“Living in Season” is for anyone who is weary of the frantic pace of modern life, who wants to slow down, connect with the natural world, and live a life filled with heart and meaning. Each season has its own flavor, captured in the folklore of seasonal holidays, preserved in rituals and recipes, ceremonies and songs. This quarterly “Living in Season” e-zine helps you connect with the seasons through our articles, online courses (with suggestions on spiritual practices and creative pursuits that match the energy of each season), books and e-books on time management and the seasons. We’re glad you’ve joined us!  Read More →

CELEBRATIONS

Days of the Dead

The Tzeltals of Mexico celebrate the Feast of the Dead for thirteen days, beginning on October 25th. Graves are decorated with pine needles and tusus (yellow wild flowers). In Puebla, the accidentados (the souls of those who died in accidents) return on October 28th, followed by the angelitos (the souls of dead children) who show up at noon on October 31, to be followed by the souls of dead adults on November 1. This sequence probably derives from... [Read more]

FOOD & DRINK

Pumpkin Recipes

"The melon was divided into slices by nature to be eaten among family. The pumpkin, being larger, can be eaten with neighbors." --Bernardin de Saint-Pierre I love pumpkin pie, pumpkin pecan bread and my daughter’s creamy pumpkin black bean chili. What’s your favorite pumpkin recipe? Creamy Pumpkin Black Bean Chili By Shaw Fitzgerald 2 tablespoons butter or olive oil 1 medium white (or yellow) onion, diced 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 to 3... [Read more]

SPIRIT OF THE SEASON

Pagan Lent

First published in 2002 at School of the Seasons. When I mention the word “Lent” around my pagan friends, a curious thing happens. I watch as their faces go blank, they look away as if to say, “That’s not for me. That’s something Christians do to mortify the flesh.” Certainly this was the flavor of Lent as it was practiced in the late 1950’s when I was attending St. Bridget of Sweden Elementary School in Van Nuys, California. We gave up a favorite food for six weeks and saved our pennies for the “heathen babies.”... [Read more]

CRAFTS

Making a Turnip Lantern

The turnip lantern was probably the Celtic predecessor of the American Halloween pumpkin. In Ireland and Scotland, on Halloween children went souling with turnip lanterns or kail-runt torches (a candle stuck in the hollowed-out stem of a cabbage). In Somerset, on Punky Night (October 25) children paraded with lanterns made of hollowed-out mangel-wurzels (a type of beet), with the shells carved into faces and other designs. Folklorist Ronald Hutton... [Read more]

AT HOME

At Home in Summer: Staycation

Shaw & Pepe enjoying their staycation. (Photo by Waverly Fitzgerald) By Waverly Fitzgerald At home in the summer seems like an oxymoron. at least in Seattle, where summers are glorious. Most of us spend as much time as possible outside. And even when we stay home, we stay outside our homes: on balconies, on decks, sitting on the front porch. So I thought instead of writing about projects to do inside the home, I’d write about staycations,... [Read more]

IN THE NATURAL WORLD

Flower of March: Daffodil

Daffadowndilly has come to town In a yellow petticoat and a green gown. I always think of the daffodil as the flower for the month of March. That’s because I always look for the daffodils on the first of March, and for the past ten years, with one exception, I have always found them in bloom by this date in Seattle.  Lucky for me since I want to wear a daffodil on March 1st  to show my allegiance to Wales (thanks to my ancestress, Nesta, the mother of the first Fitzgerald, who flourished around 1100). The daffodil is the national flower... [Read more]

STAR CYCLES

New Moon in Libra: Comparisons are Odious

by April Elliott Kent There is a popular expression that warns, “Don’t compare your insides to other people’s outsides,” and it’s particularly good advice for this Libra New Moon season. [The new moon of October 16 was in Libra.] Libra, as the relationship sign, symbolizes a keen awareness of others that can work to our advantage in relationships and in certain careers, too. But that same awareness can become a liability... [Read more]

EDITORIAL

October Issue

October 20, 2009 I’m slowly recognizing the opportunities created by my new web site, Living in Season, and so my ideas about it are shifting. Originally I thought I would publish an issue on the site every three months and continue to send out my monthly newsletters. But as someone who advocates living in season, I’m not happy with how quickly the information becomes outdated if I leave it up for three months. And I love the extra features the... [Read more]

SIGNS OF THE SEASON

Skunk Cabbage

From Jane Grant in Baltimore, Maryland. A photo from a hike in the woods along the Gunpowder River in central Maryland on January 18, 2010. In my zone, Skunk Cabbage is due to appear in February, but I found these a bit earlier, poking up through the leaf litter in the otherwise brown, bare woods. A beautiful sign of Spring!  Read More →