Gothic Foraging, Wildsteading, and Natural Healing

This winter, as we approach Winter Solstice, Christmas, and so many other of the winter celebrations, and as personally many of the extended families and my own birthday creep closer in the Wolf Moon ( January ), gifts are on my mind.  As a Goth, a Rewilder, and as one who seeks to live in harmony with the shadowlands and the other than human creatures, I would like my gifts to reflect my values, while still honoring those whom I am gift-giving. As personally, I am trying to live as locally as possible, and online shopping is last on my list.  Thusly, the following is where I first look: Homemade:   Homemade gifts are personalized, made by ones own hands personally for the person one is giving the gift to.   Local Crafters/Craft Fairs:  Getting into connection with local artisans for personally made items, while both supporting others with similar values who live locally. Local Farms/Farmer's Markets:  For food gifts, often I will look at farmer's mark...

What is a Wildstead?   The simplest explanation is a Wildstead is a Wilderness Homestead, which uses rewilding techniques to live in balance and harmony with the land. It is an integration of food forests, rewilding gardens, and no-till gardens, using native and naturalized plants to sustain one long term. A wildstead is a dwelling in the wild shadowlands where a rewilder dwells in balance with the wild shadowlands and the seasons around them. Why Wildstead instead of just Homestead? A wildstead works with the land, the seasons, the animals, and the people to create an integrated, balanced dwelling for both rewilders and the creatures native to the area.  It respects the Native inhabitants of the land while seeking as displaced refugees of colonialism, to become as naturalized to the land as possible, without uncalled-for appropriations.  Homesteading has a tainted history, sadly interwoven with Native removal acts and colonialism.   Begun in the 1860s...