Grounded In The Land

Yesterday, the latest issue of Sage Woman arrived and it's got several articles that touch on my earlier point about the need to ground your practice in your own landbase, watershed, space. In particular Leni Hestert writes:

My awareness of the Wheel, coupled with knowledge of the landscape in which I live, forms the foundation of my magickal practice. An intimate relationship with Land, Climate, and Weather is rewarding, but requires real work and presence. I began practicing Wicca when I lived in North Carolina, a temperate, densely wooded, damp environment. Later, I moved to Denver and found that this move created corresponding changes in my practice. . . . In order to stay connected to the Wheel, I had to shift and adapt my previous observances of the Eight Sabbats to match the conditions of a vastly different ecosystem and climate.

and

Whenever I find myself getting ungrounded flighty or disconnected, I merely go back to basics, think about where I am on the Wheel, and ground into that. It never fails to bring me back to connection with the world around me.

I think there's a tendency, when adapting "traditions" concerning the 8 Sabbats to our own environment and landbase to worry that we "r doin it wrong" as the LOL cat would say. That's a mistake. What's "right" is what works in terms of your relationship with your bit of Earth, not what used to work in Iron Age Ireland or wherever.

Picture found here.