Dear friends -

I can't write a missive today without starting off with acknowledging that there has been an unexpected death in the family of my partner, Krissy. We are, thus, in a period of mourning.

Like so many feelings/emotions/experiences, I don't experience "having" this experience so much as being "in it." I find it akin to participating in the vast and complex ocean of ups and downs, swells and troughs, tears and moments of being "ok"; of moments when we are swallowed under water and moments when we are pulling others out of the swell. And times when we are being carried by forces larger than us - sometimes, those are forces with profound connections.

I am not yet comfortable writing about the details of this loss.  That is  not because this private or secret (I estimate that 800 people came to some portion of the funeral), but because I don't think I'm quite ready yet. I'm still very much in the midst of it.  Life transitions - death, birth, marriages, and other ways that we come together and evolve both as individuals and as collectives, and also fall apart - can swell with insights, learnings, humility, sad/mad/sad roller coasters, moments of wisdom, as well as plenty of awkwardness. The re-sorting of life after a death can yield new shapes of relationality and self-understanding. Sometimes, those go in a lot of different places. 

I do want you to know that we are as well as we can be. And that we are not alone.

The rest of this email is one of my reflections on the season that is part of my larger inquiry on how we can relate to and with time: an ongoing theme of ReMembering and ReEnchanting. 

It's prompted by the seasons themselves (of course) ... and the fact that I am hosting my second, "If Quakers Were Witches..." workshop soon - May 2-4 IN PERSON! at Woolman Hill in western Massachusetts. Yes, we will definitely have a Beltane theme threaded through it. 

If you want to register, the time is NOW! You definitely don't have to be a Quaker/member of the Religious Society of Friends to come, though some basic familiarity with Quaker practices will be helpful. Nor do you have to self-identify as a witch! That term continues to carry some heavy connotations with it (and I often recommend people not use it - that's a whole story in and of itself) as well as offering some rich heritage and opportunities within it. The weekend retreat is a chance for collective receiving of insight and connection and some joyous eco-spirituality.

AND: the next ReMembering Course (FINALLY) has a firm start date: Friday May 9, 2-3:30 EST. It will then meet every other Friday till Oct 10.  Thus, the Course will carry you through the summer season. It's a great time for those of you on educational/academic calendars, or for whom a summer course will help to ground you.  To join, please just email me asap.

So: this season. Here's a couple of different threads that are all happening within the next few weeks within a Western/European/American calendar system, any one of which might be something that you are leading a celebration, circle, conversation, or event around. At the end there are some questions/inquiries - perhaps they are prompts for your own journaling, or for gatherings that you are leading.

Let's start with Earth Day (April 22).

Here's a summary I pulled up: 

Earth Day originated in 1970, the brainchild of U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson, conceived as a "national teach-in" to amplify awareness of environmental pollution. Drawing inspiration from the fervor of anti-war protests, Nelson aimed to galvanize public concern regarding issues such as air and water contamination. The inaugural Earth Day, on April 22nd, witnessed the participation of approximately 20 million Americans in demonstrations, rallies, and educational events nationwide. This grassroots movement played a pivotal role in fostering support for landmark environmental legislation, encompassing the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act, and ultimately contributing to the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Earth Day rapidly transcended its U.S. origins, evolving into a global phenomenon by 1990 and establishing itself as the planet's largest secular civic event, now celebrated annually by over a billion individuals across more than 190 countries.

I realized, as I was thinking about it, that at some point when I was a very young child, I went to a Scandinavian festival that entailed dancing around a Maypole, face painting, puppets, flower wreaths, daisy necklaces, and a delicious pear-apple-yogurt drink that I keep meaning to make today. Later, I labeled it as an Earth Day ceremony, probably because it was right around the same time as Earth Day, and my parents said no, that was a Scandinavian version of May Day - what the Celtic calendar refers to as Beltane.

Earth Day, of course, is a largely secular celebration that, clearly, entails a strong political component.

May Day, of course, is multi-layered: it is at once a time of honoring unions and working people everywhere (beginning in the Haymarket Affair of 1886, it later became the International Workers' Day), a time when there has often been strikes (I have not yet heard of a big one for this year but that might come).

May 1 also has an ancient history associated with the spring festival of Beltane, a traditional holiday celebrating the union of the Green Man and the  celtic Goddess Mayve in the celtic calendar; there are many similar traditions in other parts of Europe. The celtic goddess Mayve is a warrior Goddess, who is known for her powers in battle, her ruthlessness, her fierce protection of land/territories, her excellent mead, and her capacity for seducing lovers.  Sometimes she referred to as the Goddess of sovereignty, and was often evoked by new kings. 

In Britain, May Day is a bank holiday, and thus associated with time off, vacation, and, for many, the early signs of summer. Beltane celebrations includes dancing around a maypole (which I really recommend if you have the opportunity! it can be a very magical experience!) There's a lot of eco-eroticism, celebration, and self-determination/power (Mayve is a warrior goddess known for power and sovereignty).

(note - the month of May was, along with the rest of the months, named after the Greek dieties: in this case, Maia, a Greek fertility Goddess whose festival was in the month of May.) 

And there's Easter, happening late this year (April 20), with its longstanding connection to the Goddess Eostre and the return of the Light. See my article that I wrote last year on the Goddess of the Dawn and the Reckoning with Time for more on Eostre and the creation of Easter ( a fascinating history in the creation of contemporary calendars) if you haven't yet had a chance to do so!  And of course, there is the Jewish holiday of Pesach/Passover (from April 12-20).  Just in case you were wondering, Easter and Pesach are both based on the lunar calendar - but with a different count, which means that they often overlap but sometimes do not.