When I was growing up in the sixties, the shadow of the atomic bombs dropped on Japan still hung in the air, the shock of them was painful and real to my parent’s generation. There was a sense that this should never happen again, we could not inflict such devastation on any country as was …
As we approach the vernal equinox, those of us in the northern hemisphere are aware of the warmer longer days and the bursting vibrancy of spring flowers all around us. At the equinox, the sun is perfectly positioned at the equator and all around the world we experience this balance point of equal day and …
Emergence. Such a spring-like word. All those little nodules on bare twigs suddenly opening to reveal the red or green leaves and sepals. Each day I walk around seeing more and more greening and wonder at the speed with which it all happens. Life re-emerging from out of the long dark days. It is impossible …
Awake! Awake! ‘Tis the Season of Possibility! ‘Tis the Season of Potential! The only thing about Possibility and Potential that can sometimes hold us back is that we have to do some work to make anything of them. As a somewhat cerebral person, I love January. I creep into my Earth cave and dream up …
Having immersed myself in the world of Narnia in the lead up to Christmas (well, all but the last of the books, I am not inclined to read about the end of Narnia) I then turned to another of the children’s authors I had not read, Francis Hodgson Burnett. The idea of the secret garden …
The fanlight in my kitchen window just turned itself into a Christmas card. The view showed a criss-cross of snow covered twigs and there, in the centre, sat a Robin, his beautiful red breast puffed up. You’d have thought he was posing for me but he was, in fact, eyeing the feeder tray. He sat …
The Autumn often invokes introspective thoughts. As we approach winter, we look back over the year and wonder at the things we have achieved and, maybe, the things we had hoped to achieve but which still remain unfinished. There is nothing wrong with that. It may be that the unfinished projects were only there to …
There’s a beautifully meandering path that wends its way through July and August. From the solstice of the summer sun, passing the Lammas celebrations as the grain is gathered in and heading on towards the distant mists of autumn. These are lush days filled with ever more green leaves and sprinklings of bright summer star …
Stillness | Peace | Beauty | Joy I have found these words very sustaining over this Solstice period and they became a mantra. The energy around us is at it’s peak now. It is like being filled right up to the brim and yet still more is coming and spilling over. What to do with …
Beltane stands between Spring and Summer. Between the season of Air and Fire. We all know what strong winds can do to flames! It is this whipped up energy that is all around us now and we may be finding it very hard to handle. The celebration of Beltane coincides with the blooming of the …
