Happy May Day! Also known as Beltane (Celtic, Gaelic, Pagan), it is a celebration of the beginning of summer.
Beltane is a cross-quarter day - we are halfway between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice.
With warmth now in the air, the leaves of trees are finally open and the woodland are greening up. Hawthorn (May blossom) is now in bloom, and here in London we have Elderflowers emerging.
The dawn chorus has been building for the past few months and is reaching its spectacular crescendo now. Here in London we can hear wrens, blackbirds, robins, tits and chaffinches greeting the new day. They are finding mates and laying eggs.
It is a joyous time - nature is in full flow!
Happy Spring Equinox!
A point of perfect balance on the journey through the Wheel of the Year. Night and day are of equal length and in perfect equilibrium - dark and light, masculine and feminine, inner and outer, in balance.
But the year is now waxing and at this moment light defeats the dark. The natural world is coming alive, the Sun is gaining in strength and the days are becoming longer and warmer. The energy is expansive and exuberant. It is the first day of Spring!
Today in London I heard wrens, robins, blackbirds, wood pigeons, and woodpeckers. Celandines are pointing their little yellow faces to the sun, the buds are swelling and bursting open. I saw trees in blossom, full of newly emerged bees buzzing and feeding.
But I lost count of the number of people walking along looking at their phones.
What a shame to miss out on so much beauty!
We only save what we love.
Nature is amazing right now, drink it in!
Mothering Sunday is traditionally a day honouring mother churches, the church where one is baptised and becomes "a child of the church". It has been celebrated in the United Kingdom since the Middle Ages on the fourth Sunday in Lent. On Mothering Sunday, Christians have historically visited their mother church—the church in which they received the sacrament of baptism.
Constance Adelaide Smith revived its modern observance beginning in 1913 to honour Mother Church, 'mothers of earthly homes', the Virgin Mary (mother of Jesus), and Mother Nature. It gained popularity in response to the originally American Mother's Day.
So here's to Mother Nature - Mother to us all.
Photos taken yesterday in Wiltshire. /wiki/Mothering_Sunday
Imbolc blessings or Happy Candlemas for tomorrow! Whichever greeting you prefer, both celebrate the return of the light. February is here, the days are getting longer, and we can hear the whisper of spring...
Artist: Wendy Andrew
Not long back from the Wassail at Brixton Orchard. 'Tis a very important thing to sing to the apple trees in January - otherwise how will they know to produce so many apples?
And to feed them with cider, cider soaked toast and frighten away the bad spirits with banging, shouting and dancing!
Said hello to Brixton Windmill on the way home.
Mike, Annette and I are at the beautiful Hilfield Friary running the second 'Reconnecting to Sacred Nature' retreat of 2025. We've just had the solstice and Midsummer and the kitchen garden is gloriously abundant. Here are some pics of the gorgeous flowers and a view of the full stack solar panels on the chapel roof!
We've just sent out our very first Soul Rewilding newsletter! That's right, we've grappled with Mailchimp and thankfully it all worked!
Along with lots of love for Midsummer, it contains the events we have coming up in the new few weeks. There are links to Eventbrite so you can easily book a space. Enjoy!
Live link in profile: https://mailchi.mp/d7ed64a5c151/soul-rewilding-news-june-2025
Places are still available on our spring retreats! There will be two at the beautiful Hilfield Friary in Dorset, and another at the stunning Rydal Hall in the Lake District.
Dates are as follows:
9-11 May 2025 - Hilfield Friary, Dorset
6-8 June 2025 - Rydal Hall, Lake District
27-29 June 2025 - Hilfield Friary, Dorset
The retreat will allow you to immerse yourself in the beauty of the natural world and provide time for reflection, meditation and stillness inspired by nature. It will draw upon the philosophies and writings of different world spiritual traditions, the principles of Joanna Macy's book "Active Hope", as well as earth sciences and evolutionary biology.
You can find more details and the booking form on the Soul Rewilding website: /events-and-retreats?id=982316
Any questions, please get in touch here or via the contact page on the Soul Rewilding website.
We'd love you to join us!
Happy Spring Equinox or, if you prefer, Ostara!
Nature is full of life-force right now: the birds are nesting and singing, the cats are prowling and yowling, the green shoots are shooting, and spring flowers are bursting open.
"A point of perfect balance on the journey through the Wheel of the Year. Night and day are of equal length and in perfect equilibrium - dark and light, masculine and feminine, inner and outer, in balance.
But the year is now waxing and at this moment light defeats the dark. The natural world is coming alive, the Sun is gaining in strength and the days are becoming longer and warmer. The gentle whispered promise of Imbolc is fulfilled in the evident and abundant fertility of the Earth at Ostara.
It is time for the hopes of Imbolc to become action. The energy is expansive and exuberant. It is the first day of Spring!"
/blog/ostara-spring-equinox-21-march
Happy Saint David's Day!
Saint David's Day (Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant or Dydd Gŵyl Dewi) is the feast day of Saint David, the patron saint of Wales, and falls on 1 March, the date of Saint David's death in 589 AD.
Traditional festivities include wearing daffodils and leeks, recognised symbols of Wales and Saint David. The feast has been regularly celebrated since the canonization of David in the 12th century by Pope Callixtus II.
Whilst the official start of spring isn't until the equinox on 20 March, it's certainly in the air! Crows and other birds are busy building nests and there are even some early pollinators about.
We love the London National Park City map!
It's a green city map highlighting the parks, allotments, cemeteries, woodlands, city farms, rivers, canals, nature reserves and long distance walks in Greater London.
This map was created when London was declared the world's first National Park City in July 2019. We tried to get hold of one at the time, but they quickly disappeared. By chance we spotted this in an independent bookshop in Clapham.
It's a great way to find and explore nature and wildlife in London - the map pales the roads and brings the green and blue spaces to the fore!
https://www.nationalparkcity.london/map
