May, and the art of beginning again

Three simple practices to reconnect with the living world this May

The May is officially out! And if you can do nothing else right now, whether it’s raining or shining, make sure you take a big, happy, thankful breath of this May air! Enjoy your connection with every other breathing, respiring, transpiring, photosynthesising life-form out there - it’s all truly miraculous and you are an essential knot in that glorious net.

Threshold time!

Across the world, the annual flow into spring has always been far more than a change of season; it’s a threshold, a time of clearing, renewal, blossoming and fertility, and mutual, loving recommitment to the web of life.

Haudenosaunee peoples begin spring with ceremonies of gratitude - their beautiful Thanksgiving Address (not to be confused with the prayers given on the North American Thanksgiving Day), is offered to the earth, the waters, the plants and the creatures in turn. Lakota traditions include spring fasts and renewal ceremonies, a deliberate clearing before a new cycle begins. Many cultures sow seeds at the equinox not only as a practical act but timed with the astronomical event as a decisive relational one, regarding it as a conversation with the land. If you live near the equator, spring as a seasonal turning doesn't respond to the solar prompt in the same way - since those zones are governed by wet and dry seasons instead, traditions reflect that. But there is an almost universal impulse to tie in natural cycles with human cycles and renew the relationships between us.

If you’d like to join in the annual renewal of connection to place, including letting go what’s past and nurturing what’s new, thankfulness and reciprocity of gifts given and received, and the relationships refreshed and maintained, here are three little things to try!

1: Make a spring tonic

Nettles, goosegrass, dandelion and mint are all putting out sweet green shoots right now, and all are traditional spring cleansers used across European and Indigenous traditions alike, particularly for the liver, blood and lymph. The liver is not only a major cleansing organ that can take a huge bashing, depending on our lifestyle, but it’s also perceived across cultures as the generator of our life force and of courage. Indeed, in traditional Chinese medicine the liver also associated with the energy of spring, and with the activity of planning. As spring advances and we fortify ourselves for the coming year, we want to tone up our life force and make excellent plans, so let’s give our livers some love!

Steep young nettle tops, cleavers in hot water or overnight in cold, and drink it slowly - with a touch of honey if you like. You're not just having a herbal tea, you’re partaking of a shared enterprise in which the bees, the plants, fungi, humans, and the biodiversity in the soils are united, and you’re participating in a practice that’s been going on for thousands of years around the world - an acknowledgement of our interdependence and our shared life with all earth’s inhabitants. Pour a little on the soil to share and be thankful.

2: Reciprocity - one of the most important universal principles of shared existence.

Try this: find a pot, fill it with whatever soil you have, and leave it. Don’t plant anything, just leave it and watch what comes. You may be surprised. Eyebright, willowherb, self-heal, hairy bittercress, dandelion - plants that know exactly what they are doing, arrive where they are needed and form their own small communities. Over the summer, take a little of what comes for teas or salads or simply to know better. Give space, receive what arrives, take a little, say thank you.

This practice of leaving room, for plants, insects, fungi, for whatever the living world wants to offer, does something to the heart as well as the garden. It shifts the relationship from management to conversation.

3: A pebble for your thoughts …

This is the time of the year when countless societies around the world hold special ceremonies for the crossroads in life, and if you’re at that point, here’s a little activity that might spark something for you …

Stand for a moment on something that can symbolise a threshold: the start of a path, a doorstep or a gateway, for example; and imagine two arrows in front of your feet, the left going left; the right going right. Instinctively follow one direction or the other. Let your thinking mind enjoy some peace, and be as open to your intuition as possible. Walk for a while, and look for a pebble that somehow for you metaphorises your issue as you see it. Don’t judge yourself for your pebble choice, sense what it is that your intuition wants to say. Where do you need to stretch and grow? After you’ve considered that for a while, ask yourself: are you drawn to hold onto the pebble, to bury it, to drop it into a river and imagine the water taking it where it will, or to leave it to the elements? What does that say to you about the matter you’re considering? Keep it until you feel it’s time to let it go. Nature is the wisest companion at life's big turning points because of its own myriad perspectives - it almost always helps you see something new.

If any of these sparks something for you, I’d genuinely love to hear! You can reach me at juno@eden-rooted.co.uk, or come and find us at Dilston Physic Garden in Northumberland for our next full-day workshop.

And if you know someone who might like to read this, please do share it with them!