Why Bother Dying Eggs? I mean isn't it just a big stupid hassle?? As you may have read before, I've struggled with Easter in the past, making it feel relevant. For most of my adult life I just ignored it. Once I had kids I kinda had to think a little more deeply about it - so I could explain why I don't care and not hiding chocolate eggs for them to hunt. Over the last few years, though I've gone a little deeper in understanding Spring and its equinox. [...]
It is Winter. The waters are frozen. The trees are bare. The heart is still as the season of death descends and the sound of grief echoes in the quiet sleeping garden of the soul. Winter is characterized by water, the healing water of tears. We invite the ancestors in the Fall and in the Winter we allow our grief to swell and emerge. Not just any tears, but the sacred tears of measured grief offered to the ancestors once and for all. This is the essential lesson of the [...]
Dear Hettie Quackers, Has living on a farm and connecting with the earth helped you understand the meaning of Easter? ~ Dawn This time last year I had a huge epiphany. As Easter was approaching I had been pondering the season and feeling rather uninspired. I didn't feel like forcing myself into a false celebration and I just couldn't find any point of connection with the Easter Holiday. I had found deeper meaning in many contemporary cultural festivals, and deeply involved in teaching others how to honor the seasons and [...]
Ask Hettie Quackers Q: How do I celebrate Day of the Dead in a way that makes a difference? A: Hettie says, tell them about the altar.... and the Feast. Well, we here at Tierra Soul started building our Day of the Dead altar yesterday. I went down to the basement and brought out the box marked Fall, and we chatted about each item as we placed them on the altar. There is Xoco's birth-bell (he is a Fall born baby), our Halloween masks from 2009, crumpl-ey paper lanterns from [...]
Q: How do I talk to my kids about death? I mean how do I even talk to myself about death - especially in front of others? What if I hurt my children by talking about death? or curse them, or frighten them? A: We finally left the Humane Society with a god, I mean, doG. There have been so many empty handed visits in the last few months - since we got the land in White Salmon. We named her that evening: Luna Waapatui (first came Waapatui and then [...]
So, here we are on Easter morning . . . ... with our forty-one eggs, ready to make our Quiche and crepes. Problem is that because they were collecting over time in our girls secret spot, we have no idea how old they are and if any of them are rotten! We could blow each one (in preparation for dyeing and decorating for our symbolic fertility hunt) and use our sniffers.... perfectly fine. But then we thought, why don't we just ask Hettie?! Hettie, how can we know if these eggs [...]
