Our Imbolc weekend at Denmark Farm was imbued with magic. Crisp frosts, full moon and glowing sunsets all arrived into the wonderment. “When’s the next one?” was the parting cry. So I’m excited to say Denmark Farm is now booked for another rich weekend. This time seasonal rhythms tell us the year will be waning. Maybe still feeling the summer glow, yet feeling the earlying evenings gathering us in. Those darkened months await on the horizon, whispering of introspection, remembering the years’ stories, thanking the years’ harvests, and asking ‘what is to be shed and what is to be carried into the lean months?’
Alas, along with the joys, each year faithfully brings more sorrows and bleak forecasts. And while turbulent changes are escalating, change itself is not new. What is fairly new, is straining alone en masse. Collectively, composting grief with song, dance, language, ritual and beauty has lived long in the spiralling of human culture. This knowledge lurks in our memory, ready to sing a song that weaves our kind back into relationship with the wider circle of life. So this is my bid, to approach the shift into the leaner months with a cwtching closer, voices raised, eyes and ears attentive to the last bursts of summers swell and glow.
Each day, our ancient sun rises in the east, illuminating a new day and radiating sustenance for all earth dwellers to live by…then returns, spent, back to earth in the west, reminding us that all who agree to live must also agree to turn back to earth. And so our days of song will be shaped to orient our attention towards more than us, honouring the web of reciprocal relationships we’re gathered into. Gayano will be back at the heart of all our meals, loving conjurer of tasty wholesome nourishment, organic and locally sourced as far as possible. Early morning greetings of a wakening world; singing sessions morning and early evening; afternoons offering space to carry our voices and other gifts onto the land, or rest if needed; evenings cosied by burning logs sharing stories, poems, and musical delights.
