Category: Ancestors

Lois and me at the No Kings protest, March 28, 2026 Once again I am grieving on Summer Solstice. On June 20, 1982—44 years ago—my mother died of metastatic breast cancer. Four weeks ago, Lois Thetford, one of my closest friends, died of an aggressive form of abdominal cancer. She was ill for just a …

We have more power than we know. It’s time to use it. I frequently dream about events before they happen. Sometimes I’ll have a frightening dream before a terrible event; I wrote here about a dream I had before Trump was elected the first time. And sometimes the images that come are beautiful and encouraging, …

This week I dreamed about my mother. And I dreamed about war. I am in a car with my mother, running errands. I am driving, and she sits in the passenger seat. She’s young, with a beautiful face and dark, curly hair. As I look at her, I see clearly the ways I look like …

Samhain is the gateway to the darkest three months of the year, in the physical world and the world of spirit. Between now and Winter Solstice, we notice and feel the days shorten and the nights lengthen. If we follow the rhythm of the seasons, we hunker down, stay warm, spend more time indoors. If …

At Samhain, celebrated the eve of October 31 through November 1, the boundary between the world of the living and the world of the spirits becomes more permeable. Our Halloween traditions come from ancient Celtic pagan practices to honor and feed the dead, listen to their advice, and scare away evil spirits. Many pagans believe …

It’s spring in the Pacific Northwest, a time when plants that pushed leaves through near-frozen winter ground begin their promiscuous blooming. Next to the hardy hellebores, narcissus and daffodils show off their yellow bonnets. Slender willow branches, brown in winter, turn spring-green as their leaves sprout. At Lake Quinault, where we spent a few days …

When I imagine the kind of human community I want to live in, I go to the forest in my mind. In the forest, there is no analogue for racism. No exclusion of certain plants from the web of connection, nurture, and support because of their physical characteristics. That would be counter to the natural …

My grandparents Florence and John Taylor. Florence died in the flu pandemic of 1918-1919. What is the coronavirus epidemic calling us to? Ironically, this disease that separates and isolates us from each other as we try to prevent its spread also calls us into deeper levels of connection. Connection with community, with ancestors, and with …

Sr. Phil O’Shea at Solas Bhride Centre, Kildare, Ireland, 2016 “Solas Bhride is a Christian Spirituality Centre which welcomes people of all faiths and of no faith. The Vision of the Centre is to unfold the legacy of St. Brigid and its relevance for our time.” Yesterday, on Jan. 31, the eve of Imbolc, two …

The cusp of death can conjure joy as well as pain, gratitude as well as grief, connection as well as separation – if we are open to it. At Samhain, celebrated on Oct. 31-Nov. 1, the veil between the world of the living and the world of the dead is thin. We remember and commune …