Here it is, the video for this year’s deer rut! I didn’t have as much time as I normally do to get out onto the heath for filming, what with the book release of Smugglers and Secrets, Book 4 of the Witches of the New Forest series at the end of October. But I did manage to film some old favourites, including Aelfric, Boromir, Faramir, Theoden, Merry and Pippin!
fall
Autumn’s Lessons
I can’t believe that in a little over a week’s time Smugglers and Secrets the fourth book in my fiction series, Witches of the New Forest, will be out! It’s been an incredible year, with tons of hard work that has been so rewarding. Releasing four books in a year is not for the faint-hearted! I say four books, but really, the first two in the series, Hedge Witch and The Veil Between the Worlds were written almost a year before hand, and then were released within a month of each other. I didn’t want to have people waiting six months for the second book, especially as the first ended on a cliffhanger.
Writing fiction has always been my life’s dream. Ever since I was a thirteen-year-old girl, sitting in my room at my desk and typing away on my mother’s old clackety manual typewriter, I had always wanted to write stories. Tales of magic and mystery, of the Fae, of supernatural beings, of adventure and romance. And now, here I am, nearly four decades later, living the dream!
My books are selling all over the world, with the four main markets being the UK, US, Canada and Australia. I’ve had hundreds of lovely messages, feedback, and reviews for all the books, and I thank everyone that has gotten in touch to let me know how much they have enjoyed the series. (And one or two not so great reviews, but hey, that’s what you get for sticking your head above the parapet. And why is it always from someone in the Pagan community? I think that sometimes people forget this is fiction, in all honesty… I do tire of that old chestnut: you are doing it wrong). All of the lovely feedback has really confirmed that the choice I made to pack it all in and become a full-time writer was the right one. Not to mention actually making a living wage off my writing for the first time ever!
A lot of the income goes straight back into the production of more books right now, as well as advertising, but still, I’ve made more money in the last six months than I have with all my previous non-fiction books put together for the entire year! It just goes to show how much more an author can make by being self-published.
But being self-published is so much more work. You need to not only write your book, but also edit it, and then find a qualified editor to go over it again. You then need to know how to design a cover, and upload all your material onto whatever platform you are using to publish (for me, that’s Amazon and Rakuten Kobo). Just learning how to navigate these platforms is something else! Then there is the marketing, advertising, articles and interviews, podcasts and more to get the word out that you’ve written a book (but in all fairness, even going through a publisher means that the author is doing the lion’s share of this work themselves these days). I’m now in the process of trying out a hardback version (we will see how the printers do, as I’ve heard it can be hit or miss with regards to quality) as well as working on the audiobook version.
For the audiobook, I had a narrator but sadly the sample that they provided was not up to standard, and so the contract will be dissolved and my search continues to find a new narrator. The cost of creating an audiobook (that isn’t “virtual voices”, ie. AI) can run into the thousands of pounds. So, finding the right narrator for this work is essential, given the cost of production. I’ve tried having a go myself, but in all honesty I just don’t have the time, the right equipment and I would need a proper studio to cut out all the background noise from my house, neighbours, and the wildlife around me (right now the stags are roaring – wouldn’t that be fun to show up on an audiobook?).
I’ve had to research all aspects of the above for myself, and then learn how to implement it and tweak it to suit my work. Other things have had to take a backseat in the meantime, such as writing blog posts here, putting up full-length YouTube videos that so many have enjoyed, not to mention my photography. And so, I plan to pace myself a little better in the coming months. I’m feeling the burnout from all the work since 8th November 2024, when all this went live and the first book was released. It will probably be around eight to nine months between each book, rather than the original six months.
This turnaround time gives both me and my editor, Jasmin, more time to go through the text. Editing can take as long as writing the darned thing in the first place! But it is essential in order to give the readers a quality product. I did the best I could before I was able to hire Jasmin. This is why I released a second edition of Hedge Witch, and will be doing so for The Veil Between the Worlds as well. I couldn’t afford an editor for those first two books, but now that I’ve got an income, I have hired Jasmin who has worked with me on Books 3 and 4, just finished Hedge Witch and is currently working on TVBTW. Big shout out to Jasmin – you are a star!
Some people ask if I will ever write non-fiction again. The answer is – I don’t know! If I have a non-fiction book in me, then yes, of course I will write one. It will most likely be self-published, instead of going through a publisher like all the previous works. I am considering writing a book on working with the goddess, Freya, but that may have to wait until this series has been completed before I can turn my attention to that. There are at least four more books planned in the Witches of the New Forest series, so that’s a few years still to wait!
I also have another series planned, but I’m keeping that close to my chest for now. It will be similar to Witches of the New Forest, but take place in another location, with a whole new cast of characters. Watch this space…
As I sit here and type up this blog on my laptop, I look out of my conservatory window and see the golden leaves of the birch trees swaying in the breeze, the jay digging and storing acorns in the lawn, ladybirds (ladybugs in North America) coming out to enjoy the sunshine, and blackbirds chirping in the hedges. Autumn has settled in, and I hope to get out this afternoon to refill the water containers for the deer on the heath, and hopefully after that spend some time photographing the deer rut, if the rain stays away. Autumn is simply the best season, with the heat of the summer gone, the cool breezes and mellow light, the smell of woodsmoke and leaves on the wind. I feel like I’ve already missed the first half of autumn, and so I am going to make a conscious effort not to miss the second half!
It is a new moon today, and that means new beginnings. Autumn always feels like a time of new beginnings for me, which feels contrary to the popular Pagan belief of the season of spring holding that paradigm. Perhaps it’s a relic of my schooldays, when the new year began in the autumn. Perhaps it’s an ancient Viking thing in my blood, who, like the Celts, thought that the new day began in the darkness of night with the setting sun. Autumn is time to take stock, to reflect on the crazy summer energy and then stop, take a breath, and actually learn something from it. It’s harvest-time, not just in the fields but also in our souls. It’s when we take the seeds we have gathered and store them safely over the coming winter months, to plant again in the spring. These can be seeds from plants, or thoughts, ideas, and plans for how we want to live our lives. Either way, it is a time to rest and think. And that’s where I find beginnings. I can see my cat sleeping on the chair in the conservatory, in a beam of sunlight. She knows what autumn is all about.
And so, I will take some time to rest and reflect, even as I contemplate the writing of the next book in the series. I am hoping to release it probably around June next year. We will see how the writing and editing go, and take it from there. I know that this time around I won’t be setting myself a hard deadline like I have for the previous four books. Working to this kind of deadline can be incredibly stressful, which, as a self-employed person who can set their own schedule just doesn’t make any sense! I thought that these deadlines would help me to get the work out every six months, which they have, but also it left me frazzled and a little wobbly (menopause has been a real struggle this year). So, I intend to write, and write well, which takes time. I and my editor will take the time to edit the work as it deserves and as our schedules can reasonably manage. Like everything in life, it’s all matter of checks and balances, of work and rest, of giving and receiving.
I think that is also autumn’s greatest teaching.
The Season of Change
The Autumn Equinox is a brief moment in time where we are poised on the knife’s edge, about to tumble from summer into winter. It is a liminal time, where the transition from the long summer days to the long winter nights is keenly felt. The winds blow differently and stronger, the evenings are creeping in, the sun is not as high in the sky and offers a golden slant in the afternoons. The leaves are changing, the green is melting into golds and the riotous season of growth has ended. The deer have shed the velvet from their antlers and are fattening up, preparing for the rut. Acorns begin to ripen and fall from the oaks; beech nuts and hazelnuts too. Jays and squirrels are caching their nuts and badgers delight in the longer shadows and plentiful food.
For us humans, it is also a time of harvest. The apples are ripe and ready, the potatoes and onions form the second harvest after the cereal crops were gathered in August. Tractors rumble through the tiny village streets with loaded wagons full of produce, taking them to large storehouses or shipping trucks to dispense throughout the country. It is a busy time, with lots of dust in the air and the moon and sun often rising red in the lower atmosphere.
In an age when we can get almost any fruit and veg from a large superstore at any time of year, the importance of harvest is often lost to many. Why celebrate a harvest festival when we have supermarkets on our doorsteps? What need do we have to honour this important time of our ancestors? We live in the here and now, some may say. But all the food that is available in the supermarkets and stores comes from somewhere, from a place that had to work with the elements and seasons in order to grow the food, to take in the energy of that land to produce something that will sustain us. This is what is important, and why it is also important to remember this time for our ancestors of the not so distant past. It has only been in the last twenty or thirty years that all sorts of produce has become readily available throughout the year. When we forget the hardships of our ancestors, we forget a large part of their stories and where we came from, taking for granted many of the liberties that we live with today.
There’s a joy to be found in remembrance. There is also a joy in the turning of the seasons, from the light to the dark, from the harvest to the hunt, from summer to winter. Celebrating these turning points helps us to keep moving with the flow instead of getting stuck wishing that it was still summer. We allow the energy of the season to move freely through out bodies, as we should in any earth-based religion or spirituality. Nothing stays the same, and acceptance of that is perhaps the greatest gift that we can give to ourselves.
So honour this wonderful time. Celebrate the shift from shorts to jeans, drink all the pumpkin spice coffee you desire, wear hats and scarves and kick up autumn leaves on the path. Drink in the scent of woodsmoke and decay, feel the fresh breezes on your face. Settle in with a good book on the longer nights, light a candle and let your imagination roam. Think of the ancestors as you bite into that freshly picked apple, and honour all the changes that you yourself have undertaken.
Blessings of the Autumn Equinox, Mabon and Alban Elfed to you all.
New video, come inside and be welcome!
Autumn Equinox Ritual
Here is an Autumn Equinox ritual that you can perform either alone or with a group. This is my favourite season and ritual, and so I look forward to it every year! Blessings of autumn to you all. xoxo
The autumn equinox is a time of balance, when the length of the day and night are equal. It’s a time to stop and take stock of the year, of where we are on the Wheel of the Year, deeply entrenched in the harvest season. Much as the harvest continues around us, so does our spiritual harvest manifest right now. It’s a time to look at what we have achieved over the year, our hopes and dreams that were dreamt in the winter, planted in the spring and brought to careful fruition throughout the summer. In this time of balance, we pause, take a breath and assess before we fall into the dark half of the year.
It is important to stop, and be in this moment of balance. Balance is not something that we achieve and then forget about it, no, it is something that must be worked at continuously. If you are in doubt about that, try standing on one foot for any length of time, and see how much effort that requires!
In this ritual, we stop and simply be in the moment for a while. But first, we must cleanse and prepare ourselves for entering into the dark half of the year, for we do not wish to carry some things forward into this new time. No, we release what we need to before we move into a period of rest, for we do not wish to carry everything with us. Instead, we pare down, we simplify so that we can obtain a true and sustaining rest in the darkness. We cleanse and purify so that we are truly ready to begin this new journey into the autumn and winter months.
What you will need for this ritual:
Incense or herbal smudge stick (or a hand-held fan if you cannot have smoke)
Autumn leaves and decoration for the altar
Offering
Ritual
Decorate the altar with autumnal leaves, nuts, berries, etc.
Cast the circle (scatter some fallen leaves around the circle, if indoors)
Call the elements
Call to the deities
Sit quietly and simply breathe for a few moments. Let your breathing slow down, let your shoulders and facial muscles relax. When you are ready, bring to mind that which you want to let go, that which you want to release before you walk into the dark half of the year. When you have this firmly in your mind, put your hands down onto the ground (or floor) and push that down and into the earth. Let the energy be transformed by the earth, even as the earth transforms the fallen leaves into vital nutrients for the next season. Release everything that needs to go, and then lift your hands and shake off any excess energy connected to that which you released. Sit for a few moments once again and just breathe.
When you are ready, you will begin to cleanse and purify your body’s energy. Burn a purifying incense blend, or use an herbal smudge stick and waft the smoke over and around all of your body. Use can also use a handheld fan, and simply let the element of air cleanse and purify your energetic body. Allow the smoke or air to dissolve or blow away that which still remains in your energy field that is unwanted. See the energy field around you glowing brighter as you perform this, beginning to glow with a rich, golden light emanating from your heart and encircling your entire body. When you have finished cleansing, sit for a moment in that golden aura, letting it fill your body and soul. If you like, you can pull in some energy from the earth and the sky, in the Roots and Branches mediation, to ground and centre yourself in this moment.
Now let us balance the chakras. Starting with the root chakra at the very base of your spine, visualise a red disk that is slowly spinning. See and feel this disk glowing brighter and spinning faster and more freely with your attention, opening up and allowing the energy from the base of your spine to travel upwards towards your sacral chakra, located in your spine at genital level. See the disk that resides there glowing orange, spinning slowly, and with the energy from the root chakra it begins to glow brighter and spin faster, throwing off anything that doesn’t belong. When this chakra is spinning freely, see the energy move upwards to the solar plexus chakra, located in the part of your spine that is centred between your breast and your belly button. See this yellow disk glowing softly and spinning slowly, and with the energy of the root and sacral chakras entering into it, it begins to glow brighter and spin faster, releasing anything unwanted. When this chakra is spinning freely and is open, the energy moves upwards towards the heart chakra. Here a green spinning disk revolves slowly on the spine near your heart. See this chakra’s green colour growing brighter and spinning faster as the energies from the solar plexus, sacral and root chakra enter into it. The chakra opens and spins faster, flowing freely until the energy moves upwards once again, this time to the throat chakra, where a blue disk glows and spins in your spine at your throat area. The energies of all the chakras below enter into this area, making the disk spin faster and glow brighter, until it is moving freely. Then the energy moves up to your third eye chakra, which glows a violet colour. The energies of all the free chakras below set this disk spinning faster and glowing brighter, until it is moving freely and spinning brightly. When this energy moves up to the final crown chakra, you feel in the crown of your head a white disk of light that spins ever faster with the energies of the chakras below, glowing brighter and spinning faster until it is moving freely.
Now feel all the chakras’ energies, spinning brightly and freely along your spine. When the crown chakra is ready, push the energy out into a fountain of white light that bursts out of the crown of your head and falls down through your auric field, blessing and energising it. Draw up the energy from the root chakra, bringing it up the body and fountaining out through the top of your head in a continuous, beautiful waterfall of energy and light. Continue with this for as long as you feel necessary.
When you are ready, gently close off the fountain of energy from the crown of your head. Draw in the brightly glowing chakra disks closer to your body, damping down their light a bit and “zipping up” their energy. You may keep the root and crown chakra open a little more, to receive grounding earth energy and astral divine energy throughout your day. Finish up the process of zipping up, and when you are ready open your eyes and take a few deep breaths to bring yourself fully back to the here and now.
Now is the time to mediate on the balance of darkness and light, on the theme of balance. See the autumn equinox as an opportunity to remind yourself that balance is not a static thing, but an active and moving energy that shifts and adjusts to everything around it. It flows, it moves, just as the energies of the seasons move through the land. Nothing is permanent, everything is in flow.
Welcome the dark half of the year, with the evenings that are now drawing in, the autumn winds and the changing colours of the leaves. This is a beautiful and wonderful time of the year, an enchanting time where we begin to let go and fall into the dark half of the year where we can find rest and recuperation. Allow it to happen, do not fight it and enjoy the moment of pause, like the moment between breaths, before the shift takes us into the season of autumn. Simply be in the moment. When you are ready, give your offering to the land in gratitude for all that you have received. Close down your ritual and, if you can, take a walk in nature to feel the energies of autumn flowing all around.
North River Rapids
Here’s the first of several videos that I shot while I was back home in Quebec visiting family for the first time since the pandemic. It was so good to be back, and I’m glad I got the chance to film these videos to remind me of home 🙂 This is a spot where I spent hours as a teenager, just listening to the river and watching the water flow…
Meeting My Self
I leave for the UK soon. I decide to walk down in the valley, seeing if the old horse trails are still there, even though the horses are long gone. It’s a beautiful, sunny autumn day, the sun is hot and the breeze is cool. The milkweeds are releasing their seeds, the goldenrod drying in the sun. The leaves on the maple, birch, ash and poplar are changing into their autumn splendour. It’s utterly magical. The liminality of this time shines bright, and the veil between the worlds thins as we shift into another energy.
I walk slowly down into the valley. I say a blessing for the place, and touch the earth. I continue down through the trees out into the open space. I see a young woman with long blond hair down in the centre of the valley, and I smile. She’s walking slowly, just like I am, soaking it all in. Noticing the small things as well as the grandeur of the larger spirit of place. I say hello as we pass, she heading the way I came and I moving down towards the reeds, seeking the ridge where the horses used to shelter from the sun.
The paths are still there along the ridge, and where horses once keep the trail open it is now mountain bikers on the weekends. Regardless, I am glad that the trails are still there and that others are appreciating them, albeit in a slightly different way.
I walk along the ridge, the light shining through the pines and the birch trees with a soft, ethereal light. To either side of me the ground falls away sharply. This is a special place, a liminal place, which once only I and the horses knew. I walk up the hill along the ridge, and come out on top of the world. Well, my own little world from when I was growing up.
As a teenager, I would come out to this hilltop and sit, looking out over the forest and hills that I roamed, into the distance where the sun and moon rose over the mountain. I stood there and took it all in, and then saw the young woman once again, walking up along the trails that I used to walk, coming towards me from the other direction. It was like I was passing by my own self from thirty years ago. She sat down in the spot that I always used to sit, and gazed out over the mountains resplendent in hues of red, copper, orange and green. I had wanted to sit there and think, to become part of this land once again, but then I realised that my time here has come and gone. Now it is her time, and after her there will be others, roaming these hills in quiet solitude, discovering who they truly are and what matters most to them. Nature is always changing, and I must change with it.
I walk up to her and excuse my interruption. She smiles, and I ask if I can take her picture. I tell her that she reminds me of myself from thirty years ago, and she agrees with a grin. I know that grin. I take her picture, and thank her from the bottom of my heart. As I walk away down the path she walked in on, I silently bless her and the land and ask that future generations take good care of this very special place.
I am crying now, the tears releasing years of pent up energy and worry, of longing and hiraeth for this special place. But I know that it will be safe, that there are others who are seeing the beauty and who walk its paths in honour and in wonder. I know that the magic is still very much alive.
I wipe the tears and walk down the hillsides, back to the main path. I have come full circle, and met my own self in autumn’s light. The tides of time had shifted, and we came together for a reason. And I know that in autumn’s light, we count our blessings.
Equinox in Canada
Well, I finally made it back to see my family for the first time in over 2.5 years (thanks to the pandemic). And I made in time for the beautiful autumn colours, the full moon and the equinox. I’m feeling truly blessed, and it’s an enormous reminder not to take the little things in life for granted. Right now, being in the forest and hills of my home where I grew up, I take comfort in the calls of the geese migrating south, the colours of the maples in their fiery glory, the laughter of family and the sense of being “home”. Blessings of the equinox to you all!
Autumn is on it’s way…
The air is cool, the sun is warm, the heather is out and the deer are starting to gather. Welcome the changing of the seasons!
Autumn is here…
Autumn is here, though it’s a bit of a strange autumn. The leaves on the birch trees turned golden a couple of weeks ago, and now most of them have fallen to cover the forest floor in a beautiful golden light. But the oak, the ash and the beech trees are only now just starting to turn, and there’s still a lot of green about. The heather on the heath, which should be a brilliant purple colour, is slowly coming back to life after the rains. It was such a dry summer, that even out in the arid conditions of the heathland, things were dying before they had a chance to come into their own.
But it is definitely autumn, and you can smell it on the wind. That scent is so unmistakeable. It’s hard to describe: it’s a lovely, earthy smell so different from the green scent of summer, or the blossom scent of spring. The winds have ravaged these lands and all others across the country, stripping the trees of their colourful leaves before their time, and branches and fallen trees everywhere. Getting out in between the gales and the heavy rainstorms is a real gamble, so bringing your wet weather gear is essential.
It’s not been an easy year, not just for us humans, but for a lot of nature in this area. Though some species did well during the lockdown, many others have suffered from the lack of rain and a drought for two summers in a row. The hawks have been plentiful, and the deer have managed to keep their numbers up, but the plant life has suffered, and whether there will be enough food to keep them all strong throughout the winter remains to be seen.
And yet, despite all this, my heart sings merely at the thought of autumn. For it is my absolute favourite season, though here in the UK it is far too short. We don’t get the vibrant colours that I grew up with in Canada, but the feeling of nature winding down, of that last pause before dusk, the late afternoon sunlight shining through the clouds, the smell of woodsmoke on the wind – it all fills me with such peace. Gone is the harsh overhead sun, and instead it is dancing, playing through the turning leaves to fall upon the forest floor in dappled light.
The deer are gathering in larger and larger herds, and soon they will be all together out on the heath. The stags have begun to call, and it is the beginning of the deer rut. There are two main players this year, the dark stag who has been King for the last few years, and a new one, dappled and still young, but big and strong. I’m sure there will be some furious matches as they lock antlers in the evening’s failing light.
The foxes have been calling, and visiting us in the night, making their weird cries and strange sounds, or just padding silently down the path in the moonlight. The owls are hooting in the trees, and the pheasants are trumpeting in the night shadows. Hunting season has begun for them, and so we find all those lucky enough to have escaped coming round our way, to find sanctuary amidst the few houses here on the edge of the village.
Autumn is a time to pause, to stop, and to reflect on the bounty that we have collected throughout our labours in the year. Some things may have come to fruition, some may not, and some may still remain dreams, to foster once again through the long winter months until the sun’s strengthening light encourages us to manifest these dreams in the light of day. It is a time for long walks and enjoying the weather, in rain or sunshine. We feel the growing darkness all around us, and we welcome that even as we bask in the last of the golden light. Thoughts are turning inwards, hearts and minds becoming reflective. It is a time to take stock, to see what still needs to be done before the winter’s arrival, and what we need to make it through the cold time of icy frosts and winds from the north.
Take this moment, and enjoy it, for it doesn’t last long. Pause, listen, and learn from nature about the cycles of life, death and regeneration. Find out where you fit in the grand scheme of things, where you stand as a contributing member of your ecosystem. And dance in the light of autumn, feeling its ethereal and brief moments in time deep within your soul.
(Photos taken in Rendlesham Forest, © Joanna van der Hoeven 2020)
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Down the Forest Path 