Wanders and Wonders

Beautiful Berries and their Shadows

Greetings from a decidedly autumnal feeling Kent this week!

Last week seemed to be a harvest of wondrous extremes: walks, woods, weddings, wise women and the plain weird and wonderful.

After a simple, low key wedding of an old friend during the day at a local spiritualist church where I sang tunelessly along to some childhood favourites and thought 'Her' Not 'Him', I headed off to Margate to meet friends for a previously arranged paranormal investigation - luckily the bride has known me for over 20 years and was very understanding and actually quite envious! 

Despite grounding at my altar in the morning, on arrival I sat and re-centred

Beautiful Ceiling 

myself again, asking Goddess to walk with me, to guide my instincts and intuition and to protect me throughout the night at the Theatre Royal. I often see or sense things but have yet to make any real sense of it all, it appears to be a gift that I have yet to master and as much as it fascinates me, there are occassions when it terrifies me in equal measure! Luckily my path has recently introduced me to some gifted mediums who I have started to work with  in synchronicity and safety. The decorated domed ceiling reminded me of the wheel of the year and I used it to help me refocus and to draw some strength on a few occasions! It was quite an eventful night - something pinched my bottom, twice for good measure, we all experienced some very odd energies and the group came away with some very odd photographs and I felt I had made a breakthrough in trusting my instincts, sharing similar sensations and thoughts with people more experienced than me. I definitely felt that my gift has started to develop and grow a little. A couple of people commented on the amount of energy coming from me, I think we know where that comes from! 

Elderberries

After a rather long and much needed lie in, investigations always drain me, I decided to completely re-energise and centre by taking myself off for a long leisurely walk in the local fields and woodland. Immersed in the peace and quiet, wandering through the paths I've come to know so well, I realised with a jolt that the seeds and fruits of Mabon are nearly on us again, all the trees proudly bearing their fruit and seeds to continue their progeny. 

Just when it seems that summer is here, the wheel turns again and the land starts yielding its second harvest and starts thinking ahead to its regrowth even if we are still enjoying the sun and some lazy holidays. Strolling through the tranquil woodland pondering some ideas for this

Tranquil Pathways

artwork I am doing for a friend, as well as a dream to have a small exhibition of my own to somehow illustrate my own journey of discovery; I was taken with the different textures, layers and colours of the land - the round shiny bead like berries, the rough cracked patterns of the trees and their bark, as well as the floating translucent leaves that shade and dapple the pathways. I'd been a little frustrated that I couldn't quite get the inspiration I was looking for to depict the world from my particular path, looking at this beautiful canvas of nature with imperfect shapes of leaves, irregularities of the trunks or bark and the variety of shades in the berries, I was reminded by Goddess yet again of the perfection in Her non uniformity and felt She was urging me to celebrate the differences, the

Cow Parsley Seeds

contrasts and the individuality. All reinforcing the lessons I had learned last week about concepts of what art is and the importance being on the creative process..

Soon I was snapping away with my camera, taking pictures of the sky, the trees and the woodland, ideas for collages, 3D and multi dimensional art work fizzing away in my mind, much to the consternation of some woodcutters busy at work coppicing who clearly thought I was either crazy or stalking them! Even the patterns and markings around me seemed inspiring such as the delicate stripes on these cow parsley seeds. Feeling like I'd had an artistic harvest all of my own, my mind loaded with inspiration from the rich pickings of nature,

Circle at the top of the mound

 I found myself heading to the mound in the woods for some quiet reflection. Luckily there were no motor bikes or ramblers at all, so I had the place all to myself to enjoy the special atmosphere it exudes. I still haven't got to the bottom of it's origins, another item on my to do list. The trees have grown a lot since my last visit and it feels more secluded and secret, much to my delight. The path is very defined, clearly lots of people come and visit for whatever reason, a recent fire pit proof of that. 

Cue a spot of spontaneous arm waving and then meditating, if anybody had strolled past they might have had a bit of a shock but I haven't heard any reports of a mad lady in Amsbury Woods on facebook so it really looks like for a short while I had it all to myself! Armed with a cornucopia of ideas (I wrote them down as soon as I got in) I plan to have a very busy and creative week !

Have a Blessed Week x x