To clear and purify your space and infuse it with as much of your personal energy as possible, perform a ritual sweeping with a favorite broom. I use a sweet-smelling cinnamon broom. These are actually made of pine straw coated with divine-smelling cinnamon oil and set aside to dry for three weeks. Many a grocery store sells them in the fall and holiday seasons. My favorites are the tiny Trader Joe’s whisk-brooms, which are adorable. These make lovely gifts and altar adornments. I ornament mine with cleansing crystals by taking a colored silk cord and stringing quartz beads on them or gluing them to the base of the handle. These gems and crystals are superb for space-clearing and purification:
There is nothing tidy here life is too broad and billowing to be contained, restrained, confined, constrained by lists and wishes and well-laid plans, or even by thin and bloodless prayers. There is nothing tidy here, expect wild winds and sharp teeth amid the violets and sunrises. There is nothing tidy here, the world a great jumble of twining grapevine, sprawling brambles, winding roots, and beating hearts. There is nothing to do with such an untidy world, but whirl with the wonder of it all, keeping your hand outstretched to touch everything, even if your feet bleed and your skin is streaked with sorrow and joy.
Last weekend, I was thinking about how to conclude the book I am writing, how to finish it, how to know it is done, how to wrap it up tidily, with some kind of moral or lesson for living, some kind of final conclusion of "figuring it all out." In the quiet moments as I questioned, walking around in circles on my back deck, I received a reply that then became a poem: there is nothing tidy here.
Erin Lale
Fellow faculty at Harvard Divinity School posted an open letter to Wolpe in response to his article. It's available on this page, below the call for p...
Erin Lale
Here's another response. The Wild Hunt has a roundup of numerous responses on its site, but it carried this one as a separate article. It is an accoun...
Erin Lale
Here's another response. This one is by a scholar of paganism. It's unfortunately a Facebook post so this link goes to Facebook. She posted the text o...
Erin Lale
Here's another link to a pagan response to the Atlantic article. I would have included this one in my story too if I had seen it before I published it...
Janet Boyer
I love the idea of green burials! I first heard of Recompose right before it launched. I wish there were more here on the East Coast; that's how I'd l...