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!
Sheri Barker takes a detour to visit Gettysburg, the site of the pivotal battle of the U.S. Civil War, and considers the effect of the conflict on the land, its guardian spirits, and the state of the nation today.
Sheri Barker visits Tse’ Hane’, or Newspaper Rock, in which more than 650 petroglyphs have been carved by members of numerous Indigenous cultures over the past 1500 years.
The horizon promised forever, with the land in between rich with life and beauty. The Divine Mother was present everywhere in those fertile fields, hills, and mountains. The endurance of the land and the creatures and spirits who dwell there filled me with awe.
I am one of many good Witches. At any given time, any one of us might feel like we are short on heart, brain, or courage, but I assure you, as I do my companions, that that is not the case. It is okay to rest. It is okay to cry. It is okay to rage.
Hospitals are always places where life and death cross paths and even sometimes walk together. This is one reason hospitals send chills crawling up our spines and through our nervous systems like a fast-growing poison ivy vine.