I’ve recently returned from a holiday in Madeira. One of the most unexpected discoveries of the trip was the Laurisilva Forest, an ancient forest of laurel trees. I’d read about this area in the guidebook but the dry sentences about ‘primary forest’ and ‘ecological niches’ did little to prepare me for the reality. Laurisilva Forest … Continue reading Wisdom of Trees
Magic and Myth of Glastonbury Tor
For me stories grow out of places and I’m always delighted when that love of place comes through to readers. One of the nicest comments I receive is when someone tells me one of my books has made them want to visit Glastonbury, Orkney or Whitby. From Under the Duvet Book Blog reviewed Beltane this … Continue reading Magic and Myth of Glastonbury Tor
Stone Circles in Fiction
I’ve been obsessed with stone circles since a family holiday to Brittany when I was 15. I remember vividly my fascination with the stone alignments at Carnac which kicked off a lifelong passion. I’m what my best friend’s husband, who’s an archaeologist, calls “a stone botherer” which doesn’t bother me at all as my stone … Continue reading Stone Circles in Fiction
Beltane – Celebrating Spring
Somehow despite writing a book set at Beltane, I’ve not written a blog post about it yet. So I’ve decided to put that right this year. I’ve always wanted to be in Glastonbury at Beltane as they have the most spectacular celebrations with people dressed up as Green Men and goddesses to welcome the spring. … Continue reading Beltane – Celebrating Spring
Five things I learnt from Spellbound
On Saturday I went to the Spellbound exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. The tag line for the exhibition is ‘Magic, ritual and witchcraft’ and it certainly covers all of those areas but it also looks more deeply at what it means to ‘think magically’. I originally wrote this post as a kind of … Continue reading Five things I learnt from Spellbound
Summer Solstice – Celebrating Light
In the Northern hemisphere the summer solstice occurs on Thursday 21st June this year when the sun will be at its furthest point north in its annual cycle around the Earth. In the UK, that will actually be at 11:07. It’s the time of the longest day and the shortest night but it’s also one … Continue reading Summer Solstice – Celebrating Light
Secrets of the Green Man
If you’ve read my novel, Beltane then you’ll know the Green Man is a key character in the book. If you’ve not read it then I’m afraid I can’t really say much more than that without a spoiler alert but if you’ve seen the book cover you can probably guess that a Green Man features … Continue reading Secrets of the Green Man
Of Saints & Pilgrims: A Journey to St. David’s
Pope Calixtus II declared that two pilgrimages to St. David’s were equal to one to Rome. If he’d travelled, like I did, by the tiny stopping train that trundles through the Welsh marshes and then for hours along the South Wales Coast I think he might have revised that to a one:one ratio. St. David’s … Continue reading Of Saints & Pilgrims: A Journey to St. David’s
Samhain – the Celtic New Year
Autumn is the time of year when the earth’s energies are waning, when the harvest is gathered in and winter is round the corner. For the Celts each new day started in darkness at sunset and similarly their new year begins in the period of greatest darkness before the winter solstice. For them, Samhain was … Continue reading Samhain – the Celtic New Year
Celebrating autumn
Is it just me or does the run up to Christmas seemed to have started even earlier this year? It was mid-September when I saw the first Christmas books released and Christmas gifts appearing in the shops. It’s as if the world’s forgotten there’s a whole season in between. A season that’s particularly lovely and … Continue reading Celebrating autumn
Alys West 