Thoughts and ideas shared in blog form here…
Reflecting on the Autumn Equinox: A Season for Letting Go and Showing Up
The Autumn Equinox is a time for letting go, but also showing up. We spent a beautiful evening around the fire together and though the sunset wasn’t quite as spectacular as last years, it was still a beautifully nourishing evening. So engaging, we failed to take many photos actually, so here you can find pictured an image of the vegan cheesecake with homemade mulberry jam we enjoyed for dessert. It was delightful.
Completing the Wheel: Reflections on our Lughnasadh (Lammas) Gathering
This year's Lughnasadh gathering marked something significant: our eighth Seasonal Gathering and the completion of our first full turn of the Wheel of the Year together.
A year ago, these gatherings were little more than an idea and a hope that there were others longing for slower, more intentional ways of marking the passing of the seasons. Sitting together on the sand dunes at Sand Bay, warmed by the sun and surrounded by familiar faces alongside newcomers, it felt like that hope has taken root.
Image credit: Esther Hall
The Ritual of Returning
A year ago, I invited a small group of people to begin marking the seasons together.
This August, as we gather for Lammas, we'll complete our first full turn of the Wheel of the Year. Eight seasonal gatherings. Eight opportunities to pause. Eight invitations to step outside, notice the changing landscape, share food, create together, reflect together and slowly build relationships within a community that didn't exist a year ago.
Looking back, I've realised that while these gatherings have been about building community, they've also slowly deepened my own understanding of the mission I’m on.
Image credit: Esther Hall
Reflecting on the Summer Solstice Gathering
Last weekend we gathered to mark the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year and a seasonal invitation to pause and take stock of the journey so far. With the sun making a full appearance for the Solstice, we made the decision to leave our usual spot on the beach and gather beneath the shade of the woodland at the beach’s edge. It proved to be a beautiful setting, offering shelter from the heat while still keeping us connected to the landscape that has become home to these seasonal circles.
Image credit: Esther Hall
Summertime Simple Pleasures…You’re Invited to International Picnic Day
International Picnic Day is Thursday 18th June and you’re invited to join me for one of life’s simplest pleasures…a picnic in the park.
Image credit: Esther Hall
Reflecting on Beltain at WeSee Trees
Beltain asks us to consider what makes us feel alive. To mark this seasonal festival we brought life and colour to the WeSee Trees Community Tree Nursery, shared a delicious meal, connected with new faces and learned more about the local happenings across Weston.
Image credit: Emily Burnell
Reflecting on Ostara
We marked the Spring Equinox to the sound of the waves and the warmth of a fire on Sunday evening. Creating space for reflecting on what’s beginning to emerge for us as we move through this year. There’s something really special about taking time to pause and reflect, especially in community with others.
Image credit: Esther Hall
Beltain at WeSEE Trees: A Celebration of Growth, Colour and Community
Beltain invites us to reflect on what makes us feel alive, what we nurture in our lives and what we steward with care. It feels like the perfect seasonal festival to gather in a place that embodies all of that. We’re teaming up with WeSEE Trees, a community seed nursery in the Maltlands area of Weston-super-Mare. Assisted by Weston Town Council, community members, with Emily Burnell at the heart of the project, are working with North Somerset Council to transform the disused plot next to Maltlands Play Area into a space for growing trees from seed, caring for them and preparing them to be planted across the town and wider region in the future.
Image credit: Esther Hall (Emily Burnell photographed)
Welcoming the Light: Gathering at the Spring Equinox
The Spring Equinox marks the moment in the year when day and night are held in near balance. In the Northern Hemisphere, it signals the beginning of astronomical spring and the gradual return of longer, lighter days.
After the quieter months of winter, this seasonal turning point offers a natural opportunity to pause and notice the shift taking place around us. Buds have begun to appear, evenings stretch a little further and there is often a renewed sense of energy and possibility in the air.
Image credit: Squarespace stock image
Reflecting on Imbolc
Imbolc asks us to notice the first stirrings of energy shifting around us, and inside us. As we approach spring with lighter days, more energy and the first sparks of life making themselves known, Imbolc provides a moment to reflect on what is beginning to start within us that we’ll soon bring into fruition in the months ahead?
Image credit: Esther Hall
The Wheel of the Year: Remembering How to Live in Season
Most of us live by a calendar that has very little to do with how life actually moves.
We mark time by deadlines, school terms, tax years, and diary appointments. The months pass, the seasons change, and often we barely notice. We feel out of sync, tired in winter when we think we “should” be productive, restless in summer without knowing why, and slightly unmoored from any real sense of natural rhythm. The Wheel of the Year offers a different way to mark time. One that is rooted in the earth, the seasons, and the steady, reliable turning of nature.
Image credit: Squarespace stock image
Why We Mark Imbolc
One thing I find endlessly fascinating is learning how many of our modern traditions are essentially mashups of cultural practices layered over centuries. Humans have always sought meaning and connection, weaving folklore and mythology steeped in seasonal wisdom to make sense of everything from weather patterns to fertility, loss, and renewal.
Image credit: Esther Hall
Why We Mark the Winter Solstice
As the year draws to its quiet close, we gather to mark the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year and the turning point toward the returning light. Across cultures and centuries, this has been a time to pause, reflect, and honour both the darkness and the promise of renewal.
Image credit: Squarespace stock image
Why We Gather at Samhain: Remembering Together
As the year turns and the light begins to fade, we find ourselves standing at a threshold: the space between autumn and winter, life and death, what has been and what is yet to come. Across centuries and cultures, this time has always been understood as one of reflection, remembrance and renewal.
Here in the northern hemisphere, Samhain marks the end of the harvest season and the beginning of the darker half of the year. It is a moment to pause, to take stock and turn inward to honour the cycles of life that hold us all.
Image credit: Squarespace stock image
TML Gatherings - The Autumn Equinox
To mark the Autumn Equinox we held a gathering on the beach, connecting with nature and welcoming the seasonal changes as we looked towards the darker months of the year. We were blessed with a calm breeze and a nearly cloudless sky to enjoy a meditative nature walk, the creation of a nature-based art installation and a bring-and-share feast around the fire. We reflected on our experiences of the year so far and gave ourselves permission to be present with ourselves, each other and the sounds of the waves as high tide rolled in.
Image credit: Sammy Hill