At last spring has come and across all our different cultures and traditions similar themes arise as it brings hope. We celebrate renewal of the green, and re-emergence of all creatures great and small after the winter of lockdown and hibernation. From worms and frogs to caterpillars and……massage therapists! In Impossible Darkness Do you know how the caterpillar turns? Do you remember what happens inside a cocoon? You liquefy. There in the thick black of your self-spun womb, void as the moon before waxing, you melt (as Christ did for three days in the tomb) conceiving in impossible darkne ..read more

The force that through the green fuse drives the flower Drives my green age; that blasts the roots of trees Is my destroyer. And I am dumb to tell the crooked rose My youth is bent by the same wintry fever. Dylan Thomas On first glance this poem speaks of youth, hope and strength, a force for growth, like the arrival of spring, energising nature to re-emerge after winter. The poem expresses how this insistence toward growth may sometimes be matched with a resistance, or a sense of being stuck. When this arises, gently orienting towards yielding and flexibility allows the path toward growth to ..read more

The Three Friends of Winter The Three Friends of Winter are the Pine, the Bamboo and the Plum. They do not wither in winter, but endure, to remind us that all is not lost. Bamboo provides shelter, and soothing sounds in the breeze, pine provides welcome fragrance in the cold air, and soon the Plum Blossom joins in, it’s sweetness deepening with the illuminating touch of the winter sun, bringing to the eyes a splash of firey brightness in a sombre landscape. I hope that deepest darkest winter finds you well now that the festivities have come to a close. My visiting friends have returned to Engl ..read more

‘The harvest moon has come, Booming softly through heaven, like a bassoon. And the earth replies all night, like a deep drum…’  ~ Ted Hughes, ‘Harvest Moon’ In the Chinese five element theory late summer is the season of Earth element, which represents ‘manifestation’. In the turning of the seasons plants grow from seed in winter, to sprout in spring, to flower in summer and finally in late summer growth comes to fruition and we have our harvest, both of crops and of fruits & nuts of the tress and hedgerow. Likewise with our day to day lives, the completion of the process of creativi ..read more

It’s a little late to be posting this really, I saw my first snowdrops 10 days ago, but having spoken to a friend who is sad just now, and patiently but painfully awaiting a little lightness of being, I felt moved to share it here again. It’s timely too, as yesterday was the new moon in Aquarius, heralding the shift from the Age of Pisces, nebulous and mutable, to the presence, grounding and connection of the Age of Aquarius. And if that’s not enough it’s also Chinese New Year! By this model we are beginning the Year of the Ox, symbolic of hardworking attitudes. Tibetan New Year, Losar, is als ..read more

Ah, to dwell on the positive moments of my day! This has been one of the joys that my mindfulness practice has brought, and particularly during lockdown which has offered so many more peaceful moments in my environment, despite the difficulties of these times. These words are from the head of my MSc course at Aberdeen Uni, Studies in Mindfulness. Thank you Graeme! TCELT-International Network of Transitions Researchers Graeme Nixon Coronavirus has brought with it anxiety, stress, fear, suffering and bereavement. It has also brought many to reflection, new perspectives, altruism and commo ..read more

Seven Touches (which are permitted during lockdown) touch stone, touch strength (boulder, building, pebble) touch grass, touch gratitude (hillside, garden, park) touch blossom, touch blessing (daffodill, primrose, gorse) touch catkin, touch caress (hazel, willow, birch) touch tree trunk, touch time (pine, rowan, oak) touch water, touch witness (burn, loch, kyle) touch leaf, touch life (hawthorn, sorrel, dock) Alison Roe – coronapoem – Spring 2020, Scotland ..read more