BACK ON THE MOOR

So here I am living on the moor again, in a little house in Haworth and the scent in the air could only be Haworth Moor. I have lived in a few different places now and only this land has this scent.

There are lots of bilberries on the moor at the moment, wild, and delicious! and it's a good time to be climbing a hill to pick them with Lammas/ Lughnasadh upon us...

Bilberry bushes on Penistone Hill

I look out my door and see the sky, no matter where you are in Haworth, you are on a hill, it is like living in the sky, wonderful!
Walking on the moor everyday is always very inspiring, surrounded by Heather and Rowan trees, it's really good to have so much Rowan around, good for the magic and  the charm making.
There is much folklore and tradition of Witchcraft on the moors of England: this is a poem by John Keats on a postcard from the Witchcraft Museum....

Where I live has many associations with Witchcraft. Haworth is famous as being the home of the Bronte sisters and Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte is very pagan and full of faerie and Witchcraft folklore. And I am fortunate that Pendle Hill and the area around it known as Pendle Witch country is just over the moor from where I live. It's one of my favourite areas and loving the area so much I decided that would be the place to go last week for my Birthday, and of course climb the wonderful Pendle Hill.

On Pendle Hill

One of my original paintings of Haworth Moor

http://morgaineart.blogspot.co.uk/

The first harvest is here, Happy Lammas/ Lughnasadh!

SUMMER MAGIC, AND MOVING ON...

The feel of the land where I am living has changed so much this last few weeks, I don't think I have seen so much green all around me, ever, I am enclosed in what feels like a secret, hidden, magical world.
I walk out of my door and within a few yards I am in dense woodland and forest.

 My village is surrounded by meadows and trees, the nearest neighbouring small villages are three miles away and the closest small town is six miles from here. So each day when I am not indoors working on my art I am out walking along the lanes and paths surrounded by hedgerow and ancient trees.

  

This has been a very inspiring, special time, that I will never forget, my weird ,wonderful Weardale will always be in my heart...
But now it is time to move on, back to my moors. At the end of the week I will be moving back to Haworth in Yorkshire, to my windswept moors of  heather and the Rowan  and Kestrels flying overhead...

THE BONES, THE FEATHERS AND A HARE

There is often a need to go out collecting specific plants , twigs and roots and other things for different purposes, but when it comes to bones and feathers its such a joy when they just seem to appear for you.

As was the case with a lovely rams skull that seemed to be waiting for us as we walked back to the car after walking over Dartmoor, right next to the car..

Picking up a mermaids purse for spirit work on a beach in Dorset when it was the only one there amongst hundreds of pebbles.

The Owl feathers that I found a few weeks ago, literally waving at me to notice them as they were caught on a piece of driftwood along by the river here and blowing in the breeze...

The Crow skull was found on the path we were walking on that leads to what is known as the hidden village of Wycoller in Pendle, one of my most loved areas...

Of course just coming across them out there in the wild means they arent always in perfect shape, other animals and birds have often damaged them , but its good to know there is something of these birds and animals left for us too, to work with , and as something beautiful to have around.

So, with our love of bones and feathers, you can imagine our curiosity when on our walk today we saw a Hare, a dead Hare in a Hawthorn Tree, up on one of the high branches. We walked up to the Hawthorn and wondered if it would be ok to take the Hare back with us, but before we could do anything some sheep in the field that are normally perfectly ok with us, even when their lambs were first born, started racing towards us and definitely chasing us away, they were behaving and sounding totally different to how they usually are, and certainly standing their ground, even the young ones were acting the same. They all stood around the Hawthorn , it was quite clear they were making sure that the Hare stayed there and the Hawthorn and the Hare were protected.
You are always told whether its ok to take anything from nature, or whether you are welcome in certain places, sometimes its just not the right time, or its something that must stay with the land, and its always wise to take heed of the warning...

THE VEIL IS THIN

Just a few days until Beltaine, the veil is thin, how I love this time of year. I dont think there will be any garlands of May blossom this year though, the Hawthorn is only just leafing up, it's still cold and wet a lot of the time here in Weardale. But who knows, the Hawthorn has surprised us before and blossomed right in time for the May with her wonderful sensual scent.
I have always loved the Hawthorn. I remember when I was out walking the fields and lanes when I was a child with my father. He would pick a leaf from the Hawthorn for me to nibble , he told me it was known as the bread and cheese tree and would keep people going on a long walk, and my mother would tell of washing in the May dew.
There are a lot of Hawthorn trees where I live and lots of them grow next to one of the sacred healing wells in the village. Above the well on a hillside is a field leading up to a grove of ancient trees, this field is very active with spirit, the first time I walked past this field after moving here I saw the spirit of a woman running down the field.

The Ancient Trees On The Hillside

One of the healing wells in the village, the christians have enclosed it and put their Saints there, it must surely have been a very powerful spot before christianity for them to do that..

Dancing In the May, on Giants Hill at Cerne Abbas  in Dorset, taken about three years ago..

My painting 'Beltaine'