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name change blog post

The Religion Beat blog has changed its name to Holly of the Woods!

March 11, 2021

About me

January 29, 2020

holly chetan-welsh portrait start here

New? Start here!

January 29, 2020

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If you find yourself half naked and barefoot in th

If you find yourself half naked
and barefoot in the frosty grass, hearing,
again, the earth's great, sonorous moan that says
you are the air of the now and gone, that says
all you love will turn to dust,
and will meet you there, do not
raise your fist. Do not raise
your small voice against it. And do not
take cover. Instead, curl your toes
into the grass, watch the cloud
ascending from your lips. Walk
through the garden's dormant splendor.
Say only, thank you.
Thank you.

- Ross Gay

#poetrygram #rossgay #healingwithwords #soulwisdom

Winter begins to recede. In the belly of the eart

Winter begins to recede.

In the belly of the earth,
Life has been growing.

Outwardly, you lay low all winter
But within, you have been molten magma
A once-caterpillar-not-yet-butterfly’s gooey centre

Soon, you will burst forth
Soon, you will bud and blossom.

May you release yourself to be changed
May you trust that you are strong enough
May you remember that you once were
Many old skins,
And you survived the changes then
May you feel, beneath the wriggling discomfort
Of ill-fitting garments
That deep within you
Is an unchanging place
Which always knows which way is up
Always rights itself
Is always well.

So greet this Imbolc sun
Hear him saying ‘take heart’
‘Draw courage from my warmth,
Which travels the long miles of space
To warm you back to life’.

And hear the earth say ‘see the dance of my snowdrops!
And the eye-sweetening yellow of my witch hazel!
They are heralds of all the beauty to come
Not least, my love - your own.’

Blessed Brigid’s day, blessed Imbolc. 🌿

____________

#brigid #imbolc #imbolcblessings #blessedimbolc #wheeloftheyear #springiscoming #springvibes #sunshine #springsunshine #encouragingquotes #poetsofig #witchy #witchyvibes

INSTRUCTIONS FOR A WOODLAND WALK: If a tiny white

INSTRUCTIONS FOR A WOODLAND WALK:

If a tiny white feather dances across your path, follow it
If you hear the hammering of a woodpecker further into the trees, go deeper
If a fallen branch or squat stump offers itself to you, sit
If a standing tree greets you, greet it back
And if you pass a grove of Beech-sisters on your journey, turn aside to visit with them
If mud glistens on your path, lavish your boots with it as though it were pure nard
If the sun escapes from behind clouds for just a few seconds, drop everything and bathe in it
If a robin hops onto your picnic table, throw it a crumb and sit very still while it dines with you
Do these things often.

#walking #walkingmeditation #richmondpark #woodlandwalk #woodlandwalks #nature #sacrednature #winterwalks #imbolc #imbolcapproaches #naturepoetry #pagan #spiritualitymatters #interfaithminister #woodpecker #mindfulwalking #simpleselfcare #natureasmr #asmroutdoors

January is so often defined by what it isn’t. I

January is so often defined by what it isn’t.

It’s not fun or festive like December. Nor is it bright and breezy like the spring months to come.

For many of us, it’s a month to survive. (And trust me, if that’s what you do this January, darling, that’s more than enough.)

However, here’s an invitation for you.

In winter, trees don’t grow - they sleep and store their sap. Seeds rest in the rich dark earth, preparing for the burst of energy they’ll need to sprout in spring. Squirrels save their energy for dashes to their hidden nut stores (if they can find them). In January, nature rests.

December is often full and frenetic. It can be beautiful. But in January, we might just be able to do as nature is doing - rest.

If that sounds good to you, resist the urge to start something new just because it’s the new year. Unsubscribe from a few things. Rest when and how you can. Do the bare minimum. Accept Good Enough from yourself (imagine!). For example, I know that this really should be a reel if I want to make sure people see it, but I didn’t have the energy to make one, so I didn’t. 💁🏻‍♀️

Because when the time comes, in just a few weeks, when the crocuses are springing and the mornings are getting brighter and the birds are calling across the treetops for their new mate, you’ll be ready to heed the call of the approaching sun, and blossom.

____________

#january #januaryblues #newyear #newyearsameme #newyearreflections #rest #restisproductive #restisimportant #listentonature #winter #winterwisdom #wintervibes

Repeat after me: I am enough. I have enough. I do

Repeat after me:

I am enough.
I have enough.
I do enough.

Enough.

___________

#affirmationoftheday #affirmations #youareenough #iamenough #autumncolours #autumnleaves #autumnsun #theringsofpower #bearmcreary

Arrive. Crash down on the beaches, on the paths, o

Arrive.
Crash down on the beaches, on the paths, on the little streets, and ask them
Ask this place
To hold you.
Try to stop.
Try to be human.
Listen softly.
Think slowly.
Allow only immediate things to matter;
Sea air and this day’s agenda of pleasure.
Trust that just arriving; just crashing down here like a spent wave,
Just living as best I can these sweet and quiet days,
Is the medicine
Is sufficient
And will heal.

~~~~~
Notes from my journal last week on a break in Cornwall.

#cornwall #bodminmoor #quiettime #gentledays #holiday #beechtree

🍂 A U TU M N / D E S C E N T 🍂 Do you fear

🍂 A U TU M N / D E S C E N T 🍂

Do you fear the descent
Into the quiet dark of the year?
Do you resist the call to come down from our summer flightiness,
To land, to rest, to look to our storehouses
To be land creatures once again?

Though the mansions of your mind may have forgotten it
Your animal flesh remembers your ancestral cradle
And it whispers
‘It is time to let go’

To dance down like a crisp leaf overcome by the seductions of the wind
Or plop down, round and shining
Graceless yet joyful
Like a fat-bellied acorn

If you can brave
The sudden drop
The cold breeze

You will land
And realise,
That you know this place
This damp, soft, receptive earth

May you have the courage to shed your layers
And trust that you are well provisioned
That your inner fire will glint out into the darkness
Like a jack o lantern’s tealight eyes
Which can only glow
When night falls

May you dig your heels into the ground
And find ways to be slow
Even though the human world continues to neurotically race

May you find moments
To do nothing
To be unproductive
To risk hearing, for once,
The quiet requests of your spirit

Drop down, drop down
And take your rest

Drop down, and
Risk experiencing your own enoughness

Drop down and find that
Here in the soft dark,
You belong.

Blessed Mabon. 🍎
________
#mabon #mabonblessings #autumnequinox #autumnishere #autumnthoughts #sabbat #wheeloftheyear #naturemagic #witchythings

I truly believe that if something is important, th

I truly believe that if something is important, then it can be found in a children’s story. Which are your my treasured children’s books?

#childrensbooks #imaginationlibrary #sundaywisdom #walktwomoons #awrinkleintime #sabriel

Ah! The green smell. And the beautiful thing is,

Ah! The green smell.

And the beautiful thing is, all this green space can be found hidden in busy South London. 🥰

Text:

‘Legolas took a deep breath, like one that drinks a great draught after long thirst in barren places. “Ah! The green smell,” he said. “It is better than much sleep.”

From JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers.

____________

#naturewalk #aftertherain #tolkein #legolas #takeyourmindforawalk #walkingformentalhealth #walkingmeditation

Under the tall sun of the year’s first harvest M

Under the tall sun of the year’s first harvest
May you invite before the eyes of your heart
Everything that is calling to be gathered in
In your life.

May you count all the beautiful things that you have brought to ripeness:
The gentle hours with friends,
The works of patience and forbearance,
The difficulties overcome,
The moments of simple peace,
The heart-pounding experience of a fear faced,
And the feeling of sweet aliveness that follows.

Dear one, may you go to the labour of bringing in the sheaves
Knowing that the really hard work is already done
And after the storehouses are filled, there is rest.

May you gather in a harvest of bounty
May you set before your heart a table of plenty, and may it satisfy you

And if there are seeds that you have nurtured
Which did not come to fruit this harvesttime
May you offer yourself kindness for those unmet hopes
And may you leave space in the imagination for the possibility that they may bloom in time.

Blessed Lughnasadh!

_________

#lughnasadh #lughnasadhblessings #lammas #harvestfestival #blessings #wordwitch #wordwitchery #wheeloftheyear #celticspirituality

Have you seen it? Have you seen a curling oak lea

Have you seen it?

Have you seen a curling oak leaf dance down from a high branch, making its one glorious ballet down to earth?

Have you, when quietly sitting, heard the whoosh of a blue tit’s wing?

Have you seen a butterfly creating a shadow on a sundrenched leaf as it passes overhead?

Have you felt the slightest rustle and known that a mistle thrush tosses dried leaves in the undergrowth nearby in search of its meal?

Have you felt the subtle currents of air moving through the wood, the gentle out-breath of trees?

Have you smelt the momentary fragrance of some unknown pollen as it passes you by on the breeze?

Have you seen it? Have you seen it yet?

______________

#summerinlondon #mindfulmoments #natureworship #tootingbeccommon #tooting #mindfulwalks #summerwalks #quietmoments #dailyreflections #liveinthemoment #liveinthenow #mindfulness #meditative #naturemedicine #naturemeditation

The May tree in flower, at dusk. Belated Beltane

The May tree in flower, at dusk.

Belated Beltane blessings! On May Day, I was celebrating at a gorgeous wedding, which is an altogether appropriate celebration for Beltane.

Beltane is a popular and traditional day for hand-fastings and weddings because it is the celebration of the hieros gamos, the Sacred Marriage between the sun god and earth goddess which represents the annual peak of fecundity, growth and life across the natural world.

And, if you didn’t know, the passing of May Day means we have now entered summer in the northern hemisphere…

The time when the cow parsley grows shoulder-high and the bumblebees buzz in the hedgerows and cider tastes cold and sweet on the lips in the evening and you wish it could last forever.

Summer is here, and not a moment too soon - we will need all our powers of creativity, of growth, to birth the new world that is waiting in the wings.

____________

#mayday #beltane #handfasting #maytree #mayflower #hawthorn #dusk #hawthornblossom #hedgewitch #blessedbeltane #beltaneblessings #summerishere #maythe4thbewithyou #anewworldispossible #reproductiverights

We all notice when the leaves start to turn gold i

We all notice when the leaves start to turn gold in autumn.

But have you ever noticed how they change in colour from spring to summer? From fresh, bright yellow-green when they first flush to deep, mature green in the lazy days of August?

Impossible green. That’s my name for the green of the first flush. As in, how it is possible that the trees could be dressed in such a bold, glorious green? It’s a miracle.

Make sure to notice the impossible green of spring before it’s gone for another year.

_________

#trees #treehugger #treehuggers #springcolours #springcolors #stopandsmelltheflowers #naturetherapy #naturemagic #naturemagick #slowdown #woodwitch #springwalks #aprilvibes #springvibes #simplespirituality #spirituality #earthspirit #natureheals #naturelover #tootingbeccommon #freshairtherapy #woodlandwalk

Today, my love, is the day you have waited for. A

Today, my love, is the day you have waited for.

A new morning has arrived for you.

The stone over your resting place has felt too heavy by far. Trust that someone is helping you push it away.

Feel those grave clothes which have bound you start to disintegrate. Trust that you deserve to be seen just as you are.

See that? A shaft of morning light has travelled for millions of miles to warm you back to life. That light! It will hurt your eyes after your long sleep, but don’t be afraid.

Smell that? Lilacs crushed underfoot offer up their gentle perfume to wake you to your senses.

Today is the day you come up from the grave. New life is waiting inside you.

You are risen. Believe.

[Written last year and re-shared today because tbqhwy I really like this one]
_____________

#easter #easterblessing #oestre #easterblessings #easter2022 #startagain #newlife #happyeaster #sundayvibes #sundaythoughts #sundayreflection #sundayreflections #sundaysunshine #springsunday #easterweekend #eastersunday #wearerisen #resurrectionsunday #tablemountain #tablemountainview #tablemountainnationalpark

A little miracle. ___________ #springflowers #mag

A little miracle.
___________

#springflowers #magnolia #giftsofnature #springhassprung #springhascome #aprilshowers #aprilshower springtime #springflowers #magnoliatree #magnoliablossom

Did you know your heart is sometimes described as

Did you know your heart is sometimes described as a second brain, because it has its own nervous system complete with 40,000 neurons? 🤯

This makes total sense to me because as someone with a history of anxiety, I am very familiar with the feeling of tightness in the chest that anxious thoughts can bring.

Even these days, when I’ve done a lot of work ‘re-wiring’ my *brain* away from over-anxiousness, there are well-worn pathways in my *heart’s* nervous system which fire more than they need to, giving me that tense, anxious feeling. Woah.

It was in seeking to heal this relationship that I discovered the book The Heartmath Solution, which essentially teaches practical, clinically-tested tools for a more heart-centred life.

They bear a lot of resemblance to me, to the Buddhist loving kindness meditations, gratitude practices and many other more ancient modalities.

But it’s amazing to learn that there is an observable connection between the physical heart and the metaphorical one.

One more fact - trials showed that using heart-centred emotions like compassion, care or appreciation increases immune responses!

During this exploration, A Heart Full of Love by @gyallikeclee has been going around and around in my head like my own personal theme tune, cheering me on as I seek to build a new relationship with my heart. Pretty cool ❤️

_________________

#lovingkindness #mettabhavana #gratitudepractice #gratitude #gratitudeattitude #lovingkindnessmeditation #compassion #heartcentred #heartcentredliving #heartmath #heartmathinstitute #mindbodyconnection #spiritualityandhealth #mindbody #bodymindsoul #bodymindspirit #heartfulloflove #aheartfulloflove #cleosol #positivepsychology

Please, dear ones, take yourself out, away - away

Please, dear ones, take yourself out, away - away from the screen and the news and the laundry.

Take yourself out to where the blossom is raining down like wedding confetti and new stalks of cow parsley are nodding their heads to the soft winds of change.

Give yourself this experience of spring magick, then try human-ing again.

I promise it’ll feel easier.

_________

#spring #springtime #springishere #springblossom #springblossoms #springbreeze #blossomwatch #cherryblossom #springsunshine #changeiscoming #changeisgood #springwalks #walkingformentalhealth #naturetherapy #naturetherapy🌿 #getoutside #takeyourmindforawalk #naturelovers #springinlondon #springinthecity #springintheair #naturewitch #naturemagick #naturemagic #woodwitch #hedgewitch

On the spring equinox When light and dark are in p

On the spring equinox
When light and dark are in perfect balance,
May you feel life start to grow again in places that have been fallow
May you gently open yourself to new possibilities

May your inbreath invite abundance,
Your outbreath joy
Abundance, joy
Abundance, joy

This year,
The grounds of our community, our shared humanity, our very being
Have felt dry and unnourishing

But if the tenderest green stem
Can push through hard soil
Always knowing which way is ‘up’
To bloom under the sun

How much stronger must our spirits be?
And how much more resplendent their blossoming?

May the fragile shoots
Of newness grow
In our hearts and our communities

May this be a time when we all equally stand in the sun
Bend in the gentle breeze
Move in the direction of growth with ease
Accept and receive our birthright:

To breathe in abundance, to breathe out joy. 🌱

____________

#springequinox #ostara #springequinox2022 #equinoxblessings #earthspirit #gaia #springishere #springtime #blackthorn #springblossom #springblossoms #blossom #springflowers #springwalk #wheeloftheyear #naturespirituality #blessedbe #ostarablessings

This BLUSTERY Sunday evening feels like a perfect

This BLUSTERY Sunday evening feels like a perfect time to remind us all that, even though, yes, February is often cold, wet and gloomsome, it is also the time when you start to see nature poking its head above the ground to sniff the air of the coming spring.

New things are on their way!

And don’t forget, time outside and in nature is as essential for our wellbeing in winter as it is in summer.

Can you get out and spot some of these this week?

_________

#springiscoming #february #earthwitch #naturespirit #woodlandwalk #naturewalk #naturewalks #daffodils #daffodilseason #crocuses #crocusesinbloom #walkinthewoods #walkinthepark #walkinthecity #walkingformentalhealth #takeyourmindforawalk #freshair #freshairtherapy #woodwitch #hedgewitch #hawthorn #sapisrising #februaryflowers #earlyspring #earlyspringflowers

Imbolc is here - the very first day of Spring in t

Imbolc is here - the very first day of Spring in the ancient Celtic reckoning (1/2 February).

Imbolc looks ahead with hopeful expectation to the season of new life. It is also associated with the goddess energy of Brigid, who is understood to be both a pre-Christian goddess and a Christian Saint.

I love Imbolc as it offers a sip of hope after the long winter, and an opportunity to gently invite yourself to look ahead to brighter, more vibrant days.

No rushing, just sweet anticipation.

Here’s an Imbolc blessing for you. Content warning - birth/fertility metaphors.

🌱 NOT NOW, BUT SOON 🌱

Spring does not arrive with a crash of symbols
But rather with the still, small voice of Imbolc
A stirring deep in the dark soil
A subtle quickening in the womb of all things

Today, there’s no need to leap up from your bed
To start spring cleaning
To make ambitious plans
To try to dissolve anxiety or stale energy
Through action

Rather you are invited
Simply to glory in the knowledge
That the wheel of the year is moving again
The sun is turning his face to us
And fresh, new things are on their way to you.

This Imbolc, may you honour the ways
You carried yourself through the winter

May you allow your imagination to lift its nose
And sniff the air

May you sense within the rich dark soil of your self
Those seeds which may be ready to sprout
And show their colours

May you hear in the morning air
That same thrumming of divine possibility
In the heart of all things

Today, may you yawn and stretch and start to feel
That soon you might be ready for a new adventure

Not yet, not yet – but soon.

___________

IMAGE: Holly, a white woman with long bronde hair and wire rimmed glasses, basks in a patch of spring sunlight.

#imbolc #imbolcblessings #brigid #brig #saintbridget #1stdayofspring #newlife #spring #springiscoming #anewworld #changeiscoming #selfgrowth #decolonizespirituality #syncretism #wheeloftheyear #firefestival #pagan #hedgewitch #bloggersofig #blessedimbolc #daffodils #celticspirituality
#neopagan #wiccan

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