Picnic in the Woods, 1917

Why Subscribe to Olden Practice?

Are you longing for connection, creativity and community?

Are you inspired by the lifestyles of a few generations ago—the stories your grandparents tell, handmade gifts, letters in the mailbox, the ring of a landline telephone, a memory of days not driven by screens and advertising?

Do you want to delve into voluntary simplicity, digital minimalism and returning to real life, crafting days of meaning and purpose, rooted in a foundation of ancestral values and shared traditions?

Me too! Let’s explore these Olden Practices together.

This project is sourced in many years as a writer and researcher, but it is driven by a deep desire to honor my ancestors and my descendants with a return to well-lived life.

Explorations might include ancestral skills, crafts and traditions like these:

How to grow an oat harvest and weave with straw

Letter writing, fountain pens and stationary

Weaving on a lap loom

Storytelling

The joys of horseback riding

Growing and processing medicinal herbs

Seasonal recipes

Natural dyeing

Mending and sewing

Practice for celebrations and feast days

Handmade books

Food preservation and conservation

And so much more…you can find a gallery of ancestral practices I want to explore here.

What You Can Expect as a Subscriber

This newsletter is visioned as a true letter, a missive of heart sent in alignment with solar-lunar cycles and seasonal holy days, a source of inspiration and community exploring ancestral crafts, skills and traditions.

I don’t like receiving a lot of email, and tend to read the newsletters I receive least, so I hold that ethos that here too. You won’t receive Olden Practice often—semi-quarterly is the norm—and it presents as a digest, a collection of the quarter’s audio talks and interviews, links to Olden Practice blog posts, research, writing, tutorials, along with the season’s events and opportunities for all interested in reclaiming elder practices and offline life.

If you like this work and want more consistent engagement, consider becoming a patron. In addition to monthly publications, patrons receive opportunities, resources, art, stories, community gatherings and information not available anywhere else. Patrons can also message me directly, and we are finding new ways to connect with each other offline and live.

Connective Creation

This newsletter is where I gather all of the threads—from books, folklore, classes and more—and weave them together in a broad pattern to share. From here you can find the task, journey, art, story or community that will feed your own heart’s desire.

Welcome to olden practice, with blessings on your path.

Join the Circle

Subscribe to Olden Practice

A celebration of offline life, ancestral skills, crafts and traditions worth remembering.

People

I'm an author and artist working to remember the real. My interests include ancestral crafts, reclaiming traditions, and the sacred creative.