The Fall Equinox is the second of the three major harvest festivals. The Celtic name for it is Mabon: the season of storing food and preserving nature’s bounty for the coming winter months. This year it will be on September 22nd, just as the sun enters Libra, the sign of the balancing scales. The term Equinox refers to this balance of day and night and the cycle of life is evidenced by Nature: Spring (birth) Fall: seeds falling and going underground (death) only to grow again in spring: (rebirth). This cycle has been revered for at least 30,000 years; probably for as long as humans have gathered herbs and plants in familiar places during certain seasons. 

A deeper mystery at the Fall Equinox was celebrated for many centuries at Eleusis, a small village in Greece. The rites were sought by thousands of people from all over Greece and beyond because the experience changed their lives. There is still much that is unknown about the Eleusinian mysteries but this much is known. During the night, initiates imbibed a drink, called Kykeon, the contents of which has led to much speculation. Many have suggested that the drink was made of fermented grain which could have contained the fungus Ergot (from which LSD was created). We do know that the brew was psychoactive, thus altering ordinary perception. The research conducted over 12 years by Brian Muraresku, in The Immortality Key offers compelling evidence.

With the rise of so much turmoil such as wars, severe shortages of drinkable water, food insecurity, distrust of those people fear simply because they seem different, promoting hate crimes, and constant fear mongering that makes it difficult to feel safe. There is a surge of folks seeking deeper wisdom with a profound desire for their own meaning; about life, death, transcendence and choosing their own path. 

There is a sincere search for belonging because of increased isolation that so many are experiencing. There is a growing interest in Psychedelic Assisted Therapy as folks search for uncovering trauma, healing their hearts, and finding a connection to something more meaningful than the endless consumption of pills and expensive acquisitions. If you would like to learn more about this work, please read The Tell, a memoir by Amy Griffin.

Finding true community, deep wisdom and healing is so important, especially now, as it was centuries ago in Ancient Greece and Crete. How ever you are called to find healing and deep connection, choose your teachers wisely. And above all connect with the Light.

Celebrate the Fall Equinox with dear friends, share foods from your garden if you have one and bake bread together. It is a sacred time when plants and trees are getting ready to let go of their seeds. Soon it will be the time of going within. In just six weeks, the next Celtic Season is Samhain, the time of honoring the ancestors

Happy Mabon friends, Linda

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August 2nd is the day to celebrate Lammas, the first of three festivals celebrating Mother Earth’s bounty. Baking loaves from the first grains and offering them at a communal meal has always been central to these gatherings, going back to thousands of years before the Common Era.

The Celts called this time Lughnasadh (loo-na-sa), Native Americans called it the Green Corn Festival and in Slavic Regions it is called the feast of the Big Glad Woman. Ireland celebrates Lammas as Big Sunday and farming communities gather at hundreds of traditional hilltop sites to set up craft fairs, feast, play games, and dance. A part of every one of these gatherings is a ceremonial meal where the first fruits of the harvest were shared in gratitude to Mother Earth. Our ancestors knew that the intelligence of nature is Love

The feeling of abundance is very closely linked with gratitude. The community that shared their harvest with all those who gathered together rejoiced. It made their gratitude all the sweeter because it was shared. In this way of life millennia ago, people truly understood that sharing is deeply entwined with abundance. In lean times people offered their bounty with those who had less with an open heart, knowing that neighbors would do the same for them. Abundance of the heart begins with compassion and a deep connection with community.

The big expensive charity galas today are impersonal: it is tossing money at disadvantaged folks without truly caring about specific individuals. We live in a time of extreme hierarchies; the wealthiest capture the largest percentage of economic resources and those on the lowest rungs are food insecure, often homeless, and do not have resources for education, job opportunities, or even basic human dignity.  How is this possible when once people lived by sharing their prosperity? My friend Simone Butler www.astroalchemy.com described how the game of Monopoly was hijacked (bought for a pittance and utterly changed from the original creator’s patent) and morphed into a fight for greed and domination. The winner buys up all the property and impoverishes all the others. Nobody should celebrate Lammas like that.

Here’s the actual history.

In 1904 a woman named Elizabeth Magie got a patent for her creation, called “The Landlord’s Game” which had a round board and in this version all players benefitted when a player succeeded and the wealth was shared. Charles Darrow was solely credited with inventing Monopoly and it became a widely popular game that extolled the values of hotel acquisitions and ‘smart deals’ to buy up other players’ homes and then charging them for landing on what was once their home. Simone posed this question: how might America (and I would add all the patriarchal cultures) have been different if the popular game had been Elizabeth’s where one prospers by sharing wealth? Laws now support the rich getting richer and rarely are they held accountable for their deeds of continuing greed.

I would love to have us all return to the values of community and connection, sharing each other’s burdens with life’s challenges and celebrating shared abundance with gratitude for Mother Earth’s bounty.

Joanna Macy wrote this about the power of Love in action:

“You don’t need to do everything. Do what calls your heart:

effective action comes from love. It is unstoppable, and it is

enough.”

My wish for you is to celebrate Lammas, the abundance of the heart, by caring and sharing in your own way with your chosen community.

Much Love, Linda

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Celebrate the Summer Solstice

On June 20th when the Sun moves into Cancer in the Northern Latitudes, we celebrate the Summer Solstice. it is one of the eight great spokes on the Celtic Wheel of the Seasons. The Solstice (meaning sun stands still) is universally recognized in all cultures as an important turning point—it is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere the Summer Solstice will be celebrated at the Winter Solstice in the North.

I have often written about the Fae (people of Fairie) and their role as protectors of the natural world. Since Summer Solstice was the time when encounters with the Fae were most possible, I felt called to write about such encounters. Now is the time to understand the ways that our colonizing cultures have contributed to the global crisis of climate change, loss of our Rainforests which destroys our most precious source of oxygen, destruction of habitat and animal species extinction. The brutal invasion over many generations of the conquering powers, motivated by greed, has led to destroying the land, the spiritual traditions and the lives of the people who lived there. This arrogance and ignorance combined, ultimately led to the loss of the immense wisdom of these peoples who lived in a reciprocal relationship with nature. 

I’d like to highlight the importance of these Indigenous folk, throughout the world, who are finally being given a voice and platforms for expressing their values and their wisdom about living cooperatively with each other and the land they cherished. One such platform is SAND (Science and Nonduality) founded by Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo, who just offered a week-long summit called The Eternal Song, Zaya and Maurizio are also the filmmakers that brought us The Wisdom of Trauma. I listened to the heartfelt and incredibly articulate interviews with a vast array of representatives of those who come from colonized cultures, those that fled war, famine, and cruelty as well as those who still struggle on in the countries created by the invaders such as our own Native Americans.

Here is what I learned (at least the highlights). 1) Patriarchal cultures such as ours emphasize individualism and separation, and promote comparison which ultimately pits people against a rival, instead of promoting the reliance on community cooperation. 2) Those in control operate by promoting fear to keep folks distrustful of anyone who appears different from the perceived ‘norm’ leading to untold violence. 3) Divide and conquer is alive and well. However, those who have lost their land and culture are now beginning to find their way back to each other and there is much we can do to help.

It is time to gather good people no matter what color, creed or position, and join with Indigenous people who are speaking out. In this quest, we can bring balance back to the Earth; to protect, restore, and conserve threatened forests, estuaries, and wild life. It is useful for our nervous systems, since stress is the leading cause of all major illness, to take time out from the hypervigilant urgency we all have felt since time became linear which was around the Industrial Revolution when clocks became a way to judge productivity. It is time to learn how to live with the natural cycles of Nature, spend days in wild areas, or National Parks or anywhere you can actually feel the healing energy of plants and trees, breathe deeply the clean air, and see the beauty all around you.

In honor of the Summer Solstice, be present to all life, listen to the courageous voices of Indigenous and displaced people from all over the planet, witness their experience and chose to love all of our planetary citizens including plants and animals. 

I pray every day that LOVE will prevail everywhere for every living thing

Blessings, Linda

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2025 Beltane Newsletter

Celebrate Life Force Energy on May Day,

May Day is the time when nature has truly come alive. Our ancestors joyfully embraced the fertility of Mother Earth; flowers bloom, offering their pollen to the bees. The Celtic name for this period is Beltane, which means bright or sacred fire. During the festival, great bonfires were lit and animals and fields were blessed in hopes for an abundant year. 

Traditionally May Day began on the eve of May 1st and was celebrated with feasting, dancing, and merriment for two weeks. Beltane was a time when lovers ran off to the fields and woods together to honor the Great Goddess with ecstatic lovemaking. These Lovers knew that sexual energy was the most powerful connection to Spirit. Sexuality was honored as well because it plays an essential role in the abundance of all life. The ancient cultures embraced the wisdom from nature, their greatest teacher.

The ancient Earth Honoring cultures embraced sexuality as the best way to honor Beltane, since the season showcases the fertility of nature. They knew the beauty of sex connected us with Source. These cultures were relatively free of the possessiveness and judgement, especially with regard to women. The repression of women’s sexuality came later with the Patriarchal cultures. The Maypole, symbolizing the phallic energy of the season, was festooned with ribbons. The May Basket was a symbol of the womb and the fertile union of male and female. The ancient traditions show a frank appreciation for the enjoyment of their sexuality and also the understanding that sexual energy is Sacred Life Force. 

As a relationship and sex coach I’ve found that much of what gets in the way of joyful and deeply sacred sexuality is past trauma and the shame that these experiences generate. You might not recognize what these stories are, or dismiss the notion that past trauma still greatly influences our bodies’ responses. Few partners realize that old stories such as “something is wrong with me” or “I’m not worthy,” which are at the heart of the meaning we create inside us from what happened in our early experiences. These story meanings fuel the distrust and distance that erodes relationships. Traumatic early experiences are not only abuse, but also witnessing domestic fights and experiences of rejection and more.

I love the quote from Tara Brach, a long time meditation teacher and Psychologist who says;  “Intimacy begins with a compassionate presence.” This quote is a part of her class: The Power of Mindfulness to Radically Change Relationships. I love that she emphasizes Presence as an important beginning. Most sex advice is about specific techniques, putting us in our heads, and the images in porn do not include scenes of deep connection between partners. There is much to learn with the rise of body centered trauma treatments.

As Beltane uplifts our hearts, please celebrate the ancient truth, that sexuality is our precious life force, and when we choose to share with another this beautiful energy, or choose to self- pleasure, we are honoring each other, the beauty of nature and our connection to Source. 

Happy Beltane my friends, Linda

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Celebrate the Spring Equinox, the time of green fire,

This year in the Northern Hemisphere, March 20th is the Spring Equinox when day and night will be equal in length at the equator.  Also known as Ostara or Eostre (the origin of the name Easter) light and dark will be perfectly balanced. It is also the New Year for Persians as well as the Earth Honoring spiritual traditions that follow the ancient ways.

In these ancient traditions the Vernal Equinox is considered the time of Green Fire. It refers not only to sap rising, but also to the electrical energy pulsing through the growing plants. This is not a metaphor. My electrician husband told me that green fire is literally electrical, just like our nervous systems. Humans and plants have the same oscillation frequency, which is why we can align with the energy of the plants when we pay attention. 

There is a special kind of listening you can experience when you immerse yourself in a grove or forest, or spend time with a favorite tree, or replenish soil and plant your garden. When you put your hands on a plant, you will feel the rising energy and you may even perceive the images that these sentient beings send to us. Trees are known to give extra oxygen when humans come into their neighborhood: this has given rise to forest bathing. I find it fascinating that the heart chakra is always depicted by the color green and it is located at the center of the seven chakras in our bodies. Humans and plant-life have evolved to be reciprocal. As we take care of the trees, bushes, grasses and herbs that grow naturally or are mindfully cultivated, we all benefit. 

Certain important medicinal plants start to grow in an area where they are needed.  I have long felt that this mutual reciprocity is a survival strategy for humans, which enabled us to heal ourselves long before modern medical interventions. We need plants that have not been genetically altered for our continuing health and presence on the planet. Robin Wall Kimmerer, best-selling author of Braiding Sweetgrass, has published a beautiful follow up entitled The Serviceberry and her subtitle, “Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World” is inspiration at its best. She speaks of regenerative economies among communities which makes my heart sing. Trees, plants and fungi are showing us the way to live in community. The new studies are astounding, they prove that trees, plants and fungi provide for each other in the complex inter species root systems of the permaculture.

Instead of fierce competition, we need to come together, regardless of ethnicity or color and especially regardless of differences in economic status. It is how humans live best, caring and sharing acts of loving kindness with one another

I hope you will spend some time in wild nature, and give deep thanks and reverence to the plants for their help and learn more about their wisdom.

Much Love, Linda

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Embrace Hope my friends,

Imbolc is the time of hope for new life and the return of the light.

In the US, most people think of February 2nd as Groundhog Day, the portent of how many more weeks of winter are in store. However, for thousands of years, Imbolc, meaning “in the belly” was a sign of hope that the ewes were pregnant and there would be lambs born in the spring. People also noticed that the days were gradually lengthening. 

Hope is one of the most important emotions that allow us to feel alive and attract the possibilities that lead to feeling that we do have agency. When hope is purposely destroyed, we lose the will to live. Hope is not the same as wishing things were better but it is cultivating the strength to allow ourselves to anticipate the possibility of joy, turn away from thoughts that dash hope, and to celebrate life, even in the small things we can look forward to, keeping our focus on what makes us hopeful.

The older traditions are based on the signs in Nature, our most important teacher. Hope was generated by the signs Mother Earth provided such as pregnant sheep and the first flowers poking up through the snow. Even though our culture has mostly disconnected us from paying attention to the natural world, there is a growing trend to bring us back to practices such as Forest Bathing, to planting our own healing herbs and to protecting both plant and animal species.

We can all use signs of hope. So much fear has been evoked because of our political upheaval at this time and it has caused trauma for many people. The deep healing potential provided by Nature, from Rain Forests’ powerful healing plants and trees, to natural healing springs, She has always provided us with what humans need to heal.  

Here are two quotes, one old and one more recent, that capture the link between the feeling of hope and acknowledging possibility.

“Hope is a passion for the possible.” – Søren Kierkegaard

“Once you choose hope, everything is possible.” – Christopher Reeve

For Imbolc, I invite you to have your own gatherings; include friends that will bring others, or join with a community that is dear to you. Promoting connection increases health and feelings of wellbeing which raises our energy, making choosing the path to hope possible.

May you renew your feeling of hope through connection,

Much Love, Linda

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This newsletter brings my heartfelt wishes for a truly meaningful holiday season and an abundant New Year.

In the Northern Hemisphere, December 21st is the time of the longest night.

The Winter Solstice is universally honored with lights the world over.

People have burned Yule logs and oil lamps, candles and bonfires. Currently

electric lights are strung around our homes. My mother told me as a child that

these traditions reassured us that days of longer sunlight would be returning.

Yet there is much to appreciate about darkness. Indigenous wisdom holds that darkness is simply the other side of light and there is great creative power in the dark void. Winter is also a time when trees let of go of their leaves and seeds go underground, dormant for months until the Spring warmth calls them to uncoil their innate life within and begin the arduous journey up through the permaculture to the surface where their fragile first leaves continue to unfold with their ancient programming to grow into their destiny as a flowering plant, a bush, a sapling tree, or a root vegetable; the miracle of life renewing again.

Yule is the time when the life force goes within, into the dark womb of creative possibility. The leaves of plants and trees have fallen, blanketing the ground with nature’s compost. Nature, our most powerful teacher, is letting go and so we learn this necessary lesson. The following quote gives us hope for our times.

“I think of the trees and how simply they let go, let fall the riches of a season, how without grief (it seems) they can let go and go deep into their roots for renewal and sleep…. imitate the trees. Learn to lose in order to recover, and remember that nothing stays the same for long, not even pain, psychic pain. Sit it out. Let it all pass. Let it go.”  May Sarton Journal of a Solitude 

My wish for us all is to enhance our Light within while letting go and trusting the dormant creative energy of the dark. Let ritual, prayer, breath-work and meditation become your steadfast daily practices. Enjoy connecting with chosen family as well as your kin. Reach out to loved ones who are far away, yet still in your heart. 

Much love and peace to all, Linda

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Samhain Greetings my friends,

The time period between Oct 31st and November 2nd is on the most widely celebrated ancient traditions that honors our ongoing connection with our ancestors. This includes those we knew in this lifetime, beloved great or great- great ancestors we’ve heard about, as well as ancestors from millennia ago. Samhain, meaning ‘summer’s end’ heralds the thinning of the veil between the seen and unseen worlds. Most of us have heard about or participated in the tradition of the Day of the Dead, celebrated in the US, Mexico, and South and Central America for a long time. It is a deeply significant celebration because folks can more easily connect to their loved ones who have passed. Samhain is about ancestors’ love and support of us rather than the fear-based portrayal of goblins and ghouls who are out to get us.

The scary images became popular starting with the Middle Ages after the Church began to put on ‘morality plays’ to terrify people into resisting sin (by the Pope’s or priests’ definitions) and this led to the buying of Indulgences to save one’s soul by guaranteeing your sins would be forgiven for a price. Disconnecting the people from trusting their connection to the love and good counsel of those in the spirit world was a tragedy that led to their complete dependency on powerful (and often greedy) authorities who abused that power regularly. We all know about the horrors of the Inquisition that continued for over 500 years.

Slowly, the honoring of our ancestors is returning as an alternative to Halloween. Many folks now create altars similar to the traditions from the Day of the Dead and use marigolds on altars or to line a pathway for beloved ancestors to pay us a visit. It is time that we all recognize our sovereign right to our personal connection with Spirit and cultivate the most valuable source of love and wisdom, untainted by profit motives or prejudice.

I invite you to create your own rites that celebrate Samhain, those that honor your own way of connecting to Source. Invite special friends to co-create together and enjoy the love and support.

Many Blessings of Samhain, Linda

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The Fall Equinox is the second of the three major harvest festivals. The Celtic name for it is Mabon: the season of storing food and preserving nature’s bounty for the coming winter months. This year it will be on September 22nd at 8:44 am Pacific Time, just as the sun enters Libra, the sign of the balancing scales. The term Equinox refers to this balance of day and night. The cycle of life as evidenced by plants is: Spring (birth) Fall: seeds falling and going underground (death) only to grow again in spring: (rebirth). This cycle has been revered for at least 30,000 years; probably for as long as humans have gathered herbs and plants in familiar places during certain seasons. 

A deeper mystery at the Fall Equinox was celebrated for many centuries at Eleusis, a small village in Greece. The basis of the rites had roots in the close connection between giving birth and the nearness of death that women experience as a part of the miracle of life. It makes sense that women, called Caryatids were the makers and servers of the potion served at this event. The rites were celebrated by thousands of people from all over and the experience changed their lives. 

There is still much that is unknown about the Eleusinian mysteries but this much is known. During the night, initiates imbibed a drink, called Kykeon, the contents of which has led to much speculation. Many have suggested that the drink was made of fermented grain or wine and sacred plants naturally occurring in Greece and Crete. The brew was most likely psychoactive, thus altering ordinary perception. The research conducted over 12 years by Brian Muraresku, in The Immortality Key offers compelling evidence.

This celebration was so enduring that those who experienced the initiation were forever changed. Emperors and commoners alike were welcome. Much of the Eleusinian mysteries remains obscure and yet there is a great deal of evidence that participants lost their fear of death. This same effect has been documented with current research into the use of psilocybin to help those with terminal illnesses. [See the documentary, How to Change Your Mind, on Netflix].

Indigenous cultures have many stories that tell of humans descending into darkness and returning to the light and just hearing the stories may have helped our ancestors cope with grief and trauma in their own lives. Many ancient rituals re-enacted the experience of going through the dark and returning to the light. Those who chose to participate in these rituals, such as the Eleusinian Mysteries, felt a deep sense of wholeness after their initiation. 

During Mabon, you may choose to create your own ritual, honoring this cycle in nature. Enjoy the feeling of wholeness and that it provides.

Many Blessings, Linda

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2024 Lammas Newsletter

August 2nd is Lammas, the first of three festivals celebrating Mother Earth’s bounty. Baking loaves from the first grains and offering them at a communal meal has always been central to these gatherings, going back to thousands of years before the Common Era. 

The Celts called this time Lughnasadh (loo-na-sa), Native Americans called it the Green Corn Festival and in Slavic Regions it is called the feast of the Big Glad Woman. Ireland celebrates Lammas as Big Sunday and farming communities gather at hundreds of traditional hilltop sites to set up craft fairs, feast, play games, and dance. A part of every one of these gatherings is a ceremonial meal where the first fruits of the harvest are shared in gratitude to Mother Earth. 

The feeling of abundance is very closely linked with gratitude, deep appreciation, and giving thanks to Mother Earth. The community that shared their harvest with all those who gathered together rejoiced because they could be together. It made their gratitude all the sweeter because it was shared. This way of life, where millennia ago people truly understood that sharing gratitude is deeply entwined with abundance. In lean times people shared with those who had less with an open heart, knowing that others would do the same for them when they were in need.

Now we long for such a community, one that values everyone and cares for each other’s children and elders. Since the Pandemic, there has been more loneliness than ever, often due to the isolation from working from home. Psychology Today published their magazine with a cover entitled “Where are my Friends?” The article explored the growing phenomena of loneliness and the deep effects on us.

There are other causes of increased loneliness which include mental health issues, poverty, political and racial divides and much more. We are all discovering how important family, close friends and community are for our well-being.

Genuine gratitude, expressed as a community is the first great truth about abundance. The trend towards the opposite is mega-wealth, hoarding whatever money and objects folks value believing others will steal if they don’t have electric fences and guards.

What is truly abundance? It is tapping into the truth of Love; the most powerful energy in the Universe. It is tapping into the wisdom of our bodies by listening to the message of our sensations. It is tapping into our imagination when we feel

expansive and alive, knowing it is our most powerful tool for creating. It is tapping into moments of awe and ecstatic transcendence using meditation, breathwork and sacred plants. 

Enjoy all these aspects of abundance, Love Linda

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