10.05.2026
Happy Mother's Day
On this Mother’s Day, it’s a perfect time to honour those mothers who have passed.
On the Ancestor altar, we placed plates with bits of food and drink our mothers enjoyed, flowers and candles.
As the wind blew through the chimes, it felt like a wonderful thanks from them.
We send deepest love and gratitude for all of who they were in our lives💛
01.05.2026
Beltane
May 1 is Beltane - a cross-quarter day - marking halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. It’s also a full moon sometimes called the flower moon, planting moon, milk moon, hare moon among others. (Interestingly, this month also has second “blue moon” on May 31st.)
To celebrate this time of Beltane, we honour the sense of fertility and vibrancy as nature awakens all around us. On the Land, the trilliums buds are set and will be blooming soon, the wild leek ramps and May apples are up, the yellow flowers of the trout lily’s showing, leaves of the trees are ready to burst out…feels like a magic!
Like the seeds that need to burst through their protective coat, we considered a protection or a binding that no longer services us and released it to the fire. Then, we considered what we want to encourage to grow, what we want to bring to the light, to create- how to we want to focus our energy this month and the time until the summer solstice. Traditionally, one jumps over a fire, leaving behind what doesn’t serve and leaping to what we want to manifest - less traditionally, but more manageable, we jumped over candles! Our intention is the key.
Thanks to all the beautiful souls who joined us at the ceremony.
01.05.2026
Simmer pot of Liquid Luck
In a large pot of water add:
🍊(orange) for prosperity
🍋(lemon) for clarity and purpose
🍋🟩(lime) for purification and good fortune
🫚(ginger) for money and forward movement
⭐️(star anise) for extra luck
Vanilla for prosperous energy
Cinnamon for success
Lavender for peace
Nutmeg for financial flow
Using your breath, blow the intention connected to each ingredient as you place it into the pot.
Allow it to simmer on the stove. I let it simmer all day, allowing the essence to flow through the whole house.
Thank you to The Glasgow Witch for this wonderful ceremony.
21.03.2026
Spring Equinox Celebration
Fiona made a twig sculpture of a tree as an elder and we meditated on how to stay rooted and get nourished by Pachamama, have strong and sturdy trunks and with flexible branches that can withstand strong winds, that are nourished by the light of the sun.
We decorated with Japanese paper cranes for peace and extraordinarily, with their distinctively odd squawks a flock of Sandhills cranes flew over the Land just as we were setting everything up! People put their wishes and prayers for peace within, peace for family and community and peace for all beings🙏 Next, we added flowers and streamers for healing and joy, kintus holding our intentions for the next season.
The ceremonial fire that resulted was sooo hot and created huge energy with the flames often forming crane shapes!
Sending peace and light💛🙏✨
01.01.2026
The New Year
The storms of these last days have certainly encouraged a desire to be cozy and safe inside… after the shoveling. Sometimes, we forget to be grateful for the warmth of our homes, for the lights that come on with a flick of a switch, toilets that flush. When my parents moved in with us, we put in a generator. This week, our power was out for 16 hrs then again for 8 hrs. Pre-generator that meant candles to light our way, fireplace for heat and one flush of the toilet before needing buckets of water to flush it. To explain, for those on city water: in the country, we are on a well system that requires electricity to run the water pump, and thus toilet flushes. In the past, when we heard a storm might be coming, we would fill the bathtubs with water. Now, with the generator, there is so much be grateful for!
Whether you consider the turning of the year, the Winter Solstice or New Year according to the Gregorian calendar, rather than jumping into Resolutions, perhaps take the time to contemplate this past year. What do you want to harvest and what can be left to compost and most importantly, what you are grateful for. Then make time to be present in the gift of this season…
While the days are slowly getting a bit longer, we are still in the depths of winter where life and nature are slower, quieter, more indwelling. It is a beautiful time to embrace the “sacred luminous darkness”, the “radiant night” of this time of year. There is potential to slow down to “enter the womb of the world and take refuge there” … to be in stillness, to be in gratitude.
*quotations are taken from a poem Extravagant Stillness by Mirabai Starr
21.12.2025
Winter Solstice Celebration
We gathered to enjoy a sort of traditional Wassail - a warmed spiced apple cider and orange juice punch along with some treats, a symbolic harvest of the past season’s bounty. With this sustenance, we then stepped into our contemplation of what we wish to energetically harvest from the season and year passed, challenges that needed to be honoured and what bindings needed to be released. We took time to wonder what we wish to bring forward in the season and year to come, and also to celebrate and give gratitude to our blessings. What I love about ritual is that while it has ‘serious” aspects to it, we can bring a sense of playfulness as we place garbanzo beans to clear obstacles, and colourful flower petals for healing among others, into a bindle wrapped in a winter themed cloth of sledding cats and snowman dogs:-)
We headed outside for the bonfire, placing the bindles at the magnificent Fire Horse’s feet. The inner work done inside, the global work done outside with flowers and stars placed on and around the Horse for healing and blessings to all beings. The Sacred Fire was a slow burn; so appropriate really, for all of us to appreciate the gradually increasing of the light…for some perhaps there was a little impatience, perhaps worry, perhaps enjoyment of the gradual glow and warmth. It’s always interesting to notice how we experience ceremony. Sometimes it reveals one more aspect to put into the fire!
16.12.2025
Making a Twig Sculpture
Making a Twig Sculpture is a very meditative process. There is an initial download phase, where usually Linda (or occasionally myself) gets an image or idea for the next sculpture. We talk about it and let it consolidate for a bit.
I walk through the woods with the image of the sculpture in my mind, allowing my thoughts to flow out into the landscape, asking for any material that would like to take part in the sacred sculpture to make itself known to me. Observing the various dead branches, twigs, interesting grasses or leaves that the forest offers up to harvest.
Experience has taught that we want the sculpture to collapse into the fire as it burns. This directs how the “skeleton” of the sculpture presents. Larger forked branches suggest legs and spine. Smaller pliable twigs become muscles, ribs and filler. The pieces suggest themselves for the right shape for the right place.
The process unfolds over many days and weeks, when at some magical point it becomes enlivened, ready for ceremony.
18.11.2025
Ancestor Honouring Ceremony
On Nov. 1 we held our annual Ancestor Honouring Ceremony, here on the
Land. There was a lot of joy and playfulness as everyone decorated the ancestor altar with tissue paper flowers that we all made and with wooden
butterflies that were painted for our Ancestors and loved ones who had
passed. We placed our food offerings amidst colourful lit candles…and
breathtaking beauty was created in an instant!
We gathered around a sacred fire, contemplating our Ancestors, honouring
their woundings and challenges, and we cut the cords to those aspects…
they were not what we needed to carry forward. All of us sprinkled many
rose petals onto the fire for healing of the generations that came before us,
and for those who would come after.
This was followed by honouring our Ancestors’ strengths and their
wisdom. With deep gratitude, we embraced these aspects that we wished
to embody and express. These are the qualities that would support the
seeds we wished to grow as we went forward in our lives.
Finally, the Wake, so heartfelt, with deep sharing of stories about those
who have passed. I honoured my brother-in-law, Steve, who passed 10 years ago and who was showing up a lot in my dreams and memories. May he and all those remembered in the ceremony go forward in Peace.
I love this ceremony…a chance to share, to remember, to honour, to witness, to cry and to laugh…
We were moved to especially honour our four-legged beloveds. On a visit
to Casa Verde in Arthur, a wonderful story was shared about the “Dancing
Dogs of Colima”. The Elder dog dances and whispers wisdom into the ear
to the Younger. The Elder then guides human souls through any mirky
parts along the journey to the next world. The Younger now stepping into
the role of the Elder. How wonderful is that!
28.09.2025
Autumn Equinox Celebration
Coming into Balance with the Elements Within and Without
What a beautiful day to honour the Elements, to come into some equilibrium in what has been challenging times for many. We began by sharing the Bands of Power and Protection with everyone attending. Then Fiona lead fantastic journeys to engage with Earth, Water, Fire, Air (shown in the photo) and Spirit in the world around us and then within us...extraordinary! This was followed by a small fire, due to the lack of rain we'd been experiencing. We pondered what we wished to harvest from the past season and what positivity we wished to carry forward in this Fall season. A Pachamama stick holding all of our blessings and gratitude for our Beautiful Planet was offered to the Fire (the bottom 2 photos).
Within a few hours of the Ceremony, it rained steadily for the entire night! When I was doing my morning Tai Chi, I looked up to see this amazing spider web highlighted by raindrops. According to Steven Farmer, spider is about "bringing equilibrium to all aspects of your life -emotionally, mentally and spiritually."...ah, the synchronicity!
10.09.2025
We are so excited to launch our new website! Our timing to engage the energy of the Full Moon and Lunar eclipse is no accident as we all navigate these challenging and extraordinary days. We hope this website can offer tools and support, both individually and as a community.
On the extraordinary front, this weekend we held a Rite of Passage ceremony for a daughter getting married in a few weeks. Her mother wanted to honour this passage both for her daughter and herself. It included a despacho ceremony and a special rite of passage journey followed by a fire and celebration. All was witnessed by several "wise women" and a few of the daughter's friends. What a profound time! Each woman's heartfelt sharing about marriage included a common message about not losing oneself in the other, about respecting each other's individuality while also supporting this new union. The daughter's friends shared their profound love and support for her. I wondered about how we don't usually share our deepest feelings about another until a dire time such as when one is dying! I am newly encouraged to express my respect and admiration for those close to me with more regularity and not wait for those dire times! I encourage us all to consider this practice....
In light of this beautiful and profound day, we are honoured to create other Rite of Passage ceremonies and have added it to this website.
Looking forward to meeting around the fire on the Equinox! Munay to all!
22.06.2025
Summer Solstice Blessings!
What a magnificent ceremony to honour this longest day of Light! The Green Man twig sculpture that Fiona so mindfully and skillfully created was extraordinary, standing at over 8 feet tall. I requested that he be BIG but he seriously exceeded any expectations! We choose the Green Man as he represents the Light, creativity and the abundance of the season.
We gathered indoors first to make personal bindles holding our intentions and prayers for this next season. With the help of several Thermocells - thank you Thermocells!- we were able to keep the mosquitos at bay, as we gathered around Green Man. Bindles were placed inside the sculpture and the Pachamama stick was placed at his side.
Fiona lit the fire, and well, it was extraordinary to witness the transformation of our prayers into the smoke taking them to Spirit! One regular attendee to our ceremonies said it was truly the most exquisite fire she had ever witnessed!
He burned with so much power and grace. (We were grateful for so much rain the day before.)
We were so happy to see some old friends and some new. Each ceremony is informed by the energy of those who participate and truly we were blessed with an extraordinary gathering of souls this day! A special thanks to our dearest "sister shaman" Caroll, we appreciate you very much for your help during our ceremonies...biggest Munay
Looking forward to our Equinox Ceremony in September!
22.06.2025
Welcome to our renovated Red and White Carnations website! Phew, it's been a long time coming! Back in 2019, just before my parents moved in with us, we were informed that our website support was discontinued. As many of you know, my parents passed by the end of 2019 and then, well COVID brought a pause to everything.
We slowly began offering a few fire ceremonies and a round of Journey Through the Four Directions. Slowly, we got into a new groove...very slowly...and now, in these Pachakuti times, we are especially energised to continue to share this wonderful wisdom tradition.
From our hearts, we send out the biggest gratitude to Lisa, who first ignited the energy to re-new the website. Next, deepest gratitude to my sister, Kathy, without her skill, support and gentle pushes, who knows how much longer it would have been to get this site re-born! She has been an awesome midwife.
Something new we will be doing is having a presence on Instagram. So much of our ceremonies are about creating beauty as we give gratitude to Spirit and honour Pachamama. Instagram seems a perfect place to share this.
We need beauty these days and connection to Spirit and Pachamama. Through the power and grace of gathering in community, in ceremony may we dream in an extraordinary world!
