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Sensio Divina

The contemplative exercise of Lectio Divina, or Divine Reading, has been practiced from the earliest times of monastic discipleship – the act of sitting prayerfully with a short piece of sacred text and allowing it to speak and inhabit our minds and hearts. How does it work when reading the Book of Creation? More ...

Solstices, saints and severed heads

In a previous article the placement of St John’s day at the summer solstice and Jesus birth at the winter solstice was contrasted, see article. Another saint’s day placed at the summer solstice is that of St Alban who is celebrated on 22nd June. More ...

Ecosystem Services and Giving Thanks

Years ago I heard a throw away line during a radio documentary that captured my imagination. The interviewer and a naturalist were exploring a particular stretch of coastline and the interviewer asked about a rocky outcrop with a bit of grass on top, not knowing whether to refer to it as an island or not. The naturalist said that the definition for an island used to be if it could keep a sheep alive for a year. More ...

Advent Ritual Wreath

Bring nature inside with a wreath made from four iconic and symbolic evergreen plants. You can either make a simple table centrepiece or make a wreath that will form the centre of a series of rituals leading up to Christmas, ideally through the period of advent – originally made for East Midlands Forest Church. More ...

You must increase, I must decrease

It is mid-summer, St John’s eve, the longest day of the year. Imagine that you’re looking at one of the rarest things in the other-than-human world ... More ...

Samhain Skeleton Leaf Reflection

As the autumn leaves fall and decay we begin to sense the year passing away, the nights noticeably lengthening and a certain sense of things dying. More ...

Mushroom Hunters Psalm

Autumn equinox, day and night perfectly balanced, the tipping point between light and dark half, drawing a line in the sand to mark the change. I’d like to be saying goodbye to a bonnie summer, body brown, mind-full of long hot days building castles out of sand. Instead I can feel the descending gloom over the summer we never had – again. Which is a shame as I really love autumn and want to welcome and mark its arrival. More ...

Dying to dance in Beltane

Beltane is traditionally a time to celebrate vitality and fertility; a time for flowers and dancing and the coming of summer. Around me the leaves are out on all but the Ash trees and the Blackthorn blossom is already passing – so why am I apprehensive? More ...

The Hawthorn Tree

Hawthorn trees are one of my favourite trees. As a forager and as someone becoming more attuned to the spirit of individual trees the Hawthorn is very special – a deeply powerful heart medicine as well as a tree integral to the psyche of the British landscape. More ...