The New Year has just ushered in the new Wolf Moon, the moon which was to the Celts a symbol of lean times before the beginning of spring. This blog has also suffered from lean times due to a myriad of reasons, but like the wolf, who is in reality a sociable and interactive creature, posts are now returning.
The 6th 'Mrs Darley' book is almost complete - 'Mrs Darley's Herbal', my little shop in Bewdley museum Worcestershire is due to re-open at the end of February, although the on-line version can always be  visited at www.arcanus.co.uk/shop.php and there are lots of workshops and talks available from February which are due to go onto the website next week.
May I take this opportunity of wishing everyone a blessed 2014.

Welcoming 2012

There are always mixed feelings about New Year probably because it is a time of beginnings and endings of hellos and goodbyes of releases and embraces.

Perhaps the forthcoming year carries with it more expectations than usual as so much has been written about 2012 in connection with the Mayan calander which, according to some, heralds the end of the world as we know it at the time of the Winter Solstice.

Many may find this prediction a frightening prospect, however perhaps this is time to let the old orders which have dominated our thinking for millennia, fall away and be replaced by a more liberal outlook which is inclusive and tolerant rather than restricting and dictatorial.

Perhaps the Mayans simply saw this rise in consciousness as a time when mankind would begin to recognise that beneath the colour, body, religion, nationality and sex of a person there simply lies a soul that is worthy of love, friendship and understanding.

May 2012 bring the gift of illumination into your world.