Nature Notebook: Beltane Blessings
Ways to celebrate and journalprompts
Somehow it appears to be May. I know it’s May because the swifts have reappeared. My tomato plants are starting to look like actual plants and not just puny little seedlings. The nettles at the allotment have suddenly shot up (I feel another cake coming on). My tulips and daffs are fading, but the cow parsley is frothing and the crab apples along the lane are bursting with candy pink and white blooms. Despite all this, I still can’t quite believe it’s May already!
Wednesday was May Day, otherwise known as Beltane, the mid-point between Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice. So this weekend, why not take some time out to celebrate the abundance of spring and the emergence of summer. Go for a walk and look for bluebells, light a fire, hug a tree (go onnnn!) and get your journal out. I’ve included some prompts below to help you…
Beltane Journaling Prompts
Make a list of all the things you have been noticing in nature lately. Maybe you could write a poem consisting of all the things you saw in April, like the collaborative poems
shares in her newsletters.What have you enjoyed most about spring? Make a list of your highlights.
What are you most looking forward to this summer? Is there anything you’d really like to do?
What do you have to thank nature for, in this moment?
Make a pledge! What do you pledge to do this summer? Make a commitment and set a date in your calendar for a month’s time to check in on your pledge.
What have you been missing lately and how can you rekindle it?
If you were to light a Beltane fire, what would you burn? Is there anything you’d like to let go of?
This Sunday is International Dawn Chorus Day, “the worldwide celebration of nature's greatest symphony. All across the world people rise early to revel in the sweet sound of birdsong, from rattling wrens in Rotherham to crooning cowbirds in the Caribbean”.
Wildlife Trusts (quoted above) are hosting a bunch of events where you can get out to a local green space and enjoy the dawn cacophony. Though as they say, “you don't have to head out to a nature reserve, you can always just open your window - and listen...”
Become a member of Wild South London
If you live in South London, I’m so pleased to say that you can now join Wild South London Community as a member.
Wild South London is a Community Group I set up last year with some other brilliant nature enthusiasts.
Our purposes are:
To provide education and learning opportunities for our members and the wider public, relating to all wildlife existing in the South London area.
To raise awareness and promote the conservation and biodiversity of wildlife.
To promote and raise awareness of sustainable foraging.
To build awareness of how wildlife and its habitats are being impacted by a changing climate.
To promote the health and wellbeing benefits of engaging with nature and the group’s activities.
To contribute towards the records of wildlife in South London.
To carry out all of the above in a way that is inclusive to the diversity of people in South London. We recognise that some people experience disadvantage and exclusion because of their identity. We strive to be an inclusive organisation that recognises and tries to overcome barriers to participation.
Membership is just £10 per year for adults and there is no fee for youth members (under 18s). We do not want money to be a barrier to becoming a member, so please contact us if you would like to become a Wild South London member but would struggle to pay the fee. Membership will be a rolling annual subscription, which will renew automatically unless you opt out.
By becoming a member and supporting our work, you will not only be helping to keep our events free for all, but you’ll also be an active part of the Wild South London Community. All Members will be invited to our Annual General Meeting (summer date tbc) where you will be able to vote on the direction of the group and have a say in the kind of events we run. You will also receive email updates on events before anybody else and you’ll be sent our Wild South London digital, printable calendar featuring original illustrations by me, as well as occasional other benefits.
If you have any questions, please just send us an email at wildsouthlondon@gmail.com
Join Wild South London as a member here or follow us on Instagram here.
Scotland's catching up... our swifts, swallows and house martins have found their way home and the verges are starting to froth and sparkle. Most exciting for me today was to hear a grasshopper warbler ( doing its unmistakable impression of said insect) exactly where I heard one last year. Maybe I'll even be lucky enough to see it this year?
This is beautiful.