The Wild Hunt (https://wildhunt.org/author/sheri)
Sheri Barker has been a solitary practitioner for nearly forty years. Her relationships with magic, elemental energies, spirits, and her ancestors are the foundation of her daily life. They enrich her work as a witch, writer, homesteader, wildlife enthusiast, gardener, and human being. She is a columnist at The Wild Hunt (https://wildhunt.org) and also publishes perspective essays on her blog at https://www.onthebearpath.com. Sheri lives in an ancient river valley in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina, immersed in nature, spirits, and realms beyond this one. Oh, and books...there are always books, words, and creative activities to be explored!
Over the last few months, I have been exploring definitions of what makes a hard winter. How do I define that experience? Sometimes I stayed awake at night, turning thoughts in my head, worrying at this topic like a child poking a loose tooth with her tongue.
Looking at the footage of his run, he seemed to be chasing for fun instead of hunger, trotting with his head held high instead of moving low and fast. I wondered if he had, perhaps, already eaten. I wondered if foxes sometimes hunt for play.
Brigid’s influence here is far-reaching, as is the gentle determination of her spirit. I believe that it is her nature to be more pleased by action than by words or acts of worship, and across the many forms she takes or names she holds, she is aware and approving of the renewal of interest in what some consider a simpler life.
Some of us have gone numb and non-functional; others are deep in the season and lighting candles, decorating trees, celebrating the return of the Sun, and practicing so many other traditions and acts of faith and love that this writer cannot name them all. I, myself, am holding space in the in-between this year.
The truth is, being a Witch and having a daily spiritual practice in magic does not allow me to create my own situational blindness to what is happening within the borders of my own community and country or in the world that is really not so far away. I cannot remain connected and be oblivious at the same time.