Here in the Northern Hemisphere, the leaves are turning, flowers are going to seed, and we’re very excited to be unpacking our cozy-times decor and blankets. Here on H&H, fall is our favorite season, and this episode is a whole snuggling vibe. Both of us did some hard work field-testing various soft products that physically and emotionally support us; we bought the stuffies and squishmallows so we could bring you the hard data. (We do it all for you, dear listeners!) As the year winds down, it’s natural to be thinking about rest, so we explore some ideas that support rest as resistance. We’re also talking about the hacks we use to lean into blanket life when it’s colder outside, how our autumn nesting is different from our spring nesting, and the foods we’re excited to be cooking and eating this season. Put the kettle on, and settle in with us.
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This quarter, we’re both experiencing what it’s like to grow passively - to learn about what springs up when we leave empty space. As we explore the feeling of liminal spaces, we talk about being (recovering) people-pleasers, how we’re learning to be curious about ourselves, some tools we’re using to keep those spaces of possibility open, and the growth that happens accidentally along the way. We also talk a bit about how we met, and some ways that we’ve changed over the years. And of course, it wouldn’t be Hearth & Heather if we didn’t talk about our favorite mysteries.
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We’re still very much in conversation with time this spring. On this episode of Hearth & Heather, we’re looking at time through the lens of our hobbies. We talk about the living nature of the spoken word, and the way that boating on a river can shift a small slice of landscape into a big, slow, and contemplative world. Kathy shares what she’s been experiencing recently in her experiments with art; Kateri gives an update on her #AnnWoodStitchBook 100 Day sewing project. And we talk about the hobbies that we share, and how feeding your joy can spread joy to other people.
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Small moments of fables, stories, and poems with Kathy and Kateri, sprinkled among our quarterly podcast episodes. In this mini-episode, Kathy tells her variation of the folk tale of Baba Yaga and Vasilisa, mainly based on how her grandmother told it to her, with a few dashes of the feminist re-tellings she read as an adult. This story does not tell a neat tale of bending all things to our will just by trying hard enough. It is more a tale of trusting yourself and knowing that some seemingly impossible tasks may just need some faith and thought around them. With this trust, the unknown does not have to be walked into with fear; it can become an ally. Approach with faith and a willingness to embrace mystery.
As we’re in the year-long month of January, it seems like the perfect opportunity to dig into the subjective nature of time. We talk about how time has slowed for both of us recently, and we reflect on some of the ways we’re experiencing that and what it means for us. We also explore creative projects we’ve encountered about how to mark time. There’s also some casual chat about perfectionism and how we’re letting arbitrary expectations slip away from us, so look out for that. And Kathy has some really, really good tips on kid stuff that is super fun for the self-parenting grownup.
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Our favorite season is beckoning, and we’re talking about the slow-down of the year. As we get excited about tea, sweaters, golden light, and liminal spaces, we also dig into the ways that social media can create a false sense of urgency, preventing us from integrating our experiences in deeper ways. Of course, no episode of Hearth & Heather is complete without a lot of laughing, so we also talk about our squash preferences, and a book that was so good we got mad.
Bonus Download: Along with this episode, we are posting a PDF of a Winter Solstice Spell Jar ritual that we mentioned in Episode 5
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Small moments of fables, stories, and poems with Kathy and Kateri, sprinkled among our quarterly podcast episodes. In this mini-episode, Kateri reads two poems for Winter Solstice: Burning the Old Year" by Naomi Shihab Nye and To Know the Dark" by Wendell Berry.
It turns out, murder plays a very large role in our relaxing times. Not committing it, of course; we would never…We compare favorite series, scoff at silly titles, and ponder the origins of the genre known as “cozy.” We take a breath to acknowledge the heavy forces that are threatening us and demanding our attention at this moment in time, and we talk about some ways that we rest and refresh our energies. Sweetly soothed by mayhem, we also find our way into talking about some more purposeful reading and the habits that sustain our hearts.
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Virgos navigating somatics! Habit-soothed people realizing none of our practices feel authentic right now. We’re in exploration mode, our feelings are itchy, and we’re talking about tarot fatigue, changing spiritual practices, honoring our bodies when we have low energy, letting go, trauma-sensitive yoga, breathwork, and polyvagal theory. Shoutouts to our therapists and to anchoring our bodies in bright, visceral joys. We also share an oracle card reading for the energy to bring into this Spring [cleaning] season.
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We talk about our adoration of Mole and Rat’s friendship in Kenneth Grahame’s classic, The Wind in the Willows, and why Toad can just eat a bag of *****. We also lust after Mr. Badger’s cellars and general domestic situation, dream about fictional food, and revel in how this book is a love letter to bioregion.
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It’s death season, we’re leaning in! Don’t worry, there’s still swearing. We start out with goddesses, take a long walk through our altar habits, and their connections to the dark moon. We discuss the intersectional practices of deathwork and herbalism, dig into grief and where it lives in our bodies, talk about our favorite ritual oils, and using oracle decks for clarification. Finding meaning is at the heart of this episode: where do we look for it? How can we uphold it for each other, and make more room to honor it?
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Pickled Scottish birds, Street Art and it’s ephemeral nature, bird song, holly for protection and boundary magic, cheese in Spain, fertility rocks, chalk path in England.
We begin by comparing notes on two books by naturalist and wanderer Robert MacFarlane, and we end by making a pact to eat pickled birds in Scotland. Along the way, we get into the reasons why we’re drawn to street art, ways to use holly in your magic practice, how bad we are at identifying bird songs, and what Kathy’s grandmother has to do with both Spanish cheese and fertility stones. We talk about friends we love, and we swear a bunch. It’s all pretty enjoyable.
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We talk about urban foraging and how that relates to focusing on small details and slowly gaining confidence in plant identification. We also explore how murder mysteries have influenced our herbalism education, the fear and allure of poison plant gardens, and the ever-relevant question of how to survive a zombie apocalypse. Lastly, Kateri talks about how she harvests and creates her conifer herbal oil.
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