So many people are writing about the mass shootings at Clackamas Town Center and  Newtown, Connecticut, that I wondered what else I could possibly add to the conversation.  But I found myself crying last night when the names of the twenty child victims were read by President Obama at the Newtown memorial service and realized that I needed to share, even if no one reads this or listens, as part of my own healing.  And, I needed to figure out what I could do to help.  Read More

On Saturday, December 15th, Rod and I are doing a workshop on the medicine wheel.  I've lived with the wheel for decades now, but until ten years ago, I never understood what Rod meant when he said "you are the medicine wheel". Until then I thought the wheel was something to memorize, and that somehow I just couldn't get it "right".  Was white in the east, or in the north?  Where did the eagle belong on the wheel?  The bear?  If the west was about the elder and darkness, then what was the north?  I was confused.
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 Here's a little story about ceremony, the first one I've written in a long time.  I asked Big A and Heddi Neale for permission to publish the story on my blog, and they both granted permission.  It's about what happens when we Listen with a capital "L".
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What gives us the hope and heart to continue to work on what is best for the Earth in the face of difficult changes?  This is the central question for Earth & Spirit Council's Earthday 2012 conference to be held on April 20 and 21 in Portland.   Read More

Most of you who read this blog know that my husband Rod suffered a very serious accident on January 31st.  As he pushed his chair back from his table after eating breakfast at a local restaurant, the back two legs fell off a platform, he fell backward, hit the back of his head on a pool table, and broke his neck.  911 was called, and when I arrived at the hospital, I was told by three different doctors that Rod would probably be paralyzed from the neck down.   Read More

The holiday season has always been difficult for me.   I know I'm not alone in decrying the commercialism of what, for Christians, is supposed to be a religious remembrance of a humble birth in a manger; or for Jews, commemorates the re-dedication of  a holy place of worship.  But my experience was so directly connected to what many religious leaders call "religion-for-profit", that I wanted to share part of my story of recovery.   Read More

Here is the text of what I said at my stepfather's memorial service.  Thank you to everyone who asked for these words.  Click HERE to read a recent Oregonian article about this remarkable man.

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The Women of the Fourteenth Moon is a modern transition ceremony that has endured for more than two decades and is now being performed around the world. It was originally conceived by three women from various backgrounds -- Celtic, Jewish, and Native American -- who came together to do something to heal the fear of aging that many modern women have.  It is not a Native American ceremony -- it is a women's ceremony.  It  lasts from one to three days, and is usually performed outside with as few as twenty or as many as one hundred fifty women. Its stated intention is to initiate and honor elder women and the stages they go through in becoming elders. Many women are introduced to ceremony for the first time at the Women of the Fourteenth Moon. The experience often touches them deeply and affects every aspect of their lives.   Read More

Please remember that I welcome your comments and insights.  If you're a student of Tea, or attend sweat lodges, feel free to post a comment.  Read More

Women Writing the West is a nonprofit organization of professionals writing and promoting the Women's West http://www.womenwritingthewest.org/. Members' stories are set in the Western United States — past and present — but WWW considers the "West" as more than a geographic location. The West represents a way of thinking, a sense of adventure, a willingness to cross into a new frontier.  WWW is open to men as well as women. I'm here in Lynnwood Washington at their annual conference -- about 150 writers who write fiction and nonfiction, adult and youth stories, about any topic related to the West.   I'm listening, learning, selling a few books.  The Power of Ceremony doesn't quite fit comfortably into any WWW category, although it might be called "creative nonfiction."  More typical is the book by Evelyn Searle Hess, To The Woods: Sinking Roots, Living Lightly, and Finding True Home, or a "romantic suspense" by Mary Trimble about a working cattle ranch near Mt. St. Helens in 1980 entitled Tenderfoot.   Read More