Celebrating Beltane

Guest blog by Alison Thompson

Beltane is one of the four cross quarter fire festivals. It is the opposite of Samhain in the Pagan Wheel of the Year. Beltane is traditionally celebrated from sundown on 31st April until the 2nd May. There are many myths and legends surrounding Beltane. It brought the coming of the summer and as such it was a very important time and much merry making can be found when you start to explore ancient customs. Many of these customs still survive through to today, and still others are being revived as a way of going back to our roots and honouring all of nature and all that she provides for us.

Bel-fires

The name Beltane is derived from the Celtic “bel” meaning good, and “tan” meaning fire. The ancient druids used to celebrate by lighting large bel-fires made from 9 types of wood on local beacons on the eve of 31st April. The bel-fire was considered to be the fire of the Gaelic God of Light. Beltane, Beltain or Beltaine is also known as the Celtic May Day.

These bel-fires were symbolic of many things. They were filled by the ancient druids with highly scented herbs and sacred plants and the fragrant smoke was used to purify the cattle and sheep before the journey to new pastures began. The cattle were driven between the bel-fires at Beltane to protect them from ills. Contact with the fire was interpreted as symbolic contact with the sun. The bel-fires were often burnt on hilltops, and used as a symbol of strengthening the sun, which would bless the earth for fruitful crops at this very important time in the agricultural calendar. Beltane fires would often create a chain of beacons on hilltops across the land.

Dancing round the maypole

Beltane is a festival celebrating the union of the god and goddess, often symbolised as the Greenman and the May Queen. The flowers and greenery symbolise the Goddess and the maypole represents the God. The May King was often chosen by a contest, usually dash to the foot of the maypole.

The community would all dance around the maypole wearing ribbons and mayflower headresses, and would dance the dance of the spiral of life. The intertwining of the maypole ribbons can be seen to represent the joining of male and female energies. We are seeing a renewed popularity of the maypole dance in many parts of the world today.

Morris dancing was also popular at Beltane and still survives today. Morris dancing can be found in church records in Thame, England going back to 1555, apparently popular at Beltane or Mayday during Tudor times.

Ley lines

The earth’s amazing energy is particularly potent at this time of the year. You can feel it if you stand with your bare feet on the ground, particularly if close to an ancient ley line. This is a perfect time of the year for walking along ley lines or the dragon paths that snake the countryside.

All of nature is growing and nurturing at this time of year; it is a time for celebrating unions and fertility either in conceiving a child or for improvements in career and other areas of life. It is a time of creative inspiration and for improved health and increased energy. We look at the fertility that is all around us and bring that into our daily lives, enriching our health and home and encouraging new projects to spring into life. Enjoy the fertile joy that Beltane brings with it. What does Beltane mean to you?

How can you celebrate Beltane?

There are many ways that you can celebrate Beltane, either on your own or with family or friends. You can attend a local maypole dance or morris dance, build your own Beltane fire or light a candle and make a wish for the coming summer, or entwine red and white ribbons as you think of your loved ones. Wheel of the Year charms can be purchased here. These beautiful gemstone charms will enhance the strength that comes with each passing season allowing you to truly experience the joy of our wonderful changing environment.

For further information on Beltane, click here. You can hear more from Alison on Facebook and on Twitter.

Spring clean your life - sneak peek

Spring is the ideal time for getting rid of the mounting clutter that's accumulated over the year and sorting out what remains. Annabel Sutton, our resident life coach, shares her tips for keeping the process quick and simple, and suggests that now would be a good time to tackle any mental clutter that's been niggling you too.

Extract from Issue Three

At last – there’s definitely a sense that winter is behind us: the days are lengthening, the natural world is stirring and there’s a sense of optimism and renewed energy in the air. After a long, cold, dark winter it’s natural to want to come out of hibernation and embark on some spring cleaning to clear the way for the warmer days of summer.

However, spring cleaning doesn’t just have to be about hoovering, tidying and waving dusters around. This is a great time of year to give our lives a good spring clean as well. There’s something intensely invigorating about clearing out, getting rid and letting go of all the things that have been keeping us stuck and that no longer serve us.

It’s like when leaves and debris build up and block a gutter so that the water no longer flows freely. Our lives are exactly the same. Every now and again the gutter needs a clear out so that our lives flow freely as well.

At any time of year, whenever we’re feeling stuck or blocked, decluttering is a great way to re- energise and restore the flow.

See Issue Three for full article.

Harvest's LifeWell fans

Richi Watson and Skip Archimedes took time out of their busy schedules for this snap with their favourite natural health magazine. The founder of LifeWell and LifeWell Ambassador were taking a moment away from Skip's Supercharge your Life event in London.

We'd love to see any good shots/selfies you've taken with Harvest. Send them to hello@harvestmagazine.co.uk, share them on our facebook page, or tweet us.

You'll find full inspirational articles by Richi and Skip in the current issue of Harvest.

VaniTea to SaniTea (and why should you care?)

Guest blog by @RichEats

About Rich Enion
Rich successfully pitched in the Dragons' Den, then decided to walk away from the deal and up his roots to get on the move with RichEats.TV It's a health blog, most of which is video, that has been growing for more than five years. From England to Thailand, Australia to the USA, Brazil, Costa Rica, Colombia and beyond, Rich is currently travelling, researching, co-authoring and coaching on motivation, health and fitness. Of course a huge part of your health and wellbeing is happiness, so we've hunted him down and asked him to share some of his personal insights.


Tea: the fast facts
- All tea comes from one tree, Camellia Sinensis

- Tea is more than just a warm beverage, unless it’s just a warm beverage

- Tea has been used as medicine for thousands of years

- Sitting in silence drinking tea for a few moments each morning is a kind of meditation that can calm and direct your mind before you take on the day

- Tea for many is a meditation and way of calming, healing and feeling the inherent connection we have with this planet (unless it’s non-organic tea then it’s just hypocrisy. More on that in this blog post ;)

- British tea is not black tea in China, it’s red tea

- If your tea is not organic or known to be from a wild and clean source it is almost guaranteed to have been grown in fertilisers and pesticides - this is bad for you and your environment

- Organic tea should be your base level tea (never non-organic) and if you can find wild, living tea choose that

Tea time!
I mentioned in my previous guest blog that when I ‘officially’ started out on the RichEats world travel extravaganza I was more focused on fat burning and vanity than holistic health and wellbeing. Well, tea was a HUGE part of this shift.  In this article we are going to find out how tea is so much more than a dried and ground up leaf in a cup of hot water...

Tea is medicine (living tea that is...)
As well as the innate physical healing properties of tea, the X factor comes when we stop and think about what it stands for.  Taking a moment out of the day to shut up, sit, think through the leaf to the mountain, to the sun energy growing the 500, 1000 even 2000+ year old tree, and how that tree is nourished by some of the cleanest water on the planet; it breathes the purest air and is a living part of a mountain ecology. As you sit and think about how one tree gives its leaves once per year and one family go to the tree to retrieve its gifts and guide them through this journey before being ready for your bowl (or cup), there is no deadline, no bill, or car that needs fixing… stress disappears and the feeling of peace and connection re-emerges. That is healing.

The tea ceremony - shhhhh…
When I arrived in LA I’d already had a taste of the real deal… teas from wild trees that is.  t was at a tea bar in London where she first ‘spoke’ to me; unfortunately that great place no longer exists. (More about ‘talking tea’ here.)

With this knowledge of a tea world outside chemically grown bagged powders, there was no turning back, and like experiencing world travel outside the packaged holiday resort, that all inclusive convenience will never taste or feel the same. Back to LA, I found the tea world in Venice Beach, invited in.

The tea ceremony is about feeling the ever present connection with each other and nature, it is about drinking a healing medicine, allowing the qi energy to work its magic through your body and soul, letting go of judgement, the material man-made world disappears, financial status disintegrates into that which it is - just a number, in the ceremony we acknowledge and feel each other as equal living beings.   

There is silence, sometimes hours (it’s a rarity in this day and age to sit with another person in silence and just feel), sometimes people cry from the emotions that are released (maybe that’s the tea working its magic), we engage in conversation (sometimes about tea, or whatever comes up), and as a wise Chinese Emperor once never said: it’s a moment to shut up and be.

Thinking bigger, choosing organic (foods as well as tea) is not about saving the planet but about preserving our place on this blue and green rock.

This information on tea continues here.

You can follow and like RichEats on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Time to dream - guest blog by Cathy Owen

Cathy Owen - who you might remember from the 'Happy meals' article in Issue One - encourages us to spend less time cramming our children's lives with activities and more time letting them daydream and take life at their own pace.

Have you ever wondered, "What's going on in there?" when your child looks like she's in a trance, a million miles away?

Keeping busy
It seems to be widely believed that children need constant exercise and stimulation (and expensive extra classes) if they are to become intelligent and to sleep at night. However, it is starting to come to light that it is not always beneficial to cram children's lives with scheduled activities, with no time to just relax and 'be'. Indeed it can cause undue stress having to rush around getting to everything on time. Pressure to perform or respond in certain ways leads to anxiety. With no time to dream, explore or 'bed in' the new learning, their attention span may shorten, they can become easily bored and dependent on adult stimulation. 

Watching and listening to children confirms that they are happiest when they are free to live life 'off the clock' at their own pace.

Free time
A child who is given space and time for free play, to choose what he will do from moment to moment, is enabled to develop his own inner resources. He is free to relax or explore at his own pace with no expectations placed on him. This helps learning flow freely without hindrance; a child's brain is much more receptive when he is relaxed. Imagination is strengthened and a sense of self-reliance develops naturally.

If he looks like he is drifting off in a trance for a few seconds at a time, this is simply a natural and healthy brain development tool which children use instinctively many times a day, in order to integrate new learning. Allow the child a few moments of quiet while he focuses his attention inwards. His brain is  developing new connections!

Read the rest of this article on my blog and discover many more ideas and children's activities based on my natural, child-centred approach.

Look out for more from Cathy in Issue Four, where she'll be telling us all about baby whispering.

Nettle power - sneak peek

At this time of year, green shoots start to appear just about everywhere, and while the emergence of most of them is celebrated, those that sting us tend to be cursed. So when we took a closer look at the much-maligned stinging nettle, we were surprised to discover a multitude of redeeming qualities. This 'beautiful on the inside' plant has far more to offer than its stinging spines would suggest.

Extract from Issue Three:

YOU’VE ALL been there. It’s a warm spring day and you set off on a walk, breathing in the fresh, green aromas of the reawakening world and enjoying the sun on your legs after so many months cooped up. Just as you’re feeling that nothing could spoil the perfection of the natural world in spring, you find your way overgrown with plants that often seem very far from perfect – stinging, sprawling, ugly nettles.

However, we should be celebrating this prolific weed, not cursing it - after all, one person’s ruined walk is another person’s free lunch. Any nature-lover, foodie or nutrition-nerd worth their salt will tell you that beneath their prickly exteriors, nettles have a soft, delicious and nutritious centre. So next time you head off on a spring walk, tuck some gloves in your pocket and get harvesting.

See Issue Three for full article. Includes nettle recipes by Ellie Bedford and Ceri Jones.

Spring 2015 issue out now

Our first spring issue is out and waiting to be pored over by you, our lovely readers. We've got some delicious, healthy ideas to fill the hungry gap, inspiration from three LifeWell experts, natural health tips for anyone thinking of starting/continuing a family, and much much more! Here's Joanne, Harvest's editor, to tell all in her welcome to this issue.

Extract from Issue 3

Welcome

Spring is many people’s favourite time of year. Whether it’s the longer lighter days or the delicate blossom and vibrant flowers, in springtime there is always a feeling of hope, renewal and growth after the hibernation of winter. With it also comes the inspiration for better health and more positive outlook for a brighter future.

With the milder weather comes another satisfying spring event/ annoying yearly chore (delete depending on your character) – it’s time for a clear out. This issue, Annabel Sutton talks us through decluttering our homes and our minds, while Briar Rose takes a moment to appreciate this busy season on the allotment.

Natural healing teaches us that the body responds to each season. Just like the plant life around us, early spring is about getting rid of the heavy lethargy of winter in preparation for the energy and vitality of late spring and summer. As spring is all about new life, it seems fitting that we’re getting excited for the young royals. To celebrate the imminent new addition to their family, we’ve asked our experts to share their natural approaches to pregnancy.

As the world bursts into bloom around us, we look at three green spring favourites for our kitchen pharmacy: watercress, matcha green tea and nettle. Nettle is one of my personal favourites, so I was delighted to discover this humble weed is the hero of a charity working in Nepal – you’ll find more all about this on page 9.

Inspiration is an essential ingredient to creating your own health and happiness. Seeking out daily inspiration has helped me overcome challenges, stay strong, remain open to new approaches and simply keep going when I may otherwise have faltered. I believe this is true in all areas of life. So I am excited to introduce you to our new LifeWell section of Harvest which will feature interviews with inspirational health and wellbeing experts each issue. This month we start by talking to LifeWell founder Richi Spring and Nakd bar creator and entrepreneur Jamie Combs. We also catch up with Skip Archimedes, whose enthusiasm and fun approach to exercise is infectious.

As always our aim is to encourage you to take action, try something new and explore how to create your own health and happiness from home. Do share your stories and experiences with us – successful or otherwise – as we can learn from others. One of the key factors about natural health is that each of us is individual – for every success story there is bound to be a failure. However, we can still learn from, and be inspired by, both stories.

Joanne x

See Issue 3 for full articles.