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Yet one of the most meaningful gifts we can offer, to ourselves and to another, is the gift of presence. Not more physical presents and buying more stuff and clutter usually for the sake of it, but our mental, physical and spiritual presence; our company, our attention, fully and whole-heartedly.
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Because death is still very much a taboo in the western world, we can miss some of the significance of Samhain and therefore miss the opportunity to explore our own fears, feelings, emotions and concepts around death.
When we talk of the ‘veil thinning’ and ancestral worship, we think of those who have gone before us, but we don’t tend to use it as an opportunity for contemplating our own mortality, the cycle of life or to learn the mysteries by examining natures displays.
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Since the summer solstice, I’ve noticed a quiet pull inside me, what could be called a kind of seasonal sadness. If we were in the depths of winter, I might have called this Seasonal Affective Disorder but I realise, this isn’t a ‘disorder’ at all. To feel a sense of sadness or even what you might call a subtle grief, at the turning of the wheel of the year, feels right, appropriate and perfectly natural. If we tune in closely enough, remembering we are the Earth, the elements and the seasons, we might feel as if part of us is turning with the Earth, waning like the Sun, pulling away, already slowly letting go.
This is a reimagining of the traditional tale of the battle of the Oak and Holly Kings. In British folklore, particularly neo-pagan mythology, the Oak King and Holly King are symbolic figures who rule over the waxing and waning halves of the year. Even though the ‘battle’ between the kings is obviously symbolic and both are interconnected, I felt the symbolism of battling Kings, given the currently climate and world events, no longer resonated, so I decided to reimagine the tale as a meeting of two sister Queens.
At this turning point in the wheel of the year, the Summer Solstice invites us into fullness. The sun, at its highest and brightest, lingers in the sky, bathing everything in light. It’s a moment of pause, of ripening, of gratitude for all that’s come before, of nature’s radiant abundance. It’s a time for celebrating all we’ve achieved so far, as nature continues reaching its full potential over the next six weeks until the harvests seasons begin. Then everything slows down and we’ll be we’ll be acutely aware of the shortening days by then. We can tap into the energy of the Summer Solstice as an energy of becoming rather than a time of more doing.
Beltane is an abundant time of year so it's a good time to practice offering gratitude. Gratitude practice can be misunderstood as something that can bypass difficulties and difficult feelings and messages, but it's important to embrace the both/and - feel and fully acknowledge any difficulties and practice gratitude.
We can use the energy of this time of pause, balance, reset and renewal in ceremony and ritual. The Spring or Vernal Equinox is also now known as Ostara. When considering what 'seeds' we wanted to nurture in ourselves the coming year, we were clear that this doesn’t have to be about external goals or be achievement-based, in can be about nurturing a new way of 'being'. We considered what qualities we wished to embody and how we might bring them into being.
Natural energetic cleaning I find, like many people who follow the wheel of the year, the Spring Equinox feels like the true beginning of the new year. As we approach the Spring Equinox on the 20th March this year, now is a good time to cleanse and clean not just physically but energetically. As we … Continue reading Spring Cleaning: Physically & Energetically
Today is lunar Imbolc in the Celtic Wheel of the Year. Calendar Imbolc follows on the 1st February. Imbolc from the Irish language, means ‘in the belly’ referring to the time of year and the lambing season. So the energy is that of preparation and initiation, rebirth and renewal. It’s time for noticing all the … Continue reading The Energy of Imbolc: Re-emergence
Happy New Year and I wish everyone as peaceful a 2025 as possible. It seems to me as though more and more people than ever are tuning into the seasonal cycles and reconnecting to the ebb and flow of nature. Many people are eschewing the calendar New Year as a big celebration and its significance, … Continue reading Slowly Welcoming the New Year
Nature-focused, Shamanic Reiki Drum, Reiki & Reiki Massage, Forest Therapy 