Whether it is a giant beanstalk, benevolent flowers, wise herbs, sacred birch goddesses or mossy coats, many ancient folktales remind us how our ancestors lived in harmony with plants, relying on them not only for sustenance but also for healing, protection, wisdom, empowerment and inspiration. Ancient plant folktales encapsulate wisdom and teachings passed down through generations, reflecting the roles that flora and fauna have played for our survival, cultural identity and in the mythic imagination, often intersecting all three.
Read MoreTern Teachings: Guests that Nest & Give
It is not only humans that tell stories. . . In the voice of bright white feathers and a charming black cap, a story darts its way through gusts of wind off the coast of Massachusetts hatching out of makeshift nests of pebbles and dry grasses. during the months of April and May. It is a seasonal story with themes of reciprocity and interdependence between the arctic tern, a migrating bird, and local coastal cloudberry flowers suggesting that even temporary guest can still contribute to a landscape’s thriving.
Read MoreA Magical Mossy Coat: Finding Sovereignty in a World that Values Ownership over Love
Mossy Coat is an Old English fairytale about the ingenuity and creativity of a wild forager and weaver who sews her daughter a coat of wild mosses so she can disguise herself, escape poverty, avoid an unwanted marriage and determine her own destiny. It is how even a small diminutive plant like moss can be protective, nurturing, empowering and magical, and how a coat of moss gives the heroine a sense of wildness, freedom, and sovereignty over her own life. An enduring folktale that lives on like wild moss, wielding its quiet power. . .
Read MoreFreedom With Feathers: the Power of Folklore
A reflection on the folk wisdom offered in The Magical Adventures of Pretty Pearl by Virginia Hamilton filled with beloved characters from African American folklore. How folklore and folk tradition bring a small community fugitives into deep relationship with the wild, and how enchantment and magic serve as a source of psychological resilience and practical survival in the face of unimaginable hardship.
Read MoreBraiding Sweetgrass and the Goddess of Creation
SkyWoman, a Haudenosaunee Creation story about the first woman, reminds us how the wild is inherently full of symbiotic, reciprocal relationships that can inspire us to relate to each other in a similar way if we choose to honor the wisdom of the plants.
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