Imagine enjoying a starry and fragrant night in the garden of shadow and moonlight. As daylight pollinators are settling down to rest, night pollinators appear for a feeding fest. Night pollinators are drawn by the eerie charm of pale flowers blooming at night. Many people only think of gardens as something to enjoy during the daylight, but moon gardens can be enjoyed during the night and attract night pollinators such as nectar feeding bats and moths. Night pollinators are attracted to the lighter colored and heavily fragrant flowers of night blooming plants like evening primrose and cacti, such as the saguaro. Moon gardens can also attract insects that will invite insect feeding bats.

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One evening, while walking through the forest in Albisrieden, a neighborhood in Zurich, the duo observed some green light through their camera. Sometimes the fungi's bioluminescence is so weak it cannot be seen with the naked eye. "Nowadays we always have our mobile phones or a flashlight, but to see bioluminescence in the forest, it has to be pitch black," says Rudolf.

The artists collected some samples of the glowing specimen thinking it was Mycena haematopus, a known bioluminescent species. Back in their well-lit studio, they realized it was another species, Mycena crocata, the saffron drop bonnet mushroom, known for its saffron-colored milk, which had not previously been described as bioluminescent.

Winter Solstice art by Anarchist artist noBonzo posted on Mastodon (@[email protected])

There are many ways to celebrate the winter solstice, depending on your personal beliefs and traditions. Some of the most common practices include lighting candles or a bonfire to symbolize the return of the light. You could perform a release ritual to let go of what no longer serves you, or set intentions for the coming year.

Other activities might include spending time in nature, gathering twigs, greenery and betties to make a crown or craft, or baking and feasting with loved ones.

The important thing is to honor the cycles of nature, reflect on the past year, and embrace the new beginnings that the solstice brings.

In Southwestern Wisconsin, preparation is underway for Circle Sanctuary's 50th annual Yule festival. For the pagan members the church serves, it marks winter solstice, the longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.

On Sunday night, High Priestess Selena Fox gathered spiritual leaders on Zoom to light candles and honor the full moon.

"We draw down the power of the moon into this sacred circle, into ourselves, and into this season," she said, before breaking into song. "Yuletide joy, Yuletide cheer, Yuletide spirit, welcome here."

She invited those watching to call to mind joy from sacred seasonal plants: evergreen trees, holly, ivy and mistletoe.

On Saturday, she and several dozen others will gather around a bonfire at the sanctuary's nature preserve and throw a decorated Yule log into the fire, symbolizing the returning sun.

Fox is a Wiccan priestess, but Circle Sanctuary is inclusive of a range of pagan traditions, focusing on a spiritual connection with nature. Amid t

Stumbling on a piece of glowing wood out in the forest sounds like a magical experience, but it is possible. Under specific conditions, certain species of mushroom will fluoresce as they consume wood, although it’s rare and hard to recreate.

Now, scientists at Empa have managed to induce those conditions to make glow in the dark wood. The most effective combo turned out to be ringless honey fungus (Desarmillaria tabescens) and balsa wood, which was able to fluoresce for up to 10 days in wavelengths of 560 nanometers – a classic green glow.

Posted by Benjamin Young Savage on Mastodon (@[email protected])

To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.

—Wendell Berry, The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry (1998)

(via Paul Bogard, The End of Night (2013))

crossposted from: https://beehaw.org/post/15522640

Shielding of lights is an important aspect. Instead of having an open light, flat lights or shielded lights that prevent spill upward are crucial. They direct light to the ground, and not up into the sky.

In Canberra, the Australian Capital Territory government and light operator Omexom have been changing streetlights to do exactly this – no upward spill, and controllable lights.

In doing so, Canberra has reduced its light pollution by about 30% in only a few years, as my colleagues and I report in a forthcoming paper.

I bought a glowing plant. It led me down a rabbit hole of radiant mushrooms, 19th century experiments and a modern rivalry between scientists in Russia and the Americas.

I spent the day and evening visiting a close friend, and one of the things that we did was that we shared gifts as usual. They had an idea that they had made for me given my lifestyle, being a jar full of little trinkets they've gotten, with them having a sigil and a spell placed upon it specifically for the purpose of strengthening connections. They called it a blessing jar.

The idea of the jar is that I would take items from it, and share with another person to create a connection and foster friendship, and if they want to, they can share with me something they may have, and that is what got me thinking of this idea. A gathering with jars, each with items filled by the person. Maybe satchets of herbs and materials if that is you, or jars with items in them, or such, and freely exchanging in a group setting if can, else, just simply sharing what we have.

Just an idea I had.

Recent research has revealed a fascinating phenomenon: bioluminescence is more prevalent among deep-sea shrimp than previously recognized. The study has identified 157 species with the ability to emit light, expanding our understanding by 65% compared to earlier estimates.

These shrimp illuminate the ocean depths in various ways – some by ejecting glowing secretions, others through sophisticated organs in their bodies designed specifically for light production, and a few employing both methods.

A modern coven must thwart a looming eco-cataclysm and find the key to the bright future we need in , The Working, the debut #lunarpunk novel by Brightflame published by Water Dragon Publishing.

The synopsis reads:

Betsy's a modern-day Witch with an ageless problem: she's worried about screwing up her coven's ritual. Again. But the coven has a bigger issue to face — the destruction of their home thanks to a fracked gas pipeline. And then an even bigger problem — a greed-fueled entity will soon obliterate Earth’s ability to support life.

Tarot cards indicate the coven must sort among allies and threats, human and ethereal.

Follow Betsy, Sail, Fire, Mari, and Tal as they disentangle the truth and seek the magic to avert the cataclysm.

Fans of The Once and Future Witches and The City We Became will love The Working for its feminist, justice-seeking, ensemble cast. Readers hail The Working for its diverse characters, real magical practice, and tilt tow

"Tarot & Acid Communism" Live at Tenderbooks in London

The launch party for 'The Philosopher's Tarot' at Tenderbooks in London on November 23, 2022.

Acid Horizon's first live event extends Mark Fisher's concept of 'acid communism' through prominent figures featured in the work of the podcast.

Humans have long been fascinated by organisms that can produce light. Aristotle, who was a scientist as well as a philosopher, wrote the first detailed descriptions of what he called “cold light” more than 2,000 years ago. More recently, pioneering researchers like World War II Army veteran Emmett Chappelle and deep submergence vehicle pilot Edith Widder advanced the study of this phenomenon with novel technologies.

At least 94 living organisms produce their own light through a chemical reaction inside their bodies – an ability called bioluminescence. Examples include luminous fireflies, algae that create “glow-in-the-dark” bays, small crustaceans with intricate courtship displays, and deep-sea fish and coral. Yet despite its widespread occurrence, scientists don’t yet know when or where it first emerged, or its original function.

The Association of Space Explorers reached out to their fellow astronauts to pass on a simple message of solidarity, hope and collaboration to combat climate change and reach our political leaders during such a crucial time.

Simone Weil (1909 — 1943) was a French philosopher, labor activist, ascetic and mystic.

The author of the introduction, Gustave Thibon, shares the circumstances of his meeting Weil:

In June 1941 the Reverend Father Perrin, a Dominican friend then living at Marseilles, sent me a letter which I do not happen to have kept but which ran more or less as follows: ‘There is a young Jewish girl here, a graduate in philosophy and a militant supporter of the extreme left. She is excluded from the University by the new laws and is anxious to work for a while in the country as a farm hand. I feel that such an experiment needs supervision and I should be relieved if you could put her up in your house.’

Thibon later shares how he gained possession of Weil's writings which would become Gravity and Grace:

I saw her for the last time at the beginning of 1942. At the station she gave me a portfolio crammed with papers, asking me to read them and to take care of the