(Nimue) The need for re-enchantment is an idea that comes up in both Pagan and environmental contexts. Our lack of enchantment as a species, and our lack of care are causing us to destroy the living world. If you are exploring re-enchantment, then there are a number of things to consider. Firstly, who or what do you think needs enchanting? It is all too easy to create the impression that we humans are the ones who have to bring magic to the landscape. That can feed into ideas about human dominance. The land does not need enchanting, it needs us to see the life and beauty that already exists. I ..read more

(David) I lived upon the sea. Knew the freedom of salt air in my lungs, salt wind in my hair, the violent exhilaration of flirting with death. I stood high on the bow as it thumped and soared and thumped and thumped and soared, and struggled to breathe at the stern as it plunged under and plunged, and stayed, and stayed under, and laughed with maniacal glee when we broke surface eventually. I really lived upon the sea. And I lived upon the land. Survived courses when survival meant more than just passing the course. Ate things I would rather not even touch and went further than I ever thought ..read more

(Nimue) One of the easiest ways to make a group more inclusive, is not to set the bar high when it comes to attendance. When you demand high levels of commitment from people, there are groups you are very likely to end up excluding, even if that isn’t the intention. People dealing with illness and disability can be in really unpredictable situations and often also struggle with unreliable energy. Anyone with caring responsibilities can have a hard time making commitments. Anyone with an unstable work situation will also struggle – which tends to go with being badly paid. Flexibility gets a lo ..read more

(Nimue) In winter, the bedroom window has a view of the nearby stream, which we greatly appreciate. In summer, the leaves on the trees enclose the space and it feels like living in a secluded treehouse. Both are lovely. It would be easy enough to go the other way, lamenting the loss of the stream view in the summer, or bemoaning in the winter the visibility of nearby houses. It isn’t always the case that we shape our realities with our choices, but sometimes that really is the case. In terms of everyday life, our choices about what we focus on have a huge impact. When you don’t have a lot of g ..read more

(Nimue) Small my antlers, swift my hoofs Tangled summer flowers in unkempt hair Birdsong shimmering on my lips Moss rolling, bark chewing exuberance Raucous barking in the moonlight With voice of doe or vixen Rough, uncanny music. Happy to leave, flitting unapologetic Beyond the reach of responsibilities And other people’s rules. When I had antlers and belonged Only to the leafy beech woods Mine the bounty of windflower and bluebell Crows my friends and owls too Dawn and twilight my domain In the spell of blackbird melodies No need to explain myself Living in wonder and beauty A secret wandere ..read more

(Nimue) I’m not a great believer in magic bullets, but in terms of interventions that could radically improve everything, Universal Basic Income (UBI) has always struck me as a likely candidate. If we gave everyone enough to live on, many issues would simply disappear. Every study of UBI in action has shown all kinds of benefits, including increased earnings from employed work too, reduced crime, reduced hospital admissions and more. It’s easy to find information about this online if you are curious. At the moment, the ‘labour market’ is badly skewed by the far that most people are a paycheck ..read more

(Nimue) The title of ‘Druid’ is one that suggests authority. Sometimes it feels more comfortable to say ‘I am on the Druid path’ instead, and not deal with that aspect of it. I spend a lot of my time deliberately avoiding presenting myself as an authority figure. I talk about what I’m doing, and how that’s going, in a your-mileage-may-vary sort of way. I write a lot of these posts assuming that readers are in a fairly similar position to me and just like finding out what others are up to. Sometimes it feels necessary to take a firmer stance and speak with more authority. I only do that when I ..read more

(Nimue) During April, The Folk of Gloucester is hosting a Ukrainian festival. This has been put together by Robin Burton – who I’ve worked with on a number of things, and who sings with Carnival of Cryptids. The festival has multiple aims. One is to raise awareness of Ukraine’s struggles. Some of the art on display directly reflects this.  The event is also giving people a chance to find out about Ukrainian culture and traditions, and giving Ukrainian refugees in the UK the chance to come together and share in those traditions. Putin isn’t just trying to invade Ukraine. Russia has a long ..read more

(Nimue) For many years now, I’ve been following a blog called Your Rainforest Mind. Paula Prober works with gifted young people, and also supports the adults they eventually become. I started following because it was helpful to me as a parent. Over the years I’ve seen her talk about many things that I recognise in my friends, and just occasionally, things that are familiar to me, as well. One thing she’s come back to repeatedly is the way in which bright kids can be shamed by adults for being clever. Using ‘know it all’ and similar terms as a criticism and a put down makes clever kids anxious ..read more

This is the new cover for a madcap speculative novel of mine – Spells for the Second Sister – that you can find in my ko-fi store. https://ko-fi.com/s/f312aa059a It came out last year with an entirely different cover that didn’t have much colour. I’ve seen at events over the winter that people weren’t even picking it up to look at the back, where books with stronger colours on them get a lot more attention, which was a significant motivation for the new look. I like colour. A lot of my fiction books have comedic elements – this one certainly does and I think brighter visual approaches better ..read more