The subtle energy system has always been integral to humanity’s weave of existence. Though the media tends to focus on seven major chakras in the Hindu/yogic tradition, there is commonality across Cherokee, Incan, Pueblo, Tibetan Buddhist, and Sufi Muslim mysticism beliefs to name just a few. That being understood, there are major and minor chakras throughout the body—at every joint, nerve bundle, palms of the hands, souls of the feet, nipples, and more.
Posts filed under Nature
The Buzz on Protecting Pollinators Through the Winter
During the spring and summer there is always a lot of buzz around pollinators, their habitats, and how to support them. But did you know you can continue to support your backyard friends in the fall and winter as well? Through a few simple steps you can continue to provide for your local pollinators as the weather turns cold. By offering them housing during the snowy winter months you can guarantee they’ll return to your gardens the following year. It’s a win for everyone!
Book Review: Nature’s Symphony: The Spirit of Scientific Pantheism by Martin Docherty
In Nature’s Symphony, Martin Docherty presents a refreshing and deeply thoughtful perspective on our relationship with the natural world—one that blends science, philosophy, and spirituality in a way that feels both intellectually satisfying and emotionally grounding. This book is neither your typical science read nor a standard spiritual guide. It’s something more layered: a meditation on the sacredness of the universe, grounded not in supernatural beliefs, but in the elegant truths of science itself.
Wild Wellness at Mother Bear Sanctuary and Retreat Center
Barbra White, co-founder of Mother Bear Sanctuary and Retreat Center, believes that all living beings are deeply interconnected. “It’s kismet,” she explained, that just as she was longing to spread the word about her retreat center, which opened in 2018, The Crazy Wisdom Journal came calling for an interview. “I feel like I’ve been in a cooking pot for 30 years in this work, but here, specifically with Mother Bear Sanctuary for the last eight years, I feel like I’m saying to the universe, ‘I’m ready. I’m ready.’ So when [the Journal] called, I thought, ‘kismet.’”
Ode to the Arb
When you step through the wrought iron gates along Geddes Boulevard into the hushed shady entrance of Nichols Arboretum, between a wide pea-stone path to the left and a thin deer trail to the right, sits the first bench to welcome you. Benches are placed along the river side, on overlooks, in meadows, along trails, in the Peony gardens, and in countless shaded areas throughout this 128-acre preserve, inviting anyone to rest and take in the grand expanse of nature.
The Enchantment of Lympha: Ancient Spirit of Pure Water
Inside mossy sunken walls, a bronze nymph pours out splashing streams from cupped palms, arms outstretched to make an offering in a little-known garden I visit.
Water calmed as the goddess raised her face from the pool.
Sprinkling her forehead with crystalline drops,
she drew moist tresses over her shoulder,
and began her story…
Weekend Getaway--Red Spirit, A Westward Escape
My path to Red Spirit was a bit circuitous but had nothing on owner Karen Duffin’s journey to create the southwestern Michigan escape. Originally from central Illinois, Duffin moved to the area in the 1960s, when her husband relocated for work. Circumstances led the couple to move back to Illinois in the early 1970s, but they wanted to return to Michigan to start a farm. Fast forward to the 1990s; Duffin was divorced and the owner of 20 acres of undeveloped land between Allegan and Saugatuck. Duffin became a caretaker of the land and when she saw a red glow enveloping the landscape, it moved her to name the area “Red Spirit.” Few others have seen the glow, but visitors with psychic and wellness backgrounds “love the energy.” It inspired her to create an intimate, restorative space imbued with natural beauty.
Dirty Windows
The birds are exuberant this morning. By the dozens, tufted titmice, rose-breasted grosbeaks, cardinals, gold finches, black capped chickadees, blue jays, mourning doves, and an oriole sing and flit from branch to nearby branch in a riotous clamor just outside the living room windows. One of the delights of spring is the way one can luxuriate in the bookends of the day. Morning unfolds slowly as the light gathers until the sun crests the horizon, and then all at once the day bursts open like a flower. Evening lingers before the day finishes. It is at these times that I especially enjoy watching the birds come and go.
No Matter Where You Go, You Are in a Watershed!
Our Southeast Michigan watersheds are the Huron River, Rouge River, Clinton River, River Raisin, and Ecorse Creek Watersheds. All of these nets of nomadic water empty into the Detroit River (which has its own watershed). Detroit River waters flow into Lake Erie, then travel through the Niagara River merging into Lake Ontario, narrowing again into the St. Lawrence River, and releasing finally into the Atlantic Ocean.
Serpentine
In winter, they brumate. A word that suggests mist and fog: “La brume,” pale smoke twisting and wending, shedding tendrils and opening portals. The etymology is successive. From French, mist and fog; from Old French, winter; this derived from bruma, Latin for the Winter Solstice.
Growing Trends in Home Gardening
Despite the obvious boost to our health, spending time in a forest, meadow, or by a lakeside can be difficult. For some, access, transportation, and free time may be limited. But you don't need to get away to immerse yourself in the outdoors, as many have discovered since the dawn of the 2020s. Staying home, enjoying time on a porch, patio, or in your own backyard also has benefits, and more and more people are taking advantage.
Nutrient Cycle at Strawbale Studio: An Evolving “Circle of Life”
There are many ways nutrient recycling is implemented at Strawbale Studio that can be used in your home garden. You might even get together with your gardening friends and start an “idea map” of the various natural resources on your site or community garden, and in your region, and how they could be returned to the circle of life!
The Crazy Wisdom Interview with Jim McDonald on Energetic Folk Herbalism
mcdonald lives in White Lake, with his wife, Stephanie, their three kids, a dog, many cats, and two ferrets. Stephanie is deeply involved in running the business and website, and they “keep doing a little bit better every year.” mcdonald is a very winning fellow – chatty, engaging, tangential, lively, casual. He is a man who has developed a deep love for plants, and it shows. “Plants are awesome,” he says. They are an “intermediary” between nature and humanity.
Sacred Oak and Dove: The Ancient Oracle of Dodona
Far away in the mists of ancient days, there once dwelt a band of extraordinary trees with the gift of prophecy: oaks with the power of human speech, answering the needs of mortals who journeyed far to seek their wise counsel. This sounds like a folk tale, but it is not. Deeply rooted in archaic Greek myth, these oaks also lived in history as the first and only oracle existing in Greece for many years. Ancient mythographers remembered the priestesses who tended these oaks as the first females on earth who ever sang their own compositions; their companion nymphs were compassionate nurses for Zeus, shielding him in his vulnerable infancy, and henceforth revealing his will to mortals. In the remote and mountainous terrain of Epirus in northwest Greece, from the second millennium BCE, this sacred forest grew in the mystical sanctuary of Dodona.
Herbs for Your Garden: Marshmallow
Are you looking for a unique, useful, and beautiful herb for your garden? Let me introduce you to Marshmallow, a hardy perennial whose every part has a use. It can grow quite tall, up to four feet, with soft fuzzy leaves and light purple flowers. This plant has many cousins in the mallow family which are planted as ornamentals. Marshmallow (Althaea officinalis) is the medicinal species that we will explore today.
Autumn Foraging
There is something romantic and melancholy about the Earth Mother closing out the heat of summer and preparing herself for the cold winter’s embrace. We instinctively feel the shift and are compelled to engage with the natural world, seeking to bask in the cascades of warm yellows, reds, and oranges in the trees and almost methodically find our way to apple orchards, pumpkin patches, and forests to take in the beauty and bounty of the season.
Leonids: Worth a Look
Last April’s total eclipse had many of us looking to the southern sky at that rare astronomical phenomenon. The following month, some of us in Southeast Michigan were out on our porches or in our yards late at night looking in the opposite direction, hoping to get a rare glimpse of the Northern Lights. This fall, we may have another opportunity to witness a celestial display—the Leonids. Each November, the night sky lights up with a meteor shower as the earth passes close to the Tempel-Tuttle comet’s orbit.
Handcrafting~ Autumn Wild Crafting
Autumn is the season of bounty, and it’s so easy to end up coming home after a wander into the natural spaces around us with pocket loads of natural treasures. Why not engage in some creative crafting with your harvest? Here are a few of my favorite autumn wild crafts to make the most of your gathering.
Goddess of Borderland, Mistress of Crossroads--Pokeweed-Hekate
Having watched the moon set with the sun’s rising, the ancient lunar goddess Hekate is on my mind. And near the Huron river path this morning, a pokeweed plant reaches upward offering a message and posing a hieroglyphic sign as she raises her arms in slender scarlet sleeves. Fresh green pendants nestle beside fully ripe ink-purple fruit on her supple limbs where she drapes luxurious flowing tresses, trailing glossy clusters from slender stems. Wildly flowering, the goddess and plant step from forest edge as one to emerge into the waking world. Hekate dances within her chosen ally pokeweed, just as ancient Greeks thought nymphs ensouled their trees in mutual lifelong union.
Kids in the Community: Science for Kids
Imagine a world where your children are captivated by bubbling potions, erupting volcanoes, and soaring rockets. In this magical realm, adventure awaits. From makeshift kitchen laboratories and hands-on classes to information-packed books, parents can ignite the spark or fuel the burning passion for science with various engaging and immersive activities—some at home, some in person. Unlocking the magic of science begins with nurturing your child’s natural curiosity. Observe what they're interested in and use it to pave the way for exciting career paths in the future.
