Watering the Soul
Hello 2023
I hesitated about giving this post a title: Happy New Year? Not quite right for me - I see the end of my creative year at the end of October with Samhain, the time where I have harvested any writing / walking / art projects and am starting to dream new ones into being.
Part of that first dreaming and planting of intentions happened for me when I was very lucky to be able to go to the Chalice Well in Glastonbury, for their beautiful Winter Solstice celebrations. It was already busy in the gardens when I arrived at about 11.30am on Wednesday 21st December, so after queuing up for a cup of coffee and a delicious chocolate brownie, I immediately made my way up to the well head, which had been wonderfully dressed for the solstice.
I was lucky to get a place to stand, tucked in by the path just above the well, which was already surrounded by many people sat and stood around it, waiting for the midday bell to ring and the meditation to begin. Stood under the trees, listening to the birds sing, with so many other people, and with prayers and readings, is a life-affirming and communal way to mark these turning points in the year, and worth the journey.
Afterwards, the door leading to The Cressfield opened, and I was lucky enough to be stood just by it, so I was one of the first to enter through it. In this space, boundaried on one side by a steep hill, a Cretan labyrinth had been expertly drawn out for us to walk in and around. What a perfect sequence of events to mark the Winter Solstice!
My fascination with labyrinths continues to grow, and has been a significant part of my writing for many years, including my 2015 pamphlet ~clew~, published by Hesterglock Press. I will definitely be focusing on labyrinths again this year in some way.
And although I see the year as a cycle from Samhain to Samhain, the beginning of January still feels like the start of something. It is a new calendar year where all kinds of possibilities beckon. So, it’s Hello to 2023, a warm greeting to this 12 months, where all and anything might and could occur! I’m thankful to welcome it in over the threshold, after a very challenging 2022.
I’m also looking forward to starting my new series of writing workshops, The Writing Well, next Monday 9th January, online via Zoom. If you have signed up you will be hearing from me very soon! There are a couple of spaces left, so if you are interested in 90 minutes a week, of relaxed writing and discussion, focusing on the writing as a process in and of itself, please message me to book.
Happy 2023 - may it be full of peace, joy, creativity and contentment for us all.
