Well, I Grew A Lot Of Carrots: The Fever Dream Year

In Wales lockdown measures have recently been relaxed, so that we are now easing back into some kind of semi-normality. On Monday 12th April I returned to work for the first time since just before Christmas 2020 when it was announced that all non-essential retail in Wales would close. I vividly remember returning home from work on December 19th after a long hard day and hearing the news literally as I pulled into the driveway. At the time I imagined I'd be resuming work some time in mid-January, yet it has taken until now, mid-April for that to happen. 

Being back at work this week has been a strange mixture of the familiar and the strange. The environment and the work is well-known and yet there's an odd sense of unreality that I don't recall feeling on my return to work after the first lockdown last spring.

I suspect I'm not alone in feeling this sense of confusion and dislocation. The long months suspended from our normal routines have been followed by a supposed return to normality which is anything but normal. I may be back working one of the  several part time jobs I had before the first lockdown, but most of my other jobs have fallen casualty to the pandemic for one reason or another and ceased. I may be back in familiar surroundings fulfilling a familiar role, but I am doing it while wearing a mask and observing social distancing, and I still can't hug a workmate, invite friends into my home, or teach a workshop. Looking back, so much and so little has happened.   

Seeing (separately) two friends for the first time in months this week highlighted this strangeness for me. It was lovely to see them and reconnect after being separated from them for such a long time. And yet I found myself floundering when they both asked me the simple question, 'So how have you been?'

How have I been? What have I been doing during the long months of lockdown? What has life been like, what has changed, where will life go from here?

All the answers that I could give are too deep or too shallow. How can I convey the spikes of fear and the blur of boredom; the endless anxiety about my elderly parents and my friend with COPD; the unaccustomed luxury of time to sleep in late and garden and cook and write and immerse myself in a good book; the stupefying lack of focus; the slow accretion of outstanding tasks which keep me awake at night, while I instantly forget the goals reached and accomplishments achieved during the same time frame?

When one friend asked me 'What have you been up to?' I found myself giving the slightly surreal, completely inadequate and not even wholly accurate response, 'Well, I grew a lot of carrots,'. At the time it was all my mind could pluck from the nebulous swirl of 'my life during lockdown'.

Looking back over the last year, it all seems rather like a fever dream - simultaneously vivid and vague, surreal, epic, confusing and impossible to convey precisely. Which is all quite understandable. We have all - the entire world - undergone a dislocation from our normal lives, experienced a trauma. Everyone experiences upheavals in life, times of pain and fear and loss, but we don't usually all experience them simultaneously so that the whole world is jolted from its tracks. And this trauma has not been a single short-lived shock, but a long, drawn-out upheaval which has left people exhausted.

And yet... I wonder what will come from this in the long run? I am hopeful that we as a species will move forward from this having learned some useful lessons, and thinking hard about what it is we want to 'go back to'. 

Some years ago at a Witchcamp, I took part in an elaborate life/death/rebirth ritual in which people were guided through a series of gateways, each representing an aspect of their lives such as their name(s), possessions, achievements, friends/family/loved ones etc. At each gateway they were instructed to leave every one of these things behind. It was a gradual stripping away of every part of identity and self. At the final gateway they were greeted by a priestess aspecting the Goddess, who blew out the tealight they carried (symbolising their life force). They were then given as much time as they needed to bathe in Her Cauldron of Rebirth (a hot tub!) while meditating on what they had left behind, what they wanted to retrieve - and what they wanted to leave behind. It was a gruelling process for most people, but deeply informative and transformative. So much of what we carry with us through life we carry through habit, or because we've been told by others we must carry it. Stripping everything away and consciously choosing to recover only those things of value is immensely freeing. When each person was ready, they left the hot tub and were given a new tealight symbolising their rebirth. They retraced their steps through each gate, picking back up the things they wished to carry into their new lives - but crucially, leaving behind those which they had decided they no longer wished to carry. So, for example I have been known by many names in my life - Susan, Moonroot, Moonie, Susie, Wallis, daughter, sister, wife, witch, aromatherapist etc. But I have also been called ginger, fat, stupid, ugly, bitch etc. Some of these names have come from other people - and some I have called myself. When I strip away these names and identities and leave them at the gate, on my return I can choose which names I wish to carry - and those I am happy to leave in the dust.

This pandemic has stripped our normal lives away from us. When we return through each gate, I hope that we will think very carefully about what it is that we wish to pick back up. My 'normal' life before all this began was actually pretty dysfunctional in many ways. Post-divorce, job insecurity and fear of poverty had led to me working 6-7 day weeks. I was permanently exhausted, short-tempered and ill, but I couldn't seem to get off that hamster wheel. Every time I was offered more work I said yes, because I was always short of money and afraid that the work I did have would dry up, leaving me penniless. Being forced to slow down and stop made me realise how joyless life had become. During months of lockdown I have started to read books again, cook from scratch again, grow vegetables again, observe the Wheel of the Year again. I have finally learned how to properly use the camera I bought several years ago and have taken reams of photographs. I have had time for the long, deep conversations that feed my soul. I have written more in the last year than I have managed in the previous three or four years. I have had time to sit and drink in the beauty surrounding me. And most importantly I have had time to reassess the way I've been leading my life and come to some important decisions about what I want to change about that. 

Much of my 'normal' life was in direct contradiction to my values and beliefs. I was buying pre-packaged convenience foods because I was too damned tired to cook. I was driving miles and miles between my scattered jobs, eating junk food on the hoof. I was too tired to have much of a social life and short-tempered with my loved ones. My house was a mess. Every so often I would manage a holiday or have an enforced break caused by illness and I would resolve to do better - but immediately fall back into my old ways. My mantra seemed to always be, 'next month, when things are less busy...', but next month never was less busy, and so it went on.

All of that has been taken away from me. I have lost three of my part time jobs and of the remaining three, restrictions mean I am only able to work at one of them at the moment. When I am able to resume all three, that will be enough. I am determined to find a way to manage financially without damaging my physical and mental health further and working myself into an early grave. My petrol consumption has plummeted. I have been gradually sorting out the house and making my environment a pleasant one. I have stopped shopping at big supermarkets and now buy most of my groceries from a small local zero-waste shop. Guess what? Their prices may be higher than the supermarket, but because I am only buying what I need and not getting sucked in by special offers and convenience foods I have actually cut our food bills and food waste. I have been growing our own vegetables and cooking proper meals - I make my own hummus and veggie burgers and bread from scratch. What I have realised is that staying on the hamster wheel required me to spend more money than it brought in. My life is now more manageable, less expensive, less wasteful, greener and infinitely more satisfying.

The other great lesson I hope we can learn from the pandemic is that we are all in this together, and working collaboratively for the good of the whole is the best and fairest way to run the world. Look at the awe-inspiring collective effort that has brought us effective vaccines in the space of a year! We humans are at our most marvellous when we co-operate rather than compete.

I believe the sense of unreality I am feeling is the world re-making itself in a new and hopefully better way. We have all had much of our lives stripped away over the last year, and spent time immersed in the Cauldron of Rebirth swirling in a fever dream of possibility. Now as we prepare to leave the Cauldron and re-enter the world, let's consider very carefully the kind of 'normality' we wish to return to. What will you pick back up? What will you choose to leave behind? The great blessing of every period of difficulty in our lives is the lessons we learn from it, and the chance we are given to grow. Let's seize this unprecedented opportunity we've been given with enthusiasm and build a better 'normal'. The old world wasn't working anyway, why go back to it?

           

     

Celebrating the Spring Equinox in Lockdown

The Spring Equinox is almost upon us. It falls on 20th March this year, within a hair's breadth of the anniversary of the first lockdown here in the UK on 23rd March. Most of us would probably not have guessed back then that we'd be celebrating the Spring Equinox of 2021in another lockdown.

As in my previous posts on celebrating the festivals of the Wheel of the Year in lockdown (Beltane, Summer Solstice, Lammas and Samhain/Hallowe'en), I've grouped my suggestions in varying degrees of lockdown restrictions, so hopefully you can find something that suits the rules in your area. 

If you're able to get out to the countryside/beach/park

• This is a great time of year to forage some early wild delicacies for a celebratory spring feast. If you're confident of your plant identifications skills, look for nettles, wild garlic, hairy bittercress, dandelion greens, tender young sorrel leaves, or violet and primrose flowers. Try my recipes for Nettle Soup or Spring Herb Salad, or Google other recipes such as Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Nettle Risotto with Sorrel.
• Take a walk in the woods - or in an area with plenty of trees. Notice the new leaves, the buds that have just opened or are just about to. See if you can identify trees by their shape, bark colour and texture or leaf buds, blossom or catkins rather than by their leaves. Look down as well as up - which spring flowers can you find? If you come across trees or flowers you don't recognise, use your phone to take a photo so you can identify it later using a guidebook or an online plant identification site.  
• Connect with a tree. In Spring trees begin to re-awaken from their Winter dormancy, making it a good time to try to connect with them on an energetic level. Choose a tree that you feel drawn to, and that seems open and receptive to you. If you aren't sure if the tree welcomes connection, ask its permission to interact. You should be able to sense its response. When you are ready, either sitting or standing, lean your back against the trunk. Relax, breathing deeply and slowly. Focus your awareness on your breath, conscious of the fact that you are breathing in the oxygen produced by plants and trees, and breathing out the carbon dioxide that they breathe in. As you exhale, do it consciously as a gift to the tree. As you inhale, consciously give thanks to the tree for the gift of oxygen. Now open your senses to the tree. What do you see/feel/hear/smell/taste? Take note as you continue to lean against the tree, exchanging breaths with it. Now open your inner senses. Do you feel a particular energy or emotion from the tree? Remain open and aware for any communication or message from the tree - this may come in words, feelings, images or even colours or scents. Send back gratitude and friendship. When you are ready, thank the tree and bring back your awareness into your own body. Move away from the trunk. Thank the tree again, and leave it a small gift such as a libation of water on the roots or a sprinkling of compost. Don't leave anything non-biodegradable or damaging to the environment. If you'd like to continue and develop your relationship with the tree, commit to returning on a regular basis - each time bringing a suitable offering. 

If you have access to a garden or small green space

• Cut twigs with leaf or blossom buds which are just about to burst open. Taking them into the warmth of your home will encourage them to open fully and they make a lovely Spring decoration for your altar. Treat them like cut flowers and put them in a vase of water, and they should last well.
• As the Spring Equinox marks that point in the year when day and night are of equal length, arrange to get up in time to watch the dawn and greet the Sun, congratulating it on its growing strength and welcoming in the light half of the year. Enjoy the dawn chorus of birdsong! At dusk, watch the setting sun and welcome the night and the darkness for the opportunity to rest. Thank the dark half of the year which is now passing away, for being a time of quietude and rest in which the land could slumber and heal itself. Listen as the birds sing the sun down into night.
• Find space in your garden to make a garden altar to the Green Man. Nestle it in amongst growing plants, or cluster pots of flowers and herbs around it. Find a Green Man plaque as its centrepiece, or create your own image of him from air-drying clay or paint Him on a smooth pebble or rock. Honour Him by making your own compost, planting trees, or sowing seeds. Listen quietly for His inner guidance on how to nurture your garden and develop green fingers.

If you're confined to your home/can't get outside

Salt Dough Goddess

• Make Spring Equinox decorations for your altar and home. Salt dough is an excellent cheap way of doing this! To make salt dough mix 1 cup of flour with ½ cup of salt, then mix in ½ cup of water to create a mouldable dough. You can also add ½ tspn ground cloves or cinnamon, or a few drops of your favourite essential oil to scent your dough. This will make the house smell amazing while you're baking it in the oven, which you'll need to do to harden your creations. Sprinkle working surfaces with a little flour to stop the dough sticking and then get creating. If you're feeling ambitious you could make a Spring Goddess figurine or a simple Green Man, or perhaps a moongazing hare or spring leaves and flowers. Simple shapes are best. Making egg shapes is the simplest of all, and once they have been baked they can be painted all kinds of pretty colours and displayed in a bowl. When you've finished moulding your creations, line a baking tray with baking parchment and pop into an oven set at the lowest temperature. The dough will take a few hours to bake, depending how thick it is. Check it often and remove from the oven once it's done. You can now paint your creation. If you're doing this activity with small children remember that salt dough is not edible and supervise accordingly!    
• Eggs are a perfect symbol for this time of year, symbolising new life, growth, fertility and possibility. Prepare your favourite egg dish - be that an egg sandwich, a quiche or eggs benedict! Bless the meal first and then as you eat, mindfully take in the energy of new growth, hope and possibility. Those who can't or choose not to eat eggs could do the same with a dish containing another symbol of new life, growth, fertility and possibility - seeds! A slice of seeded loaf, a poppy seed muffin or a sprinkle of toasted pumpkin or sunflower seeds on your salad or soup are all delicious and appropriate foodstuffs.
• One of the themes of the Equinoxes is balance. As day and night are in balance with each other at this time of year, it's a good time to check ourselves and our lives for balance. A good way to do this is to run a chakra check. If you're not already familiar with the chakras, they are a system of energy points in the body. Regularly checking in with, and if necessary adjusting the chakras is a good way of keeping your energies balanced. Imagine them like the pupil of an eye or the aperture of a camera that can be opened wider, or shut down to control what passes through. To run a chakra check, find somewhere you can sit or stand comfortably. Relax and let go of any tension in your body. Take some slow, deep breaths. (1) First focus your attention on your Base or Root Chakra which is located at the base of your spine. How does it feel? How is the energy flowing? This chakra controls your survival and keeps you grounded. If it was a thermostat, would it need turning up to improve your groundedness, or would it need turning down? Imagine adjusting it up or down as necessary until you have found the right setting for you right now. (2) Next turn your attention to your Sacral Chakra. This is located in your lower abdomen and is concerned with your sexuality and creativity. How does it feel? How is the energy flowing? As before, adjust it as you would a thermostat until you find the correct setting. (3) The next chakra is the Solar Plexus which is concerned with your self-confidence and will-force. How does it feel? How is the energy flowing? Adjust it as necessary. (4) The fourth chakra is the Heart Chakra, located in the centre of your chest. This chakra is the seat of love and compassion - love for yourself and others. How does it feel? How is the energy flowing? Take time to adjust it to the right level of openness. (5) Next move to the Throat Chakra, found at the base of the throat. This chakra is concerned with communication and self-expression. How does it feel? How is the energy flowing? If you feel stifled or blocked from speaking your truth it may need opening wider. If you speak too impulsively or lack a filter you may need to close it down a little. Find the right level for you. (6) The penultimate chakra is the Third Eye Chakra, located between your eyebrows. This is the centre of your intuition. How does it feel? How is the energy flowing? Do you need to increase your intuitive powers, or would it help you to quieten those senses? Adjust the level of openness accordingly. (7) Finally, the Crown Chakra is located on the crown of your head. It is the chakra which connects you to your spiritual consciousness. How does it feel? How is the energy flowing? Adjust it to a level which enables you to stay connected to your spiritual side whilst still able to negotiate the mundane world. Finally, quickly run through all seven chakras and ensure they are all well balanced, before returning to the ordinary world. This is a useful exercise to carry out periodically to keep you in balance.

   
May we all have a blessed and balanced Spring Equinox, and as we step forward together into the light half of the year may there be plenty of sunny days ahead. 

 

Winter Blessings and Beauties, Day 82: International Hugging Day

National Hugging Day was first celebrated in Michigan, USA on January 21st 1986. Since then it's become an international annual event which is also known as National Hug Day, Hug Day, International Hug Day, or International Hugging Day. The idea is simply to cheer people up by encouraging us to hug our friends and families more often. In most years, the main consideration is ensuring hugs are consensual. That's still relevant, but 2021 brings the additional challenge of how to give and receive hugs when we are supposed to be observing social distancing? 

It's OK to hug the people you live with - as long as none of you are currently isolating - but when it comes to people outside your immediate household, some creativity is required. For example, the graphic above is from Action for Elders, a charity which works to improve quality of life for older people. They say about National Hugging Day, 

"With the Government urging social distancing to prevent the spread of Covid-19, many are missing those heart-warming embraces - so much so that people have tried to make homemade 'hugging stations' where a protective plastic barrier separated them from their family and friends.

It's clear that many of us are craving those stress-reducing squeezes. So in celebration of National Hugging Day, we've rounded up some safe, feel-good hug alternatives you can do on your own. 

If you or anyone is struggling with loneliness please contact us today.*"

The graphic suggests comforting yourself with hug substitutes such as making yourself a hot drink, taking a soak in a warm bath, using a weighted blanket, trying guided meditations or yoga, brightening your living space with holiday decorations, or snuggling with a pet.

See below for other ideas...

Winter Blessings and Beauties: Day 82

International Hugging Day

Here are some other ideas for how to give someone a 'hug' without actually coming into physical contact.

• Phone, Skype or Zoom family and friends. Tell them it's International Hugging Day and you're sending them a socially distanced hug!
• Write a letter - even just a postcard can give someone you love a real boost when it pops through the letterbox as a lovely surprise.
• If restrictions in your area allow you to visit but not enter a loved one's home, exchange 'air hugs' at a distance when you next see them. It's not the same as a physical hug, but emotionally it still warms hearts.
• Send a small 'just because' gift with a little note. If you Google 'virtual hugs gifts' you will find a huge range of ideas (if possible, try to purchase it from a small independent retailer or craftsperson via a platform like Etsy - that way you will be giving two hugs - one to the gift recipient and one to the person you purchase from!).

When giving hugs - even virtual ones - you also receive, when you see the smiling face or hear the happiness in a loved one's voice. 

Sending you all a big virtual hug! 

* Contact details for Action for Elders:

website: www.actionforelders.org.uk 

email: info@actionforelders.org.uk 

tel: 030 330 30132

Winter Blessings and Beauties, Day 60: Year End Review

 

The year 2020 is drawing to a close. Is that a sigh of relief I can hear? 

For many - most? - of us this has been a year like no other. The entire world has collectively had to navigate these strange, challenging, stressful, tedious, frightening times.

Most years I find the last few days of the year a good time to look back over the preceding twelve months - both good and bad. This year I think it's more important than ever to reflect on the events of the last year. It has been a time of such momentous change for everyone that there must be a serious need to process it all. In fact, I suspect we'll be processing 2020 for a good long time to come. 

Despite the dramas of 2020 though, I believe when looking back we'll be able to find happy memories as well as difficult ones. Life is never all good or all bad. For example, Coronavirus has had a devastating impact on my work and income, we've had major maintenance issues with the house and several of my loved ones have been battling serious illness. Yet I've loved having more free time on my hands to spend on gardening and writing again; I've had my faith in human nature restored by so many acts of love, kindness and generosity; and I've had space to stand back, reassess my life and realise what is really important - and what isn't.  

Winter Blessings and Beauties - Day 60

Year End Review

In your notebook or journal, make some notes reviewing 2020. Probably there will be some major events that stand out in your memory so make a brief note of these first. Then cast your mind back, month by month and try to remember what other things occurred. If you need to jog your memory, look back through your journal, diary, calendar, blog, social media accounts or even the photos on your phone. Make brief notes of everything you remember.

Now start to flesh things out and ask yourself some questions about the year. What were the best things that happened? What were the worst? What did you learn? What did you lose? What things would you like to leave behind in 2020? What will you gladly take forward with you into 2021? What unfinished business do you have to deal with?  What did you achieve? What are you hoping for? What would you differently next time? 

Try to find a sentence - or two - that sums up 2020, good and bad.  

Winter Blessings and Beauties, Day 2: Work/Life Balance

This morning Facebook reminded me in a rather timely fashion of something I wrote  a few years back for Pagan Pages e-zine (you can find my article here). It seems related to this new project about embracing winter, as it is a piece questioning our attitudes to the dark, and we are - no doubt about it - now in the 'dark half' of the year. It set me pondering about the reasons we seem to have a hard time being positive about the winter. The cold, dark, damp days when we have to bundle up against the elements are one obvious reason, and the article I have linked to hopefully begins the process of re-thinking those attitudes. But another, perhaps less obvious reason, appeared to me when I began this series of posts. 

When I came up with the idea of 'Winter Blessings and Beauties' I wanted to find a short, succinct title that would sum up what I was trying to convey about winter. I wanted something positive and encouraging, something that was cosy but not boring, something that conveyed the idea of all the positive aspects of winter. Words like 'Hygge' and 'Cwtch' (from the Danish and Welsh respectively) seemed good, but I wanted an English equivalent. I wanted to include the idea that winter should be a time of rest and renewal for ourselves, a breathing space attuned to the slower, deeper rhythms of nature in winter. In search for such a word, I turned to an online Thesaurus and looked for synonyms for words like 'rest' and 'relax'. As I browsed through the results returned by the thesaurus - branching off along the way into a kind of mind-map of words around these ideas - I was shocked. There were so many judgemental, negative words relating to this idea. Just a small selection - 'idle, laze, loaf, loll, slack off, bum, dilly dally, loiter, dawdle, fritter away, wallow, indolence, sloth, vegetate, waste time, lounge around...'. Oh dear! It seems like taking some time out for yourself to rest and recuperate is not really seen as a good thing.

Why should this be the case? Presumably it's partly the legacy of the Protestant Work Ethic which stresses the virtue of hard work as a path to salvation. It's all well and good to encourage people to take a share of the work that needs doing to benefit the community as a whole, but such absolutist thinking devalues anyone who is not able to contribute in this way due to disability or illness. I do not believe that personal worth should be based predominantly on levels of productivity. I also strongly believe that people should be encouraged to self-care by taking the time they need to rest and restore themselves. The trouble is, the work ethic is so thoroughly engrained in our society that we all tend to beat ourselves up, either consciously or unconsciously when we are not being what we think of as 'productive'. 

I'm as guilty of this as anyone. I was married for years to a workaholic, who used constant work as a way to avoid feeling, acknowledging or examining any of his more difficult emotions. No wonder the relationship fell apart! But what lesson did I take from this? Unfortunately not the right one. Guilt at the failure of my marriage turned into guilt that I had not worked hard enough to match T's efforts, and after a period of stunned inactivity while I licked my wounds and tried to make sense of the wreckage of my life I threw myself back into paid work. When my marriage ended I had been out of paid employment for some time for a variety of reasons (in the years leading up to my divorce my 'job' had been staying home and managing the smallholding), and I found it hard to find a single full time job. But in the end I amassed a collection of part-time jobs which at least kept my head above water financially. And every time more part-time work appeared, anxious about my lack of job security and the resulting constant threat of poverty I said yes. And yes. And yes. By the time the first Covid lockdown hit this spring, I was working a total of 6 different part time jobs over 6 or 7 days a week. I was permanently exhausted. In this respect lockdown was actually a blessing for me. I was unable to work any of my jobs, and ultimately several of them came to a permanent end because of the virus. By the time the first period of lockdown ended I was left with only two jobs out of 6, and a 2½  day work week. Yet to my surprise this has been my salvation. I have become incredibly frugal (even so I've had to dip into my savings), but my quality of life has improved immeasurably. And paradoxically my anxiety about a penurious old age has lessened. I'm living in the now instead of feeling guilty about the past and anxious about the future, and my mental and physical health has improved dramatically. I am working on things which don't necessarily put money in my pocket - such as growing some of our food, writing, cooking proper meals from scratch, making and mending - but which give me a huge sense of satisfaction and well-being. And I am taking time too to rest and recuperate when I need it. My sister has been telling me for years to 'put on your own oxygen mask first' - she was right. 

So let's try to shift that 'work good, self-care bad' way of thinking to a more balanced viewpoint, shall we? We can take a valuable lesson from the natural world during the winter months - all living beings need periods of 'time out', time to rest and recuperate, breathe and take stock, allowing our bodies and minds space to process and heal. Just as we sleep at night to rest and recharge ourselves, let's take the gift offered by winter of a rejuvenating period of slowness, introspection, quiet, dark, and rest. 

Winter Blessings and Beauties: Day 2

Work:Life Balance

On paper or in your journal, draw a circle. Divide it into equal 'pie slices' and label each slice with a different area of your life: Work, Leisure, Family, Friends, Significant Other/Love, Finances, Spirituality, Health (you can create your own categories if these ones are not relevant to you). Then use a coloured pencil to fill in each slice from the centre outwards according to how satisfied you are with each area of your life. So if you are really happy with your health at the moment, colour in most of the Health slice from centre to outside edge - and if you feel you've not been able to engage with your Spirituality lately, only colour in a small piece of that slice near the centre of the chart. You can use different colours for each slice if you like. Remember that no one is going to see this apart from you, so be totally honest. When you have filled in each slice, look at the chart as a whole. Which areas are you very happy with? Which areas need some attention? Which areas are being neglected? 

Use your journal to explore how you feel about each area of your life. How could you improve things so that the areas are more balanced with each other? What would a balanced life look like? How could you get from here to there? Remember, you don't have to completely rearrange your life overnight. You don't have to find all the answers straight away. But if you can see some small steps that you could take, take note - and begin to implement them. Keep a record of each step you take, and record your progress. 

It might be interesting to re-visit this exercise at the Winter Solstice and then again at Imbolc, to measure the changes as they unfold?

Winter Blessings and Beauties, Day 1: Looking Forward to Winter

 

The Welsh name for Samhain is Nos Calan Gaeaf, which means Winter's Eve. That makes today, 1st November, the Celtic first day of winter. Of course, there are several different definitions of the first day of winter. Some people count it as the day the clocks turn back from British Summer Time to GMT. Meteorological Winter begins on 1st December and runs through to the end of February. Astronomical Winter begins at the Winter Solstice and ends at the Spring Equinox (this year 21st December 2020 - 20th March 2021). But it seems to me, if as Pagans we follow a calendar rooted in the rhythms of the Earth, it makes sense to name winter as that period between the day after Samhain (when days have grown short and cold and vegetation dies back) through to Imbolc (when the days noticeably begin to lengthen and the first snowdrops and catkins emerge). Winter is part of the constant change we see around us in the natural world, another station on the turning wheel.

It saddens me that too often it seems winter is seen as something to be endured, a miserable period of cold dark days we have to hunker down and get through in order to get to the brighter days of spring and summer. That's a bit sad really isn't it? Surely there are as many pleasures to be found in winter as any other season. To think otherwise is a failure of the imagination. This year I am determined to really connect with winter and consciously appreciate all its unique and special treasures - not least because this year with the Coronavirus pandemic it seems likely that there will be extra winter challenges to negotiate, such as lockdowns and restrictions on socialising. My hope is that seeking out and appreciating the special blessings of winter will offset the difficulties imposed by the Pandemic. 

Want to join me in this adventure? I plan to post something every day on this topic, right through to Imbolc at the beginning of February - assuming I can be that disciplined! I hope to include seasonal ritual ideas, meditations, craft ideas, journalling prompts, recipes... and no doubt other stuff I haven't even thought of yet! 

To start with, here is my Winter Blessing and Beauty for today:

Winter Blessings and Beauties: Day 1

In your journal, make a list of things you are looking forward to this winter. it will serve as a reminder of all the pleasurable things, big and small, that you can promise yourself lie ahead in the next few months. Here are some ideas to get you started

• Which special occasions will be coming up for you between now and Imbolc? Make a list of birthdays, anniversaries, holidays and festivals, trips etc
• What seasonal foods do you particularly enjoy during the winter? Hot chocolate? Roast chestnuts? Mince pies? Mulled wine? Home made marmalade? Sloe gin?
• What special things do you enjoy doing during winter? Going for a brisk walk through the frosty woods? Soaking in a long hot bath and then snuggling into your cosy PJs and woolly slippers? Wrapping Christmas presents for your loved ones? Curling up by the fire with a good book?

Celebrating Samhain - and Hallowe'en - in Lockdown

Note: To be clear, for the purposes of this post when I write about Hallowe'en, I mean the secular, spooky, fancy dress, witches-pumpkins-spiders-bats-ghosts-and-ghoulies fun and games which occurs on 31st October. When I write about Samhain, I'm referring to the Pagan festival which occurs on the same date but which marks the Pagan New Year, a time when the veils between the worlds thin and we honour our ancestors, celebrate the dark half of the year and practise divination etc (pumpkins optional).

As life began to return to something more closely resembling 'normality' over the summer I began to think there was no need for further posts on 'How to Celebrate [Festivals] in Lockdown'. For that reason there was no such post for the Autumn Equinox/Mabon. Yet it seems I was a bit premature in my optimism. Many areas of England are now in Category 3 Lockdown, and here in Wales the whole country is currently on a 17-day 'firebreak' lockdown which will cover the weeks either side of Samhain. It's not really surprising, given the British Government's woefully inept response to the Pandemic. So here we are again, and we are likely to find ourselves back here again in the future before this is all over. So let's take a look at some things we could do to celebrate Hallowe'en and Samhain - or both - even if we're restricted by lockdown measures.

Ideas for Celebrating Hallowe'en at Home

I have seen people complaining on social media that 'Hallowe'en is cancelled this year!'. I imagine they mean that children can't go trick or treating as they normally would, but Hallowe'en is about far more than trick or treating, even if that is the current cliché. You may not be able to go door-to-door trick or treating with the kids this year, but don't worry - there is still plenty of Hallowe'en fun to be had. Here are some ideas of Hallowe'en activities you can enjoy together, if you are in a lockdown area:

• Throw a Hallowe'en party for the family. Decorate the house with spooky things - you can keep the kids busy beforehand drawing and cutting out spiders, bats, ghosts, etc to hang up. Prepare some spooky food - cut sandwiches into ghost or skull shapes and decorate them, turn a pot of hummus into 'frog spawn' by adding a few drops of green food colouring, use icing to decorate chocolate cake, cookies or brownies with piped white 'spiderweb' icing - or make traditional fare like pumpkin soup and apple pie. Dim the lights, light a few candles and tell each other spooky stories. Or if that's too scary put on a DVD of a classic kids Hallowe'en movie like Hocus Pocus.
• One year I kept my friend's kids busy all day making a life-sized witch figure (a bit like a Bonfire Night Guy). We used a couple of old pairs of tights stuffed with newspaper for her arms, legs and head. A pillow-case stuffed with newspaper formed her body. Then we dressed her up in a fine witchy costume cobbled together from my black clothes and a pair of my boots. We made a mask for her face and a witch's hat out of black card. Then we sat her on the toilet in the downstairs cloakroom and had great fun listening to the shrieks of the unsuspecting adult members of the household as they returned from work and walked in on 'Winnie' unawares! 
• The whole family could have a fancy dress competition. Make sure you have enough prizes for everyone. You may need to invent a few categories like 'Best Witch', 'Best Monster', 'Cleverest Idea', 'Creepiest Mask' etc to ensure everyone wins something, but if you do it will ensure no squabbles erupt! If you can't be with extended family and friends, you could check in with them via Zoom or Skype and admire each others costumes to extend the fun.
• Have a ghost story writing competition and read them to each other by firelight. Smaller children could draw or paint pictures of pumpkins or black cats (or dinosaurs if they prefer!). Finish the evening with all the lights on and big comforting mugs of cocoa to settle everyone down before bedtime!
• Try some traditional Hallowe'en party games like apple bobbing.
• Make a special Hallowe'en playlist (suggestions to get you started: 'Thriller' by Michael Jackson, 'The Monster Mash' by Bobby 'Boris' Pickett and the Crypt Kickers, the theme song from The Addams Family, 'The Time Warp' from the Rocky Horror Show, 'Ghostbusters' by Ray Parker Jr) and have a Hallowe'en disco for the whole family. You could have themed dances too - 'Dance to this one like a zombie!' 'How would a witch/werewolf/mummy dance?'
• Carve pumpkins together (obviously younger children will need close supervision and probably a lot of help!). To get the most out of your pumpkin, don't forget to read this!

Ideas for celebrating Samhain in the countryside or at the beach/park

• The weather is less likely to be kind at this time of year, but if you can get out for a walk, it's a great opportunity to get in touch with nature at a time of year when there is much change to observe. What bird or animal species are in your area? Some species are going into hibernation, or growing a winter pelt or plumage. Some, such as deer, are in their breeding season. Plants are going to seed or dying back. Now is a good time to familiarise yourself with how trees look without their leaves. Many have distinctive shapes that make identification possible even when you only have bare branches to go by.
• Gather fallen leaves, twigs, nuts, seedpods, stones, flowers etc to make into a mandala as an offering to the Spirits of the Land - there's a great article about making and working with mandalas in nature here. Or take some home to decorate your altar and honour the trees as they prepare for their winter slumber.
• At the beach, write messages to your ancestors in the sand at the shoreline, and let the water carry them away as the incoming waves slowly dissolve the words.
• If you would like to forage some wild foods for a seasonal feast at this time of year, look out for apples, sloes and bullaces (wild plums), sweet chestnuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, or beechnuts.

Ideas for celebrating Samhain in your garden

• Create a shrine to your Ancestors in a corner of the garden (a spot in the west, direction of the setting sun and the Celtic otherworld would be most appropriate). This could be as simple as a cairn (pile of stones) with each stone representing a different Ancestor, or as elaborate as you care to make it. As the sun sets, use it as a focus point for a ritual to honour your Ancestors and Beloved Dead. Create sacred space in your preferred way, then light a tealight for each person you wish to honour and remember, saying "[their name], be welcome this night!" aloud as you do so. Spend as much time as you need with them, telling them what you want them to know and listening for any answers or messages. When you are finished, pour a libation to them. Then thank and bid farewell to each of them in turn, extinguishing their tealight as you do so. Devoke/open your sacred space.
• The second Full Moon of the month - making it a Blue Moon - falls on Samhain this year. This would be a great time to practise your scrying! Within sacred space, take a dark coloured bowl and half fill it with water. Under the light of the full moon, gaze into the bowl allowing your gaze to become soft. Breathe slowly and deeply, keeping your gaze soft and your mind receptive. After a little while you may see images in the water, or they may seem to form in your mind's eye. Don't try to control or force the images, just let them come. When you are ready, set down the bowl and write down what you have seen in your journal, in as much detail as possible. Devoke/open your sacred space.
• If you are able to have a bonfire in your garden, use it to celebrate the Pagan New Year. Gather fallen leaves and write on them with a marker pen the things that you wish to shed and leave behind in the old year. Feed them one at a time into the flames, to be transformed. Have a small dish of sunflower or pumpkin seeds ready. Eat a seed for each of the things you wish for in the coming year and state your intention to make them a reality (e.g. "I will enrol on the astrology course I want to do", "I will create a productive vegetable patch to help feed my family"). Say 'So Shall It Be' to seal your intention. Now celebrate - raise a glass of celebratory mead or mulled wine, toast marshmallows round the fire, sing songs.
• Keep an eye out for shooting stars if the night sky is clear, as the Southern Taurids Meteor Shower will be peaking towards the end of the month. Don't forget to make a wish if you see one!

Ideas for celebrating Samhain in your home

• Create an altar to honour your Ancestors and Beloved Dead. Place photos, mementos, family heirlooms etc on it and use it as a focus for communing with them at Samhain.
• Prepare a feast of the food most loved by your Ancestors and Beloved Dead, and sit down to share it with them. It may be a strange mixture of dishes (for example, my own Feast for the Ancestors typically includes custard tarts for my Granddad, Stilton cheese for my Grandpa, ice cream for my Nanna, grapes for my Gan (Gran), a cup of tea for my Cousin Enid and friend Ivy, and a saucer of tinned tuna for the cats who are no longer with us). Yet strangely, it brings back so many happy memories that it is delicious. While you eat, tell their stories (even if you are alone) and relive the sweet times you shared together. Any uneaten food at the end of the evening can be left overnight for the spirits and then placed outside as an offering to the local wildlife. 
• There are online Samhain rituals on 29th October here, or 30th October here, or you can join the famous annual Spiral Dance in San Francisco which is happening online on 31st October this year here. 
• Samhain is a wonderful time for divination. Use your preferred method, or try something different - tarot, runes, scrying, dowsing, tasseomancy, the I-Ching.  If you read the tarot, there is an excellent Samhain tarot spread here. If you have friends who also enjoy divination, you could swap readings for each other via the phone or online.

A magical and blessed Samhain to you all.  

Blackberry Daydreams

 

It seems to be a good year for blackberries - or perhaps it's just because my workload has lessened dramatically due to the pandemic and I have the unaccustomed luxury of enough time to wander, harvesting the hedgerows.

The September air is cool, with still a touch of warmth when the sun breaks through. Abundant clusters of blackberries hang among the tangle of brambles. I push my way in, thorns snagging my clothes and hair. Delicately I pluck the tender berries and the pile in my basket grows rapidly. Despite my care, my fingers are soon stained with purple juice, and my arms and hands scratched. 

The blackberries look to me like tiny jewelled ornaments, each tiny drupelet like a shining bead of jet or onyx. They are a treasure, an abundant late-summer gift of delicious fruit that can be enjoyed in the moment or harvested and transformed into preserves to bring a taste of summer in the depths of winter. Across the valley the jays screech in the oaks as they harvest and stash their own winter treasure trove of acorns. The jays and I, preparing for the unknown times ahead, gratefully gather the plenty that is offered us. We know that nothing is certain.

As we take, we give too. We help the blackberries and oaks by dispersing their seeds. Jays (along with squirrels) are actually responsible for planting the vast majority of oak trees. They bury acorns to keep as a winter food source - and acorns need to be covered with soil to germinate. A single jay can collect up to 5,000 acorns so it's inevitable that some of their haul will remain buried and later sprout into new trees. Likewise, the seeds of consumed blackberries pass unharmed through the digestive tracts of birds, animals and humans and are distributed when they re-emerge at the end of the process! The blackberries, the jays, the oak trees, remind me that we are all part of the intricately woven and interconnected web of life.

My basket is almost full but still I comb the thicket for more treasure, peering up and down, side to side. It's amazing how a small change in the way I look at the brambles suddenly reveals new, previously hidden berries hanging in ripe clusters. What a good reminder of the importance of trying to see things from all sides and being flexible!

I pop berries in my mouth, enjoying the sweet, tangy juices - and I throw some to the eager chickens too. That's another important thing to remember - when you have plenty - share it! The blackberries give generously and it is good to follow their example. 

At last, I head back to the house. The sun, now low in the sky, slants golden light across the fields and I take a few moments to sit on the bench that overlooks the valley and watch the rooks circling their rookery in preparation for the oncoming night. Tawny owls call to each other. The air smells of the berry juice on my fingers, the spearmint next to the bench that I brushed past, and woodsmoke from a neighbour's bonfire. My hands are scratched and my hair is dishevelled but I have a basket full of ripe blackberries and the jays have their acorns. We are blessed, and we know it. 

Suddenly September

And so here we are in September. 

There is a chill in the morning air. Days are noticeably shorter. Apples hang plumply from the tree and rosehips glow in the hedge. The sycamore leaves are beginning to brown. Yet the sun is still warm and the swallows still dance in the sky. Summer is drawing to a close, but gently.

How did we get here so quickly? Time has been a strange companion these last months. Though life in lockdown was slow and peaceful, still the months seem to have slid past quickly and already we are three quarters of the way through 2020. It's been such a strange year, the fact that we're entering its last stages will no doubt please many. Yet I suspect the strangeness will not evaporate on 31st December. Strange is the new normal as our expectations and priorities and beliefs about our lives are upended and re-examined and we learn to navigate the new reality in which we find ourselves. It's disturbing and often hard and painful. Isn't that always true of change? And yet... at times I find myself relishing the challenge. I think we could build something new and wonderful from the wreckage. Throw out what no longer serves, question the status quo, refuse to go back to the system that has created so much injustice and inequality. 

On this first day of a new month, one which sees the beginning of the new academic year, let's pause to think about the opportunities to learn that are there for us all. What has been stripped away? What essentials remain? What do we need to let go of? What do we need to bring in? What do we want to create? Where do we want to be this time next year?

Let's seize the initiative. Let's create the lives we truly want, not the lives they've tried to tell us we want. I don't want to be part of a system that keeps most of the world in poverty while a handful of billionaires call the shots. I don't want things, I want connection and meaning. I don't want to keep running on the hamster wheel, I want to spend time with people I love doing things that make the world a better place. 

When they urge you to 'get back to normal' so that they can get the system up and running again, refuse. Withdraw your support for a system that is only there to benefit the few. Dream a better future - then create it. Let's work together, for the good of all.

Celebrating Lammas During the Pandemic

Although restrictions have eased since I wrote about celebrating Beltane and Summer Solstice in lockdown - and most places in the UK are not actually in lockdown any more - the ongoing pandemic means full scale gatherings for  Lammas rituals and celebrations aren't possible. Up to date guidelines for your area may be found on this Government website - please check and ensure you are adhering to the rules.

Nevertheless, as with the previous two festivals with a bit of imagination it's possible to celebrate Lammas in memorable style. As before I have suggestions for a variety of situations - even though many of us are now able to resume a kind of normality in our lives, there are still people who need to protect themselves by shielding, so there are suggestions for those who are able to get out and those who are not.

Ideas for celebrating Lammas in the countryside or at the beach/park

• If the weather is fine, this would be a great opportunity to visit a local sacred site, stone circle, megalith or holy well. The big famous sites will probably be awash with visitors, but smaller more obscure sites need love too, and the lack of crowds often makes them far more atmospheric, and allows the space and time to really connect on a deeper level. Take a small posy of flowers from your garden as an offering (not cellophane wrapped ones from the local supermarket or garage!) for the genius loci.
• If you are able to visit a beach, trace a spiral large enough to walk in and out of in the sand. Walk it slowly and mindfully. On the inward journey concentrate on all the plans and projects you have put energy into in the last year. What seeds have you sown and how have they grown? When you reach the centre pause and survey your harvest. What has come to fruition? What still needs more work? Give thanks for all that you have achieved. As you slowly walk back out of the spiral, concentrate on where you will concentrate your energy for the next year. What will you hope to be harvesting by this time next year? 
• If you enjoy foraging for wild foods, take a walk and gather some ingredients for a Lammas feast. Wild plants to look for at this time of year include bilberries, the first blackberries, wild strawberries, chickweed, fat hen, mallow, rowan berries and sea beet.
• If you are visiting a beach with your family, why not have a beach-art competition? You can sculpt sand, pile rocks, and beach-comb for shells, driftwood, seaweed and other shoreline treasures to use in your creation. Here's some inspiration for you...

Ideas for celebrating in your garden

• If you've been growing your own fruit and veggies, Lammas is the perfect time to celebrate with a harvest feast, preferably al fresco.
• Lammas is traditionally a time to get together with your community and share the harvest. That's not so easy at the moment - and really, I'm of the mind that it's better to be cautious and limit social contact in order to stay safe and beat back the virus. But with a bit of common sense and appropriate hygiene/social distancing measures it should still be possible to share any excess home-grown fruit, veggies and herbs with your neighbours. If you don't grow vegetables you could gift them with a bunch of flowers. Or how about baking a batch of cupcakes, brownies or muffins and leaving little anonymous gift-wrapped parcels of yumminess on your neighbours' doorsteps?
• Traditionally corn dollies were made at this time of year. The spirit of the corn was thought to reside safely in them through the cold winter months. In spring, the corn dolly would be planted along with the new seeds and the cycle would begin anew. Make your own corn dolly using wheat straw (you can buy it online from craft suppliers) or even long stems of  dried grass. There are instructions for making simple corn dollies here, or look online for video tutorials if you would like to try something more elaborate! If you would like to keep the spirit of your garden safe indoors through the winter you could use flowers or herbs with long stems as a stand in for the wheat. Hang the finished garden spirit dolly up to dry somewhere cool and dry with good air circulation, and then keep it safe all winter on your altar before returning it to the soil in the spring. 
• Make a mandala of food stuffs which you can leave out as an offering to the local wildlife. You could make the centre a bowl of water (but put a few rocks in it so that any insects or small creatures that fall in can climb out again).

Ideas for celebrating in your home

• Get baking! Lammas literally means 'Loaf Mass', i.e. the celebration of the first loaf baked from the new grain harvest. There are hundreds of bread recipes to be found online, and you can also experiment with your bread by adding ingredients like chopped herbs, olives, cheese, spices, or chilli. If you don't have any yeast you can make soda bread, using bicarbonate of soda as the raising agent. Any flour-based baked goods are appropriate at this festival, so as well as making bread - make a cake, or biscuits, brownies, cookies, crumble or a pie.  If you have a gluten intolerance, there are gluten-free flours available and plenty of gluten free recipes online to inspire you.
• Make a small harvest altar to give thanks for your personal harvest this year. This may be a literal harvest of home-grown fruit and vegetables or it may be the things you have achieved such as a new skill, a job, promotion, qualification, initiation etc. It could also be the new friendship(s) you have made, the poem you wrote, the happy times you have shared with your children. What have you achieved, made, learned or gained this year? What are you grateful for? What would you like to give thanks for? Find items which literally or symbolically show your harvest for this year. Say a few words of gratitude, to the Universe, to your Gods/Goddesses, to your magical allies - and to yourself, for all you have worked for and achieved this year. Blessed Be!
• As always there are online Pagan celebrations that you can join. The Glastonbury Goddess Conference is online this year and runs over the Lammas period. There is an online Lammas Full Moon Shamanic Journey Circle here. If you're on Facebook, this is a useful group to keep tabs on Pagan events both online and off. 
• Trance into the Empress card of a tarot deck. The Empress is the Mother Earth archetype, all about abundance. Create sacred space in your preferred way, ground and centre yourself. Sit looking at the card, allowing your gaze to become soft and unfocused. Imagine yourself walking into the card and approaching The Empress. What will you say to her? Do you have questions to ask her? Does she have a message or a gift for you? Who or what else do you find within the card? When you are ready, thank The Empress - and any other beings you may have interacted with - and exit the landscape of the card coming back to yourself where you sit. Take a few moments to write down your impressions of the card and any messages or gifts you may have received. Make sure you are fully back and grounded - eat something if necessary (food is very grounding). Open your sacred space.

May we all have a sweet and blessed Lammas, and may your harvest be bountiful. Blessed be. 

Rosepetals, Radishes, Rain and Repose

June in lockdown. Life here at Halfway Up A Hill is slow-paced, quietly satisfying as we work in the garden and enjoy the unaccustomed luxury of plenty of time together. Just us, the cats, the chickens, the earth and sky. As you can see from the picture above, Mandrake has been fully embracing the tranquility. 

The garden is gloriously full of flowers, the air deliciously sweetened by roses and elderflowers, honeysuckle and meadowsweet. Everything is growing abundantly, nurtured by sun and rain.

Ah yes, the rain... it has been very enthusiastic at times. But we have had plenty of warm sunshine too, so our crops in the vegetable patch are coming along beautifully. I'm pretty sure I can see them growing by the minute.

Last night we ate this delicious salad of lettuce and mixed salad leaves, spring onions, radishes, snap peas and mangetouts. All home grown.

Mandrake reckons we're pretty lucky. I'd have to agree.

Thunderstorm

Half an hour ago I was watching bees happily bumbling in the comfrey patch. 

From out of nowhere it seems, there is suddenly torrential rain. The sky splits with lightning. 

One by one the cats careen in from wherever they have tried to shelter from the downpour, soaking wet and complaining loudly and plaintively about the rain as I towel their fur dry.

Hemlock - the biggest, baddest, blackest witch's cat you've ever seen - is spooked by the thunder and crawls into my lap for comfort, pushing his soft face against me as I hold and soothe him.

Outside the back door, the white roses - just minutes earlier a-buzz with bees - now hang like wet rags, yet the air is still fragranced by their perfume. Torn petals float limply in the growing puddle by the doorstep.

Rain hammers the windows, rattles on the roof and pours from flooded gutters. Again and again the flick of lightning is followed by thunder's bellowing roar. I count between each flash and rumble, tracking the progress of the storm as it moves closer, passes overhead and then starts to recede. 

The world is now quiet but for falling rain, as every living thing shelters, waiting for the drama to pass.

The rain lessens, the thunder is gone.  The sky lightens. Hemlock purrs. 

This storm is passing. A microcosm of the macrocosm. May the worldwide storm we're all sheltering from pass soon too. 

Celebrating the Summer Solstice in Lockdown

The Summer Solstice, or Litha, this year falls on Saturday 20th June, (astronomically it varies between 20th and 22nd June). Although some restrictions are being relaxed, by and large we will still not be able to gather to celebrate, a fact I am happy to accept in order to keep people safe. But it does mean we'll need to be creative and adaptable in how we mark the occasion, just as we were at Beltane. Many of the suggestions I made in that post can be adapted for the Summer Solstice, but here are a few additional ideas too. As before I've grouped them depending on a variety of lockdown/isolation situations.

If you are able to get out to the countryside/beach/park

• One of the simplest and most memorable ways of celebrating the Summer Solstice is to go and watch the sunrise from an east-facing hill or a beach near your home. You can check sunrise times in the UK here, and there are other online resources that give the times for other parts of the world. There is something really magical about experiencing the world awake to a new day as the sky gradually lightens, the dawn chorus begins and the sun appears over the horizon. Take a small picnic breakfast to celebrate this special day, and don't forget to leave a small offering of food and pour out a little of your drink for the spirits of the place.
• If you are confident of your plant-identification skills you could take a walk and forage some wild plants for a Summer Solstice feast. Plants to look out for at this time of year include wild strawberries, chickweed, elderflowers, sea kale, fat hen, linden blossoms and honeysuckle flowers.
• If you can't travel to sacred sites such as Avebury or Stonehenge for the Solstice, do a little research to find sacred sites in your local area that you may be able to visit instead. Many of these smaller, less well-known sites have an amazing atmosphere and are all the more special for not being crowded with visitors.

If you have access to a garden or small green space

• It's a great time of year for roses, and if you have some in your garden take this opportunity to really appreciate their beauty and fragrance with a small ritual. Gather some petals - the more perfumed the better - and make yourself some rose petal tea. Remove the thicker white base of the petals (where they attach to the rest of the flower) as this can be bitter. Steep the petals in boiling water for a few minutes, then sweeten with a little honey if liked. Sit in the sun to drink your brew, inhaling the fragrant steam and feeling the warm sun on your skin. Let the warmth and fragrance spread through your body. Take a moment to imagine your heart as a rose in your chest, gradually unfurling its petals and opening to the sun. Raise the cup in your hands as a toast to the sun, the source of all light and energy. Feel yourself blessed. 
• If you have children, throw a special 'Sun Day' party for the family. Decorate the house and garden with sunny colours, get the children to make sun-themed art and get everyone to dress in sun-themed clothes (yellow, orange or gold coloured, sparkly, or their favourite summer clothes). Have a sunny foods feast - make yellow cupcakes, drink orange juice or home made lemonade, have a barbecue, eat ice cream, enjoy slices of watermelon... and later on as the sun sinks in the sky, share toasted marshmallows round a fire. 
• Make a small sun altar, if possible in the South corner of your garden. Here you can put sun-themed garden decorations, solar-powered lanterns and grow plants ruled by the sun - like sunflowers, marigolds, St John's wort, chamomile and rosemary.   

If you are confined to your home/can't get outside

• As has been widely reported, English Heritage have cancelled the sunrise celebrations at Stonehenge this year, but they will be livestreaming the sunrise at the stones on social media.
• Make a sun-catcher to hang in your window to honour the sun and send rainbows dancing across your walls. There's the story of one I made here to get you started. All you really need is some sparkly things - crystals, beads, sequins - and some wire and/or thread to hang them from. Just be careful not to use any convex glass pieces/balls/marbles etc which could focus the rays of the sun and potentially start a fire.
• Honey is already a very 'solar' substance, as it is concentrated nectar from flowers. Charge a jar with the power of the sun by placing it on a sunny windowsill for a day. Then use your sun-powered honey to give yourself a boost of sunshine by adding to recipes or in your tea on those days when you need a little extra lift.   

Happy Summer Solstice everyone! Stay safe and have a wonderful summer.