Tomorrow there will be a near total solar eclipse in my corner of the world. I'm still very new to Druidism and don't know anything about anything as of yet, so hoping to get a nudge in the right direction by more experienced folk!
I'm planning a significant birthday so looking for something nice, ideally more focussed on really good quality local produce than fancy cooking methods. If it could have a nice setting with some pretty grounds that would be a plus! I was looking at the Hambleton Vineyard restaurant but it's a bit far. Many thanks in advance for any suggestions!
I've been circling sort of general Celtic paganism for a while now but could never quite get deity worship to click. Recently I've discovered modern Druidry and from what I know so far it resonates much more deeply with me, particularly the direct connection with nature and the freedom of practice. As a complete stranger to any kind of spiritual practice I still feel a need for some kind of guide/starting point, though, so today I have taken the plunge and joined the OBOD after reading good things on here. Somehow I feel the need for some kind of dedicated practice space to help me focus, at least initially, and the obvious place seems to be the corner of our garden where a couple of big trees combine with the corner of the wooden fence to form a small shaded and secluded space. If I wanted to sit in here to do my reading, lessons and meditation, would I need to add anything? Better to sit on the bare earth I would think, or should I get a mat? Maybe a focal point of some kind? Many thanks in advance!
This black mulberry tree we planted last April developed several soft/spongy patches in its bark over the winter, one wearing away to the point of exposing the flesh below. They don't seem to be where the stake was or have any obvious origin/cause of trauma. At the time we noticed them we were in the middle of big family events and didn't get a chance to do anything about them. From what I recall they aren't worse now (just dry, so less spongy) but also don't seem to be getting better. Can anyone tell me what this is and what if anything we could/should be doing about it? For the moment the tree doesn't seem stressed, it's very bushy with new growth and even a few tasty berries, but we're very aware that that can change quickly and would like to try to prevent that if we can.
It's growing up through the middle of a camelia which we had been planning to take out. We'd really hoped to keep the maple as we'd like more trees, especially native, and it happens to be in a great location for one, but it's so tall and so thin (12ft tall, maybe an inch or at most two thick near the bottom) that with the wind we've been having it just goes straight over. I've temporarily tied it to the camelia for support but is it realistic to try to save it or will it now likely always be unstable? Any advice much appreciated!
Edit: We're in Sussex with clay soil. That tree behind the fence is an old goat willow which has sadly died and the neighbour will be taking it down shortly, which is why we'd like to keep the maple if at all possible!
This is probably some algorithm BS but now when I try to search a sub for a specific term I get all kinds of random results which don't actually include the term I searched for, even though I know it appears regularly in the sub. Is there any way to turn off whatever is going on and just make it return the results I actually asked for?
I'm about to turn 40, I'm married, I've never been assaulted so far as I know, and I still feel so confused about my sexuality. I vacillate between thinking I'm straight but mostly asexual (my few crushes and Noticing of bodies have been with men), to wondering if I'm actually a repressed lesbian, but then when I mentally explore that route it doesn't really appeal either, to thinking that all that is just a way my brain is trying to protect me from getting hurt. I can admire my husband's looks and enjoy intimacy with him emotionally (he knows this) but I think I've ever felt bodily sexual arousal, towards him or anyone else outside of my own head (and when I imagine things I am never in the fantasy). I've never felt a spark from anyone's touch. And yet I doubt if I'm truly asexual because I feel the lack and grieve it. And yet I have no idea what's wrong or what would help or if anything can even be done. I don't know whether to keep niggling at it in the hope of some kind of insight or whether to try to make peace with this just being how I am.
Any thoughts or sharing of experience would be very welcome!
I'm sitting in the garden trying to work and instead find myself once again pondering what to do about this horror of an end of house. I've been trying to figure it out for 7 years and I give up. I don't really want to mess with the extension due to cost and the fact that it would mess up all the work we've done inside but surely there must be a way to get it looking better than this? I suppose we could just paint it white but being north-facing I think it would go manky again fast. So far ideas are some kind of cladding, some kind of mural, or just growing Boston ivy over it. CasualUK, lend me your wisdom! What would you do?
Non-smoker, non-drinker, moderately actively lifestyle, moderately healthy diet. No family history of illness or bad periods so far as I know. I'm not on any hormonal or permanent contraceptives and never have been.
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Since I started them my periods have been pretty text book, more or less regular every four weeks, two days of heavy but not excessive flow followed by three days of petering out, some tiredness, cramps and emotional sensitivity but nothing that can't be easily managed.
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For the past couple of years, though, every other period has been increasingly worse, not so much with cramping but full body aches, sometimes nausea, exhaustion, horrible brain fog and deeply depressive moods, like emotionally I feel like someone has actually died or something. It has now got to the point where I am essentially completely non-functional for several days every eight weeks. It honestly feels more like the flu than anything else. Fortunately I work for myself so I can schedule around it but even so, it is extremely annoying. The periods in between are straightforward as they used to be. Is this a normal part of aging or should I be seeing someone about it?
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Of the Great and Blue varieties. Historically we've had robins, blackbirds, pigeons, magpies and the occasional jay and woodpecker, but hardly any tits. This year though they are everywhere! Is it a good year for them or something?
I'm experiencing an upset stomach at the moment and my body wants to tremor intensely. I can stop it but it feels really bad and when I allow it I feel less sick. This is definitely tremoring, not shivering, moving up and down through different sections of the body and including the hip and shoulder twists and arches that often appear in my sessions. It might be worth noting that I have CPTSD and have been slooooowly thawing with TRE but still a long way to go, and I have considerable 'issues' around stomach-based illnesses, to the point where I would probably be considered mildly emetophobic.
Any thoughts on what might be going on here would be much appreciated!
Seriously I can't believe how much water I need to drink when I'm going through a period of heavy processing, multiple glasses before breakfast even. It's not a magic cure and the work still needs to be done but drinking enough makes a huge difference in the level of brain fog, lethargy and headaches I experience.