Animal Magic And More

October 10, 2009 at 8:00 am (Harp, Magical Nature, Tree Of Tales)
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acorns

I’m experimenting with form, can you tell?  Yes, Jane’s Medicine Tree has a new look!  What do you think?  Amri helped me choose the template.

The Tree Letter

I’ve started a Full Moon — and occasionally New Moon — ezine.  Eventually you’ll be able to subscribe to it (for free) on my website and here, but for now, I’ll just link you to Tree Letter – Leaf 2.  In this issue I write about Samhain and how I’ve celebrated Samhain in community, El Dia De Los Muertos (though I’ll write more about this festival next time), and the “northwest” energy of this time of year — a brief discussion of that quality.  Let me know what you think of this incarnation of The Tree Letter (I’ve had several others!)

Animal Magic

I Hear The Wolf And The Fox And The Weasel

I Hear The Wolf And The Fox And The Weasel

In The Tree Letter I write in detail about a divination offering that I am making for the month of October (I’ll be making a very different one for November).  This offering isn’t about predicting the future — it’s about connecting with the spirit or quality of a particular animal and discovering what it has to tell you in your life right now.  I’ve specifically designed my Animal Magic offering with children or the child in you in mind.  It’s a fun romp into the forest of our imagination with a particular animal who appears (via drawing a card from an animal deck or by flipping “at random” in my Peterson’s Guide To Mammals).  My email response is a bit like one of my Forest performances in print — mixing story, song, folklore, and the nature of the animal — written especially for you.

Read more about Animal Magic here!

Forest

Forest - by Knodel & Valencia

Forest - by Knodel & Valencia

And speaking of Forest.  This is a shameless plug for my CD of that name, recorded with my harp duo partner Deb Knodel..  Perfect for Autumn, FOREST is a musical journey through a magical forest, where we encounter the mythic Green Man, attend a village harvest celebration, a Scottish Ceilidh, and more! This album is great fun and filled with enchantment, and is a favorite with children of all ages. I’ve had teen and pre-teen girls tell me they’ve listened to Forest over, and over, and over ….!

Immerse yourself in the myth and magic of the autumn-into-winter season with this CD!

Podcast No. 2 ~ Bardic Nature

What is a bard? What do bards have to offer for the 21st century? 21st century bard and Wheel Of Wonder radio show host Ray Simkins shares his thoughts regarding these questions, as well as bardic lore (and an anecdote!), his journey into his bardic nature, and three of his lively and rich poems. Go here to listen or download this podcast.

On his blog, Ray writes about his experience being interviewed by me.  Read it here!

Enjoy!

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First Harvest, Podcast, and Web Redesign!

August 10, 2009 at 6:28 pm (Creativity)
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Early August saw the celebration of Lammas, the Celtic cross-quarter (falling between Solstice and Equinox) festival devoted to the first harvest.  In the Forest Halls of my island home the leaves of the Indian plum trees will be turning gold and beginning to drop off, and a golden light will begin to suffuse the afternoons. Blackberries begin their abundance.  Here in mi casita de gracia, in California, the hawthorn berries are turning from green to a blushing orange-red.  Sunset arrives noticeably sooner.  And, yes, here too a gold-red light graces the end of day.  Downtown today Gwynne and I yearned for blackberries … and–I can’t believe it–but I bought some!

We have six baby chicks!  All six eggs hatched, with two pairs hatching at the same time.  I’ll get some photos up of these fluffy tiny darlings.  They are lovely, and even Help, the chick Andy helped out of its shell, is thriving.

Podcast!

My first Forest Halls podcast is up and ready for your listening pleasure. Recorded two months ago, I’ve finally mixed the audio, taken a deep breath, and posted it on my website.  This first podcast is a conversation between sound healer Celestine Raye and myself.  We talk about our then-recently recorded CD Streaming In Stone (due out in a few weeks), the deep winter and magic of Joseph, Oregon, toning circles, the healing nature of improvised vocals, and more.  We conclude the conversation with a healing song improvised for you.  You can listen to and download the podcast here:

Forest Halls Podcast No. 1 – A Conversation With Celestine Raye – approx. 35 min

Celestine Raye

Celestine Raye

Web Redesign

Okay, synchronizing with releasing my podcast has been my push to get my redesigned website up and running.  I have all the main pages translated from my ’90s-style web technique to something more fun (for me at least!).  It may take a long time for all the pages to be translated — the Forest Halls website wanders like the mythic realm in my imagination!  Anyway, I’d be delighted if you’d drop by ForestHalls.org and take a look around.  Let me just say that my home page was inspired by my super-hero creation back in my post Who Is Your Super-Hero Self?… Scroll to The Dragonsinger! artwork at the bottom of the post, then check out Forest Halls, and you’ll see what I mean!

Please let me know what you think of my “First Harvest” of podcast and webwork!

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