by Sara Hudston Saints used to be common as blackberries in England. Every rural parish had them, a wild-grown mix of sweet and sharp characters, carrying the heady, slightly winey tang of older religions. These were small, unfamous saints whose holy places were natural features – springs, wells, groves or caves – that had been […]
Author: Anna Leach
England’s first women-only physic garden: from dream to reality
by Rachel Anderson and Cis O’Boyle Stretching along the curve of the Leeds to Liverpool canal in the heart of the postindustrial town of Nelson, Lancashire, something vital is growing. Born of necessity, as austerity and care-less governments cut all in their path, women feel the blow. Carrying the weight of extra worry, of scarcity, […]
Answer the call
by Emma Wallace Seven years ago I doodled a mountain on a piece of paper and I couldn’t understand what it was. Now I live on that mountain, laying the foundation stones of a modern-day abbey and stronghold. This is how I got here. My friend Sarah, a writer, gives me a word of advice. […]
My post-heroic journey: Tiu de Haan
After starting out in the music business, Tiu de Haan has forged her own unique path. From starting a non-profit to connect children and their parents to playing in nature, she now creates rituals to help people connect to themselves and each other (her TEDx talk explains more about this). We met on her beautifully white […]
Let’s reclaim Easter from the chocolate companies and revive traditional games
By Joanna Gilar I am an unapologetic enthusiast for festive happenings; for all spaces in which we grant ourselves permission to pause in our business, turn towards cyclical time and make magic in a great concord. Even though it is the colourful earthiness of older rites to which I would be drawn by inclination; even […]
Finding a sense of belonging among the hardy plants and canyons of New Mexico
by Kiva Rose Hardin “Myth is not much to do with the past, but a kind of magical present that can flood our lives when the conditions are just so. It is not just the neurosis of us humans trying to fathom our place on earth, but sometimes the earth actually speaking back to us. […]
My post-heroic journey: Hen Anderson
Hen Anderson established Spindlebrook No-dig Farm near Dartmoor and was part of the Save our Woods campaign which successfully prevented the privatisation of the public forest estate in 2012. She lives in a yurt on her farm with her partner Leo. What’s your life like at the moment? At the moment I’m living my dream, a […]
Singing with our ancestors: connecting to landscape through song
By Emily Heuvel I have always been a singer. I was born in the Scottish Highlands, and one of my earliest memories is of sitting on the swing in my garden, singing about the hills and the birds – about what I could see. That’s how it has always been. Traditional music was forged from […]
Nature v technology: do we have to choose?
by Bernadette Smart Nature seems to jar against the synthetic metal and plastic of technology, but as with all apparent polarities, there is another way of seeing things. Taking the route that both respects nature and positively utilises technology could unite two opposing forces, and harness this union for the greatest good of all. Technology, […]
My post-heroic journey: Paul Powlesland
We are starting a series of interviews with those exploring “post-heroic” lives as described by Sharon Blackie as the eco-heroine’s or eco-hero’s journey. The first is Paul Powlesland, a 32-year-old barrister, boat community builder and tree protector, who has embarked on a non-conventional, non-linear life journey leading him to connect to the land and rivers […]