Contents of 2008 news

• You are invited to join us at our Spring Equinox celebration 11.30 - 2.00pm Sunday 23rd March at Fromus Valley, north Suffolk
• Awakening to Nature's 'Wheel of the Year' (tune into your rising energy this spring)
• Orchard Barn - Sarah writes about the evolution of the project
• Kaaren Whitney's Spring Equinox
• Hints of Spring and Vision of Promise by Andrea Gibbons
• More Spring Equinox poems

Join us and celebrate Spring Equinox

11.30 - 2.00pm on Sunday 23rd March, Spring Equinox ritual at Fromus Valley (beautiful, undulating, water meadows with avenue and ancient mound - great for meditation, North Suffolk) optional shared picnic afterwards. Email for more information about ritual/directions

Equal day. Equal night. Balance. Poised to step into Spring.

Awakening to Nature's 'Wheel of the Year'

It's the 16th March and the pond is alive with the sound of croaking. Mounds of frogspawn are emerging.

At the top of the garden at Sanctuary, the rooks are back - busy restoring their nests with newly gathered twigs. They are great community birds - everytime one of them drops a contribution to the bedroom - they all have to hear about it. I like their closeness, their raucousness and family spirit.

Baby animals are emerging. The delicate white violets are flowering in the lane that leads to Orchard Barn. The buds on the trees are poised, preparing the way for a new mantle of green.

So, as the creatures of earth, air and water prepare for their new cycle, you might like to ask yourself what creative project you would like to 'birth' this year. AND just in case you are wondering - 'creativity' doesn't have to be expressed in terms of babies! It can be any new project - maybe of an artistic nature, professional or personal development.

Try this exercise to awaken to/tune into your rising spring energy and creativity.

Place your back against a tree and tune into the earths' energy; settle into just being with the trees and the earth. Clear away anything that you may have 'carried' from your everyday existence so that you can be fully in this experience. Ask the essence of Spring for guidance/insights into what this new cycle holds for you. Breathe in some of the rising Spring energy and when you breathe out - consciously release any 'residue' left over from the Winter. Ask the Earth to 'recycle' this residue, and appreciate all that is given freely from Nature. With every new breath, affirm your most positive wishes for this new cycle, and in doing so feel the 'seeds' of your new self circulate with your breath around your body to every cell of your being. Arise and feel renewed in mind, body and spirit. A new cycle has begun. Welcome Spring.

Orchard Barn Environmental Education Centre

At Imbolc last year, I wrote about Orchard Barn - which we hope will (in the fullness of time) become a larger Sanctuary - for day retreats and workshops. The barn is set in 1.25 acres of 'antique' orchard/woodland - the 1838 Tithe map of the area shows that it was Orchard at that time! It is a very special site that was in danger of being bull-dozed by a developer. As well as the traditonal orchard, it has a large old pond and wonderfully diverse hedge-rows. The site meets 3 Biodiversity Action Plans and deserves to be preserved and improved for the benefit of wildlife and human enjoyment, not flattened, tarmaced and sanitised!

We have obtained permission to repair the barn using green oak and traditional building techniques, but are still talking with the planners about developing the site into a self-sufficient eco-centre. In the Summer of 2007, a group of us registered as a Social Enterprise. We are a Community Interest Company - OBee CIC. Environmental Education is our main objective. The CIC is fund-raising to buy the site (it currently belongs to me - Sarah, and is only for sale to the CIC for the purposes stated in their memorandum). The Social Enterprise will then manage the development and run the centre. Until we get to that stage, we have been focused on getting to know the land, trees and wildlife - finding out what is there. It is with great delight that white violets have been noted growing there.

Many of you have been out to help clear some of the 40 years growth of bramble. Thank-you for your time, energy and enthuisiasm. It has been invaluable. AND there is still much to do!

The land has yielded a second pond, mature Hollys, 2 Walnut, Pear and several elderly Apple trees. AND much to our delight several live and currently flowering Elms. Before last year, I had never seen Elms flower, they are pink and fluffy - a bit like me when I'm all fired up and ready for action!

Much of the southern end of the plot will remain a wild and inpenetrable area, but then that may be no bad thing. We have now cleared round the barn itself, but are now faced with keeping on top of the nettles and brambles. We are using hand tools, preferring to use human energy and build up muscle rather than noisy, polluting fossil fuel. There are many benefits to working this way - not least the fact that we can hear each other and work together as a team, rather than in mechanical isolation with ear-defenders, goggles and masks!

The barn is at Ringshall, just 5 miles south of Stowmarket and 6 miles from Offton. According to the history books, 'Rings-hall' is the site of a 'vanished, ancient circular monument'.

If you would like to get involved with the project we would really appreciate your help/encouragement/support. We are planning to encorporate many eco-features into the centre. If you have any experience of sustainable building and/or renewable energy systems w'd love to hear from you.

On a practical level your help would be very welcome with chomping away at the brambles. It's a great way to access nature, get fitter and generally feel connected to the land and community. Warm hearts/fire/hot soup, community and connection offered in exchange for your time, energy and support. Please email Sarah to find out when the next community clearing party is.

 

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