It seems that June is getting all its rain out of the way before the summer solstice arrives!

The sunny days behind this solar festival are almost here.

In previous Litha editions of The Green Witch, we’ve focused on ideas of self-confidence, celebrating our personal wins and achievements, and a more traditional Wiccan ceremony for marking the festival. This year I want to focus on another of Litha’s central themes:

Enjoying the world’s beauty while we have it.

Making the most of it all.

This year, Litha falls on Sunday 21st June at 9:24 am (BST), but we are already surrounded by the markers of true summer. I’ve made my first batch of elderflower cordial, our honeysuckle is out around the trellis archway in the garden, and swallows are running rings around me as I wade through the knee-high grass of the fields.

Swallows - those wonderful symbols of hope and freedom - also make us think of the fleeting nature of summer. We want to grasp those tail feathers and make their chatterings stay well into the autumn months. But this is a bright beauty we can’t hold onto for long.

“[This] is a season of celebration and fiery solar energy. Its power is immense, but its glory is short-lived and must be fully embraced when it is here.”

Danu Forest

Litha is the only fire festival outside of the “Big Four” Pagan festivals - Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasadh and Samhain - due to its connection with the fiery peak of the year. Fire has so many positive attributes - purification, motivation and its cosy warmth - indeed, this ancient festival was celebrated with bonfires and feasts that could be cooked over those open flames. But fire also burns things up fast. Life’s beauties become a flash in the pan when faced with a wall of flames.

This is your reminder to get off your phone, look out the window and really take notice of the startlingly lush and joyful world around us. In the words of one of my favourite bands, “How strange it is to be anything at all.”

I hope that my ways of celebrating midsummer (below) will immerse you in the season and help you send gratitude to everything summer reveals to us.

In this Litha edition of The Green Witch, I’ll be sharing:

• a VERY EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT (I can’t wait to talk about this one with you!)

• ways to celebrate the summer solstice

• where you can see me this autumn!

• a Litha Gratitude Ritual

I hope you are as excited as I am to celebrate the solstice next week! Let me know how you’ll be marking this very special day in the comments.

Jennifer x

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Introducing my brand-new book 🌻

Say hello to A Guide to Plants for Little Witchlings!

My first book for 5-7-year-olds is coming out on 16th July 2026. But what’s it all about?

Magic could be hiding under any leaf... Behind any tree.... Next to any tiny pebble. Witchlings always know just where to look. Every plant and flower has a special superpower, and pssst… A Guide to Plants for Little Witchlings is here to tell you all their secrets.

Did you know that every plant has a special superpower? A lavender can bring you deep sleep and honeysuckle can bring you good luck – all you have to do is ask the plants nicely and work with them to cast a spell.

This beautifully illustrated book shares 15 common plants from the garden that are essential for little witchlings-to-be. Discover fascinating flower facts and fun folklore before learning to cast spells and make petal potions in this magic guidebook.

Illustrated by the incredible Adelina Lirius and published by Post Wave, I am SO deliriously excited about putting this book out there for all the budding witches of the world!

Little witchlings, this is for you.

Pre-order at Waterstones

Pre-order at Amazon

Pre-order at Bookshop.org

How to celebrate Litha

Last week on The Green Witch, I shared the top five ways I’ll be celebrating the solstice! I looked at how to create a Litha altar, my favourite elderflower recipe, and how to create a potent stock of Sun Water. But there are plenty more ways to enjoy the delights of this festival.

Here are some of my favourite suggestions:

• Challenge yourself to a wildlife walk each day. In the spirit of making the most of summer’s beauty, show up in nature each day and note down the sights and symbolism it reveals. Only yesterday I noticed: a goldfinch sitting 40cm from my face, the tightly clustered baby apples on our tree, and a sky full of feasting swifts. Begin to take note of the plant and animal symbolism around you (for instance, goldfinch charms signify pure joy!) and, by the end of summer, you’ll have a notebook of daily happiness.

• Collect summer plants for your medicine cupboard. Harvesting season is upon us, with St John’s wort, vervain, honeysuckle, dog rose and yarrow all ready to go (my local meadowsweet is almost ready too - pictured below). It’s time to get picking and storing your plants for the colder months, but why not use a harvesting charm as you go? Charms such as these have been used for millennia, giving thanks to the earth as we take her blessings to use for good. I really enjoyed this charm from The Green Arte:
  "Hail, great plant kin,
  with this charm I honour your might, your wisdom, and your virtues.
  I approach you with an open heart in love and trust,
  I call on your mercy to grant me some of your [specify part to be harvested], which I will cut with a sacred blade and gather with great reverence.
  With your blessings, I will [state what you’ll make or do with the plant]- adding my magic to yours in the process."

• Look back at your winter goals and see what you’ve achieved. Through the winter months, we witches practised our shadow work and planned our focus points for the year ahead. Now, at the height of the year, is the time to take stock of these goals and see how you can use the blast of summer energy to see them through to completion. The sun is our biggest cheerleader! Sit down with your journal in a sunny spot and see what you have left to achieve.

• Find the folklore of our native plants. I was delighted when three foxgloves sprang up in my garden this year. I’ve felt closely invested in their wellbeing, and I’ve very much enjoyed researching their lore. The Irish Gaelic for foxglove is 'lus nam ban-sìth', meaning plant of the fairies, which we can see in its many English nicknames: Fairy Caps, Fairy Gloves, Fairy Thimbles, Fairy Herb, Fairybells, Fairy-fingers, Goblin Gloves, Fairy Petticoats, Fairyweed. Litha is one of the only three “spirit nights” of the year - with the others being Beltane and Samhain - so it makes sense that this summer flower would be the perfect dress-making plant of the Fae!

• Celebrate the sun. This could be as simple as raising your arms to the sky each morning, doing eight yogic sun salutations a day, creating a summer altar (see my post from last week), or dressing in the colours of the sun - sunstone necklaces, yellow dresses and gold jewellery will make the sun feel seen! In next week’s post, I’ll be sharing how to make a sun-worshipping Litha “fane” outside in your garden or local woodland. Upgrade your subscription to The Green Witch to make yours along with me >

• Power up herbs and crystals in the Litha sun. The power of the sun right now cannot be underestimated! First thing on 21st June, place any bundles of herbs you wish to use in spellcraft or tinctures over the next week on a clean window ledge that gets plenty of light. Add any crystals too. Leave them there until just before sunset to give them maximum sun exposure. This will elevate their qualities and help them back a punch when used in witchcraft.

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• Swot up on the history. I always re-read Danu Forest’s The Magical Year before each sabbat, and just love this wonderful knowledge about the solstice’s modern name - Litha: “This probably comes from the Old Saxon Lithi, meaning the ‘mildest, most pleasant time of the year,’ from which derives the Anglo-Saxon names for the months of June and July. The Saxon historian Bede records that these times were called AErra Lipa and AEfterra Lipa, literally before and after Litha - before and after midsummer.”

• Honour the Oak King. There have been verdant summer gods and folkloric heroes in plenty of cultures - the Green Man, Dionysus, Pan and Cernunnos, for example. In Britain, from Yule to the summer solstice, the Oak King has reigned. As the ruler of the lighter months, on 21st June he will be defeated by the Holly King, the ruler of shadow and the darker months of the year, because, after Litha, the days will begin to shorten once more. Celebrate his honour by adding oak leaves to your altar or practising your Litha rituals near or around oak trees.

• Bake with the fruits of the season. Strawberry everything, of course. Try this strawberry tiramisu or strawberry shortcake with blueberries (pictured). But I was also really taken with this “Syrup of Borage Flowers” recipe I found in ’ Litha sabbat guide, for which you’ll need 200g borage flowers, 1l water and 500-700g sugar. Place the flowers in a heatproof bowl and pour over boiling water. Cover and leave overnight. Strain, then return the liquid to a pan, add sugar and heat until dissolved. Simmer for 5-10 mins, then bottle and store in the fridge. This summery, herbal syrup apparently tastes like cucumber and can be used in drinks and desserts. Sounds wonderful!

Discover more about the festival of Litha in my book, The Wheel: A Witch’s Path Back to the Ancient Self.

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Join me in Oxford this Samhain

I’ll be in conversation with the fantastic Elizabeth Sulis Kim - author of The Book of Beasts and editor of Cunning Folk Magazine - at Blackwell’s Oxford at 3:00 PM on Samhain (31st October).

We’ll be talking motherhood, wild intuition and animal folklore on the Witch’s New Year. We can’t wait to see you there!

Book your free place here

A Litha Gratitude Ritual

We’re making the most of things! Now is the time to give thanks for all that is good, beautiful and sunlit in the world.

You’ll know that I usually write all my own rituals and spells here at The Green Witch, but this time I wanted to share this beautiful ritual from the modern classic Hedge Witch: A Guide to Solitary Witchcraft by Rae Beth, as I think it perfectly encapsulates the joy and gratitude of Litha.

I hope you enjoy practising this rite on the solstice next weekend!

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You’ll need:

• a cauldron/bowl of wine or fruit juice

• your usual tools for casting a circle

1. On midsummer's day, cast a circle and place your cauldron/bowl of fruit juice in the centre of your circle.

2. Facing southwards and holding up your hands, says:
   “Light of the Solstice Sun is seen
   upon the water,
   far upon the sea, fire and water, reconciled.
   The Sun sets sail for what his love has shown him,
   sets sail for her Otherworld.
   We, too, are setting a new course,
   for the Queen of Summer brings
   the cup of happiness,
   cup of the sweetness or desire fulfilled.
   Bless us, O Queen of Summer, and bless all living creatures.
   Now the peak has been reached, the change
   shall be made.
   Now the sails of the bright Sun are unfurled.”

3. Walk, skip or dance in a deosil/clockwise direction around your circle, chanting: “She brings the cup of happiness.” Do this for as long as it takes to raise a joyful energy in the room.

4. Slow your dance/walk and hold your hands over the wine/fruit juice, bringing your hands down from above and visualising a golden cone of power going into the drink.

5. Say, “I drink of fulfilment,” and drink the beverage in slow meditative sips, seeing all the joys of summer before you.

6. Close your circle and ground yourself by putting your hands or forehead on the ground before going outside into the light.

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I'll see you on the next turn of the Wheel: Lammas will be here on Saturday 1st August. Watch out for your newsletter a few days before. See you then!

Thank you so much for reading! I really appreciate your ongoing support and feedback on my Substack. If you want to share some love or wish to support me, you can upgrade your newsletter subscription below ⬇️

The shift into summer hasn’t been so subtle this year!

If you’re in the UK like me, you will probably have been sleeping with an ice-pack in your pyjamas and eight electric fans on you at any given moment.

This heatwave has been pretty intense, and I don’t cope well with the heat (see my Note on how I spent a week recovering from exhausti…

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One of the most unnerving things about entering the world of witchcraft is realising that a whole new language exists! Suddenly, everyone is talking athames, sabbats, types of spells and planetary correspondences, which can be absolutely blindsiding for newer witches.

When I first began practising witchcraft at 12 years old, I spent hours scribbling definitions into notebooks and trying to untangle the differences between Paganism, Wicca and witchcraft itself. Even now, after 24 years of practice, I still love learning the origins of our magickal terms (for instance, did you know there is a link between the words grammar and grimoire? This will always be fascinating to me) and exploring new areas of witchcraft.

We are always learning, and there is no need to add the extra smoke and mirrors of complex terminology to an already mystical path.

So, I have put together this A-Z of Witchcraft: a glossary of the most common terms, tools and phrases you’re likely to come across in a modern witchcraft practice. If you’re a beginner or looking for a witchcraft refresh, here is my advice as a long-time witch. Grab a pen and notebook (yes, that fancy one you’ve been saving for a special occasion) and start your Book of Shadows - see below - with these useful key witchcraft terms.

They are the jumping-off point for all your future circles, spells, rituals and inner work.

If you enjoy posts like this, you can also upgrade your subscription to The Green Witch for deeper seasonal rituals, folklore deep-dives, spellwork, and Wheel of the Year guides to help you build a witchcraft practice that feels rooted in nature.

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And now, let’s get stuck in!

The A-Z of witchcraft

• altar – a dedicated sacred space used for spellwork, rituals, offerings and devotional practice

• anointing – the process of ceremonially dressing a candle with oil

• amulet – a small item or piece of jewellery that repels negative energies from the wearer

• athame – (pronounced ‘ath-UH-may’) a ceremonial dagger used in rituals or on a witch’s altar as a symbol of masculinity (my own is made of wood - less “cutty cutty” and more “point-at-things-with-intent”)

• besom – a witch’s broom associated with cleansing, protection and ritual purification through the act of sweeping

• boline – traditionally, a white-handled knife used to cut herbs, and held on a witch’s altar

• Book of Shadows – a diary or journal used to record personal spells, rituals, potions and other magickal workings

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• cardinal sign – the zodiac sign that starts a season, namely Aries (spring), Cancer (summer), Libra (autumn) and Capricorn (winter)

• Celtic Ogham – an early Irish alphabet system named after the Celtic god of eloquence and literacy

• chalice – a ceremonial cup used to represent the feminine divine on a witch’s altar

• charm – focusing a magick spell into a specific object, which is then carried about the person or hung about the house (amulets and talismans are forms of charms)

• circle – a sacred, circular space (sometimes containing your altar) in which to contain and work with magick. Here’s how to cast one >

• correspondences – spiritual associations connected to colours, herbs, planets, crystals, days of the week and other magickal symbols

• divination – the practice of seeking spiritual guidance, insight or messages through magickal systems such as Tarot, runes or scrying

• douter – a candle snuffer, usually made of metal

• esbat – a ritual or gathering traditionally held during a full moon. This word is often used interchangeably with the day of the full moon itself. Read my post, “Your Full Moon Recovery Kit” >

• green witch – a witch with close links to nature magick, herbs and plants

• hedge witch – a solitary witch often associated with folk magick, spirit work, trance states and herbal knowledge. I like to think of them as “riding the hedge” between the physical world and the spirit world

• intention – the focused emotional and energetic purpose placed behind a spell or ritual

• magic/magick – a spiritual force that can be used to enhance, influence or change the way something happens. This is often spelt with a ‘k’ in the witchcraft community to differentiate it from “rabbit out of a hat” magic

• Pagan/Paganism – someone who celebrates the beauty of nature, observes the seasons’ cycles and sees nature as innately spiritual (not the same as a witch, see below)

• pentacle – a five-pointed star

• pentagram – an encircled five-pointed star ritual – a ceremonial focusing of magickal energies to reach an intended outcome

• ritual - a ceremony where we honour and observe a particular festival, season, deity or element

• rune – a letter from a Germanic alphabet system that is often used as magickal symbols or divination tools

• sabbat – one of the eight Pagan festivals celebrated across the Wheel of the Year (see below)

• scrying – divining the future, usually by consulting objects such as a crystal ball, a black mirror (traditionally a reflective dark surface like obsidian), a candle flame or a bowl of water

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• sigil – a symbol or sign imbued with magickal intent. Usually, a sigil is more powerful when created by you. Learn how to create your own sigil here >

• spell – a focusing of magickal energies to produce the intended outcome

• talisman – a small item or piece of jewellery spelled to attract power and other qualities to the wearer. Find out how to make one here >

• Wheel of the Year – a circular depiction of the eight Pagan festivals – Samhain, Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lammas/Lughnasadh and Mabon – showing how everything is cyclical. I’ll be sharing my Litha newsletter in two weeks, just ahead of the summer solstice!

• Wicca – a denomination of witchcraft that believes in the Threefold Law, uses only positive magick and often performs elaborate ceremonies and rituals as part of its practice

• witch – someone who uses magick and charges objects with energy to bring about change

At the end of my book, The Witch’s Survival Guide, I have included a glossary of witchcraft terms, as well as several tables of magickal correspondences, because I remember how overwhelming the language of the craft and the many layers of symbolism felt when I first began. Witchcraft is filled with hidden meanings and terms that need to be learned by rote (witch hack: make your own flashcards) and through immersive practice in your craft over time, so never feel embarrassed if there is a word you don’t recognise yet. We’re all learning continuously within the craft, no matter how long we’ve walked this path!

I hope this glossary has helped demystify some of the language surrounding witchcraft and Paganism for you.

If there are any other witchcraft terms you’d like me to explain in a future part two, let me know in the comments below!

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Also, some exciting news from me:

I’ll be in conversation with the fantastic Elizabeth Sulis Kim - author of The Book of Beasts and editor of Cunning Folk Magazine - at Blackwell’s Oxford at 3:00 PM on Samhain (31st October). We’ll be talking motherhood, wild intuition and animal folklore on the Witch’s New Year. Get your FREE ticket here >

We can’t wait to see you there!

Thank you so much for reading, and I’ll see you next week as we begin preparing for the summer solstice and the longest day of the year - the Pagan sabbat of Litha.

Jennifer x

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I stared aghast at the ground.

As I rounded a bend that leads to the canal, I saw a spray of hawthorn blossom petals across the ground, cast aside by the thunderstorm of the previous day. Tiny rou…

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Hello, darling,

I was out in the woods last weekend for some much-needed time with m…

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If you're a green witch like me (or someone who also likes to faceplant a bed of moss from time to time), the Pagan festival of Beltane may also be your favourite time of year.

In the 24 years I've been celebrating the Wheel of the Year, the build-up to May Eve has always been my most exciting part of the year. The world is pulsing with green energy, the wildflowers are pushing their way up towards the sometimes-sun, and I feel a sense of renewed hope thrumming through me after months in the cold and dark of winter. I even tried to book my wedding date for 1st May, but only the 7th was available - happy anniversary to me!

This is a huge time to celebrate in the witch’s calendar.

To mark the festival, this year, I:

• Washed my face in the morning dew at 7 am (as per the time-old tradition).

• Held my arms up to the goddess and did a blessing and meditation for the land.

• Took a walk amongst the just-blossomed hawthorns near my house.

You might enjoy the other ways to celebrate I outlined in my Beltane newsletter and in our Beltane episode of The Divine Void podcast.

One week on from the big day, we are still very much in that blossoming Beltane energy. It lingers well into the liminal time before the summer solstice, allowing we witchy folk to luxuriate in that lilac-scented air.

However, this “in-between time” after a major festival is the time when our witchcraft practice can wane.

I’ve spoken a lot on The Green Witch recently about ways to keep magickal when modern life seems to be dragging us ahead much faster than we can handle - read my post, “10 signs you’re craving a slower, more magickal life”. At this time of year, especially, the spring energy can make us feel “go, go, go”, so it is especially important to feel grounded in the natural world and the Wheel of the Year.

I wanted to share with you the ways I’ll be extending my favourite energy of the Pagan year well into June.

Here are five ways to stay connected to the season and your witchcraft practice as we head past spring's halfway point.

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1. Make friends with a hawthorn tree

Hawthorn is the tree of Beltane. Not only is it dripping in faery lore, death symbolism and ancient customs around "the Other World", but I just love that its blossom exudes an extra-smelly chemical found in dead bodies to attract pollinators. I love a creepy tree.

Lore also says to never bring hawthorn blossom into the home, or face the wrath of the Fae. The tree's thicket of spikes was said to guard the entrance to the Underworld, which - in some texts - was also the entrance to Elfhame, the dangerous realm of the faeries.

Hawthorn blossom season tends to be over between late May and very early June (sad face), so we are coming towards the end of its bloom. But that doesn't mean we have to discard the tree just because she no longer has a flowery face.

Connect with hawthorn by:

• sitting quietly next to it and noticing how the energy around the tree feels - can you still feel the thinness of the Beltane veil snagged in its branches? Watch out for any hostile energy she emits.

• leaving a small biodegradable offering at her base, such as spring water, bird seed or a written blessing to the land spirits (see below for an idea on this).

• asking the tree for protection before difficult conversations, travel or emotionally draining situations. Hawthorn has historically been planted as a protective boundary tree around homes and sacred sites, so has plenty of protective energy to give.

• collecting fallen leaves from the ground (never ever pulling directly from the tree) to press inside your journal or Book of Shadows

If hawthorn trees are not native to where you are, or you don’t have any nearby, make friends with a blossoming tree and look into its symbolism. Maybe it will be just as creepy.

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2. Record what you see in nature

And weave it into a spell!

I've spoken on The Green Witch recently about keeping a nature journal to note down the new wildflowers and birds you see. This small diary will be all the more powerful if you walk daily in nature, as you can see the changes of the month happening right before your eyes. But you can take your nature journal one step further.

I was recently reading Rae Beth's book, The Hedge Witch's Way, and love how she writes prayers to the Goddess, the God and to nature. This particular prayer of hers is to the Green God and asks for healing:

"Green Horned God of woodland and of wild places, I call to you - guardian of all the animals! You who guide creatures to find herbs that heal them and to know when to rest or eat and when not to, I ask you to guide [name of a person or animal]. Lead them to the best remedies and to healing. [...] And may your blessing be on us all. May all be led to live in ways that are best for our own health and that of all beings."

Look at the notes in your nature diary or in your journal recently, and create your own particular blessing, spell or prayer out of them. Be as specific as you want, using the symbolism of the plants and animals you have seen - so you can always remember this particular spring.

3. Read books that reflect the season

Surround yourself with writing and rituals that share the joys of falling in love with spring.

I love to keep up with books that reveal strange, old customs related to the Cross Quarter days, as well as the equinoxes and solstices.

My favourite snippets of May lore? Place yarrow under your pillow to dream of your true love, or protect your cattle from the faeries by lighting two fires and walking them between. The cows must stay blessed!

Here are some of my favourite spring reads:

• The Magical Year by Danu Forest (I read this every year)

• Hedge Witch by Rae Beth

• Beltane by

• And, of course, my own book - The Wheel: A Witch's Path to Healing Through Nature by Jennifer Lane

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4. Set spring-focused intentions

This May has not one but two full moons, meaning the new moon falls smack-bang in the middle of the month on Saturday 16th May at 21:03 BST.

New moons are the ideal time to be setting intentions for the month ahead. The simplest way to do this is to write what you wish to manifest/bring to fruition in your life on a piece of paper, then burn the paper while visualising that intention taking root and growing steadily throughout the waxing moon cycle ahead. I have a complete new moon manifestation ritual in my book, The Witch's Survival Guide: Spells for Healing From Stress and Burnout.

For this point in the year, we can work closely with the symbolism of spring to set our goals and intentions. You might want to think about setting intentions around the following questions:

• Where can I invite more fertility into my life?

• What am I depriving myself of right now that would bring me untold joy?

• What can I "birth" from the portal of my creativity?

Then sit at your window under the moonless sky and visualise your intentions into being until the June moon cycle.

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5. Find new ways to work with the Air Element

Within witchcraft, each season corresponds to one of the Four Elements - Earth, Fire, Water and Air - with spring being gently blown along by the Element of Air.

The Air Element is often associated with plants that have a strong scent, such as lavender, sage, mint and meadowsweet. It also relates to the day of the winged god, Mercury - Wednesday, and its favourite time of day is the dawn.

A while back, I shared the below video on all the colour, gemstone, Tarot and planetary symbolism that aligns with the Air Element:

Based on these correspondences, here are my own suggestions for Air-related activities to try this spring:

• cleanse your magickal workspaces with garden sage, then light a stick of lavender incense and say a short chant of your own devising to welcome lavender’s positive traits to the space: reducing anxiety, promoting peace and love, protection, sleep, purification/cleansing, and wellbeing.

• read up on the Tarot suit of Swords - the suit of intellect and reason. They might look sharp and scary, but these cards often allow you to read into the subtext of your thoughts when your mind is too full to see clearly.

• practice breathwork outdoors beneath moving tree branches, visualising the wind carrying stagnant energy away from your body

• keep feathers, pressed blossom or bird symbolism on your altar to honour the movement and freedom associated with Air

I hope this post has given you plenty of ways to connect with that luscious Beltane energy!

Over the past few weeks on The Green Witch, we’ve been exploring how to rebuild a grounded witchcraft practice in the modern world.

Paid members have already received:

• Your 7-Day Magickal Reset

• The real secret to a lasting witchcraft practice

• deeper seasonal rituals and spellcraft practices

Next week, we’ll be exploring how to read the energy of your local landscape and build a more intuitive relationship with the land beneath your feet. This is a next-level green witchcraft practice that is vital to your skillset.

If you’d like to continue walking this path with us, you can upgrade your membership below.

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I can't wait to see you then - have a gorgeous weekend!

Jennifer x

Before we delve into this weekend’s post:

1. Blessed Beltane to you! I hope Friday’s festival left you sparkling. Scroll down for the May Day delights of my local wood.

2. I also wanted to say a massive THANK YOU to everyone who came over to Blackwell’s Oxford last weekend to see and I talk about the festival of Beltane. It was such a joy to s…

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I hope you all enjoyed my latest Beltane newsletter, which I shared earlier this week. Can you believe we are only five days away from spring's biggest festival? 🌸 I've just spent a couple of days in Oxford and the hawthorn blossom is already out in full bloom there, wafting its unusual, heady scent amongst the spires.

Today's post is…

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We’re one week away from the beauty of Beltane. This green witch couldn't be happier!

As someone who always has their hands in a plant pot or head in a hedgerow, Beltane is the festival on the Wheel of the Year I look forward to the most. Witches across the Northern Hemisphere are working speedily to get as much in the ground as possible this April and May. There’s a giddiness to planting while under a canopy of hawthorn blossom and birdsong.

And I think you might feel it too.

The ancient festival of Beltane falls on 30th April-1st May every year. Like all of the Cross Quarter days (the “Big Ones” in the Pagan calendar alongside Imbolc, Lughnasadh and Samhain), this is a fire festival that our ancestors celebrated with bonfires, feasting, dancing and, more recently - since around 600-700 years ago - flinging themselves around a maypole. This is a festival of heart-led passions and pure, unadulterated joy.

For the past few years, I’ve really embraced the festival’s key theme of fertility after struggling with infertility and loss for five years. But right now, I want to focus on the excitement and the confidence boost this festival brings.

I invite you to do the same.

Beltane is an excellent time of year to welcome vitality back into your life and witchcraft practice. Last week, I wrote “Your 7-Day Magickal Reset”, which looked at small steps to re-establish your witchcraft practice when life sweeps it aside. After so many of you got in touch to tell me how much “10 signs you’re craving a slower, more magickal life” resonated with you, I've decided that The Green Witch paid membership will focus on ways to build a steady weekly practice and create joyful rituals that fit into our busy modern lives as we build up to the summer solstice.

I hope you'll join me there!

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In this Beltane edition of The Green Witch, I’ll be sharing:

• a very exciting witchcraft event happening this weekend!

• ways to celebrate my absolute number one festival on The Wheel of the Year

• my biggest-ever Beltane giveaway (scroll down!)

• a simple spell jar to amplify the joy in your life

Blessed Beltane, my love. On this festival so closely associated with the heart, I hope yours is open and willing to receive the goodness coming your way.

Jennifer x

Join us for Beltane at Blackwell’s Oxford 🌸

If you’re missing your Beltane fix of The Divine Void podcast right now - I have something special for you.

Join Laura Derbyshire and I at Blackwell’s Oxford this Saturday for our Beltane Sabbat Session!

This time, we’ll be sharing all our knowledge on the flowery Pagan festival of Beltane. Find out the history, a deep-dive into hares and hawthorn, and exactly how to make the Fae play nicely. We’ll also be answering your witchcraft questions and signing copies of our books afterwards.

Our Samhain and Imbolc events both sold out, so don’t forget to get your free ticket fast! We can’t wait to see you there on Saturday 25th April from 3:00 - 4:00 pm.

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How to celebrate Beltane

This festival demands glee – after this glorious, sunshiney week, it's not hard to feel that springtime joy! Here are some of the best ways to celebrate the festival of fertility, beauty and all things green and growing:

• Create a beautiful Beltane altar. In the Wiccan tradition, Beltane is the sexual union of the Goddess and God - the Goddess will then give birth in the form of the harvest at Lughnasadh. You can represent this symbolically on your altar by having two red candles burning - the colour of passion – as well as both an athame (male) and a chalice (female). You can also include rose quartz, spring bulbs in a pot, a green altar cloth, and fallen tree blossom. But remember - never EVER bring hawthorn or blackthorn blossom into your home. These plants are sacred to the Fae, and they will not be happy... Here is my altar from last year:

• Protect yourself and your home. We are currently at the exact counterpoint to Samhain, the spookiest time of year and when the veil between the worlds is at its thinnest. Despite the flurries of blossom, the veil is also whisper-thin at Beltane. Meaning? Ghosts and ghoulies are out - so it's time to take extra care, even in the face of such glorious weather. Place a mirror in your window facing outward to repel demonic energy, place smoky quartz and black tourmaline by your doors, and you can upgrade your subscription to The Green Witch to find out how to create a magickal protective talisman that you can carry with you always.

• Take time to praise yourself. At Beltane, it's like we all just took a shot of confidence. We are officially in Taurus season: the sign of beauty, luxury and generally feeling good about ourselves. Use this turn in the energy to look in the mirror and praise your best physical qualities for a blast of well-earned pride. But you can also use this fiery Beltane energy to think about the other areas of our lives - what are we currently doing well? How can we channel our best qualities into our passions over spring and summer this year? It's time to get out the journal.

• Bake traditional Beltane goodies. One of the main staples no ancient springtime feast would be complete without is a Beltane bannock. Traditionally, a Beltane bannock, or a flat oatcake divided into nine sections, was made and eaten on Beltane morning to ensure the health of crops and animals. It was eaten accompanied by a small rhyme; I really like this one I found on Cailleach’s Herbarium: “Here to thee, wolf, spare my sheep; there to thee, fox, spare my lambs; here to thee, eagle, spare my goats; there to thee raven, spare my kids; here to thee, martin, spare my fowls, there to thee, harrier, spare my chickens.” Or, how about a good old fairy cake, decorated with everything fae-like especially for the festival!

• Honour the Sun god, Bel. Yep, the one this festival is named after! Beltane itself means “Bel’s fires”, with Bel being a Celtic god of healing and light. In Danu Forest’s wonderful book, The Magical Year, I learned that Bel was one of the purported fathers of the faery race the Tuatha de Danaan. When this race of peoples arrived in Ancient Ireland, they lit the first Beltane fires by burning their ships at dawn. Light your own Beltane fire in his honour, but - for the love of the Goddess - burn a candle and not a boat.

• Give yourself over to your sensual side. There’s no getting past it: Beltane is the sauciest festival on the Wheel of the Year! This was traditionally a time for handfasting, where you could see if you and your partner were, um, compatible for a whole year and a day before deciding to officially wed. My advice? Go for it, hun.

• Create your own version of a maypole. We don’t all have a village green handy these days, but I loved this incredible papercraft hawthorn wreath from . Such beautiful work!

• Scrub those cheeks. One of the oldest-known traditions of Beltane is washing your face in the morning dew to welcome in fertility, beauty and good luck. Head out to the garden or your local park at dawn on 1st May and wet your face with dew, visualising a stream of light flowing through you.

Find more ways to celebrate Beltane in my book, The Wheel: A Witch’s Path Back to the Ancient Self.

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My Big Beltane Giveaway 📚

To celebrate my favourite Pagan festival of all:

I’m giving away a copy of my book The Wheel: A Witch’s Path Back to the Ancient Self to the next 10 witches who sign up to an annual subscription of The Green Witch Substack!

To get your copy by post, all you have to do is subscribe for a full year of witchcraft articles, spells and ways to live in tune with the Pagan Wheel of the Year. Once you’ve signed up or upgraded your subscription to The Green Witch, drop me a Direct Message with the words “Beltane giveaway”.

After all 10 copies have been claimed, I’ll announce that the giveaway is closed on my Substack Notes 🌸

Due to postage, this giveaway is open to UK subscribers only. I hope you love the book!

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Growing your joy spell jar

Last Beltane, I shared a charm to welcome fertility into all areas of your life, and the year before that, I gave you a self-love spell using gorse.

This year, I want to share my Growing Your Joy Spell Jar from The Witch’s Survival Guide, that I recently performed live at Mind Body Spirit Festival. It's always risky doing magick on stage 😅 but this is such a lovely spell!

Spell jars are a beautiful, compact way of working magick. I love that they are a visual representation of the spell that we can display around our homes to always help us remember their intention when we pass them!

This particular spell jar is designed to welcome happiness and contentment back into your life. I think it’s the perfect spell for Beltane as it uses herbs mainly ruled by the element of Air; the element most commonly associated with spring. Harness the energy of this time of year to bring real potency to this spell – and allow the joy to thoroughly enter your world.

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You’ll need:

• a small sterilised glass vial or small jar (sterilise a clean vial by filling it with hot salt water for 20 minutes or by putting it in the oven at 180 degrees for 15 minutes)

• 5 dried dandelion heads

• 2 tsp of Himalayan salt

• 2 tsp of dried lemon balm

• 1 tsp of dried peppermint

• 1 tsp of dried lavender

• 1 stick of lavender incense

• a yellow candle

• matches/a lighter

1. Light the incense and, when it is smoking, insert this into the vial and move it around three times in a clockwise motion. Then do the same to the outside of the vial, including its stopper.

2. Add the salt to the bottom of the vial.

3. Then, starting with the heaviest plant/herb, place each one inside. This does not have to be neat but, as you are adding the plants, repeat the intention of your spell jar under your breath using words such as ‘I am filled with joy.’

4. Visualise that joy as yellow light glowing in the centre of your body. With each breath you take while completing this spell jar, feel the light inside you growing brighter.

5. Once the vial is filled to the brim, light the candle and allow its wax to melt. Drip the wax into the opening of the vial and insert the cork or stopper. Continue to drip the wax around the stopper and on top of it so the jar is completely sealed by the wax. Allow to cool and feel the yellow light inside of you permeate your entire body as you grasp the spell jar in your hands.

6. Keep the vial with you or in a place where you will see it every day, such as by the front door, to remind you of the joy that is winging its way to you.

Let me know what you think of this spell in the comments below!

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I'll see you on the next turn of the Wheel: Litha (aka. the summer solstice) will be here slightly later than usual on Wednesday 24th June. Watch out for your newsletter a few days before. See you then!

Thank you so much for reading! I really appreciate your ongoing support and feedback on my Substack. As a small business and content creator, you can support me to grow by upgrading your newsletter subscription below ⬇️

Last week, we spoke about the mind-bending exhaustion that builds up when life feels too loud, too fast and too far removed from the grounded patterns of our ancestors.

Many of you commented, DMed or emailed me afterwards to say that my words felt painfully familiar (thank you so much for all your beautiful messages!). There is a sense o…

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It is a feeling I know only too well.

It’s more than a physical and mental exhaustion - it is something that runs deep below our bodily sinew and veins: it is a complete disconnection from the natural and magickal world around us.

Lately, you may have had a sense that life around you has become too loud, too fast and too overloaded with things that don’t matter in the way you were told they would. And you’d be exactly right - our ancient brains require daily doses of darkness, birdsong (honestly, the science says so) and regular sunshine. The laptops we use to work late into the evening emit over 33,000 per cent more light intensity than the full moon, so it’s no wonder our circadian rhythms are all out of whack!

In my book, The Wheel: A Witch’s Path to Healing Through Nature, I wrote about the intense burnout I experienced working in a toxic office environment, bundled up in a grey skyscrapered city that blocked out all seasons:

“In late autumn 2018, I realised that some things in my life just weren’t working. I was always tired, my hair peeled away from my scalp in spidery tendrils that clogged up the shower drain, and my joints ached a lot more than I thought they would at twenty-eight years old. Maybe I’d missed the memo and everyone worked very hard to keep their limbs, hair and nails clamped to their body as they approached thirty. But it wasn’t just the physical falling apart that bothered me.”

Through this extended period of complete exhaustion and manic thought patterns, I felt the insistent pull of a more magickal life calling to me every single day.

The life I craved was softer, greener and more infinitely real than any 24/7 supermarket or daily traffic jam could ever be to me. So I set out on a journey to create this life for myself.

If you’ve been feeling this craving lately, you’re absolutely not alone. I get so many messages from readers who feel exactly the same way; caught between the demands of modern life and a deep, primal longing for something slower and more meaningful.

Here are 10 signs you might be craving a more magickal way of living.

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1. You feel overwhelmed by noise

Not just the tinny, mechanical sounds of the modern world, but information overload and the need for constant, churning productivity.

When a car goes past with its windows down and speakers cranked up, it sets your teeth on edge. You feel the need to skip lunch away from your desk most days just to get ahead of all the mounting tasks.

You have a deep longing for quiet in a way that feels almost urgent.

2. You miss something you don’t have a name for

I remember in my Tumblr days (the halcyon time of 2009-2012), there was the circulation of the word hiraeth - a Welsh word meaning “homesickness” or a yearning for something you have never known.

Many of us have not experienced stillness or groundedness within the perpetual forward movement of modern life, and we crave it fiercely. When you’re trying to get to sleep at night, you might feel an ache in your chest that is looking for something deeply mossed over in the Earth.

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3. Your days feel rushed, even when you try to slow down

You tell yourself to rest, and take five deep breaths before leaving the house - but you even feel the need to rush through those amidst the morning hecticness! Or you schedule in time to oil and massage your skin in the evening, but - in the end - decide to skip it because it feels so far down your list of priorities.

What’s left is a near-constant feeling of anxiety and pressure that has the strength of a mudslide. I remember this feeling and grimace.

4. You feel disconnected from nature

As a hiker and birdwatcher, this was the biggest one that alerted me to how much modern life was taking its toll.

When was the last time you touched the copse of horse chestnut trees in your local park? Did the changeover into spring feel as if it happened out of the blue? You often find yourself living amongst the seasons, but not actually being fully present within them, forgetting the feel of a lichened gatepost beneath your fingers.

5. Your spiritual practice has faded

You get to the turning points on the Wheel of the Year - Beltane, Lughnasadh, Samhain - and have nothing prepared. So you scrabble around last minute to light a candle and create an altar, but don’t feel fully present within your practice. Your magickal practice hasn’t disappeared entirely, but it has become something you used to do.

6. You crave simple rituals

Do you miss sitting quietly with a cup of coffee and not having to gulp it down to move on to the next task? Remember when you would light a candle and look into its flame just for the joy of watching its colours shift across the dark? When did you last take a walk to visit your favourite tree and ask it to bless your day?

These small acts are intentional moments of connection, and (maybe) when you read this list, you feel a tug on your heart.

7. The physical symptoms feel extreme

Brain fog. Fatigue. Insomnia. Aching joints. Anaemia. Tearfulness. Weight loss or weight gain.

Your list of physical symptoms feels like an arm-length scroll, and you’re not sure why these things are happening to you; they seem so disconnected and all your test results are saying, “Normal.”

When I was at my highest level of disconnect, my hands would shake on the tram on the way to work and I had that horrid “tired but wired” feeling constantly. I would often find myself awake between the hours of 3-5 am every morning, making me too exhausted to sincerely question what was happening with me.

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8. You can’t stop the doomscroll

Despite desperately wanting to, and understanding the benefits of more mindful tech use. But you feel like you’re trying to find something deeper inside your phone that you can’t put your well-flexed thumb on.

“Maybe the next video will show me something I need to see.”

Read my post on the energetic effects of doomscrolling, and How to keep your aura safe.

9. You engage in “what the hell” behaviour

In the depths of my own burnout, I took strangely out-of-character risks in my personal life. When I look back on that period, I realise that my emotions were severely heightened from a build-up of stress, but I was also extremely emotionally numb to the things that really mattered in my life.

I did things with a “what the hell - it doesn’t matter anyway” attitude, taking risks to actually feel something.

10. You keep thinking, “This can’t be it, surely”

And deep down, you know you’re right, but there always feels like a barrier to making positive changes in your life.

If you recognised yourself in any of these 10 points above, I want you to know:

• You’re not failing at life (as I often thought I was when I was deep in burnout from 2017-2019).

• You’re responding to a modern world that was never designed for people like us, who are sensitive, intuitive and influenced by nature.

But that quiet pull you feel isn’t something to ignore.

Next week on The Green Witch paid membership, I’ll be sharing a 7-day magickal reset, guiding you through a whole week of small witchcraft acts to help you feel like you again. We’ll begin by rebuilding your morning routine, reconnecting with nature, and creating space for small, steady moments of magick to return.

If you’re ready to move from recognising these feelings to actually changing them, you can upgrade your membership here.

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On The Green Witch, I share Wheel of the Year guidance, witchcraft rituals and reflections from my own life in nature every week, helping people to reconnect with the Earth. I look forward to seeing you there!

If this post resonates with you, you might also enjoy:

• The “Working Witch”: How to keep magickal in a world of screens

• 8 high-vibrational ways to live

• 7 weeks of analogue living: a confession

Thank you so much for reading, everyone.

Have a beautiful week and I’ll see you again next Saturday. Not long left until the beauty of Beltane now!

Bright blessings,

Jennifer x

Or, at least, that’s what we tell ourselves.

As a green witch living in the modern world, I know first-hand the quiet grief of feeling your magickal connection slide with every Teams notification.

Even with the strongest intentions, I've found myself foregoing a morning walk in the woods or skipping a dawn Beltane ritu…

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I hope the INSANE weather of this past week has not distracted you from the fact that we are finally in spring! Hurray, huzzah - that’s enough hail and snow now, please.

There is a lot of discourse out there about when the actual “new year” begins.

• For some, it is 1^st January, in the depths of winter.

• The lunar new year falls in February.

• The Witch’s New Year is 31^st October, on the Pagan festival of Samhain.

• Or corporate girlies may see 1^st April as when everything restarts!

But I think most of us can see the reasoning behind celebrating the dawn of the year on the Spring Equinox.

This year’s equinox fell last Friday on 20^th March at 14:46 GMT. This is the start of the new zodiac cycle (bye bye, Pisces season!), the tipping point of the year into longer days, and - this year - it actually fell on a new moon. Talk about renewal and starting again.

To this green witch, with my love of the fresh verdancy of March and the way the sunlight falls through the willow catkins over my garden fence, it is the ideal point of the year to be making spring resolutions and setting intentions for the year ahead.

This feels so much better than making resolutions on 1st January in a mince-pie coma.

Below, I talk about intention setting as part of your springtime ritual practice and the exact intentions I’ll be setting as a witch who’s had a quiet winter in terms of magick.

And if you’re looking to get your teeth into spring awakenings and the magick of Ostara, I talk about this more in my book, The Wheel: A Witch’s Path Back to the Ancient Self. If you want ways to reconnect with the Earth this spring, this might be a read for you.

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Resolution setting as a ritual practice

Also known as intention setting.

If you have been practising witchcraft for any length of time at all, you'll know that having an intention behind a spell or ritual is what adds power to the direction of your magick.

If you want to cast a protection spell, the intent to protect a particular person or thing is there.

If you want to attract luck, an intent to embody abundance is there.

The more specific the intent, the better.

But we can also use intention setting to guide and shape our year by outlining exactly what we want and showing the Goddess (or the Divine) what we are willing to do to achieve these goals.

Within witchcraft, an intention isn’t just something you cross your fingers over and hope will happen; it is something you completely embody and manifest into being. Intention setting is a practice I used ahead of getting my first book deal and for success when I very first became a freelance writer, to lay the path ahead with a sort of golden energy. I see intention setting as reaching out to that invisible string of a possible future and giving it a knowing tug, reminding it that it’s about to happen.

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Your own intentions will be very personal to you and may be tied to where you’re at in your journey right now. Only you know how you want your year to unfurl, but intentions are usually positive and things that will help you grow within yourself and your craft.

Spring is a good time to set intentions as it is the season of new beginnings and is ruled by the Air Element, meaning that whatever your intention, it has a fair wind behind it.

To perform an intention-setting ritual as part of your witchcraft practice:

1. Have a clear idea of the intentions you want to set before you go into the ritual. I would typically choose 1-3 intentions.

2. Ground yourself in your preferred way - meditation, barefoot walking outside or lighting a candle with essential oils associated with the Earth Element (I might go with patchouli or vetiver, if you can handle that deeply earthy smell).

3. Sit in front of your Pagan altar or a cleansed sacred spot in nature or your home.

4. If you want to go the whole magickal hog, now is the time to cast a circle to enhance and protect your workings. Ask the Goddess for her help and guidance in your intention setting.

5. Once you’re settled, state your intention aloud as a positive, affirmative statement in the present tense, such as, “My body and mind are healthy and filled with positivity” or “I am embarking on an exciting new career in [area of choice].” Say your intentions out loud one at a time, writing each one down on a small scrap of paper (folding it into quarters by folding the paper towards you, turning clockwise 90 degrees and folding again), and visualising each intention happening viscerally and clearly in your mind. Take your time with this. Imagine all the events leading up to your intention becoming a reality, and feel exactly how you will feel when it does manifest into being. Really embody these thoughts and emotions, as if you can imagine the scene playing out in front of you in real time.

6. After each visualisation, burn the scrap of paper in a candle flame, releasing it to the Universe, allowing the Goddess to take it in hand.

7. Afterwards, sit calmly in your ritual space and feel at peace. Your intentions are now out there in the world.

Last week, I shared my Ostara spell for infusing seeds with extra growth (both physical and magickal). This spell can be incorporated into an intention-setting ritual: as you press each seed into the soil, you might assign it an intention, nurturing both the plant and the part of yourself you wish to grow.

What are your intentions for the coming year? Drop what you’re willing to share in the comments below! But now for some of mine…

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Are your green-witch senses tingling? Mine too!

If you’re feeling refreshed, bright-eyed and ready to rip into something new, you’re tuning into that beautiful Spring Equinox energy.

This year, the equinox falls at 14:46 on Friday 20th March, which also happens to be the first day after the new moon; this auspicious lunar phase really enhances those equinox themes of renewal and rebirth! In my last Ostara newsletter, I wrote about growing your garden using the moon cycles:

“New moon (waxing crescent). As the moon is reborn, its gravitational pull draws water upward in the soil, making this an ideal time for planting crops that produce above-ground yields. So, that’s leafy greens, annual flowers and herbs. It’s also a good time to start off seedlings indoors.”

I, for one, will be working with this week’s new moon to sow my sweet william, snapdragons and scabious, as well as my more traditionally magickal plants (sage and calendula). Read my post on re-starting your witchcraft practice if spring has re-awakened something in you too 💚 What are you growing on your witches’ plot this year?

The spring equinox, also known as Ostara in the Neo-Pagan world, is when the day and night fall equally (equi-nox = equal night) after the long dark of winter. We now have this opportunity to re-examine our lives and see where we can welcome in balance, or start something afresh. I’ve had a manic few weeks with the publication of my fifth book, Underwing, (see below) so I’m especially looking forward to the balance this equinox can bring.

On the latest episode of The Divine Void Podcast, and I delve deep into Ostara: its energy, folktales and origins. This is also the FINAL episode of The Divine Void Series 1. We’ll be back soon though! We hope you enjoy our series finale: listen to our Ostara episode here >

In this Ostara edition of The Green Witch, I’ll be sharing:

• how this author has spent the past few weeks!

• ways to celebrate the equinox

• my favourite Ostara lore

• how to spell your seeds for extra growth

I hope the sun shines through your window today and the green heart inside of you unfurls. Bright blessings, dear reader.

Jennifer x

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A huge THANK YOU to you!

Before we get into the chlorophylled juiciness of Ostara, I wanted to say the warmest of thank yous.

My fifth book, Underwing: A Story of Motherhood, Loss and Wild Intuition, came out 1 week ago today, and it’s already been such an emotional rollercoaster of a journey!

Thank you to everyone who has messaged me about the book and their personal experience with baby loss and stillbirth. I’m clasping your hand and giving you a huge hug. Thank you also to anyone who came to my launch events in Manchester last week 🩵 Despite the heart-wrenching topic, we had a blast - I even giggled so hard I snorted! It was good to be able to find light within the darkness of the theme - I really hope you enjoy this book.

Find one of my upcoming author events here >

It would mean the world to me if you left me an online review for Underwing on the site of your choice. It might seem like a super-small thing, but it really helps get the word out there. I hope you love the book, and thank you again from the bottom of my heart!

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How to celebrate Ostara

Shake off the winter dust - it’s time to get moving (and frolicking through the fields)! This year, I’ll be celebrating this spoke of the Wheel by:

• spring cleaning my altar. I’ve been especially looking forward to whipping out my green altar cloth, hare motifs and green candles for Ostara - it’s time to refresh that winter altar space! Add rose quartz and aventurine, as well as spring plants that you will be using in your green witchcraft, like cleavers, chickweed and nettle tips. This year, I’m focusing on growing plenty of beautiful flowers in the garden for the bees and for me! While I can’t wait to bring these inside and add them to my altar, I always remember my own golden rule: to only take 5-10% of a certain plant from nature, and leave the rest for the insects.

• checking in with the goddess. I think it’s a lot easier to connect with the goddess on the four major fire festivals of Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasadh and Samhain, but the equinox deserves her thanks as well! We are still firmly in the realms of the maiden goddess - for me, this is the Celtic goddess Brigid (but you may choose another goddess that resonates with you) with her symbolism of sacred fire, fertility, healing, the written word and creativity. She holds sway over the spring months and we can give thanks to her by lighting candles, writing poetry about spring and tapping into the healing energy that’s all around us outside right now.

• performing egg magick. Also known as oomancy. Eggs are THE symbol of Ostara and new life; we can use them to divine the future by asking a question, then pricking an uncooked egg and watching the egg white spool out into water. We can then interpret the shapes the egg white makes using a divination guide like this one. Speaking of eggs…

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• dying eggs. My husband said he did this every year growing up in rural Germany. It’s a shame it has become a lost tradition in the UK! This practice has been around for centuries and involves letting hard-boiled eggs sit in plant dye or cochineal. People would draw symbols onto the eggs with candle wax before they went in the pot, so the eggs would have a lovely pattern once they came out! Lucky red eggs were particularly popular and were given to young men by maidens wanting to catch their eye. See how to make yours here!

• renewing my love of birdwatching. You know we love a bird over here on The Green Witch. Now in mating season, it’s wonderful to spot birds cartwheeling around each other, performing these elaborate courtship rituals. Lapwings - also known as peewits around these northern parts - can be seen across the moors and farmland feinting and twirling around one another, calling their distinctive cry. They are quite otherworldly as they tumble through the air. It really is something special to behold!

Photo by Daniil Komov on Unsplash

• cleansing my house. Spring cleaning is GO. Yes, I’m cleaning out a cupboard a day right now and whacking everything on Vinted (of course), but I’m also airing my home to let out any stagnant, winter energy and welcoming in that fresh spring air. Read my ways to cleanse your home here and find out how to make a smoke cleansing stick. I’m also using a bell to dingle into all the corners of each room and shake up stuck energy and get it out of there. Make your own witch’s bells to cleanse and protect your space here >

• planting for pollinators. My garden has become wilder and wilder since we moved in 5 years ago. Last year, we took the initiative to plant as much lavender as Lidl's middle aisle could provide! We swarmed the front garden with lavender, meaning - come May/June - it is actually alive with hoverflies, bees and butterflies. Foxgloves, cornflowers and borage work just as well (but lavender is also great in sleep and dream magick if you want it to have this dual purpose).

• wearing green. We are just coming out of a very unlucky period: that pesky Mercury Retrograde. Now, as Mercury stations direct tomorrow, we can start to refocus our efforts on welcoming luck back into our lives. Wearing green - whether that’s some trusty lime-green flares or a peridot necklace - can encourage and attract good luck and fresh opportunities into our lives. You may also like to read my post on creating charms and talismans if you are really set on changing your luck around.

• performing this Ostara egg meditation. Enjoy!

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My favourite Ostara lore

I’ve been catching up on my witchy reading recently and just love the new book Ostara: Traditional Magick, Recipes and Tales for the Spring Equinox from . I’ve followed their fantastic Wheel of the Year series closely as I particularly enjoy learning all about the wonderful and definitely weird traditions associated with the eight Pagan festivals.

In my book, The Wheel, I look closely at goddesses and magickal witchcraft practices at the different sabbats. Ostara looks more at the long-lost traditions of rural life and the practical crafts and recipes our ancestors would have relied on. It is well worth adding to your collection!

Here is some of my favourite Spring Equinox lore I’ve discovered in this book:

• Finding two yolks in your Easter egg speaks of wealth and a large fortune coming your way.

• In North Germany, egg shells must be broken after eating the contents “lest the witches should sail out to sea in them”.

• Under the influence of the harmonising and balancing equinox moon, animals that are natural enemies were said to play together or pass by without conflict. When the moon’s influence tips back into unbalance, conflict will resume.

• A hare crossing the path of a traveller is a sign of bad fortune. A white hare, however, is regarded as a good sign. And if a hare crosses your path on a Saturday morning, it promises happy days, riches and pleasure!

• There are many farmers’ wives who would never dream of allowing eggs to be brought into the house or taken out after dark - this is deemed extremely unlucky.

What are your favourite Ostara traditions?

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How to spell your seeds for extra growth

Even the most green-fingered amongst us can do with a boost in our gardens (says I, whose sweetpeas last year were a disaster)!

In this Ostara spell section, we’ll be focusing on using magick to create some stout and robust shoots - but did you know you can also spell your seeds and seedlings to be more magickally potent? This spell below ensures your garden, balcony or windowbox is buzzing with the power to bring your spellwork to fruition.

While I don’t specify which seeds you might like to sow as part of this spell (that one’s up to you), think about what you might like to use in your craft during the year ahead. For me, I’ll be working with calendula and cornflowers, but you can add extra energy to the particular plants that will be handiest to you!

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You’ll need:

• a small bowl of seeds to sow

• a pinch of stinging nettle

• a pinch of rosemary

• a pinch of crushed eggshell

• a small cup of water

• 1 green candle

• matches

• fresh soil

• a plant pot, seed tray, or patch of earth prepared for sowing

• [optional] a garden trowel (I tend to use my hands when planting!)

1. On Ostara morning, or any morning leading up to the next full moon (2nd April), prepare the area you’ll be gardening in.

2. Sit on the ground and breathe deeply, feeling the earth beneath you - even if you are indoors. Say out loud, “Blessed Ostara to all - today I honour the turning of the wheel and the fertile promise of new life to help these seeds grow.”

3. Light your candle and sit with its flame for a few moments, imagining the returning sun warming the soil and waking the seeds beneath it. This is to focus your mindset and to “put some fire” under your spell.

4. Place your seeds into a small bowl. Add the nettle and rosemary, and the crushed eggshell. Now, dip your fingertips into the water and lightly sprinkle a few drops over the seeds. Gently mix them all together into a slightly muddy paste with your fingers in a clockwise (deosil) direction, saying as you go:

   “Seed of earth, so small, so wise,
   Wake beneath the springtime skies.
   Root down deep and rise up strong,
   Grow with light where you belong.
   Stem to leaf, and bud to flower,
   You are filled with life and gentle power.
   Growth and potent magick flow through you.
   As I will it, so shall it be.”

5. Hold the bowl in your hands for a moment and visualise the seeds growing to their full height, vibrating with magickal potency. Spend as long as you like visualising this.

6. Sow your seeds into the soil. As you press each one into the earth, do so with care and intention, thinking about what you want from this spell.

7. Once all your seeds are sown, place your hands over the soil and focus on your intention once more, feeling your energy sinking into the soil to encompass each seed, giving them a further boost of light.

8. Snuff your candle. Over the next few weeks into April, tend to your seeds as you normally would, but take a moment each time you water them to remember this spell, whispering your intentions again to each plant as the first shoots appear.

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I'll see you on the next turn of the Wheel: Beltane (my numero uno) will be here on Friday 1st May 2026. Watch out for your newsletter a few days before. See you then!

Thank you so much for reading! I really appreciate your ongoing support and feedback on my Substack. If you want to share some love or wish to support me, you can upgrade your newsletter subscription below ⬇️

Underwing, my fifth book, is finally out there in the world.

There has been so much swirling joy this week, but there has also been – quite understandably – a lot of tears. Many of you who pre-ordered the book received it up to a week early, so I’ve already had a lot of messages from people telling me how Underwing made …

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1. Spring has sprung, and the world is green again 🌱

2. My fifth book, Underwing: A Story of Motherhood, Loss and Wild Intuition, is coming out in just 5 days!

Get your copy!

Underwing is out on 12th March, and I am so excited for it to be on your bedside table!

I want to give you - as a wonderful reader of The Green Witch - a special preview of the book, and an exclusive opportunity to join my online Spring Equinox event.

Join me for the Spring Equinox!

When you pre-order your copy of Underwing before 23:59 on 11th March, you’re invited to my online Zoom event, How to Celebrate the Spring Equinox. Here, I’ll be telling you how to celebrate the Pagan festival of Ostara, how to rekindle your magick after winter, and the nature writing at the heart of Underwing. All you have to do is email your proof of purchase to amie@septemberpublishing.org to receive an exclusive invite! I can’t wait to see you there on Thursday 19th March!

Pre-order Underwing here

What is Underwing about?

A beautiful, healing book for anyone who has ever struggled with pregnancy loss and recovery, and is looking for symbols of hope in the wider, wilder world.

When Jennifer Lane finally fell pregnant, she and her partner were overjoyed. But it wasn’t an easy pregnancy, and her journey towards motherhood was, in the end, a story of loss.

In the wake of her traumatic grief and physical recovery, Jennifer – a practising green witch – was left questioning everything about her beliefs. Trust your intuition, they say. But what if the worst thing that could happen does?

As she grieved, Jennifer turned to the mysteries of our animal natures, witchcraft and women’s fertility for understanding and comfort. This beautifully written account of finding solace in the natural world offers companionship through loss, and a sustaining path to joy and hope.

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And now: your exclusive preview 💙

Thwack.

Cackle.

Pop pop.

The single magpie landed on my garden fence and bowed deeply to the kitchen window.

Some not-so-secret voice in my head said, ‘This feels like a sign.’

I opened the window to frighten it off – a thing that I, the avid birdwatcher, had never done before in my life – and watched the magpie emit a series of machine-like pops as it soared away across the tree line. Something about those chesspiece feathers said, Bad news ahead, and I didn’t like it. Had I ever seen a single magpie in the garden before? Maybe. I only remembered their chattering pairs performing acrobatics on the bird feeders, which always made me giggle and watch in wonder, or the sets of three that played around and pecked at the lawn as I pressed a hand to my belly.

Three for a little girl.

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A deep crinkle appeared between my eyebrows. My head had been so distracted with my self-imposed hectic schedule for months now – saying ‘yes’ to every work opportunity even if it meant I had to stay in bed for two days recovering afterwards – that what if I’d missed them? What if there had been more of those single magpies out there? My nose had been stuck so doggedly to my computer screen that I had only seen the black and white of neat Calibri letters and not the flurry of feathers. Perhaps there had been a steady trickle of single magpies tracking sigils across my lawn since our positive pregnancy test, all of them going unseen as I worked into the night and forgot to go outside, oblivious to the lone chequered venturers across my patio.

What if the world had been showing me the signs? And, in my busyness, I had ignored them.

‘An omen,’ I thought. The word ‘omen’ – an event that is thought to tell something about the future – hasn’t always predicted something bad; yet, over time, the term has become synonymous with the ominous: the broken mirror, the unexpected comet and the doomed job interview scheduled for Friday the thirteenth. Humans have been watching out for the omens since the dawn of civilisation in Ancient Mesopotamia, desperately hoping to change their dismal luck around. They believed that omens were signs of the will of the gods and it was our job to clock them and set ourselves on the path of right once more.

The practice of this sinister form of divination has been passed down the generations through Babylon, Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome to the present day, sometimes written down but mainly through the oral tradition. In the early twentieth century, a Mandaean priest in Ahwaz, Iran, spoke of the aeons-old astrological knowledge transmitted from priest to priest in secret throughout time. He said:

If a raven croaks in a certain burj [an astrological house] I understand what it says, also the meaning when the fire crackles or the door creaks. When the sky is cloudy and there are shapes in the sky resembling a mare or a sheep, I can read their significance and message. When the moon is darkened by an eclipse, I understand the portent: when a dust-cloud arises, black, red, or white, I read these signs, and all this according to the hours and the aspects.

Over time, some began to believe omens were signs of fated events we could not change, while others used amulets and magical protections to keep themselves safe. Even up until recently, knowledge of omens was widely recognised and taken seriously but is now largely coated in the same cloth as superstition and old wives’ tales (as if those wives hadn’t been noticing and sharing their citizen-science wisdom for centuries). The practice of omen reading and divination is still a large part of a modern-day Pagan practice – a path I have been following since I was just twelve years old – with many Pagans heading straight to their Tarot decks to predict the future. What will the cards show today? The Star (hope)? Or the Tower (destruction)?

It is a system of knowing that the witch in me believes with all her heart.

But the most common omens have persisted into everyday culture.

The old rhyme goes:

One for sorrow, two for joy,
three for a girl, four for a boy,
Five for silver, six for gold,
Seven for a secret never to be told.

If you’d ever wondered, the rest of the rhyme goes:

Eight for a wish, Nine for a kiss,
Ten for a bird you must not miss.
Eleven for health, Twelve for wealth.
Thirteen beware, it’s the devil himself.
Fourteen, make your choice, Fifteen, take your pick,
Sixteen, the sweetest, Seventeen, your heart’s wish.
Eighteen for a letter, Nineteen for better,
Twenty, the future, It’s now or never.

This version has been written in the British history books since 1820, but is likely to have existed for centuries longer, meaning people have been shooing away the threat of sorrowful magpies for hundreds of years. The ‘original’, however – documented in 1777 – goes:

One for sorrow,
Two for mirth,
Three for a funeral,
Four for a birth.

Which brings a whole new meaning to that cluster of three.

A past, in-tune, version of me would have noticed the signs. She would have honed in on the magpies, as well as the owl calls so close to the house that they made us jump. The old me would have listened out for the black cat that sang to Linnet from the shadows of the fuchsia bushes every evening, crouched ready with a water pistol in hand. When had I clamped shut the dark, heavy-lidded eye inside me that had always been so adept at spotting the glimmers of magic within nature, seeing signs of Mother Earth everywhere I went? If I’d been more observant, was there something I could have done to prevent all this?

What else had I missed? I flicked my mind back to all the signs the Universe might have been trying to give me over the past five months. The debilitating first-trimester symptoms; the feeling of dread that seeped over me from week five of my pregnancy and the frenzied, unsettled working. Had this all been just hormones? Or an alarm call?

With a searing flash, I thought of the rooks. The rooks I saw in their droves in Ireland in the month we conceived. The crows. The jackdaws. All those carrion birds that we remarked upon because of their unusual numbers. All harbingers of death. All ‘the thing with feathers’.

A warning.

Pre-order Underwing here

I can’t wait for you to read this, everyone. And I hope to see you at one of my upcoming book events:

• Underwing: Book launch - Wednesday 11th March, B For Butterfly Books, South Manchester.

• Underwing: An Evening With Jennifer Lane - Thursday 12th March, Waterstones Manchester Arndale, Central Manchester.

• Underwing: How to Celebrate the Spring Equinox - Thursday 19th March, online (see details above)

• Underwing: In Conversation - Saturday 11th April, Blackwell’s Oxford, Broad Street, Oxford.

• Beltane: Sabbat Sessions - Saturday 25th April, Blackwell’s Oxford, Broad Street, Oxford.

Sending love to you all and I’ll see you next week for my Ostara newsletter!

Jennifer x

(Name me a witch whose road has been a conventional one!)

But, something I have always done - throughout my 23 years of practising witchcraft - is try to put a name to where my focus lies. Putting a clear label on my craft has not limited me at all; it’s actually created a real sense of belonging in certain niches of the witchcraft community.

Green witch. Hedge witch. Kitchen witch. Sea witch. Ancestral witch. Psychic witch.

You may have chosen one of the above names for yourself, feeling into its corners and finding yourself comfy and at home with this label. If you’re a hedge witch, perhaps you feel most at home walking the liminal paths - tending to ancestors, spirits and the unseen edges of your garden at dusk. Or if you’re a psychic witch, maybe you find the most excitement while standing on the edge of a crowd and feeling into the energy of the room, picking up on its subtle shifts and changes.

As you may have guessed by the name of this Substack, I call myself a green witch, and I explore how I came to this name below. But I have not always been a green witch and I - perhaps - will not always be one.

One thing I’ve realised over the years is that as the seasons of our lives shift, so does our witchcraft practice. We are not the same person we were at 15 (thank goodness), nor will we remain our current selves for the next 20 years.

In this post, I want to explore why witchcraft is not a brand that we have to subscribe to for life- it’s a living and ever-shifting practice that grows and sometimes takes sharp corners, just as we do in life. Here, I share how to explore other aspects of the craft to grow your knowledge, and how to let go of past versions of witchy you with gratitude.

I hope you enjoy!

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Join me at an upcoming event

But before we get into things, my new book Underwing is out on 12th March! See you at one of my witchy book events over the next few weeks.

Underwing: Book launch - Wednesday 11th March, B For Butterfly Books, South Manchester.

Underwing: How to Celebrate the Spring Equinox - Thursday 19th March, online. This is a special pre-order event: pre-order your copy of Underwing before 12th March and email your proof of purchase to amie@septemberpublishing.org to receive your exclusive invite!

Underwing: In Conversation - Saturday 11th April, Blackwell’s Oxford, Broad Street, Oxford.

Beltane: Sabbat Sessions - Saturday 25th April, Blackwell’s Oxford, Broad Street, Oxford.

Pre-order your copy here

My own witchcraft journey

I began my witchcraft journey at age 12 in my Liverpool box bedroom.

When I first started tinkering with crystals and rhyming couplets in my room late into the evening, Wicca was an incredibly popular path. This was the early noughties and witchcraft was marketed to tweenage girls as it was a new mascara: quirky, fun and a way to look mysterious. But this isn’t what drew me in.

At this point in my life, I already felt like quite the misfit and was an incredibly serious child, cultivating a love of history, ancient mythology and the paranormal. Finding a path that spoke to the part of me that felt “different” and wanted to connect with a deeper meaning in the world was so healing at that time. Wicca became my solace and I particularly loved the idea that women were equal (if not higher ranking) than men in this path, after so many years of a solidly Christian upbringing.

After a period of heavy rock music and piercing my own ears with a sewing needle, I returned to witchcraft in my early-mid twenties, and found myself gravitating to all sorts of different areas of the craft. I was keen to try everything and anything I could to find my path. I knew I loved ritual work and the solace of deep meditation, whether with others or solo: so, I dabbled in astral projection, traditional witchcraft, druidry and some intense ritual work, sorting through an eclectic mix to find what spoke to me.

By the time I reached my late twenties and early thirties, witchcraft was having a boom. Crystals became commonplace in high-street stores. Witchcraft shows were back in the mainstream. And every yoga class now came with a side of oracle cards. Witchcraft might have been having the time of its life, but I most certainly was not. In 2018, my mental health took a drop-kick as I began working in a toxic work environment. I’d go into the specifics, but all you need to know is that the CEO of that company is now serving 15 years for sexual assault. Which, as you can imagine, creates an interesting work environment. (That was a part I missed out of my first book, wasn’t it?)

It was at this time that I began to rely heavily on my witchcraft practice as a source of comfort and calm. I was drawn to the green witchcraft path, creating tinctures and teas that helped to balance and regulate my mental health and the general insanity of my life at that point in time. I took several months out of the working world to recalibrate my mind and, during that time, I fell in love with the Wheel of the Year, folklore, and growing herbs that I would use in my witchcraft practice.

Hence, my book - The Wheel: A Witch’s Path to Healing Through Nature - was born, and I established myself as a green witch.

But right now, a few years on, I find myself at a crossroads.

Lately, my craft has become much more about celebrating the seasons and communing with the natural world through shamanic trancework to find deeper connection between all living things. I have explored the natural world and examined our place as folk healers (as well as humans) within it through my writing and through my hikes into far-flung corners of Britain. When I am out in the wild, my mind is constantly on the underground network of mycelium that connects the woods and gives the world a glowing form of consciousness, as well as the ley lines and energy pathways that can channel healing into a sore and ragged land.

Is there a name for this particular brand of Paganism? Perhaps animist? Eco-Pagan? Or Wild Lady Attaching Herself To Chain Link Fences? I have not quite reached a conclusion yet. But I am excited to be exploring this new area of the craft, while still growing herbs, making tinctures and honouring my green witch practice daily.

Mostly.

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How to explore new areas of witchcraft

The subtitle to this section should be “without feeling guilty”.

When we’ve been practising one area of the craft for so long, we can feel so loyal to it. You’ve gathered all the books, the tools, and the omnipresent hoard of empty jam jars. So beginning to change your witchcraft identity can feel like you’re letting yourself and your inner witch down.

It’s a bit uncomfy.

Personally, I am currently in a season of my life with a huge environmental focus. I have worked in environmental communications since 2017 and have seen the world’s focus slipping further away from conversation into consumerism. I felt so disheartened for a long time, and sent my mind elsewhere. But my passion for future-proofing our environment has been renewed, and that has flowed into my magick practice.

This feels like a whole new area for me with its own (confusing) terminology. It feels a bit like I’m starting again, with a brand-new set of books, teachings and tools to look into.

It’s certainly different, but I’m very aware of how my path has changed and adapted to my interests over the years, so I’m not frightened that this shift is a negative one. It definitely feels positive to me!

But you might be battling some feelings of uncertainty right now. I’m here to say: through knowing how to tap into meditation and your connection with Spirit, you can ask all the questions you need to find out which path you need to follow.

Here’s my advice to embracing a change in your witchcraft path:

1. Notice the spiritual nudge

I’ve found that the shift into a new area of witchcraft often begins quietly.

You may hear about a topic dropped into conversation that sparks your interest, but you forget to look it up at the time, only for it to be mentioned again two weeks later, completely out of the blue. This happened for me with shamanism. The word kept coming up and coming up until I began to feel this real tug in my chest to research it and go to a gathering to see what it was all about (I’m so glad I did!).

Ask yourself what the universe is guiding you towards right now. Where are you being led? Try not to fight this, and let your natural curiosity take over.

2. Follow energy, not aesthetics

One of my biggest pet peeves is when people try to pair their practice with their own sense of style! Just because you’ve redecorated your bathroom with ocean waves doesn’t mean you’re being called with a conch to the magick of the sea… The same goes for dressing “like a witch” and thinking you’ve done the inner work it takes to become one.

Instead, you can delve deeper. If your current practice isn’t sitting right with you and you feel you’ve learned all you can on this particular vein, sink into meditation in front of your altar and ask yourself:

• “What practices make me feel calmer?”

• “What topics make me lose track of time when I research them?”

• “What makes me feel a spark of recognition in my chest, as if I’ve had this knowledge all along?”

Write your answers down and see a new path spooling in your mind’s eye.

3. Try on new practices without renouncing the old

You do not need a dramatic renunciation ritual every time you become curious about something new. But you can absolutely experiment.

If you have always been plant-focused but feel drawn to divination, try pulling a card once a week. If you have worked devotionally with one deity but feel called to ancestor work, light a candle and begin a conversation with your passed loved ones.

Think of this as widening your circle of interest rather than tearing it down, layering new topics onto your practice to enhance the old.

4. Accept the fallow and unmagickal periods

Sometimes, in busy periods of my life, I can go months without performing a ritual or noticing the signs on my daily walks. Am I proud of it? Not particularly! Does it happen semi-regularly? Absolutely. That’s just life, and sometimes the daily routine of it all saps your brain space.

You may go for long stretches without feeling “witchy”, and that is absolutely OK. It doesn’t mean you’ve fallen out of love with your craft and need to go in search of a completely new path to get you going again.

In these instances, I would suggest going back to basics, like stirring intentions into your tea or cleansing your favourite crystals in the moonlight, but also going back to your roots. What brought you to witchcraft in the first place? Which aspects make you feel cosy and warm, or powerful and strong? This isn’t necessarily a time for starting something new, but more about falling in love with the practicalities of your craft again.

5. What does your current life stage need for success?

Are you in a season of motherhood, grief, career-building, healing or activism? Your craft should support your life - not become another pressure layered on top of it. If you feel like certain areas of your practice aren’t serving you, it could be time to tune into your needs via meditation and ask yourself where your energies should lie:

• If you are exhausted, perhaps your practice needs to be simpler and more devotional.

• If you are grieving, perhaps you are being called towards ancestor work or shadow work.

• If you are energised and curious, perhaps this is the moment to study something entirely new.

We really can mould our witchcraft practice to shape who we are becoming.

Once you’ve become comfortable with the shape your path is taking, you can go one step further and send out gratitude to your old path and all it taught you in the form of a ritual.

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A gratitude ritual to thank all you’ve learned

You’ll need:

• a white candle

• matches

• a small bowl of water mixed with sea salt

• a bundle of dried rosemary

• your journal and a pen

This ritual is to be performed on the full moon - maybe you want to perform yours this coming Tuesday!

1. Sit quietly in front of your altar or a cleansed space in your home. Centre yourself for slow, deep breathing.

2. Place the bowl of water in front of you and light the candle behind it.

3. Hold the rosemary in your hands. Rosemary symbolises remembrance, so this bundle represents the knowledge you have gained and will keep in your memory as part of your previous witchcraft path. Say the following verse, but you can amend parts of this so that it reflects your direct experience. e.g. If you didn’t work with spellcraft, switch this out to your primary focus:

“I send gratitude to the witch I have been.
I give thanks to what I have learned.
Blessed are the spells that worked and the ones that did not.
I honour the version of me who needed this path.”

4. Place the rosemary in the water, symbolising this path gently floating away from you, creating space for something new. Say:

“If this chapter is complete, I release it with love.
If parts of it remain, may they root deeply within me.
This path brought me to where I need to be.”

5. Allow the rosemary to float for as long as you meditate before it. Think clearly about thanking all the specific things you’ve learned and remember how they have helped you. Think about the new path you are about to embark on, and you may want to state what kind of witch you are going to become. Although you could still be figuring this out.

6. Afterwards, bury the rosemary in the earth to symbolise putting the past to bed with more gratitude, then journal about anything that came up for you during the ritual.

Which new areas of witchcraft are you planning to focus on this spring? Let me know your plans in the comments below!

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I hope you enjoyed this post on the ever-changing seasons of witchcraft (and life).

Underwing is out in less than two weeks’ time! I hope to see you at an event soon and I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the book.

Sending love,

Jennifer x

This week, I’ve been looking ahead to the festival of Ostara.

Despite the snow (yes, it keeps on coming up North!) and the near-constant mizzle, I’ve had my head in books of folk magick, moon-gazing hares and women with flower-filled faces, planning for the spring equinox on 20th March. Scroll to the very bottom of this email for…

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Last weekend, I wrote in my nature journal:

“The air is green again. I feel like I can finally take a lungful of air once more.”

I was out on the moors with my dear friend and intrepid hiking buddy, Laurie, stretching out our “mopey thighs” after a winter of chocolate appreciation and cat stroking. All our January walks had felt trudging and much…

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First of all, thank you so much to everyone who made it to our Blackwell’s Oxford event. We had the absolute best time - it was (quite honestly) a delight to have you there and to talk with you about witchcraft and living more in tune with the cycles of the Earth.

Speaking of which:

At Yule, I made the leap and decided to give up my phone. I was making a commitment to myself: Live a less online life. Spend more time in the natural world. And stop guffawing at memes at 11 pm that you won’t even remember in the morning.

So, have I succeeded?

Well. Mostly. But there have been a few cats amongst the pigeons.

I want to share with you what the last seven weeks have looked like for a witch doing her best to return to the mossy earth and throw her phone into the deep, billowing sea.

Don’t forget to book your free ticket to our Beltane event at Blackwell’s Oxford on Saturday 25th April. We can’t wait to see you there!

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