and rituals from indigenous wisdom traditions and the Earth's holy days, based upon the Celtic wheel of the year. The Sacred Seasons is welcoming and inclusive to readers of all backgrounds, faiths, and beliefs. Parents and children awaken the wonder and magic of living more deeply connected to the natural rhythms of the seasons and co-create meaningful traditions on the holy days of winter solstice (Yule) in December, and the birth of spring (Imbolc) in February. Mamas steep in seasonal self-care, personal reflection and ceremony to attune the psyche to the elements and feminine archetypes of winter. As Mamas honor our bodies and the seasons as sacred, we awaken the true meaning of what is holy at this time of year, creating new family traditions that warm the heart and soul, as well as regenerate the Earth.