I see it’s been a couple of months since I last wrote in this blog, which says everything about how busy and stressed I’ve been over this period! Given the high levels of change Living Spirit is going through, it’s hard to know where to start now that I’m finally putting fingers to keyboard, but here goes!

Firstly…endings. Since I last wrote we’ve been through a series of both wonderful and painful endings. Some were large, sociable and involved a lot of cake, while others were much more quiet and personal, but no less sweet. Here is a sort of potted collection…

I guess we kicked off with our final Bonehill seasonal gathering, a Mad Hatters Tea Party for Celtic Circlers, friends and neighbours at Midsummer-ish. The weather was suitably scorching and we had to forgo our usual strenuous march up Bonehill and onto the open moor, for a more leisurely and shaded stroll by the river at Jordan. The party was suitably mad, with one of us dressed as the dormouse and yours truly ‘baptising’ her knickers while trying (and failing) to prove to the rest of the party that it really was perfectly possible to ‘just wade gently across the stream without really getting wet’. All our lovely guests were on excellent form and gamely brought along lashings of elderflower cordial, cucumber sandwiches, sweet and  savoury scones, hot sausage rolls and more cake than you could shake a stick at. ( I’ve never been quite sure what that expression means, but I like the sound of it and especially in relation to cake).

This highlight was quietly followed over the next fortnight by the final meetings at Bonehill of the Kabbalah Group and Celtic Circle. Although both groups will be continuing in the autumn at new venues, it was very poignant to say ‘farewell’ to beautiful Bonehill. In the Circle, as we looked towards the harvest festival of Lammas, we were each reflecting on our outer and inner harvests over this growing season and on the sacrificial aspect of harvest, as what has been achieved is let go of, in order to sow new seeds for the next cycle of life and growth. I guess this was particularly powerful for me, as I contemplated all the richness of our last year at Bonehill. Also selling Badarroch House, the eco home we worked so hard to create in Scotland, and the realities of finalising a divorce are all deeply sacrificial experiences.

Our next goodbyes came with our final workshop with the ever wonderful School Of Myth’s “Wheel of Story”. Once again it was interesting to witness how life and story blend together as we explored ‘The Lindwurm’ which gives a picture of how each of us has a ‘dark twin’ or shadow side that tends to emerge at transitional times….hmmmm!