Cauldron

Waxing Wedding Moon

What a difference a couple of weeks make. There was still snow on the ground when I last wrote, and I was feeling frustrated that I couldn't do much in the garden.

Now, Spring is here at last, and Westacre is bursting into flower. We have primroses …

Waning Leaf Moon

For as long as I can remember, I have had this longing to live fully, to feel deeply. My soul thirsts for connection with something that is larger than myself, something Divine.

Many years ago, I looked for that connection with the Christian God, exalted and detached …

Full Leaf Moon

Things are not going as planned. The Westacre Project is running late. So is the Spring. And doing sunrise meditations isn't working for me either.

I had it all worked out in my head. We'd move from Harrow to Westacre at the Winter Solstice. We would start …

Spring Equinox

Have you sat and listened, really listened recently? Even though the air is still cold, and occasionally snow drifts down, the earth is filled with life and expectation. She is well nigh bursting with the urge to grow and unfurl and flower. She is waiting for the right …

Waxing Root Moon

After two months of struggling with my new meditation practice at sunrise and sunset, I'm finally getting the hang of it.

My main point of difficulty is the sunrise meditation. I never wake up in the right state of mind to meditate. My thoughts race away with …

New Root Moon

Imbolc is such a beautiful time of year. I'm cheering on the snow drops beginning to open their petals in the garden. I relish the clarity of the sunshine, on days when we are so blessed. The air is full of the promise of Spring.

But at …

Waning Maiden Moon

I'm not having an easy time meditating these days. I just don't seem to be able to concentrate, and whatever I'm doing in the bungalow seems to bleed into my meditation time.

Now, it's hardly surprising that my mind is a touch restless. Life is rather stressful …

Waxing Maiden Moon

The Westacre Project is a scary thing. It's two house renovations, one more ambitious than the other. It's a move across the country. It's a complete life change. It's a huge gardening task. And for me it's also a new business idea that needs nurturing. When I …

Maiden New Moon

As Galadriel says at the beginning of the Lord of the Rings movies: "The world is changed. I can feel it in the water, I can feel it in the Earth, I can smell it in the air."

I did my sunrise meditation among snow flakes today …

Waning Seed Moon

It certainly has rained a lot, recently. Over Christmas, parts of the country were flooded, with dire consequences for a lot of people. Everywhere else was waterlogged. Even the Westacre garden, which has well draining soil and is relatively high on a slope, was squishy underfoot.

The …

Full Seed Moon

At the Winter Solstice, I started a new experiment. My intention is to meditate twice each day, at sunrise and sunset. I have been wanting to do this for years, but my life and work made it hard to arrange.

But now I have a new life …

Winter Solstice

Midwinter sunrise (copyright Liz Keil)

Tomorrow is Westacre Day. I've been counting down the days, with increasing seriousness, for the last year. Westacre Day is the day I get into the car with my husband and some of my most treasured possessions, and drive to our new home …

Seed (image source: wikipedia)

New Seed Moon

Yesterday morning, as I walked to the station for my last day at work, nature was dressed in a white gown of hoar frost. Every twig, every fallen leaf was outlined in delicate silver. It was breathtakingly beautiful.

At this time of year …

Waning Compost Moon

I've just finished re-re-re-reading Ritual by Emma Restall Orr. It is one of my return-to spiritual books. And this time I noticed something I hadn't noticed before.

In the book, although she doesn't say this in so many words, Bobcat speaks of us, individual human beings, as …

Compost Full Moon

We're so lucky. Not everyone has both the opportunity and the means to make their dream come true. In just a few weeks' time, I will be able to dedicate myself to it full time.

In the first instance, the dream is to create a home for …

Waxing Compost Moon

I have been counting down to Westacre Day for nearly a year now. If you have been counting with me, you will have noticed it is 21 December 2012, which is a momentous day.

If you haven't heard about the Mayan prophecy, you must have lived on …

The Westacre orchard in November

New Compost Moon

Let me tell you about Westacre. I have liked the place every since I first came to visit, over 20 years ago. I came on the ferry from Belgium to visit my boyfriend Alex and his parents for the first time. I …

Waning Crone Moon

Last week, I held my own private Samhain ritual and said goodbye to the spirits of my Harrow garden. I also collected a bit of its soil, so some of its blessing can come with me to Westacre and be mixed with its soil at the Winter …

Samhain Full Moon

Sweeping the Westacre drive was hard work. It's a long drive. The broom was heavy. The leaves were damp and sticking to the floor. My back complained. But I was determined to pick up those leaves, so I went at it on pure willpower. I attacked those …

You may have noticed by now: I have a lot to do. Nine weeks from now, we're moving to Westacre. That really isn't very long at all. Before that, we need to finish rebuilding and decorating Roger's bungalow, get quotes from contractors on the big Westacre project, pack up our …

Do you sometimes overthink things? I know I do. As a spiritually minded person, I have spent hours meditating just to become more aware of my emotions as they pass through me. My temptation is to start questioning these emotions, to try and work out why I'm feeling sad or …

How often do you get the chance to totally change the way you live for the better? How lucky do you have to be to be able to align your life with your deepest values and beliefs? I am immensely grateful for the circumstances of life that have given us …

My train is hurtling through the country between Harrow and Westacre. Out of the window I can see fields of old stubble and brown earth ready ploughed for winter wheat. This year's harvest has been brought in and is making its way to our kitchens.

Six months ago, as the …

It is the time of Equinox, equal day and equal night. Now, the balance tips towards darkness, and winter will follow. Even now, the leaves are beginning to colour scarlet and gold, and there is a definite nip in the air. I'm warming my hands on my cup of tea …

Yesterday, I was at our friends' handfasting party and got talking to an acquaintance. We were comparing notes about living the life of our dreams. We agreed that it could be hard, but we need to remind ourselves that, actually, this is it. This is what we had said we …

The most powerful thing I have done for myself in the last year or so is to see myself through other people's eyes. The woman who is looking back at me from the mirror of other people is completely different from the woman who looks out. Yet they are both …

We've spent lots of time at Westacre these last few weeks. And that is a good thing. I am getting to know the garden much better, meditating on the lawn nearly every day. The earth there is beginning to recognise me, and welcoming me as I put down roots for …

I grew up in a house on a small country street. At the time, there was a field opposite my parents' house, surrounded by tall canada poplars. My bedroom was at the front of the house, so from a young age I was lulled to sleep by the sound of …

Isn't it weird how everything goes around in circles? I seem to always have to learn every lesson many times, repeating the same thing over and over. And I know I'm not the only one.

Last week's OBOD Lughnasadh Camp was themed for the inner child. I loved the idea …

The change in the weather, from miserable and grey to blue sky and hot sunshine, may have something to do with it. Or perhaps it's just a new cycle. But I think what really broke my tense mood was the opportunity to just rest and be.

Our friends in Norfolk …