Reflecting on Beltain at WeSee Trees
Our Beltain gathering at the start of May felt a little different to our usual This Mortal Life seasonal gatherings as we shifted from our usual beach venue to the WeSee Trees Community Tree Nursery for a fun community painting project.
With a watchful eye on the ever-changing weather forecasts, we gathered at the tree nursery site to celebrate Beltain through creativity, food, fire and connection. Thankfully the rain stayed away until we finished, but the threat was ever-looming!
One of the main activities of the day was painting the shipping container onsite, a practical storage space that, until now, had been entirely colourless. Together we transformed it with nature-inspired artwork, bringing life and personality into the space. We had no plan and not exactly even the right tools, but there’s something special about just playing and getting creative with what you have in the moment sometimes. By the end of the day, the whole site somehow felt warmer, brighter, and more alive.
We shared a meal lovingly prepared by attendees, sat around the fire into the evening and took time to reflect on the meaning of Beltain itself. I read aloud a little about the festival for those unfamiliar with it, and one attendee shared an original poem that felt especially fitting for the occasion. And another led us in some sunset Qigong, which was such a lovely experience.
Some of our usual attendees were away and unable to join us, but the group of new faces created space for different conversations and new connections. Several people who came were active within the local arts and community scene, and the gathering unexpectedly became a lovely opportunity for networking and future collaboration too.
Since Beltain, I’ve already gone on to reconnect with some attendees at the Death Café I held the following week, and I also met someone who runs a women’s circle that I’ll be attending later this month. It’s so lovely to be connecting with more people who share a love of nature and community.
It also felt special to bring people onto the tree nursery site itself. Community events there are still relatively new, but there’s a real desire to make the space more active and welcoming, and it was wonderful to see it filled with people, art, laughter and firelight. A huge thanks to Emily who runs the tree nursery for opening up the site to this gathering and providing such a lovely opportunity to get creative together.
Thank you to everyone who came, contributed food, shared stories, painted, listened, and helped shape the day. Here’s some of the photos from Beltain…
