Earth Pathways Showcase

The Essence of Imbolc ~ The hearth fire seemed dimmed and fragile in the cold stone, but now, warmth seeps from a spark kindled in the darkest of winter nights, bringing with it the promise of thawing landscapes, rebirth, and new life. Frost may rime the hummocks and winter fog may haze the dawn, yet underneath the hard, unyielding blanket of winter, life begins to stir.

Rituals ~ Burn incense, light candles! Sow seeds and keep them nestled indoors until spring. Write your intentions for the year ahead. Feel the bright, fiery energy in your solar plexus unfurl its tendrils and spread healing warmth throughout your body. Walk through woods adorned with snowdrops. Decorate your altar with flowers, foliage and candles. Celebrate the coming of the light!

Reflect ~ You have explored the darker realms of winter, now is the time to bring all that you have learned out of the darkness. Tread the spiral path into the light, reclaiming your energy, your warmth, your vibrance; shed those protective layers that obscure your colour from the world. Unfurl your joyous radiance, and begin to spread your tendrils of hope, love, and compassion. What dreams do you wish to bring forth? What will you share with the Earth this year? What seeds does Imbolc call for you to sow and nurture for the year ahead? Allow the potential of your intentions to gently rise. Your kindled fire will encourage the world to throw off its frosted cloak and bask in the returning Sun.

Imbolc © George Parker 2021

The Essence of Ostara – Spring Equinox ~ Spring is here! The goddess unfurls her lithe limbs, stretching into the light and warmth of the Sun! At this point in the wheel, dark and light hang for a moment in perfect balance, and then, under the pounding drumbeat of the hare’s leaping feet, the balance is tipped and the land explodes in a flurry of colour and vibrance!

Ritual ~ Bright green bursting foliage! Wild riots of violet and daffodil and crocus and primrose! Celebrate the thrumming expansive energy of Ostara by placing these joyous tidings on your altar. Bake bread and hot cross buns – the Celtic cross in their centre; place wishes of hope into eggs and decorate their shells with loving intent to offer to the Goddess. Run through lush meadows and valleys and hurl yourself into the wind, float in the sharp wisdom of the spring river, gather Ostara’s bright blessings all around you. Breathe in her glaring wisdom and slip into the bold lunar magic of the hare. For a second, draw your attention to your own dancing energy. Note how it bursts with readiness to embrace the sunlit earth. Let your wildness flow! Dance!

Reflect ~ Life, rebirth, death, immortality. The circle of life and the cycle of the year is immensely clear and powerful now. Meditate on how this festival contains all aspects of life, and how there is a stillness in spring where the energy hovers, ready to burst forth once the balance of light and dark shifts. Are you ready?

Ostara - Spring Equinox © George Parker 2021

The Essence of Beltane ~ Beltane heralds the height of spring, and the burgeoning of summer. The goddess is full of sensuality, the Earth bursting with energy and life. It is a celebration of the marriage of the Goddess and God, and as such, this is a festival of sexuality, passion and fire! Decorate your hearth and swathe yourself with bright beautiful colours in honour of the Great Wedding!

Ritual ~ Dance the Maypole, tread the path into the wild woods and walk under moonlit skies. Make love. Feel how the air is thick with potent magic. Kindle a Beltane fire and jump its flames to purify, bless, and cleanse. Ask that this bright fire nurture and nourish. Feed the fire within, see what passions the flames have stirred. Gather your intentions and funnel Beltane energy into them. With a gentle focusing of your inner magic, you can imbue your intentions into flowers, copper, talismans, ribbons and sprigs of greenery and lay them on your altar or offer them back to the wilds. Honour the Earth that is bursting with abundance around you!

Reflect ~ Beltane brings a peak of fiery energy that surges through the Earth. If you tap into it, you may find that dreams, wishes and intentions manifest. Sit quietly and notice how easily Beltane lets you conjure your own fierce magic. Allow it to unfurl and roar through your spirit. Envisage your root chakra as a circle of pure red magic around you, within which is the power of protection, strength and creation.

Beltane © George Parker 2021

The Essence of Litha - Summer Solstice ~ Midsummer brings us the longest day of the year, where the Sun seems to hang in the sky, weightless and languidly powerful. The Summer Solstice – from the Latin solstitium which translates as “Sun stands still” – is a time to honour the space between Earth and the heavens, and to celebrate the zenith of the Sun God, the fertile Earth, crop-filled fields now bursting with life and the brightness and warmth with which the land is blessed.

Ritual ~ Sing loud and dance wild for this is the peak of the Sun God’s power! Light bonfires on hilltops, bid goodnight to the setting Sun and stay up through the night with fire and stargazing, before welcoming the Sun’s rise at dawn. Cover your altar with the colours of the Sun! This festival brings strength to any love magic, including handfasting. Some traditions celebrated this festival by rolling a large flaming wheel downhill into a body of water, perhaps representing how within the peak of the Sun’s strength is also its impending waning. Wild swimming and bonfires offer a beautiful echo of these traditions.

Reflect ~ Within the climax of the Sun God’s power is the knowledge that, with this peak reached, we are now facing shortening days and are beginning to walk the path once more into the dark of the year. The Oak King hands his reign to the Holly King, and we begin our descent. Create a moment of quiet and meditate on the light and darkness in your own life.

Litha - Summer Solstice © George Parker 2021

The Essence of Lughnasadh - Lammas ~ Earth Mother is ripe and full, carrying within her the seed of the new year's Sun and next year’s harvest. At this time in the Wheel of the Year, we acknowledge harvest, death and rebirth together; active growth is slowing and the darker days of winter and reflection are beckoning... We have begun to tread the spiral path inward. Every fruit reaped contains the seed of new life. Every death holds the potential for new life.

Rituals ~ Bask in late afternoon sunshine and dance in warm summer nights. Adorn your altar with harvest blessings! Forage fruit from the hedgerows, and bake, stew and preserve, capturing the heady richness of summer in jars and bottles and bellies. Take a walk through the dying light of evening and soar through the summer sky on wings of crow, swift and kestrel. Bake seeded Lammas bread. Feast with those you love. Create a ritual to give thanks for the first harvest – gather those first fruits, berries, grains and stories and share them around a fire or sunset.

Reflect ~ Lughnasadh heralds the beginning of the harvest season! Sit and ponder how the seeds you planted at the beginning of the year have bloomed; how have your intentions grown? Give thanks for the abundance of blessings which you have manifested. Soon, there will be a quietening of energy. The Wheel begins to turn toward the silent lands. Celebrate all that is sunlight and fire, and know deeply within your bones that we stand in this midst of life and death.

Lughnasadh - Lammas © George Parker 2021

The Essence of Mabon – Autumn Equinox ~ Once more, on the cusp of change, we hang suspended, this time ready to begin the descent into the darker realms. As the Earth cloaks herself with autumnal fire, we too must embrace a final flare of colour before the land becomes quieter, colder.

Ritual ~ I left things draped like ornaments on fingers of gorse and soul-fire heather – in return, I gathered courage… It is time to prepare ourselves to follow the land into the quieter portion of the year – and, like the land with her audacious flare of colour, gather the abundance of the harvest to our hearths and tables and celebrate! Cornucopias! Feasts! Raise your face to the waning Sun and give thanks for all its warmth. Then close your eyes, feel the wind’s touch, bright with cold, bringing clarity and sharp wisdom. This autumn wind reminds you of the hidden path. This Mabon wind invites you to discard the unnecessary. Carve away excess. Allow yourself to prepare for the peaceful introspection of winter ahead.

Reflect ~ At Mabon, we reflect how the seeds we sowed at Ostara, Mabon’s counterpoint, have grown, and bring those we can to completion before autumn’s rest. We are preparing for a reflective period – a hibernation. This is the second harvest, so reap, gather and celebrate! Once you have swept the ash and debris from your hearth, consider what dormant seed it is that you will cherish quietly through the winter months, in readiness for spring planting.

Mabon - Autumn Equinox © George Parker 2021

The Essence of Samhain ~ Gather colours from the ground and trees and sky – soon there will be none, so lost will the world be in monochromes and frozen silhouettes. Tuck those colours in, fill your belly with sunlight. The harvests are complete. Samhain invites us to greet the dying of the light with acceptance and celebration. As we tread the spiral path further into the depths of our inner selves, we must be curious, open to what we find there, and resist shying away.

Samhain Rituals ~ Usher in the darker, quieter realms of the Wheel. Welcome the thinning of the veil. Connect with the spirit realm through meditation and oracle readings. Trust your night eyes, walk the woods at night. Dance around a bonfire, feast, honour ancestors. Draw your awareness inward and reflect on the stillness and peace found in the enveloping night. Rejoice in the darkness, pregnant itself with the promise of light.

Reflect ~ Shed summer skins. As autumn strips the trees bare, their branches left unburdened by fruit or leaves, so you must remove that which no longer serves you. Skin yourself to vulnerability, and from there see the true essence of yourself. Are you resisting this coming time, afraid of what you’ll find? If you lean gently into these hidden aspects of self, do you discover something different to what you expected? Cloak yourself in rich hues of magic and darkness. Sink your awareness into the quiet core of Crone energy and breathe into acceptance, wisdom, and the potential of dormant, buried seeds.

Samhain © George Parker 2021

The Essence of Yule - Winter Solstice ~ Midwinter. We have settled into the depth of the dark. At the Winter Solstice we now find ourselves hanging at the nadir of the year, waiting for life to unfurl once more. Yule brings us the longest night, and the darkness can feel impenetrable, endless, overpowering. But just as we begin to wonder if the light will ever return, the Sun halts its descent in the sky. Slowly, gently so that our eyes and our hearts may adjust, the Sun begins to rise and reclaim the sky.

Rituals ~ We have reached the peak of the darkest months and welcome the return of the Sun! Light candles and strew your home with the bright colours of holly berry and evergreen! Hang boughs of evergreen by windows and doors. In the darker months, ivy, holly, yew and mistletoe remind us of rebirth and resurrection, and protect hearth and home. Echoes of Saturnalia can be found in homes across the globe, with pines and firs brought into homes as a symbol of rebirth in the depths of winter. Warm the wood spirits and hang them offerings on a Yule Tree. Rejoice, share, celebrate!

Reflect ~ The Sun seems to hover, hung low in the sky as though it might never push back the darkness. We’re in the depths of the dark winter realms, waiting for the return of the light. Explore the dark. Trust your night eyes, and walk through the land of night knowing yourself, and knowing that the light is coming back.

Yule - Winter Solstice © George Parker 2021

Imbolc

The first stirrings of new life arise, tender and fresh. Lambs take their first wobbly steps, and the spring flowers emerge, bright from dark earth. Earth energy is still strong, while we awake, blinking, to the gently growing light outside. We may feel a call to move, to be outside more, stretching and finding spring’s strength in our bodies. Listen for the growing sound of birdsong as the birds get busy with building nests for their young.

Dreaming Rises - Feel your winter-dreaming unfurl. What dreaming have you cradled through winter’s darkness that now seeks air and space, and a tender hatching into the clear new light?

Plant Spirit Medicine - The first snowdrops nod their heads. Winter aconite and crocuses show up too. After winter’s muted colours, gaze at the brightness of early spring flowers. Let it gladden your heart, as all of your senses gently awaken.

Gratitude - Take a sketch pad and a comfortable mat or cushion. Let yourself be drawn to a plant or tree, and go to sit quietly with it. Observing it, offer your gratitude for its life, and for any gifts of food or medicine it might give you and your community. Introduce yourself – treat this plant as a new friend you’d like to get to know. Now sketch it in detail, noting how it grows – with others? Alone? In light or shade? What do you notice?

Imbolc © Catherine Pawson

Spring Equinox / Ostara

The element of earth gives way to air, as we reach the balance of light and darkness at the equinox. March winds blow our winter cobwebs away, and we notice colours of spring green, daffodil yellow, blackthorn white. Mark where the sun rises at dawn – this is due east. Invite your soul to rest in the balance, to feel the tipping point as winter’s slumber drops away and new energy bubbles up.

Dreaming Opens - Feel your dreaming unfurl now, as the light draws your spirit up and out. Look at what you’ve brought out from the womb of winter. What needs clarifying, clearing? Where is the strongest pulse of growth in your soul?

Plant Spirit Medicine - The flowers of some native British trees including alder, grey willow and blackthorn, rely on wind rather than insect pollination. The delicate blooms are often hidden by emerging leaves. Sit with a flowering tree and seek to know its blossoming energy.

Gratitude - Take some deep breaths, outside in the air where spring is stirring. Offer thanks for the simple miracle of breath. We breathe each other, we breathe plant-breath and ancestor-breath. We offer our breath in prayer and song. Air is the medium which bathes and infuses our bodies. Take a feather, and using the smoke from a herb such as sage, mugwort or lavender, clear the space around your home, making way for prayers as you speak or sing.

Spring Equinox © Catherine Pawson

Beltane

Now we can really feel the energy growing, as trees burst into blossom and the glorious bright green of new growth sprouts along hedges, in woodlands and gardens. All of a sudden, May fairs and festivals are here, inviting us out to sing, dance and gather with our communities. You may be lucky enough to live in a place where you can dance around the maypole, or watch Morris dancers welcome in the dawn.

Dreaming Sparks - Winter’s dreaming may feel far behind you, yet you carry it as a growing seed, rooted in the belly of those darker days. Where does your dreaming need energy and will, to draw it into form and action in the world?

Plant Spirit Medicine - An old folk tradition invites you to bathe your face with the dew from the hawthorn blossom, May blossom. Many is the tale of those waylaid by the faery folk, met under a hawthorn tree. What magic does the blossom offer you, early on Beltane morning?

Gratitude - Offer thanks to the sunshine. Go out early to hear the dawn chorus. Dance to the sound of nature – no need for recorded music. Listen for the flow and spark and song of the sap in the trees, the chorus of the birds. Let your body respond, offering a gesture, or a dance back to nature around you as a prayer of gratitude.

Beltane © Catherine Pawson

Summer Solstice / Litha

The element of fire rides high, with the longest hours of daylight drawing us out to bask in sunshine and wide skies. If the weather is kind to us, we can enjoy walking barefoot on warm soil, or plunging into rivers and seas and drying off in the sun. Nature is in full flood of growth, in leaf and blossom.

Dreaming Full Flow - There may be little time to withdraw into darkness and quiet. Fairs, festivals and fetes draw us into community, celebration. Grown in darkness, tended in growing light, share your dreaming, celebrate it and allow it to blossom.

Plant Spirit Medicine - The little spurs of golden St John’s Wort come into bloom at Solstice – it is named for old Midsummer day, St John’s Day on 24th, and used for cleansing, healing and divination. How does this plant speak to your heart? What medicine does it bring?

Gratitude - The night is shortest now. Can you keep an all-night vigil from dusk to dawn? Gather with friends to stay up and tell stories, sing songs through the night. Cook on a campfire. Or simply keep a candle burning through the night. How does sunlight reach you through wood or wax burning? Leaves gather light, bees gather nectar from summer blossoms, and through them an alchemy takes place. Offer thanks to the gift of fire, and how it nourishes you.

Summer Solstice © Catherine Pawson

Lughnasadh / Lammas

Light lies full and golden across fields of ripening grain, while poppies nod red heads and hedgerow plants have been setting plump seeds. Bellies and hearts are full with the fruits of the land, with the celebrations of holiday season, gathering with friends and family during the long days of summer. Traditionally, it’s a time for community games to celebrate the harvest.

Dreaming Gathers In - As the tide of full summer ebbs, our dreaming is infused with its sweetness. Turning to look over the last months of light and life in full flow, where has your winter-born dream seeded, flowered and fruited? Where might you tend your wild dreaming, with care and intent, now?

Plant Spirit Medicine - Yarrow’s white flowers grow in bright clumps at this time. This plant can take over two years to become established, but once settled in she grows as a perennial wildflower, withstanding neglect and harsh conditions. Long known for healing and protection in our old myths, what does she gift you?

Gratitude - Taking a handful of grain like barley, or oats or wheat, grind it in a pestle and mortar or a small mill, giving thanks for all the elements, for the bees who pollinate, for the farmer who grows. Follow the storyline of the grain back from harvest to seed. Bake the grain into bread or cakes and share with loved ones in a harvest celebration.

Lughnasadh © Catherine Pawson

Mabon / Autumn Equinox

We find a sacred pause again, here where the hours of light and darkness balance. Where sun sets now, on your horizon, is due west. The sweetness of summer may still be here in warm sunlit days, yet there is a chill in the air bringing a new season’s threshold.

Dreaming Full - The dream of the year is drawing to full circle. You have journeyed from quiet winter days, through the opening and flowering of summer. Now you are gifted a stillpoint, to review how you have shaped your dreaming, before carrying its gifts into the dark half of the year to sustain you with sweetness.

Plant Spirit Medicine - With berries and nuts bursting, it’s time to lay in stores for winter. Forage for berries and nuts, or take part in community apple-pressing days. Take a moment to bless this autumn bounty, and to offer a prayer or a song to the plants you harvest. What nourishment do they offer your body and soul?

Gratitude - At such an abundant time of year, give thanks for peace and make prayers for those who live in lands where war makes harvests impossible. Gather some water from your local river, spring or sea. Bless it with love and a prayer for peace across all lands. Release the water back into the land and imagine it carrying your prayers as it travels across our Earth in many forms.

Autumn Equinox © Catherine Pawson

Samhain

Earth energy gathers as the blessing of darkness cloaks our days. Our own energy draws inwards as hearthfires beckon. We may hear a call to slow down, finding moments of stillness even as we fill our baskets with the last seasonal colours. The land seems to flush with richness as the sun’s rays slant low over hills and through trees. It is time to plant bulbs for spring colour, or nuts for future trees.

Dream Visioning - The veils between this world and the otherworld are thin at this time. Call in dreaming visions – ask ancestors for medicine dreams for your soul.

Plant Spirit Medicine - Mushrooms are plant alchemists, transforming dead matter into life. Connecting to them can bring us the medicine of Earth’s mysteries. In myth, apples are connected to immortality, and have been found ritually buried with the dead. Even today many people apple- bob, in an echo of old divination rites. Apple medicine can bring us closer to the mystery of the cycles of death and rebirth.

Gratitude - Acknowledging both honey and sting of the medicine gifted you by your ancestors, create an altar that honours your blood and spirit ancestry. Who has left inspiration in their wake, for you to gather into your own life? Offer gratitude for the stories they have left you, the gifts that sing in your own life.

Samhain © Catherine Pawson

Winter Solstice / Yule

Earth energy is strong as the longest hours of darkness arrive. A stillness reigns over the land, as it sleeps and dreams, and it is there in the long liminal spaces of twilight. We are between the inbreath and the outbreath of the year, as the earth tilts her furthest away from the light and heat of the sun.

Dream Lies Deep - It is time to withdraw to our hearths, cradling our deepest dreaming in the silence and potency of darkness. The unwoven fibres of our dreams call us to stillness, to listen to their whispering.

Plant Spirit Medicine - The evergreens represent the bright thread of life always present. Ivy flowers provide bees with a late bounty of nectar and pollen and provide shelter for small creatures. Mistletoe symbolises the hidden current of fertility of this time of year, while holly’s scarlet berries bring to mind the vibrancy of blood, carrier of life, next to its glossy green leaves.

Gratitude - Practise staying open to the gift of darkness and cold, allowing it to embrace you. If you can, make a pilgrimage to a cave or burial mound to take your dreaming into the earth. If not, make a cairn of rocks in a garden, on a beach, in the woods or on your altar. Write or draw your dreaming on birch bark or leaf or stone and bury it inside.

Winter Solstice © Catherine Pawson

Imbolc

With the change in bird song and the first spring flowers blooming, nature is slowly emerging from the depths of winter. New shoots are pushing through, and the snowdrops are showing their faces through the darkness of the soil. We are reminded that the light is returning once again. Yet below the frozen ground, there is much work being undertaken as life once again stirs into being.

Imbolc is the festival of awakening and marks the first day of spring. It’s time to take early steps towards your upcoming plans, breathe some life into them and bring them into being. Remember though, there is no rush. Go with nature’s pace and take your time to emerge. Allow the stirrings of excitement as you think of what seeds you want to plant. What projects can you breathe life into as the sun continues to march across the sky?

~ As the birds and animals are building their nests, look towards laying a good foundation from which to launch yourself into spring. It is time to start planning.

~ Gather nature finds that symbolise new growth. Create a mandala from these and place a white candle in the centre to welcome new beginnings into your world and hope for the coming months.

Imbolc © Nicola Smalley

Spring Equinox

Here at the Equinox, we are at a point of balance: from this moment onwards everything is going to ramp up. Spring is already well underway, with the daffodils proudly trumpeting their arrival and the first chicks having already hatched into the world.

It is time to start creating. Throw yourself into your carefully nurtured plans. What do you want to hatch this spring? What is the egg of your potential? You have three months until the height of summer and another three months until harvest is complete: six glorious months of longer days and creative energy to draw on. It’s time to tip the balance and move from planning into action. Begin to sow those seeds and seize the day, making the most of the growing hours of warmth and light.

~ Connect to your inner potential by meditating or journeying whilst holding an egg in your hands. Within this egg, there is everything that is needed for life, just as within you there is everything you need to achieve your goals. Ask for help in achieving them.

~ Observe the alchemy of nature by going on regular walks, following the same route, and observe the subtle changes day by day. Record this by taking pictures and journaling your experience.

Spring Equinox © Nicola Smalley

Beltane

Having arrived here at the festival of fertility, nature is going full pelt. The birds are singing their loudest, and many of the trees have shown their leaves. The hawthorn has blossomed, an aroma of bluebell perfume fills the woods, and the ferns are beginning to unfurl. In just a few weeks a green canopy will cloak the landscape.

Right now, the earth energies are at their strongest and most active. Nature has erupted, and it is time to create, to throw yourself into all that you need to do to achieve your goals. Don’t hold back. Instead, go for it and ride the wave of the spring energies through to the Summer Solstice and beyond. It is a perfect time of year to bring ideas, hope and dreams into action.

~ Rise before dawn, wrap up warm and go hunt down a bluebell wood, taking a cushion and blanket to lie on. Listen to the dawn chorus through the morning as you stare up at the emerging tree canopy.

~ Write in your journal what your creative venture is, what completion looks like and what it feels like. Ask for support from your spirit guides and the universe to help you bring this to fruition over the coming six months to Samhain.

Beltane © Nicola Smalley

Summer Solstice

The literal translation of the Latin word solstice is ‘sun stands still’. This festival marks the point when the sun is at its highest point in the sky. The days are long, and the earth energies high. Nature is at its fullest: all the leaves on the trees are fully grown, and the animals are busy feeding their young. It is a powerful time.

As the sun rests on the horizon, make the most of the long days, soak up the sun and take time out to play. Empower yourself, recognise your strength, and draw courage from the high energies of this festival to pursue your goals.

~ Meditate or go on a shamanic journey to an animal that has great strength, such as a carnivore that sits at the top of the food chain. Feel its power within you and draw on this energy to move you forward in the coming weeks with courage and assurance.

~ Gather your friends and family around a Solstice fire or visit a sacred site such as a stone circle together. Celebrate life. Spend time drumming and singing. Consider staying up all night to welcome in the sun as the wheel turns once again towards the dark nights.

Summer Solstice © Nicola Smalley

Lammas (Lughnasadh)

Summer has now reached its peak, with the days at their hottest and the land often parched and dry. The first berries are ready to pick, the corn is ripening ready for harvest, and many of the flowers have been and gone leaving behind seed heads and fruit. There is a smell of autumn in the air and subtle changes in the light as the evenings draw in.

This is the festival of the first harvest and a time to take stock of where you are up to with your goals. Can you begin to see the results of your planting and cultivating? How are you progressing against the dreams you set yourself this year, and what is left to do? Celebrate your first fruits now, and then map out what you are going to do over the next three months.

~ Follow the ancient tradition of going on a pilgrimage at this time of year to a special place: either a local power spot, river, tree, wood or high point, or travel further afield to visit a stone circle or sacred well. Take time out to enjoy the experience and soak up the energies there.

~ Reflect on what you are grateful for that has happened this year and what you are proud of achieving so far, taking time to celebrate this.

Lammas (Lughnasadh) © Nicola Smalley

Autumn Equinox

Once again, the day and night are of equal length and preparations for surviving the cold winter months are underway. The trees are starting to draw in, fledglings are fully grown and fending for themselves, and the swallows have left our shores. The berries are ripe, and fruit is in abundance. Nuts are falling to the floor. The harvest is being gathered.

The Equinox is a time of balance, reflection and preparation. At this moment, we sit poised ready to tip towards the long nights. It is an opportunity to take stock and celebrate what has already been achieved, with awareness that there is still much to do before the long nights draw in. This is a good time to address balance in your life, to clear out the old, reassert your boundaries and consider what actions you need to take in the coming weeks. What steps can you take to create more space for the things you value in life? What tasks do you need to complete before winter?

~ Hold a harvest party and celebrate the abundance in nature and in your life with friends: share what you are proud of achieving this year.

~ Take a walk in a woodland to see what wisdom the trees have to share about preparing for winter.

Autumn Equinox © Nicola Smalley

Samhain

Samhain is translated from old Irish as ‘summer’s end’ and is the festival that marks the transition from summer to winter, the end of one year and the beginning of the next. As the trees are shedding their leaves and the last of the harvest has been brought in, this is a time of death and rebirth and clearing and cleansing to make way for the new. It is a time to choose those seeds that you are going to take through into the darkness to gestate.

In this transitional space, the veil between the worlds is thin, and the connection with the Otherworld is at its strongest. It’s the time to connect with and honour our ancestors to thank them for the gifts they have given us and acknowledge the positive attributes that have been passed down the family line.

~ Work with the energy of endings and beginnings. Reflect on the past year and all you have achieved. Decide on what your goals are going to be for the coming year.

~ Create an altar for your ancestors, decorated with yew sprigs, the tree of death and rebirth, and items that belonged to your ancestors. Light a candle in their memory and express your thanks.

Samhain © Nicola Smalley

Winter Solstice

Today the sun rests on the horizon for three days until it begins the journey back across the sky. Nature has well and truly hunkered down: the ground can be frozen, the trees are bare, and there is a stillness that spreads across the land.

This is a gentle time of rest, so make the most of this pause and find your peace here in the stillness of nature. As soon as the days get longer once again, it will be time to focus your energy once more on what you want to bring through into your life. But right now, drop into the darkness of the earth and the wisdom that is held there, creating space for the inner work to unfold its magic.

~ Turn to holly as the tree that defines winter. It’s in its full glory right now. Decorate your home with bright red and green holly sprigs and draw on this tree’s inner qualities of sanctuary and resilience during the long nights.

~ Find a spot to go and watch the Winter Solstice sunrise. As the sun first appears on the horizon, speak out something which you wish for with the return of the new growth cycle. What is your dream for the coming year now the light returns?

Winter Solstice © Nicola Smalley

Imbolc

The Wisdom of the Season

Even the tallest tree begins life with the tiniest shoot: “Mighty oaks from little acorns grow.” Beginning can be scary, and first shoots can be delicate, but what beauty and strength can grow from even a hesitant and fragile beginning.

Everyday ritual

Challenge yourself to find a flower. Bright yellow winter aconite perhaps, or a snowdrop – everyone’s favourite. (Here’s a tip: look at the trees. Catkins are flowers too.) If not a flower, then a leaf-bud, a shoot, a tuft of grass springing from a crack in the pavement. Celebrate: the wheel of the year is turning again.

Acceptance

Fragility and frailty are within all of us. Fragile can be beautiful: think of the thin, patterned ice crust on a winter puddle. A snowdrop may be delicate, but she withstands the snow and ice and opens the door to spring. Remembering this, accept your own fragility, and accept the hidden strength within it.

Dreaming

Spring is the season of possibility, the home of “what if?”. What if anything were possible? What if you knew that dreams come true? What would you dare to imagine then? Will you allow yourself to believe that what you imagine might be possible – even if you can’t see how? Give your dream a chance to grow a new, green shoot.

Imbolc © Liz Proctor 2019

Spring Equinox/Oestre

The Wisdom of the Season

The gleam of the moon, the gentle morning light, the start of spring. All these speak of promises kept, (winter is ending, dawn is breaking) and promises for the future: good things will grow. As winter ends and spring begins, there is always, always room for hope.

Everyday ritual

Now is the time to begin. Without thinking too hard about it, make a start on something. Large or small, it doesn’t matter; the magic is in taking the first step. Begin the thing you’ve been putting off, the thing that scares you, the thing that you desperately want to do but don’t know how to complete. Don’t think, don’t plan, don’t worry about the next step – just start. There will be magic and momentum and the next steps will become clearer.

Acceptance

Spring is Nature’s busy time. It seems she never stops growing, changing, reproducing. She knows her time of rest will come. It will be easier to accept your own busyness if you know that rest will follow. Accept today’s reality, and accept your responsibility to ensure that you can rest and be renewed tomorrow.

Dreaming

Light and dark are in balance at the Equinox: day and night are equal length. What would balance look and feel like to you? What might need to change to take you there? Dare to dream – and take – a tiny step 34 towards feeling balanced in your own life.

Spring Equinox/Oestre © Liz Proctor 2019

Beltane

The Wisdom of the Season

Beltane is raw physical power, rising in sap and root and shoot. At Beltane, go deep into your body, for there lies truth and wisdom. Feel.

Everyday ritual

Seek out the delight of physical tiredness. Walk, work in the garden, dance, run – whatever makes you feel your body working. Whatever your physical limits – even if standing or raising your hands is as much as you can do – move your body. Feel it stretch and sweat. Feel how amazing it is.

Acceptance

Change is everywhere. All is growing, moving, becoming. Leaves unfurl, flowers open, bare soil is covered with green. Change is constant throughout the seasons and never more so than at the fertile festival of Beltane. Accept that change can be beautiful, embrace the possibilities it brings.

Dreaming

If you could harness the glowing power of the Beltane fire, what would you do with that limitless energy? What might burst forth? How will you find and make positive use of this season’s strength and warmth?

Beltane © Liz Proctor 2019

Summer Solstice

The Wisdom of the Season

Solstice is pause. Solstice is breathing. Solstice is the sun standing still. As the sun stops, so can we.

Everyday ritual

Today, step outside and stand barefoot in the grass. Breathe. Feel your feet, your connection to Earth. Barefoot in the grass, we pause and breathe. Barefoot in the grass, soaking in warmth, rooting in Earth. Barefoot on the grass, we are a bridge between Earth and Sky.

Acceptance

If you find – as surely you must in this season – that the Outside finds its way inside in the form of soil, grass clippings, sand, insects and the sound of a lawnmower, welcome it as you welcome the blue sky and sunshine. Let the Outside in and take yourself outside.

Dreaming

Turn inward. Remember, the sun stops. We can stop. The sun shines, and so can we. What, in this season of the sun, is shining in the silence of your heart? Allow yourself to wonder: what does your heart need? How might you find it in this pause?

Summer Solstice © Liz Proctor 2019

Lammas (Lughnasadh)

The Wisdom of the Season

Every ending is also a beginning. This is traditionally the start of the harvest season: grains are ripening, fruits are forming. This harvest is the culmination – the end – that nature has been working towards, and yet every fruit and every grain contains the potential for new life and new beginnings.

Everyday ritual

The Celtic god Lugh, who gives his name to this festival, is a sun god. His day is a time of feasting and celebration. In our time, it’s also holiday season for many. Whether you’re on home soil or in foreign lands, take a few minutes to stand and absorb the sun’s rays on your skin. (Morning and evening are safest, and a few minutes is plenty.) Feel its warmth and strength. Recognise that all life – including yours – depends on its heat and light, all year round.

Acceptance

Today contains the fruits of your yesterdays and the seeds of your tomorrows. Accepting that, what harvest might you begin to work towards?

Dreaming

What if there were no plans to be made, no list of jobs to complete? What if, like the birds, your busy time was over and your responsibilities had fledged and flown? Even if just for a moment, can you step into the slow, sleepy sunshine and sink into this moment? Can you carry that feeling through your day? Can you imagine doing the same tomorrow?

Lammas (Lughnasadh) © Liz Proctor 2019

Autumn Equinox

The Wisdom of the Season

Poised and perfect. Ripe and ready. Balanced at the peak. The haze of golden, slanted light says it all: take what is readily and freely given. Enjoy the fruits of the year so far. Celebrate! Make the most of every drop of sunlight and every juicy morsel. Earth is generous.

Everyday ritual

Your hands were made to gather. So gather something. An edible harvest if you can: rosehips or the last of the blackberries; apples from an orchard or crab apples from the hedgerow; pull a carrot from a garden if you’re lucky. Savour the embodied sunshine as you eat. And if you live far from an edible harvest, gather pebbles to paint, twigs to use as decoration, or better yet – harvest litter and recycle or bin it. Your landscape will thank you and your hands will remember their purpose: gathering and generous giving.

Acceptance

You are worthy of life’s gifts. Accept goodness, sweetness and possibility with gratitude for what is freely given. Don’t reject positivity because you feel you don’t deserve it. Accept your own worth, accept your gifts. (And if you still doubt your own worth, pretend you don’t. Act as if you’re worthy. You may just start to believe it.)

Dreaming

Autumn is magical, wild and alive with glowing light and roaring energy. What if you, too, are magical, wild and alive? What spells will you cast, what magic will you weave? What power will you unleash? Dare to dream your own magic.

Autumn Equinox © Liz Proctor 2019

Samhain

The Wisdom of the Season

Less, stripping away, laying bare. Less, less, always less, so we see the clear reality beneath. Not always comfortable, but always necessary and freeing. Leaves fall, but branches stay strong and clear.

Everyday ritual

Tidy, sort, give away. Strip out the broken, the “might need it someday”, the “don’t know why I still have this”, the “never liked it anyway”. Purge, lighten the load. Pare back and you may catch a glimpse of those few things that really are essential.

Acceptance

Emptiness. How unnerving emptiness can be when we see it as a lack. Empty time, empty space: our instinct is to fill them. Accepting emptiness, resting in it, we can see that emptiness is just another word for potential. In an empty place, there is room for growth. The first step is to accept the emptiness, just as it is.

Dreaming

As leaves fall and flowers finally fade, trunks and branches stay firm and strong, and roots hold fast. What keeps you strong and true? What will you hold on to even as you let go of what’s no longer needed?

Samhain © Liz Proctor 2019

Winter Solstice

The Wisdom of the Season

Drawing in. Drawing to a close. Resting and retreating. Slumber. All these things are as necessary as breathing. As the Earth sleeps, she dreams. As you rest, dreams may find you too.

Everyday ritual

Go to the window. As you open the curtains in the morning, welcome the daylight, however faint and grey. In the evening, as the light outside fades, draw the curtains closed and honour the nurturing darkness, for darkness brings rest and renewal. Live with the rhythm of the season.

Acceptance

Darkness. Fallow times. Even sadness. We cannot live always in the glare of the sun. Accept even the dark, and you will find its beauty and magic.

Dreaming

Even now, deep in the soil and within seemingly dead twigs, life pulses. What secrets pulse within you? Do you need to let them go, decompose to fertilise new dreams, or is there a spark of life in your buried secret that’s gathering its energy, preparing for its time to come?

Winter Solstice © Liz Proctor 2019

Imbolc

The days are still short, nights long and dark, and yet Earth is awakening after its winter slumber; the first signs of life are apparent. The land stirs with its promise of renewal, with potential. It is time to let go of the past and look to the future. Make plans so that you too can blossom this spring.

Wild Medicine: As the first wild edibles (such as chickweed) appear, sprinkle the fresh leaves over your food and they will act as a mild detox, giving your body a gentle spring clean, letting go of that which no longer serves you, making way for the new. Get outside and walk; notice everything that is returning, thank it for showing up again this year, express your love.

Celebrate: Spring clean your home to complement your personal cleansing. Light a candle and say prayers. Set your intentions for that which you wish to birth this year and the changes you wish to see in the wider world. Setting intentions is weaving magic. Weave well, as intentions well set are the first steps on the path to actualising them. Work towards your dreams, make small changes every day to draw them into reality. This is shape shifting, changing from one thing into another; bring your dreams alive.

Imbolc/Candlemass © Rachel Corby 2018

Spring Equinox

At this time of year, light and dark are in perfect balance. From this brief moment of balance comes growth, expansion and inspiration. The future is fresh, clear and bright. Days begin to out-lengthen nights; the sun is truly returning. Fresh green shoots are poking up all around. As sap is rising, so are energy levels.

Wild Medicine: Create balance internally with wild food. Take a handful of cleavers each evening and infuse overnight in cold water, drink on waking to cleanse and refresh your lymphatic system. Feel their energy work through you as your commitment to making your dreams reality builds and your tenacity grows. Eat primrose flowers, scatter them over every meal, invite in the joy and excitement of this time of year.

Celebrate: Nurture and encourage new growth around you in your garden, allotment or lo cal park by planting seed. Water and feed those seeds so that they grow strong and true. Remember to do the same internally; nurture and feed the seed you planted internally at Imbolc. Take time to think about what you are seeding into the wilder world. If you are not sure, go and ask. Wait for a sunny day and sit outside, face raised to the sun’s warming rays and ask for help to direct you in what you can do to help our Earth.

Spring Equinox © Rachel Corby 2018

Beltane

Finally we have arrived at the beginning of summer. This is a time to celebrate sensuality, passion, joy, vitality and fertility. It is the time to bring the ideas, hopes and dreams seeded earlier in the year into reality.

Wild Medicine: Stand outside barefoot at dawn, close your eyes and listen to the dawn chorus. Then proceed, walking barefoot, as you gather the abundant wild foods of this season: wild garlic, dandelion, hedge garlic, tricorn leek, beech leaves, hawthorn leaves; the list is almost endless. Communicate as you gather, ask before picking and take only the amount you need. Plants are your relatives; never forget to tell them how much you love them and to thank them for sacrificing their bodies that you may eat. Collect spring water. Talk directly to the water as you imagine the thousands of shape-shifts it has made to reach you – through cloud and snow, rain and river, sea and glacier, tears and dew. Submerge fresh nettle tops in cold water overnight and drink first thing, to give you energy and strength, to feed your wood element which allows for clear vision and growth.

Celebrate: Renew promises made to self, friends, your partner and Earth that you will be faithful and passionate. Leap a blazing bonfire, naked if you dare, for fertility in all things and to purify and cleanse yourself.

Beltane © Rachel Corby 2018

Summer Solstice

The longest day, the shortest night. A time for manifestation, for flowering. A time characterised by strength and empowerment. A time to express gratitude. This is such a positive and abundant time of year, with so many daylight hours in which to achieve your potential.

Wild Medicine: Add a sprig of elderflower to a glass or bottle of water and drink throughout the day. The delicate flowery flavour will rapidly infuse into your drink, while the medicine of elder will aid transformation, change and renewal: perfect at this time, as the long days will soon start to shorten once more. Let your naked flesh be fed by the warmth of the sun and the cool waters of sea and river. Find a spot for a night of tent-free wild camping and immerse yourself in the richness of summer. This is a true celebration of life.

Celebrate: Wear flower garlands in your hair, a simple daisy chain is perfect, not forgetting to ask the flowers before you gather them. Stay up all night watching the sky. As you do so, sit by a fire with friends, laugh and joke, tell stories, make music. Greet the dawn by facing the sun while standing barefoot. As the sun appears over the horizon offer your gratitude for the sun and everything that it brings.

Summer Solstice © Rachel Corby 2018

Lammas / Lughnasagh

The days are noticeably shortening and the nights are responding by stretching out to take their place. Harvest season is beginning; this is a time of true abundance. Fruits in the hedgerows, vegetables in your garden, and your own personal projects are ripening. Results are beginning to be seen and felt as you begin to reap the rewards of all the hard work you have put in so far this year.

Wild Medicine: Go for a wild walk and find some blackberries; introduce yourself and ask if you may gather a few. Nibble as you go. Eating wild foods is eating the land you are standing on – the soil and all its minerals, the rain and the sun; it is eating in the world around you, helping you become more part of the landscape and less separate from it.

Celebrate: Take some time alone to find a flower meadow, lie in the long grass and drink in the late summer sunshine. Take a moment to reflect on all that is good in the world and send love and gratitude. Review the intentions you planted earlier in the year: notice how they are coming along, how they are ripening. Gather with friends for a bring-and- share meal to celebrate the seasonal harvest and abundance. Watch the sunset together and warm yourself with stories of summer.

Lammas / Lughnasagh © Rachel Corby 2018

Autumm Equinox

Another fleeting moment of perfect balance, before we shift once more into a time of greater darkness than light, longer night than day. Harvest begins to slow. Fruits ripen and fall, their sweetness exploding while they are pecked, plucked and nibbled. The fruits let go of their flesh to release the secret they hold inside, the seeds of the next generation, all the potential and possibilities that lie therein.

Wild Medicine: Gather hawthorn berries (haws) and make a tea by simmering them gently for 20 minutes. Drink to nurture your heart and keep the circulation going as you slow down into autumn.

Celebrate: Take a walk and gather the hedgerow harvest of berries and nuts as you go. Notice the changing colours of the leaves and enjoy them; see how easily the trees release them. Take stock of your personal harvest, the garden harvest and the planetary harvest. Consider what worked and bore fruit, what seeds you will take forth ready to sow next year, what lessons you learned, and what perhaps will require a different approach. If you are having trouble letting go, ask a tree to share its wisdom; sit under it and ask how you can let go more easily. Feast once more with friends in gratitude for the abundance that this life brings, and warm yourself at the fireside as you celebrate through the evening.

Autumn Equinox © Rachel Corby 2018

Samhain

Dark cold days are closing in. Breath becomes visible. Frost and mist decorate our landscapes and highlight the presence and beauty of intricately woven spider webs. This is a time to rest, to reflect, to remember. As darkness descends and expands, the veil between worlds thins. This is a traditional time to honour our ancestors.

Wild Medicine: Gather fallen leaves from paths, leaving those that lie beneath trees as they become food for those trees as they mulch down. Store the leaves you have gathered in big black bags for two years, while the leaves decay. When two years are up, your bag will be full of rich dark composted leaf mould, heavily populated with worms; scatter it well around the roots of hungry plants.

Celebrate: Go for a walk by the light of the full moon. Don’t use a torch: instead give your eyes time to adjust and bathe in the moon light, enjoying the rich darkness and the moon shadows. Go alone or with friends, but ensure that you take time to be quiet, to feel the night-time stillness, feel it flowing through you, settling you, calming you. Assemble a collection of photos of your ancestors and those you have lost: light a candle for them. Honour those that have gone before by speaking their name out loud and saying something that you loved about them; remember your love for them.

Samhain © Rachel Corby 2018

Winter Solstice

The shortest day, the longest night, the darkest point of the year. Within this moment of stillness, of time between time, is embedded the promise that the sun will return. This is a time for renewal. Time to dream a new dream. Time to breathe deep and trust as the days begin to lengthen once more.

Wild Medicine: Eat any nuts left over from your autumn foraging walks. The healthy fats will give you energy at this time of near hibernation, while giving your brain food with which to dream up what comes next.

Celebrate: Find a spot to watch sunset on the shortest day and take some quiet time for final deep reflections on the year that was, so that you can start to birth new ideas, new dreams, new seeds to love, feed and nurture in the year to come. And not just for yourself, for your garden and for the Earth too, remembering that all the change you wish to see in the world must begin with you. You are your own medicine, you are Earth medicine, you are sacred, you are nature. Watch sunrise with friends as the light returns, then take a walk and gather greenery; holly, ivy, mistletoe and yew, as the hedgerows provide. Decorate your home with it: bring the outside and its winter magic into your home as well as into your heart.

Winter Solstice © Rachel Corby 2018

Imbolc

The lengthening days are obvious now, and hazel catkins shake their golden pollen in the wind, while snowdrops peep through the chilly soil. Traditionally, Imbolc was celebrated when the first sheep and cows gave birth and milk could be drawn off to supplement meagre winter rations. Yet spring is still very precarious, and winter can quickly sweep back again. Imbolc is a good time to plan, to sketch out those changes we want to make, to allow stirrings of excitement as we create new possibilities in our lives. It’s a good time to plant bushes and trees.

Personally: What seeds do you want to sow this year? What projects do you want to breathe life into as the sun warms and strengthens?

Spiritually: This time is associated with Bridget, the ancient goddess of springs and wells, poetry, healing and craft. Is there a well or bubbling spring nearby you might visit to honour the source, giving thanks to Mother Earth for her endless generosity? Might you also seek from Bridget guidance and blessing on your own new projects and seeds?

Community Celebration: You could bring along some plant pots, compost and grit, packets of sweet pea seeds, and share them out. As people mix compost, hold the seeds, sow and water, they can speak out their plans for the coming year, then take their pots home to grow on as a reminder of the commitments they made.

Imbolc: Light Returning © Rosemary Blenkinsop 2018

Spring Equinox

The hours of daylight are much longer now ~ as long as the hours of night. Early flowers cover the woodland floor, seizing their chance to flower before the leafy canopy closes over them. Our ancestors would have scoured the hedgerows for welcome nutrients in the form of herbs and young fresh leaves at this time. It’s a good time to forage for tasty green leaves like wild garlic, and to plant seeds and perennials.

Personally: Take time to go for a walk in the woods and celebrate the beauties of early spring. Make a conscious effort to listen to the birds singing, whether in the city or the countryside.

Spiritually: Eostre was the Saxon goddess of fertility, associated with hares, rabbits and birds’ eggs. What ideas or projects do you want to fertilise with the power of your life force?

Community Celebration: Make a cake and decorate it with little chocolate or marzipan eggs. You could put more chocolate eggs in a nest woven from the supple twigs of willow. Share the cake with your community and speak out your thanks for the renewal of life, or your hopes for the summer ahead.

Spring Equinox: Time of Balance © Rosemary Blenkinsop

Beltane

Hawthorn is beginning to blossom along the roadsides and in the hedgerows. Birdsong can be heard throughout the day. Most wild creatures are busy reproducing, and you are likely to see the first ducklings paddling fast in ponds or rivers, following their parents. The summer visiting birds will be arriving or have arrived, so swallows will be making their nests of mud and darting after the insects. Almost all the trees are now leafing up. Our ancestors would have been very busy at this time, up early to drive their cattle up to the high summer pastures, making cheese with the plentiful spring milk, and weeding the fast-growing crops.

Personally: Will you let yourself connect with the power of Nature at this time? Do you dare to go out into the woods, to rattle, drum or sing under the unfurling leaves? Sit by a stream and let the sound of the water wash through you.

Spiritually: This is the time of the Green Man, of Pan, the god of raw nature. However you express your own sexual desires, honour the gifts of the body. Dance to some wild music.

Community Celebration: Each take three pieces of ribbon, or make some garlands out of twigs and string, and hang them on a special tree. As you tie them on speak out your blessings and hopes for yourself, your community and the world.

Beltane: Time of May Blossom © Rosemary Blenkinsop 2018

Summer Solstice

The trees are at their most green and leafy, the roadsides and hedgerows bursting with wildflowers ~ a wonderful time for walking. The long hours of daylight gave our ancestors more time to get on with their tasks, so that they also had more time for play and travel further afield. For us too it can be a time to soak up the sun, to visit friends and to attend festivals.

Personally: We feel the sun, our nearest star, to be at the very height of its power. How comfortable do you feel with your own power? Try standing strong under the Midsummer sun and embracing the notion of your personal power. Do you need to retrieve your power?

Spiritually: This can be a good time to visit stone circles or long barrows, those marvelously enduring creations of our ancient ancestors, so carefully aligned to the sun’s rising and setting at particular times of the year.

Community Celebration: Pick scented roses from the garden, and strawberries, and put them in the nicest glass jug you can find. Cover them with fizzy water, lemonade or elderflower champagne. Pour each person a glass and as you each enjoy the bubbles, and the fruit, speak out your gratitude for Earth’s abundance.

Midsummer Solstice: The Longest Day and Shortest Night © Rosemary Blenkinsop

Lammas

Many flowers have now set seed or fruit. Young animals or birds born or hatched in spring are now nearly adult. The arable fields will be golden and farmers will be gathering in the grain. Our ancestors would also have started to gather in the harvest. Without fossil fuel it would have been a gigantic labour, which needed to be done as speedily as possible so everyone had to take part. It would have been a time when family members, old friends and neighbours met up to work, drink and socialise. It can be a good time for us to go and meet friends old and new.

Personally: Gather some golden grasses from the fields and put them in a vase, or weave a plait with three strands of them. What are you harvesting in your life at this time? What are you leaving behind as chaff?

Spiritually: This is a time associated with the ancient grain goddess, Ceres, Demeter, Ker or Kernel. It is a time to celebrate the great generosity of Mother Earth, who year after year produces such abundance in this great alchemy of sun, rain and soil, and to remember we are her children.

Community Celebration: Make some bread and craft a pattern on the top of the loaf before baking. Once cooked, pass around the loaf in your group; each person tears off a piece to eat, then as they pass it on, says to the next person, “May you never hunger.”

Lammas/ Lughnasagh: First Harvest © Rosemary Blenkinsop

Autumn Equinox

This is a time when bright berries shine in the hedgerows; crab apples, conkers and hazelnuts start to fall from the trees, and apples ripen in the gardens and orchards. Our ancestors would have been busy working to get in the rest of the harvest such as root crops, drying herbs, making cider, and preserving seeds for next year.

Personally: A good time to take stock in order to prepare for winter and bring your life back into balance. What do you need to do more of, and what do you need to do less of?

Spiritually: This is a time associated with Pomona, goddess of apples and of plenty. Pick a delicious ripe apple from the tree and cut it in half crossways. You will see the pips inside as a five pointed star. As you eat the apple cherish your summer harvest ~ then extract the pips from the core and plant them in a pot or in your garden; they could represent your hopes and intentions for the winter months.

Community Celebration: Visit or organise an Apple Day, discover and taste many different varieties of apples and pears. Make a big apple pie, or crush some apples for juice, and share it. Honour the Apple, the Pear and the Blackberry; they are all the fruits of both the Earth and countless fruit breeders carefully working over many years to select the best qualities.

Autumn Equinox: Time of Balance © Rosemary Blenkinsop

Samhain

This is a time when the trees are losing or have lost their leaves: there is still much bright autumn colour in the woodlands, but most grasses and flowers have ‘gone over’ and look dead. Our ancestors would have stored away the harvest and would be slaughtering excess livestock that they could not keep over winter, salting and smoking the meat, boiling hams in the cauldron. This is a time to remember our dead.

Personally: Get out a picture or photo of one of your ancestors, or make a shrine to your ancestors, with mementos. Light a candle by it. What would those ancestors that love you be saying to you?

Spiritually: This is a time associated with Hecate, the ancient Crone who lives in the dark Cave, and can give advice and guidance. What deep inner wisdom do you need to seek?

Community Celebration: This is a great time to plant bulbs. Bring along a large pack of bulbs and a bag of compost and find some containers. The act of planting bulbs is a great act of faith. The green shoots of spring will emerge but they need a time of darkness first.

Samhain: Endings and Beginnings © Rosemary Blenkinsop

Winter Solstice

This dark time is when the evergreens come into their own; see how the holly shines in the pale winter sun. Our ancestors celebrated this time of the shortest days with feasts and gatherings by the hearth fire. The lengthening of the days first visible after December the twenty fifth, which meant new life would return, musthave seemed so infinitely precious in a world without electric lights. Despite the rush, glitz and stress that often accompanies the modern commercially-driven versions of Yule, we can also benefit by resting by the hearth fire, slowing down, taking more rest and having simple gatherings with friends and family where we share food together.

Personally: This is a time of year that can be very hard for many people, so it can be good to donate any spare money or time to charities of your choice. It is a good time to pay attention to our own self-care. Am I having enough quiet space? Enough nourishment and exercise? Have I enough true friends?

Spiritually: This can be a time to go within, by meditating, doing craftwork or spending quiet time alone, yet also to make space for those supportive relationships that help get us through the hard times of winter.

Community Celebration: Making winter garlands together can be enjoyable. Bind hay or straw into circles with thin wire, then insert stems of holly, pine, ivy, pine cones, and bundles of cinnamon sticks, and decorate them with coloured ribbon.

Midwinter Solstice: The Sun is Reborn © Rosemary Blenkinsop

Imbolc

Imbolc is a celebration of the awakening Earth, of the light returning and new life stirring. At this time, nurture a gentle pace that keeps you connected to the deep roots of your inner power and all the possibilities that are rising within you. Make space to listen to your intuition and your heart by walking in nature whatever the weather. It will help keep you connected to the Earth and lift your spirits. Breathe deeply whenever you remember. What do you hold dear as you emerge back into the world? Strengthen your intentions with positive acts of clarity and Love. This will create the seeds of what will happen next. Your creative juices are rising... Make good use of them! Plant seeds of Love.

It is time to cleanse, clear out the old and revitalise your sense of direction. Choose to act with Love, integrity, beauty, co-operation, right relationship and all things that bring out the best in you and in others. At your Imbolc ceremony, make declarations and dedications for your way forward. Pledge your allegiance to the Earth. Her need is great and we are rising...

Wren calls you to be aware when it is best to keep silent and stay hidden, and when to speak out your message clearly and loudly so all can hear. Celebrate all that makes your heart sing! Defending the Earth can take many forms and can be achieved on many different levels, both inner and outer. Find your own strengths and ways to serve her. Great healing begins with positive affirmations and clear intentions.

Imbolc © Glennie Kindred 2017

Spring Equinox

Spring Equinox is a celebration of the spring: of days lengthening, of unions, fertility, new life and new growth. It is time to gather a clear sense of direction for the year ahead. Whatever you give your energy to now will grow. Draw towards yourself all the threads of your Love for the Earth and celebrate her beauty and life force every day. Union is the goal this year, so look for positive partnerships, acts of co-creation and community.

Do not tolerate injustice to the Earth. Become a defender and protector of the land, the waters, the trees, the melting icecaps, the ozone layer and endangered species. Focus on the things that you CAN do in defence of the Earth. Share your thoughts with others. Build bridges not walls. Spread benevolence to increase benevolence. Support the efforts of others, and remember that you are part of a big and beautiful movement of Earth- Protectors, and never give up! For your Spring Equinox ceremony make a list of all the things that you bless and appreciate about yourself and read them out loud to each other in sacred space. Look at how you can use these gifts to help the Earth.

Hare calls you to know when to move swiftly and when to stay hidden and watch. Invoke Hare’s gifts of poise, balance and alertness and be ready to run with the potential genius of inspired solutions. Out and about at night, and at the edge times of dawn and dusk, Hare reminds us to step between the worlds and work with subliminal energy and intuition.

Spring Equinox © Glennie Kindred 2017

Beltane

Beltane celebrates the beginning of summer, nature’s rampant growth and the abundant fertility of the Earth. We too are part of this Earth energy, so at this fertile time dare to be your wildest and most expansive self, and manifest what you truly want to happen next. Live your life in a different way, one that respects and cares for the Earth and all her inhabitants. Be an inspiration to others. Everyone has their part to play. Each person makes a difference and adds to the whole, and from our collective actions an Earth- centred future will evolve.

Extend your Love to reach out and experience the expanding life force and the wild edges of infinite possibilities. All of life is in communication at this time. Learn to join in the dance! Love unites the worlds and transcends the boundaries of separation. Fear and doubt block the flow of the life force. Keep connected and earthed by putting your bare feet on the ground often. This time of high energy can make us feel unstable and scattered, so at your Beltane celebration seek clarity of direction, remembering the power of simplicity, and the necessity of protecting yourself. Hold in your heart your sense of our co-existence with all life and your fierce Love for the Earth. Your positive thoughts will bear good fruit.

Adder calls you to shed your old skin and begin something new: heal old separations; take up a new direction; change your lifestyle to consciously minimise the harm you do to the Earth.

Beltane © Glennie Kindred 2017

Summer Solstice

The Summer Solstice celebrates the high point of summer and the height of nature’s active power. Everything is happening fast now, so make your every thought, word, emotional response and choice make a difference. Be guided in all things by your desire to live in right relationship with the Earth. Change begins with you and me. Share positive solutions for change with others. Seek friendships and like-hearted community, for they will sustain you, and creative partnerships will grow from here. Live outdoors as much as you can, walk the land, and explore your authentic connection to each of the Elements of life, experiencing them as part of yourself.

Solstice is a moment of pause, a still point of reflection in the midst of great movement. Gather your power and strengths, both outer and inner and celebrate all that you have achieved this year, especially in your quest to be of service to the Earth. Use this moment to affirm new directions, new thinking patterns and new strategies for change. Stand at the threshold, between the worlds, and celebrate your inner path, the power of Love, generosity and kindness.

Fox calls you to hone your survival skills and to learn when to come out into the open and when to stay in the shadows and be watchful. Being cunning is being astute, as long as you hold your integrity and honesty close. Find ways to connect to the wild edges of yourself and the land; learn how to adapt quickly to new situations with diplomacy, clear vision, wisdom and a deep inner knowing.

Summer Solstice © Glennie Kindred 2017

Lammas

Lammas is a celebration of the first seeds forming, especially the grasses and grains that sustain life and feed the world. Through listening to our feelings and inner wisdom, our own new seeds of awareness begin to form. This is holiday time, a time of fairs, festivals and community gatherings. Strengthen your friendships and alliances, and never miss an opportunity to speak about your fierce Love for the Earth. Let go of old beliefs and separatist thinking. Transform the ‘us and them’ mentality into ‘unite and heal’. Be receptive to other people’s ideas and practise reconciliation, but not at the expense of your integrity. Take time out to be alone. Traditionally this is the time for a vision quest to seek your own deep wisdom. Reach out to connect to the spirits of the land, the trees and the native plants, and pledge them your help and allegiance.

At Lammas time, celebrate and give thanks for the abundance of the land. Celebrate your generosity of spirit and deep joys, the things that make your heart sing and spirit fly. These are the seeds of your future, to use in defence of the Earth. The more we give from our hearts, the more returns to us and the more we experience ourselves as intrinsically part of the power and flow of the life force.

Heron calls you to embrace your inner wisdom and medicine song. Learn to watch silently, with patience and perseverance, but know when to act swiftly to achieve your goals. Set your intentions to transform through Love.

Lammas © Glennie Kindred 2017

Autumn Equinox

At Autumn Equinox day and night are equal again, reminding us to maintain balance and equilibrium, to listen to our intuition, our heart’s response and our inner wisdom. The time for outer action is shifting: it is time now to remember the power of inner work, the deep magic of intention and protection, and the power of Love to transform and heal. Integration, and seeing ourselves as part of the interconnected web of life, anchors us firmly in the knowledge that everything we do, think and say adds to the whole. So make it all count.

At your Equinox celebration affirm your allegiance to the Earth. Give thanks for all the food the Earth gives us and for all the Earth’s resources we use. Count your blessings, and through your appreciation and gratitude, your relationship with the Earth is transformed. Our tribal ancestors did not take from the Earth without offering something of themselves back... What do you give back? Celebrate your personal harvest and intuit the seeds within your harvest. What will you take with you into the dark of the year? What do you leave behind? Make positive changes that affirm your chosen direction. Your calm insights will be an anchor for your own life and your steady actions will help others who need trailblazers to show the way.

Mare calls us to look for solutions and directions within ourselves and the inner realms. She brings us deep connection to the land and reminds us to keep moving forwards and never give up.

Autumn Equinox © Glennie Kindred 2017

Samhain

Samhain is a celebration of the ending of the Earth’s year, and marks the beginning of shorter, darker days. The Earth teaches us that everything in nature is cyclic, and death will inevitably lead to rebirth. Welcome these dark days as an opportunity to shift your focus from achieving and doing, into reflecting and assimilating all that comes to rest in you now. A daily walk, whatever the weather, keeps you healthy and connected to the Earth.

At your Samhain celebration, let go of the old year, old beliefs and old attitudes that dampen your life force and the life force of the Earth. Honour what has finished and the lessons you have learnt. Seek the blessings hidden within them and plant the seeds of your future in your heart. Where we put our energy influences what happens next. Light candles for the Earth and pledge to give something back by being part of her human support system. Pledge to stop doing the things that are not helping her eco systems to repair. Name these in sacred space. All your actions, whether outer or inner, make a difference. Acknowledge the ancestors, those who have walked before you and ask them for help and guidance.

Crow calls you to take time out to gain perspective and insight, to keep alert and watchful and to push beyond the boundaries of what you think you know. As a spirit guide, Crow is connected to the deep mysteries. Metaphysics, guided by Love, aids our shift into a holistic interconnectedness and deep unity with all of life.

Samhain © Glennie Kindred 2017

Winter Solstice

Winter Solstice marks the shortest day and longest night. It is a celebration of the beginning of a new outer growth cycle and the light that will return. The time for dreaming is not yet done. Strengthen your deepening awareness that all life on Earth is interconnected and follow where this leads you. Use your power as an ethical consumer to only buy products that support fair trade and responsible agriculture. Spend your money wisely, and only support good people who are producing good products. Give thanks for the Earth’s resources that make our present lives possible. Count your blessings. Aim to plant some trees this winter.

At your Solstice celebration take a moment to stand in stillness and ask what you want to grow in this new cycle. What do you take forward? What seeds of new beginnings are you nurturing in the dark? Look for the changes you can make in your life that will help the Earth to regenerate. Embrace the certainty that all your positive loving actions are helping to change your life and the world. Envision the changes already in motion. Let parts of your old self die and draw the new towards yourself. Dream a new dream and walk towards it. The future begins now.

Owl calls us to be patient and to temper impulsive actions at this time. Tap into your inner wisdom. Be clear what you choose and where your choices lead you. Select the attributes you want to live by, and live by them. Embrace simplicity

Winter Solstice © Glennie Kindred 2017

Imbolc – Rising Sap

Sunlight grows stronger. Spring’s first stirrings can be felt as rising sap, throbbing through the land. Blackthorn blooms, ramsons emerge, lambing season begins, trees bud and birch blood begins to flow. Life quietly builds in the cold fresh light. Now is the perfect time to refresh our internal and external environments. Dust off the cobwebs, take stock of your chattels, diet and health. Gracefully shed what no longer serves and clear space for nourishing growth. The steady, building energy of Imbolc helps new projects and good intentions to manifest. Tidy up potted herbs. Dead leaves and seed heads are valued by birds and bugs, but make some space for fresh green foliage to emerge. Welcome green life back to your world.

At Imbolc, try to walk barefoot in nature. Visit local water sources: babbling brooks, wells, springs, ponds. Light fires and welcome the return of heat.

Spring greens – Aim to eat nourishing local greens daily. Cook them or enjoy raw in smoothies, juices and salads. Nettles, cleavers, chickweed, bramble leaf, birch, hairy bittercress and ramsons are wonderful spring tonics. Enrich your soups with bittercress and chickweed leaves. Float fresh, organic pansies or violets atop. Bathe your cells in spring green nourishment. Taste your land!

Imbolc – Rising Sap © Lynn Shore 2016

Spring Equinox - Balance

Daylight balances darkness. Nature appears youthful, verdant, bright and light. Now is the time to quietly nurture growing life. Keep your energy in balance. Nourish yourself, enjoy bright spring days and prepare for the coming active months. This is a good time to crystalise personal goals and plant seeds of intention, in your soul and in the soil. Germinating seeds reflect our ambitions, emerging, rooting, growing, adapting. Start a necklace from found natural objects, threading intentions with each.

Foraging – As edible wild plants become more obvious, the urge to forage builds. Get acquainted with local regulations, rare and poisonous plants and the cleanest places to harvest. Hone your ID skills and start a map of your foraging finds. You may notice tasty treats such as lemonbalm, dandelion, garlic mustard, ramsons, winter purslane, deadnettles, ground elder, stinging nettle, and young leaves of hawthorn and lime trees.

Spring Herb Mojo – Try this runny, spicy Mojo dip and make foraged leaves last for several meals. Blend a small handful of fresh edible leaves with 250ml of olive oil, 2 cloves of garlic and the juice of half a lemon. Store in clean glassware and use to spice up grilled cheese, meat, tofu etc.

Spring Equinox - Balance © Lynn Shore 2016

Beltane – Green Abundance

Cold weather is past and summer scents tease the air. Walk barefoot at dawn to a hawthorn or oak tree. Give thanks for its beauty, strength and gifts whilst caressing your skin with its leaf dew. Beltane energy invigorates and empowers. Make merriment with friends. Weave willow garlands and then thread with edible flowers such as dandelion and daisy. Either toss them into flowing water with a wish, or dry the blooms and brew in teas. Adopt a tree as your Maypole. Braid paper ribbons around it whilst picturing dreams becoming reality.

Foraging – Enliven the tastes of salads and sandwiches with lime and hawthorn leaves. Many plants are in their prime, ready to pick and use, such as ground ivy, sage, chickweed, garlic mustard, dandelion, nettles, wild geraniums and cleavers.

A ‘May Bowl’ is the fragrant result of infusing sweet woodruff, lemon zest and white wine, overnight. It is perfect for Beltane gatherings, tasting of hay and summer flowers. Rumtopf, another gift from Germany, is made as berries progressively ripen. Toss leftover fruit, a splash of rum and honey into a clean jar or crock. Cap loosely and add extra berries when available. By Yule, a rich fruity ferment will result, delicious with winter desserts.

Beltane – Green Abundance © Lynn Shore 2016

Midsummer – The Pinnacle of the Year

Flowers are laden with nectar and bees buzz around town. Sup on fragrant air, bathe your skin in sunbeams, and infuse your cells with this heady Midsummer energy. Run your hands through tall herbs, laze in flower meadows and gaze up at the sky. Relax beside glistening streams. Drink teas of lime blossom and vervain. Let the sun warm your heart and the moon cool your mind. The year will now start to wane.

Honeydew Harvest – Many herbs reach their peak at Midsummer. Mugwort, motherwort, St John’s wort, vervain, horehound and yarrow can all be picked, before their energies spiral from leaf to seed and soil. Elderflower bursts into bloom, roses hang heavy and lime trees drip with honeydew. Spend a day harvesting, drying herbs on willow racks and making vinegars and tinctures. Start collecting early seed from garlic mustard and ramsons. Add some to your food and the rest to your seed tin.

Preserved Sunshine – Steep fresh elderflowers in honey to make an exquisitely fragrant syrup. Simply fill a jar with flower heads, fill again with runny honey and poke with a chopstick to release trapped air. Bitter-sweet Dandelion and Burdock can also be made in this way. Add honey to 20-30 clean dandelion heads and a small vibrant burdock leaf. Allow to mellow for at least two days before enjoying in drinks and on toast.

Midsummer – The Pinnacle of the Year © Lynn Shore 2016

Lughnasadh/Lammas – Green to Gold

This is a time of bounty and fading beauty, when plants grow heavy and gilded with fruit and seed. Take time to reflect on how your inner projects have developed since the spring as you weave dollies from tall herb stems. Fresh plantain spikes weave beautifully. Their nutty seeds can be added to porridge and rice during cooking or planted in sheltered spots. To help ensure new life next spring, save seed from favourite plants and store in labeled paper bags. Stock your herbal larder with necessities, ready for the quiet times ahead.

Bounty – Some herbs are over by this time but many are resplendent in the late summer sun. Selfheal, mint, nasturtium, wild geranium and deadnettle make wonderful Lughnasadh salads. Elderberries, blackberries, apples and rowanberries offer themselves up for syrups, Rumtopf, pies and jellies. Preserve your harvest well.

Acid extracts – Herb vinegars can be mixed with oils to make nourishing salad dressings. They can also be added whilst cooking, to help draw minerals from deep green vegetables. Make them by adding chopped fresh herbs to organic vinegar, such as apple cider vinegar. Leave for up to 6 weeks before straining. Mugwort, chickweed and nettle make delicious herb vinegars as do familiar aromatics such as rosemary, tarragon and lavender.

Lughnasadh/Lammas – Green to Gold © Lynne Shore 2016

Autumn Equinox – Harvest

Ripe fruit, flowers and leaves grow beside seed spikes and decaying plants. Day and night are equal. Bid summer farewell and welcome glorious autumn crispness and creeping darkness. Life looks in on itself, seeds bide their time and tap roots thicken. Notice how your plans are developing. Which ones need to brew until spring? Which have already fruited? Walk mindfully outdoors, allowing yourself to merge with nature and autumn to infuse within you. Grow new elder trees by taking forearm-length cuttings from established trees. Drive them half way into pots of earth or directly into hedgerow gaps. Come spring they should burst into leaf. Many wild seeds fall and germinate in autumn. Try sowing half your seed stocks now and plant the rest mid-spring.

Wild food – Brambles, hips, haws and nuts abound. Search for local edible street trees, such as Turkish hazel. Harvest only what you need and save some for the wildlife. There are plenty of wild greens to be gathered, such as chickweed, gallant soldiers, hops, fat hen, dandelion, mugwort, chives, calendula and rocket.

Sweet and Sour Balance – Oxymels are an interesting way to make bitter or pungent herbs more palatable. Simply mix the herbs with honey and apple cider vinegar, or mix honey with herb-infused vinegars. I prefer 5 parts honey to 1 part vinegar. Store in clean glass jars with non-metallic lids.

Autumn Equinox – Harvest © Lynn Shore 2016

Samhain – Death and Life

We stand at the twilight between summer and winter when the worlds of the living and the spirits easily intertwine. Storms often tear through city streets; majestic trees fall, buildings are damaged and change arrives. What may seem irreparable allows new beginnings to emerge. This is a good time to honour ancestors and seek their guidance. Planting spring flower bulbs whilst visiting graves helps us reflect on the good qualities of the dead and express thanks for their gifts. Increasing darkness seduces nature towards sleep. Our attention instinctively turns within. Many plants die back and many animals prepare to hibernate. Help wildlife to fatten up and build warm nests by offering refuges of sticks and leaves in quiet corners; allow access through garden fences and grow diverse winter nectar plants such as Ivy and Mahonia.

Forage Lightly – as wildlife depends on autumn’s gifts. Apples, rosehips and berries remain in hedgerows. Mushrooms abound. Nuts from hazel and gingko tumble from street trees. Haws are ready for the pot. Leaves of feverfew, chickweed, burdock, dandelion and ground ivy remain verdant in parks, gardens and containers. Dry plantain seed spikes in paper bags, ready to enrich winter soups and porridge.

Sweet Treats – Bread of the Dead provides food for thought. Enrich simple bread dough with a handful of grated apple, soaked raisins or chopped rosehip flesh. Shape, bake and share memories with family and friends.

Samhain – Death and Life © Lynn Shore 2016

Winter Solstice – Regeneration

Cold, brittle darkness envelops us. Trust in the regenerative powers of night. Invoke nature spirits and the returning sun by bedecking your home with evergreen boughs, candles and crystals. Nourish your soul with rest and make time for quiet reflection. Try to connect directly with the earth at midwinter. Stand with bare feet on the ground, your roots descending through the soil, intertwining with those of the trees. Can you feel transformation taking place? Leaves decay, worms digest, seeds stratify and ideas brighten within darkness. Wild birds may need extra food and water. Pinecones dipped in melted lard, seed and chickweed can be strung from trees and fences, serving as food and outdoor decoration. Offer shallow water bowls when natural sources freeze. Wildlife shelters, such as leaf piles and dense ivy-clad walls remain undisturbed.

Midwinter Foraging – Rest and regeneration is essential for many plants so tread softly through nature. Enjoy dried, pickled, tinctured and honeyed preserves. Ground ivy, chickweed, rocket, rosemary, parsley and bittercress are available to harvest, if you must. Trickle cider or wine around cherished fruit trees. Wassailing awakens their spirits and encourages rich harvests next year.

Wild Salads – Assemble small nourishing salads when you find herbs growing plentifully in clean locations. Chickweed and rocket are especially tasty, dressed with apple cider vinegar and olive oil. The Rumtopf has transformed foraged summer fruits. They are now fermented and deliciously boozy. Pour over festive desserts and add to sparkling wine to warm winter hearts.

Winter Solstice – Regeneration © Lynn Shore 2016

Imbolc - First Stirrings

This time of year has much to teach us about the process of change. Although our rational minds tell us that the days are getting longer they can also seem so bleak and cold so that it would be easy to believe that winter was eternal. Here is where we need to remind ourselves that change has two forms: continuous and discontinuous and the tipping point can be reached by relatively few small actions. Edison pointed out the large number of apparent failures who never realised how close to success they were when they gave up.

At this time of year new growth is vulnerable to adverse conditions, just as new projects and enterprises are. Don't wait for the bandwagon to start moving: the most valuable thing you can do is to offer support and encouragement at this early stage, so choose at least one action you can take.

Of course, before action everything starts with a dream, so allow yourself to imagine the world you would really like future generations to live in. Focus on one aspect of it and complete the sentence: “I dream of a world where…”

On the Earth Pathways website you will find many suggestions for celebrating Imbolc, including composing a story and a chant, as well as finding the special place which you are encouraged to visit regularly to observe the changes in nature.

Imbolc © Marion McCartney

Spring Equinox – Balance

The balance of day and night links to the theme of balance and fairness in our world. If we allow ourselves to think about it we must accept that a standard of living and use of the Earth's precious resources which simply could not be possible for everyone on Earth is quite unjustifiable. If in doubt, imagine yourself trying to explain it to someone living in extreme poverty here or having made radio contact with some distant world.

So add to your initial vision of a better future what a world based on fair shares would be like.

The stories we tell can seem to present unchangeable truths, so to retell them encourages us to be open to new possibilities.

Inspired by Shekinah Mountainwater’s reworking of the story of Demeter and Persephone, I further re-imagined it so that it was the loss of her daughter which caused Demeter to loosen her control of nature, allowing in the cycles of life, and thus human beings.

Try reworking a traditional story or allow one to start something like this: “Once there was a young woman who seemed to have a perfect life, with everything she needed. However one day she woke up and realised ….”

Compose a simple chant which represents the essence of the Equinox for you. Sing it out loud or in your head, in the shower, in the woods, whenever you can.

Spring Equinox © Marion McCartney

Beltane – Passion

Let's reclaim passion from commerce where businesses claim to be passionate about anything from pork to printer ink. So it's worth exploring what you mean by passion, what it means to you to be passionate about something.

Beltane is a time for lovers, so why not write a passionate love letter to the Earth, Gaia? What would you promise her? How might she reply?

With sunrise at about 5:30am it's an ideal time to experience a whole day, from first light to dusk, on a Wonder Wander. You set out before dawn with map, compass and phone wrapped up in an emergency parcel. You wander with the sole purpose of observing and appreciating the world around you. If this idea seems too daunting or impractical then try to experience the whole dawn chorus and see spring flowers.

Develop your vision of the future by describing how people have developed a richer happier relationship with this beautiful planet.

Beltane © Marion McCartney

Summer Solstice – Stretching the Limits

Now we are experiencing an extreme period in the cycle, a good time to stretch our limits. Try to experience a sunrise!

Deep Time work encourages us to gain fresh perspective by finding our place in the history of the Earth and of human beings. It helps me to see how recently we have moved off course. What would it mean to act like ancestors?

Let’s stretch the limits of our dreams – and our nightmares. Create two scenarios for the future at opposite extremes. Relax and experience each of them, then write a letter from someone in each future to yourself now in the present day.

If you knew that you could not fail, what action would you take or project would you start for the healing of our relationship with the Earth? Go forward ten years, and experience your project having been successful beyond your wildest dreams. Interview yourself about how it happened.

One of the greatest gifts you can offer is to be able to lead an impromptu spiral dance in any situation: a hold up in a protest march, at a festival, a city park or open space. It’s simple enough for everybody to be able to join in, but done with a conscious intention to connect with others and making eye contact as you pass them. It can be a powerful heart-warmer.

Summer Solstice © Marion McCartney

Lammas – Celebrate often!

Lammas, when people used to celebrate the early harvest by baking a loaf with the new grain, is a good time to remember the vital importance in any group (including families) of celebrating as you go along: progress made, people's contributions, their commitments for the future, how the group has developed, lessons learnt. Toasting is an easy way to do this, as is presenting awards, both serious and lighthearted.

How might people of the future celebrate a variety of occasions in a colourful, imaginative sustainable way? Add this to the pictures of the future which you're building up.

Going to ‘green’ festivals combines celebration with opportunities to learn from a variety of enthusiastic experts, to collect information and contacts. Ask yourself what you can share with others – your enthusiasm?

Equally importantly you can experience something of what it might be like to live in a different way amongst people who generally take pleasure in helping each other and working co-operatively. You don't even need to camp: there are plenty of one-day events which can give you a similar experience.

However you do it, recognise the importance of keeping in touch with projects and groups all over the world whose work inspires you. We are a new form of network at a vital time in the Earth’s history. Discover your unique role.

Lammas © Marion McCartney

Autumn Equinox - Balance

It's important as we mark the end of harvest to pay careful attention to what we've learned and to develop our skills in areas which may be a challenge but which are certainly useful.

Relatively few people will admit to enjoying meetings, and yet we are lucky to be here at a time when new creative, effective and enjoyable ways of planning and reaching decisions are being constantly developed and refined.

As players of any sport benefit from practice of basic techniques so it's equally important to gain experience of new styles of collaboration, including consensus decision-making, open space and world cafe sessions, before they are needed in a crisis. These new ways of working together could well be part of our next evolutionary leap.

The balance which the Equinox brings to our attention is also the balance between ‘outer’ work and inner sustenance. The all or nothing approach which guilt-trips many keen new activists must be countered by a more human friendly sensibly paced approach. We will need people to work for change all their lives but not at the same level of intensity. Excessive demands create unsustainable groups.

So let’s encourage each other to get outdoors and observe the colourful changes of autumn.

Autumn Equinox © Marion McCartney

Samhain - In Time

Samhain is traditionally the time to a time to pay attention and respect to those who came before us on this Earth, both recently and back to the very first humans. We can skip back through time to those early humans. If they could, what might they want to say to us? In your imagination hear their words. As we go forward through the generations what ‘gifts’ do they offer us? Remember that you are part of a direct line to these very first humans. Perhaps it's a combination of luck and adaptability which has helped this line to survive. Take those gifts and use them.

Among the greatest dangers facing us is being trapped in cynicism and despair. Those who, for their own purposes, resist change often persistently deny a need for change and then suddenly conclude that it is now too late to do anything about it apart from, for example, looking for a magic techno-fix. According to Mark Stevenson cynicism is like smoking: you think it makes you look cool but it actually harms both you and all those around you.

Enjoy a wood fire outdoors, or a wood-burning stove. Dream…

Samhain © Marion McCartney

Winter Solstice - A Change of Heart

The story of a Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens offers us some powerful insights into transformational change. Scrooge and Marley's ghost look out of the window and see spirits wailing in agony as they hover over destitute homeless people. Marley explains that it is because now they can see so clearly what needs doing in the world and how they could have made a difference. Having rejected that opportunity they are condemned to eternal anguish and regret. To me that this is a great challenge: to act, to make a difference in the physical world while we are in our bodies, while we have the chance.

Scrooge is horrified to learn what people will say about him when they hear of his death. In a very personal and private piece of writing record what you would like people to say about you. Then make it so.

The book is also about the possibility of quite sudden transformational change. Buildup to the change is almost imperceptible, like water turning to ice. Look back on changes, personal community and global, that you have experienced and reflect on them as well as recording them in a book of changes. As Nelson Mandela said, “It always seems impossible until it's done.”

What if this is the beginning of a wonderful story of human beings living cooperatively and harmoniously with many adventures ahead? Let’s make it so!

Winter Solstice © Marion McCartney