January Newsletter
First of all, Happy New Year! Although January's well underway, I want to wish you a happy 2022 and hope that it's going well for you so far.
Looking back to December's newsletter, did you make a festive wreath over the Christmas break for Yule? Thanks to those of you who sent in your photos of your beautiful creations. I absolutely loved seeing how you got on with this lovely practice to mark Yule and the Winter Solstice. If, like me, you felt reluctant to throw away your wreath once it began to look a bit sad, I highly recommend keeping the willow frame and redecorating it with ivy and other foraged finds to celebrate Imbolc.
The next important event in the Wheel of the Year is Imbolc (pronounced Immolc) which falls on the 1st and 2nd February 2022. The word Imbolc originally meant 'in the belly' referring to how the land is pregnant with new life, just waiting to emerge upon the onset of Spring. At this time of the year we start to see Spring bulbs emerging and the first flowers braving the frosty conditions. If you want to know where to see snowdrops this February, highly recommend visiting Wye Valley Sculpture Gardens in Tintern, South Wales. If you live in Bristol, it's well worth the short half an hour journey to see these delicate blooms brave the cold and be some of the first to provide a vital nectar source for bees.
The Wheel of the Year is an historic Pagan and Neopagan calendar that looks o the skies to help us organise our year - from the solstices (longest and shortest days) to the equinoxes (the days when in the Northern hemisphere we see equal daylight and darkness), accompanied by festivals such as Imboc to mark important points in the year which often correspond to the Christian calendar of festivities.
Celebrating a new year on the Spring (or Vernal) Equinox - 20th March - when we have equal daylight and darkness, feels pretty sensible to me. Many animals will also be emerging from their Winter dormancy around this time of year, signalled to awaken with the lighter, longer days. My Ecoliteracy for Educators course is rooted in the Wheel of the Year and will begin in the astronomical Spring on 20th March.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this newsletter.
As ever, feel free to connect over on social media: @foxfirelearning or email: hello@foxfirelearning.com
For now, take care, don’t forget marvel at nature and see you next month!
With love and gratitude,
Charly
