Lara Irene

My sacred writing ritual, every single day. Today I was up too early feeling grumpy and bereft--the mysteries of my illness and healing often bring on grief. The things I long for (sanctuary land, community, in-person gathering) seem so far away, especially without a consistently well body. But in my quiet morning outdoor writing ritual my Dísir--my ancestral grandmothers--urged me on to vision. In this time of darkening they say: plant your seeds. I choose to believe our Dísir are guiding...

What are the languages of your people? It started with etymology, tracing the origins of words through time and the miasma of amnesia, finding magic in the roots. This led to reading primary medieval texts, mostly from nineteenth century translations. My body responded with a tell. Goosebumps, eerie prickles at the back of my neck. "That can't be what the word means,” led to an early edition of the Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, the Bosworth Toller Anglo Saxon Dictionary and searching....

Abraham Pether, evening scene with full moon and persons, 1801 A version of this ritual appears in Year of the Dark Goddess: A Journey of Ritual, Renewal and Rebirth. You may wish to cut your own hair in this ritual, or to travel during the ritual to have your hair cut by someone else. Both may be adapted, and the ceremony does not require a huge amount of hair cut to be effective, though if you have a lot to shed dramatic haircuts can be powerfully symbolic. Preparing your tools for the...