Cauldron

It's no easy task I have set myself. It's quite difficult to let go of my little addictions, especially since they are such innocent looking habits and the opportunities are always there. But at least I am looking at them, avoiding some of them some of the time. Progress is …

As the trees shed their leaves, I am aiming to let go of some things that no longer serve me. There are some habits and rituals that I have become very used to but that distract me from being the person I would like to be. As the winds of …

As I am typing this, I am looking at blood red Virginia Creeper trailing down across the French window at Westacre. Windfalls dot the ground under apple trees laden with fruit. The crown of the big oak tree across the lane is coloured with hints of gold among the green …

A few weeks ago, our neighbours moved out. They had lived in the house next door for nearly 30 years, and we'd been their neighbours for about half that time. This quiet couple whose children had left home have been replaced by a family with two young boys, one of …

Perhaps it's because I'm an only child, but I like to do things on my own, my own way. I would rather re-invent the wheel than find out how someone else has done it before me. And I certainly don't like to ask for help. I even get slightly offended …

Often I have wondered why we can't just be like animals. Or like trees. They never seem to have any difficulty finding out what they are meant to do with life. They just get on with being fox or crow or birch.

Our huge human brains make it more complicated …

For years now, I have know that I have a calling. I could feel the goddess tugging at my bones, asking me to be hers, to be her priestess, for want of a better word. For years, I have struggled to work out what that means, day to day. What …

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." - John Lennon

Just as I was planning a quiet summer with plenty of time to contemplate and reflect, to do some DIY that could help me practice remaining present with everyday tasks, life surprised me. I heard of …

What a Solstice! I remember a lot of dull grey Solstices, and the odd changeable one. I remember a Solstice ceremony with thunder and rain. But this year we are blessed with bright blue sky and hot sunshine. It really feels like the heart of Summer.

I am fortunate that …

After over six months of silence, I feel like I have something to say again. I have started a post several times in the past months, but it never seemed to be worth posting, or even finishing. It hasn't been an easy year, yet again, and it wasn't by any …

Well, nobody ever said it was going to be easy. A couple of weeks ago, the stress and tiredness finally got the better of me. I was feeling awful. The place of peace inside me was still there, but got hard to reach, even during my practice. Waking up too …

Feeling my roots solidly held by the earth, and allowing my spirit to be held by my inspirers in the grove, I am slowly beginning to find peace inside myself. It will take me some time before I manage to identify with that peace consistently. So far, I have learned …

Every so often, I feel the urge to write a long, self-pitying article about how difficult life is. I've just got over one such urge. On top of the things mentioned in the previous article, I also crashed the car, which didn't help the whole stress and anxiety issue.

But …

These last two weeks have been a time of challenges as well as discoveries. I was glad to see the back of 2008, because it presented us with a number of difficulties that I would rather assign to the dustbin, never to be seen again. Sadly, it would seem I …

A spiritual journey is a strange adventure. Well, at least mine is. You come to these amazing insights and promptly forget them again. And then they come back to you, sometimes years later, and you wonder why you failed to realise their importance the last time around.

At other times …

About a year ago I came up with a plan to start working with the spirits of the city, of the place where I live and work. I was really excited about this idea, about making relationship with the ancestors of the City of London, of the River Thames, of …

After I had my first and worst gallbladder attack, I was so scared by it that I just wanted it dealt with. I wanted an operation, as soon as possible. With hindsight, I am grateful that the NHS took two weeks to process my blood test. Because in those two …

My gallbladder adventure continues. I did the liver and gallbladder purge on Friday night and spent a lot of Saturday making close friends with my toilet (an expected part of the purge). I can tell you one thing: epsom salt solution is the vilest tasting thing known to man, closely …

Well, it's definitely been a very eventful month for me and my spirits. It all started three and a half weeks ago, when I was having tea and cake with my in-laws. Out of nowhere, I got this pain in my stomach. I tried to ignore it, but it just …

So here I am, still sitting in my garden and listening. A couple of months ago, I felt inspired to listen 'downwards', to travel down along the roots that connect me to my land and see who I would meet.

I was greeted by a spirit who is familiar to …

It is the Flower Moon of the year, the time when the sun warms the earth and the roses bloom. As it happens, I am also in what I would call the Flower Tide of my life. I used to think that the Flowering was an effortless opening, something that …

Freya was my joy. She always made me smile, no matter how gloomy the day. My connection to her was one of the strong threads that weave me into the Web of Life. And now she is no more. Her kidneys took a sudden turn for the worse and she …

On Bank Holiday Monday, I was really looking forward to a day of rest. I had been more socially active than is good for me. Don't misunderstand me: I love people and I love being with them. But being with people, especially when there are a lot of them or …

It's nearly been two weeks since I pressed the reset button on my spiritual life. It has been an interesting journey so far. I am finding that a few old practices and ideas have come back to me and are building into a spirituality all my own.

The first thing …

Today is a New Moon. And I did something radical. Some people - my friend Cilla for one - would say it's about time. This has been a long time coming.

I have basically pressed the reset button on my spiritual life. I'm starting again from scratch. I am taking a break …

I have always struggled with time. There's never enough of it to do all the things that I want to do. Again and again, I would set up elaborate schemes to help me do paid work, develop Deer Tracks, do my house work and gardening, do things for my various …

About a week ago, I was going to post a tale of woe. I had it all written down, all you never wanted to know about how difficult my life is and how I am not who I want to be. And then I remembered a thought I had several …

Why do I do this? Why do I put myself through courses like Living Druidry? Why do I stick to daily practice and invest time in all this spiritual stuff? What's the point?

All my life I have had this longing, this yearning to feel connected. When I was younger …

First: Adventure with the Fox

These are the yuckiest times I had with Mrs Fox. So if you ever fancy skinning a fox, please consider the following.