Blog-sister Leigh Gaitskill, through her Not Just Sassy on the Inside blog, shares a wealth of discoveries from her Ancestry DNA test and subsequent sleuthing into her roots. As Leigh writes, she learned of family tree roots and branches that she'd... Continue Reading →
“All spiritual traditions, including Christianity, have shamanic roots. When the roots are fed, they sink deeper into sacred ground.” ~ Bradford Keeney, Shamanic Christianity Let’s have a blessing-bath with that last sentence for a minute … let the essence of... Continue Reading →
It's always a fine time to muse on the notions (and experiences) of Home and the related themes of exile, displacement, hearth-tending, and growing new roots. That said, there is a particular emphasis right about now, given the very earthy,... Continue Reading →
Deep Roots and Spring Growth. Photo by Jamie Walters, 2011.
Since I’m in the midst of ‘moving house’ as some of my friends say, and thus only marginally ‘plugged in’ for another week or so, it seemed appropriate to share this Sophia’s Children post from a year ago.
Musings on ‘home and exile‘ include a few of my favorite insights from May Sarton and John O’Donohue, though they also connect in to the long tendrils and whispers of ancestral memory and voices, too.
You’ll see related posts and inspirations just below, too, if you want to follow this thread of reflection to see where it leads you (and what it evokes from within).
While I’m ‘shifting roots’ and moving into my new flat, I’m wishing you the blessings and inspirations of your own deep-rootedness, and also the heart-yearnings that sometimes lead us into new growing grounds!.
Hero Awaiting the Return of Leander, 1885, by Evelyn De Morgan.
“I too have known the inward disturbance of exile,
The great peril of being at home nowhere,
The dispersed center, the dividing love;
Not here, nor there …”
– May Sarton, From All Our Journeys
In Plant Dreaming Deep, Sarton writes that, despite teaching at various American universities and living in university town, she still didn’t feel rooted where she was.
“What I meant by “life” was still rooted in Europe,” she writes. “During those years I went back whenever I could to the strong ties in England, France, Belgium, and Switzerland. I had not yet cut the umbilical cord.”
Then she asks the essential questions:
“And how long would the life in me stay alive if it did not find new roots?”
“If ‘home’ can be anywhere, how is one to look for it, where is one to find it?”
“Architects and planners use the term “desire paths” to describe the shortcuts taken by people for whom the laid-out pattern doesn’t fit their lives. But, in one sense, all paths are desire paths, the marks of human longing or need.”... Continue Reading →
I originally wrote this article for Samhain in 2014. It's timeless and rooting, so I'm updating it freshly for November 2017. Nowadays, with so much wisdom forgotten, many people think of Samhain or the cross-quarters as evidence of pagan ancestors... Continue Reading →
“I too have known the inward disturbance of exile, The great peril of being at home nowhere, The dispersed center, the dividing love; Not here, nor there ..." – May Sarton, From All Our Journeys In Plant Dreaming Deep, Sarton... Continue Reading →
Hero Awaiting the Return of Leander, 1885, by Evelyn De Morgan. 
Ariadne…