There was always understood to be a contract between the people and the land.
This reminder formed the words as I walked the woodland sanctuary, on this last day of November.
The leaf-covered earth I walked upon reminded me of that sacred contract, one long since forgotten by humankind.
From the sacred well flows the life-giving force of the Otherworld.
All the ancient races of the Earth understood this.
The contract was broken by those who nurtured a greed for more and more wealth.
This continues today and is the reason why Mother Earth has been brought to the edge of destruction all across Her land and seas.
The native pre-Christian mythology of Celtic Ireland is highly Goddess-centered.
This is in recognition of the understanding that the Earth is female and the force is that of the Creatrix.
Irish mythology, in particular, is filled with stories of powerful women.
These women, often revered and greatly honoured, were seen as incarnations of the ‘Sovereignty’ goddess.
On these mornings near Midwinter, the moon continues to move across the sky as the sun rises.
The land speaks.
The Goddess is imbued in the chalice and has become the sacred quest of folklore, that of the Holy Grail.
Here at Bealtaine Cottage she is the land Herself.
It is a most blessed time of the day, when the energy is rising.
My morning ritual is the same…I walk the land and listen, not just with my ears but with my whole being.
The energy of the Goddess flows out from the spring well and across the woodland…I listen.
I walk always in awareness of the Otherworld which influences my own.
I walk in service to the land.
This Goddess-centred land feels a part of me and I a part of Her.
The Otherworld is inextricably linked to the land I walk.
The Otherworld is not about the dead.
The Otherworld is referred to as the ‘land of the living’ in ancient lore.
The Goddess has a great propensity for shape-shifting…so as I walk the land it is oftentimes I am followed by birds.
Tomorrow marks the first day of December and the descent towards the Midwinter Solstice.
This will herald the return of the rise of the light, as we move towards Imbolc.
Yule begins on the Midwinter Solstice and continues until the first day of January.
The sacred walks of Winter continue…
There is something so simple, yet so unique about Goddess Permaculture. 
It’s evident to all who visit Bealtaine Cottage. 
It is the connectedness of everything. 
Earlier today, whilst walking the woodland gardens, I discovered the body of a fox. 
It had come to Bealtaine to die…a safe place, a quiet place where only the birdsong held sway in the shady gardens near the silt pond. 
The beautiful creature had already made itself known to me in the preceding days… 
Sometime last week, in the early hours of the morning, between three and four, I was awoken by a cry and then Jack barking. 
I got up and looked out through the glass of the front door. 
There it was, one of the oldest foxes I had ever seen, quite thin and scraggy, crossing the gravel by the front of the cottage. 
It is rare for me to rise out of bed at that hour, but something drew me to look. 
I now know it was this beautiful, old fox bidding me farewell…one last lap of honour around Bealtaine Cottage, before it laid itself to rest in a quiet, cool spot of safety for it’s final hours. 
I feel honoured that this once beautiful creature chose Bealtaine Cottage to die. 
A place of sanctuary. 
Somewhere, in a world where it was hunted, reviled and pushed out, that it found a place to simply die. 
This evening, as I write, I feel honoured and blessed to have witnessed such a life and peaceful passing.
I keep myself occupied in the world as I know it…the one where I weave wreathes from Willow and Dogwood…
The one where cruelty and chaos are not allowed entry!
You’ll understand my terror, for that’s why you’re here…to touch base with reality! 
Yes, this is reality…as it was meant to be and in the world most inhabit, is not! 
I have always chosen this reality, both as a child living in poverty and as a mother creating sanctuary for her children in London. 
I have always sought out Mother Earth, wherever she was hidden from view by retail parks and shopping centres, housing estates and suburbia. 
I chose this reality. 
I planted it, brought it forward, share it and allow it’s force to move out in waves of healing and peace.
We all choose our own realities and what we allow carelessly in or strive to keep out! 
The Lughnasadh Garden is another reality being birthed at Bealtaine. 
Just as wanton destruction is being justified all over this Sacred Earth, the need for creation is more necessary than ever in the history of what we laughingly refer to as “civilisation!”
Regardless of party/gender/colour or creed, politicians take us to war and care nothing for the protection of Mother Earth…and that in my view is unforgivable! 
As I approach my birthday and my 61st year, I am becoming convinced more and more of the need to keep one’s head down and continue to nurture and care for Mother Earth. 
It’s all I care to do, for there is much destruction and violence all around that has reached a point of insanity! 
I don’t know where to go from here, except to keep doing as I do and keep this website going…where, I do not know! 
This is very apt today as I have been in and out of the garden, working and reading…Dictator by Robert Harris, the third and last book in the Cicero trilogy. 
Many of you are aware that I do not have a TV, nor want one, come to that!
Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman philosopher, politician, lawyer, orator, political theorist, consul, and constitutionalist. 
It was a time when Roman fought Roman and the fabric of society was torn apart. 
But, to return to the quote above…Cicero had life sorted in my opinion. 
There is a background noise that seems to permeate home life, emanating from TVs, computers and screens linked to the internet. 
Creating a private space where you can go to read, write, pursue a craft, or simply unwind is a positive step towards establishing good mental health and physical relaxation, in other words, a body and mind space! 
The words of Cicero are particularly relevant today as society seems to struggle to keep a grip on sanity and calm. 
