After a little bit of thought, I've decided to keep this blog going as a light-hearted place and set up another for my more in-depth ramblings. Yes, I know I barely manage to update this one but I have a fair amount of deep and meaningful thoughts which I worry would be too heavy going. This way, anyone interested in the odd and complicated contents of my head (including that weird squishy bit which bleeds when you prod it) can nose around to their hearts content and this space can be kept for the more 'everyday'.

So feel free to pop into my other blog, The Liminal Tourist. There may not be any tea and cakes but who knows, there might be something useful or interesting hidden away in my head...

Penarth Beach, South Wales 2011

The kiss of the sea on the sand of the shore

Or the breath of the wind through my hair

Are the touch of the fingers of maiden or whore

And the memories she shared with me there.

The lap of the tides as they stoke at my toes

And the curl of the crest of the wave

Are the whispers of secrets which nobody knows

And the memories my sweet mistress gave.

The beach is a liminal space, a joining-place between the sea, the land and the sky. It is changeable and shifting, constantly in flux. The beach is a threshold, belonging to all places and yet not truly part of any of them. Like the ancient hedge to which the term 'hedgewitch' refers, the crossroads or mountaintops, it is a place of uncertainty and indecision. For some people, that uncertainty is too much. Like the coming of a storm, it sends them running for cover. Others let it wash over them, lapping like the waves on the shore.

Waking Up Inside

Apologies for the long silence, the start of the year has been a busy time. I seem to be going through phases of positivity and negativity and neither phase has felt like the right time to be blogging.

On Wednesday, I went on a trip to Glastonbury to have a wander around the shops with some friends. For some reason, despite the amount of overpriced fluff on sale, it seems to have re-awoken my need to connect with older things, the more... instinctive side of what I used to do. So thats what I'm planning to do. This is going to mean some excursions into forests, along coastlines and so on to collect up 'tools' I've long since lost, broken or forgotten. It also means I'll be hoping we get a decent storm sometime in the near future.

This may affect what I end up putting in this blog, but I hope you'll bear with me (no pun intended). If I get too serious, someone poke me with something...

It feels a little bit like I've just finished waking up again. Good morning world, the Hedgebear is up and ready.

Since yesterday afternoon, I've been feeling really full of positive energy and I'm taking advantage of it; I've made a good start on my writing and a few other projects.

I've also finally made a more solid connection with my new tarot card pack after doing a reading for a friend a few days ago. It took long enough!

I'm sorry for the long silence, I've not been myself recently (either that or I've been too much myself).

The Yule ritual we had planned went well despite most people being unable to get to us because of the snow; for a change, nobody managed to set themselves on fire. Unfortunately, again because of the snow, most people had to leave early and I saw in the sunrise by myself.

I've been having problems with people asking me for help recently. Not a problem in itself except that there are so many of them and if I need support in return they see that as unreasonable. I'm planning to put together a little charm later on today to help me say no once in a while and get support when I need it. Fingers crossed it goes well.

After a bit of hesitation, I've started writing seriously again as well. Since I did, I've had considerably more positive responses than negative and I've even felt comfortable starting to write a novel (one I've had ready to start for quite some time now). You're very welcome to visit my other blog, Bewildering Circumstances to see what I've been doing.

Well I've managed to get the majority of my house decorated although I'm still not feeling especially festive. I'm hoping it'll kick in later on once I've done some successful baking and finished things off. Even so, I thought I'd share a few festive house photos with you.

I have to admit I'm struggling to feel festive; everything seems so difficult recently and everyone seems so moody and grumpy. As a result, I'm feeling pretty down myself. I'm sure I'll be okay by tomorrow after I've had a good sleep and I'll post a more complete entry then.